Bloody Tears

Chapters

Sins of the Past
Ashes in my mouth
Close Call
Descent into madness
Rising Shadows
What a Horrible Night...
...To have a Curse
Burning Hatred
The Road paved with Good Intentions
Leads to Hell
Twilight of the Vampires
Reflections
Death and Rebirth

Sins of the Past

~A Thousand Years Ago...~

“Stay with me Golden Heart!” Princess Celestia pleaded. The blond and white coated pegasus tried to gasp for air as his life seeped out of the wounds from his neck. Wounds inflicted by a strange menace. The blood ran down his coat and onto his golden armor. He was propped up against a wall, the once great stallion that had mountainous strength, now unable to even stand up on his own accord. The stink of death was all around them, with bodies strewn across the floor, staining the carpets with blood. The attack came from out of nowhere, nearly decimated the Guards. Had not Golden Heart managed to rally everyone together, Canterlot would have been lost. However, it seemed that brave act was paid with his life.

“I apologize, your Highness,” coughed Golden Heart, “but it appears that I can no longer follow your orders.” He gasped for more air. “But whatever happens, I want you to know that has been an honor serving under you, Princess.”

“The pleasure was all mine.” Celestia said as she placed a hoof over Golden Heart’s chest. He was an honorable knight, a role model for Captains of the Royal Guards that would come after him.

“Then kill me now.”

“What!?” Princess Celestia was shocked. She could never willingly take another life. It was unthinkable for her! Such barbarous act...

“Bloody hell Princess, kill me! I’d rather die a free pony, than to live as a monster.” He looked up and stared into her eyes, “I do not want to betray you, your Highness. If you kill me now, I will not wake up as a vampire.”

Princess Celestia closed her eyes, tears welling up. She did not wish to see the horrors that she would create with her own hands. She reached the powers within her, the very powers that commanded the sun in the sky to create a blade of light. Golden Armor closed his eyes as he felt the warmth of the light from the blade. The only regret that he had was that he could not live longer. “Thank you, your Highness.” whispered Golden Heart. It was a swift stroke, and clean. His head rolled off of his neck, and fell onto the floor, eyes still closed with a calm smile on his face. Without a mind or soul to command it to hold itself up, the body slumped over on its side with a sickly thud as it fell on the floor next to its head. Princess Celestia dismissed the sword, and wept bitterly, for Golden Heart, for everyone who had died needlessly this night. When she opened her eyes again, she made up her mind and looked towards Castle Everfree. The grim fortress reached up towards the starry night, with the full moon shining its light into the keep.

Princess Luna, no, “Nightmare Moon” must answer for her crimes.

Part 3: Sins of the Past

~Back to the present, as recounted by Twilight’s Diary~

Dear diary,

When I last left off, Princess Celestia was passed out on the floor of the hospital as everyone else was trying to wake her back up. She groaned as she got back up on her feet, “Ha ha hah, Luna that was a hilarious prank. I don’t think I could top you on that one. Telling me that my favorite student of all Equestria is a blood-sucking abomination of all ponykind. Do that again and I know just the perfect place to banish you to...” She weakly laughed.

“Sister, I wasn’t joking.” There was a long pause, before there was suddenly another loud thump on the floor, which implied that Princess Celestia had fainted yet again. “And would you stop that, you’re starting to embarrass me.”

Rainbow Dash groaned, “We don’t have time for this! And I’m not leaving without answers!” She flew out of the room. I was puzzled about that, until I heard some water running. Rainbow Dash flew back into the room and splashed a cup of water onto Princess Celestia’s face.

“Oh no! NO! How long was I out!? Did she escape? How many survivors are left!? Do you have any garlic on you? Or a wooden stake? A good blade might work too. No, wait, we need the Elements of Harmony! Second thought, scratch that, Twilight is a vampire, so it probably won’t work. Oh no, please don’t tell me I was turned into a vampire too!” Princess Celestia screamed. To be perfectly honest, I had never seen Princess Celestia so... freaked out about anything. She’s usually the paragon of self-control and serenity.

“I’m still here your Highness.” I said. “You were out for ten seconds, tops.”

“I was?” she asked, sighing in relief.

“Okay, it’s obvious at this point that you two know what the hay is going on here, so why don’t you spill the beans here and now?” Applejack asked, rather pointedly.

“Well it’s quite simple actually...” Luna started.

“Don’t answer that Luna, they don’t need to know.” Celestia pleaded.

“I made them.” Luna stated, ignoring her sister as she slapped her own face.

A moment of silence passed between everyone. Various forms and expressions of shock were written on their faces. “Mind running that by me again, because I could have sworn that you said that you created what your sister had just called ‘blood-sucking abominations of ponykind.’” Applejack asked.

“No, sounds about right.” Luna replied dryly. That loud thump you heard back then? That was the sound of everyone’s jaws hitting the floor.

She took a deep breath. “Let me backtrack a bit. Everyone here remembers what happened a thousand years ago between me and my sister, right?” Everyone nodded. “Good, because then you should also already know that I really... resented my sister back then. I was jealous of her, the ponies that praised her, and her control of the daytime. I started to hate her and everything she represented. So I dipped into the black arts. I had heard of legends of Changlings, and I thought that they would be a good army, but difficult to control, since they presumably already have their own Queen to rule over them. And even if I were to find a hive and then convince them to join my cause, it would still be their army, not mine, so it would be too easy for them to turn around and stab me in the back once I’ve conquered Equestria. Then a new idea struck me; ‘what if I were to create my own Changling army, one that was quicker, stronger, than anyone could hope to be?’ Wheels started to turn in the dark depths of my mind and heart; ‘I will make the very people that she loves into her worst nightmare.’ And so, I created them. I called them Vampires, my own vassals and army of the night.” She held up the syringe that held my blood. “I didn’t make them out of nothing though. In order to have slaves, one must have someone to enslave first. So I went out into the night, while everypony was asleep, and took from them their very lives and freedoms. Every single one of those vampires believed that they loved me, and were willing to die for me, but they were enchanted to follow my will.”

“Wait, so all the old Nightmare Night legends about you gobbling up ponies...” Rarity said, horrified.

“Are actually distortions of how I made my dark army, yes.” Luna said.

“That’s horrible!” Fluttershy shouted. When she realized that she just shouted at probably the second most powerful being of Equestria, she shrank and started to apologize profusely.

“No, stop that, you have nothing to apologize for, Fluttershy.” Luna somberly said as she walked towards the window in the room, and gazed outside. “If anyone is to apologize, it should be me. I know that none of you hold a grudge against me but... sometimes, the hardest person to live with is yourself. I have caused the deaths of thousands, tried to usurp and kill my own sister, and for what? A childish fit of jealousy.”

“Is it this... vampire disease... contagious?” Rarity said, as she inched farther and farther away from me.

“Not by normal contact, it only transmits through exchange of bodily fluids.” Luna said, turning back towards us. “So please don’t have exposed wounds when you’re taking care of her, it would only... get her ‘excited’ and might make her try to feed off of you.”

“What?!” I mouthed. “I... I would never think of hurting anyone! Especially not my friends!”

Luna looked straight into my eyes when I said that, and I heard Celestia take a sharp breath. “Maybe you wouldn’t, but we fear the day when your disposition changes about that matter.”

“So... what should we do?” Spike asked.

“We can’t keep her in the hospital. It’s too risky.” Luna said. “Even if these medical facilities are as sanitary as my sister assures me, the smell of blood and death still might become too much for Twilight. However, keeping her at home on the other hand...”

“No, that is still too risky!” Princess Celestia stated. “She needs to be monitored! While I have the utmost faith in you, my student, I’ve seen the darkness consume many a brave soul... and it’s never pretty.”

“I know that, but she needs a pony who know her best, somepony that knows what makes her tick. Who can report back to us if anything changes about her.” Luna turned towards my friends, with a grin creeping up her face. “Or should I say someponies?”

“Who, us?” Rarity said. “But we couldn’t possibly...”

“Oh don’t be modest, it’ll be like babysitting.” Luna smiled, assuredly. I could have sworn that Pinkie Pie flinched though.

Princess Celestia was not so assured, “Babysitting!?” she shouted, exasperated, “Are you serious? Do you honestly think it would be that simple!?”

“Okay so it might not be exactly like babysitting...”

“She’s a ticking time bomb!” Princess Celestia slammed her hooves on the floor, “It’s waiting to explode and take everyone with her!”

Luna raised a hoof, but couldn’t respond. After a few seconds of thinking, she replied, “What is this ‘time-bomb’ that you speak of?”

Princess Celestia smacked herself again, muttering something along the lines of “While you were on the moon.”

“Regardless,” Luna said, turning back towards us, “it is important that you keep a record.”

“Of course, your High-” Applejack started before Luna started to stare at her from only a few inches from her face.

“No, I cannot stress this enough: it is important, for Twilight’s sake, neigh, your own sake, that you keep a detailed record. I want to know if she starts looking at anyone longingly, and if so, for how long, if she starts to talk in her sleep, what sort of things does she say, and if she starts drooling while looking at you while she thinks no one else is looking, or Father and Mother help us all, she starts drooling and she KNOWS you’re looking at her.”

“Y-yes your Highness.” Applejack said, as sweat rolled down her brow.

“Drooling?!” sputtered Rarity. If her coat wasn’t already white, I would’ve said that she’d gone pale.

“And YOU!” Luna said, turning towards the doctor. He stammered as she got close to him like she did with Applejack, “Do not tell ANYONE what transpired here. If you have to give an answer for what happened, say that Twilight Sparkle had nothing more than a miraculous recovery and that she should be fine in a few months, but no one is to disturb her while she is at her home. If any word gets out, even if it’s an idle whisper when one relieves themselves, that Twilight is a vampire, I promise you PAIN. WITHOUT. END.” There was an omnious boom of thunder outside. Just how on earth does Luna summon lightning storms like that on command!? Last time I was outside, it was a clear day without a single cloud in the sky! She must have a special weather pegasus squad on-command.

The doctor whimpered and stuttered, unable to form a coherent sentence. “Luna,” Celestia said sternly, “what have I said about threatening civilians? That was a little over the top, don’t you think?”

“Oh I’m sorry, I thought you wanted me to be serious about the matter at hand sister.” Luna said with a slight smirk, “Besides, it got the point across, right?” The doctor whimpered again, shaking his head. “Excellent.” Luna said, sitting up. “I will be sending you further instructions when I return to Canterlot. See to it that they are followed to the letter. That goes for you five as well.” she said, turning her head towards my friends.

“Hey! You forgot one!” shouted Spike.

Luna sighed, “Pardon me, you six. Be sure that Twilight does not go outside at anytime without some form of escort. If her behavior worsens, see to it that she does not go outside at all.” She stood up and started to walk towards the door. “I’m leaving, but don’t hesitate to send me letters with questions. The better understanding everyone has of Twilight’s current condition, the better.” Princess Celestia also walked out of the room.

“So uh, Sugarcube, how are you holding up?” Applejack said, trying to smile. Anyone could tell when she forcing herself, to lie or to smile. Not a great thing for playing Poker. Though I wouldn’t recommend playing against her brother, his face is stone solid. I think Rainbow Dash is still sore over losing tickets to a Wonderbolts Show to him.

“I don’t know...” I answered. To be honest, I’m still not sure. I mean, I should be glad that I am at least alive (In a manner of speaking...) But what about how Princess Celestia of all ponies feels scared!? Like I’ll become something worse, and that it would’ve been better if I had died. What if they’re right? “I have a lot to think about.” I said, as I crawled off the bed.

“I’ll take you home Twilight.” Fluttershy spoke up.

“Are you sure ‘Shy? ‘Cause you look like you yourself could use some rest. Heck, I think we could all use some rest. This is just... heavy.” Applejack said.

“I’ll be fine, thank you.” Fluttershy mumbled.

“Yeah, we all heard Twilight, there’s no way that she’ll hurt anybody!” Pinkie Pie said. To be honest, I appreciated the vote of confidence, but there was this nagging fear at the back of my mind...

“I appreciate the offer, but if I go outside, I get a skin rash and go blind.” I said.

“Ooh! I got an idea! Just wait right here!” Pinkie Pie ran out the room. She returned with her rainbow-colored umbrella hat. “This will at least keep the sun out of your eyes.”

I took the hat, thanked her and put it on. Sure, it kinda looks silly, but it looks silly on anyone. I walked out of the room when I realized that Rarity wasn’t moving. “Hey are you alright?”

“Drooling!?” She sputtered, not moving from her spot.

“Right, you all go on ahead. I’ll try to snap Miss Drama Queen of the Universe out of it.” Applejack said.

The trip home was pretty uneventful. Sure, the itchiness from my skin was irritating, but I tried to soldier on. At least I could see where I was going. When we got home, Fluttershy left to take care of her animals. I however, tried to sleep. Emphasis on tried, since I was pretty much kept awake by my thoughts. With the turn of events as it is, I got curious and decided to read what vampire legends that I had in the Library. Considering that Princess Luna stated her creation of the vampires to be the same time as her rebellion, I kind of knew that it wasn’t going to get anything concrete. After several hours of reading, I haven’t found a good common thread as to what Luna’s vampires are like and from there ascertain what sort of traits I would get, other than the bloodsucking bit.

It’s getting late, I'm getting frustrated, so I should go get some sleep. I’ll try to write more once I ask Luna about what changes have occurred. After I have a nice nap.

~Twilight Sparkle.

Ashes in my mouth

~Powers and Abilities of a Vampire~

Vampires exist in a state of limbo between Life and Death, neither truly living nor truly dead.
Because of this, vampires require a more specialized method of execution. Beheading, burning, and piercing the heart are the most common forms, but there are other possible methods as well, such as draining their “blood” faster than they can recover it.
The only way a vampire can maintain their state of undeath is to feast on the flesh and blood of living things. Should a vampire neglect to feed themselves, the natural process of decay and death will eventually resume, killing the vampire. Also, weaknesses to the Sun and powers associated with it becomes more severe.
Conversely, a well-fed vampire can be virtually indistinguishable from a living being to the naked eye, depending on how recently they are fed. The more flesh and blood a vampire consumes, the more they look like what they were before their conversion. In addition, well-fed vampires have only a mild weakness to the Sun and its powers.

Part 4: Ashes in my mouth

Dear Diary,

I was woken up today by the smell of cooking. Spike sometimes makes breakfast for us when I fail to wake up to make it myself. But there seemed to be a lot more activity going on downstairs than usual. I looked at the clock, because trying to judge the time by the sun’s position while I’m... like this is pretty much suicidal. According to the clock it was noon. Apparently, I had slept through breakfast in time for lunch. I walked downstairs, following the noise to the kitchen, not even bothering try to clean myself up. All of my friends were in there, trying to make lunch.

“What the... What are all of you doing?” I said.

“Um... we’re making lunch.” said Rainbow Dash, carrying the plates, “I thought it was kinda obvious.”

“No, I mean why is every single one of you here?” I replied.

“What? We can’t all decide at the same time to help make you lunch?” Applejack asked back, pouring the milk.

“Yeah, I do it all the time!” Pinkie Pie piped up, “Except usually, they’re for parties. But you can think of this as a ‘We’re glad you’re still alive’ party!”

I shot back an incredulous look at them. Applejack sighed, “Okay, maybe there is a bit of an underlying motive to why we’re all here. I’ll tell you about it when after we eat.”

“In the meantime though darling, you need to clean up. You look like a mess.” Rarity said, “...No offense. It’s just that you look like you haven’t looked at yourself in the mirror.” She grabbed me and practically dragged me away from the kitchen to the bathroom.

“Um, yeah, about that. There’s a small problem about it Rarity...” I said.

“Oh hush darling, you’re dealing with a professional, there’s nothing I can’t fix.” she said as she pushed me past the door, into the bathroom. “Now, let’s see wha... Guh.” She paused, mouth gaping, staring into the mirror. It showed the bathroom, with its blue wallpaper. It showed Rarity, with her white coat, her purple mane, and her cyan eyeshadow. But not me.

“Yeah, that’s why.” I said.

Rarity didn’t respond at first, instead started to move her hooves behind my head, moving them up and down. Her flipped duplicate mimicked her actions, only my head wasn’t blocking the view of her hooves. She then pushed down, onto my back. Again, the mirror did the same, only that it looked like her hoof was suspended in the air. I coughed, snapping Rarity’s attention back to me. “Oh, so sorry darling. It’s just... how do I put it... Peculiar.”

“No need, just get me ready.” I said. She nodded, looking a bit... unsettled, perhaps because she rediscovered that while we’re friends, I’m not quite a pony anymore. Even so, she felt... nice. So warm and soft. Really, REALLY warm. It reminded me of the day before when Pinkie Pie hugged me. I think I started to blush as she brushed my mane and tail. I don’t think she noticed, seeing on how she was preoccupied with her own thoughts. Though this is really starting to bother me; what is this that I was feeling about Pinkie Pie? And now the same thing towards Rarity! Can there be a worst time for this to happen?!?

After she combed my hair straight, Rarity and I walked back to the kitchen. “Lunch” it seemed had a lot more breakfast foods than I remembered, with stacks of waffles, lots of applebutter (courtesy of the Apple Family,) and plenty of haybacon strips. The sight of it all reminded me of how hungry I was. What had it been, a full day without any food? “So,” I said, as I helped myself to a waffle, some applebutter, and some of that crispy haybacon, “What exactly is the reason for all of this?”

Applejack took several scoops of the applebutter, spreading it on her waffle, “Spike got the letter from Princess Luna. It’s kinda a long one, and we all figured that we better discuss this together. Mostly it’s stuff about how this... disease affect your day to day life. I had a hard time reading it though, she seems to pull out words that I don’t think are used anymore.”

“Yeah,” I nodded, cutting a bite-sized portion of the waffle, “This does affect everyone, even if I don’t try to eat you guys.” I shuddered, “Princess forbid that I do that.” I took the waffle and ate it. It didn’t taste what I expected. The sweet applebutter, with the hint of cinnamon, the fluffy texture of the insides of the waffle... just wasn’t there. It tasted like... nothing. It was simply a mushy, tasteless mass inside my mouth.

“Twilight? Are you okay?” Fluttershy spoke up, noticing my expression.

“I... I don’t know!” I said, “I think there’s something wrong with the food...”

“Let me have a taste,” Rainbow Dash said, taking the rest of the waffle and stuffing it down. Have a taste, my flank. “Nope, nothing wrong here, tastes like waffles and applebutter.”

“Try the haybacon, everypony loves haybacon!” Pinkie Pie suggested.

I took a strip, bit it and chewed. It certainly crunched like fried haybacon, but it didn’t taste like it at all. “What the hay is going on!?” I spat out the tasteless mass.

“Try the milk?” Fluttershy asked, handing me a glass. I took it, thirsty and desperate to taste something. Nothing.

“Cupcakes?” Pinkie Pie held up a purple and pink confectionery. I greedily shoved it into my mouth, expecting it the be sweet and tasty. NOTHING.

“What is wrong with me?!” I cried out to the heavens.

“I think the question should be what isn’t wrong with you at this point.” Spike pointed out. Rarity glared at him on my behalf.

“Mother of Celestia,” Pinkie said, with genuine sadness, “Not being able to taste cupcakes? That must... suck. Big time. Like, a world without any parties. Or chocolate. Or pizza...” she drifted.

In the middle of my bout of depression, there was a knock on the door. Applejack excused herself to go and open it, which revealed a Royal Guard. “Um, anything I can help with sir?” Applejack asked.

“I’m under strict orders to deliver a package to Lady Twilight Sparkle. Is she available at the moment? Princess Luna... erm... stressed that it’s for her eyes only, and that no one is to see what’s inside it.”

“I’m here,” I said, walking over to the door, being extra sure that I didn’t blind myself with the sun, while still being within his line of sight, “They’re fine.” I said, nodding towards my friends.

“Of course my lady,” the guard said, reaching into his saddle sacks, and then produced a small box wrapped in brown paper. I took the box with my magic, and carried into the kitchen. The guard then left, closing the door behind him.

“What do you think is in that box?” Rainbow Dash asked. I started to unwrap the brown paper, revealing the box to be made of styrofoam. I carefully took off the lid and peered inside. It was a blood donation bag, filled with about a pint of blood.

“Why would Princess Luna send you a blood donation?” Rarity spoke up.

“Maybe we should read Luna’s letter, maybe it mentions something about this.” Applejack said. Spike pulled out a letter from his pockets, and opened it. Applejack wasn’t kidding about it being long.

“Let’s see...” Spike muttered as he skimmed the letter, “Ah ha! Here it is, under ‘Nutrition.’” He pointed to the heading.

We started to read through it; “Twilight Sparkle is to consume around 240 milliliters, or ½ of a pint of blood every two weeks, starting from when you receive your first blood donation. Do not feed her any more than that, otherwise she might start to develop withdrawals and require more blood. It is also important that you feed her in a timely manner. When not in use, refrigerate the blood to preserve it. Use ONLY the blood that you receive from the mail/royal guards, and do not offer her any of your own blood. Cover any open wounds you might have, especially before and after Twilight Sparkle has had her blood rations, otherwise the scent might drive her to consume your blood. Twilight is unfortunately unable to consume or taste other foods, except possibly meat products.”

“Great, just great!” I shouted.

“Huh, the only thing you can eat is meat.” Applejack said.

“That reminds me of this one time, in flight camp, me and Gilda...” Rainbow Dash said.

“How you supposed to take the blood? I don’t see an IV cord anywhere in this box.” Fluttershy asked.

“Does she honestly think you’re going to be drinking this straight out of the bag, does she?” Rarity shuddered slightly, as she levitated the bag of blood.

I sighed, “Well, if this is the only thing that’s going to keep me alive, I might as well get over it.” I levitated an empty glass, took the bag, opened it and then poured it into the glass. A new scent hit my nose, like a bit of metal, and slightly salty. But for some reason, it felt... pleasant. I closed the bag, and put it in the fridge. I held up the glass, now full of the red liquid. I took the glass and took a cautious sip. When fluid hit my tongue, I put the glass down, eyes wide open.

It was the best Princess-Celestia-banish-it-to-the-dungeons-in-the-place-she-banished-you-to drink I’ve ever had. Okay, I might be slightly biased, considering that I can no longer eat anything else, but that tasted better than what I expected. It’s hard to describe, but it’s sort of like a cherry soda with a slight metallic taste... I don’t know, it’s just amazing!

Everyone was staring at me in expectation, waiting for me to say something. “Twilight? Are you okay?” Spike asked.

“This is absolutely delicious.” I said. Then I realized that I took only a sip, so then I took a gulp of blood. It was so refreshing! For some reason, everyone else looked even more worried.

Except for Pinkie Pie, who seemed to have zoned out for a while. “... or chocolate. Wait, did I already mention chocolate? Wait, What did you say was so delicious? Oh wait, is that punch?! Let me have some!” Before anyone could stop her, she took my glass and took a gulp, almost finishing the glass. Her eyes bugged out and then spat all back out onto my face. “Bleh! This isn’t punch at all! It tastes like blood!” she spat, trying to get all the blood out.

“That’s because that’s what it is, but you didn’t stop to listen to us!” Applejack reprimanded Pinkie, “And now you can clean up the mess.”

“No need!” I shouted as I got a cloth rag and wiped it over my face and then wiped the floor. I could still smell the blood from the rag. It felt so good... so intoxicating... no wonder Princess Luna didn’t want me to be near any open wounds... I might have decided to suck all the blood out the rag when no one else was looking. And maybe I also liked the taste despite it being on my face and on the floor or it being from a dirty old piece of cloth. Just maybe.

“Uh right, I think we should discuss over the matter of who can watch Twilight Sparkle.” Applejack said.

“I’m telling you, I’m fine!” I said. I may or may not have said it with a rag stuffed in my mouth, muffling my words.

“...Anyway, I can’t watch her all the time, the farm needs me, especially now because it’s Apple Season.” Applejack said, turning back towards everyone else.

“I can’t always help either,” Fluttershy spoke up, “I have to take care of all the animals. Maybe in the afternoons...”

“I could help in the evening on the weekends,” Rarity said, “I usually close up shop early.”

“How many ponies go by your shop anyway?” Rainbow Dash pointed out, “Why not close shop early on the weekdays too?”

“You’re forgetting that some ponies like having a nice warm saddle before winter comes. I have a fall sale coming up, and it always a rush to get orders filled.” Rarity explained, “On top of that, what if an important business pony stops by? I would miss an important opportunity if I were to close up shop on the weekdays.”

“That leaves Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.” said Applejack.

“Well...” Pinkie Pie started.

“Oh for heaven’s sake, what is it?” Applejack shouted.

“Sometimes the Cakes have to go cater for an event, so I have to babysit the kids.”

“Oh right...” Applejack said, placing her hoof on her face, trying to think, “Not much we can do about that, considering that Twilight...’s house isn’t child proof. Just try to tell us ahead of time okay?” Applejack finished, as Pinkie nodded.

“Wait, that just leaves me!” Rainbow Dash said, “That isn’t fair!”

“You have the most flexible job out of all of us.” Rarity pointed.

“I know, but there’s so many times I can read the entire Daring Do series all day before it becomes dull and boring.” sighed Rainbow Dash.

“It won’t be for the entire day, just part of it, okay?” Applejack said.

“But I like to sleep!” shouted Rainbow Dash.

“I’ll personally give you the first gallon of apple cider this year if you do it.” Applejack smiled.

“Throw in the next two years and you got yourself a deal.”

“Done.” Rainbow Dash and Applejack shook hooves to seal the agreement.

“So it’s settled. Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy will all take turns helping Spike watch Twilight during the weekdays.” Applejack said, “Rarity and I will take care of her on the weekends. The Princess emphasized that it’s important that we report to her any changes about Twilight’s behavior.”

Everyone agreed, and Rainbow Dash was chosen to take the first shift. She immediately started reading the latest Daring Do book that came out. Everypony else left to do whatever chores they had left. Not that this bothers me, since it gives me time to look over Princess Luna’s notes about the exact nature of my vampirism. Most of the notes talk about how I’m now stuck undead, and how blood fuels it. Though it doesn’t seem to mention a whole lot about if I can consume any blood other than pony. Wait, would it be possible for other animals to become vampires? I doubt that Princess Luna would want me to attempt at experimenting on this, but I don’t think the thought hadn’t crossed her mind either. I should probably ask her about it instead. I also wonder how long Vampirism can sustain a host. All the tales that I’ve found usually have the villain a being that lived for hundreds of years, but being works of fiction, I of course take them with several grains of salt.

I need answers, hopefully Princess Luna can provide them. I had Spike send a letter to her tonight, along with a description of my assailant.

~Twilight Sparkle

~Elsewhere...~

The barn door creaked open as Applejack entered the dark and large room. Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy followed her inside. Since the Apple family doesn’t usually hire extra farmhands, either out of family pride or financial difficulties (possibly both,) this place was perfect for a secret meeting. They entered silently, and closed the door behind them. Since it was still daytime, the sunlight from the windows provided enough light for them to hold their meeting.

“Right then, now that we’re alone, we can properly plan around what’s going to happen.” Applejack said, turning to face the others, “Pinkie, you setup the emergency garlic and wooden stakes. While we don’t want to kill her, we have to have some form of defense in case she goes blood crazy or that other vampire returns.”

“Silly, I already have emergency garlic and stakes setup before Twilight became a vampire.” Pinkie Pie said.

“Wait, seriously?” Applejack said, surprised.

“Why on Equestria would you have emergency garlic and stakes all over Ponyville?” Rarity asked.

“In case of garlic or stake emergencies, duh.” Pinkie Pie said, as if it was obvious, “They’re for if I want to add spices to my bread, go camping, or stop a vampire pony apocalypse.”

“But... it wasn’t until yesterday that everyone thought that vampires were entirely fictitious.” Applejack pointed out.

“Except the last pony who thought vampires don’t exist ended up becoming a vampire.” Pinkie replied.

Applejack stuttered and stumbled, unable to form words to counter Pinkie’s argument. Shaking her head, she conceded, deciding that it would be a useless endeavor to pursue her line of thinking. “Anyhoo, is there anything else that needs to be done?” Applejack spoke up.

“I think it’s important that we find the vampire that bit Twilight.” Rarity said, “Even if we do manage to keep Twilight stable, we still have at least one vampire running around.”

“Princess Luna explicitly stated that we should not try to hunt him down.” Applejack stated, “But what we can do instead is to stay on the look out for him.”

“Speaking of Princess Luna, should we really trust her?” Rarity asked.

“Excuse me?” Applejack asked, incredulously.

“I mean, how do we know if this isn’t another coup against Princess Celestia?” Rarity said, “If we take into account what Luna has said, she has full control over the vampires. For all we could know, this was a planned assassination to take out the Elements of Harmony. With even one element out of the picture, Luna could easily become Nightmare Moon again, except this time with no one to oppose her.”

“...I don’t know,” Applejack said, “While it does seem a little suspicious, I have a hard time believing that Princess Luna had a hand to what’s happening. Besides, you haven’t seen her on Nightmare Night last year. She may be a little bit creepy, maybe spooky even, but she’s trying hard to distance herself from what she did as Nightmare Moon.”

“Well, if I were an usurper, I wouldn’t be shouting from the rooftops about how I want to take over the world either.” Rarity stated, “I’m just saying that we should be cautious. I highly doubt this was entirely an accident that Twilight Sparkle got attacked. If that vampire knows who we are, even if it is just limited to us being friends with Twilight, we could very well be next on the menu, regardless of Luna’s intentions.”

“Yeah, the last thing we need is to take care of any more of us as vampires.” Pinkie Pie said, “Now that I think about it, did the Princesses say anything about a cure?”

“I didn’t hear anything about it.” Applejack shook her head, “Could mean that they’re working on it...”

“Or it could mean that there is no cure.” Rarity finished.

“That would mean Twilight is a vampire... Forever!” Pinkie Pie wailed. A moment of silence passed.

“I guess we’ll just have to pray that it isn’t the case. I’ll brief Dash after her shift. However, I don’t think anyone else needs to know, especially Twilight.” Applejack said.

“I don’t know, is it really necessary?” Fluttershy asked, “I mean, Twilight’s still our friend. Shouldn’t she know a little about what’s going on at least?”

“I’m sorry, but it might be for the best dear.” Rarity said.

“You saw her, she’s in denial. She may think she has control over herself, but she could easily go over the edge.” Applejack said, “If she was here, she would think that this is entirely unnecessary.” Fluttershy looked down on the ground, now trying to distract herself by shuffling and shifting the straw on the floor with her hooves. “If there’s nothing else that we need to talk about, I guess this concludes the meeting. The next meeting will be at the same time at the Sugarcube Corner.”

Each pony stood up and left to their separate ways. While the sun still shone, and the world around them was alive, they each felt ill, and did not notice.

Close Call

Part 5: Close Call

Princess Celestia was in a black void, completely alone. The darkness spanned for miles and miles, the sky and ground blended seamlessly. She stood there, unsure where to go, or if it mattered.

“You couldn’t save us...” whispered a haunting wind. It echoed in the abyss, with each repeated sound sounding like some figure from the millenia of her rule.

The Princess looked around, trying to pin down the source of the sound.

“You failed us...” it accused.

Sweat rolled down Princess Celestia’s face. Was it close, or far away?

“We are dead because of you...” it said, sounding as if they were standing next to her, and the cold breeze was their breath. The Princess jolted around, seeing a familiar figure. Or rather figures. There standing in front of the legion was a white stallion, decked in full Royal Armor. There was a straight cut across his neck, above his bite wounds.

“And now you can’t save me.” This voice came from behind, was closer, and much younger. Celestia recognized it, sending chills running down her body. She turned around slowly, praying that she was wrong. It was Twilight Sparkle. The young mare looked up at her teacher, and stared at her. “There is no cure, is there?”

Princess Celestia’s throat went dry, as she choked on her words, “I’m sorry...”

Twilight suddenly leapt at Princess Celestia, fangs bared, and bit her neck. Then the legions of ponies ran up to the Princess, each grabbing a hold of her and started to bite her as she tried to fight them off. Princess Celestia screamed, and tumbled, before hitting the hard floor.

The impact shook her back to reality. In her maddened nightmare, she had somehow entangled herself in the bed sheets and then rolled off her large royal bed. She was still safe, still inside Canterlot Castle. She groaned in pain as she tried to remove herself from the sheets.

“Hard time sleeping dear sister?” Despite the familiarity with the voice, Princess Celestia’s heart still jumped ten feet.

Catching her breath again, Princess Celestia replied back, “Yes, one could say that.”

“Need anything?” The familiar co-ruler approached from the balcony.

“Just some water.” Princess Celestia said.

“I am greatly surprised that you still trust us, dearest sister, even with what has happened with your favorite student.” Luna said, taking a glass with her magic, taking it to the nearby washroom.

“I have no reason to suspect that you had a direct hoof in all of this.”

“Really?” Luna said, over the sound of running water, “The last time you encountered a vampire was when I tried to engineer a rebellion against you a thousand years ago, remember?”

“I remember you as one lacking in the finer arts of subtlety."

"Even so, I still fooled you till the end."

"Yes, but that also means that if this was your doing, you wouldn't bother with keeping Twilight Sparkle alive, you would have her killed outright and then enslave all of Equestria in an instant.” Princess Celestia said, finally having untangled herself from the mess. She took the glass from Luna and drank, before discarding the glass and continuing with a coy smile on her face, “How did that whole thing go again?” she mused, placing a hoof on her chin, “Ah yes, ‘In place of a princess you would have a QUEEN! Not two rulers, but one that is as beautiful and terrible as the dawn! Treacherous as the sea! Stronger than the foundations of the earth!!! All shall love me and despair!’” she shouted, levitating herself a good meter above the ground, and her solar and/or divine glory shining in the dark bedroom.

“...I do not sound like that.” Luna said, blushing.

“Oh of course not, I can’t even dream of being able to match your performance.” Princess Celestia smiled, lowering herself back down, “From how you said it, I could have sworn cheese and ham would start to pour out from your very pores.”

“So we might have... as thou has said before, have been a little ‘over the top.’” Luna shyly looked away, trying hard to hide the blush that had deepened in color.

"Well I suppose my own reaction to the vampires was over the top." Celestia sighed, her face slowly turned sadder as she mused about the past, "It didn't help that I had lost my connection to the Elements after I banished you, the whole kingdom was rocked to its very core."

Seeing Celestia's face, Luna became likewise solemn. "Ah yes, I read about it. That crusade lasted what, a hundred years?"

"Hundred and eleven. I killed all of them, thinking that the vampirism had consumed the mind as well as the body, and without the Elements, I couldn't save them. But now with Twilight acting as she is..."

"... I'm so sorry, sister, you shouldn't blame yourself over it, I was the one who had condemned their lives in the first place. I should have never let my jealousy consume me, I-"

"No, I shouldn't have been so ignorant of your suffering. If I had just listened to you in the first place, none of this would have ever happened."

"And now our combined folly continue to haunt us." Luna mused, as the two of them leaned into each other.

Suddenly, a trail of familiar green smoke snaked its way from the window to in front of Princess Celestia, where it then materialized into a scroll and fell onto the floor. Princess Celestia stepped back away from it. “Oh, it’s probably for you. I haven’t taught Spike how to send letters to you yet...” she smiled.

“Actually, it’s probably directed towards you, since it’s your student that we’re dealing with. Perhaps we have to read it together, don’t we?” Luna said, as she levitated the parchment, broke the seal on it and unrolled it. Both of them read silently at their own pace.

“That thing Spike mentioned about Twilight’s... approval of her new beverage...” Princess Celestia nervously spoke up.

“That’s normal behavior. Provided that her friends follow our feeding instructions, Twilight shouldn’t feel the need to feed off of her friends.” Luna casually said. Celestia breathed a sigh of relief.

“Does the disease infect animals?”

