Fluttershy, Rarity, and Applejack made their way through Ponyville, showing off Rarity's drawing of Coco Pommel. Not many ponies had seen her or knew her name, but there were enough to be directed to Coco's residence nonetheless.
They rang the doorbell, and no answer came. They knocked loudly, and still no answer came.
Fluttershy flew up to see if she could somehow peek through one of the higher windows to no avail. Every shutter was completely closed.
Applejack sighed. "I'll apologize and make up for it, but I'd say this is urgent enough." She bucked the front door open.
The three mares entered and cautiously scanned the entrance area. They soon saw a living room with a couch, a desk with a sewing machine, and several pieces of fabric strewn about on the floor.
There was a ledge not far from all of that with some pillows and a familiar Daring Do book cover.
"Guess we know where these two liked to spend time together," Applejack quietly noted.
"Her work is simply exquisite," Rarity remarked, staring at a rack of completed outfits.
"This is very nice to see, but we need to find Coco," Fluttershy reminded her other two friends.
Rarity sighed. "Right. Um, Miss Pommel?" she called out into the house.
No answer.
"We should check upstairs," Fluttershy suggested in a soft voice.
"Right, let's get moving," Applejack said.
The trio went up the stairs and eventually found the master bedroom. They saw Coco laying deathly still on her back with her eyes closed. A red rose was clasped in her hooves over her stomach.
"Miss Pommel?" Rarity gently asked in a whisper.
Coco did not move.
"Hey!" Applejack whispered. "Coco! Come on, please!"
"Yes, please," Fluttershy added with a whisper of her own.
Coco did not respond at all.
They were nervous to touch the still, sleeping form after everything Rainbow Dash had put them through.
"What are we going to do?" Fluttershy whispered to her friends. "She needs to know about Rainbow Dash."
Coco's eyes blinked open instantly, giving all three mares a jolt as she sat up in the bed. "'Rainbow Dash'?" Coco repeated. She looked at the other mares. "Rarity? What are you doing here? Did something happen to Rainbow Dash?"
"I'm afraid so, Miss Pommel. Umm....perhaps you could enlighten us on a mare named Suri Polomare," Rarity hesitantly asked with a pleading smile.
Coco's eyes flashed red in instant fear, making the other mares jolt again. "Suri? Suri's here?!" The red faded soon after her question.
"Not anymore, Miss," Applejack answered. "But not before she did something to our friend. Something fierce. We know you got something to do with it because your name came up. You'd best come with us, so we can all talk it over together."
"P-please," Fluttershy added.
Coco gulped nervously. "Very well."
She peacefully joined the other mares, much to their relief at not having to fight another vampire under Suri's command.
To the best of her ability, Twilight Sparkle relayed everything she could about the day's earlier events to Coco. Then she gave Coco her turn to explain things beyond what Rainbow Dash already told the group before Suri's arrival.
"Suri is a powerful sorceress," Coco informed them. "I did not know that when I met her. I was simply an assistant trying to learn about fashion and become a better seamstress. While she wasn't one of the more well-known designers at the time, she definitely had a good front. She had a studio, a job listing, designed clothes, everything.
"Well, one night, she...trapped me and forced me to take a potion that turned me into a vampire. I was very much like what she told Rainbow Dash. I belonged to her in whatever role she wanted me to do."
"How'd you escape?" Applejack wanted to know.
"Mostly time, to be honest. I would have moments—just flashes—figuring out that she had power over me. If she commanded me to kill, I could resist. That was a line too far despite the murderous urges the potion laid into me," Coco explained.
"I wonder if that's why she said Rainbow didn't have to kill us," Twilight noted sadly. She clenched her eyes shut and added, "even though she admitted to thinking about it her first night."
"Most likely," Coco agreed. "Please understand...it was not a serious thought. It really was part of her new nature. She loves you all so much. She was overwhelmed by the bloodlust on her first night. She still had control of herself then and since before Suri showed up today."
