//------------------------------// // Welcome to Crystal Prep // Story: Sunset Slayer // by Pen Stroke //------------------------------// Sunset Slayer By Pen Stroke Pre-read & Edited by Illustrious Q, El Oso, Kevinltk, Grand_Moff_Pony, & Winston Chapter 3 Welcome to Crystal Prep ========== “Twilight? Rarity?” Sunset called cautiously into the dark school as she, Applejack, and Fluttershy slipped inside. Lockers stood out from the walls, filling the gaps between classroom doors. Crystal accents and columns lined the hallways, furthering the distinguished school's aura of prestige. Two in-wall trophy cases in the foyer were filled to the brim, all from competitions that Canterlot High had also entered but never managed to win. “Why aren’t the lights on?” Sunset asked as she dug out her phone. With the press of a button, the little light on the device came to life, shining a beam of illumination through the dark. “Anyone see a switch?” “Yeah, I see one.” Applejack crossed the foyer and moved toward a small bank of three light switches. She reached out and flicked one, looking up at the ceiling to see if any of the lights came on. When nothing happened, she tried the second and the third switch the same way with no result. “Huh, you’d think a fancy prep school would be able to fix their wiring. Probably spent too much money buying all this fancy crystal.” “That, or maybe someone switched off the breakers. I mean, shouldn’t there at least be a security light on or something?” Sunset raised the light from her phone and swept it across the ceiling. “At least, the lights don’t look broken. Remember that banshee we had to chase? It popped so many light bulbs when it screamed.” “I was picking shards of glass out of my boots for days,” Applejack said as she tried the light switches in different combinations, seeing if one might finally trigger a light to come on somewhere. “Shouldn’t we try calling Rarity and Twilight?” Fluttershy asked as she stayed close to Sunset, her eyes constantly scanning the foyer. Giving up on the light switches, Applejack pulled out her phone and tapped on it a few times. She lifted a hand to her ear, undoubtedly listening to the ring through her wireless earpiece. After several seconds, she frowned before lowering her hand from her ear and focusing back on her phone. “Got Rarity’s voice mail. Let me try Twilight.” Another few taps, and Applejack was once more listening to rings. Sunset also listened, and this time, she heard something. It was faint, and if the school was anything else but totally silent, they wouldn’t have heard it. There was a melodic noise in the air, chiming and making toned beeps. Sunset pointed the flashlight of her phone in the direction she believed the sound was coming from. “You hear that?” Fluttershy raised her head, even standing on her tiptoes as she turned her ear in the direction Sunset’s flashlight was pointing. “I do. Isn’t that Twilight’s ringtone?” “Applejack, keep calling Twilight’s phone.” Sunset began to walk towards the noise, heading out of the foyer and into one of the connecting hallways. Her friends followed as Applejack kept calling Twilight’s number. Fluttershy brought out her phone and turned on its flashlight, doubling the group’s effective illumination. While moving through the school, Sunset couldn’t help but feel like they were intruders. They were trespassing, but all of them had gotten over that little legal qualm. This was different—a vibe in the air, a sensation on her skin, and a tingle back of her neck. Sunset couldn’t pin it down precisely, but she didn’t like it. They knew there was a class three entity in the building, and normally, those things were territorial. Once someone was in its domain, the hunt began, especially if it was the Dracula entity. The distinct lack of activity around them was causing the muscles in Sunset’s body to tense. She began shifting her gait to silence her footsteps and moved her phone’s light around more frequently, checking through the windows of classrooms and looking behind them. As they progressed, the sound of Twilight’s phone grew louder and more defined. It would stop on occasion, when Applejack had to hang up and try calling it again, but it never failed to resume when the new call began. It was one of the ring tones built into the phone, something with a technological vibe. Though Rainbow often tried to convince Twilight to change the ringtone to something cooler, Sunset always found the melody a perfect match for Twilight’s personality. “I think it’s in this classroom,” Sunset said, turning away from the hallway and approaching the