//------------------------------//
// Scrolls of Lumino the 4th. 
// Story: Twin Night Terror's 
// by FluffyDoom 
//------------------------------//

	Chapter 12: The Scientific Scrolls of Lumino the 4th.

She had one place in mind, but knew that at the moment she could not go there. It wasn’t because her wings were aching and both heart and head hurt, it was because Astra had been taught to track. Ponies, dears, it wouldn’t make a difference, especially when Astra knew her scent by heart.
She zig-zagged through the trees, splashed through the mud, dipped herself in some water, and flew just above a nearby patch of poison joke. That should hide her scent from the most sensitive of noses, and only an expert Pegasus could track her through the air, and neither of them were even a Pegasus! Being a vampire was different, Shimmer could see that.
She flew higher and higher, until she reached cloud cover. For the rest of her flight she flew through them, thinking of not only her rotten behavior the last month, but trying to figure out why she had turned into a control freak. Yes, it was true, the power had gone to her head, but why so suddenly? If only she had bothered to grab a few scrolls before leaving. Heck, if only she had bothered to grab anything before leaving. But nooo, she just had to fly right on out of there, frantically trying to flee them.

“I… Shimmer!” Astra screeched and flew after her sister, even though she knew she would never catch up. The only reason she had out flown Shimmer in the first was because she turned invisible.
Eclipse watched the Vampire give chase, even though it was useless. She let a sad sigh escape her, and decided to turn her attention to the things at hoof. The scroll and some extra bits. She was alone in the cave, might as well try to read and plunge her mind in the past instead of the present and future. Taking down a nearby scroll marked, To Change. An account on Vampires and Lycans change into the supernatural. It seemed pretty stupid, but hey, the expert themselves wrote it.


	Part one, the effects.


	


	Both species are affected not only mentally, but physically in the first three moons of their change. Sometimes it is drastic, and other times it is minimal. Most of the time it can hardly be noticed, unless the being is sired by a very strong Vampyre or Lycan. Usually the older a Vampyre of Lycan, the stronger they are.


	The mental changing effects often wear off around the third moon, but such is not always the case. An example is, if a Vampyre is not corrected in its behavior, it is wired into the brain that it is ok to act like so. It takes either strong magick, determination, or life changing experiences, for them to set to rights.


	General observation shows that Lycans are the more emotional of the two species, and as a Vampyre I wish to tell my readers that I am not being bias. Any science that you can bring into this large mess of supernatural states that because Lycans are closer to being untamed animals than Vampyres, they are more emotional. They would be harder to be put to rights if any major mental changes were not corrected before the third moon. Sometimes though, a Lycan might recognize it themselves, and more often than not, the problem is sorted out right then and there.


	


	I would like to continue onto the physical differences now. Three is a highly common number between the rival species, it appears. For both species they will slowly gain the benefits until their third moon strikes, in which both will be considered fully “fledged”, or, “adults”. Vampires prefer the term fledged, and the Lycans often call those before three moons, pups, and after three moons, adults.


	Both species are strong, and though Lycans are stronger than Vampyres naturally, they gain extra muscle and mass is put on every time they transform, and after three moons they can learn to transform on will. (I would like to state, that before three moons if they are angered to the point of blind fury they WILL transform from high emotions.)


	Vampyres get different powers and longer lives instead, though they can easily overpower the everyday pony. It is often believed that when the Vampyres kill ponies, Lycans are naturally attracted to the area to kill off any horrific Vampyres. Almost like they guard ponykind.


	In the separate parts for the two species, I shall explain their powers.


	


	Part two, Vampyres.


	


	The bites.


	A Vampyre can feed on a pony without turning them, and if a pony isn’t a drudge, they can wipe their memory with a bit of practice. A drudge is a pony that allows only one vampire to feed on them. You can sometimes spot a drudge because their eyes will turn red, but a few ponies are born with red eyes, so it is important to never accuse anypony of being a drudge.


	To turn a fellow pony and give them the immortal “gift” you simply bite them, and they bite you back. When you bite the pony though, you must insert your venom, unlike a Lycan who can transfer it through bite or claws when they have turned into their wolf counterpart.


	Vampyres can feed off of any mammal, but eventually they will need the blood of ponies to satisfy them instead of striking off the hunger. They will slowly go for bigger and bigger prey until eventually they lunge at the nearest pony. It is important for Vampyres to have a drudge if they don’t plan on living in pony society, or if they plan on it but aren’t not yet masters at the mind-wiping technique.


