• Published 30th Dec 2013
  • 1,297 Views, 24 Comments

Applejack the Vampony Slayer - Immanuel



Nightmare Moon was defeated a thousand years ago, but her legacy remains. Cursed creatures prey on the helpless in the darkness. Beasts and monsters born of nightmares. But the Apples maintain a sacred vigil. They are the Slayers.

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Ah'll be damned

Chapter 7: Ah'll be damned


Sheriff Gale felt weary returning from the hospital, where they had deposited both Diane and Rainbow Dash, as well as the poor deputy sporting half a dozen fractures. The formidable Nurse Tenderheart had also forced Big Macintosh to stay over his protests. Twilight had adamantly refused to leave Diane's side until she would recover and the sheriff hadn't had the heart to order Shining Armor to leave her sister behind. The rest had had their scrapes checked out, and had returned to the sheriff's station at Gale's insistence.

As it was, she had only three adolescent and three juvenile fillies to direct her dissatisfied and suspicious glare at. The zebra witch had disappeared to the woods with a silly rhyme over her protests while Gale was still helping her on-duty deputy. The reduced group were standing in her office filled with 'missing' posters and several filing cabinets filled with case files and the occasional bottle of bourbon.

Gale felt hurt, frightened and confused. Those were all things that made her angry. She was good with angry.

Emanating an aura of discontent she sat behind her desk and lit a cigar. Half-covered by the shadows, lighting her face with the glow of her draw, she let her gleaming eyes do the work for her with oppressive silence as her ally. Unfortunately, her usual intimidation tactics seemed to go mostly wasted.

The yellow pegasus, whose coloring and cutie-mark matched the disappeared filly Fluttershy, was hiding behind her mane, true, but something told her that she would have been doing it anyway. And yet, Gale had seen the girl sport claws and fangs, fighting savagely against other dark monsters with eyes glowing with blood red.

Her arrest, Applejack, on the other hoof, returned her best glare with a level look, standing with poise and strength that told Gale clearly who was the toughest bitch in the room. She didn't like one bit feeling like an ineffectual kitten raising its hackles, but the admittedly athletic-looking filly admittedly had broken her cuffs with a shrug, the jail door with a stomp, and several vamponies with a series of martial arts moves that made Gale's physical training look like flower arranging.

Applejack was clearly in the room as a courtesy, and they both knew it.

The presence of vamponies itself was more than a bit disconcerting. Sheriff Gale had examined far too many crime scenes in her career not to have suspected that there was more going on than what met the eye, but one didn't believe ghost stories and remain a serious copper. That would have been unprofessional.

Having to admit the existence of bedtime stories wasn't easy. That made her also angry.

And there didn't seem to be anypony else in the room sharing her apprehension about the vamponies. The little fillies seemed more worried about getting a talking-to from their sisters than about having witnessed a fight against nightmares just a few scant hours ago, Miss Apple, as mentioned, was at least as scary herself, Miss Rarity was completely fretting over her younger sister and the remaining individual was a vampony herself, for Sisters' sake!

Sheriff Gale took a deep breath and sighed loudly, rubbing her face.

"What," she said in a low growl, "the buck. Was all that?" Opening her eyes to glare at the confused ponies in her office, she continued. "Why were there vamponies in Ponyville? Why were there vamponies, period? Why is Miss Fluttershy a vampony?! How in the holy hay can a fifteen-year-old miscreant buck a hole in a brick wall through a vampony?!"

Sheriff Gale breathed heavily, having raised herself in a half standing position on her desk and scanned the room with furious eyes. Her voice had risen quite a bit as she vented her displeasure at complicated things at the fillies in the room, who looked slightly uncomfortable.

"I would appreciate it," she said with a calmer voice, dripping with sarcasm, "if somepony could explain a few things to me. Please. Miss Apple, perhaps?"

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Vamponies are real," she began with a bored teenager sing-song voice, "obviously. So's wereponies, demons, ghosts, warlocks, witches and all manner of other beasties. An' we, that's to say, the Apple family, hunt them down in all the dark places, so's that the rest of y'all can sleep easily and think that they don't."

