My Little Vampire Lord

by Glowing Forge

Lingering Shadows

The thirst remained.

Clawing it's way up from the depths of Fluttershy's being, it made itself known to her. She longed to again taste the sweet nectar on her tongue.

It had been almost a week now since the sanctuary had been finished. Fluttershy had found herself out there more than once to ensure the vampire fruit bats were adjusting to their new habitat and not running amok all over Sweet Apple Acres. The butter yellow pegasus felt a sense of calm serenity there in the shade of the apple trees. She stopped occasionally to munch on the blood red treasures that hung from the branches there. It seemed now that she was eating more apples than she used to. Confident that her new friends would grow to love their home Fluttershy had spent the last couple days at her cottage tending to her animals and keeping mostly to herself.

It seemed like her desires were strongest under Luna's moonlight. Laying there; cold sweat covering her quivering form, she again lost herself. The tortured mare felt like she was surrounded by darkness. Plagued by the snap of a fresh ripe apple being bitten into or the sound of juice being coaxed from it's delicate prison she could find no rest.

Reaching once more from under her covers to the wooden bucket that lay next to her bed she searched frantically. 'One more would do it' she thought to herself as her hoof claimed it's prize. 'I'll just drink this last one tonight and then I won't be thirsty anymore.' She was lying to herself and she knew it. The thought of what Applejack would think of her now briefly flashed through her mind as she held up the juice box. The world around her faded away bringing the object of her desire into impossibly sharp focus. With a speed that would have surprised her days ago she could feel her head lurch forward new fangs puncturing the sturdy paper wrapping of her drink. The taste in her mouth one of bliss as she eagerly drew the sweet amber liquid into her mouth swallowing eagerly. Finding the box quickly emptied of it's contents she dejectedly tossed it on the other side of her bed listening to it clatter against the dozen or so similar drink boxes that already littered the floor.

Her thirst sated for now, Fluttershy turned onto her side wrapping herself tightly in a blanket. Letting out a contented sigh she tried to find a comfortable position. The only thing the exhausted pegasus wanted now was sleep.

Celestia's dawn was cruel that morning.

No longer able to sleep with sunlight making it's way into her room, the still exhausted mare pulled back her covers lethargically and rolled out of bed with a thump. Getting up she made her way toward her door intent on beginning another busy day. Sidestepping a errant beam of sunlight Fluttershy let out a sigh that sounded a little like an annoyed hiss and opened her door making her way into the kitchen.

Looking out the window, the tired pony could tell it was already a bright sunny day. The weather team had outdone themselves as there was nary a wisp of cloud left in the sky. Opening the icebox Fluttershy removed a couple of fresh looking vegetables setting them in Angel's bowl on the floor. Sitting down at the kitchen table Fluttershy moved to bite into a large ripe looking apple when she saw something that startled her.

Gasping in surprise she jumped up from the table, knocking her chair over in the process. "D-discord, what are you doing here?"

Folding a newspaper the draconequus revealed himself to be seated at the surprised mare's breakfast table. "Why Fluttershy, I thought I was welcome here. To think that you would be that surprised to see me wounds me greatly." Discord took this opportunity to clutch his chest in a dramatic fashion feigning injury. With the beginning of a disingenuous tear in his eye he uttered pathetically "I thought we were friends."

Moving her pink mane out of her face Fluttershy frowned. "Of course we're friends, and of course you're welcome here. You just startled me is all." Righting her chair the hungry pegasus sat back down at the table as Discord took a obnoxious slurp of coffee from his mug.

"You ponies always seem so mercilessly perky and yet there's a dark cloud hanging over you this morning. What's wrong Fluttershy?" Discord asked as he waved a claw dispelling the dark cloud he had conjured a moment ago.

Fluttershy looked up seeing genuine concern on the trickster's face for once. "I haven't been sleeping well since Twilight turned me into that...thing."

Discord stroked his short beard for a moment taking it all in. "That's a shame, I'm sure Princess know-it-all got the spell right the second time. I may have a way to help you get some sleep though."

Fluttershy perked up immediately. "Really, how?"

Discord chuckled softly for a moment. "Oh I think there's a spell I can use to help you get all the sleep you ever wanted, there's something I'll need for you to get for me first though.

Taking a first bite into her breakfast, Fluttershy considered Discord's offer. "That's very kind of you Discord. What exactly is it that you need?"

The draconequus yawned and stretched. "Oh just a bit of red crystal you'll find in a cave at the edge of the Everfree Forest."

Hesitation crept up in the meek mare's mind. 'Oh I don't know that I want to go to a spooky sounding cave all by myself. But I also don't want to worry my friends anymore than I already have.' "Is it d-dangerous?"

Discord placed a paw on his chest defensively. "Oh not at all Fluttershy, Why, you'll find nothing lives there at all."

Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief. "Alright, I'll go get the crystal you need right after breakfast." Fluttershy went back to eating her apple entertaining thoughts of a good night's rest.

Not far away a swarm of bats flew from an ancient cave near the Everfree Forest where something waited in the darkness...

Author's Note:

My first attempt at fanfiction, submitting this for the EQD Writer's Training Ground.

Comments

[Wonderbolt_Dashie]

That was awesome I especially loved how you implemented discord into the story

[Glowing Forge]

@Wonderbolt_Dashie Thanks, there is quite a bit more coming once I have a little time to continue.

[Goldymarg]

A little straightforward, but not bad. There were a few grammatical errors here and there that need to be ironed out, but I guess that's inevitable given the time constraints. If there's a deeper story percolating inside that head of yours, then I hope you can get down sugarcube

[milk experiment]

Looking forward to a conclusion/continuation. This is good, but it definitely feels like it's just the beginning.

Righting her chain

You mean her chair?

[Glowing Forge]

@Milk Experiment Thank you for pointing out that error. I am currently working on chapter two should be up some time tomorrow.