Everypony believes that the princesses have always ruled over Equestria. But that is wrong. For before there was a world of harmony....there was a World of Darkness.
Equestria is a bright and shining kingdom. Its residents are content and safe in their idealic lives, thanks to the efforts of their benevolent princesses. And it has been as such for centuries. ...Or so everypony has always thought. But when an ancient sarcophagus is dredged up off the coast, Manehatten- and Equestria at large- will have to face the truth that there was something older in the world. A civilization and predators that moved through its shadows.
For before there was a world of harmony....there was a World of Darkness.
Elegant doors made of hardwood were staved in by a sturdy, black, steel toed boot. A young woman of asian descent swept through the shattered remains a moment later, angry steel grey eyes staring across the palatial penthouse room before her. It was an island of old world finery in the middle of downtown Los Angeles. Oil paintings in the style of european masters hung from white, golden trimmed wall panels, depicting scenes of war and courtly intrigue. Heavy curtains in the same color and style blocked the windows.
The woman couldn’t look more out of place. Bullet holes riddled her black t-shirt, the white fanged skull that marked it nearly unrecognizable now. At one point, she had been wearing a heavy brown trenchcoat, but it had been lost a few floors down. Her pants were less tattered, but still held their share of bullet holes. Slowly oozing wounds, inflicted by the same bullets were traced across her skin. And yet, despite the damage that should have been lethal, she still stood. A heavy fire axe, stolen from the basement of a dilapidated hotel, was clutched in her hands, its blade stained with a mixture of ash and blood. Blood, fresh and as red as the dye that ran through the front of her long black hair.
A few drops of that blood splattered against the expensive oriental rug that ran up to a wide, heavy looking desk that had proudly been declared an antique by the man standing behind it. Sebastian LaCroix, was as refined as his opponent was grungy. His jaw was set with an indignant rage and he tugged at the silver cufflinks of his dark grey dress shirt with a nervous energy. With his darker grey tie, black suit and pale complexion, he would almost be monochrome if not for his short cropped blonde hair and green eyes.
For a moment, hateful glares were the only thing exchanged. But then LaCroix folded his hands behind his back and smiled, strained though it was.
“Miss Sun. It is customary to leave a message with my secretary if you wish to speak with me, rather than conduct an armed assault on the building.”
Sun Shang’s lip curled into a sneer, revealing her fangs for canines. “Oh, shove it up your ass your sanctimonious piece of euro-trash!”
LaCroix sneered back, his own fangs gleaming in the light of the room. “I will see you burn for this betrayal fledgeling! How you could possibly turn against your own kind-”
With a roar of rage Sun charged forward, blurring across the room with a speed beyond anything a human could achieve, bringing her fire axe down in a vicious overhead smash. LaCroix moved just as quickly, snaking backwards like an aristocratic viper. The axe strike smashed deep into the expensive marble tile of the floor sending cracks radiating out from the point LaCroix had been standing a moment before. Still accelerated, LaCroix grabbed the edge of his desk, whipping it towards Sun.
Throwing her shoulder into the oncoming piece of furniture, Sun crashed through it, already swinging her weapon in a frenzied flurry of strikes. There was no finesse in her swings. No planning or technique. Only anger. The kind of anger that could only come from someone with nothing to lose.
“You are not my kind,” Sun roared, driving LaCroix back towards a corner of the room, step by step, “you fucking vampiric piece of shit! I never asked for this! I’m done with your rules and traditions!” One of her cross swings caught LaCroix across the chest, metal tearing a jagged wound through Armani silk and dead flesh. “I’m finished with being used as a pawn by every blood sucking prick in this damn city! And damn your bullshit society of the darkest night!”
Another over the head smash was stopped by LaCroix grabbing the haft of the axe. The two vampires grappled over the weapon, LaCroix practically spitting at his younger opponent. “So the wandering child shows her true colors? I should have killed you the moment you stepped foot into my city!”
“Yeah, well, you didn’t,” Sun almost smirked as she ripped the axe from LaCroix’s hands. A solid kick to the stomach sent him staggering back into a rectangular stone sarcophagus, tucked into a corner of the room.
The Ankaran Sarcophagus. Sun knew it well. Almost since the had arrived in LA, LaCroix had sent her after the thing for the power that supposedly rested within. Tracking from one end of the city to the other, bickering with and being manipulated by other vampires, being chased and hunted by monsters. But now, that wasn’t going to be happening. Ever again.
“How could someone as low as you injure me?” LaCroix sputtered. “You think you’ve won? That you’ve taken everything away from me? Well, I still have my sarcophagus!”
A predatory smile crossed Sun’s lips. “But you don’t have the key.”
LaCroix laughed. “Yes! You do! Just as I sent you out to do! You’ve done all the work for me once again. So much to learn. But here you are, having sailed in on a Gehenna wind, bearing my salvation!”
“Funny you should mention the end of the world LaCroix. Because your end is coming soon,” Sun grinned.
“Enough of your prattle! Give. Me. The key.”
There was a sensation of weight on Sun’s mind, a pressure that was pushing in from all sides, telling her to give in. To obey the man before her. But Sun reached up to a golden cross hanging around her neck, grabbing it firmly in her hand. Warmth radiated through her body and mind, pushing the dark sensations away.
“Fuck you.”
“I said, give. Me. The. Key!”
“Don’t waste your time trying to dominate me,” Sun smirked, tapping her cross. “You’re done. You’re all fucking done. Every last one of you. I didn’t bring the key with me. I gave it to my new friends. No becoming a vampire god king for you!”
“Who-”
“My compliments, Sebastian, you couldn’t have picked a more capable operative.”
Another asian woman now entered the room, older and more elegant than Sun. Dressed in green silk chinese style dress, emblazoned with a golden leaf pattern, she had an almost casual smile on her face as she picked her way through the remains of the door. A half dozen men, dressed in black pants and simple orange tops designed to invoke the feel of a shaolin temple stormed in behind her, assault rifles trained firmly on LaCroix.
“Did you find your way up alright Ming?” Sun asked. “I wasn’t sure I left a clear enough path.”
“The destruction you wrought was quite impressive. We found our way.”
LaCroix’s eyes widened in shock. He scrambled back, almost pressing himself against the prize that he had sought so hard. “Ming Xiao? You would side with those asian devils over us? Whatever kinship you might have shared in life means nothing in death, you fool!”
Sun raised an eyebrow, casually slinging her axe over her shoulder. “...So, what, just because we’re both Chinese that automatically makes us kin? I know you're a few hundred years behind the times but that’s totally racist dude.”
“Act serious for once in your miserable unlife!” LaCroix shouted, slamming a fist off the sarcophagus lid. “Do you understand what you’ve done? They’re going to kill us all! They’ll-”
“Destroy every western vampire in this city that they can find. And once they’re done here, they’ll keep on going. Ever wider from Los Angeles, until every damn vampire is dead,” Sun smiled, glancing over at her ally. “What was it that you called it Ming?”
“The Great Leap Outward,” Ming Xiao answered with a slight bow of her head, before giving LaCroix a smug smile. “I hope you appreciate the irony LaCroix. You delivered your own destruction right into my hands.”
“Right, that!” Sun grinned. “So yes, I know what she and her people are going to do. In fact, I’m counting on it.”
“You...why?”
“Because your...organization,” Sun spat, stalking towards the vampire, “tore me away from my home and my family. You turned me into a blood sucking, walking corpse. I haven’t seen the sun or eaten a bite of food in five damn years!” Grabbing LaCroix by his hair with her free hand, she slammed him face first into the floor. “And considering what you did to my sister when she found me, you have some unmitigated fucking gall to ask me why I think the world would better off if every last vampire was gone!”
LaCroix managed to twist his head to the side as looked from Sun to Ming to her gun wielding guards and back again. “You do know that she’ll destroy you too?” he asked Sun.
Sun gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “Na. We cut a deal. I help take out you and keep that power up behind you out of vampire hands and she’ll help me find a cure to this cursed existence. She’ll help me become human again!”
Ming looked over at Sun, motioning towards LaCroix. “He’s yours Sun. Finish this.”
Sun grabbed the fire axe firmly in both her hands, raising it high over her head. “Goodbye LaCroix. Every moment I’ve been a part of this fucking organization has been a sheer nightmare.”
LaCroix didn’t fight or try to run, just keeping his head down. “She can’t give you what doesn’t exist.”
The axe came down, LaCroix’s head went tumbling to the ground, his whole body collapsing into ash a moment later. Sun sighed, glad that it was finally done. No more running at the beck and call of vampires who thought that the light bulb was a fascinating invention.
“So, what’s our next mov-” she began to ask as she turned to face Ming.
But as she turned Ming Xiao moved like lightning. Before Sun even realized what was happening, a wooden stake punched right through her heart. She didn’t even have time to cry out as she toppled to the ground, paralyzed by the shard of wood lodged in her chest.
Ming watched Sun collapse with a snort, motioning to her. “Take her and prepare to move the sarcophagus.”
- - - -
The lights of Los Angeles were distant behind Ming Xiao now, the boat her ally had chartered having done a fine job in racing across the waves. The fact that the captain of this fishing vessel was the unscrupulous type, willing to not ask questions about the massive stone burial receptacle that had been hauled aboard was another boon. Looking down at the main deck from just behind the wheelhouse, she frowned at her men as they scrambled to lash heavy chains and irons around the sarcophagus. There would be no doubt that it, and its new occupant, would be sent to the bottom of the sea. And yet….
“You should have let me kill her,” she glowered, glancing at her companion. “Her kind is an abomination.”
The man at her side was handsome. For a westerner at least. His striking blonde hair seemed to come with a natural wind tossed look that enhanced his almost perfectly classical features. He was dressed casually, his open white button down shirt flapping in the ocean breeze, dark shorts stopping just above the knee. Like Ming, he glowered at the scene but after a minute shook his head.
“What she is, is cursed. The end result of a whole legion of bad decisions and mistakes. Show some respect for what she’s doing for us.”
“Yes...because she really has a choice,” Ming huffed, rolling her eyes.
“We do what we must, to remove the weight from the axle of the world-”
“So that the Wheel of Ages does not break,” Ming sighed. “I...am aware, Lou.”
“Then remain aware. If this world has a chance to survive, then sacrifices must be made.”
A squealing shriek tore through the air, the sarcophagus grinding against the metal of the deck as it was pushed to the edge. Ming watched it with a wary gaze, before shaking her head. “Let us hope that this sacrifice does not come back to haunt us.”
The door to the wheelhouse swung open, their captain- Ming believed his name was Phil- leaning out. Scarred, tattooed and with salt and pepper hair that came from a hard career, he peered past Ming and Lou towards the sarcophagus.
“Scratchin’ my boat is going to cost extra you know.”
How dare he make demands! Ming thought, but Lou just raised a hand.
“Acceptable. Are we there yet?”
He nodded. “Passed the edge of the continental shelf just a little while ago. Whatever ya toss over here ain’t coming back. So...you know. Be sure.” His eyes roamed almost greedily over the mass of stone, ready to topple over the edge. “Cause I’m sure that some museum or something might be interested in buying that.”
Lou sighed. “Do it Ming.”
Ming Xiao barked out a command in Chinese, her men jumping into action. Arms and shoulders hit solidly against the ancient rock, another round of screeches filling the air as the sarcophagus pitched violently. For a moment, it seemed to hang, precariously balanced on the edge of the deck, in a gap of the gunwale. Then it toppled over, the the dark waters of the Pacific swallowing it whole in a moment. The deed was done.
“Captain, if you could return us to the city please?” Lou asked, the words coming out tired, almost as if he was dreading what was to come.
Their captain nodded. “Aye. Best we get going anyway. Radar’s picking up the beginning of a storm. Don’t want to be caught in it.”
Ming looked towards the horizon as he ducked back into the wheelhouse. Indeed, a storm was brewing. She had been feeling it for months now, this vague feeling of dread always looming over the horizon. Change was coming and it was coming soon. It was just a question of whether or not any of them would make it through to see what would be on the other side. That kindred would be spared seeing the chaos to come at any rate.
One thing was sure. The world was probably never going to be the same.
The rain fell in dark, grey sheets, pouring down on the heads of those ponies stuck working underneath it, mixing with the waves that splashed over the edge of their fishing trawler. The mixed crew of earth ponies, pegasi and a few wandering giffins scrambled about the deck, more resembling the denizens of a kicked over anthill than sailors. Most raced to keep their spare nets lashed down lest the rolling motion of their ship toss them into the ocean.
Red Claw watched them out of the corner of her eye while she grappled with the controls to the two massive nets that already hung off either edge of the boat. Her rain poncho flapped in the storm’s wind, almost useless against the driving mix of rain and ocean spray. The griffin growled under her breath, dearly wishing that she had legendary weather resistance of her pegasi crewmates as the water ran down her coat and feathers in rivulets that might as well have been torrential rivers. Not that her mood was being helped by the stupid net controls, that wouldn’t stupidly raise so they could turn the stupid ship around and get out of here.
As she grappled with levers and dials half frozen by rust and a lack of repairs, Red Claw wondered what powers that be she had offended to wind up in this position, working on a fishing vessel disreputable enough to make crazed storm runs like this one.
They had steamed out of Manehatten running no lights, to attract no attention and- assuming the storm tossing them about like a cork didn’t send them to the bottom- would try and slip back into port before the morning light of Celestia illuminated everything. All so that they could sell their catch without paying any taxes on it. Oh yes, Captain Skinflint was a credit to his name, that was for sure.
“This worthless piece of junk!” she cursed, slamming a taloned fist down on the console before grabbing the control lever with both and yanking it with all her power. Rusted gears ground against each other, straining against the years of neglect that Captain Skinflint had put them through. “No...amount...of...fish…,” she grunted through a clenched beak, “are worth...this!”
With a loud banging snap the lever slammed back into the raise position, Red Claw tumbling back with a shocked squawk. Crane winches groaned and line creaked as their trawling nets were pulled from the silty ocean floor. Scrabbling upright, Red Claw watched their bounty break the surface of the eastern ocean. Even more water poured off the bulging nets, swinging precariously in the air. Red Claw frowned, her experienced eyes already picking up a problem. The right net was hanging heavy. Far too heavy for the amount of flounder and other bottom dwellers stuffed into it.
“Clear the deck!” she yelled, grabbing for another lever. “Overload coming over!”
Fishers scrambled to get out from under the shadow of the bulging net. For the moment it was holding, but Red Claw could practically see the line quivering at the strain that was being put on it. What in the name of Discord’s mismatched horns had they managed to dredge up?
More waves tossed over the deck as a particularly large swell of water slammed into the hull. The right crane was whipped by the sudden roll of the ship, the motion cracking its way down the line. Rope tore itself apart and Red Claw’s stomach dropped right along with it. Flounder, sole and halibut splattered down upon the heads of her fellow crew like some kind of Discord summoned rain. But worse than the lost profit was the fact that something else plummeted with it.
The dark shape struck the deck with a thunderous clang, so loud that Red Claw could feel the vibrations rattle through the metal and right up her paws and talons. A softer bang, this one of the door to the wheelhouse smacking open, chased right on the heels of the first.
Captain Skinflint peered down at the deck, the wind and sea spray doing a fine job of blowing his bushy white beard almost sideways.
“Sound off! Is everypony okay down there?”
One by one the calls came, the chaotic churn of the ship settling as the storm’s fury began to lessen, almost as quickly as it had arisen. Once all the sailors under his command had confirmed that they weren’t seriously injured, Skinflint scrambled down to the deck to examine what had made such a racket. Red Claw found herself looking the same direction, curiosity pushing its way to the front of my mind now that the danger had passed.
There was a great stone coffin on the deck of her ship. A stone coffin that some creature had wrapped iron weights around. Even from her position at the crane controls, she could just barely make out the indentations of carvings on its surface. The ones that weren’t covered by algae and barnacles that is. The whole thing made Red Claw immediately nervous. The coffin seemed like the kind of thing that would crop up in the adventure stories she liked reading as a chick. A weird, strange, alien thing that someone had obviously gone to great trouble to dump into the drink. And yet, somehow, she already knew what her captain’s decision was going to be.
Skinflint slowly paced around it, taking great care to not trip on the chains and weights sprawling out from it like the arms of a great octopus. After three such circuits, he looked up at his crew with a smile.
“It’s old, that’s for sure. Looks like this particular voyage won’t be a complete loss,” he declared. Smug glee was practically radiating off his words. He pointed a hoof skyward. “Because we are going to sell this thing!”
Red Claw groaned, quickly stepping forward. “Captain, this is a bad idea. Just look at the thing! I’d say that the chains are a dead give away that somepony didn’t want this thing found.”
Skinflint waved her off, running a hoof over the surface of the sarcophagus. “Those Manehatten museum types know what they’re doing. After all, how many artifacts from old warlords and dark mages have they put on display over the years?”
“After they made sure they weren’t dangerous!”
“And I’m sure they’ll do that here. Now, let’s get back to Manehattan! Double time!”
- - - -
Manehatten’s docks were always busy. Even in the late afternoon, with night fast approaching, ships came and went, unloading and loading cargo. The clanging of metal, the creak of ropes, the scrape of wooden crates against each other and the grunts of ponies straining to move their cargo all came together into one cacophony of industry. One pony trotted resolutely through it all, unconcerned about the noise and crowd.
Deep Digger probably couldn’t have stood out more from the dock toughs that surrounded her. A dark brown jacket was neatly buttoned over a pale, mint green coat, while a pair of thin wire rimmed glasses were balanced on the edge of her snout. Even her pale pink mane was done up in a tight bun. The overall effect was such that ponies tended to think that she was a librarian. While the questions did get tiring at times, Deep Digger couldn’t entirely blame them. And being a professor wasn’t all that far from being a librarian. There was just more refinement in the knowledge she carried.
Pressing onwards her tail flicked back and forth almost as if she was being tormented by invisible flies. In reality, she was being tormented by the fact that the Manehattan Historical Society had effectively been scooped by a bunch of random treasure hunters...again. It was bad enough when Daring Do waltzed in with some new trinket to show off. At least she was an archaeologist, albeit a very reckless and adventure seeking one. But a bunch of fishers this time? Something would have to be done about this.
Working her way past all of the large container ships, Deep Digger came to the smaller docks, where where both private ships and smaller commercial vessels moored themselves. It didn’t take long to find the ship she was looking for. The grumpy griffin had described it quite clearly as “the rust bucket with just a bit of red near the gunwale” when she dropped into Digger’s office.
Things seemed to be off to a promising start. As she climbed the lowered gangplank, she could see that a large tarp had been thrown over something large in the middle of the deck. So they had indeed found something. It was just a question of what that something was and if it was a historical artifact or a great big rock. She had barely set one hoof on the deck when a craggy old thing of a stallion swooped down on her. The lines of age and a hard life were clearly carved in his dark sea green coat. Grinning past his bushy white beard, he threw a hoof over Digger’s back, practically embracing her.
“Greetings professor! Captain Skinflint at your service. Welcome to my humble ship,” he crowed, gently steering her towards the tarped object. “Now, what I’ve found here….”
Digger cut him off with a raised hoof. “Please let me assess what we have here Captain. I am the professional in this field.”
Skinflint stumbled for a moment, but quickly recovered both his upbeat mood. Turning to the members of his crew that were standing near the item he waved a hoof. “You all heard the mare! Show her what we got!”
The cover was whisked away with a flourish, and Deep Digger’s breath caught in her throat. Carved stone, clearly worked patterns and a geometric shape? This was anything but a rock. Her eyes roamed over the tangled mess of brine soaked chains that coiled around receptacle, pausing on the logographic symbols carved into the heavy weights on their ends. Their style looked completely different from what carvings she could make on the sides of the sarcophagus. Trotting closer, Digger slipped a small pick out of her saddlebags and set to carefully chipping away some of the built up barnacles. Even as she worked though, she could practically feel Skinflint breathing down her neck.
“Err...professor, you kind of have to buy,” he began.
“I’m making sure it’s worth my organization’s bits,” Digger shot back, not bothering to look up. “We do have budgets to concern ourselves with.”
With the covering of slime and barnacle partially chipped away the carvings became paradoxically clearer and more mysterious at the same time. The one figure she had uncovered was bipedal, like a minotaur but with a flatter face. It was sitting, drinking a bowl of some kind of liquid.
The glyphs on the chains look kirin to me but these carvings are more ibexian...but show a completely unknown species. Digger tilted her head up, examining the lid. And that looks like a keyhole of some kind...this is definitely a find. Just play it cool.
She straightened up. “I will give you twenty thousand bits for it and not a coin more.”
“Thirty. Took me a lot of trouble to haul that up from the depths.”
Digger didn’t flinch. This was something she was used to. “Twenty two and you’ll deliver it for me. Your ship is a fishing vessel. This is more than what your usual market value would be on a haul. Take it, or I will walk and you’ll have something that’s useless, taking up space on your ship.”
She smiled internally watching the internal debate playing out behind the stallion’s eyes. “Fine,” he sighed. “I accept your terms.”
“Excellent! Bring it to the Society tomorrow morning. Bright and early, if you please. I’ll have your money waiting for you.”
