The walk out of the Everfree was quiet to say the least. Not a single word was spoken for the entire walk nor a single creature approached. For they all feared Cole, the conduit, the hero, the vampire. The moon was high and the sky was clear. The small town of Ponyville was seen not far from the forest. “Everypony should be asleep, but since you’re a Vampony we can’t wait for the train station to open in the morning.” Twilight spoke. Cole thought it over as they came closer to the town. “Maybe we can just borrow the train, unless the rails are electric.” Cole sent out an electric pulse to search for electrical sources, he found one large one and a smaller one. “The only electricity in Ponyville is in the Hospital.” Cole looked in the direction of the electricity and saw the hospital; it was obvious, big and white with a large red cross above the entrance.
“Why would it matter if the train had electric rails?” Rainbow Dash wondered.
“I could use the current to reach the mountain, Camelot.” He answered.
“It’s Canterlot, not Camelot Cole.” Twilight corrected him.
Silence ruled them over again as they walked through the dimly lit streets. No lights were on in any of the buildings that lined the streets, not one besides from a single home that had changing lights and the sound of a bass dropping could be heard from their distance. He knew that was the small power source without even checking. Cole could feel a pair of eyes burrowing into the back of his head; he could guess who it was.
In the small house that shook from the music blasting, a window on the second floor opened and a grey pony with a black mane, sporting a white collar and a pink bowtie, leaned out while covering her ears. The music became much louder due to the open window. She scowled at the inside of the home then looked out the window. Her eyes caught Cole and six residents of Ponyville walking the streets. She stared, unblinking, at Cole from the window.
They arrived at the train station. The friendship express was sitting there. “This sure is colorful. Then again, what would you expect from a ‘magical’ land filled with ponies.” Cole spoke aloud. A hoof slapped the back of his head and he turned to see Rainbow Dash hovering there, “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked threateningly. He chuckled; she grew angrier and flew closer to him, her muzzle pressing against his nose. “Do you want to fight? I’ll take you on right here, right now!” she backed away and put her hooves up and punched the air a few times. Cole smiled and raised his arm; it came to life with red lightning. “Do you really think so?” his eyes streaked with lightning. Rainbow gulped and landed, Cole lowered his arm.
They turned to the train as they tried to figure out what to do, Cole still offered to ‘borrow’ the train for the trip, it was denied. Behind them, just around the station’s corner, two mares hid as they watched Cole. The grey mare from the window and a white unicorn with violet tinged glasses and a lightning blue mane. They whispered to each other, “What is that thing?”
“I have no idea Octy.” The white unicorn said. She smiled, “But did you see his leg or whatever that is?” She turned to
Octy excitedly, “That was awesome!”
“Awesome is not the word I’d use Vinyl.”
Cole could hear them and used his Vampire sense to find them. He turned to the corner and didn’t see them but he knew
they were still there. “What’s wrong Cole? Is something there?” Twilight asked. He nodded and motioned for them to stay before using shadow storm to fly around the corner, both mares screamed as the bats flew past. They watched as the bat swarm stopped and Cole appeared with his arms crossed, his red eyes glowing in the gloom. The two held each other and stared up at him. “What are you doing?” They flinched and tried to make themselves as small as possible. The six ponies galloped next to Cole and the cowering ponies. “How did you do that Cole? I didn’t know you could do that!” Twilight asked.
“It’s the only perk for being a Vampire.” He scowled, “It makes the hunger grow though.” Twilight gave him a nervous look. “Don’t worry it’s not enough to make me lose control.” She sighed in relief and she turned to the mares that were still embracing. “Octavia, Vinyl! How are you two doing?” They looked at Twilight then at each other and pulled away blushing. Vinyl answered, her voice cracking, “We’re. Ahem. We’re fine Twilight. Just a little scares from… that.” She pointed a hoof at Cole. He held his hand out, “I’m Cole MacGrath.” The ponies stared at his outstretched hand. Cole crouched down and made a fist, “How’s this?” He asked. Vinyl hoof-bumped his fist with a smile, Octavia waved and smiled nervously.
“Hey Kale…”
“It’s Cole.”
