Twilight sighed as she at last made her way to the inviting door of her new bedroom. She’d only been living in the crystal palace for a few days now, and between its sheer size and helping her friends get their respective spaces in order, she’d barely had any time to learn the layout. Even so, her tired smile was proud. She’d only gotten lost for seven minutes tonight, which was a great improvement over the fifteen of yesterday.
Still, the princess was more than ready for bed. Since her return from Our Town, she’d barely had a single moment’s peace. Ponyville was still buzzing with the activity of rebuilding in the wake of Tirek’s rampage, and while most of the structures had been fully repaired, those that weren’t often benefited from a little arcane attention. Between that, the short day court she was forcing herself to hold, and a near constant barrage of correspondence from the other princesses, the junior alicorn was absolutely, undeniably, irrefutably beat.
Twilight’s door opened with a weary flick of magic. As she shuffled in, her eyes settled immediately on the bed, and she grinned as that timelessly enticing promise of well deserved sleep filled her. She briefly glanced toward her bathroom as the thought of brushing her teeth nagged at her, but she waved it away, craving the sleep far more. The sheets were cool as she climbed on to the spacious bed, and her smile grew as she wiggled beneath them, kicking her legs about and enjoying the sensation of the cool sheets against her hooves. Finally settling into a comfortable position, she took a final, deep breath in, and let herself sink into wonderful darkness as she it escape.
“Princess Twilight.”
Twilight’s ear twitched, but she gave the voice no more than a second’s consideration. Nopony but Spike shared her room, and as it wasn’t his voice speaking, she dismissed it as an early dream.
“Princess Twilight.”
Again, Twilight paused on the edge of sleep, wondering if it really was Spike and she was just too tired to hear him properly. A moment’s thought made her shake her head. “It’s not like he’d ever call me ‘Princess’,” she murmured.
“You’re right, Princess,” came the reply, “which is one way you can tell that somepony else is speaking. Please don’t fall asleep. I’ll feel that much worse if I have to wake you up.”
That Twilight seriously doubted she was dreaming, which meant two things. One, somepony must have something urgent if they were bothering her this late. Two, somepony had been waiting for her in her bedroom, and she hadn’t even noticed.
Twilight fumbled with the sheets, just close enough to sleep to be clumsy as she threw them off and looked around in bleary alarm. Fortunately, the intruder was fairly obvious, standing next to her window loft with a lit candle. The dim light made it hard to be certain, but Twilight was fairly certain she recognized the long, black mane and gray-brown coat before her.
“Octavia?”
The mare nodded, an apologetic look on her face. “Yes. I’m sorry to come in like this, and I’m sorry to keep you from your sleep. I know you’ve been incredibly busy, and you need to rest up, but I couldn’t put this off any longer.”
Twilight blinked, more baffled than irritated. She’d known the cellist by reputation even before her move to Ponyville, and certainly enjoyed her music when the mood took her, but she’d never really spent much time with her. The princess didn’t exactly consider her a stranger, but she was definitely more of an acquaintance than a friend, and why she would call on Twilight at such an hour was a complete mystery. She shook her head, trying to clear the veil of sleep from her mind, before looking around the room a few times and asking, “How long have you been there?”
“Since before you came in,” Octavia replied candidly.
“How did you get in my room?”
Octavia looked away uncomfortably and said, “I. . . have my ways. That actually relates to what I came here to speak to you about.”
“And what would that be?” Twilight asked, annoyance finally creeping into her tone. “Why didn’t you bring it up in the day court I held earlier? Why didn’t you come and speak to me when I was in town earlier?”
“This is. . . a very private matter, Princess, one that I hardly ever discuss with anypony. More importantly, it would almost certainly cause problems if other ponies were to find out.”
Twilight raised an eyebrow as a distant but familiar string of memories occurred to her. She raised a hoof and deadpanned, “Just be be clear, you aren’t about to confess your love for and announce your intent to court me, right?”
Octavia’s face went blank for a beat before her muzzle tightened with a barely suppressed smile. “No, Princess, although given your new position and where you grew up, I understand why you might think that. The Canterlot nobles can be rather incorrigible.”
Twilight snickered and said, “You can say that again,” before remembering the situation and regaining her irritated look. “So, if you aren’t here for that, why in Equestria did you sneak into my room in the middle of the night?”