door on her right. She checked the window first, but the blind was down. With a visual check impossible, Sunset grasped the door handle, turned it slowly, and cracked the door open just a sliver. The melody got notably louder, confirming that the ringtone was coming from inside. “Pony up, we don’t know what we’ll find in there.” “Even me?” Fluttershy asked. “Yes.” Sunset knew Fluttershy avoided using her magic now, but this wasn’t the time for kid gloves. Sunset’s body became shrouded in her magic. She glanced back, seeing Applejack and Fluttershy had done the same. The glow coming off their three bodies tinted the hallway and caused the crystal decorations to glisten. They were ready. Sunset shut off her phone and slipped it into her pocket as her grip on the door handle tightened. She held up a hand, and with her fingers alone, she began counting down. Three… two… one... Sunset threw her shoulder into the door, causing it to swing fast and slam against the wall. She and Applejack rushed in, Fluttershy following in their wake. The entrance was loud, and Sunset had her hand up, ready to send her magic out against the first bat-winged entity she saw. Yet, there was no spirit looming over the desks like some demon lord. There was only Twilight, collapsed against the teacher's desk, her phone on the floor. “Fluttershy, shut the door, guard it, and point your flashlight over here. Applejack, help me get her up off the floor and check for bite marks.” Sunset picked up Twilight’s phone and set it on the teacher’s desk before moving to her friend. Twilight did not have the same magic healing as the rest of them, but it looked like she’d managed to escape danger with just a few small scrapes. “Is she okay?” Fluttershy asked, trying to crane her head to get a better look at Twilight without abandoning her post at the door. “She’s breathing,” Applejack answered as she and Sunset managed to lift Twilight off the floor. It took some work, but they managed to get her seated in the chair behind the teacher’s desk. “Don’t look like she’s been bit, either. No marks in the usual places.” She used the back of her hand to gently tap Twilight on the cheek. “Come on, girl, wake up.” Twilight stirred, groaning as her eyes slowly opened. She held up her hand to block the light from Fluttershy’s phone. Then, as if she’d sat on a tack, Twilight flinched and tried to leap to her feet. She flailed her arms, and her breathing became shallow, erratic, and rapid. She seemed intent on running, but only managed to keep her balance for a few seconds before she collapsed back into the chair. “Easy, Twilight. You’re safe,” Sunset said, firmly gripping Twilight’s shoulder. She was keeping her friend held down and calm while offering a reassuring smile. “We got your emergency call and came as fast as we could. Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Twilight brought a hand to her forehead and held it there for a few seconds as she looked to the floor. “I’m… I’m fine. Just a bit headed in the light. I mean, I’m just a little lightheaded.” “What happened?” Twilight looked up at Sunset and straightened her lopsided glasses. “Students at the school were reporting strange injuries, cuts on their arms and legs they couldn’t explain. Dean Cadance didn’t know any details, so to start our investigation, I asked Rarity and Spike to follow me to the nurse's office. There, we got more detailed information on the injuries. Several of the students had evenly-spaced pairs of puncture wounds on varying parts of their bodies. There were no really bad ones. Only one student had to get stitches, but her file said she couldn’t even remember how she got hurt. Rarity and I believed we had found Dracula. We were going to retreat and bring everyone here tomorrow, but then we ran into Dracula on our way out. He chased us, and that’s when I called.” “What about after that?” Applejack asked. “Where’s Rarity and Spike?” “We tried to hide in a classroom… I think it was this one,” Twilight said as she glanced around the rest of the room. She tried to stand up again, but only managed to lift herself out of the seat enough to point at a window at the far end of the room. “We tried to seal ourselves in here, so we could wait for backup, but Dracula came in through a window before we could close it. It knocked me into the desk. Last thing I remember after that was Rarity shouting and Spike barking.” “They must have lured Dracula away from you.” Sunset looked around the classroom, noticing now that a few desks were out of place. “That means we still need to find Rarity and Spike. Twilight, do you have any