//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 // Story: Pegazo Vampir Equinae // by Gecko //------------------------------// “Okay, that guy seems pretty creepy.” Rainbow said to herself as she turned towards Ponyville with a sigh, things were about to get rough. Rainbow hoped that nopony that wasn’t involved would get hurt. But, knowing the irony of the world, that was inevitable, even if Rainbow would try her hardest to protect all of them. She shook her head and turned towards the library. She had no idea what to do, the rest of the day would be incredibly boring since she had nothing to do. She landed in front of the library and opened the door and what she saw made her remember something that would make the day go by. In front of her stood all of her friends and the orange filly, it was strange to see her without her friends but it was weird to question. She then remembered the night in the clubhouse that happened which made her make a slight smile. “Oh, well, hi to all of you.” She said with a sly smile. She then realized that all of her friends now knew, even though Applejack was the last one to know, she was the most honest of the bunch. What with being the element of honesty and all. “Well, I wasn’t exactly prepared for this either Rainbow, all five of them just rushed in almost as fast as you left. I heard they all wanted to welcome you back to sanity. So, now, all of you, say hi.” Twilight said with a sense of command in her voice. Rainbow was amazed at her attitude, she liked it, it was nice to see her that way, since she’s the leader and Rainbow liked that attitude. It was kind of cool. “Dash?” Applejack said as she walked towards Rainbow, taking the word. “I am happy your back, we didn’t really talk on very good terms last time we talked. I wanted to say sorry for that, I realized that I was wrong. Just because you are like this, that includes Fluttershy and Rarity, does not make you any less you. Twilight explained something to me, that you were practically forced into this, it ain’t right. You are still you, I get that now. I really just wanted to say sorry for my horrible attitude when I saw you that week ago.” Applejack said as she hung her head. Rainbow was touched, even if she knew this was inevitable. It was touching to see. She had realized something in the last year, the elements are something special. They connect the six of them on a very deep level. When some of them had a large fight, sometimes even those sorts of fights that could break even the best of friends become mortal enemies, in a sense. They all came back out of it with a stronger friendship than before, that doesn’t happen with normal ponies, not if one really looked at it. It made Rainbow realize that she could trust her friends no matter what, they were unbreakable in a sense and that, was the best feeling to have. Rainbow smiled at Applejack and simply hugged her, Rainbow felt something wet fall down her back. She realized that AJ was crying very silently, Rainbow didn’t point it out, she didn’t want to, it wouldn’t be right. The two of them released the hug and smiled at each other, Applejack wiped her face, quickly resetting it to her original and not tear filled face, Rainbow smiled and spoke up to all of them. “You all need to know that I’m fine, you don’t need to clarify anything or explain things, you don’t need to. I am fine, don’t worry, I don’t want you all to be sad. I survived that fight with my life. I have Twilight to thank for that, mostly. There’s also those random ponies that stopped the fight. But without Twilight, I would be dead by now, I am sure of this. I need to clarify something though, Twilight and I just came back from Canterlot, because we needed to get something, I’m leaving it at that. Anyway, I am sure of something here, I am stronger and more durable than before, I feel like I’m more than I was before. It’s really hard to explain, but you don’t need to worry, I’m better, I feel stronger and everything. So yeah, don’t, don’t just go to me and say you’re happy, Applejack is the only pony who has something to say sorry for. And do you know what? I forgave her almost exactly after it happened, why wouldn’t I? Her reaction was completely understandable, I would have done the same in her situation. So those who have nothing else the say than that, leave now, I need to rest. We all do, because in a couple of days, something bad is going to happen, Twilight know what I’m talking about.” Rainbow finished, very tired of her incredibly long speech. She took to the air and flew close of the roof. There was a small outcropping in the tree and she laid down on it, taking a nap, falling asleep almost instantly. Twilight sighed loudly, which was soon followed by all the other ponies doing the same. Twilight looked at her friends, they all made slight smiles as they all walked for the door. As Twilight closed the door behind them, something troubled her, she needed to prepare. However many days were left to the arrival of that rogue vampony. They needed to prepare as much as possible before he arrived. Twilight turned around to see Scootaloo still standing inside her library. Twilight understood why she was here, she probably need to clarify things to Rainbow Dash, Twilight understood this. “You can wait here until she wakes up, I have nothing against it. Just remember, she has already forgiven you. Not that you did anything, but she’s going to be happy to know that you’ve changed your mind about things.” Twilight said with a slight smile. Scootaloo smiled back with vigor, Twilight was happy from that, it was adorable to see the little filly smile in that way. Scootaloo sat down on the couch and placed herself in a comfortable position. Twilight decided that she would get back onto her studying, she was a bit behind, but she knew that Celestia would understand, even if it made her stressed out. But she had at least learned a little bit of a lesson a while back. She knew that the Princess wouldn’t be bothered when