//------------------------------// // First Breakfast and Adaptions // Story: Beneath the Blood Moon // by Princess OtakuGeek //------------------------------// When Melody finished crying, the two received complaints from their stomachs reminding them that they had yet to eat. Melody had then told Octavia that it would be alright to go to breakfast casual, so they stripped themselves of their dresses and undid their manes. But while Octavia let her mane drape down her neck, Melody Note put her's in a loose half braid that brushed the floor. Now that they were ready, the pair left the room and began trotting back to the dining room. By this point in the evening, the mansion had become more alive and bustling and when they passed by a front facing window, Octavia could some vampires loading other wagons and carriages. They'd met a few vampires in the halls and they were a little curious about her, but they were very kind a courteous towards her. When they got closer to the dining room, Octavia halted when a scent assaulted her nose. It was an odd scent in that it made her feel conflicted. On one hoof, some part of her craved the scent but on the other hoof, she was also disgusted by the smell. "Sweet Celestia! What is that smell?!" She asked. Melody paused at her exclamation and sniffed the air a few times. A look of realization crossed her face and she began wracking her brain for some way to put this tactfully. "Uh, that would be the smell of you're biggest adaption." She started uneasily. "You see, now that you're a vampire, there's going to be a...slight diet change." Octavia looked at her sister then a little detail about the vampire myths she'd heard as a filly hit her with the force of a hammer to her gut. "Oh Celestia...I'm going to need to drink blood?!?" She exclaimed. "Kinda. It is a very very important part of your new diet." Melody interjected before her sister could start hyperventilating. "But it isn't the only thing you can eat." "Really?" Octavia asked a little hopefully. Melody nodded slowly, knowing full well that what she had to say next wasn't going to help much. "Uh, yeah. We also require meat in our diet." She said carefully. Octavia looked ready to faint so Melody continued. "Fruits and vegetables are still an option, but vampires process their nutrients from blood and meat. It just not optional to cut it out of our diet. What you're feeling at the moment is your body's instinctive knowledge of what I needs and the last vestiges of your pony brain chemistry. It'll pass soon enough." Octavia couldn't respond to any of that. Instead she flopped down onto her haunches and stared forward. She looked about ready to curl up into the fetal position, so Melody Note quickly changed the subject. "H-how about we go walk in the garden before going in for breakfast?" She suggested. Octavia nodded numbly and let the unicorn pull her to her hooves and lead her away. Breakfast would just have to wait a bit. ✴✴✴✴✴✴ The garden was very lovely place and Octavia's nose was filled with the sweet scents of flowers. It was enough to relax her so she could look around the garden. Some of them were plants she could identify. Others were plants she hadn't seen before. Like a blush with silver berries that glowed or a flower with petals that seemed to be made of dark blue smoke that flowed and trailed off. "This is a beautiful garden." Octavia commented, partially to take her mind off certain things. "I recognize some of these plants. If we're nocturnal, then how is it that these plants are so well tended to?" "Like I told you, sunlight isn't deadly to us." Melody explained. "Some vampires actually come out here during the day to tend to some of the plants. But not all of these plants are day plants. The plants that you don't recognize are of a more nocternal breed. Like these berries. These are called Silver Moon Berries." Melody gestured at the aforementioned berries before moving on to the smoke flower. "These are known as Nightmist. And over there is a patch of Blood Blossom." Octavia flinched at the last one and Melody's eyes widened as she fully registered what had come out of her mouth. "Um, sorry about that." She apologized sheepishly. "But in all honesty, this isn't really something that you can avoid." Octavia glanced away briefly. "So, from now on I have to eat...." She stopped to suppress her gag reflex as well as she could. Melody placed a hoof on Octavia's withers. "Believe me, I felt like gagging my first time too." She said sympathetically. "I think it helped that I ate some veggies with it. Don't worry though. If you give it time, you'll come around to it. You kinda have to." Octavia was silent for a time. She still felt slightly faint at the thought of blood and meat. But at the same