Vampires About Ponyville

by kazamacat

Chapter 07 - Fake

Twilight Sparkle opened the door to see Scootaloo. "Sorry about that. Rainbow Dash doesn't usually leave her kills here, or turn ponies into vampires, so it took me by surprise."

Scootaloo swallowed nervously. "That girl was a vampire too?" She still couldn't really tell the difference other than maybe vampires somehow felt pretty or important.

Twilight looked at Scootaloo with a serious and curious gaze. "Have you actually lived for 898 years like this? You still act and talk like a filly. I get the feeling you think like one too."

Scootaloo's eyes darted down and scanned side to side. She bit her lip. "Sort of?" she said meekly.

The unicorn vampire rolled her eyes. "Zecora," she muttered. Taking in a deep breath, she began to probe further. "How many vampires have you met since Rainbow and I left?"

Scootaloo shrugged.

"So, what, it just wipes after you can't find her when you move from one place to the next?" Twilight inquired, trying to understand the mysterious life pause spell. She had some vague knowledge of it but no experience when it came to it being cast on a child.

"Blurs," Scootaloo confessed. "That's part of why it took so long, I think. I'm supposed to be like when we knew each other. Otherwise, I would just be an old mare stuck in a filly body."

"Right," Twilight replied and nodded in agreement.

"So...that girl was a vampire too?" Scootaloo asked again.

"Yes," Twilight answered. "Her name is Sweetie Belle."

Upon realizing Twilight had nothing else to add and with another question on her mind, Scootaloo hopped up onto a nearby bed and sat on it. She began, "Um. Not that I want you to kill Rainbow...but um...is there a reason you don't? Knowing how she's like...this. Five-hundred years for revenge is like half your vampire lives. That's a lot of k-kills too."

Twilight stared off into the room, not meeting Scootaloo's eyes, giving the matter serious thought. "Well, I suppose the main reason is I simply don't want to. I love her. She's my partner. Always. I want to stop her and have my Rainbow Dash back more than anything. I can't do that if I kill her.

"And to be honest, I'm not sure I could. Other ponies have certainly tried, and they always end up dead...after she plays with them. You haven't been around her much, but this demon version of her is a bit of a sadist," Twilight informed Scootaloo.

Scootaloo shuddered in place but said nothing as she sensed the list of reasons had a bit more to go.

"I may have tried to...repent, but I did kill her friends and am responsible for forcing off her control. I try not to kill ponies, even vampire ponies, anymore, to keep my own control still on," Twilight admitted. "That's why."

Scootaloo nodded, having gathered the information she wanted. "Oh. Okay." She supposed she couldn't fathom bringing herself to kill Rainbow Dash either...well, maybe in self-defense. Rainbow would want her to do that at least.

"I'm going to take care of some things around the house. You can stay tonight and...for as long as we need to figure this out, but I have to warn you. Living with Demon Dash is..."

The pair heard a thud, and a door shut from outside the room, putting the pieces together that the very pony they spoke of probably threw a dead body into the hall.

"...difficult to say the least," Twilight said uneasily. "It might be easier for you since you're not her target though."

Scootaloo nodded nervously, but Twilight Sparkle was right about that. As terrible as Demon Dash sounded, she had made no attempt to harm Scootaloo herself. She hadn't even told Scootaloo to leave her alone or go away, just made clear she was a different pony than who Scootaloo remembered before taking off.

With that, Twilight left the room. Scootaloo heard her sigh in annoyance and magically lift the dead body while clip-clopping away.

---

Sometime later...

"That's weird," Sweetie Belle commented, nestled in the crook of Rainbow's shoulder, as they cuddled. "And it was only ever when you were with him?"

Rainbow nodded. "Yup." She stuck out her tongue and winced as if she were trying to force it to change. "Weird but at least a little amusing. As the legend goes, we vampires are born from Discord and Nightmare, so occasional quirks like that pop up from the Discord side. I hate to admit it, but I do miss that even though I never forgave him for turning me. I hated him. Mostly."

Shifting her thoughtful light green eyes side to side from where she lay, Sweetie Belle quietly noted, "Discord is the lord of all demons."

Rainbow inhaled lightly and nodded in silent agreement. After a moment she added, "And chaos."

Perhaps vampires are a type of demon or part demon already, Sweetie Belle silently contemplated to herself. She blinked. "Can you read my mind?"

Rainbow thought of how to answer. "When I was after you, and you thought you could stall me...I could read your mind. It was about me during the hunt. Just now? I know you thought something, nothing that is a direct threat to me, but I can't quote it or read its meaning beyond that."

