Corruption

by PixelMoon

Chapter 6

Twilight woke up.

Well, sort of. She groggily rolled out of bed around noon. Noon! Waking up this late was like some kind of crime, something only the laziest of ponies would do. Twilight had never slept in this late before and intended to never let it happen again.

She felt terrible on a physical level, too. Her head pounded, the light from outside stung her eyes, she felt thirsty for some reason and despite sleeping until the middle of the day, she was still tired.

'What was wrong with eating candy and staying up all night? Huh? What's wrong with it? What's wrong with it?'

Those mares had asked her that all all night long and here was the answer. It felt good at the time, but made you sick the next day. If she ever saw those three again she'd be sure to point this out, and seeing them again was a big if.

Vampires or not, Twilight vowed never to do that again. Fun as it was, it wasn't worth this. She silently decided that she wouldn't be meeting up with them for another all-night candy party, certainly not in a graveyard.

Twilight shambled out of bed and opened the curtains, blinding herself. She staggered backwards into her bed, wincing. Thank Celestia she didn't have work today, that job at the Pony/11 wouldn't start for a few more days yet. She needed to get up eventually, though, needed to do something, build some momentum or at least stay tired enough to go to sleep at a more reasonable hour tonight.

But what? It's not like Twilight had anything to do, not if she wasn't going to go meet those three. There was no school right now, nopony to talk to, all of her books were still in boxes and she'd read all of them anyways.

She opened one of her eyes slightly and noticed the book about vampires Applejack had given her. There was one book she hadn't read, at least. Theoretically, she could also go to the library today, get a card and take out a new book, but she was far too tired today to go with that.

Twilight pulled the book over with her magic and opened it up. She yawned and rubbed her eyes until the page stopped being blurry.

If you're reading this, then you've most likely met a vampire already. Have you recently ran into an exceptionally beautiful pony, one who rarely goes out at day and at night their eyes seem to glow, who eats nothing but candy, who's commands everyone, including yourself, seem compelled to follow?

This pony may be a vampire and you may be in danger.

Below are several chapters organized by subject filled with vital information you'll need to survive. But above all else remember these three things– never invite one into your home, never accept what they tempt you with and never trust them.

She could understand why Applejack would assume Rarity was a vampire, if she seriously believed this. Rarity, at least, matched that description perfectly. Though really only that last part gave Twilight any pause. Rarity's charm seemed almost unnatural, she was just so pretty that you almost hoped she'd tell you to do something, just so you could do what she told you to.

If that didn't make any sense, it was because it didn't. Yet Twilight had experienced that feeling firsthand. Sitting next to Rarity, it gave her such a strange emotion. She tried to remember that warm feeling of safety and comfort Rarity gave to her, but couldn’t quite summon them up. She remembered how beautiful Rarity's face and eyes were– that much was burned into Twilight's memories. And then there was the way Rarity seemed so in charge, even the way she walked was-

Gah! And now she was daydreaming about that mare? Twilight shook her head and tried to regain her senses.

It was certainly strange, something Twilight had never encountered before, but vampires would be even stranger. Running into something unusual that you couldn't explain didn't give you license to assume even more fantastical explanations for it. Applejack was just bad at logic.

Twilight read on.

Vampires are manipulative, vicious and deceptive. They will hypnotize you into adoring them and giving them whatever they want. They will, if you are most unlucky, try to turn you into one of them.

Vampires cannot create others of their own kind as easily as other books would have you believe. It is a process that takes months rather than minutes and can easily be undone up to the last moment. If you are to become a vampire you will need to want it, the vampires will need to make you want to be corrupted to your very core. For this reason, the vampire will need the consent of the one they seek to transform and they will manipulate you to that end.

They prey on ponies who think they have nothing left to lose, 'strays' who could be easily tempted with promises of a better life. They are cunning and will start slow. Just a minor gift, just a small step towards corruption, just try binging on candy one time, cursing one time, staying up all night one time, and you'll be given attention, love and gifts in return – that's how they get you!