Striding back off the ship, Deep Digger resisted the urge to jump for joy. If her hunch was right, the royal grants that would be coming their way would be staggering!
- - - -
The Manehattan Historical Society was easy to miss if one didn’t know what they were looking for. While the building was large, it was also largely unassuming. Constructed of white marble, it’s face consisted of eight columns, with seven banks of windows between them, set above a pair of double wooden doors. Still, those doors did see dozens of ponies going through them daily. Mostly academics and ponies who had a love of history. In fact, since the ascension of Princess Twilight Sparkle there was a persistent rumor that the “princess of books” had her own private lab somewhere in the basement. Though, depending on who you asked that lab was in most of the museums and libraries in the country.
As Celestia pushed the sun into the morning sky Deep Digger waited in a room at the back of the building. The loading docks were a wide, empty room, designed to allow plenty of room for carts and the rare motorized vehicle to come right into the museum. And perhaps more importantly it ran right into artifact storage, making things nice and simple for her and her co-workers to unload delivered finds. Steaming cup of coffee supported by her magic, she sipped at it with an absent minded lack of energy. Her mind was already running over the plan of attack for the upcoming examination.
“You’re sure about this thing, Digs?”
Professor Far Sight always was the downer of the office. Digger imagined it was because he was also the pony in charge of the museum's money. The rose colored pegasus was resting on his haunches, watching the rolling steel door that was currently wide open when he wasn’t glancing at the stuffed to nearly bursting money pouch next to Digger.
“I know what I looked at Far,” Digger responded evenly. “Styles reminiscent of multiple cultures but with an unknown species depicted. The wear and grime were consistent with being submerged in seawater for an extended period of time. I would put the chances of it being a forgery to be quite low.”
“Fair enough I suppose...but couldn’t you have worked the price down some more?”
“He asked for thirty to start with.” Digger took another sip. “I think that twenty-two is quite reasonable.”
Far Sight clucked his tongue. “Of course you would. What was your department’s budget back at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns again?”
Ignoring the dig about her old job, Digger plucked a golden watch from the pocket of her tweed blazer. Celestia’s sun cutie-mark was stamped into the front, the watch being a farewell present from her monarch and headmaster when she had moved onto this position. It was approaching eight o’clock and Digger found herself mentally kicking herself for not setting a specific time instead of just a general “bright and early”. If Captain Skinflint took too much longer she’d have to give the artifact handlers their union mandated break before any work could get done. Already they were lingering around the room, fidgeting with boredom.
But then her ears twitched to the sound of hooves clip-clopping on stone and the groan of wood straining under a massive weight. A moment later a cart creaked around the edge of the open doorway. Pulled by two of the burly stallions from Skinflint’s crew, the captain was perched atop the sarcophagus- which was covered by the tarp again-, chest puffed out like some pirate captain at the bow of his sleek cutter.
“Good morning! I have your prize, as agreed! Now, where’s my money?”
“Hold on,” Far Sight interjected. “Let me take a closer look at this thing. I want to see what we’re buying here.”
Skinflint grinned, hopping down and pulling the tarp away in one smooth motion. Digger allowed herself a satisfied smirk as Far Sight’s eyes went wide and he slowly began to examine all of the intricate details of the sarcophagus.
Skinflint banged his hoof against its stony side. “So, do we have a deal or not?”
Deep Digger pressed the bag of bits against Skinflint’s chest. “Deal. Alright everypony! Let's get it into the lab!”
The half dozen artifact handlers swarmed forward with a pair of pallet trucks. Slowly and ever so carefully, the stone construct was edged off Skinflint’s cart and lowered onto the rollers. The handlers puffed and grunted, muscles straining against the weight as they fought against having their legs buckle.
“Woah!” one shouted, the rear end suddenly shooting up, the front edge almost slipping out of the front handlers hooves. But they quickly managed to recover and with a final grinding crash, the sarcophagus was transferred to the pallet trucks. Deep Digger galloped ahead, throwing the double doors at the far side of artifact storage open and then charging down the hallway beyond to open lab one.
The Manehattan Historical Society’s artifact examination labs were built to be strong, almost to the point of being like military bunkers. The room itself was separated into two sections, the larger of the two occupied by two large tables and two smaller desks all of which were outfitted with bright lamps and magnification devices on rotating arms for examining things in fine detail. The other section of the room was separated by walls made of magically treated glass. Magically treated both for durability and with a latent enchantment that would allow a unicorn such as Digger to fill the whole sub chamber with fire, lest the thing they unearthed turned hostile. It was extreme in the eyes of some ponies, admittedly, but such was one of the risks of doing archaeology in a world with magic.
Digger flung the doors to the subchamber open with her magic. “Quickly, quickly!” She urged, though she need not have bothered. Eager to be free of their burden, the artifact handlers charged into the little room and dropped the lumbering stone casket onto the examination table contained within. As they filed out, Deep Digger and Far Sight took a closer look at the sarcophagus, Far Sight focusing on the side carvings.
“Just look at all that build up. Had to be down there for a few centuries at least.”
Digger shook her head. “I don’t know. Those carvings look older to me. Like some of the pre-Nightmare Moon banishment pieces we have.”
“It can’t be that old though! It wouldn’t be nearly this intact sitting in the ocean for a thousand years.”
“That assumes it was in the ocean for that long. It could have been dumped there later. Besides, there’s no records of a thing like that,” Digger jabbed a hoof at the drinking figure, “existing anywhere within the last two centuries.”
“They could have been hiding. Or that biped could be a mythological figure. We won’t know until we do a proper investigation.”
Digger glowered at their find. Far Sight was right of course. “Well, let’s start by seeing if we have a body.”
While she wormed her magic into the tiny crack between lid and body, Far Sight placed his hooves against the lid. Together, they began to push and pry, attempting to shift the smaller but still decently sized slab of stone. But no matter how hard Sight pushed or how much magic Digger poured from her horn, the lid steadfastly refused to move.
With a grunt Far Sight stumbled back. “Stop. We’re missing something here. Let’s clear some of this crud away from the lid.”
Small chisels and solvent were quickly broken out and the pair set to work removing the work of countless decades of ocean life. Bit by bit the old stone and the designs on it were revealed, until….
“Far Sight, does that look like a keyhole to you?” Digger peered down at the neat circular hole. She could just barely make out what appeared to be stone mechanisms at the bottom. Far Sight frowned at it from his side of the sarcophagus.
“Could be. Think you can pick it?”
“Please,” Digger smirked. “It’s not like I haven’t broken ancient locks before.” Once again she reached out with her magic, pushing it down into the depths of the long unused mechanism. She subconsciously stuck her tongue out as she worked, her little tendrils of magic poking and feeling the stone.
Some of the pieces did move, sliding and rotating at Digger’s pokes and prods. They were tested and moved with a scientific attention to detail, Digger slowly working out which ones to trigger. “Definitely a keyhole. I can feel the...well...pins, I guess. I think they’re set horizontally though.”
“Circular key for a circular hole? Wouldn’t be the strangest ‘lock’ or ‘door’ in Equestria,” Far Sight chuckled, moving to Digger’s side. “For example, almost everything that King Sombra made.”
Digger snorted. “I still can’t entirely believe Princess Twilight’s report about the stairs. Who ever heard of an dark lord of stairs?”
“My landlord comes close sometimes….”
There was a satisfying click as Digger rotated another one of the pins into place. “And there it is,” she smiled.
“Let’s do this then.”
This time the lid began to move, stone grinding across stone, the scent of seawater mixing with that of dead flesh to form an acrid wave that washed over the pair.
Far Sight reeled back, hacking and coughing. “Sun above! You just never get used to the smell.”
Ignoring her partner’s comments, Digger reared onto her hind legs to see just what they were dealing with here. Her heart was nearly hammering out of her chest as her eyes roamed over the figure lying in the casket. As with the carvings on sarcophagus’ side the body was that of a biped- withered and wrinkled from age and sea water- like a minotaur. That was where the similarities ended however.
She- for Digger was quite sure the body was a she- was slightly shorter than a minotaur. Her face was flat, lacking even the hint of a muzzle and sunken as it was Digger wasn’t even sure it had a nose. The mouth was locked in an open position, as if she had been in the process of crying out when she was cut down. Her legs had no hooves. Her skin had no coat or fur, save for on her head.
“Look at those,” she smiled, pointing at the end of the legs. “Almost like the feet of an ape, aren’t they?”
Far Sight snorted. “Really? I’m not sure. Who ever heard of a sapient ape?”
Rolling her eyes, Digger returned to her examinations. Whatever clothing the woman had been buried in had long since rotted away, leaving behind a few scattered fibers behind. The only other thing that she seemed to be wearing was a golden necklace, set into the shape of a cross. Without question though, the strangest thing about the body was the wooden stake driven right into her chest. There were other wounds scattered across the torso. Circular and shallow, they could have been failed stab attempts.
“That’s what I’d call bad day,” Far Sight said. “Also, ominous, since it should have rotted away with the rest of her clothes.”
Nodding, Digger swung one of the magnification arms around, channeling a bit of her magic into the device. The latent enchantments in the device sprang to life an alicorn sight spell rippling its way through the glass. While she wouldn’t admit it out loud to anypony, Digger loved using this particular spell. It revealed both the presence and nature of any enchantments on an item. It was also created as part of the graduation thesis of Equestria’s newest princess. True to a spell created by Twilight Sparkle, it worked perfectly, the stake gaining a colored outline; in this case it was a dark green color.
“Life magic. Preservation charm most likely. Not seeing any evidence of entropy magic on the body though.”
As that bit of information sunk in, Far Sight wrinkled his snout. “All of this is starting to look like a ritual sacrifice or something equally horrific.”
“We don’t know that,” Digger said, levitating necklace and stake to her side. The latter tore free with a sickening, sucking sound that made both ponies wince. Digger walked over to one of the other examination tables, carefully laying both items down. “You know how this works. Examine. Investigate. Write reports.”
“Yes, yes. The grind of academia,” Far Sight chuckled. “Shall we clean the rest of this sarcophagus off?”
“Of course!”
- - - -
After many more hours of barnacle and slime cleaning, interrupted only by a late lunch- it was beginning to approach late evening and the time when Celestia would lower the sun to properly usher in night. The two professors looked at their handywork with a smile. The sarcophagus was now almost perfectly clean of all the build up the ocean had deposited on it, almost proudly displaying its tannish sandstone hue.
“This is going to look amazing on display,” Far Sight sighed happily.
Digger picked up the notebook she had been jotting observations down in. “We still have a lot more to do before it’ll be ready for that. For now, let’s focus on what we can do.”
“I don’t know about you, but I’m going to clean up and then focus on heading home for the night. It’s been a long day. You going to-”
“Stay late and work on my reports.”
Far Sight shook his head. This wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last that his colleague pulled an all nighter. “Digger, you are nothing if not predictable.”
“Can’t help it,” Digger smiled back.
It was true. She loved the work and couldn’t resist diving deep into the implications of her finds sometimes. The gaps in pony history from the era before Discord’s brief reign were large enough for an adult dragon to comfortably fly through. In this case though she also wanted to write her former student, Twilight Sparkle. The mare was insatiably curious during her time in Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns and Digger had a feeling she’d be interested in this particular discovery. There was a practical aspect as well. Having one of Equestria’s princesses interested in this discovery would possibly lead to more grant money.
“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow then Far Sight?”
“Naturally,” he winked.
Digger set off, heading down the hall and hooking a quick right to her basement office. If she had to describe it one word, she’d say “cozy”. Books lined the shelves on a multitude of topics, mostly history, geology, archeology and other such “egghead” topics. Any spare spaces on the shelves were given over to nicknacks and other mementos. The most prized ones took up a special place on her desk though and perhaps the most cherished of them all was a golden medal in a small glass case.
Pulling a thick and fluffy pillow into place behind her desk, Digger sat down and began to write, starting with a letter to Twilight Sparkle.
- - - -
Far Sight bustled around the lab, cleaning the chisels, brushes and other tools before putting them away. He hummed to himself as he worked, feeling quite satisfied with the events of the day. Possibilities ran through his head. Possibilities, ideas and theories about what this ape relative’s society might be like.
Running a pick under the lab’s faucet, he muttered those possibilities to himself. “Has to be a religious component to this. Otherwise, why drive a stake into her heart?”
The basement lab had no windows, by design. It was a decision that had been made so that passers by wouldn’t try to peek in and disturb the museum staff while they were working. However, thanks to that, Far Sight couldn’t see the sun as Celestia gently pushed it over the horizon. In a few moments, Equestria was plunged into the darkness of night and Luna began the dual tasks of rising the moon and scattering the stars across the sky.
And in the sarcophagus, something stirred. A rattling, dry groan tore through the air, Far Sight freezing mid scrub. He...hadn’t heard that. He couldn’t have heard that. It was a dead body. They hadn’t detected any magic in it. There was absolutely no way in Equestria that body just groaned.
“Calm down Far Sight. Probably just decaying gas or something…. Dead bodies do that after all.”
He turned towards the sarcophagus. Everything seemed quiet, the stone sitting unmoving under the labs lights. Frowning, Far Sight grabbed one of the picks in his mouth and crept towards it. If the body was somehow animating itself, he’d have to activate the magical failsafes. He had to be sure though. They had paid way too many bits to just burn it all at the first sign of trouble.
Rearing up, he looked into the casket. The body was still there. Not moving. Just a normal, ancient dead body, doing normal ancient dead body things. He sighed in relief.
“Heh...just my nerves….”
Faster than a striking serpent one of the body’s limbs lashed out, dead fingers wrapping tight around Far Sight’s throat in a vice like grip. He gagged, pick clattering to the ground, legs failing in a desperate attempt to find purchase as the body sat up, hauling him completely off the ground. The mummified body stared at him with sunken, empty eye sockets.
“D-digger! D-d-digger!” he rasped, the attempted shouts dying in his throat.
Crackling, popping sounds now filled the air the parchment thin skin of the body rippling, restoring itself in a matter of moments. Far Sight could only whimper as centuries of neglect melted away, muscle and tendon becoming full and strong again. And the eyes. Its eyes were growing back in its sockets! Eyes that were angry, glowing red and boring straight to the depths of his soul. Then it opened its mouth wide and Far Sight’s eyes locked on glittering white fangs.
This time, he managed to scream.
- - - -
“Earth to Shang.”
Sun Shang glanced across the table, lips wrapped around the straw of her milkshake. “Mmmph?”
Her sister, Sun Li, rolled her eyes before glaring over the top of her thin framed glasses. “Have you given anymore thought into moving in with me?”
Putting her drink down Sun shrugged. “I dunno Li. I only got another two years till I’m done with college. Then I’ll be off into the job market.”
The siblings were crammed into a booth at one of the many McDonald’s scattered across San Francisco. Sun was casually leaning back in her seat, the picture of casual disregard with one arm draped over the back of the booth. Her sister was the opposite, hunched forward, hands clutched firmly around a cup of coffee. She wore a neat white blouse and a black pair of slacks. They were a very different pair.
Li’s frown grew deeper. “And until then, you’re still stuck living at home with father and his crap. Come on! You’re four years older than me! Why am I the one living on my own?”
Sun squirmed. It was a question that she didn’t have an answer to. Li had struck out on her own almost the minute she turned eighteen, pretty much proving that she was the more independant of the two. Or that she had less of a tolerance for family drama.
“I’ll...think about it, okay?”
Her sister opened her mouth to respond but no words came out, the memory fading away in a wash of light and a warm, fuzzy feeling….
Sun Shang came to in the middle of sucking something’s blood. A pink fuzzy something. While that fact came as quite the shock in her dazed, somewhat confused state, Sun didn’t immediately stop. Whatever the thing was, its blood was like ambrosia. Sweet, sticky, red ambrosia.
Ming Xiao.
The name of the bitch that had put a stake through her heart snapped Sun out of her feeding focus. She dropped the creature to the ground, a furious growl building in her throat.
“That Kuei-jin bitch! When I get my hands on her- I’ll...I’ll…,” she trailed off, taking in her surroundings for the first time. “...Where the hell am I?”
Of course, it was obvious that she had been moved someplace. Ming Xiao wouldn’t have just left the Ankaran Sarcophagus in LaCroix’s penthouse. She’d probably would have locked up a possible threat someplace “safe”. But the tables and general layout of the room looked more like a laboratory rather than a warehouse, bank vault or other secure location. That made her wonder just how long she had been in the sarcophagus.
“...Long enough for my clothes to go bye-bye,” she muttered, taking in her naked body. The damage done by the stake was still there, the holes in her chest slowly oozing blood. Sighing, Sun clambered out of the sarcophagus, calling upon her blood reserves to repair the damage.
“Okay...I’m naked, in some kind of strange building and I drank the blood of...a thing…”
Kneeling, Sun took a closer look at the thing she had fed on. She was surprised to see that it was a horse. Or at least a horse via the way of the girls toy aisle. It was maybe three and a half feet long from nose to tail and probably would have come up to Sun’s bellybutton standing on all fours. It had a bright pink coat, short purple hair- Mane. It was a horse, so it had a mane. And a picture of a spyglass on the side of its butt. And...wings. Sun would call it insanely girly (and completely adorable), but the squarish look of its muzzle made it seem more masculine. Biting her lip, Sun lifted a leg to check.
“Okay! Definitely a guy. Is this like some kind of genetically modified pet?”
Sun really hoped that she hadn’t just killed someone’s equivalent of a dog. Coming up with an excuse for why she was walking around here was going to be difficult enough without someone getting angry that their pet was dead. It’s chest was rising and falling though…. She pressed her ear against the little horses’ side, listening for the telltale thumps of his heart. There it was. Slow, but steady. She hadn’t taken enough blood to kill the little thing. He’d wake up feeling like shit, but he would wake up.
Chuckling, she ran her tongue over the puncture marks from her fangs, the wounds neatly sealing themselves closed. “Sleep well little horse.”
Standing again Sun scanned the contents of the room again quickly leaving the glass chamber for the tables in the larger room. She grabbed her crucifix first, hooking it back around her neck, before rummaging through the desks and drawers of the lab for something to tie her hair back with. Everything in here did seem a little smaller than normal, which just added to her confusion. Where, exactly, had Ming Xiao dumped her?
Finding a small roll of cotton cloth, Sun tore off a stip and qucikly did up her hair in a rough ponytail. “Alright. Get out of here, steal some clothes, find out where I am and then go from there.”
Before she could move though, a soft clicking sound floated in from the hallway. Sounds that were rapidly growing louder. Someone was coming. In a split second, Sun considered the pros and cons of just revealing herself now. At some point, she’d have to talk with someone to work out where she was and for how long she had been in the box. But, the person coming through that door could be a foe, just as easily as a friend. So, she rushed to one of the desks against the far wall, just barely managing to squeeze underneath.
To her surprize another one of those little horses came walking into the room. This one was, if anything, even more adorable than the last one. Pale green coat, pink mane, more rounded, feminine features and an adorable little horn sticking out of its forehead! It even had a cute little pair of glasses on the end of its nose! Sure, Sun had been stuck as a blood sucking, walking corpse for the last five years, but cute was cute!
“Far Sight?” the little horse called out, in a clearly female voice. “Are you okay? I thought I heard something….”
Sun blinked. A talking little horse. So, did the other one talk? Was she now lost in some kind of bizarre, equine based society? Just how long had she been trapped in the sarcophagus? And how the hell was this one speaking English?
The new little horse suddenly cried out, rushing to the side of her sleeping fellow. “Far? Are you okay? Wake up!” she shouted, shaking his unconscious form.
Well, she’ll do… Sun thought. She slunk out from under the desk, breaking into a swift run. Her reserves of blood were called on again, accelerating her speed to even higher levels. The new little horse began to turn but charged as she was by the vampiric power of Celerity, Sun snatched her up, right hand wrapped around her muzzle, left arm across the stomach. She immediately began to squirm, desperately trying to slip free of Sun’s vice like grip.
Pulling the horse tight against her body, Sun hissed into her ear. “Stop squirming or I’ll break your neck.”
The little horse froze, her clearly frightened whimper muffled by Sun’s hand. The guilt was impossible for Sun to avoid. This was a bit like beating up on a puppy. A sick puppy. A sick homeless puppy. Still, she shoved those twisting, snake like feelings down into her gut. More often than not, being a vampire required making hard choices.
“I’m going to take my hand away from your mouth. If you scream or cry out...,” Sun moved her left arm a little higher, so that it was across the horse’s chest now. “Well, with my strength, I can quite easily push your ribcage into your lungs. Nod if you understand.” The little horse nodded and Sun took her hand away. “What’s your name?”
“P-professor Deep D-digger,” she managed to stammer out.
“A professor huh? What of?”
“Arc-archeology. P-please. Don’t kill me.”
“I’m not going to kill you, if you help me. Your friend there? He’s just sleeping.”
“Okay. Okay,” Digger said, breathing hard.
“The sarcophagus. Where did you find it?”
“Some fishers hauled it up off the coast,” Digger said. The pony seemed to be recovering some of her nerve, speaking with greater confidence. “The museum bought it.”
“What museum? What’s the name?”
“We’re the Manehattan Historical Society.”
