Hunger.
That was what Sun awoke to. The gnawing, clawing sensation in the pit of her stomach that only came when her blood reserves were running low. Sitting up with a grunt, Sun mentally cursed not feeding the night before. Fighting her way to the prick LaCroix had drained more of her reserves than she would have liked. Then there was the cost of waking each night, the use of her Celerity and Presence the night before last. The tank was approaching empty. To prevent herself from flying into a hunger induced frenzy, there was one and only option. She had to feed.
Sitting up, she blinked at the blanket that she found wrapped around her body. A slight smile crossed her lips. “Aw. That was nice of her. Kinda pointless, but nice.”
Tossing it aside, Sun hopped to her feet and set about looking for her equine room mate. She wasn’t in the kitchen or her bedroom.
“Mmm. Must not be back from work yet,” she mused.
This provided her with a bit of a dilemma. Did she wait for Digger to come home with the items she had asked for and- possibly- some information on how to break her curse? Or did she go out and hunt for some blood now? The twisting sensation in her stomach and the ache at the root of her fangs certainly made a convincing argument to go see what Manehattan’s night had to offer.
Walking over to the windows, Sun peeked through the curtains. The streets seemed a little busy tonight. From what she could tell, it was mostly small groups of ponies either heading home after a long day of work, or heading out to have some fun. A perfect situation to hunt in, if she didn’t stand out like a sore thumb. Especially since the broken streetlights had been replaced during the day.
Still….
Before she could decide, the sound of keys rattling in the door made the decision for her. It swung open and Deep Digger shuffled in, carrying a bunch of full bags in her magic. She raised an eyebrow at Sun as she kicked the door closed behind her. Sun blinked. Digger smelled good tonight. A bit like mint and cinnamon. The ache in her fangs grew a little stronger.
“You weren’t thinking about leaving, were you?”
“...Maybe? I wasn’t sure when you were going to get back.”
“I would recommend against doing that. The city’s looking for you now.”
“...What?”
“My co-worker, Far Sight told the city guard about you and released a public statement to the newspapers,” Digger sighed. She plucked a thick edition from amongst books and several unrelated looking items and thrust it at Sun. “Congratulations. You made all the evening editions.”
Somewhat incredulous of Digger’s claim, Sun took the paper and unfolded it with a quick flick of her wrist. Her frown grew deeper and deeper as she scanned the front page.
“Viciously attacked? Extremely dangerous? Do not approach under any circumstances? Your co-worked has no damn clue how screwed he would have been if there had been a less ethical vampire in that sarcophagus.”
Digger shrugged. “Maybe. But things like you don’t tend to happen in Equestria. The guards will start looking for you. And there’s a visiting kirin mage that’s offering to help the museum track you down as well.”
Sun wasn’t entirely sure what a kirin was, but “mage” was bad for her. “Fan-fucking-tastic,” she sighed. “What now?”
“There is still the go public option-”
“Not until this curse is gone!” Sun snapped, throwing the paper at Digger’s hooves. “Goddamn Digger! What about this don’t you understand?”
“How you can be this paranoid! Do you really think so little of Equestria that we’d kill you when your back is turned?”
“I survived five years in a lion’s den by being paranoid. The fact that all of you are adorable doesn’t mean I just let my guard down. For all I know the Camarilla could still somehow be out there in the shadows.” She tapped herself in the chest. “Unless we’re slain, vampires just keep on existing, remember?”
Digger bit her lip and Sun smirked. Admittedly, the odds of the Camarilla still being around were unlikely. While a vampire could still be “alive” after thousands upon thousands of years, maintaining a power structure through a shift in the dominant species on the planet was a completely different thing. She just wasn’t ready to trust a pair of mysterious princesses yet.
After a few minutes of internal debate, Deep Digger sighed. “...Fine. But if you’re not going public, we need a way for you to blend in.”
Sun walked back to the couch. “I’m listening.”
“I dug through some of my archives and found a spell that should help.” Deep Digger said, trotting for the kitchen with her bags. “The downside is that...well...it involves transmutation magic.”
Transmutation. “So, you want to-”
“Turn you into a pony? Yes.”
The idea seemed completely laughable to Sun. But the utterly serious expression on Digger’s face kept Sun from completely throwing the idea aside.
“Alright…,” Sun frowned, steepling her hands together. “You seem to clearly think this is a good idea. Explain to me why and don’t leave out any details.”
“It’s what it says on the tin. We transform you into something else. No chance of the sudden loss or failure of the spell while you’re walking around, like can happen with an illusion. And...well…,” she shrugged. “There is a small, small chance the transformation will break the curse.”
