//------------------------------// // Jack and Jill // Story: He's a Vampire // by Gormless Wheaton //------------------------------// I followed Frill in silence as she led me through the halls, occasionally glancing back at me as if she was worried I'd slip away when she wasn't looking. I can't say I wasn't considering it, at least a little, especially once I recognized she was leading me to her room. As we turned a corner we ran into Latch and Mulch, as well as a google-eyed diamond dog I didn't recognize. "Greetings master!" Latch cheered with a salute that Mulch mimicked. The third dog just stared with his tongue hanging out. "Heyo, boys!" I replied, stepping past Frill to pat him on the back. "How've things been?" "Very good master! New hire," Latch pointed at the third dog. "This Stutter. Say he hear many good things and want to serve the master!" I hummed theatrically and pursed my lips, leaning back and forth from the google-eyed dog. "Well, Stutter! I'm glad to hear-" "Peter," Frill said quietly but very firmly. I slowly clamped my mouth shut and nodded, reaching out and clapping Stutter on the shoulder. He blinked and rolled his eyes until they lined up to look at me. "We'll talk later. Welcome aboard!" I smiled and shook him gently, before stepping to Frill's side and gesturing for her to lead on, still with a smile. She leveled an even but subtly annoyed stare up at me before proceeding. I wondered if it was too late to ring Celestia up to incinerate me. Latch and Mulch each gave me a sympathetic look as I slinked after Frill, who plodded on ahead without looking back anymore. We passed the dining hall and I heard galloping rushing after us. "Prince Peter!" Bonnet chirped once she caught up to us. "You're-" "Busy," Frill declared, slipping between me and Bonnet and looking her squarely in the eyes. "He's busy." Bonnet's ears snapped back and she nervously smiled at Frill before wilting under her gaze and crawling away. Frill turned and wordlessly trotted down the hall. "Quilt, I'm scared." "HAH!" An agonizingly quiet time passed, and finally, we reached the simple wooden door to her room. She reared up, clicked the handle, and pushed her way in. I patted my hands on my thighs at the threshold and looked around. I'd only been in here once before, but it didn't seem like much had changed. Her bed was the same plain white with a grey pillow, the little bookshelf nightstand at its side remained only half filled with her music box on the top shelf, and her little table by the window next to her bathroom door still had only one chair. Ah, there was a change. She had a vase with some flowers on the table now. "Please come in," she said, noticing I was lingering at the door. I hesitated for just a moment longer before stepping in and shutting the door. Once I did, she turned and hopped up on her bed, gesturing to her chair. It wasn't quite my size, but I could still make it work and pulled it out to sit across from her. I folded my hands and took a short breath. "So, uh," I cleared my throat. "What's up?" Her ear twitched, and she averted her eyes, studying the floor between us. I watched her for a moment before grimacing and looking out the window. The distant sound of thunder could still be heard through the glass but only managed to punctuate the uncomfortable silence in the room. "What am I to you?" She desperately squeaked. And just like that, I wished the silence would return. I whipped back to her and saw to my shock that her head was drooping down almost to her hooves and she was weeping quietly. She took a short breath and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry, I just.. I can't.." She collapsed onto the bed and buried her face. I hurled myself forward and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Frill, what.. Hey," I dumbly stammered, trying to comfort the crying sheep. Surprisingly, despite my lousy attempt, she looked up at me with tears freely flowing. She sniffled, and I cupped her cheek with one hand. "I'm sorry." She shook her head free and whimpered. "No, you didn't do anything," she sighed and looked away. "It's just.. Been on my mind for a while." "What has?" I settled down onto one knee while she murmured and gently rocked left and right. "You said I was your favorite," she finally answered without looking at me. "I know you weren't in your right mind, but.." Her ear twitched again, and she looked up at me. "But what did that mean?" Aw, fuck. "I- Well, hm," I rubbed my chin and clicked my teeth, trying to find the best words. She shuffled her hooves and looked at her shelf. "I don't mean to imply it came from somewhere, but it's just that you seemed," she