Manehattan. Aside from being a horrible pun, that did tell Sun something. At least, she thought it might. Assuming that Manehattan was near Manhattan, she would have switched coasts from LA. Or was Manehattan built ontop of LA?
Ugh. This is beyond fucked up. Sun mentally grumbled. But, instead she asked a different question. “What year is it?”
“One thousand and four, New Equestrian Calendar.”
No help there then. “Does the word ‘human’ mean anything to you?”
“No. Is that what you are?”
“Vampire?”
“...Like a vampire fruit bat?”
“...That’s a thing?”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” Digger practically screamed.
This wasn’t getting Sun anywhere. Time to move on. “So, Digger, you’ve been very helpful, but I’m going to have to impose on you some more.”
Sun kept her eyes locked firmly on the pony in front of her. Deep Digger was still scared, that much was obvious. She could see it in the way the unicorn moved. There was a shake in her legs when she walked and her ears were slicked back like an angry cat. Sun couldn't really blame her. The first time she had encountered a vampire she had been reduced to a blubbering wreck, before….
Grunting, Sun rubbed at a spot on the right side of her neck. No use thinking about that now. The priority now was to get indoors and find something to cover herself with. Skulking naked through alley ways wasn't her definition of a good time.
Onwards they walked, weaving through the streets of a city that was both alien and familiar to Sun. On the one hand, it resembled every other city she had seen. Tall concrete skyscrapers, glittering lights against a night sky and a hustle and bustle that- more often than not- forced Sun and her guide to hide from wandering eyes.
But at the same time, it was like she was trapped in a surreal dream. From every back street she peaked from, she could see more little horses. Adorable little horses that walked the streets, talked with each other and did many other human things. Hell, she even caught a glimpse of one hailing a cab, which was an actual carriage pulled by another. The skyscrapers, tall as they were, were sized for creatures easily half her height. Sun could tell by the spacing of the windows. Even the night sky was wrong. None of the constellations that she could make out between the buildings seemed familiar.
Wait…, Sun thought, a sudden realization hitting her. I’m in the middle of a major city. How am I even seeing the stars?
“We’re here.”
Deep Digger had paused at the end of their current side street. Sun knelt down behind her, staring across the way. Deep Digger was pointing towards a narrow brown stone building. A fire escape ran down its front and more than a few of its windows had exterior flower boxes and other touches of domesticity.
“I don’t know how you’re planning to get inside though,” Deep Digger frowned. “Look...I don’t know what happened down there, but you don’t have to take me hostage! If it was an accident I’m sure that we can work something out-”
Sun clapped a hand on the back of Digger’s neck. The pony stiffened under her grip almost immediately. “Digger. If you want to talk, I would be happy too. I have some questions of my own. But I smell like salt and decay and am completely naked. I’m not doing anything without a shower and some clothes; improvised or otherwise.”
“Fine,” Digger said, almost snapping it out. “But how do you propose to get into my apartment?”
“Your apartment face the street?”
“Well...yes.”
Sun pointed towards the windows. “Then go inside, open the window and I’ll come up from the fire escape.”
“...Fine.”
She started to step out of the alley, only for Sun to grab her tail. “Oh, and Digger? Don’t mess with me here. I am very much not in the mood to be jerked around.”
“O-okay. It’ll be the second row down from the top, third one from the right.”
With that, Sun let Digger go, stepping back deeper into the alley’s shadows. There was a dumpster she could hide behind at least. For now, all she could do was wait and prepare.
Slinking back into the alley, she took a better look at its contents. Sturdy brick walls rose to her either side, a large green dumpster pressed against the right one. Sun slowly ran a hand along the bricks a thought suddenly springing to mind. She lashed out with a fist, shattering one of them into pieces that she quickly scooped up. The pieces collected, Sun slid behind a sturdy looking dumpster for cover and waited.
It was almost a slow torture, each moment dragging on and on in Sun’s racing mind. This was the part of being a vampire that somehow, never managed to make it into those bullshit novels that Anne Rice churned out. A pile of lies about vampires somehow being elegant, sensitive and... tragic.
Sun forced a sigh through her dead lungs- a psychological tick left over from the days when they still worked- as she considered how she was naked and cowering behind a dumpster, while she waited for a little horse to open a window. “...Okay, she might have had a point about that last one.”
Sun peaked over the dumpster edge. “Come on,” she muttered to herself, idly rolling the shards over in her hands. “Don't you screw me over, little horse.”
She had no idea what she was going to do if Digger did decide to turn against her. Maybe she could find an abandoned building somewhere to take shelter from the sun in. But, after that? No clue. It wasn't like she could blend in around here.
“Why horses? They don't even have hands!” Sun shook her head.
There. The window Digger had mentioned just slid open. It was now or never. The street she had to cross was well lit though and had enough little horses walking along it that not being seen would be tricky. Fortunately, Sun had a plan.
Spending a little more of her blood reserves, she activated her Celerity again and bolted for the edge of the alley. There were four street lights near Digger’s apartment, two on each side of the street. Of course, that was what she had gathered the brick shards for. Accelerated to superhuman speeds, brick pieces became missiles.
One. Two. Three. Four. The lights were shattered, their glass raining onto the concrete below. The little horses gasped as their world plunged into darkness, most recoiling from the street lamps out of instinct.
Still enhanced by vampiric super speed Sun crossed the darkened road in what would have been a few heart beats. The fire escape was raised, the bottom hanging a good four feet above the heads of these little horses. At a human height and enhanced as she was by her nature, that gap might as well have not existed for her. She jumped, grabbed the edge and hauled herself up in one smooth motion.
While her instinct was to run at top speed, Sun restrained herself. Celerity would already enhance her speed, even when walking and there was no need to make extra noise. So, she strode up the metal steps, keeping her own as light as possible. She was halfway up the fire escape when a window opened in front of her. One of the little horses peered out at the darkened street, blinking in confusion.
Sun froze. Right now, the pony was focused on the street below. Even in the darkness, if he looked to the left….
Go back inside. Go back inside. Please. She thought.
“Honey?” a cheerful female voice called from inside. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he responded, ducking back inside. “Somepony broke the street lights.”
Sun started moving, a little faster this time. Reaching the window, she slid inside and pulled it closed behind her. She turned to see just what kind of place Digger called home. Thankfully, despite the lower height of the ceiling, Sun didn’t have to stoop to fit.
Thank you average Chinese height, she mentally chuckled. At five foot nothing, she had a good foot of space above her head.
Not that it made the apartment look any less like a dollhouse. Slowly looking around the room, she couldn’t shake the impression that she’d break any and everything just by brushing up against it. Fully loaded bookshelves lined the walls, broken up by an ancient looking nicknack here or there, while a quaint little floor lamp in the corner provided more than adequate illumination. Deep Digger stood near a little couch that looked like it might just barely fit Sun if she layed down on it. To her right was the front door, to the left what looked like short hallway and straight ahead- past the little couch- was a kitchen.
“Nice place,” Sun said, closing the window behind her. “It fits your profession.”
“Thank you…I suppose,” Digger smiled, eyes nervously flitting from Sun to the door.
Sun held up her hands. “Look, Deep Digger. Believe it or not, I really don’t mean you any harm. I’ve just...woken up in a world that’s completely topsy-turvy.”
“You attacked Far Sight!”
“Instinct! I was acting on instinct! You try being locked in a box for...for…,” Sun blinked. “How long was in in there anyway?”
Digger huffed, settling back on her haunches. “I have no idea. I planning to work that out before you kidnapped me!”
“I took you back to your own apartment!”
“And I don’t know how you even got back up! What are you? Who are you?”
Vampire and pony glared at each other. On the surface, Sun might have just been glaring down at her, but inside she was seething. Her temper was always bubbling away under the skin, threatening to burst forth if she lost control.
It’s just a little horse Sun. She’s scared. You attacked her. Just...explain things. She held up her hands. “Okay. My name is Shang Xiang Sun. But everyone just calls me Sun. I’m what you call a human-”
“You. Were. Dead! I stared at your dessicated corpse! You-you can’t be normal!”
“I’m not normal! I’m cursed!” Sun snapped, taking an angry stomp towards the pony. “I’m a walking, talking corpse!”
Digger’s eyes went wide and she began to scramble back towards her front door. “S-stay away from me!”
Sun squeezed her eyes closed, her frustration almost burning now. She needed to keep the pony from completely freaking out. Thankfully, her vampire lineage had some useful abilities in this situation. Blood was what vampires craved, for it was what both animated their bodies and gave fuel to their powers. Sun called upon it, drawing it from the depths of her body with a thought and giving it shape with another.
Opening her eyes Sun gave an order. “Calm. Down.”
Awe was the name of this particular trick. A supernatural charm to make a vampires’ request or position seem more reasonable. Through it, a vampire could impose upon a target for favors and adoration and more than a few undead dynasties of power had started with a few proper applications of the ability. Sun’s skin always crawled when she was forced to use it though. The technique was still a violation of the mind, no matter how “minor” it supposedly was.
Digger recoiled slightly at the words, but the effect of Sun’s awe quickly took hold. Her eyes stopped their frantic twitching, her ears rose slowly from their slicked back state and she settled into a calm, sitting position again. “Okay.”
“So...yeah. I’m cursed. I am very confused right now. I am sorry about what happened and I really don’t mean any harm. If it is not too much trouble, I would like to trouble you for a shower, something I could turn into clothes and some information. Please.”
For a moment, doubt flickered across Deep Digger’s eyes. But it was quickly banished as she sighed. “...Fine,” she pointed a hoof down the little hall. “Bathroom is the door on the left. I’ll...see what I can dig up.”
“Thank you.”
- - - -
Half an hour later, Sun emerged from the bathroom, wrapping her hair up with a towel. The shower had been...okay. Squatting to fit had been a pain and no matter how high she turned up the temperature, the heat just didn’t register on her skin the way it used to. But after a massive amount of scrubbing managed to finally get the scent of brine off of her body.
“Uh, Digger?” she called. “I used up all your shampoo. Sorry.”
Digger emerged from her bedroom with a stack of sheets on her back and an angry glare. “Seriously? That brand is thirty bits a bottle!”
“I have a whole lot of hair to wash!”
“I have a coat and I don’t use that much!”
“The bottle was tiny!”
“It was a perfectly normal size!”
This is already turning into the worst sitcom ever, Sun thought, rubbing her forehead. “Are those bed sheets?”
“Yes...they’re the only thing I have that could possibly fit you. Now, hold still.”
Sun stared as Digger levitated the sheets and a pair of scissors into the air, her horn shimmering with a aquamarine light. She quickly snipped a slit in the middle of the two sheets and yanked them down over Sun’s head.
“Keep those arms of yours tucked in.”
The scissors came back in, snipping out two slits on either side of the tent like improvised garment. Sun slid her arms through the holes, raising an eyebrow at the little horse’s light show as Digger cut another strip to act as a belt.
“That’s a neat trick. Can all you little horses do that?”
“Ponies. And only the ones with horns,” Digger answered, passing the belt over. “Earth ponies and pegasi have their own magic.”
There was a long pause as Sun stared at Digger, slowly tying the belt around her waist. Then she groaned. “I can’t believe that I woke up to a technicolored playset of a world.”
“Equestria is not a playset!”
It was really tempting to burst out in laughter at the adorable and obviously pun based name. But that wouldn’t get her anywhere, so Sun bit her tongue. “Fine. It’s not. Can you answer my questions now?”
“Only if you answer mine back. I want to know more about you, your curse and your people.”
“A trade then?” Sun asked, spreading her arms wide. “We’ll both get what we want.”
Digger tapped her forehooves together for a moment in thought. “Deal. We can talk in the kitchen. I haven’t eaten dinner yet.”
Sun shrugged and let Digger lead the way into her little kitchen. Much like the living room, it was almost adorably cozy. Digger waved at small rectangular table against the far wall, just under a pair of paintings of pastoral country scenes.
“Have a seat. Can I get you anything?”
“No thanks,” Sun answered, as much as she wished she could accept that offer.
The table had no chairs, so she simply sat cross legged on the floor. Digger rummaged in her fridge for a moment or two before emerging with a plate of mixed lettuce leaves and tomato slices. Grabbing a fork with her magic, Digger sat opposite Sun at the table, angrily jabbing at her salad for a moment before speaking.
“So, what are you?”
“If you mean species, I’m a human. Nationality? American. Ethnic group? Chinese. Are you sure you’ve never heard any of that before?”
“Quite sure. Equestria has mostly intact records going back a thousand years and piecemeal bits stretching all the way back to the dawn of civilization, about six thousand years ago. Never seen anything like you in any of it.” She paused for a moment before shrugging. “Except for minotaurs. They share your bipedalism at least.”
That news weighed heavily on Sun’s mind, even if it was confirmation of something she already expected. Not that it made her any less angry. “Six thousand years? Plus however long it took all of you to evolve from the animal level horses were in my time? Goddamn it!”
She slammed a fist on the table, perhaps a bit harder than she meant to. It jumped sending Digger’s dinner flying across it’s polished wooden surface. The unicorn rolled her eyes at the mess before beginning to scoop it back up with her magic.
“You had mentioned another word. Vampire. We have vampire fruit bats. They drain the juices from fruit. Is that what you do?”
For a moment, Sun considered lying. It was an instinct that had become ingrained into her over her hellish five year existence as a vampire. You never admitted they were real. Ever. Upon pain of death. But if Deep Digger had no idea what a human was, Sun doubted that any of the old vampire power structures still stalked the nights. There was no Masquerade to bother maintaining anymore. Now her priority had to be focused on finding allies and surviving.
“I drink blood, actually.”
Digger froze, a forkful of lettuce halfway to her mouth. “You’re a carnivore?”
“I think that the technical term would be hemovore. But that’s part of my curse.”
“Tell me about this curse of yours.”
Sun glowered. “It’s…,” she trailed off for a moment, searching for the right words. “Okay. I knew other vampires who thought it was amazing. You’re stronger and faster than a normal human. Unless someone kills you, you’re immortal. But those vampires? Full of shit. It’s a miserable existence.”
She trailed off again. For a moment, the only sound was the crunch of Digger eating her lettuce, but then she waved a hoof for Sun to continue. The question was unspoken, but Sun knew what it was.
“I burn in the sun. I’ve...honestly started to forget what it even feels like. I can only drink blood. For me the simple act of getting breakfast, even if I take the bare minimum of blood so that they don’t get hurt, is still assault. I was ripped away from my life by some other asshole vampire who wanted their own minion. I. Loathe. This.”
“And why were you in that sarcophagus?”
“I was betrayed by someone who was helping me in a struggle against an elder vampire who was using me as a pawn. No idea why the bitch did it.”
“...Is all that swearing a human thing, or a vampire thing?”
“It’s a ‘I’m tired of the world screwing me over.’ thing.”
Digger reached across the table, placing her hoof on Sun’s hand. “Well, all of that does sound horrible. But you know what? Curses can be broken.”
“Heh. There were always rumors of something like that in vampire society. Never had a chance to look for it though.”
“That was then, this is now. I have magical and archaeological contacts across Equestria and beyond. We’ll find a way.”
Sun pulled her hand away, suddenly suspicious. The initial effect from the awe would have worn off by now. She hadn’t been expecting this level of assistance so quickly. “Why are you offering to help me? I attacked your co-worker. I threatened you. What do you want?”
Digger cocked her head almost looking hurt at the question. “I don’t want anything. You’re a creature unstuck from time, who sounds like she’s lost a lot. I wouldn’t be a good Equestrian if I didn’t help somepony in need.”
“...Even with the blood thing?”
“Especially with the blood thing! I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy.”
“Got any plans then, professor?”
“I’ll start tapping my resources tomorrow. Write some ponies that are experts in this field. If we get enough ponies working on your condition-”
Fear grasped Sun’s heart like a bolt from the blue. “No!”
“No?”
“Look...Digger. You’re an academic. The unknown is something you seek to understand. But can you sit there and honestly tell me that if word of my existance got out, that normal ponies wouldn't panic?”
Digger frowned. “Well...okay, you might have a slight point. But I am talking about contacting other academics here.”
“Can you just frame it as a hypothetical for now?” Sun asked, reaching down to nervously fiddle with her cross necklace. “I want to be careful. Take things slowly.”
“...Alright. But you’re apologizing to Far Sight once you’re back to normal.”
“Deal.”
“Now, it’s been a long day. I’m going to finish eating and get to bed. Where are you going to sleep? ...Do you need to sleep?”
“I’ll collapse when the sun is up. Mind if I hide in your closet? No sunlight can get in there.”
“Alright. Chin up Sun, we’ll find a way out of this for you.”
“I’ll hold you too that.”
- - - -
A high pitched ringing dragged Digger out of a fitful night’s sleep. She blinked a few times to push the exhaustion stubbornly hanging on out of her eyes, the events of last night still vivid in her mind. Rolling into her side, her hoof fumbled for, found and silenced her alarm clock.
With quiet returning to her bedroom Digger stared at her closed closet door, thinking about the creature that was hiding on the other side. Part of her was still terrified of this vampire-human thing that was now staying in her apartment. A hoof strayed to her neck, feeling for bite marks. Blood sucking curses. An ancient race of people that were unheard of. A vow of secrecy. This whole situation was escalating far beyond a simple artifact retrieval and in the crisp morning light her actions seemed all the more mad.
She buried her face in her hooves. “Why am I doing this?”
It was rhetorical of course. Digger knew exactly why she was doing this. She hadn't been lying to Sun last night. The human obviously needed help to escape the horrible fate she was locked in. The thought of having to hunt creatures down for their blood filled her stomach with a twisted knot of dread. Yes, that was the reason. The fact that finding the last member of an extinct race would enormously boost her career was just a convenient side effect. And nothing else. One thing she was sure of though. She was taking an awful risk.
But hiding in bed wouldn't help.
Throwing her covers aside, Deep Digger climbed out of bed and walked over to her closet. She stared at it for a long moment, before pulling it open just a crack. She could just make out the form of Sun, slumped against the back wall like a marionette with its strings cut.
Or a corpse.
The closet door was shut very quickly. She’d skip wearing a full dress today. Taking a deep breath, Deep Digger turned instead to her dressers to scrounge together an outfit for today’s work, for there would be a great deal of it. A curse that made the recipient- for all intensive purposes- dead would have to be some manner of dark magic. She’d have to consult the libraries of Manehatten’s magical universities. Perhaps even write a letter to Celestia’s….
“Letter,” she muttered, remembering one she had left on her desk last night. One that she had been writing to one of the greatest students Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns ever produced. If Twilight Sparkle could claim the Element of Magic and cure Princess Luna of her Nightmare Moon malady, surely breaking a curse like this would be foals play.
Quickly tying a pastel blue ascot around her neck, Digger glanced at her alarm clock. Seven o’clock. She’d have to gallop to reach the historical society ahead of the morning mailpony.
“So much for breakfast.”
- - - -
Somepony had stabbed her.
Or that’s what it felt like to Deep Digger as she stumbled into the Manehattan Historical Society. She slumped against the wall, just inside the back door, clutching at the horrible stitch in her side. Clearly, she had been neglecting to exercise and staying cooped up with her books far too much. She’d have to do something about that. Later. After all of this was done.
As another lance of pain burrowed its way from flank to flank, her ears twitched towards the sound of angry voices coming from one of the labs.
“I told you, I’m fine! We need to find the damn body that attacked me and ran away!”
“Well, Far Sight is fine,” Digger muttered to herself, straightening back up. She took a deep breath, quickly brushing her mane back into place to hide the fact she had just run a marathon. Trotting down the hallway, she peeked into the laboratory.
Far Sight was wobbling on his hooves, as he angrily glared at the pair of security guards that had apparently found him. “Call the police! The guard! Somepony!” he railed. “By the sun, we have an escaped monster on our hooves here!”
Just play it cool, she thought, walking into the room. “Far Sight?”
He whipped about, eyes wide and manic, mane disheveled. “Digger? Did...did you see it?”
“See what?”
“The body! The body we pulled out of that casket up and attacked me! Did you see it?”
Oh, how she wanted to tell him about the amazing discovery that was now living in her apartment. But for now she’d respect Sun’s request. So she shook her head. “No. I didn’t see anything Far. Didn’t hear anything either. You’re sure it attacked you?”
“Yes! It had glowing red eyes and fangs! I remember it biting me…,” he grumbled, rubbing at his neck.
“If what you’re saying is true, perhaps it hasn’t left the building yet? Have you conducted a search yet?”
Far Sight glared at the guards. “No...these two haven’t let me!”
“Sir,” one of them- Bright Wing, Digger thought his name was- frowned. “You were unconscious! You need to go to the hospital to get checked out.”
“A doctor and a mage,” Digger added. “If this was some kind of animated body, there might be dark magic involved.”
Far Sight took a step forward, stomping his hoof in an attempt to be defiant. But the effort clearly drained him, his legs wobbling from the effort as he almost collapsed back to the floor.
“Sight!” Digger snapped. “Stop being so damn stubborn! Let these two take you to the hospital. I’ll coordinate things here and get the museum properly searched.”
“D-damn it. Fine! But Digger? Be careful. This thing’s a monster. There’s just no other way to describe it.”
