Twi-Bite: A Vampire Story

Canterlot General Hospital - Twilight's Room

The Rainbooms, Nurse Redheart, and Doctor Silverwood were all standing around a restrained and thrashing Twilight. Silverwood had to put a muzzle over Twilight's mouth to keep her from attempting to bite everyone around her.

Everyone was looking at Twilight with looks of shock and sympathy while Silverwood was suspiciously calm while looking at his patient. Rarity seemed to notice this.

"You look like you've encountered this before, doctor," Rarity said.

"That's because I have," Silverwood replied.

Everyone looked to the doctor with looks of anticipation. Silverwood pulled up a nearby chair and sat down. He set his ironclad gaze on the girls.

"I know you'll believe me when I say that vampires exist," Silverwood said.

"Obviously! But what about Twilight?!" she asked urgently.

"I know everything there is to know about vampires," Silverwood replied. "Why? Because I used to hunt them and destroy them".

The girls all looked at Silverwood with looks of shock. It was quite the revelation that the jolly and friendly Doctor Silverwood was a vampire hunter. He looked to Twilight writhing on the bed.

"We have to wait until sunrise. She'll calm right down. Her mind will go back to normal once the sun rises," Silverwood said.

"Could you kindly explain what you know about vampirism?" Fluttershy asked the doctor sweetly.

Doctor Silverwood leaned forward with a serious expression before he stood up. He motioned for the nurse and Rainbooms to follow him. Rainbow raised her hand in protest.

"Is it really a good idea to leave Twilight all alone? What if she breaks out?" Rainbow asked.

"Don't worry. I designed those restraints myself. Besides, newly-turned vampires don't have the increased strength of a mature vampire," Silverwood replied.

With that, the girls reluctantly left Twilight thrashing in her bed to follow the best source of vampire information they had. They all walked down the halls of the hospital until they reached Silverwood's office. Silverwood opened the door to invite them all inside.

Silverwood's office was a nice and organized room with bookshelves surrounding his large oak desk. There was a red rug in front of the desk with a couch on the right side of the room. The books on the bookshelves were medical textbooks, but there were also books on vampires, the occult, and alchemical tomes. There was a framed picture on the wall behind him depicting a younger Silverwood with a very beautiful woman with white hair, pale skin, pointed ears, and red eyes.

"What do you want to know about vampires?" Silverwood said sitting at his desk.

"Well... how does someone become a vampire? By biting the victim?" Rainbow asked.

"No. That's movie crap. That would be the same as you getting a new brother or sister whenever you ate something," Silverwood replied.

"Is there any way of stopping the infection or preventing it?" Rarity asked.

"Do you watch 'The Walking Dead'?" Silverwood asked.

"Yes. I watch it from time to time," Rarity replied.

"It's kind of like that. Once vampirism enters the system, it's too late," Silverwood said.

"Then how does this infection work?" Sunset asked.

"First, the patient has to ingest the blood of a vampire. After that, the anomalous infection rapidly spreads throughout the body with symptoms manifesting with the first ten to twelve hours after initial infection," Silverwood replied.

"What else? And why is Twilight acting like a rabid animal?" Rarity asked.

"The infection works in stages. Right now, your friend is in Stage One of vampiric infection. She will enter a ravenous and hungry state of mind, wanting to attack and drink the blood of any living thing she see. This only occurs at night. She won't remember anything in the morning," Silverwood replied. "It's a good thing she came here where we can keep an eye on her".

"How long does this stage last?" Fluttershy asked.

"About a week after infection. Next, she'll enter Stage Two. That's when she'll fall into a hibernation-like state where the physical changes occur. She'll grow retractable fangs, her hair will turn white, her fingernails will fall off and be replaced with claws. That only lasts for a whole day," Silverwood reply.

"Is there a final stage?" Nurse Redheart asked.

"That would be Stage Three, where Twilight will wake up as a mature vampire. And she'll have the full powers of a vampire, too," Silverwood replied.

"Well with the infection out of the way, what can you tell us about vampires?" Pinkie asked.

Silverwood stood up and looked at his bookshelves. He seemed to be looking for a specific book. After going up a few rows, he finally found the book he was looking for. He pulled out a thin black book with the title written in a Gothic font.

St. Joseph's Guide to Vampires by St. Joseph

"Everything you'll need to know about vampires, the real information, is in that book," Silverwood asked.

Sunset picked up the book and started looking at it. Everyone else gathered around Sunset to look through the book. Aside from physical information and descriptions, there were also illustrations for reference. One illustration they seemed to be fixated on was a picture of a vampire's skull.

The skull looked mostly human with the exception of what appeared to be what the book called "sheaths" for the fangs to retract into when they weren't in use, like the claws of most big cats. There appeared to be fang sheaths in the upper and lower jaws. According to the book, the fangs would be hidden until the vampire was threatened or about to feed.

Sunset closed the book and tucked it into her jacket. They may need more information on vampires if they were going to help Twilight. Fluttershy raised her hand to the doctor.

"Does Twilight need human blood to survive or can she drink from animals?" she asked.

"Vampires can feed from animals and be fine, but humans simply taste better," Silverwood replied.

Silverwood leaned forward in his desk with his hands clasped together in front of his mouth. His green eyes were giving the girls a determined glare.

"Now it's my turn to ask questions. How long ago was Twilight infected?" he asked.

"Based on what she told us, just last night," Applejack replied.

"Did she describe the vampire that attacked her?" he asked next.

"No, she said that she was walking near the woods at night and she woke up in her room the next day with symptoms," Sunset replied.

Silverwood glanced downward in thought. He squinted in concentration. He looked back at the girls with the same glare.

"That doesn't make sense. Vampires don't just attack someone, turn them, and then leave them at their homes," Silverwood said.

"What do you mean?" Redheart asked.

"Vampires usually bring their intended spawn back to the nest, where they turn them and keep them there until they mature. They don't simply turn them and abandon them like that. This doesn't make sense," Silverwood said in reply.

"'Nest'?" Pinkie asked.

"Vampires are social creatures that live in groups called 'nests'. Most nests consist of five to twelve individuals, but there are some with over fifty. Each nest is led by an Alpha, usually the oldest and most powerful among them," Silverwood said.

"So, Twilight doesn't belong to a nest?" Rarity asked.

"It would appear not, if her sire abandoned her after infecting her," Silverwood said.

"Why do you think her sire turned her if they weren't making her a part of their nest?" Applejack asked.

"I couldn't bring myself to guess. But one thing is for sure, there's a new vampire in town that may be turning random people into vampires," Silverwood replied.

The thought of some vampire turning random people struck the girls as frightening. Silverwood stood up with a yawn.

"You all should go home and get some sleep. We'll talk more tomorrow once Twilight becomes more lucid," Silverwood said. "But before you go, I think you all should carry these".

Doctor Silverwood pulled open a drawer in his desk and pulled out several daggers. From the looks of them they weren't made of steel.

"Silver daggers. You have to use them if this new vampire decides to pay you a visit," Silverwood said.

The girls and nurse all reluctantly took up a silver dagger and left Silverwood's office. Once they were gone, Silverwood looked at the framed picture of him and the beautiful woman on the wall. He stroked the picture with the same slowness and gentleness of a lover. He gave the picture a small smile.

"We have a new fledgling, Loretta. She's going through a very difficult transition. I'll keep her safe and guide her as best I can. No one will ever hurt her," Silverwood said to the woman. "I may have to introduce her to the others once she has finally matured".