Chapter 13
Another day come and gone, you and the ponies had laid yourselves to rest after finishing the vast table of food that Discord had left, and getting some more practice in with weapons. You had supervised for a while, the ponies opting to use trees as targets rather than spar with one another or do anything too reckless. Once they seemed to be in the groove, you went over to the item enhancement stations discord had left for you. The workbench was really just used to fix up your armor, with some good design input from Rarity. She suggested a few tweaks that both improved movement, and defense, all while shaving weight. You armor as a whole was probably a good ten pounds lighter now. You then sharpened your dragon bone axes, and got ready for enchanting them.
"Hmm... I could just do fire like always, but I've picked up a few more over the years. Perhaps a few of the more exotic options?" You thought it over for a bit, but ultimately decided to just do fire as always. "Not this time... best to stick with what works best." You pulled out a couple of soul gems, and threw a flame enchantment on your new axes. Now they were truly worthy of dragon slaying. Good thing it worked too, those were your last full soul gems. You'd have to make more if you wanted to enchant anything else. Of course, that would take... "Actually.... I wonder if..." You root around in your bag again for a few minutes, searching for a weapon that you rarely use. You like to keep it on hand though, because having a range advantage can come in handy. Plus, it's funny to watch skeletons basically explode when you shoot them. "Hrm... let's see..... Aha! There you are." You pull what you had been looking for from the depths of your infinite bag space. It sucks that weight still has an effect, but hey, you can't have it all. Out came the only bow you had ever bothered to use: an ebony bow with soul trap. You always kept a store of soul gems on you, so why not go out hunting, fill a few, and enchant everyone's gear while you were at it. Plus, it'd be nice to have a bit more meat around. You wouldn't tell the ponies of course, but what they wouldn't know...
"Hey, J'Dagna?"
"Gah!" You turned, finding Twilight behind you, concern on her face.
"Um... are you okay? I didn't mean to startle you."
"No.... no, I am fine. Did you need something?" You placed your now enchanted axes on your hips, and the bow was slung across your back. A quiver full of steel arrows joining it as you listened to Twilight.
"I did actually... a question. Well, more of an observation than a question... although, there IS a question involved. Of course, you're under no obligation to answer, but I'm just curious. Um... oh, how best to put this?"
"Twilight, you needn't worry about upsetting me, I'm hardly one to get his feelings hurt. Please, speak your mind." You knelt down to be eye level with her, and she gave a small sigh of anxiety.
'Well, the thing is... I've noticed that your fur is really light, almost white. Which, isn't really all that strange. But your canines, they shouldn't be as long as they are... plus, that wound from the other day is practically gone now. I know it sounds crazy, but I can't help but put two and two together. Are... are you... a vampony?" You blinked a few times, her words processing in your mind. A bead of nervous sweat rolled down Twilight's head. She was biting her bottom lip, shying away from you. Anxiety plastered across her face as she awaited your response with bated breath. Finally, you just laughed.
"Hahahaaa!!! Twilight, my dear pony..."
"Aw c'mon! It's not that crazy! I mean, you match up with the descriptions... save being allergic to sunlight anyways."
"Of COURSE I'm a vampire! I would have thought that to be obvious."
"Look, I know it doesn't... wait, what? You... you're actually a vampire?" Her face showed a bit of fear now. You understood. It never mattered how long or well somebody knew you, once it was out that you were a vampire, they were always afraid. You placed a comforting hand on Twilight's shoulder.
"Twilight, there is no cause for fear. Honestly now, if I had wanted to hurt you, do you not think I would have done it by now? Besides, I've never really USED my vampiric powers. Not the blood drinky ones anyways. I do have this really cool ability to shapeshift into a vampire lord. Perhaps you will get to see it, but I use it very rarely." She nodded, understanding that you weren't a threat. Then, as expected, she shifted into full scholar mode. She even pulled out a notepad and quill.
