Angelic Vampire

Chapters

The Angel and the Demon
Apples as Red as Blood
Harbinger of Darkness
Sanctuary
A Chance Encounter
Bad Blood
Shades of Red
Heart All Aflutter
Commencement
Cantarella
The Things That Bind
Spilt Blood and Acts of Kindness
Calm Just Before a Storm
Dark and Sadistic
Guardian Angels
The Battle
When Teal Becomes Crimson
The End, and Also, the Beginning...
Wonderful Friendships

The Angel and the Demon

A shadow passed over the full moon, it was the shadow of what many ponies would call, a demon. His name was Alistair, and he was a vampire, feared creatures with bat features, supernatural powers and a thirst for blood. But he wasn't just any regular vampire, he was a pure blood, just like his ancestors before him. The pure bloods were the highest of authorities of the vampire society, and as being of high authority, many things were expected of him. One being that should he choose a mate, that she also be of pure blood status. Little did they know that Alistair had found his true love, and she was far from being pure blooded. In truth, she was a normal Pegasus named Maia. But he didn't care, he loved her deeply and to him, it didn't matter if she was a vampire or not. She was different from all the other ponies, a beautiful mare able to see into his heart and treat him as if he were no different from any other pony. It was because of her that for the first time in his life, he felt warmth in his chest, he felt love. She was his beloved, and he was on his way now to see her. The two had been together over a year now, and imagine his surprise to learn that Maia had become pregnant with his child. He was going to become a father. He would have a family! His mind envisioned a peaceful scene of him and Maia living somewhere out in the countryside, working together to take care of their child. Living in perfect bliss. That's when Alistair was pulled out of his thoughts when he smelled something. Something that filled him with dread. Smoke. And it was coming from...

"Oh no." he muttered worriedly. Alistair flapped his bat wings faster, heading into the direction of the smoke, the sight he saw was horrifying. The house of his beloved Maia was up in flames. Alistair looked down below to see an angry mob of ponies wielding pitchforks and tossing some of their torches at the house. His bat ears picked up what they were saying.

"That's right, burn! Burn! Right to the ground! Trap the hell spawn and it's mother inside and send them to Tartarus!"

"YEAH!!"

Alistair bared his fangs in anger. The dared to kill his love? For what reason? For merely having his child?! Well, he wouldn't let it end like this. Alistair swooped down, busting through the roof and into the fiery inferno. The house was filled with flames and smoke. Alistair strained to see through it and keep himself from breathing in too much of the smoke.

"Maia!" he called out. "Maia!!" His ears perked as he heard the sound of cough. He followed the sound toward the bedroom. Using his strength, he busted down the door. "Maia!" Sure enough, Maia was there, lying in her bed, drenched in sweat. She looked toward the doorway and smiled weakly at him.

"Alistair..." she managed to utter. She let out a violent cough. Alistair immediately went to her side, worry etched into his face.

"Maia, thank Celestia you're alright. Hurry, we must leave at once." he said. Maia placed a hoof on his arm.

"Alistair...I'm so happy I got to see you...one last time." she said in a whisper.

"Don't say such things Maia, save your strength. You'll live. You need to!" Maia shook her head.

"This is the end for me, my love. I... always knew somehow...that I wouldn't last much longer in this world."

"Maia..." Maia lifted a bundle closer to Alistair's chest, her opalescent eyes looking up at him.

"I want you...to promise me two things...Alistair..." she said.

"Anything." he said.

"Promise, you'll protect our daughter, that you'll protect Fluttershy no matter what." Alistair looked down at the bundle. He then understood what Maia had meant. She'd given birth to their child, and being the weak pegasus she was, she didn't have a lot of strength left to survive much longer and the fire had served to make her condition worse. Alistair nodded solemnly.

"I will, I swear upon my life." he said, meaning it.

"And I want you to promise, not to bear a grudge against the ponies. They don't know any better and fear that which they don't understand. Please, don't blame them...for my demise." It was becoming harder for Maia to breathe. A piece of the roof collapsed in front of the doorway, the fire was moving fast into the bedroom.

"I won't bear a grudge toward them." said Alistair. Maia smiled a peaceful smile up at him.

"Alistair...I love you...with all my heart....goodbye..." Maia's eyelids fell shut, never to open again. Alistair looked upon her face with disbelief.

"No." he whispered. He lightly shook her. "Maia." Tears burned his cheeks as he threw back his head and let out a blood curdling scream, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Alistair grabbed hold of Maia and the bundle, he extended his wings and shot upward. The mob below pointed up at him in fear.

"It's him!"

"The demon!!"

"Run away before he kills us all!!"

But Alistair had no interest in these pitiful ponies. The wind caught his wings, and carried him far away, to a secluded place where he could rest. He landed gently upon the soft grass of a high cliff side. He stared with a broken heart at the sight of his love's lifeless body. In the moonlight, she looked like a heavenly angel placed into a deep slumber. He stroked her lustrous mane, tears dripping upon the body as he mourned the loss of the one pony he ever loved, ever cared for. It was then that Alistair heard a sound like the mewling of a kitten. He looked down at the bundle, he took it into his arms and removed a part of it that covered the face of his daughter. His eyes widened, she was beautiful. Just like her mother. Her mane was just as silky, and was the color of pale pink roses, and her coat was a soft buttercream yellow. She opened her eyes, those lovely teal orbs touching the remains of his heart. This was his daughter, and the last thing he had left from his beloved Maia. Seeing the filly smile at him innocently, Alistair felt comfort for his heavy loss. He hugged his daughter close to his chest. He looked down at Maia's body. 'I won't fail you Maia. Upon my word and honor, I shall protect our daughter, whatever the cost!'

Alistair had chosen the perfect place to bury Maia. The most peaceful place he could find, where nopony would dare disturb it. He'd washed Maia in a bathed of scented lotions, so that she smelled of lilacs. He brushed out her mane and dressed her in a pure white silken dress. He placed her in a polished oak coffin strewn with rose petals. It seemed a little extravagant, but he wanted her death to be peaceful, meaningful. She was an angel on earth, and he would see she was given a burial worthy of somepony such as her.

"Farewell, my darling." he whispered, and leaned down to kiss Maia upon the lips. With a heavy heart, he closed the lid, and lowered the coffin into the ground himself. Her grave was placed near a magnolia tree, and he head stone read:

Here lies Maia.

She who cared for all and fell in love with a demon.

May she rest in eternal peace, and watch over her loved ones

from afar.

Alistair lowered his head in reverence. He opened his eyes, sensing somepony behind him.

"Hello, Eldra." said Alistair coldly. "What brings you here?"

The vampire smiled wickedly, her yellow-green eyes glowing, her silver braided mane swaying as she drew closer to Alistair.

"Poor Alistair, I only came here to pay my respects to the dead. A shame, such a young and ugly wretch died the way she did in that fire. Oh, the tragedy." Alistair whirled around and gripped Eldra's throat, his eyes blazing with anger.

"Don't dare talk about her in that way. You are never to speak about her. Ever!" Eldra just laughed as Alistair choked her.

"Oh Alistair, just as bitter and fiery as always. and here I thought you'd been tamed!" she said. Alistair narrowed his eyes and threw Eldra hard onto the ground.

"Leave my sight." he seethed through gritted teeth.

"Of course, you know I wouldn't dare do anything to upset you, dear brother." Eldra smiled coyly and was about to take her leave, but stopped and looked at him in the eye. "One more thing, the other reason I came here. Many more vampires are coming here, they'll be needing your guidance. As for me, I'll be returning to the Old World, relaxing in the comforts of our ancestral castle."

"What are you up to Eldra?" asked Alistair bitterly.

"Why nothing brother." said Eldra. "Absolutely nothing." Eldra extended her wings and took to the skies, cackling as she left. His sister had always been a creep. No worse than a creep, yet he couldn't think of the right word for her. Something didn't set right with him, he just knew that Eldra was up to no good. But there was nothing that he could do. It was no longer of his concern. At least he could sleep easier knowing that his sister would be all the way across the seas and far away from him. He heaved a sigh, and turned back to the grave he had just made. He could just she Maia smiling at him warmly as she usually did, telling him that there was no need to worry. And indeed he wouldn't. He had more important things that needed his attention. He trotted through the hidden pathway and to the sanctuary he'd commissioned for his daughter. It was here that they would live the peaceful life he'd planned to have with Maia. Nopony would harm her, or look down upon her as the had him. This, he vowed to make so. For his love.

Author's Note

Sorry if this sounds similar to a certain movie, but as I was writing, it sorta went into that direction. But I swear, the rest of the story is all original and that I'll make this a good vampire story. Even if it does have romance in it.

Apples as Red as Blood

Fluttershy pushed back the heavy velvet curtains of the carriage to look out the window at the townsponies they passed by. All of them were caught up in the hustle and bustle of their own daily lives. Fluttershy wished she could join them, but sadly, that would be a great risk that her father had warned her not to take. Instead, she watched them from afar, and imagined herself being apart of their lives. When really, she had no affect on them whatsoever. "It's for the best." her father had said. Though, now that she was older, Fluttershy no longer believed in those words. Still, she knew how important it was that she remained hidden. What would happen if anypony found out what she really was. The carriage finally came to a halt. Fluttershy remained seated until the coach stallion opened the door for her and helped her out.

"Thank you." she told him. The coach stallion gave a nod and remained positioned to look after the carriage until she was ready to leave. Fluttershy looked up at the sign of the place she'd visited the most often in the quaint little town. A tavern called The Golden Apple. The tavern was a modest little wooden building and it was in need of some repair, especially where the roof was concerned. But this was by far the best place for Fluttershy to quench her burning thirst. Fluttershy trotted into the establishment, her bright dress standing out against the dull decorum. An orange earth pony mare looked up and smiled when she saw who it was.

"Howdy there Fluttershy. Come back for the new shipment?" she asked.

"Yes Applejack, I heard that this year's crop was the best yet." said Fluttershy as she made her way to the counter. Applejack set down a mug she'd been cleaning out.

"They're right in the back, I'll help you load them onto your carriage." said Applejack.

"Thank you, that would be very helpful." In the back room of the tavern were caskets of fresh pressed cider, and crates of ripe apples. Applejack showed the large crate she had reserved for Fluttershy, the apples inside were practically spilling out. Oh the apples. So plump. Filled with juices. And their color, it was the perfect and tantalizing shade of red Fluttershy had ever seen. Fluttershy had to hold back the urge she had to grab one of the apples and start feeding on it. She deeply inhaled their scent and let out a sigh.

"Your family's apples are the best that I've ever tasted." Fluttershy said. Applejack smiled at the compliment.

"Aw, they're nothing. I used to harvest them all the time with my big brother Big Macintosh, now I only help some of the time and mostly try to sell them."

"Speaking of Big Mac, how's he been?"

"Just dandy. In fact, he wrote to me not too long ago about meeting a nice mare, a school teacher who adores our homemade apple butter and apple jam."

"How wonderful. I hope they become good friends."

"Yeah, well, I haven't actually met the school teacher, but for her sake she better treat my brother right. My little sister Apple Bloom also wrote that she'd be giving me updates on the two and how things are going for them. Fluttershy cocked her head to the side.

"Isn't that a little..."

"Obsessive" Applejack finished. "Maybe a smidge, but I wanna make sure that whoever my big brother ends up with, she's at least a decent mare who cares for him." Applejack let out an embarrassed laugh. "Here I am jabbering away when I should be working. I'll get these loaded and be out of your way."

"Your not in my way." said Fluttershy. "In fact, it's good to talk to somepony. Papa has been gone for a while, and it gets terribly lonely being in the villa without him." Her eyes fell down to the ground, a sad expression on her face. Applejack patted Fluttershy on the back and smiled warmly.

"Hey, cheer up now. I'm sure he'll be back in no time." she said. A small smile found its way onto Fluttershy's face.

"Thank you Applejack." Applejack was a good hard worker, yet it amazed Fluttershy just how easily she could carry heavy loads as if they were nothing. She watched as the coach stallion and Applejack secured the apple crates onto the carriage.

"There we go, that about does it." said Applejack to herself. Fluttershy reached into her purse and dropped the payment into Applejack's open hoof.

"Wow. That's a bit much sugarcube." said Applejack as she looked at the large amount she was holding with wide eyes.

"Take it. You've supplied my family with such high quality apples and cider, it's only fair that I repay you somehow." said Fluttershy kindly.

"Well...alright. If you're sure." said Applejack. "Thank you kindly Fluttershy. I hope you and your family enjoy the apples."

"We always do." The coach stallion helped Fluttershy get into the carriage. She waved a hoof at Applejack. "Goodbye." Applejack waved goodbye as well, watching as the carriage pulled out of sight.

The ride back home was a lengthy one, and Fluttershy was beginning to feel thirsty. Luckily, she'd grabbed an apple to snack on from the crate. Her eyes looked at the apple with hunger, her hooves brushed the smooth, red skin. She opened her mouth and two sharp fangs extended out as she bit into the apple. In a single slurp, she drained it of all its juice. She let out a sigh, savoring the sweet yet tart taste of the apple.

"My compliments to you Applejack." said Fluttershy. "Another fine crop." Yes, Fluttershy wasn't an ordinary pegasus, she was a vampire hybrid. She posses the strengths and weaknesses of both, yet she was neither one or the other. Some of the most notable traits she had were her thirst, her stare and her fangs. Most vampires lived by drinking the blood of animals, while she on the other hoof drank from apples. Her retractable fangs were something that all vampires had, yet she didn't think they were of much use considering she only used them on apples. And of course, there was her stare. Her father had told her that pure blood vampires possessed the power of hypnosis and manipulation, a power channeled through their eyes. Fluttershy had only inherited a fraction of this power, only able to have an intimidating hold over anypony she used her stare on. Of course, this was a power she didn't use unless it was absolutely necessary.

And yet, it was because of these powers, because she'd been born this way, that her father kept her hidden away. "If anypony were to find out about you." her father had said. "They will surely seek to destroy you. Something that I will not allow to happen." Fluttershy looked down at the remains of the apple, it was now withered and dry. Would ponies really want to kill her for sucking a few apples dry? Would she...really be so horrible in their eyes? Fluttershy turned away from the apple husk and to the the carriage window. The passing landscape calmed her down, as looked at the fields, the trees, and the brilliant sky. Soon, her family villa came into view. Her father had commissioned it shortly after she'd been born, and it had been her home ever since. It was a white building, made with marble, a large a stately place. Though a little too stately for Fluttershy's taste, she made the most of it.

Fluttershy's eyes widened when she saw what she'd been waiting for for what seemed like forever. When the carriage stopped, Fluttershy didn't wait for the coach stallion to help her out, instead, she threw open the door herself and rushed to the villa doors. She galloped eagerly through the hall and into the study.

"Papa!" Fluttershy cried happily, throwing her arms around him. Alistair laughed as he spun Fluttershy around in his arms.

"I've missed you too my little angel." he said. "Let's have a look at you." Fluttershy smiled as Alistair lifted her chin up and looked into her face.

"You've gotten more and more beautiful since last I saw you. Just like your mother." he said. Fluttershy pushed her father's chest playfully.

"Papa! Stop teasing me. You know I'm not that beautiful." she said.

"Don't be so modest Fluttershy. You share much with your mother, not just her beauty, but her heart as well." Fluttershy couldn't help but smile. Her sweet and caring father, she loved him dearly. Even if he could be a bit embarrassing with his compliments. Despite his age, her father looked no older than 22, and held such youth and handsome features about him. Or at least, that's what everypony said when they saw her father. His chiseled features, light complexion, and those dark and mysterious eyes. He could've chosen any mare, yet he chose her mother, saying that he never regretted his decision and was glad to have met such a mare.

"How was your business trip?" asked Fluttershy, hoping that he would say that it went well and that he'd be staying with her for a while. Alistair sat down in his armchair and sighed.

"It went about as well you'd expect with those vampires. It's always some argument over food or territory, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to return tomorrow before things get worse." Fluttershy's smile fell.

"Oh." she said.

"I'm sorry Fluttershy, but try to understand, that I have duties that protect the peace of not just the vampires but the ponies as well."

"I know, I know papa. But that still doesn't make it any less lonely when you're gone."

"And I'm truly sorry for that Fluttershy. But, unless times change, I'm afraid that there'll be no place for us to freely go among the ponies." Fluttershy lowered her head.

"I understand papa."

"Good. But, in the meantime, why don't you tell me how things have been around here without me?" Fluttershy's smile returned and she told her father about all the thing's she been learning about from her books and the stories she'd heard.

At dinner, Fluttershy listened with great interest as her father recounted what he'd seen on his trip to the distant vampire coven he'd just returned from. How it was a merger of three different sides, each one competing over which should be the coven's leader and over any food that came their way.

"A lot of vampires have been stalking ponies, something that is strictly forbidden to all who come here to the New World to find peace." said Alistair, drinking from his goblet. "I may have no choice but to send them back to the Old World if the problem escalates any further." Fluttershy munched on her salad of rampion and arugula, and said, "Why do you suppose they started going after ponies?"

"I honestly don't know, I'll have to arrange a meeting with the other pure bloods to discuss this matter. It is most troubling to say the least."

"I'm sure everything will work out papa." Fluttershy said reassuringly. "After all, you always find a solution to these problems."

"Hopefully you're right Fluttershy." said Alistair. "Let's move onto a different topic, shall we? All this talk is starting to spoil my appetite."

"Alright." said Fluttershy. And the rest of dinner passed by quickly, by the time the table had been cleared, Fluttershy was ready for bed. Her father kissed her on the forehead as she was heading into her bedroom.

"Good night my little angel." he said. "Sleep well."

"I will papa." Fluttershy closed the bedroom door gently, and curled underneath the covers of her bed. She fell asleep almost instantly, and began to dream of being free to go among the other ponies, and eating all the apples she could want out in the open. Free to show off her fangs, and to make friends. If only that were to be true outside her dreams. Then maybe, she wouldn't be so lonely anymore.

Harbinger of Darkness

It was close to midnight when the old sailing vessel arrived in the port. It was like a ghost ship as it slipped out of the fog and stopped at the docks. Two dockworkers noticed the ship's arrival and cautiously approached the ship as the gang plank lowered and two figures stepped off. Both were pegasi, one a mare the other a stallion.

"Who are you?" asked one of the dock workers. The mare, who had a silvery braided mane and yellow-green eyes smiled sweetly at them, yet her eyes showed a coldness that made the dockworkers shudder.

"I am Lady Eldra, and this here is my liaison, Drake. We could use your assistance in carrying our cargo to the nearest inn." said the mare. The dockworkers took a step back, feeling unease from the couple.

"I'm sorry but-" one of the dockworkers began. But both were silenced as they looked into the eyes of the mare. They became entranced by her gaze. They wanted to do whatever they could to please this mare.

"Now then." said Eldra. "If you'd please take care of our cargo."

"As you wish, mistress." said the dockworkers in unison. They boarded onto the ship to retrieve the cargo, which was a tall crate with the word fragile stamped on it.

"Oh, and do be careful." added Eldra. "It would be terrible should it happen to break."

"Yes mistress." Drake rolled his eyes.

"You and your manipulation." he said. "And I wonder why you even bring me along, considering how well you can take care of yourself."

"Do I detect a hint of jealousy Drake?" Eldra laughed. "Do you wish to be of use and to protect me?"

"You wish. I just don't understand why I had to come when I could've stayed behind."

"My dear Drake, you must remember that I consider you my protege, and as such I intend to teach you a thing or two on what it means to be a true vampire." As she trotted past him, she said smugly, "Even if you aren't a pure blood." Drake gritted his teeth but said nothing, following Eldra down the gang plank. Eldra used her manipulation to get transportation and boarding at a nearby inn, having complete and utter privacy. The crate was placed in the center of the room. Eldra ran her hoof along the boards of the crate, smiling with an evil glee.

"Let's open this bad boy up, shall we?" Drake opened the crate, removing from it, an interesting statue. It had a serpentine body, a pony head, a deer and goat antlers, a bat and pegasus wing and an eagle claw and lion paw. Eldra directed Drake where to position the statue, her smile becoming wider and crooked.

"After so many centuries, I've recovered the imprisoned Spirit of Chaos." she said, holding her hooves up to the statue. "He who brought great misfortune and misery, such a powerful creature. It took the royal sisters themselves to subdue him, and now he's in my possession."

"And what are we supposed to do with him?" asked Drake.

"We're going to revive him of course." said Eldra matter-of-factly. "He shall be most useful. Oh I can just see the look on my beloved brother's face when he not only sees my return, but that I have the master of chaos himself on my side." She threw back her head and let out a malevolent laugh, while Drake was off to the side, rolling his eyes at this display. She could be such a dramatic, but she was no less a deadly threat. He could tell that she would stop at nothing to complete her plan. Whatever it may be.

"This is sooo boring." said a young pegasus.

"Then you shouldn't have come." said a young unicorn. Her name was Twilight Sparkle, she was a prized student and had a degree in ancient and obscure magics. Her studies had led her, and her liaison Rainbow Dash, on a very important mission. The two had been riding in the carriage for roughly seven hours, and still had quite a ways to go before reaching their destination.

"Remind me again why we're traveling all the way into the middle of nowhere?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"For the hundredth time, we're heading out to study and possibly talk to the vampires that are said to live around this region." said Twilight.

"I know that, I meant, why are we traveling to meet a bunch of blood suckers?"

"The vampires have always been a somewhat mysterious group of creatures, a few of which traveled here from the Old World in seek of a more peaceful way of living. Yet recently, there have been reports of vampires attacking other ponies. And I have reason to believe that there is a hidden cause for this."

"So what, you expect us to just walk up to them and have a little talk?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Yes." answered Twilight. "Despite what other ponies believe, vampires have been known to be quite hospitable to others, as shown by the recorded encounters of pure blooded vampires."

"But you wouldn't have brought me along if you didn't believe that to be true."

"Sigh! Pure bloods are different from the other, more common vampires. They might be more unpredictable, so it doesn't hurt to take precaution." Rainbow Dash lounged back, taking up most of the seat across from Twilight, letting out a yawn.

"Just wake me when we get there." she said, and dozed off. Twilight shook her head, and opened up one of the many books she had brought to help aid in her mission. What she didn't tell Rainbow Dash, was that her brother, Shining Armor, had asked her to help check out the disturbances since she was an expert in this sort of field. Twilight wouldn't let her brother down, and in order for that, she'd need to read up on everything she could find about the vampires. She read each page carefully, taking in all of the information from it.

No pony knows where the dread vampires came from. Many have speculated the beginnings of their existence, but none come close to the true answer. In days of old, across the sea in the Old World, the vampires surfaced, bringing terror to the ponies who lived there. There are three known classes of vampires by which these beasts are categorized as.

The first, and most powerful, are the Pure Bloods. Born vampires, with a deep connection to the source of their power, to the first vampires. Revered by their lineage and power, they are considered the leading authority figures and see that the other vampires are under control.

The second, are the lesser, more common vampires, referred to as Half Breeds among their superiors. Half breeds are vampires who were once ponies, who were bitten by a pure blood and in turn drank the his or her blood. This mixing of bloods transforms them into a less powerful, but equally terrifying creature. They cannot create other vampires like the pure bloods, but they still drink with animalistic tendencies.

The third and final vampire, is considered an abomination to both ponies and vampires alike, the Hybrid. The hybrid is even rarer than the pure bloods, and is neither pony nor vampire. They are born from the union of a vampire and a pony, and result in a creature whose form varies from different births. There have only been four known cases of hybrids appearing, all of which are from the Old World. All are born deformed and ugly, rarely live past infancy, and have an uncontrollable blood lust. It is because of these beasts that the union of pony and vampire is forbidden.

Twilight looked up from her book, and peered out the window at the mountainside. Twilight had always been fascinated with the concepts of pony and vampire hybrids, and though there wasn't much to read on them, she wondered what would've happened if the hybrids made it past infancy and controlled their blood lust. What kind of ponies would they be? Would they be the monsters they were pegged for, or a solution to bridged the two species together? Nothing but unanswered questions and theories that wouldn't be of much use to the current mission. There was a flash, then a crash, and the rain began to pour down by the bucket load. Whatever she'd find, Twilight hoped it would provide the answer to at least some of her scientific queries.

"Be careful papa." said Fluttershy, putting her father's coat onto him. "The storm looks like it could get worse."

"Don't worry about me Fluttershy." said Alistair. "I'll be back safe and sound before you know it, and then we can spend some quality time together. Just the two us."

"You promise?"

"I promise." Alistair gave Fluttershy a hug goodbye and went into the carriage that awaited him. Fluttershy stood in the doorway, watching her father disappear out of sight. Fluttershy closed the door behind her and sighed.

"It's just me now." she said. Fluttershy put on a smile, to try and improve her mood. "Well, I might as well make myself useful and get the place ready for papa's return." Fluttershy got the cleaning supplies from the closet and got to work cleaning up the villa. She swept, mopped, and polished the floor. She dusted the chairs and sofas, beat out the rugs, and washed the dishes. After that, Fluttershy went into the study and put away the books she'd finished reading. She wanted to become the kind of mare her father would be proud to call his daughter.

So she taught herself the things any mare would need to know in order to keep house. She'd learned to cook, clean, and sew. She even dabbled in a book on etiquette so she'd know how to act if her father brought any of his companions home. Something that happened so rarely, but when they did come, they complimented on what a proper young mare she was. In fact she managed to make them believe she was a pure blood like her father. Of course, she didn't exactly tell them otherwise, per her father's advisement. He'd told her stories of other hybrids, they were nothing like her but because of their reputation, they were looked down upon by other vampires. She couldn't show herself to ponies or other vampires. Just who was she supposed to be anyway?