It will creep up on you, but you'll soon realize you've given in to the corruption, become as perverse as your corruptors.

This too sounded vaguely familiar. Those three had certainly been coaxing her into doing lots of small things which were bad, but not immoral. It was even the exact same list the book gave! All of this was pretty coincidental.

Nah! It was still silly, Twilight decided. What was this book even advising her to do? Not do something completely evil if Rarity suggested it? Twilight was pretty sure she'd be able to draw the line at doing something actually immoral.

Besides, them suggesting she do slightly suspect things didn't mean they were vampires or even evil. All it meant was that they were slightly a suspect.

But take note! As convinced as you may be now that there's nothing wrong with your new lifestyle, as far as you've fallen, you still do not understand the real danger you face. Vampires are manipulative, but they are also deceptive, remember this.

They seek to transform you not for your own good, but for theirs. When a pony is turned they become the mindless slave of the vampire who turned them. You will lose all control over your own body and your sire will constantly, painfully drain your life force from you.

You may think your corruption is worth the pleasure you'll get in return, but it is not. All you'll get is slavery, not love or luxury. Your fate will be being trapped inside your own body, burning on the inside, forever. The vampire will deny this, but do not trust them!

That was certainly a disturbing image, but Twilight felt this part didn't apply to her. Twilight didn't want to 'give in to corruption' or become a vampire or anything like that. She wasn't even planning on going out to party again.

Before Twilight could read any more, there was a knock at her door. Twilight's ears twitched. She had no idea who that could be. Applejack? If she was back already then that mare was too persistent for her own good.

Twilight opened the door to see a stallion she'd never seen before. He was wearing a shirt, looking very professional. Then Twilight started to remember what happened last night in her manic craze. She wasn't about to get busted for ding-dong-ditch, was she?!

“Miss Sparkle?” the pony asked. Twilight nodded. “I'm here about your house back in Canterlot.”

That was a relief. “Oh! Did it sell?” Twilight asked eagerly. She honestly didn't expect this so soon. Her parents had the house nearly paid off before they died, meaning Twilight would get a very good amount of money from the sale, money she needed right now.

“I'm afraid not,” said the pony. “Actually we were doing the inspection of the home-”

“-oh. I-it passed, right?”

“Not nearly,” said the pony with a flat frown. “I'm afraid we found dengu mold growing under some of the floorboards. That is a very serious matter.”

“It- it is?” Twilight asked. She had never heard of that particular mold before, but knew mold could be a big problem for house. “How much would it cost to get rid of the stuff?”

The pony flicked through his papers for a moment longer. It was like he was trying to torture her or something! But how much could it seriously cost? Bleaching the house, even tearing up the floorboards wouldn't be more than ten or twenty thousand bits, right? Even if it was a hundred thousand, Twilight could still live with that! She'd still make just enough from the house to survive.

“Dengu mold is an endangered species protected under current environmental laws,” said the pony. “'Getting rid of it', as you put it, would be a felony. Your house has been condemned.”

“Wait! My insurance will cover it, right?” Twilight asked desperately.

“No insurance covers dengu mold,” said the pony. He took out another paper and gave it to Twilight. “Here.”

He finally handed her a piece of paper, which Twilight eyed it over frantically. Something about money. Something about 25,000 bits. Oh no. Oh no!

“A bill?! F-for what?!”

“The inspection, a fine for endangering the mold, a bill for the cost of your blighted property, and various other charges,” said the pony.

“But I can't afford to pay this!”

“Well it's not too bad.” The stallion handed over another piece of paper. “The endangered species compensation fund is paying you out approximately twenty-five thousand bits. It more or less cancels that out."

“What?! So they're fining me and compensating for the exact same thing?! What kind of sense does that make?”

“Not much,” said the stallion, “but you know how politics are. I'm sorry I couldn't give you better news.”

He gave her a card, tipped his hat and left. Twilight just stood there for a moment, stunned. She swayed just a little bit, any stray breeze could have knocked her over. Then her mind came back online and she rushed inside to do math, to try and find some way to deal with this.

