Chapters A young man was staring out at the night sky. The name of the young man was Spike Drake. He was a skinny thing with a decent bit of muscle. Being thirteen years old, he still had a fair bit of growing to do. His bright green spiky hair made him stand out among his classmates.
He always enjoyed nighttime. He enjoyed watching the stars and the changing of the moon's phases. Spike liked hearing the sounds of the bugs and frogs sounding in the dark. He loved viewing the bats flying around and eating insects. In fact, bats are Spike's favorite animal.
Recently, Spike noticed that the bat population in the area had shot up quicker than what should have been normal. Spike theorized that they must have found a large structure to serve as a roost. Then one night, as Spike was going on one of his night walks, he saw a stream of bats flying out of the old mansion's attic. It made sense that the bats chose that place as a roost, since no one has lived there for eight years.
The mansion in question, called Carnstein Manor, was built in a European Gothic style, giving off the impression of it being something out some vampire novel. Spike had never been inside the mansion himself, but he guessed that the inside looked similar to European cathedrals. He pictured halls lined with portraits of lords and ladies, a giant organ, and great chandeliers lighting a grand ballroom. The mansion had three levels from what he could see. The garden of the property was overgrown and full of weeds. Vines have been creeping up the columns outside the house for years.
The mansion was originally owned by the Carnstein Family, one of the wealthiest families in the city. No one know why the family left town, but no one has been able to buy the house since. Now it seems that the only inhabitants of the house were a colony of bats.
Spike's stargazing was interrupted by the sound of a truck driving down his street. He looked down from his bedroom window to see three big moving trucks driving down the street. And stopping before the gates of Carnstein Manor.
"Why are moving trucks driving through at this time of night? And why are they stopping at Carnstein Manor?" Spike asked himself.
Maybe someone was actually rich enough to buy the place. This also means new neighbors.
Spike's mother, Luna, would be insistent that she and him do something to welcome the new neighbors to the neighborhood. She'll probably bake cookies for them or something. She's a kind soul like that. Spike continued to observe the moving trucks to see if he could see what the new neighbors looked like.
Out of the trucks came several uniformed movers ready to get about their work. They all got to the backs of their trucks, opened up the backs, and set about their work. They were bringing out boxes of various sizes as well as a few wooden crates. The movers were going about their work at a steady pace. There was an individual among them that didn't to be one of the movers at all. Spike guessed that this must've been the buyer.
From what Spike could see, this person was female in what appeared to be her late teens. She wore a white button-up shirt that hugged her chest tightly, her C-cup breasts making Spike blush. He looked down to see that the girl was wearing black leggings, which showed her shapely legs and butt, and black boots. From what little of her face Spike could make out, she was beautiful. Her pale skin almost glowed in the light of the moon. Her purple hair held a streak of pink in it. Her ears were pointed, like an elf's. She held a clipboard and was signing off on something. Her fingers were tipped with what looked like claws.
Though beautiful, this girl had a few bizarre traits. But that didn't stop Spike from being captivated by her.
"The new neighbor's gorgeous", Spike whispered to himself.
As soon as he said that, he saw the new neighbor's head turn towards the direction of his house and seemed to look right at him! Spike instantly panicked and hid behind the side of his window.
"Did she just look at me?!" Spike whispered to himself.
Gulping, Spike risked looking outside the window again to see the girl again. When he did, he saw that she was once again talking to the movers. But after a few seconds, she looked back at him with a smirk on her face before turning her attention back to the movers.
"Who is this girl?" Spike asked.
If his mother's friendly nature was anything to go by, he supposed he'd find out in the morning.
The Next Morning at the Drake House
Spike didn't get much sleep last night. His thoughts about that mysterious new neighbor were too active to let him get off to sleep. The way she acted like she could see and hear him was too mind-boggling. How could she hear him from that distance? In the dark, too?!
The growling in Spike's stomach interrupted his thoughts about the new neighbor. Right now, he had to focus on getting breakfast. He got out of bed and shambled down the stairs like a zombie. He was so happy it was summer vacation and he didn't have school.
"Good morning, honey!" a familiar voice called to him from the kitchen.
"Morning, mom!" Spike replied.
He walked into the kitchen to be greeted by the welcome sight of his mother hard at work making breakfast.
Spike's mother, Luna, was a widely-known wildlife biologist who specialized in bats. She was a tall woman with dark blue hair, blue eyes, and could speak with a lot of authority when provoked. She was currently wearing a dark blue robe and was making breakfast.
She presented Spike with a plate of two pancakes, two eggs sunny-side-up, and three slices of bacon. Spike thanked her and eagerly ate breakfast while his mother enjoyed hers along with him.
After a few minutes of enjoying the hell out of breakfast, Luna spoke to her son.
"Hey, honey. I need you to do something for me today" Luna said.
"Sure. Anything. What do you need me to do, Mom?"
"I need you to watch the house for a few days"
"You going on another business trip, I take it?"
"Yeah. Me and the team are going to be observing Australian ghost bats to get accurate readings in their population"
"Don't worry, Mom. I'm more than capable of watching over our little roost for a few days."
"That's my boy. I left a fridge full of food, but left a little pizza money for you just in case"
"Thanks, Mom"
"Oh, and there's one other thing"
"What?"
"I need you to go and bring a batch of cookies I made this morning to the new neighbors"
Wow, Spike really hit the nail on the head with his little prediction. He looked over to see a little basket full of homemade chocolate chip cookies. Spike suddenly felt uneasy about going to the house of that mysterious new neighbor. Still, he would try his best to be welcoming to the new arrival, whoever she was.
"Okay, Mom. I'll be sure to welcome the new neighbors" Spike said.
Later That Night
Spike was walking up to the front gates of Carnstein Manor with a covered basket full of his mother's chocolate chip cookies. He waited until the sun was just about to set because it took him that long to build up the courage to even step out the door to deliver them.
His mother would've made him deliver them a lot sooner if it wasn't for the fact that she left for the airport immediately after breakfast.
As Spike walked past the strangely unlocked gates and up to the front door of the mansion, his heartbeat sped up more than he thought was possible.
Why am I getting so scared of walking up to the door? , he thought to himself.
He realized that it must've been when the new girl in the neighborhood seemingly sensed his presence. Something about that girl's gaze shook Spike down to his core. He walked up to the front doors of the manor and knocked on the doors.
After a few seconds, the doors were opened by none other than the very same girl that glanced at Spike the night before! Spike could feel his legs trembling. He was secretly hoping that this girl wouldn't open the door.
The girl in question was looking down at Spike with bright red eyes. Now that he was up-close to this girl, he realized that he only came up to her chest. She was wearing the same clothes he first saw her in. He held up the basket with trembling hands and a practiced smile.
"Hello. My name is Spike Drake, your new neighbor. Welcome to the neighborhood" Spike said.
The girl just stared down at Spike with those bright red eyes of hers. After a while, she smiled at Spike.
"Thank you for welcoming me to the neighborhood. Come on in. We should have the others join in this occasion" she said, gesturing for Spike to enter the house.
'Others'? There are others? , Spike thought. I better go along with this. I don't want to be rude .
With trepidation, Spike entered the house. He heard the sound of the door closing behind him with a resounding echo. He let the mysterious girl lead the way through the house. As they walked through the house, Spike couldn't help but marvel at the Gothic architecture used in the house's construction. There were only a few electric lights, but most of the lights came from the large amounts of candles that either stood in stands or hung from chandeliers. Just like he thought, there were several portraits of famous people or other paintings hanging from the walls. There was an ominous feeling about this place and this girl that made Spike's stomach drop and his heart feel like it was going to explode.
The girl eventually led Spike to what looked like a library and living room. It had lavish carpet and bookshelves lining the walls, a large flaming fireplace, three couches, and a wall-sized window for letting in sun or moonlight. The girl pointed to one of the couches and looked at Spike.
"Come. Sit here and wait till I get the others. They'll insist on meeting the new neighbor" the girl said before turning to leave the room.
But before she left the room, she looked back at Spike. "By the way, my name is Twilight Sparkle"
And with that, Twilight walked out of the room. Spike was left alone in that room waiting with bated breath waiting for Twilight to return with what he assumed was her family. He was wondering what her family was like.
Maybe they'll be similar to Twilight. Maybe they'll be just as scary , Spike thought.
Spike must've waited a good twenty minutes before Twilight returned to the room with more girls. They all seemed to be around Twilight's age. They were all quite attractive and had the same bright red eyes and pointed ears as Twilight. The girls all looked at Spike with almost predatory smiles.
Twilight stood before them and gestured to the girls behind her.
"Dear Spike, this is my family. Allow me to introduce them" Twilight said.