Fluttershy was so distracted that she accidentally dropped one of the books. She bent down to pick it up, scolding herself for being so careless. It was then that she found something sticking out of the dust cover. Fluttershy pulled it out and let out a soft gasp. It was a picture of her mother, Maia. A mare as beautiful as her father had often described, but there was something else, a deeper beauty in her mother's eyes and in her smile. 'I wish I could've met you mama.' Fluttershy thought to herself. She placed the photo back into book and set it onto the shelf.

"I should check on the windows and make sure the storm doesn't blow them open and cause a mess." And so, Fluttershy left, to continue spending the rest of her day, alone.

Everything was in place for the ceremony. The statue was perfectly positioned, with eight tall white candles surrounding him in a circle. Eldra held up her arms and began the chant.

"Oh, Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, I call upon thee and your powers. Hear me, Discord." Eldra took out a dagger and cut her hoof, she let her blood drip into the circle. "Upon my blood, I create our contract." The blood moved toward the statue, gathering at the base. Then, some of the blood went from the base to the eight candles, forming the symbol of chaos. Eldra smiled and concentrated as she spoke the final words.

"The contract is sealed. Awaken Discord, and come to my aid. AWAKEN!!" There was a strike of thunder. The window burst open, letting in the violent wind. It swirled around the statue, forming a kind of tornado. The bloody symbol glowed and the flame from the candles burned brighter than before. Eldra shielded her eyes from the intensity, but was pleased at how the revival spell was working. The wind dissipated, and the statue had become flesh, blood and bone. The spirit, Discord, stretched out his limbs and let out an exaggerated yawn.

"It's about time somepony finally freed me." he said. He looked down at Eldra with some amusement. "I suppose I should thank you, vampire, for getting rid of that prison block."

"You can thank me by helping me, as per the established contract." said Eldra, unable to contain her glee over her success. Discord raised a bushy eyebrow.

"Contract?" he asked. "I don't recall agreeing to any contract." Eldra pointed to the symbol of chaos at his feet, which was starting to fade away.

"While using the revival spell, I also made a binding contract with my blood. And as you know, nothing can break the binds of pure blood vampire's blood." said Eldra. "Which means that you're under my power. Discord laughed at Eldra.

"You really think a little blood can contain me?" he asked. He created a ball of green fire and shot it at Eldra with a curve ball throw. The fire ball stopped a few inches in front of Eldra's face before shooting back into Discord's stomach with twice as much force than he'd previously given it. He rubbed his stomach.

"What int he world was that?!" Eldra let out a laugh this time.

"As I said, you are bond by my blood, meaning that you are unable to harm me. Any attempt will be thrown back at you." Discord frowned, folding his arms over his chest.

"Seeing as how I have no choice, what exactly is it that you want from me?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing much." said Eldra coyly. "Just to see my perfect brother suffer beyond all reason, and make myself the ruler of all vampires."

"My, what lofty goals."

"A girl can dream. I've always had a certain...sadistic hatred toward my brother, and it's about time that I take him down a peg."

"Hmm. You know what? I think this might just work out after all." Discord extended his lion paw, a grin on his face. "Care to make it official?" Eldrad took his paw, and shook it. A partnership had been formed.

"Whoa!" cried Rainbow Dash, as she was thrown head first into Twilight. The carriage was leaning dangerously close to the narrow path of the cliff side.

"What the hay is happening?!" asked Rainbow.

"The storm is getting worse, it's causing the road to become hazardous!" Twilight said, trying to keep herself from falling over.

"What do we do?!"

"We need to get out. Now."

"Don't need to tell me twice." Rainbow used her back legs to kick open the carriage door, Twilight stuck her head out, and saw that the stallions pulling the carriage had disappeared.

"They must've detached themselves a little ways back." said Twilight. "Let's hope they're alright." she said.

"Enough talk, let's get out of this deathtrap before we get creamed!"

"On my signal." Twilight waited, looking carefully below for the right moment and place to make a jump for it. "NOW!" Twilight and Rainbow Dash jumped, just before the carriage crashed into some rocks. Rainbow flapped her wings to keep hold of Twilight, but the wind was too strong for her, and it blew against her. Rainbow couldn't hold on for much longer, and her wings gave out. She and Twilight, fell down into the trees below, escaping one danger and facing a new path.

Sanctuary

Twilight and Rainbow Dash had crash landed into some trees, but were otherwise, no worse for wear. Just a few scrapes and bruises. Twilight let out a groan.

"Rainbow? Where you?" she asked. Rainbow Dash suddenly fell on top of Twilight. Twilight let out another groan.

"Sorry about that." said Rainbow Dash sheepishly. She then let out a cry of pain. "AH! My wing!" She tried to move it, but her wing seemed to be badly sprained. Twilight helped Rainbow Dash up and the two surveyed their surroundings, finding themselves in a dense, wooded area.

"Where are we?" asked Rainbow.

"How should I know?" said Twilight. "We could be anywhere." The heavy ran and wind pelted against them. "We need to find shelter, and fast." The girls strained to see where they were going as the began searching for cover from the storm. But as far as they knew, there might not even be any cover for miles around. There seemed to be nothing but bushes and trees as far as they could see. But Twilight spotted something in the distance that made her hopeful.

"I see a light!" she said. "There might be somepony nearby."

"Let's hope so." said Rainbow Dash. And so, they headed toward the source of the light, hoping that it would lead them to a shelter of sorts where the could wait out the storm.

Fluttershy looked out the window at the raging storm, never before had she seen one quite like this before. It was starting to worry her. Was her father alright in this storm? Her thoughts were broken when she heard a loud pounding coming from the door. The sudden sound made her jump until she realized what it was.

"Coming!" she called out, and hurried to greet whoever it was knocking on her door. 'Who could be here out in this weather?' she wondered. She opened the door to find a purple unicorn and a cyan pegasus with a sprained wing, both drenched as they stood on her doorstep. She gasped a put a hoof over her mouth.

"Oh my goodness! Are you two alright?" she asked worriedly. The unicorn nodded.

"Sorry to trouble you like this, but our carriage crashed a little ways from here, and we were wondering if we could stay here for the night."

"Of course, come inside." Fluttershy opened the door wider and beckoned the girls inside.

"You two can sit by the fire in the study, while I get you girls something to eat. You look famished." said Fluttershy as she led them to the study. A large fire was already burning in the hearth, cracking and sparking its warm embers. Fluttershy sat them down and draped blankets over their shoulders before heading into the kitchen to fix them up some food. Fluttershy was a little excited by the arrival of the two strangers. Two ponies were here. Somepony she could talk to. In the kitchen, Fluttershy got out two bowls and filled them up with lettuce for her guests to munch on. When she returned to the study, she was happy to see that the girls were getting nice and cozy around the fire.

"Is there anything else I can get you?" asked Fluttershy as she handed them the bowls of salad.

"No, we're good. No need to trouble yourself." said the unicorn, who turned to her friend and arched an eyebrow when she saw how she was cramming the whole salad into her mouth. The pegasus stopped mid-chew and looked at Fluttershy and the unicorn who were both staring at her.

"Wha?" she asked through her food. Fluttershy and the unicorn both smiled and started laughing a little. Rainbow Dash also joined in their good-natured laughing. Fluttershy felt a happiness inside her, one she rarely felt. Probably because she had nopony else to laugh or talk with up until now.

"My name is Fluttershy." said Fluttershy with a welcoming smile. "And you two can stay here as long as you need to."

"Thank you Fluttershy." said the unicorn. "I'm Twilight Sparkle by the way, and this is Rainbow Dash."

"How ya doing?" said Rainbow Dash with a friendly wave.

"It's good to have some company over, especially during a night like this." said Fluttershy, looking toward the window. "It gets really lonely out here, and I don't get many visitors."

"Do you live here all alone?" asked Rainbow Dash. Fluttershy shook her head.

"No, I live here with papa, but he's away on important business and won't be back for a while."

"Does he always leave you on your own?" asked Twilight.

"Yes, but it's not his fault. He has important things he needs to do." Fluttershy looked downward. A sadness passing over her face. She did her best to shake it off. She had company, and they needed her attention right now. "So what brought you two out here?"

"We heard that there were vampires in the area and-" Twilight stuck her hoof over Rainbows mouth and smiled anxiously at Fluttershy.

"What my friend means is that we were heading to a village where there are many vampire myths. We're were hoping to find more information on it for some research I'm doing. See, I'm a student at university, so it's kind of my thing." Fluttershy just stood there silently. These two were looking for vampires? Why? Was it really just for research?

"I don't think you'll have much luck, there aren't any vampires or myths about them around here." she said, not looking them in the eye. She couldn't let them find out. About her, or her father.

"Maybe I can find something in one of my-" Twilight stopped herself and let out a loud, air sucking gasp. "My books! They were still on the carriage that crashed! And now, they're gone!" Twilight lowered her head, upset over the loss of her beloved books.

"Uh, I think our lives are a little more important than a few old books." said Rainbow Dash.

"You don't understand. I got those books from my professors. They were special to me!" Fluttershy knelt down next to Twilight, patting her back, trying to be sympathetic toward her.

"Don't worry Twilight." she said. "I'm sure your books will be fine."

"But-"

"You're tired from your journey, let me make up the beds and try to get some rest." Twilight sighed in defeat.

"Alright." Fluttershy showed them the guest room, and carefully closed the door. She looked down at the blankets that had been on the girls and toward the window. She didn't know Twilight very well, but she didn't like seeing her so sad either. She took a long, deep sniff of the blankets, locking onto the girls' scent. It would be difficult to track it in this kind of weather, but she had to at least try. Fluttershy slipped out of the villa and flew into the storm.

"Eldra?" called Drake as he knocked on the door. "Can I come in know? Or do you still insist on leaving me stranded out here?"

"Did you bring something for me?" asked Eldra through the door. Drake sighed.

"Yes. Open up and I'll show you what I brought." There was a click, and the door opened up. Eldra smiled at Drake from inside the room.

"So, what did you bring, dear Drake?" she asked. Drake reached to the side and tossed two stallions inside, both were bound, gagged, and terrified. Eldra clapped her hooves, pleased by the two stallions before her.

"Oh Drake, wherever did you find such delectable morsels?"

"I was passing over the cliff side when I saw them pulling a carriage. The rode was staring to become dangerous during the storm and they unhitched themselves to keep from getting hurt by the run away carriage." Eldra rubbed her hooves together with glee, the stallions looked into her eyes, and became paralyzed. Eldra opened her mouth, two razor sharp fangs now protruding outward.

"Dinnertime!" she said. And bit down into the neck of the first stallion. His warm blood dripping down his neck, oh how salty and tasty it was! She lapped it up with her tongue, continuing to drain it all from the stallion's body. As the stallion's body became lifeless and empty, Eldra felt herself becoming full and satisfied. She lifted her head and let out a sigh. Blood was stained upon her lips, the now dead stallion had a look of frozen fear. Eldra moved onto the next stallion. Before, digging her fangs into him, she looked up at Drake.

"Where are my manners? Care for a drink Drake?" she asked. Drake shook his head.

"I'll pass." he said.

"Suit yourself." Eldra said with a shrug. Drake sat himself upon the bed, and watched as she sucked the stallion into another empty husk as if it were nothing.

"Quite the eater, isn't she?" asked a voice. Drake jumped off the bed and took a defensive stance.

"Who said that? Show yourself!" The creature, who had once been a statue, materialized in front of him.

"How do you do?" said the creature. Drake still held his stance. His eyes narrowed on him like burning flames.

"Who are you?" asked Drake. Eldra wiped the blood off her mouth with the back of her hoof and turned to Drake.

"That's right, I nearly forgot to introduce you to our new, acquaintance. This is Discord, the Spirit of Chaos."

"You mean you actually managed to revive him?"

"What? Is really that surprising? Have a little more faith in me Drakey." Drake glowered at the two. Not sure which he disliked more.

"I'm gonna get some air." he said.

"But you just got here." said Eldra.

"It suddenly became a bit crowded for me." said Drake, already out the door. "Call for me when you actually need my assistance." He slammed the door hard, his hoofsteps fading as he moved down the corridor.

"A real ray of sunshine that one." remarked Discord sarcastically.

"Ah, but it's that kind of sternness that really gets me in the mood. It almost sends chills down my spine when he looks at me with his cruel gaze."

"So, are you two...?"

"No, unfortunately not. But that doesn't mean we can't be." She smiled and sat down on the bed with her legs crossed, her bat wings folded up. "Onto more, serious business, I have heard tales of your own powers of manipulation, how you're able to bring out the worst in everypony pony so they're at each others throat." Discord rubbed his talons against his chest and studied them.

"It's a gift. But where exactly are you going with this?" he asked.

"I want to cause a little strife in my brother's life, and who better to do it than you? I've already set up some of my own forces among many of the vampire covens here in the New World. With a little work, I'll force my brother's hoof to make a drastic mistake."

"So you want to cause a war between the vampires and the ponies." Eldra nodded, a sadistic expression upon her face.

"What better way to celebrate my return and my claim to power, than with a festive blood bath?"

"And what makes you so sure that the ponies and the vampires will want to fight?"

"I've already devised a plan for that, one that I've refined over the years. My forces have already stirred up wariness among the ponies, all that's left is for the ponies to strike at the vampires, and let Old World hatred take root. So, are you interested?"

"Very. But that brother of yours, what about him?" Eldra laughed cruelly.

"That soft-hearted fool is too busy to notice my presence. Though..." Her eyes lit up as she looked at Discord. "There is another thing I need you to do for me, other than manipulating the ponies." Discord tilted his head out of curiosity.

"And that would be what exactly?"

"My brother has a ugly, and wretched little brat, we could use her as leverage. To give my brother reason not to go against me should he find out what I'm up to." Discord let out a maniacal laugh.

"You are devious aren't you? Very well, consider it done."

"You're sure you can handle it?"

"Pfft! Please. How hard could it be to get close to a little pony. Even if she is a vampire, she's still a mare. Just wait and see." Eldra giggled evilly, it was coming together oh so perfectly.

Twilight could barely sleep the rest of the night, and felt bone tired in the morning. It may seem silly, but she couldn't help but worry about her books. How they were getting ruined in this dreadful weather! How would she explain this to er professors?! These were irreplaceable books, now ruined because of her carelessness, and for not choosing a safer route to travel on. There was a light knock on the door, so soft the girls barely even heard it. The door opened, revealing Fluttershy, wearing a smile and an apron as she bid them good morning.

"I've fixed up breakfast for you in the dinning room. Once you both finish, I have a special surprise for you, Twilight." Twilight found herself baffled. A surprise for her? What could it be? The girls ate a large helping of wild berries and oatmeal, once their bowls were empty, Fluttershy flew up to Twilight, a grin on her face as she held something behind her back.

"Are you ready for your surprise?" she asked. Twilight nodded slowly. From her back, Fluttershy pulled out a stack of books. Twilight's eyes widened with recognition.

"My books!" she cried happily. She took the stack and flipped through the pages. There didn't seem to be much water damage to them, and they looked alright for the most part.

"B-but how? I thought..."

"Oh, I uh, found them near the cliff side when I was picking berries for this morning's breakfast." Fluttershy's eyes darted anxiously to the girls, hoping they believed her fib. In truth, she had flown to the cliff side, after much difficult searching, and had carefully dried each book to ensure that they weren't damaged. It left her a bit worn, but it was worth it to see Twilight happy.

"You've been so kind to us." said Twilight. "We can't thank you enough."

"No thanks is necessary." said Fluttershy. "You two probably want to return on your journey. I'll help prepare for your leave if you wish." Twilight shook her head.

"Actually, we were thinking about staying here for a little bit longer." she said. Fluttershy was surprise by this.

"R-really?" asked Fluttershy.

"Well, we don't really have anywhere to go and we're kinda broke so..." Rainbow Dash was nudged in the ribs by Twilight. "Ow! Watch that!"

"If you don't mind of course." said Twilight. Fluttershy broke out into a beaming smile.

"No, I'd be more than happy to let you stay. My home is your home." Then Fluttershy remembered her father and added, "Of course, when my father gets back, you'll need his permission if you want to further your stay."

"Don't worry Fluttershy, I don't think we'll be staying that long." said Twilight.

"Yeah, but in the meantime, got anything to drink around here?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Any, cider perhaps?" Fluttershy froze. Did Rainbow suspect her?

"Rainbow, don't push your luck." said Twilight. "You chug down more cider than any pony I've seen. You'd clear out of house and home."

"Hey! I'm not that bad."

"Um, if you want some cider, they have some over at The Golden Apple. I could by you a mug if you're interested." said Fluttershy.

"I'll take you up on that offer." said Rainbow Dash. Twilight laughed and shook her head. Fluttershy felt like she belonged with these ponies. That she was one of them. Just like in her dreams. But a teeny bit of worry gnawed on her mind. What if like a dream, this happiness she felt ended just as it was getting good? Fluttershy pushed that worry aside, wanting instead, to enjoy the nice moment she was sharing with these nice girls. She felt like nothing could go wrong.

A Chance Encounter

With the coach stallion away with her father, Fluttershy, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash had to walk all the way into town. Along the way, the girls got to know one another better.

"And so, when I found out my brother was asking Rainbow Dash to be my liaison, I was shocked to say the least." said Twilight.

"And I was shocked that I'd be looking out for this egghead here." said Rainbow Dash jokingly.

"You two must've been friends for a long time." said Fluttershy.

"Not really, I met Twi here a year ago, and we just sorta ended up running into each other a lot."

"I didn't think Rainbow and I would ever become friends. But it just sorta...happened."

"What about you Flutters?" asked Rainbow Dash. "What are your friends like?" Fluttershy blushed at being called Flutters and answered timidly, "I don't really have any friends."

"You sure? You've gotta have at least one friend." said Rainbow.

"Well, there is the owner of the Golden Apple, Applejack. We talk to each other, and she tells me about how her family is doing."

"Sounds like a friend to me." said Twilight. Was she? It surprised Fluttershy, she'd never realized Applejack was a friend, she always thought that they were just two nice ponies have little conversations. And now, with these two ponies, it looked like she now had three friends. The thought of it made her fell...warm inside. At long last, the girls had reached the village.

"Welcome to Wisteria." said Fluttershy. Rainbow and Twilight took in the sights and greeted all the townsponies who passed them by. Fluttershy made sure to stay close to them, feeling a bit overwhelmed by how crowded the streets seemed, and not being used to interacting with so many ponies. Fluttershy pointed out the various buildings, like the village dress shoppe, the book store (which made Twilight practically squee), the flower stands, the doctor's office, and of course, The Golden Apple (which actually got Rainbow to squee at the prospect of having fresh cider to drink). Fluttershy opened the door for them, and trotted in once they were inside.

"Hey, Fluttershy. Back so soon?" said Applejack. "And I see you brought a couple of strangers with you."

"This is Twilight and Rainbow Dash, they got caught in last night's storm and ended up on my doorstep."

"Tell me about it. That was one heck of a storm last night. Heard it even knocked down a few trees too."

"No pony got hurt did they?"

"No, luckily they didn't hit anypony, though they did end up blocking a few of the roads, so it'll be a while before we get anymore traveler into these parts." This worried Fluttershy very much. Would it delay her father? No. It would take more than a few trees to block his path, still, she couldn't help but worry, like any daughter would for her father's well being.

"So, what brings you by here with these two?" asked Applejack. Fluttershy looked up, pulling from out of her worrying thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, right. Rainbow Dash here wanted some cider and I thought she might enjoy yours." Applejack smiled proudly.

"Alrighty then, one mug of cider coming up." Applejack pulled out a mug and trotted over to a large barrel, where she turned the nob and let the cider pour in. Fluttershy almost licked her lips at seeing the sweet, golden liquid, wanting a taste for herself. But she scolded herself to show some self control. Applejack set the mug of cider down on the counter. Rainbow Dash quickly sat on the stool and drank it all down.

"That's some good cider." she said. Applejack laughed a little and turned to Fluttershy and Twilight.

"How about you two? Care for mug as well?" asked Applejack. Fluttershy nodded eagerly, while Twilight just shrugged and went along with it. They sat themselves next to Rainbow Dash as they waited for their own mugs. The second Fluttershy got her hooves on her mug, she gulped it down. She smiled at how delicious it was, but quickly covered her mouth in embarrassment. Why had she done something so stupid? She should've been more lady like, or at least taken a few sips.

"I'm sorry." said Fluttershy. "I just. got really thirsty on the walk into town."

"You don't need to be sorry about nothing Fluttershy. I get all sorts of customers who just drink my cider in one big swallow. Guess that just goes to show you how much they like it."

"I'd say love it, is a better way to describe it." said Rainbow Dash.

"This is some good cider." said Twilight, taking more sips from her mug. "Sweet, with a bit of tartness to it."

"I don't really do anything special, just some well pressed cider from farm grown apples. Nothing more and nothing less."

"However you call it, it will always be delicious." said Fluttershy. "Now, how much do I pay you?" Applejack held up a hoof as Fluttershy was about to pull out money from her purse.

"Consider it on the house Fluttershy." she said.

"Your sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure. And you two." she said to Twilight and Rainbow Dash.

"If you two are staying with Fluttershy, take real good care of her, you hear? I don't wanna end up hearing that you two have been causing her trouble."

"Applejack, please. You're embarrassing me." said Fluttershy with a mix of embarrassment and teasing.

"You don't need to worry about Fluttershy, or us." said Twilight.

"Yeah, we'll keep her good company." said Rainbow Dash. Applejack had a way of looking at a pony and telling whether or not they were telling the truth, and from the look of these two, they seemed to be honest enough. She gave an approving nod and said, "In that case, I hope the three of you have a good day. Take care of yourselves."

"Thanks Applejack."

"Bye."

"See ya."

And so, the girls left the tavern, and headed into the streets. Little did they know that they were being closely watched by a pair of yellow and red eyes.

"Snake Oil! Come on up folks, and by our high quality snake oil!"

"You'll never find an oil quite like this."

The girls rolled their eyes as they passed a stand where two shady twins, the Flim Flam Brothers, were selling all sorts of questionable goods. The girls joked over how silly it'd be to by snake oil, when Fluttershy accidentally bumped into somepony. It was a unicorn stallion with a black mane, grayish taupe coat, and cinnamon-golden eyes.

"Oh, my. I'm so sorry." said Fluttershy. "Are you alright?" The unicorn smiled and gave a nod.

"Of course, dear lady." he said. "In truth, the fault is all mine. I should've paid better attention of where I was going. Though, I don't know how I could've missed seeing such a lovely mare such as yourself." A blush bloomed across Fluttershy's face, as pale pink as her mane. She'd been flattered by her father before, but that was more of playful teasing. This was the first time somepony else called her lovely. The unicorn looked at her intently, like he was trying to figure out whether or not he'd seen Fluttershy somewhere before. Which was entirely possible. She rode in the carriage and did shopping a few times in Wisteria, so maybe they met on a passing glance and never even noticed.

"I wonder, you wouldn't happen to be Fluttershy would you? Alistair's daughter?" he asked.

"Yes..." said Fluttershy, a bit confused as to how he knew about her or her father.

"Thought so! You're just as your father described my dear." Fluttershy craned her neck to look at Twilight and Rainbow Dash, who were equally just as puzzled as her.

"I should probably introduce myself." said the unicorn. "My name in Tony Stanza, your father invited me to his house for dinner tonight to discuss a business deal. And by a stroke of luck or fate I end up having the pleasure of meeting his daughter." Fluttershy blinked, still having more questions than answers.

"Papa didn't mention anything about a dinner guest tonight." she said.

"That's understandable. This is confidential business, and I'm very private when it comes to these sorts of transactions."

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you Mr Stanza, but I'm afraid papa is away on other business and it'll be a while before he gets back." Tony Stanza frowned, looking very disappointed.

"Oh dear, this is quite a problem. I'd been so looking forward to tonight's dinner, and I haven't made any other plans. I might as well scrounge something up from the inn and wait until Alistair gets back." Fluttershy felt sorry for the poor fellow. It seemed unlike her father to cancel a dinner without giving notice. But, on the other hoof, he'd been dreadfully busy, and whenever he got busy he had a habit of being forgetful. There was one thing to do to sort this out.

"Mr Stanza, why don't you have dinner tonight at my villa?" asked Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy..." began Twilight, but Fluttershy went on with offering Tony Stanza an invite to dinner.

"I'm sure my father will be happy to know when he gets back, that his guest received the hospitality he was promised." Tony Stanza broke into a wide grin.

"Splendid!" he said. "How does 8 o'clock sound?"

"That'll be perfect."

"Then I'll see you dear ladies at eight. Good day to you all." Fluttershy waved good bye as Tony Stanza disappeared into the crowd. When she faced Twilight and Rainbow Dash, they gave her dumbfounded looks.

"What?" asked Fluttershy.

"Why did you just invite that, that stranger over to your home for dinner?" asked Rainbow.

"Well, it seemed rude to turn him away when papa promised him dinner."

"But what if he was lying?" asked Twilight. "What makes you think you can trust him? He could be trying to rob or hurt you. Or worse!" Fluttershy cast her eyes downward, her ears flattening against her head.

"He seems like such a gentlecolt. Surely he can't be all bad, there must be some good in him."

""Maybe." said Rainbow. "But what if he does something to try and hurt you?" Fluttershy didn't really worry much about getting hurt. One reason was because, since she was a vampire (albeit a hybrid vampire), she could survive through a lot of injuries that would kill most ponies, and had fast acting regenerative powers. The other reason was that she'd had her father to help protect her. It was because of this potent combination that Fluttershy had no concern over getting hurt. And she never did. Still, she needed to say something to ease the girls' minds.