When Gale looked at her impassively, she continued. "And we were blessed by Celestia herself after the Dark Sister fell into the Nightmare with the power to maintain that fight. That blessing flows in the family, making most of us stronger and faster and tougher than just about anypony else. That's why a fifteen-year-old heroic warrior," she said with a glare at Sheriff Gale, "can sweep the floor with a bad guy three times her size."

"Yeah, pull one of the other ones," Sheriff Gale said angrily. "You some kind of crazy cultist, girl?"

"Look," Applejack said, half angry, half exasperated, "that's what mah pa told me, what mah ma told me, and what mah granny still tells me. Ah ain't got no other story for you. And ah'd appreciate it," she added, leaning towards the sheriff and lowering her voice into a growl, "if ya didn't spit on mah parents' memory."

The mares stared at one another for a minute, before the sheriff backed away from the stand-off.

"Noted," she said, and sat back, taking another puff of her cigar. "So, the vamps know about you, then? That's why they were after you?"

Applejack frowned at that. "They shouldn't, normally," she said and bit her lip. "We don't tend to leave survivors when we hunt."

"Yeah," Sheriff Gale said with a strange tone of voice, and casually opened a folder on her desk. "I can see that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Applejack asked heatedly.

"I have a file here," Sheriff Gale said, tapping at the folder, "about your indiscretions in Colton. A series of reported fights..."

"They were vamps!" Applejack shouted.

"Breaking and entering into the Mayor's mansion..." the sheriff continued.

"I thought the creep was a vamp!" Applejack shouted.

"And torching the said mansion," the sheriff finished.

"There was a nest of vamps in the cellar!" Applejack insisted with a stubborn aggression.

Sheriff Gale sighed. "And how am I to know?" she said with a sudden weariness.

Applejack was confused. "What do ya mean?"

"The dead vamponies just disappeared in a puff of mist," Sheriff Gale said, spreading her hooves. "No trace, no evidence. They were ponies before that. She's a vampony," she pointed out, nodding at Fluttershy, who 'eeped' and hid further behind her mane.

"Hey! You leave Fluttershy alone!" Rarity shouted.

"What's the legality here?" Sheriff Gale asked in a tired voice. "You're not operating under law. I have no idea if you're operating outside the law either. How did you get free after Colton?"

Applejack glared. "The Apples have influence," she grunted eventually.

"You see my point?" Sheriff Gale said and took a smoke from her cigar, blowing it out in a thin stream. "I have no idea how to deal with this. I've got evidence here," she said, shaking the folder, "that compels me to arrest you as a murder suspect. You just confessed having murdered a bunch of former citizens with no regrets."

"They. Were. Vamponies!" Applejack shouted.

"I saw," the sheriff said calmly. "You gonna kill her too?" she asked, pointing to Fluttershy.

"Hey!" Rarity shouted and hugged her friend protectively.

Applejack glanced at Fluttershy with uncertainty. "Ah have no idea, what yer deal is, sugarcube," she said. "Ah'm sorry, ah'll have to talk to Granny."

"That's all right," a very small voice from somewhere behind Rarity said.

"But ya can't just let vamponies - ah mean normal vamponies - live, doggonit!" Applejack said, turning back to the sheriff. "They're monsters! They kill ponies! Suck their blood and make more of their cursed kin!"

"I know," the sheriff said, still calmly, and paused, staring at the young filly heaving in indignation. "But that doesn't make my job any easier. I'm under oath," she said, tapping at her table for emphasis, "to uphold peace and order in this town. I'm not supposed to condone your kind of extra-legal activity!"

"Fine job ye've been doing," Applejack muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" the sheriff asked with an exaggerated ear-tilt.

"Ya heard me," Applejack said belligerently. "Mah brother said around three or four thousand ponies get slaughtered here every year."

The sheriff blinked a few times, before puffing her breath out. "That's preposterous," she breathed.

"Yeah?" Applejack asked archly. "How would'ya know? Ya didn't know vamponies existed before tonight! There's a lot of traffic through this town. A whole lot of it goes missing."

"Use your brains, girl!" the sheriff said derisively. "There's a grand total of six main streets in this little town! Where do you think a dozen murders nightly happens?"