idea where they would have gone?” Twilight adjusted her glasses again before taking them off to examine them. The frame was bent, and she could only sigh and do her best to put them back on, even though they immediately slouched to an odd angle. “Maybe. I used to have a private room, a lab, where I could do my research. There’s only one way in, and it only has one small window. Spike might have led Rarity there. It’s on this floor.” Sunset brushed back a bit of Twilight’s hair, confirming a suspicion. “You’re missing your earpiece, but I guess that’s a good thing. If your phone had been paired with it, we wouldn’t have heard it ringing.” “Yay, lucky me,” Twilight grumbled. “So, what now, Sunset?” Applejack asked. “Our first priority should be getting Twilight someplace safe.” Sunset offered a hand to Twilight, pulling her out of the chair so she and Applejack could help her walk. “Let’s head to her old lab. If Rarity and Spike are there, then we’ll just head outside and wait for Pinkie and Rainbow. If not, then Applejack can stay there with Twilight, while Fluttershy and I search the school.” “Wouldn’t it be better if I stayed with Twilight?” Fluttershy asked. “We’ll want to barricade the lab, and Applejack’s the only one strong enough to move something heavy enough to block the door by herself. That and, if something happens, she’ll be able to escape with Twilight, even if she has to carry her.” “I’m not a big fan of not going with you two, but I suppose we can’t drag Twilight with us in the shape she’s in.” Applejack motioned to Fluttershy, directing her to open the classroom door while she and Sunset started moving Twilight in that direction. “But y’all better promise me you’ll be safe.” ~~~ “Now, you two be careful. And if you need me, call, and I'll come running.” Sunset nodded as she and Fluttershy looked back at the door to Twilight’s old lab. It was already being reclaimed by Crystal Prep, being turned into a storage closet for some old sports equipment that had been marked for donation. Still, some of the basic equipment remained, including a chair, which Twilight was sitting in to recover, two heavy desks, a lab table, a bookshelf, and some computer hardware. There was more than enough stuff for Applejack to blockade the door that thankfully opened inward. “We will, and we’ll call if we run into anything. You do the same if Dracula tries to get in,” Sunset said before she and Fluttershy turned and began walking through the rest of the school. Behind them, they could hear the sounds of the door being closed and blocked, but they kept their eyes focused on the hallway. Both of them were using their phones as flashlights again, and Sunset had started to monitor her battery meter fairly closely. They had some portable chargers for the longer hunts, but Twilight was usually the one that informed them if they needed the chargers or not. Still, the phone had started with a full charge and had only lost a few percentiles of energy. It would be all right, but finding a regular flashlight would help. They had some at The Library, like the charges, but in their haste to get to Crystal Prep, they had forgotten to grab anything beyond the absolute basics. Sunset was starting to feel they had perhaps been relying too much on Twilight to layout their gear for each mission. Still, before they even lost sight of the lab door, Sunset reached up and hit the button on her earpiece. It and her ear were back in the normal, human position after she, Fluttershy, and Applejack had powered down in the old lab. “Call Applejack,” she said to her phone, and after hearing a confirmation in her ear, the phone began to ring. It rang twice before someone picked up. “If y’all already got in trouble, that’s a new record,” Applejack said, her voice coming over the head earpiece. “Just making sure our phones are working,” Sunset said as she and Fluttershy continued to walk. The hallway they were in ran perpendicular to the ones that connected to the classrooms and was completely lined with lockers. “Twilight’s old lab is kind of tucked away, and I didn’t check how strong of a signal we got in there.” “I don’t have all my bars, but you're coming through loud and clear on my end.” Sunset and Fluttershy turned a corner, going back to the hallway where they had found Twilight. “Call us back once Twilight’s recovered a little more. She might be able to tell us other places Spike and Rarity might be hiding, or at the very least help us be more systematic with our search.” “Will do. Anything else?” Sunset shook her head, though she was entirely aware Applejack had no hope of seeing