The next pony Twilight had to meet was yet another potential element bearer. Her file wasn't exactly giving much hope for such a thing, however.

Umbrella floating above her Twilight made stepped into the auditorium, Rarity was in charge of decorations. When Twilight entered the room the first thing she noticed was a cream-colored earth pony giving what sounds like a fearful conversation.

“Beautiful.” Twilight looked down to notice that Spike wasn’t staring at the decorations. (which were quite nice) but was looking at the white unicorn.

Seems Spike is reaching adulthood, odd that he finds a pony of all things attractive. Could it have something to do with him being raised away from his own kind? His standards of beauty were shaped by his surroundings.

Having heard the sound of hooves entering the room the pony turned toward twilight and screams. "It's her! It's the vampire!" Rarity simply looked at Twilight and frowned, doing her best to calm down the hysterical pony, and getting a fainted mare for her troubles. After she made sure the pony didn't hurt herself when she collapsed Rarity's eyes moved to Twilight's fangs for a moment before she opened her mouth to speak.

Anything she was about to say is stopped by a glowing barrier around her. Twilight winced from a sudden headache. Finding the sensation familiar, Twilight cast a spell to shift her perception. Rarity and the earth pony were still frozen in place, but between Twilight and the two mares are a pair of unicorn stallions, both wearing tuxes, each sporting an invention made by Twilight herself.

Each wore a pair of sunglasses, enchanted with one of Twilight's unique spells. It's not quite invisibility, but it causes others to not register that someone is there. The effect is similar to situational blindness. Ponies were still aware enough to step out of your way, but the enchantment prevents them from realizing why they did so.

Twilight patiently waited for the pair of stallions to finish, She got a salute from the pair before they leave. She nodded in recognition and focused on Rarity and the formerly hysteric mare. Rarity was helping the pony up with a worried look on her face. "Roseluck, are you all right?" She hasn't seemed to have noticed Twilight yet.

"Yea, I'm fine. Just another fainting spell." The earth pony rose to her feet.

Twilight made a mental note to have EIS look into this 'Roseluck' She seemed awfully panicky and excitable. Even for a pony. A full-blown panic started by her would hardly be in keeping with Harmony.

A loud gasp brought Twilight out of her reverie. “My goodness! What happened to your mane?” Rarity was looking straight at the unicorn, her eyes wide with horror.

Did the memory alteration fail? Looking back it seemed that her hair has yet to recover from her brush with sunlight earlier, it was much shorter than it was before, looking clearly burned.

“You poor thing, don’t worry, I can fix this.”

A telekinetic field wraps around Twilight and pulled her into another room before she could think about breaking out of such a thing. Twilight’s eyes widened a bit as she realizes she’s being brought before a mirror.

Hopefully it’s not an old one, old mirrors were made with silver backing. Any chance of that being the case faded when Twilight saw the antique design of the frame. It’s obviously quite old.

Buck.

Twilight debated whether or not to call Mr. Black and Mr. White back into the room.

This whole time the white unicorn had been prattling on about how much a burned mane was a travesty.

The vampire silently waited for the moment of realization, a sleep spell gathering in her horn.

Soon enough the ponies words stopped abruptly as she noticed her guest didn’t have a reflection.

It took a few moments before the unicorn worked it out, her eyes are going from Twilight’s fangs to the umbrella floating above her and back.

“Huh. Honestly darling I had expected you to be a Stallion.”

That...was, not the reaction Twilight was expecting, she put a pause on casting the sleep spell for the time being.

This was the second pony to not freak out about learning she was a vampire. It was becoming more and more obvious that Pinkamea’s reports were incomplete.

Celesta may be right about that mare. The conflict of interest was too great, the only thing that stopped her from sending a letter to Celestia right then was the fact that Rarity had stopped talking and was holding out a book.

Fangs in the night a picture of a stallion biting a woman is on the cover. The style seems to be that of a romance novel. Wondering who breached the information blackout on vampires Twilight looks at the author’s name.

Mi Amore Cadenza

Of course. Celestia has a hard time saying no to her. Probably some halfwit plan to drip feed Vampires to the general population.

That Pink annoyance always did seem to want Twilight to get out from Section Three more.