"Can we talk telepathically?" Sweetie Belle asked.

I don't know, let's try it. How's this? Rainbow asked with a smirk through their minds.

The fledgling's eyes widened.

"Mind you, most vampires don't. Both of you need to open the channel at will. It does wear off pretty fast, like a few seconds," Rainbow explained. "Otherwise, it's too invasive. You can read a mortal's mind that you're hunting, if they are thinking of you and especially if they know your name. Most of them don't know how to close their channel."

Sweetie Belle grew quiet and thoughtful. "If I never forgive you for turning me…"

Rainbow shrugged. "Wouldn't blame you."

Silence.

"And if I do forgive you…?" Sweetie Belle wondered.

Rainbow took a small breath and replied, "If I could still feel guilt, that would ease it."

The fledgling blinked again, getting the feeling that Rainbow did feel guilty. Not much, she suspected, not much at all, which was why Rainbow Dash refused to claim it. As Sweetie Belle understood it, Rainbow's emotions weren't truly 'off' in the sense of being non-existent. They were 'off' in that they were notably distorted. They didn't stop the driving bloodlust in her. The minuscule guilt she felt made no difference in her decision to turn Sweetie Belle. Even so...

"I...forgive you," Sweetie Belle told her.

"That was fast," Rainbow said with an amused laugh. "But thanks. I do mean it when I say you're 'sweet' you know. Not just the taste." She ran her tongue along her upper lip. "Or name."

Sweetie Belle blushed and nodded. "You're sweet sometimes too."

"It's all a lie!" Rainbow denied with exaggerated enthusiasm, intentionally blurring the line of if she were being sarcastic as she said it. "I am a monster!" she playfully declared and chomped at the air.

The two laughed together.

Suddenly, they heard a very loud scream.

"Speaking of which…" Rainbow said with an evil grin, closing her eyes at that sweet music to her ears. "I do believe Sparky finally found Crimson."

Sweetie Belle's eyes widened. "He's here?"

Rainbow Dash giggled and waggled her eyebrows with mischievous glee. She lifted out of the bed and flew out the room.

A very intrigued Sweetie Belle followed.

Outside the room, down the stairs, Rainbow crouched behind a corner and watched. Sweetie Belle copied her.

Twilight Sparkle lay curled into a ball on the floor just outside the threshold to the dining room of the house. "Crimson," she uttered between tears streaming down her face.

"Twilight?" Scootaloo slowly walked to approach her, having arrived before the two observing vampires.

"Crimson," Twilight repeated. It was all she could do. Just say his name. If she said it, maybe she could wake up from this nightmare. "Crimson Crimson Crimson," she said and shuddered.

"Twilight," Scootaloo said again.

Twilight shook her head. "Crimson! You're not Crimson!"

Confused, Scootaloo scanned the room and gulped. She had already seen the set up. A white unicorn stallion with crimson red hair nailed in place to a wall with a stake driven into his heart. So that was his name? But wasn't Crimson the stallion who turned Rainbow and Twilight? Come to think of it, Twilight never said what became of him in her story.

Scootaloo shook Twilight's shoulder. "Twilight, snap out of it."

"Twi, snap out of it!" Twilight heard her in head, the repeated statement from centuries ago. Snap out of it! Snap out of it! Snap out of it! How many times had Rainbow Dash told her that before Demon Dash replaced her? Snap out of it!

In Twilight's distress, Scootaloo's voice became Rainbow's. The unicorn's mind took her back to a place and time before Rainbow Dash changed. It was Rainbow Dash she heard. A gentle, caring Rainbow Dash.

"Crimson," Twilight moaned. And she pretended that Rainbow embraced her in consolation. Concern. That love she had lost. Twilight sat up and rocked herself in place.

Slowly, reality crashed down on her like the steady flow of waves to an ocean shoreline. The vision corrected itself as Scootaloo blurred into view. The waves thinned into steady flowing tears as Twilight shuddered and reached the more logical conclusion that the body splayed out in the room was somehow Demon Dash's work. "Scootaloo?" she quietly realized aloud.

The filly nodded.

Twilight stared at the body in silent contemplation and slowly stood, then looked at Scootaloo with piercing purple eyes. "I need you to answer me honestly. Did you see her kill him?"

Scootaloo gulped. "I...I…" she stammered. She looked away. "He...I think he was already dead," she admitted.