it. “No, that’s it. Over and out.” “Over and out.” With those last words from Applejack, the call ended and Sunset refocused her attention on the search. She and Fluttershy went back inside the classroom where they had found Twilight and took some time searching for clues to where Spike and Rarity might have gone. The classroom bore signs of the struggle, but nothing that told them where Rarity and Spike had gone. With no leads, they returned to the foyer. They hadn’t even begun the search properly before Twilight’s ringtone had led them to her location, so this was where they had to start if they were going to be properly systematic. Being so close to the entrance made Sunset tap on her phone, stopping the flashlight mode for a few seconds as she typed out a text. “Who are you talking to?” Fluttershy asked, still holding up her phone as a flashlight. “Rainbow Dash. I’m seeing how much longer it’ll be before she and Pinkie get here.” Sunset pressed send on the brief message, then kept her phone in her hand as she looked at the different hallways that branched off from the foyer. “If they’re close enough, we may just wait here for them. Otherwise, I say we start with that hallway. Assuming my sense of direction is right, if we go that way and turn right, we should be back in the hallway with Twilight’s lab.” Sunset’s phone chimed, indicating a text message had been received, and she quickly brought it up to read. “Thirty minutes. Had to take the bus. This is why we need three bikes.” Sunset read aloud before chuckling a little. “I have to admit, this is exactly the situation Rainbow Dash was talking about when she was trying to get Celestia to approve the purchase of another motocross bike. “But, if they’re thirty minutes out, we should start looking around without them,” Sunset tapped on on her phone, turning its light back on and dimming the screen. She and Fluttershy then began walking down the hallway she had gestured towards earlier. “Maybe we should try calling Rarity again. She might pick up this time.” “Maybe, but we don’t want to be running down your phone battery either in case you need it later,” Fluttershy said as the pair reached the end of the hall and made a turn. Sunset could see the alcove where the door to Twilight’s old lab was located, and that confirmed her suspicion about the school’s layout. It wasn’t that different from Canterlot High’s. It had its own nuances, but it still had a very practical, rectangular design to the hallways. “Oh, what if we called Spike?” Fluttershy asked. “I don’t think Spike has a phone, Fluttershy.” “No, but I have a dog whistle.” Fluttershy reached into the pocket of her pants, fishing around inside a little before pulling out a tiny, metal cylinder with a smile. “We might hear him barking if I blow on it, or he might realize we’re here.” “It’s not a bad idea,” Sunset said with a nod, “but why do you have a dog whistle?” “Oh, I always have one in case I come across a dog that’s been taught some bad habits or won’t stop barking. It lets me get their attention, so that I can help them calm down. Stress is bad, even for cute, little animals. I normally would have some bags of animal treats in my backpack or purse too, but I didn’t have time to prepare them before we had to leave.” “Seriously, Fluttershy, if you don’t become a veterinarian after high school, I’ll be surprised.” Fluttershy clasped the whistle in both hands, like it was a special wish that was trying to escape. “Do you really think so? I’ve always wanted to work with animals, and at the very least, I think I’d like to run my own shelter. But I’ve sometimes wondered about becoming a vet, or a zoologist, or a biologist that goes to study animals in their natural habitat.” “All those things sound perfect for you, Fluttershy,” Sunset said with a smile before gesturing to the whistle. “Still, let’s refocus on finding our friends.” Blushing a little at getting caught up in the moment, Fluttershy held the dog whistle daintily in one hand and brought it to her lips. She blew, and as expected, the whistle was utterly silent to human senses. Sunset listened carefully nonetheless, trying to pick up on any distant sound of barking or howling. Fluttershy ran out of air and had to take a deep breath before blowing on the whistle again. And this time, something called back. They heard barking, distant but undeniable. Sunset and Fluttershy turned their heads, scanning the hallway around them as their ears tried to pinpoint where the barking was coming from. Fluttershy was the first to zone in. She tilted her head up and pointed towards the ceiling. “It’s