Stories

Twilight groaned slightly as she awoke. She didn't want to open her eyes, she didn't even want to move.

She felt exhausted.

"Miss Sparkle?" A deep, rumbling voice inquired.

THAT caused Twilight's eyes to snap open as she sat up rather abruptly. Almost immediately she regretted doing so. The muscles in her back tensed painfully, causing her to fall back to the bed she was in.

Wait... BED?!!! A DEEP VOICE?! WHERE THE BUCK AM I?!!!

Her eyes darted around, taking in her surroundings. She was in Princess Luna's room... On her bed. She almost started to relax until she saw a massive lunar stallion, even bigger than Big Mac, approaching her.

"Stay back!" Twilight shouted as she scrambled along the bed, instinctively trying to back away from the large stallion.

Looking up, she saw that the stallion had stopped and was looking at her with a perplexed expression.

"If you keep doing that, you're going to hurt your wings." The large stallion said, nodding towards her.

"M-my... WHAT NOW?!" Twilight asked, shell-shocked.

Chancing a look behind her, she saw that she indeed had wings. Experimentally extending one out, she studied it. The tips of her primaries were a solid black, while the rest of the feathers matched her lavender coat in color. She had heard that some pegasi liked to dye the tips of their primaries black but had only seen it in a few of the fashion magazines Rarity had made her look at once. It seemed as though her wings were naturally like this and as such... rather beautiful.

How odd... She thought to herself before looking back at the guard who was now walking towards the doors.

"So who are you? Why isn't Princess Luna or Princess Celestia here?"

"My name is Orpheus. I'm Captain of Princess Luna's Elite Guard. Princess Luna is in Night Court right now and Celestia went to bed. She's been having trouble getting sleep the last few days from what I hear." The hulking guardspony said before sticking his head out the oaken double doors, sending one of the other guards to deliver the message of Twilight's awakening to the princess.

"Captain? I thought Dark Wind was captain of the Lunar Guard."

"Yea, well..." Orpheus said nonchalantly as he closed the doors. "While it is true that Dark Wind is the Captain of the Lunar Guard, just as your brother Shining Armor is Captain of the Solar Guard. Both Celestia and Luna have Elite Guard's that, while having the same goal of keeping the princesses safe, aren't a part of the respective "regular" guards. We're what you would call "off the grid."

"So... bodyguards?"

At this the large stallion chuckled heartily.

"No, more like special forces. We receive special training that the normal guard doesn't get. That, and with Luna's guard, we're like The Princess and yourself."

"Meaning??" Twilight asked perplexed.

At this the guard merely exposed his fangs, causing Twilight's eyes to go wide.

"Oh..." She said softly.

"Yea... I was actually Captain of the Night Guard back before Luna was banished to the moon." The stallion said, a hint of nostalgia playing in his deep voice. "I feel like I was just a colt back then."

"Yes you were Orpheus. Quite a cute colt at that time too if I recall." Luna said giggling as she silently walked through the doors.

"Milady! That's hardly appropriate." The large stallion said in an almost reproachful tone as a smile crossed his features.

Luna stuck her tongue out at him as she rolled her eyes in response before she turned to Twilight.

"How do you feel?"

"Tired. That and pretty sore around my... wings." Twilight said, sitting up slightly and extending a wing.

"You seem to be taking the new additions well." Luna said with a chuckle.

"As well as I can I suppose. How did I get wings anyways?!" Twilight asked, her voice strained as she conveyed her confusion and discomfort.

"I'm not sure, though I think it may have something to do with the fact that you fed off of me."

At this, the lunar stallion's expression changed entirely. The smile left his face as his eyes grew wide, his gaze moving from Twilight to Luna and back again.

"I-is that... not normal?" Twilight asked apprehensively, seeing that Orpheus was now looking solely at her, his expression unchanged.

"Well... Aside from one pony, a long time ago, you are the only pony to have ever fed from me Twilight." Luna replied.

"Oh..." Twilight whispered in a Fluttershy-soft tone.

"Indeed. Can you walk Twilight?" Luna asked her, changing the subject abruptly.

"I think so." Twilight said as she slowly tried to roll out of bed, only to have the muscles in her back spasm again, causing her to wince and fall back into the bed.

"I guess not then." Luna said before casting a quick glance over to the guardspony behind her before looking back at Twilight.

