Family Begins With You

by Jmaster49

Arc X Episode II: Helping A New Friend

“Well whatever the case, I have no clue why this happened,” Dash muttered as she pulled away from Sonata. “But I can’t get to sleep. I’m afraid that my dream is gonna extend into--hrrk!--marriage or something…” she muttered as she felt her stomach turn.

“Don’t worry,” Sonata assured her, “If Equestrian magic is in play here, we like, totally got it. In the meantime, you should probably have a friend sleepover with you at your house so they can watch over you.”

Dash nodded as she pulled out her phone. “Good idea. I’ll see if I can get Fluttershy to come over…and possibly bring a bunny or two.”

“What for?” Sonata asked.

“...” Dash paused, and looked to her left, then her right to make sure no one was eavesdropping on the conversation. “...I like to cuddle the bunnies. But don’t let anyone else know that. It’s our secret. Got it?”

Sonata mimed the action of zipping her mouth shut. “Your secret is safe with me. I like the way bunnies feel too. They’re super cute with their twitchy noses and bushy little tails.”

“I know, right--?!” Dash squealed, and quickly re-adjusted herself to acting more serious as she cleared her throat. “Ahem--I mean, yeah. Motorcycles are awesome.”

From where Adagio and Aria stood, they could see the two having a conversation, but were unable to quite hear what they were speaking of.

“Whatcha think they’re talkin’ about?” said Aria.

“Who knows?” Adagio replied with a shrug, “It’s rude to eavesdrop you know. Don’t make yourself look so obvious.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

Sonata soon walked back up to her sisters and started to explain what she could. “...Dashie’s having a bit of a problem, girls.”

---

Meanwhile, on the other side of the school…in the library to be exact.

Sunset Shimmer was idly chewing on the tip of her pen as she stared down at the blank pages of her journal, waiting desperately for a response from Princess Twilight. “C’mon…give me something. Anything. I need to know how to deal with blood magic.” She sighed, and slumped over, putting her forehead down on the book.

That’s when…

BZZZZ!

“Huh--wha?!”

She was getting a response. The words started to appear in front of her on the page via Princess Twilight’s purple magic aura…

“Hey, Sunset. Glad to hear from you again and Happy Hearth’s Warming. Now, I see that you’re in a predicament regarding blood magic. Apologies for not getting back to you sooner. I was busy studying up hemomancy throughout Equestria’s history. Turns out a looooot of it is restricted. Not even Princess Celestia knows too much about it. I had to ask Discord of all ponies. Can you believe it?”

Sunset wrote a response. “Yes, yes I can. Anyway, what did you manage to find?”

“Well, to make a long, arduous story very short and easy to understand--blood magic used to be practiced in ancient Equestria but was outlawed not long after Celestia and Luna took over--hence why there’s so little information on it. However, there have been written reports of such magic being utilized to treat rare, blood-centric diseases outside of Equestria. Unfortunately…there was also loads of abuse. Stopping someone’s heart, making one’s blood rush until a body overclocks and burns out, turning their blood into weird, puppet-like strings that--”

“Woah--okay, I think I get the picture,” Sunset wrote back as she gave a disgusted shudder, “I suppose that’s why Princess Celestia never got around to teaching me about blood magic. If it’s no longer allowed in Equestria, then it’s obviously never gonna come up again and serve as a problem, right?”

There was a pause.

It took Twilight about five seconds to respond, and when she finally did…

“...You have a point, Sunset. To tell you the truth, Princess Celestia and Starswirl never were the best at keeping track of all of the different magical artifacts and spells that had gone on within Equestria. That’s why it’s up to me now.”

“Right…anyway, what do you think I should do? Apparently, he’s a batpony--er, vampony. And he doesn’t appear to be hostile. In fact, he was making use of his blood magic to protect people. Apparently from a giant spider monster that had somehow gotten through here.”

“...Magic is still seeping in, huh?” the princess wrote back, “This isn’t good…”

“Don’t worry, Twilight. My friends and I are more than capable of dealing with whatever comes our way…once we figure them out, that is.”

“Well if he starts to become hostile, you’ll need to know how to use the antifibrinolytic spell that I’m sending to you right now. Before you ask--it means blood-clotting. That way, if this vampony-boy gets out of line, you’ll be able to show him who’s boss. And make sure you keep a close eye on him. What did you say his name was, again?”

“Keiji Ketsuki,” Sunset replied as she took a look at the magical runes that Twilight had sent her through the book. “It sounds very Eastern so I’m not sure how much you’ll be able to find.”

“...I’ll have to do some more research. That name does sound familiar but I’m not entirely sure. For now, go over the spell I sent you and make sure you keep a close eye on him. If he turns out to not be malicious, then try and recruit him to your side. He could prove to be a valuable asset in the fight against more Equestrian threats that the people of Earth can’t deal with.”

“I got it. Thanks, Twilight. Happy Hearth’s Warming.”

“Merry Christmas, Sunset.”

Sunset shut the book, and sighed as she leaned against the table, resting her chin in her palm. “Blech…classic. The only way to befriend someone is to make sure we can claim their power first. It was the same way with Discord. I guess some things don’t change…” She started to lean back in her chair while racking her brain for answers. “But how are we gonna negotiate with a vamp--” She froze--her expression widening with realization…

That’s when she thought back to that news article about the local hospital’s blood bank being robbed!

“That’s it!” she said, snapping her fingers, “That had to have been him. No doubt about it. If he really is a vampire batpony, then he must rely on blood to live. Now how will we negotiate with him…”

“Do mah ears deceive me,” Applejack muttered as she walked from around a nearby bookshelf and towards the table Sunset was sitting at. “Or were ya just talkin’ to yerself about vampire ponies?”

Inspiration hit Sunset like a truck upon hearing the farm girl’s voice. “Aha! Vampire bats feed on the blood of cows, pigs, and chickens!”

“That they do,” Applejack said with a raised eyebrow, “But what in the hay does that hafta do with--?”

She was cut off when Sunset abruptly grabbed her shoulders. “I’ll explain on the way to our next class. C’mon!”

“...Hah?”

Comments

[Jmaster49]

11098381
Spoiled wants DT to get out of the house and give the boy easy money so he can stay in the condo she owns.

What do you mean when you say, "something in other stories" though?

[Jmaster49]

11098511
He thinks that Aidon is a demon that doesn't deserve to live.