—Unsure if it's based on the position of the Sun or the— oh, you're up— or the cycle of ley lines surrounding the— wait, you're not supposed to wake up.
Oh dear.
It's okay, I can fix this!
Hmm, where did I put it... I know I left some around in the lab somewhere... there we go. Oops, looks like we're all out of sedatives. That's okay, I can brew some up pretty quickly—
Hey, stop that! You aren't going to be able to break those chains. They're made from reinforced mythril, and designed to hold monsters from Tartarus. The suppressor ring is Alicorn-level too.
Please stop. It's really distracting and you're only going to hurt yourself. And even though this looks really bad, I don't actually want to hurt you.
No, sorry, I can't let you go either. Even if I didn't need you, you'd still have to stand trial for what you tried to do, and I have a duty to fulfill as a princess of Equestria.
Right, I forgot to take off the disguise spell. Sorry, it's been a very stressful night for me.
There we go.
Yes, I'm actually Princess Twilight Sparkle. I can't use my real identity for... this, so I have a few aliases I keep on hoof. I'm really sorry you had to wake up and see all this, but it's kind of your fault, anyways.
I mean, all I did was switch your drink with mine. I know, that was pretty lazy of me, but I've been really stressed out lately. You've heard about the Princess Summit that's coming up, right? I know it's been years since I messed up and let Spike take over, but I still want to make sure that everything goes perfectly.
Normally, Rarity would be there to make sure I didn't go completely crazy, but she's... well, that's why you're here.
Anyways, like I said, I really didn't want you to wake up early. You should take more care about where you get your drugs from. You also shouldn't go around drugging mares and doing... ugh, I really don't want to think about it. It's disgusting what you've done, and I'm not going to regret the fact that you're never going to do it again.
What am I going to do to you? Well, I mentioned Rarity, right? You've probably heard of her; she's an amazing mare. Element of Generosity, saved Equestria several times, and she's really making a name for herself in the fashion industry — it's hard not to have heard of her, when you think about it.
But there's so much more to her than that. She's sharp as a tack, with a rapier wit, and her heart is just so generous — it's humbling how much she's willing to give of herself for others. And her passion... there's something really inspiring about her when she's in the zone.
It's probably not much of a surprise that I fell in love with her. What was really surprising was that she loved me back. I still remember that night under the stars after we defeated Sombra the second time.
I was still freaking out about losing the Elements, and Rarity was being so supportive and helpful and doing such a great job reassuring me that everything was going to be okay, and that I had the ability to formulate a theoretical framework to understand our new powers. Well, not in so many words, but her intent was clear, and she was much more eloquent than me anyways.
I wanted to let her know how important she was to me too, and the words just slipped out and I kind of ended up telling her I had a crush on her. Waiting for her reply was the longest few seconds of my life!
Of course, it worked out. Rarity ended up asking me out on a date, and we went to this lovely cafe over on— sorry, I'm rambling. I can see that you care more about escaping than listening to how Rarity and I ended up together.
That's not going to work, by the way. The cuffs are enchanted against all of Hoofdini's techniques. Again, I'm really sorry that you're so scared right now — I don't like causing anypony mental or physical pain. Just, relax and let me finish decanting this sedative, and you can go right back to sleep.
And then what? Well, you see, Rarity and I fell in love with each other, right? And it was wonderful. A "whirlwind courtship," I think Rarity called it when the reporters asked about us. I thought it was a good turn-of-phrase, considering how fast she swept me off my hooves.
We were engaged in less than a year. Our Royal Wedding was really something, and it really tested our relationship, but we got through it, and we were so happy afterwards. I was getting a lot better at ruling Equestria, and Rarity was, by all objective metrics, the most up-and-coming designer in the fashion scene.
Everything was going to be just fine. Better than fine, even. Everything was going to be perfect.
And then Rarity got sick.
It's funny, but I never really thought about mortality in the short term. When there's a monster trying to invade Equestria, you don't really have time to think about death, other than to maybe freak out about it. I worried a lot about the fact that I was immortal and Rarity wasn't, but my research into that was always long-term.
Either way, there was no way I would've seen the diagnosis coming.
There, now it just needs to set. Don't worry, everything is going to be fine.
Now, where was I? Right, Rarity's illness.
I never wanted power, you know. Never wanted to be a Princess, not really. I like that I can help ponies, and I'm proud of what I've done for Equestria, but I never cared about all the castles and servants and being able to order ponies around. I just wanted a nice, well-stocked library, and that was it.
But when Rarity was wasting away and all I could do was watch and cry, I would have conquered all of Equestria and ruled it with an iron hoof if I thought I could command somepony to make a cure for her.
