Section Three: The Originals

by demonbaker

Rating: mature
Tags: Adventure, Violence, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, DJ P0N-3, Dark, Death, Original Character, Mystery, Rainbow Dash
Length: 7749

With Nightmare gone her control over her progeny is no more, the vampires who remained hidden now find they don't have to listen to the will of their creator.

The Sections of Harmony have many different roles, among them is general peacekeeping, in a world without crime the average pony isn't equipped to deal with such things as a Vampire invasion.

It's started small, only a single town has fallen, but as news spreads, a new threat to Harmony surfaces: The Originals, the ponies first Turned by Nightmare moon.

At the end of the last story, Dash was let in on a secret she wasn't supposed to know, Pinkie Is a Werewolf

What will come of this revelation? will she simply have her memory wiped? Who can say, as pawns move across the board, it might not be enough for Twilight to handle it herself.

Published 2020-10-14 04:30:01 UTC
Last updated 2022-04-18 18:08:12 UTC

Secrets and lies

Dash was currently bound to a chair in the golden oaks library. Twilight simply paced back and forth, a frown on her face. Diane was Eyeing up Dash like she was a piece of meat, and Spike was nervously fidgeting in the corner, trying to read a comic book but he’d been on the same page for ten minutes.

“So...we going to talk about this?”

Dash’s gaze was locked on Diane, her eyes moving from the teeth to the hair and back on an infinite loop.

“No.” Twilight had answered the same way every time as she waited for the decree, usually, Celestia was prompt with inquiry’s like this, it was a simple request for a memory spell, the paperwork was already done, and Twilight had a standing order to wipe any memories she saw fit.

The letter to Celestia was supposed to be a formality, followed up by a prompt reply.

There was not a prompt reply this time.

Twilight looked over to Dash, she felt a bit bad from wiping her memory, but ponies have an instinctual fear of predators, Dash was more tolerant than most, but the way her gaze lingered on Diane’s red teeth showed that she was feeling it.

A belch came from Spike, vaporizing his comic and materializing a scroll.

“Finally, even I was starting to get annoyed, now we can get back on track.” Twilight opened the scroll, just to confirm that she got permission as she prepared the spell.

Permission Denied under code 1 clause 1.A-

Now that that was settled a simple tweak to the memory spell to adjust for passed time...

Wait.

Blinking a few times she looked back to the scroll, her spell fizzling away as it dissipated into harmless mana.

“Denied? Wha..but… Werewolves are a class A secret, same as Vampires, but arguably more thorny of an issue. Why was it denied?”

She reads further.

Permission Denied under code 1 clause 1.A

While your initial reaction was correct, after conversing with my sister a fair bit, we believe that Dash can be of use to you in your mission, she’s shown remarkable tolerance toward carnivores in the past, see the report on Gilda.

Taking into account her abilities, we believe she could be an asset, as well as an experiment on whether we should remove the restrictions on data about Werewolves, this latest issue is proving more of a hassle than we previously believed possible, vampirism is slowly becoming common knowledge in isolated pockets to see the effects. (Cadence’s idea, please don’t call another Eclipse in response)

We are aware that Rainbow Dash does not have formal combat training, but reports show she’s a quick learner, her combat strength is still an issue though, and with such powerful foes ahead you are being given permission for something that is arriving as soon as it gets my sister’s stamp.

“Permission? A simple memory spell would fix this whole issue!” The sudden urge to rip up the scroll is interrupted by another belch.

A second scroll came from Spike, this one with Luna’s seal on it.

Her irritation increasing by the minute she opened this scroll a bit rougher than she was supposed to, tearing a bit of parchment away when she improperly broke the seal.

Permission to Turn Rainbow Dash into a vampire is granted, while we believe this should be done as a last resort, Rainbow may need the power boost. (also, from the reports we have, she may be very receptive to the transformation.)

As for a cure, the curse is tricky and was designed not to be reversed, progress is slow, and of course, it would be fatal if used on you anyway.

If this is done, there is little chance she can be turned back, even if she is your progeny. The effects of mine and my sister’s blood on the curse is still being researched.

As always, use your best judgment.

-La Lune

Luna

Twilight simply sits down, the shock stopping her mental faculties for a moment.

“OOOOh, looks like we got something spicy…” Diane smiles from over Twilights’ shoulder. “Seems the memory spell request was denied, and on top of that…”

With a swagger that was very much not Pinkie pie Diane approaches Dash and gives her a predatory smile. “Seems Luna approved of a transformation… tell me Dashie, would you prefer to be a werewolf…” She leans in, close to Dash’s ear, and causes the pegasus to shiver.

“Or a Vampire?”

“What?!”

The expression on Dash’s face goes through a gamut of emotions, excitement, fear, hope…

Diane was momentarily forgotten. “You know how many times I’ve asked for this?”

