I gotz meself an idea for Equestrian vampires. It goes like this: there are two types of vamponies - red vampires, and true vampires.

True vampires are pretty close to what you expect from a vampire, and they're not called vamponies since you don't have to be a pony to become a true vampire. They're fang-mouthed vampirism sufferers who must drink blood to survive, can't stand sunlight, can fly, have super strength, etc. Their bite is what transmits vampirism as well, though you only turn into a vampire if you don't die from the feeding. If they kill you because they suck you dry, you stay dead.

Red vampires aren't like that. For one, you can actually call them vamponies, since they're only ponies. Also, they can survive by drinking blood, but that's not the only way they feed, and you can only become one voluntarily. This is because red vampires are all red mages. Red magic is pony exclusive, extremely powerful, even more dangerous, and forbidden (but since when has that stopped people/ponies from doing stuff?). Unlike normal magic, which is powered by the user's mana reserves, red magic is powered by souls. So if you don't happen to have anyone else's souls around, it eats up your own. As a result, red mages have to devour other ponies' souls in order to replace what they lose, with the leftovers available for future spells. At first, they can only extract souls magically. Eventually, however, the continual loss and replacement of pieces of their souls starts wearing on them. This manifests as properties that some might mistakenly attribute to being a vampire, as well as the ability to eat souls without the aid of magic.

Vamponies, like vampires, have fangs and don't like sunlight, but that's where the similarities end. In fact, while sunlight burns them, they can actually survive being in the sun for quite a while, unlike true vampires. They don't have the super strength and flight abilities of true vampires either.

Vampony fangs aren't useless, though. They're bloodsuckers, but only by choice. They are naturally sadistic (and I mean REALLY sadistic), and also omnivorous rather than herbivorous. If a vampony is drinking blood, it's only because he or she wants to.

1870874

It's all about the power source. Red magic turns souls into mana. Think of it like coal power versus nuclear power. What gives you more power, burning coal or burning uranium? (I know it's more complicated than just "burning", but you know what I mean)

Edit: You can also use pre-extracted souls for it, but that method is less efficient.

1870833 I read this post... my brain went.

Very clever idea, not to mention the amazing fic possibilities.

1870904

You can use it if you want. ^^ If I do end up using this, it wouldn't be for quite a while. I certainly don't want it to go to waste.

1870923 Thanks, I just might do that.

1870833 Awesome. Write this now. But i would like it that red vampires are much more rarer because maybe red magic is a lost art?

1870833 Also, how strong are we talking about for vampires?

1870833 I love and WILL READ THE SH*T OUT OF THIS.

1870833 a good idea, but look into steampunk brony's work - vampony chronicles, its similar to what your going for and might give you some ideas

I had a similar idea for a lich who used her own soul for a magic source. But it regenerates over time. Also she permanently fractured her soul and bound it to the skeleton of a baby dragon to give it life and intelligence. Perhaps a red Mage could do the same?

When you say "souls" what exactly are you talking about? Different settings (and religions) have different meaning for the term to the point that it can be pretty meaningless.

Is it the mind and consciousness of the pony? In which case you could just as easily say that these vampires eat brains, or memories.

Is it their life energy? In that case, say life energy.

Do they steal years from a ponies life? Their love for other? Do they steal a ponies happiness which leaves victim in a state of depression?

Or does this setting have immortal souls which are responsible for for a pony attaining their desired afterlife upon death and a vampire stealing their soul denies them the ability to go to heaven (or reincarnate or whatever the setting uses)? In which case, how does the afterlife operate? Who runs it? And why aren't there hordes of demons and angels descending upon the land, blotting out the sun with their numbers like a roaring wave of both righteous and infernal anger sent to punish the vampires for their hubris?

I ask this because just saying "Their magic uses up souls" leaves out so much information because souls are wildly different depending on the work. I would strongly recommend using a different term unless you are explicitly using the term "soul" to relate to something that deals with the afterlife. In which case you're going to open up a huge can of worms and I'd probably stop reading if you have to make up a bunch of new characters and cosmic beings to try and explain how religion works in Equestria if vamponies can screw with immortal souls.