“Cole, sorry, but was that lightshow part of being a vampire too?”
“No it’s not. That’s something I’d rather not get into.” He dismissed the question. Vinyl’s face fell.
“Oh… Alright bro… Um did you kill somepony?” she asked when the question entered her mind. Cole shook his head.
“No, well nearly but that was last night.” He stated before turning and walking back to the train. He looked back; the others were talking to Octavia and Vinyl so he hoped up to the door and opened it. The inside was filled with coal and a furnace with a lever next to it. Cole gripped the lever and pulled, the train’s locks clicked off.
Back in Canterlot Luna was going through Cole’s bag to see if there were any evil plans inside. All she found was a Walkie-talkie, the RFI, a blast core, a camera, and a map of New Marais. She dropped the bag and began examining Cole’s new amp/stake. Iron, silver, and wood was all it was made of. She scanned it with her magic and found the cross at the end opposite of the wood was filled with strange magic. It seemed to be a relic of some kind; she brought the Barbed Cross closer and touched it with her hoof. Nothing happened. She continued to examine the weapon until a loud noise filled the room, making her drop it. “Kzzzzzzz… Cole… Kzzzzzzz… You there buddy? Kzzzzzzz...” It was coming from Cole’s Walkie-talkie. Luna walked over to the item and watched as it continued to make noise, “Kzzzzzzz… Please… Up…”
She put the Walkie-talkie back in Cole’s bag and pulled out the steel sphere. There were very large spaces in the center that showed a glass cylinder with two small steel rods that left a space in the center. She couldn’t figure out what it was so she put it back and pulled out the glowing rock that was the blast core. She held it in front of her, feeling immense power in this rock. She reached her hoof out to touch this and a bolt struck her hoof and went up her leg and into her head, a second bolt struck her horn. Touching the blast core made her see New Marais and those that suffered there before Cole appeared to save them and left. It then showed her Empire City. A very large city that had similarities with Manehattan, everything seemed peaceful, calm, and quiet.
Then an explosion occurs in the center of the city, a white sphere expands, buildings collapse and break under the power of the bomb before the sphere envelopes the city. She’s blinded for a moment before she sees Cole rising from the very center of the explosion. His body coming alive with blue lightning; the vision ended with Cole’s infamous name. She dropped the rock and threw it in Cole’s bag before throwing the bag at a wall with her magic and trotting to wake her sister and their Guard Captain. The Walkie-Talkie continued to speak after she left; muffled by the bag it was inside, the voice on the other end losing its vigor.
Luna slammed open the door to her sister’s room, waking her up in the process. Celestia lay irritated in her bed, “Yes Lulu?” though she didn’t show it. Luna closed the door and told her about what she found, “Tia, we-I was looking through MacGrath’s saddlebag and I found a strange glowing rock. I touched it and it showed me what happened before he came here.”
“What did you see?”
“I saw him at the center of an explosion that destroyed half a city that reminds us-me of Manehattan.”
Celestia yawned, “I’m sure it’s not what you think.”
“We know what we saw Tia. He is evil.”
Celestia rose from her bed, “Please show me this ‘rock’ Luna.” Celestia donned her jewelry and stretched shortly before following Luna to the bag. The Walkie-talkie had stopped chattering seconds before they arrived. Celestia brought the bag over and opened it, she was intrigued by the RFI and the map but she used her magic to bring the Blast Core out. Luna told her to touch it. Celestia did, she tapped it with her hoof, the same thing that happened to Luna happened to her. She saw the explosion and Cole rise from the center. Then she saw televisions and news reports of a gang-the Reapers- that had accumulated strange powers and were taking over Empire City.
They also showed Cole’s picture.
The story with Cole said that he was the cause of all that had happened, and they dubbed him the Demon of Empire City. The core then showed her what he had done since then, saving people and doing everything he could while the city was against him. It then showed her New Marais and the things he had done, disarming blast shard bombs, stopping the Militia, and going out of his way to help people. The vision ended. Celestia put the rock back in his bag and left the bag where it was. “I’m sure he has an explanation. Let us bring him here. Please alert Shining armor.” Celestia said as her horn glowed brightly. Luna left to awaken the Captain.
