Chapter 20 Meeting The Parents
As they approach the border of the Everfree, Midnight's ears twitch towards the forest and she inhales slowly through her nose, the increasingly familiar scents and sounds of the place a welcome change after spending two full nights among Ponyville's constructed streets and houses. Dawn fades into visibility on her right, giggling as she draws her wings to her sides and executes a quick aileron roll above the rapidly thickening canopy. Luna and Lunar Trail meanwhile watch the two sisters from a short distance behind them, Luna's tail snaking over to poke at Lunar's armored hindquarters – said stallion frowning and quickly looking around for the source of the unexpected touch. After a few seconds his roaming gaze lands on Luna, his princess meeting his eyes just long enough to reply with a coy smile and a wink. The tips of his ears tint red and he quickly averts his gaze, sending Luna another nervous glance a minute later before speeding up to fly on Midnight's left.
"Beautiful night tonight," Lunar comments, examining the moon and stars populating the perfectly clear sky.
"Mhm," Midnight replies, sparing a glance for the darkened realm above then returning her gaze to the forest below.
"I wasn't expecting it to be this peaceful, seeing as pegasi don't control the weather here," Lunar continues. "Is Everfree weather normally this calm?"
Midnight shrugs, "Sometimes."
"I've only heard about how chaotic the Everfree is supposed to be – during training all they said was to avoid flying over it at all costs, period. Isn't it difficult to not know what the weather is going to be like even an hour from now?" Lunar asks.
"It's weather," Midnight states bluntly. "As long as it's not incredibly windy or stormy or cold, it doesn't matter what it's like."
Lunar Trail winces, "Ah. Right. Makes sense."
No words are spoken for a few minutes, the increasingly awkward silence broken only by the regular sound of air moving over their wings. Gathering his courage, Lunar risks a glance in Midnight's direction, finding her still staring at the trees passing beneath them.
"Your mane and tail look nice," Lunar Trail offers.
Midnight's gaze falls on him once more, her brow knit, "Um… thanks?"
"How do you clean it?" Lunar queries, "Just swipe somepony's shampoo every once in a while?"
"No," Midnight replies, "we make a paste from a few plants."
Lunar nods, "Huh, that's kind of neat."
"It's irritating," Midnight grumbles.
"So it gives you a rash or something?" Lunar Trail asks sympathetically, "I had something like that happen once. That was not a pleasant night."
Midnight rolls her eyes, "I mean making it is irritating. So is talking about it."
"Oh," Lunar replies, ears drooping.
Looking again at Midnight, his gaze lingers on the pair of fangs poking out from between her lips, his tongue lightly running over his own smaller set of sharpened canines, "If you don't mind me asking, there is something else I am a bit curious about. What does blood taste like to you?"
Midnight's wings freeze for an instant at the peak of her upstroke and she quickly glances at the inquiring stallion, "What?"
"Well," Lunar Trail says, smiling as Midnight restarts her wings with a few rapid beats to regain lost altitude, "I thought maybe you'd rather talk about that than the weather, or your hair. I've also been told that thestrals taste fruit juices differently from other types of ponies, so I'm a little curious if vamponies have something similar with blood."
Midnight simply stares at him, her expression inscrutable.
"Soo… ?" Lunar Trail prompts into the lengthening silence, the end of his tail slowly coiling and uncoiling despite the speed of their flight.
Midnight sighs, glancing at the forest for a moment, "Vampony blood, whether it's my own or somepony else's, is really bitter. Changeling blood is even worse. Otherwise it depends on the pony."
"Is the taste entirely random?" Lunar Trail asks curiously, "Or is each tribe kind of similar?"
Midnight shrugs, "It can be pretty similar sometimes, but mostly it's just random. Some are more filling than others too; I only need a few mouthfuls of the red apple stallion, for example."
Lunar Trail's smile returns, pouncing on the volunteered piece of information, "I'm guessing he's your favorite then?"
"Nope," Midnight replies, a mischievous grin spreading across her face. "My favorite is Luna."
Lunar coughs, his wings momentarily losing sync with each other and throwing him off balance, "But how would – you snuck up to the library while we were sleeping and bit the Princess?!"
