Nocturnals

Canterlot, Sunrise

It was supposed to be a normal day for Moondancer. Spending time with her friends, studying in the library, something like that. She was gathering everything she needed for the day when there was a knock on the door. She went to see who was bothering her that early in the morning. To her surprise, it was Pinkie Pie, so she opened the door. “Good Morning, Pinkie Pie.”

“Good Morning, Moondancer! Can I come in for a moment?”

“Sure, I can spare some minutes,” Moondancer let Pinkie in and closed the door behind her, “So, what’s up?”

“Do you happen to know something about treating vampire bites?”

That question threw Moondancer off for a moment. “Depends on the kind of vampire you’re talking about. Different authors include different methods. Do you want to know how it’s done in a specific story, or just in general?”

Pinkie shook her head and unusually seriously said, “I’m not talking about stories. I meant, have you ever read about a real treatment?”

“You mean, for real vampires? In our world? Why would you need something like that? Vampires are just a myth, aren’t they?”

“You must promise me to never tell anypony what I’m about to tell you, ok?”

“I promise,” Moondancer said nervously. “I won’t tell a single soul. So, would you please tell already?”

Pinkie Pie took a deep breath. “A vampire has broken into the Castle and bitten Princess Celestia and if we don’t find a cure in the next two days she will turn into a vampire and we can’t just tell anypony what’s going on since that could cause panic and now Twilight fills in for Celestia while the others try to find a cure. And since we know each other Twilight thought it might help if I ask you.”

“You’re serious about that?”

“I am!”

“Wow, that really is a problem… Why did Twilight think that I might be able to help?”

“I dunno. Maybe because you read as much as she does? I didn’t ask. So, can you help?”

Moondancer had to think about it for a moment. “I think I actually remember reading something about that. In an old alchemy book.”

“You did? Great! So, where is it?”

“Somewhere in here. I just need to get it,” said Moondancer. There goes my normal day. “Here it is.” She went through the pages until she found the right page. “‘Potion in case of vampire bite’. The recipe isn’t complicated. I should have the ingredients here.”

“Perfect—” Pinkie bounced around her “—we can save the Princess!”

“Maybe. I can’t say if that potion will actually work. And it will take me a while to brew it. So it would be better if the others still try to find something else. Would be a tragedy if my potion fails and there’s too little time left to try anything else. We shouldn’t put all our trust into one alchemy book.”

Pinkie stopped bouncing. “I guess you’re right.”

“Where are the others?”

“Searching the library. Why?”

“Can you go help the others? I will brew the potion and meet you there, but I need silence when I do it. The amounts the different ingredients need to be very specific. It will take me a few hours, but I should be able to make it before noon.”

Pinkie agreed to Moondancer’s suggestion and left. As soon as Pinkie was out of sight, Moondancer locked the door and closed the curtains. Her friends would know that she had something important to do. She had become a better friend, but still was often so absorbed into a new thing she learned that she couldn’t take the time to meet with them. Rarely, but it still happened.

But this was a really complicated situation now. A vampire attacked the Princess, she thought. If the word about that spreads, ponies will be paranoid. What if they start hunting vampires? Pinkie didn’t seem to find it suspicious that I just so happen to know the recipe for the potion, which is good, but the others mind find it odd.

It could also be a chance. No use hiding our existence if everypony knows we are real. But given the circumstances, now could be the worst time to reveal ourselves. I have to warn the others to be extremely careful.

Luna was starting to get really annoyed. She paced around the room. “I can’t believe it, Tia! You were attacked, bitten by a vampire, and you still work? Didn’t the doctor order you to rest?”

“I’m resting,” Celestia replied.

“You’re doing paperwork! You should lie in a bed!”

“The same can be said about you. You’re using magic to keep going right now. Don’t you remember how dangerous that is?”

“I can live with a headache.”

“And I can handle some paperwork.”

Luna sighed.

Celestia continued, “and Twilight covers for my public duties really well, which is a relief.”

“I would say she manages it better than I did—” Luna chuckled “—but that’s hardly a surprise.”

“You never were the type for that kind of thing. But anyway, I’m sure this will all be over soon. They will find out how to cure me, if it’s even necessary. Who knows, maybe White lied and he’s only a maniac with pointy teeth.”

“Always the optimist, aren’t you? Some things never change, it seems.” Luna stopped pacing and came closer to her sister, looking at the documents on the desk. “What are you writing anyway?”

“Orders, diplomatic letters… Some rumors are already spreading, ponies are worried. I will give an official statement when this—” Tia waved with her bandaged hoof “—is taken care of. For now, I can only tell everypony that there is no reason to be afraid.”

“And what if there is? When he isn’t lying and we don’t find a cure?”

“Then we will figure something out. We’ve dealt with worse. If Sombra or Discord or Tirek can’t take us down, then a lonely vampire won’t be our demise either.”

