//------------------------------// // ...To have a Curse // Story: Bloody Tears // by NintenES //------------------------------// Part 9: ...To have a Curse. Ponyville, while it being a fairly humble town, seemed to have the best Nightmare Night celebration. It’s hard to pin down why; some suggested it was because of the rustic charms the town had. Others point out that Ponyville is the only town to have a statue dedicated to the patron “saint.” Others still say that it had the best Caramel Apples in all of Equestria. Pinkie Pie was one such pony of the latter opinion. “Mmmm,” Pinkie Pie moaned in pleasure as she bit into the coated apple, “Delicious.” Applejack chuckled to herself. “Careful there Pinkie, don’t eat too many of those. I’m speaking from experience, they can give you a nasty tummy ache in the morning.” “Oh please,” Pinkie Pie dismissively waved Applejack away, “I can- jib~wib~ley.” Pinkie Pie shook in place. “Pardon?” “Sorry, I think that was my Pinkie Sense.” she explained, “But I don’t think I’ve ever had that feel before. It’s sort of like if you open your closet and look inside and you find a creepy painting of an imp holding a torch.” “I would be rather concerned than scared, mostly because of why the hay is there a painting my closet. It sounds like the sort of thing some snooty aristocrat would have on his wall though.” “Hmm...” Pinkie put her hoof to her chin, “Well I’ll find out what it is later. Right now, CANDY!!!” she ran off into the distance. Meanwhile, in another part of town, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash were walking around, watching and enjoying the celebrations. Well, Twilight was, Rainbow Dash was sulking. “Oh come on Dash,” Twilight said, poking her in the ribs, “it’s not that bad.” “Yes it is!” Rainbow Dash said, “I can literally count all the ways I can prank that group over there, but I’m stuck babysitting you!” She didn’t need to see Twilight’s glare to realize that she misspoke, “Er... No offense?” “I don’t recall asking for this to begin with. If anyone should be complaining, it should be me, because I can’t eat anything and yet everywhere I look I see ponies gorging themselves.” “Oh. Well at least you’re not Pinkie Pie. She gets cantankerous if she can’t have any sweets.” said Rainbow Dash. “...Oh dear Celestia you’re right, that would be a nightmare.” Twilight shuddered, “And then if she tasted blood... I don’t want to think about it.” “AH HA! I KNEW IT!” came a shout from behind, “I knew you two were dating each other! Now everyone owes me five bits each!” Twilight and Rainbow Dash turned to see Bon Bon, who was dressed up as a zombie. Twilight was the first to speak up, “What? Dating?” “Don’t deny it,” Bon Bon grinned like a little schoolfilly, “You two fell in love when you realized that while you seemed to be opposites on the outside, you have more in common on the inside.” “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” said Rainbow Dash, “First off, we both just happen to enjoy reading Daring Do, nothing more. Secondly, she’s an egghead.” “Exactly, that’s what I’m talking about!” “Thirdly, we’re not dating. Right Twilight?”         “Right.” Twilight confirmed.         “Then... Who are you dating?” Bon Bon asked, slightly deflated.         “No one!” Twilight said, “I mean, what gave you that idea in first place? And what gives about this bet that is apparently going on?”         “Well,” Bon Bon nervously started, “it started as a small rumor that you dating one of your friends. Mostly because all of your friends are visiting you at about six to eight hour intervals. At night.”         “So?” Twilight asked, “What’s wrong with... Oh.” her eyes widened, “I guess it does seem rather suspicious.”         “Now regardless of whatever does happen behind closed doors, some ponies started to bet on who the lucky girl was. Some the theories were... a bit wilder than others.”         “Well I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not dating anyone at all. Thank you and goodnight. Come on Dash, let’s go.” Twilight said pointedly.         “Aww...” Bon Bon said. A certain cross-eyed gray pegasus wearing a small yellow bowler hat and a large blue shirt flew down next to Bon Bon, silently tapped her shoulder and held out her hoof. “Fine,” Bon Bon grumbled, as she reached into her saddlebags, pulling out five bits and handed them to the pegasus, “don’t spend it all at once.” “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you all.” she smiled.         