With a nod of her head in the direction of the doors, Luna gave Orpheus an unspoken order.

"Orpheus."

"Yes, Milady."

The stallion understood her silent command and went out the doors, only to return a few short minutes later with a light blue earth pony mare following silently behind him. Her blond mane fell loosely around her shoulders as she came to stop beside the princess.

"Lily, please tend to Twilight Sparkle." The lunar regent said, casting a smile at the mare who returned the gesture with a nod.

"We will await your arrival in the throne room." Luna said to Twilight with a smile. As she made to leave, she gestured for Orpheus to follow. After they silently closed the doors, Orpheus cracked a smirk at the princess.

"Cute, huh?"

Princess Luna's cheeks tinged red as she cast him a wistful glance.

"Oh, shut if Orpheus!"

Both chuckled as they walked towards the throne room.

Looking to the pony on the other side of the room, Twilight smiled and offered a friendly, albeit nervous, greeting to the mare.

"Hello."

"Hello." The older mare gently echoed with a soft smile on her face.

For some time after that, silence permeated the room as neither moved nor spoke. Finally, after what seemed like hours passed, the mare in front of her spoke.

"Well, Princess Luna told me to tend to you. What can I do for you Miss Twilight?"

"Oh... just Twilight please."

"Okay then, "Just Twilight", what can I do for you?" Her tone stayed cheerful as she playfully inquired as to Twilight's needs.

"I... I don't know." Twilight said as she looked down. In truth, she did know. Even as she stood across from her, Twilight could hear Lily's heartbeat and felt the same powerful desire to feed she had just before she had fed on Luna. If only slightly less powerful than before.

A small sigh brought Twilight's gaze back up to the mare before her. She was walking towards the bed shaking her head slightly.

"It's okay deary. I know why I was brought here. There's really only one reason that big hunk of lunar stallion ever comes and gets me. Most of the time, I actually have the pleasure of just dealing with Luna."

Looking into Twilight's eyes and giving her a caring smile, she said something she knew would likely shock the young mare before her.

"I know you need to feed."

Twilight's eyes went wide as she took in what the other mare had said.

"How... I-" She started to stammer. The mare in front of her silenced her with a raised hoof, the warm smile still on her face.

"Like I said, it's okay. I'm what you would call 'in the know' about such things." She said as she hopped up onto the bed.

"Wait... are you a vampony too?" Twilight asked apprehensively, only to receive a chuckle in response.

"Hehe, no. Not that it wasn't offered to me. After seeing some of the memories that Luna carries though..." She paused for an instant before continuing. "I realized that I didn't want to live forever." A tinge of sadness played through the mares voice at that statement.

"So then... wait, if you're not a vampony... how do you know? Who are you?"

Again, her questions were given a chuckle before she was answered.

"Well, My name is Lily Joy Meadows. I'm Princess Luna's personal florist, I specialize in nocturnal plants, including the Moonflower and the Midnight Lily. That's how I got my cutie mark."

Looking to the other mare's flank, she noticed that there was indeed a Midnight Lily that matched its owners namesake.

"That still doesn't tell me how you know about vamponies though." Twilight said as she brought her eyes back to those of the mare now next to her. She could still hear the mares heart beating in her chest. Her mouth started to water as she fought back the urge to pounce on the mare before her.

"True, well that one is actually a bit of a story." The mare said, leaning back against the plush pillows and relaxing in spite of Twilight's obvious nervousness.

"Basically, I was in Luna's "sanctuary" putting up a few arrangements when out of nowhere Orpheus booms my name out. Scared the hell out of me! I nearly dropped all of my bouquets! He just up and 'LILY MEADOWS, PRINCESS LUNA REQUESTS YOUR PRESENCE IN HER CHAMBERS.'" The mare said, trying to imitate the stallion's deep voice. That caused Twilight to chuckle and relax a bit.

"Anyways," Lily continued. "We walk to Luna's room and I'm wondering the whole time whether I had done something wrong, whether I was getting fired. When we get there, he just opens the door and gestures for me to go in. By now I just know I'm getting fired. Imagine my surprise when I see Princess Luna sitting on the edge of her bed, holding one of my bouquets and smiling! It was so... weird. Seems like it was only yesterday." Lily said as she recalled the whole incident.