“Some of them. I managed to have it work on a few bats, but I didn’t have the chance to test it on dragons. I was going to try it on a few rats though. Just imagine it, a whole bunch of them scurrying all over your body for your blood.” Celestia let out a disapproving gag as Luna continued, “However, animal blood isn’t as filling as pony blood, so the mostly likely circumstance is that one devours them whole, or drains the creature dry before it gets the chance to be converted. If it could be converted at all.”

“Oh please don’t tell me that is from personal experience, I beg you.” Celestia looked at her sister, with an expression that was split between horror and disgust.

“...Moving onwards, now we get to see just who... Oh. Oh dear.” said Luna.

“Oh dear what? What is it?”

“Congratulations sister, you didn’t just miss any old vampire, you missed our right hand colt: Bleeding Heart.” Luna said, pointing at the illustration of the cutie mark.

“No...” Princess Celestia uttered as her eyes went wide..

“This is problematic to say the least.” Luna sighed, “It’s been a thousand years. That is plenty of time to rebuild the Lunar Army to be tenfold the force it was before. But then again, the question would become how could he hide an army without you noticing?”

“Like you have said before sister, hide them amongst the living while I had searched their graves. Scatter them to the four corners of the kingdom, spread them out to reduce detection AND spread his influence at the same time. I don’t think we can keep this incident a secret anymore Luna, we have to declare a national emergency.”

“NO!” Luna shouted, “If we do that we’ll only tell him that we’re panicking. We have to feign ignorance, so that he doesn’t have the chance to alert any of his subordinates.”

“I refuse to believe that he attacked Twilight Sparkle without any knowledge of her or her connections.” Princess Celestia responded, “We probably have already lost the window of opportunity to stop him from warning his forces. Besides, if we feign ignorance, that only gives him the chance to attack other unsuspecting ponies as well.”

“If we tell the people, there would be chaos and hysteria out on the streets. Innocent lives would be wasted from everyone pointing fingers at everypony else in paranoia.” Princess Luna replied.

The Princesses stared at each other. “Fine then, if you believe yourself to know how Bleeding Heart plans and strategizes better than I, have it your way. But know this: the moment I hear anyone else being attacked by one of those... things, is the moment that I declare a national emergency.” Princess Celestia compromised.

“Understood your Highness.” Princess Luna replied. She bowed, and left to attend to her duties both as Goddess of the Night, and to preparations to counter the ancient threat. Princess Celestia levitated her bedsheets back onto the bed, straightening them out before she laid on them again. It was going to be one of those long nights...

~Two Weeks Later...~

Dear Diary

It’s been awhile since my last entry, mostly because the days have started to blend into one another again. Speaking of days, I’ve noticed that I have been sleeping through most of it, waking up as the sun is closer and closer to relinquishing its rule to the moon, and then feeling sleepy when the morning sun returns. The nights have been very pleasant, though I’m not entirely sure if this is because of my lower temperature or some other influence. This new sleep cycle has not gone without affecting everypony else. I have the feeling that those of my friends who got the daytime hours have the easiest shift. Not to imply that I am hard to deal with (I’m perfectly fine, thank you for not asking,) but that the long hours of the night have started to take a toll on them. Sometimes they would nod off to sleep next to the candlelight. This is most obvious with Applejack, since she normally goes to bed rather early, and wakes up well before the crack of dawn. She’s so peaceful when she sleeps, tired from all her chores, the resting from the sun beating down on her, her strong chest heaving... Uh, sorry, that got weird and sort of creepy pretty quick.

This does however, cut deeply into my daily routines. Right now, everyone who is not my assistant or my closest friend believes the story that I am still recovering from a vicious assault. In retrospect, this is not too far from the truth, just missing a rather small but important detail. The Cakes have sent me some cupcakes, which I let Pinkie Pie eat. While I do honestly appreciate their good will and intent, being deprived of eating regular foods have left me feeling like a rear end of some cosmic joke. They were chocolate with raspberries, my favorites!

Cherilee has sent me “Get Well Soon” cards that everyone in her class had made. It’s really adorable, I put them all in a folder (organized in alphabetical order, of course.) I really should thank her... when I’m not... yeah. I’m curious if Applejack and Rarity have told their sisters the exact nature of why are they visiting me recently. I doubt it though, considering that they would likely blabber it off to someone else, or worse, decide to try to help. I shudder to imagine what they would do as “Cutie Mark Crusaders Vampire Caretakers.” What would that cutie mark look like anyway?

I haven’t been going to the market nowadays, mostly because 1: no one stays open at night, 2: there is quite literally nothing for me to buy anyway. Rarity has taken to bringing some gems for Spike when she brings food for everyone else. I should try to stop her before she spoils him. No, wait, scratch that, I think I’m already too late.

Spike has been running the Library while I’m sleeping on the weekdays now. So long he doesn’t get into fights with Owloysius, I’m okay with that. Speaking of Owloysius though, I haven’t seen him as of late. I know that he tends to migrate for the winter, but it seems that he’s actively avoiding me. I’m curious if it is just him or something that most animals possess. I mean, it’s not like I’m going to try to eat him anyway.

Pinkie Pie is currently taking care of me again. It takes a lot of effort to get her to be quiet. Now, she is my friend and all, but I prefer her in small doses, like candy. But forcing her to stay inside, for at least eight hours, with relatively nothing to do, it can take a toll on some. Especially me. But to be completely honest, if my house is not being used to hold a party, it can get rather dull. The problem usually arises when Pinkie Pie can’t find anything to distract herself with, so she has to resort to bothering me.

Wait, I heard a crash downstairs. I hope Pinkie didn't break something. Again.

Even before Twilight had opened the door to the Library/Living room, a rather familiar, and not to mention intoxicating, scent invaded her nostrils. She gasped in ecstasy when she inhaled deeply the odor. It was blood.

“Oh Dashie, are you okay?” Pinkie Pie asked the cyan mare, who was currently crumpled on the floor with broken shards of glass cutting her body.

Rainbow Dash groaned as she picked herself up, brushing some of the bit of glass protruding from her body off. “I think I am. I think the only things that I broke is my pride...” she said as she turned to her makeshift entrance, “...and her window.”

“I’ll get the broom.” said Spike, retreating to the closet.

“Aw, Twilight is going to be crazy mad now. What does this one make, her fourth?” Pinkie Pie said, worriedly.

“Yeah, you’d think that she would learn to leave some of them open, or at least unlatched.” Dash said. Spike rolled his eyes behind Dash’s back.

Suddenly the upstairs door burst open. “Hey girls, what happened here?” said Twilight, despite what she thought was calming and peaceful, came out as creepy and rather disturbing.

“Oh, hey Twilight,” Dash said, suddenly feeling more than a bit uneasy, “sorry about the window... I, uh, oh boy...” Rainbow Dash saw Twilight, her eyes twitching, her crooked smile, glistening with a bit of spit. Dash's body seized up in fear, despite Rainbow Dash mentally shouting at herself to move far, far, far away from the crazy mare.

“You’re bleeding! Here, let me help you with that...” Twilight said as she moved closer to Dash, walking slowly down the stairs. Watching her, everyone else noted that her eyes were dilated.

Spike leaned over to Pinkie Pie and whispered, “When did we first give her blood?”

“Two weeks ago, on Wednesday.”

“And what day is it today?” Spike asked.

“...Wednesday.” Pinkie squeaked. The words of Luna echoed in her mind as she comprehended the full danger of the situation; “Cover any open wounds you might have, especially before and after Twilight Sparkle has had her blood rations, otherwise the scent might drive her to consume your blood.” Twilight was about to show why you do not, under ANY circumstance, bleed openly in front of a vampire, friendly or not.

To Twilight, Rainbow Dash stank of blood from all her wounds. The sight of Dash’s crimson blood running through and intermingling her cyan coat further clouded Twilight’s mind. Twilight didn’t notice that she was now breathing louder, nor that she had started to drool a little. To Twilight, Rainbow Dash was slowly becoming less her best friend, and more like a pinata. Made of meat and blood, instead of confetti and candy. So really, Rainbow Dash was not a pinata to Twilight at all.

Pinkie Pie and Spike on the other hand were flat out horrified. Can we help her? they asked themselves. After all, it’s generally considered to be a bad idea to get between a ferocious animal and its meal, especially when it’s hungry. Doing so usually makes one another course of the meal. But if they were to run to somepony else for help, Twilight was likely to have finished her meal by the time they came back. As a result, they were frozen in place from indecision.

“Oh gosh, would you look at the time. I have to go do... that thing... in that place... that is not here...” Rainbow Dash stuttered, as she watched Twilight walking closer with a grin plastered on her face that would give the Cat of Cheshire a run for his money, “Uh, bye.” She tried to zip out by going by the way she came in. Emphasis on tried. She was within spitting distance from freedom when Twilight had stopped Dash with her magic.

“Oh no no no, please stay. You’re in no condition to be flying around like that.” Twilight pulled Dash closer to her, completely oblivious to Rainbow Dash’s struggling and flailing, “Here, let me help you, like a GOOD FRIEND that I am.”

“Uh... are you sure?” Dash whimpered, afraid of somehow making the situation much worse for herself. She had expected only to get chewed out for breaking the window, but she did not expect that to be so literal. “You don’t look good yourself...” Rainbow Dash said sheepishly, “I-”

“I’M PERFECTLY FINE~!” She shouted in a rather sing-song sort of way. However, her eye twitching, and her ears flopping around, squeaking slightly, and a strand of drool that had escaped her mouth, all screamed to the contrary. Though the amount of restraint Twilight Sparkle is displaying right now is amazing in retrospect, considering she has almost no other inhibitors to keep her from pouncing on Rainbow Dash right then and there and drain her dry. This fact did not comfort Dash at all.

“Help me.” Dash whimpered pathetically and quietly to Pinkie Pie and Spike as Twilight dragged her to the bathroom, but it was doubtful that she intended to put band-aids and gauze on Rainbow Dash’s open wounds.

“What to do, what to do...” Pinkie Pie said to herself, starting to sweat as she tried to think. Time was running out, and if she tried to intervene, Twilight was sure to unleash her wrath on her. A light bulb sparked to life above her as she remembered something, “Of course!” She ran over to the fireplace and reached into it. She rustled through various items, trying to find the perfect item for this situation. She let out a silent yes when she found it, and pulled it out. It was a humble bulb of garlic. She hastily unpeeled the outer skins and shoved it in Twilight’s face.

“Gah, eww!” She shouted, staggering at the absolutely distasteful smell. Her focus now shifted to the offending vegetable (and pony) Twilight relinquished her magic control over Rainbow’s body. Rainbow Dash did not need to be told that this was her chance to escape, and so bolted out of the library like a bat out of hell. Twilight hissed and screamed, batting the offending clove out of her hooves. The bulb rolled away under the door to the basement, out of reach of Pinkie Pie. Twilight growled, but as the scent of Rainbow Dash's blood left the room, Twilight's eyes began to refocus, “Whoa, I feel a bit dizzy... wait, where did Rainbow Dash go? I thought she was here a second ago.”

“Uh, that thing that she had to go do in that place was really, really important. So she really had to go, otherwise she would be late.” Pinkie Pie smiled, hoping that Twilight wouldn't pursue after Dash, or for that matter decide to eat her instead, “Oh look at the time, it’s time for you to drink.” She ushered Twilight to the kitchen. Spike stood there, horrified at what nearly happened. He shook himself to reality, and resumed getting a broom to clean up the mess.

Outside, Rainbow Dash flew at breakneck speed towards Sweet Apple Acres, It's time to get to be bottom of this! she thought, her heart pounding. She did not want to look behind her to see if Twilight was after her or not. Though considering that Twilight can teleport wherever (and whenever) she wanted, speed didn't matter so much as location.

Meanwhile on the farm, Applejack adjusted the baskets she had placed around the tree. Content with her placement, Applejack turned around with her back to the tree, lifted her hind legs and- “Applejack!” The startling shout from above threw Applejack out of focus, causing her lose her balance, face-planting into the dirt.

“Pardon?” Applejack spat the dirt out as she looked up. It was Rainbow Dash, bleeding, shivering (despite it being a rather warm day for fall), generally looking like she saw things that no pony was meant to behold. "Whoa, Rainbow, what happened?"

“Crazy Twilight happened.” Rainbow Dash replied simply, panting heavily.

“What in tarnation? I don’t think Twi is that hard to-” Applejack said, dusting herself off as she got up.

Rainbow Dash grabbed Applejack and pulled so that her was no more than an inch from her own face as she gave a harsh and serious whisper, “Listen to me, Luna told us about not having any exposed wounds, right? How that makes her 'excited?'” Applejack nodded. "Well," Rainbow Dash continued, "she didn't say that would make Twilight creepy as all heck!"

“So... Twilight did that?” Applejack asked, pointing at the few bits of glass stuck in Dash's body.

"What? Oh, no, that's kinda my fault actually, but that isn't important. I'm gonna go to Canterlot and get some answers from the Princesses myself." Rainbow said, before flying off.

So apparently Rainbow Dash broke another window. She really should pay for all of those some time, its getting annoying. I really wish she would learn not to perform stunts next to my house. Applejack came in later today, interestingly enough. She said something along the lines of Rainbow Dash not going to be able to help anytime soon. I hope Dash is alright though, getting cut like that, bleeding everywhere... such wonderful smell... so much blood... sorry my mind wandered off. Right now, I’m going to go get some sleep for the day.

~Twilight Sparkle

Descent into madness

Princess Luna walked across the hall, her wavy, magical miniature universe hair waving behind her. Her sister, Princess Celestia, had summoned her to see her at her room. Alone. This had better be something important. She nodded at the guards standing on the left and on the right side of the doorway. They responded by opening the door for her.

“Dearest sister, I’m so glad that you responded so quickly. Please, come in.” Princess Celestia said, ushering her sister into the room. Luna noticed that the large royal bed’s curtains were down, obscuring who or whatever was on it.

“I hope that this is important.” Luna said as the heavy doors closed behind her, followed by the sound of the guards leaving the doorway.

“Always quick to get to business, so much like you.” Princess Celestia smiled. When Luna failed to respond likewise, the smile on Celestia’s face disappeared, “Right then. While I have been rather... trusting of you, I still need to be in the know of what is going on, what sort of progress do you have made, etcetera.”

“Are you suggesting that I have been lacking in telling you something sister? I thought that my reports were thorough in the matters of the vampirism disease.”

“Well... in a word, yes, but it’s more focused on a particular line that I haven’t been receiving updates about.”

“Which would be...?”

“A cure. I think we both know that keeping Twilight under watch in her home is a rather... temporary and risky solution to an otherwise long-term problem, but a necessary one if we hope to save her, rather than kill her outright, correct?”

“Of course it is sister. But Twilight should be in a rather stable condition, so we do not-”

“Stable!? You call that STABLE!?!?” shouted a third voice, coming from Celestia’s bed. In a flash, Rainbow Dash jumped out of the bed and landed next to Princess Celestia, her body was covered in scars from various cuts. “I was this close to getting myself eaten, with Twi wearing a creepy grin and saying, ‘I’m perfectly fine~.’” Rainbow Dash angrily stated.

“When did she get here?” Luna asked her sister.

“This afternoon, but when she arrived she was more... skittish. I’m surprised you didn’t see the Rainboom.” the solar sister replied.

“What happened?”

“Oh nothing much, I just crashed through a window, and the next thing I knew, I was almost Twilight’s next meal.” Rainbow Dash said rather pointedly.

“Wait, you crashed through a window!? What were you thinking?”

“Nothing except ‘OH CELESTIA SHE’S GOING TO KILL ME.’”

“And when she came to see me, she asked if there was a cure. Me, believing of course that I wasn’t the most able bodied pony in the kingdom to answer such a question, summoned you to explain to her if there is a cure for this. Now then, Luna, is there a cure for vampirism?” Princess Celestia asked.

“Look, this is exactly why I said that you should cover up any wounds you might have, and to avoid getting cuts in the first place, otherwise it would aggravate the-” Luna started.

“Answer her question dang it! I didn’t fly across Equestria to sightsee while I was bleeding on a whim you know!” interrupted Rainbow Dash.

Princess Luna took a deep breath. This answer was not going to be a crowd pleaser at all. “That’s the thing. I didn’t make vampirism with a cure in mind in the first place.” she admitted.

“Excuse me?” Rainbow Dash said quietly.

“I made vampirism on the assumption that this would be a one-way transformation. Sure, a cure would be an excellent weapon to use should they rebel against me, but why risk the chance that my sister discovers it and uses it against me?” Luna replied, “At best, I only have a handful of hypotheses, all of them a rather risky, and exceedingly difficult to test. In all likelihood though, any attempts to cure her in her present state right now would only kill her before it turns her back to normal.”

“Not... not even the Elements can save her?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“That is one of the few hypotheses to a cure that I thought would have the best chance of working, since it does dispel powerful dark magic. However, there is a problem with it due to how they work in the first place. Twilight Sparkle has to be united, in harmony, in a common goal with the other bearers for it to work. If she believes herself to be perfectly fine, or worse, starts to think that she doesn’t want to be normal at all, the Elements would have no power. And even if it does work, again, it’s likely to kill her since it destroys the very thing that’s keeping her ‘alive.’ I’m sorry.”

A flurry of emotions running through Rainbow Dash’s face, like a slot machine spinning through the numbers. “She can’t be... There has to be...” Rainbow Dash vainly thought, her mind racing to find something that could save Twilight. She couldn’t think of anything at all. Twilight Sparkle, for lack of a better word, is a monster, and is likely to die one. Finally, all emotions except one all drained from her face. She looked up at Luna and glared at her with a fury of a thousand suns. “I’ll make you wish you had STAYED ON THE MOON!” she shouted, suddenly tackling Luna with the force of a equine-sized bullet before Princess Celestia could react.

Rainbow grabbed Luna and flew her through the heavy wooden doors, then through the doors just across the hall, into and through the stone walls. Now flying over the famed Canterlot Botanical Garden, Rainbow Dash let go of Luna briefly, bringing her front hooves together before slamming them on Luna’s face, sending her spiralling downward into the ground below. Rainbow then started to ascend higher and higher, into the upper limits of the atmosphere.

Luna landed in a patch of flowers, creating a rather decent sized crater in the middle of an otherwise peaceful garden. She groaned as she opened her eyes. While she didn’t entirely expect Rainbow Dash to act in such a brash manner, she understood her pain. She actually was rather impressed with Rainbow Dash, despite having caught her off guard (though catching her off guard in the first place was no easy feat either,) but it would take more than a simple maneuver like that to- wait, what was that whistling sound? She stared straight upward and saw a blue dot rapidly, and alarmingly, flying straight down towards her. Princess Celestia had told her one or two years ago about Rainbow Dash performing a “Sonic Rainboom,” breaking the sound barrier in a shockwave of light. She... she can’t be seriously trying to apply all that force on her, like a hammer to smash bug on an anvil... Right? Nope, she’s totally, honest to Father and Mother above, going to do it. This revelation managed to make Princess Luna, a being that almost everypony consider to be a god in pony form, utter a single curse that has not been heard in a thousand years.

In other news, that was the day Rainbow Dash managed to pull off her largest and most powerful Atomic Rainnuke yet. The multi-hued mushroom cloud could be seen from the Everfree Forest, and the ensuing shockwaves rippled even farther, all the way to Appaloosa. But even that was not enough for Rainbow Dash. Before the rainbow-colored dust had settled, Rainbow Dash started to beat Luna’s face in with her own bare hooves. “I. Want. Twilight. Sparkle. Back!!!” she screamed through her tears, her hooves punctuating her words as she slammed them on Luna’s face.

She would have beaten Luna unconsciousness if Celestia hadn’t intervened in time. “What the heck!?” Rainbow protested against the golden magical aura.

“Rainbow Dash, control yourself!” Princess Celestia sternly said, dragging Rainbow Dash away from the battered bloody mess that is Luna, “Trying to kill Luna will not magically turn Twilight Sparkle back to normal. In fact, she is our best chance we have of saving her at all.”

Rainbow Dash snorted as she glared at Princess Celestia, despite being completely helpless against the goddess. “Princess Celestia!” Shining Armor shouted, running from castle with two or three other knights, “We heard an explosion and-”

“Please take her to the dungeons to be detained, while I still have the patience to keep myself from trying to turn her into a pile ash.” Princess Celestia waved Rainbow Dash in front of Shining, “Also, I might need a few medics to be sent here as well.”

“O-of course, right away your Highness.” Shining said, taking Rainbow Dash, escorting her as she continued to cast a glare at the general direction of Luna.

Princess Celestia sighed as she walked towards her sister, passing the various trees and shrubberies that had caught on colorful fire, “On a scale of one to ten, with ten being ‘every bone is my body is broken’, how much pain are you feeling right now?”

“Eight,” Luna whimpered, “However, I think the list of bones she did break is still longer than the ones of which she hadn’t.”

“I have to apologize, I didn’t expect her to behave in such a barbaric manner.”

“No no, I believe it was justified.”

Part 6: Descent into madness

Dear Diary

I think my friends are scared of me now. Well, more so than when I first became a vampire. When I woke up last night, Applejack wanted to ask me about what happened yesterday, when Rainbow Dash broke my window. Was it something I said? Because I didn’t quite understand what she was trying to get at. All I remember was that Rainbow Dash had cut herself and I tried to help, but when I try to think about the details... it seems almost like a blur. When I told Applejack, she only seemed to get even more worried.

“Are you certain Twilight?” she asked me
.

“Yes, why? Did something happen to Dash?” I asked back.

Applejack just shook her head, “Don’t worry about it, she’s fine.”

“No she isn’t fine!” I might have said it louder than I should have, “I mean, she got all those cuts, and Fluttershy also said that she wouldn’t be helping anymore. What happened to her?”

Applejack had started to sweat a lot. “She, uh... decided to move to Canterlot?”

That lie stank so bad, that it was insulting my intelligence. “For what reason?” I asked, “It’s not like her to drop everything and move somewhere.”

Applejack stuttered for a moment before Spike shouted, “She flew off because she was afraid of you.”

I stared at him, trying to figure out if he was being sarcastic. “You’re serious right? I mean, how would I scare her bad enough to make her abandon everything?”

“How about going into a crazed bloodlust and then trying to eat her?” Spike replied.

“Okay, that is a blatant lie! I didn’t try to kill her, I was just getting her to the bathroom to put bandages on her. Nothing more. Why don’t any of you believe me?!” I shouted. The accusations were really getting to me.

“Woah there Twi, nobody said anything about us not believing you. Well, I didn’t at least.” Applejack said, defensively backing up slightly, “It’s just that I’m trying to get to the bottom of what happened. Pinkie Pie and Spike said that you were acting kinda... kooky, and that really freaked out Rainbow Dash.”

“I’m FINE.” I stated, “I’m not some cruel heartless monster that crawled out of Everfree Forest. Okay, so I might seem a little off-putting when there’s blood around. But THATS. IT. I’m still me, and I’m still in control of this... thing.”

“Okay Twi, I believe you, let’s just calm down a little bit. It’s nothing to get worked up about...” Applejack said. I would have nothing of that.

“‘Nothing to get worked up about!?’ Yes it is! You are all probably thinking that one night I’m going to flip out and eat every single one of you in the middle of the night while you’re all sleeping or something!” In retrospect, I probably shouldn’t have been so specific, because admittedly that might make some very nervous about sleeping tonight.

“Hey now, let’s not jump to conclusions here Twi.” Applejack said, “Let’s stop before something gets said or done that everyone will regret later, okay? So Rainbow Dash might have misinterpreted what you were going to do, but the important thing is that we’re all okay.”

I took a deep breath and let it out. “You’re right. I didn’t mean to scare her, or anybody for that matter.” I took a couple of books from the shelves to read in my room, “I’ll be in my room if you need me.” I walked up the stairs to my bedroom.

Twilight Sparkle put down the pen and sighed. "Well this became a huge mess rather quick." she mused to herself. Suddenly, the diary began to write itself, in blood red ink... or at least Twilight hoped it was written in ink. “Some ‘friends’ you have.” read the words on the page. Twilight stared in confusion at her diary, thinking “I didn’t write that... did I?” The diary continued, the words seemed to surface on the page, as if they were being written by an unseen pen, “I honestly expected a lot more from them to be perfectly honest. All she did right there is convince you that you somehow did something wrong.”

Twilight looked at her diary in sheer horror. What manner of magic is this!? Was she dreaming? She picked up her quill again and wrote, “Who are you and what are you doing in my diary?”

“Don’t remember me?” the diary wrote back, “Of course you don’t, where are my manners, the only memory I left on you was my voice in the night and a fake name. Allow me to properly introduce myself, I am Bleeding Heart. My closest friends have the honor of calling me Sanguine.”

Twilight stared at the book, afraid to touch it. She then shut the book hastily with her magic, and carried it with her as she ran downstairs to the main room. “Applejack!!!” She shouted.

“What? What happened?” Applejack asked.

“It’s my diary! It’s Bleeding Heart, the vampire who attacked me, he possessed it, look!” Twilight said, opening her diary to the page where the blood red letters were.

Applejack stared at the page for a moment before looking back at Twilight, “Are you okay sugarcube?” she said slowly, “‘Cause I don’t see what you’re talking about.”

“What do you mean? See the red words? It’s right there, ‘I am Bleeding Heart!’” Twilight pointed.

“I don’t see any words near where you’re pointing at Twi, red or otherwise. I just see a huge blank right there.” Applejack replied.

“What!?” Twilight shouted. To her, the words where there, clear and crisp, written by someone who had practiced their penmanship to absolute perfection. However, Applejack wasn’t lying either, as to her the only words on the page she could see is the line “Who are you and what are you doing in my diary?” that Twilight had written.

“I’m just telling you as it is sugarcube.” Applejack said, carefully and with concern towards her friend, “Are you sure you’re okay?”

Twilight couldn’t believe it. She looked at her book and then to worried face of her friend. “I-I don’t know.” Twilight sputtered, unable to find any falsehood in Applejack’s face.

“Maybe I should tell Princess Celestia about this...” Applejack turned away.

“No! NO!” Twilight shouted, grabbing Applejack, trying to keep her from walking away. Embarrassment raising, Twilight pleaded, “She doesn’t need to know. Please.”

“No?” Applejack questioned, looking back at Twilight, “This sounds exactly the sort of thing that we should be telling the Princesses about in the first place. I only mean to help you Twilight. It might hurt a little, but if we don’t tell them, it will only get worse. Go and get some rest.”

Twilight collapsed onto her knees and hocks as she let go of Applejack. “Please.” Twilight pleaded again.

Applejack looked away. “I’m sorry sugarcube.” she replied as she walked away from Twilight.

Twilight looked on, before suddenly grabbing her diary and running back up the stairs to her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. She dived into her bed and wept into the pillows and sheets. The black liquid that poured out from her eyes stained the cloth.

She turned to the diary, vision blurred from both her anger and her tears, and glared at the accursed thing. She took it and scrawled, “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!?” on the page.

“Because I want to talk to you without exposing myself.” Had the diary spoke rather than write its response, Twilight suspected it would have been in a rather flat and nonchalant tone.

“About what? Your offer two weeks ago? My answer is still the same: NO.” Twilight wrote back.

“Hmm... Perhaps being a servant is too below a position for a unicorn of your talents. How about... Student? Yes, that should be very familiar to you.” The diary replied.

“And pray tell, what are you going to teach me? Or for that matter what can you give me at all?”

“Why I’ve given you everything Twilight, even what Princess Celestia herself cannot give: eternal life. Tell me this Twilight Sparkle, have you fallen to the seasonal allergies as of late?”

Twilight paused before writing, “No... no I haven’t.”

“I have lived for over ten centuries, and not a single one of those days have I spent sick or ill.” wrote the diary.

Twilight could not believe what she just read, “Wait, ten centuries... You were around when Luna became Nightmare Moon!? Is that why you’re a vampire?” she responded.

“Yes, in fact I was her first and most trusted servant. I was her noble steed, and she was my queen. In fact, I was a lot like you dear Sparkle; I did yet not realize what she had done to me, but I knew that I was different. I discovered what you have yet to learn about vampirism: it is not a curse, but a blessing!”

Twilight furrowed her eyebrows together as she wrote, “A blessing? To steal the life of others to sustain your own!? Are you mad?!?!”

“Oh no, I am completely of sound mind, I assure you. Besides, the payment of blood is but a trifling compared to the wonders one can accomplish with this power! Want to see for yourself? I assume you have some spellpaper, yes? The ones designed to measure magic potential? Take a piece and use it.”

Twilight got up from her bed. “What is he planning?” she thought to herself. She reached under her bed and pulled out a box. She opened it and pulled out a slip of paper. To the casual eye, it looks nothing more than a simple piece of parchment, no larger than an index card. It had square with a small dot in the center and had the words “Concentrate Here” printed on it, along with a color line below, with instructions on what to do, and what each color signifies. It a way, the paper measures both potential power and control one has over magic. The idea is that the unicorn would focus all their magic on the dot in the center for ten seconds, then compare the color they made to the color line, and also compare the size of the impression that they have made. While Dragon eggs could absorb more magic than spellpaper, these are easier to use, create, and come by. Princess Celestia tracked Twilight’s progress during the early years of being her private protege by having Twilight use one of these papers every month, so naturally Twilight knew how to use one just from memory.

She closed her eyes and focused all her magic on the dot. The ten seconds hadn’t passed when she started to smell smoke. She opened her eyes to see that the paper had caught on fire in the center where the dot should be. Twilight yelped as she dropped the paper, and hastily stamped on it, trying to put out the fire before anyone else noticed. She hyperventilated for a moment before returning to her diary to write, “I just burned a hole in it. I... I didn’t mean to, I didn’t even see what color it was before I noticed it.”

“…You burned the spellpaper? Have they really lowered the threshold for resistance in spellpaper these days? You have just managed to lower my expectations of modern public magical education.” The diary responded.

“No no, these were Clever Clover’s top-quality spellpaper, ones that Princess Celestia herself recommends above all other brands.” wrote Twilight. The diary did not respond back. Taking a moment to reload her pen, Twilight wrote, “Hello? Are you still there?”

“Yes, I just didn’t expect such staggering results.” the diary slowly wrote back, with a slight quiver in the lines.

“It does explain why my books and my quills feel hot, now that I think about it.” Twilight wrote, feeling her pen again. She started to wonder if she was writing less in ink and more in controlled burns.

“Well, I believe this as undeniable evidence that you need my help. There is much to learn of the powers of the vampire.”

“How about no. You turned me into this, why should I trust you at all? Don’t answer that, it was a rhetorical question. Because I already know that there is no good reason for me to join you at all.”

“So you blindly choose the path of death?”

Twilight was taken aback, “What do you mean?” she wrote.

“They didn’t tell you? Luna did not say a thing about a cure, did she? Or how about your oh so dear Princess Celestia? Do you think she would treat you like a monster if she knew about a method to reverse this?”

“She doesn’t treat me like a monster! She knows me, she can’t believe that... I would...” Twilight wrote, angry that someone would accuse her teacher and guardian. But even as she wrote, the truth of the red words started to take hold as the diary continued to write on its own.

“Oh she will. Even your ‘friends’ think you’re a horrible beast. Just think of what Princess Celestia will think of you now that one of your ‘friends’ flew off to her to tell her that horrible slander about you trying to eat your friends like some rabid animal.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide. “How did he know that? How long has he been watching me?!” she thought. Twilight picked up the pen again, “No, no she would never... She can’t...” Words had began to fail her. “Princess Celestia wouldn’t be so rash as to just on the words of just one pony right?” Twilight thought, not noticing that the diary had responded again as she continued her train of thought, “No, she wouldn’t, but then there’s also Pinkie Pie and Spike’s input. And then on top of that, Applejack is going to report to her that I started to see things.”

Twilight gazed down at her diary, “We’re talking about the same Princess Celestia that called vampires ‘Blood-sucking abominations of ponykind’, correct? Or how about the one that would banish her own sister to the moon for a thousand years, and then subsequently ruled as if she didn’t exist in that period?” the blood red letters accused.

“Shut up! SHUT UP!!!” she scrawled, while trying to banish her own thoughts and evidence against Princess Celestia away.

“Ignorance will not wipe away your bloody tears my dear, nor will it shield you from the harsh sting of truth. Believe me that in the end, I will be the only friend that you can trust in, my dear. When all others reveal themselves to be nothing more than a wretched and miserable pile of secrets and lies, you will crawl to me. This I can assure you.” the wretched thing wrote back.

Twilight had enough of this. She slammed the book shut, opened a window in her bedroom and flung the diary as hard as she could, in the night, all the while screaming “SHUT UP!!!”

A white persian cat yelped in pain from the sudden and completely unexpected missile, knocking her off her cozy spot in the moonlight...

Rising Shadows

Part 7: Rising Shadows

Canterlot Castle by far the most beautiful and majestic place in all of Equestria. Which is fitting, considering that it houses the Princesses. The throne room is an stunning example of the sheer magnificence of the palace. The stain-glass windows depicting past events shine brilliantly in the daytime, projecting its images on the floors at certain times of the day. Because of the design of the castle, one’s eye invariably rests itself on the throne on which Princess Celestia sits. While her powers and stature alone commands respect and humility, the throne seems to amplify this effect, almost as if it declared in a loud voice, “here sits a goddess amongst ponies.”

It was in this room that Rainbow Dash was trapped with Princess Celestia and Shining Armor. Dash was chained to a heavy iron ball and her wings bound to her sides. Princess Celestia wanted the matter to be settled privately between her and Rainbow Dash, but Shining Armor was extremely insistent about having someone around to protect her, just in case.

“Rainbow Dash, born in Cloudsdale, resident weather pegasus of Ponyville,” read Shining Armor, “Bearer of the Element of Loyalty, is hereby charged with Assault and Battery against Royalty...”

“Now there’s something I didn’t expect to hear in a millenia.” Princess Celestia mused to herself.

“...and defacement of a public park.” Shining finished, rolling up the scroll.

“Now that I did expect to happen eventually.” Celestia smiled to herself.

Shining Armor glared at the chained pegasus as he spoke coldly, “How do you plead?”

“Guilty as charged.” Rainbow Dash replied, “Also? Totally worth it.” Shining Armor could not stand to hear such blatant foolishness without slapping himself on the head.

Looking at Rainbow Dash, she shook her head, “And now for the question of the day; what to do with you.” Celestia got up from her throne and began to pace around the room, “Now please try to understand my position Rainbow Dash. I want to be both fair and loving to all my subjects. However, there are times when those two objectives butt heads against each other, especially in times when I have to punish those who committed wrongdoing. For example, if I pursue too much on the side of justice and fairness, I run the risk of looking like a tyrant who enjoys execution. On the other hand, if I act too much on my merciful and loving side, I look like a namby pamby princess who sits around doing nothing but eat cake. With that in mind let’s look at the crimes you committed, shall we?” Princess levitated the scroll before her. “‘Assault and Battery against Royalty’, that’s a big one. That can put you down for a life in prison sentence.”

“I wasn’t trying to kill her...”

“I know, that’s why it’s ‘Assault and Battery’ not ‘Attempted Murder.’ Now, if it was the latter, you would have a death sentence looming over you. Moving on is the ‘Defacement of a public park.’ That one you do not have to worry about too much, it usually carries community service directly proportional to the amount of damage you did. Remind me again how much she did Shining?”

“About half mile radius of severe damage if I recall correctly your Highness.” Shining replied.

“Eugh, that does sound quite a bit. That’s, what, 3000 hours?”

“4000 hours actually”

“Goodness gracious Rainbow Dash, what do you have against plants?” Princess Celestia said, faking shock. Walking back to her throne and sitting on it again, she resumed, “Now, as for how I will actually punish you... Hmm... Just keeping you cooped up in prison will do us no good.” Celestia thought out loud. “Ah! I got it,” she exclaimed, “50,000 hours of community service...”

