Vampirism

by Someguy458

Chapter 8: The Friends of Generosity

Books flew from the shelves, glowing from Twilight's magenta magic. Spike thoroughly dusted the shelf space once occupied by the tomes, before Twilight placed them back in their spots.

The two repeated this process, just as they had every other Wednesday since they'd moved into the Castle.

Only this time, both of them had something else occupying their mind. And neither of them dared to talk about it.

Luckily, they needn't broach the subject; a pegasus pony, Cloud Chaser, suddenly burst in through the doors, out of breath from how fast she'd flown there. "Twilight, you've gotta come quick! There's a Changeling—"

"—near Carousel Boutique?" Twilight ventured flatly. When the pegasus nodded, the alicorn explained, "That's Thorax; Rarity's watching over him for the time being."

Cloud Chaser blinked. "Oh... Well, that certainly puts me at ease! Sorry for the intrusion, Twilight; I was visiting my folks in Cloudsdale for the holiday, so I guess I missed hearing about it."

Twilight nodded. "That's alright, Cloud Chaser. It happens to the best of us."

"Though you probably should be aware that Rarity, uh, looks different now, too," Spike added.

To that, Cloud Chaser pshawed. "Well, of course she'll look different; she's the best darn fashion designer in town!"

Twilight went to explain further, but the pegasus was already on her way out. "Well, thanks for clearing that up. See you around, Twilight!"

"Cloud, I don't think—"

With a heavy *slam!*, the doors closed, cutting the Princess of Friendship off. She grumbled, then decided it wasn't worth it.

Spike caught Twilight's gaze. "So, uh... what're your thoughts about it?"

"About what, Spike?" Twilight raised an eyebrow.

"About this whole situation, with Rarity and Thorax. How do you feel about all that?"

The purple alicorn sighed. "I don't know what I think yet; It's only been two days."

"I know, I know," Spike held up his hands in a placating manner. "Just gimme your gut feelings."

Twilight had to think about that for a moment. "Well, I'm definitely concerned for Rarity; that's a given. I suppose I'm also a bit miffed at Thorax for causing this whole thing, but given his past, I can't exactly hold it against him."

Spike nodded. "I agree, though I'm also excited for her shape-shifting powers."

Twilight paused. "Her what?"

"Y'know, shape-shifting powers? If she's becoming a Changeling, then that means she'll be able to transform, too. It'll certainly help with her dressmaking, and maybe — just maybe — she could transform into a dragon once in a while? Not for any particular reason; I'm just saying, it could be—"

Spike never got to finish that sentence; Twilight suddenly scooped him up in her magic and started rushing out the door. "I didn't even think of that! She's about to have access to so much new magic; I need to observe it!"

"This! Isn't! What! I! Had! In! Mind!" Spike managed to shout out as Twilight's running jostled him.

The Princess of Friendship was no longer paying attention, however; she had a study to write.

---

To any outside observer, Applejack was simply harvesting apples. However, Big Mac could tell that she was upset about something; she was kicking harder than usual. "AJ, is somethin' wrong?"

Applejack huffed, "Naw, everythin's fine. What makes ya think somethin's wrong?"

"B'cause ya nearly uprooted that last tree."

AJ looked back; indeed, the tree was left askew from how hard she'd bucked it. "Whoops..."

"What's gotten y'all madder than a timberwolf trapped in a net?" Big Mac asked again, concerned for his younger sister.

She finally relented with a sigh. "D'ya ever just feel like yer whole worldview is changin'? Like the world weren't so black an' white, an' it don't care iff'n ya understand that 'fore it goes 'n does somethin' drastic?"

"What happened?"

"Ever since the weddin', Ah thought that Changelings were nothin' but trouble, but now, Ah'm s'posed ta accept that Thorax ain't, even when he's hurt Rarity?? It just don't make sense!"

Big Mac pondered this for a moment.

Then he asked, "Did ya ever hear about what happened at Cranky an' Matilda's Weddin'?"

AJ raised an eyebrow. "What, the fireworks?"

Mac shook his head. "No, the Changelin' in the audience."

AJ's eyes widened. "The what!?"

But before she could say anything more, her brother held up a hoof. "He didn't do nothin' bad, AJ."

The farm pony blinked. "He... He didn't?"

Big Mac shook his head. "Nope, he just sat an' watched in silence. In fact, all anypony could get out of him was 'I came for some food'. Didn't help his appearance, though; most ponies who noticed were too frightened to stop 'n think."

AJ stood there, letting this revelation settle in her brain.

Then she slapped herself. "Aw, shoot," she cursed herself as she began to leave at an increasing pace, "Ah gotta find Thorax. Thanks fer the talk, Big Mac!"

"Eeyup," he stated simply as she disappeared from sight.

---

Fluttershy was feeding a family of crows when Angel Bunny approached, looking uncomfortable. He chattered something to Fluttershy, who paused in her chores. "What is it, Angel?" she asked.

He chittered something else, to which Fluttershy blushed. "Oh... Has my stress really been that obvious?"

Angel nodded, then said something in a genuinely concerned tone, a rare moment of outward caring towards Fluttershy.

Fluttershy sighed. "It's just that Rarity's turning into a Changeling. Not that I won't still be her friend, but I just wonder... How's she going to cope?"

The father of the crow family tweeted something, and Fluttershy responded, "That's not what I meant, Manfred. I meant, how'll everypony in town react? How'll that affect her business? How'll that affect Sweetie Belle?"

Angel then began a short speech. Fluttershy listened for a moment before replying, "Yeah, I suppose she's always been good at turning a bad situation beautiful..."

