My Roommate Is Onto Me

by AGhost


Change

I remember the day scarily well, as much as I'd like to forget about it. It was around two and a half years ago in Manehattan and I was over at a friend's house kicking his ass at video games.

Boom! Five games in a row!” I yelled out in victory as I pumped my hoof in the air. “That’s twenty bits you owe me, buddy.”

“Dammit, Scratch,” Charcoal groaned, setting his controller down. “You’re gonna rob me blind.”

“Hey, you’re the one who agreed to play the Amazing, the Unbelievable, the Unstoppable Scratch in a game that she’s been playin’ for years,” I boasted, grinning as I stood up from the couch.

Charcoal was a unicorn vampire friend of mine, another member of the Inner Circle’s cleanup crew. We’d known each other since we were little.

“I’ll get you the money once I have it, man,” he said as he shook his head and smiled at me.

“You better. I’ll be pissed,” I joked, punching him in the shoulder as we made our way to his front door. “See you in a few days at the meeting.”

“See ya, Vinyl.”

It was a nice Spring day as I walked down the streets of Manehattan. It was around five in the afternoon and there weren’t many ponies out at the time. Suddenly, a gray colt pushed past me roughly as he ran in the opposite direction. He was wearing a red cap and a brown handbag was slung around his body.

“Help! Please, somepony help me!” I heard a female voice shout from around the corner. “He’s got my purse!”

Well isn’t this a page out of a superhero comic. Who just steals somepony’s purse off the street anymore?

I turned around and chased after the colt, going about half my usual speed. I could easily catch him, (vampire speed and all,) but I didn’t want anypony to freak out cause they saw DJ-Pon3 running at 90 MPH down a sidewalk or something.

He kicked over a garbage can so it was blocking my path, but I jumped over it and continued the chase. After three blocks, I’d finally caught up with him and dove forward, tackling him to the ground. We tumbled to a stop and I looked up to see his hat had fallen off, revealing his grey hair and a thin scar above his left eye near his hair-line.

He hurriedly took off the purse from around his neck, threw it towards me, put his hat back on, and ran off down the street. I stared at him as he got farther and farther away until he turned a corner and was gone. Wasn’t worth chasing after him. I had the purse and that was all that mattered. Looking down, I saw that my knee had a pretty bad scrape on it from the fall. Other than that, I was fine.

I heard hoofsteps coming closer and looked over to see a mare wearing a female business suit running towards me. Her long, grey hair flowed behind her as she ran. She looked to be just a few years older than me.

“Oh, thank goodness,” she said as she came to a stop in front of me, sounding out of breath. “H-he just came out of nowhere and grabbed it. I never would’ve caught up to him. Thank you so much!”

“Aww, no problem,” I said getting up. I winced at the pain in my knee, but pushed past it as I picked up the purse with my magic.

“Oh no, you’re hurt,” she said worriedly as I levitated it over to her.

“Huh? Oh, naw, it’s just a scrape. I’ll be fine,” I said waving a hoof. “Just glad I was able to get this back for ya.” She slung it over her shoulder.

“Well, I really do appreciate it… um…”

“Vinyl,” I said reaching a hoof out. “Vinyl Scratch.” Her eyes widened.

“Oh wow… You’re… You’re DJ Pon-3, aren’t you? I’m a huge fan of your work!” she gushed accepting my hoof and shaking it.

“Aahh really now?” I smirked. “Well, even happier I was able to help out a fan.”

I looked into her eyes. There was something different about them. A deepness that I couldn’t really describe. I realized I was staring so I was gonna apologize, but… she was staring right back at me, smiling. I coughed, breaking my gaze.

“Well, I’ll let you go. Nice meeting you,” I said giving her a little nod. I began walking past her.

“Wait,” she said walking beside me. “Why don’t I buy you a drink? It’s the least I can do after you ran three blocks to chase down a guy for me.”