“Of what? Planting flowers?” Rainbow Dash said.

“Don’t interrupt me Rainbow Dash.” Celestia sternly replied, “50,000 hours of community service protecting Twilight Sparkle and protecting others from her, or until the point when I deem it unnecessary. Also 2000 hours of community service ‘planting flowers’ besides.”

“WHAT?” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“It’s only 2000 hours, it’s half than what you were supposed to do.”

“No, the other thing!” Dash screamed, “Are you crazy!?”

“Ah yes, that.” Princess Celestia said, “I thought it was a rather fitting punishment, considering the circumstances that surround this incident.”

Rainbow Dash huffed, “Luna deserved every-”

“Deserved?” Princess Celestia flatly stated.

Shining had a sudden sinking feeling that he should leave the room, or failing that, take cover.

“This isn’t about what Princess Luna has done Rainbow Dash, rather it is about what you have done.” Princess Celestia said, getting up from her throne, “Despite her most recent bout of self-loathing would suggest, Luna didn’t ‘deserve’ what you did to her. Was it her fault that vampires exist? Yes indeed, but you had neither the need nor the duty to bestow your form of justice upon her, because I had already judged her and then banished her a thousand years ago. Presently however, she has done far more for Twilight Sparkle than what you have accomplished thus far. She freely gave information about Twilight’s condition to you, and the proper procedures to insure that she will not devour every pony on sight. It was only by your buffoonery that your life, as well as everyone else’s, was endangered. And then you compounded the problem further by assaulting the only pony who has any idea of how to fix this. Thanks to you, she has to stay in bed, unable to search for clues for a cure, or find the current location of the vampire. The vampire, I feel that I should remind you, was the one who converted Twilight in the first place, not. Princess. Luna. Perhaps if you had stopped to think before you act, you would not have to be punished at all.”

Not once did Celestia raise her voice, but the room had begun to feel much warmer than it was supposed to be, and Princess Celestia herself started to smell faintly of smoke. “Remember this the next time you think to yourself ‘totally worth it’, because in all manner and forms, it was not.”

There was a knock on the door. Resuming her place at the throne, Princess Celestia chimed, “Come in.”

The guard opened the door and walked in, “Princess Celestia.” He quickly addressed, “I-uh... hope I’m not interrupting anything, your highness.”

“Oh no, in fact I was just finishing up.”

“Ah, yes of course. Princess Luna has awoken, your highness.”

“Ah, excellent. Shining?” Princess Celestia said. Shining Armor peeked from behind the throne. “Please take care of Rainbow Dash. I want her to be ready to leave for Ponyville within the hour.”

“Of-f course your highness.” Shining Armor said, quickly removing himself from his hiding spot.

Rainbow Dash tried, she actually tried, to articulate a rebuttal. But in the process only sputtered and stuttered tidbits of words she would’ve used, slowly coming to the realization that she had nothing to stand on, and she started to agree with what Princess Celestia had said.

Luna stared up at the ceiling from her bed. Not that she can actually do much of anything else, considering that some of the bones in her ribs, wings, and back were either cracked or broken and were held in place by casts. “So this is what it’s like to be in a modern hospital.” Luna thought to herself. She remembered a time when ponies understood very little of the equine body, or how to heal it. Even the exceptional ponies who had their talents in the medical sciences had a rather primitive understanding of how the body worked. Death or permanent injury was a common symptom of having to go to the doctor, as limbs being hacked off while the vict- er- patient was still alive being the most common (and disturbing) prescription. The sight and smell of blood, along with the screams of pain were all too common back then.

Back in the present, Luna began to worry if someone died in a hospital from sheer boredom, or had gone insane by the sheer emptiness of the room. Everything was so... white, clean, sanitary. The walls and ceiling were devoid of blood, the curtains hide no rotting body from view, and not a single rusty saw was within sight. The sound of ponies screaming in pain as apathetic doctors cut them apart was long ago replaced by the ticking of the clock on the wall. But Luna couldn’t see the accursed thing, and the only function it’s ticking performed, it seemed to her, was to hasten her descent into madness.

The sound of the door opening and the following hoofsteps broke Luna free from her seemingly endless torture.

“Dearest sister, how are you?” the sound of Celestia’s voice rang in Luna’s ears, like the sun welcoming the earth with warmth and light.

“By the blackest of nights, I never thought I would ever enjoy the sweetness of your voice!” Luna declared, “Do you honestly subject your citizens to this form of cruelty when they become injured!? I swear, this place was starting to look like the moon all over again!”

“Umm...” Princess Celestia paused, somewhat stunned by Luna’s outburst, “I was informed that you had woken up not less than five minutes ago.”

“FIVE MINUTES!?!?” Luna’s abrupt usage of the Royal Canterlot Voice had shattered the glass on the infernal and insidious ticking device of Luna’s endless torture (aka, the clock,) and nearly deafened a certain nearby princess.

“Ow.” Princess Celestia held her hoof to her ear, recoiling in pain, before checking to see if they were bleeding.

“Oh, sorry.” Luna sheepishly apologized, “So um, any idea on how long I slept?”

“Half a day.” Celestia replied, “While you were sleeping though, I received another update on Twilight.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, it’s bit of a follow up report and clarification on the details of what Rainbow Dash had told us. Twilight said that she wasn’t aware that she was scaring Dash, and insisted that she was simply trying to help by taking her to the bathroom to cover the wounds.” Princess Celestia said, levitating the scroll that she had tucked under her wing.

The sparkling midnight blue aura of Luna’s magic wrapped around the scroll as she took it to read it herself. “Of course she believes that.” Luna said as she skimmed through the letter, “I mean no offense to her or to you dear sister, but I doubt that a happy ending would’ve been the result had Rainbow Dash failed to escape. Not with Twilight Sparkle cradling and caressing her friend’s wounded cyan body, her muzzle mere inches away from the cuts. She might not wish to tear Rainbow Dash apart or sink her fangs into her body, but even the slightest and well meaning of kissing and licking of the wounds would be enough to drag Rainbow Dash with her into the darkness.”

“Hm,” Celestia nodded, “Though that’s not the only thing I thought would interest you. There’s a postscript that says Twilight has begun to see messages by Bleeding Heart in her diary. Notably, Twilight mentioned him by his actual name, not by the pseudonym that he told her before.”

Luna’s eyes ran along the bottom of the letter, reading every single word in the postscript. “Oh no...” Her eyes widened horror as she lost her focus on the parchment.

“What? What is it? Is this about the vampirism?” Celestia asked.

“Oh yes.” Luna replied, “The good news is that Twilight Sparkle isn’t insane, as her friend Applejack fears... yet.”

“Yet? You mean...”

“The bad news is that she probably will, provided that we don’t put an end to Bleeding Heart one way or another.”

“I... don’t believe I quite follow you sister,” Princess Celestia nervously asked, “How is this going to turn her insane?”

Luna took a deep breath. “I’ll be completely honest with you, I may not have experimented on vampirism as much as I should’ve before skipping to... you know, trying to kill you. So there may be vital details or workings that even I’m not aware of, okay? What I did manage to get to work is that vampires are psychically linked to me and the vampires that sired them. They don’t even have to be unicorns amazingly enough, but it comes to them naturally. This ability is limited in range, about a 15 mile maximum radius between me or the vampires. What I can do with it is that I can see, hear, or feel anything that my vampire senses.”

“As if you were right beside them?”

“As if I was them. This also means that I can listen in to their deepest and hidden thoughts. I mostly used it as a way of relaying orders, highlighting targets, gathering intel, that sort of thing. However, should a vampire somehow rebel against me, I could override their very body, and bend it to my will. I’m... actually not sure if Bleeding Heart can do it as well... but... it’s a hypothetical.”

“Uh huh.” Celestia said thoughtfully, “Is there any way to suppress any of this?”

“One can try, but it would be rather... difficult. It’s like some infernal machinery THAT WOULD NOT STOP THAT BLASTED TICKING NOISE!!!” A stray thunderbolt struck a pegasus guard outside, rather than device Luna despised. “There is another way though.”

“What is it?”

“If I were within range of Twilight, I could attempt to override or stalemate Bleeding Heart’s control, freeing her. Though given my present state, I might not be able to help. I’m not even sure if I actually have access to the psychic link anymore, considering that I do not have the dark magics that I had as Nightmare Moon.”

“So the worst case scenario is that you can’t do anything at all, and then Twilight Sparkle goes insane.”

“Oh no, the worst case scenario is if Bleeding Heart somehow manages to reverse engineer the psychic link and override me, turning me into a glorified meat puppet.” Luna replied. She paused, “...And then Twilight Sparkle goes insane.”

“Now that is absolutely, positively comforting.” Celestia groaned, as she rested her head on her hoof, “We have no cure, no idea on what Bleeding Heart is going to do, or where he will strike, you’re in no condition to help anyone. Am I forgetting something?”

“Hope.” Luna replied simply, “We still have hope.”

Princess Celestia stopped and stared at her sister. Realizing the simple wisdom in her words, her face softened into a smile again, “Then that will be more than enough for us to survive.” She walked towards the door, before stopping again, “Try to get some rest. I’ll send for some servants to provide some entertainment to help pass the time. Perhaps a book or a game.”

Luna laid down on her bed again, shifting into more comfortable position. “Thank you sister.” she whispered.

“No, thank you for reminding me.” Princess Celestia said, as she walked out of the room.

A cold wind blew that night, howling and chilling any pony who walked in the moonlight. Only the foolish or the brave, or the foolishly brave, would even dare to enter the Everfree Forest alone at night. Even in the daylight the forest held beasts that could easily kill and devour a pony. Deep in the heart of this forest rests the ruins of Everfree Castle.

In time long since passed, Everfree was actually a city, an equal in glory and power to Canterlot. It was said that the town was founded on the very plot of land that Chancellor Puddinghead had originally staked her claim. Twice its castle was the arena where Nightmare Moon was defeated by the Elements of Harmony. The first battle had devastated the castle and the surrounding town when the Sisters clashed, fire and thunder from the heavens hearkened the end of time. Ever since then, the town was abandoned, and nature reclaimed the land. In the thousand years since then, it hid almost all traces of the town, and the castle is but a faint and crumbling shadow of its former glory.

So what better place for a vampire to hide than here?

The vampire gazed towards the moon. He recalled the years long past he would just sit and stare up, counting the days until they numbered the stars in the sky, waiting for her to return in glory. A night that never seemed to happen. He noticed a silhouette in the moonlight, flapping its bat-like wings. He smiled as the figure came closer, recognizing the being. The bizarre pegasus flew down, landing next to Bleeding Heart, and bowed down.

“Is everyone informed?” Bleeding Heart said, not bothering to turn towards his minion.

“Yes my lord Sanguine. Everyone should be here and ready before the week is over.”

“Excellent. Just in time for a very special anniversary.”

The bat-pegasus nodded and flew off to attend to other duties. Bleeding Heart continued to stare at the moon. “One week... Aren’t you proud of me Luna? I’m doing this all for you.” He whispered to the darkness.

What a Horrible Night...

Part 8: What a Horrible Night...

Rainbow Dash flew high in the sky, her blue coat contrasting with the orange sky of the setting sun. She didn’t particularly feel going in a hurry, almost the opposite in fact. Her stomach twisted and knotted as she thought hard.

“Just what are they going to think about me?” Rainbow Dash groaned to herself, “I mean, I must really look like a really crummy friend them after that. I don’t even want to know what they’ll think of me if I tell them I beat up Luna.” She shook her head at herself, “You really blew it RD.”

Suddenly, an idea popped into her mind.

“What if I, you know, don’t tell them?” Rainbow Dash reasoned with herself, “I mean, what’s the harm? It’s not like they need to know everything, right? I mean, it’s not like the apocalypse is going to happen just because I didn’t tell them I injured Luna right? Yeah. This will work.” Confident in her logic that is as flawless as some of her landings, Rainbow Dash picked up the pace and flew faster towards Ponyville.

She flew down to the library, noting that someone put paper and masking tape on her previous “entrance.” Deciding to actually use the door for once, Rainbow Dash landed in front of it and knocked.

“I’m sorry, Twilight Sparkle can’t come to the door- Rainbow Dash?” Answered a familiar pink pony as she opened the door.

“Uh hey Pinkie, what’s up?”

Pinke Pie repeated “Oh my gosh” over and over as she hugged/tackled Rainbow Dash to the ground. She then took a deep breath and shouted, “You’re okay!”

“Yeah, I am. Hey, is Twilight awake?”

“No, but she might wake up within the hour or so. Why?”

“Princess Celestia told me some stuff that I thought would be really important, it’s about Twilight.”

“Really? Did they find a cure!?” Pinkie hopped up and down.

Rainbow Dash flinched. “Um, I’ll explain once everyone else is here, ‘kay?”

“Okay!” said Pinkie Pie as she ran past Rainbow Dash.

A few minutes later, everyone was gathered around Rainbow Dash.

“So what is it Dash?” Applejack asked excitedly, “Did they some something about a cure?”

“Oh this ain’t gonna be pretty...” Rainbow Dash thought to herself as she looked at everyone’s excited faces. She sighed, “Sorta...”

“Spill it out already darling, don’t keep us waiting.” Rarity said.

“It is about the cure, but it’s not good news.” Rainbow Dash admitted, “The Princesses said that there isn’t one yet.”

Fluttershy looked like she was about to cry, and Pinkie Pie looked horrified.

“Figures,” Applejack said, her smile disappearing, “can’t say I didn’t expect that, but still not what any of us had hoped for.”

“Wait a minute darling, you said that they don’t have a cure yet? As in they’re working on one right now?” Rarity asked.

“Yeah, but it’s really slow going. Luna said that in all likelihood, any cure they came up with is going to kill Twi.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Oh no...” Fluttershy mumbled, “When... when I had found Twilight, I thought it was the worst nightmare I ever had, but this...” Tears started to well up in her eyes.

“There, there sugarcube,” said Applejack as she put her foreleg around Fluttershy, “Let’s think positive. They’re getting close, they probably figured out how to stop the disease, they just need to figure out how to keep Twilight alive, that’s all.”

“Easier said than done,” Rarity quietly muttered to herself, “So anyway Rainbow Dash, did they talk to you about Twilight talking to herself or something like that?”

“Hey, how did you know that?” Applejack asked.

“I had found a muddy book outside my house, so I picked it up. I was curious what was inside.” Rarity said as she pulled out a muddy leather-bound book, “It didn’t take me very long to realize that this was Twilight’s diary. I didn’t mean to invade her privacy, but on the last entry she was writing as if she was having a conversation with... someone. The only problem is that I only could see her responses so I have no idea who or what she’s talking to.”

“Twilight’s seeing things?” Pinkie Pie said, horror dawning on her face.

“Yeah, Twilight said something about Bloody Heart or Bleeding Heat or something like that, that he was talking to her through her diary. I had sent Princess Celestia a letter about it.” Applejack said.

“Oh so that’s what it was...” Rainbow Dash said, “Princess Celestia said something about not treating Twilight like she’s crazy. That probably had something to do with it.”

“Well I for one don’t think that keeping Twilight cooped up in here is really healthy.” Rarity said.

“Yeah, I have trouble staying in one place all the time!” Pinkie Pie said, “I think the Cakes called it ‘Captain Fever’ or something. Apparently he makes ponies crazy by getting them to sit still in closed up spaces for too long. Wait...” Pinkie Pie gasped loudly, “OH MY GOODNESS, TWILIGHT IS GETTING HAUNTED BY A BLOODSUCKING PIRATE! We have to let her out of the house before she gets scurvy!!”

“I... don’t think that’s exactly what’s going to happen Pinkie.” said Fluttershy.

“But that just raises the question of what she can do.” Rainbow Dash pointed out, “I mean, Ponville gets awful quiet at night. Like, maybe one of the bars is open at night I think.”

“I think we’d want to avoid contact with other people the first place, just on the off chance they discover her condition.” Applejack said, “A midnight walk will be fine anyway. Get some fresh air into those lungs.”

Rarity suddenly screamed, “Oh no, I just remembered something really important! Nightmare Night’s next week! I can’t believe I’m missing an important sale right now!” she ran out the door, only to peek around the doorframe a minute later, “Not to be a burden but can any of you cover for me this weekend darling?”

“I’ll do it.” Rainbow Dash spoke up.

“Thank you.” Rarity whispered before zipping back to her home.

“Gosh, Nightmare Night’s next week? Wow the time flew. And I don’t have a clue as to what I wanna be this year...” Applejack said as she scratched her head.

What they did not notice was Twilight Sparkle quietly shutting the door to her room...

“You have to let me go to Nightmare Night.” Twilight pleaded as she levitated a wet plate, drying it off with a rag that was also floating by her magic.

“I don’t know Twi...” Applejack said as she rinsed a dirty cup.

Since only people who ate normal foods were Spike and one pony, the dishes never an issue. Even before Twilight became a vampire the dishes were negligible. In fact, Applejack would’ve done the whole job by herself had Twilight not offered to help. Though it became apparent to Applejack that Twilight had decided to use this situation to ask her about Nightmare Night.

“I mean, there’s going to be a lot of ponies. The entire town is going to be there.” Applejack continued, “You might not remember the fine details, but you dang near scarred Pinkie and Dash for life, all because Dash got herself cut up.”

Twilight looked away, a mixture of embarrassment and guilt floated up, “That... that whole thing was a freak accident. I can control myself. Besides, if I stay unseen all the time, everyone’s going to get suspicious.” Twilight countered. “and when ponies get suspicious, they investigate!”

Applejack dropped the glass she was washing into the sink as a rather... interesting memory floated up...

“Thank you, please come again!” Applejack smiled. Another successful sale. Today looked like it was going to be a rather busy but profitable day. Feeling thirsty, Applejack took a bottle of water and drank from it.

“Hello Applejack.” A minty green-colored mare walked up, her matching white and light blue short mane and tail bouncing with her steps.

“Hey Lyra, how’s it going?” Applejack greeted the familiar face, “Want the usual?”

“Everything’s fine,” Lyra smiled, “How are you?”

“I’m been doing pretty good myself.” Applejack smiled, taking a long drink of water.

“Is your marefriend doing okay?”

Applejack suddenly choked on her water, spitting and coughing it out. When she could catch her breath again, she asked, “My WHAT!?”

“Your marefriend.” Lyra repeated, “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, why I still remember when I first asked out-”

“Look, I don’t know what crazy tabloid paper passes itself off as legitimate news these days,” Applejack interrupted, “but I’m not dating Rainbow Dash. We simply respect each other’s physical abilities, but that doesn't mean I-”

“I meant you and Twilight.” Lyra corrected.

Applejack’s jaw hit the floor.

“... You’re not dating her, are you?” Lyra said after a brief moment of silence.

“No, I’m not.” Applejack said, recomposing herself, “I mean, what gave you that idea in the first place?”

“Well, to be honest it was a bit of a small rumor that’s been floating around recently,” Lyra said, “I’ve heard lots of variations on it though, but the common thread in all of them is that one of her friends that’s visiting her often is more than ‘just friends’, if you know what I mean. Curious, I wanted to hear from the horse’s mouth on the matter. Though considering that said horse is confined to her house and bed, I decided to ask you instead.”

“Look, there’s a very fine line between all of us being her best friends and being her marefriend, okay? We’re just taking care of her because she needs help and we’re her friends. In fact, I don’t even know if she leans that way.” Applejack explained.

“Oh.” Lyra replied simply, “But is she really that injured? I mean, maybe she should be in the hospital instead.”

“Um... I’d rather not divulge on the specific details of her condition, okay?” Applejack said, sweating bullets despite the cool weather.

“Okay.” Lyra nodded understandingly, “One last thing though, is it true that Fluttershy and Big Mac are...” She paused for a moment when she met Applejack’s glare. “Er, nevermind. Just the usual.”

“Thank you, please don’t ever talk about this again.” Applejack said in a flat tone.

“...Applejack?” Twilight asked. Applejack had been staring blankly into space for the past five minutes.

“Wha? Oh right, sorry.” Applejack snapped back to the present, fumbling to pick up the cup again in the soapy water, “I guess I do see your point Twilight.”

“Yes!” Twilight whispered as she did a hoof pump.

“But this means that we have to find you a costume. I don’t think Rarity is gonna be happy that she has to design another costume on such a short notice.” Applejack said.

“We can ask her anyway, maybe she has an extra from last year.” Twilight reasoned.

Dishes cleaned and dried, they set out for Rarity’s Boutique. Twilight was thankful that the morning was scheduled for a very cloudy day as they trotted discreetly to Rarity’s home. Even still, having a cloak and a pair of sunglasses was very helpful.

When they reached there though, Rarity’s reaction was more or less what Applejack predicted; “YOU WANT ME DO WHAT???” Rarity screamed, her mane and tail a mess and her sewing glasses hanging loosely on her nose.

“I’m sure you still have working ears Rare.” Applejack replied, “Besides, we’re not asking for you design something from scratch, maybe just cobble something together from your closet or something.”

“‘Cobbling something together’ is NOT something I do! It’s just a fashion faux pas waiting to happen! Or need I remind you of what happened to the gala dresses you all designed? Unless...” Rarity thought for a moment, “I think I might have something Twilight’s size. Come in.”

The assembled pair obediently entered the boutique. “Excuse the mess, I still have some orders I need to fill. I’m actually considering just sleeping through Nightmare Night again.” Rarity said as she guided them through the scattered clothes and mannequins. “I might have just the thing in here Twilight,” Rarity said as she opened up a large chest, “I made it to match Sweetie Bell’s costume from last year, but I passed out from last minute work that I didn’t have the chance to wear it.” She explained as she pulled out a cape. The shape of the gothic cloth invoked images of the wings on a bat, with black on the outside, and red on the inside, with a very large collar. It also had a matching ruby clasp set in fake gold.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Applejack said, “Twilight’s going as a vampire? But she IS a vampire. I thought we were supposed to keep this a secret.”

“That’s where you’re missing the simple beauty and brilliance of the plan here darling.” Rarity pushed up her glasses smugly, “If you want to hide something, you place it in like objects. Hide it in plain sight. When everyone else sees Twilight’s vampire fangs and scars, they’ll assume that it’s just makeup and part of the costume! We just have to put a touch or two of makeup on Twilight and no one will be the wiser as to what’s real and what’s not. It’s brilliant!”

“It’s great Rarity!” Twilight exclaimed as she took the cape and put it on. She ran up to the large mirror Rarity had set up. “Oh... Right. Can’t see my reflection. I forgot about that.” Twilight said as she stopped and stared at the floating cape in the reflection.

“Oh don’t worry darling, you look marvelous!” Rarity said, comforting Twilight, “You just have to avoid going into the haunted house of mirrors. Now stop by here if you need assistance with the makeup on Nightmare Night. Right now I still need work done before Nightmare Night.” Rarity said, “That also means I don’t want ANY further distractions today. Get out!” she shooed them outside.

The days seemed to pass by very quickly until it became the day of Nightmare Night. Twilight made sure she was well rested for tonight. she took out the black cape and sighed to herself.

“This is going to be a great night.” she said to herself. Provided nothing goes wrong, this might be the one time in the year she’ll feel normal again.

Twilight took the cape with her as she walked downstairs. “Spike? Are you going tonight?” She called out.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it, Rainbow Dash has my costume.” Spike replied.

“Okay, I’m heading over to Rarity’s for makeup.”

“Need anyone with you?”

“No, I think I can handle myself.”

“Okay...” Spike said dejectedly. Apparently, there was an ulterior motive.

Twilight walked out the library and to the boutique. This time, the sun had began to set, removing the need for Twilight to wear “protection.” When she knocked on the boutique door, Rarity let her inside.

“Ah, excellent timing darling!” Rarity said, her mane and tail this time in a their regular condition, “I just finished up the last order. We have plenty of time to prepare for tonight. Everyone else is meeting at the town square about an hour before Nightmare Night officially begins.”

“I’m so excited,” Twilight smiled, “in fact, I don’t remember being this excited since I was a little filly!”

“Of course darling,” Rarity smiled back, “now sit over there and relax, let me do the work.”

Twilight obediently let Rarity pamper her as she brushed and dusted Twilight. First, Rarity made Twilight’s face paler, without completely overpowering her original color. Next, Rarity added some mascara around Twilight’s eyes, making them stand out against her pale face. “Pucker up a little dear.” Rarity said as she levitated and applied some lipstick, its color matched the dark indigo of Twilight’s mane. “Now close your eyes...” Rarity said, taking some eyeshadow of a similar color. “Good.” Rarity whispered in approval, “and now the final touch.” She took out a small vial of a dark red liquid.

Twilight opened one of her eyes to see. “Um, Rarity,” Twilight nervously asked, “Why do you have blood like that?”

“Hmm?” Rarity said in response, “Oh, this! This is some homemade makeup blood. I discovered a really good recipe a while back. Looks real doesn’t it?” She popped open the vial to let Twilight smell it. “I bet it doesn’t smell like it, does it?”

Twilight sniffed the air. “No, no it doesn’t smell like it. Blood seems to have this slight metallic smell to it, like that taste when you suck on a bit copper.”

“Well it’s a good thing that this doesn’t trigger your hunger senses.” Rarity paused for a second before continuing, “I’m sorry, did I bring up a sore subject for you?”

“No, don’t worry about it.” Twilight smiled back, “I’ve sort of come to terms about my condition. I just hope that Luna can find that cure.”

“So do I dear,” Rarity said slowly, suddenly unable to look at her. Realizing that she forgot to add the fake blood, she took an eyedropper and placed a drop or two on both ends of Twilight’s lips, letting them run down Twilight’s face around her chin. Rarity took some steps back to admire her work. “Marvelous darling, you look absolutely frightening!”

“Can I see?” Twilight asked.

“Hmm,” Rarity said, levitating a small mirror, “Let’s see if you can...”

Somewhat amusingly, because of Rarity’s application of makeup, Twilight’s maneless, toothless, and eyeless face seemed to be levitating in the reflected space, like it was a powdery mask.

“Well that’s interesting.” Twilight giggled slightly as she looked.

“I can’t wait to see the other girls’ reaction when they see you.” Rarity smiled.

“I was going to ask you, did you have a costume for Nightmare Night Rarity?” Twilight asked, getting off of the chair.

“I do actually, wait here.” Rarity walked behind the dressing wall, “You might like it a lot, being a bit of a history buff.” A minute passed before Rarity stepped out from behind the wall, revealing a large blue coat, a white undershirt, and brown boots.

“Oooo...” Twilight said in awe, “Sir Brave Heart, a unicorn knight from the first century of Princess Celestia’s reign. Father of Golden Heart, one of the first Commanders of the Royal Guards.”

“I’d thought you’ll like it.” Rarity smiled. “Now let’s see if our friends are ready.”

Now dressed and ready for the night, Twilight and Rarity made way to the town center. When they got there, they saw all their other friends.

“About time you two showed up!” Rainbow Dash shouted. Rainbow Dash was wearing a bodysuit that was similar to what the Shadow and Wonderbolts wore, except this was white with some green highlights. However, around her head, the fabric was purple, and she wore a large plastic fish bowl, with air holes near her face. Like her Shadowbolt costume, the stitching was miles behind what Rarity is capable of doing.

Spike wore a small cardboard box that was spray painted silver, with dots of blue green and red representing buttons. He also wore a bucket (also painted silver) with mouth and eye holes cut out, with some pipe cleaners sticking out on top.

Applejack’s costume was at first seemed to be rather uninspired, given her profession. She wore a yellow long-sleeved windowpane shirt with red lines. Around her neck was a red bandana. Over her shirt she wore a (fake) cow-print vest, with a golden star on it. She also boots that matched her hat, with a cactus pattern stitched on the sides if one looked close enough.

Pinkie Pie wore a very baggy red body suit, black rubber boots, an oxygen tank strapped to her back, and a gas mask that obscured her face. Though the most bizarre thing about her costume was what she carried around with her, which is best described as a mismash of at least three brass horns. “Muff muffues moo hood!” the gas mask also had the unintended side effect of also muffling anything that resembled a coherent word.

“Um, could you repeat that darling?” Rarity asked Pinkie Pie.

“Muh? Mumf, hud-dah.” Pinkie Pie held up her hoof as she took off the gas mask, “What did you say?”

“I asked if you could repeat that.” Rarity replied.

“I said ‘Nice costumes you two.’”

“Oh, thank you.”

Amazingly, Fluttershy was convinced in joining the festivities. Unsurprising though, her costume was in no way considered scary. Unless you had Leporiphobia, in which case Fluttershy is currently the second scariest thing in Equestria. Despite this, she shivered and shook from the strange and morbid imagery around her. She was certain she will never understand this phenomenon.

“Okay girls, who’s going where?” Twilight Sparkle asked.

“I’ll take care of Fluttershy. I know a few good quiet places for her.” Rarity offered.

“I wanna go find some candy!” said Pinkie Pie.

“My brother is giving out caramel-coated apples.” Applejack said, “And I think he also knows some other good places to hit for treats.”

“Great! Lead the way sheriff!” Pinkie cheered.

“In that case, I’ll stick with Twilight and Spike. Maybe we’ll play some good pranks on the way.”

“No Dash,” Twilight sternly replied, “I’m not going to be participating in pranking random foals.”

“Oh come on, it’ll be fun! This is like, the only time out the year other than April that’s begging for a good prank.” Twilight sternly stared at Rainbow Dash. “Fine,” Rainbow Dash sighed, “You’re no fun.”

“Now that’s settled, we’ll meet here again in an hour.” said Rarity. And with that, everyone went their separate ways.

It didn’t take long for Twilight and Rainbow Dash to run into somepony:

“Twilight! There you are!” declared Mayor Mare. She wore a ridiculously tall top hat, a wide gray pinstripe suit, with a red ribbon on her chest. Instead of a bowtie, she had a black spider made of cloth. “It is so good to you again, up and walking about again.”

“Hello Mayor.” greeted Twilight, “Yeah, it’s nice to see everyone again.”

“Well I do believe I speak on behalf of the entire town that we are glad to know that you are alright.” Mayor Mare smiled.

Twilight blushed slightly, “Thanks Mayor Mare.”

“Can I ask you something?”

Twilight hesitated for a moment, “Okay I guess.”

“Can I borrow Spike for a few minutes? I have an urgent matter that requires his help.”

“If it’s alright with Spike, I’m okay with it.”

“Sure,” Spike said, “I think I can handle being an assistant.”

“Oh thank you,” Mayor sighed in relief, “You have no idea how much this helps me.”

“No problem, see you later Spike!” Twilight said as she and Rainbow Dash walked away.

“Now, what’s the matter Mayor?” Spike asked.

“Well, you remember Luna visiting Ponyville last year, yes?” Mayor asked as she guided him to the town hall.

“Heh, yeah I do.”

“Well I was hoping I could get an official word as to if she would be repeating her visit this year.” Mayor explained as she entered the building, “Unfortunately, neither Princesses had responded to the matter before tonight.”

“So you want me to instant message Princess Celestia in case she forgot?”

“Yes, exactly Spike!” Mayor said, “I didn’t want to speak openly about this, otherwise ponies would be disappointed if Luna does not arrive.” Mayor looked through several filing cabinets. She pulled out a formal letter and handed it to Spike.

Spike took the letter with his claws and breathed his green fiery breath on it, turning the paper into sparkling smoke, which swiftly escaped out the open door and into the night.

“Great, now all we have to do is wait for Celestia’s response.” Mayor Mare said as she stared into the moonlit night.

“That is unnecessary honorable Mayor.” said a somewhat familiar voice from the back of the room.

“Princess Luna!? What are you doing here?” Mayor Mare asked.

“I wanted to have a surprise visit for everyone, so I didn’t tell anyone about it. I hope you understand.”said Luna.

“Oh of course your highness, though I only wish I had known this earlier, so I wouldn’t have needed Spike to ask Celestia about this.”

“You sent her a letter?”

“Yes, just now before you entered.”

“Ah, understandable. However, I did not divulge the specific details to her, so she might say I’m not coming.” Luna said, smiling.

“Alright,” Mayor said, “Spike, I’ll see if I need you for anything else, okay?” she said as she walked upstairs.

“Alright, call me if you need to.” Spike replied.

Spike suddenly belched out a letter. “Um, excuse me, I got to read this letter.” He said.

“Er, um that’s fine...” Luna said, for some reason unused to seeing a dragon spit up a letter.

Finding a suitable and private corner, he opened the seal and unrolled the letter. It read, “Dear Spike, I apologize that I had forgotten about the matter of Nightmare Night. Please inform Mayor Mare that Princess Luna will not be reprising her visit to Ponyville this year due to serious injuries. Princess Luna does not wish to keep anyone waiting for her, so be sure to tell Mayor ASAP. Princess Luna does however, wish to give everyone the best of wishes, and wants to make up for it at another time.

-Princess Celestia”

“P.S. Did Rainbow Dash tell you anything about her punishment? I hope she didn’t neglect informing you and the rest of the Elements, but just in case she did, here is a copy of the official ruling:”

Below the post script was another piece of paper stapled to the scroll. It read, “By Royal Decree and Judgement of the Most Holy, Righteous, and Merciful Princess of the Sun, Rainbow Dash has been charged and found guilty of Assault and Battery of Royalty, and Defacement of a Public Park, and is therefore sentenced to Fifty thousand (50,000) hours of guarding and escorting Twilight Sparkle and an additional two thousand (2,000) hours of repairing the Canterlot Botanical Gardens. These punishment(s) can only be revoked by an official decree of Princess Celestia or Princess Luna.

“This is an official order and contract of Princess Celestia.” After Princess Celestia’s signature was a stamp in the shape of her cutie mark.

“Wait, Rainbow assaulted Royalty!?!? Why didn’t she tell us this!?” Spike exclaimed. He skimmed the letter again, the gears in his mind started turning, “Wait, Princess Luna can’t come to Nightmare Night because of injuries... Did... did Rainbow Dash just beat up Luna!?” Suddenly, Spike stopped in place, as the train of thought raced, “Wait, if Luna’s too injured to attend Nightmare Night, then who did I just talk to...”

“Well, well, looks like someone is about to spoil the surprise.” Despite the rather playful tone, Spike body froze as he heard “Luna’s” words, “Silly dragon, don’t you know that it’s impolite to spoil surprises? We were so sure that our ‘sister’ would have taught you some manners.”

Spike’s body was wrapped in a red aura, “Luna’s” horn glowing the same color, as he was being lifted off the ground. “Um... What surprise?” Spike smiled nervously.

“You don’t know? Well it’s simple we- Wait.” “Luna” paused, “This is a trick isn’t it? This happens all the time in literature.”

“Now I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“This! This is a gambit for you learn about my entire plan isn’t it? Once I tell you everything and try to kill you, you’ll escape and tell everyone else! It’s the oldest trick in the book. And we just can’t have you spoiling the fun, can we?” “Luna” cruelly smiled.

“Oh boy.” Spike whimpered.

“You know, I personally wondered what dragon tastes like. Now we get to find out.” “Luna smiled wider, revealing a set of fangs. She lunged at Spike’s throat as Spike screamed... Only to find that the scales on a dragon (even a juvenile one) are really really tough, and hard to pierce with teeth. “Luna”, realizing this, released Spike from her jaws and stepped away, spitting in disgust. “Well played dragon, well played.”

“So uh, can you let me go now?” Spike smiled weakly.

“No.” “Luna” said in a flat tone, “Guards!” Two Pegasi-bat-guards ran up to “Luna”, “Bind and gag this dragon. No one is to see a single one of his scales, or hear a peep from him.”

With a synchronized “Of course your highness!”, the guards followed the villainous doppleganger’s orders, and dragged Spike away out the back door as he let out a muffled cry.

“Spike, I don’t see anything else I need your help with...” Mayor Mare said as she walked back downstairs to the main room, seeing only Princess Luna. “Spike?”

