Embracing the Darkness

by BlueAzura

Chapter 12

Twilight nervously rubbed her hooves together as her assistant served tea and cookies to her friends. The unicorn could feel a bead of sweat running down the side of her face as she turned her attention to each of their faces. She jumped in her chair when a cup appeared in front of her face. “Oh! Thank you, Spike.”

The baby dragon nodded. “Do you want me to go upstairs?”

The purple unicorn shook her head. “No, it’s best that you hear this too.”

Happy to finally be able to ‘hang out’ with the grownups, Spike immediately pulled up a chair next to the alabaster unicorn.

The librarian took one more look into each of her friends’ face and took a deep breath. “I-I’m pretty sure that you’ll all wondering what this is about, right?” They all slowly nodded, causing the unicorn to feel even more nervous. “This is… uhh wow… how do I explain this…” ‘Just say it! Spit it out!’

The butterscotch Pegasus decided to help her frightened friend. “Umm… maybe you can start at the part when you decided to hide whatever it is from us?… if you don’t mind that is…”

Twilight could already feel her resolve slipping. “Uhh well… it all started back when we were looking for the elements...”

Rarity couldn’t help but speak up. “Why, darling, that was quite some time ago wasn’t it?”

The purple unicorn nodded, already feeling the guilt forming inside her. “Yeah…it happened when we got separated back at the old castle.”

The whole group jumped when Rainbow Dash stomped on the table with a hoof. “Wait… you saying that something happened to you when we weren’t there?” The cyan Pegasus began rubbing her mane furiously with her hooves. “Gah! I knew we were too slow in saving you!” She lowered her head in shame. “This was my fault wasn’t it?”

Twilight’s eyes widen in surprise. “No, Rainbow, there was absolutely nothing you could’ve done to prevent this from happening!” She placed a comforting hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “So please don’t ever blame yourself for this.”

It was Pinkie Pie’s turn to speak. “But, what the hay happened anyways? I need to know first.” She stared intently at the librarian.

The purple unicorn closed her eyes and took a deep breath. ‘Okay… here goes…’ She opened her eyes. “I’m a vam-”

*Thump-thump*

Twilight suddenly gasped, clutching her chest with a hoof. ‘Not now! Why is it so soon?!’

*Thump-thump*

“Twilight, is something wrong?” Rarity leaned forward, concern written on her face.

The vampony couldn’t help but stare at the exposed neck of her friend, looking tastier by the second… “I-I-I…” She immediately threw herself away from the group, smashing painfully into the bookshelves.

Everypony stood up. “Twilight, what’s wrong with you?” asked Rainbow Dash, taking a step forward.

*Thump-thump*

Still holding on to her burning chest, Twilight quickly sputtered. “I-I n-need to get into the b-basement!” Without another word, she bolted towards the door leading to the library’s basement. Smashing the door aside and taking the steps three at a time, Twilight rushed to the familiar end of the room.

*Thump-thump*

This time however, Twilight did indeed tear off the valve in her huger-crazed state. Not even caring about how the liquid tasted anymore, the unicorn took shot after shot of the artificial blood. It wasn’t until she could feel the liquid sloshing around inside her stomach that she finally stopped with a gasp of air. Coughing slightly, Twilight placed a hoof to her chest and felt the pain slowly disappearing.

“What the hay was that all about?!” Still breathing heavily, the unicorn turned to see that everypony had followed her downstairs to watch her. Rainbow took a step forward and asked, “What exactly are you drinking every day, Twilight?”

Not knowing how the cyan Pegasus knew about this, Twilight quietly said, “Artificial blood…”

Rarity gasped, looking both surprised and slightly disgusted. “Why in Equestria are you drinking something so revolting, Twilight?”

The purple unicorn lowered her head in shame. “Well…I needed a substitute for the real thing…”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened. “What the heck do you need to drink real blood for? In case you didn’t know, ponies don’t drink blood.”

