Over the past few months, I know that our relationship has been strained, and that mutual distrust has been driving us apart. We’ve been evasive and overly secretive, and we responded to your curiosity and your concerns with hostility. I’m sorry that this has gone on as long as it has, and that it’s gotten this bad. As much as we value our secrecy, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and I have agreed that your friendship is more important..
I want to invite you to a slumber party on Thursday night. I’m hoping that we can work things out by being open and honest with each other. I’m not saying that the truth won’t change our friendship, but I’m confident that we can all come to an understanding.
I look forward to seeing you, and I can’t wait to put all of this behind us.
Sincerely,
Twilight Sparkle
-----
Nervous simply could not describe how Twilight was feeling. Even though she had sent out the three identical invitations over a week ago and spent as much time as she could preparing for this moment with Fluttershy and Rainbow, she still felt as though she wasn’t ready. Part of her felt that she would never be ready.
Nevertheless, something had to be done. By doing this they were letting their friends learn the truth under controlled conditions. It was better than letting them find out by chance and having another incident like what happened with Rainbow and Fluttershy. Besides, being honest might make the others more inclined to trust them than if they just found out on their own.
Even with Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow having spent the whole week preparing for this night, they still had no idea how it would go. They discussed ways to deal with anything that might happen after they revealed themselves, and while they liked to believe that they were ready to handle anything that came up, somehow they knew that they were going in blind.
And worst of all, they knew that no matter how much planning and preparation they went through, there was nothing they could do to get ready for the things that would come afterward. There was no doubt that this would permanently affect their relationship, and things would never be the same for years to come.
Pinkie arrived first, nearly a half hour early. The fact that she seemed more excited about the slumber party than learning their secret was surprisingly comforting to Twilight.
Applejack arrived next, barely on time. She could barely believe that they were just going to tell them everything. In fact, part of her still didn't believe it. Nevertheless, she joined Pinkie in waiting for Rarity to arrive.
Rarity arrived last, nearly ten minutes late, apologizing profusely for the delay. Apparently she had been held up by a client that was a little late for being fitted for a dress.
They engaged in an small, awkward conversation that failed to dispel the suspense of the moment, before finally Twilight asked if they could step out for a moment to get ready. The others were not oblivious to their fear, but allowed them to go into the kitchen for a moment regardless.
“So, we're really doing this?” Rainbow asked. Her voice was filled with apprehension. Nopony else would admit it, but she wasn't the only one having second thoughts.
“I don't think we have very much of a choice,” Fluttershy added before Twilight could say anything similar.
When Rainbow looked back at Twilight for answers she just nodded. “I know how you're feeling right now, trust me you're not the only one, but if we don't do this now then it will just keep getting worse.”
“Twilight's right, if we don't do this now they wont stop until what happened to us happens to one of them. You know that, you used to just like them. That's how you ended up here.”
“So we're just going to tell them everything?” Rainbow asked. She took a quick glance through the doorway to where their friends sat waiting, talking amongst each other and sharing their speculations about what would happen that night.
“It's like Fluttershy said,” Twilight told her. “It's too late to back out now. We can just hope for the best.” She too glanced out at their friends. To her, they seemed so peaceful she would almost consider them naive.
She looked fearful, more so than Fluttershy and Twilight, but finally it was Rainbow who broke the awkward delay. “Well, then lets get this over with.”
They had already prepared for this part. They spent hours, awake for nights at a time, trying to plan for everything that could go wrong. This opening moment was the most important. They had to be sure that by the end their friends would feel comfortable around them, or at the very least have enough reason not to fear for their safety.
They made their way back out to the others, without disguises or any intent to deceive them any longer. As insane as it might seem, they all decided that the best course of action was to forgo subtly and simply reveal themselves, and trust that they would be able to convince their friends to trust them afterward.
All things considered, things went pretty much how they expected. Once the initial shock wore off, Rarity moved to stand between them as if ready to protect them if necessary. While it was too much to assume they would be expecting a trap outright, they considered it to be a distinct possibility.
“Well... um, you wanted us to tell you our secret, this is it I guess.” Internally Twilight was kicking herself for that opening.
“What... what are you,” Rarity asked, still unable to believe her eyes let alone pay any attention to Twilight's failed attempt at starting a conversation. Behind her, Pinkie and Applejack held each other close.
Fluttershy stepped forward. “It’s okay, there's no need to be afraid of us. We won't hurt you, I promise. You just need to trust us.”
Twilight took the opportunity to approach Rarity, albeit slowly, and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Rarity, have we ever done anything to hurt you? We're your friends, and we really just want to talk. We'll answer you're questions, I promise. Just calm down and we'll explain everything.”
Slowly and cautiously, Rarity let her guard down and sat down. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow sat directly across from them.
Fluttershy tried to look as benign as possible, leaning her head on Twilight's shoulder with her eyes closed and just relaxing there. Meanwhile, Rainbow couldn't help but feel restless and awkward, looking around nervously in an attempt to avoid making eye contact.
“Well, where to start?” Twilight said, trying to keep things going.
“How about you start by explaining exactly what you are?” Rarity asked.
“Right... Well, to start, have you ever heard the legends of vampires? It may sound like a stupid question, but apparently some ponies have never heard them,” Twilight asked to start. She didn’t look, but she was pretty sure Rainbow was glaring at her.
Despite the nature of the question, their friends didn't seem to be any more afraid than they were a moment ago. From their expressions, they seemed to be more curious, if a bit skeptical. Rarity took the initiative and though overwhelmed by a state of disbelief, managed to say, “Vampires... but I thought... I heard stories, but I always thought they were just myths.”