Octavia’s expression became serious again. The earth pony paused, took a deep breath, and said, “Before I say it, I have to preface with this; I don’t expect you to believe what I’m about to tell you without evidence, and I’m more than willing to provide it. That said, given what you are about to learn, I ask that you please not judge me hastily or harshly until I’ve given a full account of my. . . unique circumstances. It would be absurd of me to ask for a promise, but please, give me the benefit of the doubt before you make any final decisions.”
Curiosity and was steadily replacing Twilight’s annoyance and fatigue. She rolled herself off of the bed and studied Octavia carefully for a few moments before murmuring, “Okay. I’ll try.”
Octavia nodded, clearly nervous in spite of her solemn expression, and said, “Thank you.” She opened her mouth, stopped, looked away, and looked back. This cycle repeated itself a few times before she licked her lips, took a deep breath, and said, “I’m a vampire.”
Twilight blinked. Then she blinked again. She opened her mouth, only to close it, before tilting her head sideways and narrowing her eyes at the other mare. “Say that again?”
Octavia’s face didn’t change. “I’m a vampire.”
Twilight sighed as she closed her eyes and brought a hoof to her forehead. “Did Pinkie or Rainbow put you up to this? Or maybe Discord? I could see this being his idea of an apology prank.”
Octavia remained stone serious, although a little irritation of her own bled into her voice as she said, “This isn’t a joke, Twilight. I didn’t come here in the dead of night just to pull your tail.”
Twilight began to retort, but a hoof was on her lips before the sound came out. She looked up at Octavia, who met her gaze intently. “I told you that you wouldn’t take me at my word, Twilight. Let me show you instead.” The hoof left her lips, only to linger briefly on her chin. “Please don’t scream.”
Octavia stepped away from Twilight, stopping just before her window and blowing out the candle. For the briefest of moments she was hidden by the darkness before stepping backward, illuminated by the dim light of the moon. The shadows, however, seemed reluctant to give her up. They clung to her, distorting her form and hiding her features. Twilight shivered as a strange pall of cold fell around her, and her irritation faded into a growing sense of uncertainty and an odd, primal fear. Unable to take it, Twilight lit her horn brilliantly, driving away the darkness and revealing a pony that looked decidedly different than she had seconds earlier.
The gray of Octavia’s coat was practically shining, and her mane had somehow darkened into a shade of black so sleek and lustrous that even Rarity’s mane look dull by comparison. The curves of her body had both softened and sharpened, giving her a form that any model would envy. Her ears had grown noticeably more pointed, and her face had become more angular. What stood out most, however, was her eyes. Her irises had deepened at least three shades from their usual amethyst, and the pupils had narrowed into something more akin to a cat’s. In the light of Twilight’s spell, they seemed to glow, shining brightly above an unsmiling, fanged mouth.
Twilight recoiled, her mind racing as she took in the sight. “Okay,” she said slowly, “I admit that’s a good one. You got me. You can stop now.” The last sentence was more plea than request.
Octavia remained impassive. “This isn’t a trick, Twilight.”
“It has to be,” the alicorn insisted, shaking her head. “There’s no such thing as vampires.”
“And Nightmare Moon was just an old mare’s tale,” Octavia retorted calmly. “And the Princess Mi Amore Cadenza that married your brother was the real thing from the beginning. And dear Pinkie Pie has no talents or abilities that can’t be explained by logic.” She gave the princess a meaningful look. “All of these things appeared to be true on the surface, but none actually were. Some changed with evidence, some with intuition, but all changed. A vampire now stands before you, engaging you in conversation. Is it so hard to accept that the greatest myth about us is the idea that we’re a myth at all?”
Twilight took a step back, a maelstrom whirling in her head. Octavia’s argument was stronger than she liked. It wasn’t enough, not by itself, but it wasn’t something she could flatly ignore either. Her words lagged behind, coming out as a choppy, “That doesn’t. . . I mean it wouldn’t. . . what I. . .” She took a deep breath, attempting to focus. “If what you’re saying is true, and I’m not saying I believe it, but if it is. . . well, that’s a lot to take in.”
Octavia nodded. “Yes, it is. That’s why I offered to give evidence. Let me show you. I’m not going to feed on you!” she added hastily, seeing Twilight’s interjection before she made it. “I don’t feed on other ponies unless I have permission.” Calming back down, she continued, “That aside, a fair number of myths surrounding vampires are true. If you wish to test me on any of them, by all means, ask, and I’ll oblige if I can.”
