Foal of the Night

by Endarko


Chapter 3

Rarity awoke in her glamorous bed to find that the storm outside was finally over; the pitter-pattering of rain against the side of her boutique having finally been silenced after three long days of downpour. No doubt there was still more to come, of course; as it was getting into Winter and the weather team had likely moved some clouds towards Ponyville previously in order to continue the storm; leaving some rain heading to the town regardless of the schedule.
It was still about as dark as it was when Rarity had originally settled down for her nap so the unicorn was fairly confident that she hadn’t been out for long. Spike was no doubt downstairs, still working away on his own. After giving herself a little time to wake up the unicorn got to work properly preening herself in preparation for what little of her day remained; before finally throwing her dressing gown over herself as she headed downstairs to the show room.
She found the room in complete darkness; clearly Spike had long since left; and the open windows showed that it was the dead of night outside. Still, he’d kept to his word by the looks of the bits left on the counter; not to mention the lack of a number of gems that Rarity was very sure were amongst her supplies the day before. She couldn’t really complain, though; she’d pretty much abandoned the dragon… accidentally; but that no doubt didn’t go far in softening the blow for the ever sensitive Spike.
Still, it was a bit late for sulking now. She had a whole night to work with, really; her nap had likely thrown her already slim chances of getting any sleep out the metaphorical window. Perhaps it was better to just accept some of her illnesses symptoms for the time being… especially seeing as at the moment she felt fairly energetic, despite the time of day. Besides, the night brought some special inspiration; and if she wanted to get some proper selection ready for Winter then what better time to work on her dresses than the present?
She had an inkling of a feeling as to exactly what her present disease was now, however; a nagging thought that had nestled itself in the back of her mind after she’d had that rather surreal moment of tasting Applejack’s blood… and finding it uniquely satisfying. There was no way Rarity would allow herself to become a slave to delusions of the supernatural, of course; but it was certainly a possibility… it wasn’t like Equestria’s native wildlife were all that more bizarre what-with constellation-based animals and bizarre animal mash-ups. Throw in magic and its darker cousins as well, and vampires weren’t that strange a thought.
It was a bit of an interesting prospect, really. The idea of following the grace and power of classical vampire was quite a fantasy for the demure mare; being able to dabble in both nobility and the grace that came with such interpretations of the supposedly fantastical creature. It would be quite the opportunity for some creative fashion choices, too… Rarity had always wanted to give such eloquent finery as represented in renaissance days of fashion a shot. That might be a nice thing to try for Halloween really; or maybe a little limited range. Might not sell well, of course…
With something finally on her mind and so much energy to work with Rarity set straight upon getting some designs and doing some knitting and stitching; finally getting back on top of her workload for the week and with newfound enthusiasm. Her gothic fashion fantasies would have to wait, of course; but that didn’t mean that she’d couldn’t use such inspirations to give her Winter range a little more spice. Black was the new black, after all.



