“I have to hoof it to you Trixie.” Said Octavia, as Trixie helped her limp down to hall to Vinyl’s room. “If I didn’t know you had a prosthetic hoof, I’d never guess.” Trixie smirked at that.
“On the streets you learn to hide any weakness. Trixie spent ages learning to walk without a limp.” She said, smiling at Octavia. “Sometimes it can even be an advantage. Trixie remembers the face of one stallion that got his knife stuck in her prosthetic limb.” Trixie chuckled. “They never see that one coming.”
“I can imagine.” Replied Octavia, wincing as she put more weight than she intended to on her hind leg. “Oww. That stung.” She said, grimacing at the slight squelching sound as she lifted the hoof again.
“Not too far now.” Said the nurse on the other side of Octavia, helping her along as well. “This next room.” The nurse left Octavia’s side and opened the door, Trixie helping Octavia through the door. Vinyl was lying on the bed, awake but looking exhausted. Two IV drips were running into her, one attached to a blood bag, the other a nutrient feed. Bandages were wrapped around her neck, and butterfly stitches, barely visible against her white fur, were running across a gash on her head. Vinyl looked up at Octavia, and smiled.
“Hey Octy.” She said weakly, and one of Octavia’s fears vanished. She was worried the vampire had damaged Vinyl’s vocal chords when she was bitten, but it seemed no damage had been done in that area.
“Hey Vinyl.” She replied, smiling despite her worries.
“Hey Trixie.” Vinyl said, with a hint of confusion. “What are you doing here?” Trixie snorted.
“Oh, Trixie saves your miserable hide and this is the thanks she gets?” She turned her nose up, before breaking out in a grin. “Glad to see you’re awake.” Vinyl’s smile grew, until her eyes wandered to Octavia’s hind leg.
“What happened to you Octy?” She asked, her brow creasing with concern.
“The one that attacked you got me in the leg.” She said, baring her teeth slightly at the memory. Vinyl nodded slowly as if remembering something, before looking around the medical staff in the room.
“Is it alright if we have some privacy for a while?” She asked. The staff nodded, and began filing out of the room. Once the room was unoccupied save for Vinyl, Octavia and Trixie, Vinyl turned back to Octavia. “So, yo-” She began, but was cut off by Octavia.
“Oh Celestia Vinyl I’m so sorry.” She burst out. “I should have told you sooner, I know.” A few tears began leaking from Octavia’s eyes.
“Octy.” Vinyl tried to get Octavia’s attention, but she kept going.
“I shouldn’t have kept it from you, I should have been more careful.”
“Octavia.”
“And now you’ve been bitten and it’s all my-”
“Octavia!” Shouted Vinyl, at a surprising volume given her state. Octavia froze, and looked back to Vinyl. “Octavia, I don’t blame you for not telling me.
“But I-”
“No buts! Octavia, you being a werewolf doesn’t change how I feel about you.” Trixie looked at Octavia and raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t care if it turned out you were a Changeling this entire time. It wouldn’t change how I feel about you. I mean that.” She said, her eyes fixed on Octavia. Octavia lowered her head.
“That doesn’t change the fact I hid things from you.”
“Damnit Octavia, I already told you that I don’t care that you hid things from me.” Vinyl sighed. “Just, explain what happened in that alleyway.”
“Ok…” She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, and explained everything.
“So, we were attacked by a group of vampires?”
“Yes.
“Who somehow knew you were a werewolf?”
“Yes.”
“And wanted to turn me into a vampire and kill you?”
“That about sums it up.”
“Right.” Vinyl was silent for a bit. “Am I a vampire then?”
“I…” Octavia sighed. “Not yet.”
“But I will be.”
“Yes.” Octavia shook slightly.
“This is…” Vinyl paused, Octavia expecting the worst. “Awesome!” She exclaimed.
“What?!”
“Are you kidding me Octy? A freaking vampire?!” Vinyl grinned despite her weakened state, and Octavia blinked rapidly.
“Vinyl, do you even realise how much of a big deal this is?” Asked Octavia, her tone incredulous. Vinyl stopped to look at Octavia.
“I have no idea, but you’re going to tell me, right?” She asked. Octavia sighed, and sat down.
“Well, first some rumours to dispel. Firstly, you can go out in sunlight, though it will hurt your eyes more, and your powers will not be as effective.”
“Powers?” Interrupted Vinyl.
“I’ll get onto that. You can cross running water, and you can enter a home without being invited. You will need to drink at least a pint of blood a month. More blood will make you more powerful, and your powers will be stronger shortly after drinking. However, the more blood you drink within a month, the more powerful the urge to feed will become, as will the effect that sunlight has on you.”
“Right…” Vinyl was silent for a moment. “When you say ‘feed’, does that mean I have to drink from a pony?”
“Not necessarily. You are perfectly able to feed from a blood bag. However, there is something else I need to tell you.” Vinyl looked at her expectantly. “Are you aware of the popular idea that vampires and werewolves hate each other’s guts and are at perpetual war?” Vinyl nodded. “Well, that holds true for some groups, not all of them though. However, groups that do not hate each other are the exception rather than the norm, so be wary around werewolves.”
“How will I tell how is and who isn’t a werewolf?”
“By the time you have completely turned, you will be able to tell by how they smell.”
“Wait, my senses will improve as well?”
“Hearing, sight and smell will improve. You will also be stronger, faster and have a greater endurance. However, should you get into a fight with a werewolf or other ‘supernatural’, as we call ourselves, speed is your greatest weapon. You will not beat a werewolf in a show of brute force, and there are others out there that will hand your flank to you on a silver platter in a magic battle. Vampires are one of the fastest supernaturals out there. Some are faster, but you will almost certainly be stronger than them all other things being equal.” Vinyl nodded, thinking, as one of the doctors came back in.
“I’m afraid you two will have to leave now, Vinyl needs her rest. Octavia, you are free to leave if you want to, there’s nothing more we can do for your leg, but try to stay off it as much as possible for the next couple of weeks.” Octavia nodded.
“Thank you doctor.” She said, limping towards the door, Trixie in tow. She paused at the door, and looked back at the doctor. “Take care of Vinyl.” She said, the unspoken threat making the doctor cringe slightly, before leaving the room.
Hello guys, author here. Sorry for the short chapter, and the length of time it took to produce, but life has been hectic, I'm back at school which has limited my time for writing, as well as a number of other personal matters which have eaten into my time. I will try to write more for the next chapter, hopefully in a shorter amount of time as well, but no promises