"I don't need to worry about that." she said. "I've got you girls to help me just in case." Rainbow puffed up her chest and Twilight smiled.

"Sure Fluttershy, we'll make sure that Tony Stanza character doesn't try anything on our watch." said Twilight.

"Now with that out of the way, would you girls like to help me shop for dinner?" asked Fluttershy.

"Why not?"

"I'm up for it."

"Great." Fluttershy smiled to herself. It seemed that ever since that storm and her father left, she'd been meeting all sorts of new ponies and she felt like, her wish had been granted. She was staring to fit in with normal ponies. "Why don't we have a dish with lots of tomatoes? I know a great recipe for sauce."

"Sounds good to me."

"Hey it looks like they're having a sale!"

"Hold up, wait for me!"

Fluttershy worked away in the kitchen, making sure that dinner for her guests would be perfect. She'd set a large pot of tomato sauce onto the stove, having it on low heat so it would remain nice and warm for when the noodles were done. She'd also baked some loaves of garlic bread for an appetizer (despite common belief, vampires aren't affected by garlic, though it can at times agitate their over sensitive sense of smell). Twilight and Rainbow Dash had offered to help her but Fluttershy had smiled politely at them and said, "You two are my guests, and as a good hostess, it's my job to make sure you're all given my hospitality." Still, the girls wanted to help her in some way with dinner. So Fluttershy let them set up the tablecloth. After which, they waited for Tony Stanza to arrive.

"What's taking him so long?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"It's only a minute after eight Rainbow." said Twilight.

"Ugh! But I'm starving. How much longer are we going to have to wait?" There was a knock.

"I'll get it!" called Fluttershy from the kitchen. She was still wearing her apron as she went to let the pony in.

"Ah, good evening Miss Fluttershy." Tony Stanza said with a bow, his voice gentle and smooth. From behind his back, he pulled out a bouquet of primroses. Fluttershy gasped at how pretty and how sweet they smelled.

"I thought these would be a nice centerpiece for our dinner." he said. Fluttershy accepted the primroses and took a sniff from them.

"Thank you very much Mr Stanza, I'll put these in a vase and get dinner out on the table." she said. Twilight and Rainbow Dash trotted up to Fluttershy's side, their gaze locked on Tony Stanza. "Girls, could you please show Mr Stanza the dining room?"

"Sure Fluttershy." said Twilight. "Right this way Mr Stanza." Tony Stanza stepped into the threshold, led by Twilight and Rainbow, into the quaint dining room. The fine oaken table was covered with a crisp tablecloth, four plates a sets of silverware were set out, waiting to be filled with food. Fluttershy placed the primroses into a porcelain vase with two curved handles onto the center of the table, then ducked back into the kitchen to get the food. The warm and seasoned smells of dinner wafted in, making everypony's hungry bellies growl. Fluttershy returned with her hooves carrying a large bowl of spaghetti, a plate of garlic bread, and a smaller bowl of salad. Fluttershy went around, filling everypony's plates with a little bit of everything and setting the rest of the food on the table for anypony who wanted seconds.

"Alright! Let's dig in!" said Rainbow Dash, ready to eat up her meal. But she was promptly stopped by Fluttershy.

"Wait, we haven't said grace yet. Papa and I always say grace before every dinner." she said. Fluttershy put her hooves together and quietly gave her thanks.

"I give thanks to the hard working ponies who grew and tended to the food used to prepare this lovely meal. May they continue to bring ponies together with their good work." With grace said, the ponies dug into dinner. Rainbow Dash slurped up the spaghetti, Twilight nibbled on the salad, and Tony Stanza bit into the garlic bread. All could agree that Fluttershy was an excellent cook.

"It seems you've outdone yourself my dear." said Tony Stanza. "I hope I haven't caused any inconvenience for you." Fluttershy shook her head.

"You haven't done anything of the sort. In fact, this is the first time I've had anypony sit down with me for dinner." she said. Twilight narrowed her eyes on Tony Stanza, still a bit cautious of the unicorn, she decided to tactfully find more information about him.

"What kind of business do you do exactly?" asked Twilight.

"Oh, I dabble here and there. Sort of a, 'jack of all trades' you could say." said Tony Stanza, his voice calm, with an easy going tone to it. "I would tell you about the profitable business venture I plan to make with Alistair, but I wouldn't want to divulge in any...private matters. Alistair and I both care to be discreet, something of which, I'm sure you all understand." The girls all muttered in agreement. Rainbow Dash then took control of the conversation.

"How long are you planning on staying?" she asked.

"Well, I was planning on just staying for a couple of day, I just got in yesterday you see. But since Alistair isn't here, I may need to wait until he returns." he said.

"Can you really wait that long?" asked Fluttershy. "It could take a days, maybe weeks, won't somepony miss you?"

"No need to be concerned with me dear Fluttershy, though it is touching." Fluttershy hid half of her face behind her mane, finding herself a little bit embarrassed. The rest of dinner went without a hitch. Tony Stanza gave his thanks for the meal and was about to head out.

"Tonight's dinner was magnificent, thank you Fluttershy, for your generous hospitality." he said. Fluttershy smiled politely, to show her appreciation for his complements. "I might not have been able to meet up with Alistair, but I'm glad to have met his daughter instead. We must do this again sometime. That is, if you wouldn't mind."

"I would be honored Mr Stanza."

"Please," Tony Stanza got a little close to Fluttershy, she found her heart beat quicken a little. Few ponies, especially stallions, ever got close to her. She felt her face grow a little warm. "Call me Tony."

"O-okay...Tony." she stammered. Tony chuckled a little, he turned his back and gave a charming smile as went out the door.

"Good bye Fluttershy." The last thing she saw as the door closed was his eyes. She could've sworn that, for a split second, they'd become cold and calculating instead of gentle. Perhaps it was just a trick of the light. 'If papa could see me now, what would he say?' and then she thought, 'He might be proud to see what a proper mare I'm becoming, taking care of these nice ponies in need. Just like mama.'

Author's Note

For those who've read the MLP chapter books, you all know who 'Tony' is. Hee! Hee! Also I love garlic bread and spaghetti and meatball dinners. I've tried meatless spaghetti sauce, it's good, but just not the same without meat. Please comment below!

Bad Blood

The meeting place was at the center of a dark wood, in an old dilapidated mansion. It's Gothic architecture remained intact despite the years of being exposed to the elements. Several carriages were lined up around it, all of them having a dark grandeur about them, their windows draped in heavy curtains to block out too much sunlight. Many myths spoke of vampires crumbling in the sunlight, that was a ridiculous lie of course. But like bats, the vampires were very sensitive to bright light, and preferred darker surroundings instead. Alistair stepped out of and breathed in the wet, cool night air, which helped to calm his nerves. He looked to the coach stallion, and with a wave of his hoof, he disappeared and in his place was a bat (the vampires also have power to change the forms of their familiars, which are often bats, wolves, boars, etc.).

"Alistair Alucard! How many moons has it been!" Alistair turned when he heard his full name, he found himself face to face with Selene, one of the sisters of one of his companions and also a pure blood. She had her dark mane cut into a bob, and had the form of a normal earth pony.

"Hello Selene, good to see you. How are your siblings?" asked Alistair. Selene giggled.

"Oh, they're fine, but it's you I'm more interested in. You've been so quiet these last few years, no pony has heard much word from you, except my older brother of course, but aside from that, you don't ever accept any of the invite to the Blood Moon Balls like you usual did." Selene fell into a dramatic swoon. "How I've longed for a chance to do the vampire waltz with you like when we were little. In fact, all the ladies have been simply dying to see you again."

"My apologies, I've been having my hooves full."

"No matter, I just hope you'll be able to come to this year's ball." Selene waved a hoof as if it were nothing. "Oh, and I've also heard a little tidbit from my brother." Selene leaned in close, a sly smile on her face. "I heard that you have an adorable daughter living with you."

"Yes, my only daughter, Fluttershy. She's back home right now, I didn't want to drag her into any of these matters."

"Lord Alucard, you're still as much of a gentlecolt as always. Though I'm awfully jealous of the lucky mare you chose to be your wife. Who is she any way?"

"Sigh! I'm afraid, she died some years ago, I carry on though."

"You poor dear." Selene wrapped her arms around Alistair's neck and gave him a hug. Somepony cleared their throat, drawing Alistair and Selene's attention.

"Sister dear, if you're quite done pestering Lord Alucard, you may wait with the rest of the ladies in the lounge." Selene pouted.

"You're no fun at all Slate." She said as she trotted up the stair into the mansion. She flashed another smile at Alistair that made Slate roll his eyes.

"Forgive my sister." said Slate. "She can be a bit clingy around others, mostly handsome stallions."

"I understand Slate, my own sister went through a similar phase, the difference being that my sister tortured the ponies she clung to."

"Hardly sounds any different from Selene." The pure blood friends laughed and headed inside the mansion. The other pure bloods had gathered in the lounge, sipping blood from champagne glasses. Alistair shot a serious look at Slate and said in a hushed tone, "I was quite surprised to receive an urgent message by bat on my way to settle that little dispute. I was only considering calling a pure blood meeting, and yet I seem to find myself invited to one instead."

"The situation is far worse than you or I had originally assumed. Scarlet and Phobos will explain more, they're the ones who called the meeting in the first place." Alistair sat down on a sofa and picked up a glass of blood. He moved the glass a little in his hoof to stir it before taking a sip. A few of the pure blood mares flocked around Alistair, giving him looks of dreamy admiration. It was something he'd long gotten used to. He'd always had a way of attracting mares, whether he wanted to or not (one of the reasons he loved Maia, considering he had to prove himself before Maia accepted his marriage proposal).

"Lord Alucard, you're just as handsome as ever!"

"More than handsome."

"You should stop by my summer home by the sea, it's a relaxing little place to visit."

"Will you be going to the Blood Moon Ball?"

"Will you take me with you?"

"He's going to take me!"

"No, me!!" Alistair just took another sip of his blood, as the mares behind him broke out into a cat fight. Biting, and scratching at one another. He knew it would do good for him to step in. If anything, it might make things worse. There was a sharp, whistling sound. All heads turned, and the fight ended, to look at the vampires who'd called for attention. Scarlet, and her husband Phobos. Their bat wings, ears, and fangs were out, prompting everypony to relax into their natural forms. Phobos' voice spoke out clearly to the pure bloods.

"Fellow pure bloods, I'm sure you're wondering why you're here. As you might've heard, there's been an outbreak of half breeds attacking ponies. Something we've decreed to be forbidden when coming to the New World in order to appease the ponies." There were light murmurs of agreement. Scarlet then spoke this time.

"We have reason to believe that somepony, possibly a pure blood, is organizing them, turning them into an army of sorts." she said.

"An army?"

"Whatever for?" Scarlet called for silence.

"We don't know yet, but we received an anonymous letter, warning us of this danger. My husband shall read it for all of us to hear." Phobos pulled out a piece of parchment, and read it aloud.

Dear pure bloods,

I write this letter to you as a warning of things to come. There is an army rising, an army of half breed vampires. They seek to attack the ponies and create a war between the two species. I can't say anymore, otherwise I shall be suspected by my superior. No ordinary vampire is behind this deed, and they wish to usurp you from your place of power, to take control of the vampire society and make vampires the dominant creatures of the New and Old World. Take heed of my words.

There was a stark silence, as everypony took this news in.

"And you have no idea who could've written this?" Alistair inquired.

"If we knew, then we would've told all of you." said Phobos.

"A war between ponies and vampires. Ugh! This is exactly the kind of thing we wanted to avoid when coming to the New World."

"If it is a pure blood who is orchestrating this operation, then who are they?"

"Probably one of the traditional stiffs who rode over from the Old World."

"Do we have to leave?"

"But I love the New World! There are so many interesting things here."

"Silence." said Phobos. The lounge grew quiet to hear what he had to say. "We need to gather our power and prepare to defeat these half breeds. We must be ready to stop this army before it gets out of hoof."

"We must wait unfortunately." said Scarlet. "Until we find more information on this uprising, we'll have to stay here." Alistair stood up, his expression that of concern.

"What of our families? Should we just leave them, not knowing what's kept us away for so long?" he asked.

"Worry not, Alistair Alucard, you are all aloud to inform your families of the situation." said Phobos. "They shall surely understand what's at stake. Not just for us vampires, but for the ponies as well." This seemed to calm Alistair down, and he sat back down.

"If everypony has nothing more to say, this meeting is adjourned for now. Your rooms have been prepared." said Scarlet. Alistair furrowed his brow. Things were sure to get dangerous. Thank Celestia Fluttershy was safe at home, where this uprising will hopefully not trouble her.

Drake opened the door to see who was standing in the inn's hallway, he was greeted by a taupe unicorn, who strode past him without.

"I trust everything went well." said Drake.

"It went swimmingly." said the unicorn, as he transformed into the spirit, Discord. "That little mare was fooled so easily."

"No doubt she got it from her parents." said Eldra, who was filing her hooves. "Equally simple minded fools who have deluded the poor girl."

"She hardly seemed like a vampire." said Discord. "And I've met a lot of vampires in my lifetime." A crooked smile crept its way onto Eldra's face, a smile she tried to hide, and showed she knew something he didn't. Which made Discord all the more curious.

"My niece is a...special case." she said. "But don't let her give you the wrong impression. She's no different than any other vampire."

"Yes, yes, I'm sure she is. Now, if you're down with my services-"

"But we've only just begun. You still need to lure that poor dear into a false sense of security, lead her here, and we shall take care of it from there." Discord grumbled, but had no other choice, something that aggravated him to say the least. "Now, if you're still feeling up to it, there's still a couple of things I want you to do for me. Things that I hope you find a little more, engaging, so to speak."

It was the dead of night, and two officers were on patrol in the village, sent over from the capital to ensure that all was right. Rumors of vampire attacks had popped everywhere, and with those rumors, many angry ponies who felt like they should take a stand against the creatures. But the officers had been paroling so far and had seen no signs of danger.

"Sure is quiet tonight." one said.

"Keep your guard up." said the other. "There's no telling if or when those vampires may strike."

"I guess you're right. but honestly, there's to be scared-" There was a loud thud as four dead bodies, drained of blood suddenly popped in front of them. The officer who'd been enjoying the night let out a scream and jumped into his partner's arms. His partner was not amused. He dropped the fellow onto the ground and took better inspecting of the bodies. The first two bodies looked like dockworkers, who had their throats ripped out. The other two bodies, that of coach stallions, merely had two sets of puncture wounds. It was sickening. As the officers looked at the bodies, they started to feel, angry. And not the normal sort of angry either. True it did upset them, but it was like all the anger they were capable of having just came out of them.

"Those demons! We allowed them to live among us and this is what they do?!"

"Yeah! Those soulless beasts!"

"We can't allow this to continue. We'll send word to the capital, convince them to take a stand and do something about these monsters!"

A few ponies stepped out of their houses to see what the commotion was. There were gasps and screams of fear when they saw the bodies. Gliding unseen, Discord did to the onlookers the same thing he did to the officers. With just the touch of a paw or talon, or tail, he locked onto the ponies' negativity and increased it. Then, he added his own words mentally, giving them all the impression that their conception of vampires were right. That they were demons seeking to kill them all. This caused an outbreak among the onlookers, which caught the attention of more ponies, which Discord also affected with his magic. He kept at it until there was a mob of angry ponies who wanted to go out and punish the vampires. satisfied with his work being complete, Discord moved on to the next town Eldra had told him to visit. There, her faithful followers left their finished meals out in the open, brutally mutilated to further frighten the ponies. Eldra had 1,000 vampires on her side, each of them spread out and doing as they were instructed, with the promise of more blood to feast on. And going on to say that pony blood was much tastier than the animal blood they'd been drinking. By morning, there was nothing but panic. Bands of townsponies flocked together, intent on doing something to stop the vampires, believing that every last one of them needed to be destroyed.

"Stop the vampires!"

"KILL THOSE DEMONS!"

All of this pleased Eldra. Now, all that was left to do was let the ponies do the rest on their own. Let them retaliate. Let them bring forward a war of blood to which the like of neither ponykind or vampirekind has ever seen before!

Twilight had mailed to her brother, informing him of how the carriage broke down, and how she was staying with Fluttershy in Wisteria. At the same time, just as the road was opening up again, travelers passed through and with them they'd brought stories of how bad the vampires had become. It was certainly dis-concerning, all those bodies piling up, it just didn't seem right. So Twilight did what she did best in a crisis. She hit the books. In the villa's study, she poured over her books rereading every page just so she wouldn't miss something. Rainbow and Fluttershy entered to make sure if she was doing alright with her search.

"Everything coming along Twi?" asked Rainbow. Twilight's brow furrowed in response.

"Here, have some tea while you think." said Fluttershy, setting down a cup beside Twilight. Twilight closed her book and sighed in frustration.

"No matter how many times I look at it, these attacks make less and less sense!" she said.

"Oh yeah, like they didn't already." said Rainbow Dash sarcastically.

"I'm serious Rainbow."

"You're always serious."

"I mean it, according to these books, vampire generally feed on occasion to satisfy their hunger, and go on for two weeks or even a month without feeding. But from what those travelers have described, it seems that this is more like binge eating than just quelling down an appetite."

"Oh my." said Fluttershy. "Why would they want to do something so...so horrible?"

"That's the problem I keep running into. I can't find a reason why." said Twilight. "The answer's so close, I swear it's right in front of me. But I can't seem to see it."

"You've just been thinking too hard." said Rainbow Dash. "Give your brain a rest, and then you can get back at your research." Fluttershy was about to agree with Rainbow Dash when she caught a glimpse of something flapping in the window.

"Um, if you two will excuse me for a moment, there's something I just remembered that I need to take care of." she said, and hurried out of the study. Fluttershy went into her bedroom and opened up the window. She let out a soft whistle and the bat who had been at the window flew in. The bat spoke in a series of clicks in its own bat language, though Fluttershy understood what he said perfectly.

"A message form papa? What does he say?" she asked. The bat relayed the message. How there had been a sudden change in plans and that he was going to be gone longer than he'd anticipated. This both relieved and disappointed Fluttershy. She was relieved to have more time to spend with her new friends, though disappointed that her father was going to be gone for even longer. And with all the attacks, she wondered if he was doing alright and taking care of himself.

"Thank you so much for delivering this message." said Fluttershy to the bat. "Would you be so kind as to deliver a reply to him?" The bat nodded, and Fluttershy whispered into the bat's ear. She wanted to let her father know that she'd be waiting for him and that she was alright. And also warned him not to do anything too rash.

"Do you think you can remember all that?" she asked the bat kindly. The bat clicked and nodded its head before dashing back out the to widow, to send her message to her father. Fluttershy said a silent little prayer to herself, 'Mama, please look after papa. I can't help but worry that he's getting into some kind of trouble. Keep him safe, mama.' With her pray for her father said, Fluttershy closed the window, hopinh that things would right themselves out.

Author's Note

Next chapter, a bit more development for the characters. And I'll try to squeeze in some action scenes somewhere if there's time.

Shades of Red

The next place Tony took her to was the town bakery, where one of the employees, a curly-maned pink earth pony named Pinkie Pie, jumped up from behind the counter and greeted the cheerfully.

"Welcome! What I get for you today?" asked Pinkie Pie.

"Whatever your specialty is for the lovely lady here." said Tony. Fluttershy felt a little flattered, being called a lady.

"Will that be here or to go?"

"We'll have it here." answered Tony.

"Super! Be back in a jiffy!" And so Pinkie Pie hurried into the back to take care of their order. Fluttershy and Tony sat across from one another at a small round table, waiting for Pinkie to return. In almost an instant, she reappeared and set down a slice of red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting on the table.

"Enjoy!" she said brightly, and went back behind the counter. Fluttershy took the first bite, enjoying the sweet taste of the frosting before looking up to see Tony boredly staring out the bakery window.

"Don't you want to try some?" asked Fluttershy, offering to share her cake. "Or are you full from the picnic?"

"No, I'm just a little lukewarm about cake. That's all." he said.

"But it's pretty good! Just a little bite?"

"I don't-" Tony was interrupted when Fluttershy placed a fork full of cake into his mouth. He was surprised by this sudden action, but ate the bite of cake Fluttershy had fed him.

"Well?" Fluttershy asked expectantly.

"It's pretty good." Tony admitted with a slight smile.

"See? I told you so!" she said.

"Indeed. Now, let's see how you like it." Before Fluttershy could ask what he meant by that, he grabbed an extra fork from the table and flung a piece of the cake that landed on Fluttershy's cheek. Both laughed as Fluttershy wiped the cake off.

"I guess I deserve that." she said. "But it was worth it to get you to try a piece."

"It was a bold move," said Tony. "Feeding me cake that I refused to eat." Fluttershy's smile faded and looked down in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry. I just, wanted you to enjoy the cake with me." she said. "You're not upset, are you?"

"Goodness no. So long as you're not offended by the cake I launched at you." he said. Fluttershy gave a small smile and wiped her cheek again, making sure it was free of any leftover crumbs or frosting.

"Let me help." said Tony, leaning across the table to brush her cheek for her. "There, all gone." A blush now covered her cheeks as Fluttershy's cheeks and she looked away. It was strange to have somepony, especially a stallion, touch her face like that. It made her insides feel warm and all knotted up in confusion. The best way for her to try and ignore it, was to keep eating her cake. Unfortunately it didn't really help despite its deliciousness.

"So, what are you going to do after you finish your business with papa?" Fluttershy asked casually.

"I'm not too entirely sure, but that's the fun of not knowing. You never know what might happen, I might travel around or stay around a bit longer. There's a certain partnership I need to terminate first before I can get to work." said Tony.

"Do you think you'll be able to come back?" asked Fluttershy, tracing little circles on the table with her hoof.

"It's entirely possible." answered Tony. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason." said Fluttershy. "It's just that, once Twilight, Rainbow and you leave, it'll get a little lonely here. I was wondering, if maybe you could find some time to visit me again. As friends of course!" Fluttershy added the last part nervously, not wanting him to think it was weird or anything to want to see him again. Tony chuckled at how adorable Fluttershy was being, blushing while hiding behind her mane.

"It would be a pleasure to visit you again anytime." he said. And then he added, "You really shouldn't hide your face like that, my dear. A lovely face such as yours deserves to be seen." Tony grinned as his words caused her blush to deepen and more of her mane to cover her face. She slowly pushed the silky strands of her mane behind her mane, looking up at him from below.

"Papa always tells me that I'm beautiful, like mama. But, am I really lovely?"

"Immensely so." answered Tony in a silken tone. "For your loveliness is more than just skin-deep." Fluttershy's heart was all aflutter, was she...? No, she couldn't be. Could she? It was too soon to tell. Perhaps it was his words. Hearing such flattery from somepony other than her father was nice, but it was just that, flattery. Fluttershy told herself to wait and see what happens. If this feeling was what she thought it was, she wanted to know if it was real or not.

Tony meanwhile, grinned as he saw that it was working, and that she was falling for his words. Now, all that was left was for her to reveal herself, and that would be that.

After the bakery, Fluttershy and Tony took a peaceful stroll down the dirt road. It was getting late as the walked side by side, enjoying the scenery. During which time Fluttershy told him about how her parents had met in a village similar to this one.

"Papa had gotten injured in an accident, so he went around asking for a place to stay in the village for the night. Everypony turned him down, because they weren't too fond of strangers." said Fluttershy as she remembered the story her father told countless times. "Mama was the only one who showed him any kindness and she welcomed him into her home with open arms."

"Sounds like you and your mother have a lot in common."

"Yeah, papa says that a lot. Once mama took him in, the two got to know one another and they became good friends. The more time they spent, the more papa realized that he'd fallen in love with her. He courted for her and the were soon married." Fluttershy wanted to tell more, but knew it was best not to go into too much detail. Like the part where her mother saw her father's feathered wings transform into bat wings. Or any of the arguments they'd had over how they should live together.

"I wish I could've met her." said Tony.

"Me too." said Fluttershy sadly.

"Cheer up." said Tony giving her a light nudge on the shoulder. "I'm sure wherever your mother is, she's happy seeing what a lovely young mare you've become." Fluttershy giggled and was about to reply, when her throat tightened, she realized just how parched she was.

With everything that had been happening, the attacks and having guests stay in her home, Fluttershy hadn't had much of a chance to drink from her apple reserves. Apples were like blood for other vampires, not just food but a vital source of nutrients. Without blood, a vampire grows weaker and weaker, until eventually they become sick and may very well die of starvation. But because Fluttershy was a hybrid, that meant she needed a larger intake of apples. Somewhere around 5-10 apples would last her a few weeks, or a month if she was lucky. Fluttershy put a hoof to her throat, trying to swallow.

"Are you alright?" asked Tony with concern. Fluttershy nodded.

"I'm just a little thirsty. Do you mind if we stop by the Golden Apple real quick?" she asked.

"Of course." Fluttershy tried to take her mind off of her thirst, but the irritable dryness plagued her to no end. Half of her wanted to control this, to just enjoy the evening with one of her new friends. But the other half pressed and urged her to drink. To quell this burning thirst and let the sweet juice slide down her throat. When they got to the tavern, they immediately saw how packed it was.

"Oh my!" said Fluttershy. "I've never seen it this crowded before." The two squeezed in through the doorway, where Applejack was working to try and serve full mugs of cider to all the customers. But once one was taken care, two more popped up in their place. Applejack looked up and noticed Fluttershy.