What if Vamponies drain the natural magic of other ponies? Like how earth ponies can grow plants, pegasai can fly and work with clouds, and unicorns cast spells? A vampony will gradually run out of their natural magic but can restore it by stealing magic from other ponies, which in turn renders an earth pony unable to farm, a pegasai unable to fly, or a unicorn unable to cast spells. That would be a logical and well defined threat that vamponies pose. Heck, you could have unicorns willingly become vamponies so they could steal the magic of others and "supercharge" themselves to become far more powerful then they would normally be (kind of like what happened to Trixie in Magic Duel).

Plus, the threat could touch home if the vamponies get someone like Twilight or Rainbow Dash and rob them of the thing that defines most of their character. Rainbow Dash gets her magic drained which renders her unable to fly and has to track down the vampony who did it to get her flight back... or she could try becoming a vampony herself and steal magic from others to get hers back.

Or how about cutie marks? That would make a good soul analog (and explain why vamponies are pony exclusive). A vampony can call upon special magic but doing so drains the power of their cutie mark and renders them unable to call upon their special talent. If they want their cutie mark back, they have to steal from another pony which either strengthens their own mark or maybe gives them a new mark. Or once they steal a mark it appears on their flank and gradually fades as it is 'consumed' to empower their own mark. Said mark can be taken back if the victim can defeat the vampony before the mark is completely used up.

Hell, considering the events of Magical Mystery Cure, a cutie mark could be somehow magically tied to a ponies destiny or place in society. A vampony could steal someones Cutie Mark and then effectively take their place without having to use a disguise. A changeling has to wear a disguise and steal your love. A vampony steals your place in life and leaves you forgotten and alone as your former friends find themselves loving this stranger instead of you.

Actually that last bit reminds me of the Weeping Angels in Doctor Who... not exactly like them but the fact is the Angels feed on potential energy. They send people back in time and basically feed on all the deeds and actions that the person would have done with the rest of their life. They forcibly transplant a person into a different time and place and effectively make them lose everything they had... all in the blink of an eye.

I'm not saying you necessarily have to use cutie marks or something, but please define exactly what it is that these vamponies feed on. Saying they feed on souls really means nothing unless you define it within the confines of the setting and you might as well say something like:

Celestia: You must be very careful, because vamponies constantly hunger for the wathan of the living and will stop at nothing until they consume it to fuel their magical powers!

Mane Six: *gasp!*

Pinkie Pie: Wow, If I hadn't read the Riverworld series, I would have had no idea what that was! Actually... I did read it and I still have no idea what you're talking about!

Celestia: A wathan is a magical blueprint of your body to allow resurrection magic to reconstruct a physical body for your soul to inhabit after death.

Mane Six: ...

Twilight: We have a what now?

1870937

One thing I kinda forgot to mention in my first post. Red magic isn't limited to unicorns. Pegasi and earth ponies can use it as well.

1875873

To clarify, "souls" are the essence of a living creature, similar to the way souls are explained in Harry Potter. Your brain/mind might make you capable of thought, but your soul makes you who you are. Without it, your body won't immediately die, but there is nothing to drive it. No personality, nothing. If your soul gets sucked out, you essentially become a vegetable.

There are some areas where this explanation for souls differs from Harry Potter's. For one, the soul that gets used in red magic is actually the "immortal" soul, but it isn't destroyed outright when used in magic. The moment it gets sucked out of its original body and absorbed by a red vampire, it is considered "dead" and goes into the afterlife. The end result is the transition of the siphoned soul to the afterlife, while the vampony's soul increases in volume. In other words, the soul is actually just sent to the afterlife, and the energy from that act is harnessed by the red mage to replenish their soul.

Now when a red mage uses their soul to power spells, they technically aren't losing pieces of their soul, though it certainly appears that way. Their soul is just being drained of energy, causing it to shrink. The affect on them is the same, however. The lesser soul they're left with is what makes them sadistic and hedonistic; they're trying to make themselves feel more alive, to make up for how close to "dead" their small soul makes them. Though feeding on souls helps at first, that effect eventually becomes permanent.