The unicorn was looking at Twilight expectantly and it dawned on her that she missed the unicorn saying something.

“What? Sorry, I was just...surprised at your calm response.”

Rarity waves a hoof in dismissal. “Please, if you had truly came here with some ill intent you wouldn’t have done it in daylight.” She looked at the umbrella pointedly.

“I’m going to venture a guess and say that you’re the organizer sent by the Princess. And if she sent you, she must be well aware of your... condition.”

Twilight was surprised. This unicorn is far more perceptive than her file led her to believe. Her fake Canterlot accent and dramatic nature were black marks on her record. But there was more there than initial reports suggested.

If Twilight was on the fence about writing a report about Pinkie’s incomplete files before, she was now going to make sure that her conflict is resolved.

By any means necessary.

But that can wait, for now, introductions. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, and I’m here to see that the decorations are in order.” Twilight glanced toward the doorway they came from. “And from what I can tell, you’ve done a satisfactory job.” The vampire turns to leave but is stopped by an irate unicorn.

“There’s still the matter of your mane.” The unicorn glared at the burned hair as if it was the greatest crime in the world.

It was odd that it didn’t recover when she fed on Rainbow earlier. But at the time she wasn’t linking logically.

“It will recover tonight when I consume my ration, it can wait; I’ve got more work to do.” She stepped to the left to go around the unicorn but is stopped once again by a soft hoof on her shoulder.
"I told you my mane will recover later tonight when I have my blood ration. Seeing as the decorations are progressing nicely, I have more preparations to observe today."

Rarity bit her lip a bit. "Is this 'ration' somepony from town?"

Twilight pauses for a moment, trying to determine how much she should reveal.

In the end, she decided honesty was in her best interests.

"No, I have one blood bag given to me daily to keep myself performing at optimal, though this may be increased to two shortly."

Instead of letting her pass, the unicorn's expression turned to one of abject horror. Before Twilight could even start thinking about what she said wrong to upset this pony Rarity speaks again. "I will not have someone who works for Celestia existing on blood bags of all things!”

Twilight’s time table was rather rigid, and now she was on the verge of being late. "I am very busy, what are you getting at?." At this the pony bit her lip again, looking at Twilight oddly before she spoke with a soft voice. "Use me."

Twilight wasn't sure she heard that right. "Did you just offer yourself to me?" Rarity blushes at that. "I didn't mean like that...and this is hardly the romantic encounter I dreamed of, but I can't have you going all day with a mane like that. if I can help that then I will."

Twilight was dumbfounded. Considering how easy it was for Twilight to lose control earlier, this pony was risking her life, and she wasn't asking for anything in exchange.

The bizarre behavior stunned Twilight for several long moments before she started hearing a thump once again.

Seems Nightmare designed her curse so that the simple thought of drinking blood caused her hunting senses became more active. Rarity's heartbeat was a bit faster than Rainbow Dash's was earlier. Studying rarity's face it doesn't seem to be from fear, but simple excitement.

It was still very alluring.

Perhaps she agreed to it too quickly, her body seemed to move on its own. This time though she prepared herself, keeping a firm hold of her mind even as she opened her mouth, her fangs glinting in the light as she bit into Rarity's neck, causing her to give a soft gasp.

With focus, Twilight kept ahold of her instincts this time, though the rush of just pure pleasure that filled her at this moment nearly overwhelmed her faculties a second time.

The most surprising thing was the taste, where Rainbow Dash tasted like bottled lightning, This pony tasted sweet. Almost cloyingly sweet, like pure sugar in pony form.

Content to just let blood flow into her mouth this time, Twilight focused on her mane, the burnt strands growing longer and longer as she spent this precious blood to regrow the lost hair.

Rarity's heartbeat was beginning to slow, but she still made no effort to Stop Twilight. After a few more mouthfuls Twilight reluctantly licks the open wound in her mouth, swallowing down the last few drops as the punctures healed. As she stepped back Twilight took stock of Rarity, making sure there was no immediate medical attention needed.

Instead of the unicorn collapsing into a crumpled mess, this time her donor had the softest smile on her face, a faraway look in her eyes. Twilight waved a hoof in front of Rarity's face a few times, not eliciting a reaction.

