From where Suri Polomare stood, Celestia had been pushed far to Suri's right and Luna toward the other end on Suri's left.
"Princess Celestia!" Twilight started to run up to the fallen alicorn, but Rainbow Dash stood in the way with her bat wings flared, ready to pounce.
The sky blue vampire hissed and bared her fangs.
The vicious display and fierce red eyes were enough to make Twilight Sparkle pause in fear.
Coco and the other friends remained where they were as they watched the scene unfold.
"Use...the...Elements of Harmony..." Celestia muttered, and she closed her light magenta eyes. She opened them again a second later. She was still conscious but barely, weakened by Suri's magic in her prized pet vampire and now dragon too.
Rainbow didn't wait for the others to try the Elements again and shoved Twilight back to the center of the lobby before shooting up into the air. Twilight frowned, ready to try and use her magic in some way, forgetting it was useless at the moment. She suddenly realized that at least two other vampires stood at her side, ready to keep her away from their master.
Luna was still struggling from across the lobby with a notable group piling on her to keep her away from Celestia. Twilight suspected the plan was much the same for her and the others.
One of the nearby fledglings shot her with a blast of magic from their still working unicorn horn.
"Gah!" Twilight shrieked and fell back several feet.
Still more fledglings found their way to the rest of the group. They shoved or grabbed the other mares, quickly separating them to different parts of the lobby, notably away from the fallen Celestia.
Coco Pommel was too fast for them as she galloped through.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash quickly dove at Applejack, who had managed to stay closest to the lobby's front doors. The earth pony braced herself for a strong impact or a grab that never came. The vampire just missed her. "What the—?" Applejack muttered. "Thought your aim was better than that Rainbow!" she yelled up at the creature.
Rainbow smirked back at her. It was a very brief moment of eye contact, but it was enough to hold Applejack, to let the killing vision from earlier that day briefly surface in the orange mare's mind. I've got you right where I want you, my friend, the vampire told her telepathically and maliciously, stunning Applejack even further.
The moment of eye contact ended as Rainbow Dash turned her attention to the rest of the scene. The fledglings were to overwhelm her friends in number, and she was to generally assist them as necessary between it all. She was aware of where Coco was going, but Coco wore the necklace Rainbow had been forbidden to touch. Plus, the young vampire knew Coco's power against Suri was very limited, especially so long as Loyalty remained dormant on the mare's neck.
As Applejack felt released from the gaze, she sneered. They needed to stop Rainbow Dash! Or get her back or something! The orange mare readied a lasso despite knowing Rainbow's strength, but she also found a group of vampires surround her—no doubt what Rainbow meant in her telepathic message. One of those fledglings took a quick bite at her tail and stared up at her with a glint of evil in their red eyes.
Applejack found the sight unsettling by nature of what it even was, but she took quiet notice of the fact that those red eyes were not nearly as powerful or as scary as those that belonged to the creature's master. They could not hold her as Rainbow Dash had just done or make Applejack picture her own death. She gasped at a realization and swiped at the vampire with a forehoof.
The vampire cringed with a tiny yelp and grabbed their muzzle in pain. They shook it off and stared at Applejack with a careful, predatory glare.
"Y'all...these vampires aren't as strong as Rainbow Dash herself!" Applejack called out to the others in hopes they could still somehow hear her. "Kinda like what Coco was telling us, that they might be different."
"Noted!" Rarity replied in a yell as she bucked one away.
Rainbow Dash dove at her next and gave the unicorn a solid thwack on the horn.
"Ugh," Rarity commented. "You ruffian! Get back here!" She called out, shaking her forehoof in annoyance.
Rainbow Dash was happy to oblige, keeping a friend's attention off Suri and Celestia. She darted down and hovered in front of Rarity. "Yes?" she asked with bright red, mocking eyes.
The white unicorn fumed up at her. "Rainbow Dash, we are trying to help you. Can't you stop being such a horrible beast?"
At that, the vampire suddenly frowned. "No," Rainbow replied with a more serious tone. She spun once and threw a furious kick with her right hind leg into Rarity's face, sending the unicorn flying across the lobby by a group of eager fledglings, not far from the pile on top of Luna.
"I suppose I should have expected that," Rarity muttered to herself irritably, shaking her head, as she began to fend off the surrounding creatures.
Rainbow Dash was off again, darting about the air of the lobby. Fluttershy tried to follow her in her flight but found it incredibly difficult to keep up with the fast friend, especially between other bat ponies blocking her way. She finally tried to guess where Rainbow Dash was going and met those terrifying red eyes with her own Stare. "Rainbow Dash, you have to stop!" she commanded sternly, just as she had to Suri earlier in the day.