The first one she introduced was Applejack. She was tall, at least six-foot-two. Her hair was a pale blonde that shone in the candlelight. Her eyes were the same shining red as Twilight's. She wore a white button-up shirt with a red vest, cowgirl boots, and a jean skirt. Her legs and hips were rather shapely, her bust was amble being a D-cup, and her body appeared to have a healthy amount of muscle. Her cheeks had freckles.
The second girl was Pinkie Pie. She had bouncy pink hair, making her look like her hair was pink cotton candy. She was wearing what a straitjacket with torn sleeves, baggy white pants, fingerless black gloves, and white sneakers. Even with her baggy and loose choices of attire, Spike could somehow tell that Pinkie had a buxom figure with D-cup breasts.
The third was Rainbow Dash. She had messy rainbow hair and a tomboyish aura. She wore a black tank top, black legging shorts, bare feet, and fighting gloves on her hands. She also had the slim body of an athlete: normal amounts of muscle, a slim midriff, and she had astonishing curves in the right places, with her cup size being a C.
Fourth girl of the bunch was Fluttershy. She had long and straight light pink hair, which hid one of her eyes. She seemed to have a shy demeaner in the presence of strangers, which was understandable. Fluttershy's form was appealing to the eye, with B-cup breasts and a noticeably shapely butt. She wore a simple green T-shirt, black leggings, and black socks.
Finally, the last girl was named Rarity. She had long and curly dark purple hair and eyelashes that seemed to flutter with every blink of her eyes. Her attire was probably the most skimpy out of all the others: she wore a low-cut red T-shirt that showed her DD-cup cleavage, jean short-shorts, and black boots.
Willing himself to not pitch a tent in his pants at the sight of these beautiful girls, Spike stood, smiled, and presented the cookie basket to the new neighbors.
"Hi, my name is Spike Drake, your new neighbor. My mom baked these cookies to welcome you to the neighborhood" he said.
Rainbow laughed out loud and slapped her knee. "You're right, Twi! He's every bit as cute as you said he'd be"
Spike did a mental double-take. 'Cute'? Twilight called me 'cute' to these girls ?
Applejack walked over to Spike and took the basket in her hands. "Thank ya kindly for the cookies, sugarcube. We'll be sure to enjoy them"
For appearing to be somewhat scary, these girls were surprisingly friendly. Maybe having them as neighbors wouldn't be so bad, after all.
"Well, welcome to the neighborhood. I've got to get going back home" Spike said.
"But you can't leave. At least, not in this weather" Rarity said in a sweet voice.
"'Weather'? What weather?" Spike asked.
The only response he got was the sudden sound of thunder, a flash of lightning, and the sound of intense rain pouring just outside. Spike looked out the giant window to see that a huge thunderstorm had seemingly appeared out of nowhere.
Where the hell did this storm come from?! Nothing in the forecast indicated a thunderstorm! , Spike thought.
There's no way in heaven or hell he was going to get back home tonight. Not in this weather. But this meant that had to stay at Carnstein Manor for the night. A house full of scary yet attractive older girls.
"Don't worry. As a new neighbor, you're more than welcome to stay here for the night" Pinkie said.
Seeing no other option available, Spike just sat in the middle of the center couch in the room. He might as well get to know his new neighbors while he waits for the storm to pass. Twilight sat to his left and Rarity sat to his right, both of them being almost close enough to press their chests into his arms. The other girls sat on the other couches and stared at Spike with small smiles on their faces. In fact, now that Spike had a better look at their teeth, he saw that they looked strangely thin and sharp.
Something tells me that this is going to be a loooooong night , Spike thought.
Author's Note
I hope y'all enjoy my first foray into the vampire genre. Vampires are my favorite monsters, so I fancy myself a vampirologist. Also, if anyone has any suggestions for my future chapters, let me know either in the comments or send me a PM.
At Carnstein Manor
The storm was still raging outside. The sky periodically lit up with the frequent flashes of lightning. The booms of thunderclaps could be felt even from inside the manor. The winds roared and threatened to topple down trees. There was no way Spike Drake was going to get back home in this weather. He had no other choice but to stay at Carnstein Manor for the night.
Speaking of which, Spike was sitting in-between Twilight on his left and Rarity on his right. Their proximity to him threatened to press their chests into his arm. Spike was extremely nervous. Not just from the fact that he was in a house with nothing but beautiful girls, but the fact that two of them were sitting so close to him.
After a few minutes of heavy silence, Twilight eventually spoke up. "So Spike, since we're new here, why don't you tell us a bit about yourself".
Spike gulped before he spoke. "I'm thirteen years old. I go to Owl Hill Middle School. My favorite animals are bats"
When Spike mentioned his favorite animal, the girls' eyes all seemed to light up. They all seemed to like that bit of information. Maybe their favorite animals were bats, as well.
"What about your family?" Pinkie asked.
"I just live with my mom. My dad died before I was born" Spike replied.
Rarity put a delicate hand on his knee. "I'm so sorry to hear that, darling"
Spike blushed from the physical contact from this lovely creature. "I-it's okay. I help my mother in any way I can"
"You're quite the dutiful son, aren't you?" Rainbow asked.
"Yeah" Spike said with a smile. "I love my mother"
"What does your mother do for a living?" Fluttershy asked.
"She's a wildlife biologist. Funnily enough, she specializes in bats. Maybe I get my love of bats from her."
"While the subject of your mother is on the table, I was wondering: why didn't your mother come with you to welcome us to the neighborhood?" Applejack asked.
"That's because she's not even in the country right now. She and her team are in Australia on a research trip" Spike replied.
Suddenly, the full gravity of what he just said snapped into his mind. He actually revealed to perfect strangers that he was not only alone, but he was going to be by himself for quite a bit of time. The girls around him gave no visible reaction to this news, but something about their eyes said that they were somewhat pleased to hear that.
Why the hell did I just say that?! , Spike thought to himself.
Wanting to change the subject, Spike cleared his throat. "What about you guys? You all look a bit young to be living in a big mansion like this without parents"
Rainbow laughed. "Says the thirteen-year-old middle schooler who is left all by his lonesome by his mother"
"Fair point. Well?"
Twilight spoke first. "I run my grandmother's antiques business. She's got antique stores across the whole nation"
"That sounds like a lucrative business. Have you ever received any stolen items?" Spike asked.
"No, we make sure the items we get are from reputable sources" Twilight replied.
"What about you, Rarity?" Spike asked the girl to his right.
"I'm a fashion designer with boutiques across three states" she replied with a hint of pride in her voice.
"Rainbow?"
"I'm an athlete training for the Olympics" she responded.
"What sport are you training in?" he asked.
"Swimming and track" she replied.
"Pinkie?"
"I'm a baker. I love baking all sorts of sweets for people. My sisters are miners" Pinkie responded.
"Fluttershy?"
"I help out at animal shelters and wildlife sanctuaries. I love animals" she replied.
"Applejack?"
"My family runs a large apple farm. The cider we make is said to be the best in the country" she replied.
"Cool. Sounds like you all make enough money to collectively pay for this place" Spike said.
"Yeah. We're all pretty loaded" Rainbow stated.
Spike let out a sleepy yawn that brought tears to his eyes. He wiped the tears from his eyes and looked at the girls.
"Aaaw! Are you getting tired, Spike?" Rarity asked.
"Yeah. It's getting pretty late" Twilight said. "Let's show Spike to one of the guest rooms"
With that, the girls and Spike all stood and walked out of the room. The girls led Spike up a set of stairs to the second floor. The second floor of the manor was just as lavish as the ground floor, with candles and paintings and even a few gargoyles here and there. Twilight led Spike to a door near the end of the hallway and opened it.
The guest room was interesting. There was a large bed with curtains surrounding it. Near the front of the bed was a desk. A bookshelf with old-looking books sitting within it. A nightstand sat the the side of the bed with a glass and pitcher of water. The bed looked so welcoming, with fluffy pillows and a mattress that looked bouncy. The covers and blankets looked warm and soft.
Spike walked over to the bed, took off his shoes and socks, and sat down.
"Thank you for letting me spend the night" Spike said to the girls.
They all collectively smiled sweetly. "No problem. Just make sure to sleep well"
The girls all left the room to let Spike sleep in privacy. He laid down under the covers and laid his head on the pillow. He fell asleep almost immediately.
Later In the Night
Spike could feel another presence in the room.
He got the suspicious feeling that he was no longer alone in the room. He could feel a... presence in the room with him. He opened his eyes and looked around the room for any sign of the entity he sensed. As he looked from left to right, he could make out no sign of a presence through the bed's curtains.
After a few more minutes had come to pass, Spike laid his head back down on the pillow. He looked up at the ceiling to think about what exactly he had sensed.
Twilight's face and glowing red eyes greeted him. Spike's own eyes widened at the sight. He would've screamed, but Twilight put a clawed finger to his lips to shush him.