"Tell us more, please Coco," Rarity encouraged her. "About how you got away."
The vampire stared at them and then at the floor. "I choked her with her own scarf—and I waited. I waited to be sure she could not come back. I checked as thoroughly as my limited knowledge of her magic let me." Coco gulped with sad eyes. "I even burned the body. I spread her ashes far and wide." Tears streamed down the vampire's cheeks. "Enough time had passed, I really thought I had succeeded. I remained cautious out of habit and to safeguard myself against other mortals still. I was so sure I didn't have to worry about Suri anymore when I...when I transformed Rainbow Dash. I couldn't imagine her coming back. Or that if she somehow did, she would have such control over my dear fledgling."
"Just how did you make a fledgling anyway?" Pinkie Pie pressed.
With hesitation, Coco answered, "I had the potion. I mixed in some of Rainbow's blood and my own, then gave it to her. That alone was not enough. I was able to project out some of my magic through my throat, into the air, and into the potion. It helped that she was emotionally vulnerable at the time but not required."
"Emotionally vulnerable?" asked a confused Twilight Sparkle.
Coco sighed and explained it to them at length. They knew of their Mare Do Well scheme. They knew of Rainbow's initial reaction to it. They did not know Rainbow Dash hid away that she was so angry about the matter since she felt the anger was very much unjustified.
"Oh dear, is that why she was so easy for Suri to umm....command to hurt us..." Fluttershy hesitated.
"No," Coco said firmly. "She stalled, remember? When Suri does this," the off-white mare demonstrated with a quick stroke of her own mane, "that is actually activating her magic. She has hairpins with different functions that activate certain spells. The spell you describe was probably meant for me. It sounds like it focuses both the connection to Suri and the vampire's power. I doubt Rainbow Dash could even turn back into a pegasus unless Suri commands it. She practiced on you lot to make sure Rainbow Dash obeyed."
They all looked down in discomfort and sadness.
"And Spike?" Rarity inqured.
Coco shook her head. "I do not know why Suri would take him. A fire-breathing dragon is dangerous to us vampires. Fire is our weakness."
"It is?" Twilight perked up at that news and smiled.
The vampire nodded solemnly.
"But you said you burned her body," Rarity reminded her.
"I did," Coco replied. "It was a dangerous thing to try, and I was careful about it. We can still start a fire the same as any pony. So long as the fire didn't touch my body directly—and it didn't—that was something I could do."
"So Spike could end up hurting Rainbow Dash real bad?" Applejack asked her worriedly.
Coco scowled. "Yes, but as much as I fear and hate Suri, she will protect her precious little pet vampire. I may not know her exact plan with him, but I'm sure of that much at least."
The group sat and scratched their heads, but they could not figure it out.
"Well, hopefully Spike can escape and make his way to us," Pinkie Pie optimistically offered.
"We'd best be on the lookout for that chance," Rarity added. She turned to Coco. "Given what we know between the six of us, I must ask you Coco—what is Suri planning? The bigger plan she referred to, that is. Do you know?"
"When I was still with her, she was trying to figure out how to overpower Celestia. Not necessarily make her a vampire but some kind of obedient monster still. Or simply overthrow her with a vampire army. We couldn't figure out how to make a fledgling at the time, but she still had not truly decided which when I killed her," Coco answered.
Twilight's eyes widened. "Princess Celestia! We have to warn her!"
"Can't argue with that!" Pinkie Pie concurred.
None of the other ponies did argue, and the girls galloped off to the train station together.
Suri Polomare, Rainbow Dash, and an unconscious Spike entered through a portal to a very large room. Numerous pieces of clothing hung on racks. It was dusty and musty, and spiderwebs could be seen here or there. Cabinets and shelves aligned the walls with some flasks, beakers, bottles, and large cups on their surfaces. Some of these objects were visibly empty, and some were filled with liquids of varying color. There were also smaller boxes that, to Rainbow's eye, could very easily have been jewelry boxes. There was, in fact, a rack on one wall that did have at least four necklaces on it and another with four hoof bracelets.
