//------------------------------// // Slow Growth of the Cult // Story: The Count's Bride // by Cora Zone Unicorn //------------------------------// Dr. Van Helstallion had returned to the village tavern. He took a seat at the bar as Party Favor’s nephew, Royal Pin, went to get him a drink. His ear twitched at the sound of a mare talking to somepony in agony. “Why?! Why did it have to be her, Father?! She was like a mother to dear little Sweetie Belle!” The young stallion turned his head toward the direction of the voice. His eyes shifted over to his left where he saw the young mare from earlier. Her hooves were on forehead and her tears were hitting the table. Beside was an elder stallion, looked to be about in his mid-sixties. He was an lavender earth pony who was wearing black silk robe with a red sash around his waist, and a cross pendant around his neck.   That must be Father Waddle, thought Dr. Van Helstallion. “Why must Solaris permit these things,” she asked, sniffling. She wiped her tears with a tissue. Father Waddle placed a hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder. “Where is my child?” The mare didn’t answer. “Where is she, Rarity? You know I must go to her.” Rarity looked at him with her puffy red eyes and tear-stained face. “It’s too late, Father Waddle,” she said, sniffling once more. “Coco has already been buried.” The village’s bishop’s eyes widened in fear. “Where?” “In the churchyard. Where else would she be?” “In hollow ground,” he asked, fear coming out of his voice. The mare gave him a bewildered look. “Isn’t that the right every mare and stallion? Every colt and filly?” He shook his head slowly as he spoke, “May Solaris forgive you.” “Coco’s dead, isn’t she,” Rarity asked him. “Can’t she just lie in peace like all the others?” Father Waddle gave her a stern look. “Rarity, you and I both know that she is not like all the rest!” Dr. Van Helstallion’s head rose up, becoming interested. “You know how she came about her death, my child. I know how much you yearn for her to still be with us but she can’t lie in the churchyard!” The unicorn mare gave him a look of hope and desperation. “Please, Father Waddle. Please let her stay.” The old stallion placed his hoof on top of hers, reassuringly as possible. “Rarity, my child, you get it out of your brain the fact that she ever was your cousin.” Tears began to swell in her eyes once more. “She’s no longer like the living.” A moment of silence fell. “Not even… Solaris, help us, the dead!”  Rarity began to sob once again. “No… No! NO!” she shouted, as she ran out of the tavern crying harder than before. Dr. Helstallion watched the whole scene unfold as the frantic mare ran out, leaving the old pony alone, placing his hooves on his temples. Royal Pin had returned with the doctor’s drink. As he placed it on the counter, Helstallion quickly asked for another before he head off into the back of the cellar. He thanked Royal Pin as a light blue aura surrounded both beverages, levitating them off of the table. The grey unicorn then trotted over to the earth pony, sliding the glass in front of him. “Here, drink this,” he said. The stallion took the advice in consideration. He took a slow sip of the alcoholic beverage as the unicorn sat next to him, drinking his as well. “Poor girl,” Father Waddle muttered. “...And I am powerless against the devilish calamity!” “Perhaps, I may be of some service to you.” Father Waddle gave the young stallion a curious look, his eyebrows furrowing together. “Who are you?” He gave a reassuring smile. “You’ve sent for me; Dr. Van Helstallion.” The old pony smiled greatly, his combed-over mane bouncing ever so slightly as he shouted with relief. “Oh, thank Solaris, you’ve come!” Dr. Van Helstallion and Father Waddle were inside his room, discussing all the strange and macabre deaths that had been happening in the village, recently. Helstallion was putting away all of his belongings in the drawer and closets and the two of them talked. “You say that this…. um… vampirism passes on,” Father asked, in need of clarification. “Yes,” the unicorn responded, closing his drawer shut. “The Bite of the Vampire, otherwise known as the ‘Vampire’s Kiss,’ can just take about as much as one pint of its victim’s blood, causing them to become a vampire themselves. The conversion takes a day, perhaps even just a few hours, for the transformation to be complete. Once it has been done, the Cult of the Undead begins to grow; slowly, but it grows.” There was a brief silence. Father Waddle took this silence to sink in all the information whilst the unicorn took off his suit jacket and placed it neatly on the bed. The doctor continued. “However, a vampire can kill if chose to drink most, or even every ounce, of blood in the victim’s body. Must be why you and the village haven’t seen or thought of any being around until fairly recently.” “But how can a vampire