I sat on the couch of my apartment while Vinyl took her shower, she seemed to be rather reluctant to use my shower at first, but I convinced her it was perfectly fine. Since I was alone, my thoughts came wandering back to me and they were all about what had happened in the last hour.
The biggest being I had my first kiss, the second being that said kiss was from a mare. I was still pretty confused about my feelings, if you could call them that, towards Vinyl. I wasn't disappointed in myself for kissing her, I really didn't even have much of a say in that decision since my body sort of copes with my emotions in its own way, whether I like it or not. Vinyl was a lovely pony, a true gem in Canterlot's society, but most ponies didn't see that; they saw fool's gold where as I saw pure gold. It's funny that I say that and yet I know next to nothing about her, which was my aim for this whole dinner thing, and speaking of which, we should probably be getting to soon.
I lifted myself up off the couch and walked towards the hall bathroom to check on Vinyl.
Vinyl had been in the shower for about thirty minutes now and I was starting to wonder what exactly was going on in there. I realize that long showers can be absolutely amazing at times, but I was starting to get hungry.
I walked up to the shower door and knocked firmly a few times, and when she didn't respond, I tried calling her name.
"Vinyl?" I was sure that I had called loud enough to be heard over the showers running water, but still no response came. I knocked once more, this time harder than necessary, but I only received silence once more. I was not only growing more confused, but also a little worry was starting to build on the back of my mind, so I reached for the knob and gave it a turn.
It was unlocked.
Now don't mistake me for some pervert, I was doing this out of the sake of my friend. What if she had fell and been knocked unconscious from the fall? I would have been her only hope. Despite this as a possibility, even though I'm sure Vinyl didn't knock herself out, It didn't change the fact it was a bit invasive, not to mention rude, even if it was my own home.
I pushed in on the door and entered the bathroom, only to first reveal nothing but a wall of steam, and after it dissipated, the sight of one Vinyl lying spread eagle on the ground, belly up to the water, with a rather weird look on her face. Her eyes were closed and her smile was seemingly never ending.
I felt my cheeks catch fire as I immediately canceled the idea of trotting over to her, or even getting near her for that matter. I had no idea what had happened to her, if anything had happened, and for all I knew she could be in one of her feeding moods again.
"Vinyl?" I called out cautiously. This time, I gained her attention as her eyes cracked open and turned towards me, and her smile faded and turned into more of a sheepish smirk.
"O-oh, uh...Hey Octi." She spoke, clearly feeling a bit embarrassed. I felt my cheeks flare as they began to fill with even more blood while I glanced upwards, suddenly very intrigued by my bathrooms ceiling.
"Um..." I was at a loss of words. I didn't know how to talk with her with her in that...position. Not only that, but it was clear she was just relaxing in the shower, so I decided to be rather...blunt.
"We should probably get going soon." I said curtly, still taking extra precaution to avoid glancing at her.
"Oh, uh, one minute." She said as she rolled over from her belly up position and lifted herself up onto her hooves.
I took that as my cue to leave and exited the bathroom just as I heard the sound of running water stop. I made my way to my room first and picked up my saddlebags from its place on the nightstand and trotted back into the living room where I sat for a few minutes.
I heard the sound of the bathroom door, and not much later, Vinyl walked in with her mane still damp, but mostly dried. She looked a lot better than from when she came in my home. The coat of grime was gone, leaving her coat a pristine white, and while the bloodshot look in her eyes was still visible, it was far better than before.
She walked in and gave me a friendly smile before speaking up.
"Do I look more presentable now?" I could hear the joking manner in her voice, but I took the question seriously and gave her my honest opinion, with a little extra something I had been planning.
"Well, you certainly look more presentable, but you're still missing something." I stuck my hoof in my saddlebag and felt around for the thing I had been holding onto for quite some time now.
"What is it?" She asked curiously.
'Well, it's just..." I trailed off, putting more focus into my search.
"Just what?" She asked, clearly getting anxious, but I had found what I was looking for.
"Close your eyes." I said.
"Wha?" She questioned, but after I gave her a look, she sighed and closed her eyes.
I pulled out the pair of purple sunglasses that I had taken quite the precaution to keep up with. I remember Shakes saying they were important to her, so I made them important to me as well.
I got up from my position on the couch and walked over to her, shades in hoof, with an intent clear as day. I placed the shades over her eyes, adjusting them so they properly fit her face, but before I told her to open her eyes, I took the time to admire the look.
"Perfect..." I spoke under my breath. Though I was sure Vinyl would look good regardless of what she was wearing, the glasses just fitted her look perfectly.
"You can open them now." I said as I continued to admire the look.
She felt on her face before her hoof landed on the shades and a smile grew rapidly, making it clear she had realized what had been given to her. The next thing I knew I was wrapped up in a hug.
"Vinyl...w-we should probably get going." I stammered. Vinyl was pleasant to hug regardless, but this 'fresh out of shower' Vinyl was soft to the touch.
She removed herself from me and took a few unsteady steps back to give me some space, not to say that I wanted said space.
"Lead the way!" She said in an energetic tone, as she threw a hoof to the air that threw her off balance, nearly sending her flat on her rump. I gave her a nod, and a snicker, before I headed out the door, Vinyl following close behind.
