• Published 7th Sep 2014
  • 1,497 Views, 173 Comments

Blood and Ponies - GreyGuardPony



Everypony believes that the princesses have always ruled over Equestria. But that is wrong. For before there was a world of harmony....there was a World of Darkness.

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A Visit to Manehatten

Princess Twilight Sparkle nervously read the letter again. It had arrived this morning, delivered bright and early by Ditzy Doo and sent- apparently- express from Manehattan. She had been so excited! It was rare to hear from any of her former instructors. Well...aside from Princess Celestia, of course. But it was the contents of the letter that had really made her excited! Well...excited and nervous. An unknown archeological discovery would have been amazing enough, but then she had read the hastily scrawled post-script.

“Darling, that’s the fourth time you’ve read that letter since we got on the train,” Rarity said, not looking up from the book bobbing gently in her magic.

Twilight tore her eyes away from the letter, ears flicking back as she smiled nervously at her friends. She, Rarity and Fluttershy had a passenger compartment to themselves for the journey to Manehattan. Though each of them had their own reasons for taking a trip to the city, Rarity had suggested they share a compartment to pass the time.

“I'm sorry Rarity. This is just unprecedented! A lost civilization? And Professor Digger asked me- of all her students- to come and help!” Twilight gushed.

Now Rarity peered over the edge of her book, a delicate eyebrow raised. “That does remind me. I thought you were Princess Celestia’s student. When did you study with Miss Digger?”

“I might have been Princess Celestia’s personal apprentice,” Twilight explained. “But I still took all the same general studies as any other student at her School for Gifted Unicorns. I had lots of other teacher’s too.”

A wistful smile crossed Twilight`s muzzle. “Professor Digger taught history, but with a focus on pre-Unification civilizations. Finding an unknown one has to be a new height for her.”

But the wistful smile drained away as her eyes wandered to the postscript again. “I can't help but be a little worried about why she asked me to bring all of my books on magical afflictions or ‘curses’ though. And why she asked me to come as fast as I could.”

Fluttershy, who also had a book resting between her hooves- though hers was on afflictions suffered by magical critters- gave a soft eep of concern.

“C-curses?” she stammered out, eyes wide. “Like the kind that make ponies….”

She trailed off with a slight whimper. Rarity wordless reached over and draped a leg over her friend's withers. Twilight winced her head drooping at Fluttershy’s distress.

It had been a week since the...incident at Sweet Apple Acres and while Fluttershy had been quite understanding over her friends lack of judgement immediately after she had changed back, it hadn't been long before other side effects of the essence contamination had made themselves manifest.

Fluttershy had started to be visited by nightmares, horrible and recurring. By her admission they were almost always the same. Trapped in her vampire fruit bat tainted form, Fluttershy would swoop down upon unsuspecting ponies and terrify them every night.

Her own culpability in inflicting those nightmares on her friend gnawed at Twilight. So much so that she had started looking into dream protection magic, writing Princess Luna for some advice in that field. In an effort to not inflict more duress on Fluttershy, Twilight opted to change the subject very quickly.

“So, who's this relative of yours that you’re visiting? You’ve never really mentioned her before,” Twilight asked. Admittedly she was hardly blameless there herself.

Fluttershy perked up, her mood flipping like a switch. “Oh, well, Fluttering Posey is a cousin of mine. Apparently, something’s wrong with her poor little orthros. She doesn’t really trust the local vets, so she asked me to come take a look at the cutie.”

Twilight mentally chuckled. Only Fluttershy would describe a magical breed of hunting dog as “poor” and “little”. They were bred to hunt down cockatrices for Celestia’s sake! Though that did explain the stuffed “doctor” bag Fluttershy had squeezed into the baggage compartment.

Rarity hummed to herself. “Oh dear. Now I feel somewhat guilty that I’ll be at a grand museum opening for my trip while you two are stuck working.”

“That’s not till tomorrow night though, right?” Twilight grinned, an idea popping into her mind. “You could always tag along with me to meet Professor Digger. Both of you,” she finished, nodding towards Fluttershy.

“Oh, well, I certainly appreciate the offer,” Fluttershy smiled back. “But it already took a day for Fluttering’s letter to reach Ponyville and we won’t reach Manehattan until this evening. I really want to see her orthos as soon as I can.”

“I suppose I can’t argue with that.,” Twilight nodded.

“Well, I’ll be more than happy to accompany you!” Rarity almost giggled, flipping her book back up to continue reading. “I’d be quite charmed to meet another one of your teachers.”

Satisfied for now, Twilight dug one of the books on magical maladies out of her bags and set to reading. She couldn’t wait to see what Professor Digger discovered!

- - - -

“Oh...dear,” Rarity gasped, eyes wide.

The door to Professor Digger’s apartment was hanging open, bright yellow banners criss crossing the vacant doorway, declaring with certainty- in blocky black letters- “Guard line. Do not cross.”. Even from the hallway, Twilight could make out more tape strung over a smashed open living room window and the ruined front of a bookshelf, its shattered shelves jutting about in haphazard angles.

Twilight grimaced, her stomach doing somersaults while the words of the professor’s post script bounced about her mind in a chaotic jumble. Come as quickly as she could. That’s what Professor Digger had asked of her, even including her address so Twilight could come straight to her place once she left the train station. Fluttershy had even volunteered to take their bags and check into a hotel so that Twilight and Rarity could come straight to the apartment.

And they arrived to see this. Attack or magical accident? Both were probable when dealing with a lost item from an unknown civilization. She bit her lip, part of her wanting to rush inside and see what happened to her old teacher, but the other part of her not wanting to break the official boundary. They guard was already investigating after all.

“What are you waiting for?” Rarity asked.

“What?” Twilight blinked.

“Something horrible has clearly happened and to an old mentor of yours nonetheless. We must assist with the investigation at once!”

“It’s not that simple! I want to, but we aren’t part of the Manehattan guard-”

“Nonsense! You are a princess of Equestria and should be given the respect entitled to one.”

Without another moment’s hesitation, Rarity pushed the thin banners up slightly with her magic and slipped under. Twilight gasped, but quickly followed after. She opened her mouth, ready to object to this course of action, but that was interrupted when a trio of ponies stepped into the hallway beyond the living room. Two of them were city guard, identified by the polished steel armor forged in a similar style to their royal counterparts, while the third was a rose colored pegasus devoid of any arms or armor. A civilian, Twilight imagined.

“Hey! This is a crime scene, you can’t be in here,” one of the officers snapped. He was the shorter of the two, with an amber colored coat and carried himself with an angry swagger.

Despite the pony’s rudeness, Twilight smiled back. All she had to do was explain the situation and surely he’d understand.

“I’m sorry to intrude officer but I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle and-”

“Princess?” he interrupted, frowning deeply. “Miss, you do know that impersonating royalty is a crime.”