coming from above us.” “They must be on the second floor.” Sunset began to jog, motioning for Fluttershy to follow. “Come on, I saw some stairs back this way.” ~~~ “I think the barking was coming from in here.” The hinges were all but silent as Sunset cracked the door open, the only sound of their arrival being the click of the latch. The room beyond was not one Sunset could place, for it certainly wasn’t a fixture of the public school system. It was a room for students to pursue and develop their own interests in preparation for college, a more communal variation of Twilight’s lab space. There were multiple work stations. They varied in size and capacity, some suitable for only one student, while others could hold a small group, and each one was uniquely outfitted with materials and equipment suitable for a particular project. One of the stations near the door was full of stone sculpting tools and a block of marble the size of a watermelon. The one next to it had multiple string instruments, all from the same family as the violin, with stacks of sheet music, bows, and bowstrings. Sunset even saw a dressmakers mannequin, currently holding up an incomplete ensemble of haute couture. It was no surprise that Rarity was drawn to this room. Spike’s barking had ceased and did not resume when Fluttershy blew on the dog whistle again, but the two of them agreed they were in the right place. The barking had been coming from this side of the school, and this particularly unique classroom capped the east end of the second floor. Sunset, almost out of instinct, ponied up, drawing out her magic and holding out her hand, ready to cast out her magical aura. The magic of the human world, especially the magic of friendship, did not have the fine control of Equestrian magic, at least not without the aid of Twilight’s technological devices, but Sunset and her friends had each found a natural way to use their magical influence. For Sunset, it was a form of telekinesis. It would be considered a crude levitation spell by Equestrian standards, but useful nonetheless. She could grab things at a distance and pin them down, a skill she had put to good use dealing with the strange bathroom demon. Fluttershy had talents as well when she ponied up. She gained superhuman senses, being able to see, hear, and smell like the best of animals. But ever since her bite and the perversion of her pony form, she rarely called on her magic, except for those moments when she needed to feed. Right now, Fluttershy was holding back. Sunset was okay with it for a little while, but if they couldn’t find Rarity, Spike, or the Dracula entity soon, then she’d press the issue. For the moment, however, she’d let Fluttershy stay in her comfort zone. “Keep the light high,” Sunset said as she pocketed her phone, keeping both of her hands available for her magic. “And say something if you notice anything out of the ordinary.” “Okay,” Fluttershy said, stretching her arm above her head to hold her phone and its light aloft. The pair stepped into the room, starting to move past the self-study stations. Neighboring the dressmaker project was a work station filled with numerous electronics and wires. Next to that, someone had chemistry sets and a pair of chalkboards littered with complex compounds. The variations went on and on, with most projects in very different fields of study. Still, they saw no sign of Spike, and all the projects had been cleaned up and properly turned off for the weekend. Only a few had any lights on, and none of the equipment made any noise: no spinning fans, no hum of electricity. Only the pair’s breathing and footsteps disturbed the quiet of the room. The science projects, which had every right to have some lingering odors, smelt only of disinfectant and chemicals. Even the floor was probably clean enough to eat off of. “Just how much do they charge for students to go here?” Sunset asked, baffled by how the school could afford to maintain itself at such extraordinary levels. “Hey, Sunset, what do you think happened here?” Sunset turned her head, following the beam of Fluttershy’s flashlight to a project station tucked into the far corner of the room. Sunset crossed the room and stepped into the project space, approaching the one lingering, wooden desk and running her fingers across the surface. There were scorch marks and notable grooves and gashes, the one piece of furniture in the room showing some true wear and tear. “Maybe this student’s project failed, and they had to leave whatever class this room is for. Or maybe this was where Twilight worked before getting her private