Twilight and Dracula raced each other from the Shadow Garden back to the cave Dracula had been staying in. Having her true form back Twilight had to hunt to stabilize her hunger or she would attack innocent ponies. Her mind was already clouding with the need to feed and her body was trying to move but Twilight dug her clawed hooves into the ground to keep herself in place.
She suddenly became very aware of a burning sensation that began to fill her throat; it was like she had swallowed a mouthful of scorching sand that clung to her insides, remaining locked in her esophagus and threatening to burn even greater the longer she waited. Her eyes scanned the area immediately, easily piercing through the building darkness for whatever it was that was emanating the smell. Autonomously she moved forward, mouth hanging open as if to taste the smell in the air, driven by an unknown urge to seek out the scent.
It held a metallic smell to it, but it was sweet at the same time. She couldn’t begin to explain how tantalizing it smelt, or understand why it made her mouth water slightly. Leaving the mouth of the cave, she began making her way past the small clearing and into the dense forest.
Her eyes darted about as her nose wrinkled with deep but shallow breaths, picking up the faint trail of what she sought. The rest of her senses became heightened in kind, how the soft grass felt when it became crumpled beneath her hooves, the rustling of the tree branches and scurries of critters while her ears flicked to and fro, to how tense but loose her muscles were as she walked, ready to spring to action in a moment’s notice.
The only thing that was not behaving in superiority was her mind, for it was too locked up in the uncontrollable urge to find the smell. In fact, not even a single thought had crossed her mind since she first caught wind of it.
Then as she turned a tree, she spotted the source.
With her dilated eyes, she easily spotted the bowl of red liquid, sitting perfectly serene atop of a stump. She froze on its sight, taking in the way the bit of moonlight that filtered through the branches shined across its surface. She had never even had notice when the moon came up, or cared. All that mattered was the liquid that bombarded her senses and whispered for her to do one thing.
Drink.
She gulped as the burning in her throat flared at the sight of the liquid, somehow knowing that it would be able to ease her soreness. Instinctually, she moved forward again, her eyes remained locked onto the bowl, not even daring to blink as she approached it. She didn’t know why she felt like this, or what exactly the bowl contained, but then again, she never had a moment to consider such things. The only thing that made her even pause at downing the liquid immediately was the sudden noise of a branch snap on her left.
Whirling her head around, she fell into the same position she had woken up in earlier in the night, fangs bare and muscles tensed as she glared at what had made the noise.
Standing calmly some twenty feet away, and just as equally far from the bowl, was Dracula. He held his usual grin as he stared at her, and watched her intently. Twilight had never even noticed him following her, in fact, she had completely forgotten about him when she first picked up the smell. Yet unlike this morning, her posture did not flinch in the slightest.
Her brain then finally began to churn, assessing him as to what he was doing, and wondering automatically if he was going to get between her and the bowl. She didn’t care she was being aggressive to him, nor did an ounce of embarrassment come to her from her behavior. The only thing she cared about, and was deathly serious on, was that he did not get in the way of her drinking from that bowl.
He let out a bemused chuckle that made Twilight's wing and muscules flinch, having nearly lunged at him on the spot. Then, his head slowly turned away from her, and onto the bowl. Her eyes widen at the forced conclusion that he had the same target, that he was going to drink it instead of her. In suit, he took one step forward toward the bowl, flashing his eyes at her as what she saw was a mocking gesture, that he was going to drink it all before she could.
But she was not going to let that happen.
With a bloodcurdling shriek that would even give a manticore a pause, Twilight lunged at Dracula , easily covering the distance with a single leap. Dracula jumped to the side just shy of Twilight's fangs, giving a growl in kind as he pulled away from her and raced towards the bowl. Hissing in anger, Twilight chased after him immediately, fury overcoming her at the notion he would dare challenge her for the liquid.
Flapping her wings again in time with a kick, she thrusted herself with enough momentum to catch and tackle Dracula, knocking them both to the ground in a tumble. Snarling in fury she moved on top of him and shoved her hoof down onto his back, pinning him beneath her. Then, she mercilessly began stomping down onto him with her other hoof, striking with force that caused Dracula to roar out in pain.
But he would not yield to her right to drink so easily. Flipping over, he threw a foreleg crossways, catching her side with force that sent her flying off of him. With a stabilizing flap Twilight caught herself nimbly as she landed away, wincing slightly at the soreness that spread from the hit. She gently placed the hooves down on the side that received the blow, but her attitude did not falter as she hissed menacingly at him.