time, her stomach craved it and was rumbling at the thought it. She also wasn't so keen on the idea of starving to death so soon after what she'd been through. In the end, after a minute or two of internal deliberation, she decided it would be best to get the over with quickly. "A-a-alright." She replied. "If I need to, t-then I need to." "If it helps any, I'll be right there beside you." Melody told her gently and Octavia smiled at her in gratitude and let herself be led to the dining room. ✴✴✴✴✴✴ As the approached, the smell grew stronger and Octavia almost balked. Instead she swallowed her uneasiness and continued her journey. And as she walked, she noticed that her disgust was slowly slipping away until it was more bearable. Inside the dining room, the table had been piled with food items. Most of them were meat of course and Octavia hesitated at the sight of it until Melody lay a steadying hoof on her back. Octavia then took a breath and trotted over to the large table. Half the seats were already taken and they were looking for a place to sit when Golden Skies called out. "Melody! Here! Sit here!" She called as she waved her hoof and slightly flew out of her seat. It was altogether hard to ignore so Melody trotted over and sat to the left of the energetic pegasus with Octavia next to her. Sitting to the right of Golden Skies was Shining Pearl. "Nice to see you joining us." Shining Pearl greeted with a nod before taking a bite of sausage. Octavia gulped at the sight, but Melody Note replied casually. "It's nice to see you too." She said. "And you're still at the Safehouse. It's been what, half a decade since you've been out in the world. How long are you planning on staying?" "Actually, there's this seaside pony village on Crete that I plan on settling in for a time." Shining Pearl said. "I'm going to be leaving for the port tonight so you caught me in time." "Crete eh?" Melody asked. "Isn't that an island in the Minotaurian Empire?" "Pretty much. I figured it might be interesting to experience a different culture than Equestria." "Sounds like fun. Take care while you're over there." Melody said. "Thank you. And don't worry, I'll be fine." Shining Pearl reassured before raising her glass to her lips. "Oh! Oh! Can I come with?" Golden Skies asked. "Please please please! I could be a great help!" "Hmmm." Shining Pearl hummed as she put her glass down. "Sure, why not. There's no harm in you accompanying me. After breakfast, you'll have to hurry up and pack. I want to make to the port before midnight." Golden Skies almost squealed in excitement. "Okay!" She then scooped all of her remaining food into her mouth at speeds that would have most ponies thinking it had just vanished. Then she was out of her seat and off like a shot. "Remember to pack only what you need the most!" Shining Pearl called after her. "We aren't going to be bring a wagon or carriage, so pack light!" With those instructions shouted out, Shining Pearl returned to her meal and Melody smiled at the enthusiasm of Golden Skies. She then turned to Octavia, who'd been glancing around the table at the various meat dishes with slight trepidation. Sheathed in the light of Melody Note's horn, Octavia's plate was lifted up and filled with several pieces of meat. Melody didn't pile a lot on, but she did make to fill the plate with plenty of sausages, some eggs, slices of apple and strips of bacon. With the plate filled, Melody set it back in front of Octavia. The grey mare stared at the plate for minute before taking a bite of an apple slice. It felt odd biting into the familiar fruit. Like her teeth were different. More pointy than she last checked. The apple was still sweet and juicy, but it felt slightly unnatural for her mouth to chew it. But the feel and flavor still helped calm her nerves enough to pick up a long flat strip of meat. She carefully broke of a piece of the crispy strip of meat and stared at it for a time as if she was willing it to be be something else. Then she mentally threw her hooves up it a 'may as well get this over with' gesture, then proceeded to shove the entire chunk into her mouth and bite down. Like the apple, it was a little juicy and it was a little crunchy and chewy in texture. But unlike the apple, it was salty and savory and Octavia couldn't help but savor it until she swallowed. When she reached for the rest of the bacon strip, Melody smiled and left her to her meal as she glanced around the table. Her eyes settled at the head of the table where a slightly bigger and more decorated chair was. And to her disappointment, it was also empty. Shining Pearl had already finished her meal and left the table, so Melody turned her next readily available source of information, Pear Flower who was sitting just