"Okay, so how are you not killed by sunlight? Are vampires not actually allergic to it? And what was it like? Being bitten? Were you scared? Oh, and what happens when-" You placed your hand over her mouth, stopping her barrage of questions. You chuckled a bit at her inquisitive nature. Once again she reminded you of... well, that was in the past now.
"Slow down pony, I will answer your questions, just one at a time. As for your first few: Yes, we are allergic to sunlight, but it does not kill us. It just makes us incapable of regenerating. I have a few items to counteract this. As for what it was like being bitten... I was not scared. Unlike most, I chose to become a vampire." Her eyes grew wide, and she began writing down notes.
"Okay, but what did it feel like? And... why did you choose to become a vampire? Aren't they hated and feared?"
"Of course we are. The turning process felt very painful. First there wasn't much of anything, just the sting of fangs. But then, the wound started to itch, then burn. Suddenly, it was like my entire body was aflame. My blood boiling, I doubled over in agony, and then blacked out. I awoke several days later, a fully fledged vampire." You really hoped she just moved on, choosing to take your ignoring that other question as not wanting to answer it.
"I see, that's all such good info. We know so little about vampires here. Or, vamponies as we call them. The night guard is made up entirely of vamponies, but their abilities are kept secret within their own ranks. And they don't really talk. But, you didn't tell me why you wanted to become a vampire. Surely you had a reason?" There it was again. That question you didn't want to answer. Not because you didn't want Twilight to know, but because it was too hard to talk about her.
"Look, Twilight... if it's all the same, I'd rather not get into that. It... it's a long story. Please, can we move on?" She thought for a few minutes. For a moment you thought she was going to press the issue, but in the end she just dropped it. She did move on however. A lot. For the next several hours you were assaulted with question after question about what it was like to be a vampire. You answered every one to the best of your ability, but in truth it really didn't affect your day to day much. You were just a white furred Khajiit instead of dark gray. With fangs. And immortality. No big deal really. Twilight did offer a word of caution however: don't let the other mares discover your vampirism. Especially Applejack. When you inquired further, Twilight simply said that 'It wouldn't end well'.
The end of the day drew near, and you informed all of the ponies during dinner that night that you would all be setting out early in the morning. It was imperative that your group pressed on into the mountains tomorrow. You needed to find more information on the whereabouts of Alduin and the dragons. Starting with no real leads, the mountains seemed to be your best bet. You just hoped they wouldn't turn out to be a bust.
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You rose slowly in your bedroll, the morning sun pulling you from your sleep. You rolled your shoulder, checking the progress of your healing. Still a ways to go. Externally, there was little more than a scar, but the bone and muscle inside were still rather messed up. You could tell that your shoulder blade was fractured badly, but it was still holding together at least. It was unfortunate that it it was wood that had made the wound, and not steel. The healing would take longer because of that. No matter, you'd be back to maximum in a couple more days. You downed a healing potion, and exited your tent.
It had been two days now since you and the ponies had left the safety of the forest and entered the mountains. You hadn't run across any dragons yet, but the signs were evident of their presence. Huge claw marks in the rocks, blackened cliff faces, even several scales lying about. Likely from fights. Rainbow Dash had found a tooth while she was out ahead, scouting the best route, and now wore it proudly as a necklace. You told her if she could find some more, you'd make her a new set of daggers with them.
You went and sat by the still-lit fire from last night, the embers producing a fair amount of smoke that rose into the sky. You gazed up at the black column, and watched as the wind blew it gently to the north-east as it rose into the sky. It could probably be seen for several miles around. Something in the back of your mind bothered you as you stared at the smoke, but you couldn't quite place it. Suddenly, a roar broke you out of you daydreaming. A very close roar. It was quickly joined by another, this one from a different direction. Then a third, and a fourth. What? How did they... your head slowly swiveled to look at the column of smoke. Stupid.
"Ponies! Rouse yourselves, quickly! Trouble on the horizon!" You really needed to quit waking up to dragon attacks.