Vampires About Ponyville

by kazamacat

Chapter 08 - Hunt

Rainbow Dash massaged her back and walked through the upstairs hall, stopping at the room she knew Twilight Sparkle would have given to Scootaloo. She glanced around to make sure no one was watching and opened the door.

She stared down at the sleeping filly, using her enhanced senses to be sure Scootaloo was, indeed, asleep. The vampire looked behind herself once again before gently stroking the short violet mane with a hoof. "I'm sorry I can't be her anymore," she whispered. She glided stealthily out and shut the door, scanning the hall to see that the coast was still clear.

Out of the corner of her eye, Rainbow Dash thought she saw something gray and wispy float by, like a ghostly snake or dragon tail, but when she looked again, it was gone. Maybe my equinity remolded itself into a snake form she thought to herself with a touch of humor. She stuck out her tongue out of curiosity. Normal. She thought of Crimson, wondering if it would work with him being close, as it did earlier right before he arrived. No change. Evidently not. She shrugged in place, then stared at her hooves and coat. Everything looked normal there too. She checked her tail and swished it to see and feel its varying colors of hair. It was actually kinda cute, she thought to herself with a cocky little smirk.

With that examination done, Rainbow Dash closed her eyes and focused within her mind. Bloodlust. Strong bloodlust. She was still a pony who very much wanted to drink blood and kill whoever got in her way. So, "normal" for her past five-hundred years. Oh, who was she kidding? Past one-thousand years. The bloodlust was turned up several notches these days, but she had it the moment she was turned, drinking Crimson's delicious blood. Mm. Maybe he'd give her some while he was here. Tomorrow.

Rainbow walked to her own room, where Sweetie Belle was already asleep, and turned in for the night.

Meanwhile, the wisp she had seen molded itself into an equine shape outside the window.

The palm of a lion paw faced up and grabbed at the wisp. It seemed to dissipate with his touch, but the lord of all demons knew he had it. "About time," Discord noted with mild annoyance.

He held his palm out again to summon the wispy thing and watched it grow bat wings. "Perfect," he declared. "Now come on. Show me. What's the weapon like?" he asked it.

The wisp formed into a scythe.

Discord scratched at the bottom of his chin with his claw. "Are you sure?"

With a poof, it turned into a lance. Then an axe. Then a scythe again.

"Pretty sure," Discord translated to himself. "Well, come on. What's next?"

The equine shape pointed to its bat wings.

"Right," Discord agreed. "Let her get those first. Then we'll talk."

---

The next morning, Scootaloo woke up and stopped by the door that had to be Rainbow's room, wondering if Rainbow Dash or Sweetie Belle were inside. What would she even say to either of them? "Please don't kill me"? They hadn't yet, nor had they tried or even indicated they would try. "Please stop being so evil"? She couldn't imagine that would go over well with Demon Dash, and Sweetie Belle might not actually be that evil. Yet? The filly shook her head. She supposed she could try a simple greeting and hope for the best. She knocked.

Sweetie Belle opened the door. "Good morning, Scootaloo," she said with a warm smile.

Scootaloo smiled nervously at her. She definitely could not tell this pony was a vampire if she had not already known. "Good morning."

"Do you need something?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Is Rainbow here?" Scootaloo inquired.

Sweetie Belle opened the door fully, allowing her to enter and see Rainbow sitting on the bed, flexing her feathered wings.

Rainbow looked at Scootaloo with a welcoming smile. "Hey, Squirt. Want to see something cool today?"

"S-sure," Scootaloo hesitantly replied. "So long as it's not um….I mean….sure."

Rainbow lifted an eyebrow and let out a small laugh. She pointed to her wings. "My wings are getting an upgrade. I'll be able to change them to bat wings soon. They'll have a switch." She smiled and waggled her eyebrows. Her playful magenta eyes looked very sincere with no hint of cruelty.

Scootaloo smiled in turn but paused on reflection. "Is it because you're a demon now?"

Rainbow giggled. "It's my age. I'm a little over a thousand as a vampire. The demon thing Sparky goes on about is more about how my mind has changed." She tapped at her temple on her head. "My bloodlust has control over me."

"Oh, sorry," Scootaloo said with a blush.