across from her. "Hey Pear." She called to get the mare's attention. "Where's our Coven leader?" Pear Flower gulped down her mouthful of food before answering. "Oh him? He had to attend to some very important business, but he should be back soon. Either later tonight or tomorrow evening." "Dangit. I hoping to speak with him and introduce Tavi here to him." She bemoaned and Pear chuckled a little. "You'll get your chance later." Pear Flower said placatingly. "Anyways, what's Trottingham like? A group of us are going out as a house and we decided that Trottingham should be our first stop. I even talked Red Script into coming along." "Really?" Melody asked in surprise then turned to the stallion in question. "You haven't left the Safehouse in decades. How'd she convince you to come along?" Red Script shrugged a little bashful. "She made a very convincing argument." He said before turning his gaze down to his plate as he fiddled with his silverware. The look on his face clearly said his mind was elsewhere. "And I guess that I've decided to stop living in the past." When he said that, Octavia looked up from her plate and cocked her curiously. Everyone else however just nodded in understanding. Melody Note smiled. "Well, you can't ask for a better place than Trottingham!" She said. "In fact it's even better now that Icey Spark is in a high security sanatorium for the rest of her life." There was a snarl in her throat as she growled out that mare's name and Octavia flinched as images of a bloodstained knife and a bloodthirsty grin stretched across a blue muzzle came to her mind. The vampires at the table didn't know the significance of this 'Icey Spark' but given Melody and Octavia's reactions, it wasn't hard to get a rough picture. "Um...good to hear." Red Script said. Melody Note snorted angrily and began to dig into her own food. If she didn't require breathing, one might've thought that she would choke on her food. ✴✴✴✴✴✴ By midnight, most of the vampires had left the Safehouse. The only ones to remain that Octavia had already met were Peach Blossom, Chocolate Mint, Moon Feather, Apple Vine, Night Wind and of course, Melody Note. There were other vampires in the house of course, but Octavia had yet to be introduced to to. After breakfast and waving Steady Remedy and Strawberry Bonbon off before they set off for Canterlot, Octavia had gone off to explore the mansion. Eventually, her exploration brought her to the kitchen where Peach Blossom was washing dishes. "Here, let me help." Octavia offered as she walked up and Peach Blossom smiled. "Oh, thank you very much." She thanked and the two set into a rhythm. Five minutes in, Octavia asked a question that had been bugging her. "So...um...if you don't mind me asking, but what did Red Script mean when he said that he decided to stop living in the past?" She asked and a sad look dropped over her face. "Oh, that. Well, the last time that Red was out of the Safehouse...things ended badly." She said a little grimly. "How badly?" "Well, to put it simply, he fell in love." Peach Blossom smiled gently. "I never met her, but from what I heard she was a very lively and kind mare. She had a witty tongue and wasn't afraid to speak her mind. Such total opposites, yet they fell so deeply in love that she knew what he was. And she didn't care. Heck, she even said that it made him amazing and unique. She was going to accept The Bite and he was trying to think of ways to propose to her." Suddenly, Peach Blossom's smile melted and her expression darkened. "Then everything went horribly horribly wrong." Octavia leaned back a little. Peach Blossom had seemed like such a nice pony and to see such and expression on her face scared her. The Newborn vampire decided that it was in her best interest to not ask. A minute later, Peach's expression softened once more, this time with a look of sadness. "Sorry. It just makes me so angry when I think about it." She apologized. "By the time it was over, she was dead and Red Script was on the doorstep sobbing his eyes out. He hasn't left the Safehouse since. At least until tonight. I imagine that, for him, leaving the Safehouse is like facing his personal demons." "I'm sorry for bringing up such a personal subject." Octavia apologized but Peach waved her off. "No, don't apologize. You were bound to learn about it anyways." She said pleasantly. "It's just that I take this matter a little extra personal to me since their story is very much like mine." She smiled lovingly as though she were remembering wonderful things. "Back when I was a pony, I was very weak and sickly. During that time, Chocolate Mint was my rock and I could careless if he was pony or vampire. We were actually married and had a couple children before he gave me The