“I’ll be careful,” she shooed them off with a hoof. “Now go.”
Once they had filed out, Digger walked down the hall to her own office. As she had expected, the post-pony was already there, sweeping the letter she had written last night off her desk and into his satchel.
“Excuse me sir,” she called out, grabbing paper and pen as she did. “I need to add something before you send out that letter.”
They had a state that might seem like sleep to someone. At least until they touched said vampire and felt the cold, clammy flesh and registered the lack of breathing or heartbeat. It was the presence of the sun that enforced this return to the true dead nature of a vampire. As such, vampires didn’t really wake up the way a living creature did. There was no slow return to the waking world. No grogginess or lingering exhaustion. Just a sudden return to consciousness like a light switch being flipped on or off.
So, as one sun vanished over the horizon, the other sat up in Digger’s closet without preamble. Sun grumbled as she crawled out of her improvised bedroom. The robotic nature of her “morning” routine was just another thing on her list of things that pissed her off about being a vampire.
Standing up, she stretched her arms above her head- more out of habit than anything else- and headed for the living room to see if her equine roommate was back from work. She paused for a moment, realizing just how silly that sentence sounded in her head.
“And to think, I was afraid that my existence would become too dreary after becoming a vampire,” she muttered, rolling her eyes.
Stepping into the living room, she could hear sounds coming from the kitchen. The clack of hooves on tile and the clank of pans and pots. Sun wandered into the kitchen to see Deep Digger stirring a large pot on the stove.
“Hey there roomie! What’s for dinner?”
Digger raised an eyebrow, jabbing her spoon at Sun. “I thought you could only drink blood?”
Sun gave her a deadpan stare.
“Ah,” Digger blinked. “That was a joke.”
“Yup,” Sun nodded before sniffing the air. “Smells good though.”
“So, you can’t eat the food, but you can smell it? That seems needlessly cruel.”
“That’s what makes it a curse I suppose,” Sun shrugged, before looking back towards the living room. She’d have to go out and hunt soon. “So, how’d things go today?”
“Far Sight recovered from your attack. We ended up spending most of the day searching the museum to make sure you weren’t hiding in there still.”
“Hey, now there’s a good option,” Sun smirked. “The phantom of the history museum. I could even wander the halls at night, rattling chains!”
Digger chuckled and shook her head. “Sarcasm. It’s kind of amazing how pony-like you are.”
“Funny, I keep thinking about how human you are.”
Digger returned to stirring the contents of her pot. “So, can I ask you a few more questions? I would like to know more about your culture and this curse you have.”
“Fair enough,” Sun said. She took a seat at the table again, sitting cross legged on the floor as she did before. “Ask away.”
“What did you do before you were cursed? Did you have a career?”
“Student. I was at college for a journalism degree. I was close to graduating when I got...gotten.”
Digger didn’t respond right away. For a moment there was only the sound of Digger’s spoon lightly scraping against the bottom of the pot. “...How did that happen?” she eventually asked.
Sun frowned. “It’s not a happy story Digger. You sure you want to flip this rock?”
“If I’m going to help you, I have to know everything I can about you and your curse.” Digger lightly tapped her spoon against the lip of the pot, flicking a few drops of soup off it. Letting her meal simmer, she turned and took her seat across from Sun. “Tell me the story.”
“Right,” Sun frowned. She rubbed the back of her head, wracking her brain for the best way to begin the tale. “So, the first thing you need to know is that the existence of vampires was secret in my world. That becomes very important as the events progress.”
Digger nodded, her horn glowing as she pulled a pen and notepad from a kitchen drawer.
“So, when I went to school, we had plenty of general classes in addition to the ones focused on my major. You little horses do that?”
“We do,” Digger said. “Truthfully, I always found them to be a little tedious when I was in university.”
“They were a little more of a mixed bag for me,” Sun shrugged. “But I had this one night class. The Ancient World: Rome and Her Contemporaries. Taught by one Baric Marcus. A really goofy looking bastard for someone who turned out to be a blood sucker.” She chuckled, miming a particularly fluffy hairstyle. “I can still remember his hair. It always frizzy as hell, like he never bothered to run a comb through it. Every class, he’d walk in with his tote bag and this cheesy grin. And the way he talked,” she drifted off for a moment, before shaking her head. “Well, he came across as someone who had studied the era so much he could have been there.”
“And...he actually was?” Digger asked, glancing up from her pad.
“Oh, absolutely! Though I didn’t find that out at first. It took a totally unrelated event to land me in his sights. See, back in college it was something of a rabble rouser. Young, angry. Completely convinced that I was going to change the world if I just poked into the right corners and asked the right questions! And he encouraged that in his lectures! Always going on about how only the brave and bold could effect the world!”
She pounded the table for emphasis, making it rock slightly with her enhanced strength. Digger frowned. “Please stop doing that.”
“...Sorry,” Sun shrugged. “These are just...intense memories. Hard to look back on them without being angry.”
“Take your time if you need. But stay focused. The more details you can give me, the better.”
“Right. ...So, the actual instance that got me vamped began with one of my college causes. At the time my father and I...well, our relationship was very strained. I’ll leave it at that. But the more relevant fact is that he worked for a pharmaceutical company named Magadon Incorporated.”
“Pharmaceutical?”
Sun raised an eyebrow at Digger’s blank stare. “You know...drugs? Medicine. You do have that, right?”
“Ah. Herbal remedies. Truthfully, between healing based spells and potions, there’s little use for more direct application of such materials.”
“Well, those things were big business back in my day,” Sun frowned, leaning forward over the table. “While Magadon had a good public reputation, there were always these rumors that the company was up to more underhanded tricks. Illegal testing- on both animals and humans- and price gouging were some of the more mundane things I heard. The more out there rumors included killing people that investigated them too deeply.”
“Young. Angry. Remember that?” Sun forced a sigh through her dead lungs. “There...was a bit of disbelief on the ‘killing people’ rumors. I mean, they were a company, not a totalitarian regime. Why get your hands dirty when you can just buy your way out of trouble?”
“Go on then.”
“Since dear old dad worked for them, I swiped one of his key cards-”
“What?”
“Key cards. They’re keys for very fancy technology based locks. I grabbed one, rounded up a bunch of my fellow angry college students and crashed the nearby facility. Security had to focus on the near riot at their front gates, so I slipped in the back.”
“Did you find something?”
“A pair of gray wolves. Dunno if you still have them or not, but they were an endangered species at the time. A species on the verge of extinction and Magadon was using them to test new pills. So I got as much photo evidence as I could.”
“I’m still not exactly seeing how this got you cursed….”
“Well, security found me and I ended up running for it,” Sun smirked at the memory. “Went out the front door and pitched my camera to my friends so they could get the pictures out of there. Good thing too, because that’s about when security caught me and proceeded to beat me senseless. Thankfully, since they had an angry crowd on their hands, even if those darker rumors were true they couldn’t do anything worse to me at that moment.”
“So, they did what? Took you to jail?”
“Pretty much. I had broken the law. Completely justifiably in my mind, but...well, there it is.” Sun shrugged. “I sat in jail, waiting for either my family to come bail me out or the police to process me. But it turned out to be neither.”
“...Your teacher,” Digger frowned, looking down and quickly writing.
“Yup, apparently my friends had gone to him. That night he showed up with his tweed tote bag and patchy brown trench coat, smiling at me like he was the proudest damn man in the world. Paid my bail and offered to take me back to my dorm. He just had to swing by his office on the way.”
Sun squeezed her eyes shut, beginning to speak faster as she rushed through the events. “I followed him, not expecting anything. We reached his office and he began to rummage around in his desk. He kept talking about how pleased he was with my activism. How I was a true idealist and…,” she hesitated for just a moment, “worthy. And that’s when he smiled and I saw the fangs.”
“Did you try to run? Fight?”
Sun gave a sardonic smile. The memory was a particularly bitter one in her mind. “I fucking laughed! Remember, in my reality, vampires weren’t real. They existed in the realm of old stories and cheesy novels cranked out to appeal to people with an attraction to the macabre. We called them goths.”
She rubbed at the side of her neck, wincing at the thought of an old wound. “Of course, then he crossed the room in a heartbeat and buried his fangs into my neck.”
Digger’s head snapped up, eyes wide. “Is that how the curse is spread? Will Far Sight-”
“No. Becoming a vampire is more...involved. From the way my creator explained it to me, a vampire has to drain their target of blood and then dump some of their own down their throat. That’s what raises a body into a vampire.”
“Wait…,” Digger frowned, idly tapping her pen against her pad. “The curse makes you effectively dead. Would you even have blood? How is this supposed to work?”
“I don’t quite understand the mechanics behind it,” Sun shrugged. “But something happens to blood we drink. It’s made all...mystical or something. It’s what fuels our existence and animates someone who’s dead into a vampire.”
“So…,” Digger licked her lips. “You really did….”
“Die? To my understanding...yes.”
Digger’s pad hit the table with a soft, almost resigned thwack. “This...is going to be more difficult than I thought.”
“You’re not thinking of backing out, are you?” Sun almost hissed. If this little horse was going to dangle hope in front of her, she’d better not yank it away again without even trying!
“No...but if the only thing animating you is the curse, we’re effectively looking for a way to bring you back to life.”
“Oh, is that all we’re doing? Glad that we’re facing down reasonable goals here.”
“What happened after he turned you?” Digger asked, pointedly ignoring Sun’s sarcasm.
Sun looked past Digger, focusing instead on some random spot on the wall. “...Baric only gave me enough blood to effect the change. So, when I awoke I was ravenous. There...was this girl.”
She could see the growing anxiety in Digger as the pony’s magic fueled scribblings became a little shakier. “So-”
Sun glared right into the unicorn’s eyes. Her point had to be clear. “Couldn’t have been older than seventeen. He had grabbed her from...some low income neighborhood. He had to have been planning something like this for a while. She was bound and gagged. She was crying. And I. Didn’t. Care. I was in a berserk frenzy and she was full blood.”
Digger recoiled from her, but Sun plowed on ahead. “I pounced on her gorged myself. I drank until I was sucking on a dry, dead vien. It was only after the poor thing was dead that my rage faded enough for me to understand what monstrous thing I had just done. But Baric? He didn’t give a shit. The girl was nothing but food in his mind. Because that’s how feeding on people for a thousand years warps your morality.”
“If vampires have been around for that long, how were they just fictional to you?”
Sun wrenched her eyes back to Digger. “Well, after I was turned, I was introduced into vampire society. The main political group- the Camarilla -had spent the previous five hundred years using influence, bribery and intimidation to make the world believe that they didn’t actually exist. They called it ‘The Masquerade’ and it was the law, above all the others for them. They believed in it so strongly, that a great deal of time and resources were spent covering up the actions of those vampires who weren’t part of the Camarilla and who didn’t believe that hiding from mortals was needed. ”
Deep Digger hummed to herself and underlined something in her notes. “Two more questions then. First, did the Camarilla ever give you an explanation for the origin of the curse?”
“I was given the standard primer on the legend of how vampires came to be,” Sun shrugged. She frowned, thinking back to her days just after the embrace. “My sire sounded pretty skeptical when he told me it, but since we were a pair of walking corpses, I’m not exactly sure where the line on reality is anymore.”
“Tell me, what he told you.”
“Right. Well, to give the paraphrased version….” Sun spread her arms wide over the table and when she spoke again, she threw her voice deeper. “In the beginning, God made the heavens and the earth. Then he made the first two humans, Adam and Eve. After they screwed up and got banished from his garden paradise, they had two kids, Caine and Able. Caine grew jealous of his brother and slew him, causing the first act of murder. God,” she paused then shrugged, dropping back to her normal voice. “Well, he was pissed off and cursed Caine with the vampire condition. From there he made three and those three made thirteen. From there the vampire curse spreads into a bunch of different branches- called clans- and sub branches - called bloodlines- in the world’s most screwed up family tree.”
“And what branch did you land on?” Digger asked.
“Clan Brujah. The angry rabble rousers of vampire society. Baric was impressed with my raid and my dedication in the face of getting stomped on by jack booted thugs.”
Digger nodded. “Last question then. Did you ever find any hints towards a cure back then?”
Sun shook her head. “Nothing that I didn’t trip my bullshit meter. One time I was told that a full blood transfusion would cure you. Someone else said unicorn blood could cure vampirism. Though whether one was supposed to drink the blood or use it as part of the aforementioned transfusion were left vague.” A smile managed to creep onto her face. “I think that my personal favorite was the ‘kill the head vampire’ story where in the head vampire was the ruler of my country.”
“Pardon me, but I find it hard to believe that no other vampires looked for some way to break the curse.”
“Who knows. Maybe they did at some point,” Sun shrugged. “But my experience with the Camarilla leadership was that they didn’t like ‘fledgelings’ like myself asking those kinds of questions. Tools aren’t all that useful when they aren’t doing what you want.”
Digger sighed and rubbed her forehead. “So, we’re dealing with a curse that might have divine origins, is somewhat mutable in its nature and effectively animates the dead.” Glaring at Sun over her glasses, she snorted at the absurdity of the situation. “And you don’t want me to tell anypony else about you? Should we chain my hooves together while we’re at it?”
“Hey!” Sun snapped back, holding her hands up. “I just want to be careful here! I might not have agreed with a lot of what the Camarilla did but The Masquerade is just common sense. I burn in the sunlight and pass out during the day. The wrong person...pony, knows about me and I’m ash!”
“That would be murder!” Digger shouted, slamming her hooves on the table. “I don’t know how things were in your society, but Equestria doesn’t summarily execute creatures because they’re different!”
“You’re going to tell me that no one in this land of yours has ever reacted out of fear? Made a stupid decision and hurt someone because of it?”
Digger grit her teeth. “I only have so many resources at my disposal Sun. Can I at least tell one pony?”
“...Who's this pony?”
“Her name is Twilight Sparkle. She was a student of mine at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. She was also taught by Princess Celestia, who has lived for over a thousand years and became the embodiment of magic and friendship itself. If any pony can help break the curse, she’d be it.”
“...You taught her? Just how old are you anyway?”
“I’m forty three and that’s besides the point!”
Sun bit her lip. “You trust her?”
“I do.”
“Fine. One pony. Now...I have some questions about your world.”
- - - -
The rest of the conversation with Deep Digger had been enlightening for Sun, but very surreal at the same time. If not for the modern-ish technology that she had seen since waking up, Sun would have sworn that she was living in some kind of fairy tale world now.
Friendship magic. Dragons, unicorns and pegasi, oh my. The sun rising at a set time every day, because that’s when the immortal princess decided to do it. The lack of wars and other major conflicts, made the world seem almost as soft as cotton candy.
At the same time though, the situation gave Sun more hope that she’d had in a long time. Magic and the supernatural were a normal part of this age. It was defined, catalogued and apparently studied. That already put her way ahead of dealing with stuffy vampire elders that hoarded all secrets and knowledge for themselves. With a little patience, she just might be able to buck this curse and then….
What would she do? If there were no vampires to worry about she could go back to just living a normal life. At least as normal as it could be, being a human in a land of equines. Still if the talk of minotaurs and other beings was true, she’d probably slide into the menagerie easily enough. Maybe she could even finish getting her journalism degree?
Well, she’d figure the next step whenever she hit that point.
In the short term though, she still had to worry about survival. And survival meant getting her hands on blood...and a few other things. So, while Digger washed up after finishing her dinner, Sun sat cross legged in the living room with a thick business directory in her lap and pad of paper at her side.
Here, she had gotten a little lucky. Apparently telephones weren’t much of a thing in this strange new world. But ponies had worked out the benefit of having an equivalent to the yellow pages on their own.
“B...B...ba...be...bl,” Sun muttered, dragging a finger down the page. Blood banks and hospitals made a decent starting point. A stockpile would lessen the need to hunt and the chance of a feeding going disastrously wrong.
She jotted down address after address to check against a map later, before moving onto animal shelters and pet stores. The blood of animals might taste like shit, but at least it was a more ethical way of getting it. ...Relatively speaking at least.
“Hey, Digger?” she called to the kitchen. “Would I be out of line asking you to pick me up a few things tomorrow?”
Digger’s voice rose over the sound of dishes clanking in the sink. “That depends. What do you want?”
“A map of the city.The more detailed, the better. And some kind of watch or clock that I can use to keep track of the time.”
The clink of dishes stopped and Digger emerged from the kitchen a moment later, glaring down her snout. “You’re planning to go out? After all the grief you gave me about not telling other ponies about you?”
“I need to feed.”
Digger bit her lip. “I’m not sure I like the idea of you stalking around Manehatten, attacking ponies.”
Sun shrugged. “I’ll need to go outside, even if I get my blood from non-pony sources. I just can’t sit around here all the time.” She frowned, jabbing a thumb at the window. “Besides, I’ve been asleep for thousands of years. I’m a little bit stir crazy.”
“Fine!” Digger exclaimed, rolling her eyes. “I’ll get you those things! Any other whims of yours I should tend to?”
“Hmm.” Sun hummed to herself, eyes roaming over Digger’s sleek green coat. The hunger for blood never did go away and she hadn’t exactly been full up when Ming Xiao locked her in that stone box. Even from this distance, there was a sweet smell that clung to pony. “Well…I could use a little bit of a drink.”
Deep Digger flinched, a hoof instinctively rubbing at her neck. “I...drink…,” she shook her head. “I’m sorry Sun that’s just a line I’m not comfortable crossing.”
“Well, then getting me those things is even more important then, isn’t it?”
Digger stared for a moment, then rolled her eyes and made for her bedroom. “I’m going to bed. See you tomorrow night.”
After Digger vanished into her room for the night, Sun dropped the book back on its stand and wandered over to one of her host’s many bookshelves.
The question of language and how a race of ponies had contrived themselves one that sounded exactly like English would have to be looked into at some point. It was a mystery that gnawed at the back of Sun’s mind, over the practical matters of survival. Maybe the ancient equine ancestors of this society discovered the remains of the New York Public Library while they worked out how to use tools without hands. But whatever the answer was, at least she’d have something to read.
With a forest's worth of history books to poke through, Sun decided that doing a deeper dive on some of what Digger had told her was in order. She traced a finger along their spines. Perhaps she could deduce some hint on what happened to human civilization?
Human civilization.
Her hand paused on one of the tomes. She really was separated from it this time. There wasn’t even the fig-leaf of being able to partake in it, even through the lense of a predator. It was an unpleasant realization to say the least. But, perhaps more uncomfortable was that she knew she should feel something other than anger towards those who put her in this situation.
Anger had become harder to control since she was dragged into Clan Brujah. That was their bloodline’s extra curse and she hated it as much as anything else about being a vampire.
“Gotta keep it under control,” she hissed through gritted teeth. “There’s no way any of these ponies will help me if I flip out.”
She glanced down at the book she had stopped on. Royal Hooves: A History of Equestria’s Princesses.
“Good enough place to start as any.”
Taking the book, she sat on the couch and began to read.
- - - -
The next morning, Digger found Sun sprawled out on the couch, a half dozen books scattered around her in a disorganized scatter. Though the vampire had clearly taken the time to make sure the heavy curtains were drawn tightly closed.
She sighed at the scene. “...This will look really strange to anypony peeking in.”
It would take a few days before Twilight Sparkle would show up, assuming she wanted to come at all. In the meantime, she’d have to look into fixing a curse, wrangling a blood sucker and keeping up with her usual museum duties.
Grabbing another blanket from her room, she threw it over her “sleeping” guest before checking her work schedule. There was an exhibit switch going on in gallery nine today. Classic Cathiyan fashions.
“Perfect.”
She had been dreading this particular exhibit. The offer had come from The National Museum of Cathay. They’d exchange that exhibit for the Historical Society’s one on the early (and short lived) Manehattan whaling industry for a few months. While museums made such exchanges all the time, if it had been up to Digger, they would have gone with the kirin pottery exhibit. Fashion- no matter how old it was- didn’t seem the thing to be in a history museum.
Still, today was the set up day. That would probably run until early evening. She could grab the items on Sun’s list on the way back. And then maybe...she’d follow her tonight? Not that it would show much trust in her guest. Did she deserve any trust though? Horrible curse aside, they hadn’t exactly met on the best of terms. And the blood drinking….
“No easy answers here,” she frowned. But spending all day here debating it wouldn’t get her anywhere.
Quickly getting cleaned up and dressed Deep Digger headed off to work.
- - - -
Things were still in somewhat of a disordered state at the Historical Society when she arrived. There was an undercurrent of nervousness in the greetings she got from the staff. Everypony was still clearly on edge from the search for Sun yesterday, like she was still going to be hiding in a broom closet or an air vent.
She decided to check on Far Sight before the National Museum's courier showed up. Her pegasus co-worker was scribbling away at his desk when she arrived and seemed oblivious to her presence until she knocked on the door frame.
His head snapped up, his pen falling from his mouth. “Oh...sorry Digger. I was just distracted.”
“Understandable,” Digger nodded, wandering over to her friend’s desk. “Everypony seems distracted and on edge. I think it’s pretty clear that whatever that body is, it’s not here.”
“Clearly. Is what you’re working on related to it?”