"Oh, hey Fluttershy!" she called.

"What's going on?" asked Fluttershy.

"A bunch of townsponies from a nearby village were traveling toward the capital. All of them are a might thirsty and hungry after their long journey." answered Applejack. "I'm afraid I won't be able to help you right now for what ever you came here for."

"Oh, that's okay Applejack." said Fluttershy understandingly. "It wasn't important anyway." A fight then broke out between two stallions, fighting over a beautiful, red apple.

"It's mine!"

"No. It's mine!"

"I bought it!"

"Well I'm much hungrier than you!"

"Nu-uh! I saw you eating just five minutes ago."

"Yeah, and I'm still hungry!"

Fluttershy's eyes followed the apple. She felt tempted to snatch it from them, she could feel her fangs itching to sink themselves into the fruit's red flesh. One of the stallions tripped and apple flew out the window. The stallions broke out into a hoof fight and were too busy to notice. Fluttershy turned to Tony.

"Um, excuse me for a moment, I need some air." she said, and hurried out of the tavern. Fluttershy ducked down the alleyway, searching for the apple she knew had to be there. When she found it, she reached down and lifted it up like it was a prized trophy. She rubbed it against her cape, and took a bite, sucking the sweet juice from it. Her eyes lingered, to survey the alley, and that's when she saw it. It was so horrifying that she dropped the apple and stared. Also in the alley, there was a dead body, lying in a pool of it's own blood. Fluttershy was too scared to scream.

"Fluttershy? Is everything alright?" Fluttershy turned, and faced Tony. She'd forgotten to retract her fangs, and was now looking at him face to face. His eyes fell onto her fangs, and then on the body behind her.

"I...I..." she tried to say.

"Fluttershy?!" Fluttershy's eyes widened, coming out from a nearby hiding place, was none other than her new friends, Twilight and Rainbow Dash. They'd seen her fangs. Fluttershy's face turned a deep red. They'd seen her as a vampire. Fluttershy's eyes watered, and she pushed past Tony and the girls, taking off into the air.

"Fluttershy, wait!" called Twilight, and the girls chased after her. Tony however stayed behind, transforming into his true self, Discord. He walked further into the alley, and stopped when his foot nudged something. He looked down and found a shriveled up apple. He picked it up and found that it was missing half of its juices and that it had to puncture marks. Discord looked up at the body. It had been dead already, from what he could tell, for an hour or more. Then he looked back down at the apple.

"Was this what she was thirsty for?" he wondered aloud. He'd asumed that when Fluttershy wanted to come to this place, that she might try to covertly drink somepony's blood. But instead, it appeared as though she drank from the apple instead. Why? She was a vampire wasn't she? So why didn't she drink the blood from this corpse, or any other pony?

"Just who are you Fluttershy?"

Reports of bodies and attacks were flooding in, the pure bloods were debating endlessly about what course of action they should take.

"I think we can all agree that running away from our homeland was a terrible mistake." said Scarlet. "Which is why I think we should consider the option returning there." Shouts from the other pure bloods went out against this.

"Are you mad?!"

"We worked hard to get to this place. And you expect us to abandon it?!"

"We're doing no better here than we were there." said Scarlet sharply. "It seems wherever we go, a path of blood and destruction follows in our wake."

"What do you intend that we do?" asked Alistair.

"We'll seek out the half breeds, we'll split up to deal with them efficiently. Then, we'll issue word to the remaining vampires, tat we're all to head back to the Old World. Should they stay and disobey our decision, we'll give them up to the hunters and slayers."

"You can't do that!" Alistair argued.

"Hold your tongue Alistair." said Phobos.

"You may hold power and respect among us, do not forget that it is our responsibility to see that no further conflict between our species and the ponies ever happens." said Scarlet. "Do you understand?" Alistair sighed.

"Yes."

"Good. We'll reconvene later and hunt down the half breeds. Meeting adjourned." Alistair stayed behind in the meeting room. 'Maia," he thought. 'Please give me strength. Help me and our daughter, who I can't help but feel is in great peril.'

Author's Note

Been busy. Trying to find the right words for the chapters, also, working on other stories. Next time, I'll finish some stories before I start any new ones.

Heart All Aflutter

Author's Note

Sorry it took so long! I'll try to hurry a little bit with the next chapter, enjoy!

Heart All Aflutter

The first thing Fluttershy did as soon as she got back to the villa was lock herself in her bedroom and bury herself under the covers. She didn't want to come out of her room for as long as she lived. They'd seen her. The ponies who'd been her friends had seen her vampire side. She couldn't believe how stupid she'd been to have allowed them to see her like that. And to make matters worse, there was that dead body that had somehow ended up in the alleyway. They'd probably blame her for it and think she was the one who killed that poor pony. They'd hate her. They'd never want to be her friend again. She'd betrayed her father's trust, and now by showing herself, he and Fluttershy would now have to move away. Someplace far from prying eyes. Fluttershy could never go out again, never see anypony else, never make anymore friends. It'd probably be for the best.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash soon made it back to the villa, and called out for Fluttershy, hoping to talk to her and get some answers.

"Fluttershy?!"

"Hey! Where are you?!" They searched the villa and came at last to Fluttershy's bedroom. Twilight knocked loudly on the door.

"Fluttershy? Are you in there?!" she asked.

"Sob! Go away, please." said Fluttershy through her crying. Twilight tried to open the door but found it was locked.

"Can't you open it with one of your spells?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I could, but that'd be rude." said Twilight, giving Rainbow a look. "We need to try and get her to come out on her own."

"And how are we supposed to do that?"

"Fluttershy, please come out!" said Twilight loudly for Fluttershy to hear. "We just want to talk to you."

"How do I know...sob...that's all you want to....sob...do?" asked Fluttershy in reply.

"You're gonna have to trust us." said Twilight. "We're your friends and all we want is to hear you're side of things. So please, open the door and let us in."

In her room, Fluttershy sat up and wiped the tears from her cheeks. She looked to the door and sniffed. Should she open it? Normally she tried to look at the better half of ponies, but after having herself revealed, she couldn't help but feel doubt. But...what if they really did just want to talk? Fluttershy got off her bed and slowly trotted to the door. She undid the lock and opened the door a crack.

"Alright." she said with a sniff. "You can come in."

"Thank you, Fluttershy." said Twilight, entering into the bedroom. Rainbow Dash followed Twilight inside. Fluttershy sat back onto her bed and hugged her pillow close to her chest.

"Well, you wanted to ask me something, right?" she asked. "Then ask away."

"What we saw in the alley..." Twilight began. "Was that...?"

"Just so you know." said Fluttershy sadly. "I didn't kill that pony. He was there when I got there. I didn't do anything."

"We know." said Twilight.

"Huh?!" said Fluttershy in surprise. "Y-you mean...you knew I didn't do it?"

"Of course." said Rainbow Dash. "You're way too nice to do anything as grisly as kill somepony."

"Um, thanks. I think." said Fluttershy.

"But what we saw, those were vampire fangs, weren't they." said Twilight.

"...Yes, they were." mumbled Fluttershy.

"Then you're..." said Rainbow Dash.

"Yes, I'm...I'm a vampire." said Fluttershy. Rainbow and Twilight gasped.

"That's so awesome!" cried Rainbow Dash. "What's it like? Are you super strong? Is blood really tasty to you guys or do you not notice?"

"I don't drink blood." said Fluttershy timidly. "I'm different from other vampires. I'm a hybrid." It was Twilight's time to get excited as she inched closer to Fluttershy and fired off a plethora of questions.

"No way, a hybrid?! I never thought I'd get to see one up close! What kind of powers do you have? Was your mother a vampire or was it your father? What do you drink for nourishment? What's your place in the vampire hierarchy?" Fluttershy clutched her pillow, becoming a bit overwhelmed. Luckily Rainbow Dash stepped in.

"Uh, Twi, I think you can take it back a bit." said Rainbow, pulling Twilight away. Twilight laughed nervously and rubbed her arm in embarrassment.

"Sorry about that." said Twilight. "I'm just really excited. I've read about hybrids, but you're completely different from the ones I read about."

"Papa likes to say that I'm special. That I'm proof of his and mama's love for each other." said Fluttershy, looking downward. "He'll be so upset to find out that I revealed myself to you girls."

"We won't tell anypony." said Rainbow Dash. "I mean, it's your secret right? So as your friends, we won't tell anypony else your secret."

"Rainbow's right." said Twilight. "We just want to make sense of what we saw and see if there's anything we can do to help you." Fluttershy looked at them, at a lose for words. They....they didn't hate her. They still wanted to be her friend. Fluttershy took a deep breath and calmly began to explain herself.

How her father, Alistair Alucard, moved to the New World with the other vampires hoping to find a fresh start. In time, he'd met her mother and the two fell in love and had her.

"After mama died." said Fluttershy. "Papa did his best to take care of me and protect me from anypony that might want to hurt me. When I got older, papa decided to start traveling and set up several business deals with ponies in order to help provide for me and keep me well fed. Everything he's done has been for my sake, and for that I'm grateful."

"Then, if you don't drink blood, what do you drink?" asked Twilight.

"I drink apples, or rather, their juices." said Fluttershy. "I need to drink a lot of them in order to stay healthy. I can be such a glutton at times."

"I think Rainbow Dash has you beat in the gluttony department." said Twilight.

"Hey!" cried Rainbow.

"I'm just joking!" said Twilight. "Though you do tend to pig out now and then."

"I don't 'pig out'....much." said Rainbow. Fluttershy squeezed her pillow even closer to her chest.

"Papa will be upset when he finds out about you two." she said. "Staying here with me will be no good for either of you." Twilight placed a hoof on Fluttershy and sat down beside her on the bed. Rainbow Dash sat down on the other side.

"We're not going anywhere." said Twilight.

"Y-you're not?" asked Fluttershy.

"Well duh! We can't just leave you all alone out here." said Rainbow. "What kind of friends would we be then? We'll stay here and keep you company until your dad gets back."

"But, but what about the important mission you girls were sent on? Won't I be hindering it if you're taking care of me?"

"We came to get information on the vampires and the cause of the recent attacks." said Twilight. "You and your father could be able to help us find with our mission. That is, if you want to."

"I do, I do want to help." said Fluttershy. "Papa might be a little hesitant at first, but I'm sure he'll want to help too."

"Until then, we'll help look out for you." said Rainbow Dash.

"You don't need to worry anymore." said Twilight. Fluttershy's eyes started to well up once more, and she cried again. Twilight and Rainbow Dash moved in and gave her a comforting hug, as Fluttershy freely cried in their embrace. These weren't tears of sadness though, they were tears of happiness. Happiness for being accepted by her friends, fangs and all.

"Well, how did it go?" asked Eldra. "That little wretch didn't irritate you too much, did she?" Discord had reappeared in the room of the inn and clenched his fists as he gave Eldra a cold look.

"You knew didn't you?" asked Discord. "Fluttershy isn't any ordinary vampire, is she?" Eldra smirked.

"So, you've finally noticed." she said. "Indeed, my dear niece is a special case. She's a hybrid vampire, born from both pony and vampire. A loathsome abomination in any society, vampire or pony." Discord gritted his teeth, feeling angered at Eldra for calling Fluttershy an abomination.

"I may not be able to harm you now." said Discord icily. "But one of these days, you'll regret using me as your tool." Eldra let out a cackle and looked at him as if he were a naive foal.

"Good luck with that." she said. "Now go until I need you again." Discord did as she said, much to his annoyance and teleported outside and sat up on the roof of the inn. His eagle claw scratched into the roof in anger, itching to do something to wipe the smugness off of that mare's face. When he'd agreed to partner up with her, it seemed like an interesting idea at the time, but now he was tired of her. He still steamed over the fact that she'd called Fluttershy a wretch and an abomination. That Pegasus was further from being any of those things. She was sweet, kind, thoughtful, beautiful...

Discord blinked. Beautiful? Where'd that come from? Where'd all that nonsense come from. He was used to thinking up nonsense mind you, but not of this kind. But it was true. Fluttershy was all those things and more. It seemed a shame for somepony like her to be wrapped up in all this business with Eldra and the rest of her vampire minions. Discord thought about the time he had spent with Fluttershy, how happy she'd been, and how scared she was in the alleyway. He conjured up the half-drained apple he'd picked up. 'A hybrid huh?' Discord's body felt warmth as he thought of the sweet Pegasus, his chest getting a little ba-bump feeling. Discord placed his paw on his heart. 'No. Oh no, it couldn't be...I can't be!' he thought. He pitched back his arm and threw the apple as far as he could, watching as it disappeared from his sight.

"As much as I hate my situation, I can't forget what I was summoned for." said Discord. "I can't give into weakness, or that Pegasus' kind little gestures." 'It'll be best for both of us for we to forget that little feeling. It'll be no good for either of us.'

Commencement

An innocent pony was minding her own business as she made her way down the empty streets of the village.

"Are you lost?" the mare was startled as a stallion appeared before her from out of nowhere.

"U-um...no." she stammered. "I'm fine thank you. Just taking a little stroll."

"I see." he said. He went closer to the mare. The mare wanted to continue on her way, but found herself unable to.

"Mind if I accompany you?" he asked.

"Well..."

"Stop right there!" The stallion glowered at the voice and turned toward it. The frightened mare ran off, making the stallion angry at the speaker. It was a Pegasus stallion, with two other ponies on his side.

"Heh. I was wondering how long it'd take you old fools to finally try to stop us." said the stallion. Long fangs sprouted from his mouth and two bat wings extended from his sides. Other ponies like him came out from the shadows and surrounded the Pegasus and his friends.

"I am Alistair Alucard." said the Pegasus. "On behalf of the Pure Bloods, we order you to stop this madness and quietly come with us to be tried for your crimes." The other vampire cackled.

"You order us?" he asked. "What a riot! It's a little late for negotiations pops. The only thing left, is for a good old fight to the death."

"Sigh! So be it then." said Alistair. His eyes flashed red and he opened his bat wings. His friends did the same as they attacked the half breed vampire hoard. Alistair flew and fought them from the air, swooping down and ripping off the wings of the other vampires with such strength and speed that the half breeds didn't know what hit them before they ended up on the ground with blood spurting from where their wings had been. But there still seemed to be more half breeds popping up for every vampire that was struck down.

The other Pure Bloods got to work, setting the half breeds on fire, cutting off their heads, and running them through the heart with spikes. The ground became spattered with blood and littered with fallen vampires.

"Grr. This isn't over yet!" cried the vampire, as he attempted to fly off. But he was swiftly set upon by Alistair.

"I believe it is over, for you." said Alistair, decapitating the half breed. When things settled down, there was a mess upon the streets.

"This is one of the reasons I wish they'd just comply." said Alistair wearily. "It'll take forever to clean this up."

"Perhaps I can be of some assistance." Another figure appeared. A stallion wearing a long cloak with his hood pulled over his head and obscuring his face, only showing some of his deep red mane peeking out. Alistair and the Pure Bloods took a defensive stance at the sudden arrival of this stranger.

"Who are you?!" asked Alistair.

"No pony of consequence." answered the stallion. "You better hurry, the half breeds are on the move, you should be able to catch them if you go now."

"And what about you? What is it that you want?" asked Alistair apprehensively."

"Let's just say we have common goals." said the cloaked stallion. "I've already helped with a good chunk of the half breeds, their leader will soon take notice of her dwindling forces. No go, and I'll clean up this mess." Alistair was hesitant to listen to the stranger, but knew he they needed to hurry to swiftly deal with half breed forces. He turned his back, and he and the pure bloods took off.

The cloaked stranger walked toward the bodies and silently grinned to himself. 'Time to eat.' he thought, as he dug into the vampire's bodies.

Twilight had finished writing her letter to the leader of the Magisters, Magister 1st Class, Celestia. An ancient Alicorn and the original founder of the Magisters, in order to establish order and peace in the New World. Twilight looked over her letter before placing it into the envelope.

Dear Magister Celestia,

I am Twilight Sparkle, the younger sister of Captain Shining Armor, and I am writing to you about the vampire attacks. I've uncovered some information from a trusted source that should prove useful in dealing with the situation at hoof. Apparently, the Pure Blood vampires have assembled to deal with the half breeds who are attacking, taking responsibility for their fellow vampires and trying to bring peace to the uproar they've been causing for the ponies. This leads me to believe that, and this is just a theory at present, that somepony is orchestrating all of this. Seeking to bring about a disaster for both sides. I do not know why, but I do know that everypony must take action. I hope this letter reaches you well.

With highest respects, Twilight Sparkle.

Satisfied, Twilight folded the paper and sealed it into the envelope.

"Are you finished with your letter?" asked Fluttershy as she entered the study with a tea tray with two steaming cups of tea on it.

"Yep." said Twilight. "I'll drop it off at the postal service when I head into town."

"Do you really think Magister Celestia will be able to do something?"

"Of course! The Magisters posses some of the most powerful and ancient magic there is, if anypony can find a way to stop these attacks, it's her." Fluttershy set one of the tea cups next to Twilight.

"But if they're really that powerful, why didn't they stop the attacks themselves?" asked Fluttershy.

"Well, that's kind of the reason I was sent on my mission. The Magisters didn't want to establish any further conflict and wanted to asses the situation before taking any action. My report should be able to help give them cause to step in and deal with the half breeds."

"I'll be glad when this is all over." said Fluttershy.

"I think everypony will." said Twilight. There was a very loud knocking on the door.

"Who could that be?" Fluttershy wondered aloud as she headed to answer the door. When she opened it, she saw Tony Stanza standing before her.

"M-mister Stanza!" said Fluttershy, suddenly becoming flustered. She'd nearly forgotten that he'd also seen her vampire self. And now he was standing here on her doorstep.

"W-what brings you here?" she asked.

"I came to see how you were fairing." he said. "When you ran off the way you did, I was worried that you were horribly shaken up by that dreadful sight in the alleyway. I can't imagine how something like that could've happened in such a peaceful town as this."

"You, you were worried about me?" asked Fluttershy.

"Of course." said Tony. "What kind of gentlecolt would I be if I didn't?" Fluttershy looked away and blushed a little.

"T-thank you for your concern, I was little shaken up, but now I'm alright." she said.

"That's good to hear." he said. "Mind if I come in?"

"Oh! Yes. Where are my manners? Please come in." Fluttershy opened the door open a little wider and let him come inside. The two of them talked as she led him down to the study.

"You, didn't see anything else in the alley, did you?" asked Fluttershy timidly.

"Not that I can recall." said Tony. "Dreadful business with that poor fellow though. I truly hope they find the pony responsible soon." Fluttershy looked at him with curiosity. Had he really no seen anything? Did he not see her fangs or did he believe it was only some figment of his imagination? Either way, she didn't want to push the matter any further. Her other friends might not have minded that she was a vampire, but she wasn't quite ready yet to tell Tony the truth...just yet. In the study, Twilight arched an eyebrow at the arrival of Tony.

"What's he doing here?" asked Twilight, giving a suspicious glance at the stallion.

"He came to check and see if I was alright." answered Fluttershy. "Nothing more."

"Good day to you, Miss Sparkle." said Tony in a good-mannered way. But Twilight still couldn't shake the strange feeling she was getting from him. She shook her head. Perhaps she was just overthinking things.

"Please, sit down and have some tea." said Fluttershy.

"Thank you, my dear." said Tony, sitting down across from Twilight as Fluttershy poured him a fresh cup of tea.

"Tell me, when might I expect your father to return?" asked Tony casually.

"Let's see...." said Fluttershy thinking carefully about it. "I don't know exactly when, but perhaps any day now. I'm sorry that you have been kept waiting for so long." Tony waved a hoof.

"It's not your fault Fluttershy. Us business stallions get quite wrapped up in our work, so much so that sometimes I end up forgetting what day of the week it is." Fluttershy giggled a little at Tony's words. Twilight rolled her eyes.

"There is another reason that I came by here." said Tony, swirling the tea in his cup with his magic.

"Oh?" said Fluttershy.

"I enjoyed our outing together, and I was wondering if we could do it again." he said.

"Um, well, that sounds lovely." said Fluttershy. "But what exactly did you have in mind?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just a little performance that's going to be taking place in the town theater tomorrow night."

"Tomorrow night?"

"I know it's a bit sudden, but I'd be very grateful if you were to accompany me there." Fluttershy gave him a kind smile.

"That sounds wonderful." she said. "I'd be glad to go with you tomorrow night."

"Then it's settled." Tony said, as he finished off his cup of tea. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must be off." Fluttershy waved goodbye as Tony took his leave.

"You're not pushing yourself to go out with him, are you?" asked Twilight. Fluttershy looked at her with shock had confusin. Why would she push herself into going out on a nice evening with a friend?

"No." she said.

"Well, alright then." said Twilight. "Just be careful though. You don't want to rush into things, you don't really know a lot about that guy."

"I know, but I want to know more about him." said Fluttershy. "He seems so nice, and he's been very kind and courteous to me."

"Still, you shouldn't be taken in by all his politeness and flattery." Twilight warned.

"I won't." insisted Fluttershy. "You can trust me." But Twilight thought to herself, 'It's him I don't trust.' Before Twilight could say anymore, Rainbow Dash burst into the study in a panic.

"Guys! You won't believe what's happening in town!" cried Rainbow.

"What is it Rainbow?" asked Twilight.

"The townsponies are getting really worked up, after finding that body, they've started forming this mob with some of the travelers from the other towns. They've got pitchforks and everything!"

"Oh dear!" cried Fluttershy.

"Calm down, what exactly were they doing Rainbow?" asked Twilight.

"Nothing too drastic, but they mentioned setting up a patrol and doing searches to find the pony responsible." said Rainbow Dash.

"Is everypony in town like this?"

"No, just a third, but coupled with the travelers, their numbers are pretty big."

"Maybe you should stay here for the time being." said Twilight worriedly to Fluttershy. "It'd be too dangerous to have you go out tomorrow night if there's a mob gathering."

"Sigh! You're right. Tony will be so disappointed." she said.

"What's he got to do with this?" asked Rainbow in confusion.

"I'll explain later." said Twilight. "Right now, I need to mail this to the Magisters and then we need to stay here and wait for things to settle down." Fluttershy felt worry creep up in her. the attacks were happening in town, a mob was forming, and her father was still away. 'Papa, please be safe wherever you are.'

Cantarella

"Sigh! I'm bored!" groaned Rainbow Dash, flopping onto her stomach as she sat on the armchair in the villa library.

Since the girls were staying inside until things quieted down, they decided to spend the day in the library, and already it was late afternoon. Rainbow had gone through all the adventure novels, and was just itching for something to do. She looked over at Twilight and Fluttershy, who were deep in conversation.

"What are you two up to?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I felt that this would be a perfect opportunity to ask Fluttershy some questions for my research." replied Twilight, lifting up her notebook for Rainbow to see. "After all, it's not everyday that you get to meet a vampire hybrid. I mean, there's so little documentation on them, and now I have a chance to add these new discoveries to my research. It could change everything on how ponies originally viewed hybrids." Twilight looked ecstatic, practically squealing at how she had been given the rare chance to document this scientific discovery. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, sure. Let me know when you two do something interesting." she said, and made an attempt to take a little nap.

"I can't thank you enough for your help." said Twilight to Fluttershy. "You have no idea how helpful this research will be."

"You're welcome. I'm just happy to help." said Fluttershy.

"Do you mind showing your fangs? I'd like to get a sketch of them for reference."

"Okay."

Fluttershy opened her mouth as wide as she could, and let her fangs protrude out. Twilight got to work on the sketch, her quill moving fast until she accidentally pressed too hard and...

Snap!

"Dang it!" said Twilight in annoyance. She lifted up her now broken quill, eyeing where the nib had snapped off. "Ugh! And I chose to not bring any extras with me before heading on the trip." Twilight face-palmed herself and tossed the quill into a nearby trash can. "I'll have to get some more the next time we go into town."

"Why can't we go now?" asked Rainbow, her attention now grabbed at the prospect of doing something and being able to stretch her wings.

"Because, we agreed to stay inside till things quieted down. With a mob banding together, there's no telling what sort of crazy things will happen." replied Twilight.

"Aw, come on Twi! It'll just be a quick trip. We go in, we get the quills, and then we go back."

"But-"

"I'll even go out myself and get them."

"Rainbow-"

"Um," said Fluttershy, piping up. "If you girls want, I can just stay here while you girls go into town. I'll even keep the door locked until you get back." Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked at her.

"Are you sure Fluttershy?" asked Twilight. Fluttershy nodded.

"You girls have been cooped up in here for quite a while, some fresh air would be good for the both of you." she said.

"Well-"

"It really isn't any trouble." Fluttershy leaned in a little and whispered to Twilight, "Besides, it'll give Rainbow a chance to burn off all her pent up energy." Twilight looked over Fluttershy's shoulder at Rainbow, who was shifting anxiously from one hoof to another.

"I think you're right." whispered Twilight. She then walked over to Rainbow Dash and said, "Alright Rainbow, we can go."

"Yes!" cried Rainbow, zipping like lightning toward the door.

"You sure you'll be alright here alone?" asked Twilight.

"I'll be fine. There's no need to worry about me." said Fluttershy.

"We'll try to be back soon. Be safe."

"I will."

And with that, Twilight also left, leaving Fluttershy by herself in the library. 'I'll be fine.' she thought to herself. 'I've already been alone plenty of times.'

It little while later after Twilight and Rainbow Dash left, there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" Fluttershy called out from behind the closed door.

"It's me." said the pony on the other side, who Fluttershy recognized as Tony Stanza.

