(For those who didn't read it, I made the previous slice-of-life chapter longer with a funny interaction between Spike and Garble, so please check it out after this! You won't regret it!)

Dreadmire Academy - Homeroom

Spike had a great weekend ranking Mass Effect waifus with his brother and had just as much fun displaying the waifu superiority of Tali'Zorah vas Normandy to Garble. He now sat in homeroom reading Tali x Reader fanfics on his phone, since he didn't have any homework, when Miss Cheerilee opened the door and walked in with her usual smile.

"Good evening, class! I have some great news to share with you tonight!" she called. "Tonight, we'll be going on a class trip to the woods around the school to learn more about the wild monster communities that live around the world."

The class was abuzz with hearing that. Spike was especially interested in learning that there were monsters that lived off the grid. Anything to stay out of the eye of the Hunters, Spike supposed. Still, he was excited to see how monsters would live in the wild places of the world. And it seemed that there were monsters that lived in the same forest that held the school as well. Spike felt a nature call as he was picturing the trip in his head.

"Uh, may I use the bathroom real quick, Miss Cheerilee?" Spike asked. Miss Cheerilee smiled and even gave a small bow to him.

"Of course you can, Lord Spike," she replied.

Spike was confused about that reply, but he got up to go nonetheless. As he made his way through the halls to the bathroom, he came across Rumble on his back from the bathroom.

"Oh hey, buddy!" Rumble said. "One of the guys texted me and said that we were going to visit some of the wild monsters that live around here. You excited?"

"Yeah, but my mind's on something else right now," Spike replied.

"Is something wrong?" Rumble asked.

"Not wrong, exactly, just plain weird," Spike replied. "Ever since I got back from my family's house, the teachers have been acting differently around me."

"Different how?"

"Well, they've been treating me almost as if I were royalty. Hell, Miss Cheerilee even referred to me as Lord Spike when I asked just to use the bathroom."

"Hmm. That does sound weird. You're the school's hero and celebrity, but this does seem a bit extreme."

"That's not all. Last night, one of the lunch ladies tried to give me a whole pig for lunch."

Rumble burst out laughing when he heard that. He actually gripped his stomach and dropped to his knees.

"I'm sorry, bro. It's just... the thought of you carrying a dead pig on your lunch tray on the way to your table is hilarious!"

Spike chuckled a bit at the thought. He politely declined the pig, but the lunch lady insisted. He simply took the pig and gave it to Trixie, who was more than thankful for it. Trixie then swallowed the pig whole right in front of Spike. He had to do everything he could to try to forget that. Still, he thought it was kind of funny for him to carry around that huge pig.

Thinking back to the behaviors of the staff, even the Inquisitors started to treat him differently. Most of them bow when he passes by them and there was even one that got down on her knees and clasped her hands together and literally began to pray right in front of his eyes. It was certainly odd, but he had to focus on his full bladder screaming for relief right now. He made a mental note to investigate later and sped towards the bathroom.

*****

The Woods Outside the School

Spike was quick to join the others outside the school's gates for their little trip. The woods were deep and dark, and Spike could sense ambient Arc energy radiating from it. Regular humans wouldn't be able to notice it, but to Spike, it was like a fog. He joined Rumble and the rest of his friends as Miss Cheerilee did a head count of everyone there.

"Alright, we all seem to be here, so let's be on our way!" Miss Cheerilee said. "We may be visiting other monsters, but we should still stick together while we're in the woods."

Miss Cheerilee led the group through the woods after giving them advice. Because of how dark this forest was at night, Spike used his magic to enhance his eyesight. As they traversed the woods, Spike noticed how Miss Cheerilee seemed to be familiar with the area and he guessed that either she often frequents the forest or she lives out there. They walked until the school's towers were no longer in view and Spike felt a weird chill shooting down his spine. Spike knew he was being watched.

He shot his head around looking for the one watching him, but even with his advanced eyesight, he couldn't see anyone there. Still, he knew there was someone watching him. Spike ran back to catch up with the rest of the group, where Rarity noticed his expression.

"What's wrong, Spike?" she asked.

"I just... I can't help but get the feeling that we're being watched," Spike replied. "Ever since we got this deep in the woods, it feels like someone's watching me."

"Well, we must be entering a wild monster's territory and they must sense your high arc level," Twilight said, joining them. "It could be that they're curious about you."