"Numbers don't lie!" Applejack said stubbornly. "To mah brother, at least," she said after a second thought, before shaking her head. "Look, Mac said the travel registry shows about sixty thousand ponies arriving at Ponyville station every year. Most of it's temporary workers and stevedores, taking care of cargo going through this city, or handling auxiliary construction and all sorts of things like that. About six or seven hundred each year remain for a longer period. Still, when ya add annual births and remove the ponies moving out, ya got a stable population and outgoing traffic that's a few thousand short of the mark. Ye're missing ponies, Ms. Sheriff, Ma'am!"

The sheriff stared at the filly expressionlessly for a while. Then she shook her head slowly. "You're sure about this?" she asked quietly.

Applejack nodded. "As sure as we can be."

The sheriff continued staring. "Then why," she asked with a controlled tone, "the hell did you not report this sooner?!"

Applejack scoffed. "And what good would that have done?" she asked bitterly. "We checked the wards below the town. Somepony or something is keeping this town under wraps. Why do ya think the papers don't notice this happening? Besides, it ain't the Apple way to get defenseless ponies in the harm's way."

"What the hay is wrong with you ponies?!" Sheriff Gale shouted at the roof. "We! Are! Here! To protect you!" she said, stressing each word with a hoof-stomp while staring at Applejack. "You do not take the law into your own hooves! You do not keep mass disappearances secret! And you do not impede the legal officers in their duty!"

The sheriff breathed heavily and raised a hoof sharply. "Now," she said in a barely controlled tone, "I'm going to write a memo to the National Guard and the Scoltland Yard. They are going to swoop into this town in force, and dig up this little conspiracy. They will get to the bottom of the disappearances and arrest the ponies behind it. And then, they will expose your family, and end all this secret behind-the-law's-back cloak-and-dagger crap once and for all. Capiche?"

Applejack shook her head sadly. "Not going to happen, Sheriff," she said.

"Excuse me?" Gale said in an incredulous tone.

"Item one:" Applejack said calmly. "Ah don't know if that memo will even leave this town. Like ah said, something's been keeping the stuff going on here a secret for a long time now. Ah don't know how, ah don't know why, but that's the case. The Slayer assigned to this town was almost as oblivious to the happenings as ya were, and that's not supposed to happen.

"Item two: Like ah said, it ain't the Apple way to put other ponies into danger. Ya saw what they sent after me tonight. Ya think it was a coincidence ya were made to arrest me today? Somepony's pulling yer strings, sheriff. That means ah'm not gonna let ya make yerself into a target, which ya will be, if ya make any noises about this.

"And item three: Referring to the previous point, there's no way your memo's gonna be received any way. The Apples ain't gonna let a bunch of ignorant soldier colts get themselves killed against an enemy they have no idea how to fight. And we sure as hay ain't gonna let ya blow our cover. We can keep the ponies protected because the vamps don't know to expect us. If they knew about us, we'd be targeted, just like ah was tonight, and when we're gone, that's it for the world. We're the only line of defense against the Dark that waits to feed on ponies. We ain't gonna abandon that duty.

"So, don't think ye'll be able to pull that off, sheriff. Ye're out of yer league, and the only thing yer memo would accomplish is harm, anyway. Just back off."

"I don't believe you ponies," the sheriff breathed. "You're crazy. How can you think you're the ponies keeping us safe? The only ponies capable of that?"

"Because we've been doing this a long time, sheriff," Applejack said. "A long time. You remember yes history lessons about Lunar Rebellion a thousand years ago?"

"Well, yes," Sheriff Gale said, slightly thrown off. "A crazy cult of the Moon Sister challenged the throne and plunged Equestria into a civil war. We're still finding new ruins from the Old Empire. The rebellion's the reason we're not a theocracy any more."

Applejack shook her head. "Not quite, sheriff," she said. "We're not a theocracy any more because the Goddesses that sat on the throne were lost to us. Celestia died fighting against Luna, who had succumbed to a Dark Nightmare. The Sister of the night cursed her children and made them into the monsters you hear about in ghost stories, some of which we fought tonight.

"Those monsters fought against the ponies of the Empire with savage fury and paralyzing terror, decimating armies and cities before them. The tide of darkness was only stopped by Celestia's sacrifice that banished her sister.

