While typically Spike’s evenings were spent shelving books or dusting off the majority of the collection which continued to remain untouched by both Ponyville’s public and the presently absent Twilight; for this night Spike was rewarding himself with an early slumber; albeit after finishing a far more pages of the novel he was presently working his way through; primarily for the sake of keeping his guardian off his back about his standard of reading rather than entertainment. Still, the unicorn had at least allowed him to read something more fitting to his age this time; while he’d done his best to get into it If Upon A Winter Wrap-Up’s Night A Traveller had left him highly confused as to its meaning or plot; even once he’d finished it.
Regardless, his new book was far more interesting; and thus the dragon was content to settle down in his still rather meagre bed despite his growth and propped open his book; taking a moment to find his page. During his little quest, however; he was distracted by what sounded like some movement from downstairs… no banging or chattering; but certainly something beyond just the wind or something falling loose. Still, Spike highly doubted it was really worth investigating; as it was likely one of Twilight’s friends managing a late-night withdrawal or some diminutive animal messing about. It certainly wasn’t enough to force him from his book though, even though he hadn’t even gotten started yet.
However, just as he began to read he was distracted yet again; another sound from downstairs pulling him from his attempts at reading. Still, the drake was determined not to let his resolve to get stuck into his book be wavered; and thus did his best to ignore the rather eerie ambience he’d been supplied with… however, he just ended up with another distraction on his mind: his now noticeable thirst. He’d have to deal with that, inevitably; and that’d mean going downstairs.
Not that there was going to be anything downstairs anyway, of course. The sounds were probably just Owloicious chasing a rat about or something, anyway. Ponyville wasn’t really a dangerous place, even during the darkest of nights. Even though it was next to Everfree Forest. And occasionally attacked by demonic beasts and celestial horrors. And occasionally he himself.
Stuck with no choice but to give in to confronting the potential horrors or rodents downstairs Spike crept anxiously out of his bed and towards the library’s staircase; his train of thought leaving him far more paranoid over his little expedition than was at all necessary. Sure, he usually had to sneak by Twilight in the hopes of avoiding waking up the arguably paranoid unicorn; but at least that was something to keep his mind off of the assorted horrors that might lie below.
Upon descending the stairs with continued caution the dragon found exactly what he was hoping for – a heaping pile of nothing (well, a heaping pile of gems would’ve been nice; but that probably would’ve put him totally on edge due to suspicion). By the looks of things nothing had actually been moved; and even Owlowicious seemed to be off dealing with his own business elsewhere; probably involving harassing Fluttershy’s beloved animals while the pegasus herself was busy sleeping.
Regardless; Spike managed to get his drink and get back upstairs without inciting the wrath of any of the creatures of the night; although he was left rather mystified upon getting back to his bed as a chilly wind brushed across his scales. While he might be a dragon; and thus always had a fairly warm body temperature; his cold-blooded nature as a reptile meant that having persistent cold winds did him little good.
It didn’t take him long to recognise the culprit – an open window was letting the draft in; which had now even managed to snuff the candles he’d been relying on for his writing. Remedying either wasn’t really an issue for the dragon; even though his size got a little in the way of closing the window in any hurry; but it was certainly a little suspicious. He was sure he’d closed the window earlier in the evening… not to mention; even with the candles lit again the room seemed awfully dark.
Still, the dragon wasn’t really keen on getting himself any more paranoid (he was reminding himself a bit too much of Twilight for his liking at this point) and thus just tried to curl up and read once again; placing a candle by his side in order to fight off the darkness that was refusing to let him see his book; let alone make out any of the text. Pulling up his blanket Spike settled down to finally get to perusing his book; calming down despite the still chilly air and his previous suspicions as he got to submerge back into his book.