"Be at ease," Princess Luna states calmly, closing the gap to fly more closely behind them. "Midnight has done no such thing. I offered her my own blood in the hospital before I called for you."
Lunar Trail looks forward, Luna's explanation doing little to to dispel the sudden image of Midnight biting the princess under his protection from his mind, "Oh."
"And it was amazing," Midnight continues dreamily, ignoring the somewhat miffed stallion to her left. "It was like drinking the moon and stars, but also all the blackness between them. Nopony else has ever come close to tasting like that. I wonder if all alicorns have two flavors."
"Two?" Luna asks quickly, her left ear twitching.
Midnight nods, still staring off into the distance, "Mhm."
Well, that's interesting, Selena comments.
Indeed, Luna replies, her mind beginning to wander after the implications of Midnight's statement. I had strongly suspected they were getting something beyond physical nutrients from feeding, but this certainly confirms that assumption. Perhaps something that vamponies and changelings are deficient in on their own, based on her description of their taste.
Silence again envelopes the trio as they each keep to their own thoughts, though one by one their attention is drawn to Dawn's boredom-fueled and increasingly strange flight patterns.
"So… " Lunar Trail says after a time, his focus drifting from an upside down Dawn back to Midnight, "have you ever had thestral blood?"
Midnight gives him a flat look; however, before she can speak, the leaves of a particularly large oak tree they had passed over mere seconds ago rustle and she looks behind her, eyes widening, "Uh-oh."
Suddenly a shadowy blur slams into Midnight, the translucent and vaguely pony shaped blob of darkness dragging her into the forest below.
"Wait!" Dawn shouts as a second, barely visible shadow wraps around her barrel and pulls her towards the trees as well, "Mmooooommm~"
Luna's horn immediately glows to life, encasing her and Lunar Trail in a shell of magic – a third vampony impacting the protective barrier a split second later. The vampony's shadow magic partially dissipates as he bounces harmlessly off the shield, his wings flapping unevenly for a moment before he once more vanishes from sight, Luna nevertheless tracking his descent.
Lunar Trail follows Princess Luna's gaze, minutes passing while the pair watch the gently rippling leaves of the trees below them. Glancing at the shield still surrounding them, he slowly sheaths his shortsword, "Uhm… what should we do now, Princess?"
"It would seem that this is something of a family matter," Luna replies delicately, "so we believe it would be best to not intervene for the time being."
Lunar Trail dips his head, relaxing as he returns to watching the Everfree, "As you say, Princess."
Midnight dislodges her attacker with a kick as they rush towards the ground, flaring her wings just in time to flip herself around and land on her hooves, though the layer of moss coating the forest floor fails to provide enough traction to prevent her from skidding into a nearby tree. The other vampony gives her no time to recover, Midnight managing only a couple dazed steps before he rams into her, knocking her away from the trunk and onto her back. Blinking stars from her eyes, Midnight raises her forelegs to defend herself, baring her fangs as she feels a pair of hooves step on her right wing. Her bravado vanishes the moment she recognizes the pony next to her however, mouth closing and hooves dropping to her chest as she raises her chin to expose her throat, "H-Hi Dad."
Wisp glares down at his eldest daughter, lowering his head to let his canines lightly touch either side of her windpipe – Midnight holding perfectly still save for the rapid expansion and contraction of her abdomen as she tries to catch her breath.
Wisp's head jerks up at the sound of something else crashing through the canopy, Eclipse landing heavily on three hooves with a wriggling Dawn held tightly to her chest by the fourth, "Good, you've got Midnight, now get off her so we can get out of here."
As she speaks, the vampony who had attacked Luna joins the family, Dusk coming to a hovering stop just above the mossy ground before landing with a wince.
"Did you get the alicorn?" Wisps asks.
Dusk shakes his head, exhaling sharply as he rolls his right shoulder, "Shield."
Wisp groans, "Okay, then we really need to leave before they-"
"NO!" Dawn shouts, struggling free of Eclipse's hold to stand on her own four hooves.
Wisp's eyes narrow, his irises glowing dimly, "What?"