"But the monsters cursed by possessed Luna remained, if weakened without their Goddess. To protect Equestria from them, before she died, Celestia called one of the warrior clans serving under her to receive her blessing. Those were the Apples, mah ancestors.

"We've been standing against the Dark for a thousand years, Sheriff. It ain't won yet. But without us, there's going to be another Lunar Rebellion. And that one Equestria won't climb out of."

The sheriff was silent. Applebloom looked proudly at her sister. Rarity stared at Applejack with an indecipherable look on her face, while Fluttershy cowered behind her. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle moved their awed gaze back and forth between the two Apple sisters, looking like they were witnessing the Second Coming of the Heavenly Sisters.

Finally, Sheriff Gale let out a puff of air. "You're completely insane," she said.

Applejack rolled her eyes. "Look," she said, "ah know it's not the official history, or even the church history. Ah can't tell ya that that's how things really went. But the monsters are real. And mah family has the skill and the strength to fight them. Just let us do this our way. We'll protect you."

"Fine job you've been doing so far," Gale said challengingly.

"What?" Applejack asked in turn.

"Your words," Sheriff Gale said. "If your ancestral cabal really is supposed to keep us safe, what you said about the missing ponies applies to you as well. How did you let this happen?"

"Ah don't know," Applejack said, embarrassed. "The wards of this town were messed up. Ah guess that's got something to do with how everypony goes about not paying attention to the fact that this town is a deathtrap. Ah'm not a magic expert, though. That's more Granny's thing. And ah suppose Johnny Appleseed was affected by whatever the spell is, as well."

"Let me guess," the sheriff said. "Another mystical warrior?"

"The local Slayer," Applejack said annoyed. "And we're really interested about his disappearance by the way. Might have clues onto how things got this bad. Maybe he found something he shouldn't have. Anything you know would be appreciated."

"Yeah, now I'm going to share investigation details with suspects," the sheriff deadpanned.

"Well, if ya prefer, ah can steal them when yer off duty," Applejack said with an eye-roll. "Or ask Shining," she added after a thought.

"Yes. Shining," the sheriff said and sighed. "Everypony's going to be going behind my back now, aren't they?"

"Look, Sheriff," Applejack said, "ah'm sorry about ya getting mixed up in all this, but we don't need to be enemies here. Ya help us do our thing, and yer town gets a lot safer."

The sheriff stared at the filly for a long time, frowning furiously. "All right, then," she said eventually and butted her cigar. "But I want to know what your people are doing at all times. And I don't want you breaking any laws if you can help it. And I'm still going to ask you to make this public. If this is as big as you say, we're going to need the army."

"Well, ah can't help ya with the last one," Applejack said, relaxing slightly. "It's not mah call. Ya can talk to Granny though, and if she thinks it's a good idea, she'll talk to the Apple Council. Otherwise ah don't see a problem," she added with a grin. "It could be mighty useful to have the police helping us for a change."

"You bet," the sheriff said with a smirk. "For one thing, you're investigating this like crap."

"Sorry?" Applejack said, blinking.

"The ponies that're missing?" Sheriff Gale said. "Obviously not dead. Not here in Ponyville, at any rate. Like I said, no way there're ten or more murders happening every night in a town as small as this, no matter what kind of freaky magic is happening here. It would be simply impossible to keep that hidden. No," she said, shaking her head, "they're being moved elsewhere."

"How?" Applejack asked.

The sheriff huffed. "Any number of ways," she said dismissively. "Pack them into crates and ship them off in a train. Underground railroad. Maybe they simply walk through the woods, and meet with their contact elsewhere. That's not important. The important thing, and that will probably tell us how as well, is why?"

"Why?" Applejack repeated.

"Exactly," the sheriff said. "It's not clandestine emigration. Only smugglers do that, and there's no market for thousands of smugglers. So, a cult? That would be a bucking huge cult. A private army? So where are they ending up? Slave trade? I hear some Dog clans still practice that. Would they re-sell them abroad? Find out answers to these questions, and we get answers to a whole lot more," Gale said with a gleam in her eyes.