Sun raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
“A small chance! You,” she pointed at Sun, “are most likely swimming with entropy magic. It explains your ‘dead’ nature almost perfectly. You're effectively 'locked' in this living-dead state. Transmutation is a sub-school of life magic. I’m hoping that if I flood your system with it during the transmutation, we’ll effectively force a ‘reset’ as it were.”
Sun nodded, Digger’s angle becoming clear. “Like flipping a blown circuit breaker. You sure that’ll work?”
“I...honestly don’t know,” Digger shrugged. “But even if it doesn’t, you’ll be disguised. You could walk around and night, help me track down other possible fixes or even just do things besides sit in this apartment all night. But the natural downside is that you won’t be human anymore. So, I understand if-”
“If there’s even a chance it can free me from being a vampire, I’m willing to take it.”
“...Seriously? You’re willing to give up your humanity just like that?” Digger blinked. “I was expecting to have to argue this more....”
“Mmm. Two counter points to that. One,” she held up a finger. “I haven’t felt ‘human’ in a while. I don’t possibly think that going pony or minotaur or whatever would make that feeling worse. Two,” a second joined the first. “If you change me one way, can’t you change me back? Basically make me human again once the curse is broken?”
“...I’d need something of yours to fuel that.” She rubbed her chin in thought. “Hair would work the best.”
“Hair huh?”
Sun marched straight for the kitchen. Rummaging through the drawers she drew a knife with one hand and pulled her long hair taught with her other. With one smooth motion, empowered by her undead strength, she chopped her locks down to neck length.
“Ta-dah!” she smirked, holding the mass of hair out to Digger. “Now, make with the magic.”
- - - -
Digger read the earmarked pages of her tome for the third time, double checked the arcane circle that now covered most of her kitchen floor, and made sure that her sound dampening spell was active. Explaining the situation to her landlord was something she wasn’t in the mood for right now.
Zebra magic, while quite flexible, was very alien compared to its pony equivalent. Pony magic was internal, flowing from their magical wellspring and expressing itself through the various tribal specializations. By contrast, zebra magic was all potions and rituals. External. They tapped into the magic that was just part of the world and wove it into their storytelling traditions and way of approaching the arcane.
Because they drew from the magic of the world, their rituals had a larger pool of power to draw from. Hypothetically at least. There hadn’t been many studies done comparing the limits of a unicorn’s reservoir to how much power a zebra ritual could draw in, but the theory was sound.
“Are you almost done? This is really damn awkward.”
She glanced up at Sun. The human was sitting in an odd cross legged pose in the middle of the circle, her arms crossed under those strangely swollen teats of hers. She was covered top to bottom in similar arcane scrawlings as the circle, made from quartz infused ink. Four stacks of silver coins were situated equidistant from her body in the four cardinal directions at about the midpoint of the circle. Four flickering candles were on the outside edge, set up on the same cardinal directions, that Sun had been glowering at for the past few minutes.
“Just be patient. I need to make sure that everything is correct. One wrong symbol and this whole spell could go south.”
Sun glowered. “I am so glad that I don’t get cold anymore.”
Digger rolled her eyes and checked the circle one last time. “Alright. I think we’re ready.”
A quick snip from a pair of scissors gave Digger the final component she needed. Mane hair. It was placed between the southern coin pile and Sun. Digger flipped the page to the next part of the ritual. The magic words. This was where the biggest risk in the ritual was. A mispronunciation could invoke a completely different spell, or cause other horrific results. Thankfully, Digger spoke fluent zebra.
“So, when I change, does that mean I’ll be able to do levitation and stuff like you?” Sun asked.
“...I honestly don’t know. We’re treading new ground here.”
“What about walking and stuff? Going from two legs to four? Am I going to need to relearn how to walk?”
“Actually, no,” Digger shook her head. “Spells like this wouldn’t be much use if they effectively crippled those it was cast on. Magic users worked out a sub-enchantment ‘translator’ centuries ago that effectively overlays onto subconsciousness. You more think about what you want to do, rather than the specifics of how to do it and your body will handle the rest.”
Sun cocked her head. “I’m...trying to work out if that’s creepy or not. Feels a little...brainwashy.”
“...It is not ‘brainwashy’.” Digger sighed. “Just because a spell has mind magic in it, it’s not automatically ‘brainwashy’!”
“Woah…,” Sun held up her hands. “Touchy.”
