Chapter 9 Reunion
With the setting sun starting to fall behind the horizon, Scootaloo and Twilight arrive at the vampony-containing shrub beside the hospital – Scootaloo immediately jumping off her scooter and heading into the shrubbery while Twilight stays put for a few moments longer, swaying slightly.
Why didn't I just teleport? I should have just teleported. Or flown! I could have flown! Or even walked. Urgh…
Once her stomach has mostly settled from its recent ordeal, Twilight steps off the wagon, following Scootaloo into the shrub only to pause, confused, its occupants seemingly limited to Applebloom animatedly whispering something to Scootaloo.
Twilight raises an eyebrow, "Well, I'm not seeing anypony else here."
Applebloom's lips wobble with barely contained laughter, "Well, ya see, Twilight, that's be-hehe-cause… she's right behind you!"
"Did you really think that I'd-" Twilight begins to ask, the rest of the question dying in her throat as something falls onto her back. Not a hair on her body moves nor a muscle twitches as the mystery attacker pulls itself forward towards her head. Hot breath on the back of her neck precedes a warm, wet feeling on the side of her throat accompanied by a light sucking sensation.
Many sharp points slide across her skin, the vampony detaching itself from her neck to whisper softly in her ear, "Om nom nom nom."
"AAAAAAAAAHHH!!! Get it off! Get it off!" Twilight screams at the top of her lungs, bucking wildly in an attempt to dislodge her assailant who simply clutches tighter.
Once a few of her wits return, Twilight stops and teleports herself out of the shrub, leaving her attacker floating in the air for an instant before falling onto the grass with a soft thump. She pants as she frantically searches for the vampony, wild-eyed and horn glowing, only for the sound of the fillies' laughter to instead reach her ears.
"S-sorry, Twilight," Applebloom apologizes, wiping tears from her eyes as she, Scootaloo, and a squinting Dawn step out of the shrub. "It was just too temptin'."
Twilight takes several deep breaths to calm herself, the glow surrounding her horn fading away. With a grimace of disgust, she wipes the residual saliva from her neck, flicking it onto the ground. The fillies are likewise recovering, wide grins frequently interrupted by stray snorts and chuckles as they replay the scene in their heads.
Twilight looks at the fillies again, meeting the eyes of the unfamiliar face among them, "So, Scootaloo says that you're the sister of the other pony we took to the hospital last night?"
"Yup!" Scootaloo replies instead, jumping forward, "Twilight, meet Dawn, local vampony. Dawn, this is Twilight Sparkle, Ponyville's own Princess of Equestria!"
Dawn sits up and waves tiredly, her spell as well as the subsequent lack of oxygen due to laughter taking their toll, "H-hi. Um… sorry about… that. It wasn't my idea."
Twilight waves it away, choosing not to correct Scootaloo's use of 'vampony', After all, I don't know what to call them either, but that's really not important right now.
"Believe me, worse and weirder things have happened around here with surprising regularity. In any case, I take it that's a 'yes' to my previous question?"
Dawn nods, her grin sagging as amusement from their earlier prank fades into nervous fidgeting.
Twilight smiles gently, "Well I don't know about you, but I can't think of any reason to keep a family apart. We can go in whenever you're ready."
"I'm back!" Sweetie Belle announces, trotting up to the group, "Hi Twilight!"
Twilight returns the greeting as Sweetie Belle walks forward, magicking a cape around each member of the CMC.
"And the sun problem is solved!" she declares, flipping the cape over Dawn's head with a flourish.
"This is nice. Also sparkly." Dawn raises the cape to look at Twilight, "I think I'm ready now."
"Alright, in that case, follow me," Twilight says, turning from the CMC and their shrub to make her way towards the hospital's entrance. The Crusaders walk after her, Dawn by watching the hooves of those in front of her from beneath her improvised hood.
Twilight and the four fillies enter the hospital, the front area completely deserted save for the snoozing receptionist.
Approaching the desk, Twilight taps her hoof on the wooden frame, "Excuse me?"
The receptionist, however, doesn't budge, her only response a faint snore. The tip of Twilight's horn pulses, releasing a small spark which floats its way a couple feet above the receptionist's head. Twilight observes the sleeping mare for a moment more, then pulses her horn again. The spark detonates with a sharp bang, six purple streamers splitting off and falling a few inches before vanishing in a series of sparkling crackles.