Dawn retreats a step, ears drooping as she lowers herself to the ground, "The p-princess just wants to talk to us."
Wisp blinks, "What."
"It's true," Midnight adds supportively, "she-"
"Shut up," Wisp hisses, glaring once more at his still pinned daughter. "You were supposed to help Dawn feed, you had ONE JOB, and instead you both go missing for a night, and then when we go out to look for you we find you, apparently willingly, leading an alicorn right to us! You don't get to speak!"
Eclipse eyes the branches above, "We don't have time for this."
"You're right," Wisp agrees, stepping off Midnight's wing and spreading his own slightly larger pair.
"Wait," Midnight says, standing and gingerly folding her wings to her sides. "Dawn was telling the truth, they really do just want to talk with us."
Wisp grits his teeth, "I don't know what lies they told you, but the only reason they'd tolerate your existence is so they could use you to find the rest of us in order to-"
"In order to finish killing us off like they almost did 1000 years ago?" Midnight interrupts.
"…how did you know about that?" Wisp asks quietly.
"Wait, hold on a second, what do you mean 'almost killed us off'?" Dusk demands.
"About 1000 years ago the Equestrians tried to exterminate our entire species," Wisp answers tersely.
Dusk stares at his father, mouth hanging open, "What?! How would – you never – we go into their town about once every couple weeks, why didn't you ever tell us?!"
Eclipse sighs, "Because we didn't want you to grow up terrified of the ponies you depend on to survive."
"And we didn't want to risk any of you being stupid enough to try and get revenge," Wisp adds irritably.
"They do just want to talk though," Midnight says, tenderly rubbing the two hoof-shaped bruises forming on her wing. "They didn't realize we were the ones they were killing back then."
"They didn't know?!" Wisp shouts furiously, "They slaughtered thousands and nearly killed off our entire race, how could they possibly not know? That's-"
"The alicorn gave me her blood," Midnight states simply.
Wisp blinks, then blinks again, several long seconds passing before he manages another word, "That's… I-I… what?"
Midnight takes a deep breath, "The alicorn, Luna, willingly offered her own blood to me, which healed the injuries I got from fighting an undead vampony, which is what they were originally fighting a thousand years ago and what they thought we were too – they didn't even know we existed until a couple nights ago. And when Dawn and I got separated after I was attacked by the undead vampony, the purple alicorn, Twilight, found her and brought her to where they were keeping me in their hospital. Then last night I helped Luna and Twilight, as well as some of her friends, to take down the undead vampony. And then during the day another alicorn showed up and apologized for at least the fourth time for what they did 1000 years ago, and one of Twilight's friends even offered to let me feed on her."
Her brow creases, "Unn…less she meant 'drink' as in water or something, in which case that's going to be kind of awkward, but regardless." She gestures at her flank, "Drinking Luna's blood also added a moon to my cutie mark."
Wisp stands gaping at Midnight, his eyes slowly traveling from her face to her flank and back again, "An… undead… you can't be serious."
Midnight shrugs, "I don't know about undead, but I do know that he kept moving after I broke his spine, and that his blood smelled… not even just bad, it smelled wrong. I'm not sure how else to describe it. 'Even worse than dried changeling blood' is as close as I can think of."
"And I made friends with some fillies in town who call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders," Dawn chimes in. "They're going to help me get my cutie mark since none of them have their cutie marks yet either. Oh, and also the rainbow pegasus saved us from the undead pony."
"Look, I know how crazy this all sounds," Midnight continues as Wisp shifts his gaze back and forth between his two daughters, looking utterly lost, "and it's really complicated, but they say they want to help us to live peacefully with the rest of the ponies in Equestria, and I believe them."
Eclipse looks up towards the forest's canopy, her lips pressed into a thin line, "…I think we should hear what the alicorn has to say."
"Y-You do?" Wisp asks, frowning a moment later, "Wait… what? Why? What could she possibly have to say that would matter, after what they did?"
Eclipse sighs, "Given… whatever all that was that apparently happened, and that Midnight's cutie mark changed, it doesn't seem completely impossible that what their princess told Midnight is the truth. So at the very least I want to hear what she wants from us from her own mouth."