“Oh, did you need him?” Luna asked, “I had sent him on an errand.”

“Oh no, that’s fine. I didn’t need his help anymore actually.” Mayor Mare replied, “But if I can help you I would be absolutely honored to do anything for you.”

“Oh nothing at the moment, but I will keep that in mind when the need arises.” Luna smiled.

...To have a Curse

Part 9: ...To have a Curse.

Ponyville, while it being a fairly humble town, seemed to have the best Nightmare Night celebration. It’s hard to pin down why; some suggested it was because of the rustic charms the town had. Others point out that Ponyville is the only town to have a statue dedicated to the patron “saint.” Others still say that it had the best Caramel Apples in all of Equestria.

Pinkie Pie was one such pony of the latter opinion. “Mmmm,” Pinkie Pie moaned in pleasure as she bit into the coated apple, “Delicious.”

Applejack chuckled to herself. “Careful there Pinkie, don’t eat too many of those. I’m speaking from experience, they can give you a nasty tummy ache in the morning.”

“Oh please,” Pinkie Pie dismissively waved Applejack away, “I can- jib~wib~ley.” Pinkie Pie shook in place.

“Pardon?”

“Sorry, I think that was my Pinkie Sense.” she explained, “But I don’t think I’ve ever had that feel before. It’s sort of like if you open your closet and look inside and you find a creepy painting of an imp holding a torch.”

“I would be rather concerned than scared, mostly because of why the hay is there a painting my closet. It sounds like the sort of thing some snooty aristocrat would have on his wall though.”

“Hmm...” Pinkie put her hoof to her chin, “Well I’ll find out what it is later. Right now, CANDY!!!” she ran off into the distance.

Meanwhile, in another part of town, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash were walking around, watching and enjoying the celebrations. Well, Twilight was, Rainbow Dash was sulking.

“Oh come on Dash,” Twilight said, poking her in the ribs, “it’s not that bad.”

“Yes it is!” Rainbow Dash said, “I can literally count all the ways I can prank that group over there, but I’m stuck babysitting you!” She didn’t need to see Twilight’s glare to realize that she misspoke, “Er... No offense?”

“I don’t recall asking for this to begin with. If anyone should be complaining, it should be me, because I can’t eat anything and yet everywhere I look I see ponies gorging themselves.”

“Oh. Well at least you’re not Pinkie Pie. She gets cantankerous if she can’t have any sweets.” said Rainbow Dash.

“...Oh dear Celestia you’re right, that would be a nightmare.” Twilight shuddered, “And then if she tasted blood... I don’t want to think about it.”

“AH HA! I KNEW IT!” came a shout from behind, “I knew you two were dating each other! Now everyone owes me five bits each!” Twilight and Rainbow Dash turned to see Bon Bon, who was dressed up as a zombie.

Twilight was the first to speak up, “What? Dating?”

“Don’t deny it,” Bon Bon grinned like a little schoolfilly, “You two fell in love when you realized that while you seemed to be opposites on the outside, you have more in common on the inside.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” said Rainbow Dash, “First off, we both just happen to enjoy reading Daring Do, nothing more. Secondly, she’s an egghead.”

“Exactly, that’s what I’m talking about!”

“Thirdly, we’re not dating. Right Twilight?”

“Right.” Twilight confirmed.

“Then... Who are you dating?” Bon Bon asked, slightly deflated.

“No one!” Twilight said, “I mean, what gave you that idea in first place? And what gives about this bet that is apparently going on?”

“Well,” Bon Bon nervously started, “it started as a small rumor that you dating one of your friends. Mostly because all of your friends are visiting you at about six to eight hour intervals. At night.”

“So?” Twilight asked, “What’s wrong with... Oh.” her eyes widened, “I guess it does seem rather suspicious.”

“Now regardless of whatever does happen behind closed doors, some ponies started to bet on who the lucky girl was. Some the theories were... a bit wilder than others.”

“Well I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not dating anyone at all. Thank you and goodnight. Come on Dash, let’s go.” Twilight said pointedly.

“Aww...” Bon Bon said.

A certain cross-eyed gray pegasus wearing a small yellow bowler hat and a large blue shirt flew down next to Bon Bon, silently tapped her shoulder and held out her hoof.

“Fine,” Bon Bon grumbled, as she reached into her saddlebags, pulling out five bits and handed them to the pegasus, “don’t spend it all at once.”

“It’s been a pleasure doing business with you all.” she smiled.

Twilight sighed to herself, hoping that was the end of that business. Though rumors rarely die down quickly, and considering the fact that someone started a betting table, Twilight realized that she was being far too optimistic. On the bright side, it could’ve been much worse, such as a rumor circulating that she’s a vampire despite her friends’ efforts. But there was this one rumor that she was a marewolf though...

“Oh hey, there’s Zecora, you got to catch up with her.” Rainbow Dash pointed.

When Zecora turned to face them, she locked her gaze onto Twilight, not at her eyes but focusing on her neck. She then wailed, “Oh woe, woe is upon you Twilight!”

“Excuse me?” Twilight asked.

“You have the mark of a child of the eternal night!” Zecora replied. Rainbow Dash and Twilight looked at each other nervously. Did... did Zecora know something about vampires?

“Er... yeah, that’s her costume alright, she’s a vampire. Pretty realistic huh? Why if I didn’t know any better, I would say that she’s the real deal, am I right?” Rainbow Dash smiled.

Zecora ignored her and continued to speak to Twilight, “Cursed is the wound that does not heal, for it causes only endless pain and strife. Beware those whose teeth sharp like a knife, for they seek only to make you their meal. Beware those who shun the warm sunlight, on their wings they bring eternal night.”

“Er, uh... Nice Nightmare Night poem Zecora.” Twilight smiled. She wasn’t sure if she was just remarking on Twilight’s “costume.” “Oh look at the time Rainbow Dash, we have candy to see and ponies to eat.” Twilight mentally slapped herself, “Er, I mean, ponies to see and candy to eat. Bye Zecora!”

When they managed to seclude themselves in an alleyway, Twilight spoke up again. “She knows Rainbow Dash! She knows!”

“No she doesn’t!” Rainbow Dash replied, “She’s always like that, being all mystical voodoo shaman-like.”

“And what if she does?”

“Who would believe her?” Dash responded, “Worst-case scenario is that everyone thinks that those ‘herbal fumes’ are affecting her brain. Just calm down, act natural, and no one will ever have to freak out about you being a blood-sucking creature of the night.”

Twilight glared at her.

“What? I was trying to be supportive!”

“Nevermind,” Twilight sighed, “We got to get going, the opening ceremony is going to start soon.”

Meanwhile, back inside the Town hall, “Luna” was waiting. She heard the sound of hoofsteps and turned towards the source.

“Hmm? Oh, it’s you again. Is the dragon hidden?” Luna asked the pegasus-bat-guard.

“Yes, he is well outside the town limits of Ponyville right now. We have two guards posted to ensure that no one finds him.”

“Excellent. Is the ‘surprise’ ready?”

“Yes, but some of us are... getting rather anxious from its smell milor- er- milady. Had to pull out some of the greenhorns before they could drink it all up.”

“Of course, but don’t worry, the time appointed for us draws nigh. In but a moment we will have what has been promised to us from times of old.”

“I’ll be sure to pass that on, your highness.” the guard smiled as he flew off. Luna returned the smile as she walked out the doors to her place behind the stage.

On the other side of the curtains, the whole town had assembled in front of the stage. Mayor Mare was up on stage, speaking from the podium, “As Mayor of Ponyville, allow me to introduce you to a very special guest!”

“Has anyone seen Spike?” Twilight whispered worriedly, “Where is he?”

“Allow me to announce a special surprise visit from the Princess of the Night, Luna!” Mayor pointed dramatically as the curtain raised, revealing the tall dark-blue alicorn.

“Wait, Luna!?!?” said Rainbow Dash, “She shouldn’t be able to walk, much less making public appearances like this!”

“Shouldn’t be walking?” Applejack asked skeptically, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh. Right.” Dash stopped, suddenly realizing her folly, “I- um- well, you see...” Rainbow Dash stuttered.

“Thank you Mayor Mare.” Luna nodded towards Mayor after stepping up to the podium, “Excuse us if we slip into the archaic form of speech, for we still struggle with the language of the day, as well as the fact that we had not held a speech in quite some time. It is an honor to return to my duties as guardian of the night. This new role as a ‘patron saint’ of this holiday is a... unique experience to say the least.” She paused, allowing the crowd a brief laugh, “It amused us to no end, thinking that such a dark night in Equestria’s history would be celebrated, laughing off the scares as if it was a joke.” She paused, “No... ‘amused’ isn’t the word we are looking for... ‘angered’... Yes, that is what we seek.” The everyone in the crowd looked at the other, completely baffled, “For you see, it was this night that we realized our true dream. To be respected, to be held not as the lesser sister, but as the greater. But a millennia after our banishment, what doth mine eyes perceive?!?! I’m laughed at, mocked! Treated as some two-bit buffoon easily tricked by children in costumes! I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FEARED AMONGST MORTALS FOREVER MORE!!!” As she was saying this, Princess Luna grew larger until she matched the height of Princess Celestia. Her coat darkened until it matched the blackness of space, and the background of her cutiemark changed until it was purple. Her black regalia shapeshifted until it became light blue armor. Her turquoise eyes morphed until it was slitted, like a cat’s. Cruel fangs then extended from her mouth. “A thousand years ago, Nightmare Moon became the living nightmare of millions of ponies in Equestria. Tonight, the Nightmare returns! TONIGHT, THE NIGHT SHALL ONCE MORE BE FEARED!!!”

Everyone gasped in horror... at first. Then everyone began to laugh. Some of them even clapped and cheered for an encore performance.

“Oh that was an excellent joke your highness, an brilliant way to into the mood of the night!” Mayor declared.

At first Nightmare Moon stared at her as if she had committed some horrible crime, but then she started to smile cruelly, “Yes... why yes it is, and here’s the punchline!” Tossing aside the podium, Nightmare Moon tackled Mayor Mare.

Mayor Mare screamed bloody murder (it came out more as a gargle really) as Nightmare Moon bit her in the throat. Everyone in the audience gasped at the scene, but out of either shock, horror, or perhaps still believing this to be part of a show, no one ran up to the stage to stop Nightmare Moon. When Mayor Mare’s gurgling voice faded, Nightmare Moon tossed her corpse from the stage into the crowd. Mayor Mare’s limp body fell in front of Fluttershy, eyes glazed and blood still pouring out of her neck. Fluttershy screamed in horror and bolted away from the crowd to hide somewhere.

Twilight Sparkle on the other hand had trouble keeping her eyes off of the corpse. “No, stop that.” she rebuked herself, “You’re not a vulture. You are better than this. You are in control of yourself, not the crazy bloodlust.” She shut her eyes tight, but it did little as the smell wafted up to her vulnerable nose. “Don’t drool, don’t drool, don’t drool...” she repeated on and on to herself, clamping her mouth shut tight.

“Mmm... Aged like a fine wine...” Nightmare Moon licked her lips.

“OH FOR THE LOVE OF CELESTIA, STOP TEMPTING ME!!!” Twilight mentally screamed in anguish. To the outside world, it came out as a pained moan.

“Holy Sisters...” muttered someone in the crowd, as everyone else gathered around the corpse, real blood pouring out of real wounds, “She ATE the Mayor!”

“IT’S NIGHTMARE MOON!” Pinkie Pie screamed, “FOR REAL THIS TIME! EVERYPONY RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!”

And with that, the crowd scattered like headless chickens from the town square. However, they did not get very far, as “Luna’s guards” surrounded and blocked off every exit they can.

“Twilight!” Applejack shouted as she shook her, “Snap out of it!”

“Wha-?” sputtered the recently rebooted Twilight.

“Nightmare Moon’s back, and we need your noggin to think of a plan.” said Applejack.

“That isn’t really Nightmare Moon or Luna!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Okay, what are you talking about!?” Applejack replied, “Is there something important that you know and we don’t?”

“Well you see...”

“Oh for the love of harmony, spill the beans already!!!”

“Last week I beat up Luna!” Rainbow Dash quickly said.

“You... What?!” Applejack whispered.

“Back when I flew off to Canterlot, I got overly emotional and beat up Princess Luna. I wasn’t trying to kill her, I just... I just wanted her to pay for creating vampires in the first place! She... she said that in all likelyhood that Twilight will die if she were cured! I think I broke her wings and back...”

“...WHAT PART OF THAT WALNUT YOU CALL A BRAIN THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA!?!”

“Stop it, we have to focus on the situation at hand here. We’ll discuss Rainbow Dash’s suicidal idiocy at another time.” Rarity said, pulling Applejack away from Rainbow Dash.

“Right, priority number one: find Spike. Even if that isn’t really Nightmare Moon, we still need to inform Princess Cel-” Twilight began.

“TWITCH-A-TWITCH!” Pinkie Pie shouted, holding her twitching tail.

The sudden deluge of a dark red liquid from above splashed all in the town square. The liquid soaked everyone’s costumes throughly.

“Eww, what is this...” Rarity muttered. Her eyes then widened in horror and disgust, “Ma déesse!” she wailed, before collapsing on the ground crying.

“Is this blood? Why would...” Rainbow Dash stopped, her face going pale as she turned her head slowly towards Twilight.

Twilight Sparkle was beginning to hyperventilate, her body shaking and shivering, eyes dilated and twitching, her mouth watering. It seemed that Twilight Sparkle was fighting a battle with some other self inside her, a more primal and violent nature that did not exist little more than three weeks ago. Needless to say, she was losing horribly.

Swallowing her spit for a moment, she smiled crookedly, “Girls, I just realized something: you all look delicious.”

“Oh.” The word escaped from Rainbow Dash’s lips in a barely audible whisper.

“Twi, snap out of it!” Applejack shouted at her, “This isn’t you! We’re your friends!”

“Stop looking so tasty then!” slurred Twilight, “All this blood is making me hungry! I... I can’t resist!”

“Then eat THIS!” Applejack gave her a quick buck in the face, sending Twilight flying quite a distance. “Rainbow! Help me corral Twilight to that building over there. The longer we keep her away from anyone else, the better.”

“You got it!” replied Rainbow Dash.

“Pinkie, you know where you put the garlic and all that, you get them and try to distract them. I know we can’t hold them off forever, but if we buy enough for Princess Celestia to get here, we should be fine.”

Pinkie muff-hudda’d in confirmation before raising her brass instrument to the air and letting out a war cry.

“Um, Rare? You okay?” Applejack turned to Rarity.

Rarity lifted up her head, showing that her mascara that she had applied was now running. “THEY! GOT! BLOOD! ON MY! SUIT!” Rarity screamed, “Now it’s going to leave a stain! Do those cruel monsters have ANY idea how hard it is to get blood out!?!?” A nearby tree was covered by a light blue aura, making it snap and shatter into several pieces. The pieces then flew behind Rarity in formation. She belted out a screech, that sounded like a harpy singing in the shower, and ran off to join Pinkie Pie.

“...Like I needed another reminder not to make her angry.” Applejack muttered.

“Hey cowgirl, a little help over here!?” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Hold on there sugarcube, I’m coming!”

Meanwhile, Fluttershy was running full tilt away from the town. She didn’t care if that whole thing was an act or if it was real, it was too much for her. It was by sheer dumb luck then that she would run into Spike with two “guards.” Spike’s arms and legs were bound together, and had a strip of cloth over his mouth.

“Aww, you lost little bunny?” cooed one of them (henceforth shall be known as #1), “Afraid of the dark?”

“Oh my...” Fluttershy said as she backed away

“Hey, no fair keeping her to yourself!” the other (Guard #2) shouted at his partner, “I wanna have a taste of her!”

Spike chewed and spat out the cloth that was used to gag him and shouted, “Fluttershy, run! These guys are vampires!”

“Hey shuddup you little punk!” Guard #2 bucked Spike in the face.

“Stop that!” Fluttershy shouted at him.

“Or what? You’re gonna stop me?” mocked the guard. He bucked Spike in the face again.

“No, stop that.”

“You’re gonna cry for mommy and daddy?” said #1, “Look around, there’s no pony around that can hear you scream when we eat you alive.”

“Do you think that just because you’re bigger, and because there’s more of you means that you get to be a bully? You think you get to play big bad monster and get away with it?” Fluttershy coldly stated. Guard #1 then jumped and tried to tackle Fluttershy, however mid-flight she shifted to the side and grabbed his head, then trapped him in a headlock. “DO YOU!?!?” She screamed into the guard’s face.

“Oh please don’t hurt me,” #1 whimpered in terror, “I’m sorry!”

“NO! YOU’RE NOT SORRY!” Screamed Fluttershy into his ear, “You’re just sorry that you got caught!”

“Hey let him go-”

“Or what?!” Fluttershy shouted at Guard #2, “You’re going to cry for mommy and daddy?”

He looked at her as she gave him a cold stare. The stare that made stronger beasts break out into tears and weep like babies. It pierced into his soul, pulled and spoke wordlessly to the same fears he had as child, the fear of punishment from his parents. He couldn’t take it anymore.

“I’m sorry! We surrender!”

“Then let the dragon go, and don’t hurt anyone ever again. If you do hurt anyone, I will find out, and I will punish you!”

The guard quickly did so, freeing Spike from his bonds. Fluttershy let the other guard go, and they both ran off into the forest without looking back.

“Are you alright Spike?” Fluttershy said, “Is anything broken?”

Spike’s expression was frozen for a moment in shock from assertive Fluttershy, “What? Oh, yeah, I’m okay. But that’s not important! There’s a fake Luna running around in Ponyville, and she’s a vampire too! We have to tell Princess Celestia!”

“Oh my, what can I do?”

“I need a pen and a piece of paper! Then I can send her a letter asking for her help!”

“HI-YAH!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she swung an oversized lollipop at the nearest vampire. The blow connected, knocking him unconscious, but it also broke the handle from overuse. Two more vampires jumped in front of Pinkie, ready to finish her off.

“Step away from the Pinkie Pie, you uncouth mongrels!” Rarity shouted as she threw a log. It hit both of the vampires in the face.

“You pesky ponies!” shouted Nightmare Moon, “You two should have fallen long ago! I’m going to enjoy sucking every ounce of blood that runs through your veins!”

Pinkie Pie and Rarity looked around. It was true, they did put up a good fight, but whenever it seem they had defeated one, two more took their place. And with town people serving as potential reinforcements, the situation looked rather bleak.

“And I hope that you choke on me, you hag.” Rarity replied towards Nightmare Moon.

Suddenly, there was a bright light in the sky, that illuminated the entire town. Those who dared gaze upward saw that it was a giant fireball, and judging from the smoke travel came from Canterlot.

Said giant fireball was hurtling towards the town.

“No...” Nightmare Moon shuddered, eyes growing wide in horror, “No, no, no... Who let the dragon free!? WHO TOLD HER!?!?”

Before anyone could answer, the fireball landed several meters in front of Nightmare Moon. It exploded in a fiery cloud of smoke. With a mighty wingbeat from inside, the black veil was removed to reveal a tall graceful white alicorn, dressed in gold regalia, her mane and tail of blue, pink, and light green bellowing in an unseen wind. However, her eyes glowed golden, it shimmered and licked the air like flames.

“Ah, sister,” Nightmare Moon nervously started, “I-”

“THOU DOST NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO ADDRESS ME AS ‘SISTER!’” declared Princess Celestia, all thousand tongues in her mighty voice echoing her anger, “PRAY TELL, WHERE IS THY MASTER, SLAVE?”

“W-what?” Nightmare Moon replied, “How did you know- I mean, no, you are mistaken, I am Nightmare Moon, scourge of the ni-IIIGGGHHH!” With a flicker of light from Princess Celestia’s horn, ray of white-hot fire blazed out of her horn, hitting Nightmare Moon square in the face. The disguise dissolved into smoke, revealing a dark gray unicorn with red and black tail. He didn’t have a mane on account of it currently being consumed by fire. The unicorn blindly ran with his head enveloped in flames, tripping and falling into the large wooden tub of water and apples that Princess Celestia had expertly placed in front of him. The unicorn sighed sweet relief as the steam rose from the tub, extinguishing the flames.

Then Princess Celestia repeatedly pulled and dunked the unicorn’s face into the water. Pulling his head out of the water one last time, Princess Celestia pulled his face to be level with hers. “Now then, allow us to repeat ourselves,” Princess Celestia whispered to the unicorn, “Where is your master? Answer quickly, we are rapidly our losing patience with thee.”

“Hey you!” shouted a gruff voice from behind, “Let him go!”

The unicorn vampire that Princess Celestia started to smile. Princess Celestia rolled her eyes, and turned her head to see that the whole attack force of vampires had assembled behind her.

“...If you all wanted to have a turn, by all means, just form a line over there.” Princess Celestia said, nodding her head towards some other direction, “No need for you all to jump up at once.”

“What?” shouted a ruby-colored mare, “We outnumber you at least a hundred to one!”

“...And?” Princess Celestia asked.

“And what?”

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I was hoping that there was something else here to even the odds bit. Right now I just see a hundred little toothpicks trying to put out a forest fire.”

“...We’re the forest fire right?”

Princess Celestia sighed and muttered something about their (lack of) intellingence, “Look, I’m tired, I want to have a nice long rest, but SOMEPONY thought it was a good idea to threaten my land and people tonight. However, despite that, I’m going to give every single one of you a second chance.” Princess Celestia said, her tone shifting to that of a ragged mother who really doesn’t want to even be here, “Give you guys another chance at life, no one will have to remember you as a monster forever, and more importantly you all don’t die to the unquenchable fire and flames of my power.”

“Oh like a snowball in Tartarus I’ll do that! Come on everyone, we all jump on her on thr- AAAGGGHHH!!! I’M MELTING!!!” screamed a sickly green and black unicorn, as she appeared to have burst into flames.

“Now see, this is exactly the sort of thing I had hoped that I would avoid when I came here. Just tell me where Bleeding Heart is, before I burn the whole lot of you.”

The vampire army looked at Princess Celestia and then to the puddle of melted plastic pile of ashes.

“Run away! Scatter!!!” shouted one of them. The rest of the vampires followed accordingly.

Princess Celestia sighed as she watched the army disperse. She then turned to the vampire she held in her hooves. “Now as for you,” Celestia began, the vampire shuddering in fear, “Good night.” Her horn glowed, which put the vampire into a deep sleep. Celestia then turned to face Rarity and Pinkie Pie, who quickly bowed down before her.

“Where’s Twilight?” Princess Celestia asked them, “Is she safe?”

“I don’t know, last I saw her was when Applejack and Rainbow Dash lured her inside the town hall away from everyone else.” Pinkie Pie replied.

With a mighty flap of her wings, Princess Celestia took off and flew towards the town hall.

Twilight was sitting in front of Applejack and Rainbow Dash, tied up by Applejack’s rope, and Rainbow Dash’s plastic fishbowl covering her head. Over the course of the fight, their clothes were torn apart into rags.

“Nice going partner.” Applejack smiled at Rainbow Dash.

“Who’s awesome? We’re awesome!” Rainbow Dash said, as she and Applejack did a high-five.

Then they noticed that Twilight, while currently not the most sound of mind at the moment, can still use magic. The rope started to glow a purple color as the rope seemed to untie itself.

“Ah Oh,” said Applejack.

“Celebrated too early?”

“As my brother would say; eeyup.” Round two, fight.

They both tried to tackle Twilight, hoping to stop her before she freed herself. However, Twilight was also levitating a chair behind them, and she took the chair and magically threw it behind Rainbow Dash’s head, briefly knocking her out. Applejack on the other hand managed to bodyslam Twilight successfully, momentarily breaking her concentration. Twilight then head butted Applejack, causing her to stagger off of Twilight for a moment, and a brief moment was all Twilight needed to finally untie herself. Unfortunately for Applejack, she wasn’t done with ropes yet. Using her magic once more, the ropes began to snake around Applejack’s legs, causing her to trip over on the ground. They wrapped around tight against her legs.

“Not this manure again.” Applejack thought to herself.

Applejack groaned as she looked up, seeing Twilight Sparkle was now standing above her, had taken off the fishbowl, and was drooling.

“Aw horseapples.” Applejack thought to herself.

“You know, ever since I became a vampire, I’ve always wondered if you tas-” Twilight started.

She didn’t get to finish that because Rainbow Dash flew above her and slammed the chair on her head, screaming, “GET AWAY FROM HER!” While it did stun Twilight for a moment, Twilight now had her focus squarely on Rainbow Dash. The two grabbed each other and began to wrestle on the floor.

It was difficult for Applejack to tell who was winning this contest. On one hand, in normal circumstances, Rainbow Dash was by far much stronger than the normally bookish Twilight, even though it was mostly focused on the her wings and speed. On the other, Twilight seemed to be much stronger than she normally was, boosted by the unnatural magics of the black blood in her veins. Neither of them had any qualms using their unique talents and biology to get the upper hand (this was, after all, a street fight. Not the Summer Equestrian Olympics.) As a result, often the two would often separate: for example, Dash would drop Twilight from the ceiling onto the floor and then dive bomb on her, or Twilight would start pelting Dash with encyclopedias from Mayor’s bookcase, things like that. However, they would quickly race to each other to resume wrestling.

Then, Rainbow Dash screamed in pain. Apparently in the tussle, Twilight had managed to maneuver herself onto Rainbow Dash’s back, before biting into her neck. Rainbow Dash tried to buck her off, but Twilight clung on to Rainbow Dash’s body for dear life. With every suck and slurp from Twilight, Rainbow Dash felt a little more woozy, and increasingly weaker. As Twilight moaned in pleasure into Rainbow Dash’s neck, as the room began to get darker and unfocused. When Twilight licked up Rainbow Dash’s blood, Rainbow Dash slowed down. Her head was swimming and the world around her swaying, her wings flared out on instinct to help her keep her balance, but even still Rainbow Dash fell on the floor. In one last effort, Rainbow Dash reached up with her hoof to push Twilight off of her, but it came up weak, making it look like how one would reach up to hold their lover as they kissed their neck.

It was interrupted too late by banging on the door. “Twilight Sparkle? Applejack? Rainbow Dash? Are you in there?” said a familiar voice.

“No...” Twilight shuddered, her eyes growing wide in fear. Her words might have been greatly muffled by her cyan friend’s (now nearly lifeless) body, but they still convey its meaning.

The doors opened to reveal Princess Celestia. “Is everyone alri-” Princess Celestia began, stopping herself short as she had a sudden uprising of the contents of her stomach on sight of Twilight drinking Rainbow Dash. Twilight, now in her panicky state, then decided to run and hide. Teleport and hide if one has to be specific. “No! Wait! Stop Twilight!” Princess Celestia shouted as she still clutched her stomach. This time, Twilight did not heed her mentor’s words as she and Rainbow Dash disappeared in a purple flash of light.

Reappearing deep within the forest, Twilight and Dash fell onto the ground. Out of the intoxicating haze of blood, Twilight regained control of herself.

“Oh no, no no no.” Twilight Sparkle muttered to herself, “What have I done? WHAT HAVE I DONE!?!? I-I killed her, honest to Celestia, I ATE Rainbow Dash!” She looked down at the corpse in her forelegs as she wept, “What am I going to do!?”

“I’ll tell you the only thing you can do; join me.” said a voice, one that Twilight hasn’t heard ever since that fateful night until now. Out of the darkness walked out a white unicorn, his mane and tail were now black, but they still had some stripes of gray in them. They were no longer matted, but now combed and brushed smooth. Twilight realized just how correct she was when she thought of how he looked like a Canterlot noble when cleaned up.

“Bleeding Heart...” Twilight said slowly. If her heart were not a useless organ, it would be pounding loudly like a drum. “W-why should I join you?” She nervously shouted back at him, “You’re evil!”

“The idea of good and evil are only illusions of perception and opinions,” Bleeding Heart replied, “for example, in your dear Princess Celestia’s eyes, vampires are nothing but sick, disgusting cruel beasts, worthy only of the unquenching fire. I however, see them as my comrades, I trust them, and I take care of them.”

“I don’t believe you!” Twilight shouted back.

“Really?” Bleeding Heart said as he walked closer to Twilight until they were face to face, “Despite the evidence to the contrary? The sight of you makes her sick to her stomach! Had the porcelain altar been there, she would have used it for worship! What makes you honestly think you can go back to them?”

“They’re my friends, they should be able to understand...”

A cruel laugh echoed in response.

“Oh yes, because ‘they’re my bestest friends in the world, they’ll never hate me!’” Bleeding Heart mocked, imitating Twilight’s voice in the most unflattering manner possible, “You still cling to that last shred of your former life? They who imprisoned you in your own home? Those who treat you as if you were going to snap at any moment? Would they really believe a mare who, not more than five minutes ago, killed one of her friends? Believe me, the only thing that they understand about you now is that you’re an irredeemable bloodthirsty monster. To them, the Twilight Sparkle they made friends with is already dead.”

“No...” Twilight whispered, tears welling up in her eyes, “I... can’t believe it...”

“No, the problem is not that you can’t believe it, it is that you don’t want to believe it.” Bleeding sternly replied, “Despite what idiotic pseudo-philosophical thoughts would tell you, belief does NOT alter reality. It blinds you, it makes you ignorant to reality and how it works. Calling a rabbit a watermelon doesn’t suddenly make it so, and what fool actually believes that? And this is a fact of the real world Twilight Sparkle: you’re a vampire. I only state this rather obvious fact because you live in their world as if that were not true! You still willing blind yourself to the full implications of the fact that you are so different from your ‘friends’ now, that you don’t belong with them anymore.”

“No!” she screamed, firing a bolt of magic at him. The purple ball of energy instead flew through him without a scratch, scorch, or burn, and instead blew up a tree.

“Yes.” came Bleeding Heart’s cold calm answer, “You might not acknowledge this reality, but your friends do. But even if they don’t, my point still stands. You live in a different world Twilight Sparkle, a world that they cannot possibly understand until they cross the threshold into ours. A world that, because of their blinding beliefs and their state as mortals, they see as a realm fit only for monsters and demons. But you are not alone in this world Twilight Sparkle...” Bleeding Heart picked up Twilight’s chin, until she was looking straight into his golden eyes. His gaze softened from the harsh glare to a comforting smile, “You are not alone in this world, for I will help you and guide you, just as Luna guided me.”

Twilight swung her foreleg to bat away Bleeding’s hoof away. Again, it phased through him as if he was made up of air, however Bleeding understood the gesture and backed away. “Never! I will not betray Princess Celestia!”

“Fine then. You blindly and foolishly ignore my help and advice, and instead cling to the decaying link to your last world. I will however leave this warning with you: when your dear ‘friend’ reawakens, she will hate you. She will hate you so much that she will try to kill you, because, like you, she only knows of the realm of the living.” His body once more melted into mist, “Farewell, and if you do by some miracle or revelation change your mind, you will find me where the night never ended.” With that he faded into the night.

Twilight Sparkle stared into the night once more... Alone. When she was younger, she had believed that she was alone, since she really thought of anyone as a friend until she came to Ponyville. But even then she had her family, Spike, and Princess Celestia. She didn’t realize until now that she really had no idea what true loneliness is. But now this was true loneliness, alienated from everything she knew, and worse yet that she might be hated by that world now.

And she was now scared of loneliness.

Twilight pulled Rainbow Dash’s body closer. “I’m so sorry...” she whispered to her deaf ear as she tried to sleep.

Rainbow Dash groaned as she opened her eyes. “Dang, what a nightmare. How long have I been asleep?” she thought to herself. Her view of the afternoon sky was blocked by the canopy of the forest. “Am I in Apple Acres?” she thought, “No, wait, these trees are all wrong for it to be the farm. Then where am I and how did I get here?” she tried to get up and explore a bit, just to get her bearings. However, she found that Twilight was asleep on top of her, her head on her shoulders and hugging her tightly like a foal would with their teddy bear. Every once in awhile she would sniff and snuffle. “What the- what is Twilight doing here? Wait...” Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened in horror as memories flooded back into her, “No, no, no, this isn’t happening!” She hoped desperately that this too was a nightmare, that she would wake up above Ponyville on top of a cloud. She shoved Twilight off of her and flew up to the sky, trying to get away from everything.

However, the sun blinded her. “AAAH!!!” Rainbow Dash screamed in pain covering her eyes as she fell back down to the forest floor, crashing and bouncing off of every branch in the way. While the noise scared a few animals nearby, Twilight was still asleep. Rainbow Dash let a few choice curse words as she held her face and rolled on the ground. Groaning as she picked herself up as she blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes as they recovered. Her vision slowly restored, she noticed that she had landed near a quiet stream of water. She hesitated to look into it, fearing what might stare back at her. She took a deep breath and saw... Nothing. This did not ease Dash’s nerves, it actually did the opposite. Breathing quickly, she reached up to her neck, feeling a scar. Scar from someone biting with fangs.

“Horseapples.” Rainbow Dash whimpered to herself.

Cue the happy theme song.

Author's Note

Pony (Their costume):
Twilight Sparkle (Vampire)
Rarity (based off of Richard Belmont from Castlevania)
Rainbow Dash (Buzz Lightyear, from Toy Story)
Applejack (Woody, also from Toy Story)
Pinkie Pie (Pyro w/ Rainblower from Team Fortress 2)
Fluttershy (a bunny)
Spike (a robot)
Mayor Mare (Mayor of Halloween Town from Nightmare Before Christmas)
Bon Bon (a Zombie)
Derpy (Homsar from Homestar Runner)
I didn't think of anything for Zecora, so maybe her outfit from "Luna Eclipsed."

Burning Hatred

Part 10: Burning Hatred

Princess Celestia sat on her throne in Canterlot, with only a single unicorn standing in her presence. While she wanted privacy, it didn’t help that their conversation was carried out of the room by echoing in the large, mostly empty, halls.

“Princess Celestia, I’m sorry, but... there’s nothing we can do.” the unicorn said.

“No, you’re wrong!” Celestia shouted, “You’re not doing enough! There has to be a way!”

“Your highness, I’m sorry, but we are, and I’m telling you we can’t cure this... ‘vampirism!’”

“Do you mean to tell me that a thousand years worth of major advances in medical sciences and magics is completely worthless?”

“No.” the unicorn furrowed his eyebrows together as he wiped his glasses, “We’ve pinpointed the problem. The problem is that its dark magic. In every test we have done, there was no permanent change, and the subject would always revert back to becoming infected. Even when we completely replaced their blood, they were ‘clean’ for a week at most. Even if that had worked, there’s no guarantee that a full-sized pony would survive the process.”

“Dark magic.” Celestia repeated, “The very same dark magic that could only be reversed by the Elements of Harmony, correct?”

“As far as we know? Yes.”

Celestia took off her tiara, rubbing her now unburdened head with her hoof. “...Excuse me, I need to go and vent a little bit.” Princess Celestia said as her horn glowed yellow, before she winked out of the room.

“I hate you! I never want to see you again!” Rainbow Dash spat in Twilight Sparkle’s face. She turned around and kicked dirt into Twilight’s face before walking away.

Wiping off her face, Twilight tried to reach out Rainbow Dash, “No wait! I didn’t-”

“Didn’t mean to kill her? Suuure.” Applejack sarcastically replied, “You were just givin’ her a hickey, that’s all.”

Twilight blushed, and sputtered “But I... I...”

“I should have known, I wish I had never associated myself with such an ugly, foul, uncouth monster such as yourself.” Rarity dismissively turned up her nose.

“But I’m not a monster! Really!” Twilight sputtered.

“You broke a promise!” Pinkie Pie shouted at her, eyes seeming to glow with a raging fire, “You said you would never try to eat us and now look what happened!”

“But I didn’t mean to! Honest! It was all the blood!” Twilight pleaded.