"Sorry about the mess. I was dead for awhile," Suri admitted, referring to the spiderwebs and dust. "This is my studio and lab." She showed Rainbow Dash a small cage in the room. "Put the dragon in there."
Rainbow Dash complied. While she did that, Suri immediately set to work combining some of the liquids, creating a puff of pink smoke, and the room's musty smell soon disappeared.
Spike began to stir.
"He's starting to wake up," Rainbow Dash informed her maker.
The small dragon looked up at the red-eyed vampire and immediately backed away from her in terror. "Don't kill me, Rainbow Dash! Please!"
Rainbow blinked. "I won't," she assured him sincerely.
He blinked back at her. "But you..."
"Suri commanded me. I had to obey," Rainbow reminded him. She stared at the floor in mild shame. When she looked up though, she blushed with a guilty smile. "Now you know I could very easily kill you," she went on, with her fangs visible as she spoke. She paused and frowned, then shook her head. "But I won't," she remarked sternly, as if telling herself that more than Spike.
He looked over at Suri. "What did you do to her?"
Suri rolled her eyes. "Please, kid. We've been over it. Weren't you paying attention? She is mine to do with as I please."
Spike panted in place and tried to remember what happened. "Our friends!" he suddenly exclaimed. "A-are they okay? You didn't kill them, right?"
"They were unconscious when we left, but they could be awake by now," Rainbow told him plainly. "You are right. I did not kill them. As for 'okay,'" she smiled another guilty smile. "They should be terrified of me like you are right now. Do you think you're 'okay'?"
Again, the young dragon panted in place for a moment, thinking it over before he relaxed a little. Suri wasn't telling her to hurt him now, so he was safe—for now. "O-okay enough so long as you d-don't...d-do that again."
"That is up to Suri," Rainbow told him.
Suri smirked. "No promises to either of you on that."
Spike glanced over to Rainbow Dash, then back at Suri. "So now what? Why am I here?"
Instead of answering him directly, Suri addressed the young vampire. "Go find me a candle."
Rainbow darted off to find one among the numerous items on shelves and quickly swished back to her maker.
"Alright, little dragon. Light it up," Suri commanded him with a smile, holding the candle in his direction, close to the cage.
Spike looked up at her incredulously. "No," he replied firmly. If Suri wanted it of him, it had to be bad. He still wanted to know what she wanted, but she had proven herself to be manipulative and malicious, making her very much untrustworthy.
Suri chuckled. "Rainbow Dash, get him to light the candle."
Rainbow Dash stepped forward.
Spike trembled in fear of another killing vision. Instead, a bat wing merely forced his head in her direction. Radiant red eyes met his. "Light the candle," Rainbow ordered him. She let go, keeping her enchanting red eyes on him as she stepped back.
Suri brought the candle closer, and the dragon glanced from it to those frightening red irises staring at him—compelling him. He looked at the candle again and blew. A small green flame lit the candle.
"Excellent," Suri said with a smile. She carried the candle over to a nearby end table. "Get his blood," she ordered Rainbow Dash.
"I have some in me already," Rainbow Dash offered. "I uh..." She bashfully scratched the back of her mane. "...I had to bite him today before you found us."
Suri chuckled at that news. "You are something else, Rainbow Dash. That explains some of the magic I tracked down earlier. Put some of that blood in a flask."
Rainbow Dash darted off and sorted it all out with a bite of her own forelimb. She let the dark red liquid pour in and gave the flask to Suri. The vampire watched in quiet pleasure of seeing her own wound heal itself.
Spike watched in awe as well. He wished Rainbow wasn't being controlled right now because he would have been both impressed and happy for her. He stood on all fours, leaning forward. "What are you doing?" he asked Suri from his cage, very much intrigued.