survive after so many years?” “Well, vampires are… nocturnal demons, I suppose you could say. They sleep during the day, usually in their coffin or tomb, and roam as a living form during the night, searching for their next victim. In order to do so, they would need protection.” Father raised an eyebrow. “Protection?” Helstallion nodded his head slowly. “Yes. Protection to keep them from the hours of the daylight,” he clarified. “An example would be a family member who would hide the infected. Or a servant who has spent their lives devoted to the demon that they don’t realize the evil they had been doing. If it weren’t for these protectors, the vampire would be out during the day and destroyed forever. Of course, there is also Holy Water. Although it doesn’t actually kill them, it can do a bit of damage.” “Are there any other ways to be rid of this demon?” Helstallion thought for a moment before trotting over to his bag. Encasing his luggage in a magical aura, he fumbled around inside the carry on until he found what he was looking for. The unicorn levitated the object, whatever it was he had found, in tow as he made his way back toward the village priest. Placing the object in front of Father Waddle, he could now see that it was wrapped in some sort of a dark purple fabric. With Helstallion’s magical aura still surrounding it, he neatly unwrapped it was that was underneath, revealing a long, circular, sharp piece of wood. “This,” Helstallion said. “A wooden stake. A wooden stake through the heart of a vampire is the most prominent way of killing one. One way, other than burning into ashes.” Father Waddle looked at the wooden stake for a long moment before the grey unicorn rewrapped it and put it back into his bag. “Do you having any idea as to how a vampire can get it’s victim?” “To be honest, I only know of one tactic and that’s by looking into the demon’s eyes. Looking into the eyes of a vampire makes the victim completely vulnerable. If there are, in fact, more strategies that the vampire can use to trap its victim, well, I’ve yet to find out.” The young stallion peered outside his room window. As he looked out, he could see a freshly place tombstone in the churchyard. “Is that the young lady’s grave,” he asked, gesturing toward the village’s local bishop. Father Waddle got up from his seat, and looked out the window. “W-well, yes. I believe so.” Helstallion levitated a little pocket-watch that had been in his vest and checked the time. “She won’t be active until nightfall. There’s still a chance for me to end this.” He placed his watch back inside the pocket of his vest. He began to trot his way towards his door. “Are you certain about this, my son?” Helstallion turned to look Father Waddle in the eye. A moment passed before he spoke. “If our dear Solaris didn’t give us the faith to do what we think is right, then… off to Tartarus where we all will be damned for all of eternity.” The elder pony gave him a sly smile, putting his hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder. “Very well. I pray that all will be well and you will be closer to ridding us all of this terror.” Helstallion smiled in return, nodding his head ever so slightly before heading out of the door, whilst levitating his carryon bag and taking it along with him. There was a full moon out in the night. The young stallion was squinting his eyes through all of the fog that was making the path to the churchyard a bit difficult to get to. He had to admit, the fog fit this sort of situation. Ah, yes. Fog, Helstallion thought. A situation like this wouldn’t be complete without a nice thick blanket of fog in the middle of the night. As the unicorn got closer to the churchyard, the faint sound of a mare’s voice caught his ear. Helstallion’s eyebrow raised in curiosity. He then began to take a slower pace as he reached the churchyard iron fence. He crouched down a bit and looked through the bars to see a unicorn mare speaking to the girl’s grave. “C’mon dear, push. Don't want to keep the master waiting too long.” Helstallion furrowed his eyebrows together. He began to take notice of the mare’s appearance. Her pink fur seemed faded and her purple mane was down, looking disheveled, and frizzled out. It especially showed with the teal streaks in her hair. The dirtied red-purple gown she was wearing didn't do her any favors either. All and all, the young mare looked like she had completely lost her head. “C’mon dear, you can do it,” she said the in a gravelly whisper. A faint tapping could be heard coming from inside of the coffin. “No, I’m not allowed to help you. You've got to be strong.” No! She’s not doing what I think she’s doing! As the young stallion continued to watch, his eyes widening as a pale hoof slowly risen from the ground, jumping a bit in fright as the female unicorn began to cackle in frightening delight. “Hahaha! That’s right! There she is! Hahaha!” The