Wisp gives her a hard stare, Eclipse meeting his eyes unblinkingly until Wisp lets out a long groan and looks away, "Fine, we'll go hear what she has to say."
"Midnight, you, and I will hear what she has to say," Eclipse corrects, shifting her attention to her son. "Dusk, I want you to take Dawn home and wait for us, just in case. If you don't hear from any of us within an hour, spread word to everypony else and then get as far away from here as possible."
Dusk bobs his head once, turning to move deeper into the Everfree, "Come on, Dawn."
"But-" Dawn tries to protest.
"Dawn," Wisp states clearly, pointing at Dusk, "follow your brother."
Dawn's eyes travel between each of her family members before giving in, lowering her muzzle to stare at the ground as she trails after Dusk.
The others watch them go, Eclipse sighing after they've been hidden by the surrounding trees for a few minutes, "Midnight, go tell the alicorn-"
"Luna," Midnight corrects.
Eclipse rolls her eyes, "Go tell Luna that we will speak with her, but if she wants to talk to us, then she can come down here."
Midnight acquiesces with a nod, spreading her wings and jumping towards the leaf-obscured sky.
Lunar tenses within Luna's barrier the moment something breaks through the treetops, his tail's grip on his sheathed shortsword relaxing once he recognizes the incoming object as Midnight.
Stopping in front of Luna's shield, Midnight taps the hollow, glowing sphere twice, "Huh, neat. Anyway, Luna, I told my parents about everything that happened the last couple nights, and uh… well, they're definitely not happy about any of it. At all. But they've agreed to at least listen to what you have to say, so… follow me."
Luna touches the inside of her shield with the tip of her horn, the protective barrier popping like a punctured bubble – Lunar Trail's gaze darting in all directions during their descent while Luna pushes aside obstructing leaves and branches with her magic. Reaching the ground a short distance from the location of her previous landing, Midnight trots forward, Luna and Lunar walking more slowly in her wake to allow a respectful distance to form between the vamponies and themselves.
Midnight's parents watch the approaching alicorn and thestral, their eyes tracking every move and frequently flitting up to Luna's inactive horn. A loud *SNAP* echoes through the trees as Luna steps on a particularly large twig, both parents jumping back with fangs bared and half hidden by shadows before realizing the source of the sound. Lunar Trail reacts in kind, leaping in front of Luna with his shortsword drawn and a faint white glow outlining his hooves. Midnight freezes mid-step, staring at Lunar while her ears swivel towards her parents.
"Lunar Trail, stand down," Luna says after a long, tense pause, slowly pushing the now broken twig to the side and out of her path.
"With all due respect, Princess, I think it would be best if I stay where I am," Lunar Trail replies under his breath, eying the still hostile stance of the two new vamponies. "At least until we know they aren't going to attack you again."
Luna's jaw clenches, though her attention never leaves the pair of hazy forms opposite her, "I am not asking your opinion on the matter. I am telling you what you shall do. Now."
Lunar Trail flinches, immediately dropping his defensive posture and backing up to stand just in front of Luna.
"At my side," Luna commands.
Lunar Trail slowly moves to Princess Luna's right side, maintaining his focus on Midnight's parents while splitting his scrutiny between them and the surrounding trees.
"Sheath your weapon."
Lunar Trail hesitates, meeting his Princess' steely gaze for a bare instant before quickly sheathing his blade, the weak light surrounding his hooves likewise fading.
"Our apologies," Luna says, managing a mostly sincere smile as she takes a couple more steps forward, Lunar Trail remaining next to her while she moves. "We had hoped our meeting would not begin on such an… aggressive note. But regardless, I am Luna, and this beside me is my guard, Lunar Trail."
A few seconds pass in silence, Midnight's parents trading an uncertain look before releasing their shadow magic. Midnight lets out a sigh of relief, taking the opportunity to finish walking over to stand beside her mother who steps forward as well, mouth twitching in a failed attempt to return Luna's smile, "Hello. I am Eclipse. And this is my mate, Wisp."
Wisp glowers, "Our daughter said that you wanted to talk to us?"