Twilight’s smile became more strained. Sometimes the scattershot nature of ponies knowledge of her own coronation made her wonder just how much Equestria's newspapers were actually read. It was- in a word- frustrating. The fact that she didn’t entirely know what her purpose was in the larger framework of Equestria since her ascension already made her anxious enough, she didn’t need ponies doubting her ontop of that! Thankfully, she was spared having to explain herself by Rarity. She gave a demure cough, before motioning at Twilight’s forehead and horn.

The other officer, a larger, pastel blue pony, followed Rarity’s gesture. “Use your eyes Blaze. Wings and horn. Don’t you remember that bit in the paper a few months back about a new alicorn in Equestria?”

Blaze looked Twilight over again. “...Shouldn’t she be taller?”

“...Go over your notes again Blaze,” the other guard sighed. He nodded to Twilight. “Princess. I’m officer Quick Trot. Pardon the question but I do have to ask what’s brought you here. The timing is...odd.”

Rarity huffed. “I hope you’re not implying that Twilight had something to do with...whatever happened here!”

“Not at all. But she clearly has some connection to Miss Digger, considering your presence.”

Twilight flicked Deep Digger’s letter out of her bag and passed it to officer Trot. “I was a student of professor Digger’s. She sent me this letter a few days ago, asking me to come and help her with a discovery.”

The pink pegasus snorted at that. “Figures that Digger would want to farm out some assistance.”

Twilight tilted her head. “I’m sorry, you are?”

“Professor Far Sight. I work with Deep Digger at the Manehattan Historical Society.”

Quick Trot’s eyes scrolled down the page, his stern expression becoming more and more of a frown as he digested the text. “Do you know why she asked you to bring these books on curses?”

“Well, not specifically. But if I had to hazard a guess it would be because whatever was discovered was magically afflicted- which is what ‘curses’ actually are by the way- in some manner.”

“Bah!” Far Sight scoffed. “My college is currently in the hospital! Can we please drop the Canterlot elitism and focus on the task at hoof? Magic with debilitating magical effects are a thing. The term ‘curse’ is a completely acceptable one to use!”

“It’s not the correct one!” Twilight huffed back. The revelation that one of her old teachers was now in the hospital had pushed her previous annoyance into a true bad mood. “The term curse was invented by earth ponies, before the unification of the tribes! It’s all nonsense like giving the ‘evil eye’ or that writing a pony’s name on a slip of paper and baking it into a muffin will inflict misfortune upon them! If that’s supposed to be what’s effected my former teacher, then I’m a griffin!”

While she could have easily gone on about the differences between superstitious curses and actual negative magic, Rarity’s hoof on her withers cut that off.

“Dear? Let’s not argue semantics. We’re here and you do know quite a bit. Perhaps we can help?”

Twilight squeezed her eyes closed for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she brought a hoof to her chest, visualizing all of her stress and anxieties coming with it As she held that breath for a moment, she imagined them being crumpled up into a tight little ball. Finally, she let it go, extending her hoof as she went and tossing all that horrible stress away. “Rarity’s right. I am well versed in a wide variety of magical subjects. If there’s anything I can do to help, I’d like to contribute.”

“Well,” Quick Trot said, glancing towards Professor Far Sight. “We already have one expert helping us out. I suppose the eyes of a princess couldn’t hurt.”

Lazily motioning for Twilight to follow he trotted back down the short hallway, before hooking a left and disappearing back into the room he had emerged from. Twilight licked her suddenly quite dry lips and followed after, Rarity right at her side.

“What do you know so far?” she asked. She needed something for her mind to chew on besides the question of whether professor Digger was going to be okay or not. The situation in the apartment was a good enough place to start as any.

“Last night we received a call from the next door neighbor,” Blaze answered, falling into step behind Twilight and Rarity. “When officers arrived on the scene they found the victim- Miss Deep Digger- in the legs of a bat pony. She- identified later as Sunny Days- claimed that she had been assisting Deep Digger with a magic circle to capture a monster. According to her story, the monster just appeared in the apartment, bit miss Digger in the neck and then escaped through the living room window. Miss Digger is currently recovering at Green Hill after receiving a blood transfusion.”

They stepped into the kitchen, where the aforementioned magic circle was still preserved. It wasn’t the only thing though. The kitchen was even worse than a living room. Vomit covered part of the floor, while the magic circle dominated most of the rest. The refrigerator door had a large dent in its front and some of the floor tiles had been shattered. Twilight frowned as she neatly stepped around the dried puddle of throw up to stare down at the arcane scrawling on the floor.

The ink was badly smeared, which was never a good sign. Magic circles, regardless of the magical tradition they came from, depended on the exactness of their design and construction in order to be effective. This one had been clearly destroyed. She tilted her head slightly, regarding one of the symbols that was more intact than the others. The wild, dabbing nature of the strokes were familiar to Twilight, having seen them plenty of times when she went to visit Zecora in her tree home.

“Zebra,” she muttered to herself. “Professor Digger used a zebra ritual.”

Next she moved her attention to the pair of shattered tiles on the floor. Judging by the cracks that radiated outwards from a pair of circular impact points, she surmised they had been made by a pony that applied an extreme amount of force to the floor. Twilight furrowed her brow as she considered the implications of that. The pony who made such a strike would have to be immensely strong. ...Applejack might be able to break raw tile. Big Mac as well. Oh, and the princesses, of course. Not that she imagined that any of them had been here of course.

“Did you find any books when you searched the scene?” she asked.

“One,” Quick Trot answered. “Professor Far Sight confirmed that it was a tome on zebra ritual magic from Deep Digger’s office.”

Twilight looked up at Professor Far Sight. “Professor, I don’t suppose you have some insights to give?”

Far Sight shrugged. “I can’t say what Digs was trying to do here. The zebra languages were never really my area of expertise. If that Sunny Days says that she was trying to bind a monster, I believe her.”

“Why do you say that?” Twilight blinked.

“Because the damn thing attacked me!” Far Sight growled, rubbing at the side of his neck. “It was in the thing we discovered...well, the discovery that was sold to us at least.”

Immediately, Twilight dove into her saddlebags, yanking out quill, ink and notebook before setting them to float before her so she could take notes. “Quick!” she beamed. “Tell me what happened! What was this thing you found? Where did you find it?”

“It’s a sarcophagus and we didn’t find it...unfortunately,” Far Sight sighed. Though he did take a full step back from Twilight and her enthusiasm. “A fishing trawler dredged it up off the coast about four nights ago. When Digger and I opened it up, we found a body of a previously unknown creature inside. Only...it turned out to not actually be dead. Later on in the day it ambushed me and took some of my blood. ...Though apparently less than it did from my college.”

“Can you describe it to me?” Rarity asked, pulling out one of her sketchbooks.