“Aaww, that’s awful nice of you, but that’s not necessary. You really don’t gotta-“

“I insist,” she said, smiling warmly. “Really. My conscience will never let me live this down if I don’t pay you back somehow. Plus, it would be my honor to have a drink with a famous DJ.” I paused. “And you do need to get a bandage on that knee. My apartment isn’t far from here. If you’d like, we could swing by there first.”

I thought about her offer. A bandage would be nice so I could hide how quickly I heal. Plus, she was pretty damn beautiful and I didn’t have to work that night, so why not? I was getting the vibe that she was kinda into me.

“Yeah,” I said slowly as I grinned. “Sure, why not? That sounds pretty good. I’d love to have a drink with you, Miss…”

“Silver,” she said smiling, her voice as smooth as velvet. “My name is Silver Streak.”
_________________________________________________________________________

Music played through my earbuds as I lounged on the couch. I just laid there with closed eyes and relaxed, thinking about... well, everything. The events of the last few days, few months, few years. Everything quickly replayed before my eyes. I scrunched up my face. Not all of the memories were pleasant.

Opening my eyes and glancing at the clock on the wall, I could see that it was time to go to work. It was a rainy day and all I wanted to do was relax with Octy, but there were bills to pay. Couldn’t just call out sick again. I sat up with a groan and threw my shades on, taking a few steps towards the door.

"Time for work?" Octy asked yawning at me.

"Yeah,” I said walking over to the other couch where she laid. “Having a good dream?"

"If you could call it that.” She sounded exhausted. I kissed her on the forehead and walked to the front door, opening it and stepping into the hallway.

"Go back to sleep," I said softly and closed the door quietly behind me.

What she didn’t know was that I’d left early for work. The stores would be closed long before I’d get out of the club, so I thought I’d go beforehand. The door to the costume shop made a little dinging as I walked in and approached the front counter.

“Hey there,” I said grinning at the mare behind it. “I know it’s pretty last minute, but I was wondering if you could help me out. I need a certain costume.”
_________________________________________________________________________

"Oh Octy, I'm home!" I called as I walked in the door, levitating my paper bag behind me.

"What's in the bag?" she asked as I set it down on the kitchen counter.

"Close your eyes.” She stared at me. "Just close your eyes," I smirked. "No peeking." Giggling, she did what I asked.

I pulled my costume out of the bag and put it on piece by piece. The black cape with red lining was tied around my neck, I splattered my chest with fake blood, and felt myself transform as my fangs poked out of my mouth.

"Okay, now look,” I said as she opened her eyes. I lifted up my arms dramatically. "Ta-daaa!"

"Very, very nice," she said smiling and applauding me by clopping her hooves together.

"Now we can be vampires together!"

"Yes, yes,” Octy laughed.

"Everypony will love us! And man, once we start making out—"

"What?"

"—all the stallions will be all over us!" I said excitedly as I grinned.

"Vinyl, we are not going to make out!"

"Everybody loves lesbian vampires,” I pouted as my face fell. She yawned at me and looked around for a clock.

"What time is it? One in the morning?"

"I was kinda surprised you were still awake." I took off my cape. "What were you doing?"

"Just some music," she said. I looked in the living room and saw that her cello was propped up against the couch. It reminded me that I should keep working on the remix I was making for her. "I'm gonna hit the hay."

"'Hit the hay?' Wow, I must be rubbin' off on ya," I laughed as she walked to her room while I made my way to the shower. Didn’t wanna sleep next to Octy with fake blood smeared all over me. She might have a panic attack. Plus, I smelled like the club I’d just DJ’d.

As I let the water flow over me, I thought about how awesome tomorrow was gonna be. First Nightmare Night I got to celebrate with a marefriend. Plus, we’d get to hang out with my friends… though, she probably wouldn’t want me sharing that we were dating. Boo. Ah well, it’d still be awesome.

