Act II - Chapter 23
The music that held the motivation for this chapter, give it a listen during your read for setting if you wish.
Today, we succeeded in our defense against the Orz Kingdom, though not without great cost. They believed we would have turned the entire village into vamponies, and so they deployed cruel countermeasures. With unicorns armed with lit arrows, they rained a firestorm onto the village, burning many of its inhabitants, as well as a few of our own.
I have heard ponies call us mad and cruel, but never have I done something as dreadful as killing our own. To me, that is true evil…
After the conflict, we regrouped and rallied the survivors, including the villagers. I’ve never seen a more terrified group. They were for all intents and purposes considered dead from their own kingdom, and they cowered before us as if we were the executioners. No one would take them now, which is why I have decided to escort them into our lands, and allow them to pick the village of their choosing to live at.
During our return, I will do my best to explain how things work, and that they needn't fear for their lives. Only the judged criminals and the old who are willing sacrifice themselves to us are feed upon. And even then, that is only when we are not at war.
And we will war. Nopony should abandon their subjects on a fearful whim as their previous leaders have done.
I will have to speak to Night Walker when we return, and discuss plans for the Orz Kingdom…
-Ruby Sparkle
As the mare’s hoof came down with force, Lunar Pearl re-actively shut her eyes, flinching the parts of her body that would still respond to her. She held them tight in the fearful anticipation of the blow, briefly wondering how it had come to this.
But when the strike did not come, and instead the pressure on her throat loosened enough for a gasp of air to reach her lungs, Lunar Pearl’s snapped open. While her chest rose up and down furiously for the return of oxygen in her lungs, she watched with awe and fear at the mare above her, and her hoof inches from her face that was wrapped in a purple glow.
“Get. Off. Her,” Ruby said between her gritted teeth. The mare whipped her head to Ruby with a wild scowl, her eyes wide with rage. She glared at Ruby with an expression of pure hatred. But for they were a candle’s flame compared to the steady but burning fire in Ruby’s eyes.
With the tilt of Ruby’s head, the strange mare found her world turned sideways and meshed into a blur, quickly followed by the blinding pain of her back being slammed into a tree.
Ruby had swung the mare through the air by her hoof and straight into the tree next to her. The mare’s eyes went wide with shock and pain, her mouth hung opened as if she gave off a soundless scream. But she hardly had anytime to register the fact that her back had been broken upon the tough tree, and found herself quickly pulled towards Ruby, and the sudden pain of fangs piercing her neck. Ruby had brought her straight into her grasp, and she bit down onto the mare's neck as hard as she could, crushing her windpipe in the process.
And the taste of the blood that began to ooze out from the bite was delicious beyond comparison to Ruby.
The bowl of blood she had before was an experience she thought could never be topped, but the taste of fresh blood from a warm and still living pony was far greater. Ruby’s crimson eyes that burned in rage for the mare’s actions glazed over as the euphoria of the taste and the soothing sensation it provided in her throat began to take her. Closing her eyes and letting out a soft moan through her closed mouth, Ruby drank heavily from her prey. The experience of warm blood soothing a fire within her throat was something that could not be described in words, and she was unable to stop herself.
The mare simply laid limp in her deadly embrace. With her back broken, and her windpipe squeezed between a death lock of teeth, she could neither move a muscle or scream in pain as the last moments of her life approached her. And it was as she was unable to breath, her body screaming in a cold like fire, and the feeling of her heart becoming irregular as the blood within her veins was forcibly drawn, did her eyes finally change from a wild rage, and into a confused and utter look of agony and terror.
The last thought that crossed her mind, was the simple word of Why, and the dimmed awareness of a drop of water falling onto her face from the sky.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ruby sat on the ground panting heavily, blood dripping down her lips and off her chin from the excess that had leaked during her drinking. Some of her facial coat had even become matted and discolored as it began to dry. But with the steady drizzle of rain that was steadily beginning to build into a downpour, the residual blood would not last long before being cleaned off. She was sitting above the limp body of the green mare that had attacked her and Lunar Pearl, staring down at her with a mixture of emotions that played around Ruby’s crimson eyes.