She sketched as he did, quickly working out a basic appearance while Twilight jotted down a few notes and questions to look into later. The desiccated nature of the flesh springing back to life clearly pointed to some manner of magical affliction being involved, but it was the bipedal nature of its appearance that Twilight found the most fascinating. One could count the number of bipedal species in the world on a small abacus. A very small abacus. The entirety of the order was contained in two known groups, the diamond dogs and the minotaurs...and technically dragons. At least before adulthood.

“A new biped is fascinating opportunity,” Twilight admitted, beginning to pace the width of the kitchen. “And I think the fact that Professor Digger asked me to bring my books on magical afflictions points to her wanting to deal with whatever this biped has been afflicted with.”

“I believe you’re correct Twilight,” Rarity called from across the hall.

Guard members and non-guard members alike turned as Rarity came back into the kitchen. Twilight blinked. She hadn’t even noticed that Rarity had left the room while she was wrapped up in the implications of her notes. Rarity had some folded purple bed sheets suspended in her magic. She smirked, the pride in whatever she had found clear in her features.

“This was under the bed. Sheets that have been modified by a less than skilled tailor, I’m afraid to say.” She gave the sheets a little shake, letting them fall open to show three crudely cut holes in the fabric.

“I don’t see how her bad attempts at home fashion are relevant-” Blaze began.

“These aren’t hers,” Rarity interrupted, rolling her eyes. “The cut isn’t right for a pony. These holes on the side,” she shook the sheet again for emphasis, “are too far to the side for a pony’s forelegs, but perfect for the arms of a biped, such as a minotaur. ...Or a mystery one, as the case may be.”

“That...almost sounds like it was living with her,” Twilight said.

“What…? No,” Far Sight shook his head. “That’s impossible. That means she lied to me multiple times about knowing where this monster went!”

Twilight shrugged. “She could have had reasons for why she wanted to keep this quiet. Or she was under the effect of mind control magic. We just don’t have enough information at the moment. We don’t even know what this ritual actually is.”

“It could also have been scavenging clothes on its own,” Rarity said.

Looking back down at her notepad, Twilight hummed to herself. “This Sunny Days...did anything about her seem odd?”

“She was an adult pony without a cutie-mark,” Quick Trot frowned. “I didn’t really push the fact at the time. I figured she was one of those ponies who didn’t get her cutie-mark due to an emotional trauma of some kind.”

Twilight winced. Even back in her pre-friendship days in Canterlot, Twilight had heard stories of ponies unlucky enough to be stuck sans cutie-mark. It wasn’t a conversation ponies liked to have. Still….

“I think I’d like to talk to her.”

- - -

If her heart was still capable of beating, Sun was convinced it would be trying to hammer its way right out of her chest.

Her current task was simple on paper. Go to the Ocean House Hotel and collect an item that belonged to a ghost that supposedly haunted its grounds. Bring it back to the current pair of vampires that were pushing her around, Therese and Jeanette Voerman. That would let those two call off their grudge with the nosferatu Bertram Tung so that he could tell here where a Sabbat controlled warehouse was, so that she could use the explosives she had collected earlier to blow it up and strike a blow for the Camarilla.

…Okay, so it wasn’t simple at all. But vampire politics and inter-faction warfare rarely was.

Of course none of that mattered if she couldn’t even pull the first part of that off. The foyer of the hotel was a picture right out of the nineteen twenties. A pair of grand spiral staircases twisted their way up to a second floor landing and balcony, just inside the double entrance doors, while the imposing wings stretched off in either direction from the foyer. At one point, Sun was sure that the place would have been grand, back in the day. But now it was choked with dust and cobwebs and decades upon decades of decay.

Slowly, she advanced towards the stairs, the fire axe she had found outside clutched tightly in her hands. This was nothing. Nothing big. She was a vampire now! And as horrible as some aspects of it were, it did make her incredibly hard to hurt. There wasn’t anything she had to fear from a ghost...right?

Beware….

The call had come from the balcony. Slowly rolling her towards the second floor, Sun blinked at the ghostly image of a woman standing there. Dark hair matted and split, the pristine white of her hair was marred by a massive splatter of blood, splashed across the belly.

Beware…, she whispered again, extending a slender arm to point behind Sun.

Sun whipped around with superhuman speed, fangs bared in an intimidating hiss. But that hiss of bravado turned into a shriek of terror. For while there was a specter there, as expected, it was not the smiling slasher in a fedora straight out of the nineteen fifties. This spirit was headless, the ghostly white stump of her neck a ghastly, jagged ruin. She had her removed head tucked under one arm, in a gesture that was mocking in how casual it was. But the face and the conservative blouse and slacks combo were unmistakable.

“L-Lin?”

Lin peered over her glasses- a strange gesture considering her state- and flashed her sibling a wide, leering smile.

“Hey sis! Been awhile hasn’t it?

“Lin, what are you doing here?”

“You’re really going to ask me that question?” Lin blinked. “I’m dead sis. And not this bullshit up and walking around thing you’re doing. I’m proper dead.”

“If you’re proper dead, why are you here?”

At the question, Lin took an angry step forward, her lips twisting into a snarl. “Well, considering that my current state is all your fault..,” she let the words trail away, before they came roaring back as loud as blaring concert speakers. “I’m haunting you!”

The force of the scream was enough to blast Sun off her feet. Staring up at the pale form of her sibling, Sun could scarcely believe what she was seeing. Of the two of them, her little sister had always been the more quiet, bookish type. Now here Lin was, raging with all the fury that Sun could channel when in her worst moments.

Get a hold of yourself! she chided herself. This is obviously a nightmare. Lin’s gone. If she really was a ghost and haunting me, I would have seen her long before now.

Setting her jaw, Sun slowly stood and faced her “sister” again.

“I didn’t kill you Lin. That was LaCroix and that thug of a sheriff of his.”

“They did it because you blabbed!” Lin shrieked another wave of rage fueled sound washing over Sun. She was driven to the ground again, Lin stomping closer as her whole frame began to swell. “You just had to tell me you were a vampire!”

“You saw me! I had to tell you something!”

Now Lin’s shadow fell over her. She seemed even less human than before. Now her eyes were cold, dark pools. Her mouth was a maw of shark like teeth behind which flickered baleful green flames.

“You could have LIED!”

This shout was so strong that the wall and stairs behind Sun simply exploded into a storm of wood shards and splinters. A void of black stretched out beyond, cold and empty. ...Though considering her ghostly sister, maybe it was the better option. Lin barreled down on Sun now, the floor shaking with each step of her giant sized frame.

“You could have made me believe anything with your abilities! Tell me that I made a mistake, that you were some other woman! You could have saved me! But no,” she sneered, flames licking out of her mouth. “Like the selfish little bitch you are, without thinking about how your words would effect me, you spilled your guts about things the Camarilla would kill to keep secret! Why, why, why were you so damn stupid!”

Sun flinched away from every word in that rant. The substance of LaCroix’s reaction to her slip up and the effect it had on Lin were all true. Sun’s loose lips had cost Lin her head. But…

“I told you because I missed you.”

