Book One; Chapter Twelve
Little Packages
The little filly smiled at the stallions and knocked. There was a long silence as everypony waited for something to happen. There was a grunt outside the door and everypony stared at the filly.
"Hi, mister guard. I have a request."
"Is that so?" came a deep voice from the other side.
"Yes. I would like to greet my master and serve her once more before the banquet."
"You gotta be kidding me. I am not going to let you out."
"Please mister?"
"How would you even know if I was a guy or girl, eh?"
"Mister."
"I could've been some mare on a shift."
"Mister, if you don't let me out, my mistress will be very angry. Trust me, you don't want to get her angry."
"Eh? And who's this 'mistress' you speak of that I apparently don't want to get angry?"
"Princess Maxii." Caramel froze. Flash paled. Blueblood looked uneasy for the first time since he met any of them. Simon gulped and placed his face in his hands. He sat on an empty cot.
"I knew this could turn out to be worse than it seemed. What are the odds we've been getting involved with a bucking vampire princess." There was a shuffling outside the door and the sound of several locks moving. The door opened and a nervous ghoul poked his head in.
"Well, why didn't you say so, huh? Off you go."
West opened his eyes and blinked. Rashel stood in front of him with a glare that could kill. His head throbbed and he was sore all over. He quickly remembered Rashel kicking his butt and looking very fine while doing so. He smiled cheekily and blew her a kiss. She bared her teeth and growled.
"Letting your wild side out, I see." West tried to get up only to find that his arms and legs were tied in thick ropes. "Ropes? Oooh, kinky." Rashel wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"It is not kinky."
"Yes it is, sweetheart."
"Don't call me that!"
"Do you mind doing a little more with your mouth than talking?" Rashel nearly choked when she realized what he was saying.
"Gross!"
"Choking already? You haven't even started..."
"Stop saying disgusting things to me!"
"What do you mean?" Rashel rolled her eyes and walked towards the door. "Niiice view."
" I have a boyfriend, you perv!" She walked out and closed the door behind her.
"I have no problem with third-wheelers..."
The filly pranced down the hall, a grumbling ghoul guard following behind. They passed many doors but there was one in particular that she was looking for. She smiled to herself as they neared her mistresses room but as she passed another room, a raven haired girl came out and flipped her hair in frustration. The ghoul behind her saw the girl and pointed a shadowy finger.
"Hey! You there! State your name and your business roaming these halls." Rashel glanced at him and the filly.
"You okay, Hun? Is this loser bothering you?" she asked. The filly shook her head.
"I'm helping a bunch of stallions escape and save a whole bunch of ponies from being vampire snacks." The filly whispered. "I can tell you're not from around here. What's your name?"
"I'm talking to ya!" The ghoul hissed. "I'm taking you to the Princes to be dealt with if you do not state your business here."
"I'm a guest of Maxii. Relax." Rashel turned to the filly. "I'm Rashel. Who're you, little one?" The ghoul narrowed his eyes and folded his arms. He was not pleased to have met two others who knew the Princess personally. She could be... a little erratic when friends of hers were approached with hostility.
"My names Dinky. Wanna come with me while I lead this guy to the Princess?"
"Uhh...sure..." The two continued to walk to their desired destination (well, Dinky's desired destination anyway) and the ghoul followed behind them glumly. They entered a comfy-looking room with a soft, fluffy carpet and a four poster bed. In the corner stood Maxii chatting with her brother and a blonde pony-servant. They all turned and gave the three curious looks.
"Rashel? Dinky? What're you doing here?"
Caramel was sitting on a cot, thinking of a plan to save themselves from incoming doom while Simon paced back and forth. He ran a hand through his hair and babbled on about every possible thing that could have gone wrong. Blueblood scowled and turned to Flash, who was grumbling to himself.
"Remind me exactly what you needed help with when you brought him along with you?" Blueblood said.
"Lay off, Blueblood." Flash folded his arms. "He can and will be a great help."
"And that time he helps would be...?"
"I can help, it's just vampires were not in the job description!" Simon shouted. He sighed. "I wish I had my backpack. My laptop and stuff is in there."
"Too bad these guys are too out of it to help create and pull through with a plan." Flash said, gesturing to the room full of dopy ponies. One of them lazily opened her eyes and groaned.
"Yea...if they weren't drugged...or magic spelled or whatever...some or all of them would've been a great help." Blueblood agreed. He thought for a second. "Is there a way to reverse the effects of the spells that were cast on them?"
"No. Not without a unicorn who knows how to reverse those types of spells." Caramel sighed.
"Yea. It's not like we can stop these ponies from eating the food, which is probably drugged, and have somepony with basic knowledge about magic be guided by somepony who knows about the electro-shock therapy and therefor can help combine both to cancel out the spell completely." Simon quickly said in one breath. The other three stallions stared at him with wide eyes.
"Referring to your question from before...I think that time is now." Caramel stated bluntly.
"Who knew?" Flash smiled and ignored the glare from Simon.
"Hey!"