Twilight sighed to herself, hoping that was the end of that business. Though rumors rarely die down quickly, and considering the fact that someone started a betting table, Twilight realized that she was being far too optimistic. On the bright side, it could’ve been much worse, such as a rumor circulating that she’s a vampire despite her friends’ efforts. But there was this one rumor that she was a marewolf though... “Oh hey, there’s Zecora, you got to catch up with her.” Rainbow Dash pointed.         When Zecora turned to face them, she locked her gaze onto Twilight, not at her eyes but focusing on her neck. She then wailed, “Oh woe, woe is upon you Twilight!”         “Excuse me?” Twilight asked.         “You have the mark of a child of the eternal night!” Zecora replied. Rainbow Dash and Twilight looked at each other nervously. Did... did Zecora know something about vampires?         “Er... yeah, that’s her costume alright, she’s a vampire. Pretty realistic huh? Why if I didn’t know any better, I would say that she’s the real deal, am I right?” Rainbow Dash smiled.         Zecora ignored her and continued to speak to Twilight, “Cursed is the wound that does not heal, for it causes only endless pain and strife. Beware those whose teeth sharp like a knife, for they seek only to make you their meal. Beware those who shun the warm sunlight, on their wings they bring eternal night.”         “Er, uh... Nice Nightmare Night poem Zecora.” Twilight smiled. She wasn’t sure if she was just remarking on Twilight’s “costume.” “Oh look at the time Rainbow Dash, we have candy to see and ponies to eat.” Twilight mentally slapped herself, “Er, I mean, ponies to see and candy to eat. Bye Zecora!” When they managed to seclude themselves in an alleyway, Twilight spoke up again. “She knows Rainbow Dash! She knows!” “No she doesn’t!” Rainbow Dash replied, “She’s always like that, being all mystical voodoo shaman-like.” “And what if she does?” “Who would believe her?” Dash responded, “Worst-case scenario is that everyone thinks that those ‘herbal fumes’ are affecting her brain. Just calm down, act natural, and no one will ever have to freak out about you being a blood-sucking creature of the night.” Twilight glared at her. “What? I was trying to be supportive!” “Nevermind,” Twilight sighed, “We got to get going, the opening ceremony is going to start soon.”         Meanwhile, back inside the Town hall, “Luna” was waiting. She heard the sound of hoofsteps and turned towards the source. “Hmm? Oh, it’s you again. Is the dragon hidden?” Luna asked the pegasus-bat-guard. “Yes, he is well outside the town limits of Ponyville right now. We have two guards posted to ensure that no one finds him.” “Excellent. Is the ‘surprise’ ready?”         “Yes, but some of us are... getting rather anxious from its smell milor- er- milady. Had to pull out some of the greenhorns before they could drink it all up.”         “Of course, but don’t worry, the time appointed for us draws nigh. In but a moment we will have what has been promised to us from times of old.”         “I’ll be sure to pass that on, your highness.” the guard smiled as he flew off. Luna returned the smile as she walked out the doors to her place behind the stage.          On the other side of the curtains, the whole town had assembled in front of the stage. Mayor Mare was up on stage, speaking from the podium, “As Mayor of Ponyville, allow me to introduce you to a very special guest!”         “Has anyone seen Spike?” Twilight whispered worriedly, “Where is he?”         “Allow me to announce a special surprise visit from the Princess of the Night, Luna!” Mayor pointed dramatically as the curtain raised, revealing the tall dark-blue alicorn.         “Wait, Luna!?!?” said Rainbow Dash, “She shouldn’t be able to walk, much less making public appearances like this!”         “Shouldn’t be walking?” Applejack asked skeptically, “What’s that supposed to mean?”         “Oh. Right.” Dash stopped, suddenly realizing her folly, “I- um- well, you see...” Rainbow Dash stuttered.         “Thank you Mayor Mare.” Luna nodded towards Mayor after stepping up to the podium, “Excuse us if we slip into the archaic form of speech, for we still struggle with the language of the day, as well as the fact that we had not held a speech in quite some time. It is an honor to return to my duties as guardian of the night. This new role as a ‘patron saint’ of this holiday is a... unique experience to say the least.” She paused, allowing the crowd a brief laugh, “It amused us to no end, thinking that such a dark night in Equestria’s history would be celebrated, laughing off the scares as if it was a joke.” She paused, “No... ‘amused’ isn’t the word we are looking for... ‘angered’... Yes, that is what we seek.” The everyone in the crowd looked at the other, completely baffled, “For you see, it was this night that we realized our true dream. To be respected, to be held not as the lesser sister, but as the greater. But a millennia after our banishment, what doth mine eyes perceive?!?! I’m laughed at, mocked! Treated as some two-bit buffoon easily tricked by children in costumes! I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FEARED AMONGST MORTALS FOREVER MORE!!!” As she was saying this, Princess Luna grew larger until she matched the height of Princess Celestia. Her coat darkened until it matched the blackness of space, and the background of her cutiemark changed until it was purple. Her black regalia shapeshifted until it became light blue armor. Her turquoise eyes morphed until it was slitted, like a cat’s. Cruel fangs then extended from her mouth. “A thousand years ago, Nightmare Moon became the living nightmare of millions of ponies in Equestria. Tonight, the Nightmare returns! TONIGHT, THE NIGHT SHALL ONCE MORE BE FEARED!!!”         Everyone gasped in horror... at first. Then everyone began to laugh. Some of them even clapped and cheered for an encore performance.         “Oh that was an excellent joke your highness, an brilliant way to into the mood of the night!” Mayor declared.         At first Nightmare Moon stared at her as if she had committed some horrible crime, but then she started to smile cruelly, “Yes... why yes it is, and here’s the punchline!” Tossing aside the podium, Nightmare Moon tackled Mayor Mare.         Mayor Mare screamed bloody murder (it came out more as a gargle really) as Nightmare Moon bit her in the throat. Everyone in the audience gasped at the scene, but out of either shock, horror, or perhaps still believing this to be part of a show, no one ran up to the stage to stop Nightmare Moon. When Mayor Mare’s gurgling voice faded, Nightmare Moon tossed her corpse from the stage into the crowd. Mayor Mare’s limp body fell in front of Fluttershy, eyes glazed and blood still pouring out of her neck. Fluttershy screamed in horror and bolted away from the crowd to hide somewhere.         Twilight Sparkle on the other hand had trouble keeping her eyes off of the corpse. “No, stop that.” she rebuked herself, “You’re not a vulture. You are better than this. You are in control of yourself, not the crazy bloodlust.” She shut her eyes tight, but it did little as the smell wafted up to her vulnerable nose. “Don’t drool, don’t drool, don’t drool...” she repeated on and on to herself, clamping her mouth shut tight.         “Mmm... Aged like a fine wine...” Nightmare Moon licked her lips.         “OH FOR THE LOVE OF CELESTIA, STOP TEMPTING ME!!!” Twilight mentally screamed in anguish. To the outside world, it came out as a pained moan.         “Holy Sisters...” muttered someone in the crowd, as everyone else gathered around the corpse, real blood pouring out of real wounds, “She ATE the Mayor!”         “IT’S NIGHTMARE MOON!” Pinkie Pie screamed, “FOR REAL THIS TIME! EVERYPONY RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!”         And with that, the crowd scattered like headless chickens from the town square. However, they did not get very far, as “Luna’s guards” surrounded and blocked off every exit they can.         “Twilight!” Applejack shouted as she shook her, “Snap out of it!”         “Wha-?” sputtered the recently rebooted Twilight.         “Nightmare Moon’s back, and we need your noggin to think of a plan.” said Applejack.         “That isn’t really Nightmare Moon or Luna!” Rainbow Dash shouted.         “Okay, what are you talking about!?” Applejack replied, “Is there something important that you know and we don’t?”         “Well you see...”         “Oh for the love of harmony, spill the beans already!!!”         “Last week I beat up Luna!” Rainbow Dash quickly said.         “You... What?!” Applejack whispered.         “Back when I flew off to Canterlot, I got overly emotional and beat up Princess Luna. I wasn’t trying to kill her, I just... I just wanted her to pay for creating vampires in the first place! She... she said that in all likelyhood that Twilight will die if she were cured! I think I broke her wings and back...”         “...WHAT PART OF THAT WALNUT YOU CALL A BRAIN THOUGHT IT WAS A GOOD IDEA!?!”         “Stop it, we have to focus on the situation at hand here. We’ll discuss Rainbow Dash’s suicidal idiocy at another time.” Rarity said, pulling Applejack away from Rainbow Dash. “Right, priority number one: find Spike. Even if that isn’t really Nightmare Moon, we still need to inform Princess Cel-” Twilight began. “TWITCH-A-TWITCH!” Pinkie Pie shouted, holding her twitching tail. The sudden deluge of a dark red liquid from above splashed all in the town square. The liquid soaked everyone’s costumes throughly. “Eww, what is this...” Rarity muttered. Her eyes then widened in horror and disgust, “Ma déesse!” she wailed, before collapsing on the ground crying. “Is this blood? Why would...” Rainbow Dash stopped, her face going pale as she turned her head slowly towards Twilight. Twilight Sparkle was beginning to hyperventilate, her body shaking and shivering, eyes dilated and twitching, her mouth watering. It seemed that Twilight Sparkle was fighting a battle with some other self inside her, a more primal and violent nature that did not exist little more than three weeks ago. Needless to say, she was losing horribly. Swallowing her spit for a moment, she smiled crookedly, “Girls, I just realized something: you all look delicious.” “Oh.” The word escaped from Rainbow Dash’s lips in a barely audible whisper. “Twi, snap out of it!” Applejack shouted at her, “This isn’t you! We’re your friends!” “Stop looking so tasty then!” slurred Twilight, “All this blood is making me hungry! I... I can’t resist!” “Then eat THIS!” Applejack gave her a quick buck in the face, sending Twilight flying quite a distance. “Rainbow! Help me corral Twilight to that building over there. The longer we keep her away from anyone else, the better.”         “You got it!” replied Rainbow Dash.         “Pinkie, you know where you put the garlic and all that, you get them and try to distract them. I know we can’t hold them off forever, but if we buy enough for Princess Celestia to get here, we should be fine.”         Pinkie muff-hudda’d in confirmation before raising her brass instrument to the air and letting out a war cry.         “Um, Rare? You okay?” Applejack turned to Rarity. Rarity lifted up her head, showing that her mascara that she had applied was now running. “THEY! GOT! BLOOD! ON MY! SUIT!” Rarity screamed, “Now it’s going to leave a stain! Do those cruel monsters have ANY idea how hard it is to get blood out!?!?” A nearby tree was covered by a light blue aura, making it snap and shatter into several pieces. The pieces then flew behind Rarity in formation. She belted out a screech, that sounded like a harpy singing in the shower, and ran off to join Pinkie Pie.         “...Like I needed another reminder not to make her angry.” Applejack muttered.         “Hey cowgirl, a little help over here!?” Rainbow Dash shouted.         “Hold on there sugarcube, I’m coming!” Meanwhile, Fluttershy was running full tilt away from the town. She didn’t care if that whole thing was an act or if it was real, it was too much for her. It was by sheer dumb luck then that she would run into Spike with two “guards.” Spike’s arms and legs were bound together, and had a strip of cloth over his mouth. “Aww, you lost little bunny?” cooed one of them (henceforth shall be known as #1), “Afraid of the dark?” “Oh my...” Fluttershy said as she backed away “Hey, no fair keeping her to yourself!” the other (Guard #2) shouted at his partner, “I wanna have a taste of her!” Spike chewed and spat out the cloth that was used to gag him and shouted, “Fluttershy, run! These guys are vampires!” “Hey shuddup you little punk!” Guard #2 bucked Spike in the face. “Stop that!” Fluttershy shouted at him. “Or what? You’re gonna stop me?” mocked the guard. He bucked Spike in the face again. “No, stop that.”  “You’re gonna cry for mommy and daddy?” said #1, “Look around, there’s no pony around that can hear you scream when we eat you alive.” “Do you think that just because you’re bigger, and because there’s more of you means that you get to be a bully? You think you get to play big bad monster and get away with it?” Fluttershy coldly stated. Guard #1 then jumped and tried to tackle Fluttershy, however mid-flight she shifted to the side and grabbed his head, then trapped him in a headlock. “DO YOU!?!?” She screamed into the guard’s face. “Oh please don’t hurt me,” #1 whimpered in terror, “I’m sorry!” “NO! YOU’RE NOT SORRY!” Screamed Fluttershy into his ear, “You’re just sorry that you got caught!” “Hey let him go-” “Or what?!” Fluttershy shouted at Guard #2, “You’re going to cry for mommy and daddy?” He looked at her as she gave him a cold stare. The stare that made stronger beasts break out into tears and weep like babies. It pierced into his soul, pulled and spoke wordlessly to the same fears he had as child, the fear of punishment from