"Sssshhhh. It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you" Twilight cooed to him in a soft voice.
As Spike continued to stare at her, he realized that she was hanging over him from the ceiling! She slowly crawled down towards Spike using her hands and bare feet. She crawled until her face was an inch away from his. Spike's breath caught in his throat. His heart was beating a million miles per minute. What was she going to do to him?
Twilight adjusted herself to where she was almost pinning him to the bed. Twilight and Spike continued to lock eyes with each other. He hadn't been able to take his eyes off of Twilight's. There was something about her eyes and face that was starting to calm him. He felt strangely safe in Twilight's presence. He couldn't figure out why.
"Just relax, Spike" Twilight cooed. "I promise this won't hurt too much"
Twilight leaned down and started licking his neck. Spike was super surprised. If this was a dream, he didn't want to wake up. He simply sat there. After several more licks, Twilight started to press her already-sharp teeth against the tender flesh of his neck. She was grazing her teeth along his neck, sending shocks up his spine.
Then Twilight suddenly bit down on Spike's neck, breaking the skin. It was painful. It felt like hot coals were stabbing his neck. Spike couldn't scream, only gasp and groan. He could feel Twilight sucking the blood from his wound.
Spike couldn't believe it! He was being fed upon by a vampire! This girl was a vampire! And she was drinking his blood!
After a few seconds of this, Spike could feel himself becoming numb from the pain. In fact, he started to feel great. He felt like he was floating on clouds. Spike started to giggle from this sensation. His vision started to swim. He couldn't focus on anything except this feeling of euphoria.
Twilight soon let go of Spike's neck and began to lick it. Spike's wounds healed instantly. Spike could feel himself slipping away into unconsciousness. Twilight looked down at him with a smirk on her face and a stream of blood running down her lip and chin.
"Thanks for breakfast, Spike. This is just a sweet dream" Twilight said before Spike fell asleep.
Spike got the best sleep of his life after that.
Same Night- Just Before Dawn
When Spike woke up, he could see that it was still night outside. He felt strangely weak, his arms and legs feeling like jelly. He got out of the bed and walked over to a mirror to see if he looked how he felt.
Spike looked very pale. He looked like he was a hospital patient. His eyes were somewhat bloodshot and his neck felt sore on one side. He started to feel strangely hungry, too. He hobbled over to the door to see if he could find food.
The storm was still raging outside as Spike was walking down the stairs. He had to hold onto the railing to keep himself from falling down the stairs. When he got to the bottom of the stairs, he had to take a few moments to catch his breath. Just walking down the stairs was too much for him.
"What's going on here? Why do I feel this weak?" Spike said to himself. Then a thought entered his head.
"Perhaps... what happened wasn't a dream, after all. If that's true, I may be in a house full of real-life vampires! And vampires actually exist!" Spike thought aloud.
"Actually, we don't like being called 'vampires'" a familiar voice said.
Shocked, Spike looked at the top of the stairs to see Twilight and her friends looking down at him with those eerie smiles of theirs.
"We prefer to be called 'Strigoi'" Twilight said.
Author's Note
Well, Spike just his first ever encounter with Strigoi. How will this turn out? Find out next time on "Bleeding Nights"!
Spike looked at the top of the stairs too see Twilight and her friends standing at the top of the stairs.
"We prefer to be called 'Strigoi'" Twilight said.
Spike was at a loss for words. They didn't even try to deny the fact that they weren't humans. He started to stumble backwards from the creatures speaking to him and began to fall.
He landed on something soft and warm. He looked up to see Rainbow's upside down face looking down at him. She smiled at the startled boy.
"Whoa! Easy there, Spike. Don't want you getting a concussion on us" she said.
Spike pointed to the top of the stairs. "H-how did you..."
"I ran down here to catch you" she replied.
She's that fast?! I didn't even see her move! , he thought to himself.
Rainbow helped Spike get to his shaky legs and helped him to the sitting room he was in previously. Rainbow helped Spike down onto one of the couches and propped him up. The girls brought him the basket of his mother's cookies.
"Eat these. We won't be needing them. Besides, you need your strength after what you've experienced" Twilight said.
At the last sentence, the other girls seemed to glare at Twilight. Spike didn't know why, but he was too hungry to care. He grabbed the cookies and ate.
"Woooo-wee, partner! You sure are hungry!" Applejack noted.
Once Spike at all twelve of his mother's cookies, he started to feel more energized. Then, he looked to all the girls with a determined look on his face.
"Alright, what's going on here? And what are you?" he demanded.
"As I previously said, we are Strigoi. Your kind commonly call us 'vampires'" Twilight replied.
"If you're Strigoi, then that means that that dream wasn't a dream! That's why I feel so weak" Spike said.
The other girls glared at Twilight. She seemed to wilt under their glares.
"Sorry about that, Spike. I just couldn't help myself! I haven't fed from a live human in a while. You just smelled so good" Twilight said in response.
"Here's another question I have: why did I start to feel weird after you bit me?" he asked.
"Oh, that's because of our venom" Fluttershy said.
"Strigoi have venom?" Spike asked.
"Yeah. Our venom affects the brain to make it trigger the release of dopamine and endorphins. It also numbs the body to prevent prey from escaping" Twilight said matter-of-factly.
That certainly explains everything. Spike would be lying to himself if he said that he didn't enjoy the felling of Twilight's venom. However, a troubling thought entered Spike's mind.
"Wait! Since you bit me, am I going to turn into a Strigoi?!" Spike asked in a panic.
The other girls seemed to find that question amusing since they all burst out laughing.
"No, you're not going to turn into a Strigoi. Becoming a Strigoi isn't like that" Applejack replied.
"So, how does someone become a Strigoi?"
"You have to drink a Strigoi's blood in order to become one" Rarity said.
"Really?" Spike asked.
"Of course! Imagine someone having a baby every time they ate" Pinkie said.
Now that Spike thought about it, that made a lot of sense. If being bitten by a Strigoi, humanity would be replaced by the Strigoi.
"Do you feed strictly on human blood or can you feed on animals?" he asked them.
"We can feed on animals and humans. But human blood tastes better to us" Fluttershy said.
"Are Strigoi immortal?" he asked next.
"Yes, we are. In fact, I'm one thousand years old" Twilight said.
"I'm six hundred and fifty" Rarity said.
"Two hundred and thirteen" Fluttershy said.
"I myself am three hundred and twenty five" Rainbow said.
"I'm one hundred and seventeen!" Pinkie exclaimed
"I'm two hundred and seventy five" Applejack said.
Spike smiled with a blush. "Well, you all look good for your age"
The girls just giggled at that little statement.
"Well, that's certainly kind of you to say, darling" Rarity said.
"Yeah. Besides, you certainly seemed to think that I was good-looking for my age when you were gawking at me the first night we arrived" Twilight said.
That sentence confirmed what Spike had already suspected: that Twilight had seen him the first night! She had seen him.
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to stare!" Spike stammered.
"It's fine, Spike. Really. I know you're at the age where you'd start paying attention to females" Twilight said.
"Wait, how did you even know where I was? You turned around and looked at me like you knew where I was" Spike asked.
"Oh, I could hear your heartbeat speeding up" Twilight replied.
Spike did a double-take. "You could hear my heartbeat?"
"Of course, sugarcube. We could almost dance to your heartbeat when you first arrived" Applejack replied.
Spike's blush deepened at that.
"I didn't know my heartbeat was that loud"
The girls and Spike all shared a hearty bout of laughter. Despite being in the presence of vampiric predators, Spike started to feel at ease around these girls. As he calmed down, something dawned on Spike.
"Wait, why are you telling me all of this? Why are you revealing yourselves as Strigoi to me?" Spike asked.
The girls were all looking at Spike with serious looks on their faces. Even Pinkie's face was like solid stone.
"Well, you obviously deduced that what happened was no dream. An accident on my part" Twilight replied. "I only meant to take just enough to fill my stomach. But I took a bit too much"
"And since you now know about us being Strigoi, we'll have to kill you" Rainbow said flashing her fangs and claws.
Just as Spike was preparing to fight for his life, Rainbow started laughing.
"I'm just kidding! We're not going to kill you" Rainbow said, much to Spike's relief.
"No, but there is a reason why we're being so open with you about the existence of Strigoi" Rarity said.
"What is this reason?" Spike asked.
"Well, since you knew about us before we told you, we're going to have to keep an eye on you to make sure you don't tell anyone else about us" Fluttershy replied.
"What?" Spike asked.
"Yeah, so in order for us to do that, we'll need you here to help us" Rarity said.
"Help you how?" Spike asked.
"Well, we'd like to hire you. We'll need someone to watch over us during the day while we sleep" Applejack said.