“I’m...sorry. Equestria may be in a more enlightened age, but there is still a great amount of misinformation regarding unicorn magic and how it functions. Especially amongst pegasi and earth ponies. As an educator, that bothers me.”
Sun’s lips thinned, but she nodded. “Then let’s do this.”
Digger nodded and began to read. She focused on the words as she did, picturing them in her mind. This was one of the keys to zebra rituals. It wasn’t enough to just say the words. The caster had to believe them.
Nini ana miguu miwili asubuhi!
Tatu miguu katika mchana!
Pamoja na miguu minne jioni!
Wewe!
The room became noticeably dimmer, candles and ceiling lights alike struggling to cast luminescance in the presence of the growing arcane power. The circle on the floor began to cast a purple light, while the paint on Sun’s body began to match it. She gasped as the auras began to reach out, tangling and coiling together to form connections between the two forces.
Wewe ni farasi!
Kutembea kwa miguu minne!
Wewe ni farasi!
Mbio juu ya miguu minne!
More colors began to flow between circle and Sun now. To Digger’s practiced arcane eye, the school of magic was easily given away by the color of the aura it gave off. Purple was correspondence, the connection between all things and the main conduit for the rest of the ritual. Life magic- that would be the main catalyst for the transformation- was of course present. A heavy, leaden red energy that hung near the floor like flowing mist. It was the colors of magic that flowed from Sun that were the most interesting though.
There were light green wisps that flit around her body from the school of time that mixed with heavy, inky blackness from the school of entropy. Stasis and death. This wasn’t going to be easy. Digger braced herself and focused all the harder on the words.
Wewe ni farasi!
Wewe ni farasi!
Wewe ni farasi!
Sun convulsed at the last word...and let out an ear piercing scream. Digger jerked back the book tumbling out of her grip. A sickening, burning stench was filling the room, its source unmistakable. The painted symbols on Sun’s skin were boiling. The vampire screamed in a mixture of rage and pain, thrashing about and clawing frantically at her own body. But even as she did, her hands were twisting and warping in ways that Digger could only describe as horrific.
Her fingers twisted about so hard that they snapped, hanging limply for a moment before running together like water, forming into hoof and frog. Sun screamed again, spitting a furious curse.
“You fucking Tzimisce bithhhh-”
The curse died, falling into a strangled series of burbling sounds. The upper part of Sun’s jaw cracked and pushed forward, her small human nose merging into the disjointedly growing muzzle. Digger couldn’t help herself. The nightmarish sight and sickening sounds of bones cracking and reforming was just too much. Stomach heaving, she turned away, emptying its contents all over the floor.
Something’s gone wrong, she thought, wiping the remains of sick from her muzzle. The transformation was supposed to be a smooth transition, not this! She rushed back to her book, hurriedly flipping through the pages while glancing up at Sun’s changing form.
Sun gasped.
Digger looked up her eyes wide. It had been unmistakable. Sun had taken a full breath. Her chest- covered in a patchwork of pale pink fur, unchanged skin, and the burning brands- heaved as she took another one. But then there was a sickening crack and Sun’s whole torso was suddenly compressed to more pony appropriate proportions. She toppled forward, the tile cracking under her new hooves at the end of legs that were still mostly arms.
A rippling convolution rolled down Sun’s back now. With a sound that was a mix of a wet sucking and a horrible tearing, two slabs of flesh ripped away from the rest of her body. Digger shrieked in horror, but couldn’t tear her eyes away from the twisting, twitching, bloody slabs that were still partially connected via ropey strips of muscle. Dear Celestia, she could even see Sun’s spine!
Even if the spell was breaking the curse, it was killing her at the same time. How? Why? In all her years of magic study, Digger had never encountered a subject reacting this badly to a life spell.
“D-digger...run,” Sun managed to stammer out.
“No!”
Now frantic, Digger ran her hooves over the circle, while batting the coin piles aside with her magic. The ritual had to be stopped before Sun was twisted into a pile of dead meat! But to her horror, the spell had reached critical mass and rolled onwards unperturbed. Digger could only watch. The horrible twitching slabs were gaining more definition, taking on a leathery texture and growing visible bony structures to support the new wing like membranes. Wings that resembled those on a bat pony.
But she had used her own unicorn hair as the fuel for the spell.
The mystery of the tribal change was knocked from her mind as Sun’s head snapped up. Digger’s stomach dropped at the look in the human’s eyes. They had gained the characteristic vertical slit pupils of a bat pony and given up their gray color for a striking violet hue. But there was no recognition in her eyes. No evidence of higher thought. It was the kind of stare that a rabid dog might give.