"Oh, you'll see, kid. Not yet." Suri winked at him with an evil smile. He clearly did not know he was dangerous to the vampire. She pulled out a hairpin and touched it to the green flame. The fire shot up like a beacon in the room before pouring into the flask of blood.
Rainbow stood firm despite the danger. She caught on that Suri was hiding her fire weakness.
"Perfect," Suri remarked.
With some more taps to her pins or various things within the room itself, the sorceress had a table ready with numerous liquids and magical items.
"Here, drink this," she commanded Rainbow Dash, offering up a bottle of blue liquid.
As expected, the young vampire obeyed without question.
Spike's mouth fell open in shock as Rainbow's eyes instantly glowed white. Her terrifying red irises and regular black pupils were gone.
"Good," Suri told her. "Blow out some air from your core."
A simple breath shot out a vision. Spike stood on two legs and held his clawed on hands on the bars. He peered through them and watched.
The vision began with Rainbow Dash's first Sonic Rainboom. Then it shifted to the first time she and their friends called on the Elements of Harmony against Nightmare Moon, then her second Sonic Rainboom to save Rarity and the Wonderbolts, then the friends using the Elements of Harmony against Discord. A new vision began of something he had not seen or heard about from Rainbow Dash or their friends at all. She did a Sonic Rainboom at night over Ghastly Gorge. One attempt was as a pegasus and another in the same vampire form she had now. Finally, the very last vision was a red lightning bolt, matching her symbol on her Element, alone in darkness.
The vampire's eyes returned to red, and she blinked. She said nothing.
"What's all that mean?" Spike asked Suri.
"It means Coco sure knows how to pick a fledgling," Suri told him. "Your friend here has beautiful magic even without my influence—useful magic."
"U-useful?" Such a word made Spike nervous.
"Mm-hmm. A Sonic Rainboom can be seen and heard far and wide, even if it seems many ponies and animals don't realize that is what they are seeing or hearing—even better for me. I'm glad to already know she can still do one in her vampire form. Excellent work, my pet," Suri said.
Rainbow did not respond with words. She only blinked and gave a faint nod.
"Why do you find it useful?" Spike asked.
"Hmm," Suri said thoughtfully. "Well you see, little dragon, I want more vampire servants—well, more like soldiers. Rainbow Dash will be able to transmit that magic for me through her rainboom, once I've got my potions and spells all set up just right."
"I-is my fire for that?" he prodded.
"Nope, that is something else," Suri replied.
His eyes fearfully darted around, and he waited. For some reason, she wasn't so willing to explain this part. "Rainbow Dash, do you know what my fire is for?"
"Don't answer that," Suri immediately commanded her pet.
Rainbow shifted ever so slightly. She had been eerily still and quiet during their conversation, as far as Spike could tell. After her vision ended, she stood like some kind of passive sentry near Suri. "Do you even know what's going on? What she's doing to you? What she's planning? Have you been listening?"
"Yes," the vampire answered him.
The swift reply caught him off-guard, but she said nothing more.
"Rainbow Dash, stop talking to him. Little dragon, if you do not silence yourself, I will find a way to do it for you," Suri threatened. She smirked. "Perhaps I should have her compel you again."
Spike gulped and went quiet. He had pressed too far now. To his surprise, Rainbow Dash said, "His name is Spike." At that, he blinked with slight interest. It was as if she was trying to come to his defense in her own limited way.
"Noted," Suri said plainly. A few quiet moments passed of Suri messing with her equipment before she gave Rainbow Dash another potion. "Drink that."
Again, the fledgling obeyed.
"Let the dragon set your wing on fire," Suri commanded.
Rainbow had almost stepped forward, then paused and looked at the sorceress. "That will hurt," she reminded her maker.
Spike glanced between the two of them. That was news to him, and he was a little mad at himself for never even thinking to try it.
"I know," Suri told her. "It's part of our adjustment process for you."
The vampire accepted that response and walked over to Spike in his cage.
He avoided her eyes.