Twilight hesitated. On one hoof, she was still hesitant to believe the other mare, and some small but vocal part of her was afraid of what being wrong could mean. On the other, her immutable curiosity had been piqued, and if Octavia truly was a vampire, then this was an opportunity that Twilight couldn’t possibly pass up. She looked up at Octavia, who returned her gaze patiently, and murmured, “Um. . . do vampires really have super equine strength or speed?”
Octavia gave her an encouraging smile and nodded. “We do. Very much so in the case of Earth Ponies.” There was a loud whisper of air, and Twilight blinked as Octavia disappeared in a gray blur, reappearing in the same instant on the other side of the room. The gray mare looked sideways, eyeing one of Twilight’s heavily laden bookshelves, and, with no apparent effort, pushed a forehoof underneath it and lifted it above her head. The wood groaned at the movement as Octavia bowed her head slightly, still wearing her small smile. After a few seconds she lowered the bookshelf, placing it back against the wall and sliding her hoof from beneath it with a quiet *boom*.
Despite the care that the other mare had taken, the thud of the bookshelf still startled Twilight. She hadn’t realized how quiet the room had become, and a twinge of panic crept through her as she realized that Spike had been in the room with them the whole time. Glancing at the young dragon, Twilight was relieved to see that he was still curled deep in his bed. Even so, she raised a hoof to her lips and whispered, “Shhhh. I don’t wanna wake Spike.”
Octavia’s small smile grew. “We won’t, Princess. I gave him a very vivid, very pleasant, and very hard to wake from dream, complete with some time with Miss Rarity and a storm that rains gems.”
“Really?” Twilight responded curiously. “Vampires can do dream magic?”
Octavia shook her head. “Not specifically. What we can do is dazzle others in order to influence them. In this case, to make Spike both happy and difficult to awaken.”
Twilight narrowed her eyes uneasily. “Dazzle?”
“Yes,” answered Octavia, her smile disappearing. “It’s essentially vampiric hypnosis, but before you jump-”
Octavia stopped talking as an opaque barrier materialized between the alicorn and herself, one which quickly curled itself around her, trapping her in the dark. Sound, however, seemed to pass through it normally, for the chime of magic was clear as Twilight cast a few additional spells. The alicorn exhaled forcefully as she finished and glared at the arcane cylinder in front of her. “Undo whatever you did to him!” she demanded forcefully.
From within the barrier came Octavia’s reply. While she spoke no louder than before, the tension in her voice was palpable, and her tone suggested that Twilight had just crossed a serious line. “Princess, you need to be reasonable. I’m more than willing to explain myself, and feel free to use whatever spells make you feel safe, but you need to let me out. Now. I will not be imprisoned, not by anypony, and I will use force if you make me. Please don’t make me. Please let me out so that we talk sensibly.”
Twilight just tightened her jaw. “Let Spike wake up. Then I’ll let you out.”
A snort sounded behind the barrier. “You wake him up. I did nothing that enough prodding won’t undo.” There was a pause, and when next she spoke it was not a request. “Let me out, Twilight. Now.”
The princess ignored the demand, opting instead to hurry over to Spike’s bed and begin shaking the young drake roughly. “Spike? Spike wake up,” she said urgently, levitating him up and inspecting his neck closely. Finding no wounds, she redoubled her efforts, jostling him roughly in the air. “Spike!”
After ten seconds or so, the dragon finally began to stir, attempting to curl into himself with a slightly irritated look on his face. “No, Twilight,” he slurred. “Gimmie five more minutes.”
Twilight let out a sigh of relief. “Thank Celestia.”
Spike attempted to go back to sleep for a moment before letting out a sigh of his own and opening his eyes to glare dully at Twilight. “Yeah, thank Celestia, you woke me out of the best dream I’ve had in. . . ever.” He began glancing around drowsily. “What’s going on? Why did you need me to wake up?”
Twilight’s mouth opened, but no sound came out as she realized that she was not even remotely prepared to explain the situation to her faux sibling. Glancing furtively at the barrier containing Octavia, she pasted a very thin grin on her face and said “Er, nothing! You were just tossing and turning, and I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Twilight could see Spike fighting not to be angry as he heaved another, much larger sigh. “Well, everything was fine,” he muttered, caught halfway between irritation and disappointment. “Thanks for checking on me though.” An awkward pause ensued before he finally added, “Can I go back to sleep now?”