The mare was dead, broken and drained by Ruby’s ferocity, and that caused a heart wrenching feeling inside her. Yet at the same time, elation already filled her from the soothing but overwhelming taste of the mare’s blood coursing through her. It was fresh and warm, sending a comforting tingle to every inch of her body. The energy it provided for Ruby almost caused her to shake her forelegs as one would do after sitting themselves in front of a fire from a cold trek, To shake off the sluggishness of the body and let in the soothing warmth that made you feel alive.
And even if she felt guilty about the mare or renewed by her blood, the sense of protection that still burned within her remained the strongest feeling as she stared down at the lifeless mare. She didn’t even know her name, but resentment of what she had tried to do cause the vampony princess to narrow her eyes in a grim but determined scowl. Ruby knew it before, even telling herself mentally multiple times, that she was ready to defend and protect her ponies. To allow nothing else to further harm them or threaten their existence. And when the time for it finally came, Ruby had acted swiftly and mercilessly.
I don’t know who you are, she thought as she stared that the eerily motionless eyes that were wide, the last expression of the mares face before death. Or why you felt the need to attack us. But I was not going to let you get away with it, and nor will I allow anypony else to do the same. Ruby closed her eyes as she took in a deep breath, pushing aside all her thoughts and emotions that had been stirred from the event for the clear and singular determined thought.
Opening her eyes she glanced at the mare one last time, muttering beneath her breath. “I’m sorry… but nopony is going to hurt the ones I care for. Even if I have to kill them.”
Ruby then felt a flaring in her chest, the same one that had arisen every now and then in defiance to her thoughts or actions, and to her realization, the same one that pushed her to helping out the mare in the first place. But she shoved away as quickly as it had come, and whispered, “And I will do it gladly.”
Resolved on her stance, Ruby directed her attention to the one who still needed her, glancing at Lunar Pearl some distance away. She had propped herself up onto her elbows and looked towards Ruby with large eyes, her mane becoming slowly flattened from the wetness of the rain. Ruby’s expression softened somewhat as she wonder exactly what she thought of her, little doubt in her mind that she had witness everything of what she had done to the green mare.
When the she remained frozen in her behavior Ruby softly called her name. “Lunar Pearl…”
Hearing her name caused her to flinch, and air rushed past her lips as she began breathing again, not having realized she had been holding it.
“Are you okay?” Ruby asked as Lunar Pearl began to show signs of awareness again.
Lunar Pearl blinked slowly shifted her eyes from the mare to Ruby. Everything was coming back to her now. She had been attacked, Ruby had rescued her, and then Ruby killed the mare. It was as simple as that. But it all felt so surreal to her, so much that she ran it over in her mind a few times. But when the rest of her finally processed it, the tears began to trickle, and her breaths changed to tiny choked sobs.
“R-…Ruby…” Lunar Pearl cried quietly before pushing herself onto her hooves. She couldn’t tell if her legs were shaky from the fight or from the overwhelming emotions inside her, but she still began to step towards her. Her legs were thankful that the trip was only a few steps before Ruby had already rushed over and scooped her up into her arms.
“Shhh… I’m here,” Ruby whispered in her ear.
Lunar Pearl was dimly aware of the blood spilling onto her from Ruby’s chin, streaking its way into her mane and coat from the drizzling rain. She thought it should have bothered her, she found that it did not in the slightest.There was nothing at that moment that could bother her. Not how she felt bad the mare had died, how scared she had been of her, or even how horrifying Ruby had been if only even a few moments.
The only thing that did matter to her, what was the focus of her whole world, was how safe she felt in Ruby’s arms.
It was the kind of safety that for the first time in her life, she unconditionally trusted and fully believed in. It wasn’t the kind that her sister had always provided her, though caring she might have been. Or the kind of a barrel provided when playing hide and seek, or hiding from the guard.