The receptionist jerks awake, her sudden motion sending pencils, papers, and various other small items flying as she nearly slips off her chair. Catching herself just in time to avoid a complete wipeout, she blushes at the snickers from the younger members of her audience, "Princess Twilight! I uh – I didn't see you there."
"Don't worry about it," Twilight says, doing her best to keep a straight face. "I have a guest for the patient in room 138?"
"138? But that's… " the recently woken mare's eyes widen as they fall on the strange bat-winged filly with a sparkling gold cape over her head, "I see. Well, uh, go right on in."
Their request granted, the group leaves the flustered receptionist behind – the mare promptly starting to pick up and reorganize everything which had been knocked astray by her abrupt awakening.
As soon as they enter the inner hallway, Dawn peeks out from under her cape, flipping it over her head to lay across her back when the dimmed lights fail to cause any discomfort.
Twilight observes her curiously, "Are your eyes really that sensitive to light?"
"Yeah," Dawn replies, barely paying attention to the question as she anxiously scans each door they pass. Silence reigns for the remainder of their short journey.
Upon arriving at their destination though, that silence is broken.
Scootaloo pokes her head into room 138, her gaze held by the ruined section of wall next to where the door should have been, "Whoa, what happened here?"
"Princess Celestia happened," Nurse Sweetheart answers, suddenly appearing from room 139 across the hall. She half-bows half-nods to Twilight, "If you're looking for the vampony, she's been moved to this room."
Hearing this, the Crusaders immediately make for the door opposite them with Dawn in the lead.
Nurse Sweetheart blocks their way however, Twilight rapping her hoof on the tile floor before the fillies figure out a way to bypass her, "Sweetie Belle, Applebloom, Scootaloo – I want you to wait outside for now."
"What?!" Applebloom exclaims, the indignant expressions on her friends' faces mirroring her own.
Not giving them time to formulate a better argument, Twilight continues, "Their species was just revealed and there are probably some things they'd rather only talk to me, and Princess Luna when she arrives, about. If they're willing, and if you girls are still awake, you can ask them any questions you have afterwards – honestly I don't think I could stop you anyway."
And they'd probably somehow manage to coat most of the building in frosting or tree sap attempting to get in if I tried.
After a few moments, the three fillies nod, accepting the current situation though their faces give the appearance of having eaten something sour. With that matter settled, Twilight and Dawn follow the nurse into the dimly lit room.
Once inside, Dawn shoots forward, making a beeline for the bed. Twilight and Nurse Sweetheart hang back however, the former turning to direct a nearly transparent beam of purple energy at the door. A thin film of magical energy quickly expands from that point of contact, spreading to cover both the door as well as the entire rest of the room before disappearing completely from sight.
"Soundproofing spell," Twilight explains, prompted by an inquisitive look from the latter.
Dawn, meanwhile, stands next to the bed, shaking the pony lying on it, "Midnight! Midnight?"
When her sister doesn't respond, she faces the two adult ponies, her focus flipping between them, "What's wrong with her?"
Nurse Sweetheart joins Dawn by the bedside, "There's nothing horribly wrong with her. She does have some more serious injuries – broken bones, internal bruising, that sort of thing – but nothing life threatening or severe enough to keep her unconscious. We have been keeping her sedated since she came out of surgery as a precaution though, given the circumstances. We didn't want her to wake up and try to escape, which would definitely exacerbate her own condition as well as possibly cause others to get hurt in the process."
Twilight stands next to the nurse, scrutinizing the sleeping mare, She certainly looks better than when I last saw her. A lot more casts and bandages perhaps, but when you're injured that's probably a good thing.
"I understand. It should be fine now though – with Dawn here she hopefully won't react quite as badly, and even if she does I can restrain her with my magic."
Nurse Sweetheart nods, fiddling with the medical equipment before removing the breathing mask from Midnight's muzzle. Dawn maintains her position, watching anxiously for signs of movement from her sister immediately after the mask is removed.
Twilight watches for a moment as well, then turns to the nurse, "How long will it take for her to wake up?"
"I don't know. It can vary widely by race, gender, weight, build… " Nurse Sweetheart shrugs, "If I had to guess, I'd say she'll be conscious in about 15 minutes, though whether or not she'll be making any sense is another question entirely."