Cole was watching the ponies as they calmed down. He was leaning against the train with his arms crossed over his chest, answering a few questions when they were asked. Suddenly he felt a warm presence wrap him as a golden aura surrounded him. The ponies turned to see a white flash then nothing. Twilight turned to her friends, “Girls, let’s take the balloon.” They hesitantly nodded and ran off to enter the large pink balloon’s brown basket. Rainbow dash and Fluttershy meanwhile gripped the rope in their teeth as they dragged the balloon towards Canterlot faster. Vinyl and Octavia were sitting in the basket; Vinyl had dragged Octavia along unwillingly.
Cole appeared with a white flash back in the throne room and immediately fell to his knees, his body was smoking. “What the hell was that?” he asked himself as he stood up to see Celestia and Luna. “How’d I get up here Celestia?” he asked.
“We know who thou art Demon of Empire City.” Luna said.
“Really? So you know what happened? About the Beast and everything?” he asked. Luna gave him a confused look, “I thought not.” He looked to Celestia, “How did you get this information?”
“Luna was looking through your bag and we found a glowing rock. It showed us the explosion in your home. It didn’t tell us
about any beast. And before I forget. Were you the cause of the flash in the Everfree forest?”
“Yeah that was me.”
“What happened?”
“Your student attacked me, Twilight was her name.” He said, “She got hurt but I didn’t hurt her intentionally.”
“What happened exactly?”
“Well I finished sustaining the hunger and found a Zebra, shortly after the sun was too high for me to reach this place.” He started. “I saved her from a few wooden wolves and took a nap in her home. When I woke up Twilight was staring at me in shock.” He chuckles, “She thought I hurt Zecora. I tried to explain but she shot me with some magic and I fell in some soup that Zecora was making. Electricity and water don’t mix. Being soaked by the soup, I couldn’t control my powers and bolts of lightning shot off me randomly. She got struck by a few of them; I got out of the hut before I did any more damage. I had Zecora bring a few clouds over her hut so I could heal myself with the lightning. That was the flash.”
“Twilight is fine I suppose?” Celestia asked, Cole confirmed. Luna’s horn glowed, gripping something out of Cole’s field of vision. “And what of the explosion in Empire City.”
“That’s how I found out I was a conduit. The explosion would’ve killed anyone else. Instead it awoke my powers. As for the bomb, I was given a letter telling me to pick up a gift in the center of the city. I opened the box and you know the rest.” He explained as he walked over to his bag and opened the bag to make sure everything was still there, it was. He took out the Blast Core and held it in his hand as he swung his bag over his shoulder and stuck his vampire killing amp on the bag. “So this thing showed you that?” They nodded, “Well this is residue from a similar explosion. It’ll increase my powers.” Cole said before pouring power into it, lightning began flowing off of him as he nearly finished absorbing the energy. Just then Luna blasted Cole back, making him drop the Blast Core. He recovered quickly; the blast core began floating in the Alicorn’s blue field as she brought it away from Cole.
Cole began walking towards them before his Walkie-talkie went off again. “Cole…” He stopped and pulled out the black box and pressed the button on the side, “Zeke? Zeke is that you?” the Talkie went silent before Zeke laughed, it glitched over the radio. “Man Cole… It’s good to… that… alive. You keep… out though.” He said. Cole made it out, “You’re cutting out too Zeke. Don’t worry I’m alive and still a bloodsucker.” The line went silent for a second. “Damn.” Was his only response. Cole looked back to the others and asked, “Hey could you use magic to fix this problem?”
“I don’t know what might happen.” Celestia said. Cole thanked her and tossed the box. It stopped in mid-air due to Celestia’s aura. She focused and let her magic flow into the box. Zeke wasn’t talking. The box glowed yellow before returning to its black color. She gave it back to Cole and he pressed the button, “Zeke. You still there?” Silence. Cole sighed.
“Um Cole, am I seeing shit or did this just turn yellow?” the box spoke.
Cole laughed, “Don’t worry about it buddy. I’ll tell you about what’s happened later.”
