A Visitor From Beyond

"You've met a terrible fate, haven't you?"

Ben awoke with a scream, which in turn caused Fluttershy to awake in a dazed shock. "What's wrong, Ben?" She asked, half asleep.

"Oh, erm, it's nothing." Ben responded. "Just a dream. W... What time is it?"

Fluttershy looked out the window at the moon, judging its angle in the sky. "About three in the morning."

Ben replied with a nod and laid back down, closing his eyes before feeling Fluttershy's warm, soft embrace once more. Unlike what he had told her, Ben knew exactly what the dream was. In fact, it was no dream. It was a nightmare. A terrible nightmare that plagued him night after night, no remorse. By now, he's been able to mostly ignore them, but this one was different. Instead of people like him, they were ponies. Six of them. The same six he had met only days before. They were standing before him, gazing into his eyes with cold stares. He reached out to touch them, but instead felt nothing. Nothing but the cold air of the void. Then, they started to weep, crying tears of blood. Then, their eyes turned to black sockets and Ben fell into an endless abyss, with the same low, flat voice saying the same sentence, once and only once, before he would awake with a scream. Luckily, we was able to rest easier knowing Fluttershy and the others were at his side... in the metaphorical and literal sense.

Unluckily, he knew what these dreams were telling him to do. To add insult to injury, he didn't know if he could.

Celestia's morning sun cast its glow through the window of Fluttershy's cottage as Ben opened his eyes to take in the view. Fluttershy opened her eyes as well, still cuddling up to Ben and smiling. "So, how'd you sleep?" She asked.

"Fine... Just fine..." Ben replied, before removing his covers the climbing out of bed. Fluttershy did the same, and they both headed downstairs.

Ben donned his robe and walked outside, and wandered off in one direction. Fluttershy followed him out the door. "Where are you going, Ben?" She asked.

"I'm just, er... going for a stroll..." Ben responded with a flat tone.

The yellow pegasus nodded before trotting back into her cottage and shutting the door.

Ben continued down the path into Ponyville, all the while thinking to himself about various things. Not too long after he stepped onto the main road, a gray pegasus crashed into the wall of a house next to him. Confused, Ben looked to see if she was okay when suddenly she popped up in front of him with a letter in hoof. "I brought you a letter!" She said, smiling. Ben took it, still confused, and she flew off. "Well, that was... interesting."

Ben looked down at the letter, studying the front to see who it was from. Apparently, it was from Canterlot, more specifically, from Canterlot Castle, and even more specifically, from Princess Luna. He tore the parchment open and unfolded the note, reading it.

Dear Ben,

I would like to begin by stating that it is an honor to have somepony, or rather someone, from another dimension visit us. I hope you enjoy Equestria during your stay. Now, onto the matter at hand. My sister, Celestia, informed me of your endeavor, and I would like to see you. Included in this envelope is one round-trip train ticket to Canterlot. I eagerly await your arrival.

Sincerely,

Princess Luna

"Gee, I sure am popular." Ben said to himself. "Even royalty wants to spend time with me. It was never like that in Skyrim. All they did was tell me to stop lollygagging."

Ben headed off on his way to the train station, and on his way passed Twilight's house. Glancing at it, he noticed Twilight and Rainbow Dash were flying around, chit-chatting. Feeling proud of his deed once again, he continued on. That is, until the two noticed him and flew down to see him. "Hey, Ben!" Twilight said with a smile.

"Hello. I see your enjoying your wings?" Ben responded, smiling back.

"Sure am. Rainbow Dash has been helping me use them effectively. Isn't that right?"

"Sure is. By the way, Ben, it's pretty awesome that you can do that kind of stuff. Heck, it may be almost as awesome as me. Almost."

Rainbow Dash's pride was bound to show itself sometime.

"Yeah, I suppose it is..." Ben added, continuing on his way before Rainbow Dash stopped him.

"Say, does that kind of stuff work the other way around? Like, you could give me a horn?"

"Well, sure. Of course, you'd have to learn how to use it. But yeah, I could do it."

"Well... would you mind doing that to me?"

Ben thought about it for a moment, visualizing Rainbow Dash donning a horn on her forehead. "Sure, why not?"

Rainbow Dash flew in a circle of excitement before landing in front of Ben. "Alrighty, do it."

"Gladly."

Ben rubbed his hands together before placing them over Dash's closed wings, and started to focus. Not too long after, her wings started to glow a light green, as did Ben's eyes. Ten seconds passed before the wings disappeared in light green sparkles. "Aye, this feels weird, being an earth pony now. Now I know what Applejack goes through every day." Rainbow Dash remarked.

Twilight giggled, and soon after Ben made a fist, cupped his other hand around it, planted it on Dash's forehead, and concentrated once more. Once more, his eyes turned light green, and soon after, a light green figure appeared on her forehead. Ten seconds passed, and he released his hands, revealing a cyan horn nestled on Rainbow Dash's forehead.