A faint glimmer of hope sparked in the yellow pegasus as Rainbow Dash did stop. However, those powerful red eyes stared back and held Fluttershy in turn. A sickening, horrible snap replayed itself slowly in Fluttershy's head—it sounded so real and so close. The day's earlier killing vision formed into her mind, far more vivid than its first turn. A wicked smile crept upon Rainbow Dash's face. "I'm afraid that won't work me on the way you hope, Fluttershy." She seemed to disappear amidst a rainbow blur before grabbing the yellow pegasus from behind and diving straight for the floor.
Fluttershy gasped in horror at the swiftness of it all. She prepared for the worst, expecting to hit that that floor, and found they took a sudden turn to barrel themselves into Pinkie Pie who had been shooting other vampires away with her party cannon. The impact knocked the pink mare down.
Rainbow immediately picked up the cannon and smashed it over their heads, breaking it into several, small useless pieces. "Party's over!" she taunted with a wicked snarl. Some shards made their way to her fledglings, but the creatures brushed them off, unbothered.
"Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. She immediately galloped up to her friend, but Rainbow Dash was ready.
The sky blue vampire had stretched out a forelimb that Pinkie Pie did not stop against in time, knocking the pink mare down yet again as Pinkie Pie's neck struck the strong limb.
"Later!" Rainbow said with an evil smile. She picked up Fluttershy and flew low to the ground before shooting up and dropping her off into another group of waiting fledglings, further up the stairs of the lobby.
Pinkie Pie began to recover, rubbing her neck in pain. "She seems even more evil now," she muttered sadly.
During all the commotion, Suri used her portal and beckoned Spike to follow her. She used it as a simple teleport to where Celestia had fallen. Coco stood protectively by the alicorn, eyeing them both.
"Let Rainbow Dash and Spike go!" Coco demanded with fierce red eyes. They could not compel Suri, but that did not stop Coco from trying. "Let them all go."
Suri saw the attempt from her precious first vampire's red yes. She also saw the determination Coco had for her fledgling especially. Sweet and endearing as Suri found it, she quickly gave a whistle. Two bat ponies were there in no time and began to carry Coco away. "Keep her away from Rainbow Dash," Suri called out to them. They each nodded. Coco heard the command all too well, and that gave her an idea. She just needed the right opening, the right timing—something.
The wicked sorceress turned to look down at Spike by her side. "You just wait right here with me, my little pet dragon," she whispered gently to him. "You'll protect her for me, won't you?"
Spike's clawed fingers nervously tapped at a couple of the spikes on his collar. He was annoyed at how good and comforting the touch felt, but he still did it. He nodded in compliance and sat just behind Celestia's withers, keeping watch between his new master and the ensuing fight among his friends.
Suri's eyes glowed white as she placed both her forehooves on Celestia's necklace. The young dragon understood enough to realize that Suri was using magic on the powerful alicorn that was going to take time despite the magic already at work on his collar. The sorceress herself would be busy. No wonder she had Rainbow Dash and the other vampires keeping his friends busy in the meantime.
The young dragon was stuck in Suri's commanding magical grip, just like Rainbow Dash was now. He had to hope that somehow, his other friends would figure out a way to break through it all.
To his relief, they had seemed to slowly but surely group themselves together despite the swarming vampire's best efforts. Both Applejack and Rarity had fought their way closer to where Twilight was, still in the center and closest to him, Suri, and Celestia overall.
Twilight herself started to sprint toward him, but Rainbow Dash swooped down and shoved her back again with a vicious hiss before she was off again, heading for Rarity.
"What do we do? What do we do?!" Fluttershy screamed out from the top of the stairs where she was doing her best to simply leave the jabs, swipes, and bites of the nearby fledglings. They only wished to keep her busy and away, not strike her too hard.
Rarity was close enough to her hear. "Use your stare, darling!" She dodged Rainbow's latest dive at her.
Fluttershy gulped. "It won't work on Rainbow Dash! She made me relive the killing vision—only worse!"
The sky blue vampire smirked to herself at that. She was listening to it all without a word.
"Not her! Suri!" Pinkie Pie yelled. She was slowly making her way to the center with her other friends as well.
At that, Rainbow Dash scowled and looked over to where Suri was. The maker, Spike, and Celestia had the proper distance necessary from the current battle. Her fledglings were keeping Fluttershy busy enough too.
Luna was still piled on against a notable number of vampires and had no words to give. She could only hear their muffled voices.