Twilight looked up over to see Rainbow Dash straining between giggles before breaking into a fit of sadistic laughter. The distraught unicorn marched over to the sky blue pegasus, trying to appear as threatening as she could. It didn't work, but the point was to try. She was a threat to everyone else in the house and the town, just not this vengeful monster. "Did you kill him?" Twilight asked crossly.

"Yeah, and he was delicious," Rainbow Dash replied with relish in her voice.

Twilight lost herself in the moment and tried to push Rainbow, but the pegasus' reflexes were too sharp. A ready forelimb flung her across the room, into the wall adjacent to the dead body, just missing the dining room table, all while Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo watched. Scootaloo looked on in a state of shocked terror while Sweetie Belle smiled with a touch of evil pride at her mistress.

"You need better drinks before trying a stunt like that on me," Rainbow Dash reminded Twilight. She flapped her sky blue wings to lift herself into a hover.

Scootaloo blinked and felt a firm white-coated forelimb on her shoulder. She looked up to see Sweetie Belle holding her in place though the unicorn's eyes were locked on the scene of the other two vampires.

Twilight grit her teeth, fangs visible, staring up into Rainbow Dash's furious red eyes. "Did you kill Crimson? Is that Crimson?"

Rainbow Dash smirked back at her. "Maybe." She waggled her eyebrows. A swish of movement, and she was right next to the dead figure. Putting her hoof to her chin, she pretended to study it analytically. "Or maybe...you don't need me for the answer."

Twilight looked over at the form. It made her tremble, but she moved forth and approached it to examine Rainbow's work. Her horn lit, and sent a magic beam over the body, revealing the dead changeling. "You killed Flexion?" she asked in a horrified gasp.

"Yeah, he was in the way, so I took care of it. You know how that is," Rainbow said with a wicked gleam in her eyes as she winked, pulling a little further back while still hovering. "Kinda funny that I have you to thank for even being able to do it, huh?"

Twilight closed her eyes and exhaled in guilt. "My demon…" she muttered.

Rainbow Dash reclined casually in the air, resting her head on her own forelimbs and chuckled. "You're too easy Sparky. Like Crimson could be done in by a common stake at his age. Or that I could drain him enough to do the deed. I knew it wouldn't fool you for long. Just wanted something long enough."

While Twilight knew these things to be true, she also knew Rainbow Dash was resourceful. After all, one could not know if the stake was common or enchanted without a more thorough examination. Similar could be said of the drain. The unicorn mare decided not to point these things out since she definitely didn't want to give Rainbow any ideas for when they might really see him again. If they ever saw him again.

After a pause, the pegasus added, "His blood was delicious way back though. I'll grant him that." She sighed nonchalantly. "Sire Creep still lives. Maybe." She stuck out her tongue to the air, but it came out forked and long as it used to do in his presence centuries ago.

None of the others saw it. Twilight had been staring intently at the floor in her contemplation. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had a view with the hovering figure's back to them.

Rainbow Dash saw and felt it herself. She slowly descended to the ground, staring at the entire room with heightened suspicion, as if the sire she spoke of cloaked himself inside the walls, ready to burst out any moment.

Scootaloo sensed a rise of tension in the already frightening figure and instinctively drew inward toward Sweetie Belle, hoping that the unfamiliar vampire would not harm her.

"Something wrong, Rainbow?" Sweetie Belle asked, bordering on the protective nature Scootaloo hoped to find in the mare.

Twilight looked up and at Rainbow to see what Sweetie Belle meant. Something could be genuinely wrong or Rainbow was already at work on her latest scheme.

The sky blue figure ignored the question posed to her and trotted closer to the front door. She sniffed the air. "Sire," she growled to herself, and her eyes turned red as she did. The other three ponies heard her conclusion crystal clear.

Twilight's own purple eyes widened, and she started to groom herself by patting down her mane with her hooves. She sniffed the air as well to confirm and looked over to Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.

"What? Is he really here?" Scootaloo asked.

"Rainbow…?" Sweetie Belle gently called out, unsure of what she should do in support, if anything.

Twilight looked at Rainbow again. "Rainbow...get over here and help me clean up this mess first."

Rainbow looked back at her, eyes still red and even glowing. She had no plan. Operating on pure instinct, she looked toward the door and bid her time walking slowly toward it.

"Rainbow!" Twilight hissed, her own eyes flashing red in her growing frustration. "Don't forget about these two."

Rainbow Dash glanced at the trio, and her eyes finally returned to their standard magenta. They shifted to lock on the door yet again, but she finally moved back toward the other ponies, which surprised Twilight at first. The wisteria unicorn began to magically pull the nails out from the body. Rainbow finally diverted her eyes from the door, looking at Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. "You two can go," she told them in a warm, gentle voice.