Twilight sighed, massaging her temples with her hooves. “Fifteen times. Six on the first night four directly, two indirectly. Four the following night. After the initial large number of requests, it slowed down to about one a day, mostly indirectly. I could call one of the agents to submit the full observation report if you like.”

Dash simply stared, her mouth open in shock.

She eventually collected herself enough to reply. “I expected it to be much higher, and I don’t need the reports…” It was still taking her some time to process that she’s still being watched, even after becoming Twilight’s friend.

After thinking for a few moments she got an idea and smiled. “Director Twilight sparkle, I formally request to become a vampire.”

“Deni-” Twilight stopped herself, her gaze flickering to the scroll, it’s blue royal seal still intact.
She doesn’t answer for several moments, the longer she took, the more Dash was trying to give her puppy dog eyes.

Not that it would factor into Twilights’ decision, but she couldn’t think of anything else to try.

Moving closer Twilight stared into Dash’s eyes, her voice deadly serious. “Progress on a cure is slow, and there’s little chance you can ever go back to being a pony. You’re going to become a predator in a society that doesn’t accept them, you’re going to be tempted constantly to give into your baser desires, Vampires are a weapon. One designed to win a war. Heck, the only weapon that would be worse is a werewolf.”

She gestured toward Diane. “Werewolves were a two-pronged attack, once infected the curse doesn’t manifest for awhile, and when it does you go into a frenzy and kill everything around you to feed your new hunger for meat. And it’s pony meat specifically too.”

Twilight rose to her full height. “Rainbow Dash. Do you accept this curse? There is no going bac-”

“Yes.” Dash’s expression started out full of wonder, but now it’s simply confident, with a tinge of defiance too.”

“You’re going to regret this, sooner than you think I imagine.”

Before Dash could reply, Twilight vanished from her sight, soon a familiar pain in her neck caused her to gasp. She looked down and saw Twilight latched onto her neck, in the perfect position to drink her blood with every heartbeat.

This isn’t so bad...the feeling is starting already too….

It takes several moments before the panic set in. Wait...she’s not stopping...is she…

Right. Vampires are dead. Even though she tried to accept this, her heart still started hammering faster, and faster, her survival instincts fighting furiously against the sense of peace Twilight’s bite was giving her.

It didn’t take any more than thirty seconds, Dash’s last breath fades and she slumps in the chair.

Twilight for her part is cursing at herself.

She had no idea what she was doing, she didn’t bother reading up on how to create a fledgling, never expecting to need this knowledge.

She hadn’t even requested the information yet, she planned to read up on this on her way to Wulfs Clan in case she needed it to save somepony.

Also, Dash was delicious. She figured her instincts would take over, and lead her from here, but nothing was forthcoming, feeding on Dash till she died was the logical choice, but her body was quickly growing cold, and no changes to speak of.

This was bad, if something wasn’t done soon, she would have just killed someone she considered a friend.

With a start, a memory was dredged up, of Celestia’s shocked expression when she found Trixie.

Twilight was beginning to understand what Celestia was going through when she saw that.

A belch from Spike broke her from her downward spiral, she didn’t even notice her fur standing on end, she snatched the scroll from the air and read it.

Procedure to turn someone into a Fledgling:

Step one, Drain the victim of blood, if they are already dead, skip this step.

Addendum: Draining somepony dry would make a vampire, but it would be a feral vampire, one without most higher functions known as a ‘bloodrager’. This process takes 12 hours, and they immediately frenzy, killing anything in their vicinity. This was designed as a ‘sleeping bomb’ for Celestia’s army, as I knew they would want to honor their dead.

Step two, Give them some of your own blood, biting your inner cheek, and giving it via mouth to mouth contact is the traditional method since True Progeny are often lovers or more than mere servants.

Slicing a hoof and using that works as well since they are dead already just a little bit in their mouth will suffice, the cursed blood will do its work on its own.

Addendum 2: This process is longer than the first one, as it’s more powerful. It takes roughly 36 hours and when they awake they have a high likelihood of frenzying as well. They will have the Thirst and will seek to quench it if possible. Strong-willed ponies have been known to resist the temptation, but never for long.

I had a feeling you might be needing this Twilight, it should work as long as you administer the blood within two and a half hours, much longer than that and they stiffen, making it difficult for the blood to spread.

I’ll send more if I remember something, it feels like I missed something, I’m looking through my notes now.

Luna

She closed the scroll and sighed, problem solved.

Also, it seems Twilight was exceedingly lucky that she stayed in the same room as her vampire. She wound up drinking some of it’s blood during her frenzy when her first ‘meal’ got his blood mixed with that of the other vampire.

If it wasn’t for that she would have had to be put down, likely by Celestia herself.

She’s not kissing Rainbow Dash though, there’s a chance that eventually she would be attracted to the Mare, but at the moment that’s not her priority, one step at a time.

Having emotions was still new to her, far too new for her to tell the difference between a platonic and a romantic relationship.