Rainbow held out her left wing. "Please set me on fire."
"You just said it would hurt," he noted quietly, still making a point to not look her in the eye.
She leaned her head closer to him. "Yeah, it's my weakness," she whispered, as if letting him in on a secret
He couldn't help looking at her then, and her radiant red eyes held him. Their hold was not as strong as when she had him light the candle. Maybe that was because she knew he would hurt her, but he still obeyed and blew some green fire on her wing. To his horror, the tip turned to gray ash and started to disintegrate.
"N-no!" he uttered.
It spread. From her wing onto her neck and chest, her barrel, her legs, her other wing, even her hair. She was burning away in front of him, turning into gray ash. She had clenched those terrifying eyes shut and winced in pain, but she refused to scream or protest.
Spike started to freak out at the sight. "Suri, s-stop it! I didn't know it would hurt her that much! That was hardly anything! She's not even trying to make it stop!"
Suri smirked at him. "It normally wouldn't have hurt her that much, and she knows this is part of my process. The potion I gave her is to blame. She'll be fine, Spike, just wait and see."
The young dragon's beating heart tried to calm him, but he just watched in continued horror. How could she be okay after that? His answer soon came as the ashes began to swirl anew and form into the body he had just seen disintegrate before his eyes.
For a moment, her rainbow mane and tail even looked like rainbow flames before everything settled. She looked exactly as she did before, bat wings and all. Rainbow Dash exhaled in relief. "That was a lot less than an hour."
Spike's mouth quivered in amazement. "Y-you...."
"Ta-da!" Rainbow said with a proud smile.
"Told you so," Suri remarked. "Now then...do it again..."
Spike looked at Suri in shock. "What?!"
"Try it," she dared him.
Spike gulped and looked at Rainbow Dash.
The vampire was happy to offer her wing again. She did not compel him this time, and he was too curious to deny her.
The flame shot forth and left her completely unscathed. In fact, it flickered momentarily. She could have used it as a torch before it snuffed out on its own within a few seconds. She smiled with a wicked gleam in her red eyes and looked at Suri. "You made me fireproof?"
Suri smiled back. "For now. It was only a matter of time before this little guy found out, and then we would have had a real problem on our hooves."
"Do it again!" Rainbow told him with an eager smile, offering her other wing. She wanted to test it and enjoy it. Spike noticed it was the most she had seemed like herself since they arrived.
He glared at her but did it anyway since he wanted to see if it was still true. Her other wing was fine, and she blew out the flame immediately. "Wow," she uttered to herself.
"How long is she fireproof?" the dragon asked Suri.
"Long enough," Suri answered cryptically. "We're almost finished with you, Spike. Rainbow Dash, put this collar on his neck."
The vampire flew over to Suri to see the collar was black with silver spikes. "Spikes for Spike? That's very literal, Suri."
"Yes, it is," Suri agreed without further comment.
Rainbow shrugged the remark off and approached the cage.
Spike had clenched his eyes shut and backed away as far as he could against the bars, even shielding his face with his small arms.
Rainbow Dash peered through, plotting out how to reach him. She decided to start off as nice as she could. "Hey, Spike. Please let me put this collar on you for Suri."
"No!" he immediately shouted with his eyes still shut. "Suri's evil. She's made you evil. She probably wants to make me evil too—or something terrible like that."
Suri chuckled. "My vampire is only evil when I ask her to be evil. Otherwise, she defaults to a neutral state while she waits for my next command."
"Whatever! You know what I mean!" Spike said, still keeping his eyes closed.
Rainbow glanced over to Suri. "Is that what it does to him?"
"Maybe it does; maybe it doesn't. That's for me to know," Suri told her. "He'll live. Go on."
Spike heard some clinking sound against the bars of his cage, felt a light breeze nearby and a pressure on his neck. He heard a click before he could respond to that pressure. He blinked his eyes open in horror and looked around. Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen. "Rainbow? How?"