hummed, and her eyes shifted left and right. "More open." I took a shallow breath and nodded. "Well, if I had to guess, I was probably thinking about how much I appreciate you when I said that." "Appreciate me?" She looked up at me. "Yeah, I mean, even before we knew each other you were really sweet and helpful," I met her eyes with a slight shrug. "And that hasn't changed even though I've.. y'know, fucked up." She studied my face for a moment before looking at the floor. I drummed my fingers on her bed. "Was it really bothering you that much? Cause I still feel awful about," I grimaced and sat on the floor. "Y'know, putting you through that." She hummed, and a small smile formed on her face. "It wasn't so bad, though I would've preferred we had more privacy," I blinked, and she turned to face me. "And if you were, well, sober. But it's not like you did something genuinely awful." She reached out and tapped my nose. "Just a little inconsiderate is all." I froze and held my breath. "You're serious?" I huffed. She hummed and averted her eyes with a blush. "Well, I've thought," she scrunched up her muzzle and tucked her legs under herself. She bowed her head, and her eyes shifted left and right. "I've thought about you a lot, so the attention wasn't.. Oh, goodness." She hid her face in her hooves. My ears were ringing, and my head was spinning. "Quilt." "What?" "Fuck you." "Hah!" I leaned back, rubbed my face with a quiet sigh, and scanned the room. "So, when you say," I rolled my head, and she peeked over her hooves at me. "You've thought about me a lot." I met her eyes for a moment until she looked at her shelf. She sat up and reached for one of the books, which I helped her grab. The cover was a worn brown, and the pages seemed to have gotten a lot of use. She sat and opened it, flipping through its pages with a reserved smile. I didn't see the title, but I noted a lengthy hand, er, hoof written.. Mouth written? Note on the first page, though it slipped by before I could read it. "Well, when I heard from Stitch that some strange tall creature showed up and defeated the wicked diamond dogs who were trying to enslave us," she stopped on a specific page with a fancy illustration. "It sounded like something from one of these stories my mother used to tell me." She tapped the page with her hoof and I took a closer look. It was a picture of a long-legged white deer in a cloak, with strange-looking black eyes and curved horns, magically thrusting a silvery spear into a dragon's chest. An ordinary sheep in a dress was hiding under the white deer's cloak. The text under the illustration read 'Cariburn the Faerie Knight slays the dragon and liberates Ewesult, the peasant maid.' I hummed at the sight and furrowed my brow. "Then, I got a look at you, and well," Frill continued and I looked up at her. She studied the illustration before meeting my eyes. "It really seemed like you walked out of the stories." She tapped 'Cariburn's' face and eyes as if to imply there was some connection to me. I rubbed my cheek and frowned. "Do I really look that weird? I don't cast a reflection, so I honestly can't say what I look like." She giggled and shook her head. "Not weird. Just," she looked between the page and me a few times. "Otherworldly. Alien." She held a brief pause between her words and then reached out to touch my hand on my face. "Beautiful, in your own way. Like the faerie knight or the wizard Clothbart," she gently dragged her hoof down my hand, studying my features. "Something strange and intriguing, but dangerous if you get too close." I winced at her words, but she smiled and looked at the picture with a hum. "Then, I got to know you. You let me get close and," she took a breath. "I realized there was more to you than that. You were kind, but you had moments of weakness and you leaned on those you trusted during those times." She gave me a sad, tired smile as if this was all something she'd been stewing over for who knows how long. Which I guess was exactly what she'd said a minute ago. "You became real, if that makes any sense. Genuine. My fascination became something else, too. Something more real and genuine." She hid her face in her hooves and sighed. "When you called me," she murmured and curled up tight. "Your favorite.. I-" She shuddered and looked off to the side. "I hoped that meant deep down you felt the same," I sat dumbfounded by her words, and struggled to find anything to say. She sighed with an absolutely miserable tone. "But then Quilt walked in, and I remembered." That snapped me out of it. "Remembered what?" "You two are already together," she looked into my eyes and blinked at my confused