"Indeed," Luna replies, swallowing past the lump forming in her throat as she takes a seat on the mossy earth. "I need your help to arrange a meeting with all the vamponies who are living in the Everfree around Ponyville."
Wisp's eyes narrow, "And why would we do that? I don't even want to be talking to you right now."
"I suppose I should have started with that, actually," Luna answers, mentally kicking herself. "We are unsure to the exact level of detail Midnight has told you about the events of these last nights, but the crux of the matter is that the existence and nature of vamponies is now known to all of Ponyville, and will likely soon be known across all of Equestria. What this means, is that you will no longer be able to remain hidden, since now ponies will know how and where to look for you. And while I completely understand any distrust you have of us, we would very much like to prevent some ponies' inevitable distaste over your unique dietary needs from growing into outright conflict. To that end, we would like to meet with the vamponies who live around Ponyville, so that we may begin working towards some kind of agreement or framework which will ultimately allow your race to live alongside the other tribes in harmony. It is also our hope that whatever understanding we come to can then be applied to any other towns which have vamponies living nearby."
Worry flickers across Luna's face, "And, while I truly do not mean for this to come across as a threat, time is very much of the essence if we are to prevent ponies who do not wish to be fed upon from taking matters into their own hooves."
"I don't see why we need to change in order to accommodate their discomfort," Wisp says tersely. "We have already been living peacefully alongside your kind both before and after you nearly wiped us out. We have been living next to Ponyville for centuries, and nopony in the town even noticed. You are their leader, why don't you just tell them to get over themselves and let things stay the same as they always have been?"
"You are right, I could do that," Luna answers carefully. "But I won't, because the fact of the matter is that things are different now than they were even just a few nights ago. I do not dispute your right to survive, need for blood included, but your right to survive does not extend to forcing an entire town to submit to your needs. Doing so would likely cause many ponies to simply leave, and if too many leave then you will not be able to survive on whomever remains. Should I then force ponies to stay against their will? And if ponies are forced to stay, or simply unwilling or unable to leave, they could resort to other methods to try and prevent vamponies from feeding on them. Should I then enforce punishments harsh enough to make them unwilling to defend their own homes?"
Wisp snorts, "If you leave, then we leave. We're here because it's convenient, not because we have to be."
"Besides, if they are so averse to us being here, why should we even stay?" Eclipse asks coolly. "There aren't very many of us; we could easily relocate to live close to some other town that wouldn't know to look for us."
"You could move," Luna admits, "however the changelings living in Ponyville, who were also discovered over the course of the last two nights, knew of a way to figure out which towns vamponies are living by."
"And they told you?" Wisp demands.
"Yes," Luna replies, "and-"
"Backstabbing bugs," Wisp hisses.
"And I am glad that they did," Luna states forcefully, "not because it is my intention to use that knowledge to force your hoof, but because it demonstrates how having vamponies nearby is in fact a good thing. By their account, it is due to your presence that many of the Everfree's predators – well, other predators – are kept at bay. Were you to leave, it is all but certain that Ponyville will come under attack from wild manticores, chupacabras, and the like, and they would be after far more than a little blood."
"It is my hope," Luna continues, "that through talking to and learning about each other, this mutually beneficial relationship can be kept intact despite the change in circumstances."
Eclipse raises an eyebrow, disdain dripping from every syllable, "And yet, despite how nicely you have chosen your words, it still sounds like you are saying we need to entrust our future to you since we can't hide and we can't leave. But just because we don't have any particularly good options doesn't automatically make yours a better one, especially with what your kind already did to us, so why should we trust you or believe a single word you've said? Our hunting patterns can change if they have to, if that's what's giving us away."
Midnight frowns, "Because-"
"Quiet, Midnight," Wisp says loudly, cutting her off.
Luna swallows, her throat suddenly dry, "Well, I… if what Midnight and now I have told you is not enough, and if you are truly still so skeptical of my intentions as to question every word I speak, then there is very little I can do in this moment to prove to you otherwise."
"I see," Wisp replies, a hint of triumph lacing his voice. "So if we refused to find the others and bring them together to speak with you, what would you do?"