his parents. He couldn’t take it anymore. “I’m sorry! We surrender!” “Then let the dragon go, and don’t hurt anyone ever again. If you do hurt anyone, I will find out, and I will punish you!” The guard quickly did so, freeing Spike from his bonds. Fluttershy let the other guard go, and they both ran off into the forest without looking back. “Are you alright Spike?” Fluttershy said, “Is anything broken?” Spike’s expression was frozen for a moment in shock from assertive Fluttershy, “What? Oh, yeah, I’m okay. But that’s not important! There’s a fake Luna running around in Ponyville, and she’s a vampire too! We have to tell Princess Celestia!” “Oh my, what can I do?” “I need a pen and a piece of paper! Then I can send her a letter asking for her help!” “HI-YAH!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she swung an oversized lollipop at the nearest vampire. The blow connected, knocking him unconscious, but it also broke the handle from overuse. Two more vampires jumped in front of Pinkie, ready to finish her off. “Step away from the Pinkie Pie, you uncouth mongrels!” Rarity shouted as she threw a log. It hit both of the vampires in the face. “You pesky ponies!” shouted Nightmare Moon, “You two should have fallen long ago! I’m going to enjoy sucking every ounce of blood that runs through your veins!” Pinkie Pie and Rarity looked around. It was true, they did put up a good fight, but whenever it seem they had defeated one, two more took their place. And with town people serving as potential reinforcements, the situation looked rather bleak. “And I hope that you choke on me, you hag.” Rarity replied towards Nightmare Moon. Suddenly, there was a bright light in the sky, that illuminated the entire town. Those who dared gaze upward saw that it was a giant fireball, and judging from the smoke travel came from Canterlot. Said giant fireball was hurtling towards the town. “No...” Nightmare Moon shuddered, eyes growing wide in horror, “No, no, no... Who let the dragon free!? WHO TOLD HER!?!?” Before anyone could answer, the fireball landed several meters in front of Nightmare Moon. It exploded in a fiery cloud of smoke. With a mighty wingbeat from inside, the black veil was removed to reveal a tall graceful white alicorn, dressed in gold regalia, her mane and tail of blue, pink, and light green bellowing in an unseen wind. However, her eyes glowed golden, it shimmered and licked the air like flames. “Ah, sister,” Nightmare Moon nervously started, “I-” “THOU DOST NOT HAVE PERMISSION TO ADDRESS ME AS ‘SISTER!’” declared Princess Celestia, all thousand tongues in her mighty voice echoing her anger, “PRAY TELL, WHERE IS THY MASTER, SLAVE?” “W-what?” Nightmare Moon replied, “How did you know- I mean, no, you are mistaken, I am Nightmare Moon, scourge of the ni-IIIGGGHHH!” With a flicker of light from Princess Celestia’s horn, ray of white-hot fire blazed out of her horn, hitting Nightmare Moon square in the face. The disguise dissolved into smoke, revealing a dark gray unicorn with red and black tail. He didn’t have a mane on account of it currently being consumed by fire. The unicorn blindly ran with his head enveloped in flames, tripping and falling into the large wooden tub of water and apples that Princess Celestia had expertly placed in front of him. The unicorn sighed sweet relief as the steam rose from the tub, extinguishing the flames. Then Princess Celestia repeatedly pulled and dunked the unicorn’s face into the water. Pulling his head out of the water one last time, Princess Celestia pulled his face to be level with hers. “Now then, allow us to repeat ourselves,” Princess Celestia whispered to the unicorn, “Where is your master? Answer quickly, we are rapidly our losing patience with thee.” “Hey you!” shouted a gruff voice from behind, “Let him go!” The unicorn vampire that Princess Celestia started to smile. Princess Celestia rolled her eyes, and turned her head to see that the whole attack force of vampires had assembled behind her. “...If you all wanted to have a turn, by all means, just form a line over there.” Princess Celestia said, nodding her head towards some other direction, “No need for you all to jump up at once.” “What?” shouted a ruby-colored mare, “We outnumber you at least a hundred to one!” “...And?” Princess Celestia asked. “And what?” “Well, I don’t know about you, but I was hoping that there was something else here to even the odds bit. Right now I just see a hundred little toothpicks trying to put out a forest fire.” “...We’re the forest fire right?” Princess Celestia sighed and muttered something about their (lack of) intellingence, “Look, I’m tired, I want to have a nice long rest, but SOMEPONY thought it was a good idea to threaten my land and people tonight. However, despite that, I’m going to give every single one of you a second chance.” Princess Celestia said, her tone shifting to that of a ragged mother who really doesn’t want to even be here, “Give you guys another chance at life, no one will have to remember you as a monster forever, and more importantly you all don’t die to the unquenchable fire and flames of my power.” “Oh like a snowball in Tartarus I’ll do that! Come on everyone, we all jump on her on thr- AAAGGGHHH!!! I’M MELTING!!!” screamed a sickly green and black unicorn, as she appeared to have burst into flames. “Now see, this is exactly the sort of thing I had hoped that I would avoid when I came here. Just tell me where Bleeding Heart is, before I burn the whole lot of you.” The vampire army looked at Princess Celestia and then to the puddle of melted plastic pile of ashes. “Run away! Scatter!!!” shouted one of them. The rest of the vampires followed accordingly. Princess Celestia sighed as she watched the army disperse. She then turned to the vampire she held in her hooves. “Now as for you,” Celestia began, the vampire shuddering in fear, “Good night.” Her horn glowed, which put the vampire into a deep sleep. Celestia then turned to face Rarity and Pinkie Pie, who quickly bowed down before her. “Where’s Twilight?” Princess Celestia asked them, “Is she safe?” “I don’t know, last I saw her was when Applejack and Rainbow Dash lured her inside the town hall away from everyone else.” Pinkie Pie replied.         With a mighty flap of her wings, Princess Celestia took off and flew towards the town hall.         Twilight was sitting in front of Applejack and Rainbow Dash, tied up by Applejack’s rope, and Rainbow Dash’s plastic fishbowl covering her head. Over the course of the fight, their clothes were torn apart into rags.         “Nice going partner.” Applejack smiled at Rainbow Dash. “Who’s awesome? We’re awesome!” Rainbow Dash said, as she and Applejack did a high-five. Then they noticed that Twilight, while currently not the most sound of mind at the moment, can still use magic. The rope started to glow a purple color as the rope seemed to untie itself. “Ah Oh,” said Applejack.         “Celebrated too early?”         “As my brother would say; eeyup.” Round two, fight.         They both tried to tackle Twilight, hoping to stop her before she freed herself. However, Twilight was also levitating a chair behind them, and she took the chair and magically threw it behind Rainbow Dash’s head, briefly knocking her out. Applejack on the other hand managed to bodyslam Twilight successfully, momentarily breaking her concentration. Twilight then head butted Applejack, causing her to stagger off of Twilight for a moment, and a brief moment was all Twilight needed to finally untie herself. Unfortunately for Applejack, she wasn’t done with ropes yet. Using her magic once more, the ropes began to snake around Applejack’s legs, causing her to trip over on the ground. They wrapped around tight against her legs.         “Not this manure again.” Applejack thought to herself.         Applejack groaned as she looked up, seeing Twilight Sparkle was now standing above her, had taken off the fishbowl, and was drooling.         “Aw horseapples.” Applejack thought to herself.         “You know, ever since I became a vampire, I’ve always wondered if you tas-” Twilight started.         She didn’t get to finish that because Rainbow Dash flew above her and slammed the chair on her head, screaming, “GET AWAY FROM HER!” While it did stun Twilight for a moment, Twilight now had her focus squarely on Rainbow Dash. The two grabbed each other and began to wrestle on the floor.         It was difficult for Applejack to tell who was winning this contest. On one hand, in normal circumstances, Rainbow Dash was by far much stronger than the normally bookish Twilight, even though it was mostly focused on the her wings and speed. On the other, Twilight seemed to be much stronger than she normally was, boosted by the unnatural magics of the black blood in her veins. Neither of them had any qualms using their unique talents and biology to get the upper hand (this was, after all, a street fight. Not the Summer Equestrian Olympics.) As a result, often the two would often separate: for example, Dash would drop Twilight from the ceiling onto the floor and then dive bomb on her, or Twilight would start pelting Dash with encyclopedias from Mayor’s bookcase, things like that. However, they would quickly race to each other to resume wrestling.         