"And that's something I am going to write Scoltland Yard about. An operation this large has to have a trail somewhere, and whether or not it has anything to do with your mumbo jumbo, we can find out here. The Yard will dig up where the bits are moving and who exactly have been disappearing and connect the dots," the sheriff said, before pausing for a moment and frowning. "What are the wards, by the way?"

"Oh," Applejack said with a wave of her hoof, "whenever a settlement or any large construction is being built, the Apples will influence the planning so that certain magical protections are put in place. The celestial Sun in window-frames, a street pattern following a rune network that prevents major baddies from entering the town limits, stuff like that."

The sheriff blinked. "You're telling me the masonic conspiracy nuts are right?"

Applejack snickered. "Ah guess. That stuff works, actually. There's a reason why hiking in the wilderness is considered fool-hardy. The wards keep most of the dangerous stuff away from the ponies."

"The craziest things..." Gale said, shaking her head. "Look, are you serious?"

"Absolutely," Applejack said. "What's it gonna take for ya to understand ah'm being straight with ya?"

"I don't know," the sheriff said after a while. "Maybe something believable?"

"Look," Applejack said, frustrated, "ah get that ya ain't quite happy about hearing about things being real ya thought weren't. That's another reason we tend to keep these things to ourselves. Ponykind has managed to rebuild itself while we kept the bad guys at bay. Nopony wants to hear that there's a living horror waiting to rip their heart out a few blocks away from where they live and go to work and deal with their everyday problems.

"We've been doing this job for generations in secret so's that y'all are able to continue living. We go to the dark places to fight night terrors. We take care that the monster in the closet doesn't take yer foals away. We," Applejack said with a hint of bitterness in her voice, "sacrifice our chance for normal life so that ya can keep yers.

"And we're glad to let ya stay ignorant if ya like," she said, not sounding very glad, "but ya can't have it both ways, Sheriff. Ya want to be part of this fight? Then ya go all the way."

Gale maintained her gaze at Applejack for a moment before relenting. "Very well, then," she said eventually. "Why haven't the Apples already swooped in to deal with this problem, then? You say the wards are tampered with. Doesn't that mean Ponyville is now in danger of becoming a feast for the beasties?"

"We don't know how or to what purpose the wards have been meddled with," Applejack said, "or who or what is responsible. And we just got here a few weeks ago. We haven't had time to find out much.

"But when we do have a definite target," Applejack said with a steely glint, "ya can bet yer flank we're gonna get rid of it."

"And how are you going to find out what's been done with the wards?" the sheriff asked.

"Well," Applejack said, "we're mapping the tunnel network below the town to check on the existing wards and keeping an eye out for any additions. Rainbow's gonna do the same in air. Hope she didn't break herself too badly. Then Granny's going to study the thing and try to figure out what's what."

"Hey," Applebloom piped up, "maybe Chaplain Candlewax could help!"

"That's right!" Sweetie Belle said, "He knows about the catacombs below the church!"

"And about ghosts and stuff!" Scootaloo added excitedly.

"And the story he told us the night we...went to the cemetery...ghost hunting," Sweetie Belle said, realizing mid-sentence that wasn't something she should be reminding anypony about, and rushed to finish her point, "well, it was much the same thing you told, Miss Applejack!"

"Just Applejack, sugarcube," Applejack said. "Ah'm not that old."

"Not to mention," Rarity said haltingly, "that he tutors magic. He's quite knowledgeable, I believe. In fact, I bet Twilight would be a great asset as well, as she, apparently, is a magical vampony hunter," she added with a disbelieving shake of her head. "I mean, has everypony been hiding their secret coolness factor from me? Anyway, she and Diane are the scholastic prodigies of the school, and Twilight is the magician."

"Ah saw," Applejack said slowly. "Ah'm telling ya, that was fricking scary what she did tonight."

"And we'll help!" Scootaloo shouted. "We're paranormal investigators!"

"Absolutely not!" both Rarity and Applejack shouted, while Sheriff Gale raised an eyebrow.

"Y'all are in big enough trouble as it is!" Applejack said. "What on Equestria possessed y'all to go into the nightmare-infested woods of the damned?" she said with a stern glare at the three fillies cowering before her.

