The Night of the Moondancer

Moondancer and Echo flew through the night sky, heading across the vast, mysterious pitch black, and they came upon a dark, brooding manor in the distance. As they approached, Moondancer’s eyes lit up, seeing it was like something from some old gothic novel, with the mansion slowly growing larger as they closed the distance. The two landed in front of the front door, the mansion towering over them in a pale moonlight, and two massive batpony soldiers wearing dark red armor around their dark blue coats and leathery bat wings folded to their sides. They both looked at them with their slitted gold eyes, staring right at them, scarily intimidating, and continuing to keep their gaze on them. Moondancer started feeling uneasy as she approached them and reconsidered being here. Dr. Blitzenbolt then nervously adjusted his bowtie and slowly came forward, looking just as nervous as she was as he adjusted his tie and then said, “Um, can you inform ze Count that Dr. Blitzenbolt is here to see him.”

The guard on the left just glared at them, snorted angrily, and then asked, “And why would you be here? Didn't you already drop off your last batch?”

“Yes, but I regret to inform you this is of great importance regarding ze blood punch.”

“Of course, we shall inform the Count of your arrival,” the guard on the right said as the other eyed them. “Come, we’ll escort you to the parlor while you wait.”

“Of course,” the Doctor replied, throwing a claw over the others as the three led through the main lobby and saw that the entrance hall was absolutely stunning. There was a massive chandelier, and as they came up to the two massive stairways that led to the second floor, they saw that the carpet was a long red carpet rolling up the stairs and up to the upper floors. Everything smelled of cedar and Applewood. There were beautiful, lavish portraits of the moon and many beautiful bowls of fruits presented on little lavish end tables. They then continued through looking around, she spotted dozens of bat ponies flying about, butlers and maids busy cleaning, and some guards standing by watching them closely. Despite the strange decor, the place felt normal overall; they sat in a quaint little side parlor, waiting patiently as they were given little fruit cake and tea. The three snacked for a bit as Moondancer asked, “So, um? How are you all feeling?”

Dr. Blitzenbolt whispered, “I feel good, but we must remember to be careful around ze count; he seems to know how you are feeling and can be quite scary.”

“Doesn’t seem like a nice guy.”

“He's well, it’s complicated, but I think it’s just best to approach this cautiously,” Echo responded.

Moondancer then heard a whisper in her head as the other two talked.

Moondancer…Moondancer…

Her eyes seemed to glaze over as the voice became stronger.

Moondancer!

“Moondancer! Moondancer!”

The mare blinked as she saw Echo standing over her with a worried expression. " Are you alright? It looked like you were in a daze of some sort.”

She rubbed her horn, feeling it throbbing. Then, a butler came into the parlor. He cleared his throat and asked, “The Count has dinner ready and wishes to meet with you in the dining room.”

“Of course! Tell him we’ll be right there!” The Doctor replied, and then the following course was followed. The three then went to a massive dining hall with platters of all kinds of fruit from massive bowls. Then there was a massive, red-coated stallion with a slick black mane that curved around his head, and dark orange-slitted eyes; he looked across the table, staring, meeting Moondancer’s gaze as he drank from a massive glass of wine; the stallion swirled the red liquid within the glass with this sadistic grin on his face as he asked, “So these are my guests for the evening, welcome! Welcome, please take a seat!”

They all slowly took their seats at the long dinner table as Moondancer cleared her throat and asked, “Let's cut to the chase. I’m a normal batpony, you see,” she pointed to her horn. “The doctor here concocted a punch that somehow turned me into this, and I need to find a way to turn back to normal.”

The stallion's smile grew wider as he said, “So you drank the Blood Punch and was turned into a batpony? Excellent.”

“Excellent!? That means you’re the one who did this to me!”

He let out a cackle as he got up and said, “Well, yes, on pure accident, have you ever heard of the Blood Apple?”

“Blood Apples?”