Twilight looked more depressed than ever before. “Because… because I’m not a pony anymore… I’m a monster…”

Fluttershy poked her head out from behind the snow-white unicorn. “But, you’re not a monster, Twilight… you’re a-” She stopped when the purple unicorn quickly shook her head.

“No, it’s true... I’m not a real pony anymore…” Twilight looked up with tears in her eyes. “I’m not a real pony because… because I’m a vampony now…”

Silence. The entire room became so quiet only the low buzz of the machines around them could be heard. Rainbow Dash lifted an eyebrow. “A vam- what?”

“A vampony…” Twilight looked away, not wanting to see the looks of their faces. ‘They’re going to leave you now…’ She suddenly felt a body smashing into her. Clearing her eyes from the sudden attack, Twilight was suddenly faced with a sea of pink.

Pinkie Pie, who appeared to have jumped into her friend, said in a happy voice, “So you were that special pony that I felt a while back!” The party pony leaned back with a satisfied look, smacking the top of her head with a hoof. “I can’t believe I didn’t see it before!”

The vampony could only stare in shock. “But… how could you possibly know anything about vamponies, Pinkie? There weren’t any recent sightings of a vampony in ages!”

The pink earth pony gave a big grin. “Oh, that’s easy!” She began jumping around the room. “I simply sensed it a while ago!”

Twilight tiled her head in confusion. “You… sensed it?”

Rarity decided to step in. “It’s what we’ve come to call… Pinkie sense, dear.” She leaned forward and quietly said, “It’s best not to delve too deep into the matter, Twilight.”

The purple unicorn looked around in shock. “You mean… you’re all not really surprised that I’m a vampony?!”

The snow-white unicorn shook her head. “Of course I’m surprised, Twilight!” She flicked her mane back. “But I simply cannot let something so juvenile and insignificant get in the way of our friendship!”

Twilight still had a shocked expression on her face when she turned to the cyan Pegasus. “What about you, Rainbow?”

Rainbow Dash folded her hooves over her chest when she said, “I don’t even know what a vampony is, Twi!”

“A vampony is said to be the true creature of the night.” Rarity answered curtly. “They are said to have superpony strength, the ability to see in the dark, and apparently sparkle like gems during the day!”

Twilight stared at the unicorn with a blank look on her face. “I most definitely do not sparkle like a gem, Rarity.”

The alabaster unicorn looked somewhat disappointed at her statement, but jumped when Rainbow Dash yelled, “Does that mean that you’re a superhero or something?!” She flew up and grabbed the unicorn by the shoulders. “That means you were the one that stopped the Ursa Major from destroying Ponyville… That’s so awesome, Twi!” The cyan Pegasus released the unicorn and began punching invisible enemies as if she was in a middle of a huge fight.

Twilight really didn’t know what to do with her Pegasus friend at this point and instead asked, “Shouldn’t you all be like… afraid of me?”

Fluttershy appeared to have left her hiding spot because she spoke quietly from the side, “Are we supposed to be afraid, Twilight? Because I can try to be afraid if you want me to… if you want that is…” She finished with a gentle smile on her face. “I like your fangs by the way…”

The unicorn didn’t realize that with her mouth hanging open, she had inadvertently exposed the one thing she was careful in hiding. “I thought for sure that you were going to be one of the ponies that’ll be the most affected by this, Fluttershy.”

The butterscotch Pegasus gently shook her head. “Not really, because I take care of vampire bats all the time and they don’t hurt or scare me, Twilight.” Fluttershy smiled and placed a hoof on the librarian’s shoulder. “And if one of my friends happened to become something similar… I can definitely without a doubt… trust that you won’t hurt us.”

Twilight looked at all of her friends in a daze. ‘What’s going on? Rainbow Dash thinks I’m a superhero, Rarity sounds as if I came right out of a fantasy romance novel, Fluttershy thinks I’ve become something close to a bat, and Pinkie… well… I don’t even know what to think of her!’ The unicorn suddenly noticed that a purple dragon was staring at her intently. Everypony in the room seems to have noticed this because everything became quiet again.

The assistant took an uneasy step backwards. “Does this mean that you’re not the real Twilight anymore?”

