//------------------------------// // The Investigator // Story: Precious Blood // by DisneyFanatic23 //------------------------------// Coco Pommel shrieked when she found a mare with blood-red eyes and a small dragon standing outside the front door. "Good morning, domnişoară," Twilight greeted politely. "Is Lady Fluttershy at home?" The maid was frozen stiff, her eyes flitting from the unicorn's eyes to the dragon. "To…to whom do we owe the pleasure?" "We come bringing a message from our master, the Count Discord." "Oh," Coco laughed nervously. "That explains it." She held out her hoof. "The Master insisted we give our message in person." "Oh, I see. Well, in that case, please come…" "STOP!" Starlight hollered, pushing the maid aside. "Don't let them in!" She glared dangerously at Twilight. "You again?! If you've come to apologize for your vulgar behavior last night, you can tell your master I want nothing to do with…" She paused as her eyes momentarily widened at the sight of the dragon. "We have come to apologize," Twilight said carefully, "I, especially. You mustn't be offended for my rudeness, but I was only following orders. The Count likes his privacy, and I had been told to let in only your niece." Starlight studied her carefully. "Alright, you're forgiven, but I cannot forgive your master for openly insulting my niece!" Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Insulted?" "Yes! 'Not pretty enough for him?!' I never heard such a direct insult in my life!" "Doamnă, I'm sure you're greatly mistaken. The Master said no such thing to your niece." "You expect me to take the word of a servant over my own niece?! I don't care what your master says! You are not coming in this house!" Twilight looked to Spike and tilted her head towards the door. The dragon grinned and raced past Starlight. "Come on in, Twilight!" he shouted. "Excuse me!" Starlight bellowed as Twilight pushed past. "This is my house and I will not be…" They ignored her ravings and began searching for Fluttershy, eventually spotting her through the open door to a drawing room, reading quietly in a chair with Angel at her side. "Lady Fluttershy!" Spike exclaimed. The pegasus looked up and stood in alarm while Angel recoiled with a growl. Starlight stormed into the room. "There you are!" she scowled. "If you think you can trespass on my property even though I specifically said you may not see my niece, I have no choice but to…" "It's okay, Auntie," Fluttershy muttered. "I'd like to hear what they have to say." Starlight stared at her with her mouth agape. Then she glared at Twilight and with a huff, stomped out of the drawing room, slamming the door behind her. Fluttershy gestured for Twilight and Spike to sit in the cushioned chairs across from her. Twilight had changed into a purple, more modest dress and had a yellow headscarf wrapped around her head. "I know why you're here," Fluttershy said as she patted Angel, calming him down. "You want me to give Count Discord another chance." Twilight nodded. "We're not going to force you, domnişoară, but we're not going to stop trying." "Tell your master that sending his servants isn't going to…" "Our master doesn't know we're here." Fluttershy paused. "What?" "He doesn't. It was my idea to come." The pegasus blinked. "Why? I mean I know he's your master, but why does it matter to all of you whether or not I marry him?" "First of all, the Master didn't mean to bring up the notion of marriage last night. He does intend to eventually marry you, but he knew you wouldn't want to rush into it. As for why we care, Count Discord is more than just our master. He is our friend. Since you ran out last night, he's been in despair." She hung her head. "He even talked about walking out in the sunlight." Fluttershy's eyes widened. "So…vampires really can't go out in the sunlight? How come you're here, then?" "The girls and I can go out in the sunlight as long as we're in our pony forms. The Master, however, is not a regular vampire like us and will burn in the sun no matter what form he's in." "Look, I'm sorry if I hurt his feelings, but…why me? I'm nothing special." "Oh, but you are. You see…" Twilight hesitated, contemplating just how much she should reveal to this mare. "Vampires…don't really get to choose their mates. Though I suppose they choose whether or not to pursue that mate, but they fall in love at first sight. Well, most of the time. Sometimes it takes a few minutes longer and the instinct kicks in once the vampire realizes how unique this pony is. Either way, once a vampire falls in love, they can't get that pony out of their head. "They start dreaming—vampires don't dream until they find their mate. They feel this obligation to please this pony, to protect them at all costs, to, eventually, become one with them." Fluttershy was silent for a moment as she took in all this information. "Okay, but…if he's so…in love with me, why doesn't he just change me into a vampire?" "He can't. It would go against our mating laws." "You have laws for this sort of thing?" "Yes. The laws pretty much enforce the principle that mates are meant to be equals. Because Count Discord is a vampire, he is, by nature, your superior. To balance the scales, he is unable to touch you without your verbal permission, unless you touch him first. Surely you noticed how hesitant he was to touch you last night." Fluttershy took a moment to think of it. "Y-Yes…but the night we met, he was able to touch me!" "Because the mating instinct hadn't kicked in yet. Once it did, he couldn't touch you. It's different once both mates are vampires, because they are automatically equals." Twilight looked at Fluttershy pleadingly. "So you see, the Master is devastated that you rejected him. According to him, you're his soulmate." The pegasus shook her head. "I don't care what he