Bite. After our second child, the strain on my body was so bad that I was about to die. That's when I let him give me The Bite." At this point they'd finished washing and had set aside their washcloths. Peach Blossom just continued. "After I 'died' Chocolate moved our family here to the Safehouse. One advantage of receiving The Bite is that my body was stronger and healthier than before. I was able to raise our children better than I could before and when they were old enough, they left to live in pony society." Peach Blossom's smile was bittersweet. Like she was remembering her happiest and saddest moments. Octavia glanced at the floor. "And have you ever regretted it?" She asked. "Have you ever regretted being bitten?" Peach Blossom smiled sweetly and answered in one word. "Never." ✴✴✴✴✴✴ Melody finally found her sister out in the garden staring at the moon. "It really is gorgeous isn't it?" Melody commented as she trotted over to settle beside Octavia. At first the younger mare started at the sudden words but she'd relaxed when she saw who is was and the two stared up at moon. "Melody, is it truly necessary for us to hide our existence from ponykind?" Octavia asked. "Can't we live together as friends?" "Maybe someday, but for now, yes it is necessary to hide." Melody answered. "Remember that first thought you had when you found out you were a vampire? Lots and lots of ponies and other Day Kind fear us like that. And fear makes ponies do all sorts of horrible things. Just ask Red Script. It wasn't another vamp, or any of the other Night Kind that killed his love." Octavia looked at the unicorn mare with a surprised expression that morphed into a look of horror when the implications of what Melody had said began to sink in. "Peachy told me about your conversation." Melody explained. "Some ponies have made it their goal in life to hunt down and kill beings like us. These ponies tend to be the most paranoid and unreasonable of the bunch. And as far as they were concerned, if she was going to accept The Bite, then she was already a vampire. Red Script barely got out of there as it was." Octavia felt even more sick than she felt when she found out that she was going to have to eat meat and drink blood. "Oh Celestia...." She murmured. "So its not possible for us to live like normal ponies. Does the Princess even know about us?" "Actually, she does." Melody said and Octavia's face was once more a mask of surprise with a little bit of bewilderment. "S-she does?" Octavia stammered. "Yeah. And she does her best to protect and care for us to. A few laws that you know of are laws that she passed to protect us and one or two of the enchantments that protect this place were cast by Celestia herself. Mostly because our Coven leader is her liaison between her and the Night Kind. In fact that's why he accepted The Bite in the first place." Octavia was flabbergasted. "Why would Princess Celestia herself care so much about us?" "Well, I guess it's partly because she's just that kind." Melody answered. "But its also partly because it's what Luna would do." Now Octavia was a little confused. "Who's Luna? And why would she care so much about us?" "Luna is Celestia's little sister." Melody said bluntly. At Octavia's blank expression of shock, Melody continued. "See, five hundred years back, our land was ruled by two sisters. Celestia, the godess of the sun and day and Luna, the godess of the moon and night. And as Princess of the Night, Luna protected all those beneath her moon. And that included the Night Kind like us. She quickly formed a close relationship with us and we looked to her the way same way the Day Kind look to Celestia." "So why haven't I heard of her before?" Octavia asked. "What happened?" "A Nightmare happened. Not like a bad dream nightmare. I mean a literal Nightmare. Nightmares are foul demons of hatred a destruction. Some say they are litiral pools of hatred that were formed gradually. Others believe that their dark magic users that have been transformed to such a state due to excessive use of their magic. But however you slice it, Nightmares are foul beasts that crave only destruction and death. Thankfully, their really REALLY rare and on their own, they can do much. Their formless, so they require a host and their host's magic to do anything. "And not just any host. They can only latch onto a host that's filled with negative emotions like anger, hatred or jealously. That's how a particular Nightmare found Luna. She was feeling the first seeds of jealousy and anger because of how ponies viewed her and how they treated the Night Kind when it came and whispered in her ear. Gradually, through the whisperings of her new 'friend', Luna's anger and jealousy grew and grew. Celestia was unaware of the