The purple unicorn felt herself turn cold. The one creature in the room she wanted the most to understand her… was moving away from her. “But…no, I’m still me, Spike…” She could feel her heart breaking already. “I’m still the pony who hatched and raised you when you were just an hatchling.”

Spike pointed an accusing claw at the unicorn. “How do we know that this isn’t some sort of trick or something? You even said that you were a monster a minute ago!”

At his words, Twilight felt as if an ice cold knife was stabbing her in the chest. She wanted nothing more but to run away and never turn back, but stopped when her friends came to her rescue.

The pink pony bounced over to the baby dragon with a slight frown on her face. “How could you say something so mean, Spiky?” She gave a knowing smile. “You’ve been hanging out with Twilight for how long and you didn’t even notice anything?”

It was the snow-white unicorn’s turn. “I much agree with Pinkie on this one, Spike.” Rarity gave the library assistant a stern look. “Did Twilight do anything that will make you believe that she isn’t the pony we see here?”

Spike nervously gulped at the sudden verbal attacks. “Well… no, she never did anything that the Twilight I know wouldn’t do…”

Rainbow Dash hovered over the group and said, “Besides, isn’t having a super cool vampony better than having a boring egghead?”

“Rainbow, not helping…” said Twilight, glaring daggers at the now sheepish Pegasus.

Stealthily making her way to the dragon’s side, Fluttershy said, “Even if Twilight did change, do you ever feel her love for you go away?”

The baby dragon looked deeply into the eyes of the butterscotch Pegasus before turning back to the purple unicorn. “Alright… I’ll give you a chance.”

Twilight smiled, grateful to get anything from her assistant. “Thank you, Spike, you have no idea how happy I am to see that I still didn’t lose you.”

Spike rubbed the back of his head. “Geez… now I just feel really awful about this whole thing…”

“You and me both.” The unicorn replied, walking up and giving her assistant a tight hug. One by one, everypony joined in and added their warmth into the pile.

“Yay! I love group hugs!” Pinkie Pie said. “Once AJ gets out of the hospital, we should totally throw a-”

“Let me guess… a party?”

The party pony gave what appears to be a genuine surprised gasp. “Yes! How did you know, Twilight?!”

The purple unicorn shrugged. “Lucky guess…” She suddenly felt something wet on her hooves and noticed that a large puddle of artificial blood was beginning to form. “Oh, shoot!” Quickly grabbing a towel from the laboratory sink, Twilight began cleaning up the mess.

While she wringing the towel over the sink, she noticed that all of her friends including Spike had started to assist cleaning up as well. Twilight couldn’t help but smile. ‘Applejack was right… I really should trust my friends a lot more.’ She watched, as Pinkie Pie playful slides across the wet floor like it was an ice ring. ‘I still can’t believe they accepted the fact that I’m a vampony so easily…’

“That’s because they’re all ignorant to the fact that you’re a very dangerous monster now, Twilight.” A cold voice spoke quietly. “Deep down… you know they will never truly accept a monster like you…”

The librarian gasped, looking around to see if anypony noticed the noise she made. When she confirmed that none of her friends had heard her, Twilight went back to her thoughts. ‘You’re wrong… they accept me for who I am and not because they feel sorry for me or anything.’

The voice simply chuckled. “You can keep trying to fool yourself about all of this, but it won’t change anything…”

The purple unicorn snorted in anger. ‘You’re the one trying to trick me right about now and for your information... I proved that I’m not a liar like you!’ The pause told Twilight that she had just won a small victory and she couldn’t help but smirk.

“This isn’t over, Twilight.” The voice hissed angrily. “If anything this is just the beginning of a losing battle. And guess what!” The voice began slowly fading away. “I know that I’m going to come out on top in the end!”

Twilight grimaced. ‘Not if I have anything to say on it!’

“Twilight?” The unicorn turned to see Rainbow Dash looking at her. “You’re making a really angry face there…”

“Oh!” Twilight quickly relaxed her muscles. “Sorry, I was just thinking about something.”