“Yes,” said Twilight, a bit too quickly. Spike raised an eyebrow, but it was clear he wasn’t interested enough to ask any further as the alicorn lowered him back into his bed. As he settled in, Twilight couldn’t help but say, “I’m sorry I woke you up from a good dream, Spike. What was it about?”
Already drifting off, Spike managed to murmur, “Rarity and me. We were having lunch in Canterlot. There was a storm, and it started raining sapphires.” He grinned and curled up beneath his blankets. “Best dream ever. . .”
Twilight frowned heavily as she looked back toward the series of spells that held Octavia. Deciding to wait until she was sure Spike was asleep, Twilight spent the next several minutes deciding what she was going to say. While she still didn’t approve of Octavia’s actions, she also had to admit that the mare seemed to have been honest about them, and that they hadn’t done any apparent harm.
Still feeling cautious, Twilight cast a few magic filters over herself as she walked up to the barrier. “Octavia?” she said tentatively, “I’m sorry I reacted that way. I’m. . . I’m still struggling with this whole idea, and I made a snap judgement.”
“Yes, you did,” came Octavia’s reply, although it didn’t come from within the spell. Twilight whipped around to find the other mare staring at her tersely. The alicorn’s horn lit reflexively, but Octavia remained still, prompting Twilight to gradually relax. When her horn finally faded, Octavia continued, “There are plenty of things that you might do to a being like me, Princess, and most of them I will gladly sit here and take. What you did was not one of them. I understand why you did it, and because of that I will let it slide, but never try to confine me like that again.”
She held Twilight’s gaze imperiously for a moment before looking away with a sigh. “I should have expected that this would go less than smoothly. You may be the Princess of Friendship, but it wouldn’t be fair to consider myself your friend.” She gave the alicorn a slightly sad smile. “I’d like to change that, though. I think that I’m going to need your friendship in the days ahead.”
Twilight eyed her quizzically. “What makes you say that?”
“The same thing that convinced me to reveal myself,” Octavia replied. “You’re finally coming into your own as a Princess. You’ve gained a palace, and with that, it’s only a matter of time before you gain a royal guard. In a place like Canterlot, that’s hardly an issue for me, but in a town as small as Ponyville, there’s a far greater chance that, eventually, somepony will decide that something’s amiss with me. The chance is still small, but it’s greater than I’m willing to risk. At the same time, I adore Ponyville, and have no wish to uproot myself any time soon. So, after a great deal of thought, I decided that my best option was to reveal myself to you directly rather than chance you finding out from somepony else.”
Octavia paused, allowing her words to sink in. “Do you understand, Twilight? Do you understand how much I’m risking by telling you the truth?” She shook her head. “It would have been so much easier to simply get you alone and dazzle you to ensure that this would never be a problem. I’ve certainly had enough chances, and all of them have twisted my insides with guilt even considering, so here I am.” She looked back at the princess, and though her composure remained, it was showing more than a few cracks. “I’ve never had to trust another pony this much in my life, and believe me, it’s been a long one. I ask the same in return.” The gray mare shook slightly and stood a bit taller. Giving Twilight an even stare, she murmured. “Will I receive it?”
Twilight dipped her head, both to avoid Octavia’s eyes and to consider her next move. To trust an apparent vampire felt deeply, instinctively wrong. It would be like cuddling with a snake. Objectively, Twilight knew that the fear wasn’t necessarily rational, but knowing that did nothing to quell the feeling that she was in imminent danger.
At the same time, Twilight’s inner intellectual forced her to acknowledge that, in all the time that she’d lived in Ponyville, nopony had ever gone permanently missing, reported strange wounds on or around their necks, unexplained anaemia, or indeed anything that would seem to suggest a vampire on the loose. As for Octavia herself, while Twilight may not have known her well, every interaction she’d had with the mare had been nothing but pleasant. While reserved, she had a reputation around town of unflappable politeness and willingness to help. Additionally, Octavia’s roommate, Vinyl Scratch, had DJ’d for more parties and local events than Twilight could count, and, with a little translation from one friend or another, had told quite a few stories about Octavia which painted her as just another pony. A pony with a few more embarrassing tales about them than most, maybe, but still, just a pony.
Twilight looked back up to find Octavia still gazing at her squarely, and for a moment she considered how she would feel if it were her confessing such a secret. Unbidden, an image came to mind of her trying to tell her friends about it, and although it was just an idea, she still felt like crawling out of her skin. And here she is, telling you, Twilight thought, somepony she barely knows. Could you ever be this strong revealing a secret like this? Let alone to somepony you don’t even know if you can trust?