"So you need me... to be like your bodyguard?" he asked.
"Yeah! Will you accept? We'll pay you!" Pinkie said.
As Spike was thinking it over, the girls all stood before Spike and pressed themselves together and looked at Spike with dramatic pleading faces.
"Won't you please defend us, dear Spike? We're defenseless in daylight without you!" they all said dramatically.
Spike looked at them and could only sigh in defeat. "Okay, I'll do it. I'll make sure you all sleep well and safe"
The girls all jumped at Spike and wrapped him in a soft group hug, wrapping his head in breasts. Spike had a feeling this job would be worth it.
He would guard these Strigoi and get paid for it. This should be easy.
In Australia
The creature cried out as the group of Hunters destroyed the last of its brethren. They would come for her next.
This particular creature was a Strigoi. In fact, she was the leader of this nest. She had created all of the Strigoi in the nest and nurtured them just like a mother. It was the duty of an alpha to care for its fledgelings.
On this particular night, the nest had found a sheep farm to feed from when they found themselves ambushed by members of the Orion Society, a human organization dedicated to hunting and killing Strigoi.
The Orion Society named themselves after the Greek mythological figure, Orion the Hunter. They had been eradicating Strigoi for centuries. Those they didn't kill were taken away for study and experimentation. The Society and Strigoi have been enemies since the Society first formed. They were armed with the knowledge and weapons needed to fight and kill her kind.
As the Hunters were busy finishing off the last of her brethren, she was forced to run and hide, but not before one Hunter struck her with a silver dart. The silver was slowing her down as it worked its way through her system. She had also received an injury from a Hunter's blade as she run through the bush.
She stopped to rest by a tree while she tried to think of a game plan. She was devastated and angry. She wanted nothing more than to go back and rip those Orion Hunters apart! She wanted to avenge her nest!
"Lovely night, isn't it?" a voice sounded from the female Strigoi's left.
She turned to see the apparent leader of the group of Hunters looking at her.
The lead Hunter was female by appearance and voice. She was wearing the usual black coats and hats the Hunters usually wore. An owl-shaped mask hid the Hunter's face from the Strigoi before her. Black gloves and boots covered her hands and feet. The broad hat she wore bore the insignia of the Orion Society, which was a male lion's roaring face with its mane in the shape of a flaring sun. This Hunter held a silver machete in her hand, dripping with the black blood of her nestmates.
The female Strigoi took a big step back, flashing her fangs and claws. The Hunter didn't take a single step towards her at all.
"Why are you doing this?! We don't even feed on humans!" she shouted.
"It doesn't matter" the Hunter said flatly. "A monster's still a monster"
In a flash of movement, the Hunter zoomed forward and sliced off the Strigoi's head with a single swipe of her silver machete. The creature's head rolled on the ground and her body followed suit.
After taking a moment to admire how quickly she was able to decapitate the Strigoi, the Hunter took out a silver dagger and plunged it through the creatures heart, which is the way to permanently kill a Strigoi: cut off the head and stab the heart with a silver blade, otherwise it would regenerate its heart or regrow its whole head. The order in which this was done didn't matter so long as it was done. There were other ways of killing Strigoi, too, but this was more efficient.
As soon as the heart was punctured, the body and head turned to black ash.
"Well, looks like another hunt well-done. Another nest destroyed means that everyone in this area can sleep safe tonight" the Hunter said.
The buzz of her mask's communicator sounded to life. A young girl's voice sounded from the radio.
"Have you taken care of the straggler ?" the voice asked.
"Affirmative. Straggler taken care of" she replied.
"Good. We just got orders to rendezvous with the operation commander in Sydney" the voice said.
"Alright, I'll be there. Get the others ready to move out" she ordered over the radio.
"Roger that, Captain Luna" the voice responded.
"Please, call me by my codename while we're in the field. You never know who else may be listening" she said.
The voice over the radio chuckled. "Roger that, Captain Nightmare Moon"
And with that, the communicator went silent. The captain looked up at the night sky with a look of hope.
"I hope to present my son with a world where he doesn't have to walk at night without fear. I will kill the monsters for you, Spike. I love you, dear" Luna said.
She left the kill site to reunite with her squad and receive their next hunting assignment.
In the City of Manehattan
A homeless woman was running down the street of the currently sleeping neighborhood with a bleeding arm and terror in her eyes. She had to get away from the area as fast as she could or find a place to hide from her unseen attacker.
It was so quick. All she knew is that she was walking down the street to the homeless shelter when she started hearing a strange growling noise. The noise sounded like it came from some large animal. She couldn't see where the sound was coming from as it was too dark to hear. But she was able to make out where the sound was coming from.
There was an alleyway unlit by any light from the buildings or the streets. It was simply an endless expansion of black. After the woman had looked down the alley for a few seconds, a pair of glowing red eyes suddenly shone to gaze at her with a look of primal hunger.
Suddenly, a dark shape shot out of the darkness and zoomed past her, knocking the woman to her feet. A strange pain shot through her arm as soon as she stood up. She looked down at her right arm to see a bleeding bite mark. The shape indicated human jaws, but the teeth marks were anything but human. It appeared as if several thick needles had punctured her arm.
Panicking, the woman glanced around her to search for her attacker. She didn't know where it was, and she didn't care. All she knew was that she had to get away from this place. She took off in the direction of the homeless shelter with no hesitation.
As she was running down the street, she had begun to notice that the bite to her arm didn't hurt anymore. She couldn't feel any pain in her arm at all. Still, she didn't know what attacked her, but she didn't want to stay and find out what did.
In her rush to get to the homeless shelter, she got the feeling that she was being hunted. She looked behind her to see dark shapes darting between the buildings at great speed, getting closer and closer to the poor woman. In her peripheral vision, she could see a silhouette flying around in the dark sky.
She began to feel her legs getting weaker and weaker. Her legs and arms started to feel numb. Her thoughts were becoming muddled and fuzzy. Something inside was making her feel strangely euphoric. She chuckled at the situation despite her potential danger.
With what little rational thoughts she had left, she realized that she wouldn't be able to outrun her pursuers. She ducked into a somewhat lit alley with a flickering outside light and hid behind a dumpster.
As she settled down behind the dumpster, she poked her head out to see if her pursuers had tracked her there. In the flickering light, she could see some of the shapes stop in the street outside the alley and seem to look around for her. The shapes were humanoid and seemingly female. Their heads moved in a way that an animal's would when tracking prey. When the light flickered on and off, the shapes were instantly gone. The woman smiled and sighed with relief.
But when the light flickered again, the female shapes were suddenly standing in front of the woman's hiding place and were looking right at her! The woman would've screamed if she didn't feel strangely calm about the entire situation. She couldn't feel any of her limbs. They felt too weak for her to get very far, anyway.
Now that the shapes were in the light, the woman could see that her pursuers were indeed female, and beautiful. In fact, they were teenagers from what the woman could see. There were three in total. One of them was a girl who wore a purple T-shirt, black short-shorts, and black sandals. She had golden fluffy hair that looked pleasing to the touch. The one on her left had dark purple hair with mint-green streaks tied in two twin-tails. She wore a light green jean jacket with no sleeves, purple jean shorts, and red sneakers. The last one on the right was a pretty thing with light blue hair with darker streaks running through tied in a single ponytail. All of these girls had pale skin, claws, glowing red eyes, pointed ears, and smiles revealing sharp teeth. Their eyes communicated hunger.
The one with the fluffy golden hair suddenly pushed the entire dumpster away with only one hand! The dumpster crashed into the far wall with enough force to crack the bricks. The only movement the woman could do was to simply slump to the ground. Her vision swam as she gazed up at the girls who were now surrounding her and looking sown at her with drooling grins.
From the darkness above the buildings, a single dark figure seemed to hover above the girls and look down at the scene with the same red eyes as the girls. The girls all looked up at the figure with some bizarre form of reverence.
"Master, can we have this one?" the golden-haired girl asked.
The figure looked from the woman to his apparent minions. His reply came slowly.
"I already had a homeless drunk I found sleeping in the park. You are more than welcome to have this one. After all, what kind of alpha would I be if I didn't ensure my nest was fed?" the figure replied in a deep male voice.
The girls collectively turned to the woman. In an instant, the girls jumped at the woman and bit her. The one with the golden hair took the woman's throat, the purple-haired one took the woman's right wrist, and the blue-haired one took the left wrist. They all began to drain the woman's body of blood.
Since there were three of them feeding off the same source, it didn't take long for the woman to lose consciousness and die. When the girls were finished, the body looked like a desiccated shell. The process was like a juice box collapsing on itself after someone sucks out all the juice.
The figure hovered above the girls and pointed in the direction of the park he recently came from. "Bury the body in the park. They'll never find her there"
The girls took the woman's body and flew off towards the park to bury her. Once they landed in the park, the unseen figure turned to his nestmates.