*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*
We, or I for that matter, settled on a less snobbish place that I would have normally picked, in an attempt to make Vinyl feel more comfortable. The second we settled on a table, Vinyl seemed to collapse in the chair, I had raised a brow at it, but it wasn't that surprising. On the way over to the restaurant she had seemed to stumble quite a bit, once even having to hold onto me for support.
"Are you feeling alright Vinyl?" I asked with concern, she looked up and smiled before waving it off.
"Yeah, just a bit dizzy." I didn't like, nor believe, that answer.
"If you say so..." I said, still not convinced, as I took my seat.
When the waiter came, I ordered a salad and some tea, I get that it's not dinner appropriate but it was good, sue me. Vinyl on the other hand only ordered a beer, and claimed she just wasn't hungry when I asked her about it. After the food came I decided now would be the best time to start asking.
"Vinyl, I know we've been over this before, but I'd still like to ask you a few things about your...'gift'." I used gift as delicately as possible, not exactly wanting to offend her.
"Shoot." She said simply as she struggled to open the bottle cap with both her hooves and her magic.
"Well, do you remember the night you fed on me?" I asked this to both get her attention and because I was still a bit foggy about that night. It seemed to work as she stopped fiddling around with her bottle and looked at me when she told her response.
"Yeah..." She still sounded a bit nervous about the topic, but I didn't blame her.
"Well, why can't I remember much about it?" I asked. She seemed to rub the back of her head with a sheepish smile on her face.
"Well, you see, uh..." She trailed off.
"What?" I asked, rather eager to know.
"Let's just say Vampires have more than just all that strength and stuff." She began.
"They have natural weapons like fangs of course, but also a few...'extras'." The way she said extras chilled me a bit.
"In all honesty, I can't remember much about what happened that night either. The only thing I can recall clearly was the scent of blood...the rest comes in little memories.
"But I...do remember restraining you...and even biting you, but most after that it's mostly a blur." She sounded disappointed in herself and I would have tried to reassure her, but something else was scratching at my mind.
"You said something about Vampires having 'extras'?" I asked, intrigued by something as vague as that, she however, seemed a bit more reluctant.
"Well, yes, and that's what I think the cause is for your memory loss." The look I gave her made it clear I wanted her to elaborate.
"It's kinda like my own special medicine. It will typically just make most the body hypersensitive and make you more...'open' to suggestions along with causing your memories to be a bit hazy about the feeding." As she finished speaking as was both confused as to what she was talking about, and practically on the edge of my seat from her description.
I was pretty sure I was supposed to be mad and probably saying something like "You drugged me?!" but I was actually quite fascinated by the prospect of this, and I was more tempted to see this whole process in action.
"Can you do it now?" I asked suddenly, taking her off guard.
"What?"
"Can you show me? The medicine thing you were talking about." I asked, actually getting excited about just the idea of seeing this in action.
"Well...I guess so." She said as I pushed the free cup of water I received with my tea towards her.
She bent her head down, opened her mouth, and placed her two small canines on the edge of the glass. She then clenched her eyes together tightly, as if she were trying to push something out, and then, slowly but surely, a small golden looking liquid began to slide down the side of the glass. The liquid settled on top of the water as opposed to sinking, which gave me the idea that it was thinner and lighter than water; probably to allow easy passage through the veins of the victim.
She backed her head away from the glass and looked to me, as if for approval.
"That's amazing..." I said as I stared in awe at the liquid before I looked back up to her and smiled. It was mind blowing, it might be because I've never seen something like it before except from snakes in a zoo, but it was truly amazing. The idea of having my own venom was rather appealing. She seemed relieved to see me smile, and in turn, loosened up enough to crack one of her own.
"How does it work?" I asked suddenly, but she seemed more open about it now.
"Well injecting it works well, but it can simply be drunk with any liquid to have the same effects." She said with a smile as she pushed the glass towards the center of the table.
"Might wanna dump that out..." She said with a breathy chuckle.
The rest of dinner passed in a comfortable mood, making friendly conversation throughout the 'meal' as I slowly discovered more about the white mare in front of me. Vinyl, believe it or not, is an extremely simple pony when it comes to standards and entertainment; she was distracted for about five minutes when I gave her a slice of cucumber, pretending it was a UFO as she abducted croutons. Vinyl had given up on opening the bottle of beer, claiming it was 'too hard to open' and near the end of the meal I noticed she was acting rather...off.
"Are you sure you're alright Vinyl?" I asked again.
"Yeah...fine." She sounded exhausted, so I still didn't believe she was alright. She was sweating slightly and she seemed to be rather unfocused throughout the meal, even zoning out occasionally. I raised a brow at her and then my hoof to signal the waiter; I should get her out of the public's eye before something goes wrong. I had learned from my mistakes that when Vinyl starts acting off that it's a sort signal to do something before she does, because when she does something, it most likely won't be good for either of us.
The waiter came with the check just as Vinyl caved, her head landing smack on the table with a thud, shaking the empty glasses, and her body relaxing. The waiter attempted to move to her to help and check if she was alright, but I stopped him before he could. Shakes said: "Don't touch her when she's like that." and even though I had plans to do just that, I was going to be sure it was me who did it.