"It won't work long enough or strong enough on Suri either!" Fluttershy yelled to them.
Another smirk played on Rainbow's lips upon hearing such words. She kept herself looking busy as she swiped at Pinkie Pie and seemed to miss. The pink mare ducked with a nervous gasp.
Coco struggled free of the two bat ponies carrying her. Yes. That might work. She fell to the ground but quickly stood herself upright, as her body healed itself from the impact. "Do it!" she yelled. "I'll make it enough! I know what to do now!"
A nervous loud pulse of an inner heartbeat resounded in the fiber of Rainbow's being at those words. She twitched in place for a moment, and none of her friends saw it. They were too focused on forming their plan. Rainbow then kept flying and dived down for a quick circle around Applejack and Twilight.
Fluttershy scanned the air and the bat ponies nearby, including Rainbow Dash herself. "I need a way to get to her!"
The sky blue vampire's ears flicked upon hearing this latest part of the scheme forming.
"On it!" Applejack said, recovering herself from Rainbow's latest go at her. "Get yourself in the air, then brace yourself, Fluttershy! You're going for a ride!"
As she readied her lasso, Rainbow Dash dove for her again. Pinkie Pie hopped up as high as she could, aided by Twilight holding out a forelimb for the lift. That helped knocking Pinkie's full body into the creature and slowed the vampire just enough.
The lasso grabbed Fluttershy around her barrel, and she was thrust vigorously in the desired direction.
Fluttershy crashed into the sorceress, knocking Suri down. Spike's fingers flexed in place, but he had no time to figure out what to do in response to it all. Suri shook her head to gather her bearings before Fluttershy met her eyes.
"Make them all stop," Fluttershy told her firmly. No command other than that.
It was all she needed.
"Stop," Suri uttered quietly. Despite such a low volume, they heard her. The vampire soldiers settled down and turned their heads to the staring contest.
Luna finally found some relief and pushed her way out to fly up into the air toward her sister.
Rainbow Dash was the only vampire to not stop as she rocketed off of Pinkie Pie and toward her maker.
Pinkie Pie galloped after her. "Don't let her get to Fluttershy!" she yelled to the others.
Luna paused in her flight to switch trajectory and aim for Rainbow Dash. She slammed her hooves into Rainbow and sent the vampire flying toward a ready Applejack.
The momentary stop had given the other mares the chance they needed too. They had seized that chance to close in even further to where Celestia lay.
Applejack stared at the incoming Rainbow Dash hard, putting her forehooves out in front. Rainbow rammed into her, and they both fell. Twilight Sparkle charged and thrust her horn into the vampire's barrel. The unicorn winced in guilt, afraid of any kind of injury she might cause. There was no need as the wound was quickly healing itself.
Rarity soon joined her as they both pinned the creature's forelimbs to the floor. Applejack scrambled from their fall to pin the barrel too. Pinkie Pie flung herself over the creature's hind legs to help pin her down all the more. Luna landed. She found she was not necessary to keep the creature down so simply guarded the entire group, waiting just in case Rainbow Dash somehow escaped them.
Gritting her sharp teeth, the vampire struggled. "Let me go! I need to...Boss...." she seethed. Strong as her vampirism had made her, four of her friends were too much in that moment.
Coco ran up to the group.
At that, Rainbow Dash's eyes widened. "No! Not that! Keep it away! I'm not allowed—"
"You are!" Luna insisted. She knew the words would do no good, but it was all she could think to offer.
The sky blue vampire wasn't given more time to fight them off or figure out what to do. Coco arrived all too quickly and placed the Loyalty necklace on her fledgling's neck.
The struggling immediately ceased.
The vampire's eyes glowed completely white, and a huge column of furious power and white light erupted around her. The force from that power flung other mares off her. Luna was shoved a bit back as well. Coco shielded her eyes, barely able to see and hardly able to stand amidst it all.
Wind began to whirl furiously around the creature.
Fluttershy could hold her Stare no longer. She clenched her eyes shut and grimaced as the wind threw her into a tornado and off in Luna's direction.
All the while, Suri sat still, not stuck in Fluttershy's Stare but something else entirely. She felt the strong spell she had on Rainbow Dash finally sever, like a sharp scissor cutting an unusually taut string. The sorceress took a lot damage from that cut, and she screamed a loud, horrifying, blood-curdling scream of agony.