“Thinking about fighting that Ursa again, Twilight?” asked Rainbow, a sly grin appearing on her face.

The purple unicorn rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty certain that the Ursa will never come back to Ponyville, Rainbow Dash.” She quickly shook her head. “And I don’t plan on fighting one any time soon… if not ever!”

The cyan Pegasus floated over to a chair and sat down. “But seriously, Twi! Why did you even bother hiding something so cool in the first place?” Rainbow placed a hoof to her chest. “If I was able to become something that will give me superpony powers, I’ll defiantly tell everypony in Ponyville the first chance I can get!”

Twilight frowned. “You don’t understand, Rainbow.” She finished cleaning up the mess before joining the Pegasus. “Being a vampony is not all fun and games… There are some negative effects in becoming one.”

“I suppose the need for blood is one of them, dear?” Rarity quickly joined the conversation. “I can only imagine how awful it must be to drink something so revolting.”

The librarian nodded. “I really want to avoid drinking real blood as much as possible because it’s just feels wrong doing it…”

The snow-white unicorn smiled. “And that’s exactly the reason why you’re still our Twilight, darling!” She placed a comforting hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder. “You even went as far as to find a substitute in order to protect those around you…” Rarity gave a genuine smile. “You really are a good pony, Twilight.”

Twilight’s smile lasted for only a few seconds before a frown took its place. “The artificial blood isn’t turning out so great, Rarity. I used to be able to drink it once every day for an entire week before I’ll need the real deal.” She looked away slightly. “The hunger seems to be getting worse and worse no matter how much of the stuff I drink.”

“You mean this stuff?” The pink party pony lifted up a glass cup filled with a reddish liquid. “Since you drink this stuff all the time it must mean that it tastes really good!” She was about to tip the liquid into her mouth, but was stopped by a cyan hoof.

“Trust me, Pinkie… You don’t ever want to drink that.” She turned back to the purple unicorn. “So the fake blood is just not helping anymore?” Rainbow Dash placed a hoof to her chin. “That doesn’t sound good does it…”

“It most certainly isn’t!” The snow-white unicorn gasped. “How will you be able to handle the thirst, dear?” Rarity suddenly realized something. “But, Twilight… whose blood you were drinking before telling us all of this?”

Spike decided to join in at this point, having finished cleaning the remaining mess in the sink. “Yeah, I’m kind of wondering about that as well.”

The unicorn paled slightly. “Oh… well…” She suddenly felt nervous again. “It was… Applejack…”

Rainbow Dash simply nodded. “Yeah… I figured something was going on between you two.”

Rarity gasped. “But, now that our dear friend is in the hospital, what are you going to do in order to get your supply of blood, dear?”

Twilight sighed. “I don’t really have a plan at this point… I could go to the hospital and try to get some blood from there…”

The snow-white unicorn couldn’t help but ask, “But, Twilight, aren’t there steps and procedures that must be done in order to receive such a thing?”

The librarian nodded. “That was the reason why I never went to the hospital in the first place. I can’t just simply walk in and say ‘I’m going to need some of your blood supplies because I’m a vampony!’.” She pressed the sides of her face with her hooves. “What am I going to do?” Everypony in the room became silent, as they all tried to figure out the answer to the unicorn’s problem.

*Thump*

“Oww!”

Everypony suddenly turned their attention towards the door leading out of the basement. “Who put this coffee table in the path of the Great and Powerful Trixie?!”

The cyan Pegasus dangerously narrowed her eyes. “Is that who I think it is?” Before anypony in the room could say anything, Rainbow Dash flew past everypony in a blur.

By the time the rest of the group reached back out into the main room of the library, Rainbow already had the magician pinned against the bookshelves. Still looking a bit dazed at the sudden attack, Trixie furiously yelled, “What are you doing?! Unhoof Trixie at once!”

The cyan Pegasus pressed the azure unicorn harder against the shelves. “I already heard from AJ that you were the one that brought the Ursa Major into Ponyville!” She shook the mare slightly. “And she almost died because of it!”