Speaking of steps... Twilight sliced a gash on her hoof with a small bit of shadow, holding the appendage to Dash’s mouth.

How much blood was appropriate? It was getting harder to think, couldn’t go wrong with more she supposed. The energy she got from Dash was already seeking an outlet, her head growing fuzzier as she simply let more and more blood drip into her mouth as she heard another Belch from Spike.

Opening this scroll…

Huh, this one is simply flat, and not rolled, almost done in haste.

Don’t give her too much blood! A few drops should be enough, the more blood you give, the stronger the progeny, and the more difficulty the new vampire will have getting used to their body!

Not to mention that your blood is already incredibly potentas it contains mine and Tia’s blood mixed into it. Two drops would be pushing it.

Twilight looked down, and Dash’s mouth was already completely full of blood, some of it was already heading down her throat.

Well, that’s an issue. She pulled her hoof back, letting her body take over and heal the wound. No matter some magic to remove the...oh, it’s already gone. Twilight even opened Dash’s mouth and she could see the blood being absorbed into her cells, it looked like tendrils of shadow as the cell walls began to change.

The longer things went on the harder it was for Twilight to think, she started to fidget, her hair standing more and more on edge.

Like static electricity.

Oh...Dash’s blood was very potent, and it was filling her with excess energy.

She needed to burn it off.

She already had a destination in mind.

Diane blinked, one-moment Twilight was here, and another there’s a note on the floor, the door’s open and she’s gone, She only noticed something was amiss when she was hit by the wind of Twilight leaving.

She’s even faster than me, and that’s saying something.

Dang it, now I’m regretting not being able to eat Dash’s delicious pegasus wings…

Pegasus wings were her favorite, just the right amount of crunch and that succulent meat...

Dang it, she just ate and now she was drooling. As she wiped her mouth something occurred to her.

“Huh….she didn’t even teleport.” She glanced down at the note and read a simple ‘Take care of Dash’ written on it.

Oh? Well then, not much you can do with a corpse, but she supposed she could have a little fun… As she approached Dash with a smirk on her face another letter pops into existence between her and Dash.

“NOT THAT KIND OF TAKE CARE!”

Shoot, she was hoping to rub that in her face later, oh well. During her deliberations, Spike had positioned himself between Her and Dash. “Shouldn’t we get her out of sunlight?”

Time’s up Diane.

What? You said I could have some extra to make up for killing our toy early.

That’s correct, you’ve had an extra hour, and while watching you tempt Twilight is entertaining, I do believe the situation calls for me.

Don’t worry, I have a feeling that Fang won’t really agree to an honorable fight, we can use that and have some...fun.

Hasn’t it been awhile since you had a partner that wouldn’t die of shock?

Fine, but I’ll want two days with him.

Acceptable.

With that discussion over, Mena’s mane began to flatten, her suggestive pose moving to a more neutral one.

Seeing this Spike sighed and began writing a letter, when he was done he turned to Mena as he sent it to Celestia. “Good to see you again, I may not agree with what you do in your Territory, but it’s better than I expected to be honest. Are you sure you’re not going to accept more work from Section Three? Twilight’s the only Omega Breaker we currently have.”

“Thanks but no thanks, while I see the value in your government policies, I’m too much of a monster to satisfy my needs without executing the ponies I break.” She smiled. “I can’t savor all those tiny little emotions as they slowly die…”

Spike shuddered as another belch erupted into green fire. He grabbed the letter from the air and took a quick read.

Sorry Spike, but Luna and I are currently reading your Comic book, we shall send it back when we’re done, the art has really improved over the years.

One moment, Twilight has arrived, oh dear, it seems she ran all the way here.

With a Sigh, Spike sat back down and looked at Dash’s corpse.

“We have a coffin to use to shield her from sunlight, Twilight had it delivered expecting to need it.” he looked around and spoke to the empty air. “ Mr black, would you mind giving me a list of Disharmonic that can be executed with minimal loss? Ones close by will suffice.

There’s no reply for a long moment until a Note appears in Spike’s claw. He looked through the list.

Lyra: illegal immigration from Seaquestria.

Bonbon: Defecting from Section Two after a ‘bugbear’ incident. (low priority, waiting for her to lead us to conspirators)

Roseluck: general hysteria, operations in town are limited because of her overreactions.

Quarrel: Griffon Spy trying to gain information on Mena. (so far Mena’s just toyed with him.)

Guarra: Quarrel’s lover that seems to be trying to gain citizenship. (awaiting approval)

Spoiled rich: Too ambitious, typical class C social climber, awaiting Celestia’s verdict.