"Oh, wow! This is so awesome!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed before making her trademark face.

"I'm sure it is. Now, I have business to attend to. Why don't you and Twilight head inside so you can learn stuff, Rainbow?"

Rainbow Dash nodded before heading off with the purple unicorn, erm, I mean pegasus, into the library, side-by-side, with Twilight's purple wing draped over Dash's back. If Ben didn't know better, he'd say that they're marefriends.

The train ride to Canterlot was a lot more lonely now that the others weren't there. All he got instead were the stares from other ponies he didn't know. He also noticed the sun was setting. Had it really been that long? Or did he just sleep in at Fluttershy's cottage? Nonetheless, it was a long time. By the time Ben had arrived in Canterlot, the moon was up in the sky. The walk through the capital city was just as lonely as the train ride to it. All the high-class snobs made him sick. One of these days, Ben thought to himself, I'm going to come back here all sneaky and such, and steal some stuff. That'll show them. As Ben approached the doors to the castle, he was confronted by two navy blue pegasi donning guard armor. "You must be Ben." They calmly spoke. "Princess Luna has been expecting you. Come with us."

Ben did as he was told, and walked through the long, wide halls, keeping pace with the pair of guards. Eventually, they stopped in front of a black door. "This is Princess Luna's room. She should be inside. Go on in." They stated, still using the calm tone that Ben found unsettling.

The guard at the door, a unicorn, levitated a key from his satchel into the keyhole and turned it, unlocking the door. Ben turned the knob and opened the door before walking inside. As he walked in, he heard the door shut behind him, and saw Princess Luna standing before him. "A pleasure to meet you, Ben." She said, smiling.

"Erm, yeah. Nice to meet you, too." Ben responded, still uneasy about the whole situation.

"Come. Sit down." Luna offered before walking over to a pair of rather nice-looking chairs, and sitting on one.

Ben followed her and sat in the second chair, slightly surprised by how comfy it was. "So, why'd you invite me here?"

"Oh, I just figured I'd get to know you better, since I was sleeping during your first visit. Celestia told me about it later that day."

"I suppose that makes sense. So what do ya want to know?"

"Firstly," Luna said with an upbeat tone, "Celestia told me you have magical abilities. Would you mind showing me some? I'm quite intrigued by the fact that you have magical abilities."

"Uhh, okay..." Ben replied, thinking of a spell. He decided that he'd use an Invisibility spell to start things off. He readied the dark blue cube in his hand, and casted it, disappearing in a blackish blue poof.

"Impressive. Me and Tia could never master invisibility. We would only end up becoming partially invisible, or translucent, if you will."

"You must be talking about a Chameleon spell."

"Oh? What's that?"

"Well, it's like Invisibility, only you aren't completely invisible. On the other hand, you can do stuff without that effect wearing off."

"Ah, I see. Anything else?"

"Certainly."

Ben thought of another spell to use, this time deciding on a Command spell. Since he didn't know whether to use Command Creature or Command Humanoid, he decided to use the latter and hope for the best. He readied a yellow orb in his hand and casted it at Luna. She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth as if fighting an internal struggle before opening her eyes to reveal slightly dilated irises and a calm expression. "Erm, Luna?" Ben asked. "Stand up, and walk over there." Ben pointed at a corner of the room.

Complying, Luna sat up, and walked over to said corner. "Wow, I can't believe that worked." Ben remarked.

After a little bit, Luna snapped out of it, shaking her head before returning to normal. "Wh... What happened?"

"Oh, I casted a Command spell on you. Pretty neat, huh?

"Yes, quite." Luna replied, holding her head with one hoof as she walked back to her seat.

"Anything else you'd like to know?"

"No, no. That's quite alright." Luna replied. "Secondly, I'd like to kn-"

Luna stopped mid-sentence and began to stare at Ben with slightly dilated eyes once more, only this time it wasn't because of a spell. "Erm, you alright?" Ben asked, rubbing his chin.

"You... You're a... a..."

"A what?" Ben asked, still rubbing his chin.

"A... vampire..."

"No, Dashie, you have to concentrate!"

Twilight was trying to teach Rainbow Dash how to teleport, and so far she was having no luck. "Aye, this magic stuff sure is hard. Harder than flying, that's for sure." the cyan pegasus, erm, unicorn, remarked.

"Alright, try again."

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and started to focus once more. Her newly aquired horn started glowing with a sky blue hue, and after a while started to sparkle. Dash kept her concentration, her horn still glowing with magical energy. Then, after a few seconds, she disappeared from sight, and reappeared a few feet away. "Woo! I did it!" She shouted with joy.

"Indeed you did, Rainbow. Indeed you did." Twilight added, smiling. "Now, try giving me a mustache."

"My word, I can't believe it. After all these years, I finally catch glimpse of another vampire. Not only that, you're a... erm... human, was it? Yeah. Anyway, I haven't seen one of you in a thousand years."