I toweled off as much as I could, but my mane was still wet as I crawled into bed with Octy. We usually tossed and turned to find what position we wanted to sleep in. That night we finally settled on her holding me as I was snuggled up to her chest. I felt her play with my mane as I fell asleep.
_________________________________________________________________________

The sun shone through her window, waking me from my deep sleep. I didn’t wear my sleep mask anymore; it was just too good a feeling for my head to be resting against hers. Octy shifted and yawned, letting me know she was awake. I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tight, smiling as she squealed. She was so warm.

"Good morning, princess."

She laughed and pushed me away.

"Don't call me that. I hate those cutesy-wutesy nicknames.” She rubbed her eyes and glanced over at the clock, sighing. "I'm sleeping in later and later."

"Nothing wrong with that,” I said smiling. “Besides, it's Nightmare Night!” She grabbed the pillow from underneath my head and hit me with it.

"It's all your fault. I used to wake up at five—"

"Ugh, don't remind me. Mornings were so depressing with you playing that cello of yours."

Depressingly awesome, but still depressing. She was incredibly talented, but I don’t wanna come home at three in the morning only to get woken up two hours later by long, sad notes being played.

"—I was disciplined, organized! Now I'm a mess!" she joked.

"A very sexy mess,” I purred as I kissed her neck up and down. She giggled with each kiss.

“Well, time to start the day, I suppose.” She slowly got out of bed and left the room. A devilish smile played across my face as I heard the shower running.

Well, I need a shower, too. We might as well save water. Help the environment and stuff.

I opened the bathroom door to see that she was already in the shower, so I slipped in it with her. She faced away from me and hummed as the water washed over her body. Her mane looked so awesome wet like that. I hummed along with her, then whispered in her ear.

"I love it when your mane is down."

She turned around blushing like crazy.

"Vinyl Scratch, what are you doing?!" she exclaimed, glaring at me.

"What? We can't shower together?"

"W-What? No! No, no!" she stuttered, pointing towards the bathroom door with a hoof. "Out, out!"

"Aw, you're no fun."

"OUT!"

I went to get out of the tub as she turned back around to face the shower head.

Is this a test? I bet it's a test.

The smart thing to do would be to just to leave.

But as we all know, I’m an idiot. So I did the Vinyl thing.

I slowly reached towards her and grabbed her flank. Never even felt myself hit the floor of the bathtub as I got bucked in the head so hard I blacked out.
_________________________________________________________________________

“… nyl, I’m s… idn’t mean t…”

My hearing slowly came back as I regained consciousness. I was healing fast, but my head still felt hella sore. It was like I got hit by a train. With a buck that hard, she might not have needed my protection from those guys the night I first met her. Hell, all my money would be on her in a fight.

“…nyl? Can you…”

I slowly blinked my eyes open to see I was on the floor of the bathroom. My mane and coat were soaking wet.

“… me? Vinyl? Can you hear me?” Octy asked with a worried look on her face as she leaned over me.

“Coulda warned me that you like it rough, Octy,” I groaned.

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to… I mean, you startled me…”

“Eh, don't sweat it. It was my own damn fault,” I said slowly sitting up. “Sometimes I just don’t know when to quit.” I could already feel my injury healing itself.

“Come on,” she said helping me to my hooves. “Let’s get some ice on that.”

“I don’t need any ice. I’ll be fine in a sec. … Although, if it gets you to play doctor…” I dramatically swooned, almost falling over. “Ugh! I don’t think I can go on! Good bye, cruel world!”

“Vinyl, Nightmare Night is today. You won’t get any candy if you kick the bucket now.”

“… Good point. I think I can not die for at least one night,” I said standing up straight as we approached the kitchen. I sat at the table while Octy reached in the freezer for an ice pack and gave it to me. My head was all better by now, but I still took it and held it to the side of my head.

"You sure know how to buck, Octy,” I smirked tiredly, feeling my fur and skin start to freeze under the pack.

"You deserve it," she said sticking her tongue out at me. I rolled my eyes at her and looked at the clock.

"We're leaving in a bit."

"Where are we going?"