“I hope you’re right.” Luna went to look out a window. There were some white clouds in the sky, so it wasn’t too bright outside, despite the fact that the sun had almost reached its highest point. But nopony seemed to bother, and Canterlot was as busy as always, with ponies entering and leaving the library, populating the marketplaces, arriving or leaving the trainstation, and generally taking care of their normal business.

“It’s a shame that Nightmare Night isn’t celebrated in Canterlot. It is quite amusing, despite it’s fixation on my… unpleasant side. Amusement is something this city could badly use,” Luna said.

“You’re preaching to the choir here, sister. The most ‘amusing’ thing that happens here all year is the Grand Galloping Gala. Appart from Hearth's Warming, of course. Around that time, even the high society warms up a little bit… with emphasis on ‘little bit’.”

“I don’t think you could expect more than that. Everything with a rank, and the desire to let everypony know about said rank, lives here. And they would think of such things as silly.”

“They simply value other things in life more than others.” Celestia put her quill down, rubbed her eyes and said absently, “Could you close the curtains?”

“Of course.” Luna closed them with her magic. They weren’t completely blocking the sun, so the room was still bright enough to see everything, just a little bit dimmer, and without direct sunlight.

“Thanks, the sun kept hurting my eyes. Now I can concentrate again—” Celestia looked at Luna “—Why are you staring at me with that shocked expression?”

“Did you just say that you’re eyes were hurting… because of the sun?” Luna asked hesitantly.

“I… I did. That’s not normal.”

“No, definitely not!”

Celestia turned to her letters again and continued writing. She said to Luna, “It just annoyed me... I could stand it. Or just wear sunglasses. That would solve it.”

“So we now have a Princess of the Sun that can’t stand the sun… Even Discord couldn’t come up with that.” Luna sat down in frustration, holding her head with her hooves.

The sound of a teleportation spell made Luna look up. As expected, Twilight paid them yet another visit. A mare with a yellowish coat stood behind her, but Luna didn’t notice her. She said with frustration, “I hope you came to tell us something interesting this time. My dear sister just refused to be the least bit concerned!”

Twilight grinned with excitement. “Actually, I have great news! We found a possible cure!”

“I told you there was no need to worry,” Celestia said without looking up.

Luna angrily glanced at Celestia for a moment, before she addressed Twilight again. “What do you mean with ‘possible’? Did you find one or not?”

“Well, my old friend Moondancer found a recipe in an alchemy book and successfully brewed the potion, but she isn’t sure if it works. And she requested to give Celestia the potion personally to see its effects...”

“Then bring her in already!” Luna shouted

“I’m already here, Your Highness” the other visitor said with a bow.

Luna turned to her and asked, “You are Moondancer, then? And you have a solution for our problem?”

“Yes,” Moondancer answered. She levitated a light blue potion from her bag and presented it to Luna. “That should heal her, but the recipe isn’t meant for alicorns, so I’m not guaranteeing anything.”

“You’re efforts are appreciated one way or another,” Celestia said. She walked over to the others and took the potion.

Moondancer bowed before Celestia and said, “Thank you, Your Highness. You just have to drink the whole flask. But I would advise you to sit down before you do so. It could have some…side effects, but I don’t want to worry you.”

Celestia grabbed the potion with her magic and drank it. After she put the flask down, Luna asked her, “Do you feel anything, Tia?”

“No, not really. I feel the same as always. It probably just takes a while until...ouch!” Celestia groaned. She raised her right hoof a few inches of the ground. “Why didn’t I realize that the wound is so painful!”

Twilight could only look at her mentor in shock, while Luna turned to Moondancer. “What did you give my sister?”

Moondancer fearfully stepped back a few steps and said, “J… Just the healing potion. Her reaction only means that it works!”

Luna was sceptical. What healing potion causes pain? Without the royal canterlot voice, but still with a commanding tone, she asked Moondancer, “Explain yourself. Why does it prove that your potion works?”

“When a pony is bitten by a vampire and starts turning into one, that numbs the pain... The process makes it so that the victim doesn’t feel any pain… It would cause too many problems for them otherwise… At least that’s what it said in a book I found. The wound just has to heal properly, but she’s not turning into a vampire anymore.”

“Then I thank you for your help, Moondancer,” Luna said.

“I’m glad that I could help, your Highness.”

“Please, you can call us Luna.”

Finally, Twilight recovered from her shock and rushed to Celestia. “Princess Celestia, are you alright? Should I call for the doctors? Do you need help? I can just teleport and—”

Celestia waved her hoof to make Twilight calm down and said, “It’s alright, Twilight. That can wait a few minutes, and I had to deal with worse inquiries in the past. But first”—Celestia limped to Moondancer— “I want to thank you too, Moondancer. You saved my life, and for that you deserve a reward.”

“As I said, I’m just happy that I could help, Princess Celestia.”