Then, Rainbow Dash screamed in pain. Apparently in the tussle, Twilight had managed to maneuver herself onto Rainbow Dash’s back, before biting into her neck. Rainbow Dash tried to buck her off, but Twilight clung on to Rainbow Dash’s body for dear life. With every suck and slurp from Twilight, Rainbow Dash felt a little more woozy, and increasingly weaker. As Twilight moaned in pleasure into Rainbow Dash’s neck, as the room began to get darker and unfocused. When Twilight licked up Rainbow Dash’s blood, Rainbow Dash slowed down. Her head was swimming and the world around her swaying, her wings flared out on instinct to help her keep her balance, but even still Rainbow Dash fell on the floor. In one last effort, Rainbow Dash reached up with her hoof to push Twilight off of her, but it came up weak, making it look like how one would reach up to hold their lover as they kissed their neck.         It was interrupted too late by banging on the door. “Twilight Sparkle? Applejack? Rainbow Dash? Are you in there?” said a familiar voice.         “No...” Twilight shuddered, her eyes growing wide in fear. Her words might have been greatly muffled by her cyan friend’s (now nearly lifeless) body, but they still convey its meaning.         The doors opened to reveal Princess Celestia. “Is everyone alri-” Princess Celestia began, stopping herself short as she had a sudden uprising of the contents of her stomach on sight of Twilight drinking Rainbow Dash. Twilight, now in her panicky state, then decided to run and hide. Teleport and hide if one has to be specific. “No! Wait! Stop Twilight!” Princess Celestia shouted as she still clutched her stomach. This time, Twilight did not heed her mentor’s words as she and Rainbow Dash disappeared in a purple flash of light. Reappearing deep within the forest, Twilight and Dash fell onto the ground. Out of the intoxicating haze of blood, Twilight regained control of herself. “Oh no, no no no.” Twilight Sparkle muttered to herself, “What have I done? WHAT HAVE I DONE!?!? I-I killed her, honest to Celestia, I ATE Rainbow Dash!” She looked down at the corpse in her forelegs as she wept, “What am I going to do!?” “I’ll tell you the only thing you can do; join me.” said a voice, one that Twilight hasn’t heard ever since that fateful night until now. Out of the darkness walked out a white unicorn, his mane and tail were now black, but they still had some stripes of gray in them. They were no longer matted, but now combed and brushed smooth. Twilight realized just how correct she was when she thought of how he looked like a Canterlot noble when cleaned up. “Bleeding Heart...” Twilight said slowly. If her heart were not a useless organ, it would be pounding loudly like a drum. “W-why should I join you?” She nervously shouted back at him, “You’re evil!” “The idea of good and evil are only illusions of perception and opinions,” Bleeding Heart replied, “for example, in your dear Princess Celestia’s eyes, vampires are nothing but sick, disgusting cruel beasts, worthy only of the unquenching fire. I however, see them as my comrades, I trust them, and I take care of them.” “I don’t believe you!” Twilight shouted back. “Really?” Bleeding Heart said as he walked closer to Twilight until they were face to face, “Despite the evidence to the contrary? The sight of you makes her sick to her stomach! Had the porcelain altar been there, she would have used it for worship! What makes you honestly think you can go back to them?” “They’re my friends, they should be able to understand...” A cruel laugh echoed in response. “Oh yes, because ‘they’re my bestest friends in the world, they’ll never hate me!’” Bleeding Heart mocked, imitating Twilight’s voice in the most unflattering manner possible, “You still cling to that last shred of your former life? They who imprisoned you in your own home? Those who treat you as if you were going to snap at any moment? Would they really believe a mare who, not more than five minutes ago, killed one of her friends? Believe me, the only thing that they understand about you now is that you’re an irredeemable bloodthirsty monster. To them, the Twilight Sparkle they made friends with is already dead.” “No...” Twilight whispered, tears welling up in her eyes, “I... can’t believe it...” “No, the problem is not that you can’t believe it, it is that you don’t want to believe it.” Bleeding sternly replied, “Despite what idiotic pseudo-philosophical thoughts would tell you, belief does NOT alter reality. It blinds you, it makes you