"Bury her in a random location in the forest. It'll be harder for the humans to find the bodies if they're spread out over a large area" he ordered.
The girls all set about their task. They found an ancient-looking tree and buried her under it. After the task was done, the girls regrouped with their alpha.
"What do we do now, master? Do we return to the van and have some naughty fun?" the blue-haired one asked.
"Not right now. Right now, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata, we have have to go to the next town. The town of Canterlot" the master replied.
"Why? What's so special about that town?" Aria asked.
"Because there is something special there. Something I need"
"What is it?" Adagio asked.
"Apparently, there is a Darkblood in Canterlot" he replied.
The girls were shocked. A Darkblood was a human-Strigoi hybrid, usually born when either a pregnant human woman is given Strigoi blood and turned or if a Strigoi has sex with a human. But since sex with a human was considered taboo among the Strigoi, Darkbloods that were naturally born were quite rare.
"A Darkblood? What is a Darkblood doing there? Is it part of a nest?" Aria asked.
"From what my sources within the town told me, this one didn't even know that Strigoi existed until very recently" he replied.
"What exactly do you want with a Darkblood? What's so special about this one?" Sonata asked.
"That's what I find so interesting. It would seem that this particular Darkblood is the son of not a Noble, but one of the seven Elders" he replied.
"What?! One of the Elders has sired a Darkblood?!" the girls asked loudly.
The Elders were the direct offspring of the original Strigoi, the Grand Progenitor, Queen Veratos. They were very old but very powerful. Even stronger than Nobles.
"Yes. I want to see how strong this Darkblood is. It may be the key to achieving our goals" he replied.
"If he's a Darkblood born of the Elders, he's sure to be immensely strong" Adagio said.
"If he is, I'll try to get him on-board to help us out. If he refuses to help us, I'll just have to kill him for wasting my time" the alpha replied.
The alpha walked to his nestmates and began stroking their hair. They looked at him with looks of love and admiration.
"Shall we get going? We have no time to waste" the alpha said.
"We'll follow you anywhere, Master Plasmius" the girls stated at the same time.
With Spike
Spike was sitting in his bedroom waiting for the sun to come up. He had a lot on his mind, to say the least. He had discovered that vampires, or rather Strigoi, actually exist, been fed on by one, and to top it all off, was hired by the same Strigoi to guard them during the day. His entire worldview had been shook.
If Strigoi exist, I wonder what other creatures exist? , he asked in thought.
He watched as the sun came up over the horizon. Once it did, he got ready to go to his first day on his new job. According to what Twilight said, all he had to do was make sure no one came to the house during daylight. If anyone asked, he was the younger brother of the master of the manor. The fridge would be stocked with plenty of food for him, since they wouldn't be able to eat it. Apparently, Strigoi can't eat human food. There was a TV and a PS-5 for him to entertain himself while he was on watch and he was welcome to the guest room in case he got tired. And he was getting paid to do it, too. Spike was sure other people would be jealous of his situation.
He walked up to Carnstein Manor and took out the key from under the mat. He opened the door and locked it behind him to protect his new employers.
I wonder if they sleep in coffins like the lore says? , he thought.
Despite his better judgement, his curiosity demanded that he answer that question. He began to look around the mansion to see if they did indeed sleep in coffins. He went from room to room looking in them. There was a library, a music and dance hall, and an indoor swimming pool. It was an amazing house. He looked all over the house for the girls to see coffins.
Where do they sleep? I've looked all over this house and haven't seen any sign of them !, he thought.
Then, while was walking to the living room, he saw the door to the basement. Spike's eyes widened.
I haven't searched the basement, yet , he thought.
He went to the door and opened it with a creaking sound. The basement door opened to reveal an unlit basement. Spike couldn't even see the bottom, it was so dark. Taking out his phone, he turned on the flashlight and walked down the stairs.
As Spike swept his flashlight around the basement, he could see that the basement was quite large with various dust-covered boxes and crates. There were cobwebs strewn about the rafters and the spaces in-between the crates. A few rats scurried away from the beam of Spike's flashlight. Spike made it to the far side of the basement to see what he was looking for: six large coffins.
These coffins were of different colors and designs. From the different colors, Spike could tell just who was sleeping in the coffins.
Now I'm wondering if the girls actually sleep in these coffins , Spike thought.
He went up to the closest coffin, a dark blue one with a rainbow painted on it that obviously belonged to Rainbow Dash, and put his hand on the lid. He wanted to only open the lid of few centimeters and only look inside for a second to see if Rainbow was in the coffin. He opened the lid and looked inside.
He put a beam of light inside the coffin and sure enough, Rainbow Dash was inside. She had a blanket wrapped around her and looked like she was sleeping restlessly. She was tossing and turning at random times while making whimpering sounds. Her face's expression was one of strain. She looked like she was either having a bad dream or having trouble staying fully asleep. The sight made a sting of sadness spread throughout Spike's body and mind.
Maybe I should get Rainbow a teddy bear or a body pillow for her to snuggle with , Spike thought.
As soon as he finished his thought, Rainbow's clawed hand reached out and grabbed Spike by the wrist. Spike didn't have any time to react before Rainbow pulled him into the coffin with her. Rainbow wrapped her arms around Spike and smothered his face in her ample chest. Spike tried to gently pull away but her grip on him was too strong and the size of the coffin prevented much movement anyway. Spike looked up to see Rainbow's sleeping face visibly relax from having something to cuddle with. The sight made Spike simply accept what was happening.
Maybe I'll just stay here for now. If it'll help Rainbow sleep better, I'll do this for her , Spike thought.
Since he was in this position, he had the time to notice different things around him. He noticed that Rainbow's body temperature was quite cool. Not ice cold, but she wasn't as warm as a human. Her breasts were quite soft and almost absorbed his head. Rainbow also smelled nice. She didn't have a normal feminine scent, but instead she smelled somewhat like pine needles and vanilla. This wasn't the worst situation for Spike to be in.
Rainbow started to breathe softly in Spike's hair and unconsciously began stroking his hair. Spike wrestled one of his arms free and started to stroke her hair in return. Spike smiled at Rainbow's sleeping face.
"Sleep well, Rainbow. Sweet dreams" Spike whispered before he himself fell asleep.
With Spike and Twilight's Nest
Spike woke up to the feeling of his phone vibrating. He opened his eyes to see that he was still cuddled up with Rainbow in her coffin. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
Thank God I put my phone on "vibrate". I don't want to run the risk of waking a Strigoi , he thought in relief.
He put the phone up to his face and saw that the time was 6:57. That was just before sundown, which meant that the girls were going to wake up soon! But the reason his phone was vibrating was because his mom was calling!
Spike knew that he had to get out of this coffin and answer his mom quickly. He had to get out of this coffin, avoid waking up Rainbow, and answer his mom's call.
Spike carefully and quickly untangled himself from Rainbow's thankfully relaxed grip. He got out of the coffin and silently ran up the basement stairs to the kitchen. He hit the "Answer Call" on his phone to talk to his mother.
"H-hey, Mom. How's your business trip?" Spike said between pants.
"It's going really good, honey. Why do you sound out of breath? ", Luna asked.
"I left my phone in the kitchen and I was playing video games with the volume turned up" Spike lied in response.
"Well, how are things going on at the house? Did you meet the new neighbors? "
"Things here on the home front have been uneventful. Also, yes I met the neighbors".
"Are the neighbors nice? "
"Yeah. They're a bit eccentric, but they're really nice"
"Sounds like they're fun to be around " Luna said with a laugh.
"They even offered me a job"
Luna gasped in pleasant surprise. "A job?! They offered you a job? What do they have you do? "
Spike had to tread carefully here. He couldn't just tell her that he was tasked with guarding a nest of Strigoi while they slept during the day. He had to think of something quick.
"They want me to help them around the house while they work"
"They want you to help them? Oooooooh! It's like you're Mommy's Little Butler! " Luna squealed over the phone.
Spike's only response was to blush. "Moooom, I like to think my job is a bit more important than simply being a butler"
"Well, stay safe and have fun. And remember: I love you, honey "
"I love you, too, Mom"
"Okay. Bye! "
"Bye, Mom"
Both Spike and Luna hung up. Spike sighed with the relief that his lies worked. Part of him felt bad about lying to his mother about what he was doing, but he didn't know how to explain his new Strigoi employers.
A small cough sounded from behind Spike. He turned around to see the girls standing behind him with loving smiles on their faces. Spike smiled sheepishly.
"How much of that conversation did you hear?" he asked them.
"Long enough to hear your mom call you 'Mommy's Little Butler'!" Pinkie said with a chuckle.