Wincing at the pain, Trixie struggled to say, “T-trixie had already a-apologized to Twilight for doing that!”

Rainbow Dash wasn’t convinced. “That still doesn’t let you off the hook… not by a long shot!” She raised a hoof into the air preparing to strike the unicorn, but was pushed aside by Twilight. Picking herself off the floor, Rainbow furiously asked, “What are you doing, Twi?! Can’t you see that bringing the Ursa to attack Ponyville was probably her plan the whole time?!”

“That’s enough, Rainbow!” Twilight yelled, hovering over the shivering magician. “It’s true she brought the Ursa into Ponyville, but she already admitted that she was wrong in doing so!”

The cyan Pegasus eyed the purple unicorn in surprise. “You’re not going to actually believe her are you?!”

The librarian twisted to see the look of fear in Trixie’s eyes. “Yes, I do…” She turned to face her Pegasus friend. “I only saw the truth in her eyes when she fell over my doorstep.”

Rainbow’s rose colored eyes stared deeply into the unicorn’s violet ones, trying to see if there was anything false in them. Seeing nothing but the sincere truth in her eyes, the Pegasus sighed in defeat. “Alright… I'll believe you, Twilight…” She glared at the azure unicorn. “But, if I see you stepping out of line again…” The Pegasus smashed her two front hooves together. “Do you understand?”

Trixie paled slightly, shielding her eyes from the cyan Pegasus. “Trixie understands… please don’t hurt Trixie!”

Twilight turned and stuck her hoof out. “Don’t worry, Trixie… nopony is going to hurt you.” She turned back to her Pegasus friend. “Rrrrright?” The cyan Pegasus simply crossed her hooves together with a humph.

The Great and Powerful Trixie accepted the hoof and pulled herself upright, regaining some of her old composure. “Right… well Trixie is grateful that you were able to call off the village’s watchdog.”

“Why you little…” The cyan Pegasus started to move forward, but was halted by a hoof.

Twilight gave out a long droned out sigh. “Trixie… you’re not making yourself really welcomed here at the moment.” The unicorn had a flat look on her face when she asked, “So what was the thing that you wanted to speak to me about?”

The azure unicorn nervously rubbed the back of her neck. “Well… Trixie does not want to admit it but…”

“Yes…?” The librarian pressed on, lifting an eyebrow in the process. “Admit what, Trixie?”

The Great and Powerful Trixie suddenly threw herself at the purple unicorn’s hooves. “You must teach Trixie on how you were able to defeat that Ursa Major!”

Twilight took a step back in surprise. “You want to what?” It obviously looked very difficult for the azure unicorn to bow in front of another pony because she immediately sprang back up.

Slightly blushing with shame, Trixie quickly said, “Trixie hates to admit it, but you are truly greater and more powerful than Trixie.” She stared directly into the purple unicorn’s eyes. “Trixie would want to know how to magically enhance one’s self… like what you had done to fight the Ursa.” The unicorn pointed a hoof dramatically into the air. “In all of Trixie’s years of traveling… Trixie had never come across anypony that could possibly do what you have done, Twilight!” She lowered her hoof back to the ground. “So… that is why you must teach this trick to Trixie, so that she may surpass you someday and become the truly Great and Powerful Trixie!” If there were fireworks in the room they would’ve went off by now.

The purple unicorn can only stare. “Okay, I’m flattered that you think I’m ‘great and powerful’…” She gave a quick shrug. “But, this isn’t something that you can teach to another pony.”

The azure unicorn looked taken aback. “But… why not? Trixie can more than handle whatever training you can dish out, Twilight!”

At this point, Rarity leaned in and said in a quiet voice, “I think you need to tell her, dear…”

Twilight nodded glumly. “Yes, you’re right, Rarity” She turned her attention back to the waiting magician. “I’m technically not a unicorn anymore, Trixie.”

The Great and Powerful Trixie lifted an eyebrow. “Trixie does not follow… not a unicorn?”