He nodded sharply. “Of course,” he tapped each of the documents he was working on. “Press release, report for the Manehatten police, copy of the report for the Royal Guard and a letter to Princess Celestia. We have a dangerous escaped entity here. We need to get the word out.”
Digger nodded but internally her mind was grappling with her earlier debate all over again. Guards and police combing the city for a monster would not end well for anyone. With Sun’s paranoid attitude, she could just see violence breaking out if she was caught poking around the city or they somehow tracked her to the apartment. There would probably be a great deal of screaming, violence and breaking of both ponies and properties.
So, some manner of disguise was added to Digger’s mental checklist. She had briefly considered trying to talk Far Sight out of it, but it was quickly dismissed. He wasn’t the kind of pony to back down and it would make her look suspicious.
“Well, I’ll leave you to that while I suffer through our visiting exhibit setup. Has the courier arrived yet?”
Far Sight blinked at the question, mind scrambling for a moment. “Actually, yes. She’s up in gallery nine already. Jumped right into it with the handlers.”
“Time to go make nice then.”
She set out, taking the employee set of stairs to the third floor, before hooking a right and winding through the galleries to number nine. It was abuzz with activity as handlers trotted to and fro, putting up ponyquins, lifting glass display cases into position, and stretching a painting into place on its frame.
It was obvious who the courier was amongst the hustle and bustle. She was only kirin in the room, one of the so called “dragon ponies” of the far east. The fine scales that covered her body in place of a coat were a glittering jade green, while mane and tail were a rich, ruby red. Like a unicorn, she was horned. Unlike a unicorn, she had two that swept back towards her tail and that had an almost corkscrew shape to them.
She stood in the middle of the room, keeping a firm eye on everything going on around her, bedecked in a golden silk dress, covered in intricate flower shaped embroidery. Digger strode forward, putting a smile on her face.
“Hello! I’m Deep Digger. I hope that our employees have been helping you to your satisfaction so far?”
The kirin turned to her, smiled back and dropped into a deep bow. “Despite some of their tongue wagging, they have indeed Miss Digger. A pleasure to meet you. I’m Bright Dawn.”
Digger raised an eyebrow. “Tongue wagging?”
“I hear that you’ve had some kind of monster in your building,” she said with a slight smirk.
“So, nopony is showing any discretion at all?” Digger sighed. “All of this is going to be great for our attendance rates.”
“I wouldn’t be so ready to declare doom and gloom already. The world is always full of monsters. But the sun hasn’t stopped rising yet.”
“You seem rather blase about the situation.”
The kirin smiled giving a slight nod. “It is not an unknown occurrence in Cathay. Which is why I ask...may I see this casket that your monster was hidden in? As one professional to another?”
For a moment Digger considered the request. What harm could letting her see it do, really? The vampire wasn’t currently inside it, after all.
“Very well. Follow me.”
- - - -
Bright Dawn examined the sarcophagus very closely, making several passes as she drilled down on every detail. Digger noticed that she seemed to be paying particular attention to the carvings that ran down its sides. Though as those were the pieces most striking features currently, that wasn’t all too unusual.
“Amazing,” Dawn said as she finished her investigation. “This really is an amazing piece. Where did you find it?”
“It was brought in, actually. Some fishers were lucky enough to catch it in their trawling net.”
Bright Dawn snorted. “Really now? And I imagine they extracted a hefty price from you for the trouble.”
“That’s the type, isn’t it?” Digger asked. Something was beginning to bother her about Dawn and her motives though. While the questions could be just because of professional curiosity, the strange nature of everything involving Sun was beginning to make Digger a little suspicious. Plus, she had promised Sun that she’d only tell Twilight Sparkle about her.
“Yes, I suppose it is,” Dawn answered. “Anyway, I suppose I should bring up the real reason I wanted to see the sarcophagus. The actual grand opening of the fashion exhibit is a few days away and some of the who's-who of Equestria have been invited. I am not eager to see it spoiled by a runaway creature. I,” she tapped her horns, “have some skill with dowsing and other minor divinatory magic. With a little bit of time, I might be able to find your missing monster before the opening.”
Well, this just made her previous problem all the worse. But she couldn’t really say no either. “Alright then. If you want to help, we’d certainly be foolish to turn it down. Far Sight’s pulling together our response. I’m sure he’d be glad for the assistance.”
Bright Dawn bowed her head. “Of course. I shall speak with him at once. Your handlers should be able to finish the setup in the meantime.”
Digger glanced towards the door, wheels already turning in her mind. “I’ll be in my office then. If you need anything.”
Dawn nodded absentmindedly and Digger rushed to her office, closing and locking the door behind her. At Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, she had taught classes in magical history and development. As such, she had collected a great many books detailing spells and rituals from a wide variety of cultures across the world.
Grabbing one from a shelf, Digger began to read. Maybe with some luck she could kill two birds with one stone.
That was what Sun awoke to. The gnawing, clawing sensation in the pit of her stomach that only came when her blood reserves were running low. Sitting up with a grunt, Sun mentally cursed not feeding the night before. Fighting her way to the prick LaCroix had drained more of her reserves than she would have liked. Then there was the cost of waking each night, the use of her Celerity and Presence the night before last. The tank was approaching empty. To prevent herself from flying into a hunger induced frenzy, there was one and only option. She had to feed.
Sitting up, she blinked at the blanket that she found wrapped around her body. A slight smile crossed her lips. “Aw. That was nice of her. Kinda pointless, but nice.”
Tossing it aside, Sun hopped to her feet and set about looking for her equine room mate. She wasn’t in the kitchen or her bedroom.
“Mmm. Must not be back from work yet,” she mused.
This provided her with a bit of a dilemma. Did she wait for Digger to come home with the items she had asked for and- possibly- some information on how to break her curse? Or did she go out and hunt for some blood now? The twisting sensation in her stomach and the ache at the root of her fangs certainly made a convincing argument to go see what Manehattan’s night had to offer.
Walking over to the windows, Sun peeked through the curtains. The streets seemed a little busy tonight. From what she could tell, it was mostly small groups of ponies either heading home after a long day of work, or heading out to have some fun. A perfect situation to hunt in, if she didn’t stand out like a sore thumb. Especially since the broken streetlights had been replaced during the day.
Still….
Before she could decide, the sound of keys rattling in the door made the decision for her. It swung open and Deep Digger shuffled in, carrying a bunch of full bags in her magic. She raised an eyebrow at Sun as she kicked the door closed behind her. Sun blinked. Digger smelled good tonight. A bit like mint and cinnamon. The ache in her fangs grew a little stronger.
“You weren’t thinking about leaving, were you?”
“...Maybe? I wasn’t sure when you were going to get back.”
“I would recommend against doing that. The city’s looking for you now.”
“...What?”
“My co-worker, Far Sight told the city guard about you and released a public statement to the newspapers,” Digger sighed. She plucked a thick edition from amongst books and several unrelated looking items and thrust it at Sun. “Congratulations. You made all the evening editions.”
Somewhat incredulous of Digger’s claim, Sun took the paper and unfolded it with a quick flick of her wrist. Her frown grew deeper and deeper as she scanned the front page.
“Viciously attacked? Extremely dangerous? Do not approach under any circumstances? Your co-worked has no damn clue how screwed he would have been if there had been a less ethical vampire in that sarcophagus.”
Digger shrugged. “Maybe. But things like you don’t tend to happen in Equestria. The guards will start looking for you. And there’s a visiting kirin mage that’s offering to help the museum track you down as well.”
Sun wasn’t entirely sure what a kirin was, but “mage” was bad for her. “Fan-fucking-tastic,” she sighed. “What now?”
“There is still the go public option-”
“Not until this curse is gone!” Sun snapped, throwing the paper at Digger’s hooves. “Goddamn Digger! What about this don’t you understand?”
“How you can be this paranoid! Do you really think so little of Equestria that we’d kill you when your back is turned?”
“I survived five years in a lion’s den by being paranoid. The fact that all of you are adorable doesn’t mean I just let my guard down. For all I know the Camarilla could still somehow be out there in the shadows.” She tapped herself in the chest. “Unless we’re slain, vampires just keep on existing, remember?”
Digger bit her lip and Sun smirked. Admittedly, the odds of the Camarilla still being around were unlikely. While a vampire could still be “alive” after thousands upon thousands of years, maintaining a power structure through a shift in the dominant species on the planet was a completely different thing. She just wasn’t ready to trust a pair of mysterious princesses yet.
After a few minutes of internal debate, Deep Digger sighed. “...Fine. But if you’re not going public, we need a way for you to blend in.”
Sun walked back to the couch. “I’m listening.”
“I dug through some of my archives and found a spell that should help.” Deep Digger said, trotting for the kitchen with her bags. “The downside is that...well...it involves transmutation magic.”
Transmutation. “So, you want to-”
“Turn you into a pony? Yes.”
The idea seemed completely laughable to Sun. But the utterly serious expression on Digger’s face kept Sun from completely throwing the idea aside.
“Alright…,” Sun frowned, steepling her hands together. “You seem to clearly think this is a good idea. Explain to me why and don’t leave out any details.”
“It’s what it says on the tin. We transform you into something else. No chance of the sudden loss or failure of the spell while you’re walking around, like can happen with an illusion. And...well…,” she shrugged. “There is a small, small chance the transformation will break the curse.”
Sun raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
“A small chance! You,” she pointed at Sun, “are most likely swimming with entropy magic. It explains your ‘dead’ nature almost perfectly. You're effectively 'locked' in this living-dead state. Transmutation is a sub-school of life magic. I’m hoping that if I flood your system with it during the transmutation, we’ll effectively force a ‘reset’ as it were.”
Sun nodded, Digger’s angle becoming clear. “Like flipping a blown circuit breaker. You sure that’ll work?”
“I...honestly don’t know,” Digger shrugged. “But even if it doesn’t, you’ll be disguised. You could walk around and night, help me track down other possible fixes or even just do things besides sit in this apartment all night. But the natural downside is that you won’t be human anymore. So, I understand if-”
“If there’s even a chance it can free me from being a vampire, I’m willing to take it.”
“...Seriously? You’re willing to give up your humanity just like that?” Digger blinked. “I was expecting to have to argue this more....”
“Mmm. Two counter points to that. One,” she held up a finger. “I haven’t felt ‘human’ in a while. I don’t possibly think that going pony or minotaur or whatever would make that feeling worse. Two,” a second joined the first. “If you change me one way, can’t you change me back? Basically make me human again once the curse is broken?”
“...I’d need something of yours to fuel that.” She rubbed her chin in thought. “Hair would work the best.”
“Hair huh?”
Sun marched straight for the kitchen. Rummaging through the drawers she drew a knife with one hand and pulled her long hair taught with her other. With one smooth motion, empowered by her undead strength, she chopped her locks down to neck length.
“Ta-dah!” she smirked, holding the mass of hair out to Digger. “Now, make with the magic.”
- - - -
Digger read the earmarked pages of her tome for the third time, double checked the arcane circle that now covered most of her kitchen floor, and made sure that her sound dampening spell was active. Explaining the situation to her landlord was something she wasn’t in the mood for right now.
Zebra magic, while quite flexible, was very alien compared to its pony equivalent. Pony magic was internal, flowing from their magical wellspring and expressing itself through the various tribal specializations. By contrast, zebra magic was all potions and rituals. External. They tapped into the magic that was just part of the world and wove it into their storytelling traditions and way of approaching the arcane.
Because they drew from the magic of the world, their rituals had a larger pool of power to draw from. Hypothetically at least. There hadn’t been many studies done comparing the limits of a unicorn’s reservoir to how much power a zebra ritual could draw in, but the theory was sound.
“Are you almost done? This is really damn awkward.”
She glanced up at Sun. The human was sitting in an odd cross legged pose in the middle of the circle, her arms crossed under those strangely swollen teats of hers. She was covered top to bottom in similar arcane scrawlings as the circle, made from quartz infused ink. Four stacks of silver coins were situated equidistant from her body in the four cardinal directions at about the midpoint of the circle. Four flickering candles were on the outside edge, set up on the same cardinal directions, that Sun had been glowering at for the past few minutes.
“Just be patient. I need to make sure that everything is correct. One wrong symbol and this whole spell could go south.”
Sun glowered. “I am so glad that I don’t get cold anymore.”
Digger rolled her eyes and checked the circle one last time. “Alright. I think we’re ready.”
A quick snip from a pair of scissors gave Digger the final component she needed. Mane hair. It was placed between the southern coin pile and Sun. Digger flipped the page to the next part of the ritual. The magic words. This was where the biggest risk in the ritual was. A mispronunciation could invoke a completely different spell, or cause other horrific results. Thankfully, Digger spoke fluent zebra.
“So, when I change, does that mean I’ll be able to do levitation and stuff like you?” Sun asked.
“...I honestly don’t know. We’re treading new ground here.”
“What about walking and stuff? Going from two legs to four? Am I going to need to relearn how to walk?”
“Actually, no,” Digger shook her head. “Spells like this wouldn’t be much use if they effectively crippled those it was cast on. Magic users worked out a sub-enchantment ‘translator’ centuries ago that effectively overlays onto subconsciousness. You more think about what you want to do, rather than the specifics of how to do it and your body will handle the rest.”
Sun cocked her head. “I’m...trying to work out if that’s creepy or not. Feels a little...brainwashy.”
“...It is not ‘brainwashy’.” Digger sighed. “Just because a spell has mind magic in it, it’s not automatically ‘brainwashy’!”
“Woah…,” Sun held up her hands. “Touchy.”
“I’m...sorry. Equestria may be in a more enlightened age, but there is still a great amount of misinformation regarding unicorn magic and how it functions. Especially amongst pegasi and earth ponies. As an educator, that bothers me.”
Sun’s lips thinned, but she nodded. “Then let’s do this.”
Digger nodded and began to read. She focused on the words as she did, picturing them in her mind. This was one of the keys to zebra rituals. It wasn’t enough to just say the words. The caster had to believe them.
Nini ana miguu miwili asubuhi! Tatu miguu katika mchana! Pamoja na miguu minne jioni! Wewe!
The room became noticeably dimmer, candles and ceiling lights alike struggling to cast luminescance in the presence of the growing arcane power. The circle on the floor began to cast a purple light, while the paint on Sun’s body began to match it. She gasped as the auras began to reach out, tangling and coiling together to form connections between the two forces.
Wewe ni farasi! Kutembea kwa miguu minne! Wewe ni farasi! Mbio juu ya miguu minne!
More colors began to flow between circle and Sun now. To Digger’s practiced arcane eye, the school of magic was easily given away by the color of the aura it gave off. Purple was correspondence, the connection between all things and the main conduit for the rest of the ritual. Life magic- that would be the main catalyst for the transformation- was of course present. A heavy, leaden red energy that hung near the floor like flowing mist. It was the colors of magic that flowed from Sun that were the most interesting though.
There were light green wisps that flit around her body from the school of time that mixed with heavy, inky blackness from the school of entropy. Stasis and death. This wasn’t going to be easy. Digger braced herself and focused all the harder on the words.
Wewe ni farasi! Wewe ni farasi! Wewe ni farasi!
Sun convulsed at the last word...and let out an ear piercing scream. Digger jerked back the book tumbling out of her grip. A sickening, burning stench was filling the room, its source unmistakable. The painted symbols on Sun’s skin were boiling. The vampire screamed in a mixture of rage and pain, thrashing about and clawing frantically at her own body. But even as she did, her hands were twisting and warping in ways that Digger could only describe as horrific.
Her fingers twisted about so hard that they snapped, hanging limply for a moment before running together like water, forming into hoof and frog. Sun screamed again, spitting a furious curse.
“You fucking Tzimisce bithhhh-”
The curse died, falling into a strangled series of burbling sounds. The upper part of Sun’s jaw cracked and pushed forward, her small human nose merging into the disjointedly growing muzzle. Digger couldn’t help herself. The nightmarish sight and sickening sounds of bones cracking and reforming was just too much. Stomach heaving, she turned away, emptying its contents all over the floor.
Something’s gone wrong, she thought, wiping the remains of sick from her muzzle. The transformation was supposed to be a smooth transition, not this! She rushed back to her book, hurriedly flipping through the pages while glancing up at Sun’s changing form.
Sun gasped.
Digger looked up her eyes wide. It had been unmistakable. Sun had taken a full breath. Her chest- covered in a patchwork of pale pink fur, unchanged skin, and the burning brands- heaved as she took another one. But then there was a sickening crack and Sun’s whole torso was suddenly compressed to more pony appropriate proportions. She toppled forward, the tile cracking under her new hooves at the end of legs that were still mostly arms.
A rippling convolution rolled down Sun’s back now. With a sound that was a mix of a wet sucking and a horrible tearing, two slabs of flesh ripped away from the rest of her body. Digger shrieked in horror, but couldn’t tear her eyes away from the twisting, twitching, bloody slabs that were still partially connected via ropey strips of muscle. Dear Celestia, she could even see Sun’s spine!
Even if the spell was breaking the curse, it was killing her at the same time. How? Why? In all her years of magic study, Digger had never encountered a subject reacting this badly to a life spell.
“D-digger...run,” Sun managed to stammer out.
“No!”
Now frantic, Digger ran her hooves over the circle, while batting the coin piles aside with her magic. The ritual had to be stopped before Sun was twisted into a pile of dead meat! But to her horror, the spell had reached critical mass and rolled onwards unperturbed. Digger could only watch. The horrible twitching slabs were gaining more definition, taking on a leathery texture and growing visible bony structures to support the new wing like membranes. Wings that resembled those on a bat pony.
But she had used her own unicorn hair as the fuel for the spell.
The mystery of the tribal change was knocked from her mind as Sun’s head snapped up. Digger’s stomach dropped at the look in the human’s eyes. They had gained the characteristic vertical slit pupils of a bat pony and given up their gray color for a striking violet hue. But there was no recognition in her eyes. No evidence of higher thought. It was the kind of stare that a rabid dog might give.
She took a few steps back, holding up her forehooves in a placating gesture. “Sun...please. I know that this isn’t going the way-”
Sun screeched and dove for her, fangs gleaming in the kitchen light. Thankfully for Digger, Sun’s hind legs were still in a state of transition and the dive was an off kilter mess. Her jaws snapped shut on open air and Digger lashed out with her telekinesis in response, shoving Sun as hard as she could. She didn’t bother to see what Sun crashed into and ran.
Bursting into her living room, Digger dove over the couch, her magic reaching for the door. But before she could even begin to turn the knob, she was struck from behind. Her glasses were sent tumbling away as Digge landed hard on her back. She shrieked and threw out a burst of telekinesis in a wild, wide arc managing to grab Sun.
It was a decision she instantly regretted. Sun thrashed, twisted and bucked with all her might. Her wings beat the air and battered at Digger’s face. She bit and hissed, each time snapping for Digger’s neck.
The end result was the equivalent of trying to hold onto a seventy-five pound bag while it tried to wrestle you to the ground. Digger grunted, setting her jaw as she channeled all her magic, reaching into the very depths of her wellspring. With a cry, she threw Sun with all her might. The transformed human hit the far bookshelf with a thwack, the collection of tomes on its shelves raining down on her from the impact. Swaying for a moment, Digger tried to ignore the pounding headache she had from channeling all that magic. She turned and grabbed the door again, shaking her head for good measure.
She was hit again, from the side this time, Sun pinning her to the ground with her forehooves. With another angry hiss, Sun buried her fangs into Digger’s neck. A haze began to settle in over her mind. One that was oddly euphoric despite the fact that, logically, Digger knew that Sun was drinking her blood. She also knew, just as logically, that she had to do something.
Feebly, she reached up with her forehooves and tried to push Sun away. But she might as well have tried to push Mt. Canterlot over. The vampire was just too strong. Her vision was beginning to fade now, a blackness creeping in from the edges. There was a weight pulling her down and down into some kind of abyss. And as she began to lose consciousness, a few tears leaked from the corners of her eyes.
She didn’t think that death would feel this warm.
- - - -
Sun had walked into a nightmare.
The night had started so simply for her. Yet another night of doing stupid tasks for vampires older than her, this time in the glittering streets of Hollywood. The vampires in this part of LA were surprisingly personable for a bunch of blood suckers. Maybe interacting with humans more often gave them more perspective. Or maybe people were so fake in Hollywood that vampires could blend in easier. Fifty-fifty chance really.
Then had come the call from Prince LaCroix. A snuff film had hit the streets. That in and of itself was nothing new...even if Sun had thought they were more urban myth than reality. But this one supposedly had actual monsters in it. So, as the lowest bitch on the totem pole, she had been sent to plug the Masquerade breach.
The tape rumor head lead to a LA porn studio which, after a chase through the sewers by creatures that were little more than heads with legs, she had come to a house. The house was clearly where the beasts had come from because she was standing in the middle of….well, she didn’t really know how to describe it.
There was furniture. It was made of skin and muscle and some of it even had…faces. Faces that were still blinking and whimpering through lips that were somehow sealed smooth. The furniture was people and somehow, they were still alive.
“Ahh, hello young Cainite,” a smooth male voice said. It was a voice that oozed with an old world arrogance and accent. “I see your face is not so lifeless, your nerves not so deadened, that you can not express shock.”
Slowly, Sun turned to face him, hands already curling into fists.