Fluttershy smiled, and being clever she hid her fangs in order to look less frightening. “Well, they aren’t exactly myths, but the legends are very inaccurate. Vampires are magical creatures that are often misunderstood, usually for their long history of violence. They need blood to survive and are harmed by direct sunlight, but otherwise the legends are either wrong or just really outdated.”
“The reason we never told you was because we really just want to be left alone,” Twilight explained. “Like Fluttershy said, vampires have a history of violence that originated form the fact that the ponies of that age usually couldn't protect themselves. Once Celestia took the throne ponies began to fight back and eventually we fell out of power. Now that there aren’t that many of us left we would rather not bring attention to ourselves. We never told you because while having ponies who know what you are that you can turn to is important, we weren't sure how you would react and we didn't want it to hurt our friendship.”
“Wait a minute,” replied Applejack, “Your saying that you're some kind of magical creatures, and the reason you never told us is because you were afraid that we would stop being your friends?”
“That's awesome!” Pinkie suddenly shouted, cutting Twilight off just before she could respond. Her sudden outburst was unexpected, but welcome. After a short pause that followed Twilight started to laugh, and soon after all the others joined in. It might not have been the appropriate time, but they needed to relieve the tension.
But all good things come to an end. Their laughter died down and the serious attitude they had before returned swiftly. Rarity was the first to speak again. “So I guess this is it, but there's a lot I don't understand. What does this mean for our friendship?”
“As far as I'm concerned, things are going to change,” Twilight replied, “These days, vampires value their privacy and secrecy more than anything else. If you're willing to be our friends, then we're going to expect a lot from you. This has to stay a secret no matter what happens, and you have to be patient and accepting, even if you don't approve of some of the things that we do.”
“I’m not sure I like the sound of that,” Rarity said. “I don’t mean to seem disapproving, but I’d like to know what we’re getting ourselves into before I commit to something like that.”
Meanwhile, as the conversation went on, Rainbow grew more and more agitated. Finally, she broke her silence and said, “You were the ones that wanted to get involved in the first place! Now that you finally got what you wanted, you don’t even want to get involved?”
“I never said that I didn’t want to get involved, I’m just concerned about what I’m getting into. Besides, didn’t you want the same thing as we did just a few months ago?”
Rainbow gave Rarity a haunting glare. Sensing the tension, Fluttershy said, “Nopony needs to get angry. Rainbow did want to find out the truth, and once she did she told you that there was nothing to worry about. We all warned you that you shouldn’t get involved and tried to persuade you not to. You may not like everything that we represent, because sometimes it’s not very nice, but it’s just who we are.”
Twilight started to stroke Fluttershy’s mane as she picked up where Fluttershy left off. “Vampires are only now beginning to recover a steady decline in power that almost wiped us out over twenty years ago. I could take centuries before we get back to where we were then. We do have a long history of violence and unopposed power, but we may never return to where we were thousands of years ago and we certainly could never do it in your lifetimes. For now, we just want to be your friends. If you don’t want to get involved, then all you have to do is accept our friendship and we won’t drag you into anything that you don’t want to be a part of.”
Fluttershy smiled, a friendly and disarming smile that was hard to ignore. The others weren’t really afraid of them anymore. On the contrary, they actually felt that they were truly in no danger for the first time in months. Out of their depth maybe, but they felt secure.
“Just one question, how did you get this way in the first place?” Applejack asked.
Twilight didn’t smile this time. She glanced at Fluttershy, so peaceful that she could be sleeping there. “I was born this way. After my parents were killed I was put in the care of a pony family. I turned Fluttershy after she somehow made the connection between vampires and blood magic and I panicked, then I turned Rainbow after she found a letter on my desk and tried to run away in terror.”
Rainbow glared at Twilight for the part about running away in terror, and Rarity was suddenly overcome with guilt upon realizing that by telling Fluttershy the association between the legends of vampires and blood magic, she was partly responsible for what happened to her, and indirectly to Rainbow as well.
“Come on girls!” said Pinkie Pie spontaneously and joyously. “They’re not scary monsters and they’re not trying to take over Equestria yet, so why not have fun. It’s supposed to be a slumber party!” She put extra emphasis on the last word, trying to stress her point that they were supposed to be having fun.
“What do you mean not trying to take over Equestria yet?” Applejack gave Pinkie a weird look, as if she had somehow caught onto some unspoken bit of information she shouldn’t possibly be able to know once again.
“She’s just being Pinkie again –” Rainbow eagerly jumped up from where she was sitting “– And besides, we’re supposed to be having fun. Let’s just forget the whole vampire thing for a while and enjoy the night.”
Fluttershy stood up and stretched. “Oh, in case you didn’t already figure it out, vampires are nocturnal. If it’s alright with you, we’ll probably be spending most of our days asleep, or at least indoors.”
“While we’re mentioning relevant details, I should probably mention that Lunar Pearl is a vampire too,” Twilight added, “I finally managed to get her to go out for the night and explore the Everfree a bit. She’ll be back by morning, so if you see her just give her some space. She doesn’t like being around ponies very much.”
Finally, Twilight got up to stand with the others. She wasn’t on her hooves for more than a second before being struck by a flying pillow, originating from a large pile that Pinkie had somehow managed to procure in the few seconds that nopony was looking.
Her momentary bewilderment was broken by a second high-velocity pillow that she just narrowly managed to duck under. “Oh, it is on!”
The rest of the night was filled with laughter and joy, all their troubles and worries forgotten for just a few hours.