She opened her mouth hesitantly before murmuring, “I. . . I want to trust you, Octavia.”
Octavia’s frown grew a touch. “But?”
Twilight shook her head. “Right now, I can’t handle accepting all of this and trust you at the same time. I need to get my thoughts in order before I decide what to do next. That said,” she continued seriously, “I know this took a lot of courage on your part, and, if what you say is true, you chose this way instead of an easier one because you felt it was right. Thanks for that, by the way,” she added, forcing a grin. “Because of that, I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt, on one condition.”
Octavia’s ears perked slightly, but her face was otherwise unchanged. “Which would be?”
Twilight took a breath. “Look, I know that it was hard for you to let even one pony know about this, but I. . . I’m sorry, but until we get to know each other a bit better, I don’t know if I feel safe being the only one who knows. I have to tell somepony else, just in case. . .”
“Just in case I kill you?” finished Octavia.
“I. . . I didn’t say that!” exclaimed Twilight.
“No, but, on some level, you were thinking it, right?”
Twilight looked away in shame, pausing before giving a tiny, subdued nod. She was taken aback, then, when Octavia gave her an amiable grin and nodded back. “Very well. That’s a perfectly understandable condition.”
Twilight blinked in surprise. “Really?”
Octavia nodded again. “Of course. Frankly, I’d have found it strange if you hadn’t made such a term, and if I may, I have a particular pony whom I’d like to put forward, as she’s both one of your best friends and one of my donors.”
“She’s. . . huh?” stammered the alicorn, trying to make several connections at once. “Who is. . . hang on, you donors? As in, ponies who let you drink their blood?”
“Of course,” replied Octavia patiently. “As I said, I don’t feed on ponies who haven’t given me permission to, so donors felt like the most appropriate term. As to whom, I refer to none other than Pinkie Pie.”
Twilight’s eyebrow climbed so high that it was in danger of disappearing behind her bangs. “Pinkie Pie. . . Pinkie Pie knows your a vampire?”
“Oh, yes,” the gray mare responded. “She figured it out years ago. I’ve had centuries to practicing hiding what I am, but none of that time prepared me for Pinkie and her particular brand of magic.” She shrugged. “So, as I was coming home one night, she ambushed me with a net strung with garlic cloves.” The mare chuckled quietly. “Utterly useless, but she was convinced. After that, I had no choice but to explain everything, and, from either her naivete or that eerily sharp perception of hers, she decided that I was honest about not hurting other ponies. I managed to convince her not to throw an ‘Octavia’s a Vampire’ party, and she Pinkie promised not to tell anypony. Since then she’s barely even mentioned it.” She smiled a bit bigger. “She does make a point of slipping a bat or bite pun into most of our conversations, however.”
The princess’ eyebrow somehow managed to climb even higher. “And she lets you drink her blood?”
Octavia gave a sidelong nod. “On occasion. If she knows Vinyl will be gone for more than a few days, Pinkie will usually check to see if I need another donor until she comes back.” She shrugged. “I’m happy to tell you more, but I don’t want us to get too sidetracked. Will she do as your confidant?”
Twilight shook her head. “How would I know you haven’t dazzled her?”
“Oh, I have,” replied the vampire bluntly. “More than once, and always at her request. Feel free to ask her the next time you’re in private.”
Twilight paused, caught off guard by the answer. “Okay. . . assuming I believe that, how could I trust that I’d be safe telling her if you can make her say or do whatever you want her to?”
“How do you know that I wouldn’t dazzle any other pony you might suggest?” retorted Octavia, albeit calmly. “ How do you know that I haven’t dazzled you? You have no way to be sure, do you? However, if I had, then this entire conversation would be a complete waste of time, and yet here we are, discussing it. Is that not worth at least a small measure of trust, even if it’s tentative?”
“I suppose,” said Twilight uneasily, though forced to admit that the other mare had a point.
The gray mare nodded. “That being the case, I ask that you trust that, when I say I haven’t tampered with Pinkie’s memory or free will, I am telling the truth. Is that reasonable?”
Twilight heaved a sigh. Much as she hated to admit it, Octavia argument was sound. It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough that she couldn’t just dismiss it either. Even so, the worry of subterfuge wasn’t her only concern. “I mean. . . yeah, that does make sense, but. . . does it have to be Pinkie Pie?”