lab?” A rattle made the girls turn on their heels. Sunset’s magic flared, her body becoming shrouded in the orange aura, while Fluttershy flicked the light of her phone in the direction of the noise. It passed over a few other projects on the far side of the room: A project with numerous painting easels, a station with numerous aquariums filled with several tropical fish, and then one that looked almost like a miniature doctor’s office. And it was in that project station the pair saw a dog carrier sitting on the examination table. “Spike?” Fluttershy called, and something moved within the carrier. Sunset and Fluttershy broke into a run at the same time, quickly crossing the room and reaching the carrier. Sunset got there first, putting her hand on the carrier’s door and pulling it open. Fluttershy, arriving second, put her hands into the carrier, trying to find and extract Spike from inside. But as Sunset watched, Fluttershy got a very confused look on her face, and she began to move her hands around oddly inside the carrier. “What’s wrong? Is he hurt?” Sunset asked, trying to tilt her head to look inside the carrier, though Fluttershy’s pink hair was blocking her view. “I… I think I see him, but I don’t feel anything. My hands keep passing through him.” Fluttershy gasped and brought her hands to her mouth. “Do you think Dracula turned him into a ghost?” “Dracula can’t do that. We’ve carefully documented what he can do, and he can’t do that,” Sunset said. She nudged Fluttershy on the shoulder, encouraging her friend to step to the side so she could get a better look. Fluttershy obliged, and Sunset knelt down in front of the open carrier door. Fluttershy’s description had been accurate. Looking into the carrier, she felt like she could see Spike inside… or perhaps at least a dog of some kind. Yet, when she reached inside to pull the canine out, she couldn’t grasp anything but air. But Sunset did feel something. “There’s… magic on the opening of the carrier.” She passed her hands in and out of the carrier, each time getting a better gauge of the sensation on her fingers. “There’s an energy barrier right on the edge of the little door. It feels like… sticking my hand through a bubble. I’d almost call it an illusion spell, but the only one that I know that can pull that off is Rarity.” “Oh, and here I thought you weren’t going to figure it out.” There was a sharp clip and snap against the floor. Fluttershy and Sunset turned to face it, Fluttershy’s light catching the tips of two black, high heeled boots that were striding towards them. Sunset felt an odd, ill-at-ease tension rising in her limp body as her jaw hung open in utter shock. At the same time, her brain was struggling to comprehend what she was seeing. Fluttershy was tensing up like a statue, both of her hands squeezing her phone and making the light visibly tremble. It was Rarity, but not in any way the pair had seen her before. The sensible outfit she had left school in was replaced with something that would barely pass as a bikini. The material was all-red, but it was accented with gold bracelets on her arms which connected to long swaths of cape-like, black fabric that were tied together with the swimsuit on the back of Rarity’s neck. The outfit was oddly complemented by shin-length, black, high-heel boots. She strode with purpose, crossing her feet and with a sway in her hips. It was a walk Sunset and the others had only seen when Rarity was showing off an outfit on a fashion runway. Then Rarity’s face came into the light, and Sunset’s blood ran cold in her veins. Rarity had ponied up, but it was wrong. Her equine ears were longer and shaped more like a predator’s, and her eyes burned blood-red. Finally, through her sneering smile, Sunset could see a pair of long, piercing fangs. “Rarity… if this is a joke, it isn’t funny,” Fluttershy said, her voice shaking even more than her hands. “What, don’t you like my new look?” Rarity asked. She batted at her hair as she always did, but her facial expression was not one Sunset had ever seen on her friend. It made her feel unsafe standing in the same room. Some part of her mind was screaming at her to call on her magic, to pin Rarity down, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. “Did… Dracula bite you?” Sunset asked. She took a step away from Rarity, backing into and stumbling against the veterinary table where the empty dog carrier was. “Rarity, you have to turn off your magic. You’ll feel better when you do.” “I’m afraid I can’t do that, darling.” Rarity waved her hands a little and lifted off the ground as if she weighed nothing