It took a bit, but Fluttershy slowly began to warm up to the idea of being a vampire over the course of the night. The book Twilight gave her was helpful in that regard.
It explained so much that she didn’t know. It introduced the concepts of feeding and disguise, as well as other little necessities such as subtlety and secrecy, amongst other things.
Being nocturnal, side effects of sunlight, weaknesses and strengths, and all this was only in the basics. There were three different sections for the three races. While the introduction was mostly just text and headings, the pegasus section was filled with diagrams and pictures to accompany it, astounding to find in a hoof written book.
Fluttershy was grateful that everything was explained down to the finest detail, as it would save time from asking Twilight to many more questions. Before reading, she never would have noticed that her wings were longer, sleeker. It was a barely noticeable change, but one that might gain the attention of ponies such as Rainbow Dash, who knows more about wings than some others.
Within several hours, Fluttershy had completely read through the entire book. Being oddly awake, she flipped back from the conclusion in the end of the book to the unicorn section, figuring that it might be fun to read a bit more before going to sleep. The first page was similar to the pegasus section she had already read, detailing how a unicorn’s horn would grow longer and sharper.
A few minutes later she was sound asleep, book lying on her chest like a makeshift blanket.
Twilight meanwhile spent much of her time panicking. In an effort to adjust Fluttershy to her new changes, and teach her a few things she would need to know, she would need help. Given that she wasn't even the right race, let alone able to do many of the things she would have to be teaching, Twilight spent much of her time writing a letter to the one vampire among their small number that she already knew, who happened to be a pegasus by chance.
After mailing her letter at the post office, Twilight headed back through town to the small cottage on the edge of the forest.
As soon as she arrived, she looked upstairs to find the adorable sight. She was actually familiar with falling asleep while reading. Her parents always made her go to bed before she was ready, though she usually wasn’t tired at the time. So she would carefully light her horn when nopony was looking, and continue reading whatever piece of literature she was interested in at the time.
She almost always woke up with a book draped over her, so often in fact that Shining Armor had actually started a collection of photos he had taken with the camera he had got for his birthday. He had quite a few embarrassing photos as well, one of which featuring a sleeping Twilight attempting to eat a book, and another where she was holding onto a book tightly, as if it was protecting her from whatever bad dreams had been plaguing her at the time.
Of course, those photos weren’t just a collection… they also made for great blackmail material. In fact, that was one of the only things that kept her from driving Cadence insane when their parents were out.
Perhaps she was beginning to adjust a bit better. Fluttershy wasn’t a pony that would be expected to adapt to being a predator easily but perhaps Twilight had doubting her a bit too much.
Twilight pulled herself away from the sight. A couch might not be as comfortable as a bed, but Twilight would also do well with a nap.
-----
Fluttershy was not pleased right now. The source of her displeasure was the giggling unicorn standing in front of her.
Fluttershy had been sleeping well, no nightmares or fears to haunt her. Sometime during her slumber Twilight had woken her... abruptly. In the process she had fallen out of bed... again. Twilight went on saying something so quickly that it took her several seconds to realize that Fluttershy was on the floor.
So here they were, Twilight giggling about Fluttershy's placement on the floor, and Fluttershy getting up in such a way as to attempt to show exactly how displeased she was. In the end her scow and uncoordinated movement only came off as cute however.
“So how did you sleep?” Twilight said, trying to change the subject in one of the most obvious ways she could. The fanged smile she wore as she said in made her look even more adorable and embarrassed than she actually was.
“You woke me up.” She replied dully.
“Oh, well you can forgive me for that, can't you?” Twilight asked, inciting a tired laugh from her friend.
After a short moment of silence, Twilight sighed and said, “Alright, I know you just got up, and I really don't like having to be the one to break this to you, things are not going to be easy for you for a while. It's not that I don't want to just forget any of this happened, but it just can't be done. There's nothing we can do but move forward now, and that frightens me...”
“Why?” Fluttershy asked.
“Because whether we like it or not, things are going to change. Everything you know about the world is wrong Fluttershy, and the truth isn't pleasant. I didn't want to have to drag you or any of our friends into this, but you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and... and I just panicked alright! I... I didn't want to hurt you... I...” Twilight took a moment to breath and calm herself before continuing, her voice shaking, “Ever since I came to Ponyville, I've loved you and all our friends. I tried to plan around our friendship when I prepared for this. I tried to think of ways I could perform the full extent of my duties while keeping you all in the dark about who I was, what I was.”
“I had contingency plans, and I even made sure my contingency plans had contingency plans. I thought of ways to get out of going to parties and picnics and ways to go to parties but still do everything I needed to do. I love all of you so much. You were like a second family to me, and I couldn't bear the thought of anything happening between us. You trusted me and never even once thought I would lie to you, even though I lied to you every moment since I met you, you still loved me.”
“It wasn't that I didn't trust you, or that I didn't think our friendship was strong enough to overcome this, it was just that... I could finally let my guard down and just be myself a bit. I didn't need to hide behind some false personality and I could have fun for once.”
“I know that you already forgave me for this, but I can't forgive myself for bringing you into this.”
Fluttershy took a moment to process it all, but then said, “It's alright, in fact, I sort of like it.”
“How can you like this!?” Twilight asked with surprise.
“Well, I mean, we aren't so different anymore, and you don't need to go through this alone anymore.” Fluttershy said, “I love you even though you hurt me, and now you finally have somepony that understands you.”
Twilight looked down and sighed, “I know, but is that really a good thing?”