Curious. Must be some sort of trance. Twilight simply waited as she observed the other ponies behavior. It took nearly a minute for Rarity to come out of her trance, but when she did the smile only widened. She looked at Twilight and smiled, an odd glint in her eyes. "Darling, the books did not do that justice. That felt simply wonderful. You don't need more do you?"

Seems that a bite from a vampire used on the wrong pony could create some sort of dependence. The fact that it was pleasurable for the victim as well as the Vampire was news to Twilight.

This warranted further study. Other vampires had previously not been seen as high-level threats to Equestria, the long silence and vanishing of the Originals letting security focus on other dangers to Harmony.

With this knowledge, it was possible that some ponies would willingly hide a Vampire as long as they could be fed from.

Twilight decided to raise the threat level of vampires by a few degrees. Resources were spread thin due to Operation Nightmare but this definitely warranted investigation.

A soft hoof on her shoulder breaks Twilight's train of thought. Realizing she never answered the question Twilight shook her head, ignoring the pleas of her body she replied. "No, I will not require more."

As the new blood joined with Dash's flowing through Twilight's body Something sweeps over her, an odd feeling. Has she fed too much today? From her early tests, the amount of blood she could consume was several times what she's already drunk. As Twilight attempted to analyze the feeling a thought occurred to her.

She should give something in return for the blood. It takes but a quick glance to the floating book before the answer occurs to her.

Though it would be tedious interacting with her again. The blood and information about vampire feeding habits she's gained more than made up for it. She waited a few moments longer, searching for a different solution one final time before she spoke. "In exchange for your...generosity When the Summer sun celebration is over, I can arrange for you to have a meeting with the author of that book. Princess Mi Amore Cadenza."

It took Rarity a few seconds to realize what she was just offered, but she claps her hooves in excitement, nearly losing her balance due to still being woozy. If she could she might have pranced around the room as well. "Yes! I would love to meet the author, a princess no less! I had no idea you were capable of such a thing, but thank you thank you thank you!"

Seeing it was now the best time to leave the pony behind and continue with her schedule she’s stopped once more, but this time it’s from a purple dragon. He still seemed enamored by the white pony, but his expression was confused.

“That’s not like you. You normally do anything to avoid Cadence. You didn’t even want what you got in the first place, I can’t quite figure out how that was a proper trade. Normally you would ask for much more for such a thing.”

Was he right? Perhaps the stresses of today were getting to her. Filing that away for later she walks past him, she had one more thing on her list.

It was time to meet the last potential element bearer.

~~~~~

Official personnel records: Section Three Spike

Authorization level Apprentice required.

Special advisor Spike Sparkle

Gender: M

Race: Purple Dragon

Clearance level: Informant

Relevant information:

Hatched from an egg by Director Sparkle, Spike was an attempt to inspire parental affection from Director sparkle. The experiment ended in failure and Spike has since been under the care of Mi Amore Cadenza. His first two years of life were with Director Sparkle, and as a result has picked up a few of her traits, and has imprinted upon her.

Additional notes: He seeks to prove himself in his ‘mother’s’ eyes, accepting almost any assignment just to spend time with her. He has since gained a similar level of deductive reasoning, and will make a wonderful intelligence agent when he is older and his body is able to handle the responsibilities of such a task.

All efforts thus far from Celestia to get Director Sparkle to mentor Spike have failed. Her interest in Spike is purely academic as it was a way to study early dragon development.

Queen’s notes:
Spike is such a wonderful dragon, any mother would surely wish their own children were as obedient and intelligent. His dragonbreath is a great way to send communication which cannot be intercepted. I do hope at some point Twilight accepts my proposal to educate him, I think he could actually handle her lessons. If only because he’ll kill himself trying to complete her courses.

Not many survive her unique method of teaching. Even fewer now that we are more in control and armed conflict is nothing but a distant memory.

Author's Note

Good news. I've got a few things planned, and I may be able to complete this story in 2 or 3 more chapters. It could always end up being longer, but for now, the plan is to get to the ending in 2. Enjoy, all you lovely ponies.

may you live in Harmony