‘You know, you look delectable by candlelight, Spikey…’
The poor dragon jolted upright upon hearing the whisper right by his ear; scorching his book with a panicked jet of flame. While Spike was certainly aggravated to have his novel go up in flames he wasn’t in any sort of state to start whining about it; as his flames had also illuminated the certain unicorn currently looming behind him.
‘R-Rarity!’ stammered the drake; unsurprisingly taken aback to find his pony crush sitting behind his basket; looking noticeably smug; even in the poor candlelight… and more than a little sultry; given her half-lidded eyes. For the moment Spike could only panic. Sure, it was nice to see Rarity; but on the other hand he hadn’t a clue as to how the unicorn had managed to sneak in right under his nose; especially with her typically polite and clean nature. ‘What in the world are you doing here?!’
‘Well, darling; I owe you an apology for having been so rude last night; and what better time than the present?’ replied Rarity; eyeing her comparatively diminutive companion with a smirk and a gaze of finely repressed anticipation. ‘I knew Twilight wouldn’t be around tonight; and simply couldn’t take the thought of you being left all alone on such a dark, cold night…’
‘U-Um, I appreciate the thought; but isn’t this kind of a bad time?’ asked Spike meekly, trying to back off a little and only really ending up cowering before the unicorn; burying himself a little more into his basket’s sheets. Now that he’d gotten a chance to have a proper look at Rarity he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was really off about her appearance… not really unpleasant, but she certainly seemed more imposing despite her usual demure looks. Not to mention pale; her usually snow white coat seeming a little matted and noticeably off-colour.
‘Of course not, Spikey!’ crooned the unicorn; wrapping a foreleg around the unnerved dragon before her and gently pulling him closer to her chest; ignoring his awkward squirms. While Spike certainly would appreciate such affection on any other occasion in this case it wasn’t really helping; what with his crush acting so enigmatic and overbearing. ‘Now, I think we should have a… heart-to-heart, just between you and me, hm?’
The Rarity gave Spike a light squeeze on that note; which the dragon far from appreciated as he rather valued his personal space; especially when it came to the proximity of unsettling people whom he was beginning to think were changelings. ‘W-Well, if you insist?’ replied the drake meekly; not entirely sure of what to make of the suggestion whilst Rarity brought a hoof up to his face; gently turning his gaze to directly meet her own.
‘Now, darling… what do I mean to you?’ asked the unicorn; her crimson-eyed gaze making Spike’s eyes glaze over and leaving his mind blurred and unguided; swiftly leaving him utterly helpless. Making the most of the drake’s state Rarity gently dragged his head up towards her own; exposing his scaled jugular.
‘My whole life…’ murmured the entranced dragon; totally lost to Rarity’s vampiric hypnosis; who was all too enjoying having the boy be like putty in her hooves thanks to her newfound abilities; her hungering mindset having seemingly natural control of the innate powers. She couldn’t spend too much time toying with him, though… she had to feed eventually.
Continuing to dominate the drake’s mind via her locked hypnotic gaze the unicorn carefully shuffled into Spike’s basket; laying him across her chest in order to full expose his jugular. Rarity’s vampiric mindset continued to display its control over her alien abilities as the unicorn’s fangs extended; the new sensation triggering a spark of pain as the teeth cut through her gum line; although it was unsurprisingly completely ignored due to the growing issue of Rarity’s thirst for blood.
While Spike was still paralysed by her hypnosis the unicorn gently lowered her mouth to his neck; giving his exposed throat a series of practiced licks. While Rarity didn’t consciously know it her new instincts certainly knew the importance of doing so before going in for a bite – the saliva acted as an admittedly weak but fast-effecting anaesthetic; giving her prey even less clue as to what was going on, just in case the hypnosis didn’t quite do the trick.
With the drake definitely beyond any state fit for resisting Rarity the unicorn finally went in for the metaphorical and quite likely literal kill; despite her suppressed consciousness’s objections. While Spike did have fairly tough scales Rarity’s fangs were fit for dealing with most of the similarly study beats one could find all around Equestria; rather than just ponies; and thus were well-suited for rending through the gaps between Spike’s scales. Biting down; Rarity gently eased the sharp enamel into the dragons’ arteries; soon managing to feel the flow of blood against her extended teeth.