	Vampyres have many powers, and many more undiscovered. Some rumor they were supposed to be the unicorns of the night, but something went wrong and turned them into the undead instead. I choose not to dwell on rumors though, I look into the facts of my newly made “life”. Bah, life, I preferred my old one, with a beating heart!


	I digress. The most common powers are-


	

She opened up the next scroll.


	Are as listed:


	Teleportation, mind-wipe, hypnotise, blood-sting, and blood-stone.


	Teleportation is just that, though sometimes I feel Vampyres use it needlessly, considering we grow new wings upon transformation. Mind-wipe has been mentioned before, but for those of you with thick-skulls, it is where any short-term memory of feeding is wiped from your mind. Hypnotise can force a pony to do your bidding, but it is an ify ify power, unless you don’t mind killing your slave afterwards. Sometimes they remember what they are forced to do, and other times they do not, but it can be highly useful if you wish for a pony to do a short term activity, because then you can use your mind-wipe on them. Blood-sting and stone are offensive powers to be used in fights against either Lycans or hunters.


	Blood-sting is more advised for hunters, because if you accidentally swallow their blood, even if it is laden in garlic, it won’t leave you sick for three days afterwards if you accidentally drink more than a cup-full. Blood-sting is where you bite your victim and insert only one part of your venom into their blood, the part that brings the pain. It is said Vampyres simply know how to separate the parts of their venom… And we do, even a pacifist like I can.


	Blood-stone is very simple and can be used against anything. It works especially well against Lycans if you can get a good chunk of silver. You simply grab a rock/mineral, and you bleed on it with the weapon in mind. While it is active it will slowly sap your blood-stores though, so if you want it out for more than a day, keep your drudge close by and feed from it at least four times a day.


	If you must hunt, remember the mind-wipe. If you haven’t perfected it yet, have an experienced Vampyre with you.


	Yet, these powers for Vampyres seem to remove the original powers you had when you were living. Very little remains after you turn. This is unlike the Lycan, where they only lose their species power when in wolf form, or three days revolving around the full moon. Pegasi can still fly though, and Unicorns can cast a bit of magick.


	

That scroll was shorter, on to the third one. Eclipse was glad she was learning so much. Even if this writer seemed to hate himself.

	


	Part three, Lycans.


	


	The Moon.


	Ponies are right to fear the full moon, but they should always be wary for when night creatures might strike! I should have been wary when those lovely ladies approached an old stallion like me. To bad I didn’t know I shouldn’t bite back.


	Lycans, as mentioned before, can be trained to shift on will, but only after three moons.  Before three moons they are pups, and must be watched for any bad behavior so they don’t grow into it. If spotted, you must try to stomp it out, and without angering the Lycan if possible. To much anger can cause a forced transformation. They should also be kept out of public’s eye if possible.


	After three moons, and if kept in a good environment, though sometimes a for a Lycan this isn’t even needed, they will become a good adult. Vampyres have recently begun experimenting with pups, snatching them away after tracking down any Lycan attacks. The crueler Vampyres wish to use them as guard wolves, and I fear they may succeeded with younger ponies, who are the most impressionable. Adult ponies appear to resist and have sway over pups when the two are in contact.


	There is only one thing that can force a Lycan to transform, for not even anger has this type of sway. Anger transformations can be resisted, but not the moon. No one can resist the moon, and therefore no one can resist Lunarbeam, its current avatar. She controls the moon cycles, and therefore has sway over both Vampyres and Lycans. She is the mother of the night.


	I hate Lunarbeam, current avatar of the moon.


	I never wanted to be apart of this nightly world, but I am. After I finish this last scroll may I never see the dark again! I will only see the white blinding light of Solarbeam, bringer of joy, light, and the sun!


	Ah but these scrolls aren’t about me, they are about the Lycans now. I do say, I wish I could undo what I have just written.


	As I was writing, no Lycan, not even an original (if any still live) can not resist the full moon, and a few special Lycans can not resist other moon phases. Through careful study, infiltration, spying, and bribes, we are finding a new species of Lycan, well not so new, but very rare and previously unknown to Vampyres.


	A few Lycans, and this is extremely rare, transform during the time of new moon, when not even a sliver hangs in the sky. There is nothing different about them except for the fact that they transform at a different time. Then there are the rarest of all. The Blue Moon Wolf. Only two have been seen in known history. The Vampyre who spotted them razing a town from afar was terrified for his life. Even from that great distance, the Blue Wolves seemed to have noticed him.


