Twilight and Sunset of the Vampires

by Anonomis

Summer's End

Author's Note:

Reference for the song comes from John Denver's Take Me Home Country Roads

A few days later, a private funeral for her parents was held and Sunset was reminded of how she was left alone in Equestria when her parents died before being placed in an orphanage with her younger sister Scootaloo.

“Miss Shimmer, I am sorry for your loss. I am Judge Hardgrove and I would like to have you come to court tomorrow to discuss the future,” he said, shaking her hand

Looking over the ledger of visitors; one name stuck out. The name ‘Melodious Harmony’ belonged to a musician that was long dead. Whoever used that name didn't want to be known for some reason, that struck Sunset as curious.

That night, Sunset wished Luna could visit her or she could control her own dreams as sleep seemed impossible. Various scenarios were playing out that she wished would stop. The next morning was torture as she had to head to court. Luckily Lydia was going to accompany her.

“I'm sorry for your parents unfortunate deaths. Do you have anything to suggest about your future,” Hardgrove asked

“I'd like to stay at home. It's true that my parents are dead; but the maids that work there could assist in taking care of me to make sure I have what I need.”

“Very well. Sunset Shimmer, I hereby grant you the status of ‘Emancipated Minor’. You will need to be enrolled in high school. Either Crystal Prep Academy or Canterlot High School will be accepting you,” he decided “Expect to get a visit by their principals in the attempt to recruit you.”

To her surprise, later that same day her door rang to find two visitors standing outside. The first wore a light brown pantsuit and had multicolored hair. Her counterpart wore a dark purple suit and seemed to have a metaphorical stick up her ass due to her rigidity.

“Miss Shimmer? I am the headmistress of Crystal Prep; Abacus Cinch,” she said “I'm here to convince you to come to my school.”

“I am the principal of Canterlot High School; Celestia Solaris,” she said sweetly

“Welcome inside,” Sunset said opening the door “Would either of you like something to drink?”

“Black coffee please” Cinch replied

“The same for me, but with cream and sugar; if you don't mind,” Celestia added

“I am sure you know that your mother and father were alumni of Crystal Prep. They would want you to be a student at the best school in Canterlot,” Cinch said, getting down to business “Your status would set you among the best.”

“Very well. Principal Celestia; anything to add?”

“Canterlot High might not have the prestige as a prep school, but you might find the school to your liking. In the end, the choice is yours; but CHS may have other things the prep might not have,” Celestia countered; stressing the word ‘other’

“What could you have that my school doesn't? We have won the Friendship Games ever since they started. Your school can't hold a candle to us,” Cinch argued

“I would like to join CHS. My parents would have said the decision is mine to make and I choose not to follow what they did. I will see you in late August when school starts.”

“Classes start on August 20th. We will be happy to have you,” Celestia replied

The two left and Sunset was left to question what Celestia meant by her comment. The only answer she came up with was Celestia watched her enter from the portal and figured Sunset would want to remain close by. As she was checking her emails, one caught her eye. The sender was made up of random letters, and the subject line simply read ‘Crystal Prep Thanks You’. Driven by curiosity; she opened the letter.

‘Sunset Shimmer-
My condolences for the loss of your parents; and my congratulations on choosing CHS. Crystal Prep is not as perfect as it seems. Abacus Cinch has information on every teacher and student to blackmail them into staying.
Your family heritage would be used against you to “donate” to the school, lest their lucrative “business partners” get revealed.’

“Well; I guess that was good that I turned her down. I'd hate to know what she could have on me.”

Two more emails arrived that seemed to catch her attention. The first was from the original sender while the other was different.

‘In case you were wondering; I am an employee at Crystal Prep. Cinch found out my relationship with my husband and my sister. I won't reveal any more, but you could see why I have a dislike towards her.’

‘We know what you are.’

INTERLUDE 2

To her relief; the second email was just the lone sentence. Reading that caused more questions to form. Which part was known; her being from another world or the fact she happens to be a vampire?

“We know what you are? What does that mean,” Lydia asked, reading over her shoulder “Sorry about my rudeness.”

“I have a couple theories. Could you gather the other maids?”

A short time later; Sunset decided to meet the maids in the dining room and give them a needed explanation.

“What I'm going to tell you must be kept secret. No one outside this house can know,” Sunset said, as the maids nodded in agreement “I'm a vampire.”

“That's why you've taken blood from us this entire time. Is that what happened to Filthy and Spoiled? Did you kill them,” one of the maids asked accusingly

“No. They were attacked by wolves, but something else must have been there as well.”