She took a few steps back, holding up her forehooves in a placating gesture. “Sun...please. I know that this isn’t going the way-”
Sun screeched and dove for her, fangs gleaming in the kitchen light. Thankfully for Digger, Sun’s hind legs were still in a state of transition and the dive was an off kilter mess. Her jaws snapped shut on open air and Digger lashed out with her telekinesis in response, shoving Sun as hard as she could. She didn’t bother to see what Sun crashed into and ran.
Bursting into her living room, Digger dove over the couch, her magic reaching for the door. But before she could even begin to turn the knob, she was struck from behind. Her glasses were sent tumbling away as Digge landed hard on her back. She shrieked and threw out a burst of telekinesis in a wild, wide arc managing to grab Sun.
It was a decision she instantly regretted. Sun thrashed, twisted and bucked with all her might. Her wings beat the air and battered at Digger’s face. She bit and hissed, each time snapping for Digger’s neck.
The end result was the equivalent of trying to hold onto a seventy-five pound bag while it tried to wrestle you to the ground. Digger grunted, setting her jaw as she channeled all her magic, reaching into the very depths of her wellspring. With a cry, she threw Sun with all her might. The transformed human hit the far bookshelf with a thwack, the collection of tomes on its shelves raining down on her from the impact. Swaying for a moment, Digger tried to ignore the pounding headache she had from channeling all that magic. She turned and grabbed the door again, shaking her head for good measure.
She was hit again, from the side this time, Sun pinning her to the ground with her forehooves. With another angry hiss, Sun buried her fangs into Digger’s neck. A haze began to settle in over her mind. One that was oddly euphoric despite the fact that, logically, Digger knew that Sun was drinking her blood. She also knew, just as logically, that she had to do something.
Feebly, she reached up with her forehooves and tried to push Sun away. But she might as well have tried to push Mt. Canterlot over. The vampire was just too strong. Her vision was beginning to fade now, a blackness creeping in from the edges. There was a weight pulling her down and down into some kind of abyss. And as she began to lose consciousness, a few tears leaked from the corners of her eyes.
She didn’t think that death would feel this warm.
- - - -
Sun had walked into a nightmare.
The night had started so simply for her. Yet another night of doing stupid tasks for vampires older than her, this time in the glittering streets of Hollywood. The vampires in this part of LA were surprisingly personable for a bunch of blood suckers. Maybe interacting with humans more often gave them more perspective. Or maybe people were so fake in Hollywood that vampires could blend in easier. Fifty-fifty chance really.
Then had come the call from Prince LaCroix. A snuff film had hit the streets. That in and of itself was nothing new...even if Sun had thought they were more urban myth than reality. But this one supposedly had actual monsters in it. So, as the lowest bitch on the totem pole, she had been sent to plug the Masquerade breach.
The tape rumor head lead to a LA porn studio which, after a chase through the sewers by creatures that were little more than heads with legs, she had come to a house. The house was clearly where the beasts had come from because she was standing in the middle of….well, she didn’t really know how to describe it.
There was furniture. It was made of skin and muscle and some of it even had…faces. Faces that were still blinking and whimpering through lips that were somehow sealed smooth. The furniture was people and somehow, they were still alive.
“Ahh, hello young Cainite,” a smooth male voice said. It was a voice that oozed with an old world arrogance and accent. “I see your face is not so lifeless, your nerves not so deadened, that you can not express shock.”
Slowly, Sun turned to face him, hands already curling into fists.
The thing standing in the doorway to another room might have been human once. Now it resembled something from a horror movie. The head was stretched backwards into a fleshy crown, topped by six boney spikes. Four more spikes grew out of his shoulders, two on each side. His skin was a pallid, ashen gray while his eyes glowed with a yellowish light. But the cherry on top of the surreal sundae was the blood red suit and tie.
“Tell me childe, is my appearance that frightening, or is it my knowledge of you that is so unnerving?”
The davenport behind Sun gave a strangled whimper. She bared her fangs, disgust welling up inside her. Disgust...disgust...disgust….
Digger’s apartment swam back into view. The memories of that night and the feelings of disgust had been so strong. Though that was hard to focus on while she was drinking something that was so, perfectly, succulent sweet….
The spell!
With a great deal of effort, she pulled her fangs out of the neck she woke up in. There had been the chanting and then the searing pain and then…. She had lost control.
“Please, not again!” Sun muttered, pressing her now fuzzy ear to Deep Digger’s chest. She had no idea how much blood she had drained from the unicorn. Digger was already smaller than a human and if she took too much…. “Come on Deep Digger! Give me something! Don’t you die on me you stupid book horse!”