"Ponyville!” I exclaimed like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “You know how Canterlot is, Octy. Half the ponies around here are too cheap to hand out treats!"

"If we must," she sighed.

"It'll be fun! Now c'mon, go get dressed!" I said excitedly, going to my room as she went into hers.

That night I was gonna tell Octy everything. She’d wanted to know about my past relationships and I said I’d tell her one day. That day was today. Silver Streak was somepony she needed to know about. The Inner Circle had no idea if she’d ever show her face again, but it didn’t matter; she was part of my past and I promised Octy no more secrets.

I couldn’t tell her everything about The Inner Circle obviously, but you could be damn sure I was gonna tell her everything I could.

That night, everything would change.
_________________________________________________________________________

Octy stuck her head out the window of the train as we made our way to Ponyville. Both of our costumes looked totally awesome: with the fake blood splattered down our fronts, fangs (fake for her, real for me,) and our black cloaks, we could pass for real vampires! Well, I could pass for a real vampire more than usual.

She gazed outside as the wind tugged at her hair, admiring all the trees and hills and other scenery stuff. It was a full moon tonight. Looked like she was deep in thought.

"You've been quiet," I said scooting closer to her.

"I'm thinking."

"About?"

"Things," she teased.

She just kept looking out the window, lost in another world. She’d probably forgotten we were on a train.

"A bit for your thoughts?"

"It'll take a lot more than that to get me to spill."

I smiled at her, then sat back in my seat. I gave up. She’d talk when she wanted to. The train slowed to a stop and just like that, I was home. Ponyville was one of those places that always stayed the same. Same little buildings, same friendly ponies on the cobblestone street. Felt good to be back. I visited my folks for Hearth's Warming for a few days each year, but by then snow covered the whole town. Was awesome to see it in Fall.

Was even better that I got to be here on my favorite holiday. Everypony had a great time on Nightmare Night in Ponyville. I had so many memories as a filly going door to door with friends to get candy. Holiday themed dance music played over the outdoor PA system as mares and colts hopped around a little area marked off as the “dance floor.” Old lanterns were hung up everywhere, each with a candle inside to light the festivities.

"Vinyl!" I heard Lyra call. Looking over, I saw that Lyra, Bon Bon, Carrot Top, and Derpy were all in costume waiting for us. I pulled Octy along as I ran over to them.

"Hey, guys! Ha-ha, nice costumes!"

Bon Bon and Lyra were both wearing sunglasses and a fedora with their black suits. Couldn't remember the name at the moment, but it was probably a reference to that one movie. Carrot Top was a devil and had horns and a tail, her coat now dyed red. Derpy had switched up a past costume of hers, wearing plastic grocery bags on her head and hooves instead of paper bags.

"I see it's plastic this year!" I commented smiling at her.

"Yay!" she exclaimed happily, clopping her hooves together.

"We're on a mission from Celestia," Bon Bon said in a humorless voice.

"A hundred and six miles to Manehattan, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses," Lyra continued.

Ha! Yup. Reference.

"… I don't get it,” Octy said staring at them. I facehoofed.

Eh. Not surprising she hasn’t seen that movie. We’ll have to rent it sometime.

"So, are you two, y' know, together?" Lyra asked suggestively as she pulled down her shades.

Ah. Crap. What do I say?

"No!" Say “no,” you idiot! Octy doesn’t wanna let ponies know yet, so-

Before I could respond, Octy leaned over and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek. I turned a little red as Lyra squealed with happiness.

“You have to tell me everything! How’d you get together? When’s your anniversary? Is Vinyl a good kisser?” Lyra asked Octy as we started walking towards the festivities.

“Hey, come on! Leave the poor girl alone,” I laughed. “That’s private and she might not wanna-“

“She’s actually a very excellent kisser,” Octy answered, smiling sheepishly.

“… Let the girl talk! She can speak all she wants about my kissing! Go ahead, Octy, tell em’!”

It looked like a lot of ponies we walked by were staring at us. I was gonna ask the others if they noticed this, too, but then realized they weren’t staring at us: they were staring at me.