Spike folded the letter and made a decision. “Bring Roseluck here, make sure she’s not dehydrated, she needs to survive at least 36 hours without food or water.”

~~~~~

Twilight wasn’t out of breath, as vampires don’t feel fatigue the same way others do, but she had used up most of the blood that she got from Dash. her mind was clearer and it was much easier for her to think.

“Sorry, Dash’s blood was rather potent, I had to burn off the energy.”

Celestia and Luna were looking at her, a comic book between them, Luna looked understanding but Celestia’s was just surprised, the trail of a letter being sent leaving the room

“I...may have gotten your message too late Luna, I gave Dash about two mouthfuls of blood before I stopped, and It was hard to remove it when I couldn’t think, it kinda just...vanished on me.

Luna sighed, rubbing her brow for a moment with a hoof. “It can’t be helped then, her transformation’s going to be rather difficult to adjust to, make sure she has some fresh blood when she wakes up, I estimate…..” She tapped her chin with a hoof. “Roughly 24 hours before she’ll need to feed, in her state I don’t expect the one she feeds from to survive, Cut off the head and burn the body after she’s finished, so we don’t have a Bloodrager on our hooves to deal with too.

Twilight nodded. “Noted, should probably get her into someplace dark for the time being, I think I have a spare coffin at the library I didn’t end up using, normal beds are...difficult to adjust to after so many centuries.”

A bark of laughter escaped Luna’s lips. “You actually slept in a coffin for nine hundred years?! Usually, vampires simply move underground after a decade of using coffins, while they are meant to feel at home inside a coffin, they eventually succumb to claustrophobia and stop at some point.”

Twilight almost looked embarrassed. “I...didn’t have much reason to do otherwise, and after running Section Three for so long, it seemed like I was fulfilling a role.” She looked sideways for a bit. “Though, it did help to keep the staff in line, when your boss is a vampire, gives her words more weight.”

Celestia simply smiled. “Come, since you’re here, could you explain who the mane-iac is based on? I find it oddly similar to my own mane, though I’ve never had quite as much control over it as Lulu.”

“Sister! Not when we have company! Or would you rather I do something to embarrass you, Tia?”

Celestia laughed again. “I wouldn’t mind it at all, see how she puffs up her cheeks when angry? It truly has been too long.”

~~~~~

By the time Spike had moved Dash into Twilight's spare coffin Roseluck had been delivered to the library, along with a rather Irate Twilight.

“Special Operative Spike Sparkle.”

Hearing his full name and title Spike stiffened. Mena simply snickered, her expression moved quickly from bored to interested.

“Why am I getting reports that you ordered around EIS personnel? You are a Special Operative and have no official duties in any of the sections. You overstep your bounds.”

Spike held up his claws in a placating gesture “I know, I’m hoping to prove my worth, and give me an official position some time, just...look over my decisions before you veto them.”

At this Twilight paused, getting a note from somewhere. She frowned as her eyes roam over the parchment. She looked from the list of Disharmonic and back to Roseluck, the pony was very much still conscious and seemed to realize they were in danger. A muffled “The horror!” came from her gagged mouth.

“I deem your choices acceptable, and according to Luna, Rainbow will need some help getting used to her body.” She looked at the open air. “Make the preparations, I want Roseluck’s stand removed and all requisite memories wiped, Roseluck is Erased.”

A “Confirmed.” Came from the empty air, and Twilight lifted Roseluck into the air, her magic slightly different than before, containing a blue sheen to it instead of the usual crimson.