thinks. I don't have your…mating instinct. And I can't love someone who feeds on the blood of innocent animals!" Twilight folded her hooves across her chest. "You're familiar with the nature of the animal food chain, are you?" "Yes." "Then you'll know that the herbivores eat plants, the carnivores eat the herbivores and when the carnivores die, they become the earth to feed the plants which the herbivores eat and so on. So you see, we are merely doing our part in the food chain, as we cannot survive without consuming mortal blood." She glanced at Angel. "Though for your sake, I think we'd all be willing to take rabbits off our diet." Angel put up his paws, as if to say, "Just try, you cur!" "Fine, fine," Fluttershy relented, holding Angel back. "Still…the very idea…that I would have to…" "You wouldn't have to," Twilight interjected. "Discord does most of the hunting for us anyway." She looked like she was about to weep at the mention of "hunting." "I don't suppose you can understand how I and the others could accept such a life." Fluttershy nodded. "Rainbow told me her story last night, but…I still don't…" Twilight held up her hoof. "You deserve to know all our stories, starting with mine. If you wouldn't mind listening, that is." "Oh, please. By all means." "Then I must ask you not to interrupt until I've finished." Fluttershy leaned back in her chair, made herself comfortable, and held Angel down on her lap to prevent him from escaping. "I was born and raised in Bullarest," Twilight began. "My father was a scientist, my mother was a journalist. Together, they made a team of private investigators, the finest in all of Bullarest." She chuckled slightly. "They had so many clients, it's a wonder they were able to keep up with them all and raise my brother and me at the same time." "Hey, don't forget me!" Spike scowled. "Yes, I was just getting to that, Spike. When I was three, my parents stopped a smuggling ring of magical objects. One of these objects was a dragon egg, which hatched before they could figure out who it belonged to." "That was me!" Spike said cheerfully. "Yes," Twilight said with a smile. "He took a liking to Mother and Father immediately, and the feeling was mutual. Since they couldn't be sure who his parents were, they took him home. He became more like a member of the family than a pet. Spike's been my best friend ever since. "Years passed, my brother, Shining Armor, became Captain of the Royal Guard and I was receiving gentlecolt callers." She frowned suddenly. "My parents were investigating a series of murders, stallions who had been killed in a way most brutal. All they told me was that the victims had died from severe blood loss, even though there wasn't much blood at the scenes, and had curious injuries on their throats." She hung her head. "I suppose they had gotten too close. One night, they were found in an alley, killed in the same manner." Fluttershy put her hoof to her mouth. Twilight raised her head back up, her eyes filled with fortitude. "I was determined to find their killer. So I spent my days and nights studying their notes on the case, making inquiries at the police station." She heaved a sigh. "No pony took me seriously, not even my own brother. They didn't think a mare should be concerned in such gruesome affairs." "I took you seriously," Spike said, reaching over to take her hoof. "Yes. Spike was the only one who would help me with my investigation, him and one other person." She stared forlornly out the window. "His name was Flash Sentry. He was one of my brother's soldiers." She shut her eyes. "We loved each other. We were going to be married. He did all he could to help me with my investigation, even went to take interviews whenever I was denied. He stood by me until the end." She lowered her head again. "The two of us were coming home late one night. We had just come back from an interview with Count Trenderhoof, which had turned out useless. Then we heard hoofsteps behind us. Several sets of them. We tried picking up the pace, but so did our stalkers. We ducked into an alleyway, which we realized immediately was a bad idea when three figures blocked the exit." She sniffed. "Flash tried to protect me, but the mares started singing and…he was put in a trance." She buried her face in her hooves. "I should've teleported us out of there, but I was so afraid, and I had only just started learning the spell. The mares transformed, sprouted bat wings, grew enormous fangs and pounced on us. I would've died had it not been for my magic, but I couldn't take on three of them at once!" She started sobbing and Spike walked over to her to pat her on the back. "I managed to get them away from Flash, but…I was too late. He was so still…so limp…so…lifeless." Spike offered her a handkerchief, which she gladly took and blew into. Once she had calmed down, she continued: "I didn't know who those mares were, but I knew they weren't normal ponies, and I knew they were the same creatures that had killed my parents, and all those stallions. After losing Flash, I was more determined than ever to put those demons to justice. Of course, I didn't tell any pony what happened, except Spike, for who would believe three mares could do something so horrible? "After Flash's funeral, Spike and I searched through all the books regarding otherworldly monsters. The minute I found a passage on vampires, I knew that's what they were. It made sense: the blood-drinking, the fangs, the bat wings. Except these particular vampires seemed to have a siren-like quality about them, which is why I nicknamed them the Sirens, but their hypnotic powers hadn't seemed to work on me. I assume it only works on stallions. "I devoted the next year to this investigation, which concerned my brother. He said he missed Flash and our parents too, but it was time I moved