Every day of her existence had been one reminder after another that they were doomed, and nopony could help them, not even from the bad ones who were supposed to protect. At time, not even her sister or a barrel could stop them.
But Ruby had protected her. Though she had killed a mare to do it, she still protected her. For once, in Lunar Pearl’s life, something horrible that was going to happen to her had been stopped. It was that final reassurance that she no longer had any doubt Ruby would be able to help her and every other bat pony. She didn’t know how, but she then knew Ruby was going to able to cure them, and keep them safe while doing it.
And as awful as the thought tore at her, she knew she would accept it even if meant others had to die like the mare.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shade Flare looked down at the corpse of the green mare in silently, reflecting on the expression on her face that had frozen in the last few moments of her life. He had seen dead bat ponies, having become fatally ill. It was an inevitably passing away when nothing else could be done for them. He had even seen a foal once or twice become still when they were struck by a sudden illness that should have not happened until later in life. But seeing a pony die from another, their body broken and the drips of blood on the ground from their very life force being drained, it caused something in Shade Flare that he couldn’t identify.
When the patrols found the source of commotion, saw the dead mare some feet away from Ruby and Lunar Pearl, both of them locked in an embrace. The guards had been of course, stunned at the sight, but were still quick to dispatch help to the cave. They had reported to Shade Flare right away, who encouraged the rest of the bat ponies to remain in the cave while he and the patrols handled the situation.
When Shade Flare made his way to the site, he passed Ruby and Lunar Pearl on their way back, Lunar Pearl holding tightly to her neck as Ruby carried her. Her chin was caked in blood that somehow persisted despite the rain, and her eyes were devoid of their usual glow of cheerfulness and curiosity. When he inquired to her personally as to what happened, Ruby simply told him that she and Lunar Pearl had come across a mare that had attacked them, and that Ruby had taken care of it. She informed him that she was on her way back to return Lunar Pearl to her sister and wash the blood of her face.
She then told him to take care of the mare, and left without another word. Shade Flare had watched her until she disappeared from the trail, issued the patrols back to their routes, and now found himself standing above the body of a dead green mare alone. Until a voice spoke from the shadows.
“She seemed to have handled it smoothly.”
Shade Flare looked up and saw Night Walker walked calmly from the forest and stand beside him, observing the corpse in front of them. “She certainly did quite a number on her. Throwing her opponents against trees seems to be her favored tactic thus far.”
“…Appears so,” Shade Flare said flatly.
Night Walker’s ears flicked at the tone of his voice, then turned his eyes to him.
Shade Flare immediately straightened his posture and lifted his chin more prominently. “Is there something wrong?”
Night Walker was quiet for a few moments, before casually responding, “Not at all. Just curious as to how you are handling the sight of death.”
“I have seen death before.”
“A pony dying from a sickness is different than one dying from a fight, even if it wasn’t by your own hooves.”
“I can assure you,” Shade Flare said with a tighter edge on his voice. “I will do whatever is necessary to help our kind.”
Night Walker regarded his stoic expression before turning his attention back down to the mare. “Don’t get ahead of yourself. You have yet to see a pony’s eyes become cold and lifeless, or how they turn to fear or hatred. Death is not something to be taken lightly, and it is not to be glossed over. This will be a difficult transition for you and every other bat pony. And it will not be pleasant. It isn’t for anyone...”
Letting the words sink in, Shade Flare eventually asked curiously, “Even you?”
Night Walker gave a small smirk. “I wasn’t always the pony you see before you now. Death is a bridge every pony must cross. And sending another on their own bridge isn’t easier.” Night Walker bent and grabbed the mare by the neck with his teeth, and heaved her with one go onto his back. “I’ll deposit the body while you run damage control within the cave. No doubt everypony will be worried that a mare had strayed into the forest.”
Shade Flare nodded. “When can we expect your official return?”