The terrified earth pony’s last view was of Dash’s corpse resting in the coffin. With a soft thud, the lid is closed and bound with magic.

~~~~~

Roseluck’s day was going horribly. Not only did she find a bent stem on a premiere rose, but she was also bound and gagged and dragged to that new mare’s house.

Try as she might, Roseluck couldn’t struggle, and nopony seemed to be noticing that she’s being dragged through town right next to them.

Screaming hasn’t worked, flailing is next.

No, that didn’t work either.

What other options are there? She’s never even heard of somepony being captured against their will before.

Is there a word for that? It feels like there should be a word for that.

No, nevermind. No reason to have a word for something that’s so infrequent.

Wonder what’s going to happen.

A tense discussion with Twilight and that purple dragon and Roseluck is shoved into a coffin with Rainbow Dash.

A very dead Rainbow Dash.

Her skin was cold, she still smelled like ozone.

It was too much, Roseluck passed out.

Sometime later she came to, the coffin was moving like it was being carried somewhere.

Ugh, She can still feel the cold form of Dash pressing against her, how long has it been? Is she just going to die like Dash inside this coffin? If so, why was it so small. It’s clearly meant for one pony.

Ugh, something is uncomfortable, she wiggled a bit, getting one of Dash’s wings to twitch from the sensation.

Wait.

Did...did Dash just move?

Did a corpse just move?

She passed out again.

She was getting tired of this, it felt like a lot of time had passed. Her throat was becoming dry.

At least Dash stopped moving a moment ago, felt like she was waking up from something.

“Roseluck? Why are you…”

How Dash could tell it was her was not at the forefront of her mind at the moment.

Dash moved a bit, trying to escape but only ended up crushing Roseluck, at her pained yelp She stopped.

“Sorry!”

Dash stopped moving, but now she seemed to be sniffing the air.

“Why do you smell so…” Roseluck could hear her lick her lips.

“Oh...”

Dash went quiet for a moment, still sniffing. Rosluck’s scent was absolutely intoxicating, she knew what her body wanted, the dryness in her throat being overpowered by a feeling deep within her chest.

“I’m… I’m sorry. I...I can’t.” the urge was getting stronger and stronger, did ponies really smell this good to Twilight?

Dash moved her head, driven by instinct to Rosluck’s neck, the terrified ponies heartbeat pounding in Dash’s ears.

Warning bells were ringing in Roseluck’s head, her heart hammered in her chest, trying to give her the energy to escape or fight the danger.

“Please, I can hear your heart. It’s too tempting. I don’t want to….” That was a lie. Dash had never wanted anything more in her entire life, her mouth was dry, and she knew exactly what would fix that.

Does Twilight live with this? She should have listened...” This was meant to be romantic, like the stories she kept in a hidden box under her bed.

By this point Roselucks' senses had well and truly left her, she was thrashing, trying to get out.

Out of this coffin, out of this situation.

A whispered. “I’m sorry.” Is the last thing she heard, a pain in her neck shocking her into going still.

Just a little, I’ve never been so thirsty in my life. Why does this taste so good? One more and I’m done, just a bit more.

She tastes like roses.

She’s getting weak, her heart is slowing down, I have to stop, this is the last one.

Wait, I didn't appreciate it enough, one more...

Why can’t I stop? I know what will happen if I continue, but I can’t stop.

Come on, you hold a life in your hooves, back off! Stop drinking this delicious blood and back off!

Good, you’ve slowed the pulling of blood, now pull back.

With all her willpower Dash tried to stop, to open her jaws and stop pulling blood into it

Her body refused to let her.

I should have listened to Twilight.

I was an idiot.

Roseluck stopped breathing to Dash’s internal screams.

Soon after the heartbeat was gone.

Dash never expected she’d ever kill someone.

Now she wished her memory was wiped instead of living with this knowledge.

Some undetermined time later the coffin is opened, Stars coming into view above, framing Luna’s moon.

She was still clutching Roseluck’s body, Dash’s coat had darkened, her ears growing longer and more tuft, her wings were no longer feathered, now looking batlike, the coffin was littered with her shed feathers.

She hadn’t even felt them falling out, she was too preoccupied with what she’d done.

Her magenta eyes now shown bright crimson, normally she wouldn’t have been able to see in such darkness, but she could see Twilight’s understanding expression clearly.

She could also see Rosluck when she was in the coffin.

Could see her dead eyes, still frozen in fear.

An aura grabbed Roseluck, Dash tried to hold on to her, feeling protective but with a clever twist and a pull Twilight successfully freed the body, a hum of magic later and Roseluck’s head fell to the ground with a soft thud.

Dash had drunk every last drop of her blood, nothing even dripped from the severed head.

To Dash’s shock, the body was then set aflame, burning to nothing but cinders in a matter of moments.

“Wha…”

This was wrong, she needed to be treated with respect. She didn’t deserve this!

“I’m sorry, but it’s to prevent her from rising as a bloodrager. Or would you rather have a feral Vampire killing and drinking with utter abandon?”

“Well no…” Dash knew all too well the strength of the desire now, even after killing Roseluck, the hunger’s still there, gnawing at her from the inside. “It’s just….”

“Don’t worry about it, Preparations are already underway to Erase Roseluck, do you wish for me to wipe your memories of her as well?”

This was worse, not only did Dash fail to control herself and kill somepony, she’s not going to be punished in the slightest.

She was regretting thinking she wanted to forget now, it would mean nobody would ever remember her. Wait...