“Excuses, excuses, excuses,” Fluttershy dismissed, “you’re just making up petty excuses for the fact that you killed her, and you enjoyed it!”

“NO! No, please! I’m sorry!” She tried to reach out to touch them, but when she did a wall of flame erupted and separated her from them.

“Twilight Sparkle!” boomed Princess Celestia. Twilight turned to see her, but was blinded by the great light from her. Princess Celestia was gigantic, now easily eight times her normal size. Twilight cowered and covered her eyes.

“Twilight Sparkle, you are hereby-”

“No...”

“-found guilty of Treason and Murder. In accordance with the laws of Equestria set forth a thousand years ago, you are to be executed.”

“No! Wait! Please, no! I-” Twilight reached out, but then her entire body suddenly combusted, flames starting to eat every bit of flesh she had. Twilight screamed out in pain, writhing on the ground and looking up at her former friends.

Twilight squirmed, her limbs kicking the air, “Put me out, put me out!!!” she whimpered.

“Whatever you say Twi,” Rainbow Dash smiled, laying on a low cloud hovering only a meter and a half above Twilight. Rainbow Dash jumped up and down hard on the cloud, forcing every drop of water to pour out.

Twilight sputtered, now awake and soaking wet. It took a moment for her to realize that it was thankfully only a dream. Princess Celestia never had to suffer this sort of thing.

Rainbow Dash looked under the cloud, “Rise and shine Twilight. I was starting to wonder how long you would nap. You know, with you having a big snack before bed.”

Rainbow Dash’s sudden appearance made Twilight stumble back a bit.

“Woah there, egghead, I’m not gonna hurt you.” Rainbow Dash said, jumping off of the cloud.

“You... don’t hate me?” Twilight cautiously inquired.

Rainbow Dash’s face grew a bit dark, “What gave you that idea?”

“You’re not trying to kill me out of revenge for me killing you? Er, drinking your blood?”

“I’m going to be blunt with you: I hate you. A whole lot.” Rainbow Dash said, her eyes locked with Twilight’s, “But before I could like, strangle you in your sleep, drown you in that stream over there, or toss you into a Timber Wolf den, or something like that, I realized that none of those are really productive, nor am I the proper judge for deciding punishments. You know, since I’m a victim here, it would kinda make me biased.”

“Oh.” Twilight’s eyes widened, “Okay...”

“And that’s why we’re going straight to Princess Celestia and have you explain everything to her.”

“WHAT? No!” Twilight shouted, “No, no she’ll kill me!”

“Huh, that’s funny, maybe you should’ve thought of that before you went all ‘you girls are delicious!’ on MY FLIPPIN’ NECK.”

“I’m not doing it!”

“Did someone seriously scramble that egghead of yours? What choice do you have?! Camp out here for the rest of your life?”

“...Yes?”

“Ugh.” Rainbow Dash groaned as she slapped herself in the face, “Look, sooner or later you’re going have to walk up to the Princess and owe up to everything you’ve done, whether you want to or not. Preferably before this snowballs into something worse, got it?”

“I... I just can’t!”

“Really? Give me one good reason why you can’t. One.” Rainbow Dash dared.

“Look, I’m changing Dash, I have been for, what, three weeks now? After Applejack had told me about how I scared you, I was scared of myself, mostly because from my perspective, I was in control of myself. Part of the reason why I wanted to go to Nightmare Night was to sort of prove to myself that I’m still me, just you know, with fangs and a strange diet. But after last night I’m starting to think it’s affecting my brain. I don’t know when or if I’ll stop changing. What if I start feeding off of everyone else? What if I don’t feel any remorse about it? I’m scared for everyone else about what I’ll become. Even if”

“...Really? That’s it?” Rainbow Dash said flatly, “Know what? Forget it, we’ll talk about this later when you’re more reasonable. I’m going to go find something to eat.” And with that, Rainbow Dash flew off.

Her eggs really got scrambled if she thinks I’ll fall for that. Rainbow Dash thought to herself. Then an odd but rather pleasent smell reached Rainbow Dash’s nostrils. Huh? What is that? She slowed down so that she could accurately pinpoint its source. It wasn’t anything like Rainbow Dash had smelled before, it was slightly metallic, maybe salty? Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure.

The as smell grew stronger, and stronger, Rainbow Dash began to drift closer to the ground until she began to slowly trot towards the source. For a moment, Rainbow Dash’s world seemed to only contain herself and the smell. For a moment, she forgot all about the world she was leaving behind.

Then she walked into a tree.

“Ow.” Rainbow Dash muttered as she rubbed her snout. Maybe she shouldn’t have closed her eyes while fantasizing about the most wonderful scent in all of Equestria.

However, she found that her nose hadn’t failed it bringing her closer to the source. Lying down next to a fallen log, that was only a stone's throw from where Rainbow Dash’s postition, was a deer. Judging from the large bloody gash on it’s neck, and it’s face frozen in sheer horror, the deer had ceased to be and gone to meet her maker.

Rainbow Dash let out a small yelp of surprise as she jumped back a step. Inhaling the air had confirmed that, yes, this ex-deer was the source of the most wonderful smell in the world. Rainbow Dash hesitated, not completely sure of her next course of action. The blood-odor took this as an opportunity to invade and seduce Rainbow Dash’s senses once more. Her stomach growled, her mouth watered, and her legs began to slowly move a foot closer to the deer. And then another. Then another. Again and again until Rainbow Dash found herself standing above the carcass. It was a bit unfair really, the more Rainbow Dash looked at it, the less gruesome and tragic the deer’s death had become. Instead, it seemed... beautiful. Delicious even.

Swallowing some of her rapidly replenishing spit, Rainbow Dash bent down closer to the wound. She discovered that this “beautiful meal” was in fact untouched by insects or any other scavenger, and was quite warm and fresh. She opened her mouth and cautiously licked the offending gash. Her eyes shot wide open when she tasted blood.

This. is... AWESOME! Rainbow Dash smiled... perhaps a little too wide... Rainbow Dash then proceeded to throw any last shred of of subtlety out the window as she lunged at the deer’s throat once more. Licking and slurping the wound, Rainbow Dash found herself starting to bite at the wound, tearing it open. Celestia send it to the moon, MORE! Rainbow Dash thought to herself as she chewed the neck-meat, Wow, Twi wasn’t kidding, this is amazing! So juicy... I wonder what buffalo tastes like... the thought caused her to salivate a bit. So large and muscular, I bet tons of this is running through their... wait. OHMYGOSH WHAT AM I THINKING?! She looked down on the deer, it’s head now barely connected to the rest of the body, blood pouring freely from what was the neck. WHAT AM I DOING?! This... This is exactly what Twilight was talking about, isn’t it?! Aw crapcrapcrap!!! Twi was right to think that this is affecting her brain! Soon she’s going to want to eat everyone! I’m starting to want to eat everyone!!! Rainbow Dash spit out the meat and backed away slowly from the deer. Wait, how did the deer die in the first place? If an animal had killed it, shouldn’t it be near it defending it’s meal?

A jet of flame flared right next to Rainbow Dash’s head, causing her to give a startled jump. “Hmph, I missed. I must be getting rusty.”

Rainbow Dash turned around to see... Princess Celestia?!?! Ooh this isn’t good at all.

“What in the- jeb-ed-ah...” Rainbow Dash stuttered, before taking a deep breath, “You could’ve killed me!”

“That was the idea, yes.” Celestia nonchalantly replied.

“Um, ‘kay, listen, I know this looks really bad, but the deer was already dead when I got here, I swear!”

“Silence vermin.” Princess Celestia sternly replied, her horn glowing a sinister dark red. Fire once more seared through the air towards Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow dash swiftly dodged it, then another, and the one following that. Shoot, Rainbow Dash thought to herself, She’s really serious about this, I got to find Twilight! She took off, with Celestia in pursuit. Rainbow Dash began to duck, weave, and roll around past the trees, in hopes of losing Celestia. Celestia on the other hand just brute-forced her way after Rainbow Dash, burning any trees between her and Dash. I can’t shake her! Rainbow Dash started to panic, Oh come on wings, fly faster!!!

Princess Celestia teleported into her room. She slipped out of her regalia, casting it aside onto her bed. She walked up into a mirror and gazed into it. A thousand years, and I still can’t do anything about it. she reflected She shook her head, walked to the balcony, and looked over the kingdom under the sun. If only...

She stopped, noticing something over the horizon, towards Everfree Forest. She walked over to the telescope she had attached to the railing, adjusted it so it pointed towards the forest. Is that smoke? she thought as she looked through, getting a better picture. What was it, another rampaging dragon? Careless campfire gone wild? No matter the case, if it was left unattended, it might reach Ponyville.

Princess Celestia ran towards the door, “Guards!”

“Yes your Highness?” one of the guards responded in record time.

“Get the Wonderbolts, there’s a forest fire in Everfree Forest. I want it contained or eliminated before it reaches Ponyville. Quickly!”

“Of course your Highness.” the guard ran as fast as his legs could carry him to the barracks.

Back in Everfree Forest, Rainbow Dash had gained some distance between herself and the white alicorn chasing her. Gathering her bearings, Rainbow Dash knew that she was close to where she left Twilight. She flew low to the ground and glomped/crashed into Twilight.

“TWILIGHT! I’m so, so, sorry! You were right!” she hastily apologized.

“Wait, about what?” Twilight said, slightly confused and slightly dazed from impact.

“A lot of things.” Rainbow Dash replied.

A fireball flew over their heads. Rainbow Dash quickly moved herself and Twilight into a bush. “My little ponies.~ Where are you?~ Come out, come out wherever you are.~” said the soothing voice of the ivory-colored princess.

“But mostly that thing about Princess Celestia wanting to kill us.” Rainbow Dash whispered quietly.

“WHAT?!?!” Twilight screamed.

“Oh,” “Celestia” stopped and turned towards Twilight and Dash, “There you are.”

Rainbow Dash held Twilight tight as she flew out of the bush as it burst into flames to behind a rock. “Why is Celestia trying to kill you?” Twilight asked, “If anything she should be trying to kill only me! Afterall, I sort of killed you.”

“I don’t know!” Rainbow Dash shouted, “She just saw me eating a deer and the next thing I know, she’s trying to burn me alive!”

“Wait a minute, you were eating a deer?!” Twilight asked, “...Okay, not as bad as eating a pony, per say, but you were only a vampire for all of what, half a day?”

“It was dead when I found it, I swear to Celestia!”

“Hello.” said a certain Princess as she looked over them on top of the boulder.

Twilight and Rainbow Dash screamed as they ran out the way of another fireball.

No, no this can’t be right! Twilight thought to herself. “Princess, please stop!” Twilight begged, “Why are you trying to kill Rainbow Dash? She’s innocent, I’m the one you want.”

“I’m doing this out of mercy Twilight Sparkle.” “Celestia” replied, “This is what I should have done with you earlier, before vampirism spreads any further.”

“But you were trying to make a cure! There shouldn’t be a need for you to kill us!”

“There isn’t a cure. Never was. It was only motivation for you to be a good little pony. But you failed. And to think I had such high hopes for you.”

“No...” Twilight whispered, “No, no, you’re... you’re lying! There has to be a way!”

“Celestia” approached her, eyes and horn glowing red, “The only cure for vampirism is death. Goodbye Twilight Sparkle.”

“NO!” Rainbow Dash flew and bucked “Princess Celestia,” causing her spell spark and sizzle. “FYI Princess, you mess with Twi, you mess with... me?” She stopped for a second as she looked at Princess Celestia’s face. Rainbow could have sworn that “Celestia” frizzled a little bit from the impact, like an old tv with bad reception. For the briefest of moments, “Celestia” had a greying beard and moustache, golden eyes, and her cutie mark became black and heart shaped. But Rainbow’s hesitation was all “Celestia” needed to kick her away.

“Have you lost your mind?!” Twilight screamed, exasperated at Rainbow Dash.

“Hey, you’re welcome I saved your butt back there.” Rainbow Dash replied, grumbling, as she picked herself up.

“Celestia” got back up, eyes and horn once more glowing red as she snarled at them. “Insolent VERMIN.” She unleashed a swarm of fireballs at Twilight and Dash’s general location.

In response, Twilight erected a barrier around herself. “No you didn’t, you just made her angrier!” Twilight screamed at Rainbow Dash over the sound of the explosions as the flames pounded on her shield.

Rainbow Dash flew upwards to dodge the barrage, flying past the cover of the trees. As in, she flew right into a bright, clear afternoon sky. Which considering that this was Everfree Forest in early November, this probably should be considered unnatural weather.

“GAAAAAAH!!” Rainbow Dash screamed in pain, covering her eyes from the oppressive rays of light, her skin feeling like it was burning up.

“Gotcha.” “Princess Celestia” smiled as she looked up at the sky, horn glowing.

“Rainbow Dash! Look out!” Twilight shouted.

“Celestia” once more sent a fireball, flying towards the cyan pegasus. Thinking quickly, Twilight fired a her own bolt of magic to intercept the flame. However, after Twilight cast it, she realized that she was entirely unused to her newfound dark powers, and put too much force behind it.

Rainbow Dash looked down just in time to see “Celestia” and Twilight’s magic collide with each other a few feet below her. She didn't have time to brace herself from the resulting explosion and was sent spiraling uncontrollably.

“NO!” Twilight screamed.

“Yes.” uttered “Celestia,” horn still glowing red, “Now it’s your turn.”

“Twilight, what is going on?” echoed the voice of Bleeding Heart in Twilight’s mind, “I heard an explosion. What are you trying to do, burn down the whole forest?”

Twilight created a barrier to counter “Celestia’s” renewed assault. But instead of aiming directly at her, “Celestia” aimed at the ground near her, knocking Twilight off balance.

“I’m kinda busy right now Bleeding Heart...” Twilight muttered. A fireball that came too close for comfort made her squeal in fear.

“Is that... Princess Celestia?!” Bleeding Heart exclaimed, “I’m getting you out of there Twilight, she’s too powerful for you right now!”

"Gee, thanks for the pro-tip. Never would've guessed." Twilight Sparkle sarcastically replied.

“Celestia” pointed her horn at Twilight, firing a stream of fire. Twilight quickly countered with her own beam of magic. Amazingly, it seemed to Twilight, that they were relatively matched in terms of power. Even stranger, the she wasn’t the only one sweating from the heat caused “Celestia’s” fire, as she could have sworn she saw her sweat a little. Perhaps it was the distortions in the light from heat, playing tricks on her mind. Another thing bothered Twilight though; so far, “Celestia” has only used (relatively) basic conflagratory spells, nothing explicitly solar powered. Did “Celestia” not expect her and Rainbow Dash to be worth the effort or was she simply toying with them? Twilight quickly dismissed the latter option; Celestia isn’t the type who relishes killing someone, that’s for sure, so she’s not toying with her. It had to be something else.

But whatever it is, it would have to wait, as the pressure and heat from the streams was getting intense. Just when it seemed Twilight had the upper-hand, “Celestia” quickly stopped her stream, stepped to the side, and fired a blast at Twilight. It happened too fast for Twilight respond, and was hit right on the horn. Unicorns, for all their supposed superiority over the other ponies, have a glaring weakness: anything that hits their horn hurts a LOT. Twilight of course screamed and writhed on the grass in pain because of this fact.

“Celestia” slowly walked up towards Twilight. “Not to rush you or anything, but can you be a little quick about it?” Twilight whispered as “Celestia” now ominously stood before her.

“Hold on a second...” Bleeding Heart replied.

“Goodbye my student.” said “Celestia” as she pointed her horn at Twilight.

Twilight closed her eyes, expecting to die. Instead, she heard a loud popping noise. When she opened her eyes again, she looked around. It took a moment, but she realized that she was in the old castle ruins deep in Everfree. For the moment, she was safe.

Meanwhile, back in the forest, “Celestia” smiled at the spot Twilight was lying a few seconds ago. Slowly, she giggled, chuckled, then broke out in uproarious laughter, in a much deeper voice. The image of the holy alicorn shimmered and faded to reveal Bleeding Heart.

“My my, how does she stay so serious all the time?” he mused to himself. He heard a whooshing sound above him, and so he looked up to see several pegasi with blue uniforms. “Wonderbolts,” he growled, “So it seems I made too much of a commotion over here. Oh well, I did what I set out to do. And now, adieu.” With a flash and a pop of red light, Bleeding Heart winked out of the forest.

In the skies above, the Wonderbolts flew in formation over the smoke and flames.

“Did you see the size of the explosion? No way that’s an accident.” said Soarin, a dark blue-maned pegasus.

“Agreed. Soarin, Blitzwing, you two control the flames with the wind currents. Try to direct the fire to choke itself out.” said Spitfire, a yellow pegasus with flame-colored mane. She then turned towards one of her wingmates, “Rapidfire, you’re with me. We’re going to search the area for clues. Who or what caused this can’t be too far from here.”

The Wonderbolts nodded in affirmation, and went to work.

“Spitfire! I found someone over here!” shouted Rapidfire, hovering right above a tree, “And you’re not gonna believe it!”

Spitfire flew over. “Well, well, well, if it isn't the Wonderbolts #1 Fan. What’s she doing here?”

“I don’t know, but I think she’s dead. I can’t seem to get a pulse.”

“No, wait, look at her neck. Bite marks. She’s probably a vampire right now. Remember the whole notice that Shining gave us? She could be unconscious. Let’s take her home and hope she wakes up.” Carefully lifting Rainbow Dash up and out of the tree branches she was tangled in, they flew back towards Canterlot.

Author's Note

For maximum enjoyment, I recommend listening to the tracks below or any Solar Empire-themed music, or in a pinch, Final Boss music with Latin in it:
Sun's Wrath by DJDelta0. This video needs more views.

Celestial Rage by baschfire.

The Road paved with Good Intentions

Part 11: The Road paved with Good Intentions

~A little thousand years ago~

A stallion was in the library. He was intently studying the various tomes and scrolls on equine anatomy. He was writing down his own thoughts and notes on a scroll, his deep scarlet magic making the pen jolt and dash this and that. He glanced at his own work to ensure that it was at least legible, though with this meager lighting, that was a monumental task. He yawned, and looked at the candle beside him, his only source of light in the room. Or what used to be a candle. Now it had melted into a blob of wax covering the candlestick. Sighing deeply, he knew he’s going to be reprimanded by the maids for wasting candles on his late night studies, and for the mess he made on the table.

He yawned again, needing no timepiece to tell him that he was up far too late for what is considered to be healthy. He closed up the tomes and rolled up the scrolls, and put them on their proper shelves. His own scroll he rolled up and put inside his saddlebag. Making one last check, he hoisted the bag onto his back, and blew out the candle.

Slowly in the coolness of night, he made his way to his room. Though his bag only held only one scroll, the hours had fatigued him. It didn't help that his room was also quite a ways from the library.

“If you spend so much time in that library, you might as well sleep there!” he can hear the maids scold him in his imagination. However appealing that is, he very much preferred his goose-feather bed over the hard wooden tables and chairs. Though he probably should request for a different room.

However, his ears now picked up another set of hoofsteps in the hallway. Perhaps his weariness and the darkness was playing tricks with him, that he was merely hearing echoes of his own steps. Testing this theory, he stopped.

Nope, somepony else was also walking around at this hour.

“Stay calm, you tomfool,” He told himself. “Surely it is but a maid, or a guard making their midnight rounds.” He thought out loud as he resumed his journey to his room, though with a quickened pace.

He made a turn, and ran into her. The Lady of the castle, Princess Luna.

“Your Highness! I’m so, so, sorry!” the stallion exclaimed. While the Stallion was slightly taller than most of his peers, Luna towered over him, and had barely moved from his collision. In contrast to his own pale ashen coat, Luna had a very dark coat, such so that she blended with the darkness of night. With her sparkling mane and tail and green eyes, it would be very easy for one to confuse her for a spectre floating in the night. “Please excuse your humble servant for asking, but what are you doing at this ungodly hour?”

She became disheartened at this for some reason, “Ungodly hour?” she repeated back to him. “Should it not be we that asks thee for what thou does at this hour?”

“I apologize your highness for speaking thoughtlessly, for his body and mind is weary. Your humble servant had studied late, your Highness,” the stallion explained quickly. “Regarding the hour, your servant was on his way to his bedchamber to rest.”

“Is not thy bedchamber quite a ways from here?” Luna asked him. “Hast thou considered requesting a room that is closer?”

“Thy servant had considered doing so in the morn, yes.” the Stallion replied, sweating though the night was cold. “Please excuse your servant.” He moved quickly passed her, trying to avoid her gaze.

“Halt.” If her appearance and stature commanded fear and obedience, her voice doubly so. “We are in need of an escort.”

“Surely your highness is in no need of company of one such as your servant.” the Stallion said as he shook in his horseshoes.

“Nay, we insist.” Luna said with a soft grin. “Perhaps we might enlighten thee on what we do at this... ‘ungodly hour’ whilst on our way to thy chambers.”

The Stallion gulped, “If you surely insist, I am but your humble and lowly servant.”

“Excellent.” And so the two resumed their travels. The Stallion had no interest in sparking any conversation, so Luna asked him a question. “Tell us, hast thou gazed upon the stars at night?”

“Not really. To be honest, I have been focusing too much on my studies to even look up.” he said to her.

“Tis a common thing, to not see the stars, unfortunately.” Luna sighed, “I have labored each night, composing the stars in the sky in their array. With their numerous lights, I have recounted tales of heroes from before ponykind’s first word was written. And yet do ponies see this wondrous splendor? Nay, for they have chosen to sleep under roofs instead of my stars.”

“But what about their dreams? Are you not also the patron of dreams as you are the night itself? Should not their rest bring you joy?”

“Indeed.” She nodded. “And yet... when they dream, they dream not of the night, or what it is like to float among the stars. I alone save them from the plagues of the dreams, and yet should they rise from their slumber to greet the dawn? I am not thanked for protecting them, ensuring that their rest was peaceful. Nay, instead they praise my sister, as if they fear each sunset was their last. My guardianship has protected thousands of our people, for thousands of nights. And I have yet to hear one pony, on one night, thank me.”

Her voice wavering, she continued, “Tell me, servant, who prays to me?! Show me a warrior who brings justice in the name of the moon! Tell me, if I truly am my sister’s equal, then is not my duty as vital as hers?! Tell me of who, were I to go to that distant undiscovered country, where no traveler ever returned from, would remember me?!”

“I... I know no one, my lady.” the Stallion confessed. “If only there is a way that I could help.”

“Really?” Luna turned to him, “Thou would do this for us? But thou art but a physician. However we could...”

“Yes?”

“We could give to thee a... token of our power. As a sign of thy knighthood.”

“I would do anything to serve you Luna. I swear on my life that will use this power to glorify your name, and bring about a better world.”

As soon as he was finished with this oath, Nightmare Moon smiled. Her fangs shone in the moonlight. “Excellent, morsel.”

“Wha- ARGHGLE!!!” He didn’t even have time to question, but it was answered when Nightmare Moon was suddenly on top of him, her fangs buried deeply in his neck. And yet confusion racked his mind. Was not Luna standing before him? Where and how did this demon of a mare appear? He tried to call out for help, instead he uselessly gurgled. Not that would have helped anyway. After all, was it not discussed a few minutes ago how few ponies walk at night? The Stallion, realizing this, attempted to buck Nightmare off. At best, he only managed to make her moan with pleasure as she drained his blood, and with it, his strength as well. His heart, once furiously pumping as a response to the fight, was now withering and weaker until it became black and shriveled. The world around him was turning and twisting as he feebly tried to keep stay awake.

Nightmare Moon finally released him from her maw. The corpse hit the stone flooring with a soft thud. “Mmm, like a finely aged wine. You’ll make an excellent knight, Bleeding Heart.” was the last words he heard before giving up his last breath.

And that is how Bleeding Heart was knighted, and died.

Twilight looked about the decaying stone walls and fountain. It all seemed familiar. “Wait, isn’t this where the Elements of Harmony were being kept? Then that must mean I’m in the castle ruins.”

Then with a loud bang and red light, Bleeding Heart appeared before her. “Lady Twilight Sparkle, welcome to the castle of Everfree, or the Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters if you prefer. Just as you welcomed me to your home, let me welcome you to my home.” he bowed, “Though I must confess, I wish that you would have seen this place when it was in it’s prime. And that you had not have to arrive in such a... hasty manner, but we get by with what we can.”

“Enough courtesy, where’s Rainbow Dash? Is she okay?” Twilight pleaded with him. “Please tell me she’s alright!”

Bleeding Heart sighed, “...I’m sorry about your loss, Twilight.”

“What?” Twilight whispered, eyes widening. “You don’t mean...”

“I couldn’t save her. After I teleported you, Princess Celestia had already found Rainbow Dash before I could.”

“No...”

“Rainbow Dash’s fate lies solely in Celestia’s mercy... I’m so sorry Twilight.” Bleeding Heart said slowly.

“No! She can’t be...” Twilight shouted, her voice wavering, “It... it wasn't her fault!”

“Of course it isn't.” said Bleeding Heart. “But regardless of what Rainbow Dash may or may not have done, she is still a vampire. And Celestia has no compassion towards our kind. Come with me, it’s rude to keep the others waiting.” He turned and walked towards the stairs to the lower floors.

“Wait, others?” Twilight said.

Bleeding Heart looked over his shoulder and said, “What, did you think you were the only victim to Celestia’s tyranny?”

Though the red glow of Bleeding Heart’s horn guided them down the stairs, the room at the bottom was illuminated by torches. There were numerous ponies in warm light, Twilight gasped as she recognized some of them, “Sparkler? Carrot Top? Cheerilee? Is that you?”

“Twilight! Oh wow, normally I’d say ‘Thank Celestia you are alright,’ but considering the circumstances...” Cheerilee greeted her. As Twilight approached them, she noticed that their eyes were bloodshot, at least what she could tell from the lighting.

“What happened?”

“What do you think happened?” Carrot Top replied, “We got bit by some goon, and then suddenly Princess Celestia appeared and started to burn everyone that got bit.”

“She’s not kidding. I saw her incinerate a somepony, just like that!” said Sparkler.

“Excuse me if I’m having trouble believing that Princess Celestia would do that...” said Twilight.

“Look, I’m having a hard time believing it too, but she was frying people left and right. The only thing she cared about was if we were a vampire or not.” Cheerilee replied.

“Yeah, and worst of all, it ain't even our fault!” said Sparkler, “It’s all Luna’s fault, or should I say, Nightmare Moon’s.”

Twilight felt there was something off about their voices, like it was stilted. “...Is something the matter Twi?” Carrot Top asked.

“N-no, I’m just... having trouble taking it all in.” Twilight lied.

“You and me both.” said Sparkler.

“Anyway, how many ponies survived?” Twilight asked.

“Not sure,” Bleeding Heart replied, “I could only save so much from the initial attack. When Celestia entered the scene, I could only help the stragglers. The rest are probably caught up by Luna and Celestia by now.”

“And what are you planning on doing now?”

“It’s a straightforward goal,” Bleeding Heart replied, “but we need your help Twilight.”

Twilight stared at Bleeding Heart skeptically, “What is it? I not going to jump into agreements without reading the fine print.”

Bleeding Heart smiled, “I told you, it’s simple. We destroy the Princesses.”

“What?! Why? That would destroy Equestria!” Twilight gasped, “The Princesses are practically synonymous with the Kingdom of Equestria.”

“Of course it would.” Bleeding Heart calmly replied. “But is that not the way of progress? To put away the old and bring forth the new? I shall reforge Equestria, mending and purifying it into a new kingdom, to become the ultimate utopia! A land where no one has to fear death. No more will lovers be separated, friendships lost, or families broken. We will all be immortal, living in harmony forever! Wouldn’t such sacrifice be worth it, Twilight?”

“But is this really necessary? Can’t we convince them to leave us alone?” Twilight suggested.

“You've seen how Celestia treats us as monsters, as if we were a cancer upon the world. To Luna, we are seen only as drones and slaves to use for revenge against her sister. But vampires are really neither; we’re not monsters, but we are not truly ponies either. We are something more, something better! Our magic and strengths can rival that of the alicorns! Luna may have made us to be slaves, but with this power, we can create and rule a utopia where life is eternal! We can make a paradise that will last forever.”

“But you told me that Celestia was too powerful for me...”

“Yes, because you were not ready... yet.” Bleeding Heart corrected. “I cannot defeat her either, but with our combined power Twilight, we can defeat both Princesses! That is why I chose you. I knew that you have the potential to change the world. Please, join me, and together we can create a perfect, everlasting world.”

“Know what? I think I understand...” Twilight started, as Bleeding Heart smiled. “...That you’re crazy!”

“Excell-... wait, what?” Bleeding Heart’s smile disappeared, leaving a confused look in its place.

“You heard me, I don’t think your motives are purely altruistic, you just want Equestria for yourself. I know it wasn't Princess Celestia that attacked me and Rainbow Dash. Nor it was Princess Luna that attacked Ponyville. It was you!” Twilight pointed accusingly at Bleeding Heart.

“What?! How did you know it was me?!” Bleeding Heart replied utterly flabbergasted.

“Your masks and acting skills were impressive, Bleeding.” Twilight smiled. “But it was oversight on some details that did you in. For example, it is virtually impossible to hide one’s own horn color by themselves. Not even Changelings are capable of performing this, and they’re naturally talented at the art of mimicry. Another source of magic is needed, such as enchanted items, but only if they are extremely powerful. I've seen Princess Celestia use magic plenty of times, and I know it’s a soft yellow color, but the Celestia that attacked me in the forest? Her magic color was red. Just like yours, amazingly enough.”

“W-well...”

“Besides, if these girls are telling the truth, then Celestia has no qualms disintegrating vampires. But, that was the case, then why am I still alive? The only spells I noted were fairly novice, they lacked refinement and control, they were only dangerous because of the magic power of the user. Celestia surely wouldn't toy with me when she knows my potential, so why all the fire and flare when she can execute me nice and clean? So that leads me to conclude that this ‘Celestia’ was nothing more than an amatuer and a fool that just as likely burned herself as she would me.”

Bleeding Heart’s face turned into the most beautiful shade of purple and red. “I am not some amateurish simpleton! I could have burned your horn off, you harlequin dunce!!!”

“But that’s not all,” Twilight continued, “I could literally smell her breath when she was right on top of me, ready to burn me alive. Like... blood oddly enough. Now why on earth would Celestia’s breath smell like blood, hmm? Surely Celestia isn’t a vampire herself, is she?”

“Just because my breath smells like Celestia’s doesn’t mean-”

“I’m not finished yet. THIS is the real kicker: you just told me. Twice actually.”

“I...” Bleeding Heart paused... and realized that his follies, “That I did. Well, you certainly read me like a book Twilight.”

“Yeah, and I found it’s characters flat and two dimensional and story clichéd. Though one thing confuses me: twice now you could’ve killed me and yet instead you put all this effort into converting me to your cause. Why? I mean, I get that you have some vendetta against Princess Celestia, but wouldn’t killing me be a quicker way to get revenge?”

“...Did you think I was lying about needing you? Or did you think that you can deny my offer?” Bleeding Heart smiled cruelly. He suddenly fired a bolt of magic at Twilight.

Twilight deflected the bolt with a well-timed barrier, and countered with her own bolt at Bleeding Heart. But then Cheerilee jumped in the way, taking the brunt of Twilight’s magic. “No! Cheerilee!” Twilight shouted when she saw her fall. An yellow pair of hind hooves kicked Twilight in the face, followed by a blinding show of sparkling lights, dazing her further. Bleeding took advantage, and fired another bolt at Twilight, sending her flying back into a wall. Twilight groaned as she picked herself up, and saw Carrot Top and Sparkler, eyes glowing red. “What the... What’s gotten into you girls?” said Twilight, “Why are you fighting for him? Bleeding Heart’s the one who caused all this!”

“Save your breath, Twilight, their body and minds belong to me!” laughed Bleeding Heart. With that, Cheerilee, Carrot Top, Sparkler, and other vampires surrounded Bleeding Heart.

“Please, snap out of it!” she begged the few that she knew. Not wanting to harm them, Twilight tried to shoot around them.

The vampires had other ideas. No matter how hard she tried, Twilight couldn’t get a clear shot at Bleeding Heart, everypony keep jumping in the way. Others surrounded her and attacked from different angles, forcing her to focus on defending herself instead. Amidst the chaos, she could still hear Bleeding Heart’s voice whisper into her ear. “Give up.” She continued on. The horde was seemingly endless and tireless. Every time she knocked a few away from her, more quickly took their place. Sweat rolled down her head as the voices inside of it echoed, “Why continue? It only leads to more pain.” Twilight reacted too slowly, and paid for it with a kick to the face. “It’s for the best. Don’t worry, your friends will be joining you soon... Isn’t that what you want? To be with your friends forever? If you had joined me, none of your friends would ever feel the pain of losing a loved one.”

Twilight realised that she couldn’t stop Bleeding Heart, not here and now anyway. But with the hordes continuously attacking her, she can’t focus on teleporting out. She decided instead to try to clear a path to the stairs. If she could just get out of this dungeon, she might stand a better chance...

She saw an opening, the stairs out of the dungeon. If she could just run fast enough, she might be able to teleport and warn everyone. She took her chances, galloping up the stairs. However, a errant step, caused by somepony shifting the bricks right under her, caused her to trip and hit her head on the stairs. It was enough for the other vampires to grab a hold of her and drag her back down.

“...I’m sorry Rainbow Dash, I should have listened to you.” Twilight thought as she finally succumbed to the horde. The weight of dozens of ponies that were now on top of crushed her between the cold hard floor. “And now both of us had to pay for it.” she thought somberly as Bleeding walked up to her.

With his forehoof, Bleeding lifted Twilight’s face until they were looking at each other eye to eye, Bleeding smiling as cruel as ever. “I wasn’t lying when I offered you to join me at my side to rule Equestria, but you just had to go and act like a stubborn mule, didn’t you? Fighting to remain loyal to those who abandoned you is... somewhat admirable, something I’ve done once a long time ago, until I realised that it was stupid. Where are your friends now, Twilight? Where’s your precious teacher?”

Twilight stared at him in the eye, “I will never join you! Princess Celestia will defeat you, you said it yourself, you don’t have the power to face her one on one! Even if I can’t, she’ll make sure your world will never be created!”

Bleeding Heart laughed, “Don’t you understand? This little song and dance we did back there is a dress rehearsal for the final act. The part where the alicorn princesses die by the hooves of that onced loved them, to make way for a new era.”

Twilight promptly responded by trying to tear off that stupid smug smile right off his face. With a sudden burst of strength she managed to jump towards Bleeding Heart, slipping past all the vampires holding her back. Before he could react, Twilight chomped on his mouth and nose, making him scream like a little filly in her mouth. Bleeding’s minions all grabbed Twilight again and attempted to pull her off of their master’s face. Twilight only released her grip when she tasted his blood, which as Twilight just discovered, vampire blood tastes vastly different from mortal blood. It was the most rotten, disgustingly sick thing that Twilight had or will ever taste, and so Twilight threw up in Bleeding Heart’s mouth as she released him.

Bleeding Heart held his wounded muzzle, cursing like the saltiest of sailors in between wiping his face off and spitting the vomit out of his mouth. Twilight gagged and spat out the lingering taste of vampire blood out her mouth as she replied, “You came into my house and bit me, so I figured I would return the favor.”

Bleeding Heart face turned towards her, eyes filled with volcanic rage. He kicked her in the face, hard enough that Twilight almost blacked out. Bleeding Heart turned back to face her again, his muzzle still bleeding the black liquid, horn now lighting up in a dark red color once more as he pressed it against Twilight’s forehead.

Twilight Sparkle let out a blood curdling scream.

Time passed in odd ways for Rainbow Dash. She wasn’t sure how long she was out, it could’ve been anywhere from a few minutes to several months. All she was aware of half-blindly staring at a huge ball of fire that could’ve cooked her alive (or rather undeath, considering her current condition.) And now it was just darkness.