“In regards to that email; do you know who sent it,” Lydia asked

“Either someone knows that I'm a vampire or that I somehow passed through some kind of portal.”

“That is a good joke. And I suppose that statue is what you'd look like,” another asked jokingly

“Yeah, I'm a unicorn from another world,” Sunset said with a chuckle “Kidding. The person who sent it thought it would fit me.”

As the weeks seemed to be closing in on school, Sunset started getting anxious and wanted to get out for a while. After notifying the maids, she headed to the Everfree Forest and the same clearing where her parents were murdered. She headed to a nearby tree to sit against.

“I thought I'd find you here,” a voice called as its owner approached “Sorry for the loss. They died here; right?”

“Star Swirl. Never thought I'd see you again. Yes, this is where it happened. I wanted to come here and think.”

“About what,” he asked curiously, sitting beside her

“Nothing in particular. I'd guess my decisions.”

“So, the murderer returns to the scene of the crime,” a voice called

“Officer Armor; is it? Why did you come here,” Star Swirl asked, reading the nametag

“That is none of your business. I know she killed her parents but my question is how,” Shining replied

“I'm not a lawyer; but I'd recommend keeping quiet. The last thing you want to do is incriminate yourself,” Star Swirl said, as Sunset nodded

“If you aren't a lawyer; then that advice is meaningless,” Shining said

“You are harassing her over nothing. Either provide evidence to your claim or leave,” Star Swirl argued

With that Shining left in a huff as he knew Star Swirl was right. There wasn't any evidence to tie Sunset to the murders and he was wrong to assume such. Once he was gone, Sunset hugged Star Swirl.

“Thank you for standing up for me.”

“You're welcome. I know you did it; but won't assume your reasoning. I'm curious as to why you'd come here of all places,” he commented

“It's true they died here; but I can't be scared to return. If something wants to attack me, so be it.”

“Don't think like that. You've done things you may regret, but don't let that control your life. Take it from someone who's been around for a while. I've made countless mistakes in my life, but I use them to learn,” Star Swirl explained “Now let's get going. You need to be at home.”

The two walked together as he acted as a guardian to her. Sunset knew he was right and needed to learn from her mistakes as she would have a long life.

“Greetings. I thought I would take the liberty of walking miss Shimmer home. After hearing about her family, I didn't want anything to happen to her,” Star Swirl explained

“Thank you very much, sir. Say bye to the nice man,” Lydia said

“Thank you for walking me home, Star Swirl. I appreciate it.”

“You are very welcome. Have a nice day,” he said before leaving

The next day, Sunset was taken to the Crystal Empire mall in order to get her school supplies and clothes for the school year. During their visit to a stationary store; a simple set of pens and pencils were bought along with composition notebooks. A plain red backpack was also bought with the possibility of decorating it another time.

“These are all you want,” Lydia asked in surprise

“Do we really need to get four more years worth of supplies now? Couldn't that wait?”

“Better to be prepared in advance. Do you want to get the same designs or change them,” Lydia asked

“I'll get every color and figure it out later. Next store we need to visit?”

“Clothing. I know that that particular skirt is your favorite; but you need more options. At least after that shirt was sewn up; you retired it,” she replied

“You're right. Hopefully they have something I like.”

After making their purchase; the two headed to drop the bags off in the car. With that done; the second store was needed and their trip would be complete.

“What do you think of this,” Lydia asked, holding a pink shirt

“Not at all my style. That red one looks cool, though.”

Sunset picked up a red shirt that had the design of a sun on that reminded her of her old shirt. A black shirt with a skull on it was added to the pile of clothes to keep.

“Any dresses you might want? Perhaps for a date to prom,” Lydia questioned

“Not that I can see. I never pictured myself as wearing a dress.”

“Nonsense, darling. Sorry for my rudeness. My name is Rarity Belle. I actually create most of my clothing by hand and it is my belief that every young lady should have a dress and heels for the perfect occasion,” Rarity said

“I only wear skirts because it's quick to put on when I'm lazy and can’t remain nude. Perhaps a nice pair of pants or tights would fit me better.”

With that; she headed to find some pants that seemed to fit what she wanted. Lydia handed over a couple pairs of tights in black and yellow that would compliment the already chosen clothes.

“There's one important thing you have to get before we leave; shoes,” Lydia decided

Sunset reluctantly headed over and found a pair of boots were similar to the ones she was already wearing. Lydia bought a pair of red heels for her, despite Sunset not wanting them.

“Why do you insist I wear those? I'd be likely to break something trying to walk around.”