Lin shrieked back. It was a high pitched wail that ran straight down Sun’s spine, somehow cold as a bitter north wind, despite the hot green flames that now burned in her eyes as well. This was beyond a normal ghost, limited to moving things around and occasionally manifesting to spout cryptic warnings. Whether this was just a nightmare or an actual haunting, the form of the creature before Sun was that of a true lord of the dead, an ancient spectre that had been waiting for its revenge for centuries. In the face of such a monster even a vampire like Sun only had one reasonable choice to make.

She turned and ran, bolting into the unknown darkness rather than face the ghost.

There were no features in the sea of black that surrounded her, almost like she was running through empty space. Yet she could feel something solid under her feet and hear her own footfalls that echoed more like she was running through an empty warehouse with a concrete floor. The impossibility of the dreamscape would have been frustrating, if not for the fact she was running for her life.

Lin’s rants and raves were hot on her heels however. “You don’t get to just run away! You don’t get to have a nice happy little life while I rot! While your parents rot! While the human race remains forgotten! Face me you goddamn traitor!”

The wind and force from the screams blew Sun forward and she threw out her arms to catch herself. But it was hooves rather than hands that clacked against the invisible floor.

“Not this again!” Sun groaned.

“Come here my little pony! I want to have some fun with you!” Lin shouted, the sickly emerald light of her flames washing over her.

Sun took off again, but looked behind her as she ran. Lin was much closer than she liked, but how close was she? Yards, feet? It was so hard to tell without any landmarks.

“Join me sis! Join me in final death!” Lin shouted.

She threw her head. Sun screamed as it shot towards her, doubling, then tripling in size as it streaked across the distance between them in seconds. Sun ran faster but it was no use. Her sister’s jaws closed around her tail and Sun felt herself thrown skyward in one smooth motion. Twisting in the air as she fell, Sun frantically flapped wings that she didn’t know how to use, clawing for a freedom that wouldn’t come as she plunged into the flames below….

Sun opened her eyes.

“A new nightmare to add to the collection then,” she forced a sigh, staring at a random crack in the ceiling.

As horrible as the nightmare was, there was also an element of truth to it that Sun couldn’t ignore. She was alone. Alone in the room. Alone in this world. And there were so many questions about the lack of humans in this world. If even the learned ponies of this era didn’t have a clue about what a human was, then her old race had to be long dead. She wondered how that happened. Global warming? Meteor strike? Mass volcano eruption? ...Or the supernatural elephant in the room.

Gehenna.

Vampires had their own legends and Gehenna was the darkest. The prophesied end of all things when the ancient vampires that had founded the various bloodlines would rise again and devour their descendants and humanity alike. It was the kind of thing that sounded more in place in a dark fantasy novel. Even at the time it had sounded like so much sensationalist bullshit, especially when it was spouted by vampire cult leaders. After all, if there were vampires that strong, why had they ever gone away in the first place? Yet, here she was, in a land where humans weren't even myth.

“I don't need this right now!” Sun exclaimed, almost flopping her way out of bed. “I have enough mysteries and crap on my plate as is!”

Pushing the desk away from the door, Sun paused to look at herself in the little circular mirror bolted to the top. She...still looked adorable. If humans were still around, she probably could have lured them into a false sense of security with a pitiful look or two, leaving them vulnerable to having their throat ripped out...adorably, of course. Still, her mane was a disheveled mess, probably from the fight with the bug ponies last night. Sighing, she ran her hooves over and through her mane in a lame attempt to make it more orderly. Yet the horse hair was stubborn and remained a wild mop. Sun snorted, then grimaced as her tail flicked in agitation, like it was swatting at a fly.

“Never gonna get used to that,” she grumbled.

A light series of knocks, tapped out in an almost musical pattern, rattled her door. “Sunny Days? It’s Fluttering Posey. You slept through dinner. I brought you some leftovers.”

Sun pulled the door open to see Fluttering waiting patiently on the other side. Somehow, she had managed to balance a tray that had both steaming soup and a rather tasty looking sandwich on it atop her head. With a bright smile on her muzzle, she trotted right into the room and slid the whole thing onto the desk.

“Oh,” Sun blinked. “Thanks. But I’m not really hungry.”

“Mmmm,” Fluttering frowned, furrowing her brow. Sun found herself fidgeting slightly under Fluttering’s glare. There was an intensity in that stare and behind those otherwise soft eyes that was downright unsettling. In fact, it was unsettling enough that Sun found herself wishing that she was staring down LaCroix again. But just as she was about to ask Fluttering to knock it off, the pegasus switched back to a sweet smile.

“Well then! Since you missed dinner, your chores for tonight will be to help me with the dishes.”

Sun blinked. Fluttering beamed back. “Do you want to wash, or dry?”

- - - -

I am officially the worst vampire ever.

Having chosen to wash dishes over drying them Sun found herself perched precariously on her hind hooves at the kitchen sink. Buried in the warm, sudsy water one forehoof groped for dishes while the other vigorously dragged a sponge over the congealed remains of vegetable soup. As each soiled bit of the dinner set was made clean again, Sun would carefully pinch the item in question between her hooves and pass it over to Fluttering. Despite the nature of Digger’s spell, dishes were fragile enough that Sun didn’t want to take any chances damaging them. The wonderful smell of sugar cookies coming from Fluttering certainly wasn’t helping matters.

Fluttering showed no such hesitation. Balancing each dish expertly on one hoof, she swirled a towel around them with her other till they were dry before neatly sliding them into a cabinet. Much to Sun’s frustration, she kept glancing her direction as she worked, especially in those long moments where Sun fumbled with the washing.

“So...a monster?”

It was a simple question, really, but somehow it squirmed under Sun’s skin...or coat...all the same. She could have sworn there was a hint of accusation in the question.

“Yeah...a big bipedal black ash thing. Why? Worried it will follow me here?”

“Mmm. No, not really. I have Fang for a reason and I’m sure he’ll be right back on his paws once my cousin is done looking at him. I was just wondering how metaphorical that monster was.”

Lady, if you had any idea.., Sun thought. But Fluttering was driving at something here which made Sun wonder what kind of impression she was giving off that Fluttering was picking up on. “Why would it be metaphorical?” she asked.

“You’re an adult pony without a cutie-mark and who seems almost terrified of her own body. Never found your special talent. Always jumping at shadows. Quite simply, you act like a pony who has been abused since she was a foal.”

That was a punch to the gut. Now she was suddenly second guessing everything she had been doing since going all equine. If she was walking around like a beaten spouse, what horse body language had she been doing subconsciously? What social cues would she have to relearn? And of course these stupid butt tattoos had to be a huge damn deal. And for that matter, what fucking business did child and spousal abuse have being in such an annoyingly saccharine world? Sure, there was a certain amount of vindication that this pony world wasn’t as perfect as it looked. But it was still like finding a rape-homicide plotline in an episode of Sesame Street.