They exchanged a look. Each swallowed, and together, they left the area for the senior vampires to attend to their business. Sweetie Belle escorted Scootaloo to her new room. She guided the filly into bed, placing beige sheets over her petite hind legs and stomach.

"Sweetie Belle…" Scootaloo began, sitting up in the bed.

Sweetie Belle looked at her with an innocent blink, quickly assuming Twilight must have told this filly her name. "Hmm?"

"...are you…" Scootaloo gulped. "...a good vampire?"

Sweetie Belle blushed and stared at the sheets on the bed, not meeting the small pony's eyes. "That remains to be seen," she confessed. "You've seen my mistress, Rainbow Dash. She has some influence on me. I tried to be a good mortal, if that helps. She still thinks I'm sweet and even called me a 'goody four-shoes' earlier after she turned me."

Scootaloo smiled at that. "Oh. Okay. I hope we can be friends. I'm Scootaloo." She held out a hoof.

"Nice to meet you, Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle replied, gently shaking it. "I hope so as well, but remember what I just told you. Rainbow Dash very recently turned me."

Scootaloo nodded seriously. "Yeah. Got it."

The two ponies wished each other good night and parted ways as Sweetie Belle left the room.

---

Meanwhile, downstairs, Rainbow Dash pulled out the stake in the dead changeling body and examined it.

"Demon, don't you dare," Twilight hissed. "You don't have the magic you need for that."

Rainbow smirked at Twilight and looked at the stake again. She casually tapped it against her chin as she spoke. "Fair point. Got a match?"

Twilight rolled her eyes and magically lifted the changeling. "You'll at the very least not kill him while I move this body away, right?"

Rainbow Dash chuckled evilly. "I guess you'll find out when you get back."

Twilight shot her a look but continued along. She suspected Rainbow was going to try but did not expect to succeed since Crimson would not go down easily. That would have to do for now.

The pegasus walked her way to the door and stopped to massage her back. She stared down at her wings. Now? Really? She rolled her eyes. Five-hundred years of revenge on Twilight Sparkle, and this, Rainbow's upcoming bat wing development, was what got him to show up? If she still had feelings for Twilight, she'd be so angry on her partner's behalf right now.

But since the feelings had twisted in her lost equinity, the matter mildly amused her instead.

She opened the door, saw Crimson, and pounced, throwing them both to the ground. Her teeth stopped just short of his neck, held in place by a magical light blue aura.

Crimson used his unicorn magic to lift her upside down to face him, staring into his light blue eyes, as he easily stood himself. He was one of very few unicorns with strong enough magic to fight off her vampire age, being an even older vampire himself. "Is that any way to greet your sire, Rainbow?" he asked with a smug voice.

"Sparky didn't have a match, so yeah, it is," Rainbow replied with a playful, evil smile despite being so contained and seeing the sire she hated so much. She stuck out her forked tongue at him.

Crimson chuckled in amusement and set her down with a moderate amount of care and respect.

"Based on what I've pieced together, you've become a little demon of vengeance since I last saw you. Your greeting here confirms my suspicions," he remarked. "Perhaps that tongue was a way of Discord foreshadowing your path, hmm?"

Rainbow dusted off her forelimbs while hovering in the air, before descending as the wings ached a little. "Who knows? I certainly don't do it to make you happy. That's just an unfortunate side effect."

Crimson chuckled. "I missed you," he said with full sincerity.

"Rest assured, Sire, the feeling is not mutual," Rainbow quipped.

"Hmm. Apparently so," Crimson agreed, eyeing her. Yup, she still hated him. She wasn't going to invite him in, and he would not forcefully intrude. He would have to wait for Twilight. "Still, I am proud to see you became the vampire I wanted you to be."

A pause.

Rainbow narrowed her eyes. "Interesting choice of words."

Crimson smirked. "It was time," he nearly whispered.

That Crimson influenced Twilight to force off her control was news to Rainbow Dash, but it was not surprising news. In her lost control, it mattered little to question it. He always had an easy in with Twilight from the night he turned them both; the unicorn mare had a bad habit of knowingly letting him use her. Rainbow Dash was plenty aware of this fact since it was this easy in that led to her becoming a vampire at all. In response to even more familiar words from that day, the pegasus vampire simply raised an eyebrow and asked, "Something special about turning 500?"

"Well, you did become quite powerful, didn't you?" Crimson reminded her.