"I-I… " Luna stammers, a cold pit forming in her stomach, "I suppose… there would not be anything left for me to do here, so I would return to Ponyville."
Eclipse meets Luna's worried gaze, holding it with her own, "Then that is what we choose. Get out of our forest."
Her words strike Luna like a blow, ringing in her ears dimming all other sounds as they reverberate around her skull along with two of her own.
I failed.
Midnight jerks around to stare at her mother, "Wait-"
"Shut up," Eclipse interrupts without so much as glancing at her daughter.
"Dad, you can't-" Midnight says in an attempted appeal to her other parent, however a glowing-eyed glare from Wisp is all she gets in reply.
Luna opens her mouth to speak, however no words come out and she instead bows, finding her voice by the time she lifts her head, "If that is what you wish."
Taking a hesitant step backwards, Luna pauses for one last hopeful second before turning and walking away, her ears limply folded down as she stares unseeingly at the moist dirt and moss beneath her hooves. Lunar Trail watches the vamponies for a few seconds more, then turns on his heel to follow in Luna's plodding hoofsteps.
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What? You thought centuries of mistrust and near genocide would vanish overnight? That's not how this works, that's not how any of this works.
that went well...
Poor Lunar Trail
all that awkward flirting for nothing
Welp....
9486916
Yeah, their ... well, arrogance, is astounding. It's like they feel entitled to Pony blood and asking is apparently beneath them. That literally makes them no better than Chrysalis. Ponies are well within their rights to defend against these attacks to whatever extent they feel is necessary and, as rulers, it's up to the Princesses to look out for their subjects first and foremost. The batponies will have to learn to swallow their pride and rightfully so. There ought to be no issue finding willing donors across Equestria if, they acted like someone you would want to help in the first place, not as entitled, belligerent squatters.
9488532
Well, in Luna's defence it... usually is in Equestria.
Though I'd say Wisp and Eclipse are severely underestimating ponies. Their primary advantage so far has been the ignorance of their prey. Now that their prey knows about them, they will inevitably learn to defend against them. That's just going to lead to another genocide, this time by starvation, and this time started by vamponies' refusal to negotiate.
And that's before we take Sombra into account. The existence of undead vamponies controlled by Sombra means defending against vamponies is going to become a necessity for survival.
Just hit me, imagine how it would feel if it was revealed to you that your race was accidentally genocided because Pony rulers did not see it important to oversight their forces and gave vague orders? I mean would that not be worse thing for peace than true intent? Even if there WAS to be some mutual understanding how could you ever trust people who were DIRECTLY involved in that level of incompetency?
Anyway, good thing that some competent seeming people are now reacting to things, at the least they have the common sense to be paranoid.
9488683
Do remember that the parents might not yet be fully aware on how much of information their children have provided to the ponies. As they stand they might be under impression that they had some modicum of wits about them and they kept most of the abilities and methods a secret. Once the gravity of the situation is made clear later they literally have no choice but to either submit to the whims of the ponies, go full evil or create some other solution which is hard to see presently.
From the parents POV there still is secrets kept from the ponies and maybe a way to relocate and rebuild their old way of life.
9488654
Yes, all they need to do is kneel.
9488696
I'm not putting all the blame on Celestia and Luna there, though. One of the key reasons the genocide happened was because nopony, not even them, knew that another type of vamponies existed. The only vamponies that ponies knew about were the undead beasts created to destroy Equestria, which had to be exterminated at all costs. There's.... honestly no way this genocide could have been avoided strategically. Maybe with extreme amounts of luck, but there's no way anypony could have foreseen what would have happened. Heck, even the vamponies themselves seem to be entirely unaware of Sombra's undead vamponies, so not even they could have pointed out the misunderstanding.
It's a horrible tragedy that really isn't anyone's direct fault.
Stupid, short-sighted fools.
9488683
Genocide by starvation assumes that vamponies don't start taking prisoners. Unlike ponies they can't kill everyone. They may not have cocoons but ponies are going to start disappearing. Plus you have the changelings that are going to die in droves once word of their betrayal spreads. I swear Equestria has no filter on anyone. "Hi! We are now best friends, let me tell you a bunch of secrets! Why are you mad? You just need a hug!"
