Chapter 1
Welcome to the fifth story in the Vampire Cheerilee Series. Thank you for reading.
Weakness of the Flesh
The wind shifted a little, carrying with it dead autumn leaves. This close to the Everfree Forest, the trees had begun to drop their foliage naturally.
Princess Luna looked around, staring at the faces of the ponies who waited with her. Their expressions were grim, and it hurt Luna to see how much they had suffered. Some of their friends and family members had been killed. Slaughtered, really.
The Princess wore a duster that rippled in the cool wind. The tan color didn’t complement her natural midnight blue, but the long coat made her somewhat less recognizable as royalty. Luna’s heart went out to the survivors of the massacre, and she didn’t need the media getting involved with her unexpected trip to Hoofshire.
The group of them had been quiet for several minutes. There was nothing to talk about. The Princess had promised an end to the killing. She didn’t explain how exactly, but after the trauma of death, the townsponies just wanted it to stop.
A faint cry drifted through the trees. The assembled crowd of mourners jumped, staring into the forest fearfully. There was a crack and the sound of a falling tree. A few shouts from two different voices were heard. Seconds later, an unnatural scream of pain echoed out of the woods. Surely no pony could make such a terrible noise. The screeching continued for a few seconds before it was abruptly cut off.
Luna nodded. “It’s done.”
“Beg your pardon Princess, but what just happened?” asked a stallion.
“You don’t need to worry about it,” Luna told him. “Just know that the monster has been taken care of.”
One by one, the crowd departed. They seemed confused and sad, and it hurt the Princess to see the emotion on their faces. The bright side was that nothing like this would ever happen again.
After the last of the assembled crowd had gone, a mare stepped from the trees. There was a little mud on her hooves. More disturbing was the blood on her lavender coat and in her pink striped mane.
“You’re a mess, Cheerilee,” observed the Princess.
The earth pony averted her green eyes. “I was doing my best not to hurt her.”
Luna nodded. “That will be all for now.”
Cheerilee nodded in return and walked away. Princess Luna hoped she wouldn’t have trouble finding a way to clean up. As the gore-splattered pony departed, Luna looked to the forest. A captured thing waited there.
The blue pony walked forward into the trees. A few hundred paces brought her to a small clearing where a cage the size of a jail cell had been placed. The metal bars were reinforced with magic, and spells protected the lock.
Within the confine was a teenaged pegasus mare. Her coat was white, but had been stained with dirt, blood, and all manner of other things. The same matted her blonde mane and tail. On the pony’s hip was the image of a gold wedding ring.
The mare didn’t move as Luna approached. She couldn’t. All four of her legs and both her wings were broken, splaying from her body at awkward angles. It looked like Cheerilee hadn’t been taking any chances.
That didn’t stop the pegasus from baring her teeth to snarl at the Princess. It was part growl and part scream, and all feral.
“Golden Ring?” asked Luna. “Do you remember your name?”
There may have been a little bit of recognition in the pony’s eyes, but she didn’t close her mouth. The wickedly sharp fangs on display gave Luna pause. A few dead residents of Hoofshire had been bad enough. There was no way to tell how many ponies the vampire had killed during the more than a decade that she’d been on the loose.
There was a spark of intelligence in Golden Ring’s blue eyes. She was a pony, not an animal. Luna debated her options. She couldn’t force somepony to behave. She couldn’t make them act civilized.
The Princess bowed her head, pointing her horn at the crazed mare. Summoning her magic, Luna cast a spell of remembrance. It would do nothing more than remind the pegasus of her past. Hopefully, that would be enough.
▼▼
Cheerilee had long practice in evading detection. Despite her disheveled appearance, she remained unnoticed by the residents of Hoofshire. Of course, sticking to roofs and dark alleys helped with that.
It was a good thing the mare wasn’t distracted on her way home. There was a lot on her mind. The young pegasus, Golden Ring, was somepony she had met before. It had been more than a decade ago, during a time Cheerilee didn’t like to remember.
It had come as a shock to learn that Golden was still alive—or at least as alive as a vampire could be. In Fillydelphia, she’d been caught in the crossfire during a showdown between three vampires. The young mare had died a very convincing death. It had taken years to make the connection between a string of dead ponies and the schoolteacher’s former student.
Cheerilee had been working with Princess Luna for almost twenty years and had developed a relationship that went beyond business, despite the fact that their line of work often consisted of Luna choosing targets and Cheerilee destroying them.
Twenty years was more than enough time for Cheerilee to learn how to kill. She still felt bad about it, honestly, but that emotion had slowly been on the decline. She never took life without purpose, but it was getting easier and easier to do. That scared her a little.
Despite that, the mare recognized the need for her talent. If death and destruction was in her nature now, she might as well be using it for the benefit of Equestria. That was why she had been confused when Luna told her to capture Golden, rather than kill. Still, Cheerilee trusted the Princess, and did as ordered.
Cheerilee had taken some creative routes to restraining her. The white pegasus would recover, though. Vampires healed quickly.