The librarian nodded. “That’s correct… because I’m now what you call a… a vampony now.” The azure pony merely stood still, making an unreadable look on her face. “Trixie?” Everypony jumped when the magician started to laugh. Slightly blushing in embarrassment, Twilight quickly said, “I know it sounds like a joke, but I’m not kidding here!”

Still clutching onto her sides, Trixie quickly said, “No, no, Twilight!” *HaHaHa* “It’s not that… it’s just…” *whew* “It’s just… Trixie can’t believe it was that simple!”

Twilight lifted an eyebrow in confusion. “Simple? What was so simple?”

“That I was finally able to find a vampony in all these years!” the azure pony quickly answered before flopping to the ground in another fit of laughter.

The purple unicorn leaned back slightly. “Wait… you were looking for somepony like me?” Twilight waited impatiently for the magician to stop laughing.

Finally calming down after about a minute of laughing, Trixie wiped a tear from her eyes and said, “Yes, Twilight…” She stood back onto her hooves. “Trixie have heard and read many stories about your kind.” The azure unicorn stomped the floor with a hoof. “They all thought Trixie was crazy… all thought that vamponies never existed and said that Trixie was wasting her time…” She pointed a hoof at the purple unicorn. “But, proof! Proof that vamponies really do walk among us in this world! Oh, Trixie would love to see the looks on their faces…” The unicorn grinned at the thought. “Trixie will give anything just to rub it into the faces of all the ones who laughed at Trixie!”

Twilight had just about enough with the unicorn before her. “Well… if that was all you needed to know, Trixie, you can go now…”

The azure unicorn gasped. “But, you must tell Trixie on how to become like you first!”

The purple unicorn leaned away. “Wait… you want to become a monster like me?”

Trixie narrowed her eyes. “What? No! Do you not understand what you have become?” She dramatically pointed a hoof at the librarian. “You’ve taken the next step into a new level of power, Twilight Sparkle! And being the Great and Powerful Trixie, I must take the step as well and become…”

“A blood thirsty monster that likes to hunt down innocent ponies?” asked Twilight, a blank look on her face. “Honestly…being a vampony has been nothing but trouble!”

“Twilight?” Fluttershy tapped the unicorn’s shoulder with a hoof. “I think you’re not giving yourself enough credit for what you are now…” Seeing the blank look on her friend’s face, she continued, “You haven’t done anything bad to another pony, Twilight.” She lowered her head slightly. “You used your powers to save everypony in Ponyville, remember?”

The unicorn turned her gaze to the floor. “That is true…”

“Not just once, my dear…” Rarity carefully added. “But, twice… in one night!”

Rainbow Dash also couldn’t help but add, “Yeah! You totally need to lighten up with this whole vampony thing, Twilight.”

“What Rainbow Dash is trying to tell you, Twilight…” The butterscotch Pegasus said in a warm voice. “is that you need to see that being a vampony is not at all bad as may you think.”

Twilight looked at each of her friends before saying, “But… all those old stories about vamponies always said that…”

“That is true, Twilight…” Fluttershy interrupted. “But, you need to remember that those were old stories and what you need to realize is that those vamponies are not you.” The Pegasus smiled. “You are, Twilight Sparkle… a vampony who is kind and loving to her friends…” She gestured at the azure unicorn with a hoof. “And those around you…”

“I couldn't have said it better myself, Fluttershy!” The snow-white unicorn beamed at her purple friend. “I truly believed that we would’ve lost a life from that Ursa attack if it weren’t for the fact that you stopped it, darling!”

“It took me thirty minutes to reach Canterlot and back…” The cyan Pegasus playfully smacked the unicorn on the back. “So if you weren’t there to stop that thing before I got back, it would’ve destroyed at least half of the whole town!”

After hearing all of her friends telling her that being a vampony is actually a positive thing rather than a negative one, Twilight could help but smile. “Thanks girls… it means a lot to me to find out that you all still care.”

*Ahem!* “Now that you had your moment…” The azure unicorn interrupted. “Trixie still likes to add that being a vampony is a true gift, Twilight Sparkle.”