Twilight takes a seat on the floor to wait while Dawn remains standing with her forehooves on the bed, monitoring Midnight intently.
"You might want to sit down," Twilight suggests to Dawn after a few minutes have passed. "This could take some time, and staying on your hind legs like that can't be comfortable."
Dawn briefly considers ignoring the advice before stiffly sitting as well, her joints thanking her after being in such an unnatural pose for so long. Several seconds later though, Midnight stirs, Dawn instantly jumping back to her previous position. A few minutes more, and Midnight's eyes open.
She looks over at Dawn, blinking asynchronously, "Yerrr lookin' tashty~"
Reaching out with her good foreleg, Midnight takes Dawn in a clumsy hug, attempting to drag her onto the bed. Dawn struggles within her sister's embrace before finding a purchase, proceeding to pull herself the rest of the way up. The morsel now secure in her cuddle, Midnight contentedly chews on its mane – Nurse Sweetheart smiling and Twilight stifling a giggle while Dawn squirms, futilely trying to remove her hair from her sister's mouth.
Several minutes and a thoroughly mangled mouthful of hair later, the chewing stops, Midnight releasing her sister and spitting out her mane with a "pleh". Letting out a displeased groan, she tries to get the hair off of her tongue, first by wiping it on her foreleg and then on a sheet.
Once her mouth has been returned to its normal, hair-free state, she licks her lips a few times, finally taking note of her surroundings, This… isn't the Everfree.
She starts to sit up, but quickly stops after feeling a twinge in her barrel merely from tensing her muscles. Her eyes roam the room from where she's lying, her apprehension growing as she sees two ponies standing to her right, This is definitely not the Everfree.
Her gaze shifts to the form lying next to her, recognizing her little sister after a moment. She blinks, this time fully in sync, "Where… "
Suddenly the memories of the previous night come flooding back. Adrenaline rushes into her system – her pupils shrinking, heart pounding, and a growl rippling from her throat – until it's quashed by Dawn gently snuggling into her side.
"Calm down, Midnight, it's fine. Everything's fine."
A long moment passes while Midnight lays completely still, eventually releasing the remainder of her growl quietly as a heavy breath. She closes her eyes, panting, then takes another deep breath and slowly lets it out through her nose.
Opening her eyes again, she observes the two other ponies in the room as best she can from her position lying flat on the bed, her eyes resting on the closer of the pair with the glowing horn.
"Who are you?" she asks warily, "Where am I? What's going on?"
"I'm Twilight Sparkle and this is Nurse Sweetheart," Twilight answers, releasing her grasp on her magic and gesturing at the other mare. "You're at Ponyville Hospital. You were brought here after being found unconscious and injured following an attack on two of the townsponies last night."
"I see," Midnight replies stonily, her guarded expression unchanged. She shifts in her bed, tensing and flexing various muscles, all of which give similar results, Everything is sore.
She grits her teeth and tries to sit up once more, letting out a hiss of pain when her body protests the action, Yeah, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon.
Seeing Midnight's attempt, Nurse Sweetheart moves to her side and raises the back of the bed, "Better?"
Dawn grumbles, rolling onto her back to get comfortable again. Midnight however says nothing, her eyes flicking around the room from her improved vantage point – though never letting the nearby nurse out of her sight for more than an instant.
Satisfied that the room contains no immediate danger, she turns her attention to her dozing sister, "And why are you here? I thought I told you to run."
"Well I did," Dawn mumbles without opening her eyes, "but I got scared about what happened to you. So I followed them taking you here and I was going to sneak in and rescue you but some fillies found me but they were nice and we're friends now and Twilight helped me get in and now I'm here and you're here and everything… everything is going to be okay."
Dawn finishes the explanation with a yawn, stretching contentedly and burrowing her way under the sheet. The show of adorableness cracks Midnight's facade, a small smile tugging at the sides of her mouth.
She returns her softened gaze to the princess and nurse, "I guess I should thank you. For helping us. So… yeah. Thanks."
Nurse Sweetheart smiles warmly, "You're welcome."
She turns to Twilight, dipping her head respectfully, "Everything looks fine here, so I'll leave her with you, Princess Twilight. If you need anything, either shout really loudly or hit the emergency buzzer."
Twilight and Midnight watch Nurse Sweetheart take her leave, the soundproofing spell breaking with a quiet pop as soon as she opens the door. Before Twilight is able to close the door after her however, Scootaloo sticks her head through the gap.