Rainbow snickered. "You had another 500-year-old fledgling right there who fully embraced it the night you turned her. Twilight was plenty powerful already."

"She was," Crimson agreed seriously with a nod, "but her control was already lost. Easily and long before. I had enjoyed her companionship and ready to move on, like I told you both the night I turned you. I thought you would be a suitable legacy once I gave you a turn and well...nothing I've heard since has changed my mind. You cover your tracks very well, but I was able to piece things together. And...here you are. A powerful vampire. I am pleased with my choice, whether you like it or not. You do know that you are a powerful vampire, yes?"

With an ice cold glare, Rainbow Dash replied honestly, "Yes."

"And you do like being powerful?" Crimson asked though he meant it more as a reminder that he knew her so well. He had overheard her say as much the night he found the pair.

Rainbow looked away from him and set her jaw, eventually admitting, "Yes."

"A powerful vampire," he pressed.

Rainbow Dash furiously blew out her nostrils. "Yes!" she hissed, and her eyes lit to red as her snake tongue slipped out between her fangs.

She slammed the door in his face.

Crimson waited a couple of patient seconds for her to re-open it.

Which she begrudgingly did, glaring at with him with silent rage in her red eyes.

He smiled, his own light blue eyes twinkling in contrast. "Good girl."

At that moment, Twilight Sparkle trotted up to the scene.

"Crimson," she greeted with a bright smile. "I thought you left us forever."

"Should we be so lucky," Rainbow Dash muttered bitterly and walked away.

Twilight sighed, watching her leave, then looked at Crimson. She leaned close to him. "You do know what happened, right?"

"You did as I wished," Crimson told her with a proud smile.

Twilight looked shamefully at the floor. "Crimson, I shouldn't have done it. I'm not the same either after that. I…"

"I know," Crimson said, "and it's alright. You had your turn. Now it's hers."

Twilight gave a thoughtful pause and said, "I take it that means you won't help me undo it."

"You're right. I won't," Crimson said. "I like her this way. It suits her."

Twilight gulped, recalling full well her agreement to that same idea. It had not taken much to convince her back then. She expected as much, that he would not help her. It was still disappointing, and she shook her head. With another sigh, she asked, "Why are you here? Rainbow Dash just faked your death on me only a few minutes ago. I really don't want to have to grieve you twice."

Crimson smiled at her with fascination. "Really? How?"

Twilight shook her head again, annoyed with him. "A dead changeling that knew she hated you."

The sire laughed heartily.

"I didn't find it funny! Seriously, Sire, why are you here?" Twilight asked again. "You must know it's dangerous, even for you."

"Have some faith in my ability, Princess. Am I not standing before you still in one piece? And besides that...you may recall...she is a pegasus vampire who recently turned 1000," Crimson reminded her.

Twilight's eyes widened. "Now?" she glanced back into the house. "Do we need to do anything for it? Is she more dangerous or less dangerous? Should we tie her down? Freeze her? Gag her? Please tell me she doesn't get even more bloodthirsty because I don't think Ponyville could handle it."

"Calm down, Twilight," Crimson commanded.

Twilight took a deep breath and calmed. "Yes, Sire."

"Soon. Very soon. Probably in the next 24 hours. It's going to hurt for a few minutes, and then they're just...there...when she wants them. It's a very simple process," Crimson said with reassurance.

"Should I wake Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo?" Twilight asked herself aloud.

Crimson's eyes narrowed. "Scootaloo is here?" He never met the filly, but he was very much aware of the impression she made on Rainbow Dash for those brief two years.

Twilight looked up at him. Shoot! "I can accept that you won't help me, Crimson, but don't work against me on this either. You've chosen to stay out of it for five hundred years," she said with a warning in her voice and stern, pointing hoof.

Crimson's nostrils flared. "I will do as I please, Twilight Sparkle, but rest assured, I will not harm her while I am here in this house." He gestured to the outside air. "Out there, she is fair game. Unless you prey on her yourself of course."

Twilight sighed nervously but nodded in agreement. She suspected Scootaloo would not leave the house unaccompanied anytime soon, and that Crimson himself might depart quickly once he saw Rainbow's wings.

Author's Note:

I am aiming for this story to be 10 chapters total, so it is nearly over. If it does go over 10, it won't be by much. FYI.

Comments

[THERDSTORYWHISPERER]

Great chapter!

If Twilight had not accidentally told Crimson about Scootaloo, woul he have still find out about her anyway?

[kazamacat]

10545792
Thanks!

Very likely, yes.

[THERDSTORYWHISPERER]

10546188
You’re welcome!