on. But I wasn't giving up. I was onto something big, and I had to stop those awful mares before they killed any pony else, especially me and those close to me. I strung garlic around the house, forbade Spike from letting strangers in and studied several protection spells. "Then, a few months ago, I had my big break. News spread about a midnight massacre in Zebiu. I'm sure you've heard of it?" Fluttershy nodded, remembering such headlines about four months ago. "Then you'll remember that all those victims had had their throats ripped open, presumably by some loose forest animal. Some witnesses had claimed seeing a pony with bat wings and poofy hair. That's when I knew I had to investigate." She paused when she saw Fluttershy's confusion. "One of the vampires who had killed Flash had poofy hair. "Thankfully, Shining Armor had permitted me to make a trip to Zebiu, thinking it would take my mind off things. I didn't tell him my true intentions. I started making inquiries, but once again, few would take me seriously. I had to consult a witch and some street urchins, who believed my vampire theory and claimed there was a whole coven of them living in the forest, but they weren't sure where. I also heard about the secluded Count Discord, who had a castle in the forest. Thinking he might have seen something, I decided to pay him a visit." "I remembered that day," Spike said thoughtfully. "Applejack was the one to answer the door and she was so shocked to hear we were investigating the massacre, she kept staring at us as if we had two heads! Oh, I mean two heads each!" He chuckled awkwardly. "Of course we have two heads!" "Anyway," Twilight continued, "Pinkie Pie, who had just been changed a few days ago, came flying down the stairs, crying for blood. We soon found out she had been the cause of the deaths here in Zebiu." She saw the terror in Fluttershy's face. "She had no control over it! Newborn vampires are extremely thirsty during their first few days and are difficult to restrain!" She glanced down at her necklace. "I wear this charm to keep myself from losing control. "I was shocked to find a whole castle full of vampires, but I knew none of them were the ones I was looking for. Discord was about to erase our memories, but I pleaded with him to let us remember. I explained our investigation to all of them and begged that they help by teaching me all about vampires so that I would know how to defeat the terrible three, next time I met them. Rarity and Applejack were the first to agree to these terms, but it took a while for Discord. "Eventually, he agreed to let us stay in the castle so that we may learn from them, in exchange for a few occasional pints of my blood when they were low on nourishment. They were all really wonderful, and actually took my questions seriously. Soon, for the first time in years, I started to feel like I was home." She sighed. "But I had given my blood all too willingly. I wasn't paying attention to just how much. I grew sick. Last week, I was at Death's Door. Then the Master did what I had asked him to do should anything ever happen to me. You can fill in the blanks." Twilight looked steadily at Fluttershy. "You must understand. As a vampire with heightened senses and enhanced magic, I stand a better chance against the Sirens next time I encounter them. Aside from garlic, wooden stakes and sunlight, the only thing that can kill a vampire is another vampire." Her red eyes now shone with fury. "It wouldn't be enough to put those monsters in jail. No jail could hold them. The only way I can avenge the death of my parents and fiancé, the only way I can protect others from the same fate, is if I send those demons back to Hell where they belong." Fluttershy watched the unicorn in wonder as she said this last statement. The words were truly horrible, and yet, Twilight had said them firmly and passionately, as if she had thought long and hard on this decision. Fluttershy pitied her, and this reasonably decisive manner of hers gave the pegasus a certain respect for her, even if her vengeful desires were slightly disconcerting. "You need not fear me," Twilight assured her. "I've only been a vampire for a short time. I haven't killed yet, and I certainly won't harm you." Fluttershy nodded. "I don't believe you would." And that was the truth. She couldn't imagine the unicorn harming ponies the way those Sirens had harmed her loved ones. "What happened to your brother?" she asked. "He's still in Bullarest," Twilight replied. "I still correspond with him, but it will only be a matter of time before I have to break contact with him." She looked down at her hooves. "The greatest price of being immortal is that you don't get to take your loved ones with you." There was a long silence. "I'm sorry," Fluttershy finally said. "Don't be," Twilight said, raising her head. "This was my choice, and one day you might have to face the same." The pegasus shook her head. "You must understand. I'm sorry for what happened to you, but I can't…" "I know. Mortals don't have the same instincts as us. Nevertheless, our master is not going to rest until he is with his true love, which, as far as he is concerned, is you." "He doesn't love me. All he's interested in is my beauty." "That is not true." "How do you know?" "Well, I may not be able to read his mind, but if there's one thing I know about love, it's more than just admiring a pretty face. It's about sacrifice." She locked eyes with Fluttershy. "And I've known the Master long enough to know that if he ever had to lay his life down for you, he would." They stared at each other for a while, until Fluttershy hung her head. Twilight sighed and stood up. "Just think about it, domnişoară. Come on, Spike." And with that, they were gone from the room and Fluttershy was left to mull over the story she had just heard.