stare. "Aren't you?" "We're close, but I wouldn't say we're, y'know.. an item. Hell, she'd probably throw a fit if you suggested it," I pursed my lips and hummed before grinning. "Not a bad idea if you wanted to agitate her, actually." She giggled and sat up. "I'll keep that in mind!" She smiled and stared at the floor for a moment. "If that's true, though.." Her expression slowly fell, and she wearily looked up at me. "Where does that leave us?" Hoo, and that was the million-dollar question. Where did that leave us? I never expected this from Frill, and I certainly never expected Quilt to be an accurate judge of character. I scratched my neck as I mulled everything she'd said over. I care about her, sure, but- "Hm?" She peeped. I blinked and remembered that Frill was right in front of me, waiting for an answer. Well, hey! I can work out those thoughts with her, can't I? I nodded and took a breath. "Well, I've sort of had a.. view of you for a while now, too. I mean, you already know how awful I feel when I do wrong by you, and I can't imagine giving you sass like Quilt and I give each other," I folded my arms and leaned back, looking at the ceiling. I could hear her heart beating faster. "After a confession like that, I gotta admit that's.. altered some things. If it's love, I don't know for sure." Her face fell, and she stared at the floor. "But if you're willing to work it out with me." She looked up at me with wide expectant eyes as I unfolded my arms, leaned on my knees with a sigh, and rolled my head back and forth. "I'd definitely be interested in.. Digging deeper, I guess is how I'd put it. Seeing how things go?" We stared at each other for a hard minute, and I grimaced with a shrug. "I know it's not anywhere close to your confession, but I'm-" I squawked in surprise when she threw herself into my chest, knocking me over. I coughed and gently wrapped my arms around her as she nuzzled me and quietly wept. An hour and a half later we'd gathered our friends in the throne room to spread the news. I reclined on my throne with Frill relaxing on my lap, resting her head on my arm and looking up at me with a smile. I had my other arm wrapped around her and had her hoof in my hand, and returned her smile with one of my own. "A fascinating development, but not entirely unexpected," Graggle assessed from beside the throne. "My congratulations, sire." I looked up at him. "Not unexpected?" I parroted with a raised eyebrow. Cozy and Sunbeam giggled at me. "Every since the conference, Quilt's been saying it was just a matter of time," Sunbeam said, earning an excited series of nods from Cozy. Blueblood hummed and bowed his head briefly. "That said, it was quite plain you two shared something deep, at least to me," he declared. "Pfft, you say that like it wasn't obvious," Quilt snickered over her hoof. "Free reminder I've got a blood bond with the guy, so I'm tuned in to all his thoughts more or less." Frill turned her head to look at Quilt, who skipped to the bottom of the dais. "'Oh Quilt! I can't be mean to her! She's ever so kind and gentle!'" She dramatically moaned in what I presumed was an imitation of me, throwing a hoof over her forehead before cackling. Frill huffed and shook her head. "Not sure what you're so smug about. You're still on the maid staff, and I'm the princess now," Frill leered with a wry smile at Quilt. "So I outrank you." Quilt blanched and her pupils shrank. She met Frill's leer for a moment before adopting an angry frown. "Peter, I do not approve of this relationship." "Silence familiar." ELSEWHERE, LATER THAT WEEK. The map under the pale blue artificial light stretched from western Abyssinia to the eastern end of the Orithian Peaks and was riddled with red, yellow, and green ink lines denoting possible routes of assault and logistic networks, mostly modified from the Storm King's operation. But even with all this information, Adam couldn't make sense of how Celestia had managed to hunt down Candy so quickly. He looked to his silver-feathered companion for input. "Verko and Candy were in close contact," Tide Claw offered, leaning on the table and drumming with one set of talons, while idly stroking his red sash with the other. "Yes, but how did they know Verko was connected at all?" Adam groused, moving the markers representing the coalition leaders around to better visualize the numerous theories running around his head. "Tempest?" Tide Claw proposed. "She believed we were all just thugs in the Storm King's employ. By my design, of course." Tide Claw hummed at Adam's response. "A lucky guess? Verko did have connections to the Storm King, after all." Adam rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Likely the truth, but you're an officer," he looked up at Tide Claw. "Are you really comfortable just accepting that the enemy 'got lucky'?" The hippogriff shrugged. "Sometimes it's the only answer that works, and it's better than getting stuck trying to make sense of what would otherwise be a simple problem," he smiled and raised an eyebrow. "Besides, it won't matter much considering your point of leverage." Adam hummed and nodded in agreement. "For now," he sighed and clapped his hands. "Ah, but I must choose a representative to speak with the coalition." "I think it's in our best interests if it isn't me," Tide Claw said as the pair left the map room and turned down the stony hall. "My presence keeps them from looking too closely at the Isles." Adam nodded as they passed through the tall iron doors to the courtyard before the Storm Keep. The pinnacle of the stone and iron-wrought keep housed a large black crystal that spat out electrified gouts of cloud, keeping the entire region under constant and violent storm clouds. The ring of mountains that formed the exterior of the Storm Isles hemmed in on all sides and were mostly masked by the storm, illuminated only briefly by flashes of lightning or the artificial lamps of the bridges strung from one peak to the next. Adam held his arms out and breathed in the cool air the constant rainfall produced, taking in the sight of his lair. The Isles were in truth, seven suspended platforms of iron and stone upon which the Storm Beasts had built their homes when the cliffs and caves could no longer support them. The keep from which Adam commanded was at the center of the other six city-sized platforms and provided a perfect view of the silhouette of each one. As well as the fire that appeared to be raging on the southwestern platform, which provided a backdrop to the shocking sight of a small airship screeching through the air toward the keep. "What-" "Lord Adam!" A hippogriff came flying towards the pair. "An intruder breached the perimeter!" "We can see that," Tide Claw groused as they watched the small ship crash into the crystal atop the keep, causing an explosion of lightning followed by a ring of light that sailed out with a boom. Adam narrowed his eyes and pointed at a lithe and agile figure slipping down from the burning roof and then into one of the upper windows. "Close-quarter arms," Tide Claw ordered. Adam and Tide Claw led their troupe of soldiers up the winding stairs, sending scores of men down each hall as they cleared every floor until finally, they reached the level the intruder seemed to have disappeared into. The floor was used to house officers, especially those making brief stops at the Isles before moving on to other posts, but it hadn't seen much use since the Storm King's death. As a result, it was easy to find the room the intruder was lurking in, so the small army burst in and flooded the room, surrounding the interloper. "An Abyssinian?" Tide Claw gawped. Adam scowled at the black, orange-eyed feline in the long coat, pacing and ranting to himself and swinging a pair of long-bladed knives which set the vampire on edge. The cat looked up at Adam and gasped. "When I return home, I'm going to have words with that fat cat! Bastard was holding out on me this whole time," the Abyssinian snarled, waving his knives as he paced. He whipped around and jabbed a knife at Adam while continuing to walk. "I knew our scouts had eyes on you! I knew it." He swept his knives and crossed his arms with a shout. "Holding out for payment! Unbelievable!" He unleashed a feral roar which settled into a sigh, before turning and smiling at Adam. "But at least I'm here now, right?" "Who are you?" Adam demanded. "Karl van Katskills, Paladin of the Sixty-sixth Catican Slaying House," the Abyssinian replied, causing Adam's breath to hitch. "I'm here for the girl, but I'll eagerly play with you too." He winked at the vampire. "A Catican Paladin?" Tide Claw quietly muttered. Karl scowled and jabbed a knife at the Admiral. "You're right to be unnerved, faithless rat!" He hissed and bared his teeth. "Taking a lady hostage is one thing for which I ought to blunt your beak. But the poor thing probably trusted you." His eyes drifted between Adam and Tide Claw, ignoring the crowd of Storm Beasts and Hippogriff Rogues around him. "For that? Regardless of what the unclean one decides to do," he slowly crossed his blades at his knees. "You die." By the time anyone had realized Karl was in motion, it was too late. Blood, sliced armor plates, and screams filled the air along with Adam, who had turned to mist and was already streaking out the window.