"None of them are going to try to fight me, are they?" Spike asked.

"Not unless you tried to pick a fight with them," Twilight said. "Wild monsters may be wild, but they're not stupid."

"If we're already in a wild monster's territory, why haven't they tried to attack us or something?" Spike asked.

"For one thing, we're not here to eat any of the prey that may exist here and we're not looking for a fight, so we should be fine," Twilight said. "I made the mistake of feeding in a wild monster's territory once, and I found out the hard way that wild monsters don't like to share prey."

"Wait, seriously?" Rarity asked. "What happened?"

"I actually got my ass handed to me by an angry Wendigo while me and my family were visiting Michigan," Twilight replied. "I had no idea how fierce wild monsters could be until that very fight. Hell, I'm happy that Wendigo only wanted to drive me away!"

"Well, since we're here for a simple class trip, so I don't think we have anything to worry about," Rarity said.

The group came up to a pretty steep hill where there sat a primitive structure of some kind. Several large logs were stacked against each other vertically surrounding a stump that looked to be dug out in the center. It looked like someone dug through the stump and into the underground. Spike guessed that it was a monster's den. Miss Cheerilee walked up to the den and knocked on one of the logs.

"Hey, Tree Hugger! I brought my students with me and we would love to spend the day learning more about our wild brethren," Cheerilee said.

From underground, Spike could hear what sounded like claws scrabbling up the dead wood of the stump. The group saw a feminine form rise up from the underground and stand before them.

The she-monster that stood before them looked like a bizarre combination between human and plant. Her skin was mottled and colored to look like tree bark. She had bright glowing green eyes and long hair that looked like dark green vines. Her pointed ears stuck out from her head like knives, and wore a simple two-piece dress made from woven vines. The creature, "Tree Hugger" as she's apparently called, smiled at seeing the students.

"Hey, little monsters, how's it going?" Tree Hugger asked in a sleepy tone. "I heard that you wanted to learn more about us wild ones."

"Yes. Would you mind taking us on a tour of your territory?" Cheerilee asked.

"Sure, I guess. I like the good vibes your class is giving off," Tree Hugger replied. "Come on, little fawns. I'll take you to meet some of my neighbors."

Tree Hugger walked off to lead the group through the forest now. As they followed behind, Twilight was staring at Tree Hugger in awe. Spike walked next to her.

"What's got you so shocked?" Spike asked.

"Sorry. It's just that... she's a Leshen. I never thought I'd see a Leshen living here," Twilight replied.

"What's a Leshen?" Spike asked.

"Leshens are monsters native to Eastern Europe and Russia. They're known in Slavic folklore as being forest guardians, and territorial ones at that," Twilight replied. "They're pretty rare nowadays, so seeing one in person is a real treat."

This was an interesting thing to learn about. Spike looked at Tree Hugger and thought about why they may be rare, but he had a pretty good guess.

"Would the Order of Artemis have anything to do with Leshens being rare?" Spike asked.

"Yep. Because Leshens are usually territorial, they often attack or trick humans who enter their forests. That put them on the Order's radar and they began to kill any Leshens they found," Twilight said. "However, because America has vast forests and has laws protecting forests, Leshens have been making a comeback here."

"Well, that's nice to hear," Spike said.

The class continued to follow Tree Hugger though the forest, making sure not to fall too far behind. Spike was walking up one of the hills when he heard something behind him.

"Follow me"

Spike turned around and saw... no one. There wasn't anyone standing behind him, and he was now starting to feel creeped out because of this. He turned back around and his group was nowhere in sight.

"What the hell?!" he said softly. "Where'd they go? And how am I going to find them?"

"You can follow me to find your class, dear boy"

The voice caused Spike to look around again only to see no one else there. His heart was racing as he was looking around the woods around him.

"Is that a ghost? Are these woods haunted? If monsters exist, then maybe ghosts exist too, right?" Spike asked himself fearfully.

A small twig flew out of nowhere and hit Spike in the back of the head. This time, Spike channeled his magic to his speed and turned around faster than normal. This time, he caught sight of the figure that was trolling him all the while.

Standing directly behind him was a girl, one that looked younger than Spike. She was quite small and slight of build, and wore a simple black dress with no shoes. Her skin was as pale as snow and her bob-cut hair was a deep shade of crimson and her eyes were pale red. Her long pointed ears twitched forward as the claws on her feet gripped the tree branch she was perched on. Spike immediately knew that this girl was a Vampire. She gave Spike a fanged smile.