Doesn't help that ponies are already predisposed to killing vamponies. Celestia almost killed a defenseless patient in a bed.
Good times, keep the chapters coming
9488954
Yeah, she almost did, because she didn't know there was such a thing as a living vampony. Which is kind of the crux of the problem: Because of the secrecy, nopony knows there's such a thing as nice vamponies or changelings, so every vampony or changeling is seen as an enemy. Abducting ponies isn't exactly going to help with that, since it'll only mean vamponies actually become enemies and force Equestria to become active in taking them down.
9488964
To ponies they already are. They have been since a "thousand years/the wedding" ago. Celestia and Luna have to do more than convince the predators. Great big FUBAR this is. I love it!
9488969
The changelings, yes, but most ponies don't even know about the vampony thing a thousand years ago. Vamponies are just fiction to them.
The changelings are a whole 'nother kettle of fish. Not only have they been sneaking around within the borders of Equestria feeding on its ponies without so much as a beg-your-pardon, they also did absolutely nothing when Chrysalis revealed their species by trying to conquer Equestria. No help, no explanation of what changelings are, no trying to convince them not all changelings are out to rule over ponies, nothing.
9488683
Well here's a question, does it need to be ponies that they feed on? They've mentioned changeling blood, specifically that one weirdo that considers it a delicacy. This indicates that if push comes to shove, they can simply leave Equestria altogether.
Remember that at this point in time Equestria is still extremely isolationist. If the vamponies cross the borders and hie their way to Zebrica or wherever, the news will not follow them.
9488983
Possible, but given the arrogance on display I doubt they will willingly lower their palette and leave Equestria altogether. Rather, it seems more likely they'll try to find new places and ways to sneak into pony houses.
9488988
I find that in most archetypes of sapient vampires, self-preservation overrules everything else. This coupled with the gift of immortal patience, means that Vampires often solve a problem by waiting a century or so for their opposition to die off. Of course contesting against other, true immortals in this case means that the waiting game won't work this time.
So they can't outlast their opposition, nor can they defeat them outright or outmaneuver them, thus they need to elude them. Which leads us back to self-preservation. It is extraordinarily difficult to catch a vampire who is bent on escape, and even more difficult to find one who has fled and gone to ground.
So unless the princesses wish to invest a great deal of resources into hunters, they will be seeing even less of vamponies than they have before.
9489025
That is the cautious variant of the archetype though. The Dracula variant, if you will. There's also the other, more confrontational archetype that when discovered tends to react more aggressively, believing themselves to be above mere mortals. It's usually this more arrogant archetype that lead to the stories where the heroes have fights with multiple vampires leading up to climactic boss fights. The Blade variant, so to speak.
I think the vamponies fall into the later category, given how even a near genocide that has already happened didn't cause them to move out of Equestria seems to hint at a certain level of arrogance that moving out of Equestria is beneath them.
Either that, or they need pony blood, and few other species can substitute.
9489053
Well they did rather move out of Equestria, the Everfree is unclaimed territory. From the scraps of info we got we can infer that they used to live amongst the ponish community changeling-style. After the purge they vanished into the badlands and traded ease of access for security. Since vampires don't like change, they have been happy to settle with this "good enough" solution. But now that they've been outed again, I think that they'll likely choose to fade further back into the wilds.
In any case, this still leaves the question of what the princesses can do without acting the tyrants that the vamponies accuse them of being. Chasing after them means extending Equestrian forces into land that Equestria has no use for beyond it's vampony inhabitants. And for what, to build a gulag?
Similarly, informing the populace means triggering another panic, made worse by the fact that there are no vamponies living in close proximity to normal ponies. If the mob can't find it's intended enemy, it will settle for any enemy.
Hello dead changelings.
9488532
Luna knows this, which is why she's handling it this way. You can't open diplomacy with force in a situation like this; you have to give a show of trust and let the other side process that.