"Your mother really loves you, huh?" Twilight asked.
"Yeah. My mother's been the only one to raise me" Spike replied.
"So, how was your first day on the job, Spike?" Applejack asked.
Spike recalled how he didn't really do his job, per say. All he did was cuddle with Rainbow the whole day. But he didn't want to tell them that.
"It was pretty uneventful. Everything was pretty normal here" Spike replied.
Applejack suddenly looked at Spike with a serious expression. "Spike, I can tell that you're lyin'"
"What do you mean?" Spike asked.
"When you lie, there's a slight inflection in your voice" Applejack replied. "Now why don't you tell us how your day really went".
Spike glanced at Rainbow for a split second at sighed. "I was looking to see if Strigoi slept in coffins like the lore said. So I looked all over the house to see anything that resembled a coffin. Eventually, I found your coffins in the basement of the house"
The girls all chuckled.
"Yes, we sleep in coffins" Rarity said.
"Do you have to sleep in coffins?"
"No, it's a personal choice for us. There's something about the closeness of the coffins that makes us feel safe and secure" Fluttershy said.
"Oh. Either way, it's pretty cool you sleep in coffin" Spike said.
Spike was about to walk past them when Pinkie suddenly grabbed his arm.
"Wait a minute, Spike" Pinkie said.
Pinkie started sniffing Spike's hair and chest. It was as if she was trying to find a specific scent on him. Even through his shirt, Pinkie's breaths tickled his skin.
"I can't help but notice that you have Rainbow's scent on you" Pinkie said after a few more sniffs.
Spike couldn't believe it! He was hoping they wouldn't find out about that! Well, it's all out in the open now! The other girls, especially Rainbow Dash, looked at Spike with shock on their faces.
"Why do you have Rainbow's scent on you, Spike?" Rarity asked with a hint of anger in her voice.
Spike knew better than to lie to them, so he told the truth.
"Well, after I found the coffins, I wanted to see if you all were actually in there. So I opened what I deduced was Rainbow's to see if she was in there. She was. Then I noticed that she was having trouble sleeping peacefully. Before I could do anything, she grabbed me, dragged me into her coffin, and cuddled me until just before you all woke up" he replied.
The other girls looked to Rainbow with what looked like jealous glares. Rainbow blushed, crossed her arms, and looked in the other direction.
"W-well, t-that explains why my coffin had your scent in it" Rainbow said.
The girls just continued to glare at her. Rainbow blushed deeper.
"Oh come on! You all know I've been having sleeping problems for the past ninety years!" Rainbow yelled.
"Well, if it makes you feel better Rainbow, you're quite nice to cuddle with. I actually fell asleep myself" Spike said with a smile.
That response only deepened the glares of the others. The air in the kitchen was suddenly thick with tension. Spike could see that he had to do something to disperse the tension. An idea quickly formed in his head.
"Hey, girls. Aren't you hungry?" he asked.
The girls instantly turned their heads toward him with those predatory grins they gave him the first night he was there. They started to scare Spike. He slowly started to back away from them.
"Uh... girls? Why are you--" Spike began to ask before Rainbow zoomed past the others to grab him.
Rainbow Dash grappled Spike with her claws and held his head to one side. Spike could see Rainbow open her mouth and could see her needle-sharp Strigoi teeth descend in front of her human teeth.
"Hey, wait a minute! Why do you get to drink from him, Rainbow?!" Pinkie asked loudly.
"Because he was my cuddle-buddy for the day! Besides, Twilight got to taste his blood the first night he got here!" Rainbow argued.
Before any of the girls could continue arguing, Rainbow snapped her head forward and sank her fangs into Spike's neck. He got the same results as when he was bitten by Twilight. He got over the initial few seconds of pain and started to feel very good. In a short amount of time, Spike was staring at the ceiling with a drooling smile on his face. His eyes were unfocused and glossy. Rainbow released her grip on Spike's throat and gently held him in her arms. The girls looked to Spike with worry in their eyes.
"Spike! Are you okay?!" Rarity asked in worry. Spike just continued to stare at the ceiling.
"Huh? I like turtles!" Spike said with a slur.
"Yeah, he's fine" Applejack said.
Rainbow scooped up the blissed out Spike and took him to the living room and laid him down on one of the couches. Spike was going to be out of it for a while. He was moaning and giggling on the couch while Rainbow licked at his neck to heal the wound. Strigoi saliva could heal the wounds made by their teeth while counteracting the anticoagulant properties of their venom.
While Spike was blissing out on the couch, Twilight looked to the others.
"Spike's going to be out of commission for a while. Shall we go hunting in the forest?" Twilight asked.
"Ready, Twilight!" the girls shouted in unison.
Twilight and the others went outside the house and peered into the night sky. They started to rise off the ground at a steady rate and then literally flew off into the forest to hunt for animals to feed on. But as they were flying off to hunt, the other girls in Twilight's nest had the same thought in their heads.
I'd like to taste Spike's blood one of these nights. It looked like it tastes good.
In The Everfree Forest
A quiet and clear night had descended over the city of Canterlot and the surrounding forests. A bright full moon sat in the sky, bathing the world in its beautiful soothing light.
A deer was wearily walking through the forest treeline near the edge of a large clearing. Every now and then, the deer would stop walking to listen and sniff for any potential predators that may be stalking in the area. She had to take these precautions to make sure she survived the night.
A twig snapping sounded to the deer's left. Her natural instinct was to freeze and look toward the direction of the sound. Given the canopy of the leaf-covered branches, she had to really focus to make out any form of movement in this forest. After a short while, another doe appeared from behind a large bush. The two deer regarded each other with a look of relief and they both walked out into the clearing.
The deer started grazing with little fear. Every now and then, one of the deer would look around while the other one would eat. The only sounds to be heard were the wing beats of bats eating insects and the leaves rustling in the wind. The deer could only smell the scents of the forest and the occasional scent of the other deer.
The first deer heard a rustling in the grass coming from the second deer. She looked up to see... nothing. The other deer wasn't there anymore. She disappeared. It was like she vanished into thin air. The first deer was starting to become suspicious. There was no cry of alarm from the other deer or the sound of her running away.
After staring in the direction of the vanished deer for a few minutes, a glowing pair of golden eyes glared at the other deer in a way that spoke "great danger". The deer was instantly spooked into running away from the owner of those eyes. She did not want to see what had obviously killed her companion.
She booked it across the clearing in an attempt to get to the safety of the forest. She had to run. She had to hide from this predator. The forest was getting closer and closer to her view. She would make it and survive.
A heavy object fell on the deer's back. No, three heavy objects. The deer was sent tumbling to the ground with the three objects holding her to the ground. These objects were holding her down with sharp claws. The creatures bit her in different places on her body with what felt like needles. One bit down on her neck, the other bit down on her chest, and the last one bit down on her thigh.
In a couple of minutes, the deer found that she couldn't move anything at all. She lost all feeling in her... anything. Her vision started to swim and become fuzzy. She started to feel cold from something she couldn't care enough to figure out. Her brain started to feel like it was filled with rabbit fluff. Her breathing started to slow down and her body started to feel tight. She became more and more sleepy with each passing moment. Soon, she fell asleep until she stopped breathing.
Once the three creatures were finished feeding, they all stood up to reveal themselves as Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie went to a local sheep farm to drink a few sheep and even a few pigs. Twilight and her nest fed on animals most of the time.
After a few minutes, the girls who went to the sheep farm found the others in the forest and landed among them to digest a whole night's worth of blood. All of them had noticeably distended stomachs from their feedings.
"Well, how was feeding at the sheep farm?" Twilight asked.
"Those sheep were a bit too noisy for me, but they were surprisingly docile once my venom worked" Rarity replied.
"Personally, I think the farmer of those sheep is inbreeding them. I noticed a few deformities in some of the sheep" Fluttershy said.
"I really enjoyed feeding on the pigs. There's just something about the feel of my teeth sinking into their flesh I really enjoy" Pinkie said.
"Well, we really had a successful hunt. I really enjoy actively hunting down prey, like a more natural predator would" Applejack said.
"This deer didn't know what hit her!" Rainbow said pointing to the drained deer at their feet.
"If it wasn't for our mysterious partner, we might not have been able to ambush the deer" Twilight said.
Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rarity looked at Twilight with a hint of confusion.
"What partner?" they asked.
Twilight turned around and pointed in the direction of the clearing. Sure enough, a dark shape was making its way towards them. A shape with glowing golden eyes. Once it was ten feet from the gathered Strigoi, the shape stood up to reveal it's full form.
It was a tall creature, easily being seven feet tall. It was wearing a tattered T-shirt and what looked like black jean shorts. It was definitely feminine in form. There was a thin covering of rusty fur covering her body. A wolf-like head sat atop her shouders with reddish hair falling past her pointed ears. Her digitigrade legs and long arms were thick with muscle. Her muzzle was spattered with deer blood.