However, she started to hear Twilight’s voice, echoing in her mind, quiet as a whisper. “I’m so... Rainbow Dash, I s...ld have li...ed to y... A... no... bo.. of us h... to pay ... it.” it apologized, but Rainbow Dash could barely understand what she was saying, what with all the echos making her own words incoherent.

“Twilight? Where are you? Are you okay?” Rainbow Dash called out. She couldn’t see Twilight anywhere in her dark dreamscape.

She heard a blood curdling scream.

“Twilight!!!” Rainbow Dash woke up with a start, catapulting her to reality. Her body rebelled with sensations of pain all over her body as she sat up. Hazy memories of what happened before seemed almost dream like to her. Almost instinctively though, her hoof reached up to her neck and brushed the scars made by fangs. Some of the pieces became clearer.

Rainbow Dash looked around the room, noting that while she was likely in a hospital room, but the wallpaper was unrecognizable. As much as Rainbow Dash hated to admit it, she was a “frequent flyer” to the Ponyville Hospital, what with all the stunts she was trying to pull. So naturally she was accustomed to the rooms they used. Besides, the beds here were too comfortable to be in Ponyville.

“Oh goody, you’re finally woken up.” said a rather dry, familiar voice. A curtain to the right of Rainbow Dash was pushed aside with dark blue magic, revealing that the voice came from Luna, who was lying on a similar bed and wearing a back brace.

“GAH!” Rainbow Dash jumped up straight on her bed, “What are you doing here?!”

“What am I-” started Luna, looking at Rainbow Dash as if she were insane, “You put me here, you chicken-brained addled dodo!”

“Oh... yeah... that’s a thing that happened.” Rainbow Dash ashamedly admitted. “So uh... How’s the recovery?”

For a moment, Rainbow Dash could’ve sworn that Luna had suddenly gained hate-powered laser eye beams, though with her glare, it probably was the same thing. “Swimmingly.” she said slowly. “In fact, that’s what I’ve been doing while I’m not trying to figure out a way to save everyone from being a vampire.”

“Um right... uh, do you know where the heck am I?” Rainbow Dash said out loud.

“What, no guesses?” Luna replied, “You are in Canterlot Castle, in the Private Royal Hospital Wing, Room 0103.”

“Wait, Canterlot?!” Rainbow Dash stuttered, color draining from her face. Some of the hazy memories were recalled. Namely of who tried to kill her. "If I’m in Canterlot, then She’s here..." Rainbow didn’t want to take any chances and took a leap towards the the nearest window... and discovered that her wings were bound by bandages, and smacked her nose on the window.

“You are in no condition to leave, Rainbow Dash,” Luna said, with a slight smirk, “besides which, why do you desire to leave so soon?”

“Because your sister tried to cook me Kentucky-style in Everfree Forest, that’s why!” Rainbow Dash said, still trying to look for an exit. Maybe she can risk going out the door and...

“Celestia? Trying to kill you? What sort of head-trauma induced madness is this?” Luna asked, slightly confused. “For if Sister truly wished for your death, why would she have you under the care of her staff, reserved solely for the Royalty that live here and those who serve them? Or that what you meant when you referred to the hospitality from the province of Kentucky?”

“I don’t know!” Rainbow Dash replied. “Maybe she wants me awake and healthy before she watches me squirm and scream when I’m getting burned alive!” She suddenly dove for the door, running out of the room... and right into Princess Celestia, who unwittingly blinded Dash again.

“F*yay*, my eyes! It burns!” Rainbow blindly squirmed and screamed, Celestia’s presence burned her alive, when Luna finally caught her with her magic.

“I highly doubt such action would relieve your pain. If anything, it might agitate it further.” said Princess Celestia. “Here-” Celestia’s horn glowed as it pulled out a pair of sunglasses and placed them on Rainbow Dash’s face “-try this instead. Though I’ve heard that it still isn’t a good idea to fly towards the sun with them on anyway, Icarus.” Celestia gave a slight smirk at her own little joke.

“Ha. Ha.” Rainbow Dash said flatly. “You’re hysterical.”

“I thought that was a bit funny too!” said Pinkie Pie as her head peeked around the corner of the hallway.

“Pinkie?” Rainbow Dash asked. “What are you doing here?”

“Worrying our hides off about you and Twi.” said Applejack. Her head, as well as Rarity’s and Fluttershy’s, peeked over the corner on top of Pinkie’s. “You two go missing for half a day and nearly got yourself blown to pieces with Twilight nowhere to be found!”

“Yes, and you spouting out bits of slander against Princess Celestia in your waking moments raises some... concerns, Rainbow Dash.” said Luna.

“What?” Rainbow Dash asked Applejack, “What do you mean you couldn’t find Twilight? Me and Twi were fighting Celestia before I got knocked out!”

“But that’s impossible,” said Rarity, “Celestia was here the whole time. She was the one who sent the Wonderbolts to investigate a fire in Everfree Forest, where they found you.”

“Yeah! A fire she caused!”

“...Rainbow, are you sure you’re okay?” Fluttershy asked cautiously. “Because what you’re saying is uh...”

“Cuckoo crazy!” Pinkie Pie finished

“Yes, I’m fine!” Rainbow Dash angrily responded. “I almost got my ass toasted in a huge bonfire! She was trying to burn me and Twi spouting stuff like ‘vampires are an abominations, they can’t live in society’ or ‘you have failed me Twilight Sparkle, blah blah blah, BURN!!!’”

“Darling, it’s just that what you’re saying is impossible.” Rarity replied. “Celestia has been in the castle after the attack on Ponyville. Ask anyone. That, and no pony had an idea where you two were, since Twilight literally could have teleported you two any where.”

“Then who the heck tried to kill me and Twilight?!”

“Well obviously this means that it was Princess Celestia,” said Pinkie Pie, “from an alternate universe where all the good guys are bad, and the bad guys are good! I bet she's a shameless communist tyrant too!”

The sound of everyone groaning and slapping themselves on the forehead responded to Pinkie Pie’s conclusion.

“What?”

“Rainbow Dash, the Celestia you fought, what was the color of her magic?” Luna asked.

“You mean the whole horn glowly thing? It was red I think, like a dark red.”

“A dark red? Like... Blood?” Luna pressed on.

“Yeah, why?”

“Well mostly because my magic is a pale yellow, not a deep red.” Celestia replied. She then demonstrated by lifting up a nearby plant. “See? Light yellow.”

“Yeah, except you were trying to burn all the things.” Rainbow Dash snorted.

Celestia sighed as she lit a leaf on fire, showing that her magic still didn’t change color.

“Oh. Well... oops?” Rainbow blushed.

“That still doesn’t explain who could’ve tried to kill Rainbow Dash and Twilight disguised as Celestia.” said Applejack. “I mean, it could’ve have been a random changeling, ‘cause I doubt they know anything about vampires or what happened last night, at least not so quickly.”

“Nor do we have a motive; what could anyone gain from making Twilight and Rainbow freaking out that Celestia tried to kill them?” Rarity asked.

“Actually, I believe it would have been Bleeding Heart that you fought against,” said Luna. “He does have the magic strength from the vampirism to perform such feats of illusion, since as you recall, one of his minions was disguised as Nightmare Moon to terrorize the citizenry. And if he’s trying to recruit ponies to his side, what would bring them to his side better than if Princess Celestia decided to kill them all?”

“And If I recall correctly, the Wonderbolts didn’t find any other survivors...” Rarity said slowly.

“No!” Fluttershy unexpectedly shouted, “Twilight can’t be dead! Not again!”

“Actually, I doubt Bleeding would want to kill her, so he probably captured her under the pretenses of saving her from Celestia. Though one shudders to imagine what he will do to her if we are correct in this presumption.”

“But does Twilight know whether or not it actually was Celestia that tried to kill her?” Rarity asked, “I mean, we all know that she’s a smart girl, so maybe she’ll be able to figure it out?”

“I’m not so sure, Rarity.” replied Rainbow Dash. “I got duped, and she was freaking out as much as I was. She probably still thinks that it was Celestia. She probably fled elsewhere if she saw the Wonderbolts flying in.”

“You don’t think she would actually listen to him, do you?” Rarity asked.

“Hey, I’m not saying that!” Rainbow held up her hooves defensively.

“But we have to consider the circumstances,” spoke up Luna, “Twilight is emotionally vulnerable from losing control of herself and turning one of her best friends into a vampire, and from ‘Celestia’ attempting to kill her for it.”

“The heck are we waiting for then?” said Applejack. “Let’s go look for her, and get her back. We can’t let that leaching varmint turn her evil!”

“One problem with that,” said Celestia, “Any suggestions on where she might be?”

“Erm... uh... I don’t know? She might still be in the forest?” Applejack replied quietly.

“That’s just it, we don’t know.” Celestia stated. “It was a ridiculous stroke of luck that we found Rainbow Dash, alive- er- undead no less. One could presume that Twilight is in the local area as well, either dead, or is scared out of her mind and is hiding, listening to every lie Bleeding is telling her. As such, finding Twilight is only a secondary objective.”

Everyone in the room stopped and stared at Celestia. “What?!” said Applejack.

“We have enough on our plate at the moment as is; we’re still trying to get a proper head count of the victims, and if anyone had gone missing. We just now have a slightly better idea of the number of vampires there are at the moment, most of which are probably still situated near Everfree Forest and surrounding provinces.”

“Yeah, so we know where they are hiding, let’s get in there and go get ‘em!” Applejack replied.

“No, we’re going to focus on increasing surveillance on the area, fortifying all potential targets, and attempt to trap Bleeding Heart and force him to fight out in the open. Attempting an assault or a rescue operation now would be suicide.” said Princess Celestia.

“Let me get this whole thing straight;” Applejack said slowly as she glared at the Princesses, “this Bleeding Heart fellow effectively sucker-bucks us in the face and your plan is to wait and let him try that again?!”

“That really isn’t a flattering way to put it...”

“No, but it is the truth!” Applejack snapped back, “And on top of that, we’re sacrificing Twilight to do it!”

Princess Celestia slammed her hooves, “Twilight is an unfortunate victim of the attack, along with everyone else at Ponyville.” Celestia let the words sink in before continuing. “If we were to go into the forest now, the vampires will not only be able to match pony to pony, they will have field advantage as well. While you’ve expressed your concern for Twilight quite clearly, I doubt that she would want you all dying senselessly for her sake.”

“Really? Come on, Rarity and Pinkie have fought off dozens of those guys, right? I’m sure that trained soldiers can take them out. Come on, back me up here.”

“Well, yes...” Rarity hesitantly replied, “but just think about it for a moment dear. We’re no longer fighting in an open town square, but in the forest where there are plenty of hiding places for them to strike from and retreat to, and they probably have a better idea of the area than we do. That’s not optimal fighting conditions, that’s a setting for one of those horrendous horror movies Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash watch on a Saturday!”

“Specifically, ‘The Forester.’ Though I don’t think any of these guys are going to be using chainsaws and wear hockey masks.” Pinkie Pie added.

“On top of that, think of how Twilight herself will react when she sees the Equestrian Army performing a marehunt for her.” Celestia continued, “If Bleeding Heart convinced her that I really did go out and try to kill her, she’ll assume the worst and either flee or worse, fight back, before we could explain to her the actual situation. And if we’re wrong, and the fire killed Twilight, then this entire hypothetical operation would all be for nothing!”

“But... but...” Fluttershy whimpered, “It’s Twilight. She’s our friend. We can’t just... leave her, not even knowing if she’s still alive... can we?”

Princess Celestia sighed and rubbed her head, “I’m sorry, I know that it’s hard. To be honest, I don’t like it either. But in all likelihood, there’s really nothing else we can do for her. If we find and stop Bleeding Heart, we might be able to save Twilight Sparkle. Please, her sake, if any more of you become vampires, or worse, die, then the chances of Twilight being saved becomes slimmer.”

“...I hope she’s alright.”

Leads to Hell

Part 12: ...Leads to Hell

Relatively speaking, Ponyville is not that far away from Canterlot. There are many scenic roads and routes where a resident can even see the grand white castle shimmering on the mountainside. What makes transportation difficult between the two is the mountain range Canterlot is founded upon. It can take several hours of difficult hiking to reach the city there. Long enough that nobody would blame you for using the train, or rent a flying chariot, if they can’t fly there themselves.

So, it was especially important that Ponyville be kept under constant supervision by only the best of what Canterlot has to offer…

“Good grief, can this place get any creepier?” said Donut, a pink armored pegasus guard, holding a flashlight tight against himself with his wings. The shadows stretched longer away from the bright source of light. Above him, the skies were free to shine with Luna’s waning moon and vast display of twinkling stars.

“Well for one, there could actually be vampires around here.” said Cinnamon, a maroon-colored unicorn guard, as he shined his own light on a cardboard standup of a vampire caricature. “Though personally, the leftover decor of Nightmare Night make this place seem a bit cheesy.”

“There’s nothing cheesy about these monstrous chupacabras.” said Sarge, a deep red earth pony, with stripes on his armor showing his rank as a sergeant. “They rip ponies’ throats out like they were made of jello! Even though Celestia chased the whole lot of them out two nights ago, they could still be out here, hiding in the shadows, waiting for the perfect moment to strike! That’s why we need to be constantly vigilant for ANY sign of them!”

As if on cue, there was a purple flash of light inside one of the buildings, with the signature crackle and pop of a teleport spell.

“You mean for stuff like that?”

“Quiet!” hissed the sergeant, as his radio whined to life.

“Areveebee, this is home base, do you read? Over.” the radio blared.

“10-4, I read you home base, this is Sarge, go ahead.” said Sarge.

“Sarge, we’ve detected a teleport near your patrol. Can you confirm? Over.”

“Home base, we had brief visual contact of the teleport. Standby for further confirmation.” said Sarge, turning back towards his troops. “We don’t know if they know we’re here. Donut, go and open the door.”

Donut Frank (not to be confused with his mother’s father’s roommate’s old poker buddy’s nephew’s second-cousin’s son, Donut Joe,) slowly opened the door, which creaked loudly for everyone to hear. “Uh, hello? Anyone in here?” He called out as he waved a light into the dark room.

“What did I just say, private?!” the sergeant shouted out loud, “What do you think the chupacabra’s gonna do, say hello back?!”

“Don’t hurt me! It’s me, Twilight Sparkle!” Twilight cried out, and crept forward, trying to protect her squinting eyes from the bright rays of light as it flooded the room. Her eyes were blood-red with black veins reaching towards her purple irises. The light also revealed her bruises, and some cuts scabbed over with her black blood, and small burns all over her body. Her mane and tail was an utter mess, with her trademark light purple and pink highlights knotted against each other and her base dark purple hairs. “Oh thank goodness you guys are here, I need to get out of here, before they find me again! Hurry!”

“Wait, Twilight Sparkle?! What are you doing here?” Donut asked.

“To make a long story short, Bleeding Heart ‘rescued’ me, tried to convince me that I should join with him and destroy Equestria to make way for a new world, blah blah blah, I told him that he was crazy, he got angry, we fought, I lost, he tortured me, and then I escaped.”

“That sounds believable to me.” Sarge replied, “BUT, how do we know that you’re not a chupacabra imposter with a believable story huh?”

“Well, my favorite Daring Do book is- OW!” Twilight said, when Donut slapped her horn.

Nothing happened.

“...Or you could do that, I guess that works too.”

“It’s her, sir!” Donut called back.

“Home base, this is Sarge, do you copy? Over.” said Sarge into his radio.

“10-4 Sarge, this is home base. Over.”

“Home base, we have made contact, we found wolf with dentures. It’s the Tulip Special. Over.”

“Sarge, did you say you found the Tulip Special? Over.”

“Affirmative Home base, bringing her in for further confirmation. Sarge, out.” Sarge switched off the radio.

“‘the Tulip Special?’ Really?” Twilight said flatly. “So all the callouts are foodstuffs now? So was that supposed to be intentional because of those two,-” Twilight motioned towards Cinnamon and Donut, “-or just happy coincidence?”

“Yes!” said Sarge, “Anyway, even if you weren’t being chased by that Bloody Teat guy, Celestia would still want you back ASAP.”

“You mean Bleeding Heart.” Twilight corrected him.

“Right, right. We don’t have any of them flying chariots here right now, those are being used for inter-outpost patrols, so we’re gonna have to take the train.”

“Well anything is better than hiking up there.” Twilight replied.

When they arrived at the train station, Twilight’s nose scrunched up when she smelled a specific smell. “Is that garlic?” Twilight coughed.

“You can smell it from here, huh?” said Cinnamon, “There’s dozens of poles with garlic hanging off of them, all along the train tracks and surrounding Canterlot, and all the outposts surrounding the Everfree Forest. That way the vampires will be discouraged from attacking or getting around us, and if they do try to attack one of the patrols in between outposts, our guys will have something to tip the odds in their favor.”

“Interesting, so what if they’re flying? I’m pretty sure Bleeding has some Pegasi converted.” Twilight asked.

“Well, if you look over there, you can see all the search lights we have. We also have set up separate teams of pegasi to patrol the skies as well.” Donut pointed out.

“And unicorns?” Twilight asked again, “After all, Bleeding has learned a thing or two over the centuries. It’d be terrible if he completely bypassed everything when everyone put all this effort into everything.”

“Way ahead of you there, Twilight.” said Cinnamon, “You see that house over there? Well that house has unicorns that specialize in finding and tracking magic signatures. They knew you were here before we did! They’re also at the ready with flare spells incase we do find some hostile vampires.”

“In only one building? Seems vulnerable.” Twilight mused, smiling oddly.

“Well, we don’t have that many unicorns that specialize in those fields, so it’s safer for the unicorns to be grouped together rather than having them patrol with us incase a group of vampires tried to pick off patrol squads. Everyone else in there handles communications, both to the patrols and to other bases.” Donut explained.

“Alright, that’s enough you two,” said Sarge, “you can give Twilight the tour when we’re not in danger of a chupacabra attack.”

However, they started to hear faint screams above them. Up in the clear sky, there was cloud of figures flying and batting at each other. Several other guards aimed the search lights towards the sky where the fight was taking place.

“Vampires!” Twilight cried out, “They’re after me!!!”

“Earth ponies, come with me to get Twilight inside the train! Pegasi, engage the vampires! Unicorns, get those flares up, and give them suppressive fire!” ordered Sarge.

“Don’t worry Twilight Sparkle, you’re safe with us, we’ll protect you.” said one of the guards as the train started to bellow steam in preparation.

Twilight gave them an oddly bemused smirk, horn glowing as she said, “Really now? You’ll protect me?” A thunderous rumble, followed by several more screams were heard, alarmingly close now.

“What the...?! What’s going on, are we surrounded?!” Sarge barked.

“Sir, most of the unicorns have been incapacitated! The building collapsed and buried them right as they were about to send up the flares!” a guard said, as he pointed towards the scene.

Some guards tried to help unbury the unicorns, but a search light then swiveled around and shone in the guards’ faces, blinding them en mass.

“What the devil, they’re all over us, how could the chupacabras know where to strike?!” shouted Sarge as he fumbled around blind for a few precious seconds.

Twilight gave a mischievous giggle. “It helps that you give one of them the tour.’” Twilight said, smiling wide, eyes glowing red.

Much later, deep inside the keep of Canterlot Castle, the princesses, along with several high-ranking members of the Royal Guards and the Wonderbolts, and the Bearers of Harmony were all gathered around a large table covered mostly by a large detailed map of Equestria. Scattered across the map were various tokens, marking the various things such as the hastily assembled outposts or the like. The bathroom curtain (which was covered with cartoonish, smiling suns) hanging in between Celestia and Rainbow Dash did not lighten the mood.

“...We have received word that we have secured outposts around the other side of Everfree Forest, and thankfully found no evidence of any movement there. Reinforcements from all over Equestria will be here the next day.” Shining said, pointing at various places around Everfree Forest that were marked with some figurines. “While we do not have a solid figure on the size of Bleeding Heart’s army, we can safely assume that Bleeding himself is within the area, due to what Princess Celestia has told us about the vampires’ behavior in Ponyville.” Shining Armor said, making a circle around Everfree Forest.

“He can’t be too far behind his army. He needs to be somewhere nearby in order to control any members that he drafted against their will.” Luna added. “Since we don’t know how many had joined him willingly and without mental compulsion, there may yet be some vampires hiding elsewhere. However, there is a soft limit on how large his actual army is, lest they would have been discovered before now. While we have no reports of any sort of attack elsewhere like we’ve seen in Ponyville, we have all of Equestria in a state of emergency. All guards are to report any signs of vampires in the area immediately. However, Bleeding may realize his situation, and may attempt an escape. While any vampire managing an escape out into Equestria would be disastrous, Bleeding is the most liable to try to kill and convert as many as he can.”

“As an note to all of this, the Everfree Forest area is the only area so far that has any report of vampire activity at all.” said Spitfire, “This Bleeding Heart guy seems to be putting all his eggs in one basket. Either this guy isn’t very likeable at all, or he’s waiting for us to focus on where he is before he has his little pawns break everything when our backs’ turned.”

“I’d wager on the former.” said Celestia. “If he has a very limited number of free-thinking vampires, and greater number of mind-controlled slaves, a concentrated attack on a single town or city would be more effective than scattering them across Equestria. Even if said army is more of a mob. This was a concentrated attack on Ponyville specifically, but I still can’t figure out to what purpose. What are the details on the reports about the Everfree Forest?”

“Only one or two vampires moving out at a time, scouts we presume, since they did not seem to be focused on escaping the perimeter, all nearby Ponyville. They left as soon as they realized they were discovered too. As a precaution, we’ve sent word for more reinforcements to that outpost. They should arrive at dawn.” Shining replied.

“Anywhere else?”

“No other reports of movement, no.”

“Really? Just why is he so dead set on Ponyville? What can he gain from there…? Anyway, as for you six,” Celestia addressed the remaining Bearers of Harmony, plus Spike, “I want every one of you to pack your things, you’re leaving Canterlot as soon as possible. I have a train arranged for later this evening to take you all to temporarily live in Manehatten-”

“Wait, we’re leaving already? But we practically just got here.” Applejack questioned.

“Indeed,” Rarity nodded, “in fact, I haven’t unpacked most of my bags.”

“Good! Less work for you to pack them again.” Celestia replied, “I’m doing this because I want all of you as far away from Bleeding Heart and his army as you can. I don’t want to risk losing any more of you.”

“But what about me?” Rainbow Dash asked, “I’m immune to those punks now that I’m a vampire too. I can beat them easily! And if Twilight’s out there I could-”

“Especially not you. I’m going to be on the front, you would only be blinded and harmed unintentionally by me. Even if that wasn’t an issue, I also don’t want you switching sides because of your bloodlust. That reminds me, you’ll be housed separate from everyone else, and under supervision.”

“Hey, I can keep it under control.”

“Twilight certainly believed that as well.” Luna mused. Celestia shot a dirty glare at her. “Oh don’t you of all ponies give me that look, sister, I don’t recall you being optimistic with Twilight when you learned she was cursed. Given Rainbow’s prior behaviors I’d say she’s even more of a risk.”

Rainbow Dash opened up her mouth to say something in response, but finding nothing, she just flopped back into her chair with a pout.

“Wait a minute, you’re intending to fight all of them by yourself?” Applejack asked Princess Celestia.

“Well no, I’m not planning on going out there by myself, I’ll have the Wonderbolts and some of the Royal Guards with me, but yes I do plan on fighting if it should come to that.” said Celestia.

“But your Highness!” said Rarity, “If we are too valuable to risk losing to these monsters, shouldn’t that go for you as well?”

“She’s also our best defense against them we have,” Luna replied, “just her very appearance weakens them, and even with their enhanced abilities, it is not enough for them to go head-to-head with an alicorn.”

“Yeah, that part always kinda bugged me about these vampires; their greatest weakness is Princess Celestia, and yet you made them to fight her.” Applejack wondered out loud.

“And garlic;” Pinkie Pie added, “seriously, that just seems random.”

“No, I didn’t make vampires to fight Celestia, I made them to fight mortals like you.” Luna corrected, “Secondly, the the weakness to sunlight was intentional, because I wanted them to be drawn towards my night. Thirdly, I wanted the ‘pleasure’ of killing Celestia by myself. Besides, it’s not like they burst into flames in the sunlight or in her presence, that would be completely stupid. Though the garlic thing is just because I… have a deep seething hatred of them.”

“I thought you loved my garlic bread!” Princess Celestia said, heartbroken.

“Your Highnesses, urgent news!” a guard interrupted as he burst through the door, “The Ponyville outpost there had found Twilight Sparkle, but a group of vampires were spotted too! They’re being attacked right now!”

“Twilight?! Is she alright? What is she doing?”

“From the flares, it seems that she’s fleeing from the vampires right now. She’s en route via train, she will be here in less than an hour.” the guard replied.

“Oh thank goodness…” Celestia sighed, before continuing, “Has Bleeding been spotted among the vampires?”

“We do not know, but since they haven't responded to radio, and they're resorting to flares, their communications center must be compromised. They need immediate assistance.”

“And they shall receive it! Twilight is still in danger on that train while Ponyville is being attacked. Like what Luna has said before, Bleeding can’t be far off from his army. We cannot let the vampires escape into the rest of Equestria, it would be a massacre before the end of the week.” said Celestia, her wings flaring open. “Spitfire, Soarin, you two get the strike team, we leave the city in one minute. Shining Armor, I want you to gather the remaining guards to stay here and remain alert, watch the skies for any vampires that may try to fly past this city. Once Twilight arrives, I want all the Bearers in the safe room, with a full squad of guards to be guarding and escorting Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash at all times.” Celestia ordered. Spitfire and Soarin left the room quickly without a word.

“Do you think this could be a trap?” Shining asked.

“It could be several things. For example, it might only be a distraction and he’s sending me on a wild goose chase. Or this may actually be a concentrated effort to capture Twilight and escape out of the perimeter in one go. Either way, I can’t ignore it. But, if you encounter Bleeding, or any other vampires in Canterlot, send up a flare immediately, and cast the shield to protect it from other vampires that may try to enter.” said Princess Celestia, as she opened a window with her magic. She leaped out of it, and flew off into the night.

“You know, even though we’re supposed to be in the safe rooms and all that, could you pleeeeeeeeeeeeease let us go to the train station to see Twilight?” asked Pinkie Pie.

“No.” Shining flatly responded.

“Oh come on now, Shining, be a dear for us. Those safe rooms are dreadfully stuffy, why some of us might faint if we don’t get our fresh air.” said Rarity.

“Really? I thought they were actually pretty well vental- MMMFHP!!!” Spike spoke up before Rarity swiftly shushed him with a seat cushion.

“Alright, I’ll do this in the most polite, professional, and gentlecolt manner I can muster;” Shining said, before taking a deep breath and replying with, “I’m sorry my dearest, but no.”

“Shining, humor them just once, they’re simply worried sick about your sister, and I’m sure you are too.” said Luna.

“You of all ponies are agreeing to this?!” said Shining, staring in disbelief at Luna. Seeing that she was completely serious, he sighed and continued in a defeated tone, “Fine, they can go see Twilight-”

“Woo hoo!” shouted Rainbow Dash as she flew off, “Last one there’s a rotten egg!”

“Hold on there, Dash, this ain’t a proper race until somebody says go!” Applejack chased her, with the rest of the bearers following suit.

“-If you had an escort, and let me finish talking before you run out!” Shining shouted after them.

The Bearers of Harmony rushed out of the castle, making a beeline for the train station. “This really convenient, Twilight turning up when she did. At least now we don’t have to do plan ‘sneak out in the middle of the night and go and save Twilight’! Though now I don’t know what to do with all the Sleepy-bye Pies I made...” said Pinkie Pie.

“Really, that’s what we were calling it? Shoot, I thought it was plan ‘get ourselves killed in the most horrible and stupid way possible.’” said Applejack.

“Hey, just because you and Rarity disagree with the plan doesn’t make it stupid.” said Rainbow Dash.

“Well no, of course not, but what makes it stupid is drugging the guards, and make it so that the Princesses have no clue where we are or where we’re going.”

“Isn’t that the entire plan?” Fluttershy pointed out.

“Yea- No, no it is not, she deliberately left out the part where we find Twilight and we become friends again and then we kick what's-his-face’s...uh, face in.” said Rainbow Dash.

“And that assumes that Twilight wants to be friends with us again. The poor dear is probably scared to death of Celestia now, and/or has lots of guilt over what happened in Ponyville.” said Rarity.

“Well obviously she kinda resolved that, judging that she’s coming here on her own.” said Pinkie Pie.

“Hence the plan is now completely and utterly moot!”

“Exactly!... Oh wow, yeah now I’m starting to see why you two thought it was a dumb plan.”

Any further discussion on this plan was interrupted by the loud blow of the train whistle. “The train is here!” Pinkie exclaimed, when she suddenly jibblied and wibblied. “Huh, I’ve felt that feel exactly once before! I still have no idea what it means!”

“Oh I hope Twilight is alright…” said Fluttershy.

“I had thought that guard said it was gonna take less than an hour to get here, but it took us what, five to ten minutes to get all the way here from the castle?” said Applejack.

“Five minutes is less than an hour, what’s your problem?” said Rainbow Dash.

The train screeched up to the station. With a hiss of steam, it stopped at the platform they were waiting. The door opened up to reveal the prodigal Twilight Sparkle...

...at whom Rarity screamed. “What in the name of fashion happened to you? You look absolutely appalling!”

Twilight looked down at her body, seeing it covered in cuts and bruises, and her normally well-brushed mane and tail was an utter mess. “Well, that what happens when you run away from everyone.” Twilight said dryly.

“Do we need to get you anything? Maybe a bath, or a maybe something that you can eat?”

“I’m fine now that I’m with you girls.” Twilight replied.

“It’s so good to see you again, Twilight,” said Fluttershy, “we were all so worried about you, especially when Rainbow Dash told us about what happened in the forest.”

“Speaking of what happened in the forest, I thought your goose was cooked back there!” Twilight addressed towards Rainbow Dash.

“Well, it wasn’t the first time I caught on fire while I was flying.” Rainbow Dash replied, chuckling a little. “Though, I think you saved me back there… I’m… really sorry about me being a jerk to you for turning me into a vampire in the first place.”

“Hey, no need to apologize for that, Rainbow.” said Twilight. “What happened is wholly my fault. I... guess I was too worried about what Celestia would do… I still am actually.”

“Whoa, Twilight, Celestia isn’t going to kill you, you know that!” Rainbow Dash stated.

“She was more concerned about your safety. She’ll be glad to know that you’re alright.” Fluttershy spoke up.

“Hey, mind explaining to us about how you escaped from there anyway?” Applejack asked.

“After Bleeding Heart tricked me, he beat me up and started taunting, saying how he’s going to bring about a new era, put an end to the Princesses, no pony was going to stop him, blah blah, yadda yadda, etc. But he was too busy gloating and stroking his own ego about his plans to notice me preparing a teleport spell.”

“Wait, you mean you escaped while he was monologuing?!” Pinkie Pie said gleefully, “That is hilarious!”

“We’re glad that you’re safe from him at the moment.” said Rarity. “Princess Celestia has already told us about the arrangements for us to move out of here for the time being. You don’t need anything packed, do you? In the rush to get ourselves out of Ponyville, we couldn’t get much of anything out of your place.”

“No, I’ll do fine with a few books though.”

“A few books, Twilight?” Spike snarked.

“A dozen is a few!” Twilight defended herself.

“Glad to see that hasn’t changed.” Applejack laughed.

“We better get going then,” Fluttershy spoke up, “Princess Celestia wants us to be leaving Canterlot as soon as possible. She’s already arranged for us to leave later today. Maybe Luna can check to see if there’s still some room for you.”

“Twily! It’s so great to see you again…” Shining said, finally catching up to the group with a group of guards. However, the energy of finally seeing his sister after all what has happened dissipated quickly as he looked around. After a bit of an awkward pause, Shining spoke up again, “Twilight, what happened to the guards who were supposed to be escorting you?”

“What guards? Twilight was standing all by herself in the station.” said Rarity.

“Really now?” said Shining, giving both Rarity and Twilight an incredulous look.

“Yes I did.” Twilight said, “Is there a problem with that?”

Shining glared at her. “Several.” said Shining, before he slapped Twilight on her horn.

“Ow…” said Twilight as she rubbed her horn.

“What the hay was that about?” said Applejack.

“Standard procedure for testing for magical disguises.” said Twilight, who was still Twilight Sparkle in case you were worried. Though, you the reader probably know better than that. “You didn’t believe me?” she addressed Shining.

“No, no I didn’t.” Shining Armor said bluntly. “And for all we could know, the vampire who’s been chasing you could’ve been on board!”

“But there wasn’t any time! Vampires were trying to attack me at Ponyville, and the guards had to stay and keep them away!” said Twilight.

Shining sighed, “I’m sorry, it’s not your fault, Twilight, you could not have known all the procedures around here, and I suppose the situation did call for immediate action. But, from now on, you have to have an escort at all times, okay? Especially since those monsters were still giving you the chase. That goes for you too, Rainbow Dash. You all go back to the castle, I’ll see you there after I double-check the train for any stowaways.”

The Bearers walked back to the castle, now with most of the guards surrounding them.

“You still don’t believe Ms. Sparkle, Sir?” asked one of the guards that stayed behind as the Bearers left hearing range.

After a moment of looking up at the ceiling, deep in thought, Shining finally said, “It’s not that I don’t trust Twilight, since we all know for sure it’s her, but... I have no idea what it is, but something feels wrong about the whole thing. Celestia herself suspects that it’s a trap. Besides, like I said, there could easily be a stowaway on board, especially if there wasn’t any guards posted with her onboard.” The guards nodded as they exited out the booth. “Everyone split up and search a car, I’ll start at the caboose, and we’ll make our way towards each other. If you see a vampire, signal immediately.”

They separated and entered their respective carriages. Shining noted that the caboose was completely dark, no sign of the conductor inside. That alone made him nervous. “Gah, you’re just worried about Twily, is all. She’s fine-” Shining sighed to himself, but when he inhaled, he realized something else, that the air was putrid, like something had died. He took a step inside and felt something sticky on the floor. He lit up his horn to see the strange liquid, it seemed to be the source of the pungent and foul smell. Whatever it was, it seemed to be fresh. He noticed that the trail smeared on the floor was leading deeper inside the caboose. Taking a deep breath of fresh air from outside, he crept into the caboose, the soft purple light of his horn lighting up the carriage for him to see as he looked about. There were a few large cases, boxes, and bags inside the carriage, most filled with provisions for the outposts. He noticed a metal-covered hoof sticking out from behind a bag, hidden in the back corner.

Moving the bag with his magic, he saw not one body, but five bodies all stacked upon one another. Their faces were frozen in utter horror of what they had seen before they passed on, as blood oozed from bite wounds on their necks. Thanks to their distinctive armor, Shining recognized them immediately.

“Sarge?! Not only that, but his men too?! But Twilight said she went on the train alone… and that Sarge stayed at Ponyville...” Shining said quietly to himself. A horrifying thought came upon him; “Was the Twilight I saw at the station even Twilight Sparkle at all?” He shook his head, “No, I checked her, it was her… and yet… did she-” All further thoughts were interrupted when he heard a slight shifting in luggage behind him, and turned around to see something leap towards him with its fangs bared. Thankfully his reflexes were enough to cast a shield to repel his assailant, sending him flying out the door behind him, into the next train carriage.

“Hmph, so some of Celestia’s lap dogs do have teeth after all.” Bleeding Heart said, as he pulled himself up.

“As Captain of the Royal Guard, I order you to state your name, or you will be met with force!”