Those frantic mental questions were interrupted by Fluttering’s hoof on her side. “It’s okay. If I’m wrong, then I’m wrong,” she smiled. “I might be a little...overly sensitive about these things. Maybe I’ve seen a little too much…”

“No, it’s..,” Sun frowned, passing the last plate over. “I just...is it really that bad?”

As the final dish was put away, Fluttering sighed and dropped her towel into a crumpled heap. “That bad...depends on how a pony measures it, I suppose.” She licked her lips for a moment, carefully choosing her words. “It’s not what I’d call an epidemic. Most ponies are good at heart. The abusers and beaters are, thank Celestia, rare. But at the same time...well...the stuff that does happen, doesn’t get reported.”

That revelation buzzed in the back of Sun’s mind. Spousal abuse was massive under reported back in her era. She knew that fact well. But considering the general mood of ponykind she somehow expected...better from them.

“...Why?” she asked, suddenly very interested in the answer.

“Because this is Equestria.” Fluttering answered. She nervously fiddled with the towel on the counter for a moment before beginning to fold it. “And bad things don’t happen in Equestria.”

And just like that, Sun’s smug vindication melted away under the misery etched on Fluttering’s face. She looked utterly crushed by the thought of the misery of her fellow ponies. Not that the moment lasted long before she hoisted a cheerful smile back on.

“Anyway! I’m going to see how my cousin is doing with Fang. Consider yourself released from tonight’s duties!”

Sun watched her slip through the door to the hallway, feeling like she had just swallowed a mouthful of soot.

“Ugh,” she shook her head, wrenching her mind back on track. “Let it go Sun. You got shit to do.”

She needed more magic to try and break the curse of Caine. Sure, she’d have to wait till Digger got out of the hospital to use any of it, but she could still hit up libraries and hoard until then. She was going to focus on her goal and not let bug ponies or anything else distract her! Filled with a new sense of determination, she pushed the door open with her forehead, stepped into the hallway…

And immediately froze.

Digger’s cousin was in the hallway.

She was a pegasus as well, with a butter yellow coat and the softest looking pink mane that fell in silken curtains. Brilliant cyan eyes sparkled with glee as she played with Fang. But what had immediately caught Sun’s attention as she cooed over and rubbed at the orthos’ belly was the smell. While some of the ponies she had been around smelled like this food or that, this new one was a five course feast. Every delicious scent from her childhood seemed to be radiating from this yellow pegasus. Dumplings and freshly brewed tea. Sweet rock candy. The spicy Italian sausage from Mister Del Marco’s deli a few blocks from her house. All of it and more was layered together into a wonderful sense of ambrosia that would have made Sun’s mouth water if it still could.

Without even realizing it, her legs began to carry her towards the pegasus. Her mind was buzzing with wonder. Who was this pony? What kind of blood did that delectable little pony have pumping through her veins? Her fangs were extending, visions of sinking them into that slender yellow neck dancing through her head.

She was almost on top of Fluttering and her cousin when the orthos’ heads snapped up to glare at her. Deep, rumbling growls built in the beast’s chest as both heads muzzles twisted into furious snarls. Sun jumped back, more out of instinct than anything else. It would take more than the bite of a two headed dog to seriously hurt her. With the hypnotic effect thoroughly broken, Sun looked up at the yellow pegasus she almost assaulted. She kept one hoof on Fang’s side, but was almost hiding behind the long pink bangs of her mane at the same time. Fluttering tilted her head, peering at Sun with a slight frown.

“Sunny? Did you need something?”

“Err...no,” Sun shook her head, though she kept her eye on the angry dog. It figured that she’d eventually run into an animal that reacted to a vampire like an actual animal. “I was just about to head out for the night.” She nodded towards Fluttering’s cousin. “This is your cousin then?”

Fang growled again and the pegasus gently patted his side. “Calm down Fang. She’s just a pony.” She lifted her head slightly, peering out from behind those pink, silky curtains. “I’m sorry, he seems a little wound up right now. I’m Fluttershy.”

“Sunny Days.”

Fluttershy smiled back with the most adorable little expression. At least she did until she noticed Sun’s lack of cutie-mark. Her eyes went wide and she fell into series of stammers that were just as adorable.

“Oh my...are you okay? I’ve never seen a pony your age without a cutie-mark.”

Sun mentally rolled her eyes. Again with this cutie-mark thing! Fine. If she was going to be viewed as an abuse victim by everypony in this stupid city, then it was something she planned to milk for her own benefit later. For now though, she had to get back on task.

“I’m fine,” she glowered.

Keeping one eye on the orthos Sun began to shift around the edge of the hallway and towards the front door. She was about half way there when a series of knocks, hammered out in a specific pattern, shook it. Fluttering’s eyes went wide and she practically dove for the door, yanking it open and allowing a trio of ponies squeezed their way into the already crowded hall.

The first was an older female pony. With a sea blue green coat and a white mane and tail, she almost looked like part of the ocean come to life. Which would probably explain the crashing wave cutie-mark. She was delicate in build and feature for a horse and- Sun imagined at least- beautiful by pony standards. Which made the obvious black eye all the more ugly. It was a truly ugly thing, a mixture of black and sickly purple that had swollen enough to force her right eye shut.

A hat, once a thing of finery was perched atop her head. But now it's violet color was marred by muddy hoof prints and the brim was torn on the left side, a shredded strip of fabric dangling lamely before her good eye.

Despite all of this, she stood tall and kept her head high, though Sun could see the real shock and fear behind the mask she was wearing. A mother being strong for her foals.

The young ponies were huddling behind her legs and looked even more shell shocked than their parent. They were a boy and a girl from what Sun could deduce. The girl was the larger of the two and shared her mother's coloring, albeit reversed. Occasional whimpers rose from her shaking form, though she tried to stand as tall as her mother. The boy was in much worse shape. Goldenrod in coat and light brown in mane, he just softly sobbed while trying to bury his face in his mother's side.

Fluttering’s reaction was immediate. “Seabreeze!” she exclaimed, swooping down on the poor mare and hip checking Sun aside with surprising force. “What happened? Where's Water Spout? I thought you were just going to the pawn shop!”

“W-we did,” Seabreeze managed to stammer out. Her voice was soft but with a tone that Sun could only call “refined”. Considering the hat, she was probably from an upper class background. She licked her lips before continuing. “I managed to sell most of what I managed to take with us. We...we were crossing the park on the way back and were part way through that large tunnel on the east side when a trio of...of….thugs attacked us! Two ponies and a griffin. They took all the bits and Spout...Spout….”

Relaying what happened to Water Spout was too much for Seabreeze and she broke down with a mighty wail, practically falling into the forelegs of Fluttering.

“She...she...didn’t listen! She ran off into the park! We tried to find her-”

“Stop,” Fluttering frowned. “Stay here and keep the door locked. I’ll go take a look at the park with Fang.