"Hey Twilight, can we come in yet?"
"No."
Scootaloo withdraws her head, "Aww… "
Twilight finishes magicking the door shut, quickly recasting the soundproofing spell before returning her focus to Midnight. Another flash of magic, and an inkless quill accompanied by a sizable stack of papers is hovering next to her, "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you some questions."
"About what happened?" Midnight asks.
"Hm?" Twilight shakes her head distractedly as she levitates the stack around her in a whirlwind of paper, "Oh, no, not yet. We'll get to that when Princess Luna gets here. Whenever that happens to be. Which is hopefully not too soon. Mmm… "
I need to talk to Spike when I get back; he ordered these according to guidelines 7-E when he clearly should have used 15-H.
She pulls a sheet out of the maelstrom, "Aha! There you are. So then this goes here and this goes here… "
As quickly as the mini tornado had arrived, it dissipates, reforming into its original neat stack without a single page wrinkled or folded.
Twilight prances in place, prefilling the first few sections while casting cursory glances at Midnight, "What I want to know about is you, your species, your magic, your habitat… oh this is so exciting! It's not every day I get to be the first to document a brand new tribe of ponies!"
Midnight tilts her head, "Wasn't there that whole Changeling thing recently though?"
The description draws a snort from Twilight, "'Changeling thing'? There was an invasion of at least several hundred Changelings, all of whom were repulsed, resulting in a grand total of zero Changelings captured."
Midnight exhales sharply through her nose, "Wait, really? Don't you have guards or soldiers or something to chase them down?"
"Yes, well, given that Equestria has been at peace for centuries, it's a small miracle they didn't just panic and run away when flaming green bugponies started falling from the sky. Now stop distracting me, we've got a lot of questions to get through and not a lot of time. Ok, gender… female. Age…?" she looks at Midnight questioningly.
"21"
"Species?"
"Vampony."
Twilight opens her mouth to object, but restrains herself, Focus, Twilight, now is not the time.
She blinks.
Wait, what am I thinking, now is exactly the time.
Twilight sighs, "Look, I know this is probably really scary and weird, but I'd appreciate it if you either answer honestly or just say you don't want to answer."
A pause follows as Midnight's expression morphs into one of confusion and annoyance, "Umm… okay? And I'm not scared by the way."
"So, what species are you?"
"Vampony."
Twilight glares at her in frustration, "No, you're not. Princess Celestia already explained to me what vamponies are, and you're not one of them."
Midnight glares right back, red eyes glowing faintly, "You don't get to tell me what species I am."
Twilight fights to hold the stare as the world fades to just the two of them, however a growing part of her mind refuses to obey, desperately seeking to avert her eyes and look at something – anything – else.
After what feels like an eternity, Twilight breaks off the conflict, glancing down and shuffling her hooves uncomfortably, "Sorry."
Bracing herself, she looks back up to find Midnight regarding her calmly, a victorious glint in her eyes, "I am a vampony."
Twilight shivers, though her magic allows her to carefully record Midnight's response, "O-okay."
"Is it alright if I continue?" she asks nervously. A small part of her mind rebels against the question, appalled that it was asked, I am a Princess of Equestria, the embodiment of the Element of Magic, and one of the most powerful ponies to have ever existed. Why do I need to ask her for permission? If she doesn't want to answer, that's fine, but I don't need her permission just to continue!
However, the echoes of that thought fade to nothing even before leaving her subconscious.
Midnight nods her assent.
"Alright, uh, thanks," Twilight says, clearing her throat in preparation to ask the next question on her list, however a flash of moonlight from across the room grabs her attention.
Princess Luna steps forward from the lingering aura, "Greetings Princess Twilight, we see that you have already begun the interrogation."
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"Okay, so you're an undead, bloodthirsty creature designed to infiltrate and murder the Equestrian people. Check."
"Wha-?"
I know most of this is Twilight being the kind, polite mare she is, but hopefully Luna, with more background knowledge on her side, can have a bit more of a spine when asking questions of someone who has been infiltrating and feeding off her people.
9467729
My problem is both Midnight and Dawn seem too "casual' and even trusting considering the situation.