The librarian nodded. “I suppose you’re right about that, Trixie…” She looked up suddenly. “But, I can’t teach you on how to become a vampony.” Twilight saw that the magician was about to speak, but quickly added, “I can’t change anypony into a vampony because… only Nightmare Moon could do such a thing.”

“The new Princess?” Trixie narrowed her eyes. “How does a simple librarian know such a powerful pony?”

Twilight sadly lowered her head. “Well… I was Princess Celestia’s student, but not anymore… In order to protect my friends, I now have to follow Nightmare’s bidding forever.”

The azure magician could only stare at the unicorn in astonishment. “And yet you are here in Ponyville?”

The purple unicorn nodded, a smirk forming on her face. “I was able to beat Nightmare Moon in her own game and not transform into a vampony for an entire week.” She gave a small chuckle at the memories. “Seeing the Princess losing it was almost unreal.”

The pink party pony bounced into the conversation. “You played a game with Black Snooty?!” Pinkie Pie looked mildly jealous. “I want to join you guys when you play again, alright-y Twilight-y?”

Rainbow Dash nodded, clearly impressed and ignoring the party pony. “Not bad, Twi… That’ll show that Nightmare jerk not to mess with us!”

“But, it still begs the question…” Rarity placed a hoof to her chin. “How are you going to deal with the blood problem, dear? You said that our dear friend Applejack was the blood donor, correct?”

Twilight nodded. “But, she’s stuck in the hospital now…” She was interrupted when the butterscotch Pegasus placed a hoof on her own.

With a hint of hesitation, Fluttershy said, “If you really need to drink… you can have some of mine…” She suddenly became nervous again. “If…if you want that is…”

The purple unicorn stared with her eyes wide open. “I can’t possibly drag you into this as well!”

The timid Pegasus gave a guilty smile. “I already donate to the hospital from time to time… to help other ponies in need.” She gave the purple unicorn a reassuring pat. “I’m sure they’ll understand if I donate to my friend instead.”

“And I as well.” Rarity placed a hoof to her chest. “Even though I’m a little sensitive to the thought of giving my blood in such a way… I’ll be happy to know that it’ll be used to help my friend in need.”

“Are you sure? I sure there are other ways to…” Twilight was beginning to say.

“No, no, Twilight.” The snow-white unicorn interrupted with a smile. “I insist that you accept, dear. The thought of you basically going hungry is simply too much for me to bear, darling!”

“Oh! Oh! Is this a game?!” Pinkie Pie popped in from out of nowhere. “I want to play ‘Give Blood to Twilight’ too!”

Completely baffled but completely curious, Twilight turned to the cyan Pegasus and asked, “What about you, Rainbow?”

Rainbow Dash looked as if she wanted to say, ‘Are you kidding me?’ Lifting an eyebrow, Rainbow quickly said, “Well… duh! Of course I’ll help you out, Twi!” She pumped her chest out in pride. “I’ll never leave anypony hanging!” The cyan Pegasus suddenly deflated. “Uhh… What exactly do you do in order to drink somepony’s blood?”

The purple unicorn used a hoof to lift her upper lip, exposing her two sharp fangs. “Well…I have to bite them first and then drink the blood from the wound.”

“Oh… my…” Fluttershy shivered slightly at the thought. “Do we really have to do it like that, Twilight?”

“Yeah, Fluttershy’s right…” Rainbow’s face almost took on a small shade of green. “Can’t we… I don’t know… give it to you in like a cup or something?”

Twilight was about to open her mouth to deny the Pegasus, but suddenly paused. Placing a hoof to her chin and scrunching her face up in concentration, Twilight slowly said, “You know what… that might actually work…” After a few minutes of thinking, the librarian suddenly smacked the top of her forehead with a hoof. “Gah! I’m such an idiot!”

“Why, darling, what’s wrong?” Rarity asked, looking at the unicorn with confusion written on her face.

“That whole thing with me biting AJ… could’ve been completely avoided if I did what Rainbow just told me!” Twilight grabbed a hoofful of her mane and gave it a tug in frustration. “I could just simply store the blood in a safe place for when I really do need it…” She grabbed the cyan Pegasus and gave her a hug. “Rainbow Dash… you’re a genius!”