“Your boots have a heel on them; don't they? If you can walk in those fine, these should be easy,” Lydia replied

“I doubt I actually wear them.”

“That's up to you. Better safe than sorry,” Lydia said, with a sigh “Lunch?”

“Sure; but there's one place I'd like to check out first. I saw a music store when we entered and I was curious if they had a particular artist.”

“Lead the way,” she said

Sunset led the way towards the entrance to a store packed with CDs and other musical instruments. Running the store was a girl with two-tone blue hair and glasses that felt familiar; but couldn't be placed.

“Anything in particular you're looking for? I'm Vinyl Scratch,” she said

“Do you happen to have anything by Melodious Harmony? I heard some of her music and grew to like it.”

“There's probably something for her on the shelf. I've sampled her music in some of my work,” Vinyl commented

“Just curious; but how much do you know about her?”

“I believe she ended up killing herself and was buried in an unmarked grave. Why do you ask,” Vinyl asked curiously

“Other than her music, I found her name on the ledger from my parents’ funeral. It was just surprising to see.”

“That is interesting. Could be someone who didn't want to be known,” Vinyl commented

After finishing their conversation; Sunset looked through one of the shelves and found the discs in question. It seemed her music wasn't as popular as the others, but that meant nothing to Sunset.

“Those are what you're looking for,” Lydia asked

“Yes, they are.”

“You're heading to CHS next week; right,” Vinyl asked

“I'm guessing I'll see you there?”

“You will. Thanks for the purchase,” Vinyl said

“Thank you.”

With no stores left to visit; the two decided on getting lunch before finally heading home. Sunset was surprised that she was eating meat just as much as salads. Since it was closing in on a year that she'd been human; returning home would feel awkward when she can't think of meat.

“Penny for your thoughts,” Lydia commented

“Just thinking about the future.”

“Anything in particular,” Lydia inquired

“Not really. Lots of ideas at one time gets confusing.”

“I know what you mean. Try not to space out in class. Your grades would thank you,” Lydia joked

“I'll try. The work might actually help me focus.”

“Changing the subject; have you had enough to drink,” she asked cryptically

“Yeah. I'm fine right now. Luckily I haven't gotten sick.”

After finishing their meal; Lydia drove the home where everything was sent downstairs to be put away. Sunset was working diligently when a scream interrupted her concentration. She ran upstairs to see who yelled.

“What is it?”

“That,” a maid replied, pointing to the kitchen table

Sitting on the table was a vampire bat. Sunset walked over and casually picked up the bat. He started to crawl up her arm towards the shoulder before looking like a gothic parrot.

“Friendly little guy.”

“In your situation it might be; but it startled me,” the maid replied

“Come on, Vlad. Let's get you some fruit to eat.”

Sunset grabbed an apple and proceeded to slice it before handing a piece to Vlad who devoured it greatly.

“New pet,” Lydia asked, entering the room

“More like a new friend. Vlad’s like me.”

“Are you sure you can take care of him? ‘Vlad’ as you called him is wild. It's not best to keep him as a pet,” Lydia reasoned

“That's why I thought of him as a friend. I'm going to release him; but if he wishes to return, then I'll help him out.”

“Fair enough,” the first maid decided

With that decided, Sunset headed outside and let Vlad go before returning inside. Having no more distractions; she began to relax and listen to the CDs she bought earlier

🎵‘Take me home; to the place where I belong. Where my heart's all a flutter and my love is by my side. This place is not perfect; but I love it all the same.’

“I'm curious but how'd you find this,” Lydia asked

“The music of Melodious just reminds me of Equestria. One of the previous songs actually used the exact same melody as the Equestrian national anthem.”

“How's that possible? Coincidence or something else,” she mused

“I honestly don't know. Since there was never words for the anthem, it could be coincidence to use the same melody. A very small possibility is whomever wrote this somehow visited Equestria and borrowed the idea.”

“I thought you were the only one to come from there,” Lydia said

“The portal opens every thirty moons, err, two and a half years. By that reasoning; someone could go through if they knew it's there.”

“On another topic; these songs are pretty good. It's a shame that music from the ‘30s is so rare. I'd much rather listen to music with heart, than noise,” Lydia said

“I know what you mean.”

“If you were going to learn how to an instrument; which would you choose,” she questioned

“I actually couldn't say. Having never played; I wouldn't know.”

“I could help if you'd like. I played cello when I was younger,” Lydia suggested

“I'd like that very much. Perhaps when I'm not working on homework you could teach me.”

“Just let me know when you want to learn,” she replied

“I promise you; that you'll know.”

“I will hold you to that promise,” she warned