"Hold on!" Fluttershy opened the door a little, to find Tony Stanza waiting patiently on the doorstep.

"Are you ready to go, my dear?" he asked. Fluttershy gave up a confused expression.

"Go?" she asked.

"You didn't forget about the show, did you?"

"No, but, I thought that the show was later tonight."

"It was, but because of all the fear of the mysterious attacker, the show was moved to near Sunset."

"Oh." Fluttershy looked down at her hooves. "I'm terribly sorry Tony, but I'm afraid I can't go. My friends and I planned to stay here until things quieted down around here."

"And where are your friends?" he asked, looking on either side of Fluttershy, waiting and expecting them to come out from somewhere.

"They, had to step out on an errand." answered Fluttershy.

"Really? So it's just you here?" asked Tony.

"Well, yes."

"Then I don't see any harm in you accompanying me to the performance."

"I don't know."

"I assure you, you'll be perfectly safe. I'll see to it myself." Fluttershy thought about it. Tony seemed so intent on seeing the show with her, it was a little hard to say no, especially after how nice he'd been to her. But she also didn't want to worry her friends by going out when she said she'd stay and wait for them.

"I...I...I suppose, it couldn't hurt to take a little look. But, I need to come straight back. I don't want my friends to wonder where I've gone if they get back and find that I'm not here."

"I understand. Here, I'll even jot down a note myself to leave for them." Tony conjured a piece of parchment and a quill, and jotted down a brief message, setting it inside the villa.

"Now then, shall we be off?" asked Tony with a charming grin. Fluttershy tentatively stepped out and closed the door behind her.

"A-alright." she said. And the two went off on their way to see the show. Inside the house, the letter Tony had written appeared blank, its words haven been written in disappearing ink.

"Alistair, is something troubling you?" Scarlet asked Alistair, who had been staring off into the distance since returning to the mansion to report on his progress in handling the rouge vampires. Alistair let out a tired sigh.

"It's my daughter, Fluttershy." he said. "I'm worried about her. With my hooves full dealing with this mess, I'm not sure when I'll ever get back to her." Scarlet gave his shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"I can see that this is hard for you, Alistair. You've been working very diligently these past few days, giving us the upper hoof, but, perhaps you should head back home."

"But I can't! Not so long as those rouges and their leader are still out there. I-"

"Have done enough." said Scarlet firmly. "Go to your daughter, we can take care of things ourselves, for now. I'm sure she is also very worried about you." Alistair said nothing, but gave a respectful nod.

"Thank you Scarlet, I promise to make up for my lost time when I return." Scarlet watched as Alistair hurried to prepare for his leave. From the shadows, stepped out her husband Phobos.

"Are you sure it's wise to have him return home?" he asked. "We'll need very ounce of strength we have if we're to deal with the half bloods." Scarlet drew close to Phobos and spoke in a smooth voice.

"Fear not husband, I wasn't lying when I said we could handle it on our own. I'm sure you've noticed by now that something isn't quite right." she said.

"Exactly what do you mean? Many things haven't been right lately."

"These half bloods, not only do they seem to be under someone's control, but many of them have been disappearing."

"Disappearing? I haven't heard anything about that."

"I've checked into some of the sites where attacks were reported and where the half bloods were dealt with. In those sites, the attacks seemed to have stopped altogether, and half bloods' bodies have disappeared without a trace."

"Does that mean they're no longer a threat?" Scarlet shook her head.

"I didn't say that. There's still roughly hundreds of half bloods, and they still could pose a threat to the ponies. But-"

"But what?"

"Alistair mentioned a cloaked stallion who offered to help with the clean up at one of the towns he went to. I have reason to believe that he responsible for the decrease of half bloods, I'd even go so far as to say he was the one who left us the warning."

"But who is he? Do you suppose he's an ally?" Scarlet was lost in thought.

"It's too soon to tell. But for now it seems that stopping these half bloods is both in our interests. We'll allow him to continue his business for now, but if he shows any signs of being our enemy, he must also be dealt with accordingly."

"Should we inform the others?" Scarlet shook her head.

"No, it's best not to tell them until we know a little more about this mysterious stallion. In the meantime, we should rally our forces, and try to get them to push the half bloods and their leader to one location. Or in the very least, find out where their base of operations is." Phobos looked at her with mild amusement.

"You wish to take them out at once?" he asked. Scarlet nodded.

"While they may be vampires, it's clear from the way they've been fighting that they have no interest in negotiations or peace. They're no different from rats, and shall be treated as such." Phobos wrapped his arms around Scarlet and kissed her neck.

"This brings back memories." he said.

"Yes." she said in agreement. "But we can't waste anymore time on pleasantries. Inform the others that we shall be having another meeting."

"Alright, my darling. But when this is all over, let us resume our pleasantries." The two shared one last kiss before Phobos headed off to get the Pure Bloods together.

The performance Tony had taken Fluttershy to was a tragic play called Cantarella, involving misunderstandings, true love, and remarkable action scenes. Fluttershy felt very sorry for the characters, and was also sorry that she wouldn't be able to finish it, but she didn't want to be out too long after dark. Or to have her friends worry about her being out. At some of the more scary scenes, Fluttershy gasped along with the audience, and would shut her eyes tightly till they were over. And during each scene, Tony would hold her hoof and let her know when it was safe to look. When it was almost time for intermission, Tony pulled out a bright red apple and handed it to Fluttershy.

"Here," he said. "I thought you might get hungry, so I brought this for you." Fluttershy smiled as she took the apple.

"Thank you." she said. She took a bite from the juicy apple as she watched the play.

"I find this play to be quite interesting." remarked Tony, his attention on the actors while at the same time talking to Fluttershy. "The story is rather riveting." Fluttershy supposed so, and took another bite of the apple. As she did, she began to feel light headed. Perhaps she was just tired?

"And the name, Cantarella, I find to be the most interesting part." said Tony. Fluttershy put a hoof to her head, her vision beginning to blur, Tony's voice started to sound far away.

"It comes from a special kind of poison you know. Tasteless yet very potent stuff." Fluttershy dropped the apple to the floor, which Tony picked up and looked at with a smile that gave Fluttershy chills. "I wouldn't worry though if I were you, I made sure to use only something that'll put you to sleep for a little while."

Fluttershy would've widened her eyes in horror and fear, if they didn't feel so heavy. Her eyelids started to droop. 'No!' she thought with terror. 'NO!' The last thing she saw before she drifted off was Tony and his pleased smile.

"Sweet dreams." whispered Tony. It was now intermission, ending off with one of the main characters being poisoned by the one she trusted, just like Fluttershy. Tony took hold of Fluttershy, and teleported away, leaving behind the half-eaten apple lying on the ground.

"Man, can you believe how crowded it was?" asked Rainbow Dash, as she flew beside Twilight, the two of the approaching the villa.

"Yeah, it took us a little longer than I had expected, but at least we're back now." said Twilight, carrying the quills she'd bought. The two made it to the villa door and were surprised to find that it was unlocked.

"Strange, I thought Fluttershy said she would lock it." said Twilight.

"Maybe she forgot." said Rainbow. The two entered the darkened villa and called out to Fluttershy, only to have their voices echo back to them.

"Fluttershy?"

"Are you here?!"

"Fluttershy!"

But no answer came. Fluttershy was gone. And neither of the girls new what horrible thing happened to their friend, or where she had been taken to.

Author's Note

Hope you all like this chapter. Also, Cantarella was said to be a variation of arsenic or cantharidin, and I thought it'd be good to use it in the story. Sorry if it seems short, been busy.

The Things That Bind

Fluttershy's head was spinning as she came to. How long had she been out? It was hard to tell. Her eyes opened up to a medium-sized, stone room lit by dim candle light, with no windows, and a single wooden door.

"Where...am I...?" groaned Fluttershy. She tried to move, but found that she was chained to a stone wall, her forearms high above her head. "Huh? What is this? What's going on?!" Fluttershy began to shiver with fright, pulling on the chains in the hopes of somehow being able to wriggle free of them, to no avail.

"Ah. So you're finally awake." said a voice. Fluttershy turned her attention to the heavy shadows before her, where a mish mashed creature slid out from them. His looming form looking down at her. "I trust you slept well."

"W-who are you?" asked Fluttershy. The creature placed an eagle claw onto his chest, acting as though he was shocked and let out an exaggerated gasp.

"Why Fluttershy, don't you recognize me?" he asked. "Surely you haven't already forgotten your friend, Tony Stanza." Fluttershy's eyes widened in shock.

"T-tony?!" cried Fluttershy, The creature nodded.

"Of course, my real name in Discord, but yes, I was that pony. But now, as you can see, I'm back to my true form." Discord gestured grandly to all of him as he said this. "It feels good to no longer have that boring pony form, now that my work is done."

"Work?"

"Yes, to gain your trust and to bring you here, both tasks which were rather easy I might add."

"Then, these past few days..." Fluttershy said shakily, looking up into Discord's eyes. "Was it all a lie?" Discord didn't answer, instead, a door opened up, and in walked a Pegasus mare who was smiling wickedly at Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy." said the Pegasus. "At last we meet." Fluttershy said nothing, too shaken up to speak. "I'm not surprised if you do not know me, but I'm Eldra, your father's sister, and your aunt."

"W-what do you want?" asked Fluttershy, finally able to find her words. Eldra stepped up to her, and ran a hoof across her cheek. It felt ice cold, and sent chills down Fluttershy's spine.

"You'll see, soon enough." said Eldra in a whisper. "But for now, why don't you rest up? Have something to eat? I'll even leave Discord here to keep you company for a while." Fluttershy kept quiet, looking into the face of the pony who claimed to be her aunt. Something didn't set well with her. Eldra's face, despite its thin, seemingly sweet smile, looked cold and sinister, making Fluttershy want to hide and curl up into a little ball. Eldra turned on her hoof, back towards the door she'd come through. She stopped momentarily to look at Discord and say, "Wait for me until I return, and don't forget that you're still under contract." 'Contract? What contract?' wondered Fluttershy. She turned her head to see Discord clenching his fists and grinding his teeth, his eyes narrowed as they watched Eldra leave.

"Suggest you try to make yourself comfortable, my dear." said Discord to Fluttershy. "Because you're going to be here for quite some time."

"Where could she be?" wondered Twilight aloud, for what seemed at this point for the hundredth time. She and Rainbow Dash had searched every inch of the villa and had checked the surrounding area for Fluttershy, but there didn't seem to be any trace of her anywhere. It was pretty dark out, and they were worried about whether or not their friend was alright.

"We should keep looking." said Rainbow Dash. "Maybe check and see if somepony in town saw where she went off to." Twilight shook her head.

"I don't think so. We should stay here in case she comes back." Twilight said. Rainbow Dash groaned.

"You can stay ere if you want to, but I'm going out to look for Fluttershy." Twilight followed after Rainbow Dash as she sped toward the door. But when she opened it, a tall Pegasus Stallion was standing in the doorway. Twilight and Rainbow Dash let out a shriek, jumping back in surprise. The stallion narrowed his eyes at them, and gave them a disapproving frown.

"Who are you ponies?" he bellowed. "And what are you doing in my home?"

"Your home?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"Whose else would it be?"

"Then, you must be Fluttershy's father." said Twilight. The stallion's frown deepened.

"How do you know my daughter?" he inquired.

"We're friends of hers." explained Twilight. "I'm Twilight Sparkle, and this is Rainbow Dash." Rainbow Dash gave a little wave as she smiled nervously at the stallion. But, judging by the way he kept looking at the girls, he didn't seem entirely convinced by their claims.

"If you are friends of my daughter, then where is she, so that I may ask her myself if what you say is true?"

"Well, she's kinda...sorta...missing." said Rainbow Dash. The stallion's eyebrows furrowed angrily as he yelled, "MISSING?!! What do you mean missing?! What have you two done with Fluttershy?!!"

"Sir, please, calm down and let us explain." said Twilight. He stopped yelling, but he still looked very upset. "Look, we don't mean you or Fluttershy any harm. Let's all go inside and we will explain everything to you." The stallion lifted his head up and stiffly walked inside.

"Let us hope that you're telling the truth," he said as he passed by them. "Otherwise you shall both be faced with dire consequences." Both the girls gulped, and retreated into the study, as they began to recount their story to Fluttershy's father and to explain the situation.

Fluttershy said nothing. How could she? So much was happening to her so fast. She felt like an utter fool, she'd thought of Tony-er-Discord, as an actual friend, only to find out that he'd only been playing some sort of charade. Her face felt warm, and her cheeks were still fairly wet from all the tears.

"You're not going to eat anything?" inquired Discord. Fluttershy lifted her head up a fraction, unable to look at him, she looked at the plate of apple slices before her. Discord had loosened her chains a little so she'd be able to eat, but right now, food was the farthest thing on her mind. She lowered her head back down, locking her eyes onto the stone floor.

Discord frowned and conjured up a fork in his talon, which he used to spear one of the apple slices. "It's not poisoned, if that's what you're thinking." he said. He placed the apple slice into his mouth and loudly munched on it. "See?" Fluttershy didn't acknowledge him. She remained looking just as dejected and melancholy as ever. Discord tossed the fork over his shoulder and folded his arms over his chest. He'd lived for many centuries, and had seen many things, many horrible things that would make even the bravest pony squeamish, but seeing the young Pegasus like that, bent over and reduced to tears, he felt a hollow, squeamish feeling wriggling around in his gut and in his chest. He felt...sorry for her, and didn't want to see her in such a sorrowful state. But what could he do? Discord heaved a sigh.

"You might as well eat something." said Discord. Fluttershy remained silent. "Alright, fine. Don't eat. See if I care." With a snap, the plate disappeared, and with another snap, the chains tightened back up, and lifted Fluttershy back up onto the wall. Just as Discord was about to turn and leave the room, Fluttershy finally spoke up in a cracked, tired voice.

"Discord..." she said. Discord stood still, feeling a bit pleased that she was talking again.

"What is it?" he asked.

"...Why?" she whispered. Discord arched and eyebrow.

"Pardon?" Fluttershy slowly lifted up her head, and managed to look him in the face. Her expression made him wince with guilt, full of sadness, confusion, and shock from his betrayal.

"Why? Why did you do this? Why me? What is it that you want?" Discord thought over her questions for a moment before answering.

"Why, you ask? Well, to be perfectly honest, its because of that aunt of yours that both of us are in this mess." Fluttershy was befuddled.

"Huh?"

"Let me tell you a little story, dear Fluttershy." In a flash, Discord was sitting in a large, plush, red armchair. Wearing a red quilted robe and a purple ascot, with a pipe in his mouth, spectacles placed on his snout, and a thick book opened up before him. Fluttershy blinked, not sure what to make of it. Discord then read the book upside down, telling her the story.

"Once, many moons ago, I was the notorious, the infamous, Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. Able to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. The world was mine to do with as I pleased, and when somepony attempted to stop me, well, that only made things all the more enjoyable to see their pitiful attempts fail spectacularly. However, a wizard and his petty band of magician pals ganged up on me to remove me from power, and actually had the nerve to succeed! A torturous number of years passed me by in utter boredom. Until I had both the luck and misfortune of being revived by Eldra. Apparently, she used some sort of contract or whatever to make it so that I can't do anything to her, and that I have to help her with whatever plan it is that she has going on. But really, I could care less about her and her little troubles." Discord closed the book with a loud slam, and the chair and his attire disappeared.

"As far as I'm considered, what I want is to be rid of Eldra's insipid contract so that I can go back to doing what I do best. Wreaking chaos." Fluttershy had been listening carefully to Discord, and now that he was done with his story, she spoke up once more.

"So, we're both prisoners, aren't we?" Discord cocked his head.

"I suppose, if you want to put it that way. But unlike you, I won't be imprisoned for much longer. Very soon, I'll finish up business with Eldra, and I'll no longer be bound to that contract of hers." he said.

"What'll you do?" asked Fluttershy out of curiosity. Discord shrugged.

"Oh, I wouldn't want to bore you with the details, but let's just say that it'll certainly turn things upside down around here." A mischievous grin sprang upon his face, a gleam in his eye as he thought of what he had planned.

"D-do, do you know, what Eldra has planned for me?" asked Fluttershy fearfully. Discord shook his head.

"Sorry to say, I don't."

"Oh." Fluttershy hung her head, feeling very helpless, not knowing what else to do or what would become of her. "You didn't answer my other question, the one from before. Did you actually think of me as a friend, or was it all some game to you?" Discord felt his throat tighten.

"I...I..." But Discord didn't finish, as the door opened up again and in came Eldra.

"Discord, I need you to do something for me." she said.

"What is it?" asked Discord, sounding annoyed.

"I heard my brother has returned home, and I need to send a special message to him." chuckled Eldra darkly.

"And that's what happened." concluded Twilight. Alistair looked at her and Rainbow Dash thoughtfully.

"If what you say is true-"

"It is." interjected Rainbow Dash.

"Then we must find Fluttershy immediately. There's been great trouble brewing, and I shudder to think what could happen to her if she should somehow get involved." Twilight nodded.

"We'll do whatever we can to help." she said.

"But what are we supposed to do?" asked Rainbow Dash. "We already searched like crazy to try and find her and came up with nothing."

"If only we knew where she went." said Alistair.

"Perhaps, I can help with that." said a feminine, disembodied voice. Alistair whirled around to the voice that seemed to be coming behind him. Rainbow and Twilight were equally taken aback, as a magical projection began to appear before them. It showed a Pegasus mare grinning wickedly at them, especially Alistair.

"Hello, brother dear." she said. Alistair gritted his teeth, his fangs protruding out.

"Eldra."

Author's Note

Things get a little intense in the next chapter. I hope you like it. Also, I'll try to add more scenes of Discord and Fluttershy.

Spilt Blood and Acts of Kindness

Eldra's grin only grew as she saw the raging expression on her brother's face, it was always a great pleasure of hers to see her perfect sibling get so wound up, and the fun was only beginning.

"It's been a while, hasn't it." she said. "Did you miss me?" Alistair narrowed his eyes on Eldra, his body stiff as he tried to compose himself.

"What are you doing back here, Eldra? And how are you even able to send this projection?" asked Alistair. Eldra's eyes briefly flickered to Discord, who was boredly using his magic to cast the projection.

"Wouldn't you like to know." she said. "But, as to why I'm back here, well, things got a little tiresome back in the Old World, so I decided to come back to mix things up a little. Not to mention I wanted to see my dear brother, and get myself acquainted with my darling little niece." Eldra stepped to the side to show off Fluttershy, chained to the stone wall, to a shocked and worried Alistair.

"Fluttershy!" he cried. Fluttershy's eyes glimmered, happy to see her father again, she jerked the chains in a fruitless attempt to get closer to the image of Alistair.

"Papa!" Fluttershy cried back.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine papa, you don't need to worry about me." Alistair turned his hardened gaze to Eldra.

"Let Fluttershy go, Eldra. Whatever quarrel you have is between the two of us, she has nothing to do with it." Eldra let out a cold cackle.

"Oh, that's where you're wrong, Alistair." said Eldra. "You see, she has everything to do with what's between us."

"What do you mean?"

"You've always been such a perfect brother, right to the point where it's sickening just to watch you get all your praises. Although, I would be lying if I said there weren't other ponies that got under my skin and deserve to be taken down a peg or two. Namely those fellow Pure Bloods of yours." Alistair's eye filled with realization.

"It was you! You were the one behind all those attacks." he declared. Eldra smiled coyly.

"Guilty as charged." she purred.

"What is it you hope to gain Eldra? What is it you want?!"

"What I want? What I want, is for you, and those high and mighty friends of yours to suffer. Beyond what I have suffered." Eldra stepped closer to Fluttershy, who was shivering with fear as Eldra cupped her face with her hooves. "And what better way to cause utter suffering, than to make you agonize over your beloved and only daughter? Especially after you suffered the loss of that wench of a wife who dropped dead all those years ago."

"Get your filthy hooves off of her, Eldra!" Alistair bellowed. Eldra did as he said.

"As you wish, dear brother." she said. "Now, here's what I want you to do. I want you and you Pure Bloods to meet at the Mortem Mountains, there, we shall finish things once and for all." Alistair was fuming, he wanted to reach through the projection and seize Eldra by her throat.

"Oh, and one more thing." Eldra added. "If you don't show up or try anything clever, then I'll have no choice but to inflict punishment onto your sweet daughter." Alistair looked horrified by the thought. Eldra was about to continue when she noticed that Discord also seemed alarmed by what she said. But she ignored it, there was no way a being like him could actually care about what happened to the little hybrid. "Before I leave you to it, I'll let you say your goodbyes to Fluttershy, in case it's the last time she'll ever see you again." Eldra moved out of the way, so that Alistair and Fluttershy could talk.

"Fluttershy, please hang tight, I'll come for you as quickly as possible. I won't rest until you're back safe and sound." said Alistair.

"I know papa," said Fluttershy. "Please be careful."

"I will, as always."

"I love you, papa."

"I love you too, Fluttershy." Eldra then stepped back in and got close to Fluttershy's side.

"How sweet. The love between a father and his daughter is truly a beautiful thing." she said. Fluttershy's eye caught something glinting in the long sleeve of the dress Eldra was wearing. It was- "But I wonder, if that love is more trouble than it's worth." As quick as a lightning flash, Eldra slid out a dagger from her sleeve and plunged it into Fluttershy's stomach. Fluttershy let out a scream as the sharp pain pierced her.

"NO!!" shouted Alistair. Discord ended the projection as he looked at the scene unfold with horror. Eldra twisted the knife around before pulling it out of Fluttershy.

"You may be able to heal, and survive a stabbing like that," said Eldra. "But I wonder, how long it will take to heal. Being only a hybrid, I can imagine it's not as fast as how other vampires heal." Fluttershy gasped heavily, trying to get through the pain. Eldra lifted up Fluttershy's head so that her gaze was locked with Eldra's. "You and Alistair will both feel pain beyond imagining." Eldra turned and headed toward the door. "Come, Discord." But Discord stayed frozen to the spot, watching as the blood dripped from Fluttershy's wound, creating a small puddle on the floor. "Discord!" Eldra hissed. "Now!" Discord reluctantly teleported outside the room, the last thing he saw was Fluttershy in pain, soaked in tears and blood.

Alistair's hooves hit the floor with a deafening thud, his teeth were grinding hard, and there was a murderous look in his eye. Eldra had done many things in the past, but this was the most unforgivable. Twilight and Rainbow Dash had watched Alistair silently, as he talked to Eldra and how the mad mare had stabbed their friend. Twilight took a tentative step toward Alistair.

"Um, sir," she said carefully. Alistair snapped his head toward her.

"What?" he hissed.

"I was wondering, if it'd be okay for me and Rainbow Dash to come and help you." Alistair softened by degrees.

"You, you're willing to help me?" Twilight nodded.

"Fluttershy's our friend, and after everything she's done for us, it's only fair we do the same for her."

"Plus, it'll give us a chance to show that Eldra a thing or two," added Rainbow Dash. "We won't let her get away with what she did to Fluttershy." Alistair breathed a sigh.

"Thank you, both. But are you both sure this is what you want? It'll be very dangerous."

"Ha! Danger's my middle name." said Rainbow boldly.

"And I've read up on vampires, so I'll know how to handle them." said Twilight. Alistair looked between the two, a very small, thin smile slipping onto his face.

"Very well then, come with me." he said. "Let us save my daughter. Let us save Fluttershy."

Once preparations had been arranged for the journey to the Mortem Mountains, Alistair led the girls outside, and let out a shrill whistle that rang through the air. In almost an instant, a carriage appeared, drawn by a mysterious-looking stallion. Alistair opened the carriage door wide. "Ladies first." he said. With their saddlebags, Twilight and Rainbow Dash boarded onto the carriage, Alistair soon followed and sat across from them.

"Take us to the mansion." said Alistair to the coach horse, just as he pulled out form the villa and headed into the forest.

"But, aren't we supposed to be going to the mountains, or something?" asked Rainbow.

"Yes, but Eldra also wanted me to bring the other Pure Blood vampires, we'll have to make a quick stop before we get there." explained Alistair.

"You're going to do what she says then?" questioned Twilight. "This is clearly a trap!"

"Of course I know it's a trap! But what other choice do I have? I don't trust Eldra, but for now, we must follow her demands until Fluttershy is safe and out of her clutches."

"I've been wondering about that, Fluttershy didn't mention anything about having an aunt before." said Twilight.

"That's because I never wanted her to know about Eldra." said Alistair. "My sister is a cruel, cunning, and crazy mare. She's been that way ever since we were foals."

"So, all that talk before about suffering?" pressed Rainbow Dash. Alistair turned away, gazing distantly out the carriage window.

"Please, sir." said Twilight. "If we know who or what we're up against, we'll be able to better save Fluttershy." Alistair heaved a tired sigh.

"Alright. For as long as I can remember, Eldra has always had this grudge against me, almost to the point of obsession."

"But why?" asked Twilight.

"Eldra and I are only half siblings. We have the same father, but different mothers. She is the illegitimate offspring of a common half breed vampire, a servant who died when Eldra was barely a year old. Father took pity on her and took her in, but she was never actually accepted as a part of the Alucard family. Meaning she would never become head of the family or inherit anything after our father's passing. Perhaps it was partly because of that that Eldra had become bitter."

"Gee, ya think?" muttered Rainbow Dash sarcastically. Twilight elbowed Rainbow in the ribs.

"Please continue." said Twilight.