Nightmare that had attached itself to her sister, but she was aware that something was wrong and tried to help. But it wasn't enough. "Then one day, Luna's anger and jealousy came to a head and that's when the Nightmare suggested that if she were to refuse to lower the moon, the ponies would not only appreciate her night, but they would also love her Night Kind. It was on that day that the Nightmare and our Godess of the Night became Nightmare Moon." Octavia gasped. As a filly, she knew of Nightmare Moon and how she'd refused to lower the moon. She would ask why of course, but the most common answer was that she was jealous of her sister and wanted to rule on her own. But she'd been defeated and sealed away on the moon. When she grew older, she figured that it was a myth and that the Mare in the Moon was just a picture on the moon. Now, she had different thoughts on the story. "So why did Celestia seal her instead of getting rid of the Nightmare? Surely by then, she'd figured out what was going on." "By that time, the Nightmare was firmly latched onto her and as long as she felt the rage a jealousy that she felt, nothing short of the Elements of Harmony themselves could get it off." Melody continued. "But the Elements of Harmony were much too weak since the bond between their Bearers was broken." "Elements of Harmony?" The grey mare asked. "The Elements are these light artifacts that require two or more ponies with a special bond between each other to bear them. And without that bond, the Elements weren't powerful enough to destroy the Nightmare. But they were strong enough to place a special seal on Luna. Not only was she banished to the moon, but the seal was able to separate the Nightmare from Luna enough so that she can't hear it whisper in her ear. Basically, she's been giving a chance to clear her head and think things over. Hopefully when the spell ends, the Nightmare will get off of her or at least will be weak enough to be destroyed." Melody leaned back to lay on her back with her forelegs cradling her head. Octavia looked down at the mare that was supposed to be her sister then looked back up at the moon. "So this sealing spell isn't permanent. She'll come back one day." "Yep." Melody said casually, making sure to pop the P. "And I hope I'm there to see it. I wasn't there when the whole 'Nightmare' thing went down, but I've met some who were. Many blame themselves for not being able to help our godess. But from my point of view, nopony's to blame. Not Celestia, or Luna, or the Night or Day Kind. The real one to blame I think is that Tartarus damned Nightmare. When Luna does come back, I hope it gets incinerated so we can welcome Luna home." Octavia rose an eyebrow. "That's a very...colorful way of putting it." She deadpanned and Melody chuckled. "Yeah. And then we let the ashes rot in Tartarus." She said between snorts of laughter and Octavia lightly kicked her leg. "You're shameless." She said, though there was an almost unnoticeable smile crossing her lips. And of course, Melody noticed. It just made her laugh harder. "Nope, I'm just honest. And proud of it, dang it!" At this declaration, complete with raised hoof, Octavia let out a few snorts of her own. "And I got you to laugh!" Melody crowed triumphantly and it just made Octavia collapse into giggles. The two sisters laughed for a while and had even started a tickle fight that had them squealing out great peals of laughter. By this point they'd completely forgotten why they were laughing in the first place. Finally the two collapsed on the grass in exhaustion but still smiling. "There now." Melody huffed. "Doesn't that feel much better? You've been such a sad sack all day, you really needed that." Octavia took a breath in through her nose and let it out her mouth. Melody was right. She didn't realize it until then, but with everything that had been going on, she'd been so tense and a little depressed. And now she felt lighter and more renewed than she could ever remember being. She turned to her side so she could face Melody. "Did you say all those things just so I would laugh?" She asked. Melody gave it some thought. "At first, not really. I was just speaking my mind." She said honestly. "Then I saw that you were enjoying it, so I ran with it. I remember that when you were a kid, you so serious when you were sad or upset. Up until I made you laugh of course." Octavia slapped her on her foreleg and Melody just smiled cheekily. "You truly are shameless." This time, Melody shrugged. "I probably am, but if that's true, I'm still proud." "And now your incorrigible." Octavia said as she sat up, punctuating the sentence with a snort but a small smile still played on her lips. Melody shot her another cheeky grin, but didn't say anything