“Alright then. See ‘ya later Cole.” Cole clipped the box onto his bag and thanked the princess. He looked out the window and saw a balloon was landing. He saw a purple flash at the balloon then he felt cold water fall over him. His powers went haywire again, bolts shooting out and spreading across the water as well as scorching the white pillars and lighting the carpet on fire. Cole stepped out of the water that was on the ground and stood as the heat from the lightning dried him off. He looked around angrily, revealing his fangs. Two guards were on the floor with lightning still streaking across their armor. Cole lifted one up and set him down next to the other. His hands came to life and he brought them down, Celestia watched as a visible pulse shot away from his hands and hit the second guard. Both guards spasm violently before standing up.
Cole opened the large doors to the throne room; Twilight appeared with the same purple flash he had seen outside next to him. He smiled and turned to Shining armor, “See she’s perfectly fine.” He took a few steps towards Shining before grabbing his head in pain, a very familiar pain. “No. No!” he shouted, his head felt like it was being run over by a train. A silky feminine voice spoke, “Ha, ha, ha. You did. That’s why you aren’t under my control right now.” Twilight was asking him what was wrong; he could only hear Bloody Mary. “Well Cole, this time you will be mine and so will these ponies.” She laughed then his head stopped hurting. That’s when he heard Twilight. “Cole! Can you hear me?!” she was yelling.
He shook his head to clear his mind before answering, “Yeah, I’m fine.” She asked him what happened, “Turns out I didn’t kill Bloody Mary. She’s somewhere in this world.” He strode back and asked for the Blast Core. Luna didn’t give it to him, “Why dost thou need it?” she asked.
“I need all the power I can get if I want to take on Mary.” He said simply. Celestia asked Luna to give him the Core. She did as her elder ask and he told them to stand back. As he got ready to activate the Core Celestia asked him, “What are you going to do?”
He smiled, “I’m going vampire hunting.” He put power into the Core and grunted in pain as it began shocking him back. Once it had enough power it was absorbed into Cole’s body and his limbs shot out as lightning shot off his body, creating a wall of red streaks. The lightning lasted a second before it stopped and he collapsed.
Swift Mind had gone back into the dungeons to alert Chrysalis of what happened. He had reached it without problem and activated the spell. Chrysalis appeared before him, “What do you have to report?” she asked. He told her of what happened earlier and the powers he had seen Cole use, as told by the guards who were there. She thanked him for the information and he left. Chrysalis turned to Bloody Mary, “Ms. Mary, are you sure you can control Cole? He sounds very powerful.” Bloody Mary laughed and put her hand under Chrysalis’s muzzle, “Don’t worry about him. I can handle him.” She released Chrysalis, “He’s probably going to look for me, and I’m going to need a few children of my own to help.” Chrysalis hesitantly agreed. Bloody Mary smiled and left in her scarlet mist to turn a few Changelings. They screeched as she attacked. Chrysalis felt guilty for allowing this monster to live but she wanted revenge on the princesses.
An hour and a half later Cole woke from his sleep in a bed. He ignored this fact when he remembered where he was. He looked around; the room looked like a penthouse. He saw his bag on a nightstand and put it on after standing up. He left the room, it was still dark out and two guards were waiting for him. They guided him to a large ball room that was decorated for a party. “Cole you’re awake! Welcome to your Thank you for saving Twilight/Welcome to Equestria/Sorry for attacking you party!” Pinkie Pie said as she popped out from a chocolate fountain. He smiled, “Thanks Pinks.” She hugged him and apologized again before bouncing off to dunk her head in the chocolate fountain. He laughed and shook his head before walking up to the others that were seated around a table.
Moar!
Not what I expected but brilliant![:pinkiehappy:](https://static.fimfiction.net/images/emoticons/pinkiehappy.png)
1873240![:pinkiecrazy:](https://static.fimfiction.net/images/emoticons/pinkiecrazy.png)
Shining is in the next chapter.
Oh ok
![:twilightsmile:](https://static.fimfiction.net/images/emoticons/twilightsmile.png)
More more more.