"We went to save Fluttershy," Scootaloo said with just a hint of defiance in her voice.

"Ah'm sorry, sis," Applebloom said chagrined. "We thought Miz Zecora was a witch." She paused for a second. "We thought she was an evil witch," she corrected, then frowned again and shook her head. "The point is, we thought she was holding Miz Fluttershy captive. When we saw her, we had to follow!"

"Technically, I didn't," Sweetie Belle piped up innocently. "You grabbed me on your way to the forest." When she saw Applejack's frown deepen, she corrected herself hastily. "Not that it wasn't fun! And nothing bad happened, even when we crashed the scooter at top speed in the woods!"

"Look," Rarity said, mixing both kindness and severity in her voice, "as grateful as I am for you three for finding Fluttershy," she said, nuzzling Fluttershy gently, "you put yourselves at terrible risk! I wouldn't dare to go into the woods voluntarily!"

"Nor I," Fluttershy said meekly, and blushed, when other ponies turned to look at her. "Your sister's right, Sweetie Belle. The Everfree is far too dangerous for three young fillies, and so are the...monsters we've been talking about."

Fluttershy paled and her pupils shrunk into pinpricks as she continued. "They're terrible," she said in a shrill voice. "Zecora taught me about them, and when they...I..." she choked on her voice and tears rolled on her face. Rarity hugged her immediately and stroked her mane while making soothing noises.

"Okay," Applejack said after a while, in a confused tone. "Ah'm sorry, Fluttershy, but ah got to ask: What exactly is yer deal?"

"Applejack!" Rarity chided. "Sensitivity!"

"I-it's all r-right," Fluttershy said quietly.

"Ah'm sorry," Applejack said and frowned slightly. "Ah don't want to make ya feel any worse. Ah just son't understand exactly, what's going on. Ah mean, one minute, ye're a vampony, the next...well, ah just want to know why ye're not trying to kill us, that's all."

"Oh, I couldn't!" Fluttershy said. "That would be terrible!"

"Yeah," Applejack said, and rubbed her head under her hat, "that's the part ah don't understand. Ah mean, Zecora said she kept your soul in yer body, or something like that. What does it mean?"

"Well," Fluttershy said gently, drawing circles in the floor with her hoof in shame, "Zecora told me when a pony becomes...like me...a piece of darkness, a demon, takes over their body. To make it permanent, the body must be dead so that the demon can take the soul's place."

"But ya ain't dead," Applejack said.

"Oh, no," Fluttershy said sadly. "I am very dead."

"Oh, Fluttershy," Rarity said.

"It's...all right," Fluttershy lied.

"So," Applejack said, "ye're a vampony, then?"

"I am," Fluttershy confirmed quietly.

"And the demon?" Applejack asked.

"In me," Fluttershy whispered.

"...And your soul?" Applejack asked.

"Still here," Fluttershy said, a bit more strongly. She fell silent for a minute, before raising her gaze. "I can feel the darkness inside me. It makes me...want. I desire so very, very much to...to feed," she said and sobbed. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"

"Oh, Fluttershy," Rarity repeated and hugged her friend again.

"...Well, that's just not right," Applejack said after a long moment. "Ah wish ah could help ya, sugarcube."

"I-I'll manage," Fluttershy said, wiping her tears. "Zecora has been helping me to meditate, and I...feed on volunteer animals. It's still terrible! ...But at least I won't hurt anypony," she finished meekly.

"...So, are ya gonna move back to Ponyville?" Applejack asked warily.

"Oh, I'd love to come back!" Fluttershy squeaked excitedly, but then her face fell. "But I can't. Not like...this. I'm a danger to everypony."

"Oh, pish posh!" Rarity said. "Of course you'll come back! You're my best friend and I'm not going to allow you to go back into that horrible forest full of unsavory things! We'll just...wear Suns and Moons around our necks! And...and garlic? Does garlic work? I'll smell like garlic for you, dear!"

Fluttershy giggled despite herself. "You don't have to eat garlic, Rarity," she said.

"Oh, thank the Sisters!" Rarity said relieved.