	His report was, these Lycans were stronger, faster, and had better equipped senses. He called them the Blue Wolves for they appeared on a blue moon and their pelts were tinted with a blue coloring. That is all that is known about them, IF they even exist. Perhaps he merely spot two temporarily awakened originals?


	


	Written by, Lumino the 4th.


	

The scrolls ended. Was that it?
Quickly Eclipse got up, despite her legs still protesting, and searched around for more of this self-hating author. Much to her dislike, there was no more of his work that she could find, and he was one of the few that gave straight out information about the two species!
“Drat.” She murmured, and began to keep watch for Astra now that she had nothing else that caught her eyes.

A week past since the chaotic and spontaneous night in the Everfree. Astra had soon fallen into a gloom upon re-entering the cave. She had not returned with her sister, instead her sister had expertly hidden her scents in a number of things.
“I though I found a bit of her scent over some poison joke, but who would go near that?” Astra whimpered.
“No one with brains, and your sister has brains.” Eclipse answered. “Brains enough to be fine.” She neglected to tell her that her sister may still be in danger of being influenced by bad.
That had not cheered her up though, Astra had been so glum that she had not even gone hunting, and was starting to get atrocious cramps. So when they got a tiny package from Shimmer, that appeared there in a flash of Unicorn magick, to say they were pleasantly surprised was a gross understatement.
“Shimmer! Shimmer sent this!” Astra screeched in joy. “I would know my twins scent anywhere!” She gave a fangy grin.
Eclipse chuckled. The night after the cave she had spent the night there, but she had to go to work the next day and explain that an emergency drew her away. At the moment she was visiting before she had to go off to work. “Well hurry and open it, I must leave soon. After all one of us does work.”
Astra nodded and inhaled the scent once more. A hauntingly tempting smell also enwrapped the cardboard box. It made her mouth water, what was it? It also seemed to wish for her fangs to unsheath.
With a shaking hoof she opened the top, and the scent source was soon spotted. Somehow Shimmer had sent her ponies blood in a bag. With uncaring hooves, the Vampire tore it from the box, turned around, and guzzled it down. The blood soothed the long-since ignored fire, and did other wonders for her. Her mind seemed to clear, and her spirits uplifted. The cramps stopped.
“Ah, my twin knows me well.” Astra purred, mouth covered in blood.
“You got a little blood…”
Astra blushed slightly. “Oops. Well, I will wash it off later, I need to read that letter!”
Checking for clean hooves, she grabbed the second to the top object, a piece of paper.

Dear Astra,

Hi sissy! It is me Shimmer, did you like your gift? I had a hunch you would need it. I hope you are hunting though. Anyway, I am fine, and I meet some friends. Dig around the box and you will find a picture. The picture is in black and white though, considering these guys are um. Well, they are hobos too. I guess my idea hiding place wasn’t as vacant as I hoped it would be. It is an abandoned project though, recently abandoned, so the area is nice.
Anyway,these two ponies are the only ones, well, there is a third pony but she is like, super distant. Odd little Unicorn she is. Anyway, the female I met is called Heartsong, and her husband is Paper Poet. Silly mushy names, aren’t they? However, they don’t act like their names, they act more crass than anything, they tell me it comes with being treated like dirt for so long. Used to live in Canterlot apparently.
Anyway, as I said, all is fine with me. I miss you, but I will send you another letter next week, promise! And I will visit when I said I would so you don’t worry about me, but I think I am going to stay here for three months… I feel oddly accepted here, and at peace. One last thing, I am sorry I won't be there for our sixteenth birthday, but I will only be a week late!

Love, Shimmer.

P.S. I did get the unsocial Unicorn to send this for me.

Curious about the company her sister was now keeping, she rummaged around in the box which held a bit of ripped up paper. Digging under it she found said black and white picture.
In it, two adult ponies held a widely grinning Shimmer between them, while in the distance you could see a pony-like figure with a horn, though it was blurry. Probably the Unicorn. The female, Heartsong, had a straight mane with two colors, though her colors were impossible to tell. Her mane was long and ungroomed, but Astra could see a hint of unhideable beauty. Her cutiemark looked like some dust, but Astra guessed that if it had color, it would be something like powdered blush.
The guy on her left also had a lange mane, though his hair was much neater. It too was straight. Poet Paper appeared to have friendly eyes, and his grin was smaller than the two females in the picture. His curtiemark featured a piece of paper, and heart, and a quil.
The blur was just that, a blur with a tiny horn on it. Kinda sketchy to Astra, but as long as that Unicorn did not harm her sister, she was fine with it.
“Oh, Eclipse did you read this! Shimmer is ok!” Astra ignored the tiny hurt part of her. It was like Shimmer had already found a family, yet Astra knew she was being stupid and unreasonable with those thoughts.