There! It was faint, but she could just make out the rhythmic bump of a heartbeat underneath shallow breathing. Very shallow breathing. Sun cursed under her breath. Her only ally in this crazy horse based world was dying in her arms...forelegs...whatever. She had to get Digger to a hospital, but she didn’t know where any of them were and moving the unicorn just might hurt her more. Digger needed something to boost her health long enough in order to get a blood transfusion.
Blood.
That was an option. Vampire blood had a power of its own after all, and empowering mortals with it had a long tradition amongst the Camarilla. The resulting ghouls gained a piece of vampire power, making them harder to kill, extending their age and many other benefits. But like many things involving vampires, there was a price.
In this case, it was an increased sense of devotion to the vampire whose blood the prospective ghoul drunk. It got worse the more the ghoul drank too, as without a constant supply of blood the enhanced abilities would fade in time. It was one of the worst mental violations a vampire could inflict on someone, save maybe the art of Dominate.
Really though, all she needed was for Digger to to make it to a hospital. She didn’t have to give Digger anymore blood.
Sun looked down at her new hooves and the pale pink coat that wrapped around her...wrists? There was only one choice, really. Her fangs easily bit into her own dead flesh, opening up a withered vien.
She didn’t think about how her limbs moved now with their odd joints and flexible nature, as she gently supported Digger’s head with her left foreleg. Pressing the wound to Digger’s muzzle, Sun squirmed it around slightly until her right foreleg rested in Digger’s mouth and the blood dripped down her throat.
“That’s it. Drink up. We’re gonna make sure you’re okay.”
Her ears twitched at the sound of soft speaking outside the door.
“...Of course, we left the kitchen. Must have heard something.” Sun muttered. Of course that was the only room Digger enchanted. She held her leg in Digger’s mouth for another few moments, before pulling it out and licking the wound closed. And not a moment too soon for someone was knocking on the door now.
“Miss Digger?” a soft male voice called out. “It’s Meadow Song. Is everything okay in there?”
This was a bad situation, but Sun did have a plan. Lie. Using some more of the precious blood she had taken from Digger, she willed it into her organs, calling them back to a semblance of life. It wouldn’t last. But in the meantime, she’d at least look like she was alive to anyone observing her.
Lowering Digger to the floor, she took a step towards the windows, stumbled on her four new legs, bit back the desire to swear and fell back to Digger’s previous suggestions. Don’t think about the details, just what you want to do.
I want to walk to the window.
Now her legs got moving and she rushed over to the windows, rearing up and slamming her hooves against the glass. As it shattered outwards, she rushed back to Digger’s side, cradled her in her forelegs and let loose a (hopefully) bone chilling scream.
The door slammed open and an older looking pony burst into the room. Brown coated and green maned, he peered at Sun over a thick pair of glasses. Sun’s nostrils flared slightly at his presence. He smelled like chocolate and sea-salt and made her fangs ache all over again.
“Who?” the old pony asked, clearly perplexed by the scene before him.
“A-a m-monster! There was a monster! It attacked Digger and smashed through the window!” Sun shouted pointing at her handiwork. “P-please! I’m not sure she’s breathing!”
The pony stared at her for a moment before the reality of the situation caught up with him. “R-right! Stay with her, I’ll get an ambulance!”
He turned and ran off again, leaving Sun alone with Digger. She pat the head of the unconscious pony. Digger would be okay.
She had to be.
- - - -
Back across Manehattan, Bright Dawn frowned as the light faded from her crystal charm. A moment ago, it had been swinging back and forth across a map of the city, honing in on the location of their missing monster. A little chip of stone from its sarcophagus had provided the material link for her divination, though now it was thoroughly useless.
Far Sight, who had been watching the process with a great deal of interested, frowned as he peered down at the map. “What happened? Why isn’t it doing it’s thing anymore?”
“Something has interrupted the connection between monster and where it rested. Magical interference of some kind.”
“Damn!” Far Sigh swore.
“Do not despair,” Bright Dawn smiled, resting a hoof on his shoulder. “Whether it is us, or the city guard, we will find your beast.”
Far Sight took a deep breath and nodded. “You’re right. I’ll stay in touch with the guard. Maybe we can coordinate efforts.”
Bright Dawn bowed and watched as Far Sight trotted off to make more plans. She sighed, both her twisted horns glowing as she began to fold the map up. While her words were true, she wasn’t all that eager for the guard to succeed.
She just hoped that she could find Sun before they did.