ignorant to reality and how it works. Calling a rabbit a watermelon doesn’t suddenly make it so, and what fool actually believes that? And this is a fact of the real world Twilight Sparkle: you’re a vampire. I only state this rather obvious fact because you live in their world as if that were not true! You still willing blind yourself to the full implications of the fact that you are so different from your ‘friends’ now, that you don’t belong with them anymore.” “No!” she screamed, firing a bolt of magic at him. The purple ball of energy instead flew through him without a scratch, scorch, or burn, and instead blew up a tree. “Yes.” came Bleeding Heart’s cold calm answer, “You might not acknowledge this reality, but your friends do. But even if they don’t, my point still stands. You live in a different world Twilight Sparkle, a world that they cannot possibly understand until they cross the threshold into ours. A world that, because of their blinding beliefs and their state as mortals, they see as a realm fit only for monsters and demons. But you are not alone in this world Twilight Sparkle...” Bleeding Heart picked up Twilight’s chin, until she was looking straight into his golden eyes. His gaze softened from the harsh glare to a comforting smile, “You are not alone in this world, for I will help you and guide you, just as Luna guided me.” Twilight swung her foreleg to bat away Bleeding’s hoof away. Again, it phased through him as if he was made up of air, however Bleeding understood the gesture and backed away. “Never! I will not betray Princess Celestia!” “Fine then. You blindly and foolishly ignore my help and advice, and instead cling to the decaying link to your last world. I will however leave this warning with you: when your dear ‘friend’ reawakens, she will hate you. She will hate you so much that she will try to kill you, because, like you, she only knows of the realm of the living.” His body once more melted into mist, “Farewell, and if you do by some miracle or revelation change your mind, you will find me where the night never ended.” With that he faded into the night. Twilight Sparkle stared into the night once more... Alone. When she was younger, she had believed that she was alone, since she really thought of anyone as a friend until she came to Ponyville. But even then she had her family, Spike, and Princess Celestia. She didn’t realize until now that she really had no idea what true loneliness is. But now this was true loneliness, alienated from everything she knew, and worse yet that she might be hated by that world now. And she was now scared of loneliness. Twilight pulled Rainbow Dash’s body closer. “I’m so sorry...” she whispered to her deaf ear as she tried to sleep.         Rainbow Dash groaned as she opened her eyes. “Dang, what a nightmare.  How long have I been asleep?” she thought to herself. Her view of the afternoon sky was blocked by the canopy of the forest. “Am I in Apple Acres?” she thought, “No, wait, these trees are all wrong for it to be the farm. Then where am I and how did I get here?” she tried to get up and explore a bit, just to get her bearings. However, she found that Twilight was asleep on top of her, her head on her shoulders and hugging her tightly like a foal would with their teddy bear. Every once in awhile she would sniff and snuffle. “What the- what is Twilight doing here? Wait...” Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened in horror as memories flooded back into her, “No, no, no, this isn’t happening!” She hoped desperately that this too was a nightmare, that she would wake up above Ponyville on top of a cloud. She shoved Twilight off of her and flew up to the sky, trying to get away from everything. However, the sun blinded her. “AAAH!!!” Rainbow Dash screamed in pain covering her eyes as she fell back down to the forest floor, crashing and bouncing off of every branch in the way. While the noise scared a few animals nearby, Twilight was still asleep. Rainbow Dash let a few choice curse words as she held her face and rolled on the ground. Groaning as she picked herself up as she blinked a few times and rubbed her eyes as they recovered. Her vision slowly restored, she noticed that she had landed near a quiet stream of water. She hesitated to look into it, fearing what might stare back at her. She took a deep breath and saw... Nothing. This did not ease Dash’s nerves, it actually did the opposite. Breathing quickly, she reached up to her neck, feeling a scar. Scar from someone biting with fangs. “Horseapples.” Rainbow Dash whimpered to herself. Cue the happy theme song.