This creature was a Lupine, a species of Nightdweller that was the inspiration for the human myths about werewolves and skinwalkers. The Strigoi and Lupines were quite friendly with each other due to their similar standing in terms of power. They respect each other and their cultures. From what Twilight had seen of them and read, the Lupines were somewhat of a warrior culture, usually letting their claws and fangs do the talking for them. Lupines usually live in packs, but solitary individuals weren't uncommon.
The Lupine before the Strigoi girls started to change her form. She changed into an attractive human teenage girl with red and yellow curly hair and blue eyes. She stood before the girls with a smirk and unashamed of the fact that she was nearly naked from what her transformation did to her. Her DD-cup breasts bounced as she walked up to Twilight and the girls.
The girls smiled once they saw their Lupine friend. They had a long-standing friendship with this particular lone wolf.
"Hey Sunset! How's it going?" Twilight greeted her friend.
In the Distant Past
In the dawning of the rise of man, a time before humanity had developed writing. When the ancient cradles of civilization were new. In the age before empires and conquerors, mankind was united for a single purpose: to fight against a common enemy.
The Nightdwellers. A collective of species that humans would call "monsters". The Strigoi, Lupines, Arachne, Lamia, Owlkin, Mandragora, and the Vouivres. All these different species walked the earth under the cover of night, and would walk alongside humanity while they slept. Some would feed off humanity, usually those that were weak or criminals. Most would simply keep to themselves or live among the humans. All of them served under their respective rulers with almost no boundaries or laws.
No one knows how it happened, but both the humans and the Nightdwellers declared war on each other. Both sides used normal weapons and magic to deal blows to both sides. When it came to magic, the Nightdwellers would easily be able to kill whole battalions of human warriors. But the humans had numbers and the knowledge of the Nightdwellers' weaknesses. The losses on both sides were equally catastrophic.
After a whole century of fighting, both sides needed a way to end the fighting. The leaders of the human kingdoms and the Nightdweller nations eventually met to hold a peace conference and forge a treaty.
After much deliberation, both sides shook hands on the formation of their treaty: the Treaty of Shadows. The Treaty states that the Nightdwellers may live alongside humanity without fear of reprisal as long as they don't bring any harm to humans and dictated that all species live in harmony.
However, with humanity's tendency to forget after a few generations, humanity quickly forgot all about the Treaty of Shadows. The mere existence of the Nightdwellers and their supernatural abilities made them the enemy in the eyes of mankind once again.
The humans formed a secret global organization called the Orion Society. Strigoi weren't their only targets. They hunt all Nighdwellers. The Society hunt the Nightdwellers with ruthless brutality, even killing Nightdwellers that have never harmed humans.
As far as the Nightdwellers were concerned, the Treaty has been broken. An act of war had been declared. Now, the Society and the Nightdwellers wage constant silent war against each other. A war that may threaten the sunlit world, as well.
Twilight was walking with her Lupine friend Sunset. Both were walking through the clearing in the forest talking of familiar things. Not too far away, the rest of Sunset's pack were feeding on the remains of two other deer they had caught recently. Twilight's nestmates were resting from their earlier feedings.
"How've things been for you, Twi?" Sunset asked.
"Things have been pretty good for us, actually. We recently hired a human to guard us while we sleep in the day", Twilight replied.
Sunset raised an eyebrow at her Strigoi friend. "I never thought I'd see the day where you'd hire a human to watch over you all"
"Yeah, but this particular human is quite the find. He was afraid at first, but he was brave enough to not run away from us. In fact, he was curious about us when he did find out" Twilight said.
"What's his name?"
"Spike Drake"
"What does his blood taste like?" Sunset asked Twilight with a smirk.
Twilight put a clawed finger on her chin in thought. "His blood tastes really good. The best comparison I can think of is... chocolate milk"
"What does he look like?"
"He's young, short, and honestly, quite handsome. He has these big, intelligent eyes and this cute spiky hair. And he has the personality of a cute little bunny" Twilight replied with a sigh.
"Maybe I should pay him a visit, myself" Sunset said with a fanged smirk.
Twilight nearly bared her fangs at that. She turned to Sunset with a red glare. The Lupine's response was only laugh and raise her hands.
"Oh come on, Twi! I want to see the human that has you looking like a fangirl backstage at a BTS concert" Sunset said.
Twilight sighed. "Maybe I'll arrange for Spike to meet you and your pack. But perhaps it would be better for everyone to wait until Spike has gotten used to being around us first. He just found out about the existence of the Nightdwellers. We shouldn't overwhelm the poor thing"
"Well, that makes sense. He might not be able to handle seeing Lupines on top of Strigoi" Sunset said.
Sunset leaned in to whisper in Twilight's ear. "I hope he doesn't mind the smell of wet dog"
Twilight did bare her fangs at Sunset for that. She swung her claws at Sunset, who dodged her attacks instantly. Sunset could only laugh at Twilight's reaction.
"You're so easy to rile up, Twi!" Sunset exclaimed at the attacking Strigoi.
Twilight had been trying to maul Sunset for a few more minutes before she finally settled down. Sunset was still smiling and laughing. Wanting to change the subject away from Spike, Twilight decided to ask about how Sunset and her pack were doing.
"So, Sunset. How are you and your pack doing?" Twilight asked.
"Honestly, things have been pretty normal for us. However, we recently received new information from the NightNet" Sunset replied.
The NightNet was a global information exchange network used by Nightdwellers for various reasons, but mostly to keep an eye on the Orion Society's movements.
"What is it?" Twilight asked.
"Well, we've been looking into the genealogy records of known Society members and we found out something really interesting"
"Like what?"
"Apparently, Spike's mother is actually one of the lead Hunters for the Orion Society"
"What?!"
"Yeah. I think it would be safe to conclude that Spike doesn't know about this."
"Well, he did say that his mother was a wildlife biologist on a business trip"
"More like a hunting trip"
Twilight couldn't believe it. Spike's mother was one of the Hunters, the sworn enemy of the Nightdwellers. And the worst part is, Spike doesn't even know his mother is a mass murderer.
The Nightdwellers have a special policy when it comes to dealing with the Hunters: the average Nightdweller citizen has the authority to kill them without a trial under Nightdweller law.
"Is there anything else?" Twilight asked.
"Well yes. Apparently, the Elder that oversees the North American continent is coming to Canterlot to see you"
Twilight's eyes looked like her eyes were about to pop out of her head. Forget Spike's mother being a Hunter, this was even bigger news. The Elders were the direct offspring of the original Strigoi, Queen Veratos. There was said to be one Elder overseeing the Strigoi populations on every continent, with two in Asia. And the North American Elder is coming Canterlot!
"I wonder what she wants to talk about" Twilight wondered.
"Could be anyone's guess. But I know it must be super important if one of the Elders is coming here" Sunset said in reply.
"What you and the other Lupines? You get any word from the Highwolf?" Twilight asked.
The Highwolf was the commander of the world's entire Lupine population. They are regarded as being incredibly skilled in leadership and combat ability.
"No, nothing. But I have heard that the Highwolf's been traveling more frequently, lately" Sunset replied.
"What for?"
"No idea. Anyway, you all better get your nest ready for the Elder's arrival"
"Of course. Have a good night, Sunset"
"You too, Twilight"
The two friends hugged and went their separate ways. The took their groups back to their homes to prepare for the upcoming events.
In the Australian Outback- Luna's Team
A black tactical van was driving at a decent speed through the Australian Outback. Within the van is Luna's Hunter team, affectionately called "Nightmare Squad". They all dressed in the long black uniform coats and owl masks that the Orion Society gave them. Hanging on the walls of the van were all the various weapons and traps used by the Hunters to ensnare and kill the different monsters that walk the night.
Driving the van was Sombra, wearing a dark gray owl mask. He was one of the Squad's frontline fighters, with an Enchanted silver longsword.
Next to him was the Squad's captain, Luna. She wore a dark blue owl mask. Her weapons of choice were a pair of Enchanted silver machetes. They didn't have a lot of reach, but she used magic to increase her speed and agility to make up for her weapons' lack of reach.
Behind Luna was Chrysalis, one of the team's long-range fighters. Her owl mask was a toxic green color. The weapon she used was an Enchanted rifle that fired bullets made of Enchanted silver. Her rifle's Enchantment was designed so that she could hit her target every time.
Next to Chrysalis was the team's oldest member and the one with the most experience hunting monsters, Tirek. He was wearing a bright red owl mask with four eyes instead of two. His main weapon was a pair of Enchanted silver gauntlets with retractable talons for ripping his enemies apart. Despite his age, his use of magic have kept his body far from frail. In fact, he was the physically strongest out the entire squad.