"Behind you, Spike," she alerted him.
He turned around. Her face hung upside down as she had evidently perched herself on top of the cage and reached in from right behind him. She must have used her wings to reach through the bars and been extremely fast and agile in her movement. It might have been cute if she had not been so vicious earlier. The little dragon fell over in shock.
"Yikes, are you okay?" Rainbow asked innocently.
Spike immediately sat back up and shook his head, then felt the collar on his neck. "I'm...I'm..." he sighed in relief, for he still felt in control of himself. "I'm still me," he realized.
Satisfied with her work, the vampire quickly darted back to in front of his cage, leaving her prismatic blur behind her.
Spike tugged at the collar to try and pull it off but failed.
"And now...a potion for you as well, dear Spike," Suri said.
Spike gasped and ran up to the back of his cage once more, clawing and tugging at the bars. He helplessly looked back, panting in fear.
"It's not gonna hurt him, is it?" Rainbow asked worriedly.
"The drink itself? No, but he must drink," Suri said ominously.
Rainbow gulped and watched.
Suri herself walked up to the cage. She stroked the cup she held with a hoof, and Spike could only assume the cup itself was magic because the next thing he knew, it was in his mouth with the potion being poured in. His little arms struggled in place. And when it was done, the mysterious magic forced his mouth shut and for him to swallow.
Rainbow clenched her teeth in slight concern. but only shuffled a little in place. She otherwise held firm in staying put.
Spike took several deep breaths, feeling at his new collar, which comforted him slightly.
The young vampire relaxed at the sight, sensing his comfort and lack of pain.
He became drowsy for a few seconds. His eyes grew heavy. He had shut them for a moment—or at least he thought it was a moment.
"There," Suri said in a low voice. She looked at Rainbow Dash. "That collar won't be visible or tangible to anyone but us—so don't give that away. He's going to forget. Understood?"
"Yes, Suri," Rainbow replied in an equally quiet voice. "Now can you tell me what it does?"
"Not enough time for all that. He'll wake soon. I'll tell you after he leaves," Suri explained.
"He's leaving?" Rainbow asked.
Suri motioned for her to shush, and Rainbow nodded obediently.
Shortly thereafter, Spike re-opened his eyes and glanced around. "What's going on? What happened?"
Suri rubbed at one of her hairpins, and a portal opened behind him with the cage. "You are dismissed, young Spike."
He nervously gulped and rubbed his neck. "That's it?"
"Don't you want to go back?" Rainbow Dash asked him, peering through his cage.
"Well, yeah, I just thought..." Spike uttered. "I thought she might have you kill me or make me a vampire or something."
"No way," Rainbow said, shaking her head and waving her bat wings in denial. "I wouldn't do that."
He blinked and opened his mouth slightly in surprise.
"Shh!" Suri commanded her.
"Oh, sorry Suri," Rainbow apologized with a bow of her head. She took a nervous step back.
"Get out already!" Suri snapped at the little dragon.
Spike paused and thought hard. He felt like he was forgetting something important. He took another look at Rainbow Dash. "We'll get you back, Rainbow Dash, promise. Somehow. We're going to figure it out. Please...try to fight it. The lightning bolt in your vision....it had to mean something. A-and just now...you represent the Element of Loyalty after all." He ran off through the portal before Suri could enact any harm on him for his words, his new collar forgotten.
Meanwhile, the young vampire held out a hesitant hoof and sighed, glancing over to her maker.
Suri smiled slyly at her. "Don't think I haven't noticed those things he said. I'm working on adjusting that part of you too."
Rainbow sniffed and looked at the floor, a little sad. "It won't be so easy. Suri...please let me go."
"We have more work to do," Suri reminded her. "If I see a chance in my own plan to let you go, I will. But as it is right now, I want you here with me. I know it won't be easy. I welcome such a challenge. Come on. You were so happy a minute ago when you saw I made you fireproof."
Rainbow smiled at that. "Heh, true."