I moved outta Ponyville before I really made it big as DJ-Pon3. Guess some ponies are surprised to see me here.

I saw a familiar orange pony dressed as a scarecrow. Wore the same costume every year.

"Sup, AJ!"

She looked over at me as I stuck out my hoof to her. She took it and shook with a strong grip.

"Well howdy there, Vinyl Scratch! Don't tell me you're moving back!" she gasped in mock horror. "Twilight'd have a fit."

"Man, she hated it when I blasted my tunes,” I laughed.

"At the crack of dawn!"

My music wasn’t that loud. I mean, I’d only broken four of Twilight’s windows. … In a month…

"Who's yer friend?" AJ asked looking over at Octy.

"Octavia," she replied smoothly. "Pleased to meet you, Miss Applejack."

"Aw shoot, don't call me Miss, it makes me feel old! You're hanging 'round Vinyl now?"

Octy nodded and looked at the apple bobbing tub.

"And what is this?”

"Don't tell me you've never bobbed for apples before, Octy!" I said surprised. Jeez, she really hadn’t celebrated this holiday. Never celebrated it the right way, at least.

"My mane will get wet,” she tried reasoning, but I nudged her towards it anyway. Shiny red and green apples floated at the top of the water, just waiting to get eaten. She took a deep breath and dunked her head into the tub.

“Guess yer friend’s not used to gettin’ her hooves dirty,” AJ chuckled.

“She needs to learn to live a little,” I explained smiling. “I thought this’d be a great time for it.”

“Oh yeah, it’s definitely the right holiday for that!”

Octy’s head came back up as she gasped for air, a red apple in her mouth. Before she could drop it, I leaned in and took a bite out of the apple, causing a little blush to appear on her face. I smiled at her as I chewed.

Suddenly, thunder and lightning appeared as giant, black clouds began to swirl around in the sky that seemed to cover the entire town in a shadow. I heard a very familiar laugh and smiled. As was tradition, Princess Luna was dressed as Nightmare Moon and came down from the clouds in a black carriage pulled by bat ponies.

"It's Nightmare Moon! Everypony run!" I heard a voice cry out. Everypony started screaming.

"Whoo!" I cheered up at her, excited for the yearly tradition.

"Vinyl, run!" Octy yelled trying to drag me away.

"What for?"

"It's Nightmare Moon!"

I laughed, thinking that maybe I should’ve explained the tradition to her earlier. I pulled her back towards me as she tried to run away. Luna- err, Nightmare Moon spread her wings and jumped from the carriage, gliding to the ground and landing with a thud.

Wished I had a costume as cool as that. Blue armor. Aaahhh she was so cool in that. I want some armor. It’d have my cutie mark on it and I’d fight dragons and stuff. Mean dragons, not good dragons. Twilight would really have it out for me if I was caught dueling her assistant.

"Luna! Luna! Luna!" Everypony started chanting and stomping their hooves. A group of foals ran up to her and cheered her on. She smiled at them then looked back up at everypony else.

"Hello, Ponyville!" Luna bellowed. There was a little humor in her voice.

"It's Ponyville tradition, Octy!" I explained, grinning at her. "C'mon, let's go meet her!" I figured now was a good a time as any for me to introduce them. Pulling her along, we started making our way towards her.

"What?! She's a princess!"

"So?"

"I mean, we can't just trot up to her and say hi!"

"Luna and I are tight, don't worry,” I explained rolling my eyes at her. "Hey, Luna!"

She turned to face us and looked me up and down.

"A very interesting costume you have there, Vinyl Scratch," Luna said in her weird, old way of talking, frowning slightly.

Nice to see you, too.

"Hah, thanks."

"Charmed," Octy said nervously, extending her hoof. Luna smiled and shook it.

"So this is the famous Octavia," Luna said looking over her costume. "I've heard a lot about you."

"You have?" she asked nervously. “Err, I mean, what kind of things, Princess?"