Spike shook his head as he felt himself freed of her control too. He immediately tore the collar off his neck but gulped as he eyed it in careful fear. He could not reflect on that long, for he had to shield himself as Coco did from the immense harmonic power at work. He squinted at Celestia who was breathing with still light magenta eyes that could barely stand to be open. He wanted badly to seek out Twilight Sparkle or Luna for help, but he was overwhelmed from the power still shooting up like a beacon from Rainbow Dash.
The sky blue vampire was not screaming like Suri, but she could do nothing as the power engulfed her.
Rainbow's own fledglings shielded their eyes from the light and grit their sharp teeth. A shockwave shot out from the core of their master. They could still feel their connection to her, but they could feel an immense shift in their magic, being released from Suri as well.
Coco trudged forward through the power, making her way to her precious companion and held Rainbow Dash tight in an embrace. "I'm here now my love!" she yelled.
"Coco!" was all Rainbow Dash could yell back with her still glowing white eyes.
As Suri's scream ended, the column of light dissipated. The wind settled. The fledglings themselves collapsed into a pleasant sleep. Everything went still.
Spike took a few panting breaths, then took a quick chance to crawl up to Suri's fallen figure and feel around her mane for the dangerous magical hair pins. He grabbed every single one he could find.
Rainbow Dash pawed at her neck with a hoof, feeling her own mind and heart realign. She took a few panting breaths too and sighed in relief. Her red eyes faded into magenta, and her wings returned to feathered, finally by her own will.
Her other friends galloped up to the scene. Luna swiftly flew over to Celestia's side.
"Rainbow Dash!" Coco pulled away with a bright smile. Her eyes flashed red in her delight.
"Coco! Oh, Coco!" Rainbow moaned, hugging her back without hesitation. "I couldn't..."
"I know, my love, I know. I'm so, so sorry. I didn't know she could resurrect herself or would be able to use our connection to control you," Coco replied. "We all know she trapped you with her magic. We know she used you."
"But I..."
"Shhh shhh shhh....you're back with us now, aren't you?"
"Yeah," the pegasus said with slight hesitance, feeling her necklace, afraid to be too optimistic or hopeful just yet.
"Hey, I'm sorry to ruin the big moment," Spike told them from where he sat by Celestia. "But we have a big problem still. Here, I at least got Suri's hairpins."
"Allow me to examine them," Luna offered.
Rainbow Dash darted over to him and looked at Celestia, then his thrown collar. She took a deep breath. "Okay....let me think..." She immediately swished over to Suri. "Suri!"
"Hush!" Luna ordered her. "We do not want her awake yet."
Rainbow had already shaken the sorceress, but Suri did not respond. Rainbow put her head to Suri's chest and heard a heartbeat. The maker was weakened but not dead. The vampire ever so briefly considered killing the wicked mare but pushed that thought aside. It seemed an unlikely solution with knowing Suri could self-resurrect.
"What do we do?" Applejack asked. "Can them things to fix her up?" she wondered, referring to the collected hairpins.
Luna was still eyeing them all and answered, "No, it seems they are useless and dormant, tied to her own consciousness."
Spike pulled them away and clutched them tightly nonetheless.
"I should think we could use all our Elements together now," Rarity suggested to the whole group.
Twilight nodded in agreement. "Yes, that will do a lot, even cure the vampires. Maybe even cure Coco and Rainbow Dash."
"Whoa, what?!" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Is that a problem?" Luna inquired.
Before Rainbow could answer that, Coco put a comforting hoof to her shoulder. "They mainly mean the others, who do need a cure, my love. We are different than your fledglings."
"Suri used you against your will to make them after all. You don't want them to stay vampires, do you, darling?" Rarity asked.
"No, but I..." Rainbow Dash hesitated.
Coco held her hoof. "We might change back too. We might not. They are different, right?"
"Well, yeah...but Coco, you...you might die for real! Your time passed!" Rainbow argued, fear clear in her eyes and voice.
"Or it might pick up right where it left off. I was a young mare," Coco replied.
"Such is what I would expect of the Elements' power," Luna added.
Rainbow looked at her master worriedly still.
"If we do change back...know that I love you and am so grateful for what we did have, however brief and fleeting it was. Maybe we could still be together as mortals. It could happen—if you don't mind," Coco suggested with a hopeful smile.
With a nervous swallow and a tear streaming down her eye, Rainbow Dash told her friends, "Give us a minute."
They looked at Luna, who nodded in approval. All of them nodded in turn and stepped back, looking away from the two vampire mares. Luna followed suit. Celestia was not recovered, but she was also not getting any worse. The fledglings remained asleep, and Suri remained unconscious. Not only that, she had been stripped of the power in her hairpins.