“Another few days, perhaps. I’ve touched up the final details of the next step with our benefactor, leaving only Princess Sparkle to begin her work on restoring the vampirism on everyone else. With a full stomach, she should be ready to begin the first transformation. After each bat pony has been cured, we will leave the cave and head to the new safe locations.”
“And what has been the word of her disappearance?”
“Surprisingly so far the Royal Sisters have kept it hush. I find it rather strange but they do know their citizens better than I do. I imagine they would not want such a traumatic event to spread panic across Equestria. From what I’ve heard, it was already chaotic enough when Nightmare Moon returned and the strange creature known as Discord appeared. But I’ve requested our benefactor to spread whispers amongst the court and other established positions. Without a doubt, word of her missing will trickle to every corner of Equestria and cause panic.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” Shade Flare questioned in concern.
“Possibly,” Night Walker said as he began to turn away. “But there are few opportunities when everything is so still and stagnant. A little excitement will no doubt bring some interesting choices of what to do, as well as keep the Royal Sisters occupied in calming their sheepish country.”
Shade Flare remained silent as he watched Night Walker disappear back into the woods with the mare slumped over his back. The sight of her face looking lifelessly at him before turning behind a tree caused his him to shiver and turn away. After however, his aghast face was replaced with a scowl, and he determinedly began marching back to the cave.
For my sake, I hope Ruby finishes soon. I can’t stand being this weak anymore…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Night Walker whistled quietly as he made his way through the forest, reflecting on the proposals he still had to sort out back in the city and when the time would come, to begin turning each bat pony into vamponies. His chest felt as if it would almost burst at the thought of being surrounded by his capable kin once again, able to do whatever they willed across the land. And with him being the only Shepherd of Darkness walking the land, there was nothing to stop him for doing whatever he pleased.
Even the lands outside of Equestria’s borders had become options for him in the vacuum of power. The idea that someday he could walk their lands as well and see what was there left him wondering all sorts of scenarios. He had no doubt he would extend his borders somewhat, but the simple joy of exploring another world was entertaining enough. Perhaps in a few hundred years, he might see it fit to have them under his domain as well. For the night was, is, and always will be, the thing that pulls everything under its shadow.
After walking for some time, he reached a portion of the forest that had a deep gulley cut through it like a wound, completely littered with flowing mud and boulders of what once was a river bed. Turning his side to the edge, he unceremoniously tilted his body and rolled his burden over.
Oh little one, your time has come,
Rest easy now, your work is done.
Lower your head, close your eyes,
Let this melody, sooth your cries.
Sleep and forget, your sorrows,
Sleep and forget, your pains,
Sleep and forget, your troubles,
Sleep and forget, the cruel fate of...
.....your death....
He watched as her body rolled and tumbled down the crevice, flopping about every which way that would no doubt be painful for any living pony. Her fall was short however, and she eventually came to a full stop at the base of the crevice; resting in a pool of mud from the recent shower. Her green color seemed a stark contrast from the brown around her, standing out alongside the form of what was another pony that had been residing there for some time now; resting ever since Night Walker had drank from her and had used the leftover to fill what was about a bowls worth of blood was from.
Feel grateful I am giving you fresh blood, Ruby. The stock supply doesn’t nearly hold it’s tantalizing taste, or it’s seductive power.
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I really wonder how Night Walker is gonna explain things to an extremely upset Alicorn Vampony when the excrement finally does hit the fan for him. (if it ever does)
I feel like Ruby is gonna end up killing Night Walker by the end of this...
Night Walker wins again. Damn, that guy plays his people like a fiddle. He seems to be quite confident that Ruby will be able to solve their little problem soon; I just hope their new »safe location« isn't some kind of castle. Vampire castles are so overused.
Seeing that »benefactor« is in singular... Who's the guy/gal that cooperates with Nighty, I wonder. A noble; a guard; a Wonderbolt even, mayhap? (Spitfire has best mane!) Do we even know that character?