The two sisters are members of a pony subrace of blodsucking parasites which has survived for centuries by keeping their existence a secret. Midnight has been attacked by some weird "pony predator" and awakens in an hospital, in front of several ponies including her sister and Princess of Equestria. The secret is out, and they are technically prisoners.
Shouldn't she panic? Maybe try to attack or enthrall Twilight in order to get away quickly with her sister?
At the very least Midnight's behaviour should be more distrusting, reserved and paranoid. She doesn't know what is in store for her, Dawn or the vampony race at its whole.
You know, Celestia, sending Luna to investigate the creatures that are very reminiscent of the beings that resulted in the whole Nightmare Moon incident is probably really not the best idea you’ve ever had
9467758
Midnight already determined that she's in no state to effectively escape with her many injuries. That's what she was testing movement for earlier in the chapter, from how I read that. This part:
Midnight is reacting with hostility, though. It's the only slight bit of control she has over her situation.
As far as Dawn is concerned, yeah she's much more casual than would be expected, but she's also very young and doesn't fully grasp what is going on.
9467911
I tend to agree, and Luna is starting with a fairly aggressive stance, referring to this as an interrogation.
Although...knowing that these are not undead vamponies (regardless of what they call themselves) she may be more accepting of creatures of the night. Tia would probably react poorly to the whole vampire bat biology.
9467942
While she will likely be happy to have Night ponies she will likely not take to the fact they drink blood very well.
As for the names, I’m guessing that their were rumors and such about them when Sombra made his undead and seeing the similarities to such rumors and stories, he named them Vamponies as he likely didn’t believe the rumors had any truth to them
Mind influencing powers on one of the rulers of the nation might be forgiven by Twiggles, but I sincerely doubt Luna will be as nonchalant about it
9467942
Midnight has been captured infiltrating Equestrian villages, as well as invading the homes of, drugging and feeding on her people. Three crimes in a row kinda does mean an interrogation on who she is and what she is doing here is warranted.
The part with Dawn surprising Twilight was funny and Twilight should really be more on guard when it comes to foreign magic. I know that Luna undoes Midnight's actions in the next chapter so it won't have much consequences but it's still something she should do.
9467758
It looks like she did, which is... excessively stupid, given the situation she's in. Enthralling the leaders of a nation whose people you've been feeding on kinda makes you look really sketchy.
9468022
Oh I agree. And Midnight's hostility further warrants the tone. I meant more that Luna is treating this seriously, where Twilight was acting a bit flippant regarding what Midnight and her sister have actually done.
9467954
Drinking blood is disconcerting, without a doubt, but that these hidden vampiric thestrals have seemingly acted parasitic towards other beings rather than trying to find a symbiotic relationship is likely worse.
9468289
Well, they may have tried, but with the Sombra and his vampires incident I imagine that they got caught up in it to. Celestia almost killed Midnight due to their similarities. Any good will they had privately gained would have been destroyed completely
9468289
Also, in the time period, they would’ve had to find ponies willing let them feed off of them, which were probably about as common as ponies who would let a changeling feed off of them. Such relationships probably existed, but again with the vampire fear Sombra caused they would have been shattered and never recovered, and would have left enough of an impression on the vampires to not want to risk revealing themselves again
9468022
Yeah, while their isolation and habits are certainly understandable given the previous reactions (or even history of their race if they really are descendants of the vamponies Celestia talked about), they still need to be addressed seriously. From a bat pony perspective, there was no real way to make symbiotic relationships. Perhaps only individuals would ever be able to do that (and even that would be dangerous if their lover/friend ended up betraying them).
Like with the Changelings. Perhaps Celestia would have come up with something where they could have lived together peacefully. But ponies seemed absolutely disgusted to hear they fed off love. I don't think it would have gone well. While stupid in its own way, Chrysalis was doing something for the good of her species. While individual changelings might have been able to live honest and symbiotic lives, it only solves the problem for each individual, not their race.
Great, she is now a vampony that sparkles in sunlight. I must kill her on principle.
9468993 Was Chrysalis really doing it for the good of her species? That song she sung was pretty much all about her and her lust for world domination.
Plus, before her failed invasion it's pretty clear the ponies didn't even know changelings existed. So clearly they were doing quite well wherever they came from (remember, Chrysalis stated Equestria had more love than any place she'd ever seen... implying that changelings had only recently moved there... I don't think the later show writers remembered those details.)