Rainbow Dash sat with her hooves clasped in Coco Pommel's.
"I have missed you so much," Coco told her.
"Back at ya," Rainbow said. "Sorry about...everything."
"Forgiven," Coco replied without hesitation.
The two sat quietly for a moment.
"This is it, huh?" Rainbow asked her master. "No more blood-drinking for us vampire gals."
"We don't know that for certain," Coco reminded her fledgling. "But just in case it is...I think there is one last special thing we can do for each other."
"Oh yeah?" Rainbow met Coco's eyes, magenta to light cyan.
"We can exchange our blood, my love. Not much and not long, but our last possible taste. It will be...awesome," Coco told her warmly.
Rainbow nodded with a fanged smile. Her bat wings immediately formed, and her eyes lit red. "I'm all for that."
Coco giggled, letting her eyes turn red and fangs take shape too.
Rainbow Dash met her master's eyes. "I want you to know...I love you too. You were kinda weird and scary at first, but....also a real sweetheart in the end. It was a gift. I'm glad for our time together as well. I know I've said it before, but it's still true. Thanks."
"It is also still true that it was my pleasure," Coco replied with a warm smile.
They drew closer to each other's necks and closed their eyes. Each set of fangs bit into the other vampire's neck and drank in the blood, letting their love and vampire magic intertwine. The magic swirled up and in into their heats, briefly emitting a red glow though no one saw it.
"Alright, we're done," Rainbow announced to the others, quickly changing back to her pegasus form. "Let's get this show on the road."
Luna found that her magic had been restored as she telekinetically pulled Spike away from Celestia's figure. "We must clear the way for the others. Rainbow Dash, you have managed to touch Suri without awakening her. Please move her body away from my sister. I will stand guard over it."
Rainbow complied without a word.
Luna and Spike did not move far, just what the night alicorn deemed enough space to give the other mares for using the Elements of Harmony.
With everyone and everything positioned as the group saw best, Twilight Sparkle nodded at Rainbow Dash, as did the other friends. Magic began to charge, then Loyalty, then, Honesty, then Generosity, then Laughter, then Kindness. A large rainbow ribbon of magic twisted itself upward.
The charging process was enough to resonate within Suri's weakened state—and the hairpins in Spike's claws. He felt a sudden piercing sting on his fingers, and the next thing he knew, the pins encircled Celestia's form.
"No!" he called out. Luna heard him and turned her head. Her eyes widened in horror. She tried to grab them with her magic, but all she got in return was a powerful electric zap, flinging her toward a wall, leaving her too disoriented for everything that happened next.
All the while, Suri crawled achingly across the floor. She barely grasped what was happening, but she knew enough to work her way toward Celestia's still fallen figure. She arrived in time to place her pink hooves on Celestia's white coat, and the hair pins each sent a tiny zap of energy before floating themselves back into her mane.
The sorceress called forth her magic to transform the alicorn with what she had left in her, boosted by the magic in the air from the Elements.
The rainbow suddenly turned completely red and shot straight to the pair.
A flash of red swished over the eyes and minds of the ponies wielding the Elements.
"What was that? What just happened?" Fluttershy asked nervously in the air.
"I don't understand," Twilight uttered.
The sleeping fledgling vampires began to awaken from their slumber, but they had not been cured of their new status. Eyes remained red. Bat wings remained intact. None of them flashed any fangs, but the other signs were still there. At the very least, there was no malice in their manner or red eyes. If anything, they looked a little dazed.
Finally...Celestia began to stand.
Her student could not help smiling with a hint of hope, despite the numerous other warning signs. She started to approach the alicorn but then paused. Twilight Sparkle's smile faltered.
The gold plates on Celestia's hooves suddenly sharpened and turned orange, as did her crown. The purple gem in the crown turned red, so like the eyes of Suri's vampire creations. Aurora colors gave way to fire. Eyes opened to reveal gold irises with scleras so dark they could be mistaken for black instead of the dark orange they were.
Suri gazed up at the creature with a happy, satisfied smile. "My prize..."
The transformed alicorn began to laugh. It was a high-pitched and wicked thing, revealing several sharp fangs.
"Princess Celestia?" Twilight hesitantly uttered with a hint of fear.
"Celestia?" the tall mare asked back with a sudden scowl. "Celestia is gone," she noted dryly. Then she broke into a wicked grin. "I am Daybreaker!" she announced with wicked fervor, proudly stretching out a forelimb. Her gold eyes quickly scanned the whole of the lobby. "And I see my maker has provided me a most desirable start for my reign of terror." She laughed all that much more.