"No harm done," Rainbow said. She spread her wings wide. "It's definitely going to help me look the part."

"And vampires might actually be part or a type of demon already, I think," Sweetie Belle informed the pair. "If Discord really is part of their origin."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense," Scootaloo muttered, having a vague awareness of the same legend Rainbow had told Sweetie Belle. "So, do you know when it will happen?"

"I need some blood," Rainbow admitted hungrily.

"Not mine though, right?" Scootaloo asked with a nervous smile and recoiling a little.

"You?" Rainbow asked, as if the idea hadn't occurred to her. Her magenta eyes darted up and down, analyzing Scootaloo's small form. "Of course not."

Scootaloo breathed a sigh of relief.

"You're too small, weak, and the blood has this magic energy mixed of off-kilter age. Blehhhh," Rainbow added, pretending to gag.

"Hey!" Scootaloo said indignantly.

Rainbow smirked at her.

The filly blushed in embarrassment but smiled too.

They both heard an audible sigh of relief from Sweetie Belle, who had watched the entire thing.

"You're so sweet," Rainbow said to her with a friendly wink.

The white unicorn mare visibly blushed with a quiet smile.

"Come on, I'll walk you downstairs," Rainbow offered Scootaloo. "Sweetie Belle and I are going out for a bit."

The small pony blushed but went with her. Scootaloo reminded herself what Twilight said about how easily Demon Dash could imitate Rainbow's past self, holding onto familiar characteristics.

As the three made their way downstairs, they saw Crimson using his light blue unicorn magic to hold and read a newspaper.

"Good morning, Rainbow," Crimson said.

"Sire," Rainbow replied with a curt nod.

Upon seeing her company, he prompted, "You'll introduce me, won't you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, this is my sire, Crimson. The real one. He is the vampire who turned myself and Twilight a long time ago. He's here to see my wings develop. Crimson, this is my friend Sweetie Belle. She is also my fledgling. This is another friend of mine, Scootaloo. We go way back."

"Thank you, Rainbow," Crimson said warmly. "Ladies," he bowed his head respectfully at them.

They blushed but bowed their heads too.

The sound of a blender in the kitchen filled the air.

"Breakfast," Scootaloo said with an eager smile and rushed in to find Twilight.

"Good morning," Scootaloo greeted her.

"Good morning. Did you sleep okay?" Twilight asked. "I'm glad to see you still in one piece."

Scootaloo gulped. Right. She was in a house with four vampires at the moment. "Yeah, I slept okay."

Rainbow Dash walked into the kitchen as well. She found a tube of sunscreen nearby on a counter and passed it to Sweetie Belle. "Put this on. Sunlight won't kill you, but it's going to burn for the first year without sunscreen."

Sweetie Belle looked at her in quiet surprise but obeyed.

"You're going out at a time like this?" Twilight asked. "Your wings…"

"...aren't coming until I've got some fresh blood in me," Rainbow finished for her as she started to rummage through some random drawers. "Your demon hungers," she feigned a sinister monster tone, shoving a drawer shut. Then more casually, she added, "And her fledgling should learn a thing or two about hunting, especially with the kid here."

Twilight winced but did not argue the point.

Crimson quietly watched the whole scene and offered, "I could provide you a little appetizer."

Rainbow stopped rummaging, gave him a smooth look, and smiled. "I'll take it." She slammed another drawer shut with emphatic force and gestured with a forelimb for him to follow her to another room.

Crimson smiled warmly, got up from his seat, and went with her.

Sweetie Belle glanced at Twilight and Scootaloo in curiosity.

"It's just as he says. As the sire, he has magic that will force her to stop," Twilight explained in response to the unspoken question. "A bloodthirsty demon can certainly appreciate free food."

"I wonder if that's what she meant when she said she 'mostly' hated him," Sweetie Belle noted quietly.

"It is. Think of Rainbow like a rebellious teenage daughter to him, and their relationship makes a lot more sense," Twilight said. "Except for you know...being murderous vampires. It's not identical given how she became his daughter...and never forgave either of us for that."

Scootaloo crinkled her nose. "Wouldn't that make you like his daughter too and then her sister? Or are you more like her mom?"