"Good things, I assure you. And please, call me Luna. Do you like my costume?"

"It certainly is... authentic."

Luna wasn’t really talking with Octy. She was talking at her as she stared at me. Luna gave a little nod of her head, signaling that she wanted to talk to me. I nodded back at her. Had to get rid of Octy for a bit.

"Hey Octy, why don't you, uh… go get us some drinks?" I said, my gaze still locking with Luna’s.

"Of course, dearie,” she said with a bit of annoyance. I’d apologize for this later.

We heard her trot away.

"You would do well to be more cautious, Vinyl Scratch," Luna said sternly. Most would find her gaze disturbing, patronizing, intimidating. I’d known her long enough to know that that was just how she looked at ponies. If you really wanted to see her be intimidating, just get her angry. Then you’ll really know fear.

"It's Nightmare Night, Princess! Nopony will suspect a thing. It’s fine. Really."

She paused for a moment then turned and walked away from me.

“Come. We must speak with you in a more private location.”

“Of course,” I agreed as I followed her.

She was quiet as we made our way through the crowds of celebrating ponies, some talking, some eating candy, some dancing to the music. The full moon illuminated our path as we walked farther from the lanterns.

“We hope that this is not your way of telling us you’ve transformed your marefriend,” she said finally once we were in a deserted area.

“Excuse me?” I asked taken aback.

“You both show up to Nightmare Night dressed as vampires. We think it rather… odd.”

We crossed over the bridge and walked into the Everfree Forest. This place used to be so strange to me, but by now I’d been in it so many times, I knew my way around pretty well. Still gave me the creeps, though. Every once in awhile it seemed to… change. Paths would spring out of nowhere, old ones would disappear.

“Aw, come on! Gimmie some credit,” I said feeling kind of insulted. “I wouldn’t just turn my marefriend without consulting the Inner Circle first. Her fangs are fake, that’s obvious, and her eyes aren’t red or anything! I’m not some kid that just does what she wants.” Luna looked back at me raising an eyebrow. “… Okay, I kinda am, but I wouldn’t do that. That’s goin’ too far. This is a serious thing.”

Then I realized that I’d never really thought about whether I wanted Octy to be a vampire or not. I could make her one, if I wanted to. She’d be faster, stronger, able to defend herself if I wasn’t around… but she’d also go crazy at the sight of blood, especially in the beginning. When somepony is first made into a vampire, they’re like a baby. They get this unimaginable craving for blood. Some go insane from it. You gotta keep watch over them and make sure they don’t murder everything they see.

… Okay, not like a baby. You get what I mean, though.

Thinking about it… no. I’d never want her to be a monster like me. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemies. Most of them, anyway. I’d learned to accept what I am, sure. I loved who I was, but… sometimes I wished I was… normal. That I could go for a walk on the beach without my shades if I wanted to. That I could makeout with my marefriend without the fear of snapping her in half if I was too rough. That I could eat as much garlic bread as I wanted without my tongue catching fire.

It was just… frustrating sometimes.

We walked the dirt path, trodden down by those brave enough to venture into the Everfree before us. I heard a wolf howl somewhere. Creatures and critters chirped and growled all around us, hidden by the thick fog. Every once in awhile, we’d stop and turn around to make sure we weren’t being followed.

“We doubted you would, Vinyl Scratch. We just wanted to be certain,” Luna explained.

“It was Octavia’s idea,” I said as we stopped in a small clearing. “Believe me, I like makin’ a scene as much as the next pony, but this wasn’t me pulling somethin'. I just thought I’d match her costume.”

"And this Octavia... Does she know?"

I paused.

"… Yes."

She sighed, closing her eyes and putting a hoof to her head.

"Please tell me that you didn't—"

"One thing led to another and I might have accidentally bitten her."

"Anything else you'd like to tell me?"

"Err, mom and dad came to visit?" I said sheepishly.

"We are going to have to deal with her."