"We've missed you so much at the orphanage, too, Fluttershy!" Scootaloo burst out. "Without you, it's just Ms. Coriander and that weird lady! It's real sad without you," she said weakly. "We'd really like you come back. And it would be so cool to have a vampony watch over us! ...While we sleep...in the night...um, I guess we could...wear Suns and Moons as well?"

"If ya want," Applejack said slowly, "ya could come to live at the Sweet Apple Acres. We could keep an eye on ya."

"Oh," Fluttershy said, her eyes tearing up, but smiling this time, "I love you all! Thank you so much! And you too, um, Applejack," she said, blushing.

"No problem," Applejack said, feeling a bit apprehensive.

"All right," the sheriff said with a nod. "That just leaves us with one thing. You," she said, pointing at Applejack.

"Me?" Applejack said, backing off.

"I've still got the evidence pointing at your guilt," Sheriff Gale said, waving the folder on her desk. "I can't exactly ignore that."

"Of course you can," Rarity said suddenly. When all eyes turned to her, she corrected her mane a bit, and took a pose with one leg slightly raised, flashing a beautiful smile. "Oh, seriously, now," she said, gesturing theatrically, "surely you two can plot a bit?

"As was established earlier, it's an unlikely coincidence that evidence framing dear Applejack here as a murder suspect, padded by something already suppressed by a thousand-year-old secret order of holy warriors," she said, rounding her eyes, "would just happen to arrive at your desk the same night a vicious pack of horrifying monsters - oh, not you, of course, Fluttershy dear - intent on murder attack the jail.

"Obviously," Rarity said, "this is a conspiracy. By not complying as you should, they either do nothing or expose themselves. Win-win," she ended, with a smile.

"That's...possible," the sheriff said, begrudgingly.

"Wouldn't that make the sheriff a target?" Applejack asked

"After tonight, isn't she already?" Rarity asked. "This way we can draw them out, and strike first!"

"We?" Sheriff Gale and Applejack asked together.

"Oh, absolutely!" Rarity said. "I may not be a fighter like you, but I'm very much part of all this now! My best friend is a vampony, my latest dear friend Applejack is a warrior in an ancient order dedicated to fighting against these beasts, as well as...well, I'm not ashamed to admit your brother has made a bit of an impression on me, actually," Rarity added with a faint blush, "not to mention that my own sister has been repeatedly drawn into this mess," she said with a glance at Sweetie Belle, who grinned nervously, "so, it would be quite foolish of me not to help as much as I can!"

"And what did ya have in mind?" Applejack asked warily.

"I'll ask for an internship at the mayor's office!" Rarity declared satisfied. "Well, naturally," she added with an eye-roll after a while when nopony commented. "As the winner of several school popularity contests, Young Designer awards, a rather accomplished student, the president of the Ponyville High Student Union, the lead singer of the church choir, and with my connections, the only other ponies even remotely as well placed to ask for an internship there would be Twilight and Diane, and I dare say those two have their hooves full with...well, gore, probably.

"And somepony needs to check out the mayor's office. That is where that troublesome folder came from isn't it?" Rarity said with a raised brow, waving her hoof at the direction of the folder. "It needs to be found out, whether the conspiracy for dear Applejack's life originated there.

"Not to mention, that I was actually invited to take the post last spring," she added with fake modesty, and polished her hoof. "I was going to decline. I am rather more inclined to the arts than politics, but, a mare must do what a mare must do, must I not?"

Comments ( 7 )

Exposition, exposition! Yeah, sorry for the long gap, people! :twilightblush: I'll try not to make that happen again. And I'll try to get the plot rolling again in the next chapter. This one is a single scene that started bloating and bloating...

Hm, this was a pretty good read - I didn't quite know what to expect going in to this story (much of the vampire stories I find on this site tend to be pretty meh), but after sitting down and reading through it I find myself pleasantly surprised. Sure, in some ways its your standard vampire fare, but your writing style is solid and engaging that leads to a feeling of credibility to the whole ordeal, and I like the little bits of alternate history and worldbuilding you have going on here.

The cast, characterization and dialog is handled nicely as well, and I find it interesting to see how the "mane six" fare in this darker world, while still retaining their distinguishing character traits ... well, minus Diane, though Pinkamena is a common enough thing to still feel genuine. All the little relationship subplots should be fun to follow as well - AJ and Shining Armor? That's an unusual one, but I like their interactions so far.