The waiter seemed reluctant to do so, but he eventually backed away and continued with his duties. I left the right amount of bits, tip included, on the table and set to the task of getting Vinyl home.
When I first laid hoof on her she tensed, but I was expecting it. I pulled on her and eventually had her laid across my back, her head resting on my saddlebags. I got a few looks as I walked out of the restaurant, but that was at the back of my mind at the moment, Vinyl was on top for both her safety and those around her, myself included.
It had become night over the course of the meal; I wasn't that surprised, but it still crossed my mind as I took to the sidewalks on my journey home. The night was cold, but Vinyl's body was warm and her breathing was steady, so I assumed she was probably out cold; most likely a good thing for me, it would make working with her more easier if she was unconscious rather than lusting for blood. Though that doesn't make the process of carrying her anymore easy, carrying her was akin to a sack of sand; which would probably be light for a pony, but it was still heavy. That's not to say she was fat, quite the opposite in fact, she was a rather shapely mare; but enough about that, I should be focused on what's around me, not what's on me.
While I was walking down the sidewalk, still about a good fifteen minutes from home, I heard various sounds. Things like trashcans falling over and the creatures of the night kept my ears company, but the one that stuck out was the sound of hooves. They weren't mine and nopony else was nearby. I stopped to check and see if it was just me and my mind was tricking me, but the seconds I stopped, the hooves continued until they stopped about a second after my own.
"Hello?" I called out, turning my head in various directions to try and get a glimpse of whoever else was out here, but I didn't see anypony.
"Hello." A deep disembodied voice said from behind, causing me to swing my head to its origin. My head came face to face with a black stallion whose facial features were very hard to make out thanks to his black coat and the darkness of night,
"U-uh." I stuttered in surprise.
"You know young lady," He began in his deep and gruff voice. A bright orange light illuminated from his forehead, revealing he was a unicorn.
"It's not safe to be out here alone, especially with an unconscious friend. There are some really mean people out here, you know." He said as he flashed a wicked smile, giving me a lovely view of his sharp distended canine teeth.
I began to take a few steps back in an attempt to distance myself from the dark vampire, but he simply moved forward, closing the gap. I thought of making a run for it, but with Vinyl on my back that was out of the question; the only way I would even begin to have the slightest of chances at getting away was if I ditched Vinyl, and that wasn't happening. I stopped my movement and he stopped his, eyeing me with a mischievous smile.
"So how's this going to be? Will you do what I say," His horn still lit with his devious orange aura. "Or do you need some convincing?" I could tell it wasn't a question, it was a challenge.
I had already been fed on once and I didn't plan on letting that happen again.
I took up a position, not one meant to be challenging, nor to be defensive, but more of one that was ready to dodge. His smug smile turned to a grimace as his horn charged and the glow of orange became more clear. It made a sort of loud buzzing noise as it charged, the noise escalating higher and higher till it was nearly ear piercing, but I held both my focus and my stance; ready to try and avoid anything thrown at me.
That is until I felt the weight on my back suddenly lift.
I turned to see that Vinyl had fell off my back and onto the ground below, and was moaning groggily. While I was looking to Vinyl, the black stallion took advantage of the opening that had been offered to him, and shot a bolt of magic hurdling my way. My eyes went wide as the orange streak flew towards me.
I braced for the impact of the bolt but the impact was blocked by a small, plate like, blue disc.
I turned my head to see Vinyl's horn dimly lit, with herself slowly, but surely, trying to get up. The black stallion didn't quite agree with this, and sent another bolt flying towards Vinyl this time, only to be blocked by the same floating shield once more that seemed to be moving on its own. The unicorn assaulter was beginning to get agitated and unleashed a flurry of the small bolts from earlier so that the shield couldn't block all of them, but Vinyl had fully risen by then.
I watched as the dozens of bolt flew towards me, utterly awestruck by the sight, until I felt Vinyl stick her head between my front and back legs and positioned me on her back, much like I had with her. The blue shield had moved to block the first of the bolts, but the many others that followed got past it and were heading straight for me and Vinyl. I clinched my eyes shut for the impact just as Vinyl positioned her head directly at the oncoming barrage of magic.
*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*
I opened my eyes to the familiar sight of my apartment building in front of me, only a few feet away. I blinked once or twice to make sure I wasn't dreaming.
'I could have sworn I was just about to be pulverized by magic.' I thought as I took a look around, my eyes landing on the back I was on.
"Vinyl?" I asked.
She turned her head, glasses glinting when she turned.
"Yeah?" I froze. It was that voice, but she wasn't doing anything except carrying me on her back. I was cautious, these were uncharted waters.
She let out a snicker.
"Your face is adorable when you're thinking." She turned her head back around as she continued for the apartments.
"Wha?" Was all I could let out, I was dumbstruck by this. Usually when Vinyl used that seductive voice she was trying to feed on me, but now she had the perfect opportunity, but instead was carrying me back home.
I didn't know what happened, but if my memory serves correct, it seemed that Vinyl had saved me...
Again