Angel then continued his speech for a while, Manfred and Fluttershy both nodding along with the points he made. All in all, it was rather intelligent for the little guy, and it's a tragedy that it doesn't have a direct translation into English.

Fluttershy gasped. "You're right, Angel! She won't let this get in the way of her dreams!"

Angel nodded proudly, glad he was able to calm Fluttershy down.

But then she shuffled a bit on her hooves. "But, something could still go wrong..."

And before Angel could say anything else, she was off.

Angel sighed. Sometimes, that pony just couldn't be helped.

---

Somewhere in the skies above Ponyville, Rainbow Dash was chillaxin' on a cloud.

At least, she was trying to. But no matter how much she tossed and turned, she was too restless to relax.

There was just something off about the whole situation; Rarity seemed to be acting a bit too nice to Thorax. She'd suspect mind control if Twilight hadn't already scanned for that, but something had to have happened. Rarity was just as disgusted by the Changelings as they'd been during the Wedding, but now, she seemed to be buddy-buddy with one? That didn't sit quite well with Rainbow Dash.

And it definitely wasn't jealousy; Rarity wasn't her type, and was totally out of Rainbow's league, even before this.

Finally, Rainbow Dash groaned, sitting back up. She wasn't going to get any answers just lying around here; she broke up the cloud she was on, and began to fly towards the Carousel Boutique.

---

Twilight arrived at Carousel Boutique to find Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie all standing outside the front door. "What's everypony doing here?"

"Ah need to talk ta Thorax," AJ stated with a repentant look on her face.

Fluttershy added, "I want to make sure Rarity's alright."

"Same here," Rainbow dodged, with a noticeable dart of her eyes.

"Twilight wants to study Rarity's transformation," Spike offered.

"And we don't know what Pinkie's doing here, since she arrived first and hasn't spoken since." Rainbow Dash gave a glance towards the pink mare, who was currently staring at the door as if she could open it telepathically.

Twilight decided to avoid questioning it.

It was then that Sweetie Belle passed the window from the inside, saw the group, and opened the door. "What're you all doing outside? The door was unlocked..."

Everypony except Pinkie pratfalled at that. "Pinkie, why didn't you say so?!" AJ accused.

Finally, Pinkie Pie spoke: "I was waiting for everypony to get here."

Sighs were exchanged all around, before everypony rushed inside.

When they finally found Rarity and Thorax, the scene they walked in on wasn't what they'd expected. Rarity, now sprouting wings, was telling stories to Thorax, as well as her parents, who were there for whatever reason.

Twilight stepped forward. "Uh, Rarity?"

The fashionista finally noticed them, greeting them with a wave of her hoof and a fanged smile. "Oh, hello, girls! I was just telling Thorax and my folks about our visit to the Rainbow Falls Trader's Exchange."

Rainbow Dash stepped forward. "Rarity, you've got wings again!"

"Ah, you noticed?" She set her wings buzzing, and lifted off from the ground, to the group's amazement.

Rainbow gave a smirk, her plans momentarily forgotten. "You know I'm gonna want to see how fast those babies can go, right?"

"We can race later, Dashie," Rarity promised teasingly. "But right now, I suspect that you girls have a reason for coming?"

AJ nodded. "Ah'd like ta see Thorax fer a moment in private, please."

Thorax blinked, staring at the farm pony for a moment. "S-sure...?" He stood up and followed her to a back room, leaving everypony else with Rarity and her parents.

"So..." Twilight began, pulling out a notebook and quill.

Spike sighed. This was going to be a long day.

---

Thorax stared nervously at AJ as they made their way to the back room. He couldn't detect any malice on her, but he was still prepared in case things went south.

That soon proved to be unnecessary, however, as she turned around and stated simply, "Thorax, Ah'm sorry."

He blinked. "Sorry for what?"

"Fer bein' so harsh to ya. Ah was so convinced that you were up ta no good, Ah ignored all the signs that'cha weren't. It took a talkin'-to from mah brother to make me see, and fer that, Ah'm sorry."

Thorax took a moment to process this. "Th-thank you, AJ..." They hugged for a moment, before the Changeling asked, "What exactly did your brother say that made you change your mind?"

"He told me about your visit to Cranky and Matilda's Weddin'."

Thorax raised an eyebrow. "I didn't go to a wedding other than the one in Canterlot..."

That caused AJ to falter. "But then, who did?"

They both stared off into the distance, unable to come up with an explanation.

Author's Note:

And somewhere in the distance, Kevin snoozed comfortably, blissfully unaware of the mess he'd just inadvertently created.

Comments

[Greenhorn]

The Princess of Friendship was no longer paying attention, however; she had a study to write.

A princess in dangerous mode.

[Yoshifan30]

With a heavy *slam!*, the doors closed, cutting the Princess of Friendship off. She grumbled, then decided it wasn't worth it.

Well that's kind of rude 😑

[Yoshifan30]

And somewhere in the distance, Kevin snoozed comfortably, blissfully unaware of the mess he'd just inadvertently created.

Hmm like I said I'm just surprised nobody didn't freak out when they saw him at the wedding

[Yoshifan30]

Well apparently Rarity's friends are still thinking about this whole situation about her changing into a changeling and becoming good friends with thorax and basically all of them have mixed feelings about this whole situation

[horses are fuckin weird]

kevin the changelling my beloved

[KingSombraTheTyrantRuler]

And somewhere in the distance, Kevin snoozed comfortably, blissfully unaware of the mess he'd just inadvertently created.