The pain of the attack had given her a hint of the strength her opponent possessed, and it was more than she could muster. Her eyes narrowed as he resumed a standing pose, flexing his shoulders and eliciting audible pops from his bones. Though he tried to shake off the soreness as a harmless, the deep bruised marks on his back indicated she had done some damage to him.
Now they stood across from one another, watching the other intently. Though her opponent was closer to the bowl, she held his attention and knew he would not risk another move to the bowl while he had to contend with her. He was stronger of that she was sure, and possibly more durable than her. If she wanted her drink, she would need to disable long enough to swig it all down. Even the idea of killing Dracula if necessary had crossed her mind.
She needed to get around him, use her wings as an advantage, and bite on one of the six locations on his body she had already selected; throat, the artery under each leg, and the back of the neck. She needed to end this as quickly as she could, one for not wanting to prolong the fight and take a chance at receiving more blows, and because the burning in her throat was beginning to become painful.
All of those thoughts were decided during intense stare down they held that had only lasted a few seconds. Her body, mind, and behavior were all running on pure instinct. Faster than thought, and with no room for questioning the morality of her actions. Only survival.
She slowly moved to Dracula’s left, while he moved to the right. Both of them circling each other as a predator would, patiently waiting for the tiniest of openings to exploit and finish the job. Her breaths were shallow as wild red eyes remained locked onto his, waiting for some hesitation or sign of weakness in him. But he held her gaze evenly, his similar eyes focused and unwavering. Though they regarded her as an opponent as well, they held a calm about them that Ruby lacked, a sense of confidence and control over the fight, some superior advantage she did not have. And that attitude only infuriated her even more.
From the mixture of the burning pain that tore at her throat and the inner rage that had steadily rose throughout the fight, Twilight’s horn glowed from building magic that she beckoned. Dracual’s eyes widen at the glowing light, betraying his control of the situation and creating an opening, one she did not hesitate to use.
Wrapping him in her magic, she threw his body up thirty feet, and then promptly slammed him back into the ground with the same force. Not waiting to see how he fared after the blow, she flung him against a tree, then another, and another. On the fifth tree she threw his body against, she had done it with such force that it cracked the trunk, causing the tree to bend at a lopsided angle and seemingly ready to break off with the rest of the splinters that fell out.
Twilight dropped the motionless body onto the ground, watching closely as he fell with a solid thud onto the forest floor. Her horn remained aglow, waiting for him to move again in case he needed to break apart another half a dozen trees. When he continued to remain still, Twilight let out an exasperated breath.
Her vision became hazy as her breathing became ragged pants in desperation for air, something that was becoming harder to inhale as the pain in her throat that had started to spread into the rest of her body. The sensation was that of her flesh searing from a flame and she could not wait any longer. Content that her foe was no longer capable of impeding her desire, she moved shakily toward the bowl. Once she had reached it she stared longingly onto its surface, the crimson color of it calling her like a siren. Wide eye and with drool leaking down her chin, she threw mouth into the bowl and begun to gulp large mouthfuls of the liquid.
The sensation was incomparable to anything else.
The fire in her throat was doused almost immediately, cooled by the crimson liquid as slide slowly down after heavy swallows. While the soothing effect it held on her body was amazing, the taste of it was even more so. It held a copper like taste but it was not displeasing, rather it mixed well with how else it tasted. Not bothering herself on how she knew, the closet thing she could describe it was something that was as sweet as honey yet held a rich, deep, and refreshing flavor similar to strawberries. The faint taste of the metal somehow complimented it perfectly, giving the taste a weight on top of the sweetness that made her feel like she could bite into it at times. The way her tongue tingled from touching it as it slide down it was like having soda and pop gems in one’s mouth, eliciting a fuzzy sensation that exploded about her mouth in euphoria, making her let out soft moan as she continued to drink. The feel of how her tongue lapped more of it into her mouth, the way it oozed past her teeth and down her throat, and how her body cooled while her brain send waves of pleasure after mind forcing pleasure and contentment… it was like being in ecstasy simply from drinking. It simply tasted too good, and made her brain send euphoric signals to keep drinking, all while letting out soft moans of satisfaction.
It wasn’t long before she downed the entire bowl, licking her muzzle on the left overs that stuck to her coat.
“Oh sweet Mother was that good…” she said happily, her eyes half opened as the lingering but rushing sensation of the drink died down. She sat down in a slight daze, her mind somewhat fuzzy after the matter, and her body to decide to simply relax and let the good feeling work its course. But it did not last long as her brain caught up on the fact of what happened before she began drinking.
Snapping her eyes open, she spun around. “Dracula!”