“Yes, Blood Apples are an ancient and magical fruit that has been passed down through centuries as a fruit only cultivated by bat ponies. It is said a long time ago that some bat ponies had relationships with Day Walkers, but their batpony selves would be revealed, and it seems the same has happened to you.”

The stallion then sniffed the air, his ears twitched, and his devilish grin grew wider. " Ah, I can smell my blood running through your veins; I didn’t believe it when you first came into my manor, but now, seeing you up close, there’s no mistaking it you are my descendant.”

Moondancer was starting to get nervous and asked, “How is that possible?”

“Yes, I am quite old—a lot older than you would think—and I have had my fair share of lovers and mistresses over the years if I’m not mistaken.”

Moondancer eyed the count as, despite his looks, the batpony seemed to have this air of wisdom. Having lived for quite some time, she nervously asked, “How old are you?”

“Five hundred years, to be precise.”

“Five hundred?”

“Yes, five hundred years, and you may be a great descendant of mine, so welcome!” He then threw a hoof over the feast as they began to dine on the fruits and drink their glasses of wine, but everypony was quiet, and the silence was a bit unnerving, especially with the Count continuing to show off his fanged devilish grin. Moondancer wondered if she really was this stallion’s great descendant or if he was just pulling her tail and asked, “Count Appleblood, as interesting as living as a vampire batpony sounds, I don’t wish to remain like this, and I would like to return to being just a normal unicorn.”

“Yes, but I will also have to sleep during the day, and that is something I'm not willing to sacrifice. I don’t want to live as a batpony; I want to be with my friends.”

The stallion scoffed and waved a hoof, then said, “Forget about your friends; they mean nothing. With your abilities, you will transcend even beyond the princesses.”

“No, I don't want this. I see you bat ponies aren’t terrifying monsters, but at the same time, I have no desire to stay like this.”

The stallion paused, sipped a drink, eyed her, and then said, “Well, truth be told, some of us are indeed monsters, but alas, if you wish to return to your former self, consider it shall be done.”

“How's that?”

He turned to the Doctor, “Well, we can take a sample of the blood punch, and I can infuse it with some of my own blood fruit I cultivate. I’m sure we can reverse the effects of what's happened to Moondancer.”

“Yes, well, we can try,” the Doctor replied sheepishly.

The vampire laughed, “Excellent! Then we will resolve this matter, and in the meantime, you will stay here as my guests.”

That was when Moondancer and Echo were escorted upstairs by some batpony soldiers that flanked them. She wanted to get away as soon as possible but felt compelled to be led to their new chambers. As they made it to the guest bedroom and their chambers revealed, Moondancer was surprised to see a richly furnished room; there was a small table in the middle of the room with a fireplace, a small library with comfy chairs to sit in, a long gilded rod stretching across the room, and a bowl of apples and a bottle of wine sitting on top of a lavish table.

Interestingly, the room didn’t have a bed, and Moondancer scratched her head and asked, “Where do we sleep?”

One of the soldiers pointed to the rod, and she blinked, looking at it confusingly as Echo snickered and nudged Moodancer, “Don’t worry, I’ll show you how Batponies sleep.”

One of the soldiers then came over and asked, “Now, if you wish for anything, we’ll be right outside your room.”

“Thank you,” Moondancer whispered.

The two soldiers bowed and left the room. When the two soldiers left, Moondancer went to the table, popped the cork with her teeth, spat it out, and began downing the bottle. She snapped, “I don’t trust that guy one bit! He’s one of my great descendants, give me a break! He’s just trying to manipulate me to keep me like this.”

“I don’t trust him either,” Echo replied suspiciously. “The things he said about you having all those superpowers, do you think that’s true?”

Moondancer took a moment to think and thought about it for a moment and then shrugged and said, “I don’t know, but even if it is, I don't want powers; I just want to be a normal unicorn.”

“Well, okay, how about we sneak out and see what this guy is really up to? I mean, if you do have powers, we can use them.”

“What would you even do?”

