//------------------------------//
// chapter 4 
// Story: vengeance at nightfall 
// by NightSugar pone 
//------------------------------//

vampires are romantic? 


Nightshade woke up to the weight of Metamorph’s head on her, and carefully lifted a wing to push it off her, before getting up and walking over to her sister and nudging her with a hoof. 

“Hey, if I'm awake the sun should be too,” 
After saying that Angel just groaned as her horn glowed and the sun slowly rose into the sky, lighting up their surroundings enough to let nightshade look at the map with natural light. 
“We're getting close, in half a day we'll pretty much be on top of it,” 
She said as she showed the still groggy Angel the map. 

“That's great, how soon can we go back to sleep?” 
Angel said as she got to her hooves and rubbed her eyes, before yawning and looking over at Metamorph, lowering her ears and quietly cooing at him sleeping. 
“You didn't wake him up?”
She said as she looked at her sister, Nightshade just rolled her eyes and tucked the map away. 

“What difference would it make, he acts like lazy sleepy pony anyways,” 
She walked over to the sleeping changeling and shook him gently. 
“Rise and shine sleepy head, we're moving again,” 
With a small yawn and stretch he got up and towered over her, but being used to it she just stood in place . 
“Wake up your guards too, we may need their help with this part of the journey.”

He gave her a confused look, and almost seemed to blink the sleepiness away 
“What do you mean by that? Are they going to be bait or something?”
Nightshade just smiled and laughed, patting his chest with a hoof. 

“Oh no no no, I would never do something like that to an ally, we simply need their numbers. More ponies means less of a chance of getting attacked,”
He moved his head back and tilted it to the side slightly, and Nightshade just sighed 
“We've never actually met any vampire ponies but I'm not taking any chances when we do, just wake up your bodyguards and fill them in on what we're doing.” 
After she said that she moved her hoof and he hesitated a little bit, and looked her up and down before walking over to his group. 

Angel trotted up to her sister's side while Nightshade watched for their expressions 
“What exactly did you do to him, he looked a little scared just then,”
She handed Nightshade an apple and she took it with her magic. 

“A little trick dad was good at, it helps better if you seem weak first,” 
She took a bite of the apple as she watched the changelings discuss the plan ahead and just chuckled at the faces they made; they were mostly a mix of shock and fear as well as the obvious look of outrage. 
One stomped over to them, and by the looks of it he was male. 

“What the hell are you pulling us into?! We were sent to protect the Prince and it just sounds like our job is only going to get harder, especially since we might be dead after this!”
Nightshade rolled her eyes and threw the remainder of the apple into her mouth. 

“Sir, I doubt that this plan is going to get any of a us killed, especially with our skills and power,” 
Angel said as she stepped in 
“Not to mention, if you do get hurt we'll protect the Prince until you are able to again.”
She smiled a big nervous smile and the changeling only glared harder. 

“And what if we don't come with you, huh? What happens then, do you die when you get there?!” 
Nightshade forced a hoof into his mouth, stunning him and shutting him up long enough for her to speak. 

“I think that's enough complaining for now, if you don't want to come with us that is one less changeling to deal with, and you can buzz those little wings back to your hive.” 
She moved her hoof before continuing 
“Or you can stay and not have to risk being questioned by your hive on why you left your Prince with two mare's you don't know well enough to hurt,” 
She shrugged and turned around as she started to walk away. 
“Ultimately it's your choice, everyone else move and let him consider his options in peace,” 
With that the group slowly began moving again while the changeling just stood there, but after a while of thinking we began to walk as well. 

After a good few hours of walking they noticed a place with less plants and more red ‘dirt’ around than anywhere else, and Nightshade held out a wing to tell the others to stop before she turned around to face them. 
“Ok, so we're here, you five need to look like regular ponies, and just don't talk for now alright, we need to play this safe,” 
soon after she said that the four changeling guards turned into two mare's and two stallions, leaving the Prince the only one unchanged. 

“I said the five of you, you need to change, you too your highness,”
Sh said with a more stern tone as she walked up to him 
“I don't know if they've ever seen a changeling but I know that love filled blood might be something they're interested in,”

“I don't know, mare's seem to have the Sweetest blood,”
A voice said a fair distance away, and Nightshade quickly turned to see the silhouette of what looked like a stallion, and she turned to face him properly as she stood in front of Metamorph. 

“Show yourself!”
She called out to the stallion and instead of a response she heard a laugh, which only made her tense up more. Within seconds there was a tall scarred stallion standing in front of her with a smirk crossing his lips. 

“Hello my dear, have we met?”
He lifted one of her hooves and kissed it “I do think I'd remember a mare as beautiful as you.”
Nightshade just stood in place as her expression turned from being surprised to disgusted slowly, and she pulled her hoof away from him. 

“Right, do you have a leader or something we could talk to? This is kind of an important thing and we don't have that much time to waste on flirting,” 
The stallion frowned in an exaggerated way as his ears drooped. 

“But, my dear, we just met shouldn't we talk first and get to know each other better?”
He said as he leaned down to her level and brought his muzzle closer to hers 
“Maybe over dinner?”

Nightshade just smiled and lifted a hoof up to his chin and sighed as she gave him bedroom eyes 
“You know, that sounds absolutely delightful, how about we run off and leave my friends as well?” 

He smiled and his ears perked up 
“Really?” 
Nightshade moved her hoof and fixed her expression to one more serious. 

“No, what did you think when I said that? I'd never say yes to that kind of offer right off the bat. Now I need to talk to your leader if you have one,”
He lifted his head up and chuckled. 

“Of course, just give me a second to tell him he has visitors,”
And with that, he quickly ran off, leaving them all staring at Nightshade. 
She just looked around at them and sighed before sitting down, and everyone else mirrored her movements as they started to wait for the stallion to come back with good news.