Twilight became visibly flustered as she blushed and widened her eyes. She shook her head. "He took me in as his companion. Rainbow was my companion. He adopted her to have us both since I was so attached to her."

"Are you going to have some of his blood too?" Sweetie Belle asked innocently.

Twilight blushed. "I-I might later," she confessed.

"Why was she looking through the drawers?" Scootaloo asked.

"Knowing her, she was looking for a matchbox," Twilight grumbled.

---

In the living room, Crimson leaned his white-coated neck forward, ensuring all of his red mane was to his left. This setup allowed Rainbow Dash to bite him easily. Her two forelimbs clutched tightly at his neck as she drank in his blood. When the sire felt she should stop, his horn emitted a light blue spark.

The fledgling pulled away and wiped her mouth, licking her lips. "Thanks," Rainbow told him honestly.

"My pleasure," Crimson replied with a respectful bow of his head.

He was even more pleased when he saw her bite her own forelimb.

"Only a dash," she told him in a mocking voice and held it out for him.

Her sire happily accepted and a red spark emitted from Rainbow's own eyes when she wanted him to stop in turn.

She definitely took more than she gave, but Crimson expected that. And it really was for the best since her wings were coming in soon.

"Someone was busy recently," Crimson remarked on the variety of taste he sensed in her.

"I was," Rainbow agreed, closely watching the wound on her forelimb heal itself, then looked up at him. "Aren't you just icing on the cake?" She stuck out her serpentine tongue at him.

Crimson blushed and smiled, once again finding the tongue very cute on her. "An honor, I'm sure."

Rainbow snickered and turned around, flicking her tail at him. "Back to business, Sire Creep."

"As you wish, Precious," Crimson replied and followed her back to the kitchen.

Not long after, Rainbow Dash left with Sweetie Belle for a morning hunt.

---

As Rainbow Dash and Sweetie Belle neared the Everfree forest, Sweetie Belle gulped nervously and asked, "Are we really going in there? Isn't it dangerous?"

"Yes," Rainbow answered her first question, not looking at her. Regards to the second, she added, "It's dangerous because of me, but I'm not hunting you anymore."

"You!?" Sweetie Belle asked in a shocked whisper.

Rainbow finally turned to look at her and smirked. "Yeah, me. I've been hunting there on and off for a millennium. Let's start with something quick and easy."

"O-okay." Sweetie Belle replied.

"We don't see anyone already, so we listen first," Rainbow advised.

Sweetie Belle closed her eyes and eventually pointed in a direction that seemed to have more sound.

Rainbow nodded and led her to a solitary gray coated earth pony mare with a light purple mane in hiking gear, taking notes while examining the plants in the forest.

"Her?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Yeah, that's an easy one. Watch and learn," Rainbow said.

Sweetie Belle put a hoof to Rainbow's chest to stop her. "Do you have to kill her?"

Rainbow looked at the gray mare. "Well, no. Okay. I can go easy on her for you. Because we're trying not to kill her, you have to consider being seen. Either try to blind them first or compel them to forget you. I'll try making sure she doesn't see me, except maybe for the red glow. It's hard to hide that during a hunt."

Sweetie Belle nodded, ready to observe.

She watched Rainbow Dash plod along like a stealthy panther, finding some nearby bushes. Sure enough, the pegasus' eyes glowed red, which caught the earth pony's attention. The hiking mare squinted and walked closer.

A ready twig whacked the mare in the face, directly over her eyes, and Rainbow lunged, covering the mare's mouth while biting into her neck at the same time. The mare struggled for a bit and eventually her limbs slacked. Sweetie Belle could hear the heartbeat slow down.

Rainbow pulled away to see the mare was unconscious.

Sweetie Belle stepped forward to look at her. "That's it?"

"Yup," Rainbow replied. "Easy. Boring. But easy. For the kill, you just drain more...until the heart stops."

Sweetie Belle blinked and found herself licking her lips at the sight.

"You want a taste? She's alright. You can't have much without killing her though," Rainbow said.

The white unicorn nodded. She crouched down and nuzzled the neck before draining the mare a little more. To her own relief, Sweetie Belle was able to pull away and resist the urge to kill her.

Rainbow smiled at her. "Good job. Alright, come on. Let's find another one for you to try."