"Well, I did try to get along with Eldra, but she made it very clear from the beginning that she had no interest in befriending me. Instead, she did what she could to try and make my life miserable, with little success I might add. When father passed away, I decided to let Eldra stay in the family estate, at the time, I took pity on her as well and knew that despite her tormenting, she was still my sister. It was a decision I soon regretted. Eldra's behavior became more erratic, and she started to play her mind games on me to try and trip me up, to make me lose my temper and lash out at her, especially in front of others. I didn't miss her one bit when coming to the New World. But what she's done now, it's beyond inexcusable. She must be stopped! And if it ever comes to it, I may have no choice but to finish her off myself." Twilight and Rainbow shared a look.

"Do you suppose Fluttershy's alright?" asked Twilight.

"I dearly hope so." exhaled Alistair. "But with Eldra, it's hard to say." He hung his head sadly. He'd promised to protect Fluttershy, and he'd failed. He was powerless to stop his twisted sister from plunging that dagger into her, and who knew what other nasty tortures she was putting Fluttershy through? 'Forgive me, Maia.' he thought. 'Watch over Fluttershy, until I come, and bring her home safe and sound.'

How much more time had passed, Fluttershy couldn't tell, but sometime after Eldra had paid her a visit, Discord had carefully slipped in and went over to Fluttershy. Fluttershy didn't bother fighting or doing anything. Instead, she closed her eyes and braced herself for whatever was going to happen to her. She felt as the chains loosened and she was slowly lowered down to the floor. There was a sound of snapping talons, and Fluttershy felt something soft gently wrap around her. She cracked open an eye to see what it was. She opened both eyes in surprise at what she saw. White gauze were wrapping around where the wound Eldra had inflicted had been, and the blood stains on her had been cleaned up. She looked up at Discord, who was avoiding looking at her face.

"Here." he said. With a flourish, he conjured up one of the largest, reddest apples she'd ever seen. He handed it to her, still averting his eyes from her. "You'll need it if you want to regain your strength." Fluttershy took the apple, her mouth watering, but she didn't take a bite. Instead she asked, "Why are you doing this?" Discord shifted uncomfortably.

"I may have done some *ahem!* bad things in the past, but I never went as far as Eldra did." Discord rubbed the back of his head. "And besides, it seems a little extra cruel to do something so terrible to a nice pony like you." Fluttershy blushed in spite of herself. She took a large bite of the apple, and began to suck it of its juices. At first, she was surprised to see that the apple remained very plump and full, no matter how much she drunk from it. Once she was full and satisfied, the apple disappeared in a POOF!

"Thank you." she said graciously. Discord was silent for a moment before saying, "Your welcome." Fluttershy used the back of her hoof to try and wipe away the tears that had dried on her cheeks. Discord sat down next to her and offered her and handkerchief, which Fluttershy accepted.

"It wasn't all a lie, you know." said Discord quietly. "Some parts were, but, we were close to being almost friends." Fluttershy blinked and looked at Discord. His shoulders were slumped and his head hung down. She could see that he felt guilty. She placed a hoof on his shoulder.

"You can still be my friend, if you'd like." she said. Discord finally looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"R-really? After everything, you still want me as a friend?" he asked. Fluttershy gave him a pained smile.

"I can see that you feel bad about what you did. And...if I do happen to-to die, then I'd at least like us to part on better terms." she said. Discord removed Fluttershy's hoof from his shoulder.

"You're too kind, my dear. But, if that is truly what you want, then I'm happy to oblige." Fluttershy felt her heart lighten a little. She knew what he'd done and how he'd tricked her, but she also knew that they were both trapped by her aunt Eldra. And through whatever her aunt decided to put her through, Fluttershy at least wanted somepony to talk to during that time. Even if he was an almost friend. An almost friend after all, was better than no friend at all.

Author's Note

Sorry if it seems like I'm being cruel to Fluttershy, I truly like her, but it just seemed to fit well into the story. There can't be any thrills or drama without a little blood and misery. Please comment below, and I'll get to work on the next chapter.

Calm Just Before a Storm

Fluttershy rested a hoof gently on her stomach. It still ached and hadn't completely heeled, but the bandages that Discord had put on her helped a little. She thought about how afterward, she and Discord talked. He told Fluttershy about how he was sucked into her aunt's scheme and how she had him going around spreading panic and strife to ponies in the towns of the attacks.

"Mind you, it's not nearly as entertaining as say, turning everything topsy-turvy with just a thought." Discord had said. "But it was still better than nothing. Heck, anything is better than nothing after being cooped up in stone for a thousand years." Fluttershy had asked him if he ever felt bad about tricking ponies and being so mean to them. Discord had regarded her question before answering, "Not really, no. However, you so far, have been the only pony that I actually pitied." Fluttershy then had asked him, why he'd pitied her. He'd waved his lion paw and had said, "I don't really know myself. Maybe because I thought that aunt of yours had gone too far or something."

"What do you mean?" Fluttershy had asked.

"I may be a Spirit of Chaos, but even I draw the line at certain things." While sitting on the floor of her prison, Fluttershy thought about how those words actually made sense (oddly enough). Discord so far, seemed to be more of a manipulator and a trickster. Somepony who got off of a good laugh at other ponies' expenses.

Fluttershy sighed. She couldn't tell for sure whether or not this was just another one of Discord's tricks, or if he was truly being sincere to her. So much was happening so fast that she still felt overwhelmed and confused. 'I'm just going to have to trust him.' thought Fluttershy. 'After all, that's what friends do. Trust each other. Even if he's an almost friend, I still need to try and give him the benefit of the doubt.'

After what felt like forever, Alistair's carriage finally pulled over in front of the mansion in the woods. Before getting out, he turned to Twilight and Rainbow Dash, and looked them both in the eye.

"Stay here." he said firmly. "I shan't be but a moment." And with that, he left the carriage and hurried inside the mansion.

"Sooo, what now?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Are just supposed to sit here and do nothing?"

"It's best if we do as he says." said Twilight wisely. "We just need to wait here until her gets back, and then we can continue trying to rescue Fluttershy."

"Ugh! But that could take forever!" groaned Rainbow. She stood up and headed for the carriage door.

"What do you think you're doing?!" asked Twilight.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going out to see if I can speed things along."

"But Alistair told us to stay here!"

"Look, I get that, but we can't just sit here doing nothing. You saw what that vampire mare did to Fluttershy, imagine what she's doing to her now! We came here to rescue her, and that's exactly what I'm gonna do." Without another word, Rainbow Dash slipped out of the carriage, and headed for the mansion.

"Rainbow, wait!" Twilight called, following close behind Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow opened the creaky old door and stepped into the mansion. Long, dark shadows draped across the foyer, with only the dimmest of candle light available to provide a better view of the room.

"Whoa." she breathed, stepping further inside. "This place is like a haunted house." And indeed it was, very much like a haunted house. Complete with dusty furnishings, cobwebs, suits of armor standing on either side of the doorway, an old crystal chandelier, hanging from above, threatening to fall at any given moment, and faded portraits of serious and somewhat creepy ponies. Twilight couldn't help but shiver a little, getting a feeling of dread from knowing they weren't supposed to be there.

"L-let's just go back." stuttered Twilight, eying one of the suits of armor warily.

"No way." said Rainbow Dash, shaking her head. "Not until we find Alistair and his pals so that we can get in on the action."

Twilight let out a groan of frustration over Rainbow's stubbornness and trailed behind her, as the two continued deeper into the mansion. The rickety floorboards squeaked and creaked with every step their hooves made, the sound caused some of the critters, such as spiders and mice, who were hiding about on the floor, to quickly scuttle away as soon as the heard and saw the girls approaching.

"I don't like this." whispered Twilight. "Maybe we should--"

"Shh!" shushed Rainbow Dash, motioning for Twilight to be quiet. She raised an ear, and listened carefully. Just up ahead, coming from the room on the left, the muffled sounds of voices was coming through. Rainbow Dash flapped her wings, and quietly flew over to the door, gently resting a hoof on the knob. Twilight frantically moved her arms in wild gestures to tell Rainbow to stop, and mouthed the word no, but Rainbow Dash didn't pat any attention. She twisted the knob, and swung the door open, heading inside the room. Twilight put her hoof to her forehead and chased after her friend.

"What on earth is going on here?!" asked one of the vampires in shock. All heads turned to the doorway, looking at the two mares who stood there.

"I thought I told you two to stay in the carriage." said Alistair crossly, getting up from the futon he was sitting on.

"Right." Twilight laughed nervously. "So sorry to have intruded, my friend and I will get out of your hair immediately."

But Rainbow Dash remained where she was, floating a few inches off the ground with her arms folded over her chest. "Look, my friend and I came all this way to help rescue our other friend, Fluttershy, and we sure as heck aren't just gonna sit around and wait for you all to finish talking. Whatever it is, we want in on it too."

Twilight gaped at her, wondering if she wanted to get into more trouble or something. The vampires were silent, until one of them, a very elegant mare, spoke, "Very well then, you may sit and join us." she motioned for them to come closer and to have a seat. Twilight and Rainbow Dash obliged, and sat close to Alistair.

"Those are some very bold mares you have there." said the mare. Alistair glanced at them before nodding to the mare. "Now then, as we were saying before that, slight, interruption, you say that Eldra is responsible for all these attacks?"

"Yes Scarlet, and I know without a doubt, that whatever she plans to do with them, it's going to be big."

Scarlet nodded thoughtfully. "And she wants us at the Mortem Mountains, correct?"

"Correct."

Scarlet stood up, and began to pace the floor. "A little while ago," she added. "We've begun to notice that the half breeds are staring to withdraw from their attacks, no doubt Eldra plans to have them as her guard for your negotiations."

"What are you guys going to do about it?" asked Rainbow Dash, speaking up.

Scarlet glanced at her and said, "We will follow Eldra's established demands, and we will wait until there's an opportunity for us to strike down Eldra and her forces, while also rescuing your friend."

"Will it even work?" asked Twilight cautiously.

Scarlet looked away and muttered, "It must, we don't have very many other options on hoof."

The other vampires lowered their heads, solemnly agreeing with Scarlet. "We shall begin preparations to head for the mountains at once." she commanded. The rest of the vampires stood up, and went to carry out their orders.

As Scarlet passed by Alistair, she whispered sympathetically, "You have my deepest condolences."

"Wait a minute, what do we do?" called Rainbow Dash after Scarlet.

"You," Scarlet said with a coy smile. "Will wait for the the rest of us to take care of the dirty work before going and seeing if you can find where they're keeping your friend." And with that, she was gone.

Rainbow groaned. "But I actually wanted to help with the fighting! I mean, come on, how awesome would it be for me to fight off a horde of vampires?"

Twilight shook her head, wondering what she was going to do with her.

"And then, the old wizard actually thought he could try to negotiate with me. Me!" Discord chuckled. He'd stopped by to visit her, and she'd asked him to tell more about himself. "Though, to be perfectly frank, if I'd known that the alternative was being turned into a lawn ornament, then maybe I would've considered his negotiations."

"But why?" asked Fluttershy, looking at him with curiosity. "Why cause trouble? Why do any of this?"

Discord glanced at her and then said, "Well how could I not? After all, I am the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony. Chaos and mischief has always been a part of me. Without it, well, there wouldn't be much reason for me to exist, no would there?"

Fluttershy tried to imagine Discord not having his magic. Without it, all he'd be is an eccentric and unusual creature. Very little would change to her. "I wouldn't say that." she said.

Discord folded his arms and arched a bushy eyebrow. "Oh really?"

Fluttershy nodded. "You'd still be you without your magic." she explained. "Even if you weren't able to do the things you normally do, you could try to find a new place in the world for yourself."

Discord was stunned by this. While this was all hypothetical, Discord couldn't help but wonder himself where he'd stand if he no longer had his chaotic power. For as long as he could remember, chaos came to him as naturally as breathing. To suddenly lose it was almost unthinkable. And to no longer be the Master of Chaos, what else would there be for him? What other role was there in this world that he could play?

"And if I don't find out on my own?" asked Discord. "What then?"

"Then I'd help you." answered Fluttershy kindly. "After all, friends help friends."

Discord couldn't help but scoff a little. "And what could a little pony like you possibly do that I can't on my own?"

"Well for one thing, I think you being my friend would be a good place to start."

Discord's smile wavered and he looked away from Fluttershy. "I'm afraid my dear, that your choice in friends is rather poor." he said. "Considering how I played you like a fiddle in order to bring you here." To emphasize his point, Discord conjured a little fiddle once he mentioned it, and played a little rendition of shaved at the haircut two bits.

Fluttershy put a hoof over her mouth, holding back a giggle and a smile before continuing. "We may have met under...bad circumstances, but, when papa comes, Eldra is stopped, abd all of this is over, I'd be happy to still have you as a friend. Maybe we could have tea in my villa and we can sort everything out."

Discord slowly turned his head and looked into Fluttershy's teal eyes. Had they always been so deep? So mesmerizing? He cleared his throat and said quietly, "That would be, lovely." Fluttershy beamed at him with a beautiful smile. His body grew warm, and he could feel his heart beating, he wondered if he was blushing. And if so, why in the world would he be doing so?

"Yes, well, that is if your father ever does come." said Discord, changing the subject.

"He will." insisted Fluttershy.

"You sound so certain." he remarked.

"When I was a baby, papa made a promise to mama that'd he'd take care of me and protect me."

"I can see how well that turned out." Discord muttered under his breath. But Fluttershy didn't hear and went on.

"So I know that no matter what, papa will do whatever it takes to find me and bring me back home."

"How do you know he will?"

"How do you know he won't?"

Discord had to admit, she had him there. It was possible that her father would do as she said and come gallantly to save her, like some knight in armor out to save the damsel. But unlike Fluttershy, Discord knew about the horde of vampires that Eldra had rounded up to deal with her father. While a great number of them had been eliminated by the other Pure Bloods, they were still great in numbers. Eldra had even made them all starve themselves so that they'd be ravenous for when the attack actually came. 'There's nothing more dangerous than a hungry animal.' Eldra had said. But Discord didn't have the heart to tell Fluttershy any of that. Instead, he sat down beside her on the stony floor and said, "You maybe be right, your father sounded like he cared about you dearly."

"He does." said Fluttershy. "I hope he's alright. He must be worried sick after seeing Eldra stab me."

"I'm sure he'll be alright." said Discord. "From what I've heard from Eldra, she made him out to be quite a powerful opponent."

Fluttershy laughed and nodded. "Yes, he is." As Fluttershy shifted, she winced and let out a groan of pain, putting a hoof over where her bandaged wound was.

"Is your wound bothering you?" asked Discord, showing concern.

"No, I'm fine," said Fluttershy, wincing once more.

"Here, let me."

Fluttershy froze, completely still, as Discord gently and tenderly began to apply some pressure to the wound as he redressed it. Both looked away from one another, their hearts pitter-pattering oh so slightly, and both wondering why they were acting this way.

"Th-thank you." said Fluttershy shyly.

"A-anytime." Discord replied, with a similar amount of shyness.

Little did any of them know, they were being watched, through a secret peephole in the wall. Eldra had been spying on the nauseatingly sweet scene, listening to every word and seeing every action.

"So, it seems Discord has decided to take pity on the poor dear." she sneered. "Then it shall be a pity for them, once I split the two up. They must be taught a lesson."

Eldra turned, as Drake entered the secret room, his red mane a slight mess, and his breath rigid.

"Well?" she asked him. "What did you find out?"

"They're on their way here now." gasped Drake.

"Excellent." She turned back to the peephole. "In a little while, I want you to summon Discord to my quarters. He's done his work, and I think it's about time to end our partnership." A devious smile crept onto Eldra's lips. She thought to herself, 'Soon, everypony will be taught a lesson.'

Dark and Sadistic

Discord stood in the center of Eldra's room, not quite sure why he'd been summoned. Perhaps he was finally done doing her dirty work and could go on to do as he pleased. But Discord didn't hold his breath. Chances were that there was something else behind this little meeting. He wasn't sure what exactly of course, but he could tell it was something. The wooden door opened, and in stepped Eldra.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." she said. "I had a few loose ends to tie up."

He couldn't quite place his claw or paw on it, but Discord didn't like the way that Eldra said that, but didn't press further into what these"loose ends" were.

"Not at all." he replied. "What is it you want this time?"

Eldra said nothing, idly walking past him, trailing her hoof across backs of some of the chairs in the room. "Tell me," she said. "What do think of my niece, Fluttershy?"

Discord felt his throat tighten. "Well, uh, she is a fairly nice pony, I suppose." he said.

Eldra flicked her gaze to him. "You love her don't you?" she asked.

Discord's heart began beating fast. "Now what in the world ever gave you that idea?"

"Oh don't try to play dumb!" snapped Eldra. "I saw what you were up to in there with that pest. The way you look at her, talk to her, tend to her wounds. You're head over heels for her. Her! A disgusting, little--"

"Don't you dare talk about her like that!" shouted Discord. He then realized what he said and covered his mouth. 'Where did that come from?' he wondered. Eldra smiled darkly.

"See? Just as I said. And that is precisely what brings us here. You've outgrown your usefulness dear Discord, and I simply can't have you drooling over my niece, maybe even going so far as to help her, to side with her. Oh no. I'm afraid our deal is done, and it's time to send you back to they way you were."

Discord's eyes widened. "Wait,WHAT?!"

Eldra pulled out a slip of paper and recited the incantation. Discord's body froze, he couldn't move as it slowly began to harden and turn to stone. "No." he whispered. He tried to summon his magic, but nothing seemed to be coming out. He was trapped (again).

"Oh, it pains me to think that you won't be able to say your goodbyes to dear Fluttershy, not that it matters anymore, after I took care of her." Eldra tossed a set of bloodied bandages onto the floor. The same bandages that he'd put on Fluttershy to help with her wound. She looked up from the floor at Eldra, with a piercing gaze that was nothing short of hatred.

"What did you do?!" he demanded.

"Like I said." Eldra replied darkly. "I took care of a few loose ends, you being one of them."

The spell was then complete, and Discord was once more encased in stone.

"Well, that was easy." said Eldra nonchalantly. "Now, to go and prepare for our guests to arrive." She walked out of the room, leaving the statue of Discord behind.

Earlier...

"There." said Discord proudly. "That should do it." He'd finished redressing Fluttershy's wound and made sure that it was tightly knotted. "That should help for a while longer."

"Thank you, Discord." said Fluttershy gratefully.

Discord stood up, preparing to leave.

"I should be off." he said.

"Do you have to?" asked Fluttershy. "Can't you stay a little longer?"

Discord shook his head. "I'm afraid not. If I do, Eldra might grow suspicious, and who knows what she'd do if she found out I helped you?"

Fluttershy lowered her head. "I understand." she said. "But," she looked up into his face with pleading eyes. "Please promise me, that you'll come back soon. I don't want to be alone here."

Discord's expression softened and he smiled. "I promise." With a snap and a flash, Discord was gone. Fluttershy shifted from side to side, trying to get used to the new bandages that Discord had given her. Her face felt warm as she thought about how sweet he'd been to her, how the two of them had talked, and how both tried to make the best of the bad situations they currently found themselves in. Fluttershy couldn't help asking herself, why? Why did she feel especially flustered and even more shy when he was around. Why did her heart beat so fast that she felt like it could burst? The only time Fluttershy had ever felt anything like this was when thinking or being with her father. Her heart would flutter and feel happy and light when around him. But this was different, these feelings felt a little stronger than that. Almost as though she were...in love.

Fluttershy shook her head in disbelief. No, she couldn't be. Could she? It was certainly possible, but all the same, it seemed a little hard to believe. She knew only a little about Discord, having spent most of her time with him when he was disguised as his alter ego, Tony Stanza. During those times, they'd laughed, had fun outings, talked to one another, and acted very much like any other couple. The thought made Fluttershy's cheeks flush a deep reddish-pink. The more she looked back on it, the more she began to know for certain that these feelings, really were feelings of love. Fluttershy put her hooves over her mouth in embarrassment. She'd wanted to be Discord's friend, but this, this seemed almost too much. What would he even say if she told him? He might just laugh at her and say how silly she was for loving him. And perhaps it was silly. But that didn't stop her heart from beating like crazy.

She took several deep breaths to calm herself. She quietly reasoned with herself that the best thing to do was to wait until Discord came back, and then see what happens from there. And if she could, she'd tell him about these growing feelings that were welling up within her. Fluttershy put one hoof to her heart, and the other to her cheek. 'How strange. I'm being held here by my aunt who hates papa, and yet, somehow, I find myself falling in love with my captor and my aunt's other prisoner. I wonder, if all love is as confusing as this.'

The door opened. Fluttershy's head whirled toward it, as her aunt slowly walked inside, and closed the door behind her.

"Having fun, my dear?" she asked.

Fluttershy looked at her in befuddlement. "No, not exactly." she said.

"Oh really? It looked to me like you were having fun, letting that Draconequus play nurse maid and oh so sweetly tend to your poor wounds."

"H-how did you--?"

"I have my ways." Eldra walked toward Fluttershy, who backed up against the wall as far as she could go, her eyes wide with fear.

Eldra reached out a hoof and grabbed onto the bandages, and ripped them off, tossing them aside. "You're just as sickening as your father." she hissed, inching closer to Fluttershy, a crazed look in her eye. "You pretend to be kind and caring, to be better than everypony else, when really you're nothing but a filthy, spoiled, rotten little worm."

"I-I don't..."

But Fluttershy didn't get to finish, as Eldra proceeded to strike her hard across the face, and then in the stomach, reopening the wound that was starting to heal. Fluttershy let out a gasp and fell into a heap onto the floor. Eldra stared down at her, eyes glowing. "What's even worse is that you're not even a pure blood. Your even lower than that, even filthier, and yet, you're surrounded by others who love you, just like my brother.

Fluttershy tried to get up, but was whammed into the wall by Eldra. "You don't deserve love!" shouted Eldra, kicking her in the side, her body falling hard onto the floor. "You don't deserve happiness!" Fluttershy did her best to defend herself, as Eldra clawed at her. "And yet even though you don't deserve it, you still get, in spite of being nothing but an ugly little hybrid." Fluttershy braced herself for Eldra's next attack, which was aimed at her wound. As she kicked at it, Eldra screeched, "An ugly mare like you should just rot to death like she's supposed to!!"

Eldra's hoof impacted on Fluttershy's stomach. Blood coughed out of Fluttershy's mouth, and Eldra stood by and watched her fall to the ground once more, unconscious. Eldra looked down at her niece, bloodied, battered, and broken, feeling satisfied by what she'd done. She bent down, and picked up the bandages, and pocketed them away. Turning on her hoof, she went for the door to leave, but not before glancing once more at Fluttershy and whispering cruelly, "Rest in Tartarus little niece, along with your dear mother." The door slammed shut and a deathly silence hung in the room. Fluttershy's body twitched a little, and she squeaked a few words before passing out, "Pa..pa..., Dis...cord...help...me...."

The Pure Bloods had all loaded up into their carriages and had left the mansion, heading toward the Mortem Mountains, with Alistair's carriage leading the way. Alistair frowned deeply as he stared ominously out the window of the carriage. He had an unpleasant feeling in his gut, he could tell that something was wrong. 'Don't worry Fluttershy, we're coming, just hold on tight.' he thought. A hoof rested on his shoulder, pulling him out of his thoughts. He turned to see Twilight Sparkle, who was sitting beside him.

"Don't worry, we'll get her back soon." she said reassuringly.

"I know." sighed Alistair. "But that doesn't mean I can't stop worrying about her, about what my twisted sister is doing to her."

"Well of course you can't, you're her father, you have every right to be worried. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried myself."

"Hey, worry not." said Rainbow Dash, cutting into the conversation. "With me taking care of those vampires, we'll have Fluttershy back in no time."

"Ugh! For the last time Rainbow, we're not actually going to be fighting the vampires."

"Oh come on! Not even one?"

"No."

Rainbow Dash folded her arms in a huff and mumbled something under her breath that Twilight couldn't make out.

"Thank you both." said Alistair graciously. "For everything you've done. I can see that my daughter was wise in choosing you to be her friends."

"Well, she didn't exactly choose us, it sort of happened by accident." said Twilight.

"Then it was fate." said Alistair. "Perhaps you were meant to meet my daughter from the very beginning, so you could be here."

Twilight looked at him skeptically. "Um, I guess." she said. "Though, I believe a little more in science than I do in fate."

Alistair chuckled, feeling a bit better. "To each his own then, I suppose."

Then, suddenly, the carriage stopped.

"What's going on out there?" Alistair asked, alarmed. "Why have we stopped?"

"There's some ponies blocking the path, they'd like to have a word with you." called the coach stallion.

Alistair, Twilight, and Rainbow all got up and followed Alistair out. It was a bit foggy on the path, so the ponies standing a few feet ahead of them were hard to make out.

"You said you wanted to talk." said Alistair. Two shapes emerged from the fog. Twilight gasped, recognizing them immediately.

"Yes, we do." said one of the mares.

In shock and awe, Twilight uttered the names of the ponies who were before them, and who she never would've expected to see all the way out here of all places.

"Magister Celestia and Magister Luna."

Author's Note

Sorry for doing such bad things to Fluttershy, I really do like her! But don't worry, all is not lost (hopefully).

Guardian Angels

"Magister Celestia! Magister Luna! What are you doing here?!" exclaimed Twilight, not expecting to see the two Alicorns here of all places. Celestia smiled kindly at Twilight as she explained.

"We recieved your letter about what was happening with the vampires." she said.

"Not to mention there's been word of a vampire horde gathering near the Mortem Mountains."

"We were on our way to investigate this." continued Celestia. "When we spotted your carriages traveling down the path toward the mountains." The tall Alicorn arched an eyebrow at Twilight. "I never expected to find you here, dear Twilight." Twilight blushed in embarrassment.