Echo whispered, “We need to learn more about this guy. Right now, he’s preoccupied with the Doctor. We can use the opportunity to sneak into his room and learn more about what's happening to you.”

Moondancer thought for a moment and concentrated on herself. Her horn glowed, and then she turned into a shroud of mist. She sifted through a hole in the wall and went out into the hall. There, she formed up into a pony and looked down the hall. She then saw some bats flying about, and then something came over her as the mare’s eyes glowed. Then she somehow thought of a single order, swarm; the bats then suddenly stopped just fluttering about and went into a frenzy as they went straight to flying around the two guards at the door encircling them, shrieking, some even biting, as they started to squeak and annoy them, turning into a massive swarm as they began to chase them off. as Moondancer came back to her senses she then opened the door for Echo who was blown away by what her friend was able to do and commented, “Wow you really have superpowers.”

Moondancer blinked, and she was abit scared of what she could do and admitted, “Well, I’m trying to get used to them; come on! We must get going before the Count sends more soldiers after us!”

The two bat ponies then stormed down the hall were various butlers and maids once more, but they didn’t bother stopping them as they seemed too busy working; they slowly went across the home and saw that the Count’s bedroom had two massive solid doors and then they saw two more guards standing by talking with the two guards attacked by the bat swarm. They then turned to her with their golden eyes glaring right at her and snapped, “What are you two doing here!?”

Moondancer paused, and then something came over her. The mare’s eyes glowed, and she came over and said, “I am the great-granddaughter of Count Appleblood, and I require something from his bedroom. Step aside and let me in.”

One guard snapped, “Absurd! If that were the case, The count would send one of his butlers, not one of his guests!”

Moondancer’s eyes glowed as she stared at them and whispered, “The count asked me to come retrieve something for him. Now, please stand aside.”

The guards looked right into her eyes, and their mouths began to drool as they moved aside from the mare to walk through. Then, they could see the massive bedroom, and it was unlike anything they’d seen before. Unlike the guest room, this room was made entirely of dark black stone that made the place feel much more menacing; without her new dark vision, Moondancer would be completely blind.

In the center of the room was a massive coffin with no windows; massive bookshelves surrounded the room, which was filled with hundreds if not thousands of ancient dusty tomes. But one was laid open a writing desk with a bottle of wine and a half-full wine glass with a massive tome on the desk. They then flew over, and she was surprised it was flipped open. Then saw that on the pages was written in a dark red ink and then saw a part where it went into detail explaining how the mythical “Blood Apple” and the properties that it carries, how the race of “Vampire Batponies” are rare, and that they can only be created by the bond between a day walker and a night walker. Everything that the Count explained, but as she read, she learned other powers that she would acquire, including controlling bats, turning into mist, and mind control.

The realization that Vampire Batponies are creatures of immense power on par with alicorns if not more. Reading all of this made Moondancer nearly have a heart attack, as did reading about what was happening to her body; she stepped back, looking absolutely terrified, and Echo had to say, “I had no idea Vampire Batponies even existed; I swear.”

Moondancer then replied, “But my horn! Does that prove I am from royalty?”

“I…I don’t know, but if this text is true, yes, it seems that would be the case.”

“Buck!” Moondancer shouted and slammed a hoof down. “It doesn’t matter whether I’m the Count’s heir or not! I will not become his puppet. We need to get out of here and find a cure on our own.”

“Right, whatever he has cooked up, I doubt it’ll be good, ”Echo whispered, feeling rather scared at the news and looking around her shoulders.

Moodancer nodded and shouted, “Right, let’s get going!"

They bolted out of the Count’s room and flew down to the front doors. They were suddenly surrounded by the servants, butlers, guards, and maids, all now looking as if they were hypnotized. She then heard a voice in her head. “Sorry to disappoint, but you're not leaving my manor quite yet, especially not after you entered my room without my permission.”

The bat ponies surrounding them then all pointed a hoof at them and hissed at them, flashing their fangs, as Moondancer and Echo stepped back and gulped as they both squeaked. “Oh, buck.”