Jeez, it sounds so threatening when she says it like that. This mare could probably read the phone book aloud and make it sound like a horror story.

A few feet from us, a branch snapped. We stopped talking and looked towards the source of the noise.

"It's seems we have an uninvited guest," Luna bellowed so the intruder could hear her. "We do not appreciate prying ears!"

"We've been tailed," I said seriously.

It could’ve been a kid in a costume who’d just gotten lost. Could’ve been one of our enemies. Either way, it was bad news. There was a rustling in the trees and one of Luna’s guards emerged dragging somepony by their cape. A familiar cape with familiar red lining… worn by a familiar, grey mare.

Octy?! Dammit, what’s she doing here?

I stared at her with a cold expression as the guard dumped her in front of us.

"Trick or treat?" she asked grinning shyly.

"Octavia!" I groaned.

"I won't tell a soul! I swear!" she yelled, her voice squeaking. "Please don't hurt me!"

Hurt her? What is she…

I looked to my right to see Luna’s eyes turn red and her fangs emerge from her lips.

Whoa, Octy’s gonna get the wrong idea, at this rate. She’s probably scared to death and- Crap!

Octy ripped free from the guard’s grip and bolted.

"After her!"

"Octy! Wait!" I yelled after her. “Octy! Stop! Come back! We’re not gonna hurt you!”

She didn’t know her way around the forest; she could be lost in there forever if I didn’t catch up to her.

Not only that, but she could run through Poison Joke or get eaten by some monster or…

I didn’t wanna think about it. I galloped as fast as I could, getting wacked in the face with tree branches and pushing past bushes. All I heard was my breathing and the sound of leaves rubbing together. I got to a clearing and stopped, panting. I took a deep breath.

“Octy!” I called. No response. “Octavia!”

I heard snarling and a loud bark, causing me to turn my attention to a cave up ahead. Running into it, my blood ran cold at what I saw. I couldn’t see much of it, but something was attacking her. It had it’s jaw clamped around her leg as she shuddered and shook from fear. Her mouth was open, but no sound came from it. Too terrified to scream.

Fur, glowing yellow eyes. I’d heard a bark before.

Wolf.

"Hey, leave her alone!" I screamed at it, my voice becoming beastlike for a second. It let go of her leg and went to raise its claws at me threateningly, but Octy’s body was in the way. The claws slashed across her front and I heard her cry out a little. That really set me off.

My horn glowed as I got closer to the creature, trying to force it away from us. As I got closer, I started to see more of it. Something was different about this creature; it wasn’t a wolf. It almost resembled… a pony.

No… if this… if this is a…

I prayed that I was wrong.

“Get the hell away from us,” I growled threateningly. “You hear me? GO!”

Finally it ran away from us, going deeper into the cave. I galloped back towards Octy. She had several bloody gashes on her front and bite marks on her leg. The fake blood that we squirted on our chests for our costumes was running into her actual blood and blended together. Her side looked funny like she might have a broken rib or two. I cradled her in my arms as she shook, her eyes wide as tear spilled from them.

"Octy! Octy, speak to me!" I begged, holding her. She tried to speak, but no words came out. I felt so helpless. I didn’t know what to do. This was all my fault. She was gonna die and it was all my fault.

“Help!” I yelled as loud as I could, my eyes filling up with tears as I started to cry, too. “Somepony help! Please!” I looked down at Octy. Her eyes were half open and unfocused; she was losing consciousness. “Octavia, stay with me! Keep awake, babe… Help! Somepony HELP!”

I heard noise outside and Luna came galloping into the cave, a few of her guards close behind.

"She's been bitten!" I cried to her, covered in my marefriend’s blood. She rushed over and observed the wound.

"… This is no ordinary bite," she said gravely. My breath quickened. I looked down to see Octy’s eyes were closed.

“Octavia?” I asked putting a hoof on her cheek. She didn’t move.

Dammit.

“Come,” Luna said as I levitated Octy’s body and we ran out of the cave. “There isn’t much time.”