"Yes well, Rainbow Dash and I are helping to rescue a new friend of ours, Fluttershy. She's was kidnapped by her aunt, the pony responsible for all these attacks, and is holding her hostage somewhere near the mountains."

Celestia nodded, listening intently to what Twilight had to say. "I see." she said. Her cool gaze flickered over to Alistair. He gave her a respectful nod in her direction.

"Hello, Celestia." he said.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Alistair?" said Celestia.

Rainbow looked back between the two, doing a double take. "Whoa, whoa, wait! You two, know each other?!"

"We met long ago." said Celestia.

"And you still look just the same as ever." Alistair remarked with a light chuckle.

"When he and his fellow vampires arrived in the New World." interjected Luna. "Alistair and a few other Pure Blood representatives came to us, offering an agreement to live peacefully here." Her eyes then narrowed at Alistair. "Though now, I'm starting to question our decision to do so."

Before Alistair could reply, a voice interrupted.

"What's going on out here?" Scarlet and Phobos stepped out of their carriage and walked toward them. Upon seeing the magisters, they regarded them with a cold and calculating gaze.

"Ah, dear magisters, what brings you here?" asked Phobos.

"We came here to investigate the reports of the vampires gathering at the Mortem Mountains." Luna said somewhat sharply. "Though, it appears now that they're true."

"Indeed." said Scarlet stiffly. "Now, if you'd be so kind as to move out of the way, we shall continue toward our destination."

"Wait." said Celestia. "What exactly is it that you intend to do once you arrive at the mountains?"

Scarlet said nothing at first, then she replied, "We plan to deal with the problem of those rouge half breeds swiftly, making sure that they pay for their crimes."

"Then perhaps," Celestia continued. "You'd allow us the honor of assisting you."

"Wait, what?" said Rainbow Dash. Twilight elbowed Rainbow and shushed her.

"Us? Working with you?" questioned Phobos, seeming not too convinced at the idea. Luna also looked at her sister with similar disbelief.

"Sister--"

But Celestia continued on. "It would be most beneficial for you and your clan. With our help, you'll have the rogues taken care of much more efficiently."

Scarlet arched an eyebrow, somewhat intrigued by the offer. "It is tempting." she said. "But this is a matter between vampires, something that Ponies like you should not be interfering with."

"Hey, what about us?" questioned Rainbow Dash. Twilight elbowed her again.

"I understand. However, you must also understand that these vampires and their attacks have threatened the safety and well being of the New World, thus making it our problem as well. All I'm suggesting is that you allow me and my sister to help subdue the rouge forces, leaving you to deal with them as you see fit."

Twilight couldn't be sure, but she thought she saw a glimmer of a pleased smile on Scarlet's face before she said, "Very well, Celestia. We shall accept your help. So long as you keep to your word and don't interfere with any more of our affairs."

Celestia nodded in Scarlet's direction. "Thank you, I shall do my utmost to keep to it."

Scarlet and Phobos turned and went back into their carriage.

"Thank you, Celestia." said Alistair gratefully.

"Magister Celestia." piped up Twilight. "Not to be rude, but, why are you helping the vampires?"

"Yes, that's something I'd like to know as well." said Luna.

"For millennia, there's been a strong tension between vampires and ponies, a tension that I wish to try and break." She looked Alistair in the eye as she spoke. "You came here seeking peace, and so, I'm willing to give it and offer you and your fellow vampires a chance at living in harmony with us ponies."

Alistair smiled. "Perhaps one day, that'll come to pass."

Rainbow Dash cleared her throat. "Uh, sorry to interrupt, but, we should probably get a move on."

"She's right." said Luna. "There's no time to lose."

Alistair ushered the girls into the carriage and entered inside himself. Luna turned to her sister. "Celestia, do you think we should really be involved in this?"

Celestia nodded. "I do. As I said, I wish to end the tension between our two species, and in order for that, we must begin by aiding each other when in need."

Luna sighed. "If you say so, Celestia."

The two Alicorns flew to the sky, gliding over head of the carriages as everypony continued toward the mountains.

Fluttershy laid on the floor, weak, and barely breathing. She felt even more weak and helpless than she'd ever felt before, and was beginning to despair over what fate laid in store for her. Her ears picked up a sound. It was of the door to the room opening. Had Eldra come back to let out more of her rage? Fluttershy cracked her eyes open to see, but her vision was blurred, and she could only make out a figure coming toward her. What did this figure want? The stranger gently lifted up Fluttershy's head, and poured down her throat a mixture of strange and unfamiliar herbs, washing it down with crisp apple cider. Then, the stranger proceeded to clean the blood off of Fluttershy, adding a poultice to her open wounds and tightly bandaging them. Fluttershy squinted at the figure, doing her best to make out his face or features.

"...Discord...is that you...?"

The stranger did not answer. Instead, her brushed a strand of her mane delicately out of her face, going about his business treating her injuries. The stranger gave Fluttershy another drink, this time, it made her feel tired, and sent her off to sleep.

* * *

When Fluttershy awoke, she had no idea how much time had past, all she could see when she opened her eyes was that the stranger was gone. She looked down at where she had been bandaged. All the pain she'd felt was gone, and her injuries felt almost as thought they'd completely healed! Fluttershy smiled and then looked toward the door, wondering if it was Discord who'd come to help her, and if not, then who else could it have been? Little did she know, the stranger still lurked on the other side of the door, and upon hearing her awaken, he smiled, glad that he'd managed to take away some of her pain before hurrying off. For he had other business to attend to.

Author's Note

Who is the mysterious stranger? Why did he help Fluttershy? Sorry to say that I wrote him and this subplot a while back with the intention of making a sequel. So please don't hate it if it gets confusing.

Also, I'm doing my best to build up the battle scenes. I thought that adding Celestia and Luna would help provide more excitement. Stay tuned, readers!

The Battle

Eldra felt positively exhilarated. Not only was she about to crush her big brother and his pure blood friends, but she was about to create a new order in the New World. One in in which vampires were the dominant race, with her as its supreme leader. She couldn't stop grinning at the thought of it. All the pieces seemed to be falling into place.

"Drake!" she called. Drake rushed to her side. "Are the preparations complete?"

Drake nodded. "Yes, I've seen to them myself. Though, it appears as though we've lost quite a number of vampires from the retaliation of the pure bloods."

"That's of no concern." said Eldra snidely. "It doesn't matter how many we've lost, all that matters is attacking them with as much feral power as possible. Those pure blood snobs think they're better than everypony, because of their special skills, but they've long grown soft from not using them and attempting to befriend other ponies."

Drake said nothing, but merely nodded in agreement with her. "But Eldra, are you sure that it'll work?"

"But of course." said Eldra with a sly grin. "Why wouldn't it?"

"What if the pure bloods are stronger than our forces, they could--"

Drake was silenced, as Eldra backed him up against a nearby wall, giving him a hard look. "It will work." she hissed. "And don't you dare doubt that."

"I won't." said Drake. "Now will you kindly back away from me?"

Eldra smiled seductively. "I don't know, maybe I will, after you beg me to."

Drake rolled his eyes, and pushed Eldra's arms away as he continued to trot down the hall. Under his breath he muttered. "Sometimes, I swear..."

Eldra giggled. 'He's so cute when's he's like that.' she thought, and followed close after him.

"There it is!" cried Alistair. "Just up ahead!" He pointed a hoof out the window toward the mountains that loomed before them. Tall, jagged peaks, surrounded by tall dark pine trees and a large clearing at its base. Alistair turned to Twilight and Rainbow Dash and spoke to them in a tone of utmost seriousness. "You two, stay here until I give the word. And this time, please do as I say."

"So we wait, you give the word, and we go find Fluttershy." Twilight clarified. Alistair gave a nod.

"Precisely."

"You can count on us." said Rainbow Dash confidently.

The carriages pulled to a stop, and all the pure bloods stepped out, trotting in the direction of the clearing, led by Alistair, Scarlet, and Phobos. As they entered, they could see Eldra and her army coming toward them. They stopped a good distance away from each other as Eldra and Alistair faced each other.

"I've come Eldra, now, where is my daughter?" asked Alistair.

Eldra gave him a cruel, coy smile. "Ah yes, my niece. I'm sorry to say she won't be joining us, dear brother. She wasn't quite well after last you saw her, so I made sure to put her down to rest."

Hatred burned in Alistair's eyes. All these games that Eldra had insisted on playing, it was driving him over the edge. "What did you do?!" he demanded.

Eldra laughed, as though he'd just told her a hilarious joke. Once she composed herself enough she spoke in a cold, sadistic tone. "It must be tiring, Alistair, having to keep an eye on all the New World vampires here, but rest assured, I'm happy to take over for you. It would be for the best."

"Over my dead body." he growled.

Eldra grinned. "But of course, if that is what you wish. I would never dare go against one of your wishes dear brother." She stood up tall, her hungry minions ready to attack at her command. "I've enjoyed our game very much Alistair, but now I think it's time to put an end to it, once and for all."

"On that, I think we can both agree on." said Alistair lowly.

"Then let us begin." said Eldra. She motioned for her army to charge, and they did so.

"Now!" cried Alistair, he, the pure blood, and the Magisters (who made aerial attacks) clashed together, beginning the battle.

"How do we know when he gives the signal?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Twilight shrugged. "I guess we'll know when it happens." she replied.

Then, the silence was broken, as the sounds of fighting and Ponies crying out rang through the air. Rainbow turned to Twilight.

"Think that's our cue?" she asked.

"I guess." said Twilight, not entriely sure.

"Then let's go!" cried Rainbow Dash, galloping out of the carriage.

"Hey! Wait for me!" called Twilight.

The two of them stayed close to the trees, doing their best not to be seen. They carefully edged their way around the clearing, watching the battle from the underbrush and the shadows of the trees. The half breed vampires clawed and bit at the pure bloods, only to get pushed back by them as if they were nothing. But what the half breeds lacked in strength, they made up for in numbers. Because soon they stopped trying to attack one at a time. and instead swarmed over them like rats. Some took to the air and attempted to attack the magisters, only to be subdued by their magic. A few bloodcurdling screams sounded as the two opposing forces began to kill off some of the fighters.

"Whoa, that looks pretty intense." said Rainbow Dash.

Twilight nodded in agreement. "Let's go, we need to see where they might be keeping Fluttershy."

Scarlet sliced off the head of two half breeds, their bodies falling to the ground with heavy thuds. But as she focused on the vampires in front of her, she didn't notice one sneaking up behind her, and lunging out to pounce on her.

Phobos saw this and called out to warm her. "Scarlet!"

Before the vampire could attack her however, a beam of light shot him and knocked him onto the ground unconscious. Scarlet gazed upward at Magister Celestia, and gave a small respectful smile before returning to the battle at hoof. Blood and bodies spilt to the ground, and still the fighting continued. The ones who fought with such ferouscity and such passion, were Alistair and Eldra. Changing their fight between the ground and the sky, they would strike each other, both siblings wishing to see the other one dead.

"I see you've improved." remarked Alistair.

"You'd be surprised what you can pick up back in the Old World, Alistair." replied Eldra. She lunged toward him, only to have him throw her onto the ground. She got back up before he could pin her down, searching for a good weak spot to hit at.

"Do you truly feel nothing, Eldra?" questioned Alistair, dodging her with lighting fast reflexes.

"What do you expect me to say, brother? That I regret all that I've done? That I feel bad about what I've done to you and you're pathetic family? Ha! Don't make me laugh."

Alistair gave a guttural growl, using the hook on his bat wing, he attempted to cut her, merely grazing her face. The two flew to the air, circling one another over the clearing like vultures.

"Why Eldra? Why do you hate me so much?" he asked.

"Because." answered Eldra, giving him a hard glare as she smiled. "You were asking to be hated. The way everypony treated you, showed you such admiration, and in such a nauseating display. How could I not ate you. I've long wanted to see you, fallen and broken, your heart in pieces. And I came quite close to, not long before the night I left."

Alistair looked at her skeptically. "What are you talking about?"

Eldra smirked. "How do you think those villagers knew about you two in the first place?"

Alistair's eyes widened. "No." he breathed.

"Yes." said Eldra nodded. "I told them about your wretched wife and how she was pregnant. I even paid her a little visit after she went into labor." her eyes flickered with malice. "Would you like to know what I did?"

Alistair said nothing, too shaken to speak, but Eldra continued. "After I killed the midwife who helped her deliver, I found her in her room, praising over the little miracles she'd given birth to."

"Miracles?" uttered Alistair.

"Oh yes. It seems that your wife gave birth not to one, but two brats. Twins! Imagine that."

"I...I have another child...?"

"Had." corrected Eldra. "I wanted the hag to suffer worse than just death, so what better way than to take one of her new born babies and tell her of your plan to kill it?"

Alistair's pale face was red, his face contorted into one of absolute wrath as Eldra hovered their, laughing. "She begged and pleaded me to give the baby back, but she was already left so weak from the labor that there was nothing she could do to stop me." She then asked him. "So Alistair, how does it feel to know that you not only failed to protect your wife and daughter, but the little baby you never knew as well?"

That was the last straw. Alistair flew at Eldra in a blind rage. She laughed as he attacked her, seeking to tear her apart limb from limb. With every ounce of his being, he wanted to send her to the depths of Tartarus, where she'd burn for all her unforgivable and horrid actions. Eldra merely retained her wicked smile, confident, that she was leading him exactly where she wanted him.

Not far from them, watching a distance, was they cloaked pony with the bit of red mane sticking out from his hood. As he watched the fight, he turned his attention away from them and toward the Unicorn and Pegasus who were heading in the direction of where Eldra was keeping Fluttershy. He smiled to himself. There were only a few more things left to carry out, and soon, his work would be done. Soon, all his careful planning, would come to fruition. Silently, he followed close behind the girls, hidden within the shadows.

Author's Note

I hope I added enough action for you guys.

Also, I'm hoping that one of you, the readers, will be interested in making some fan art for me to use as the cover art of this story. You will be credited. And I'd like to see what kind of work you guys have. Note: Will need URL in order to post as cover.

When Teal Becomes Crimson

Twilight and Rainbow Dash wove in and out of the tall, dark trees, until they came upon an old building covered in foliage.

"You think Fluttershy's in there?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"It's possible." said Twilight, though she wasn't quite sure. "We'll have to take a closer look. But be careful."

"Aren't I always careful?" asked Rainbow Dash. Twilight gave her a look that said do you really want me to answer that?

The two ponies crept up silently and carefully up to the house, checking to see that the coast was clear before entering. The door opened up soundlessly, and they stepped inside. Twilight turned to Rainbow Dash and made a shushing motion with her hoof as they continued into the house.

"Huh, it doesn't look like there are any guards or any other vampires here." remarked Rainbow Dash, peering around corners and into empty rooms.

"They must be out there fighting with Eldra." said Twilight. "But still, we shouldn't let our guard down. There's no telling what might be lurking here."

Rainbow dash nodded. The two of them resumed their search for any sign to tell them whether or not Fluttershy was actually there, sadly, to no avail. Twilight sighed deeply.

"It looks like Fluttershy isn't here." she said regretfully.

"Dang it!" said Rainbow Dash, whamming a hoof on the wall in frustration. "I thought for sure she'd be here."

"Just where could she be?" Twilight wondered aloud. Rainbow Dash shrugged, and the two of them decided to head back and see how Alistair and the others were doing.

Then, as Rainbow Dash stepped over a few floorboards, she heard something that didn't sound quite right. "Huh?" she said in confusion. She stopped and tapped the floor board a few times, as her hooves touched down on the floor, she found that it sounded kinda...hollow. She knocked her hoof against it a few times, and examined the spot. "Hey, Twilight, come and check this out!" she called out to Twilight.

Twilight trotted over and peered at the spot. She too heard a hollow sound as she stepped on it. She tapped her chin and murmured, "I wonder." She felt around the hollow area, looking for something to help confirm her suspicions. "Aha! Found it!" she cried. There was a knot in one of the floorboards, but it wasn't an ordinary knot. As Twilight pressed it, the floor board shot up like a trap door to reveal a hidden passage underneath them. It looked like the perfect place for hiding something, or somepony.

"Awesome!" cried Rainbow Dash, looking down at the now revealed passage. "I've gotta get myself one of these!"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's go!" she said. Twilight jumped down into the passage, followed close by Rainbow Dash, as both continued with their search.

Once they were gone, the cloaked figure from before appeared, walking to the passage door, and looking pleased to see that the two ponies had managed to find it without his assistance.

"Only one thing left to do now." said the figure, turning and heading to the study. It was there that he found the statue of Discord, just as hard and as immobile as any other hunk of stone. "I'd rather not do this." he said with a sigh. "But since it seems you're on Fluttershy's side, I'll repay you in return." And then the figure added, "This should be most interesting."

Twilight and Rainbow followed the passage until they finally came to the end of it, where there stood a door. Rainbow loudly banged on it.

"Fluttershy, are you in there?!" she shouted.

Fluttershy, who had been resting peacefully and making a great recovery, immediately sat up upon hearing the familiar voice and turned to toward the door. "Rainbow? Is that you?" she called.

"Yes, and Twilight's here too!" called Rainbow.

Fluttershy smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness." she said.

"Hold on, we'll have you out in no time!" called Twilight.

After a moment or two, the door was forced open by a blast of magic. Twilight and Rainbow Dash hurried toward Fluttershy's side to help free her.

"Fluttershy, are you alright?" Rainbow Dash asked, concerned.

Fluttershy nodded. "I'm fine." she said. "I managed to heal my injuries a little, but it still kind of aches." Then, she realized something and looked to the girls. "Wait, what are you two doing here?"

"When we found out you were in trouble, we asked your father to let us come to help." explained Twilight, as she used her horn to undo the shackles.

"Papa? Is he here?!" Fluttershy asked.

"You bet he is." said Rainbow Dash. "He and the Pure Bloods are out there right now, fighting it out so he can get you back home."

"Papa." Fluttershy uttered, her heart swelled. Her father finally came for her. Twilight removed the shackles and helped Fluttershy up.

"Come on, we better get going." said Twilight.

"Wait!" cried Fluttershy, before following them. "We can't go yet! What about Discord?"

"Who?" Twilight and Rainbow asked in confusion.

"He's....a friend." said Fluttershy. "He helped me recover while Eldra had me imprisoned."

"Well, what does he look like?" asked Twilight. After Fluttershy described him to her friends, Twilight shook her head and replied, "Sorry, haven't seen anypony like that."

Fluttershy put a hoof to her chest as she looked down worriedly. 'What could've happened to him?' She wondered. Twilight and Rainbow Dash led her up and out of the passageway, and were about to leave the house, when suddenly, the entire house shook, as a little shock wave passed through it.

"What the heck was that?!" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I'm not sure." answered Twilight. "But it felt like a tremendous surge of magic was released."

"I wonder..." Fluttershy murmured to herself. Without thinking all the way through, she headed in the direction of where the shock wave seemed to emanate from.

"Fluttershy, wait!" cried Twilight, as she and Rainbow chased after her. The three of them entered the study, where Discord, who'd been freed from his stone prison for the second time, was stretching his limbs and looking around in confusion.

"Well, that's one way to be woken up." he said. Twilight and Rainbow just stood there with their mouths gaping open, as Fluttershy smiled and cried, "Discord!" she wrapped her arms around his middle in a small hug, taking the Draconequus by surprise.

"Wait, so this is Discord?" asked Rainbow as she pointed a hoof at him and looked at him warily.

"Of course, who else would I be?" asked Discord, puffing out his chest.

"Discord. are you alright?" asked Fluttershy. "What happened to you?"

"Well, that no good aunt of yours decided to end our agreement and imprisoned me in stone again." he said. "No matter what, I couldn't break out of it, I thought I might be stuck like that for another thousand years."

"Wait, if you were turned t stone," said Twilight, then how did you get out?"

"I haven't the slightest idea, Twilight Sparkle. But however I managed isn't important, what is important, is that I'm free and I have a little score to settle with Eldra."

"Join the club." muttered Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, how did you know my name?" asked Twilight, looking at him suspiciously.

"That's right, you probably don't recognize me." said Discord, his head morphed into that of Tony Stanza, while the rest of his body remained the same.

"Tony Stanza?!" the girls cried in shock.

"B-but, how?!" cried Twilight.

"We can explain that later." said Fluttershy, cutting in. "Right now, we need to go and see papa."

The girls nodded. "Right!" they said, and headed of the study. Fluttershy was about to follow, when Discord grabbed her hoof and pulled her back.

"Discord? Is something wrong?" she asked him.

Discord's eyes looked down at the bandaged area on Fluttershy, lightly brushing his talons over it. "Did, she do that?" he asked.

Fluttershy merely nodded.

Discord's eyes narrowed, a little flicker of flame passing in his pupils. "I thought so."

"Discord," Fluttershy said, bringing Discord back out of his thoughts. "I'm sorry, for all that my aunt has done to you."

He snickered. "Sorry? You have nothing to be sorry for, in fact, I daresay that it's Eldra who should be sorry, after all the trouble she caused you."

Fluttershy looked down at the floor and muttered, "I've never seen anypony as hateful or angry as her before." As she said this, she thought about how Eldra had let out her fury on her. "I hope papa is alright." She closed her eyes tightly, and shuddered, thinking of her aunt harming her poor father. Discord rested a claw on her shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. Fluttershy gasped and looked up into his face.

"Now, now, my dear. No need to worry, now that I'm no longer under that stupid contract, I'd say that things have finally turned in your favor." he said.

"Y-you mean... you'll help papa?" asked Fluttershy.

"For you Fluttershy," he said with a touch of kindness in his tone. "I'll gladly do it."

Fluttershy blushed and looked away. "U-um, we should probably get going and catch up with the others." she stammered, all in a fluster.

"Of course." said Discord. And the two of them headed out to join the girls.

The battle was still raging, with both sides beginning to tire, all except for Alistair and Eldra, their emotions giving them the extra strength and energy to fight against each other. Luna blasted a few more vampires, looking exhausted.

"Sister, I don't know how much longer we can keep this up!" she said.

"We must keep going!" said Celestia.

And that's when it happened. The enemy vampires began to levitate off the ground against their will and gather toward the edge of the woods surrounding them. All heads turned to see, stepping out of the trees, Fluttershy, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Discord, who was using his magic to juggle the Half Blood vampires round and round in the air, grinning to himself as they cried in protest and appeared to grow nauseous.

Eldra's eyes widened in shock. "D-discord?!" she shrieked.

Alistair's eyes also widened, but not from the juggling display, but the sight of his beloved daughter. "Fluttershy!" he cried, happy to see her.

Fluttershy looked up into the sky and smiled. "Papa!"

Eldra gritted her teeth, practically until they were shards. "No." she said in a dangerously low voice. "I will not be defeated so easily!" she shouted. She whammed into Alistair while he was off guard, and the two fell toward the ground with great speed, biting her fangs into his arm.

"PAPA!" Fluttershy cried out. She rushed out into the clearing, wanting to help him.

"Fluttershy, stop!" shouted Twilight, heading after her. Discord snapped his talons and bound the vampires with a big ball on thick chains before dropping them onto the ground. Eldra rose from the ground and chanted a spell in a strange language, just as Fluttershy got close to them.

After the spell was uttered, a barrier formed, keeping Alistair, Eldra, and Fluttershy inside, and everypony else out. The barrier was cloud over, so nopony could see what was happening inside.

"FLUTTERSHY!" everypony cried. Watching safely from a distance in the shadows at the edge of the forest, was the cloaked figure. He looked at the dome with great curiosity, wondering what would happen inside, and watching as everypony tried to break through the barrier to save her.

Fluttershy looked wildly around her, everything had gone dark and quiet. Her eyes quickly adjusted as she saw Eldra, beating her father senseless.

"You insignificant worm!" her aunt cried crazily as she hit him. "You think you can beat me?! Well, if I'm going down to Tartarus, I'm taking you with me!"

"Papa..." Fluttershy squeaked. Two fat tears rolled down from her eyes, staining her face. She could smell blood. Her father's blood. Fluttershy lowered her head, her mane falling over her face. This mare, had hurt so many ponies, and brough so much pain to her, her father, and her friends. And they'd done nothing. It was then, that something snapped inside Fluttershy, she felt as though water was flushing throughout her body. She shouted out to Eldra, "STOP IT!!"

Eldra stopped and turned to sneer at her. "Ah, so you haven't died yet, have you? Looks like I'll have to finish the job, and then, I'll move onto your daddy and all your little friends."

Fluttershy lifted her head, her body slowly transforming as she advanced toward Eldra. Her fangs were out, her feather wings had turned into bat wings, and her teal eyes had become a deep crimson, and they were staring down right through Eldra.

This slightly unnerved her, but she quickly covered it up. "Hmph! So, you want to fight me? Well, then, let's fight!" She charged at Fluttershy, who effortlessly dodged her.

She tried to hit her again and again, but each time, Fluttershy would dodge, and then, with speed and strength she never knew she had before, Fluttershy threw Eldra onto the ground, knocking the wind out of her. Eldra scrambled up, fangs out to bite her, only to be punched in the face, falling back down to the ground. The two tussled, with Eldra becoming more and more frustrated as Fluttershy kept on besting her. Until finally, she couldn't take it anymore. Eldra pulled out the hidden knife she'd used before and charged at Fluttershy with it, only to be disarmed and pinned down by her throat to the ground. Fluttershy used the stare on Eldra, who cowered in fear as she looked into those frightening eyes.