Thinking about it, it seemed like it was expected that she’d kill this pony. “Did you know?”

Twilight nodded. “Yes, we went through a list of Disharmonic and decided this was the best option to preserve Harmony. You needed blood to finish the transformation and sustain yourself. Win-win. Roseluck was going to be erased at some point I believe, though the decision was still being worked on. I ask one more time, do you wish for your memory to be wiped as well.”

Twilight was serious, she also wasn’t lying to her. Dash wasn’t sure about how things were being run, but she couldn’t deny that Harmony was best.

It still felt wrong. “No, It was a wake-up call, a lesson to keep control. Even if everyone forgets her, I do want to remember, I didn’t know her well, but I didn’t dislike her.”

Dash looked down at the ashes that were once a pony. “Is...it wrong to say she was delicious? I had no idea how strong the urge was, I can still remember the taste…”

“Yes and no, everypony tastes different from my experience, for example, you tasted like bottled lightning Rainbow.”

“Please, just call me Dash, I think we’re way past first names at this point.”

“I’m not so sure about that...Dash, we’ve got a lot of work to do to get you into fighting shape before our meeting in two weeks, You’ll find I can be a very strict taskmaster.”

Behind Twilight Dash saw a grin on Pinkie’s face.

A very unfriendly grin.

This was going to hurt.

Author's Note

Seemed appropriate to post this in spooky month.

I had originally not intended to post this until the story was completed, but seeing as I stupidly worked on this instead of Ancient Twilight I didn't want peeps to think I wasn't doing anything.

not to get too personal, but having ADHD is a bitch, it's difficult to finish something, especially when it's something I wanted to do myself, this is to all those peeps who wanted more after then end of Section three.

The basic plot of this story, Section three: Originals and Section Three: Insanity Unleashed are basically done, the rest is to just finish writing them I suppose.

I rolled a d20 to decide if I should upload tonight. 'high is upload'

nat 20. lucky you.

No Pain no Gain

Author's Note

I'm going to be honest, I forgot about this story until someone favorited it recently. which reminded me I had part of a chapter written over a year ago. some digging later I Found a mostly complete chapter. a bit of time tweaking it later and here we are! Voila!

IN unrelated news, I've started a Patreon. it's mainly for Ancient Twilight but if you feel like supporting me you can go there. if you wind up sending some money my way, tell me in dm's or in discord which story you'd like your perks to apply to.

No Pain no Gain

The sound of hooves moving on dirt filled the small clearing.

It didn’t start as a clearing, but a newly turned Vampire and a Werewolf is hardly a recipe that avoids collateral damage.

In a matter of moments a soft “Oof.” echoed out as Mena, once again pinned Dash to the ground, her bored expression subtly changing to a smile.

“Do ponies truly not know how to fight anymore?” A glance at Twilight who was watching intently elicited a shrug.

Dash’s muffled voice came from below the pink pony resting on her back. “What was that?” Mena’s bored tone takes on a slight edge, never once rising in volume.

The shift in tone caused Dash’s snarky reply to die in her throat.

She’s lost limbs too many times already, she doesn’t need to go through it again.

“Nothing.”

“That’s what I thought.”

That was the worst part, she never raised her voice. Over the past few days, Dash had come to learn a few things.

The first is that her friend ‘Pinkie’ wasn’t the only one inside that messed up head, there were a few more.

There was Diana, the lusty one. Dash got a small shiver remembering her scant few interactions with the horny bitch.

There was, of course, Pinkie, but she seemed a little down about something.

Though the one she’d had the most interaction with, was Mena. The self-proclaimed second-oldest.

And a monster in the truest sense of the word.

With nothing better to do while she was pinned Dash thought back to the first time, she asked why Mena called herself a monster.

“Because I am.” she replied matter of factly.

Mena’s bored expression grew intense, her eyes shining faintly with joy. “I enjoy the hunt, the thrill of my prey as it fights for its life, but more than that, I enjoy breaking them.”

Her eyes turned wistful as if remembering something fondly. “Everyone has masks they wear, one they wear to the world so that they fit into society.”

She inspected her hoof for a moment before continuing.

“Then there’s the one beneath that they show to close friends and sometimes family.”

“There’s another one made up of all the lies and denial that they tell themselves. Everyone wants to be a ‘good pony’ and they delude themselves into thinking that they are. What I truly want to see is that final mask removed, revealing the deepest, darkest parts of their souls.”

She absently played with a knife, where she got them is anypony’s guess.

“When they understand, finally, the scope of their situation, they give into their inner darkness. They scream, they rage, they cry. I get to savor all those tiny little emotions they go through.” Mena looked at her reflection in the blade, one blue eye showing beneath her flat pink hair.

“Each pony reacts differently in their own unique way. And when I finally see their soul laid bare...I kill them.

When Dash blanched at that she looked at her, oddly intense energy shining in her blue eyes.

“I see them for who they truly are, that’s special Little Dashy. Beneath all the lies they tell themselves. All their delusions of being ‘normal’” she practically spat the word ‘normal’ out as if it was venom.

“It brings me closer than I can ever be to somepony, I was a monster before I became a werewolf, the transformation simply cemented what was already there.”

“And before you ask, I eat them when I’m done. I do still have to survive, and my diet is very different. Similar to yours actually.