The bite only elicited a weak gasp of pain from Spike; who was heavily intoxicated by the magic that had been bled into his system by Rarity’s hypnosis – far more than was really necessary for the unicorn to get away with her feeding; to the point of leaving the boy just about unconscious. As Rarity removed her fangs blood immediately began to trickle from the newfound wound; and the mare swiftly lost her dignified composure; or at least what was left of it; as she pounced upon the pin-pricks and began to greedily drain out her long anticipated meal of iron and plasma.
As her hunger was finally satiated Rarity began to regain some control of her mind; her predatory attitude and vampiric instincts oozing back into the depths of her unconscious. Still, even as her personality was properly restored the unicorn couldn’t help but continue to drink of Spike’s delectable fluid; its taste amplified by many times courtesy of her previous starvation.
She did finally regain her senses upon reenergising herself with her reptilian friend’s blood; immediately beginning to freak out as she realised exactly what she’d done; raising a hoof to touch the blood that now stained her muzzle; horrified to find she wasn’t just imagining things. Finally taking some notice of what was going on she hastily checked over Spike’s body; eternally thankful that Fluttershy had given her some basic tutorage on first aid. Checking the dragon’s pulse (thankfully similar in natural pace to that of a pony’s) the unicorn heaved a sigh of relief to find that he was still alive; although he’d fallen unconscious from the blood loss.
While briefly tempted to abandon the dragon in his presently pitiful state Rarity quickly got over her fear; deciding that since she was the cause of Spike’s injury it was really only fair that she took responsibility for the wound. She could simply patch him up a little and leave him to sleep; but that would probably just lead to the naïve drake going on his own little witch hunt for the story behind his wound; or worse, and probably more likely, Twilight doing about the same once she got back.
And so Rarity carefully scooped up her reptilian admirer with her levitation powers; finding the action effortless in comparison to the usual strain required in doing so; although she’d never found the act hard. Her now undeniable nature as a vampire had clearly given her body quite the overall boost in return for whatever limitations that came with it; reliance on blood and beyond. Of course; it could also have been just a sense of adrenaline… Rarity felt that figuring out all the quirks of her vampiric nature was going to be a bit of a nightmare; especially if she wanted to remain undercover about it.
Rarity brought her still unconscious cargo back to Carousel Boutique with as much stealth as she could muster while being reasonably swift; her current stress overriding her usual lack of concern over ever meeting anyone at night in Ponyville. While the town was beside Everfree Forest it was rare for it to be really threatened by anything on any sort of regular basis; and let alone at night. Most of Ponyville’s citizens were hardworking types, too; and had no time to spend staying up all night… that was a luxury only Canterlot’s youth and upper class seemed to own; as Rarity would certainly know from experience.
Still; she did manage to get there undetected and managed to dodge the bullet of dealing with Sweetie Belle; who was thankfully sound asleep at this point; a little surprising given her usual habit of staying up far past her bedtime by exploiting Rarity’s rather heavy sleeping habits… well, apart from her recent insomnia; and even then she hadn’t exactly had any good reason to go checking on the filly.
Rarity reached her bedroom with Spike still out cold on her back; leaving the unicorn a little concerned about his state after the brief trip; especially given the chilly night weather seeing as the reptile was cold-blooded. She was relieved to find that the dragon wasn’t too cold to the touch once she’d set him down on her bed; seemingly having recovered rather well despite her draining of his blood. No doubt as a dragon; despite being younger; he had a bit more endurance than ponies… plus, Rarity would have liked to think that she’d managed to stop herself before she sucked too much blood out of the poor drake.