And lastly, there was the youngest and arguably smartest member of the team, Cozy Glow. Her owl mask was paper-white in color. She was another one of the team's long-range fighters, using an Enchanted crossbow that fired Enchanted silver bolts. Not only was she a gifted strategist for one so young, but she also had the most ample knowledge of the monsters they hunted.
They Nightmare Squad was driving off to meet a special contact at a designated location located deep within the Australian Outback. The meeting place was in a place super remote so that the monsters couldn't spy on them.
The team were eager to hear what it was the contact had to say. They arrived in Australia with a hunt on their hands from the get-go. While eliminating an entire vampire nest was good at testing their skills, it was nothing compared to fighting one of those "mixed lairs" they fought before.
Mixed lairs were a combination of different monster species that lived and hunted together. The combined strength of different species working together was enough to put Tirek down for a week. It was only one fight with a mixed lair, but it was enough to leave the squad with almost fatal injuries. Cozy Glow was almost beaten to death.
Eventually, the team arrived at the meeting spot. The meeting spot was a rocky hill overlooking a large grove of cacti and shrubs. Waiting at the spot for the Nightmare Squad were three individuals standing near a black car. Two of them were masked Society bodyguards, a man and a woman. Standing between them was their contact.
The contact's name was Discord. Unlike the other Orion Society members, he wore a bright suit of mismatched colors. He stood waving at the team with a smile on his face. Despite his appearance, his intellect rivaled even Cozy Glow's. His information-gathering skills were unparalleled.
The Nightmare Squad exited their van and greeted the dignified contact.
"Greetings, Nightmare Squad! I'm glad to see that you're hunt was successful!" Discord greeted.
Luna walked up to Discord and shook his hand in greeting. "Nice to see you again, Discord. I trust you have some information for us?"
"Yeah. But to answer that, there's a question I'm sure you're dying to ask me: if you're from the Society's American Branch, why are you here in Australia? Why isn't the Australian Branch doing its job?" Discord said.
"Exactly, Sir Discord. We've been wondering that ever since we got the order to come here" Chrysalis.
"In fact, I got the impression that the higher-ups were panicking over something" Tirek said.
Discord's smile went away. "Actually, there is a reason behind their panic"
The entire Nightmare Squad was listening intently now.
"What happened?" Sombra asked.
"The entire Australian Branch was nearly completely wiped out by a united horde of Nightdwellers. Even the Headhunter Riley was killed" Discord replied.
"What?! What happened?!" Chrysalis demanded.
"Tell me, what do you all know about the Strigoi Elders?" Discord asked.
"They're the most powerful Strigoi in the world under the Queen. It's said that there's one Elder on every continent with two in Asia to help the Queen rule the entire Strigoi population" Cozy Glow replied.
Discord smiled at Cozy Glow. "Exactly! According to the remnants of the Australian Hunters, Headhunter Riley organized an attack with the intention of killing Australia's Elder" Discord replied.
"What?! The Society hasn't made any moves to kill an Elder before!" Tirek shouted.
"Well, Headhunter Riley thought he could do it. Although, even with the two hundred Witches he had involved in the attack, the Elder reportedly simply walked through them. He even yawned in boredom" Discord responded.
"Then what happened?" Luna asked.
"The Elder responded in kind. A night after the failed attack, the Elder organized a large horde of not only Strigoi, but other species to a coordinated attack on the Australian Branch's central HQ. There were no survivors apart from the Hunter squads that weren't there at the time" Discord said.
"That many experienced Hunters were wiped out?" Cozy asked.
"Yep, they were. That's why the higher-ups called in the most experienced and successful Hunter teams to deal with this. But there's more to this than the annihilation of the Australian Branch" Discord said.
"What is it?" Luna asked.
"Apparently, the Nightdwellers are going to start fighting the Society directly. They're going to actively hunt us and kill Hunters. It would seem that the act of trying to kill the Elder was considered an act of war" Discord said.
"So the monsters are pissed that we tried to kill one of their Elders and they're just now declaring war on the entire Orion Society?" Sombra asked.
"Yep. The Nightdwellers are sick and tired of the Society's bullshit. But the attack on the Elder made it personal. Besides, given the swift and brutal destruction of the Australian Branch, it's painfully obvious that this turned into a war. And the Nightdwellers are ready for it" Discord said.
"But why have the monsters decided to declare war on us now? We've been hunting and killing them for centuries" Chrysalis said.
"So far, they've only been on the defensive. They've been more than happy to keep to themselves and simply defend their families and territories. But now, their going to seek us out and kill any and all Hunters they find" Discord replied.
"So what do we do now?" Luna asked Discord.
"For now, simply wait at one of the old strongholds that haven't been destroyed yet and await further orders. I have to leave and alert the other arriving squads to the situation" Discord said.
"Very well. We'll take our leave" Luna said.
Luna and the rest of Nightmare Squad went back to their van and left the meeting spot to make their way to one of the few strongholds still being held by the Australian Branch. After a few minutes of driving, Cozy Glow spoke up.
"Hey guys. There's a troubling concern I have that I think I should voice here and now" Cozy Glow said.
"What is it, Glow?" Luna asked.
"I don't think we should fully trust the other Australian Hunters" Cozy replied.
The rest of the team were shocked at what Cozy Glow just said. But given how smart and insightful she was, they knew she wouldn't be suggesting this without reason.
"Cozy, can you please explain you're saying?" Sombra demanded of the young Hunter.
"I think someone in the Society is a traitor" Cozy replied, much to the shock of her other teammates.
"What makes you think that there's a traitor amongst us?" Chrysalis asked.
"Think about it: Discord said that the Elder led an attack on the Australian Branch's central HQ? How would the monsters know where that is?" Cozy replied.
That question hit the others like a shotgun blast. That was a good question. How would the monsters know about the compound's location. Cozy continued with her suspicions
"Also, all of our compounds are protected from outside interference by powerful magic. If the monster horde attacked the compound, the defense barrier would have to have gone down long enough for the horde to overrun the compound. And that could only be accomplished by an expert Witch" Cozy said.
"Do you have any ideas about who might be the traitor?" Luna asked.
"None yet. If the traitor was in the compound, they're either dead or the monsters escorted them away. Discord said that there were no survivors, so I can't be sure who among the remaining Australian Hunters might be a traitor" Cozy said.
"Alright, then. As team leader, I say we keep a close eye on the other Hunters. At least until we can identify a traitor" Luna said.
"Yes, Captain" the rest of her team said in unison.
We will find the traitor. And I'll kill them for betraying humanity myself. I swear it! , Luna thought.
In Discord's Car
Discord was sitting in his car being driven by his two bodyguards, with the man driving the car. He was smiling to himself with pride. Everything was going exactly as he planned.
The woman looked back at him through the mirror. "You sure seem proud of yourself, sir"
"Of course I am. They reacted to the news in the exact way I anticipated" he replied.
"If I may ask, sir, was it a good idea to inform them that the Shadow Parliament has declared war on them?" the man asked.
"I do. They were going to find out at some point. Besides, telling them about the direct attack on the Australian Branch seemed to strike fear into their hearts. If the Society starts panicking, they'll be making mistake after mistake" he replied.
"Do you think they suspect that you're the one who told the Elder where the compound was or that you disabled the defense spell?" the man asked.
"Oh, I know that Cozy Glow suspects a traitor. But she'll never suspect me. She's like a daughter to me and I am like a father to her. There's no way she'll think I'm a traitor" Discord replied.
"Good thing we were wearing these masks. It'd be bad if they found out we were Nightdwellers or that you've been on our side since the beginning" the woman said.
The man and woman took off their masks to reveal their true forms. The man was a Lupine with his golden yellow eyes and the woman was an Arachne with four red spider-eyes, no nose, and a mouth full of sharp teeth.
Discord was a secret agent working for the Shadow Parliament, the global Nightdweller government. He had gladly infiltrated the Orion Society and gave their secrets to the Nightdwellers for decades. He hated the Society with a burning passion that constantly burned in his chest. A hatred that never seemed to go away, but this mass slaughter of Hunters seemed to quell it for now.
He looked out the window to admire the full moon.
"What do we do now, sir? Where do we go?" the Lupine man asked.
Without even looking, Discord spoke. "As for what we're going to do, we're going to make sure that the Hunters and the Society become the architects of their own destruction. As for where we're going, we're going to Sydney to tell the Elder where the other Society compounds are located as well as give him a list of the Society reinforcements coming to Australia".
"Roger that, sir", the Arache woman said with a toothy smile.
I'll make the Orion Society pay for what they took from me. All of them. They will pay! , Discord thought with determination.
He would see to it that the Nightdwellers win this war. And he will do anything to ensure that.