She looked over her bills, the amount she inherited and the amount she expected to make, running the numbers in her head over and over again. There was no way. No way at all! Twilight would have to drop out of school and get a second job if she wanted to survive. It was either that or be homeless. But then if she never finished high school she'd never get into college...

Everything fell like dominoes. She'd never get to be a great mage, would she? It was gone, her dream was dead now! She'd be flipping burgers for the rest of her life and that was it! All of that hard studying, all of her knowledge and intelligence, none of it would amount to anything.

It wasn't fair. Why did things only ever seem to get worse? Just one good thing, that was all Twilight wanted!

She was going to have to sell all her books too, wasn't she? Twilight still had a large library of books, but it was the last thing of value, in both cost and how much she loved it, that Twilight had. Everything else had already been sold off. Just the thought of giving that up was enough to make her tear up a second time, but food and shelter were more important.

No! Someday she'd get a good job and be able to buy them back, she assured herself. Maybe she could work her way up to manager or something! Until then there'd always be the public library, that was a thing.

Yeah! Yeah maybe this wasn't so bad. Twilight told herself that again and again, but it didn't help too much. The important thing was that there was nothing she could do about this until tomorrow. Tomorrow she could go to the library and research until she found something she could do, or something, some statistic, to comfort her!

For now she just had to relax. She could either spend all night in a cold sweat or relax and the latter was the logical choice. So why couldn't she do it? Twilight looked at the clock. It was already seven, she'd been budgeting for hours and now she was so exhausted.

Maybe sleep would be the best idea. Twilight went to bed and buried her face in the pillows. She closed her eyes, but her mind kept racing with worries about the future. And so she tossed and turned for what felt like hours, but, when she finally opened her eyes, only turned out to not even be a half hour.

She couldn't sleep right now. Twilight really, really didn't want to be alone. She desperately wished there was somepony she could run to for advice, or even just to talk to, but there was nopony left now.

At least she had her books. Yeah, that was right! Books were just as good as friends. She wasn't going to sell them tonight.

Twilight rushed over to her remaining books and grabbed the one about vampires, opening it to some random page.

Vampires are most typically-

Would Twilight have to sell her books? How would she even live without them? No, no she'd been over this a million times already. She just had to read for now!

-most typically found in two-

But what would happen if she got thrown on the streets? Would she have to live in a box? Where did homeless ponies even find boxes? Maybe she could go to a homeless shelter but she didn't really know where one was or how those worked. Did you just walk up to random ponies saying 'hey I'm homeless now, so-'

No, no, no! Twilight went back to reading.

Vampires are most typically found in two types of groups, either a small number of mares living together or-

Twilight read that but didn't really get it. She read it two more times but her mind kept wandering away. She couldn't even get through a single sentence of this! Her books had failed her!

Twilight checked the clock. It was eight. Not even eight if Twilight was going to be honest. All that worrying and not even a half hour was gone! This was going to be a long, long night.

Twilight looked out into the night. It was almost night anyway, that time when the sky was still purple. Not even night yet. Twilight sighed.

Though come to think of it, wasn't it around now that those girls had wanted to meet with her? Twilight's ears twitched at that thought. She did have someone she could go to, didn't she?

Well, probably not for financial advice, of course, but she did have somepony she could at least talk to in general! Maybe her books couldn't distract her from her impending doom, but if anything could it was them.

But then Twilight reminded herself that she regretted it the last time. Those ponies would want her to stay up all night again, eating candy, drinking coffee, cursing and doing Celestia knew what. And the next morning she'd once again be-

Actually, forget it! Twilight was going to stay up all night, sick with worry, anyway! She'd be exhausted the next morning no matter what she did. She might as well go over there. At least then the night wouldn't be a complete waste, at least she'd have a real chance of distracting herself, and at least she wouldn't be alone.

Twilight threw a few things into a saddle bag and trotted out into the night.

Comments

[the7Saviors]

A nice clear cut chapter showcasing dismissal, disbelief, doubt, desperation, distraction, and finally... a decision.

Very well done!