The unicorn gently placed Spike onto her bed with her magic; figuring that leaving him to snooze on the couch would probably be a poor idea given the cold weather, and would probably lead to awkward questions from Sweetie in the morning to boot. And it wasn’t as if the situation wasn’t going to be hard enough to explain… she’d have to work on an excuse before the dragon woke up. She supposed that this time her insomnia was probably a bit of a blessing.
For the moment she just tucked in Spike; glad that her grandiose choice in beddings was worth its price on colder nights such as this one. With the dragon attended to for the moment she trotted off to snag a small bandage from her bathroom; neatly covering up the puncture wounds she’d left on the poor boy. Tailoring admittedly wasn’t the most practical talent in more extreme situations; but they didn’t call it injury ‘dressing’ for nothing.
Finally calming her nerves and clearing her mind for the moment Rarity decided that loudly freaking out over her situation wasn’t really the best plan despite her tradition; trying her best to just settle down as she curled up on her bed; idly watching her now calmly slumbering friend. It was rather unsettling for the unicorn to consider how fast her seemingly minor condition had to lead to such chaos for her friends and herself… she wasn’t so sure of how much of it came down to her own fault and how much she could blame on the supposedly supernatural sickness she’s succumbed to.
Still, it all could have ended far, far worse… although Rarity felt that this would just be the beginning of her issues. And there was little she could do about that, really. As much as she trusted in Twilight’s knowledge about just about everything she would no doubt freak out if Rarity owned up to her now rather dark nature; and with Spike bitten even if Rarity managed to slip the incident by the librarian the unicorn would still be left highly strung.
She had some idea of how she might be able to get away with it though… probably just convince the pair it was a minor sewing accident or the like. She was sure she could get it by Spike with a bit of persuasion; and if worse did come to worse she assumed she might be able to rely on her newfound powers; seeing as they seemed to come about so naturally. She was far from pleased to have to face the fact that she’d have to pull the wool over her friends’ eyes, but given the circumstances it really was better for both parties.
For now she couldn’t do much but wait for the morning to come; settling down beside her diminutive would-be suitor; although she was far from in any state to sleep. It was probably best if she just tried to find something to take her mind off of things, rather than putting in a pointless effort to reject her natural inclination towards using the night for something useful. She was far from motivated for the moment, though; instead just enjoying the calm and her now subdued hunger and stress.
She really felt better than good despite her shame now that she was properly revitalised, and as she was in what she’d assume was the natural ‘daytime’ for a vampony… well, she could feel the power she’d been saddled with! As much as she could spend hours whining on about her new state (and she was darn well planning to do so as soon as she got the chance to speak out about her condition) she couldn’t deny that it had some benefits; although she’d take quite some time to grow accustomed to them.. and she’d rather not admit that she actually did somewhat enjoy her vampirism.
Despite her intent on making something of her night Rarity didn’t much trust Spike’s current state enough to leave him alone; and thus decided perhaps the best move at the moment would be just to try and sleep; not to mention think over her planned excuse for her draconic admirer’s less than stellar state.
Thankfully she didn’t need to share her bed with her impromptu visitor; as she had recently dragged one of her armchairs from downstairs up to her room for the sake of finishing some knitting; which would make a fairly acceptable (if vastly less grandiose) bed for the night. Settling into the chair and dragging a thick sheet over herself to fend off the chill of the Winter, the unicorn found the somewhat more compact and constricting space the chair offered (well, at least compared to her usual choice in place for slumbering) rather more comfortable than her bed; certainly a new thought in her mind given her previous choice to pay so much for such a grandiose piece of furniture in the first place.
Such thoughts were to be shelved for now, though… she had plenty to do tomorrow and thought it wise to get some sleep (or at the very least try and get some while she had the chance), rather than suffer through keeping herself awake all night with such petty trains of thought. Doing her best to clear her mind for the moment Rarity just closed her sapphire eyes; allowing herself to succumb to the night’s grasp… preferably in the less homicidal way, this time.