At some point during this recollection, Mena had released the Vampire and was now doing some minor stretches.

Figures fighting with dash wasn’t even a warmup.

Dash for her part simply lay on the ground, not moving much at all.

With a shock, she realized she forgot to breathe again, followed immediately by the realization she doesn’t need to anymore.

It was weird, the internal silence of her body, nothing moved without her will, you get used to something for so long and when it’s gone you just feel odd.

And cold, though she was getting used to that.

Also thirsty. But that was less from being dead, and more from being undead.

“I don’t get it, all I’ve been doing so far is…” She glanced at the pink werewolf, realizing that she wasn’t even transformed and Dash still couldn’t handle her.

Dash felt she had no chance she could win against her at all. Usually, when she loses something, she has a feeling of how much she needs to work to win the next time.

She didn’t feel she had a chance period against Mena…

“Why am I only fighting against Pinkie?” The name caused Mena’s ear to twitch a bit. “Surely I would gain more experience learning from multiple teachers.” Dash’s defiant expression locked onto Twilight's dispassionate eyes.

“Fine.” Twilight stood up and lit her horn, Dash went to rise but suddenly found herself on the ground again.

Telekinesis? Or maybe gravity magic, surely if I just push...oh.

Looking down it appeared all of Dash’s limbs had been severed cleanly from her body, only her head remained attached to her torso.

“Care for a rematch? I’m sure I could dice you a bit finer next time.”

“Point taken.”

If it was at all possible, she was years, maybe centuries away from beating Pinkie.

She was millennia away from fighting Twilight.

In an effort to stall for time Dash asked a question.

“Who would win between you two? Surely one of you is stronger.”

“I would” They both said in unison.

Mena sneered at Twilight. “I’m older, therefore wiser.”

“By a decade. You spent most of that time being abused in your pack, hardly training now, is it? Meanwhile, I was being taught by Celestia since I was discovered. You didn’t know her back then, a better warrior I’ve never seen. Even sparing with Luna gave me the impression that without her hatred she would have easily lost to Celestia.”

“Please, The Sunbitch is hardly a warrior, the only thing I can see her training is her large moon.”

And that was it. One moment Mena was there, the next she wasn’t, only a furious Twilight looking up at the sky.

Oh great, it seemed she sparked a fight. Maybe observing it will give her some insight at least.

About thirty seconds later Mena reappeared, it took a few moments to realize what was wrong, but half of her coat seemed to be frozen, while on the other side of her body the hairs were blackened like coal. It took a few moments but the ground slowly started to accumulate burnt hair as the damaged ones were replaced at an alarming speed.

When her body had recovered she glared at Twilight with undisguised irritation. “Space, really? That’s just cruel.” With that, she pointed a hoof at Twilight, an amulet around her neck shining with a bright pink aura.

Wait, since when did Pinkie have a necklace?

Even more important, did pinkie just...teleport Twilight?

A few things begin to make sense to Dash, the realization that pinkie can use magic hitting her hard. Her mind ran back to moments in the past that she had just written off as ‘Pinkie Pie Weirdness’ now gaining new context with the knowledge magic was involved.

But how?

“She has a soulgem, it’s crude ancient magic that rips your soul out and forges it into a small stone, most go insane simply from the pain of such an act. It’s both her biggest defense and her greatest weakness.”

Well, that answers that, wait...who said that.

Dash tried to look around but couldn’t see anything with her limited view. She does hear two new heartbeats nearby though.

The sound of the more panicked of the two made her mouth go dry.

Enough procrastinating, she hated this part, willing limbs to reattach was tedious, and always left her feeling hungrier than before.

Slowly she calmed herself, feeling the blood inside her body stretch out to her limbs. (luckily Twilight left them quite close)

With a force of will, she pulled them back together and sighed. She rose to her hooves, glancing down she confirmed that there was no sign they were even cut in the first place.

Telekinesis was dangerous, the cuts are so much finer than a knife…

As Dash slowly turned around her red eyes pierced into the night in the direction she could hear the heartbeats coming from.

With a start, she recognized a familiar face, and a less familiar face bound and gagged on the ground behind the first.

The distinctive blue mane and sunglasses of Vinyl Scratch stood before her.

Huh, she had a pulse, which meant she couldn’t be a vampire, there’s one theory out the window.

Also, her headphones were removed from her head, exposing her tuft ears.

Wait...they look similar to Dash’s new ears…

Vinyl opened her mouth as if speaking but instead of any sound coming out it felt like her voice echoed inside Dash’s head.

“I’m part Thestral, my eyes, ears, and voicebox are all that of a batpony. Most can’t hear me unless they have ultrasensitive hearing like a vampire or a werewolf.” She gestured toward her headphones, which were hanging around her neck. “My ears are also incredibly sensitive, so I typically have magical headphones to block out other sounds. It also helps with spying for the EIS since ponies assume I can’t hear them.”

“My magic is unique in that it lets me alter sound itself. I can simply pick up conversations by feeling the vibrations of the air with my magic.”

She looked around, frowning. “I was supposed to meet with Director Twilight, who was also supposed to have explained this before I arrived...but it appears that They are fighting yet again.”

Dash is having a real hard time ignoring the bound pony behind Vinyl, she’d not really had any blood since her run-in with Roseluck….Twilight tried to give her a blood bag but it was just…

