Vinyl Scratch is (not) a vampire

Moving with a light trot, Vinyl didn't take long to find her way to Canterlot's easternmost section.

Nicknamed 'Lowtown', this part of the city was known for being an extremely--like really, ultra--boring section of the city. Not possessive of any major clubs, the most this place had in terms of nightlife were a few modest bars. This was accompanied by an astounding sense of peace during the night, as Lowtown was also the least active area at that time.

A sign with a gryphon perched on a limb adorned the front of The Gryphon's Aviary. Vinyl adjusted her shades, making sure that she opened the door just the right amount. Too much to be very meek or nervous, so not here looking to avoid attention. Those ponies always earned the most attention. Not enough to appear overly self-confident or attention seeking, so she wasn't here to brawl, get overly drunk or go home with anypony.

Just a stranger looking to rest for a spell, then.

The bartender looked up from where he was getting drinks for a pair of stallions who had apparently just walked in. The gryphon seemed to approve of Vinyl's demeanor, quickly returning to his own duties.

Half-filled, tonight was the perfect night to be a regular at The Aviary. Plenty of warm conversation and a few card players, but not enough to create much in the way of noise or a delay in service. It perfectly matched the way Vinyl had chosen to walk in. Smirking to herself, she made a mental note to come back here again sometime, especially if every night was like this.

Taking a seat with some space to either side of her, Vinyl thought it more prudent to wait until the bartender came over.

"Here for poison, or just some downtime?"

Looking up, Vinyl was surprised to find the gryphon leaning on the bar just a few feet away. "Not feeling the heavy stuff tonight, chief. Some light draft'll do."

A voice piped up from behind Vinyl as a cloaked form slipped into the seat next to her. "What? Day not bad enough for you? I can always get those ponies to come back sometime." The brown coated and rust maned stallion from the research facility grinned at her. "Though I doubt they'd be so keen as to play nice."

Well, drat. Vinyl had been hoping to actually take a drink or two before having to meet him, if she met him at all.

The bartender didn't ask any questions, but frowned at the stranger. "You really need to work on making a good impression, Plow." Ah. Not a stranger, then.

"Brush your beak and get back to me. The smell of meat's making me gag."

The gryphon shook his head as he walked away. "Bloody herbivores..."

Somehow, nopony in the bar even noticed the brief exchange. Plow grinned again. "Don't mind Frank. He's always like that."

Vinyl bit back a laugh. "His name's actually Frank?"

A knife sailed by her head, clipping some hair tips off her mane as it traveled into the bulls-eye of a target board that had been set up on the wall. The resounding thud attracted a few glances, but if anyone minded, they didn't for long. Vinyl looked back to Frank, who was innocently putting up several similar knives.

Plow cocked an eyebrow. "He's also great at parties."

Shaking her head in barely contained disbelief, Vinyl looked back to Plow. "Is there a reason this is happening, or am I in one massive dream?"

"Seems more like a nightmare..." Plow muttered, immediately turning gloomy.

"What?" Vinyl asked, surprised by his sudden turn for the dark.

Plow leaned back, taking a deep breath. "You remember what I called those ponies who attacked the facility, correct?"

"Yeah." Vinyl responded. "I also remember being told that they were some sort of vampire hunters, but that doesn't have much credence to it, does it?"

"More than you'd believe."

"Oh, is that so?" Vinyl asked sarcastically, leaning her head on one hoof. "Please, enlighten me."

Frank walked back up. "You two might not want to have this conversation here." He motioned towards the door, where a minotaur was walking in. The bull had a fresh scar over his left cheek and nose, several small pieces of scab still clinging in some spots. A heavy sledgehammer strapped to his back did little to alleviate the look of danger he had about him.

Plow quickly motioned Vinyl further back, following Frank's instructions as they ducked into the back section of the bar without being seen.

Once out of dodge, Plow cleared his throat. "Well, that's odd. Haven't seen Grudge since... that one scrap we had in Las Pegasus. Thought he had given up."

Vinyl glanced around, nervously making note of her best viable method of getting out if necessary. "Grudge?"

"Nice guy, great with kids." Plow said, shrugging. "Only problem is being a major player in the Dawn's Light and, oh yeah, trying to murder all of us."

Vinyl twisted her head to the side. "Us?"

