In my small little cottage in the Everfree Forest, I watched the sun sink slowly below the horizon, painting the sky all varieties of orange, pink, and purple hues. I did this every night, out of habit from my filly days. I used to do this with my little sister, Silver Snow, but unfortunately, that was not possible anymore.
//First Flashback of many\
I sat on the plush velvet cushions by the window with Silver, watching the sunset from our small home. This was a particularly peaceful one, as it was snowing.
"What'll happen to all the snow when it turns to spring, Raven?" asked Silver, having never seen spring before.
"It'll melt away, and all the flowers and birds will come out," I said, still focused on the window.
"But why?" she pouted. "Why does it have to go away?"
"So we can have baby animals, and so we can have flowers."
"But we can still have flowers. We just have to use magic," she yawned.
"But not all ponies have magic," I pointed out. "And besides, snow gets tiring after a while." She frowned. "Not you, Silver. The actual snow outside." I nuzzled her, and then we went off to bed, exhausted.
I shuddered. That was the last night I spent with my sister. The last words I said to her were 'Good night, Silvie.' I had called her Silvie as a filly and it had stuck, because for a while I couldn't say Silver. At the time, I hadn't realized that my good night was her goodbye.
It was goodbye, because this was the night that she was murdered, found dead. There was no blood left in her system, it was all on the walls, on the sheets of her bed, coating the curtains. There was no sign of forced entry, and the door was locked, so it was ruled that a unicorn would've had to do it, or our parents.
Her perfect sparkly white coat was bathed in a malicious red, matted into her fur. A set of bite marks were found on her neck, belonging to a demon from the depths of Hell itself.
Belonging to a Vampire.
Since that day, I have sworn to stake first and ask questions later, when it came to these vile, repulsive monstorus beings. They had taken my only sibling away from me, and I would repay them back. I had to.
For Silver Snow. Nopony deserved to die in the way that my darling sister had, it was a cruelty in itself just to know her and her horrid torture-- being eaten alive, inside out. But I imagined it would have been painful to be bit, let alone sucked dry of all your blood.
"I'm so sorry," I whispered to the night's air through my tears and pitiful sniffles. "I wish I could've saved you, Silvie." A tortured howl broke through my memoir. It abruptly cut off, and more filled the air. The only thing that howled in the Everfree was a Timberwolf, and Timberwolves don't just stop like that. What was even more worrying was that only one thing in the Everfree could kill a Timberwolf, and it was gone from the forest. I cursed, wishing that I hadn't sent that nice manticore away last year.
I grabbed my coat, and my saddlebag and galloped out the door at top speed. The forest, while rather nice, was too dense to propel myself with my wings, so I was stuck with my hooves only. The howls continued, and as I neared the origin place, I distinctly heard growls. They all stopped before I got to the clearing.
As I entered the clear spot, I noticed two things. First, an entire pack of twelve Timberwolves was dead, their yellow blood staining the grass. Second, a trail of hoofprints led away from the clearing, and there was one leading to the area as well. I shuddered when I saw that these poor beasts had been drained dry-- there was no blood in their bodies, only bite marks on their necks. Two very distinctive bite marks.
The vampire was back in town.
I awoke to sunbeams dancing in my eyes, prompting them open.
"Fivemoreminuteszzsnfxx..." I muttered in my tired state. Not even the sun would awaken this pony. Unfortunately, fate had other plans. A knock on my door startled me, and I promptly rolled out of bed and fell in a tangled mess of sheets onto the carpet. I got up, shaking off my cloth prison.
"Hullo, ma'am," said the buff stallion at my door. "'Ave you seen a suspicious lookin' pony 'round these parts? A couple a' disappearances 'ave been reported 'ere."
"No..." I said, thinking about the events of the previous night. "But a pack of TImberwolves was in a clearing, dead, last night."
"Can ye' take me there?"
"I can."
I had been so focused on my thoughts and questions, that I hadn't even bothered to notice a single thing about the stranger at my door. "Give me one second?" He nodded his wide-brimmed hat, and backed away from the door to give me slight privacy. I grabbed my purple scarf, and tied it on my neck, making sure it covered most of my jugular. I shuddered once more, and walked back outside to where he was standing. Then, together, we set off into the dark forest beyond.