Cheerilee ducked through the open window of her house. She’d been moving around every few years to keep her identity secret. Hoofshire was only a little larger than Ponyville, and it was nice to work at a smaller school for a change. She still wasn’t sure she liked her position as Superintendent, however. It pulled her out of the classroom and into an administrative role. Luna had suggested it, though, so she went along with it.
The lavender mare went down the hallway to the bathroom, not turning on the lights. She washed the blood and dirt off her coat and headed for bed. There was school the next day.
▼▼
Morning sunlight filtered through the trees. The soiled white mare snapped awake. Through the night, her bones had knit, and she felt no pain. She was still in a cage, however.
Golden sprang up and slammed against the bars, desperately trying to break free. They held solidly, not even trembling under her strikes. There was no way to escape.
The young mare fell back, staring fearfully around her prison. Somepony had draped a bit of tan cloth, like a coat, on top of the cage to provide some shade. While sunlight wouldn’t burn a vampire in small doses, it was an instinctive reaction for Golden to avoid it. She was restrained, but somepony didn’t want her dead.
Thinking about what had happened the previous night didn’t dredge up any memories. Maybe if she thought a little further back…
Golden sat up straight in sudden realization. Since when had she been thinking? When was the last time she’d had an emotion that wasn’t related to sleeping or nourishment? Racking her brain, the young pegasus thought as far back as she could manage. Didn’t she used to go to high school?
Slowly, as the day wore on, Golden remembered more and more. Most of it was unpleasant. Visions of blood and lots of it flowed through her mind. Reliving the past decade in the span of a few hours was horrendous. Just when the mare thought she might have been desensitized, she would discover something else that she’d done to bring forth fresh terror.
By the late afternoon, the pony had collapsed into the fetal position, her head buried in her hooves in an attempt to hide from the barrage of memories. She sobbed quietly, even though she was physically unable to cry.
Somepony cleared their throat. Golden got up in a flash, wings spread and legs crouching defensively. Her fangs had been bared in a snarl, seemingly all by themselves.
A lavender earth pony stood outside the cage. Her mane was streaked with shades of pink, and her green eyes held a look of concern. Golden couldn’t believe she hadn’t heard the mare approach.
“How do you feel?”
It had been so long since Golden had heard words spoken to her conversationally that it took her several seconds to remember how to speak.
“Hungry.”
The mare nodded. “That’s to be expected. My name is Cheerilee. Yours is Golden Ring, right?”
“How do you know that?” asked the pegasus. Her grasp on her own name was somewhat shaky.
“We’ve met before,” explained Cheerilee.
Golden thought for a moment. Had it been the previous night? Her memories of that were still clouded.
“I’m going to let you out,” said the earth pony, producing a key. She fit it into the lock that secured the cage. Golden took a few cautious steps towards her.
The lavender mare seemed completely unafraid of the monster just on the other side of the bars. Golden could hear her steady heartbeat and breathing. As the key turned, the pegasus tensed, ready to spring.
Cheerilee opened the door. Golden sprang forward, her wings giving extra thrust. Mouth open wide, she clamped her jaws on the other pony’s throat, teeth tearing into flesh.
Ripping away a chunk of muscle and tissue, the white mare turned to look back at her victim. To her astonishment, the earth pony still stood, glaring at her. She seemed to be unaffected by a section of her neck being torn away.
“What you’ve got in your mouth,” said Cheerilee, her exposed vocal cords twitching. “Spit it out.”
Golden did, but only to free up her fangs for another charge, leaping at the other mare. Cheerilee seemed to easily sidestep the attack, her hoof chopping downwards on the center of Golden’s back. Bones crunched, and the pegasus fell to the ground screaming in pain.
Cheerilee twisted the younger mare’s head to look her in the eyes. She pinched Golden’s throat to quiet her cries.
“I understand that you’re scared and confused right now. Let me clear something up for you, then.” The lavender mare spoke quietly, but an undertone of force ran through her words. “I’m going to teach you how to be a civilized pony again. I’m sure it’s not going to be easy for either of us, but I’m going to give you my best effort. All I ask is that you do the same.”
Golden slowly rocked her head up and down to show that she understood, staring with fascination as muscle and sinew wove itself back into position to heal Cheerilee’s throat. The earth pony drew back, freeing the white mare. It took several minutes before the pegasus was able to shakily get up.
Golden spoke slowly, still getting accustomed to her little-used voice. “You’re a vampire.”
“That’s right,” confirmed Cheerilee.
Golden raised a hoof, placing it to her own chest. No heartbeat thudded within her ribs.
The other mare saw the question in her eyes. “Take it slow. I have a lot to teach you.”
Casting her eyes at the ground, the pegasus nodded. Cheerilee put a comforting hoof around her shoulders. “Come on. Let’s find you some blood.”
▼▼
The Hoofshire library was quiet in the early morning. A bronze-colored earth pony scoured a pile of old books, intent on information that had been buried for a long time. He paused to make a few notes, and returned to the books.