3929602 The pony has had appearance in the show, and will make their appearance in this story soon. Also, as of next chapter, things will begin to not quite turn out the way Night Walker wishes them to, leading to a ever downward spiral of loss of control. If and how he is able to regain control of the situation, well... we'll just have to see how it turns out and if the comments give me any ideas
Honestly that went about how I was expecting. And I knew Night Walker was behind it, beyond a doubt. After all if word of vamponies had spread as you suggested previously why would that mare be out walking at night, alone, in the middle of the Everfree Forest? It did not add up. Her last confused mental cry of "Why" only sealed it. If he's going to drag somepony into this mess as a test for Ruby he could at least arrange a less than honest one such as one of the Flim Flam brothers. Or break somepony out of a jail to use. Honestly to me it makes more sense to just lawbreakers as feeding material than your innocent populace. Feeding off the populace only makes them fear you and eventually rebel against you. Rule them fairly and only feed off of lawbreakers or donations from a blood bank and you have a much happier population under your rule.
Personally though at the moment I really want Night Walker to get a smack to the face at some point soon. I'm getting a wee bit irked at everything going so smoothly for him at this point.
And if I had to guess their sponsor in Canterlot, I'd say Prince Blueblood, with perhaps an off chance of Fancy Pants.
Hm, Twilight is still a thrall, right? When is she going to become a full vampony? Also - Anyone have a picture of her? I don't remember her looking in a mirror or something; I gathered she has red eyes and fangs now, but... yeah.
Also - I like this Twilight far better then old Twilight. Vampony Twilight probably wouldn't freak out over tests. Or late friendship reports. Or other miscellaneous problems.
3929811 She is a full vampony now. Happened in chapter 15. And regarding her appearance, the fangs, red eyes, and the red coloring of her cutie mark as shown in the middle of chapter 16 is the only visuals she has going for her.
And I would be lying if I said this isn't how I expect a fully realized princess version of Twilight acting. (Not the killing, just the confident way she presents herself. Kinda like Celestia but in her own way.)
3929788 They aren’t in the Everfree Forest. And I know everyone is getting bothered by how everything seems to be going in his favor which I promise will be changing soon. As of the current situation, he just simply has too much control to ensure things turn out almost just way the he wants them.
And while he may have used such tactics in the past to feed his vamponies back in the day, such as feeding on lawbreakers within his lands, he currently doesn't have the luxury of going to a well populated place to break out a criminal.
3929909
Oh... So, do her eyes have draconic pupils, or what? Does she look like the cover picture for this story? Why doesn't she have bat-like wings? Mkay, that's all of the questions I have.
Also... I don't think Twilight is acting badly... Just different, in a good way. Personally, I think the changes to her character are a nice improvement.
3929935 She pretty much looks like the cover of the story. And in this verse vampirism doesn't change the wings of a pony that already has them. Batponies have leathery wings due to Celestia and Luna tampering with vampire fruitbats as a base template, as well as the fact that the pegasi vamponies were the only ones that could be managed. It will be revealed in slight more detail at a later date, but unicorn vamponies proved to be problematic while pegasi and earth ponies were more manageable. As to why Night Walker has leathery wings when he materializes them, he is one of the rarer vamponies that can actually use vampony magic to an extent that can modify his body, a feat normally only held by unicorns. Bat like wings are easier to make than feathers as you don't have to create each individual feather. Along with his first chapter appearance of changing into a bat, he is above the average vampony in abilities.
3929958
Hm... interesting, thanks for the response.
3929958 Makes sense, but I have one question. In this story is he supposed to be the first vampony?
3931851 No, vamponies have been around for a bit before he was turned. I plan to explain that in the origin stories for the Shepherds. I'm actually planning multiple side stories for this 'verse from different timelines and perspectives.
o begin turning each bat pony into vampony’s.
Night is so screwed when ruby learns that was an innocent. His downfall will be so sweet.
6241673
If I recall correctly, the pegasi don't mess with the weather over the Everfree. There are a number of creatures, such as the roc, that would easily make a meal out of them. So it is avoided, and thus the only part of Equestria that has natural weather patterns. So there would be no pony to see such a sight.