It just felt wrong, shouldn’t that blood go to a pony who needed it?

She could still remember the flavor of Roseluck on her tongue, it was so warm it seemed to fill the emptiness she felt inside.

Huh, this taste is different from what she remembered, with a start she realized she was clamped on the other ponies neck, lapping up the blood flowing into her mouth.

She tried, she really did to release the pony, but her body stubbornly refused her orders, continuing to fill a hole, that she was starting to think was bottomless.

Without warning, Dash found she was once again picking herself up off the ground. She blinked and looked confused for a moment, before taking one last swallow of the blood in her mouth.

“I was warned of this by Lun. You’re going to need to fight those urges Rainbow Dash. You weren’t meant to get so much of the divine blood during your transformation.”

Realizing what happened Dash looked for the pony she was feeding on earlier to find they were still breathing.

Dash went to sigh in relief but had no air in her lungs, causing her to blanch at the unfamiliar sensation.

“If you can resist the urges approach again. You need to lick the wound closed otherwise he’s going to bleed out.”

Dash nodded, moving toward the pony but the surroundings blurred and she slammed into the tree behind….him. It smelled like a male.

The tree for its part slowly split and began falling to the ground with a huge crash.

“Ow.”

A sigh filled the newfound stillness in the clearing. “Fledglings, stay still, I’ll bring him to you.”

Wordlessly Vinyl floated over the pony to Rainbow, who leaned in and licked his neck and backed up before the taste hit her tongue.

It worked, and the puncture marks begin to go away, the thin trail of blood leaking from his wound stopping.

Now that she was actually thinking a bit clearer she looked at the pony.

Male, blue coloring… a distinctive blue and yellow flight suit that she didn’t notice at first, being distracted by both his heartbeat and that lovely neck… wait.

“Is that bucking Soarin? I just nearly killed a wonderbolt?”

“Consider him on ‘community service’ duty for the foreseeable future.”

Dash gulped. (which had the side effect of reminding him how he tasted.)

“I should mention that you shouldn’t be at fault for your failure to release him, I was well aware of the difficulty you’d have before I brought a pony near you. Had you ever considered why you were being trained in the forest of all places?”

Vinyl was far more eloquent than Dash would have guessed from what she’d seen of the mare, but that could all be a ‘cover’ for all she knew.

“Yes, I had a lot of time to think about such things, especially considering my first is now a pile of ashes over there.” Dash’s faded blue hoof pointed in a direction she often found herself staring at.

She caught herself before saying that Twilight was lucky not to have emotions, one it was patently false, especially after what happened to her during the Summer Sun Celebration.

It was also petty.

Speaking of petty, the fight between Twilight and Pinkie was reaching a fever pitch, they seemed to have come to a ‘no magic’ rule and were simply trading blows with each other.

Usually, when this happened Dash couldn’t keep up, but this time she didn’t even have to think about following the moves, she simply could.

Without guidance, her eyes took it all in, the shifting of their weight, the fact that though each blow looked soft they would likely break most bones in the average ponies body.

“So you’ve noticed. The more you feed the stronger you become, you probably weren’t aware that you were actually starving. The Goddess's blood inside you would keep you alive for quite a while in that state, but your power wouldn’t increase by much, in fact as time went on you were getting weaker.”

“Don’t worry too much about being able to beat them, your pride will recover once you fight someone…not so well trained. And you will catch up to them in time, give it a few centuries.”

Right. She was immortal now.

“Oh Buck, how am I going to visit Fluttershy now? I don’t want to rampage around her animals, and she herself must smell…”

If Dash could blush, she would be bright red.

“Nevermind.”

Vinyl for her part simply stifled a chuckle before silently putting her headphones on.

Pinkie and Twilight looked quite tired, and it was of course now that she noticed they were surrounded.

For a bunch of Wolves, they sure could be quiet.

“Pink One! We have heeded your summons, what does an ancient wnt with our pack?!”

As one, both Twilight and Mena turn toward a large wolf emerging from the pack around them. He was easily twice the size of Pinkie when she was transformed. His shaggy grey hair ended in white tips moving in an unseen wind, a prominent scar on his face showing off a missing eye, the other one yellow and full of ferocity.

Mena’s blue eyes showed no emotion, not even bothering to acknowledge the fact that she was covered in slow healing bruises and a broken hoof that was in the process of stitching itself back together. “Fang, we have come to talk about a mutual enemy.”

The big wolf huffs in annoyance, his voice coming out less loud, but still deep enough to make dash’s chest feel the vibrations.

“Let me rephrase.” Slowly he approached and stared down PInkie, his voice coming out in a snarl.

“Why the fuck did you come. Ancients like us cannot move without great cause. Already the other packs are whispering about what could cause this.”

Mena’s reply silenced the entire clearing.

“Don’t put us on the same level Fang, or you’re other eye is going to follow its brother into my stomach.”

Shit, this was going to be a fight.

Wait.

With a shock, something occurred to Dash.

The other pack was waiting for this. They didn’t show up now randomly, they were waiting for Twilight and Pinkie to be tired.

Well, shit.

With a howl, the other wolves rushed in.

The next moments were nothing but fur and teeth.