Plow thought for a moment. "Well, not you. He thinks you're one of us, but you're not, so it's complicated."

"Who--?" She was cut off by Frank coming into the room with a surprised expression on his face.

"Anything?" Plow asked hurriedly.

The gryphon shrugged. "Asked a few questions, but never even mentioned you two. He was more concerned with some lad who gave him trouble in Appleloosa."

Now Plow was surprised. "How long?"

"Few weeks since." Frank shrugged, picking up one of the nearby cider kegs and propping it on his shoulder. "Couldn't get much, but he's nervous about it."

Some questioning later, Vinyl learned that Frank served as the middle ground between The Dawn's Light and whoever Plow was with. When it came to Canterlot and it's neighbors, Frank was able to exchange information between the two sides. For a price of course. He never gave out what he had told the other side, but also served Plow with the same degree of half-loyalty.

Vinyl thought that Frank's position shouldn't even exist. In fact, when she expressed this thought, both Plow and Frank agreed with her, but it was the way it was. Nopony ever asked how exactly Frank came into the information he knew, though Plow certainly had a few ideas. But, he never shared them.

Plow gave Vinyl a small smile as they sat back down at their original seats. "I realize that this is all mind-boggling, but it could be worse. We could be dealing with a lot more than just us and the Dawn's Light."

Frank had to fight down his laughter at that statement, even as Plow began to whistle as if he had said nothing at all.

Vinyl, now very keen on learning more about whatever she had been dragged into, began digging for more information, Plow merely shook his head and told her to come back in a few days. Frank said nothing at all, but laughed at her persistence after an hour had gone by.

As she left the bar, Vinyl slammed he door shut behind her, trying to control her anger at being so loudly thrown out. As she left, she failed to notice the cold chill the air had, passing it off as just another trait native to midnight.

<><><>

Vinyl poured over the books she had in front of her. She was in Canterlot's library, a dusty place filled with books of varying size and practicality. Most of the volumes lined tall shelves, some laden to such an extent that they had begun to sag from the weight. The library was divided into two main sections: Fiction and non-fiction. These were further subdivided by sections such as fantasy, science, sci-fy, math, biographies, beastiaries, and several dozen other sub-classes of book.

What she had in front of her were fictional books. Specifically, ones regarding the cult of Dawn's Light. From there, things branched out into the cult's main prey: vampires. Most of the text was self contradictory. For instance, some said that the vampire grew more powerful in direct moonlight, but would turn to ash in the sun.

Snorting, Vinyl had to keep herself from shaking her head. Moonlight was just reflected sunlight, so how could that even be possible? The text of vampires sparkling in the sun was discarded as soon as Vinyl read that line. Ridiculous.

There were a few that rumored of a rivalry between werewolves and vampires, but Vinyl threw these out as well. Even if they had credence, Vinyl was already working with one mythological creature of death and had no need for another.

Sighing, she closed another book that spoke of a vampire's only weakness being a stake to the heart. That was a weakness for almost everything, fictional or not. Besides, the same text had just said that stakes to the heart were horribly impractical.

A voice startled her from her studies. A small voice, doing little else than to ask, "Hello?"

Turning in her seat Vinyl saw a pegasus foal standing next to her with an CD case in his grasp.

He seemed to shrink even as Vinyl looked at him. "A-are you DJ-pon3?"

Vinyl grinned. "In the flesh, kid. You need something?"

He held up his CD case. Vinyl recognized it as her last single. Flipping it open, she found the CD still there, but having obviously been played several times over.

Nodding, Vinyl quickly signed the case, handing it back to him as she returned to her own minor world. She heard the foal run off, followed a few seconds later by at least three other young ponies.

"Well, if this doesn't work out, I still have my music." Vinyl thought to herself. Looking around her to the shelves and books around her, Vinyl decided that she could afford a few minutes away from the madness she was being thrust into. Chances are she was just making it tougher on herself, bringing myth and legend into what was likely far less complicated than it seemed.

Nodding to herself, Vinyl replaced the books she could and left the rest on the table she had occupied. Exiting the building, she turned her path toward the remains of Canterlot's local department of research, weaponry and experiments. Maybe checking in where this all begin would give her a few hints she missed earlier, plus give her another chance to assess the damage to her own work area. Hey, maybe Notey would have a little gem of insight buried somewhere in her ridiculous manestyle.