Unfortunately for Rarity her previous argument with Applejack had not gone overlooked; as the farming mare had made plans for the next day to confront Twilight over the unicorn’s behaviour; not being one who really liked to see her friends acting so bizarrely and nor keen on being one-upped by her rival of sorts. Naturally Applejack had seen it logical to go to the root of the problem in this case; or at least the root of the evidence, given Rarity’s mentioning of her bookish friend.
While Applejack would have preferred to take on Rarity herself and deal with the unicorn’s apparent temperament issues and suspicious strength directly she wasn’t quite sure she wanted to get into another tussle with the fashionista if she was anywhere as strong as she was during their original fight. She’d been a poor fighter even in such impulsive circumstances, yes; but she was still very strong and probably had more tricks up her sleeve given her magical nature; and Applejack wasn’t really keen on picking fights she couldn’t win, stubborn as she might be. Besides, it wouldn’t really change or prove anything; win or lose.
Having done all her major chores in the early morning seeing as the rain had stopped and she had other plans in mind, Applejack found enough free time to go along with her aims of querying Twilight as to Rarity’s temperamental behaviour; trotting over to the library in all its oaken glory; giving it’s door a polite if loud knock with a hoof. She had to question how a hollowed tree managed to really hold itself up so well without a central mass and yet with a less hollowed mass at its peak; but Applejack had long since learnt not to question anything that involved unicorns. Plus, it wasn’t like she could talk; her race was naturally gifted when it came to plants. Still, she did think it ought to have a proper pruning; especially with Winter coming around; a branch falling from that tree would be no laughing matter…
She soon found her call answered by a rather tired looking Spike, however; who seemed a little less than gleeful about the mare’s presence; clearly having been busy before the interruption. The feather duster in one of his claws was a bit of a tip-off; as was the dragon’s rather infamously effeminate apron. ‘Oh, good morning Applejack.’ He greeted a little awkwardly, unsurprisingly rather keen to get back to finishing his chores. ‘Um, what’s up?’
‘Howdy, Spike. Just popped around for a chat with Twilight.’ Replied the mare, getting a somewhat incredulous look from Spike; not really pleased to find that yet another visitor was purely interested in talking to just his guardian rather than he himself despite their friendship. Having been kept up all night on the grounds of a false promise hadn’t much improved his mood for the day, either.
‘Oh, Twilight’s out, actually. Headed off to Canterlot yesterday in quite a rush; Rarity sort of riled her into action. She’s hoping to join up with some of the science-y circles they have there, apparently.’ Explained the dragon, with a light shrug. ‘She’ll be back soon enough though, she’s only going to be away for a day or two.’
‘Just hoping to gain membership to the groups and deal with them mostly by mail, or so she says.’ Added Spike; looking vastly less than keen about the prospect of having even more letters to write and send off every week. He thought he’d gotten himself a break from letters to Celestia now that Twilight and her friends had matured a little; but it seemed that being but a courier was simply his destiny.
‘Ah, alright; I see.’ Replied Applejack, figuring she wasn’t going to get much done without Twilight around; before changing her mind. Who really knew Rarity that much better than Spike, anyway; given his blatant crush; even if it had gotten a bit more subtle as of his adolescence? And the unicorn herself had said that he’d been with Twilight during their argument too, so he’d no doubt have at least something to say. ‘So, uh; Spike… how’re you goin’ with, y’know; Rarity and such?’
Initially the dragon was clearly confused by the question; rather accustomed to his crush on Rarity being simply a joke amongst his friends; but he quickly regained his composure. ‘Oh, yeah; I think I’m doing okay. I was helping her last night in her shop… well, really I was just doing the work alone. She came home looking a mess and just went to bed then and there, actually.’
‘I think she mentioned something about you, if I recall.’ Mused Spike, tapping his chin in thought; before casting off the concept. He might listen to Rarity fairly intently; but he wouldn’t be honest if he said that he was entirely paying attention to what she was saying; given there were other distractions at hand when it came to being around Rarity. Plus, more poignantly a lot of what the unicorn bantered about went over his head; given he wasn’t really entrenched in the culture of fashion design.
While briefly a little nervous about having her and Rarity tussle alluded to Applejack was relieved to find that Spike wasn’t really interested in digging up the story behind the unicorn’s dirtied state. But still, his explanation didn’t really give Applejack any more information about Rarity’s bad attitude.
‘Do ya think there’s anything up with her? Y’know, anything off?’ asked earth pony bluntly; certainly not one to be at all underhanded in her investigation; although admittedly when it came to Spike sometimes that was a reasonably smart move unless one wanted to do a lot of explaining.
She only got a shrug from the dragon, though. ‘I don’t know; she seemed a bit pale but that’s about all of note.’ Replied Spike, a little curious as to the question’s origins but much to Applejack’s thankfulness he didn’t ask any questions. ‘She said she’d been feeling pretty ill lately, but she didn’t seem too bad.’
Applejack just nodded in response; not really pleased to have dug up a whole lot of nothing about Rarity’s attitude. Still, everything had to start somewhere; and she doubted the unicorn would be going out of her way to go killing ponies or anything. ‘Alright, well; keep an eye on her for me, right? I don’t want any partner of mine getting into any trouble.’ Responded the farmer, tipping her hat to her diminutive comrade. ‘And could ya tell Twilight I stopped by? I’d like to catch up with her at some point or another for a little natter.’
Spike gave his friend another nod in response; giving her a wave goodbye as she headed off back home to get back to the rest of her day’s work. ‘Yeah, no problem.’ Replied the dragon as she left; having his own things to do; although he was far less enthused about the prospect. There was only so many times one had to stand to see Twilight’s collection of encyclopaedias being out of order before they learnt to dread it as Spike did. It wasn’t like the unicorn didn’t already have enough massive tomes. And she always insisted on pulling the whole set down even if she only wanted one entry, to top it off…
Applejack was far from satisfied with her investigation thus far; having rather hoped to be able to pass on the responsibility of such detective work on to Twilight; being far from a sleuth herself; or at the very least having gotten some form of lead from the unicorn. While some might say that she was just following her occupation’s stereotype of being rather superstitious; given Rarity had managed to toss aside someone despite being a lady obsessed with being demure and barely touching anything or any activity involved with athleticism.