“Oh! The captain! You must be that dear brother Twilight told me so much about… my name is Bleeding Heart, your soon to be master. It would do you a lot of good to surrender to me right now, I have far more important things to attend to than spoiling my appetite.”

“We have control of the train, Bleeding, it should be you surrendering right-” Sounds of several brief struggles and screaming from the farther down the train interrupted Shining. “What?!”

“Oh no, please captain, do go on. I do enjoy baseless threats, they’re quite amusing.”

Shining did not need to be told that this was a bad situation. He changed his stance to make it seem he was about to strike out at Bleeding, before he tried to jump out of the carriage and onto the station.

Emphasis on tried, as just as he was about to jump up, three vampires pounced on him from behind, biting him on various places on the back of his neck and legs. “I told you it would be better for you to surrender, now just do yourself a favor and just relax and let the blessing take its course…”

“No! Not like this!” Shining frantically thought as he felt the vampires bite into his flesh over and over. If he could see in the dark carriage, he was sure that the room would be spinning right now. “I have get outside to warn the Princesses! I can’t give up to a monster like him!” This thought gave him a second wind, and he cast a shield on himself, repelling the vampires and Bleeding into the walls of the caboose, and broke into a run out the door. However, even that was not enough. He felt very nauseous as he opened the door, his vision blurring and doubling, as he misstepped and tumbled out of the caboose and onto the railroad.

“Record time.” Bleeding Heart smiled to himself as he calmly stepped off and lifted Shining with his magic and pulled him back inside the carriage.

“No! I can’t do anything!” Shining thought as he saw the station swirl around him. Even though he was easily lifted up by Bleeding Heart, his entire body felt heavy. It was hard to even keep his eyelids up. “Do something you meathead, Equestria needs you!!!” he urged himself. His horn gave pitiful sparks, and he let out nothing more than a ragged wheeze as he was taken back inside. The last thing Shining Armor saw and heard was being pulled towards Bleeding’s face as he chuckled, his horn glowing red.

Twilight of the Vampires

Part 13: Twilight of the Vampires

“Princess Celestia left already?!” Twilight exclaimed.

“She left as soon as she heard that the Ponyville outpost was under attack.” Princess Luna explained.

“Oh no, oh no no no…” Twilight said.

“What is it, Twilight?” Rarity asked her.

“Bleeding Heart has a cocktrice. He taunted me about it, he thinks- rather, he knows- that by attacking towns and villages, Princess Celestia has to respond. When she does, that is when he’ll strike, petrifying her and leaving Equestria completely vulnerable to him.” Twilight explained.

“Then what do we do? Celestia’s already at Ponyville, Bleeding might have sprung it on her by now!” said Rainbow Dash.

“We need to get the Elements of Harmony, and return to Ponyville.”

“Wait, isn’t the entire reason why we weren’t using the Elements before is that it could kill you and Rainbow Dash?” Applejack asked.

“If we tried to use it on ourselves, it might kill us. But if we focus on just trying to free Celestia, then we should be fine.” said Twilight.

“Now wait just one moment,” said Princess Luna, “how do we know that Bleeding Heart even has a cocktrice in the first place? They’re notoriously hard to keep and train; it would just as likely to turn Bleeding Heart to stone instead. Also, why didn’t he use it on Nightmare Night, or did he assume that Celestia wouldn’t retaliate until it was too late?”

“You think I’m lying?” Twilight asked in response.

“Of course you’re not lying, I just think he was bluffing, and that Princess Celestia is quite fine at the moment by herself.” said Princess Luna.

“But what if he isn’t!” Twilight pleaded, “We need the Elements of Harmony!”

“We’re not going to risk letting the Elements of Harmony fall into the wrong hands!”

“And I’m not going to risk Equestria dying!” said Twilight as her horn glowed. In a purple flash, the Bearers were gone.

“Oh for crying out loud…” Spike muttered, left behind with Luna.

Meanwhile, in the throne room, the Bearers of Harmony appeared in a bright flash of purple that filled the chambers. “We don’t have much time, there’s no way Luna’s going to let us on a train.” said Twilight, running up to the vault. Her horn glowed as she inserted it into the lock, opening the door to reveal the elegant box that contained the fabled jewelry. Twilight took out the box, and opened it to assure herself that the Elements were still inside. Satisfied, she closed the box.

“So we grab the Elements, get back to Ponyville, and kick Bleeding Heart’s ass, and then we can worry later about how to get me and Twilight back to normal.” Rainbow Dash summarized, “Sounds like a plan, let’s do it!”

Twilight gave a soft giggle, “Except that’s not actually the plan at all.” Twilight’s horn glowed once more, and in a flash, the Bearers found themselves underground in the cavernous tunnels, large crystals embedded in the walls and floor. Old, rusted, broken tracks were set along a path. Twilight’s magic was the only source of light, reflecting off of the crystals into the seemingly endless cavern tunnels.

“What in tarnation?” said Applejack, her voice echoing. “Where are we? I thought we were going to Ponyville!”

“Just giving us a little privacy.” Twilight smiled, her eyes now glowing a bright red. “After all, we wouldn’t want anyone interrupting us.” She suddenly lifted everyone else off of the ground with her magic.

“Twilight, what’s going on?” said Fluttershy, flapping and wiggling against Twilight’s hold, “What are you doing?”

“You thought that we were going to help Celestia, didn’t you? Oh no, we’re gonna defeat her!”

“Um, yeah, we kinda assumed that we were going to stop Bleeding Heart. Mostly because he bit you, beat you up, tricked you, and generally made your life miserable.” Applejack replied.

“Twilight, if this is a joke, it ain’t funny!” Rainbow Dash shouted, wiggling against Twilight’s magic.

“Yeah, this is a really bad time and place for jokes like that.” Pinkie Pie added.

“Why are you doing this to us, Twilight?” Rarity asked her. “We’re your friends!”

“That’s exactly why I’m doing this,” said Twilight, her grin widening until it bared her fangs, “you see, if we’re all vampires, we can live forever, together, in perfect harmony. No one will ever have to die! We get to be friends forever!”

“Twilight, stop it, you’re scaring us.” said Fluttershy struggled, tears forming in her eyes.

“Don’t worry, I’ll try not to drag it out.” Twilight somehow smiled even wider. “You’ll all only feel a quick bite on the neck, though vampirism should dull the that pain shortly afterwards. Except for Rainbow Dash, since she’s already a vampire, making the whole process about twenty percent faster!” Twilight giggled.

Rainbow Dash mumbled something under her breath about saying something only once. And that it was only cool if she says it.

“Twilight, stop, please!” Pinkie pleaded, “Listen to us! You don’t want to do this!”

“You’re so wrong, Pinkie Pie,” said Twilight, “there’s nothing I want more than to serve Lord Bleeding Heart forever with all of you with me.”

“And I think that this Bleeding Heart is nothing more than a Bleeding SNAKE!” Applejack shouted. “Whatever hogwash he spewed out into your ear and out your mouth is just so that he can rule all by himself! He doesn’t care about you, anybody, or Equestria, he just wants you kissing his blood-stained, rotten hooves! I’d rather die before I even think of following that creep.”

Twilight turned towards Applejack, eyes ablaze with the red light, snarling at her. Twilight then gave Applejack a cruel smile. “Congratulations Applejack, I can arrange that for you.” she said as she walked up towards her, licking her fangs.

Rarity levitated a large rock and threw it at Twilight’s horn. Twilight’s magic fizzled out immediately when the stone collided, dropping them all to the floor. “Nice shot there, Rare.” Applejack called out.

Twilight shook her head, her eyes flaring with red light once more as she snarled at the Bearers again. “You all just made a big mistake.”

“Damn it Twilight!” Luna muttered. “Guards! Search the castle for Twilight and her friends.” The guards nodded and ran out into the hallways, closing the door behind them.

“W-wait!” said Spike, standing in front of Luna, “What if Twilight’s right? Maybe Bleeding Heart only got a cockatrice yesterday or something?”

“How about you consider if Bleeding is bluffing instead?” said Luna. “He ‘accidentally’ lets Twilight go, makes a show of trying to chase her down. Twilight comes back here, gathers the Bearers and the Elements together, returns to Ponyville, and is then captured by Bleeding Heart’s army. Then Princess Celestia has to worry about six hostages that jeopardizes the safety of Equestria if they all died, or worse all became vampires under Bleeding’s complete control.”

There was a knock at the door.

“In a minute.” said Luna towards the door. Turning back to Spike, she continued, “Twilight is indeed fortunate to have a wonderful band of friends that she does now, but that does not mean that they can throw away their lives so recklessly, not when all of Equestria depends on them.” Luna picked up Spike with her magic, put him aside and opened the door.

Any greeting she was about to say got trapped in her throat, leaving her jaw hanging open as she stared dumbfounded.

Bleeding Heart was leaning on the doorframe. “It’s been a very long time. Did you miss me, ‘Lulu?’”

When Luna’s voice returned, she screamed and cast a bolt of lightning at him, only for a sudden pink flash blinding her, and feeling the thousands volts rebounding back towards her, causing her to scream for a different reason.

“Now Luna, is that any way to greet your old faithful ‘knight’ after all this time?” Bleeding mocked as he walked into the room, with Shining Armor and several guards following behind him.

“How?” Luna managed to croaked out, her vision doubling, her body still twitching.

“Well not to toot my own horn, but did you and your sister really think you were safe in your ivory towers surrounded by castle spires?” said Bleeding as he walked up to Luna, “I’ve been hiding from Celestia for a thousand years. I was at ground zero of your banishment and I still got away. Even with this, did you think you could match my cunning skill?…”

~Half an hour ago…~

Two guards in blue armor stood at one of the outer gatehouses of Canterlot Castle. “Of out of every single guard in this city, we’re the ones who still has their normal post. Just standing around in a freaking half-ghost city with literally nothing to do but stare off in the middle distance. Heck, I bet even the mall cops got reassigned to the outposts.” moaned one of the guards.

“Hey, it’s not so bad, Truck. It’s just a matter of perspective. We’re defending the most important part of Equestria of all: we’re standing guard at the brains of this entire war effort. Plus we’re like, 99% less likely to get eaten by vampires.” said the other guard.

“Caboose, is all of that what Shining Armor told you?” said Truck, rubbing his suddenly aching head.

“Well, yeah. Because I know to listen to ponies with authority.” said Caboose.

“Caboose, you stood attention at a flag waiting for an inspection from the Princesses that me and Shrine made up.”

“And that’s why I don’t listen to you!”

Truck stopped himself short from saying anything else on the matter when he saw out of the corner of his eye a group of guards… shambling towards them. “Shoot, it’s the Captain, stand up straight!”

They both stood up as guards approached, though they noticed Bleeding Heart was in the middle of the group with his hooves wrapped in heavy chains.

“Truck, Caboose, open the door. We’ve caught a vampire who was sneaking aboard the train, and we’re taking him to the dungeons.” said Shining in a slightly slurred, but monotone voice.

“Yes, curse you and all the royal guards! I would have plunged the world in darkness if it weren’t for you!” said Bleeding.

“Uh, okay sir, but shouldn’t we also have the flares set up so that Princess Celestia knows what’s going on? There might be more of those guys on that train.” said Truck.

“There is absolutely no need for that.” Shining Armor said, “We’ve combed the entire train, and he’s the only vampire on board. Besides, the Princess has more important matters to attend to.”

“Yes sir, opening it right away sir!” said Caboose enthusiastically as he reached for the gate door controls.

“Wait, Caboose, stop! Doesn’t the Captain seem a bit... weird?” said Truck.

“Like he’s being mind controlled like he was at his wedding?”

“Well… Yeah, that’s exactly it. And also the vampire is the only one that doesn’t sound or act like he’s an inebriated zombie.”

“See, I thought that too, but back then the Captain’s eyes were glowing green. Right now the Captain’s eyes are glowing red, so obviously that means he’s not being mind controlled.”

“Wait, his eyes are glowing red?!” said Truck, before he looked out again down at the guards at the gate.

“What’s taking so long?” Shining called up. “Don’t make me come up there.”

“Caboose, if his eyes are glowing at all, then 99% of the time it’s because he’s been mind controlled! Don’t open it!”

“What about that 1%?”

“I was just exaggerating! The point is, we shouldn’t open that gate!”

“Fine…” Caboose then turned and shouted down at guards below. “Truck doesn’t want you guys in because he’s being overly-paranoid! I guess this means we need to do the password!”

Shining and Bleeding rolled their eyes at the same time, before Shining groan-shouted back up, “Fine, the password is ‘I forgot-’”

“Caboose, you idiot, if he’s being mind controlled, then the vampire will just force him to say the password!” said Truck.

“Then may I ask why the flying feathers do we even have a password system in the first place?!” said Caboose.

“Oh for the love of-” Bleeding shouted before teleporting into the room, and then knocking out the two guards with two swift magic beams. “I should’ve done this first.” he muttered.

~Back in the present~

“...The only reason why I stayed so low-key for such a long time is that, no thanks to you, I never had the means to bring an end to her or her wretched sun. But now that has finally changed, and I will be able to create a new world of immortal, supreme beings!”

“And just what has changed, Bleeding?” Luna asked.

“It isn’t obvious? You’re back. Or rather, Nightmare Moon will be back, but petty details. Now, you’re either going to become my devout servant willingly or become my devout servant unwillingly.”

“...You’re not giving me much of a choice, are you.”

“I thought it was fitting, since you never gave me much of a choice in the matter either.”

“If you think I will betray Equestria again, think again. I have realized my mistakes, and I will not repeat them. Bringing Nightmare Moon back would only destroy the world, not bring about a utopia. Please, for both our sakes, for the sake of the world, stop this Bleeding Heart.”

“No. Not after all that I have done for you: My own life, my own dreams, my own family, all sacrificed for you and your coup! I will see this come to fruition one way or another, I will not let their sacrifices go to waste, unlike you.” Bleeding said.

Luna shook her head, “Bleeding, don’t delude yourself, we both know your family died trying to stop us: your own brother begged Celestia to execute him rather than become a vampire after he saw what had become of you! Do you honestly believe that this would honor their deaths?”

“...Perhaps not. Golden Heart never understood my reasoning.” Bleeding admitted, “But in the end though, I still chose you over them. Turning back now would only make his, and many others’, deaths utterly pointless. But you on the other hand... you never sacrificed anything. Never had to. You never had the guts to look at your sister in the eye when you drained the life out of her, even when you had her completely in your mercy. I still can’t believe it took me until your surrender to realize it, but the whole thing was purely win-win for you.”

“Bleeding that’s not true!”

“Yes it is!” he shouted at her, “Sure, you were banished for a thousand years and had to beg your sister like a dog to let you back, but here you are: a Princess, a co-ruler of Equestria, as if nothing happened! Besides, what’s a thousand years to an immortal being like you? Surely, the sin of destroying hundreds if not thousands of families in you two sisters’ little spat is covered now that you’re back together, right? And if you won, even better, you alone would rule Equestria, nopony would ever be able to stand up to you! Are you proud, Luna? Are you proud that you turned me into a stallion with nothing left to lose, but everything to gain?”

“No.” said Luna. “You’re right, I did exploit you and several other good souls. And I am not proud of what I have done to you, or anything I have done as Nightmare Moon. I had despised the laughter of my subjects in the daylight, I became dishonest, lying to myself and others about how it would be better if I alone ruled, and then abused the loyalty of those like you. That is why Nightmare Moon, or vampirism would never bring about a utopia. That is why I asked my sister for forgiveness, why I am trying to save Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, why I’m trying to save you from my curse. You’re only condemning yourself by repeating my mistakes, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Let me help you; let me cure you, make amends with Celestia and Equestria on your behalf, end this cycle, give you a second chance!”

Bleeding Heart said “Cure me?” very quietly, before repeating it much louder, “Cure me?! I was weak, I was dying when you gave me this, Luna, and you would take it away from me?! If I had wanted to be a coward like you, begging for forgiveness and be cured of this ‘curse,’ don’t you think I would have come to you and your sister not a day after you returned?!” He lifted up the table and tried to smash it upon Luna. Thankfully, Luna managed to cast a shield, protecting herself, which broke the table into two large pieces with thousands of splinters surrounding her. Spike quickly dove behind a potted plant as the table was smashed to pieces. “No, I did not come here to be forgiven, I came here to finally claim what my work should’ve brought about and more. I will finish what you started!” said Bleeding Heart. “And I will do it with the very means you’ve given me.”

“...Then you leave me with no choice but to stop you. I will not stand by while you foolishly repeat my sins.”

“Ha! What can cripple like you-” Bleeding felt a burning sensation on his hind legs and tail. Turning his head around, he learned that it wasn’t just a sensation, but that he was actually on fire thanks to a certain purple dragon. “AAAGGGH!!!” Bleeding Heart screamed, flailing around trying to put himself out. “Don’t just stand there you brainless husk!” Bleeding shouted at Shining, “Get the dragon!”

“Exit stage left!” Spike called out as he slid past between Shining’s legs as he lumbered around trying to catch Spike.

“Damn it all to Tartarus, after him! We can’t let him alert Celestia ye-!” Bleeding shouted after Spike and Shining, when Luna grabbed him with her magic and used him as a bludgeon to knock out the other vampire guards in the room before they could even act. Bleeding tried to retaliate by using his own magic to throw pieces of the table at her and followed up with a series of fireballs, but Luna deflected them into the remaining guards with ease but she had to drop Bleeding in the process.

“You forget, Bleeding, that I still have my magic; more than enough to defeat you.” said Luna.

Bleeding screamed in rage as he attacked with another volley of fireballs.

Meanwhile, back in Ponyville, the fight between the ponies and the vampires was in a fever pitch. Spells and assorted projectiles flew in the air, bites and kicks were exchanged in close quarters.

And yet in the midst of all the chaos of battle, Celestia noted something out loud; “They should be retreating by now. Just what are they trying to accomplish?”

“I don’t know your Highness, maybe enslave/kill all life, overthrow Equestria’s government, so many different things they would want to do.” Spitfire shouted as she knocked out a vampire’s teeth with a well-aimed kick.

“Well yes that much is obvious but I’m failing to see just how throwing themselves like this accomplishes that. Besides, the first time they attacked here, they retreated as soon as they saw me. But now they’re still here, still fighting despite the disadvantage my powers puts them in. They also could’ve easily tried to split up and spread out, and make an attempt at getting around us.”

“So… you don’t know if they’re being idiots, or if this is really a trap and they’re making us idiots.” said Soarin.

“That’s just it, I don’t kno-” when a wisp of green smoke snaked in front of Celestia before forming into a large lock of black and ash grey tail hair, with some small clippings of white hairs. Celestia looked at the tail in confusion. “What on earth? Why would Spike send me this?” she said.

“Maybe he sneezed. That happens sometimes right?”

“Well, yes, but I don’t particularly remember any of the guards having this tail…” said Celestia.

“I don’t recognize that either, maybe it’s one of the noble’s?” asked Spitfire.

“I may not always be up to date on fashions, looks much too unkempt to be-” Celestia said before trying to pick up the hairs. Only, when she did so, the hairs wilted and started to disintegrate into ashes, and gave off a peculiar, but familiar smell. Celestia’s jaw dropped, her eyes widened in horror as she looked at Canterlot Castle.

“What the-?” said Spitfire, looking at the smoldering ashes.

“Canterlot’s been compromised.” said Celestia.

“What?! How? They didn’t send up a flare, what makes you think that Canterlot is in trouble?”

“Smell it.” Celestia pointing at the ash pile.

“...It smells like the smell we’ve been smelling ever since we got here; burning hair. Well, vampire hair, but why is that… Important...” Spitfire’s eyes widened as she realized what that meant.

“That tail didn’t belong to Rainbow Dash nor Twilight Sparkle.” Celestia elaborated.

“Okay, maybe it’s just one vampire, and they’re dealing with it right now, and there’s nothing to worry about.” said Soarin, his nervous fidgeting giving away his true thoughts on the matter.

“Let’s hope you’re right. Spitfire, I want the fastest pegasus we have with us to go and investigate whether or not Canterlot is in danger.”

“Of course your Highness!” said Spitfire, before shouting towards a white maned, light cyan pegasus, “Fleetfoot, are you bite-free?” receiving a quick nod as a response, Spitfire continued, “Good, we need you to go and double-check Canterlot, make sure that there isn’t a vampire sneaking around there.”

“Unicorns, I want coverfire for that pegasus.” Celestia called out.

Fleetfoot took off into the skies, but she didn’t have cover fire. Rather, she was almost immediately shot down from behind.

“Watch your aim! I said cover fire, not-” Princess Celestia shouted as she turned around to face the unicorns that did it, only to see one readying another blast, barely giving Celestia time to reflect it back at him, knocking his helmet off. “-FRIENDLY FIRE!!!” When she looked at the guard she inadvertently hit, she saw bite marks on his neck, and his skin under his fur becoming irritated now that they were no longer covered by the helmet. The guard writhed not only from the hit but from some other scorching source of pain. “Oh no…” Celestia whispered.

Another guard tried to tackle Soarin. “The heck is going on?! I thought they were on our side!” he shouted as he dodged.

“They were already vampires before we got here.” Celestia said, “That means the vampires managed to subdue them before they even could send the flares. Ponyville was already compromised well before we learned it was attacked!”

“...Wouldn’t that also mean that Twilight Sparkle might not have been on that train either, right?”

“...FUCK.” Princess Celestia said out loud.

Twilight kicked at Rarity, but was blocked by Rarity’s magic, turning Twilight around to face Rarity. Horn glowing, Twilight created a magic drill around her horn, and rammed Rarity. Sparks flew as the drill met shield, before there was a large boom as Rarity’s shield was finally destroyed, the sound echoing through the empty caverns. Rarity fell to the floor, clutching her ears as they rang in pain, as Twilight dismissed the magic drill and stood above her, ready to bite.

Twilight’s bite was interrupted by a lasso that came from behind and caught Twilight’s head and pulled her backwards onto the ground. Twilight got back up, gripped the rope with her magic and yanked on it, causing Applejack to faceplant on the rocky floor.

Rainbow Dash charged at Twilight like a bullet, but Twilight disappeared in a flash of light, and so Rainbow crashed and rolled onto and with Rarity. “Get off of me!” said Rarity as she spat out dirt, wiggling and trying to pry herself from the tangled mess she and Rainbow were in.

“Consarn it,” Applejack said, spitting out dirt herself, “where did she get off to now?”

They all heard a cruel laugh as it echoed throughout the cavern. “She sounds close…” said Fluttershy, as she fearfully looked about the tunnels, looking for even a shadow of Twilight. Even with Twilight and Rarity’s magic being the only source of light in the tunnels, the crystals reflected and refracted enough for it was impossible to track the source.

“Twilight, I think I can speak for everybody else here when I’m saying this, I really don’t want to hurt you! We’re all trying to help you out here!” Applejack shouted as she backed herself closer to the rest of the bearers.

“Well isn’t that ironic?” said Twilight, still unseen, “I was offering you the calm and easy way to go. It was you who decided to take the hard, more fun way. All this fighting is making me hungrier and hungrier by the second. It’s quite a rush really.”

“Dang it, where is she?” Rainbow Dash said out loud, mostly to herself, as she flew above the group.

“Right here.” Twilight whispered, before suddenly appearing, leaping at Applejack’s vulnerable flanks. Pinkie Pie spun around and pulled out her Party Cannon from…uh… party-space? Anyway, Pinkie fired the cannon just as Twilight was upon Applejack, sending Twilight flying into cavern wall covered in yellow cake with white frosting.

“Nice shootin Tex!” Rainbow Dash congratulated Pinkie.

Twilight wiped her face and growled at Pinkie Pie, having a meal denied. She was about to get back up again, when Pinkie Pie tackled her first and started smashing a pie into Twilight’s face. “Go to sleep, please go to sleep, you should be falling asleep about now, girls why isn’t this working?!” Pinkie Pie said, panic starting to climb as Twilight tried to reach and strangle Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie! She can’t digest food, at best you’d drown her first!”

“But Twilight doesn’t need to breathe either.” Fluttershy pointed out.

“Oh, you remind me this after I go and perform a life-risking action and waste a Chekhov's Gun?!” Pinkie shouted back. “Okay, it’s not really set up that far in advance, and maybe an off hoof comment about it might not be enough for it to be considered a Chekhov’s Gun, but it-”

“Shut up already!” Twilight said, blasting Pinkie Pie flying back at the rest of her friends. “Now you idiot foals starting to tick me off, and making me wish I-” Twilight suddenly had something else catch her attention for a moment, her expression cooling from frothing rage to something cold. “Looks like you wasted not only my patience, but my time as well, and I have to attend to more pressing matters, so I need to leave you all to rot instead. A pity really, when you all could have lived.” she said her horn glowing.

Everyone else tried to pounce on Twilight, but they were too slow, and instead crashed face-first on the ground right after a bright pink spark and a snap.

Bleeding Heart leapt at Luna, only for her to teleport behind him, and letting him crash into a wall. As he tried to pick himself back up, he was slammed back on the floor by Luna’s magic, and was flipped with his belly up. When he tried to dispel it, Luna’s hoof swiftly came down on his horn, easily pinning his head to look up towards Luna’s cold glare and the ceiling above her. He couldn’t quite see, but he certainly felt Luna pressing the broken end of a chair leg on his chest. “You’ve gotten very sloppy Bleeding,” Luna noted outloud, “first you let Twilight escape, and now you revealed yourself to me when you should have used the diversion to escape Celestia’s blockade. Now Celestia will know of your trickery, and Twilight and her friends will have prepared the Elements of Harmony to stop you. It’s over Bleeding: this is your last chance to surrender and live.” Luna emphasised the last point by subtly applying more pressure on the chair leg into his chest.

Bleeding started to laugh, “Do you really think Twilight is on your side?”

Before Luna could respond, she heard the pop of the teleport spell behind her. She only had enough time to turn her head to see Twilight behind her, before Twilight hit her with a magic beam, sending her flying across the room. She struggled to get back up, but the room seemed to spin around her, and in her daze she saw double images of Twilight Sparkle helping Bleeding Heart back up on his hooves.

“Good night, Luna.” Bleeding said, before he and Twilight both pounced on top of Luna, biting her.

She couldn’t help but let out a scream as the fangs dug into her, she felt her heart racing as she realized that her time was short. Working quickly, she tapped Twilight on the head with her own glowing horn. She had one chance, one guess, but if it was right, then Equestria could yet be saved.

Twilight suddenly stopped biting, her eyes wide open, but no longer having the red glow. She didn’t feel the mental pressure from Bleeding Heart anymore. Twilight instinctively gulped a mouthful of Luna’s blood, an amazing taste she could hardly describe, but something she never wanted to taste either. She blankly stared at the wall in shock. Twilight looked back down at Luna, her body developing black splotches everywhere. Luna no longer had any strength to keep her head up, but only smiled as she saw that Twilight’s right mind was back, before Luna let out one last bit of breath.

“Ah revenge! How sweet is thy taste!” Bleeding laughed, his muzzle still dripping with Luna’s blood.

Twilight turned to look at him; he seemed too preoccupied with Luna’s blood to notice anything had happened. Still, she didn’t want to take too many chances, and spoke up, “Uh, Master, I believe I left some uh… pressing matters to attend to.”

“Hmm? Oh sure, whatever.” Bleeding waved her off.

Twilight teleported out of the room, leaving the oblivious Bleeding Heart alone with Luna’s body.

Meanwhile, back beneath Canterlot…

“Oh dear…” Rarity said slowly.

“What’s wrong?” said Applejack.

“Does anybody know where we are?”

“...In a cave? Deep underground?” said Pinkie Pie.

“Yes, but where?

“What’s your point, Twilight didn’t teach you how to teleport?”

“I’m still haven’t gotten the hang of it,” Rarity confessed, “but my point is that even if I did, teleporting requires me to know where I am relative to my destination. I don’t know if Twilight teleported us 100 meters into the earth, or 1000, and therefore we’re trapped!” Rarity began to wallow dramatically, “Doomed to die a slow painful death of starvation, never to be found until we’re all but dust and bones!”

“Welp, I sacrifice myself first for the greater good of us all.” said Pinkie Pie.

“What?”

“I want you girls to eat me first.” Pinkie Pie said flatly.

“Ew, no, why would you even suggest that?!” said Rarity.

Pinkie Pie sighed, “Instead of just lying around waiting for death to take us all while Equestria lays in ruins above us, we should at least try to find a way out. I still have some food, but that will last us maybe a week. We can prolong our survival by cannibalizing and turning ourselves into vampires one by one. I should be sacrificed first, otherwise my high metabolism would just make me wither away before everyone had enough, or hog all the food before anyone had a bite.”

“...I don’t know what scares me more, the fact that’s actually our best plan we have right now, or the fact that Pinkie Pie of all ponies is the one who suggested it.” said Applejack.

“What about the fact that Pinkie is completely serious about this?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“Oh don’t worry, at the most I will be nearly-dead before Rainbow Dash turns me into a vampire!” said Pinkie Pie cheerfully.

“Oh. That… that actually makes sense. I’m okay with this plan now.” said Fluttershy.

Rarity voiced her disgust by throwing up into an empty minecart.

“How about Fluttershy of all ponies is okay with it?” said Applejack, eyes wide open in horror.

“Wow.” said Twilight Sparkle, “I never thought you girls would resort to cannibalism so quickly. Seriously, I left you alone for what, two minutes? Three, tops.”

“Well excuse me, some of us don’t have the ability to plan out the most optimal chance of everyone surviving entirely in our brains while stranded in who knows where in these caves. Better to plan it out now rather than a week in when we’re all starving to death, panic, and then kill and eat each other in a cannibalistic buffet-frenzy.” said Pinkie Pie.

The rest of the mane six nodded in agreement, but then realized that Twilight Sparkle had teleported back in. “Get her!” Rarity shouted, before they all pounced on Twilight at once.

“Don’t eat me!” Twilight shouted in a panic under the huge dog-pile.

“Don’t worry sugarcube, we won’t need resort to that sort of thing, if you’re feeling cooperative.” said Applejack.

“Wait, how do we know that Twilight’s back to normal?” Rainbow Dash asked. After brief stare from everyone else Rainbow continued “...relatively speaking.”

“Oh, you could tell us about your favorite book, or your favorite memory or-” said Pinkie Pie.

“Um, I’m pretty sure Bleeding would know all that, especially after brainwashing Twilight.” said Fluttershy. “Hmm… Oh! Her eyes! They’re not glowing anymore, that means something, right?”

“Yeah, they were like Twilight’s own headlights back there!” Pinkie quipped.

“Maybe?” said Rarity as she looked at Twilight’s eyes, “Were they glowing back at the train station or not? I honestly don’t remember…”

“To be honest, I thought her eyes were all bloodshot. You know, from being all beat up.” said Applejack.

“Well shoot... How about asking Twilight what she would never, ever, do.” said Pinkie Pie.

“Oh that’s easy, I wouldn’t try to kill and eat my friends in a Carrie-esque blood-triggered rampage… Oh wait! That’s a thing I actually did! Whoops, at least I didn’t help somebody complete their plans to destroy Equestria and/or all life as we know it, oh wait I did that too!” Twilight Sparkle screamed. “Celestia help me if I took the time to write down a checklist of all the things I would never do, because I might find out I’ve already crossed them all out!!!”

“Um… You’ve been having a really bad day, do you want us to leave you alone for a while? Or anything else?” said Fluttershy, as she got out of the dog pile.

“If by ‘day,’ you mean ‘month,’ then yes, yes I have been.” said Twilight, taking a couple of deep breaths, she continued. “Sorry I snapped at you all. But we don’t have time to rest or argue about this. Bleeding already got to Luna and if we don’t-” said Twilight.

“Wait, Luna? I thought Bleeding was gonna turn Celestia into a lawn ornament, not Luna.” Pinkie Pie interjected.

“That was just a lie to get the Elements out of the way, and make sure that Luna is alone when he turns her into Nightmare Moon.” Twilight explained, “Now if the rest of you would all get off of me, that’d be wonderful.”

“Hmm… naw, I don’t think you’ve convinced us that this isn’t another trap.” said Applejack.

“Why would that even be necessary?!” Twilight screamed, her face getting more and more flushed, “I didn’t have to come back here, it’s not like Bleeding’s plan revolved around you girls becoming vampires, he just wanted you all out of the way! Even if he did, wouldn’t it be a better idea to sneak a bite or two instead of announcing my presence?! Occam’s Razor, people!”

“I don’t see how shaving has to do with this, but everything else sounded convincing.” said Pinkie Pie as she rolled off.

“So what’re we gonna do now?” said Applejack as she and the rest of the bearers undogpiled Twilight, “Like you said, Bleeding got to Luna.”

“What do you think?” Twilight asked rhetorically, as she pulled out the case that held the Elements of Harmony.

“So the whole ‘use it on somebody else and we’ll be fine’ thing wasn’t a total lie?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“To be honest, I’m not completely sure. Bleeding’s certainly afraid of the possibility of it being true; that’s part of the reason why he wanted to be sure you girls were out of the way; vampire, dead, or other. But do we really have any other option?” said Twilight, “Celestia might not make it back in time to stop Bleeding from leaving with a vampirized Luna in tow, even if Celestia realizes this was a ruse as soon as she made it to Ponyville. Heck, even just Bleeding himself escaping could spell disaster for Equestria.”

“Sounds good to me, let’s do it!” said Pinkie Pie, “I’d hate to live in a world where you can’t taste chocolate, or vanilla, or blueberries…”

“Just so that we’re clear, I don’t like the idea of you two getting killed over the off chance that this might work. But, like you said, we don’t have any other option, and it’s better than sitting on our haunches.” said Applejack.

“I second that feeling.” said Rarity.

“I just hope that you two will be okay.” said Fluttershy.

“I think it’s about time that jerk got what’s coming to him for messing with us!” said Rainbow Dash.

Twilight teleported all of them back inside Canterlot Castle, in the hallway outside of where Bleeding and Luna were.

“Oh, Twilight, you’re done with…. whatever it was.” Bleeding said, “No matter, that just means we get can move on to-” he was quickly interrupted by a concentrated beam of “shut your stupid face” applied to his face. Or rather, Twilight Sparkle’s magic purple laser, but same difference.

Bleeding flew backwards into the room before landing on his chest. “What!? How?!” Bleeding shrieked, “I had you completely under my control!”

“Not anymore.” said Twilight. “You’re done.”

“You really think it’s over?” said Bleeding, “You foals think that just because you’ve somehow thwarted my control means that I’ve lost? I’ve WON! Your precious Princess Luna is on her way to become a vampire herself. Soon I will defeat Princess Celestia with the reborn Nightmare Moon under my control, nothing can stop me from ruling Equestria!”

“You’re wrong! We have purified Luna of Nightmare Moon before, and the Elements of Harmony can do it again!” said Rarity.

“You’re not serious are you?!” Bleeding asked, in startled fear, “Do you honestly have any idea what you’re doing?”

“Well, if we just focus it on somebody else, we should be fine. Isn’t that what you thought would happen, Bleeding?” said Twilight, giving him a smug smirk.

“Stupid foals, that changes nothing.” said Bleeding, “So long as one vampire exists, my plan may yet succeed. You two have first hand experience with how tantalizing blood can be, it’s only a matter of time before you two cause a massacre all because of some accident. Besides, how do you even know that the Elements will even work for you now?”

“Hey, do you have thousand-year old cobwebs in your brain?” said Pinkie Pie, “We just said that we purified Princess Luna with the Elements. If all the vampires are just powered by Nightmare Moon’s dark magic, then the Elements should be able to purify everyone, Twilight and Rainbow included!”