"Hello, dear boy. You must be the famed hero Spike Roman, correct?" she asked in a sweet voice.

"Yes, I am," Spike replied with caution. "Who are you?"

"I suppose that you can call me 'Lamashtu', even though I was never given an official name," the girl said.

"Very well, then. What do you want with me?" Spike asked.

"You know that there are rumors being spread about you throughout the monster community, right?" Lamashtu asked. "Not just in America, but also around the world. Monsters are even making up heroic ballads about you. I wanted to see the beloved Knight of Dreadmire for myself."

Spike was at a loss for words. Monster all around the world had now heard about him, and they were even singing ballads about him. He chuckled to himself as he thought about it.

"Well, I'm flattered to hear that monsters are singing songs about me, if slightly embarrassed," Spike said. "So, you just wanted to meet me?"

"That, and I wanted to see the boy dear Twilight is so interested in," Lamashtu replied.

Before Spike could ask about how Lamashtu knew Twilight, she zoomed over to Spike in the literal blink of an eye and gently wrapped her arms around him, bringing her mouth close to his neck. He could feel her sniffing his neck for a bit before whispering to him, her lips tapping his neck as she did so.

"You smell delightfully nostalgic, dear boy. Let's see if you taste like my beloved Twilight described," she whispered seductively.

Razor teeth sank deeply into Spike's neck before he could say anything else again. He was feeling the euphoric and weakening effects of the venom, but this felt... stronger, somehow. He felt like he was ascending to not just another planet, but another galaxy. He couldn't even muster the strength to channel his magic to heal... or do anything else. All he could do was stand there, feel a cute little vampire gulping down his blood, and get higher than a satellite off her venom. He giggled as she detached her jaws from him. She helped him sink to the ground and propped him up against a tree.

"Wow! Your blood is amazing! I see why my little pipistrelle likes you so much," Lamashtu exclaimed with a giggle. "And it looks like I was right, you do taste nostalgic. I think I'm going to make regular visits here just to get some more of your blood if that's okay."

All Spike could do was laugh and babble like a crackhead who just got his latest hit. Lamashtu laughed at his elevated state like it was the most hilarious thing ever.

"I don't think you'll have much of a problem if I come back, young man!" Lamashtu said. "Now, let's get that neck of your healed before you die."

Lamashtu bit her thumb and drew up a single drop of blood to apply to the bite wound. The wounds closed up almost instantly, but it would take a while for Spike to recover from the effects of her venom. Still, Spike seemed to be slightly more lucid now. Lamashtu sat down next to Spike and stared at him in an almost maternal way.

"To think the Allmother produced a son with a human," Lamashtu said. "Well, I'll do my best to protect you, Spike Roman. And I will admit that you're quite attractive for a pup your age."

At that, Spike's class burst through the trees and saw the display before them. Twilight made her way to the front of the group and saw Spike laying against the tree with a bloody neck.

"Spike! Are you--?!" Twilight shouted before she saw who was sitting next to him. "G-Grandmother?! When did you get here?!"

By now, Spike was lucid enough to hear what was going on. He looked to Twilight and then to Lamashtu in shock, but then his class gave a different reaction. They all dropped down to their knees and bowed. Miss Cheerilee tried to welcome Lamashtu.

"Uh, w-welcome to our school, Your Imminence!" Miss Cheerilee said in greeting. "I-I wasn't aware that the Progenitor Vampire herself would be coming here!"

"It's fine, young lady. I'm here to both do business and visit my beloved granddaughter at her prestigious school," Lamashtu said.

Spike was now in full-shock. Not only was Lamashtu Twilight's grandmother, but she was the Progenitor Vampire. That meant that she was the very first vampire ever! And she was here, right in front of Spike!

"What the hell is going on around here?!" Spike shouted in his head.

Stay tuned for more in the next chapter!

Author's Note

Fun Fact: In Mesopotamian mythology, Lamashtu is a vampiric goddess that would feed on the blood of young men, pregnant women, and children, bringing about plagues and nightmares. It's also the earliest mention we have of any vampire-like creature/being in human history at the moment.

Also, one of the folks reading this in the past asked me if I could include a loli vampire girl, and since I was planning on introducing the Progenitor Vampire at some point anyway, this felt right.