//------------------------------// // As night falls // Story: inFamous: Bloody Equestria // by Mikoyose //------------------------------// A few minutes passed before Cole jumped down, using his static thrusters to slow his descent. He walked to the door frame and knocked before looking around for the striped mare. Twilight opened the door and she stepped back, her horn glowing in case he attacked. He held his hands up to show he didn’t mean any harm, she kept her horn ready. “Hey I just wanted to make sure you were okay, I didn’t mean to hurt you and I’m sorry that I did.” he apologized, she was still glaring at him. “What are you?” she asked him. “Well I’m a Vampire.” “I know that, but why did… That happen when you fell in the soup?” “I didn’t fall in the soup you shot me into there! Water and I don’t mix very well.” “Why does that happen? Does the Princess know about you?” “There were two, which one? The blue one or the white one? Celestial and Moona right?” Cole scratched the back of his head. “It’s Celestia and Luna. You’ve met them?” “Yeah the blue one doesn’t like me much. The white one she... I don’t know, she does like me I think, or at least she’s good at hiding that she hates me.” Cole said. Twilight’s horn stopped glowing and she sat down, “Princess Celestia doesn’t hate anything.” she was still glaring at Cole. He was still outside the door and looked out towards the forest then to a space in the trees, “Well the sun isn’t going to go down soon. Damn it.” He looked back inside and Twilight was staring at him, she still seemed skeptical about his story. “Well I read a few books on Vamponies; they can’t enter a home unless they’re invited.” She smirked triumphantly, Cole laughed and shook his head as he crossed the home’s threshold and crouched in front of her and poking her nose. She pulled away and snorted, his eyes drifted to the bandages, then to her flank with the purple star. “Well Celestial.” “Princess Celestia.” “Whatever, she told me about those things... beauty marks.” “A Cutie mark.” “Yeah that, she said it shows a pony’s special talent. What’s yours?” he asked. She looked at it then back to Cole, “Well my special talent is magic. What’s yours?” “I don’t have one.” Cole said. “Unless, you call being a bloodsucker a talent…” He chuckled. “Well, good to know you’re fine.” Cole said. “I’m going to go see how Zecora’s doing. Bye… What’s your name?” He asked. She blinked at him before answering, “I’m sorry Cole MacGrath, and my name is Twilight Sparkle.” Cole smiled, crouched, and ruffled her mane, “See’ya later Twinkle.” He stood up and left, hearing the unicorn yell after him, “It’s Twilight Sparkle!” He shook his head and used his Vampire sense to find the Zebra; it didn’t take long to find her deeper in the forest. Cole walked along, staring down all eyes he saw along the way. He came upon the rhyming Zebra as she plucked berries and herbs. He didn’t bother being quiet as he approached, snapping the occasional stick and rustling the occasional bush. Zecora stayed focused on her work as she spoke, “Have you come to apologize?” He greeted her from behind. She continued to pick the ingredients to resupply what Cole had unintentionally destroyed. “That’s one reason.” He said, following her as she moved to acquire the next item. “I didn’t mean to break all your stuff, it was an accident and I didn’t mean to hurt her.” “I did not mean for my anger to rise.” She apologized to him. He accepted her apology, “And her name is Twilight Sparkle.” the Zebra added. She began plucking red flowers with heart shaped petals. Cole asked what she was picking and why, “This is Hearts Desire. It is used to light one’s inner fire.” They moved on to the next ingredient. “Well can I explain what happened?” Cole asked her. She nodded and he began. “Well as you know I took a little nap, had nightmares but that’s beside the point. I woke up to Sprinkles scream.” Zecora shook her head and corrected Cole on her name. He continued, “Yeah, Twilight, I saw she had entered and you were gone. She thought I had done something to you. I tried to tell her what happened but she stayed back and shot me with her magic.” “Long story short, I flew into the pot and was drenched in the soup, I’m a conduit, and my abilities are electric related. Electricity and water don’t mix; I couldn’t control the lightning that was being released because of the soup.” He made his point by letting lightning flow through his arms, lighting up the surrounding area and scaring off a predator. Zecora began pulling roots from the ground. Nothing was said for a