“If it was so simple as using the Elements in the first place, why didn’t the Princesses have you use it before?” asked Bleeding Heart. This question made the bearers look at each other sheepishly, while Bleeding continued, “Because Nightmare Moon never used it on herself. In fact, Celestia had to resort to using all the Elements by herself, but even she couldn’t use it to ‘purify’ Luna, only banish her. Your precious Princesses fell out of favor of the Elements of Harmony, so why should they work for you when two of you are not only using, but living because of the very dark magic that the Elements rejected? Even if they did work and ‘purify’ vampirism, you’d only destroy yourself because it is the only thing that is keeping you alive.”

“That’s not true, we’re not beyond rescue!” said Rainbow Dash, “The Princesses are making an alternative cure, you’ll see!”

“You believe that foolish lie?” Bleeding laughed, “Do you know what Celestia prescribed for us long ago? Death or Banishment, that was the only choice for us. She had a thousand years, and countless ‘victims’ to test with, and she came up with nothing! And just what has these few weeks done to prove otherwise? But I will take this ‘curse’ and build a paradise with it!”

“And brainwashing ponies into worshipping you, forcing friends and family to kill each other is necessary for that?! You think that immortality alone justifies a utopia?! No, you don’t understand anything about real friendships, the real harmony that creates peace and unites different people together, that makes life worth living! You don’t care about building a better world for anybody but yourself! So you can take your pretend moral high ground and shove it where the sun doesn’t shine- no- Into the sun, because I’d rather die than live in your so-called utopia!” said Twilight, horn glowing.

“No, wait, please!!!”

“I’ve heard enough!” Twilight shouted. The Elements glowed, creating two tendrils of prismatic light around the Bearers. They swirled around and around the group, reaching up to the ceiling. Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash both felt their Elements becoming uncomfortably hot as they looked up at the swirling light above them.

“... Twilight, I thought you said we were gonna focus on blasting that jackass, not make a Pride light show...” said Rainbow Dash, as she absentmindedly fidgeted with the necklace. When she touched the gem however, it burned her in an instant.

“I-I did! I am! The Elements don’t seem to be-” Twilight started to say.

Harmony’s rainbow crashed down on top of them. Their screams echoed loud in that hall, everyone inside the castle could hear it. Light coursed through their veins, illuminating them through their flesh, skin, and hair. They felt their bodies being incinerated and rebuilt from the inside out. When they thought their nerves had been completely destroyed by their inner fires, it was reformed, and they felt pain anew. Unable to withstand it, they instantly collapsed to the ground, their bodies twitched and spasmed instinctively. Rainbow Dash seemed to try fly out of the room, but with the previously mentioned incoordination of the body as a whole, she only made herself roll around on the floor feebly, her feathers falling off and turning to ash with each wingstroke. Twilight’s horn surged and sparked wildly, no longer able to control or contain her own magic, scorching whatever it pointed at.

“Twilight! Rainbow!” Applejack cried out, taking off the necklace. The other bearers followed suit, and as soon as they did so the rainbow immediately ceased.

But Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash did not respond.

“Twilight? Rainbow?” Fluttershy pleaded as she blinked back her tears.

But Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash could not respond.

“No-oh-oh-oh!” Pinkie Pie wailed loudly, tears falling in streams as she cradled Twilight’s limp body. “Why do bad things happen to good ponies?!” she screamed at the ceiling before sobbing into Twilight’s chest.

Bleeding Heart, cowering in a corner, looked up and saw the commotion. “Ah hah! Just as I thought, the Harmony you all fought so hard over brought you nothing but suffering, how fittingly ironic. Don’t worry foals, you’ll be joining them soon.” he said, before slinging a round of fireballs at them.

“No.” said Rarity, blocking the fire by making a wall out of the tile floor.

“Really?!” Bleeding screamed in frustration.

“You heard Twilight Sparkle, we’d rather die than let a maniac like you take over the world!” said Rarity.

“Then just die already!!!” Bleeding screamed as he grabbed Fluttershy before throwing her into Rarity. Applejack charged at him, but a tile shifted from his magic, causing her to trip. Bleeding followed up by pulling up another floor tile, hitting her right on the jaw, before finishing it off with a magic blast, sending her flying into a wall. “You insolent foals should have learned when to give up.”

Pinkie Pie muttered tangentially, “Wait, why do I hear a ‘bump bump’?”

“Just what is giving you this pointless sense of hope, even now? You have nothing that can-”

“Well it’s more of a ‘bump… bump...’, but I’m not sure. Hey, can you keep it down over there? I’m trying to listen.” said Pinkie Pie.

“WILL YOU SHUT UP!?” Bleeding screamed as he slammed Pinkie Pie face-first on the floor.

“Pinkie Pie!” Rarity screamed in horror as Bleeding Heart picked Pinkie up with his magic, Pinkie Pie was still in too dazed to try to resist.

Pinkie Pie’s vision was still blurry when she saw Bleeding lift a shattered table piece. She screamed in pain as the broken wood was buried into her lower abdomen. Bleeding sniffed the air, his face showing his disappointment. “Now that’s a pity, it seems that I’ve been spoiled by Luna: your blood smells sweet, but compared to hers, yours is so dull and tasteless. Though I suppose blood is still bl-”

A weak moan snapped out of his trance, drawing his attention back to the source: Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, groaning as they tried to pick themselves up.

“Oh bucking Celestia, I feel literally every single cell in my body screaming in pain.” Twilight moaned.

“Applejack, you muddy hillbilly jerk! We had a pact! Friends don’t let friends fly around on fire while drunk!” Rainbow Dash groaned as she clutched herself in a fetal position.

“Wait, what!?” Twilight said, (painfully) turning her head to face Dash. “Why would you even need to make a pact for that!?”

“Well, friends shouldn’t let friends fly around on fire sober, but that’s different matter.”

“You two were still alive this whole time?” Bleeding said, not sure to be frustrated or impressed. He snorted before continuing, “Though perhaps you will feel better after a nice snack!” he said, throwing Pinkie Pie at Twilight and Dash.

The Bearers could only gasp in horror as nothing happened.

“What.” said Bleeding.

“Um, girls? Isn’t this the part where you two viciously eat me alive?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“I don’t feel like eating, I feel like I’ve been dragged straight out of Tartarus.” Rainbow said, rolling around on the floor futilely trying to find a more comfortable position.

“Same here, though I feel more… bmrph!” Twilight said, before turning a slight shade of green and throwing up what could only be described as half-digested, half-burned red sludge. Twilight groaned as she clutched her stomach. “Oh gods, kill me now.”

“What.” Bleeding repeated, louder this time.

“You’re telling me! Am I not delectable to even one vampire? No, I get turned down by three!” said Pinkie Pie, “You’re killing me over here, and that’s not because I’m literally bleeding out right now. You all are jerks.”

“I don’t understand how-” Twilight said when realization struck her, “The Elements!”

Before she get them, a beam of red magic sent her flying across the room, into a wall. She barely had time to regain her senses to put up a shield around herself before Bleeding tackled her. He stomped on the shield with his supernatural strength, further enhanced by his magic, intent on smashing both the shield and Twilight’s head in like a grape. “You know what Twilight, you were right. Vampirism was a wasted gift on such an insolent foal like you.” he seethed at her. “I should have just broken your scrawny neck the first time we met, and then left you swinging off your house for Celestia to find!” he screamed. Twilight’s shield began to flicker and spark, and her head was beginning to swim. “I am the most powerful vampire to ever exist, I have waited too long, sacrificed too much, betrayed by too many to let you or anyone else to take away my life!!! So do us both a favor, when you die, stay in Tartarus!!!” He reared up to strike again.

Twilight’s teleported just as he was about to crush her. When Twilight reappeared, she fired her magic laser at Bleeding before he could react, smashing him into the wall. “You might be stronger than me, but you’re not stronger than my friends.” Twilight said, defiant despite almost at the point where she could collapse from exhaustion.

Bleeding let out a feral scream as he charged at Twilight. Twilight fired several more beams, but Bleeding just shrugged off the blows, barely slowing him down enough for Twilight to teleport out of the way. He turned around to see Twilight popping back into the room, looking for the Elements. His horn glowed and crackled with magic as he readied another blast...

“Some pies Motherfucka!” Pinkie Pie added as she fired her party cannon, splattering Bleeding with an all sorts of different flavors of pies, blinding him and throwing his aim off to fire at a wall instead. Fluttershy took the opening and flew right into his barrel, knocking the wind out of him and carrying him into the wall, before springing off his stomach back to her friends. Applejack followed up with the family technique passed down to her, the “kick them really hard, in the face.” move, breaking his fangs. He fell onto the floor in pain, before it turned into a wrathful scream as he tried to retaliate against Applejack by pouncing on her. Applejack rolled with the pounce, before kicking him into the air, which set him up to be uppercutted by Rainbow Dash. He would have flown quite a height, were there not the stone ceiling which he slammed against. He didn’t even have time to fall back down to the floor before Rainbow flew into him again, breaking through the ceiling, and the ceiling of the floor above. Rainbow then grabbed him and pile drove him through the floors, back to the floor with the others. Bleeding bounced limply into the air, and at the peak of that bounce Rarity jump kicked him before following up with a series of flying tiles, sending Bleeding out of the room and into the hallway.

“Alright girls, on me! Let’s finish this!” Twilight shouted, picking up the last Element off of the floor.

Bleeding Heart hazily saw the Bearers gather together with their Elements. “No… No!” he said, gagging on his own foul blood as he crawled out of the rubble with his broken, bloody limbs. “I’ll kill you! I’ll tear all of your throats out like jello! I’ll feed your corpses to your families!!!” he screamed at them, his smashed horn sputtering and sparking.

All he ate was a Rainbow of Harmony. He screamed as he felt the light consume and burn him inside-out. He burned and he screamed, until he couldn’t do either one anymore. He collapsed on the floor without resistance. The Rainbow then wove itself around Luna’s body and around Pinkie Pie, healing their injuries, with Luna’s body restored to its normal dark blue color. Luna gasped for breath once, but remained asleep as she was gently lowered back down. A wave of Rainbow burst from the castle, and began to cover the land.

Spike had been running from Shining Armor and a few extra vampire guards the entire time, with his superior agility being the only thing that kept him from their grasp. But that turned useless when Spike made a wrong turn and went into a dead end. The vampires had closed in on him, when they started screaming in pain, and then the wave of Rainbow of Harmony washed over them a second later. The vampires screamed even louder until they all fell over unconscious.

Somewhere in the area between Canterlot and Ponyville, Celestia and her forces where having a fighting retreat back to Canterlot. Or, rather, Celestia’s forces were retreating, while Celestia was fighting. It was at that moment vampires suddenly cried out in unison, “Master!”, and ceased fighting at the moment to scream and writhed as the figment of the pain he felt was unwittingly passed on to them.

“Princess? What’s happening?!” Spitfire shouted over the howls.

Celestia opened her mouth, only for the Rainbow of Harmony to suddenly wash over the entire land, raising the vampires’ screaming more before they all fell over on the ground unconscious. “That.” Celestia finally said, pointing at the air. “That happened.”

“It’s finally over…” Twilight sighed, and only just now realized that she’s been running on adrenaline the entire time and felt very light headed. “Wow, that was kind of a rush.” She suddenly had a hard time standing on one spot, the room seemed to slowly spin for her.

“Anybody mind if I just take a quick nap, like, right now?” Rainbow Dash said, legs shaking a little, head rolling a little, eyes drooping.

“No, it's fine. Oh look, this carpet looks cozy.” Twilight said, right before faceplanting into said carpet, and started snoring.

“Oh hey, it actually does.” said Rainbow, before flopping down, missing the carpet completely and instead falling on top of Twilight, and began snoring as well.

“Twilight! Rainbow!” Fluttershy exclaimed, flying over to them, checking their breathing and their pulse.

“They’re just worn thin, not that I blame them, they had it the roughest.” said Applejack as she gently picked them up. “Still, wouldn’t hurt to find them a proper bed.”

Twilight’s eyes fluttered open, her vision was blurry. Her throat felt dry, her body felt extremely heavy and aching, and her head felt like it was being pounded from both inside and outside. As she gulped for air, she realized that she was wearing a respirator mask. She blinked a few times to clear her vision, her hooves feeling too heavy to lift up and rub her eyes. The room was silent and empty, save for the bed she was on, the heart monitor she was connected to with its steady beeping noise, the IV stand, and numerous other medical equipment.

She struggled to get herself to sit up on the bed, when a nurse happened to walk by. “Oh! Easy there, Ms. Sparkle, you’ve been out for a while.” the nurse said, walking up to the bed. She pressed a button and the motors in the bed gave a low whir as it moved to an reclining position.

As the nurse looked over the vitals, Twilight tried to speak, but it came out as only a whisper. “How long was I out? What happened?”

“Please stay calm, Ms. Sparkle. You’ve been out for a few days. Don’t worry, there doesn’t seem to be any lasting injuries right now, but I’m sure you’re very weak right now. I’ll go and tell everyone how you’re doing.” The nurse walked out of the room and into the hallway.

Twilight felt bothered that the nurse still didn’t address as to what caused the (evidently) days-long coma she was just waking up from. Twilight had tried to ask the nurse again as she had walked out, but it only came out as incomprehensible wheezing. Frustrated at her fruitless attempts to communicate with the nurse, Twilight laid her head back down on the pillow. Memories started to come back to her. She shuddered, remembering the feeling of being burned up from the inside out…

“Twilight Sparkle? Are you still awake?” said Princess Celestia as she entered the room. Memories of being burned by the sun in particular flashed before Twilight’s eyes, as she reflexively tried to pull up the large blanket to cover herself. “Don’t worry, my faithful student, I won’t hurt you, see?” Celestia said as she gently pulled the blanket away from Twilight’s face.

Twilight stared at Celestia in utter awe, not feeling any pain from gazing upon her. With all of her strength, she grabbed and pulled Celestia’s neck to herself for a hug, happy tears streaming down her face.

“Easy there,” Celestia said as she lowered herself to Twilight, “everything is all right.”

Cue the happy theme.

Reflections

Part 1: Reflections

Twilight Sparkle stared into the mirror in her bathroom. The reflective sheet showed the blue wallpaper that covered the room, and the white bathtub to her right. Twilight released that she did not really appreciate her bathroom mirror before, despite it having an integral role in her daily morning ritual. Maybe it was because she spent her daily life with it that she didn’t realize how useful it was. How many times had she consulted the mare on the other side to help herself to get ready for the day?

This morning was different. Something was missing, something very important. Twilight raised her hoof to touch the glass. There was no pony on the other side to match her movements. In the mirror, the room was empty. It was such a strange feeling that Twilight took her hoof off the glass and placed it on her neck. The bite mark was still there, and she could feel the scabs covering where the teeth broke the skin. Twilight tried to pinch herself with her own magic. Yelping in pain from her self-affliction, she looked back into the mirror. Nothing changed. The room was empty. Twilight groaned as she accepted the cold, hard truth about her situation. She was a vampire.

She mused that even if she were to go back in time to warn herself, she was likely to fail, and still become a vampire anyway. “Vampires are just a myth,” she could just hear her past self talk, “They don’t exist, they’re only superstitions that ponys made up because they didn’t quite understand the natural decomposition of the equine body.” Twilight also thought that going back in time might actually make herself the cause of her vampirism, creating a time loop. Though, that might actually make a paradox, since if she was bitten by herself from the future, then went back in time to bite herself, where did the original disease come from? Problems like this is why Twilight swore off using the time-travel spell ever again.

She walked out of the bathroom, shut the door, walked up the stairs, and crawled onto her bed. She stared up at the ceiling above her, as she thought back to last night. She rolled onto her stomach as she levitated a thin black notebook from under her bed. She opened to the first blank page that she could find, took out a quill pen, and began to write...

Dear Diary,

I’m a vampire. Amusing, since I remember dressing up as a vampire once or twice for Nightmare Night while I was a little filly. No, this isn’t a joke, this isn’t a dream either. I really am a vampire.

It all started last night. It was getting really late. Spike was already asleep, and Owloysius was still wide awake. The candle was almost out when I looked at the time. Midnight. I had done it /again/, I studied too long. I remember how staying up to midnight seemed to be some sort of special privilege that only the adults had. My parents always tried to get me to bed at a regular time before I got my cutie mark. I never figured out how did they always know that I had snuck a book under the covers, and then read by the light of my horn. Maybe they know me too well, and that anything else would be considered strange.

Anyway, I was about to blow out the candle when I heard a knock. I wondered who could it be at this hour, especially in the chilly autumn night. When I opened the door, I felt the cold breeze fill the room as I stared at the stranger in the night. I think he was a white unicorn, with gray matted mane and tail. Despite his somewhat withered frame, he seemed to have a bit of a regal air about him. He wouldn’t be out of place in the Canterlot courts, provided that he had some food and a suit. He had a rather strange cutie mark though, it was a black heart with a single drop of blood on it.

“Excuse me miss,” he spoke up, “I apologize for the late hour, but could you provide me with a bed? I’m a traveler, and I saw the light on in this house, so I had hoped that someone was awake.”

“Oh, of course you can stay the night.” I said, wanting to be courteous. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, what’s your name?” I introduced myself.

“Twilight Sparkle...” he muttered to himself while smiling, “A beautiful name, befitting a beautiful mare such as yourself. You may call me Blood Banks. Again, I apologize for the late hour.”

“It’s not a problem really. It’s a cold night though, you must be freezing. Let me start a fire for you.” I said as I guided him to the library. I ignited the logs in the fireplace. “Can I get anything? A drink or something?”

“I do not... drink, Miss Sparkle, but the fire is more than what I could ask for, thank you.” He sat down in front of the fire. I didn’t notice it before, but Owloysius was shifting around on his perch uneasily. I walked over to him, asking if he was alright. “I wouldn’t worry about it Miss Sparkle, I have found that some animals usually dislike my presence. A pity really, since I’m very fond of owls. Keen predators, and yet so wise in the eyes and hearts of ponies everywhere.” Banks assured me.

Owloysius did seem to not like Blood Banks very much, so I opened a window for Owloysius. I’ve only seen Owloysius fly so quickly before once, and it was when he was helping me look for Spike when he had run away from home. I shut the window behind Owloysius so the cold air wouldn’t enter the room. That’s when I noticed something very peculiar. Though Blood Banks was close to the fire, he didn’t cast a shadow behind himself. It was like he wasn’t really there. When I asked Banks about this, he looked behind himself, and then I think he cursed under his breath.

What he did next took me completely off guard. He tackled me to the ground, trying to pin me to the floor. It was then I found that he was a LOT stronger than he looked. He then went down and bit me in the neck. I screamed from the pain. I had to escape, and fast, so I used a shield spell to force him off me. In hindsight, that probably wasn’t the best choice for the moment, because I could feel his teeth, no, his fangs drag and rip through my skin and flesh as he flew away. He crashed into a bookcase, which I’m surprised that it didn’t wake up Spike. “Who are you, really?” I asked him.

“I’m the lord of the night. And you are about to become my next servant Miss Sparkle.” He said as he got up.

“I’ll never serve you!” I shouted as I fired a bolt of magic at him. I know, I know, it sounded better in my head. Still, I always wanted to at least say it once.

Blood Banks... turned into mist before the bolt hit him. No, seriously. He dissolved into a white haze. Now that I think about it, it kind of reminds me of Nightmare Moon’s preferred method of travel. Maybe I should learn that trick sometime. I could hear him laugh at me, his voice echoing in the empty room, “It’s useless dear, no one can help you now. Not at this hour.”

I ran to the window as he seeped through the cracks, but I couldn’t give chase to him. The energy from the adrenaline started to go away. I felt dizzy as I placed my hoof on my bite wounds. I couldn’t focus on anything, I couldn’t stop the bleeding. I tried to at least try to wake up Spike so that he could go get help. But I couldn’t take two steps before falling onto the floor as my world became black.

Author's Note

This is technically my first fan-fiction. Please leave comments, critiques, etc. on how to improve. I hope you enjoy this story.

Death and Rebirth

Fluttershy galloped as fast as she could in the the dark and cold night. In front of her flew Owloysius, Twilight’s pet owl. “Oh please be safe Twilight.” she panted as she ran towards her friend’s home. Mere minutes ago, Fluttershy was sleeping peacefully in her out of the way cottage. Her peaceful dreams were interrupted when she heard Owloysius tap vigorously on her window. When she opened the window to let the nocturnal avian in, he urged Fluttershy to follow him instead. Taking care of animals was of course Fluttershy’s special talent. Part of that talent is that she could understand what an animal is feeling better than anyone else. Owloysius, it seemed to her, was panicking. Something dreadful is about to happen to Twilight! Or worse, it already did. The owl had so far guided Fluttershy towards Ponyville, leading her towards the Library where Twilight had made her home. When it came into view, the lights inside the tree-house were out. Owlyosius seemed to become even more worried about Twilight’s safety. Fluttershy trotted up to the door and knocked quietly. “Twilight? Are you okay?”

Nothing responded. “Okay, she’s probably sleeping, no need to wake her up.” Fluttershy mumbled as she turned to walk back to her home. Owloysius flew in front of Fluttershy, adamant that she should at least take a look inside. Fluttershy gulped a deep breath as she slowly opened the door. The old thing creaked as Fluttershy took a peek into the darkness of the Library. “Hello? Twilight? Are you okay?” Owloysius flew past her into the darkness, but Fluttershy had trouble seeing anything in the light of Luna’s full moon. She walked, feeling the walls for a lightswitch or a candle. When she found the switch, she flicked it to the on position. The lights then came to life, revealing the horrors that the curtains of darkness had covered, causing Fluttershy to scream; Twilight was lying on the floor next to the stairs in a pool of her blood as it oozed out of a wound on her neck. “Oh no, NO!” Fluttershy couldn’t believe her eyes. She walked up slowly up to the purple body on the floor. She prayed that this was only an elaborate prank, because as cruel as that joke would be, it still wouldn’t be half as cruel as if this was a reality. “Twilight, please wake up...” She sputtered, tears welling up in her eyes. She dared to take a closer look. She then saw that Twilight’s eyes had glazed over, and her body was cold to the touch. “No... No...” Fluttershy whimpered. Tears started to flow freely from her eyes, blurring her vision, and mixing in with the blood on the floor. “We were too late.”

Cue the happy theme song.

Part 2: Death and Rebirth

~And now to our regular programming, Twilight’s Diary~

When I woke up, I was covered in a sheet, from head to hoof. I struggled to get it off of my face so that I could actually see where I am. I was in a strange white room, with the lights glowing softly above me. I thought to myself that I was in the hospital, but then I realized that it couldn’t be due to three facts: the first was that I was on a flat metal table. Far too uncomfortable for anypony. There wasn’t even a mattress for me! The second fact, is that I didn’t have an IV attached anywhere on me, despite that I lost a large amount of blood. The last but not least fact was that I curiously had a paper tag tied to my rear hoof, with my name on it. If I were in a hospital, the tag would be wrapped around my front hooves, not my back hoof. Then I thought about how much blood I lost in the first place, and I started to doubt that I should have even survived. “Blood Banks was probably aiming for my jugular veins,” I thought, “and then I forced him off me, and that tore the wound...” I reached up to my neck to feel where he bit me. I could feel that a horrible scab was on it. I needed to see what it looked like, so I desperately looked for a mirror in the room. But before I could find one, I heard laughing, it sounded like two ponies were trading jokes. I heard the tail end of one of them as they drew closer to the door.

“Wait, it gets better!” said one, “When the patient woke up, she found that her skeleton was missing, and the doctor was never heard from again!” As the other pony met his companion’s story with a boisterous laugh, I prayed to Celestia that they were not talking about me. I like my skeleton where it is thank you very much. With their voices and hoofsteps getting louder, I realized that the two ponies were heading towards my room. I didn’t have time to move when they opened the door. Though when they entered the room, they seemed to be more surprised to see me than I was to see them.

We traded glances in the silence, before I spoke up, “Um, hi, I don’t know what’s going on here, but can you two please tell me where I am?” I tried to ask as nicely as I could.

They looked at each other before the boisterous started screaming, “AAH!!! This is just like that opening scene from Prototype! We’re all going die to a cannibalistic pony plague!” he then fell in front of my table, prostrating himself before me and crying, “Please don’t eat me! I have a wife and kids!”

“Shut up you stupid oaf. First of all, you’re scaring her! Secondly, you’re single, and have no children to speak of. And finally, this is not one of your stupid video games, because she is not going to eat us!” said his companion, “You see, at least once in a coroner’s career, a doctor makes the wrong call that a pony is dead, when instead they are actually comatose. The body is sent here, and then they wake up as if absolutely nothing has happened. All what happens next is that we call the family to tell them that their relative is fine. She is simply fortunate that she woke up now, instead of later, while we were in the middle of preserving her. See? No pony plague apocalypse. It’s no wonder you’re still single.”

“Umm, I may be missing something important here, just where in Equestria am I?” I asked.

“Oh, my apologies Miss Sparkle, I’m Funeral Director Dead Walk. My idiot friend here calls himself Cadaver Care. You are in the Ponyville Morgue, you were sent here after the hospital next door declared you dead.”

“I’M IN A MORGUE!?” I screamed in horror.

“Yes, a morgue, a mortuary, Rose Cottage, Rainbow’s End...”

“I already know what a morgue is thank you.” I said flatly. “Wait, if I’m in a morgue, does that mean that...”

“Everypony else thinks that you’re dead, yes. The one who brought you in... I think, she was yellow and pink, looked very depressed when she learned about your death.” Dead Walk explained. “I can imagine that she told some of your other friends as well. I think your pet dragon also burned up a letter. He said he was sending it to the Princess, but I never fully understood that method of communication.”

“Well I guess I have a lot of work ahead of me.” I said as I picked myself off of the metal table and I... fell face first onto the floor. I guess I was little lightheaded and dizzy from last night.

“No, the first thing YOU need to do, is to have a doctor check up on you, and get some rest. While your survival is nothing but miraculous, you’re still too weak from your assault last night.” Dead Walk said as he got me back up on my feet. “Cadaver, I’m going to escort Twilight to the hospital, can you go and inform her friends and family that she is fine?”

“Wait!” I said, as I levitated a piece of paper and a pen from Dead Walk’s coat pockets. “If you’re going to my friends, you need to know where they live first. Besides, you’ll probably have an easier time convincing them if they saw my own writing.” I said as I scribbled down addresses, and on the other side of the paper I wrote down a simple message; “I’m okay, I’m going to the hospital for a checkup. I’m not dead yet. Love you all, Twilight Sparkle.” I levitated the paper over to Cadaver, who took the paper with his mouth and then exited the room.

“Now then Miss Sparkle, shall we be off?” Dead Walk said as he opened the door for me. He lead me through the hallways of the morgue towards the exit. He opened the door outside, letting me step out first. When I stepped outside with him, my skin suddenly felt itchy. The morning sun blinded me as I yelped in pain. “Miss Sparkle are you alright?”

“It’s too bright!” I said, as used my hoof to shield my eyes.

“Your skin!” Dead Walk exclaimed, “It must be an allergic reaction to the sun, we need to get you inside quickly!” He picked me up and carried me to the hospital. What was odd is that as soon as I was inside the hospital, my skin felt less itchy. This whole series of events is still all confusing for me; first I wake up with everyone that I know thinks that I’m dead, and now I have a sun allergy. What in Equestria was going on? Dead Walk explained to the receptionist what had happened. The receptionist nodded and started to lead me to a room to wait for the doctor. I shouted over my shoulder a thank you to Dead Walk. “No need,” he replied, “in fact, with my line of work, you best hope not to see me again.”

I chuckled a little at Dead Walk’s joke as I entered the hospital room. It was a very welcome change from the white and metal room of the morgue, with a soothing green wallpaper and a bed, rather than a stainless steel table. “The doctor will see you momentarily Miss Sparkle, please make yourself comfortable.” the nurse guided me to the bed before leaving the room. I know that hospital beds aren’t always known for their comfiness, but anything was better for my back than the morgue’s cold table. Though I guess dead bodies don’t normally have the ability complain about what kind of material they’re being laid on.

Any and all thoughts I had about my condition were interrupted when the doctor entered the room. I remembered him as being the same doctor who took care of Rainbow Dash when she broke her wing once. Now that I think about it, I think his cousin helps out the Apple family as a farmhand. Anyway, the doctor smiled, “Twilight Sparkle, aren’t you the lucky one. You certainly had a lot of us going for a while there.” He levitated a notepad beside him, with a pen ready. “Now, let’s see if we can find just what exactly happened to you and get you back home in tip top shape. Turn your head so I can see your neck.” I obeyed, showing him the scarred wounds to him. He muttered, “Huh, that is interesting...” He examined the rest of my body as he asked, “The nurse had told me that you had developed a sun allergy, is that correct?”

“Yeah, but it feels better now.”

“Hmm, normally sun allergies takes minutes or even hours to show symptoms, depending on the type. That also goes for relief. But I have never heard of a strain that develops symptoms that quickly, nor have it go away just as fast. And you don’t have a history of this peculiar allergy, correct?”

“Right, I never felt like that in the sun before.”

“Don’t worry, usually adequate covering of the body is enough to reduce sun allergies. If you have continued cases, I can recommend some dermatologists. They might be able to help you more and be able to answer any questions you have.” I nodded in response. “Now let’s take a look at your temperature.” He levitated a thermometer beside my face. I always hated having to take my temperature, having to hold it in place under my tongue. A grueling minute passed with the accursed thing in my mouth before he took it out. When he read it, he seemed to be confused. “What in Celestia’s name...?” escaped from his lips as he placed a hoof against my forehead. I saw his jaw drop, when suddenly we heard shouting outside the room.

“W-wait! You have to let the doctor-”

“I have to see her!” said a hyperactive voice, which I recognized as the ever bouncing Pinkie Pie. The door slammed open, confirming my deduction. “TWILIGHT! Ohmigosh, you’re okay!” she screamed as she pounced on me, hugging me tightly. She then rattled off something that sounded like this; “First Fluttershy was all like sad, so I was all like, ‘Hey wassup?’ then she told me that you were all like, dead. Not like mostly dead, like Westley from the ‘Princess Bride’ movie, but like, dead dead. So then I became all sad, then this nice pony named Cadaver Care said that you weren’t dead dead, so the first thing I did was run straight to you. Okay, really it was the second thing that I did, the first was really telling Fluttershy and everyone else that you weren’t dead, and then I went to see you. Ohmigosh this is like, the best day of my life. Okay, maybe not like, the best BEST day ever in my ENTIRE life, but this easily makes the top ten, no, top FIVE best days I’ve ever had.”

“Ohh... ‘kay... I guess.” I replied. To be honest, I was distracted by how nice and warm Pinkie Pie felt against me. Like a nice cup of coffee or hot chocolate from Donut Joe’s after a long cold day. Like a nice hot bubble bath easing your tired muscles after a stressful day. I don’t remember feeling like that about anypony before, and I felt really embarrassed about, but I didn’t want her to let go. Heck, I feel embarrassed right now just writing about it. Like I wanted her...

“Get off of her!” shouted a disgruntled doctor, “She’s-”

“Alive! You’re alive!” shouted Applejack, standing in the doorway with the rest of my friends.

The doctor let out a sigh of resignation, “Fine, come on in. I only have a few more things to check up on her anyway.” Pinkie Pie jumped off of me and joined everyone else at my bedside. The doctor put on his stethoscope and place the other end on my chest. It was surprisingly not as cold as I thought it would be. After a few seconds, the doctor nervously shifted the stethoscope around my chest.

“Um, is there something wrong doctor?” Fluttershy sheepishly asked.

“Here, listen to this,” the doctor said as he levitated the earpiece towards my friends. Applejack took them and placed them in her ears.

“I don’t hear a thing doc.” Applejack said after a few seconds, “You sure this thing ain’t broke?”

“Here, try it now,” the doctor said, placing the end that was on my chest onto Rainbow Dash’s. She flinched slightly like it was cold when he did but stayed still.

“Hey, now I’m hearing her heart beat!” Applejack exclaimed.

“Ooh! Ooh! I wanna hear too!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed jumping up and down. Applejack handed her the earpiece, “Hehe, it sounds like a drum. Bump, bump, bump, bump~” Pinkie giggled.

“Now listen to your purple friend here,” the doctor said, taking the stethoscope off of Rainbow Dash, placing it back on me. Pinkie’s face contorted into one of confusion.

“I... I don’t hear anything.” Pinkie said.

“Is there... something wrong with Twilight, doctor?” Rarity asked.

“That might be the understatement of the year Miss, but the problem is that I have no idea what it is!” the doctor explained.

“But you’re a doctor, you should know about-” started Applejack.

“I doubt ANYONE knows about what’s going on with her!” the doctor snapped, “Usually, if one’s heart ceased functioning for an extended period of time, they are dead. Plain and simple. But as clearly as the sun shines, your friend here is still alive, or rather seems to be. The only explanation that I could think of is that this phenomenon is magical in nature, rather than biological.”

“Wait, are you saying that Twilight is a ZOMBIE!?!” Spike said, eyes growing wide. He then jumped onto my bed, crying and prostrating himself saying, “Please don’t eat me! I have too much to live for!” I let out a disgusted groan.

The doctor looked like he was about to speak when a knock came from the door. “Is Twilight Sparkle in this room?” said a graceful and serene voice, one that I knew belonged to one pony only; Princess Celestia. However, hearing her voice filled me with dread, like I had done something horribly wrong. Of course, it was a rather irrational fear it seemed, after all, Princess Celestia is probably just as concerned about my health as my friends were... right? But then why did I feel the need that I had to escape?

“Yes, please come in.” The doctor said as he opened the door for her. As soon Princess Celestia was in my sight however, my entire body felt like it burning. Princess Celestia always had a soft glow, being the Princess of the Sun. But at that moment, she seemed like she was channeling the entire might of the sun through herself. I couldn’t see, and the room felt like it was on the surface of the sun.

“What’s wrong with her!?” Princess Celestia asked.

“I-I don’t know! I’ve never treated a patient like this before!” the doctor exclaimed.

“If I may, dear sister,” said a third voice. The curtain around my bed was moved, making it block the light from Princess Celestia. “Feeling better now, Twilight Sparkle?” I finally recognized that voice. It was Princess Luna. She didn’t seem to have changed very much from when I last saw her during Nightmare Night last year.

I tried to take some deep breaths. The pain lingered on my body, but at least now I could see. “Yes, thank you Princess Luna.” I said.

Princess Luna hummed as she walked up beside me, “Twilight Sparkle, if you could be so kind, and open your mouth for me?” I did so, instinctively and without any question about if Luna really should be letting a professional look at me. Well... I guess the professional in the room doesn’t know what’s happening at all, so she probably as good as he is at the moment. Princess Luna looked into my mouth, making the same hum as earlier. “Doctor, did you take her temperature yet?”

“Yes of course your majesty. Twilight Sparkle has a temperature of...” the doctor took a nervous deep breath, hoping that he was wrong, “a temperature of twenty degrees Celsius.”

“What!?” shouted Rarity.

“I’m at room temperature!?!” I shouted.

“I don’t get it, what’s so bad about that?” Applejack asked.

“A pony’s normal body temperature ranges from 37 to 38 degrees.” I tried to explain.

“So what you’re saying is that you’re cold?” Applejack said, not quite catching on.

“Much too cold for normal life functions. But about right for an animated corpse.” Princess Luna replied.

“Luna!” Princess Celestia said, her voice seemed to shake a little. “Please tell me that you’re wrong, please!”

“Doctor? I need a blood sample.” Luna asked, seemingly ignoring her sister for a moment. The doctor produced a syringe. He inserted into my body, and took a some of my bodily fluids. The liquid was black. My friends recoiled in horror as they looked at it.

“Eww! Now that for sure isn’t blood at all!” Applejack said.

“What the horseapple is that!?” Rainbow Dash screamed.

“In a way, it is blood.” Luna said, taking the syringe and examining it, “Just not the blood of any mortal. This is the cursed blood of a Vampire.”

Then Princess Celestia fainted.