"Give up." Fluttershy said in grave voice, which did not sound like the usual sweet tone she normally spoke with.

Eldra knew there was no other way out, and thus, gave up. Fluttershy hit a pressure point on Eldra, knocking her out, and stared down over her body, her eyes narrowed. "Nopony hurts my father, ever." she whispered.

Her ear twitched. Her father was starting to come to. Fluttershy morphed back to her usual self and rushed to her father's side.

"Papa!" she cried. The barier around them fell away and everypony stared as they saw Eldra unconscious and Fluttershy with her father. Alistair sat up, pulling his daughter into a tight embrace. Tears of joy feel from both their eyes. "Oh papa, I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too." he said.

Twilight felt great relief. "I'm glad it's finally over." she said.

"I wouldn't say that just yet." said Discord.

"What do you mean?"

Discord thumbed to the large mess that they had to clean up.

"Oh, right." she said.

"We'll take care of it soon enough." said Rainbow Dash, trotting up to Twilight's side. "For now, let's just enjoy the moment."

The cloaked figure in the forest shadows smiled. "Well done, Fluttershy." he said. "Well done. Now, it'll be my turn to finish the rest."

Author's Note

So...what do you guys say to a sequel? If you guys want, I shall try my best to write one up. But it might take a while. I hope this doesn't seem rushed.

The End, and Also, the Beginning...

With the assistance of Discord and the Magister's magic, everypony managed to securely bind up the Half Blood vampires and place them into a prison wagon Discord had conjured up. The Draconequus himself stood off to the side and watched as the Pure Bloods were offering their thanks to the Magisters for their assistance, and assuring them that the rouges would be properly punished for their crimes. Now that he was finally free, Discord was contemplating what to do next. Where could he go? What could he do? It was then that somepony walked up behind him and tapped his arm. He turned around to see Alistair, standing there with a hard to read expression as he looked up at him.

"Discord, I believe it was?" Alistair began. "Is it true that you helped take care of my daughter while she was with Eldra?"

Discord was silent, wondering how to answer, until he finally said, "Yes."

Alistair took a step closer to him. "My daughter also told me how you pretended to know me and pretended to be a pony just so you could lure her into a trap set by Eldra." he added.

Discord cringed, not wanting to think about that. He spoke up, as he tried to defend himself. "To be fair, it was on;y partially my fault! For one thing I had this nonsensical contract with Eldra, and when--"

"Enough." Alistair interrupted, cutting Discord off. "Whatever your intentions were cannot change the fact that you worked with Eldra, and manipulated my daughter."

'Oh dear, here it comes.' Thought Discord, expecting the stallion to break into a loud and angry outburst. But much to his surprise, Alistair did no such thing, instead, he sighed and looked over his shoulder at where Fluttershy and her two friends were chatting about all that had happened to them.

"However, you also showed my daughter kindness, and helped to subdue the Half Bloods as though it were nothing, and for that, you have my gratitude." he said.

"Um...thanks?" said Discord unsure.

Alistair looked back up at him, his eyes hard as he looked into Discord's face. "Even though I'm willing to let your other transgressions go by, I want to make it perfectly clear that should you do anything like this again, I shall take it upon myself to punish you as harshly and as painfully as possible. Is that understood?"

Discord wasn't afraid of Alistair, but then again, he was Fluttershy's father, so he replied, "I understand perfectly."

This seemed to satisfy Alistair, as he trotted to his fellow Pure Bloods to thank them for their help. Discord watched him as he left. He wondered curiously what sort of punishment the stallion could have that could possibly affect him or cause him any real pain. However, he didn't get a chance to think on the subject any further, as Fluttershy approached him attentively.

"Um, Discord?" she asked.

Discord snapped his attention to her and replied, "Yes, my dear?"

"I just...wanted to thank you again, for everything."

"Please, there's no thanks necessary!" he said, waving a talon at her words. "Still, it was a pleasure to be of service to you, despite all that happened with Eldra, this has been the most interesting experience that I've had in eons!"

Fluttershy gave a small smile. "I'm glad to hear that." She then glanced down and scuffed the ground with her hoof. "And, um, I was wondering...now that you're no longer with Eldra, what are you going to do now?"

Discord stroked his beard, musing over it before answering, "Oh, you know, a little of this, a little of that. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was thinking that, if you wanted to of course, you're welcome to stay at my home till you can find place of your own."

"Y-you'd do that for me?" Discord blinked at her in surprise.

Fluttershy nodded, her cheeks lightly blushing a rosy pink. "You are my friend after all, and despite all that's happened around here, I'd like this to be a chance for us to truly become friends. Given time that is."

Discord didn't know what to say. The corners of his mouth curved up into a smile as he wrapped Fluttershy into a hug. "I'd be more than happy to." he said graciously.

In that moment, both their hearts beat rapidly, they quickly pulled away, averting each others' gaze as their faces grew warm.

Fluttershy cleared her throat, finding her voice. "Good, I'll tell papa that you'd like to stay of us and see if we can work some living arrangements for you."

"I look forward to it, my dear." replied Discord.

Fluttershy giggled into her hoof. Alistair watched this from a distance, narrowing his gaze on the Draconequus, he'd have to keep a very close eye on that creature. He may have helped his daughter, but he was still a male, and he wouldn't allow another male around her until he proved himself worthy enough of her. And he still had a long way to go before then.

"Alistair? Is everything okay?" Alistair turned back to Scarlet who'd been trying to talk to him.

"Er, yes?" he said.

Scarlet sighed. "As I was saying, I wish both you and your daughter good luck, and I look forward to hopefully seeing you at the upcoming Blood Moon Ball."

"Likewise." Alistair replied.

With their farewells said, Scarlet and her husband turned to prepare the Pure Bloods and captured rouges for transport.

Meanwhile, Twilight was having a quick word with Magister Celestia.

"Magister Celestia, do you mind if I ask you something?" she began.

"But of course Twilight." said Celestia. "What is it?"

"Well, I know I was sent to look into the vampire attacks, and to report back on my findings." Twilight began. "And now, that rogue vampires are captured, things will start going back to normal."

"But?"

"But, I think there's still some things I'd like to continue looking into, as part of my research." Twilight gazed over at Fluttershy who was chatting and laughing with Rainbow Dash. "Fluttershy and Alistair have allowed us to come into their lives, and with their help, I believe there's a chance that we will be able to better understand not only them, but the rest of the New World vampires. You said so yourself that you wished to change things between the two species for the better."

Celestia smiled wisely and nodded. "I did say that, didn't I?" she said. "Very well then Twilight Sparkle, you may continue your studies with the guidance of Alistair and Fluttershy, and occasionally report back on your findings."

"Thank you, Magister. I promise I won't let you down." said Twilight bowing her head to Celestia.

"Please, there's no need to be so formal, Twilight." said Celestia with a laugh.

"Sorry." Twilight replied with a sheepish smile.

"Hey, Twi, get over here!" Rainbow called out to her.

"Coming!" Twilight called back. She turned to Celestia before heading toward her friends, saying, "Excuse me."

Celestia stood and watched as the young Unicorn trotted off. Luna chose this moment to come up to her sister's side and followed her gaze.

"It seems all turned out well in the end." said Luna.

"I suppose so." Celestia said in agreement.

"It also appears that "You-know-who" has resurfaced as well." Luna pointed a hoof to Discord, who was walking up to Fluttershy and her friends. "Should we confront him?"

"Yes, but not now." answered Celestia. "If Discord wanted, he could've left by now and resumed his chaotic ways, and yet, he hasn't" She regarded the way Discord looked at Fluttershy and the way Fluttershy would look away, unable to keep herself from blushing. It was an intriguing sight. "For now, I'm curious to see what happens next."

"Man, I can't believe Eldra's not only your aunt, but that she did all those terrible things to you!" said Rainbow Dash to Fluttershy.

Fluttershy nodded. "Yes, well, I'm just glad it's all over."

"Yep, with Eldra in the Pure Blood's care, I doubt she'll cause anymore trouble for a long time." said Twilight confidently.

It was then that a shocked scream rang out. Everyponys' heads turned to the source of the scream, from Selene, one of the Pure Bloods, who was staring at the Prison cart with wide eyes.

"Selene, what's wrong?" Scarlet asked with serious concern.

Selene shakily pointed a hoof at the cart as she answered. "I-i-it's Eldra, s-she's...she's gone!"

There was a collective gasp. "Gone?! How can she be gone?!" shouted Alistair, rushing to the cart for closer inspection. Sure enough, there was no sign of her.

Phobos shook his head. "I just don't understand it. How could she have escaped? And not only that, but where could she have gone?"

Fluttershy shivered with fear. Her mad aunt was now loose, and there was no telling what she'd do next. Discord saw this and comforted her with a tender squeeze on her shoulders. "Don't worry, Fluttershy." he said. "She may be free now, but it won't be for long, not if I or your father have anything to say about it."

"Really?" she asked. Discord nodded. Fluttershy smiled at him.

"And don't forget us." added Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow's right." said Twilight. "We'll also be right with you to make sure Eldra keeps her distance."

Fluttershy looked to the ponies who were around her, offering her their support, her loved ones. She smiled at them. "Thank you, everypony, thank you so much." After she said this, Fluttershy felt for a moment, an odd presence watching her. She looked over her shoulder into the woods, but whatever she sensed was no gone. She shrugged it off. It was probably nothing anyway.

Many hours later, at the old inn...

It was now nighttime, and Eldra was seething with rage. She'd had everything planned for her triumph over Alistair and the rest of the Pure Bloods, only to have it fail. She would've been carted off with the rest of her Half Blood minions, if Drake hadn't sneaked past everypony and helped her escape. She was now back in her room at the inn, sitting on her bed ranting, as Drake mixed up an elixir for her.

"I was so close! I should never have used that spirit! I should've just used some of my minions instead." said Eldra bitterly. "I believe that not only most of my army was wiped out, but that no good hybrid was actually able to best me! Me! It's just not possible."

"Here." said Drake, handing Eldra the goblet full of elixir. "Drink this."

"Thank you, Drake." said Eldra, taking the goblet and drinking its contents in one gulp. She tossed the goblet on the floor and continued to rant. "Well, this isn't over yet. Mark my words, I'll be back, and when I get my hooves on that no good wretch, I'll--" Eldra was about to continue, but found that she wasn't able to talk anymore. Her body started to seize up in paralysis, unable to move or struggle. Her mind instantly went into a panic, wondering what was happening to her.

Drake chuckled darkly. "Finally." he said. "After all these years you finally shut up." Eldra's eyes looked to the empty gobblet on the floor and then darted back to Drake, wide with shock. "What? You didn't seriously think that I respect or was ever loyal to you, did you?" He laughed in her face. "If you thought that, then you're even more of an idiot than I thought you were."

Eldra's throat tightened. What was this? Why was Drake turning on her?

"All these years," Drake continued. "You tried to groom me into being one of your faithful little minions, but unfortunately for you, you've vastly underestimated me, and made it so easy to get you right where I want you."

Eldra tried to shriek, but her body wouldn't do what she wanted. Drake slowly advanced to her, his normally sea-green eyes turning as red as his mane, a red she'd seen not to long ago when looking into the eyes of Fluttershy when she transformed. "I am Drake Alucard." Drake said as he got dangerously close to Eldra. "You killed my mother and tormented my sister." He looked into her eyes, and though his gaze was cold, it also possessed a kind of fire, a fire of wrath. "And now, prepare to die."

He opened his jaw widely as his fangs extended out. Eldra let out a choked gasp as Drake plunged his fangs into her neck and begun to drain her of her blood. As she grew weaker and weaker, she felt her life slowly slipping away. By the time Drake had finished, he licked the last bit of blood off his lips, then leaned in to whisper into Eldra's ear just as she was about to die. "Pitiful, your blood is just as bitter and tasteless as you are." He let Eldra's body fall to the floor, looking at it as if it were no longer his concern, which it wasn't. Then, he calmly trotted over and pulled a cloak from the rack and draped it over his body. He took one last glance at Eldra before heading out the door.

"Well, I'm glad that's all settled." Drake muttered to himself as he headed for the streets. "But there's still a few things left to be taken care of before I go." Drake pulled down on the hood of his cloak, so only parts of his mane could be seen from it, and trotted off into the night, thinking to himself, 'We'll be seeing each other soon, dear Fluttershy. Very soon indeed.'

At the Alucard villa, a little celebration was taking place, for there was much to celebrate. Aside from the safe return of Fluttershy, there was also the defeat of Eldra and her minions, and the welcoming of the three new guests who would be staying with them. Fluttershy had cooked up a delicious feast for everypony, along with a scrumptious-looking apple cake for dessert and plenty of cider to drink. She even got out a bottle of her father's specially stored blood just for him. There was much merry-making as Discord made quips and told a few stories over the meal. During which Fluttershy was smiling the whole time. Never before had she experienced such warmth and happiness with so many ponies, her dear friends. On a couple of occasions, she would find herself looking away each time Discord looked or smiled at her. She figured she'd have to get used to it soon, considering that the two of them would be living together for a while. and even then, the thought of that only served to make her heart pound even faster and make her face grow warmer. As the celebration was reaching its peak, Alistair tapped his glass and made an announcement to everypony at the table.

"I propose a toast," he said, lifting his glass. "To our dear new friends, for if it weren't for them, our lives would surely have been in peril."

Fluttershy looked around the table at her smiling friends, and raised her glass with them. At long last, her wish came true. She clinked her glass with the others.

"To friends!"

Author's Note

I did it! Another story completed! Whoo-hoo! I hope all of you liked this, I won't be working on the sequel for a while, but I promise to try and get to it as soon as I am able. And in case you are wondering, the cloaked stallion and Drake are the same pony. While he mostly worked from the shadows in this story, he'll have a stronger role in the sequel. Please comment below. See you next time---

Kurusagi out! ^.^

Wonderful Friendships

Discord was getting impatient. It was the same kind of impatience that he had when he was sealed away for all those long, boring (lonely) years. He still remembered clearly how that wizened old wizard Starswirl and his little magician buddies ganged up on his and sealed him in stone. And even though he was free, he was still stuck with Eldra, who much to his irritation had power over him. It was ridiculous, and he should know, he practically invented ridiculousness. Much had changed while he was gone. When Eldra had freed them and made that "deal", he'd conjured several history books to catch up on recent events, by flipping through them with ludicrous speed. Unlike the Old World, the New World had given up being governed by a ruler and instead they were governed by a group called the Magisters, wise and powerful ponies who got together in counsel to discuss political matters and all those other dry and boring things one usually tuned out of when regarding politics.

From what he could gather, this place was nothing short of being dull and boring. Thankfully, he was there to stir things up a little. First thing's first, he needed to hurry up and his contract with Eldra, and right now the best way to do that was to play along with her little game and look for an opening. Of course, in order for him to do that, he needed to gain the trust of Fluttershy for Eldra. But how to go about it? He couldn't rush into it, that would be too suspicious. And he couldn't take forever as Eldra appeared to be on some kind of time limit with her scheme. A grin started to form as he developed a plan in that cunning mind of his. With a snap of his lion paw, a piece of parchment and a quill appeared, floating in midair.

"Time for Tony, to have another little get together with Fluttershy." he said with a chuckle as he scrawled down his message. Placing the signature of his alias in big, looping words, he placed it into an envelope, and sent it to Fluttershy's villa via his magic. "Now to get things set up, there's a lot to do if I'm to fool that mare."

Fluttershy wasn't sure when it had arrived, but in the morning, she'd found a crisp white letter on her doorstep from Tony Stanza. She'd shown it to the girls and read it aloud for them.

Dear Fluttershy,

I'd like to have the of you accompanying me on a little get together today. I have something planned that I think you might like. Wait for me in front of the Dress Shoppe at noon sharp. I shall be there shortly.

Sincerely- Tony Stanza

"Are you gonna go?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"How can I not?" asked Fluttershy in reply. "How can I turn him down after all the effort he probably went into for planning this?"

"Still, don't you think it's a bit, rushed?" asked Twilight. "I mean, you barely know this stallion, and already he's asking you out on a date." Was it a date? Fluttershy's face felt warm at the thought of going on a date, but she tried to convince herself that this was something different.

"I'm sure it's just an intimate get together among acquaintances." she said. "Nothing more." Twilight and Rainbow Dash still looked at her skeptically, not really sure if this Tony Stanza was a trustworthy pony. Maybe they were being a bit harsh on the guy, but they didn't want the kind new friend they'd made to get hurt.

"Just be careful, okay?" said Twilight.

"I will." said Fluttershy with an assuring smile. "You girls will be okay while I'm gone?"

"We can take care of ourselves." said Rainbow Dash confidently.

"Good, I should probably get ready, I don't want to keep him waiting long." Fluttershy hurried away to her room to get prepared for her outing with Tony. Rainbow looked over to Twilight.

"We're following them aren't we?" she asked.

"Oh big time." said Twilight. It wasn't that they didn't trust Fluttershy not to be careful, but they didn't know what this Tony Stanza could be capable of. They'd follow at a distance, and would only butt in if he decided to try anything. To keep their friend safe, and to show thanks for what she's done for them.

Fluttershy had been standing outside the dress shoppe for the past 15 minutes or so, and Tony was nowhere in sight. Fluttershy pulled her cape (a gift from her father that she thought would be nice to wear on the outing) tighter around her shoulders. She felt a little awkward standing out as she waited in front of the grand shoppe's window. Did he end up changing his plans? She decided to wait a little bit longer for him. Maybe another five of fifteen minutes.

"Are you alright, darling?" Fluttershy turned to the speaker, a white unicorn who stood in the open doorway of the dress shoppe.

"Oh, I'm alright." said Fluttershy.

"Are you certain? You looked a little sad for moment, and you've been standing here quite a while."

"I'm just waiting for somepony, that's all."

"I see, mind if I chat with you?" The unicorn stood beside Fluttershy, smiling sweetly. "I nice chat might help occupy you while you wait." Fluttershy wasn't sure what to say, but agreed to talk a little with her.

"First, introductions. I am Rarity, the owner of this lovely dress shoppe." She made a grand sweeping motion with her hoof as she gestured to the entire building.

"My name's Fluttershy." said Fluttershy.

"Oh yes, I've heard about you. You and your father live in the villa outside of town, right?" asked Rarity.

"Y-yes."

"Sigh! It must be wonderful, living out on a grand estate, waited upon by handsome servants." A dreamy look came into Rarity's eye, which quickly faded when she heard Fluttershy's next words.

"Um, we don't have servants actually."

"Gasp! No servants? Then, who takes care of the estate?"

"Me and papa. He says that it's good to do things on your own and to learn how to do many things."

"I suppose so, but it sounds like a real chore if you ask me."

"Perhaps it is, but at least it gives me something to do while papa's away." At the mention of her father, Fluttershy became a little sad once more, even though she had some new friends at home, the villa never really felt the same without him. Rarity became concerned by this shift of mood and quickly changed the topic.

"That cape of yours is absolutely stunning!" Rarity complimented. She lifted up the hem and examined it. The lining of the cape was buttery golden silk, and the exterior was a deep teal silk embroidered with filigree. "Something like this would be perfect for my fabrics."

"You think so?" asked Fluttershy timidly.

"Of course! When you've been in the dress business as long as I have, you tend to know these sorts of things." Rarity then looked behind herself and up at her shoppe, smiling as though she was thinking of a fond memory.

"Making dresses has always been my passion." she said. "There's a certain special something that comes out of designing, creating, and presenting a finished dress that I absolutely adore. I can't imagine what life would be like if I were suddenly unable to design anything."

"I can only imagine."

"One of the great things about it is that I also get to meet all sorts of interesting new ponies." Rarity flashed a bright smile. "Like you for example."

"Y-you think I'm interesting?" asked Fluttershy.

"Yes, in a good way of course. Everypony is interesting in their own special way when you really get down to it. It's all a matter of being able to see it." Fluttershy didn't fully understand, but nodded in agreement anyway.

"Sorry I'm late!" Fluttershy saw Tony gallop towards her, appearing to have rushed over in a big hurry. "I got hauled up with something, I didn't leave you waiting long did I?" Fluttershy shook her head.

"It was nice talking with you, Fluttershy." said Rarity. "But I must get back to work. I hope we can talk like this some other time." As Rarity reentered her shoppe, she gave a wink to Fluttershy and said, "Good luck on your date." Fluttershy waved goodbye to Rarity. She was nice pony, and seemed like another possible friend for her to have.

"Shall we get going?" asked Tony.

"Oh, yes. Lead the way." Tony took her hoof and led her to where he'd planned to have their outing.

Fluttershy let out a soft and delighted gasp when Tony had taken her to the town lake, where set up on the bank was a little picnic blanket and basket.

"This is wonderful!" she said sincerely. Tony grinned, pleased by her words.

"I thought you might like it." he said. He offered out his arm for her to take. "Shall we?" he asked. Fluttershy smiled and politely took it as they say down on the blanket. Tony began to pull out an assortment of foods from the basket, laying them out. There were so many choices that Fluttershy wasn't sure which one she should pick. She finally decided to try the watercress sandwich. She took a bit a savored the taste.

"Did you make this?" she asked. Tony nodded. "It's really good."

"I'm glad you like it." he said. Fluttershy took a few larger bites out of the sandwich, and moved onto the rest of the food.

"Aren't you going to eat too?" asked Fluttershy.

"Huh? Oh! Right." Tony sampled some of the grapes that were in a bowl.

"You must've worked really hard and put a lot of thought into making this picnic." said Fluttershy. Tony avoided looking her in the eye and mumbled in agreement. In actuality, it'd only taken him an instant to prepare with his magic. But why tell her otherwise? Fluttershy looked out over the lake, watching the ripples on the water's surface, the pink waterlilies dotting it and giving it some color, and listening to the pleasant ribbits of the frogs.

"Papa used to take me here when I was a filly." she said wistfully. "It's still just as peaceful as ever." Her face slipped back into her frown as she once again thought about her father.

"You're worried about him aren't you?" asked Tony. "Your father I mean." Fluttershy looked up at Tony in surprise.

"How did you know?" she asked.

"Just a guess." he said. "It's perfectly normal you know. To worry about him. I'm sure right now he's worrying about you too." Fluttershy said nothing but gave Tony a bright and beautiful smile that showed her thanks. Tony found himself a tad speechless himself. Having never been shown such a smile before by anypony. Especially not somepony who, he had to admit, was quite lovely. But he couldn't get distracted. He needed to work his way in, gain her full trust and then hand her over to Eldra.

"Uh, Tony?" asked Fluttershy.

"Y-yes?"

"How are you getting along in town? Are you feeling comfortable?"

"I'm carrying on just fine, though this town is a bit boring if you don't mind my saying so."

"I don't mind. In fact, I kind of agree with you." Tony looked at her in confusion. She, agreed with him? Fluttershy then went on to explain.

"Not a lot happens around here. It's awfully quiet, and at times the days end up being routine." she said. "But, I do enjoy it in some respects. These recent vampire attacks have been the closet thing to stir things up around here, it has me on edge to think about what'll happen once the vampires come." 'But you're a vampire', Tony wanted to say. But kept his mouth firmly shut.

"I'm glad I met you." Fluttershy said, smiling beautifully at him.

"What?"

"You, Twilight and Rainbow Dash, I'm glad to have met you all. Even though it's only been a few days, you've all treated me so nicely and brought something into my life." Tony looked into her teal eye, they shined almost in the light. What was happening? Was she putting a spell on him? Well, it would take more than that to affect him.

"I'm glad to have such good friends as you three." she said. Tony felt a touch stunned. He was normally the one who played with emotions, so how was it that this mare managed to turn the tables? Was it because she was a vampire? No, Tony already new that wasn't it. This mare, she was simply saying what she truly felt. She was sweet, innocent, not a manipulator like him. And yet...

"We're friends?" he asked. Fluttershy nodded.

"But of course. We've been talking all this time, and we've been getting along so well."

"But you don't really know me." Tony countered. Then he thought, what was he doing? He was supposed to gain her trust. So why was he trying to make her doubt them being friends by pointing out how they know so little about each other? Fluttershy however replied sweetly, "I may not know you now, but I'd like to."

"You would?" Tony was starting to feel a bit foolish asking all these questions, but he couldn't help it. He was curious about her. What kind of mare or vampire was she?

"I want to know more about you, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash. I want to become a good friend to all of you. It may sound a bit silly, especially since you're working with papa, but I've always wanted to have friends to talk to and to share my feelings with. And now, I do."

Tony felt himself being taken in by her words, until he stopped himself and focused on the last part she'd said. '...to talk to and to share my feelings with.' This gave him an idea. A way to completely gain her trust, was to see her vampire side. Once he "accidentally" stumbles onto the truth, Fluttershy would entrust him with her secret. But in order for that to work, he'd need to get her to reveal herself. And there was one, easy way he could think of to get it done. He'd have to see her feed. Vampires could eat different foods, but they needed to drink on what gives them the most nourishment. What they crave for the most.

"Are you done eating my dear?" asked Tony.

"Yes. Thank you again for the meal. It was very good." said Fluttershy politely, dabbing her mouth with a napkin.

"Well in that case, let me take you out on the second part of our outing." he said. Fluttershy tilted her head slightly in confusion.

"There's a second part?" she asked.

"Yes, I thought it would help add a light something to my otherwise boring stay. You don't mind do you?" Fluttershy shook her head.

"Splendid!" he said. "And don't worry my dear, I'll be sure to have you back in time for dinner."

Author's Note

Sorry, been sidetracked. What with work and my mind flowing with ideas, it's hard to keep things in order. Stay tuned for the next chapter.