crazy mare began to cackle even more as the coffin opened and the once dead earth pony sat upright in her coffin, her fangs completely visible as she grinned. Helstallion’s expression became solemn as what he had feared had been confirmed. The mare took the wild garlic that the girl had been wearing off of her body and threw it onto the ground. The now newly born vampire then got up on her four hooves and stepped out onto the churchyard soil. At that moment, Helstallion had risen from his hiding place, revealing himself. “Enough of this,” he bellowed, causing the two mares to jump. “Go little one, go!” The little earth pony then sprinted out of the graveyard and into the streets of the village. “Not on my watch!” the young stallion only got to gallop a few steps before he felt himself collapse to the ground due to being hit by magic in the head. He groaned in pain as he hit the pavement. The hard, rough, stone cold street tearing his arm as he slid a few feet across. It took a few moments before he started picking himself up, holding his left arm with his other hoof, groaning in pain. The unicorn bit his bottom lip as he writhed in pain. Some warm and sticky liquid streaming down his arm as he stood. Damn, I lost her! Well, no matter. I’ll just use my trafficking spell. His horn began to glow, preparing to do the spell. A confused look spread across his face as the spell he had been trying to commence, failed. “What the..” He tried once again, but to no avail. He tried to do teleportation spell, but grown frustrated as he couldn’t do it either. “Hahaha! I thought you would try to use the trafficking spell to find her, so I cast spell that blocks the ability for you to track anypony, as well as teleport,” the mare said as she walked toward him. The unicorn mare stopped as she was face-to-face with him, just mere inches from his face. “The Master has big plans coming and he doesn’t want anypony getting in his way. Especially, somepony like you,” she taunted him, poking him in the chest so hard that he stumbled backward. She cackled a bit as she began walking the other direction. “Oh, and you might want to cover up that arm. That is, unless, you want the Master to come after you.” She cackled once again, walking a few steps more before teleporting out of the churchyard. Helstallion just stood there, breathing deeply before screaming in both agony and frustration. Castle de Shimmer was occupied as its rightful Count was finally free. He paced back and forth waiting for his faithful Starlight Glimmer to return. The Count had sent her to retrieve his freshly born disciple from the village churchyard. He knew that she wouldn’t be able to say no. She had been around him for so many years, she had basically became his slave of sorts. Count Sombra stopped pacing once he heard the the front door open to see none other than Starlight. “There you are,” he said, his tone rather stern. “Did you retrieve the girl?” Starlight nodded slightly, a wicked little smile appearing across her face. “She should be here any moment now, Master.” Her answer was soon followed by the sound of running hooves coming towards the castle. “Ah, and here she comes now.” The sound of running hooves kept getting closer every moment until the little earth pony got right to the door frame. She looked toward the two ponies before her, eyes stopping at the sight of the Count. Just by taking a look at him, she already knew who he was, and grinned, her sharp fangs shimmering in the moonlight. Upon seeing the little mare’s fangs, Sombra genuinely smiled. “Come here, my dear,” he commanded, gesturing for her to come to him. The pale pony immediately came running toward him, only stopping when she was a mere inches away from his face. Sombra examined her. Placing his hoof underneath her chin, he began to take note of her now pale fur and skin, her cold body temperature, and closer look at the newly formed fangs. After the Count had finished mentally examining her, he chuckled. “Dear little one, I have an important job to discuss with you soon,” he told the newborn vampire, “but there are some other things that I must take care of, first.” The little earth pony vampire nodded, not looking away from his eyes. “Sunset,” he yelled, turning his head toward where his room, his old prison, was. Starlight, and his new little minion, did their faces the same direction. After a few moments, the door slowly opened and an yellow unicorn with a curly yellow and red mane and tail, wearing a black and purple silk dress stepped outside. “Wha-what do you want, Sombra,” she muttered, her face downward for not wanting to look at him. “I want you to tell me the location of that little Veterinarian school for mares,” he responded, a wicked smile appearing. “I’m going to pay a little friend of yours a visit.” Sunset’s head shot up in shock so quickly, that she had revealed her vampiric fang teeth.