While she had been awake for much of the night Rarity did manage to wake up on time to get her shop in order for the day; only now in the late afternoon did the unicorn finally get a chance to close everything up and get some time to herself. She’d begun advertising her Winter line today; but that was about all she could really brag about having gotten done during her day; and even then it’d mainly just been idle remarks to the few customers she’d dealt with for the day. She really hadn’t the motivation since midnight; she’d been feeling progressively more awful and thirsty since she’d woken up again; the hunger that she’d felt building up previously coming to a fever pitch.
She had to do something; and she couldn’t it like she was confused anymore – she needed blood. Maybe it really was vampiric; maybe it was some other disease or some sort of curse; but at this point she was in no state to investigate or ask for any help; it was just about sunset and she couldn’t keep a hold on her mind. She couldn’t think of any way to deal with her hunger besides the obvious; and her mind was slowly spiralling into a dark place in her unconsciousness; a deeper power and persona that she swore she had never felt before.
And it was not one she could reject for much longer, either. While Rarity considered herself fairly headstrong and confident her determination was being eaten away by her unsettling thirst; feeling that losing control of herself was going to inevitable. She could only hope she was in a safe place when she did; that she wouldn’t be able to actually attack anyone…
With that in mind the unicorn hastily closed and locked her bedroom’s door; feeling faint already; before hurrying over to her window and doing the same. She was even more worried by the fact that Sweetie Belle was already home; having disappeared into her room after Rarity had greeted the filly when she’d come home from school; likely to deal with homework or continue practicing her magical skills. She’d become quite adept with them since she’d taken a passion to them in her recent years; although she seemed fairly intent on using them for the sake of her little friend group’s efforts to slowly undermine the occupations of all of Ponyville’s population.
Trying to calm herself Rarity settled herself back into bed; trying to just keep a hold on her mind and try to sleep; rather than allow herself to slip into whatever horrors were hidden within her brain while fully conscious. Maybe that might hold it back a little…she had to wonder the cause of it, though; perhaps it wasn’t just the disease. Perhaps she’d somehow been affected by black magic; perhaps it was always a part of her, just waiting for release. Maybe it’d been a leftover from Discord’s influence on her… a hidden sense of greed. Given her current thirst for something of others’ that was quite fitting; although she couldn’t remember ever looking to blood for bolstering her sense of ownership; a fact she was now rather thankful for. At least now she wasn’t around her friends.
Her ponderings were then torn asunder, however; as she felt the dreadful presence within her rose up; like a sickening shiver slowly rising up her spine and into her mind. She briefly felt like vomiting – then her consciousness was all but gone; sinking under the sea of dark, smooth thoughts that flooded her brain.
It wasn’t that different a sensation to what she’d felt when she’d turned on Applejack; a sense of power – and a sense of malevolence – that was unfamiliar, and controlling; and yet satisfying and long-awaited. The sense soon grew alongside the dark flow of consciousness that controlled her mind; leaving Rarity awaiting; now eagerly so; for a full release of this darkness within her soul.
Finding herself feeling far stronger now, though; the unicorn picked herself up onto her feet once again, feeling vastly more confident although her thirst was still gnawing away at her mind. But now she was in control of her brain again; and could think straight again. And thus, she could plan.
Her objective was simple; she needed to feed; preferably on fresh blood. While strong, she knew better than to undermine her relationships with any of the Elements of Harmony; and even somepony anonymous would likely know her given both her fame as a national heroine and thus undermine any attempt for a silent feed… and she certainly didn’t want murder on her hands; especially not just for the sake of a single drink of blood. Although she was currently under the hold of her disease; Rarity’s status as an Element and the power that came with that undermined any truly evil intent she could try and muster.
That would not stop her from getting her way, though; she had somepony in mind as her prey for the night. A certain individual with the perfect mix of gullibility, submissiveness, and delectability… and whom had made it clear earlier that they would be home alone…
Rarity threw her hair back; giving herself a quick check-over in her vanity; then easily smashed her window with a single blow from a hoof; taking off into the night with her newfound speed and strength. It was about time she treated herself to a truly exquisite meal; and there was nothing worse than a mare’s vices left scorned for so long…