moment as she finished harvesting the roots. “When things went sour, what did you do with your power?” she asked him. “You mean the Pulse Heal? It did as the name implies, it healed her.” Cole said “Pulse Heal? That does not sound real.” She commented. “It’s real. You saw me use it.” Cole said. Zecora remembered what he had done after she was unconscious on her scorched floor. “I don’t know exactly how it works, but I’ve used it to help plenty before.” This interested Zecora and she asked what had happened. He explained all the people that had gotten hurt, and the several ways they had-whether it was from the Militia, Reapers, Vampires, or an accidental bolt from him. The sun was lower in the sky now but there were still several hours of daylight left before Cole could return to the city on the mountain. Back at Zecora’s hut, Twilight was sitting in the bed Cole had been sleeping in earlier as she thought of what the Princesses wanted with a vampire. She continued to think of hundreds of reasons, many being thoughts that would never happen. One, for example, was that they wanted to use his power to control the Griffins and the Changelings. She stood up when she decided to ask Cole and left the safety of the hut to seek out the conduit. She had no idea which way he had gone so she picked a direction at random and trotted off. Headed in the wrong direction, she continued on. She knew that she shouldn’t be judging others on appearances alone, like when she had first met Zecora, and she still didn’t trust Cole. She knew he could magically control lightning and was worried for the Princesses-though they could handle themselves-and for her friends. Thoughts of Cole rampaging through Ponyville and Canterlot began flowing through her mind like rapids, hundreds being hurt, drained, or turned into Vamponies. She wasn’t paying attention and slowed to a walk as her mind came up with the reasons Cole was evil for being a Vampire. She was walking aimlessly in a single direction until growling snapped her away from her thoughts. Yellow eyes appeared from the darkness of the forest before her. Twilight took a step back and turned to run, there were more eyes waiting for her. She looked for an escape route but found none. Her horn began glowing as she focused for a teleportation spell; the only thing that happened was her horn glowing to illuminate the wooden muzzles of the approaching Wolves. Twilight was surrounded and without magic to help her. She did what seemed to be the logical solution. She screamed. Cole and Zecora were walking back to the hut. Twilight was gone. Zecora dropped her saddlebags and searched. Cole meanwhile activated his Vampire sense and focused on her blood. He saw as a trail, with a ghostly image of the Unicorn, left the hut and went along the path to the right. He didn’t tell Zecora but sprinted down the path. Zecora exited the hut to ask Cole to help her look for the missing unicorn but noticed there was not a single soul outside her home. That’s when she heard the faint scream from the distance. Cole was sprinting faster, since he heard the scream, but didn’t want to use Shadow Storm to reach it faster because he was trying to stay under control. “Damn it Sparkles. Couldn’t you just have stayed in the hut?” he shouted. The trail kept going and so did Cole. Twilight stood at the center of a pack of Timber wolves, and they were hungry. She was trying to use every spell she knows, succeeding in only making her horn glow bright. The wooden wolves slowly stalked their prey, knowing she couldn’t escape. One dove at the unicorn and she closed her eyes in hopes that it wouldn’t hurt too much, her life flashing before her eyes. A few seconds passed and she heard a cry of pain from a wolf. She chanced a look and saw Cole standing with his back to her. His right arm was bleeding and there laid a wolf with a broken neck at his feet. Cole looked at the other wolves; they gave each other a warning glance before they moved in at once to attack Cole. He blasted half of them away with the Kinetic blast while the others landed on him and began tearing into him. Twilight watched in horror before hiding behind a tree and covering her head, hoping it would end soon as tears streamed down her face. Cole did something drastic, he dropped a grenade, and it exploded. The explosion sent the wolves off him but injured him in the process. Twilight was shaking in fear behind the tree as Cole watched the wolves surround him again. He prepared for their attack, they dove, he used Shadow storm to fly past them before turning around and firing