"Princess Luna!" Lily said, bowing respectfully. One didn't become one of the castle's florists without learning respect.

"Rise, Lily Meadows." Luna said with a smile.

Rising, but keeping her head bowed to the princess before her, Lily spoke out of habit.

"To what do I owe the honor of you summoning me Princess?"

"Come, would please join me?" Luna replied, skirting her question entirely.

Looking up, Lily saw Luna was walking towards the open glass doors to her balcony. Casting a glance over her shoulder, Luna beckoned her again.

"Please? It's a lovely night. I should know, I made it." A smile crossed her lips as she looked up at her night sky.

Slowly, tentatively, the young mare approached her princess. Casting her gaze up to the stars, she saw a beautiful sight. Shooting stars were streaking across the sky as the full moon cast its pale light upon the gardens below her. Looking across the gardens, she saw the Moonflowers blooming as well as many other flowers that she herself had planted. It was a breathtaking spectacle.

"It is beautiful, is it not?" Luna asked, looking at the young florist with a smile.

"It is Princess... very much so." Lily replied, smiling back at Luna.

For a time, neither mare spoke. They just gazed up at the stars or down on the gardens, taking in the beautiful sight few would see.

"Come, I wish to speak with you." Luna said, turning to walk back into the room. Immediately, Lily's fears of losing her job resurfaced, causing her hesitate as she walked into the room.

Levitating the bouquet to a water-filled vase and shutting the balcony doors, Luna turned to look at the mare before her.

"How long have you been working in the palace?" Luna asked nonchalantly.

"Three years now Your Majesty."

"Please, just Luna will do." The princess said with a smile.

"Okay... Luna." Lily said hesitantly.

"So, three years? I've noticed quite a few of your bouquets in the sanctuary and in the night court."

"Well... I'm not the only florist who makes the bouquets for the night court Your Maje-"

"Luna." The princess preemptively corrected. "And true though that may be, your arrangements always stand out to me. You always use the Midnight Lily in your creations. That has always been one of my favorite night-blooming flowers." Luna said with a smile.

Lily's breath caught in her throat. The Princess of the Moon had noticed her creations!

"How did you know they were mine?"

"I asked a few of the other florists who made the arrangements. They all said it had been you when I mentioned the Midnight Lily's, which is why I've called you here tonight. I wish to ask you something."

"Please, by all means, ask away." Lily said earnestly, gesturing with a hoof.

"Lily Meadows, I request that you become my personal florist. Many of the places I go are restricted to most of the palace staff, including the florists. However, I wish for your creations to grace the areas that few other ponies ever see. They always seem to brighten my night. What do you say?"

Lily was dumbstruck. She had been fearing losing her job, now she was being offered the chance to be Princess Luna's PERSONAL FLORIST! Shaking her head to snap herself out of her reverie, Lily was beaming as she responded.

"I say yes! I would be honored to be your personal florist Luna."

"Excellent!!"

"I worked without knowing for a while. Oh I heard a few of her elite guard make a few references that now make sense but at the time, it didn't really click. I mean, at the time, there wasn't much way you could have convinced me that vamponies existed! They were just legends right?!" Lily recounted.

Twilight was now fully enraptured in Lily's tale, her thirst, while still nagging her, was suppressed as she listened.

"How did you find out?" Twilight asked with genuine curiosity.

"Well, long story short, I walked in on Luna feeding. We had become close friends and I had gotten to the point that I would just up and waltz into her chambers about like I do now. In retrospect, I should have noticed that the guards weren't there... Oh well. Here's how that all went down."

Lily stood shocked in the doorway. Princess Luna, regent of the moon and her friend, had been sucking on the neck of... another mare?

Normally, Lily would have just quietly closed the door and let Luna explain in her own good time. She had no problems with fillyfoolers, hay, she'd even considered it a few times herself. However, in the instant Lily had walked through the door, Luna had pulled away from the mares neck. Doing so revealed two large fangs and a matching set of punctures in the other mares neck.

"Wha- I..." Lily stammered.

Remembering the mare on her bed, Luna licked the wounds and sent the mare off.

"Jade, you are dismissed."

"Yes, Luna." The other mare complied, hopping down from the bed and walking past Lily with... a... SMILE on her face?!