more. Instead she looked up at the sky and saw that the moon was further along. "It's getting a little late. Peachy'll be setting out dinner by now." As she spoke, Melody pushed herself up. At this, Octavia glanced up at the sky as well. "Already?" She asked. Melody shrugged playfully. "What can I say? Time flies when you're having fun. Now I don't know about you, but I'm a bit hungry and I can't wait to sink my teeth into a steak." Octavia flinched lightly at the sound and thought of meat, but she still followed Melody's example and trotted after her to the mansion. ✴✴✴✴✴✴ At the dinner table, Octavia was introduced to a thick slab of seasoned and cooked meat that Melody called 'steak'. The meat was chewy and much juicier than the earlier bacon. By this point, Octavia was much less tentative about but she she still slightly shuddered internally about the whole thing. Even though there'd been a few new arrivals since midnight, there were still much less vampires than this evening. As she finished polishing off her steak, Melody pushed a cup in front of Octavia. "Here, you need to have at least one glass a night." She prompted gently. The liquid inside was thick and a bright red like a cherry. It didn't take a genius to figure out what it was. She gulped and reached for the cup. For her, time seemed to slow to a crawl until her hoof grasped the vessel. She stared in as she took in its scent. It was a sweet, salty smell with a small metallic smell. Octavia squeezed her eyes shut then tipped the cup back to gulp it all in one go. As expected, the blood was unexpectedly sweet with a slight salty/metallic aftertaste. She still felt like gagging, but it was bearable. "Atta' girl!" Melody congratulated her with a pat on her back. "I know you don't like it, but it'll get better I promise. Here, have another steak. Extra rare." Octavia didn't really know why the inside had a pink coloring, but she figured that was a question she could as when her stomach didn't turn at the thought of eating. Instead, she decided to ask another question that was she was curious about. "So, if we're so feared and disliked amongst ponies, why do we live among them?" Melody chuckled. "We don't hate ponykind." She said. "I mean, yeah there are some ponies to be avoided, but that doesn't automatically condemn a whole species. We live amongst the Day Kind because really, there isn't much of a point in avoiding that reality. Not to mention you, me and a few others I could name were once a pony remember?" "Ah, yes." Octavia said as she took another bite of her steak. "Also, we aren't completely helpless." Melody continued. "Vampires have special magiks that hide our true nature. You actually saw a bit of it last night. Remember how nopony paid us any mind when we were walking through town?" "I remember." "Well that was one of our magiks. It's a sort of aura that we can project onto others. Basically, so long as we don't either drop it or call attention to ourselves, its like we don't exist. Even if they look directly at us, they aren't going to notice unless we want them to." "That's amazing." Octavia said in surprise. "But if this ability is so great, then why do we have to go to any lengths to blend into society?" "Because its not omnipotent." Melody said. "See this power, this filter of sorts, is only at its strongest at night. During the day it weakens drastically so it can only hide our fangs and pupils. So we can at least look like normal ponies during the day." "Oh." Was all Octavia had to say and the conversation lapsed into silence for the rest of the meal. When she was full and finished, Octavia excused herself and went to her room. By this point, the faint rosy fingers of dawn were creeping over the horizon and Octavia was tired. It'd been a very long day for her. She pulled her curtains closed, plunging the room into darkness. If she'd been a pony, she would've had a hard time finding anything in the darkness. But she was no longer a pony. She was vampire. Which meant that she had excellent night vision and it was no problem to her to locate the bed and crawl under the blankets. As she lay down, she felt around her mouth and found that in addition to fangs, her once smooth flat teeth were sharp and pointed. "So this is my new life?" She whispered to the darkness surrounding her. There was no answer, but she still continued. "This is what I am now." Still no answer and Octavia was silent for a time. For a moment, it seemed like she would cry, then she steeled herself, a look of stubborn determination in her eyes. "No. I refuse to let this crush me." She growled to herself. "If this is to be my new life, I should make the most of it. I will move forward." And it was with this in mind that Octavia finally relaxed into slumber.