Ben was taken aback by the fact that vampires existed in Equestria, even if long ago. "Are they still around?" He asked.

"No, I'm afraid not." Luna replied with a glum expression. "If you'd like, I can tell you the whole story."

"Sure, why not?"

Luna cleared her throat before beginning. "Okay. It was about a thousand or so years ago. Everything in the land was at peace. Then, one day, one of my worshipers - yes, I had worshipers back then, don't ask - came to me and asked for great power. I was reluctant to do so, mainly because I had no idea what to give. After contemplating the idea, I came up with a solution. I told him I would give him the power he desired, but at a price. He would have a mortal weakness to sunlight, and he would have to suck the blood of the living to keep it at bay. He agreed, ignorant of the long-term consequences, and I used my divine powers to turn him into a creature of the night - a vampire. He left, and I had a nagging feeling that it wouldn't end well. It didn't. After 5 years, he came back, saying that some of his victims became vampires as well. I had a feeling that it was a bad omen, but after I went into my 'nobody appreciates the night' phase, I found that vampires did indeed enjoy being out during the night, mainly because they were allergic to sunlight, so to speak. I relished the opportunity to have someone appreciate what I do."

"But eventually, Tia heard of the stories of ponies breaking into other ponies' homes at night and biting their necks, and turned on me. She told me to fix it, or she'd fix it herself. Of course, I wasn't about to let her take away the only people who cared about my work, and I got into a debate with her about it that lasted quite some time. During that time, she sent word to the entire kingdom to be on the lookout for vampires. After a heated argument which lasted for days, Tia decided to take action. She stripped me of my control over the moon, and kept the sun in the sky for a whole year. She said it was to make sure none of them survived. Well, she was almost right. On the first night after I regained my power, I heard somepony climb in through the window. Turns out, he was a vampire. He had a savage look in his eyes, like he hadn't fed in a long time. Turns out, that was the case. He had hid in a cave during the "Year of the Sun" along with some of his fellow vampires, but they ended up going mad with hunger and ran out into the sun, only to be burned alive. He begged me to let him feed on me, but I refused. He lunged at me, unable to control himself, and ended to dying in a rather "unique" fashion - stabbed by my horn. He fell to the ground, bleeding all over the floor, begging me to help him. I wanted to, I really did, but I knew that if I did, Tia would most likely punish me again. It was dreadful watching him reach out to me for help, slowly bleeding to death on the floor. The guards took his corpse from my room, and I couldn't sleep at all the next day."

Ben was taken aback by the story. "My, that sounds... really sad..." He remarked.

"Yes... It is." Luna replied, lowering her head.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Luna raised her head up again. "By the way, how do you survive standing out in the sun?"

"Well, I've gotten used to it over the years." Ben answered, shrugging.

Luna nodded before pondering again. After a few more seconds, she perked up. "That reminds me. You haven't fed in quite some time. What are you going to do about it?"

Ben rubbed his chin in thought. "I suppose I'll have to feed on one of you."

"I suppose you'll have to. But be warned: My sister has most likely revived the anti-vampire propaganda since I've returned, so watch yourself. I hope you're good at stealth, because it'll be next to impossible to talk someone into letting you feed on them."

Ben nodded, thinking of who'd be a good candidate for some bloodsucking. After a while of deducting, he decided that Twilight would be the best choice. "Well, thanks for the advice and the story. I think I'll be off."

"But it's late. Why don't you stay here?" Luna asked with a puzzled face.

"Sounds nice, but I think I'll try out my new Jump spell."

"Jump spell?"

"Yeah. It's totally fun. Watch."

Ben walked over the window, opened it, and climbed onto the balcony. He readied a pink cube in his hand, and after he made sure Luna was watching, casted it. All seemed normal, until he jumped. When he did that, he flew away, leaving a surprised Luna behind. She shut the window after a moment of thought and turned around to see a scroll on her bed tied with red ribbon.

Ben landed conveniently outside Twilight's house, and then contemplated on how to get in. Front door, or balcony? Balcony. Not wasting a moment of time, Ben started scaling Twilight's house. Questioning his sudden grasp of tree climbing, he reached the balcony and looked inside. Twilight was sleeping in her bed, with Rainbow Dash in the guest bed. Placing his hand on the knob, and readying an invisibility spell in his free hand, Ben tried the door. Luckily, Twilight didn't lock it. He crept in, now invisible, and approached Twilight. He took every step carefully, because if he woke either of them, he'd have to do some fast talking. Before he knew it, Ben was beside Twilight's bed. His invisibility spell wore off as Ben leaned over her head, ready to pounce. All of his efforts (what little there were) lead up to this moment. He opened his mouth, approached Twilight's neck, and sunk his fangs into it. Not long after he did that, Twilight slightly opened one eye, and looked down to see who it was. "Ben, what are you..."

What followed was a blood-curdling scream heard all over town.