Twilight thinking Big Mac was an Incubus simply because, as Shining put it, she found him "hot" was pretty hilarious - and quite Twilight-like to over-analyze the whole thing, heh. Though I imagine nothing will be coming from that, seeing as Rarity has her sights on Mac ... though who knows, he isn't exactly spoken for, and would make for a pretty humorous plotline (wallflower Twilight looking to get a foot in before the social queen Rarity, heh), seeing as the real Twilight isn't quite the timid little filly she is playing at school.

And you have certainly got me interested in the plot as well - thousands of ponies going missing in Ponyville each year? Wards beneath town being tampered with (looking towards the group exploring the catacombs and tunnels), the last general of Nightmare still being around and plotting something? Twilight's affinity for dark magic? I'm looking towards to seeing all those plot points explored.

And the implication, if the Chaplain's story is to be believed, that Luna could still be salvaged if she could draw enough strength from the populace. Granted, that seems like a pretty tall and unlikely order, but with some part of her still around spiritually, one can never know ...

Anyways, looking towards to seeing where this story goes from here, uncovering conspiracies tend to be all kinds of fun.

4047256 Thank you so much! :twilightsmile: Reading that kind of thoughtful commentary really feels good!

Alas, I just realized what has been preventing my progress in this fic. To proceed naturally, I will have to be cruel to my favorite characters soon...and my brain is trying to do all that it can to prevent that.

But, it can't be helped. I could write a chapter after another just 'setting up' things, and there is some of that needs to be done, but more than the next chapter, I don't know. I fear I will hate myself for the suffering I must inflict to make the strength of their characters shine through.

Oh, well. I'll still probably end up being too kind. Actual emotional torment is so distasteful.

4049111

Heh, I'm certainly familiar with the feeling of wanting to see the heroes prevail as well ... doesn't really stop me from reading all sorts of grim stories, among other things, but then I imagine actually writing those bad things as they happen is somewhat different.

On the other hand, I most certainly don't believe that darker means better or more serious or whatever measure of quality you want to use. It's the overall quality of writing and ability to invoke a mental imagery (and you have top marks in both) that determines how much of an emotional impact something has, and the overall "weight" of the story.

Of course, make it as dark as the plot demands in your vision, but I don't think being "too kind", relatively speaking, is too much of an issue to be afraid of, so long as the quality never falters.

Now excuse me while I finish reading your first contact story, that one has been an absolutely amazing read as well ...

It's official, Fluttershy is now a fluffy Angelus.

I found Gale's speech both hilarious and adorable. Is that wrong?

I am rather disappointed with theorizing demons in this story. I was hoping for the classic Buffyverse origin. And I am a bit annoyed by the constant portrayal of Celestia and Luna as gods. The only evidence of them possessing any real power is that when you add both their powers to Twilight's, and Cadence's, you can do some pretty awesome destruction spells.But that's all four of their powers combined. Before you mention them moving the sun and moon, remember that normal unicorns once did that too, it's probably an alert or a magical reaction rather than pure telekinetic force. Them being worshiped? Sure, why not. Creating some monsters while empowered by Aaron great darkness? I have no objections, even Twilight managed to do that, unintentional. Imagine someone with the Nightmare's help, purposely trying, with a cabal of cultists at their back. I can see it happening. Celestia ensuring that the Apples retained their pony magic? Could happen. But their very symbols harming demons? No, just no. The Sisters are dead now. Unless Celestia placed a curse on them all before that, a sun or moon should just be a fancy symbol without a warlock behind it. Unless there's a whole faith magic(like the Dresden Files!!) thing going on, but there isn't in BtVS, so I'm invoking Like Reality Unless Noted. But with BtVS instead. The cross and holy water? Sure, cause every god every existed in some form according to Buddy's WoG, which means that the God of Abraham basically has a personal dislike for vampires and burns then when they touch is stuff. Sure. But we have no reason to think he's dead. If he even can die. Holy shit. Think about Glory. Then Jesus.:pinkiegasp:

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