Shimmer was better than ok, she was ecstatic. As the Unicron. who finally revealed her name, sent the package.
“OH thank you so much, Ashta!” Shimmer grinned.
Ashta squinted her eyes at the dark, and replied without looking at Shimmer. “No problemo, just don’t go telling those nosey hobos mah name, you here?” The female let out a tiny glare.
Her accent was slightly country twang, yet it also hinted at a high-society one too. When Shimmer inquired about it, she was rewarded with a glare and one word, traveler.
“Huh, your name is a lot like my sisters.” She sighed.
Ashta snorted. “Not surprised, if y’all hail from the Canterlot region. Lots o’ Ashta’s and Astra’s and Ash’s. A-S is a popular thing there.”
Shimmer shrugged. “I think we are from there, I know my parents were. All I remember from my younger days is traveling really.”
Without another word, Ashta wandered off, abruptly leaving Shimmer alone.
Shimmer finally let her friendly mask fall off, though it wasn’t replaced by complete scorn, a mixture of curiosity and annoyance now covered her face. The dark pink Unicorn was a mystery to her. Even her cutiemark held no information, it was simply a cloak.
Ashta was more of a magenta colored pony, with short black straight hair, and a streak of red going down the middle. Her mane was dull, which seemed to match the outer personality of the pony, and everything about her spoke secretive and uncaring. Like a rock.
The married couple were a bipolar difference compared to her, why even the timid Poet had more spunk than she! Poet was a shy Earth Pony with a creamy orange pelt, and a white splotch on his chest. He had large innocent eyes that could even make the most aggressive ponies calm down. His mane was orange just like most of him.
His wife was definitely the creative, experimentive one in the relationship. Song loved to go exploring, and though she was homeless, it did not stop her from following her passion, even if it had shanged her slightly. She did indeed have a blush dust cutiemark, made out of yellow, green, and blue dust. Her pelt was light green, and she had a strawberry red mane with a pink streak in it. She was also an Earth Pony.
Her current place of habitance was the old Pony Sisters castle. What had once upon a time been a project for repairs, was long since abandoned when a supposed shadow pony started to show her face again.
“Yeah, she likes to feast on tiny fillies!” Song had given a giggle, and smiled evilly at Shimmer.
Shimmer had merely scoffed. “I am no more a filly, than you are a Pegasus!” That had earned the sensible’s mare respect.
Speaking of the mare, Song called out from the dark. “Ey Shims, food’s ready!”
Shimmer trotted up happily. “Thanks, Song. You guys barely even know me, yet you have been so kind.” She gave them a grin.
Poet was already sitting down at the once fine table. He gave a slight shrug. “You are just a filly, Shimmer, and you seemed so distraught when you arrived a week ago.” His calm quiet voice seemed to fly over to her, despite his lack of strength behind it. “We simply felt the need to help you, like all good ponies.”
“Yeah, Shims, so pop a squat and dig in. There is plenty of food here thanks to you! Say, how do you know all the good food finding tips, when my hubby and I have been alive longer than you homeless?”
She shrugged. “Astra is super smart. I told you how my twin is a Unicorn, and because Unicorns don’t have speed or strength, they have magick and smarts. Really, Astra figured it all out, even wrote down things she noticed.”
“Well, count yourself lucky you have such a fine twin.” Song nodded her head as she bit into a sweet apple. “And from what you told us yesterday about her and that Eclipse lady, I still can’t see why you ran away. You maybe wanna tell us tonight?”
Poet shot a glance at Heart. “You don’t have to though.” He said firmly. “Afterall, you only meet us a week ago. You even said yourself, what you told us isn’t half of what is going on between you three mares, and I would hate to pry.” He shot another glance at Song, who sighed.
Shimmer nodded her thanks to the soft-spoken stallion. “Much thanks, Poet. I think I will keep it to myself for now. Maybe as the month draws to an end I will tell you. Maybe.”
Song gave a grin. “Well, if I ever get to pushy just tell me, or Poet.” She finished the apple. “For now though, nighty. Never like to stay up late, y'know?”
Poet nodded agreement. “Same, though I suspect your half-night classes start soon. Do you want me to escort you there?”
Shimmer stretched her wings. THey no longer ached after the night of flying away from her family and problems. Sometimes a mare simply needed a vacation, even if she disliked running away. “Nah, my wings will get me there tonight!” She promised and floated into the air. “Cya!”