1872055

Vampires are all at least strong enough to hold Tom (the boulder) in one hoof/claw/hand.

Red vampires are pretty rare, but that's because red magic isn't very well known, and those who do know of it typically don't like the risk of losing your soul. If you don't calculate the cost of a spell just right, you end up using your whole soul, not just a piece of it. That, and the princesses have an extreme...dislike for red magic and red mages. Rightfully so, with how cruel they are, and even the weakest of them could put up a fight against an alicorn.

1870932>>1870937>>1870874>>1872052>>1873831>>1873869>>1875873

Something new I just came up with: some characters that could be vampires.

Perhaps (le gasp! ) Rarity could be a vampire, albeit a suppressed one. My idea is that one of the jewels in her cutie mark isn't just a mark on her flank, but an actual jewel - one given to her by the princesses to suppress her vampirism. It allows her to come out in the sun and eat regular pony food to survive, though it doesn't completely suppress the thirst, and she would still have a strong aversion to strong sunlight.

As for red vampires: Vinyl Scratch and Octavia. Vinyl would be a serious hedonist. Wild parties, crazy sex, and unthinkable violence would kinda be her shtick. Octavia would be the classic "refined vampire" - classy, polite, and all around faux-affably evil.

Edit: Incidentally, if any of you guys wanna use this stuff, go right ahead. I don't mind.

1876326 Perhaps Fluttershy could also be included here. It would explain her reluctance to draw attention to her self, and her kindness could be some form of subconscious attempt to atone for her nature.

1876409

Seeing as she's out in the sun a lot, she'd have to have something suppressing her vampirism to pull that off. She doesn't have a jewel or anything that she always wears, so what would it be?

1876461 Perhaps a tonic of some sort. I'm sure it would be well within Zecora's skill range to come up with something. I doubt she would report Fluttershy, so long as she does not cause harm to anypony.

1876557

True enough.

By the way, what do you plan on doing with the story, anyway? I'm interested to know how you're applying this, since all it is is background that any story could be applied to.

1876568 I was thinking of a story involving opposing vampire clans. Nothing solid yet, still in the brainstorming stage. Possibly a sort of redemption story. Basically, a vampony feels guilty about the pain they have caused others, and seeks to redeem themselves by hunting down other vampires. Pretty basic, but maybe I can add some flare to it, along with the ideas you've shared here, I believe I can come up with a decent story.

1876614

Sounds like a pretty good idea. Presumably the vampony won't be using red magic anymore, but would he/she have reached the point where the vampiric qualities (like fangs and aversion to light) and inherent cruelty are permanent? Anyone who uses red magic enough reaches that point.

1876623 He has reached that point unfortunately. However I never said he would cease to be cruel, he will merely direct it towards his own kind, as apposed to mortals.

Also I had a thought on what you said about all types of ponies being capable of red magic, maybe it is applied differently to each race. For example.
Earth Ponies: Red magic can be applied mainly as a combat enhancement. Strengthening endurance, speed, and overall strength. It can also be applied to farming by allowing the growth of plants such as Blood Thorn.
Pegasus: Blood magic is typically manipulated in order to amplify stealth and speed. It can also be used to allow for minor telekinetic manipulation of the weather.
Unicorn: Aside from simply strengthening the potency of a unicorns magic it also allows for the use of otherwise impossible practices, necromancy being the most prominent.

1876825

That sounds excellent, actually. Although, to an extent, I think there should be abilities shared by all three. Increasing strength and speed doesn't really suit some earth ponies, particularly ones who live in cities like Canterlot (some of whom would even be nobles).

1876914 Well it goes without saying that all would share some common attribute enhancements, such as eye sight, hearing, intelligence, etc. I'm not saying that these are the only ways that red magic can be used, just the most common, and well documented. An earth pony can learn necromancy just as easily as a unicorn, it is simply a problem with whether or not they actually want to. As is often the case some earth ponies, and pegasi are wary of magic and therefore want little to do with it.

1876963

Right.