Dusk

“Only a few more hours, then I can sleep.” Luna was talking to herself again while she waited in the tower overlooking Canterlot. The time to raise the moon and guard the ponies’ dreams was almost there. “I just hope that it will be a quiet night… I’m too tired to fight off nightmares tonight… Well, then I could just shut down the dreams. A dreamless night is better than a nightmare, I guess.

“And thanks to Moondancer, we know have the recipe to make more vampire-cure if necessary. But I must say, it was awfully convenient that she just so happened to find it in the first book she checked…”

When the last sunlight was gone, Luna stepped on the balcony and raised the moon. Most ponies went to sleep soon, and so Canterlot went silent for the night.

Luna took a deep breath and entered the dream realm. All seemed peaceful, there were no obvious nightmares anywhere. Celestia didn’t dream at all, but that wasn’t worrisome. Tia learned how to shield herself against dreams shortly after her battle, and Luna could understand why her sister would still use it from time to time. It is the easiest way to safely avoid nightmares, after all.

Since there was nothing else to do, Luna decided to look for Moondancer’s dream. She wanted to ask her how it was possible for Moondancer to just find a cure. It could have been a lucky coincidence, but she wanted to have proof. And—if nothing else—Luna could show her gratitude with a nice dream.

Moondancer was asleep, but she didn’t dream, so Luna created one where the both of them were standing in the middle of the Canterlot Archives. Luna watched as Moondancer looked around her in awe. Many ponies in Canterlot would give a lot for the chance to enter the Archives, but sadly, Luna was only able to show Moondancer a reflection. Not because Moondancer wouldn’t deserve it, but because Luna simply didn’t read them. Even she couldn’t show things in dreams she didn’t know.

Eventually, Moondancer found Luna. Her enthusiasm left and she said, “Princess Luna, it’s a pleasure to see you again. But if you’re here, then that means I’m dreaming, right?”

“That is correct. I figured this location would be quite enjoyable for you. And even though it’s just a dream right now, granting you access in the wake world seems like a reasonable reward. But that’s not the reason I’m visiting you.”

“And what”—Moondancer asked—“is it then?”

“I wanted to ask if there is anything about you that I should know. It is quite the coincidence that you knew the cure, especially considering that nopony had known about the existence of vampires before the attack. I promise, if you tell me the truth, I won’t do you any harm.”

Moondancer thought about her answer for a few moments. Luna was about to lose her patience, but Moondancer said with a weak voice, “You wouldn’t believe that I was just lucky?”

“Obviously not anymore,” Luna said unamused.

Moondancer sighed, “I thought so… Well, since there is no other real option left, I might as well tell you the truth. I knew the recipe because—” Moondancer’s ears took on a bat-like appearance and her eyes became the same shade of red her mane was “— I am a vampire.”

“I will honor my promise and not harm you, so explain it to me! Why did you help us? Why do you know the cure and why did you not use it on yourself?”

“There are multiple reasons I helped your sister. I was born here and was a citizen of Canterlot my entire life, so of course I would do everything to help my princess.

“But admittedly, that was not the only reason. You see, we vampires, for the most part, don’t want to do anypony harm, let alone drink their blood like the one who attacked Celestia did. We just want to live peacefully. But if Celestia would have turned into a vampire or, even worse, would have died because of a vampire, the ponies of Equestria would let out their anger on all of us, and I couldn’t let that happen.

“The reason I know the cure is simple. Despite our best efforts, some ponies still think that we are all heartless monsters that all deserve to die. If they attack us, or we get in a dangerous situation by sheer bad luck, or we bite somepony for any reason, we can’t let them turn into vampires. On the one hoof, it would be wrong to make anypony one of us against their will. And on the other hoof, as I said, it would cause anger and fear among the ponies. So we all know how to make the cure, or where to get it if we don’t have the means of making it ourselves, for cases like that, in order to assure peace.

“And the reason I didn’t use it myself is that it doesn’t work on vampires, only on infected. And even if I could use it, I wouldn’t. I was born a vampire, I never knew another life, so how could I desire it?”

Luna was pleased with her honesty. But there was something left she still wanted to ask. “You said you were born a vampire, but Tia was becoming one because of the bite… And vampires are said to have an extremely long live, some stories go so far as to describe your kind as ageless or immortal. How old are you and how much truth is in the stories?”

“I understand the confusion. A vampire can either be born like me or is created after a pony has been bitten. And the bitten ones are indeed ageless from the moment their transformation is completed, but we born ones age normally until we’re completely grown up, and then only age really slowly. But none of us are truly immortal—we can all be killed. And I’m exactly as old as I claim to be.”

“You answered all the questions I have for now. Do you want to tell me anything else before I leave?”

“Yes. Please, don’t tell anypony what I am. I don’t want to risk losing my friends. Of course you can tell Celestia if you need to, but nopony else. Not even Twilight.” Luna attempted to answer, but Moondancer continued before she had the chance. “And I know the ponies want answers and that rumors are spreading, and that they deserve answers, but please be careful with what you tell them. I don’t want to be the cause of a new wave of hatred against my kind.”