//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Of Vampires and Werewolves // by Tekkonair //------------------------------// AUTHOR'S NOTE: A quick warning. This chapter is one of the darkest in this story, so be prepared for a shock “My mother completely fell apart after he died. She started drinking, stayed out later and later, and the amount of time she spent with Trixie dwindled almost to nothing. She flitted from one stallion to another in an effort to quell the feeling of loneliness. The she finally settled on one stallion, and she couldn’t have made a worse choice.” “Trixie, I want you to meet Swift Streak.” Trixie’s mother led a well-toned pegasus stallion, quite a few years younger than his new marefriend, with grey fur and a white mane into the house. Trixie looked up from her homework, and smiled. Her mother had none of the frantic energy of the past few months about her, and her eyes shone with real happiness for the first time since Trixie’s father died. “Hey kiddo.” Said Swift, a friendly grin on his face as he walked over to Trixie. Trixie returned his smile, giggling as he bumped her hoof. “Hello.” Trixie said happily, her young mind thinking that if this stallion made mummy happy, then he must be good. “I’m Trixie.” “Your mother’s told me all about you. An illusionist eh? Don’t see many of those around.” He said, his eyes twinkling slightly. “You’re going to go far kid.” “He seemed like a great guy at the start. He spent equal amounts of time with Trixie as he did with Trixie’s mother, took Trixie out for ice cream, read Trixie bed time stories, even helped with homework where he could. It was great for the first year.” Trixie sighed. “Of course, all good things must come to an end. Trixie didn’t see it at the time, but he became more pushy with mum. He wanted a foal that was his, somepony who wasn’t a reminder that he was playing second fiddle to a dead pony. He knew no matter how well he treated her mother, she would always love Trixie’s father.” “What happened? Surely your mother would have loved to have another foal?” Asked Octavia, confused. Up till now, Trixie’s mother appeared to be the kind who loved children. “She would have, if she was able. Trixie’s birth was… difficult. Both Trixie and her mother almost died during the birth, and it left mother infertile. Swift had no idea at the time, mum was probably trying to protect Trixie.” Trixie sighed. “Given what happened when he found out, that was probably true.” “What did he do?” Trixie looked at Octavia and resumed her tale. “I was coming up to my seventh birthday…” Trixie was sitting at the table, puzzling over her homework, when Swift burst in, teeth bared. “What are you doing Trixie?!” He thundered, glaring her down. Trixie cringed, curling into a small ball. “D-doing my homework.” She stuttered, scared out of her wits. “We don’t have time for that nonsense.” Swift grabbed Trixie’s hoof and pulled her away from the table and into the front room. “But the teacher said I need to do a demonstration of my illusions.” Whined Trixie, trying to pull away. “Enough with the illusionist nonsense. If I can’t have my own foal with your mother, I’m just going to have to make sure you become successful and make plenty of money. Illusionists don’t make money. You need to learn practical skills.” He said impatiently, shoving her into the room, and put her in front of the fire place. “Now, light those logs on fire.” “But I can’t.” Trixie yelped as Swift back-hoofed her. “You’re going to light those logs on fire.” He snarled. “Do it.” Trixie sniffed, but complied, the pink glow appearing around her horn as she tried to start the fire. A few sparks flew from her horn, but the logs failed to light. Swift snorted, and stomped out of the room. “You’re not going to leave this room until you light those logs, understand?” Trixie sniffed again. “Yes…” She whispered, as Swift closed the door behind him and locked it. “That’s awful.” Said Octavia, her eyes wide. “What happened?” “Trixie was there for hours trying to light a fire. After so many attempts Trixie was tired, hungry and thirsty, Trixie gave up and used my illusionary magic to ‘light’ a fire. Trixie went to the door and shouted for him. When he came in, the first thing he did was poke a stick into the fire. It wasn’t even singed when he pulled it out. He was absolutely furious, and shouted for hours whilst he thought of a suitable punishment.” “I ought to punish you for this!” He thundered. “Can’t even light a simple fire. You’ll never-” He caught himself, then grinned. “Yes, that will do nicely.” He chuckled darkly, turning to the fireplace, fiddling around with something until a real fire was crackling away, and turned back to Trixie, who was still rooted in place with fear. “Perhaps to control fire, you need to know what it feels like.” He said with a glint in his eye, his grin made all the more sinister by the shifting shadows on his face. He grabbed Trixie roughly, forcing her hoof out in front of her. “What are you doing?” She asked fearfully, beginning to cry again. “You need to understand fire, feel it’s rage, it’s destructive potential, it’s heat.” He cooed into her ear, making Trixie shudder as he moved her towards the fireplace. Trixie’s eyes widened when she realised what he was doing, and began to struggle. “Do not struggle child.” He hissed, hitting Trixie roughly on the head and forcing her hoof into the fire. She screamed, a cacophony of agony tearing from her mouth as the fire licked around her hoof, burning away her fur and searing her flesh. Trixie hung her head and sniffed, a tear escaping and flowing down her muzzle. Octavia was horrified by what she heard, her eyes wide as he mouth was covered by her hoof. “That is one of Trixie’s most painful memories. Not for what he did to Trixie, but for what mother didn’t do. She did nothing, didn’t even say a word against Swift when he told her Trixie was knocked out when something fell from the mantelpiece, falling so her hoof ended up in the flame.” Trixie snorted, as her magical aura surrounded her unbandaged front hoof. The lower leg appeared to float away, revealing her real leg to be nothing more than an amputated stump beyond the knee. “They amputated the hoof?” Asked Octavia, her eyes going even wider. Trixie nodded, levitating the prosthetic hoof back into position. “The flames destroyed most of the nerves in Trixie’s leg, they had no choice. It would have gone gangrene otherwise.” She said, a hint of contempt in her voice. “I’ve learnt to make do with the prosthetic, it doesn’t really bother me anymore.” “Does Vinyl know?” Trixie nodded. “As I said, no secrets.” She confirmed with a sad smile. “But no one else knows, other than the doctors.” “What about your mother and Swift?” Asked Octavia, tilting her head. “They’re both dead.” Trixie said the words as if she was commenting on the weather. “Swift killed my mother in a drunken rage, he died of alcohol poisoning a couple of years later.” “I’m sorry to hear that.” “Don’t be. Trixie doesn’t feel anything for that mare now.” Trixie’s voice was hollow as she said this. “Trixie ran away from home after he killed mum, started doing cheap tricks in the street to make enough to eat. As time went on, the crowds got bigger, the profits became greater, and Trixie’s ego grew. Sometimes the old Trixie comes through again, like when Trixie introduced herself to you.” “I take it that’s why you winced.” Remarked Octavia, and Trixie nodded. “That and the wound on Trixie’s leg. Magic attack she wasn’t quite quick enough to avoid.” “I’ve been wondering about that. How did an illusionist defeat a vampire?” “Illusionists are rare enough that when a pony sees a wall spring up behind them, they don’t realise that it’s just a trick. After that, it’s simply a matter of flinging enough bricks at them. Plus Trixie does know a fair amount of battle magic. Life on the streets isn’t easy. It probably helped that they were distracted when Trixie attacked, and they had just had to fight you.” Said Trixie, as the nurse entered the room again. “Vinyl’s awake, and she’s asked to see you both.”