The thing standing in the doorway to another room might have been human once. Now it resembled something from a horror movie. The head was stretched backwards into a fleshy crown, topped by six boney spikes. Four more spikes grew out of his shoulders, two on each side. His skin was a pallid, ashen gray while his eyes glowed with a yellowish light. But the cherry on top of the surreal sundae was the blood red suit and tie.
“Tell me childe, is my appearance that frightening, or is it my knowledge of you that is so unnerving?”
The davenport behind Sun gave a strangled whimper. She bared her fangs, disgust welling up inside her. Disgust...disgust...disgust….
Digger’s apartment swam back into view. The memories of that night and the feelings of disgust had been so strong. Though that was hard to focus on while she was drinking something that was so, perfectly, succulent sweet….
The spell!
With a great deal of effort, she pulled her fangs out of the neck she woke up in. There had been the chanting and then the searing pain and then…. She had lost control.
“Please, not again!” Sun muttered, pressing her now fuzzy ear to Deep Digger’s chest. She had no idea how much blood she had drained from the unicorn. Digger was already smaller than a human and if she took too much…. “Come on Deep Digger! Give me something! Don’t you die on me you stupid book horse!”
There! It was faint, but she could just make out the rhythmic bump of a heartbeat underneath shallow breathing. Very shallow breathing. Sun cursed under her breath. Her only ally in this crazy horse based world was dying in her arms...forelegs...whatever. She had to get Digger to a hospital, but she didn’t know where any of them were and moving the unicorn just might hurt her more. Digger needed something to boost her health long enough in order to get a blood transfusion.
Blood.
That was an option. Vampire blood had a power of its own after all, and empowering mortals with it had a long tradition amongst the Camarilla. The resulting ghouls gained a piece of vampire power, making them harder to kill, extending their age and many other benefits. But like many things involving vampires, there was a price.
In this case, it was an increased sense of devotion to the vampire whose blood the prospective ghoul drunk. It got worse the more the ghoul drank too, as without a constant supply of blood the enhanced abilities would fade in time. It was one of the worst mental violations a vampire could inflict on someone, save maybe the art of Dominate.
Really though, all she needed was for Digger to to make it to a hospital. She didn’t have to give Digger anymore blood.
Sun looked down at her new hooves and the pale pink coat that wrapped around her...wrists? There was only one choice, really. Her fangs easily bit into her own dead flesh, opening up a withered vien.
She didn’t think about how her limbs moved now with their odd joints and flexible nature, as she gently supported Digger’s head with her left foreleg. Pressing the wound to Digger’s muzzle, Sun squirmed it around slightly until her right foreleg rested in Digger’s mouth and the blood dripped down her throat.
“That’s it. Drink up. We’re gonna make sure you’re okay.”
Her ears twitched at the sound of soft speaking outside the door.
“...Of course, we left the kitchen. Must have heard something.” Sun muttered. Of course that was the only room Digger enchanted. She held her leg in Digger’s mouth for another few moments, before pulling it out and licking the wound closed. And not a moment too soon for someone was knocking on the door now.
“Miss Digger?” a soft male voice called out. “It’s Meadow Song. Is everything okay in there?”
This was a bad situation, but Sun did have a plan. Lie. Using some more of the precious blood she had taken from Digger, she willed it into her organs, calling them back to a semblance of life. It wouldn’t last. But in the meantime, she’d at least look like she was alive to anyone observing her.
Lowering Digger to the floor, she took a step towards the windows, stumbled on her four new legs, bit back the desire to swear and fell back to Digger’s previous suggestions. Don’t think about the details, just what you want to do.
I want to walk to the window.
Now her legs got moving and she rushed over to the windows, rearing up and slamming her hooves against the glass. As it shattered outwards, she rushed back to Digger’s side, cradled her in her forelegs and let loose a (hopefully) bone chilling scream.
The door slammed open and an older looking pony burst into the room. Brown coated and green maned, he peered at Sun over a thick pair of glasses. Sun’s nostrils flared slightly at his presence. He smelled like chocolate and sea-salt and made her fangs ache all over again.
“Who?” the old pony asked, clearly perplexed by the scene before him.
“A-a m-monster! There was a monster! It attacked Digger and smashed through the window!” Sun shouted pointing at her handiwork. “P-please! I’m not sure she’s breathing!”
The pony stared at her for a moment before the reality of the situation caught up with him. “R-right! Stay with her, I’ll get an ambulance!”
He turned and ran off again, leaving Sun alone with Digger. She pat the head of the unconscious pony. Digger would be okay.
She had to be.
- - - -
Back across Manehattan, Bright Dawn frowned as the light faded from her crystal charm. A moment ago, it had been swinging back and forth across a map of the city, honing in on the location of their missing monster. A little chip of stone from its sarcophagus had provided the material link for her divination, though now it was thoroughly useless.
Far Sight, who had been watching the process with a great deal of interested, frowned as he peered down at the map. “What happened? Why isn’t it doing it’s thing anymore?”
“Something has interrupted the connection between monster and where it rested. Magical interference of some kind.”
“Damn!” Far Sigh swore.
“Do not despair,” Bright Dawn smiled, resting a hoof on his shoulder. “Whether it is us, or the city guard, we will find your beast.”
Far Sight took a deep breath and nodded. “You’re right. I’ll stay in touch with the guard. Maybe we can coordinate efforts.”
Bright Dawn bowed and watched as Far Sight trotted off to make more plans. She sighed, both her twisted horns glowing as she began to fold the map up. While her words were true, she wasn’t all that eager for the guard to succeed.
She just hoped that she could find Sun before they did.
Sometimes, in the quiet moments between hunting for blood and the vampire politics that swirled around her, Sun considered just how natural the art of lying had become to her. Before being inflicted with the curse of Caine- even when dealing with her asshole of a father- Sun’s stomach would do backflips when she had to tell a fib. At least, above a certain level of severity. No one cared about little white lies. But “real” deception? That had been developed as a pure survival necessity.
But in all her life and unlife, Sun had never really pictured lying in this context.
She sat on a low stool across from a member of Manhattan's equivalent to the police. The guard- dressed in actual plate armor- seemed anachronistically out of place among the clean white tiles of the hospital’s lobby. His coat was a pastel blue, which was a somewhat ironic color, considering his job. The lingering scent of blueberries also clung to his body, which was an annoying distraction.
Deep Digger was somewhere upstairs, preparing for a blood transfusion. Considering that they had come here via a pony drawn carriage based ambulance, it was almost hard to believe that these ponies had that level of technology. Though Sun was quite glad that it did.
“Name?”
This was already going well. The few pony names she had been exposed to so far were these two name things like Deep Digger or Far Sight or….
“Sunny Days,” Sun blurted out.
She would have smacked herself in the forehead if the guard hadn't been sitting right there. Sesame Street had a lot to answer for. The guard raised an eyebrow and Sun pouted back. She had to think fast. But before she could come up with an excuse, the guard smirked.
“Parents expecting a pegasus?”
“Yes,” Sun nodded, just accepting her sudden bout of luck.
“Relation to Miss Digger?”
“Student. She’s been helping me with some private tutoring. I’m trying to break into the whole archaeology field.”
He nodded, before reaching down and scribbling some notes on a pad at his side. At first it was actually somewhat amusing to watch him write with his mouth, until she realized that would be how she’d be writing for the time being.
Damn it.
“So, can you describe this creature?”
At a thought, her new batlike wings wrapped around her body and she shuddered. “Well...it was like a nightmare. Ugly. Really ugly. It’s body was all black, twisted and rotten. And it’s legs! It stood on two of them. And it had these fangs! I was so, so scared.”
“What were you two doing when this thing attacked?”
“Well...we had been doing some studying. Going over some notes of previous findings of hers. But she seemed nervous. When I pressed her about it, she told me she thought she was being followed and that she thought it was this monster that had escaped. Then...she had this plan.”
She didn’t have many resources at her disposal right now, so she’d have to make good use of what little she did have. Which at the moment largely considered of a magic circle painted in an apartment kitchen.
“We...painted some kind of magic circle in her apartment. We were going to trap it if it attacked. But then...then….” She paused, whimpering for a moment and sinking a little more in her seat, vanishing a little more behind her wings. “It was just there!”
The fact that power belonged to a completely different line of vampires was, of course, besides the point. It was all about creating a shadowy boogey man for the pony police to go chasing after. Her interviewer frowned, made a few more notes and motioned for her to continue.
“Then it pounced on her. Bit right into the neck. Once she went limp it burst through the window and took off.”
“Anything else?”
“No...that’s pretty much all I can remember.”
“Alright. Can I have your address? In case we need to ask any follow up questions?”
Sun frowned. “I was actually staying with her.”
“...Do you have any relatives? Somepony else you can stay with?”
“Not really….”
He sighed, flipped to a fresh page on his note pad and jotted down what looked like an address, followed by directions. “Here. I know the pony that runs this shelter. Her name is Fluttering Posey. Just tell her that Quick Trot sent you.”
With that he ripped it off with his mouth and presented it to Sun. She hesitated for a moment, not entirely sure how to go about taking a piece of paper from someone- or in this case, somepony- without using her hands.
Just take it! Don’t overthink it!
Letting the spell guide her subconscious, Sun leaned forward and grabbed the page with her own mouth. Satisfied with his interrogation, the guard nodded once and tucked his notepad into a pair of bags hanging over his back.
“We’ll be in touch. Stay safe out there miss.”
Hmmm. Sun thought to herself, as the pony trotted off. Honestly not sure if that reaction was too blase for a world with magic or not blase enough.
Hopping off the chair, Sun flexed her new wings a few times. While her new limbs felt intact enough, there was a dull throbbing sensation working its way through her insides, which probably meant her organs were still suffering from the effects of their sudden re-arrangement. She needed to assess the damage from Deep Digger’s spell.
Glancing about for a bathroom, she took a moment to appreciate the waiting room, now that she had the time. It was a stark contrast to the underfunded public hospitals she had seen Los Angeles struggle under. There were no flickering incandescent lights casting parts of the room in shadow, paint chipping from the walls, or the lingering smell of sick from spills that were never cleaned. No moans of pain came from a line of people sitting and waiting for an overworked hospital staff to try and squeeze them in.
Instead, the room was clean and well lit, a vague pine smell filling the air from whatever disinfectant these ponies used. Pale blue paint on the walls gave the impression of a bright, sunny day. That effect was added to by the fresh flowers on the receptionists desk and the chirpy, cheerful tune she hummed to herself as she worked. If there were other patients, they were currently being attended to, as the three rows of seats were currently empty.
It seemed unfair, in so many ways, that these little horses would have that much better luck than humanity. They had dodged nuclear annihilation, put a man on the moon, but were being beat out in providing adequate medical care by a race that didn’t even have opposable thumbs! ...But did have public acceptance of magic. Cheating, cheating magic. Rolling her eyes, Sun returned to her bathroom search.
Three hallways branched off from the waiting room; right, left and straight ahead and all of them had plenty of doors. It didn’t take long for Sun to spot a little sign jutting out from above one of those doors that hinted at being a bathroom. At least that’s what a little pony silhouette said to her. Walking (trotting?) over to it, Sun just pushed the door open with her head. Thankfully, her guess turned out to be correct. It was very much like any given ladies room she’d have found before her casket nap. A collection of stalls against the back wall, opposite some sinks and- most importantly for Sun- mirrors.
She slowly walked over to the sinks, taking care to place the page on the edge of one. She reared onto her hind legs, which felt almost like standing up. Almost. There was something about the way her hips and spine were arranged now that made the whole process feel...constrained for the lack of a better term.
Her hooves clicked against the porcelain of the basin, as they had against the tile of the hallway. The face in the mirror was undeniably adorable. Large, expressive goldenrod colored eyes with vertical slitted pupils stared back at her. Her mane was strange, a slight off white color in the back and middle, but rolling into a more rose petal red in the front. It looked like the spell had somehow incorporated her hair dye into the new color. Curious, she twisted her surprisingly flexible neck around to peer at her behind. The new tail followed a similar pattern with the red at the tip. She also noted the lack of one of those rump pictures every pony seemed to sport. What had Digger called them again? Cutie-Marks?
Looking back in the mirror, Sun noted that her coat was a pale shade of pink and tufted at the tops of her triangle shaped ears. Then there were the wings to consider. Leathery, batlike and slightly darker shade of pink as her coat, they almost seemed like a cosmic joke. Vampires were closely associated with bats, so- of course -she’d have bat like features when changed. Though, no ponies had reacted strangely to her appearance so far. Bat like ponies couldn’t be completely uncommon in Equestria then.
Curious now, Sun rang her tongue along her teeth. Her eyes went wide when it touched against sharp little fangs, about the size of her vampire ones. Now, a little bit of panic gripped her. Had her vampire nature somehow corrupted the enchantment? Or did bat ponies just naturally have these things? It seemed that another experiment was in order.
It never took more than a thought for her fangs to come out under normal circumstances. In fact, most of the time they came out completely by instinct when she was angry or getting ready to feed. Now she watched as those oddly cute little things grew longer and longer in the mirror. Soon they were bone white hypodermic needles, maybe two and a half inches long as they gleamed in the bathroom light. She snapped her mouth closed, immediately resolving to never do that again.
So, still a vampire. Sun thought, smirking to herself. Well...it was worth a shot at least. At least now I actually blend in. Smile wherever you’re rotting you Camarilla fucks. The Masquerade exists for a little bit longer.
Now she considered this shelter. Another place to stay wouldn’t be a bad idea as Digger’s apartment just wasn’t safe without her there. Of course, she didn’t know if this shelter would be any better. If the place was large, open, shared rooms of identical bunkbeds then it wouldn’t do at all. One pony seeing her all corpse-like during the day or someone getting in her business to the point where she flipped out and frenzied would bring an end to her and quick. Then again, if the homeless shelters were anything like this hospital, maybe they’d have private rooms or something. The night was young and it couldn’t hurt to at least look....
Grabbing the address in her mouth, Sun walked back out to the waiting room and the receptionists desk. She dropped it on the counter and smiled. “Excuse me? Can you help me figure out how to get to this address from here?”
- - - -
Directions tucked firmly in the back of her mind and address under a wing, Sun trotted out of the hospital. But before she set off to the find homeless shelter, there was a more immediate need that had to be seen too.
It was- of course- blood.
Even after having nearly drained Deep Digger, Sun strangely still felt hungry, ravenous even. Maybe the transformation took more of a toll on her blood reserves than she'd realized, or maybe… she licked her lips remembering the powerful cinnamon-like taste of Deep Digger's blood.
Whatever the reason she needed more —Now!— and she felt as if the longer she put it off the greater the risks of flying into another frenzy, made only all the more dangerous by the passion and rage that were trademarks of Clan Brujah. That wasn't a risk Sun was willing to take, least of all not after almost killing the only friend she had in this alien world of delectable candy equines.
Sun wasn’t sure how many hospitals Manehattan had, but this one- Green Hill Hospital- took up a whole quarter of this block. With a wide, recessed entrance to allow the emergency carts plenty of room to pull up and offload their wounded equine cargo. Sun hooked a left, from there, heading down the street for a little bit, before slipping into another alleyway that ran between Green Hill and some office looking building. Working her way around to the back of the hospital, Sun found exactly what she was looking for. A group of dumpsters were clustered beside a pair of heavy steel doors. A maintenance entrance.
Sun slinked over to the doors, pressing an ear against the crack. She couldn’t make out any sounds of ponies, so at least no one was hanging out directly by the door. Now she checked the door to see if it was locked, slowly jiggling the handle.
“Huh. Locked,” Sun smiled. “It’s like an actual attempt at security. That’s adorable.”
She wrenched the handle, hard. It snapped like a twig, the door swinging open and the internal mechanisms tumbling to the ground. Smirking to herself, Sun crept inside, keeping low to the ground as she examined the immediate area beyond the doors.
It was what she could only describe as a combination storage area and staging room. Boxes and crates of cleaning supplies were stacked in neat piles, mops and brooms propped up amongst them, the whole lot sitting next to garbage cans waiting their turn to be carried outside to the dumpsters. The coppery smell of blood mixed with the antiseptic smell of cleaner and the unfortunately sickening reek of soiled linens and gore clotted bandages here, emanating particularly strongly from the garbage cans. This was where the unsanitary after effects of medicine were hidden from view of the public.
Another set of swinging double doors- mostly glass - were on the far wall, a hallway just beyond. Sun crept forward, slowly pushing one of the doors open and examining said hallway. It was a T shape, with short wings leading to staircases to the right and left, with the longer branch straight ahead leading to other rooms. Including those doors, there were a lot of directions to go, her target could be hiding behind any one of them, and the longer she wandered around, the greater the chance she’d be discovered. It was time to get her new hooves in gear.
Tilting her head back slightly, Sun sucked a deep breath through her snout like nose. Why vampires maintained a sense of smell when so many other aspects of their body didn’t work unless fueled by blood was one of those mysteries about the curse that she had once tried to puzzle out before throwing up her hands and writing it off as “pseudo-mystical bullshit”. So she was equally surprised to find that same sense of smell was enhanced in her new pony body.
It was a practical smorgasbord of scents that tickled her nostrils, and while she could still make out the mundanities of the hospital in the background, she knew full well what most of the heady aromas were.
Blood.
Be it in ponies or bags she could still detect it. All sweet and sour and spicy and mimicking every delicious bit of food that she hadn’t been able to eat in years, and-
Woah, calm down girl. Sun thought, shaking her head. Her fangs were already extended at the prospect of blood. Clearly, she really was hungrier than she realized. Still, the largest concentration of blood seemed to be down the right staircase, so that’s the direction she crept.
The lights grew dimmer as she trotted down the steps, the banks a little sparser in this stairwell, for reasons that were lost on her. Ambiance? Did even ponies enjoy the cliche of the creepy basement?
Another hallway waited at the base of the steps, this one with only three doors in it- two across from each other, one at the far end- two of which had the tell-tale condensation of active refrigeration clinging to their seals. They were also, inconveniently, unlabeled. Both heavy metal doors simply supported numbers. Sun rolled her eyes and took another sniff of the air.
Left side.
Shoving the unlocked door open, Sun was in the room in a flash, kicking it closed behind her. Examining the room, she smiled to herself at what she saw. Coolers and freezers. They were square, white box designs, a half dozen at least. The smell of blood clung to all of them like flies on a carcass. The amount that had to be here was enough to make Sun giddy with excitement! Her fangs slid into their ready position as Sun raced over to one of the coolers, rearing onto her hind legs to throw the lid open.
A feast of red lay before her.
The bags were almost bulging with the stuff, sitting in their neat little rows, sorted by blood type. It was all the encouragement Sun needed and she eagerly, hungrily, greedily plunged her hooves into the bounty. Fishing half a dozen blood bags from the chest, she picked one at random and plunged her fangs in.
The sweet, rich, intoxicating, heady nectar was gulped down with gusto. Sun shivered. What was it about this pony blood, that made it taste so good? As the sticky red liquid slid down her throat, emotions- long deadened by the rage of Clan Brujah- began to stir in her core, while memories flickered and danced through her mind.
She was a little girl again, chasing her younger sister across one of California’s sandy beaches. They were laughing, having fun, blissfully unaware of the cynical nature of the world.
Then she was back to an adult and a vampire, stalking through the rotting remains of a crack house. She was there on a mission, to stop a vampire cult leader from spreading plague around LA. Righteous purpose drove her onwards, axe in hand.
Hooves and mouth moved automatically, almost all sense of control lost as Sun tore into the next bag and the next, gorging herself on the contents. The rush of emotions and memories grew into a torrent. She wanted to laugh, cry, scream in fear and curse all at once. But with her mouth full, a strangled snicker was all she could manage. Faces of people long gone and places lost to time were carried along by the flood of emotions, mixing with song lyrics, pictures, clips of movies and TV shows, all of it flowing right into the core of her brain. It was, quite simply, the greatest rush she had experienced in her life.
Wings and tail twitching, Sun let herself fall backwards, the last of her plundered blood packs pinched tightly between those adorable pink hooves. Still flush from the high of this equine blood, she giggled at the sight. It was one of the most absurdly adorable things she had ever seen. Craning her neck up, she nipped at the edge of the bag ever so slightly, letting her fangs rip a hole in the plastic.
As the blood flowed out Sun just held the bag over her open mouth. Using her fangs just felt like far too much effort right now and she just didn’t want to move. She didn’t want to wreck this moment. She wanted to savor it. But, eventually the blood stopped flowing and the empty bag slipped from Sun’s grip. As the blood fueled haze began to loosen its grip on her mind, one thought floated to the surface.
She was full.
The remains of her binge lay scattered about her. Eight blood bags. Apparently, somewhere in that frenzy, she had grabbed another two from the stores. Groaning, she let a foreleg flop across her eyes. Apparently she had opted to go on a truly bacchanal feeding frenzy instead of just having a bag and saving the rest for later.
Sun groaned again, flopping onto her stomach. “This shit is worse than crack.” She guessed at least. Weed was one thing, but she had never delved into hard drugs before. At least until...now, maybe. Slowly, she pushed herself upright. “Hey you thought Blue Kush was good?" she muttered. "You’ve not experienced anything till you’ve tried yourself some goddamn pony blood! Shit...anyone could have walked in on me while I was doing that. ...How long was I down here anyway?”