there was a good reason. Rainbow stretched her entire body as she let out a huge yawn. She opened her eyes slowly and found herself in the library. She then quickly remembered how she had come there, she smiled. Things were getting a little bit better. And then, she remembered the stupid condition that needed to be filled within three months, which meant that there only was two and a half months left, or whatever. Rainbow glanced towards a window to check the time. It was becoming dusk, which meant that she had been asleep for a couple of hours at the least. She flared her wings and jumped down from her porch, and then she saw the orange little filly in front of her. She shook her awake with her hoof. Scootaloo slowly awoke from her small slumber, she quickly apologized and Rainbow told her to stop. The little filly looked up at Rainbow with a tint of sadness in her eyes, so Rainbow asked what was going on. The filly started to explain how she didn’t want the transformation and such anymore, she had realised that it was stupid. Rainbow exclaimed her happiness at the filly’s decision and the two of them hugged and the filly started to beam and practically flew out the door. Rainbow made a warm smile to herself, she liked that little filly, she had spunk. She was happy that Scootaloo had changed her decision, it was a good thing. A filly shouldn’t go into these things, it was bad. Rainbow’s thought process was interrupted as Twilight entered the room, “oh, hi there Twilight. It’s good seeing her make a better decision you know? She’s a good filly, and I am happy that she made the right decision.” Rainbow said with a sigh. Twilight came over to her friend and gave her a spontaneous hug. As they released the hug Twilight spoke, “yeah, she did chose the best answer for a filly... Although, I already knew she was going to say that to you, she told me when you still were in the hospital. Anyway, enough with that, we need to prepare for whenever that vampony comes, ok? Should we get to it?” Twilight asked with vigor, she was obviously really into protecting the town, a good cause. Rainbow nodded. “Right, ok, good. Now, what could we do to prepare for this?” Twilight started to ponder this as she slowly started to walk around the room. Rainbow sat down in the sofa and started to ponder as well. “Oh, right, we could do that.” Twilight exclaimed as she came up with an idea. “You see, we could try and collect all the pedestrians in a specific location and the ponies who can fight try and protect that position with all their might. This happens while the two of us try and take out the big boss guy, since we are probably the only ones who have a chance. Rarity and Fluttershy could give us support, but they aren’t exactly up to it. Does that sound like a good ground idea to you?” Rainbow nodded at the librarian, and Twilight hummed in gratification. “Right, good, thanks. Now we just need to convince the ponies of Ponyville that this will happen so that nopony gets hurt. Now, how does one go about that?” Twilight continued to ponder this as she walked around the room. And then, she walked into a wall, “well, ouch.” She said as she shrugged it off and started walking around again. Rainbow snickered at the sight, it did look rather funny. “Anyway, I need to go and talk to the mayor about this. I think you should go and check up on some of our friends,  ost specifically Rarity and Fluttershy, what with them being vamponies as well. I need you to check on their situation, and hopefully, they’ve learned to deal with the situation and aren’t hyperventilating about how they can’t do anything... Could you do that? You seem to be rather bored.” Twilight was right on that statement, Rainbow was quite bored, and what she had just suggested seemed like a good idea. Rainbow waved a hoof and nonchalantly said, “Yeah, sure I will do that, just get everything ready for when that guy gets here and I will fix the rest.” Rainbow found herself sounding a lot more nonchalant than she wanted to, but she couldn’t change that now, so she simply opened the library door and flew off towards Rarity’s boutique. Rainbow wasn’t really bothered by the situation, she was pretty confident in her abilities, she wanted to protect the town, it was important. Nopony should get hurt just because of some stupid thing like what was going to happen. Hey, Clover, if you’re there, I want you to check something. Could you maybe check the other guy and compare him to me? In raw power, I am curious if my confidence in this is justified. Easy, sure, sure, I can do that. Not that I need to, I already know the comparison between the two of you. He’s a lot more hotheaded than you, and I do mean a lot. You are a hothead, that’s pretty much your character, he’s like you times twenty, it’s so stupid. He thinks he’s better than everypony, if he didn’t at least have the small sense of common sense that he seems to have, if he did not hold that, he would probably think he could take on Celestia, and that is stupid. Oh, right, comparison between the two of you, sorry. Let me just see here quickly, oh, there it is! Wait, really now? That much? Huh, that was fast... Okay, anyway, you two are pretty much on the same level, yeah, that’s the level, it sure is. Eh, ehe, heh, right, yeah, the two of you are pretty similar. You do have one thing he doesn’t, you have the ice hooves. Funny thing actually, have you noticed how that is always the way you finish off opponents? Ok, maybe not all of them, but it’s your finishing move of choice it seems. Be aware though, he has something as well, I can’t really tell what it is, he’s hiding it pretty well, there’s like this big shadow thing that blocks it, and it’s dangerous, be aware Rainbow Dash, be aware, this won’t be easy. Anyway, I have things to do, bye! Right, right, thanks then, I guess. Rainbow shook her head in disappointment, Clover was odd, she knew this, even so, she was a good help. Even if she’ the reason for everything, though, the clouds were placed by