9489067
A forest isn't unclaimed territory just because nobody is living in it, though. The Everfree is within the borders of Equestria, so it is still part of Equestria. Which is part of the expanded problem: Both vamponies and changelings have been living in Equestria for centuries, yet have shown no inclination to respect the laws or the people of their host nation. This is a situation that can't continue, and the Princesses know this. That's why they're trying to open dialogue with those living inside their lands and see how they can work out a solution, even though they would be entirely within their rights to remove those that live inside their country and prey on their ponies from Equestria. And it wouldn't even be a tyrannical move, since they would be removing an invading force that lives at the expense of their people. Does it have problems, both practically and ethically? Heck yes! That's why the Princesses are trying to open dialogue.
But it takes two to tango. The Princesses have made it clear that the current situation can't continue as it is. Wisp might preach that vamponies have 'lived peacefully' alongside ponies, but a peace built on deception is not a true peace. It's a buried landmine waiting for someone to step on it. And someone did. Now it's down to all involved to disarm it before it goes off, not just the Princesses. The Princesses have reached out their hoof and offered to talk, now it's up to the vamponies and changelings to come forward.
If they don't... well, that'll just show they don't care about true peace, just that they get what they want, and their prey has to suck it up and live with it.
9489162
And if the Vamponies don't want anything to do with them? Among many other issues, they don't seem to have any sort of centralized, or even decentralized government. If they're a scattering of individual small family units, how do you approach them? Run down every individual vampony living in a cave somewhere? I seriously doubt they they'll be willing to just tell anyone about their fellows. Sure there's the indications to go by, but the moment these ultra-paranoid vamponies get a whiff of somepony looking for them they'll rabbit.
I simply fail to see any future where this doesn't end in a hunt, or some kind of registry. And that's not even touching the changeling mess.
9489192
Like I said, that'll just show that the vamponies aren't interested in peace, just in getting what they want. The Princesses have reached out and said "we know you exist, we don't want to fight, let's talk about this." The ball is now in the vamponies' and changelings court.
9489200
I'm pretty sure the discussion will mirror our own.
"we know you exist, we don't want to fight, let's talk about this."
"Sod off."
"no."
*Indeterminate period of snipe hunts and paranoia*
"We can't keep on like this, what do you want?"
"To be gorram left alone"
"Not going to happen"
This is going to end up as an inquisitorial iteration of a friend in deed.
9489227
Hmprobably. It's a bit hypocritical to demand to be left alone when the whole point of the conflict is that they refuse to leave ponies alone, though, isn't it?
9489261
One man's hypocrisy is another man's pragmatism. 'tis part of why religion and politics are the two things most likely to start a fight amongst strangers. Breaking and entering is bad, but death by starvation isn't very pleasant either. And if stored blood loses that vital essence they need to live...
You know, I don't remember reading another story where they hold swords with their tails... I'm probably going to use that at some point.
Luna understands the bigger picture here...
Vamponies have just gone from mythology/legend to FACT! The citizens of Ponyville don't suspect that vamponies are real, they KNOW they are. This knowledge will not be contained. The entire country is going to learn this relatively quick.
Number one change to the town? The local locksmith is going to see a HUGE bump in business as the whole town eventually upgrades the security on all their doors and windows. If alarm systems or enchantments to detect stealth/invisible creatures are something accesible, I'd expect those to be used too. EVERYONE is going to be double checking that everything is locked before going to bed.
Wisp and Eclipse are hyper-paranoid. They have every reason to be extremely cautious, but their paranoia is clouding their thinking...
EVERY town is going to learn about the FACT of vampony existence and will begin watching for them.
Feeling a little more sluggish/thirsty than normal in the morning? Maybe you had a vampony visit, better check yourself for unexplained bite marks.
Luna knows that the entire country is going to learn of the existence of vamponies and she is trying to head off the panicked lockdown of all nighttime activities and the eventual deaths of many vamponies. Broke into someone's house to drink a pint of their blood? Sorry, all you're getting is a pair of rear hooves planted in your chest at high velocity.
The anonymity of vamponies is GONE. Time to think about and deal with the new reality.
Well... That could have gone better...
9489535
Yeah but every city is going to learn this because of the announcements made by the princess. It is their fault.
Also bye bye ponyville.