Pony hospitals still had to have staff that checked everything. Blood storage might not be a high priority, but you’d still have to take inventory. Surely someone would have come down here at some point...right?
The sound of a metallic groan from across the hall made her jump. Someone had just opened the other door. Frowning, Sun crept across the room, doing her best to keep her hoof falls light. Slowly, ever so slowly, she pushed the door open and peeked into the hallway. The other room was indeed wide open, the walls lined with drawers, while two large tables dominated the center.
A morgue.
Well, Deep Digger had mentioned death magic. It clearly wasn’t an unheard of concept so things like morgues had to exist. ...Not that it made the presence of one any less surreal to associate with small colorful ponies. She could just make out a bit of a tan coated pony fiddling over a gurney, his back to the door. Best to go while the getting was good. Slinking down the hall, another creak reached her ear as the pony- presumably- pulled open one of the freezer drawers.
“Get up.”
Sun froze. No. That doctor hadn’t just told a body to get up. There was no way….
“Come on, we have work to do. Help me get him into the freezer.”
Sun’s shoulders sagged. Morgue freezer doors didn’t open from the inside, right? ...Either way, a drawer designed to keep bodies cold wouldn’t be good for a living pony. And whatever these two were planning couldn’t be good for the hospital and the other ponies inside, including Deep Digger.
“Shit,” she hissed under her breath, turning and slinking back towards the morgue.
Peeking around the half open door, she saw two ponies beginning to lift a third off a gurney. The unconscious pony was a stallion, an older one with a light orange coat and reddish mane, wearing a doctor’s jacket. But, bizarrely enough, he was being lifted by...himself, in addition to the first stallion. Their expressions were impassive, uncaring, like the pony in their grip was so much garbage to throw out. Something fucked up was going on here. But, whatever it was, unluckily for these poor bastards Sun was flush with blood.
She crouched down, undead muscle and sinew coiling to strike, waiting for the right moment. She waited until they had slid the sleeping doctor the drawer but before they closed the door, she stepped into the room. With a sea of vitae to call upon, she pulled another trick out of her bag.
“Hey fellas, whatcha doing?” she asked.
Both turned to face her and both hissed. Sun blinked, but called upon her blood stores, extended her fangs and hissed back. Her eyes took on an unearthly red glow and as she advanced upon the pair of ponies, her steps took on an unearthly, cobra like grace. Dread Gaze was the one truly offensive ability that came from the art of Presence and here it had its effect almost immediately. The two hissed again and bolted, smashing past Sun.
“Oh no you don’t!” she shouted, turning and running after them.
A little more blood for Celerity and Sun was a pink colored streak down the hallway. From her point of view, it took only three strides for her to be upon the two ponies at the base of the stairwell, propelled by her super speed and four legged stature. Slamming her body into the duplicate of the doctor, he was sent tumbling snout first into the steps. His fellow reacted almost immediately, launching himself at Sun with a snarl.
He was spry, Sun had to admit that. He swung neatly onto Sun’s back, wrapping his forehooves around her neck in an improvised choke hold. It was a tight grip, but pretty useless against someone who didn’t need to breathe anymore. Smirking to herself, Sun spun around, and threw herself backwards into the wall. The satisfying crunch sound that she heard at the impact and the loosing of the pony’s grip brought a smile to her face. Up she reached, grabbing her attacker by the head and throwing him off of her.
A black armored bug-pony hit the opposite wall of the stairwell. It slid down the wall, leaving a trail of green ichor in its wake.
“...Fucking seriously?”
The other doctor-pony-possibly bug got back to its hooves and in a burst of emerald green fire the disguise fell away. With an angry thrum of its wings the bug creature rose, hovering just above the steps, hissing all the while. The bug pony’s confidence immediately made Sun cautious. For all she knew that wispy gray tail could hide a wicked stinger. So, she simply turned her Dread Gaze on the thing again.
It spit in response.
Sun yelped, her vision going dark as a wad of sticky green goo splattered across her eyes. “Gah! Stupid…fucking,” she swore whipping her head back and forth like a dog. “Goddamn, alien pony bug!”
The goo didn’t do much but jiggle around thanks to Sun’s efforts. At least until it even stopped doing that, turning stiff and hard. She could feel herself getting more and more angry at the sound of insectile wings buzzing away and what she was quite sure was distant snickering. With a furious snarl, Sun tried to give chase. With the hardened gunk blocking out all vision, the charge became a half formed stumble, that ended with her crashing into the staircase.
“Fuck! This!” she roared, slamming her head against the steps with all her strength. Concrete and bug goo crumbled to dust from the impact, letting Sun scramble up the stairs after that bug. The swinging doors to the stairwell banged hard against the walls as Sun burst back into the first hallway. There was no sign of the bug pony deal. Where the hell did it go? Further up the stairwell? Into another room?
“Hey!”
And there was a pair of nurses- those little white hats of their still looked silly- rushing her way, coming from around the corner of the intersection at the T. One of which could easily be that bug, assuming that the emerald fire trick could do more than just the one appearance. This was just going increasingly south.
“Red eyes take warning,” she hissed, letting her Dread Gaze drill into the pair.
Their charge halted, eyes going wide before they shrieked, spun around and bolted back the way they came as fast as they could. Sun ran as well, shooting straight for the back door and infused with Celerity still, she was out of the hospital and rushing through the streets before the nurses realized exactly what they had just seen.
Disappearing into the night, Sun galloped with supernatural speed for her next goal. Shelter.
- - - -
A little while later, maybe an hour by Sun’s estimation- she really needed some kind of watch- she found herself looking at the entrance to Tranquil Gardens Homeless Shelter. It was down a short flight of steps, apparently in the basement of this building.
For the love of all that is holy, please, please have separate rooms, Sun silently thought.
She was...tired. Not physically though. Her curse made that completely impossible. But mental exhaustion? The kind of tired, dragging sensation, that came from a day that had done its absolute best to kick you right in the teeth? That was another matter entirely. So it was with head drooping that Sun knocked on the door, hoping that someone was working the place tonight.
At first, it seemed like she was out of luck, the door remaining closed and locked. She was about to turn and leave when the sounds of locks being undone reached her ears. Six of them clicking open in sequence. Then the door creaked open just enough for the pony on the other side to peer out through the crack.
From what Sun could see, the pony on the other side had a minty green coat, while her short mane was an almost buttery yellow. Piercing blue eyes looked her over, before the door was opened just a little more allowing Sun a better look at this pony. She was clearly a pegasus, her wings just slightly flared. The cutie-mark on her side was a flower of some variety, though Sun wasn’t entirely sure what kind.
“Can I help you?” she asked.
“I...was looking for a place to stay,” Sun frowned, doing her best to look as pathetic as she felt right now. “Officer Swift Trot sent me.”
At the mention of the name, any remnants of fear drained away and the mare threw the door fully open with a wide smile. “Oh, you poor dear,” she cooed, throwing a foreleg over Sun’s back and quickly ushering her inside. “You must be in trouble if Swift Trot sent you my way.”
The entrance foyer was small, but cozy. A soft looking rug ran from the door, past a short flight of steps leading up, to another door at the end of the hall. The walls were marked with pictures of ponies, the pegasus that had greeted Sun in most of them, usually smiling proudly. The floral wallpaper certainly gave the room a certain amount of domestic charm.
Of greater note was the large dog sleeping in a wicker bed near the steps. Easily the size of a great dane, but with an appearance more reminiscent of a German Shepard. Soft, almost pained whines rose from its two heads as it huddled down on its pillows and blankets. It would almost have counted as weird if not for everything else Sun had experienced since waking up in this pony world.
“Uh...your cerberus is looking a little sick there, miss…”
“Fluttering Posey,” she smiled. “And Fang isn’t a cerberus. He’s an orthos. Cerberi have three heads.”
Ah, how foolish of me, Sun thought.
Fluttering walked over to the sleeping dog and gently stroked one of its massive heads. “My poor little baby. I just don’t know what’s wrong with him. And orthos are rare enough that most vets don’t know how to treat them. Still…,” she straightened up and smiled at Sun. “I’m rambling. You are?”
“Sunny Days,” Sun answered. Might as well stick with only one false name for now. “You...run this place, then?”
“I do. And if you’re here, I assume you need a place to stay until some trouble blows over.”
Sun raised an eyebrow. That was some suspicious wording. “I’m sorry. I thought this was a homeless shelter.”
“Well, it is.” Fluttering smiled, a little nervously this time. “I just...specialize. In homeless ponies that need help.”
“Help?”
“Help,” Fluttering nodded succinctly. “But if you don’t need help, then I’ll have to direct you to another shelter.”
Almost like a switch was flipped, a hard glare had settled across Fluttering’s face. It was clear that she wasn’t willing to budge on that and Sun saw no value in getting into a fight over this point.
“...Does having to leave the apartment I’m staying in due to monster attack count?”
And the switch was flipped again. “Oh! Of course! Let’s get you a room.”
With that, she lead the way up the stairs, Sun trudging after. The upstairs hall ended up being just as quaint looking as the downstairs. The floral wallpaper was still present and was now joined by different pastel shades that each bedroom door was painted. There were four of them. Pink, light green, sky blue and pale violet respectively. Fluttering walked over to the violet door and pushed it open.
The bedroom- continuing the theme of this place- was small but nice. The violet color of the door had been carried onto the walls, while a circular blue rug covered most of the floor. A comfortable looking bed was pressed up against the left wall, while a simple dresser and desk were on the right, under a small pair of windows that were blocked by thick dark purple curtains. There even seemed to be an attached bathroom.
“You can stay as long as you want. All that I ask if that you keep the room clean and help around with the chores just a little. Are you nocturnal? I understand that’s more of a lifestyle choice for bat ponies.”
“Quite nocturnal,” Sun nodded.
“Night chores then. Did you need anything else right now?”
“Nope. Just...please don’t disturb me during the day. Please.”
Fluttering nodded again. “Alright. Have a good night then. And remember,” she smiled. “You’re safe here.”
Sun watched her trot back downstairs, before closing the door. Then, using her enhanced strength, she pushed the desk in front of the door. Just in case miss Posey decided to try and come into the room during the day.
Mind still racing from the events of the night, Sun climbed into bed and squirmed under the covers, despite there still being hours till dawn. What she saw at the hospital remained seared into her memory. Shape shifting bugs, lurking amongst pony society. The parallels to vampires was unmistakable and made some of her previous suspicions seem all the more horribly possible now.
“So much to do,” she grumbled, mentally layout out her plans for tomorrow night. With the need for blood satisfied for now money, information and some other survival necessities were the new goal. Survival. One “day” at a time. In a world that seemed dead set in throwing curveball after curveball at her. But one thing she knew for sure. At the moment, in this fuzzy pony body, eventual freedom from the Curse of Caine seemed more distant than it ever had before.
That thought stayed with her until the eventual rising of the sun.
Princess Twilight Sparkle nervously read the letter again. It had arrived this morning, delivered bright and early by Ditzy Doo and sent- apparently- express from Manehattan. She had been so excited! It was rare to hear from any of her former instructors. Well...aside from Princess Celestia, of course. But it was the contents of the letter that had really made her excited! Well...excited and nervous. An unknown archeological discovery would have been amazing enough, but then she had read the hastily scrawled post-script.
“Darling, that’s the fourth time you’ve read that letter since we got on the train,” Rarity said, not looking up from the book bobbing gently in her magic.
Twilight tore her eyes away from the letter, ears flicking back as she smiled nervously at her friends. She, Rarity and Fluttershy had a passenger compartment to themselves for the journey to Manehattan. Though each of them had their own reasons for taking a trip to the city, Rarity had suggested they share a compartment to pass the time.
“I'm sorry Rarity. This is just unprecedented! A lost civilization? And Professor Digger asked me- of all her students- to come and help!” Twilight gushed.
Now Rarity peered over the edge of her book, a delicate eyebrow raised. “That does remind me. I thought you were Princess Celestia’s student. When did you study with Miss Digger?”
“I might have been Princess Celestia’s personal apprentice,” Twilight explained. “But I still took all the same general studies as any other student at her School for Gifted Unicorns. I had lots of other teacher’s too.”
A wistful smile crossed Twilight`s muzzle. “Professor Digger taught history, but with a focus on pre-Unification civilizations. Finding an unknown one has to be a new height for her.”
But the wistful smile drained away as her eyes wandered to the postscript again. “I can't help but be a little worried about why she asked me to bring all of my books on magical afflictions or ‘curses’ though. And why she asked me to come as fast as I could.”
Fluttershy, who also had a book resting between her hooves- though hers was on afflictions suffered by magical critters- gave a soft eep of concern.
“C-curses?” she stammered out, eyes wide. “Like the kind that make ponies….”
She trailed off with a slight whimper. Rarity wordless reached over and draped a leg over her friend's withers. Twilight winced her head drooping at Fluttershy’s distress.
It had been a week since the...incident at Sweet Apple Acres and while Fluttershy had been quite understanding over her friends lack of judgement immediately after she had changed back, it hadn't been long before other side effects of the essence contamination had made themselves manifest.
Fluttershy had started to be visited by nightmares, horrible and recurring. By her admission they were almost always the same. Trapped in her vampire fruit bat tainted form, Fluttershy would swoop down upon unsuspecting ponies and terrify them every night.
Her own culpability in inflicting those nightmares on her friend gnawed at Twilight. So much so that she had started looking into dream protection magic, writing Princess Luna for some advice in that field. In an effort to not inflict more duress on Fluttershy, Twilight opted to change the subject very quickly.
“So, who's this relative of yours that you’re visiting? You’ve never really mentioned her before,” Twilight asked. Admittedly she was hardly blameless there herself.
Fluttershy perked up, her mood flipping like a switch. “Oh, well, Fluttering Posey is a cousin of mine. Apparently, something’s wrong with her poor little orthros. She doesn’t really trust the local vets, so she asked me to come take a look at the cutie.”
Twilight mentally chuckled. Only Fluttershy would describe a magical breed of hunting dog as “poor” and “little”. They were bred to hunt down cockatrices for Celestia’s sake! Though that did explain the stuffed “doctor” bag Fluttershy had squeezed into the baggage compartment.
Rarity hummed to herself. “Oh dear. Now I feel somewhat guilty that I’ll be at a grand museum opening for my trip while you two are stuck working.”
“That’s not till tomorrow night though, right?” Twilight grinned, an idea popping into her mind. “You could always tag along with me to meet Professor Digger. Both of you,” she finished, nodding towards Fluttershy.
“Oh, well, I certainly appreciate the offer,” Fluttershy smiled back. “But it already took a day for Fluttering’s letter to reach Ponyville and we won’t reach Manehattan until this evening. I really want to see her orthos as soon as I can.”
“I suppose I can’t argue with that.,” Twilight nodded.
“Well, I’ll be more than happy to accompany you!” Rarity almost giggled, flipping her book back up to continue reading. “I’d be quite charmed to meet another one of your teachers.”
Satisfied for now, Twilight dug one of the books on magical maladies out of her bags and set to reading. She couldn’t wait to see what Professor Digger discovered!
- - - -
“Oh...dear,” Rarity gasped, eyes wide.
The door to Professor Digger’s apartment was hanging open, bright yellow banners criss crossing the vacant doorway, declaring with certainty- in blocky black letters- “Guard line. Do not cross.”. Even from the hallway, Twilight could make out more tape strung over a smashed open living room window and the ruined front of a bookshelf, its shattered shelves jutting about in haphazard angles.
Twilight grimaced, her stomach doing somersaults while the words of the professor’s post script bounced about her mind in a chaotic jumble. Come as quickly as she could. That’s what Professor Digger had asked of her, even including her address so Twilight could come straight to her place once she left the train station. Fluttershy had even volunteered to take their bags and check into a hotel so that Twilight and Rarity could come straight to the apartment.
And they arrived to see this. Attack or magical accident? Both were probable when dealing with a lost item from an unknown civilization. She bit her lip, part of her wanting to rush inside and see what happened to her old teacher, but the other part of her not wanting to break the official boundary. They guard was already investigating after all.
“What are you waiting for?” Rarity asked.
“What?” Twilight blinked.
“Something horrible has clearly happened and to an old mentor of yours nonetheless. We must assist with the investigation at once!”
“It’s not that simple! I want to, but we aren’t part of the Manehattan guard-”
“Nonsense! You are a princess of Equestria and should be given the respect entitled to one.”
Without another moment’s hesitation, Rarity pushed the thin banners up slightly with her magic and slipped under. Twilight gasped, but quickly followed after. She opened her mouth, ready to object to this course of action, but that was interrupted when a trio of ponies stepped into the hallway beyond the living room. Two of them were city guard, identified by the polished steel armor forged in a similar style to their royal counterparts, while the third was a rose colored pegasus devoid of any arms or armor. A civilian, Twilight imagined.
“Hey! This is a crime scene, you can’t be in here,” one of the officers snapped. He was the shorter of the two, with an amber colored coat and carried himself with an angry swagger.
Despite the pony’s rudeness, Twilight smiled back. All she had to do was explain the situation and surely he’d understand.
“I’m sorry to intrude officer but I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle and-”
“Princess?” he interrupted, frowning deeply. “Miss, you do know that impersonating royalty is a crime.”
Twilight’s smile became more strained. Sometimes the scattershot nature of ponies knowledge of her own coronation made her wonder just how much Equestria's newspapers were actually read. It was- in a word- frustrating. The fact that she didn’t entirely know what her purpose was in the larger framework of Equestria since her ascension already made her anxious enough, she didn’t need ponies doubting her ontop of that! Thankfully, she was spared having to explain herself by Rarity. She gave a demure cough, before motioning at Twilight’s forehead and horn.
The other officer, a larger, pastel blue pony, followed Rarity’s gesture. “Use your eyes Blaze. Wings and horn. Don’t you remember that bit in the paper a few months back about a new alicorn in Equestria?”
Blaze looked Twilight over again. “...Shouldn’t she be taller?”
“...Go over your notes again Blaze,” the other guard sighed. He nodded to Twilight. “Princess. I’m officer Quick Trot. Pardon the question but I do have to ask what’s brought you here. The timing is...odd.”
Rarity huffed. “I hope you’re not implying that Twilight had something to do with...whatever happened here!”
“Not at all. But she clearly has some connection to Miss Digger, considering your presence.”
Twilight flicked Deep Digger’s letter out of her bag and passed it to officer Trot. “I was a student of professor Digger’s. She sent me this letter a few days ago, asking me to come and help her with a discovery.”
The pink pegasus snorted at that. “Figures that Digger would want to farm out some assistance.”
Twilight tilted her head. “I’m sorry, you are?”
“Professor Far Sight. I work with Deep Digger at the Manehattan Historical Society.”
Quick Trot’s eyes scrolled down the page, his stern expression becoming more and more of a frown as he digested the text. “Do you know why she asked you to bring these books on curses?”
“Well, not specifically. But if I had to hazard a guess it would be because whatever was discovered was magically afflicted- which is what ‘curses’ actually are by the way- in some manner.”
“Bah!” Far Sight scoffed. “My college is currently in the hospital! Can we please drop the Canterlot elitism and focus on the task at hoof? Magic with debilitating magical effects are a thing. The term ‘curse’ is a completely acceptable one to use!”
“It’s not the correct one!” Twilight huffed back. The revelation that one of her old teachers was now in the hospital had pushed her previous annoyance into a true bad mood. “The term curse was invented by earth ponies, before the unification of the tribes! It’s all nonsense like giving the ‘evil eye’ or that writing a pony’s name on a slip of paper and baking it into a muffin will inflict misfortune upon them! If that’s supposed to be what’s effected my former teacher, then I’m a griffin!”
While she could have easily gone on about the differences between superstitious curses and actual negative magic, Rarity’s hoof on her withers cut that off.
“Dear? Let’s not argue semantics. We’re here and you do know quite a bit. Perhaps we can help?”
Twilight squeezed her eyes closed for a moment. Taking a deep breath, she brought a hoof to her chest, visualizing all of her stress and anxieties coming with it As she held that breath for a moment, she imagined them being crumpled up into a tight little ball. Finally, she let it go, extending her hoof as she went and tossing all that horrible stress away. “Rarity’s right. I am well versed in a wide variety of magical subjects. If there’s anything I can do to help, I’d like to contribute.”
“Well,” Quick Trot said, glancing towards Professor Far Sight. “We already have one expert helping us out. I suppose the eyes of a princess couldn’t hurt.”
Lazily motioning for Twilight to follow he trotted back down the short hallway, before hooking a left and disappearing back into the room he had emerged from. Twilight licked her suddenly quite dry lips and followed after, Rarity right at her side.
“What do you know so far?” she asked. She needed something for her mind to chew on besides the question of whether professor Digger was going to be okay or not. The situation in the apartment was a good enough place to start as any.