Octavia shrugged. “Not necessarily. I just thought she’d be the ideal candidate for both of us, all things considered.”
Twilight bit her lip as she muttered “Er. . . I mean, I trust Pinkie, I do, but. . . she’s not really my first pick.”
Octavia’s smile faded. “No. I imagine not. Your first pick would be Princess Celestia, wouldn’t it? You want her advice on how you should react to all this.” When Twilight nodded, she sighed. “I’m sorry, Twilight, but I can’t allow you to tell her, or Princess Luna, for that matter. Doing so would mean decades in hiding or death for me, and, at best, a lengthy interrogation for Vinyl, which I’m not willing to allow.”
“Are. . . What?” Thrown for yet another loop, Twilight took a deep breath, attempting to get her thoughts in order. “Octavia, I’m sure you’ve lived a lot longer than I have, but let me assure you that Princess Celestia-”
“Princess Celestia hates my kind, Twilight,” Octavia interrupted sharply, “and her sister hates us even more. I’ve spent over a thousand years watching, and I in all that time I don’t believe that there’s been a positive interaction between an Equestrian princess and a vampire until tonight.”
Twilight shook her head uncomprehendingly, unable to reconcile the idea of Celestia with a thousand years of hate. “Why?”
Octavia screwed her eyes shut, grimacing as though she were in pain. “I had hoped to put this off until we’d gotten to know one another better, but here we are.” Her gaze sunk to the floor as she said, “I wish I could say that their hatred was unreasonable, but I can’t. My kind have earned every bit of it.”
“What do you mean?” asked Twilight, some of her earlier trepidation returning. “How could you possibly earn hatred like that?”
Silence stretched uncomfortably between them before Octavia finally took a breath, steeled herself, and forced her eyes to meet the alicorn’s. “By being terrible, terrible enemies, princess. By spying, sabotage, and murder. By wiping out platoons of Equestrian soldiers and by turning heros against their comrades and friends. That’s how we earned that hatred, Twilight, because that’s what King Sombra created us to do.”
“What?” whispered Twilight, once again flummoxed as memories of her encounter with the baleful spectre of the unicorn tyrant rose in her mind. “You were created by. . . King Sombra?”
Octavia said something in response, but Twilight couldn’t quite make it out. The newest revelation proved to be one too many. The world before her seemed to ripple, and darkness began gathering at the edges of her vision. Her mind whirled with all that she had just learned, mixing with the chaos of today and tomorrow’s monstrous to-do list in a disjointed jumble that felt as askew as her limbs. She tried to ask for a moment, but her tongue felt too heavy, and soon the rest of her body joined it.
The last thing that registered before everything went black was falling against something cold, but pleasantly soft.
* * *
The sound of her name echoed through the haze of semi-consciousness that Twilight found herself floating in, along with a vague awareness encompassing warmth, and some distant thing pushing against her shoulder. “Twilight?” her name came again, slightly less distorted. “Come on, please wake up. It’s gonna be another busy day. You don’t wanna be late before it even starts, do you? Please.”
Twilight realized several things at once; the voice was none other than Spike, it had said she was late, and it sounded rather concerned. The revelation pushed her steadily upward, out of the clutching tendrils of sleep, until, with an owlish blink, she rose into the waking world.
The first thing to greet her eyes was the relieved face of her dragon companion. “Twilight! Finally. I was starting to get worried. You’re never that hard to wake up.”
“Spike?” she asked blearily, still not entirely free of the cobwebs of sleep. The mare grunted and her joints popped as she stretched, still trying to shake off the last cobwebs of sleep. “What time is it?”
“Almost eight thirty,” he answered. “I thought it was weird that you weren’t down for breakfast, so I came to check on you.” The hand on her shoulder gave her a sympathetic pat. “Yesterday must have really taken it out of you.”
At his words, hazy memories of the previous night came flooding back. Octavia had come to her. She’d been a vampire. A vampire made by King Sombra.
The mare shook her head. Surely it had just been an odd dream, one brought on by the stress and fatigue of the previous day. Although, if it had been, wouldn’t have Princess Luna intervened? It had certainly been a vivid dream, if she was remembering it this well.
“Twilight?” once again broke the haze in her head, and she turned to see Spike looking at her with concerned eyes. “Are you okay? You still seem pretty spacey.”