Lily saw Luna look down and away from her as her horn lit up. The same color aura that surrounded Luna's horn now encased the room. Looking around she saw that the walls, the doors that had closed behind her, even the windows, all now had an indigo aura about them. Even though she didn't know magic, as she was an earth pony, she knew that the room was sealed. No sound and nopony was getting through this barrier. Why would she do that? Unless she didn't want anypony to hear what happened next?

For a moment, Lily was shocked. Fear, the urge to panic ran rampant through her. Yet, she stood stock still until she whispered to the pony before her.

"Luna?"

Luna nodded solemnly and looked up. "Yes. It's still me Lily. I'm... a vampony. "Queen" of the vamponies to be exact."

"What? I-... Why are you telling me this?"

"Because... given what you just saw, and that fact that you are one of my closest friends, you deserve to know the truth."

"The truth?" Lily asked.

"Yes, the truth. The truth that I, as well as my elite guard, are all vamponies. Though many of the legends of Equestria are false, including many about the vamponies, we are indeed real." Luna said, her hesitance playing clearly across her face.

"So why not just swear me to not speak of it or wipe my memory?"

"Because, I could not ask you to do something if knowing the truth of what we are frighten you and I would NEVER tamper with your memories!"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you love your job?"

"What?" The seemingly random question had caught Lily off guard.

"Do you love your job? Do you like making arrangements for the night court? Working with the nocturnal flowers of Equestria for my elite and myself to see?"

"Yes, of course I do. Why does that matter?"

"Because if something you fear became a constant factor in your work... You would come to hate your job, your work would be affected by that, and worst of all... I would be striking fear into the hearts of one of my dearest friends. I could not, in good conscience, do that." Luna's voice broke as she hung her head.

For a while, Lily stood quietly. The thoughts racing through her mind becoming silent as she looked at Luna, who was shedding silent tears.

Taking a deep breath, Lily looked over to the princess and did something that she never would have thought about doing only moments before. She walked over to Luna, Queen of the Vamponies.

"Hey... Luna?"

Luna looked up and into Lily's eyes.

"You know, it may be a frightening prospect at first, knowing that vamponies are real. Thing is, the way I see it... If you care this much about me being frightened. I know that you care about my safety too. Besides, vamponies aren't the bloodthirsty monsters like some of the myths say... are they?" Lily said with a smile.

Wiping her eyes, Luna smiled as she stepped forward and hugged Lily. "No, they are not. While they are certainly dangerous, they will not harm you. In fact, you may eventually see them as I do."

"And how's that?"

"Like another family."

At this, Lily smiled.

"I hope so Luna... I do hope so."

"Wasn't too much longer after that, that Luna first fed from me. Her elite guard act like a bunch of teenagers despite their age. A lot of them are over a thousand years old but you wouldn't know it from how they look or act! A lot of them refer to me as 'Luna's favorite midnight snack' among other things."

Lily and Twilight both chuckled at that.

"In spite of that, they really have become like a second family to me. They've VERY protective of me and, despite the fact that they can full well take care of themselves, I'm extremely protective of them as well."

Lily looked over to Twilight, who, while smiling, was still straining to keep herself from jumping the mare before her.

"Oh dear, here I am rambling on and on and you're over there sweating bullets with thirst. Alright then deary, have at me." Lily said, exposing her neck to Twilight.

At this, Twilight started to eagerly lean in. Her breath was hot on Lily's neck just before a thought hit her and she pulled back and looked away.

"I-I can't!"

"What?" Lily said, looking at Twilight with a perplexed expression.

"I just can't... I..." Twilight whispered. Silent tears started falling before she felt Lily's comforting hoof on her shoulder.

"I... I'm becoming a monster." She continued. "This will be the second time I've fed tonight and Luna said I'd normally only have to feed once every week or so. I'm afraid I'm losing control."

"Well, pardon my saying so, but I don't think normally covers sprouting a pair of wings in a fountain of blood." Lily said softly.

Twilight's head snapped around to look Lily in the eyes as she whispered "How did you know about that?"

"I heard about it from one of the guards who had to clean up the sanctuary. Said it was a real mess in there. Besides, everyone in the palace has heard of you Twilight. You were a unicorn, now you've got wings... wasn't that hard to figure out. Only thing I picked up was the fact that getting those wings was rather... gruesome. As for you being a monster, Hah! You've saved Equestria from Nightmare Moon, Discord and now you're stepping up to the plate and taking on whatever you needed this for... Sounds to me like you're more a hero than a monster!"