at all. The cape-like bits of fabric that connected her bracelets to her back flowed and flitted, like wings, and her smile grew more sinister as her lips rolled back to reveal more and more of her fangs. “Master wouldn’t like that.” Sunset had but a split second to react, and thankfully, her instincts acted before her mind could catch up. She pulled the bandage off her hand from earlier, lifted her arms, and extended her magic into a barrier shape as Rarity’s polluted aura grew in intensity. The normally vibrant, purple color was dark and almost looked like poison enshrouding her body. There were also tiny bubbles of a sharp, neon-blue magic turning and flowing in Rarity’s magic, like her aura was boiling. She raised a few of her fingers, like trying to tip a balance scale out of alignment, and daggers manifested in the air around her. That was Rarity’s magical speciality, to conjure and manipulate magical constructs. And with a smile and flick of her wrist, the volley of knives was thrown at Sunset’s magic. Sunset felt the sting of the impact on her physical hands as the knives hit her magic. It was like getting peppered by small, sharp stones, but Sunset kept her barrier up through Rarity’s full assault. Even after just one barrage, Sunset felt like she had expended a significant portion of her internal magic. Rarity, however, was still smiling and floating, like she was a cloud in the sky without a care in the world. “I applaud you for your good reflexes,” Rarity said, even clapping her hands together a few times as she took a sitting posture while still floating in the air. “But why don’t we stop this messy resistance and you two just come meet Master? It’s just a little prick, and then the world makes so much more sense.” Rarity moved some of her hair out of the way, showing Fluttershy and Sunset two notable holes on her neck. They oozed blood and glowed with a red aura all their own. “So you’ve been bitten. Where’s Dracula?” Sunset snapped, though she maintained her misshapen barrier. “Tell me where he is. I’ll put him down, and that should release you and Fluttershy from his curse.” “It’s not my place to disclose Master’s location without his permission, but I will take you to him. You just have to let me knock you out first, or put your heads in these lovely bags. I even made one for each of you.” Rarity gestured towards another part of the room, and from one of the fashion-based project stations, two fabric bags came into view. They looked more like fancy drawstring backpacks, each one colored and themed for either Fluttershy or Sunset. They were beautiful, but their design was marred in Sunset’s eyes by their malevolent purpose. “Aren’t they darling?” Rarity asked. She grabbed the one meant for Sunset out of the air. “I only used the finest materials. Something light, airy, and gentle on the skin. But of course it has to be sturdy too, so I actually gave them two layers. There is a soft, silken interior with a more durable cotton exterior. All natural fibers, of course. You wouldn’t believe the amount of polyester that’s just laying around some of the projects in this room. Now, I’m not saying polyester doesn’t have its place, but I didn’t feel it was appropriate for my friends’ kidnapping head bags. So, would you like me to put yours on for you?” “Not going to happen, Rarity.” “How rude. I suppose now you’re going to tell me you don’t want the outfits I made either.” Rarity let the fabric bags drop to the ground as she swooped over to another side of the room and grabbed some outfits off a clothing rack. “I mean, how could you say no to these? They’re absolutely perfect for vampire maidens in fashion. Sunset, you’ll simply look fabulous in these leather pants with liner cuts, this ripped, white tank top, and all-black leather jacket. Oh, and Fluttershy, I have this lovely green, strapless dress for you. Though, if you two wish to have something more like mine, I think I can put something together. Don’t you think you’d look fabulous in this little number, emphasis on little?” Sunset’s mind swung back from terror and anger to disbelief at the sight of the outfit. The pants and jacket were okay, but the tank top was so ripped, someone could easily see her bra through it. Her mind, however, couldn’t linger on that thought for long. She heard a thump beside her and turned to see Fluttershy had collapsed, her face bright-red in embarrassment. “Did you seriously just faint on me, Fluttershy!?” Sunset shouted. “Poor dear never could bring herself to show off any of her midriff,” Rarity said, shaking her head like a knowing mother. “The few