a missile at them. It landed right beside them making them fly into the forest. They didn’t come back. They were gone. So he moved to tree and gently put his hand on Twilight’s shoulder and shook her, “They’re gone, stop crying.” She looked up at him and squeaked in fear at his appearance before cowering once again. He didn’t know it but he was still bleeding from a new bite to the other side of his neck along with a few on his biceps and forearms. He was going to ask what was wrong but the adrenaline rush that kept him up was gone and the world was turning monochromatic again. “Not again.” He said as Zecora galloped into view. Cole was doing his best to stay standing as Zecora sat next to Twilight, she was unharmed but she was scared of the blood on Cole. “Thank you for your dedication, are you in need of medication?” she asked him. He shook his head and strained to speak, “No, I’ll be fine. Let’s just get Twilight here back to the hut.” He looked at her, she practically radiated fear and her eyes were still puffy from crying. “Are you hurt?” he asked her. She shook her head and Cole smiled, “Don’t worry. You’re safe.” He asked her if she could walk. She answered by shakily standing up. Cole turned to the forest, unknowing of his tattoos softly glowing blue. “They won’t bother us.” He said. As they walked, Zecora stood to one side of Twilight and Cole on the other. Whenever she lost her balance they would ask if she needed help. After she had tripped, Cole decided to carry her. She lay against his chest with her chin resting on his shoulder, the one without the vampire bite. He held her up with his left hand and used his right hand to move aside branches. Before they reached Zecora’s hut Twilight spoke, “Thank you Cole.” He smiled and told her it was no problem. “… I’m sorry for hurting you earlier.” She apologized. “I know you were just scared. It’s fine.” “That is all in the past, there is no need to be crass.” Zecora said sagely. Twilight fell asleep as they walked on. The only sound was the growling of a far off predator. Cole was behind Zecora when they arrived at her home, five other ponies stood there and watched as Zecora walked up with worried looks. “Zecora you’re still here! Thank Celestia. We saw the flash of light and came to see what happened since Twilight’s been gone for hours.” A voice spoke. The worried looks turned to fear after they spotted Cole, still filthy with dried blood and carrying a sleeping Twilight. Cole waved to them with his free hand and entered the hut to lay the unicorn down on Zecora’s spare bed. He turned around and watched as a cyan Pegasus flew at his head, he ducked the pony and dove forward to avoid a lasso from an orange pony sporting a Stetson. He rolled to his feet and had to roll away again because a pink pony was aiming a cannon at him, it fired confetti. A white unicorn was using her magic to throw rocks, Cole avoided those easily. “We won’t let you get away with hurting Twilight!” The cyan Pegasus shouted. Cole avoided all attacks and had enough time to dive out the open door. The ponies surrounded him; Zecora was trying to calm them down, “Cole MacGrath is not to blame! Attacking him will bring you shame!” They ignored her and stomped the ground. Cole was still hurt and was looking around for anything. Lastly he looked up and saw a single cloud hadn’t been taken away. He let lightning flow through his arms and the cloud struck him with a lightning bolt, it was a whole lot smaller than earlier but it did the job and closed his wounds as well as burned away the dried blood. The four ponies that surrounded him gulped after seeing what he had done. They all knew a bolt like that would stop a pony’s heart but they watched as Cole stood there without as much as a scratch. “Why are you attacking me?” he asked them scowling, revealing his pearly white fangs. They were speechless now, hearing Cole speak-they had not seeing his fangs. The cyan Pegasus snapped out of it first. “Because you hurt Twilight and nopony hurts my friend!” her voice quavered. The other three agreed with her. Cole knew he had seen one more pony and activated his Vampire sense, the pony was hiding in the bushes behind him. He turned to the bushes, “I didn’t do anything and you don’t have to hide.” The bushes eeped and shook softly. Zecora walked up besides Cole and stood with him, “Cole has done nothing to earn your spite. Please do not fight.” She said. Cole watched a yellow Pegasus walk out of the bushes and speed behind the orange pony in a blur. They didn’t budge from their defensive positions. Cole looked