“Oh! No!” Fluttershy interrupted. “He’s feeling better, but he’s not well enough to maybe...umm...fight somepony.”

“Tartarus! I promised that Spout would be safe here!” Fluttering cursed, whirling on her cousin, her wings flaring as wide as they could go. Sun blinked. It really was an amazing transformation from the nervous mare that had answered the door. With a more...real threat to one of her charges, she now seemed ready to go charging into battle. All ninety five pounds of neurosis.

“Well, if you insist on going, I’m going with you,” Fluttershy said with an air of finality.

That sense of situational bravado apparently had a familial connection. And Fluttershy looked even meeker than her cousin! Even despite her statement, she was practically hiding behind her long mane in the presence of three traumatized ponies. These two were going to run into a major city in the middle of the night to find another traumatized kid, while the “thugs” that attacked Seabreeze in the first place might still be out there? Yes, it might have been a random mugging, but the memory of those bug ponies were still quite fresh in Sun’s mind. A certain amount of paranoia was not unjustified as far as she was concerned. And, of course, that paranoia gnawed at her human side and the sense of morality that still hadn’t fled her completely.

“Wait,” she frowned, trotting after both Flutterings as they started to head out the door. “I’m coming with. I know how to handle myself in a fight, should things go south.”

Fluttering did not look pleased. “You came here because you needed help. This isn’t-”

“Not having it Fluttering. If you leave on your own, I’ll just follow you myself. And the longer you argue with me, the longer that foal is out there on her own.”

Fluttering winced. “That’s extortion.”

Sun had a simple response to that. “It’s reality.”

“...Fine. Let’s just go!”

- - - -

The park- apparently named after Princess Celestia- was huge, reminding Sun of all the pictures she had seen of NYC’s Central Park. Of course, with a park this size, a young kid could be anywhere. Still, the spot where Seabreeze was ambushed was their best and only place to start. Thankfully, Fluttering seemed to know the layout of the park and quickly lead the way to this tunnel.

It wasn’t a long one, little more that a straight path under a bridge that stretched between a pair of serene looking hillocks. The path that ran through the tunnel was a quaint little cobblestone one, lined with equally quaint looking wrought iron fences and matching lamp posts. It was the kind of place Sun could see happy couples walking along during the day, laughing at each other’s jokes and doing other lovey dovey things.

It was also an amazing place for an ambush in the middle of the night. The location was actually a little isolated from the rest of the park paths, with thick tree cover providing a lovely screen. On top of that, the lampposts were poorly arranged. They were set back just a little too far from the tunnel entrance, leaving it mostly cast in shadow.

“I got good money that says that Seabreeze’s attackers were waiting right there,” Sun said, pointing towards the shadows of the hills.

“Why do you say that?” Fluttering asked, tilting her head slightly.

“Perfect ambush spot. Hide there, wait till your target is halfway through then step in behind them. Then your third friend is at the other side and comes from that direction. Now your targets are hemmed in and easy pickings.”

“Oh my,” Fluttershy squeaked. She nervously glanced around the area, lightly tapping her forehooves together. “Why would they do that? Just to rob some ponies?”

“Maybe..,” Sun frowned, trotting closer to the tunnel. “Fluttering, I don’t suppose that this place is particularly known for muggings?” She glanced back over her...shoulder? “Or is that more ‘bad things don’t happen in Equestria’?”

Fluttering winced, while Fluttershy looked back and forth between them. “No,” Fluttering said after a moment. “Nothing like that. This park is safe.”

Right. Safe, Sun thought to herself walking right into the tunnel. The cousins hung back, which was fine by her. Fluttershy’s scent was still maddeningly delicious. There was something strange about that pony. Just another thing to add to the pile of stuff Sun really wished she had Deep Digger to help her answer. In the immediate though, there was a young pony in trouble that needed to be found and thankfully Sun was practically bursting with blood after raiding that hospital.

She spent a little to reinvigorate her organs again, letting the illusion of life settle back into her body. Then she took a deep breath, letting all the smells in the area fill her equine enhanced nose. There was a chorus of stale background scents, most likely from the ponies that had wandered through the area during the day. But there was a quartet of pungent odors that were undoubtedly much more recent.

Two of them were similar, a repulsive mixture of beer and heavy cigar smoke. Sun could only imagine how much of both the ponies just have imbibed so stain their bodies with that smell. The third trail she picked up was a mixture of chicken and a rush of hot spices. That was probably the griffin. Finally she could smell a blend of sweet with just a hint of dryness that reminded her of saltwater taffy. But layered on top of everything else was a familiar coppery smell.

Blood.

“Someone’s injured,” Sun said, rushing forward and taking another deep breath. She could smell the trail running deeper into the depths of the park, copper ontop of the smoky cigar. It seemed like the foal might have gotten a piece of her attackers.

Good girl, Sun thought. “Come on! This way!”

With that she threw caution to the wind and lead the chase. It took a conscious effort to not use her Celerity right then and there and rush ahead of the Fluttering cousins. Her Brujah passion was riled at the moment, feeding into the desire to save a child. But she had to stay in control. Her true nature had been revealed to too many ponies as it was.

The trail ran deeper into the park, alternating between bursts where foal and pursuers seemed to be running full out and areas where the latter paced about, sometimes doubling back over their own tracks as they searched. Seabreeze’s muggers were clearly trying to hunt her foal down and more than ever Sun was questioning just how random the “mugging” was.

“Fluttering, what can you tell me about Seabreeze?” Sun asked as they picked their way through an empty playground. “This whole situation doesn’t feel right.”

Fluttering nervously rubbed her foreleg. “What do you mean? She did just come back from a pawn shop. I hate to say it, but that is a good time to ambush a pony for their bits.”

Sun stopped, fixing Fluttering with an even stare. “But they already had the bits. Why go chasing after a foal? You’re risking more serious charges if you get caught and risking getting caught in general by not just getting out of the area with your loot.”

“So you...think she’s being targeted?”

“You’re the pony who greeted me from behind six locks and who looks after ponies who need ‘help’.” Sun sat back on her haunches, twitching her hooves in the best approximation of the finger quotes gesture she could manage, before crossing her forelegs. “You tell me.”

Fluttering winced and began to nervously wring her mane. “Oh...if what you’re saying is true...that’s bad for us. Very bad.”

Sun motioned for her to continue.

“Her husband is Sugar Shine, CEO of Sugarmare Sugarcubes.”

She paused, almost as if she was expecting Sun to gasp or exclaim her disbelief. Sun sighed back, rolling her eyes. “Fluttering...I’m not from around here and I didn’t exactly come from a good home. I don’t know who that is.”

Fluttering dropped her voice conspiratorially. “He owns half of Manehattan! ...Or that’s what the papers say. But...he’s also a major philanthropist, I just can’t see him…”

“Hiring thugs? Even after his wife and children came running to you? What the fuck did she tell you?”