times we’ve all gone swimming together, she always wore her one piece suit. The color is wonderful, but the design is so modest, it borders on unflattering. But, with her out of the picture, that does mean I just have to deal with you, Sunset.” Rarity flicked her wrists again, another volley of magically-manifested knives forming in the air. “So, shall we have another go, or are you ready to admit defeat?” Sunset began to lower her barrier, a gesture that drew Rarity in a little closer. Sunset placed one hand on the examination table beside her, a thumb resting on the empty dog carrier. She stayed like that for a moment, then shot a cold glare in Rarity’s direction. “The only thing I’m ready to admit is that, right now, you look like a tramp.” Sunset swung her arm as her fingers tightened on the dog carrier, hurling the hunk of plastic and metal at Rarity. The carrier smacked Rarity’s head, and she crashed to the ground, her magical constructs disappearing before they could hit the floor. It created an opening, and Sunset seized the opportunity. She pointed her right hand at Rarity, sending out her magic to pin her friend against the ground, while her other hand worked to bring out her locket device. “Tramp? Tramp!? Is it my fault that being a vampire does such wonderful things for your figure and complexion?” Rarity began to struggle against Sunset’s magic, managing to lift her body a little through sheer strength. “The all-blood diet is a wonderful thing, and I think that is why vampires have always been far more liberal with their ensembles. If I’m going to be designing fashion for creatures of the night, I’ve got to be up on the trends, and skin is in. Furthermore, what would we have done if you missed me and hit one of my lovely outfits? I might have been forced to start all over.” “That really isn’t important right now,” Sunset said, frowning deeply as she opened her locket and pointed it at Rarity. Normally, the lockets were designed not to suck up their magic, but Twilight explained that hardwiring a limitation into the device posed a number of risks of its own. So, she included an override. By holding two buttons, the lockets could be forced to drain the magic from one of them, and that was exactly what Sunset was doing. It would not hurt Rarity. In fact, at most, it would stun her for a little while. It also likely wouldn’t cure the curse. They had tried the same thing on Fluttershy more than once, and her vampirism always came back once her reserves of magic recovered. But disabling Rarity now would buy her time, so Sunset did her best to hold the locket out while containing Rarity’s growing protests. “Sunset, this is unacceptable. I demand that you release me this instant!” Rarity got one hand free from Sunset’s magic and tried to conjure her knives once more. Sunset had to take a few steps closer to exert her magic again and regain control. A few beads of sweat were starting to run down the sides of her face, and still, Rarity’s magic was slowly draining away. As the process continued, Rarity’s protests became more feral. She began to growl and hiss, her pupils getting smaller. She tried biting at Sunset’s magical aura, knowing full well that damage to the magic was passed onto the human using it. Sunset could feel two sharp pricks on her right hand and felt a resulting trickle of warm blood down her index finger. Still, she held Rarity down, and the magic continued to drain, a sphere of poisonous-purple energy spooling around in the center of the locket’s collection array. Near the end, Rarity’s resistance grew weak. She began to fall asleep, exhausted from the energy being drained away, but she began smiling and chuckling to herself. She looked straight at Sunset, their eyes locking for the final moments of the draining process. “What you fail to realize is that this is Master’s domain. You cannot hope to escape, now that you’ve entered.” With that, Rarity’s eyes slid shut, and her body went limp. Sunset closed the locket and dropped to one knee as her own magical aura collapsed. Her pony ears returned to their normal human form, and her ponytail faded away as she panted to catch her breath. She felt like puking. Nausea was rising up, and it was a struggle to swallow it back down. Rarity was now bitten, and worse, she was showing some notably different symptoms. She had to get Rarity back to the old lab and have Twilight examine her. They needed to try and diagnose why she was acting different than Fluttershy before they could make any further moves in the school against Dracula. But first, she’d have to get Fluttershy to wake up.