Physically shaking herself, the alicorn clambered out of bed. “I’m fine, Spike. I just had some really strange dreams.” She smiled and placed a wing on her surrogate brother’s shoulder. “Thanks for coming to check on me. I’m sorry I worried you.” As he smiled back, she leaned in to briefly nuzzle him before guiding him around. “Now, come on. If we eat fast, we can still stay on schedule. I’ll be down in just a minute.” As he moved to leave, she added a playful, “As long as I don’t get lost again.”
Spike rolled his eyes, but it was clear she’d eased his concerns as he marched into the hallway.
Twilight turned toward her bathroom, resigned to a magical freshen up, when she noticed a small piece of parchment stuck in the door. Curious that Spike hadn’t noticed it, she levitated it over to herself and unrolled it. With each flowing line that she read, her trepidation grew.
Twilight,
I’m deeply sorry for last night. I should have swallowed my concerns and waited until things in Ponyville had calmed down somewhat, or at the very least, until you weren’t running yourself ragged. I didn’t mean to so overwhelm you, and hope that you at least passed out into a decent night’s sleep.
At the same time, I must assure you that last night was not a dream. I, Octavia, was really there. I really am a vampire. Everything that I told you is true. Ask Pinkie, or perhaps Zecora, as both of them know my true nature.
I can only imagine how many questions and concerns you must have, and again, I apologize for inflicting so many upon you. I’d like to give you a full account of myself. It would hardly be fair of me to ask for your trust otherwise.
As I’m sure you know, Pinkie Pie is planning on throwing a “Ponyville’s All Fixed” party at your palace sometime within the next two weeks. She’s asked Vinyl to DJ, and I’ll be there as well. If you want to know more about me, I’ll happily stay afterward, and I’m sure Vinyl would be willing to do the same, in case you’d like some perspective from one of my donors.
Finally, I understand that you most likely want to inform the other Princesses. I beg you not to. I won’t stop you, but to reiterate, if Celestia or Luna learn what I am and where, it will mean at least fifty years in hiding for me, and for Vinyl, an intrusive and lengthy interrogation at best, and potential imprisonment at worst. It’s been centuries since I harmed somepony by feeding on them, and Vinyl has done nothing but try to help a friend. We don’t deserve what they would give us, Twilight. Both of our lives are in your hooves.
All I ask is that you give me the chance to tell my side of the story, and, I hope, dispel some myths and superstitions along the way.
Whatever it be, I’ll be keeping an eye out for your answer. Perhaps Pinkie would be happy to deliver a message along with my invitation.
Hoping you slept well,
Octavia Philharmonica
Twilight read the letter several times, each one cementing another memory of the previous night. It hadn’t been a dream. She’d met a real, flesh and blood vampire, and then passed out in the presence of said vampire.
Twilight dropped the parchment and hurried into the bathroom, critically inspecting herself. When no blood or injuries were apparent, she let out a sigh, but her relief was short lived as she pondered what to do next. With the day’s schedule looming, she didn’t really have time to mull it over, but she wasn’t sure she’d be able to focus without addressing it.
Lighting her horn, she set her comb and toothbrush to their usual tasks, giving the shower a longing glance before adding in a quick cleansing field. As she stepped through it, the question whirled in her mind. What am I going to do?
Reflexively, her horn lit again, and a fresh parchment and quill made their way into the bathroom. She finished up her impromptu washing, rinsed out her mouth, and began, “Dear Prin-”
Her quill hung frozen against the parchment for nearly a full minute as conflict raged in her head. She desperately wanted Celestia’s advice, but if what Octavia said was true. . . but how could it be true?
“We don’t deserve what they would give us, Twilight. Both of our lives are in your hooves.” The alicorn found herself looking toward the spot she’d been when she learned that vampires were real. Unbidden, her eyes moved upward, settling on the bust where she’d placed her crown. She hadn’t worn it since her coronation.
“You’re finally coming into your own as a Princess,” she echoed, resolve lighting in her eyes. “Maybe it’s time to make decisions like one.” Eyeing the note that Octavia had left, she lit her horn. The page instantly burst into flames as was ash in seconds. She then turned back to the parchment, neatly slicing off the header with a mental flick, and wrote,
Octavia,
I’ll see you at the party. Be ready for a long night of questions, and a lot of explaining, because if I can think of it, I’ll ask. Let Vinyl know that she should be ready for the same.
Thank you for trusting me, Octavia. I’ll try my best to do the same.
Cordially,
Princess Twilight Sparkle