at each of them in turn. The Pink one was aiming her blue cannon at Cole again. Her hoof was hovering over the button to fire it. Cole stood still and unmoving, staring at the orange sky. Night was nearly upon them. As they were about to say something, Twilight spoke from the doorway. “Leave him alone.” All eyes went to her, all relieved to see her unhurt though Cole could still see that she was still shaken. She walked out and stopped in front of the ponies. They ran to her and bombarded her with questions; she kept walking until she reached Cole’s side and turned to her friends then looked up at Cole, “I’m sorry for my friends attacking you Cole.” He waved her apology away smiling. She returned her attention to her friends, “Girls. This is Cole and he hasn’t done anything besides save my life.” They gasped. The white unicorn spoke before the others, “What happened darling?” “I was on my way to ask Cole a few questions. I was attacked by Timber wolves and Cole fought them off.” Twilight told them, they looked at Cole then back to her then looked everywhere else while nervously rubbing the backs of their heads or kicking the dirt sheepishly. He chuckled, “It was nothing Twilight Sprinkle.” He ruffled her mane, and she sighed, “My name is Twilight Sparkle not Sprinkle.” The other five ponies walked up to the conduit to apologize. “We’re awfully sorry ‘bout attacking y’all… And thank ya for savin’ Twi Mr. Cole. Ah’m Applejack.” The orange one went first. Followed by the white unicorn, “Yes, we all feel horrid about that.” She gave his outfit a look over and put a hoof to her chin in thought, “That outfit looks absolutely ‘Heroic’ on you Mr. Cole. I am Rarity” She smiled. The Pink one was next and she started with a hug, “We’re so, so, so, so sorry Cole MacGrath. How about we throw you a party to make you feel better? I’m Pinkie Pie by the way!” Cole gave her a curious look, he hadn’t told her his last name yet she knew it. The cyan Pegasus was next, “Thanks and sorry.” She seemed angry with apologizing-well either apologizing or being wrong. The yellow Pegasus hesitantly walked over, hiding behind her mane. She spoke but he couldn’t hear her. He crouched down to get closer, she flinched at the movement. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He told her. She turned her head, making it look like she was looking around her pink mane. “T-thank you Cole for saving our friend.” She looked up at him and her eyes widened before she flew up and looked at his neck, “Oh my goodness! What happened?! Where did you get these holes?” She flew closer to the bite, “These look like snake bites. Oh I’m going to have a word with that snake when I find him.” Cole laughed, flashing his teeth again. She saw his fangs and screamed before her wings stuck to her sides and she fell to the floor shaking like a leaf, “V-v-v-Vampony!” She shouted while pointing a hoof at him. The other ponies gasped and stared at him in horror. The yellow Pegasus was pulled back by a blue aura that matched Rarity’s glowing horn. They returned to their attacking positions, Pinkie pulled her cannon over and aimed at Cole. He bent his knees and held his arms out to his sides as he entered his own fighting stance. Red lightning danced on his arms and in his eyes. Twilight teleported between them and shouted, “Enough!” She turned to her friends, “I know he’s a Vampony but he’s a nice pony err thing.” Cole stood again and she continued, “He didn’t bite me if you think he did. I thought he was going to hurt us when I met him but now I know better. Cole is a nice…” she looked at him. “Human. Well not anymore, I guess, everything considered.” He told her. She thanked him and continued, “He is a nice human and wouldn’t hurt anything that didn’t attack him first.” She quoted what he told her earlier. Cole stared at the darkening sky, “Well I should be getting back, I have to get my stuff back.” He said. Twilight turned to him, “What do you mean ‘get back’?” “The Princesses have my stake and bag. I’d like to have those back. Where’s the castle?” “We can take the train there from Ponyville if you’d like. It’s not too far away.” Twilight offered. Cole accepted. “Well See ‘ya later Zecora. Nice speaking to you.” Cole said as the seven of them walked away, Zecora waved, “Same to you Cole MacGrath remember to stay on the path!” she shouted after them then entered her home and began putting her freshly picked ingredients away. The ponies that followed Cole were looking at him with a mixture of fear and distrust, all besides Pinkie pie and Fluttershy, the yellow Pegasus.