“Nothing specific,” Fluttering answered. “She said that she and Sugar Shine were ‘having difficulties’. Which isn’t too unusual. I get minor cases like that sometimes and usually help by putting them in touch with a marriage counselor I know. She...acted like she might have been abused. But he just seems so nice in all those articles! He even helped build a few hospitals! I thought that maybe they just needed a break…. I mean, Sugar Shine squeaks when he walks. He has no tells!”

Sun’s deadpan stare grew into a full glare, that Fluttering immediately recoiled from. “Seriously? Just because a pony puts on a nice public face doesn’t mean anything! In my experience, the ponies that shine the brightest, cast the darkest shadows.”

“Umm...that’s not entirely fair,” Fluttershy whispered. “I know Princess Celestia. She’s very nice and understanding.”

Sun turned her glare on Fluttershy who eeped and recoiled in shock. “Then you just don’t know her well enough,” Sun snarled.

A poignant pause hung in the air for a few moments before Fluttering spoke again.

“What did your parents do to you?”

“...Shut up,” Sun growled, feeling her temper beginning to rise again. She was on the verge unleashing a fresh round of insults when Fluttershy interrupted with a surprisingly forceful voice.

“Listen! Did you hear that?”

Sun and Fluttering paused their argument, straining their ears to listen. There, on the breeze, came a high pitched cry.

“Heeeeeelp!”

They exchanged a glance before charging off towards the voice. Sun took the lead again, bounding over bushes without a care in the world now. She quickly found herself following another cobblestone path that ran alongside a lake. Up ahead, she could just make out a boathouse framed by a pair of lampposts. The door on its side was wide open, almost ripped off its hinges in fact. And standing just outside that ruined door were her targets.

Two hulking ponies as sturdy as, and the color of, a pair of mighty boulders. They flanked a griffin who was sleeker, but still muscular, with a snowy, bald eagle-ish head and tiger like hind quarters. Dressed in a dapper looking dark grey vest, a cigar was clamped firmly between his hooked beak, while he dangled a squealing pink and white foal by her hind leg.

This time, there was no hesitation. Sun drew upon her well of blood and charged at blinding speed.

- - - -

Sunny Days was a frightening pony.

There was something about her that had unsettled Fluttershy from the first moment they had crossed paths in her cousin’s hallway. The way she carried herself as she walked, the way her eyes always seemed to be searching and on the prowl. They were the behaviors of a predator. And then there was the fact she was a bat pony. Her very appearance reminded Fluttershy of her nightmares. Those horrible nightmares where she just kept attacking all her friends like she was some kind of monster! She knew that would sound horrible and tribest, but it was how Sunny Days made her feel! As such, she had mostly stayed quiet while they had gone searching for Seabreeze’s missing child.

All of that was temporarily forgotten when Sunny Days charged. She was moving as fast on four hooves as Rainbow Dash did by wing, crossing the dozens of feet between them and the griffin in seconds. He barely had time to look up before Sunny Days crashed into him like an out of control manticore. With a squawk of shock, the griffin was sent flying into the lake, cigar tumbling to the ground where he had been standing. Water Spout fell as well, but lashed out with her forehooves and latched onto Sunny Days neck. Sunny Days whirled around, charging back towards her and Fluttering just as fast.

“Take her,” Sunny Days growled.

“W-what?” Fluttershy blinked.

“Take. Her. Get her back to a safe place. I’ll deal with the idiot brigade over there.”

The surface of the lake exploded into a shower of water as the griffin soared into the air, an expression of pure fury on his face. “I will beat you like a drum!”

Fluttershy grabbed Water Spout without objection. “Well...alright. Let’s get you back to your mommy.”

Water Spout sat on her back, nodding slightly.

Sunny Days didn’t wait for her and Fluttering to leave, already rushing to intercept the oncoming trio. Fluttershy spared her cousin a glance, before turning and taking flight with her. As they plunged into the darkness again, she just hoped that Sunny Days knew what she was doing.

- - - -

Sun was grinning now.

Logically, she knew that she should be more concerned about engaging in combat. There was always a chance, every time she did it, that she’d get lost in the throes of a frenzy. But right now, the thought of taking out her frustrations on a trio of child kidnappers was very appealing.

One of the mountains of muscle tried to dodge around her to chase after the retreating forms of Fluttershy and Posey. Still charged by her Celerity, Sun moved even faster and threw herself into his legs. Limbs crumpling under the impact, the pony cried out and hit the ground like a sack of bricks. She turned to see that his fellow was lashing out with his hind legs in a powerful kick. She sidestepped the strike and following her spell enhanced instincts, struck back with her own buck. There was a satisfying crunch as the other pony stumbled away, clutching at his side.

The griffin landed before Sun. He clacked his beak at her, while patting at his vest pockets for something. “Well, ain’t you a scrapper?” he said, producing another cigar. He lifted it to his beak in a gesture that seemed almost instinctive, before he realized its soaked, half ruined state. With a growl, he flicked it away. “Beatin’ you down looks like it’ll take some time and I am a busy griff. So, I’m gonna be generous here and give you one chance to get out of my damned way.”

“Listen...whoever you are….”

“Just call me Terrance.”

Sun smiled sweetly. “...So then, Terry. I’ve heard that Equestria is supposed to be all polite and shit, but it’ll be a cold day in Hell before I let a dime store gangster like you kidnap a kid.”

Terry dug his talons into the dirt. “Last chance you bat eared freak. Don’t try to stop us, or you’re a dead mare!”

Sun laughed. “A dead mare huh?” Then she fixed Terry with a furious glare. Now she really wanted to inflict some pain on these assholes. “Buddy...you couldn’t begin to fathom the amount of dead behind me.”

It was a statement that, under different circumstances, Sun would have been more regretful about the truth of. The unfortunate truth of the matter was that since becoming a vampire, she had to kill a lot more often than she cared for. Especially once she had gotten dragged into LaCroix’s plotting to get his hands on the sarcophagus that ended up being her prison.

Her glare must have did the trick, because Terry took a few nervous steps backwards, before shouting to his minions. “Take her out!”

Sun laughed, leaping into battle.

- - - -

“Stop!” Fluttershy shouted.

Fluttering stopped, hovering in place. “What?”

Fluttershy didn’t answer right away, instead looking down at the wide pale blue eyes of Water Spout. “My cousin is going to take you the rest of the way, okay?”

“O-okay.”

She quickly passed Water Spout over, Fluttering holding the foal tightly to her despite the confused stare she was giving.

“Are you...going back?”

Fluttershy nodded. “I have to. She’s there on her own...and...well..,” she fidgeted for a moment, lightly tapping her hooves. “I have been in some dangerous situations with my friends in the past.”

“Ah, the whole Elements of Harmony thing,” Fluttering frowned. “Are...you sure?”