Teacup was fresh out of a job. No, more like fresh out of an existence. The china shop where he had worked for years was closed now. Mr. Crock, the owner, had been killed by the monster in the woods. Princess Luna had promised that the beast had been taken care of. Tea didn’t doubt her…much. With no job to occupy him, however, he was free to spend his time in the library searching for answers.
Perhaps it was his personal connection to a killing that had kept Tea going. He was the unfortunate pony who found Mr. Crock’s lifeless body. The stallion’s neck had nearly been chewed in two.
There were several kinds of dangerous animals that could have done it, but what creature would cause the Princess to personally oversee its removal? Tea figured it had to be something special, and so he had been slowly picking the library clean for reference materials related to predators.
It was unfortunately driving him mad trying to believe any of it. Some of these things couldn’t exist. They were just scary stories! And yet, strange as it sounded, the most unbelievable solution actually made the most sense. Tea just couldn’t wrap his mind around the idea of a vampire stalking the residents of Hoofshire.
The stallion left the library in the afternoon, walking past the closed china shop. It was there he’d learned to make all kinds of pottery and china. He had no idea where else he could find employment. Maybe washing dishes and glasses at a restaurant?
The forest called to him, strangely. Perhaps it was morbid curiosity. Maybe he just wanted to be alone. Tea left town, passing the spot where Princess Luna had stood the previous night. He walked aimlessly for a few minutes, catching sight of something ahead.
It was an iron cage, standing the middle of the forest. It didn’t look old, and Tea wondered how it could have possibly gotten there. Standing in the crowd with the Princess, he remembered the freakish cries that had come from the forest. Was this the place where they had originated? Cautiously, he crept forward.
The area was littered with hoof prints. There were some scuffs, as if a struggle had taken place. Tea saw nothing to indicate that any other creatures had been there.
What did this mean? Was the monster actually a pony? As if to drive home that realization, there was a sudden cry of fear and pain that echoed through the trees.
Tea froze for an instant. The injured creature—it might have been a bird—was not exactly close. The stallion backed away, quickly and quietly retracing his steps back towards town.
▼▼
In a shallow depression in the soil, a pony dug with his hooves. He'd been carefully scraping away earth for hours. A few locals gave him curious looks when the area around his workspace had been cordoned off, but most had lost interest shortly after the history-oriented equinologist began his work.
There was a scraping noise, and the pony paused. Carefully removing dirt, he uncovered a very old plank of word. Its rough surface had been carved with words. The digger leaned forward and brushed away caked soil, straining to read the letters. Dead Pony-ville
Glancing up from his hole, the stallion looked at a sign displaying the town's name that hung from a nearby building. It was similar, hauntingly so. Ponyville
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Good a new Vampire Cheerilee story. I can't wait to read it.
Nosfera-two? Nice... Or even... Cheers.
I believe I already have posted my comment to you :) If you ever read it that is...
But I am still looking forwards to the next chapter :)
A 100% increase just means it doubled though... [/math nerd]
Anyhow, WHOO, MOAR VAMPIRE CHEERILEE.
Dead...Pony-ville. Now, that does not make any sense in my mind.
Awaiting further releases.
1358781
While Ponyville is a town of ponies, Dead Pony-ville is a town of dead ponies.
Or, that's what seems to be the most obvious thing.
1358777
Exactly, and there was one before, that means now there are two. This must be the story where Cheerilee gets a sidekick.
Just leave it alone Teacup, looking into it further is only going to lead to tears and possibly death.
1358777 Ha Ha! The vampires have been doubled!
Well, Note not being able to kill a young girl properly makes more sense than my Rainbow Dash theory.
1358808
Ahh...very nostalgic.
I somewhat hope that is not the case though.
Applebloom barely escaped the horrors that is is the undead of The Everfree!
Favorited, thumbs upped.
Now time to read it
Oh, and comment. Because comments help stories get featured. And all Vampire Cheerilee stories need to get featured.
Conclusion
The blue pony walked forward into the trees (this makes it sound like another pony, not Luna, Midnight blue would work, as would any manner of 'royal' descriptions if you want to change it at all."
and headed for bed. (Cheerilee V sleeps now
)
Conclusion:
Oh you sneaky bastard you.
Ive never read the vampire Cheerilee series. Should I start from the beginning, or can I jump in here?
1359065
Either or. I guess I would recommend starting from the begining to get the full effect, but hopefully this story won't be hard to follow.
1359062
In previous stories I just said she didn't have to sleep much, sometimes going for days without it.
1359094
So it's more of a metaphorical tired which can be alleviated during rest? That would make since. The life of a vampire would be rather hard on the mind.
Yes, you can now be the source of my procrastination once more. //dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Twilight_crazy.png
Wow.
2 situation popped into my head when Cheerile said that "You have a lot to learn" to Golden
1. Batman and Robin superpony time!!
2. That Luna is having Cheerile teach Golden then kill Golden to make Cheerilee a more ruthless killing machine