Nightmare Moon, but she was influenced by Clover, so everything leads back to her. It always does. Rainbow landed on the ground in front of the boutique and opened the door, it was a shop after all, you could just go in. The doorbell plunged as she entered the foyer and she was greeted by the sal filly called Sweetie Belle. “Oh, well hi, is Rarity in?” Rainbow asked with a bored tone. Sweetie Belle looked up at her with her incredibly large eyes and made a small smile. “Yeah, she’s in, just walk through that door.” Rainbow nodded and walked towards the door the filly had motioned towards. “It was you though, wasn’t it? It was you who did that thing to her wasn’t it?” Rainbow stopped in her tracks and her heart fell as the filly’s voice squeaked. Rainbow couldn’t utter a single word, she simply nodded and a small whimper could be heard from Sweetie Belle. Rainbow felt horrible, it wasn’t a very comfortable sound, it was pretty horrible. As Rainbow entered the next room, she saw Rarity casually swinging fabrics through the air, Rainbow didn’t really understand what was going on. There were so many different fabrics going through the air, it surprised Rainbow, she had never see Rarity manipulate this many things at the same time before, it was mind boggling. Rarity quickly to the new entity in the room and turned towards Rainbow Dash and uttered a squeal of some sort. “Rainbow Dash, how are you doing? Your speech at the library was special, we did worry a lot about you, but that was justified. We are all very happy that you’re fine.” Rarity said as all the fabrics laid themselves very organised back on individual shelves. Rainbow blinked, it was weird seeing this, Rarity has fangs clearly sporting her face, she probably didn’t want the stupid headache, and when your alone, it didn’t really matter that much. “Yeah, I am fine, don’t you worry. I just came here to check on you, what with the vampony thing and other stuff. I notice that you are clearly not trying to hide your fangs, I guess that works when there’s no windows in this room for some inexplicable reason. But that’s not really what I first noticed when I entered the room, your magic seem to be a lot stronger than before, I don’t remember your magic being this strong. It’s a good sight.” Rainbow said with a slight smile. It was genuine, it was real. Rarity smiled back at her with a slight laugh. “And, Sweetie Belle seems to know, doesn’t she? I suppose that would happen.” Rarity stopped and looked at the ground. “Yeah, right, that... She knows, yes, it wasn’t the most peaceful of sights, but she accepted it pretty easily. That was a good thing. As for me becoming used to this, well, I’m still not quite completely into it, it’s still a bit weird. But, yeah, my magic seems to be a lot stronger than before, it’s delightful really. That fact has made me ignore the no mirror thing a lot more easily. The comfort of stronger magic makes up for and actually makes it faster than having the mirror. So, yes, I am doing quite well. No need to worry about me, my productivity has increased by large amounts, and that’s a good thing.” Rarity finished with a smile. And seemingly out of nowhere a cup of tea appeared, or it was probably just Rainbow not paying much attention to the situation and she laughed to herself.  “I think you should go and check up on Fluttershy, she has a much more interesting situation than me. It was an interesting sigh when I actually saw it. I’m not saying more than that, but I think you’re going to be relieved and a bit happy about it.” Rarity said as her magic enveloped Rainbow and pushed her out of the store. Rainbow didn’t mind, she was actually pretty happy that she was kicked out, because now, she didn’t have to leave on an awkward note. Rainbow laughed to herself, it wasn’t that funny, she just found it a bit funny. She took to the air and started to fly off towards Fluttershy’s cottage. It went pretty quickly, it was to be expected really. Her body did make her faster, she wouldn’t get used to it though, it was odd, to say the least. A bear could be heard as she came closer, it didn’t bother her all that much, it wasn’t like Fluttershy couldn’t handle it. There had been multiple times where that had been proven. She landed in front of the cottage and knocked. There was a sound from inside the cottage and soon after the door was opened and Rainbow went inside. She saw Fluttershy standing in front of her with a natural expression, it was an unusual sight, you didn’t really expect it. She opened her mouth with a squeak and said, “oh, hi Rainbow, what brings you here? I don’t need your help or anything. So please, just go, I am fine, the vampony thing is going fine and I need you to go away, please? I am a better flyer and it’s weird, now please, just go, I am still trying to get over it. It’s going fine, so yeah, please go away.” She started getting louder at the end and she started pushing Rainbow out of the door. Rainbow didn’t know how to react, this wasn’t what she had expected, Fluttershy was acting out of character, it didn’t seem natural. But the change of situation was enough to change any pony. But as fast as Rainbow had been pushed away from the door, Fluttershy flew inside and closed the door. “That, was odd... I think she’s going to be fine.” Rainbow said to herself as she took to the air. She couldn’t quite comprehend what had just happened. Fluttershy didn’t seem all that worse for wear, she seemed fine, in a way. She would probably go back to her normal personality in time. Rainbow started to fly towards her home, she was getting tired, it was time to go to bed. Even if she didn’t need it, it was a time synch, was it not? Rainbow landed on her porch and went inside. The house was starting to look a bit odd, it wasn’t that well cleaned, but Rainbow didn’t care, she simply forced herself to sleep, and oh did she sleep. What she didn’t know though, was that her body was incredibly tired, so she was about to sleep for a lot longer than anticipated.