No, she wasn’t. Not really. Right now her stomach was doing all kinds of butterflies and backflips at the thought of diving into a fight. But she always had those feelings at the thought of danger and had fought through them to help her friends. Sunny Days might not have been a friend, but she was on her own against three very scary looking individuals and her gut- frightened and churning as it was- told Fluttershy that she needed help. So, she took a deep breath and nodded.

“Yes.”

“Okay...cousin. Be safe.”

Fluttershy spun around and began flying back towards the lake as fast as she could go. The vast stretch of the park zipped past under her hooves, a carpet of darkness broken up by occasional dots of lights from the lamp posts. She followed the twisting paths back towards the lake the best she could in the darkness of night, talking to herself as she went.

“Okay Fluttershy. You can do this. You just need to be assertive! You can be assertive. Just land down there and...act like Rainbow Dash! Screaming and hollering should help!”

The lake came into view after another moment or two of flying, the moon shimmering on its glass like surface. Fluttershy dropped towards the boathouse, taking a very deep breath as she did. Landing on all four hooves she closed her eyes and let that breath go in the loudest scream she could muster!

“Ahhhh!” she squeaked, sounding more mouse than assertive warrior.

“...What are you doing?”

Fluttershy opened her eyes and gasped. The strong ponies were sprawled out on the ground, unconscious, and sporting massive welts on the sides of their heads. Sunny Days was kneeling on the short docks that jutted out from the boathouse, her forehooves in the water, a few full pouches sitting by her side. Blushing a little in embarrassment, Fluttershy decided to check on the unconscious ponies.

“I...came to help.” She pressed an ear against the warm flank of one of the attackers. He was still breathing, so it seemed that Sunny hadn’t done more than knock him out. “I guess I shouldn’t have bothered.”

“Maybe not,” Sunny smiled. “But I appreciate it all the same.” She motioned her head towards the bags at her side. “Took these off of Terry the Not So Terrible, one of them belongs to Seabreeze I think.”

“Oh,” Fluttershy blinked. “That’s good. Where is Terry though, did he run off?”

“Yeah, he did. I imagine he’s probably lurking around somewhere though. Might not be best to stick around.”

“But...what about you?”

“Hey, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine!”

Fluttershy blinked again. Was Sunny trying to get rid of her?

“Sunny...why are your hooves in the water like that?”

“I’m soaking them. Punching those guys hurt a bit.”

The situation wasn’t sitting right with Fluttershy. Sunny was too calm for having just been in a fight, even compared to her more action inclined friends. Even Rainbow would be more animated, usually joyously exclaiming about how she (or they) had just “kicked flank”.

“...Show me your hooves.”

Now it was Sunny Days’ turn to blink. “Err…”

Fluttershy frowned, a bit of a hard edge creeping into her voice now. “Show me your hooves!”

Sunny Days jumped back from her. Almost immediately the head of Terry the griffin broke the surface of the water, gasping for air. He bolted for Fluttershy in a flurry of thrashing limbs and wings.

“She’s-she’s a monster! Keep her away from me!”

“Says the ass who attacked a family and then tried to steal a kid,” Sunny Days snarled, beginning to stalk their way. “And you’re going to tell me who hired you to do that. Or do you want a take another dip?”

Fluttershy was aghast as Terry dove behind her and began to cower. Then she was angry, her previous fear of the batpony forgotten. “You...you...meanie! How could you do that to him?”

“I could do it easily,” Sunny Days growled back. “Because he’s a piece of garbage who doesn’t deserve your sympathy and who needs a bit of persuasion to admit what he knows!”

“What were you going to do, drown the answers out of him? You could have killed him!”

Sunny Days had reached her now and her expression was furious as her eyes bored into Fluttershy’s. “I know what I was doing! He just needed to be scared into doing the right thing. Now get out of my way!”

“Everypony deserves a little kindness! Maybe if you tried talking to him instead trying to kill him!”

“I wasn’t going to kill him! I-”

Fluttershy felt a strong pair of talons shove her from behind. She toppled forward, Sunny Days catching her instinctively. Before either of them realized what was going on, the sound of flapping wings filled the air.

“You fucking idiot!” Sunny Days shouted, kicking Fluttershy off of her. “Now how am I supposed to find out who’s after Seabreeze?”

“I am not going to apologize for stopping you from drowning someone!”

An animalistic snarl escaped Sunny Days. Before Fluttershy even realized what was happening an unearthly red glow filled the bat pony’s eyes. “I should rip your goddamn throat out!”

Fear rose like bile in the back of Fluttershy’s throat, but as fast as it swelled into being she felt something else rise with it. She found herself glaring back with an equal intensity, matching Sunny’s glowing red eyes.

“There is absolutely no need for that kind of language missy! Or that attitude! I know that you were worried about Seabreeze and her family, and self defense is one thing, but we do not do what you did to anyone!”

The red light died from Sunny Days’ eyes and she took a step back, her ears slicking back. “But….”

“You could have killed him! That would have made you officially worse than them! And threatening to ‘tear my throat out’?”

Sunny was cowering now, wilting under the intensity of The Stare. “I…what do you want from me?”

“An apology for starters.”

“What?”

“Apologize!”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry alright! Just please, stop staring at me!”

Fluttershy let The Stare end. “There, doesn’t that feel better?”

Sunny blinked at her. “...I have to go.”

Without another word Sunny galloped to the fallen bags, snatched the lesser of the two with her teeth and took off into the darkness. Fluttershy watched her go before slumping.

“Oh dear.”

- - - -

Sun didn’t stop running until Fluttershy was far, far behind her.

Only when she was absolutely sure that those horrible blue eyes couldn’t drill into her anymore did she slide to a stop in some alley and drop the bag of money at her side. Squeezing her eyes closed, Sun just pushed the image of Fluttershy’s glare to the deepest, darkest depths of her mind.

“What. The. Fuck?” she growled.

Whatever power Fluttershy packed in that adorable frame of hers was terrifying. Sun had managed to throw off ( admittedly, with some mystical help) a domination attempt from a damned eldar vampire. That adorable little pony, who looked scared of her own shadow, had managed to reduce her to groveling.

It seemed that, despite her knowledge that magic was a thing in this strange new world, that she had vasty underestimated just all of what it was capable of. In retrospect, it was a foolish position to take. Deep Digger had changed her body from that of a human to an equine through chanting and could levitate multiple objects with just a thought. Fluttershy though...there was something extra in that one. Her blood was just...intoxicating. Sun shivered at the thought, turning her attention to the bag of coins she had “liberated” from Terry.

“Time to gear up.”

She grabbed the bag of coins again and set off at a slower, more determined pace this time. She’d get shake her curse, no matter what.

Author's Note:

Seems that there's a bit of a dark underside in some of Equestria's larger cities. Finally, something that reminds Sun of home!

There isn't much else to say on this chapter. We finally have some of the Mane Six making their appearance, about half way into the story. Of course, now that they're here, things are probably going to start getting even more out of control.

....Okay, most defiantly.