By the way...what's Blood Thorn?

1876980 It's a narcotic. Nearly impossible to cultivate without the use of red magic. The main effects of the plant is found by drying and grinding the blossoms into a fine powder, creating a high potency, anesthesia, lethal in high doses. In it's raw form it is a highly prized, and highly illegal hallucinogenic. Not to mention extremely expensive, 1,200 bits for a gram.

1877157 It's going to be fucking Columbia all over again....

1876293 So your saying Tom the boulder could be one handed by a vampire like it's a feather.

1877222

Some races on Equestria have been showed to be strong by default (Rarity for example: she is probably not hugely strong by pony standards, yet she can shove around Tom with relative ease), and vampires are much stronger than their non-vampiric brethren...

Although they couldn't do it like Tom was a feather. They'd be able to do it, but just barely.

1877268 Ahhh ok. And because the show was just a show, and Rarity was kinda mind controlled, it shouldn't really serve as the basis for a Unicorns strength involving the Tom episode.

1877268 Hey, I plan on starting this story within the next couple of days or so, and seeing as how you came up with this idea, I think it's only fair that you get to have some say in how this story goes. Send me a PM with your gmail in it, and I'll add you to my share list, so that you can look at the story and leave comments as you see fit.

1876461

Fluttershy could easily make sense as a vampire if she could get away with feeding on animals. She keeps plenty of predator animals around and to feed them she hunts down prey for them, drains them of blood, and then feeds the rest to the predators. Any animals who are about to die of old age or sickness can be 'put down' for their own good and to keep Fluttershy fed.

Her overall shyness is her wanting to keep her vampirism in check and not scare the ponies around her. She could also have a jewel or similar item to keep her vampirism in check... she just keeps it hidden in her poofy mane or maybe under one of her wings (could be a hair clip that's been 'buried' under the rest of her mane so nobody can see it). Or since this is already an AU, might as well give Vampireshy a necklace to wear just to let the reader know that something is different.

Or she could have some sort of phylactory thing going on so that an uncorrupted piece of her soul is attached to something else, and so long as that piece is intact then she doesn't suffer the worst of the vampire curse.

Oh, and that piece of her soul is actually inside Angel Bunny (like some kind of Harry Potter horcrux thing). Angel Bunny gets a prolonged lifespan (either due to being her horcrux or due to special treatments she gives to him) and Fluttershy stays somewhat normal so long as he's alive. That's why she puts up with his antics.

1877589

Well, I pm'd you my email (I don't have a gmail), but I haven't gotten anything yet. Have you just not started yet, or is something going on with the doc sharing?

1888506

That sounds pretty good. Do you think there would need to be any changes to Octavia and Vinyl for them to be red vampires?

1890028 I have not started yet. I plan to start either today or tomorrow.

1890144

I just thought of the most perfect Blade reference that your character could have, since he despises other vampires.

"Vampires...I HATE VAMPIRES!"

By the way. Will your guy/gal just hate red vampires/vamponies, or vampires in general?

1890304 It's not that he hates them, it's more of a "I have no other choice" kind of thing.

1890316

I see. What other vampire/vampony characters have you considered? Any canon characters?

1904676 I plan on involving some members of the mane 6, as well as members of royalty, not sure if any of them will be vampires though; maybe Rarity or Fluttershy.

1890028

Oh, this isn't really related to your question but I just have to ask if you can think of a better name than "red vampire". Maybe something like... Dire Vampire, Vampire Lord, or maybe something like Jiangshi (a Chinese vampire who steals the life energy of its victims. First heard about it in Jackie Chan Adventures).

The term "red vampire" doesn't really inspire the sort of fear that a soul-devouring mockery of life should in my opinion. They should also use something like "soul magic" or "blood magic" or Dark Powers or whatever. Red Magic sounds like the sort of thing a red mage from Final Fantasy would use.

1938301 I concur, I have come to calling them either "Blooded Vampires", or "Reapers", as well as referring to the magic as "Blood magic".

1952562

Good idea. This was really just in the concept stage when I posted it here, so names weren't particularly high on the priority list.