It was a bad time for everypony. The other princesses had to cover for me since I was always with Rarity or doing research on possible treatments. I can't ever thank them enough for being there for us.
But nothing worked, and every idea I followed led to a dead end. So I started digging around in the Forbidden Archives, and that's when I found out that vampires were real.
You can probably see where this is going.
Sorry, I probably shouldn't be telling you all this. Now you're terrified, and that's not right. Heh, nothing about this is right, but I couldn't just let her die. Believe me, it took me weeks to make the decision. Turning my wife into a— a monster who had to feed on others to survive. It's the kind of thing that she'd never forgive me for.
But... I loved her. Have you ever loved someone? I don't think so, considering what I caught you trying to do. Still, maybe you can understand that when you love someone so completely, so much that not only can you not live without them, but you can't even imagine a world where they aren't around, you'd do anything to save them.
Even if it means doing something terrible.
It wasn't actually that hard to get my hooves on vampire blood. Turns out the secret vaults in Canterlot Castle have a lot of magical substances preserved in stasis spells. And nopony goes down there anyways, so nopony noticed when I swiped a bottle.
I told the lies I needed to get them to let me take Rarity to my lab and not bother me until it was all done, and then I got to work.
I knew the transformation would be successful. This was science, and I'm good at science. The problem was going to be keeping her fed. Vampires feed off of the life force in blood, not just the blood itself, so I couldn't just draw it out and feed it to her. She had to drain the life out of somepony to survive.
Funny how I can say that now without choking up on the words. Desensitization is a fascinating phenomenon.
Back then, though, I couldn't even look myself in the mirror. But that didn't matter; I had work to do. I requisitioned some files from police departments across Equestria, and found some very bad ponies who should have been spending their whole life in jail if they weren't also really good at hiding evidence and paying off the guards.
I tried to tell myself that what I was doing was ethical. From a utilitarian perspective, I was doing a net good by removing these ponies from society, especially if they couldn't be reformed. Then again, from most deontological paradigms, what I was doing was wrong, plain and simple. And as a Princess, I also had to consider if allowing myself to write off ponies like that could influence my opinions on legislation.
Of course, in the end, it wasn't about ethics. It was about love. I loved Rarity, and I'd do anything for her.
The kidnapping went perfectly, and when Rarity woke up, she wasn't in control of herself enough to stop herself from feeding.
Don't worry, I had the pony rendered unconscious the whole time. She didn't suffer at all. You won't either, I promise — there's been enough suffering already.
The first few weeks were... bad. Really bad. When Rarity could reason again, she was horrified. The Element of Generosity, having to take life in order to survive? It was something she couldn't accept, at first.
I ended up having to chain her down to that bed you're lying on, to stop her from hurting herself. She hated what she'd become, and she hated me for turning her into that. Honestly, I hated myself too, but I loved Rarity more, so I kept telling her that she had to survive for me, and I told her how much I loved her and how much I still needed her.
And when she got too hungry to think properly, I'd make sure she had somepony to feed on to keep her going. After, she'd try even harder to escape and... well, anyways, I didn't let her, and eventually she started to see things like I did, even if it took weeks whispering my love to her while she was chained to that bed.
Rarity is a gift to Equestria, and she has to live, no matter what. There's so much good she can still do, and I'm working very hard on creating a synthetic solution to her dietary problems.
I'm so happy that Rarity came around. I knew our love was strong enough that I could convince her that she needed to live.
Ah, there we go. The sedative's done setting. I'm going to administer it now. Just hold still. You're not scared of needles, right?
That's not really an answer. I'm just going to assume that you're fine with needles.
Oops, I guess you're still pretty twitchy. Please try to calm down. It's going to be so much easier if you're unconscious for this. It'll be better for everypony.
Alright, I filled up another syringe. Let's try this again.
There we go. It's been a while since I've had to do that. Usually Rarity does her own hunting, but the last time she went out she picked a pony who could fight back harder than she expected. I'm bringing her dinner while she recovers. I'll always take care of her, just like she'll always take care of me. And I won't let anything take her away from me, not even herself. Because I love her, and she loves me.
Now, close your eyes and relax. You're going to start to feel sleepy, and then everything is going to be just fine. Just breathe in, and out, and in, and out.
You know, it's funny how things work out. I used to be so scared that Rarity would die of old age and I'd have to go on without her. And now, we're both going to live forever. Isn't that wonderful? Being able to spend all of eternity with the mare you love most. It's like a fairytale ending, something right out of one of Rarity's novels.
Now, it's time for you to sleep so that we can have our happily ever after.
Sweet dreams.