For a while, Twilight just stared into Lily's eyes, thoughts rushing through her head as she started to protest.

"I can't-"

"Alright, we'll do this the 'hard way' then." Lily said as she leaned towards Twilight.

"The hard wa-AAH!!" Twilight started to say until Lily leaned down to Twilight's neck and nipped her. It was an action that had instant results. As she pulled away, Twilight heard Lily whisper.

"Drink up Twilight."

At that, Twilight didn't hesitate. She COULDN'T hesitate. Leaning over to nuzzle Lily's neck softly, she trailed her fangs slowly across the other mares neck, eliciting a small gasp from her as she shuddered in Twilight's embrace.

Feeling the mares pulse under her fangs, Twilight bit into Lily's neck. The blood that started pouring forth from the twin punctures and into her waiting mouth was very different from Luna's. This was like the scent of the Midnight Lily as a taste. Strong but subtle, it was almost as if she could smell the very fragrance of the mare's namesake in the blood she now drank.

Lily moaned and wrapped her forelegs around Twilight, pulling her in closer as she kissed Twilight's neck. Both mares took their time and relished in the moment they were having as Twilight acted off of instinct.

When Twilight's thirst had been sated, she licked the wounds and kissed it, then started trailing kisses up Lily's neck to her jaw. Eventually, Twilight found her lips on Lily's as her eyes opened.

Her eyes took in the oddly intimate sight before her. Her lips firmly planted on Lily's while said mare smirked at her with her eyes. Leaning forward, Lily returned Twilight's kiss rather forcefully for an instant before pulling away and smiling at her. It was then that a sarcastic voice drew both of their attention to the door.

"Heh, and here I thought we had somethin' special Lily."

Twilight and Lily both recognized the white unicorn leaning on the door frame.

Lily started laughing and fell back on the bed.

Twilight was confused.

"Wait, how do you two know each other?" Twilight asked Lily.

"Well-" Lily started, only to have Vinyl cut in.

"Same reason you do." Vinyl said as she let her fangs show.

Twilight facehoofed at the response as Lily's infectious laughter took hold of her as she asked herself a question out loud.

"Oh for the love of Celestia, how many ponies do I know that are secretly vamponies?!"

"Eight... actually, Nine." Vinyl said matter-of-factly.

"What?! Who?!"

"You'll find out later. Right now though, Luna's waiting on us in the throne room. She sent me because you were taking too long and she was caught up with a few things. You good to go?"

Rolling out of bed, Twilight flexed her wings experimentally.

"Those are new." Vinyl said, gesturing at her with a hoof.

"Yea... Long story. Either way, I should be good to go." Twilight said.

"Okay then, let's get going. Don't want to keep Luna waiting." Vinyl said, turning around and walking out of the door.

Twilight made to follow her but stopped short of the door and turned to look at Lily, who was still sitting on the bed.

"Thank you... for the blood and... I'm sorry... for kissing you like that." Twilight said sheepishly.

"Pfft, think nothing of it hon. Not the first time I've been kissed by a vampony like that and it probably won't be the last. Also... I'd be lying though if I said I didn't enjoy it." She said, a bit of a smirk playing on her mouth as she winked at Twilight..

Blushing a bit, Twilight thanked her again and walked out of the door. Leaving Lily alone in the room.

But only alone for an instant.

Soon after the door closed, she felt a presence in the room. Whoever it was, it was definitely a vampony.

"Who's there?" She asked aloud as she turned to look where she felt the presence. Though she wasn't a vampony, she had been around them long enough to be able to sense them.

She watched as a solid black unicorn stallion walked out of the shadows of the room. Shaking his matching black mane out of his face, he opened his ice-blue eyes and looked at Lily as he sat down and smiled.

"My name is Amaranth, and I have a message for Princess Luna." The unicorn's smooth, svelt voice danced through the room with every word.

Unlike Lily, he showed no surprise when a dozen lunar guards appeared out of the shadows and surrounded him.

Orpheus looked at the mysterious stallion with a grimace.

"You..."

Paying no mind to Orpheus, the stallion looked around and spoke.

"Hello boys... Miss me?"