They did, and that went plenty smooth. After that, Rainbow told her fledgling she was in the mood for something she hoped to be a little more fun. The older vampire led them to a campsite where two unicorn stallions were packing their items.

Sweetie Belle watched as Rainbow Dash seemed to disappear and re-appear from one place to another. The older pegasus stepped on a twig to make a loud crack.

One of the stallions looked up, ready, alert, and tense. "You hear that?" he whispered to the other.

The other glanced at him. "Think it might be the vampire?"

The first stallion nodded and reached for a wooden stake.

Sweetie Belle watched from the bushes, waiting.

Both of them slowly walked their way to the source of the sound. To their surprise, the next crack sounded like it came from the opposite direction of their campsite. "What the-" the second stallion said.

"We know you're there!" the first stallion yelled. "We're only trying to defend ourselves. Leave us be, and we won't hurt you."

"If I kill you fast enough, you won't hurt me either," Rainbow told them from yet another unseen place, between where they heard her the first and second time. "And believe me, I am fast."

The first stallion gulped. "R-right, fair point. Still…we've heard of your mercy, Miss. Just tell us what you want…"

"You boys know what I want," Rainbow said.

The second stallion breathed nervously. "Blood," he announced.

"Mm, that does sound tasty," Rainbow's voice called out again.

"C-could you take only some and let us live?" the first stallion asked.

"My, my, word does get around," Rainbow said in a seductive voice. "I hope you know the terms for that. Ten paces apart, blindfolded."

They exchanged a look and returned to the campsite. Each took several steps apart and put a blindfold on.

Rainbow Dash swooped down to the scene and motioned for Sweetie Belle to join her, then pointed toward the second stallion.

The young fledgling quietly obeyed, surprised by the whole affair. She had not asked to show mercy this time. Wasn't Demon Dash a ruthless killer?

She got her answer soon enough.

"Now!" said the first stallion. He immediately threw off his blindfold and drove his stake forward hoping to catch his target. Rainbow caught the strike with her hooves and smirked at him. "And that's forfeit." She punched him in the jaw, elbowed him in the stomach, and grabbed around his body to smash him into the ground.

Sweetie Belle easily dodged the second stallion's attempt on her, punched him to the ground, and dove right in with her ready fangs. She drank his blood, and felt him twitch as she drained him dry. She nuzzled and found herself copying Rainbow a few nights before as she said, "Don't worry. It will all be over soon, love." She gazed at him with red eyes.

Once she knew him to be dead, looked away and saw Rainbow Dash behaving in much the same way, nuzzling the neck of the first stallion. "Thanks, love," the pegasus said with an evil smile and glowing red eyes.

Once done, she dropped him and looked over to Sweetie Belle.

"Mercy?" Sweetie Belle asked with curious suspicion.

Rainbow Dash quirked an eyebrow. "What of it?"

"You let some of them go?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Sure," Rainbow said. "It helps make fools like these guys. Ponies hear somebody made it out alive, and they think 'oh you just say the right words, make the right deal'. Then they think the beast is something they can kill or capture.

"But they can't because they underestimate me. Notice how I didn't tell them to disarm? Makes them more agitated and ready to fight. Like they stand a chance."

Sweetie Belle gawked at her. She really was manipulative.

"Oh, you thought my mercy might be a kindness," Rainbow realized. She smiled in amusement with a mildly wicked gleam in her eyes. "See, it's a good plan."

Sweetie Belle stared at her in part horror, but then her lips curled into an equally amused evil smile. She giggled.

Rainbow's wicked smile only widened.

Comments

[THERDSTORYWHISPERER]

Great chapter!

"Sure," Rainbow said. "It helps make fools like these guys. Ponies hear somebody made it out alive, and they think 'oh you just say the right words, make the right deal'. Then they think the beast is something they can kill or capture.

Should it be somepony?

[kazamacat]

10555627
Thanks!

No, it should not. I read it aloud for the final proofread before I posted and didn't like how "Ponies hear somepony" sounded, so I actually deliberately changed it to "somebody". I liked how that sounded better, and non-pony creatures have been part of the story already.

[THERDSTORYWHISPERER]

10556009
You’re welcome! Thanks!