After she was released by the unicorn, Rainbow Dash blushed slightly in embarrassment. “No problem, Twi…” Her face melted back into its cocky smile. “I know it’s hard to ask the smarter pony questions, but don’t hesitate to do it again from time to time!”

Twilight playfully rolled her eyes at the cyan Pegasus before turning back to the room at large. “This is great! I finally have a perfect solution in dealing with all of this stress!”

“I’m very happy for you, Twilight…” Fluttershy gave a huge, yet polite, yawn. “But… I think it’s time for me to get back home. Angel and the other animals will probably be very worried right about now…” With her eyes slightly drooping, Fluttershy opened the library’s door and softly closed it behind her as she left.

The butterscotch Pegasus’s yawn appears to be contagious because Rarity tried and failed to hold back her own yawn. “I must agree with Fluttershy on this, dear…” The snow-white unicorn yawned again. “But, a lady must have her beauty sleep… or it will simply be a disaster in the coming morning!”

“I have to go too!” yelled Pinkie Pie, her bounce became slightly lessened with each hop. “I need to make sure I have everything ready for the big party later…” She threw open the library’s front door and yelled over the top of her shoulder. “And you’re all invited!” The party pony disappeared in a whirl of pink and balloons.

“Yeah…” Rainbow Dash sighed, giving her hooves a quick stretch. “I’m going to hit the hay if you don’t mind guys.” With a wave, the cyan Pegasus flew out of an open window in the second floor.

“Honestly, she could’ve just used the front door like any normal pony would do…” Rarity slowly shook her head as she walked out. “I’ll come by to give you my *ahem* gift later, Twilight… Ciao~!”

After waving goodbye to her unicorn friend and closing the door, Twilight turned back to the library to see Trixie sleeping in a chair. ‘She must be really tired because of the past few hours.’ She her head a quick shake. ‘Everypony looked so exhausted… but I’m not even tired.’ The librarian spotted a few books on the floor and lifted them into their proper places. ‘It must be because of me being a vampony… guh… there’s no end to all these surprises is there?’ She glanced over to where the azure pony was sleeping. ‘Speaking of surprises…’ The purple unicorn walked up to the sleeping magician at shook her gently awake. “Trixie, hey…wake up.”

“Guh? Wha?” The Great and Powerful Trixie lifted her head off the table with a bit of drool on her face. “What’s going on?” She looked around the room to see that everypony had disappeared. “Where did everypony go?” The magician blinked a couple of times. “Trixie is surprised that they left without asking Trixie for an autograph.”

Supporting the azure unicorn with a shoulder, Twilight lead the still drowsy unicorn into the guest bedroom and said, “I’m surprised that you even showed up in my house in the first place. I thought the very first thing you’ll do is run away for bringing that Ursa to the town.”

Trixie flinched slightly, but regained her composure and said, “Well… the thought had crossed Trixie’s mind…but, Trixie still owes her life to that apple farmer and you…” It proved very difficult to say the next line. “So… Trixie will only say this once… Trixie… thanks you… for saving Trixie, Twilight…” She gave a huge yawn and slid into the covers of the guest bed. “But enough of that… Trixie would like to get some sleep now.”

Twilight still had a smile on her face when she closed the bedroom door behind her. “You’re welcome, Trixie…”

Reentering the main room of the library, the purple unicorn spotted her assistant curled up and snoozing in one of the bookshelves. She felt her heart swelling at the sight of the sleeping dragon. ‘I still didn’t lose my number one assistant because of my new form.’ Twilight slowly lifted her baby brother with her magic and carried him into their bedroom. After tucking her scaly friend into his basket, Twilight leaned in and gave the baby dragon a quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for still believing in me, Spike…”

Spike twitched and softly mumbled in his sleep, “Of course, my lady… I’ll save you from that foul beast…”

Twilight quietly giggled before hopping into her bed. “Goodnight, Spike…” ‘Goodnight everypony… and thank you.’