“Last night we received a call from the next door neighbor,” Blaze answered, falling into step behind Twilight and Rarity. “When officers arrived on the scene they found the victim- Miss Deep Digger- in the legs of a bat pony. She- identified later as Sunny Days- claimed that she had been assisting Deep Digger with a magic circle to capture a monster. According to her story, the monster just appeared in the apartment, bit miss Digger in the neck and then escaped through the living room window. Miss Digger is currently recovering at Green Hill after receiving a blood transfusion.”
They stepped into the kitchen, where the aforementioned magic circle was still preserved. It wasn’t the only thing though. The kitchen was even worse than a living room. Vomit covered part of the floor, while the magic circle dominated most of the rest. The refrigerator door had a large dent in its front and some of the floor tiles had been shattered. Twilight frowned as she neatly stepped around the dried puddle of throw up to stare down at the arcane scrawling on the floor.
The ink was badly smeared, which was never a good sign. Magic circles, regardless of the magical tradition they came from, depended on the exactness of their design and construction in order to be effective. This one had been clearly destroyed. She tilted her head slightly, regarding one of the symbols that was more intact than the others. The wild, dabbing nature of the strokes were familiar to Twilight, having seen them plenty of times when she went to visit Zecora in her tree home.
“Zebra,” she muttered to herself. “Professor Digger used a zebra ritual.”
Next she moved her attention to the pair of shattered tiles on the floor. Judging by the cracks that radiated outwards from a pair of circular impact points, she surmised they had been made by a pony that applied an extreme amount of force to the floor. Twilight furrowed her brow as she considered the implications of that. The pony who made such a strike would have to be immensely strong. ...Applejack might be able to break raw tile. Big Mac as well. Oh, and the princesses, of course. Not that she imagined that any of them had been here of course.
“Did you find any books when you searched the scene?” she asked.
“One,” Quick Trot answered. “Professor Far Sight confirmed that it was a tome on zebra ritual magic from Deep Digger’s office.”
Twilight looked up at Professor Far Sight. “Professor, I don’t suppose you have some insights to give?”
Far Sight shrugged. “I can’t say what Digs was trying to do here. The zebra languages were never really my area of expertise. If that Sunny Days says that she was trying to bind a monster, I believe her.”
“Why do you say that?” Twilight blinked.
“Because the damn thing attacked me!” Far Sight growled, rubbing at the side of his neck. “It was in the thing we discovered...well, the discovery that was sold to us at least.”
Immediately, Twilight dove into her saddlebags, yanking out quill, ink and notebook before setting them to float before her so she could take notes. “Quick!” she beamed. “Tell me what happened! What was this thing you found? Where did you find it?”
“It’s a sarcophagus and we didn’t find it...unfortunately,” Far Sight sighed. Though he did take a full step back from Twilight and her enthusiasm. “A fishing trawler dredged it up off the coast about four nights ago. When Digger and I opened it up, we found a body of a previously unknown creature inside. Only...it turned out to not actually be dead. Later on in the day it ambushed me and took some of my blood. ...Though apparently less than it did from my college.”
“Can you describe it to me?” Rarity asked, pulling out one of her sketchbooks.
She sketched as he did, quickly working out a basic appearance while Twilight jotted down a few notes and questions to look into later. The desiccated nature of the flesh springing back to life clearly pointed to some manner of magical affliction being involved, but it was the bipedal nature of its appearance that Twilight found the most fascinating. One could count the number of bipedal species in the world on a small abacus. A very small abacus. The entirety of the order was contained in two known groups, the diamond dogs and the minotaurs...and technically dragons. At least before adulthood.
“A new biped is fascinating opportunity,” Twilight admitted, beginning to pace the width of the kitchen. “And I think the fact that Professor Digger asked me to bring my books on magical afflictions points to her wanting to deal with whatever this biped has been afflicted with.”
“I believe you’re correct Twilight,” Rarity called from across the hall.
Guard members and non-guard members alike turned as Rarity came back into the kitchen. Twilight blinked. She hadn’t even noticed that Rarity had left the room while she was wrapped up in the implications of her notes. Rarity had some folded purple bed sheets suspended in her magic. She smirked, the pride in whatever she had found clear in her features.
“This was under the bed. Sheets that have been modified by a less than skilled tailor, I’m afraid to say.” She gave the sheets a little shake, letting them fall open to show three crudely cut holes in the fabric.
“I don’t see how her bad attempts at home fashion are relevant-” Blaze began.
“These aren’t hers,” Rarity interrupted, rolling her eyes. “The cut isn’t right for a pony. These holes on the side,” she shook the sheet again for emphasis, “are too far to the side for a pony’s forelegs, but perfect for the arms of a biped, such as a minotaur. ...Or a mystery one, as the case may be.”
“That...almost sounds like it was living with her,” Twilight said.
“What…? No,” Far Sight shook his head. “That’s impossible. That means she lied to me multiple times about knowing where this monster went!”
Twilight shrugged. “She could have had reasons for why she wanted to keep this quiet. Or she was under the effect of mind control magic. We just don’t have enough information at the moment. We don’t even know what this ritual actually is.”
“It could also have been scavenging clothes on its own,” Rarity said.
Looking back down at her notepad, Twilight hummed to herself. “This Sunny Days...did anything about her seem odd?”
“She was an adult pony without a cutie-mark,” Quick Trot frowned. “I didn’t really push the fact at the time. I figured she was one of those ponies who didn’t get her cutie-mark due to an emotional trauma of some kind.”
Twilight winced. Even back in her pre-friendship days in Canterlot, Twilight had heard stories of ponies unlucky enough to be stuck sans cutie-mark. It wasn’t a conversation ponies liked to have. Still….
“I think I’d like to talk to her.”
- - -
If her heart was still capable of beating, Sun was convinced it would be trying to hammer its way right out of her chest.
Her current task was simple on paper. Go to the Ocean House Hotel and collect an item that belonged to a ghost that supposedly haunted its grounds. Bring it back to the current pair of vampires that were pushing her around, Therese and Jeanette Voerman. That would let those two call off their grudge with the nosferatu Bertram Tung so that he could tell here where a Sabbat controlled warehouse was, so that she could use the explosives she had collected earlier to blow it up and strike a blow for the Camarilla.
…Okay, so it wasn’t simple at all. But vampire politics and inter-faction warfare rarely was.
Of course none of that mattered if she couldn’t even pull the first part of that off. The foyer of the hotel was a picture right out of the nineteen twenties. A pair of grand spiral staircases twisted their way up to a second floor landing and balcony, just inside the double entrance doors, while the imposing wings stretched off in either direction from the foyer. At one point, Sun was sure that the place would have been grand, back in the day. But now it was choked with dust and cobwebs and decades upon decades of decay.
Slowly, she advanced towards the stairs, the fire axe she had found outside clutched tightly in her hands. This was nothing. Nothing big. She was a vampire now! And as horrible as some aspects of it were, it did make her incredibly hard to hurt. There wasn’t anything she had to fear from a ghost...right?
Beware….
The call had come from the balcony. Slowly rolling her towards the second floor, Sun blinked at the ghostly image of a woman standing there. Dark hair matted and split, the pristine white of her hair was marred by a massive splatter of blood, splashed across the belly.
Beware…, she whispered again, extending a slender arm to point behind Sun.
Sun whipped around with superhuman speed, fangs bared in an intimidating hiss. But that hiss of bravado turned into a shriek of terror. For while there was a specter there, as expected, it was not the smiling slasher in a fedora straight out of the nineteen fifties. This spirit was headless, the ghostly white stump of her neck a ghastly, jagged ruin. She had her removed head tucked under one arm, in a gesture that was mocking in how casual it was. But the face and the conservative blouse and slacks combo were unmistakable.
“L-Lin?”
Lin peered over her glasses- a strange gesture considering her state- and flashed her sibling a wide, leering smile.
“Hey sis! Been awhile hasn’t it?
“Lin, what are you doing here?”
“You’re really going to ask me that question?” Lin blinked. “I’m dead sis. And not this bullshit up and walking around thing you’re doing. I’m proper dead.”
“If you’re proper dead, why are you here?”
At the question, Lin took an angry step forward, her lips twisting into a snarl. “Well, considering that my current state is all your fault..,” she let the words trail away, before they came roaring back as loud as blaring concert speakers. “I’m haunting you!”
The force of the scream was enough to blast Sun off her feet. Staring up at the pale form of her sibling, Sun could scarcely believe what she was seeing. Of the two of them, her little sister had always been the more quiet, bookish type. Now here Lin was, raging with all the fury that Sun could channel when in her worst moments.
Get a hold of yourself! she chided herself. This is obviously a nightmare. Lin’s gone. If she really was a ghost and haunting me, I would have seen her long before now.
Setting her jaw, Sun slowly stood and faced her “sister” again.
“I didn’t kill you Lin. That was LaCroix and that thug of a sheriff of his.”
“They did it because you blabbed!” Lin shrieked another wave of rage fueled sound washing over Sun. She was driven to the ground again, Lin stomping closer as her whole frame began to swell. “You just had to tell me you were a vampire!”
“You saw me! I had to tell you something!”
Now Lin’s shadow fell over her. She seemed even less human than before. Now her eyes were cold, dark pools. Her mouth was a maw of shark like teeth behind which flickered baleful green flames.
“You could have LIED!”
This shout was so strong that the wall and stairs behind Sun simply exploded into a storm of wood shards and splinters. A void of black stretched out beyond, cold and empty. ...Though considering her ghostly sister, maybe it was the better option. Lin barreled down on Sun now, the floor shaking with each step of her giant sized frame.
“You could have made me believe anything with your abilities! Tell me that I made a mistake, that you were some other woman! You could have saved me! But no,” she sneered, flames licking out of her mouth. “Like the selfish little bitch you are, without thinking about how your words would effect me, you spilled your guts about things the Camarilla would kill to keep secret! Why, why, why were you so damn stupid!”
Sun flinched away from every word in that rant. The substance of LaCroix’s reaction to her slip up and the effect it had on Lin were all true. Sun’s loose lips had cost Lin her head. But…
“I told you because I missed you.”
Lin shrieked back. It was a high pitched wail that ran straight down Sun’s spine, somehow cold as a bitter north wind, despite the hot green flames that now burned in her eyes as well. This was beyond a normal ghost, limited to moving things around and occasionally manifesting to spout cryptic warnings. Whether this was just a nightmare or an actual haunting, the form of the creature before Sun was that of a true lord of the dead, an ancient spectre that had been waiting for its revenge for centuries. In the face of such a monster even a vampire like Sun only had one reasonable choice to make.
She turned and ran, bolting into the unknown darkness rather than face the ghost.
There were no features in the sea of black that surrounded her, almost like she was running through empty space. Yet she could feel something solid under her feet and hear her own footfalls that echoed more like she was running through an empty warehouse with a concrete floor. The impossibility of the dreamscape would have been frustrating, if not for the fact she was running for her life.
Lin’s rants and raves were hot on her heels however. “You don’t get to just run away! You don’t get to have a nice happy little life while I rot! While your parents rot! While the human race remains forgotten! Face me you goddamn traitor!”
The wind and force from the screams blew Sun forward and she threw out her arms to catch herself. But it was hooves rather than hands that clacked against the invisible floor.
“Not this again!” Sun groaned.
“Come here my little pony! I want to have some fun with you!” Lin shouted, the sickly emerald light of her flames washing over her.
Sun took off again, but looked behind her as she ran. Lin was much closer than she liked, but how close was she? Yards, feet? It was so hard to tell without any landmarks.
“Join me sis! Join me in final death!” Lin shouted.
She threw her head. Sun screamed as it shot towards her, doubling, then tripling in size as it streaked across the distance between them in seconds. Sun ran faster but it was no use. Her sister’s jaws closed around her tail and Sun felt herself thrown skyward in one smooth motion. Twisting in the air as she fell, Sun frantically flapped wings that she didn’t know how to use, clawing for a freedom that wouldn’t come as she plunged into the flames below….
Sun opened her eyes.
“A new nightmare to add to the collection then,” she forced a sigh, staring at a random crack in the ceiling.
As horrible as the nightmare was, there was also an element of truth to it that Sun couldn’t ignore. She was alone. Alone in the room. Alone in this world. And there were so many questions about the lack of humans in this world. If even the learned ponies of this era didn’t have a clue about what a human was, then her old race had to be long dead. She wondered how that happened. Global warming? Meteor strike? Mass volcano eruption? ...Or the supernatural elephant in the room.
Gehenna.
Vampires had their own legends and Gehenna was the darkest. The prophesied end of all things when the ancient vampires that had founded the various bloodlines would rise again and devour their descendants and humanity alike. It was the kind of thing that sounded more in place in a dark fantasy novel. Even at the time it had sounded like so much sensationalist bullshit, especially when it was spouted by vampire cult leaders. After all, if there were vampires that strong, why had they ever gone away in the first place? Yet, here she was, in a land where humans weren't even myth.
“I don't need this right now!” Sun exclaimed, almost flopping her way out of bed. “I have enough mysteries and crap on my plate as is!”
Pushing the desk away from the door, Sun paused to look at herself in the little circular mirror bolted to the top. She...still looked adorable. If humans were still around, she probably could have lured them into a false sense of security with a pitiful look or two, leaving them vulnerable to having their throat ripped out...adorably, of course. Still, her mane was a disheveled mess, probably from the fight with the bug ponies last night. Sighing, she ran her hooves over and through her mane in a lame attempt to make it more orderly. Yet the horse hair was stubborn and remained a wild mop. Sun snorted, then grimaced as her tail flicked in agitation, like it was swatting at a fly.
“Never gonna get used to that,” she grumbled.
A light series of knocks, tapped out in an almost musical pattern, rattled her door. “Sunny Days? It’s Fluttering Posey. You slept through dinner. I brought you some leftovers.”
Sun pulled the door open to see Fluttering waiting patiently on the other side. Somehow, she had managed to balance a tray that had both steaming soup and a rather tasty looking sandwich on it atop her head. With a bright smile on her muzzle, she trotted right into the room and slid the whole thing onto the desk.
“Oh,” Sun blinked. “Thanks. But I’m not really hungry.”
“Mmmm,” Fluttering frowned, furrowing her brow. Sun found herself fidgeting slightly under Fluttering’s glare. There was an intensity in that stare and behind those otherwise soft eyes that was downright unsettling. In fact, it was unsettling enough that Sun found herself wishing that she was staring down LaCroix again. But just as she was about to ask Fluttering to knock it off, the pegasus switched back to a sweet smile.
“Well then! Since you missed dinner, your chores for tonight will be to help me with the dishes.”
Sun blinked. Fluttering beamed back. “Do you want to wash, or dry?”
- - - -
I am officially the worst vampire ever.
Having chosen to wash dishes over drying them Sun found herself perched precariously on her hind hooves at the kitchen sink. Buried in the warm, sudsy water one forehoof groped for dishes while the other vigorously dragged a sponge over the congealed remains of vegetable soup. As each soiled bit of the dinner set was made clean again, Sun would carefully pinch the item in question between her hooves and pass it over to Fluttering. Despite the nature of Digger’s spell, dishes were fragile enough that Sun didn’t want to take any chances damaging them. The wonderful smell of sugar cookies coming from Fluttering certainly wasn’t helping matters.
Fluttering showed no such hesitation. Balancing each dish expertly on one hoof, she swirled a towel around them with her other till they were dry before neatly sliding them into a cabinet. Much to Sun’s frustration, she kept glancing her direction as she worked, especially in those long moments where Sun fumbled with the washing.
“So...a monster?”
It was a simple question, really, but somehow it squirmed under Sun’s skin...or coat...all the same. She could have sworn there was a hint of accusation in the question.
“Yeah...a big bipedal black ash thing. Why? Worried it will follow me here?”
“Mmm. No, not really. I have Fang for a reason and I’m sure he’ll be right back on his paws once my cousin is done looking at him. I was just wondering how metaphorical that monster was.”
Lady, if you had any idea.., Sun thought. But Fluttering was driving at something here which made Sun wonder what kind of impression she was giving off that Fluttering was picking up on. “Why would it be metaphorical?” she asked.
“You’re an adult pony without a cutie-mark and who seems almost terrified of her own body. Never found your special talent. Always jumping at shadows. Quite simply, you act like a pony who has been abused since she was a foal.”
That was a punch to the gut. Now she was suddenly second guessing everything she had been doing since going all equine. If she was walking around like a beaten spouse, what horse body language had she been doing subconsciously? What social cues would she have to relearn? And of course these stupid butt tattoos had to be a huge damn deal. And for that matter, what fucking business did child and spousal abuse have being in such an annoyingly saccharine world? Sure, there was a certain amount of vindication that this pony world wasn’t as perfect as it looked. But it was still like finding a rape-homicide plotline in an episode of Sesame Street.
Those frantic mental questions were interrupted by Fluttering’s hoof on her side. “It’s okay. If I’m wrong, then I’m wrong,” she smiled. “I might be a little...overly sensitive about these things. Maybe I’ve seen a little too much…”
“No, it’s..,” Sun frowned, passing the last plate over. “I just...is it really that bad?”
As the final dish was put away, Fluttering sighed and dropped her towel into a crumpled heap. “That bad...depends on how a pony measures it, I suppose.” She licked her lips for a moment, carefully choosing her words. “It’s not what I’d call an epidemic. Most ponies are good at heart. The abusers and beaters are, thank Celestia, rare. But at the same time...well...the stuff that does happen, doesn’t get reported.”
That revelation buzzed in the back of Sun’s mind. Spousal abuse was massive under reported back in her era. She knew that fact well. But considering the general mood of ponykind she somehow expected...better from them.
“...Why?” she asked, suddenly very interested in the answer.
“Because this is Equestria.” Fluttering answered. She nervously fiddled with the towel on the counter for a moment before beginning to fold it. “And bad things don’t happen in Equestria.”
And just like that, Sun’s smug vindication melted away under the misery etched on Fluttering’s face. She looked utterly crushed by the thought of the misery of her fellow ponies. Not that the moment lasted long before she hoisted a cheerful smile back on.
“Anyway! I’m going to see how my cousin is doing with Fang. Consider yourself released from tonight’s duties!”
Sun watched her slip through the door to the hallway, feeling like she had just swallowed a mouthful of soot.
“Ugh,” she shook her head, wrenching her mind back on track. “Let it go Sun. You got shit to do.”
She needed more magic to try and break the curse of Caine. Sure, she’d have to wait till Digger got out of the hospital to use any of it, but she could still hit up libraries and hoard until then. She was going to focus on her goal and not let bug ponies or anything else distract her! Filled with a new sense of determination, she pushed the door open with her forehead, stepped into the hallway…
And immediately froze.
Digger’s cousin was in the hallway.
She was a pegasus as well, with a butter yellow coat and the softest looking pink mane that fell in silken curtains. Brilliant cyan eyes sparkled with glee as she played with Fang. But what had immediately caught Sun’s attention as she cooed over and rubbed at the orthos’ belly was the smell. While some of the ponies she had been around smelled like this food or that, this new one was a five course feast. Every delicious scent from her childhood seemed to be radiating from this yellow pegasus. Dumplings and freshly brewed tea. Sweet rock candy. The spicy Italian sausage from Mister Del Marco’s deli a few blocks from her house. All of it and more was layered together into a wonderful sense of ambrosia that would have made Sun’s mouth water if it still could.
Without even realizing it, her legs began to carry her towards the pegasus. Her mind was buzzing with wonder. Who was this pony? What kind of blood did that delectable little pony have pumping through her veins? Her fangs were extending, visions of sinking them into that slender yellow neck dancing through her head.
She was almost on top of Fluttering and her cousin when the orthos’ heads snapped up to glare at her. Deep, rumbling growls built in the beast’s chest as both heads muzzles twisted into furious snarls. Sun jumped back, more out of instinct than anything else. It would take more than the bite of a two headed dog to seriously hurt her. With the hypnotic effect thoroughly broken, Sun looked up at the yellow pegasus she almost assaulted. She kept one hoof on Fang’s side, but was almost hiding behind the long pink bangs of her mane at the same time. Fluttering tilted her head, peering at Sun with a slight frown.
“Sunny? Did you need something?”
“Err...no,” Sun shook her head, though she kept her eye on the angry dog. It figured that she’d eventually run into an animal that reacted to a vampire like an actual animal. “I was just about to head out for the night.” She nodded towards Fluttering’s cousin. “This is your cousin then?”
Fang growled again and the pegasus gently patted his side. “Calm down Fang. She’s just a pony.” She lifted her head slightly, peering out from behind those pink, silky curtains. “I’m sorry, he seems a little wound up right now. I’m Fluttershy.”
“Sunny Days.”
Fluttershy smiled back with the most adorable little expression. At least she did until she noticed Sun’s lack of cutie-mark. Her eyes went wide and she fell into series of stammers that were just as adorable.
“Oh my...are you okay? I’ve never seen a pony your age without a cutie-mark.”
Sun mentally rolled her eyes. Again with this cutie-mark thing! Fine. If she was going to be viewed as an abuse victim by everypony in this stupid city, then it was something she planned to milk for her own benefit later. For now though, she had to get back on task.
“I’m fine,” she glowered.
Keeping one eye on the orthos Sun began to shift around the edge of the hallway and towards the front door. She was about half way there when a series of knocks, hammered out in a specific pattern, shook it. Fluttering’s eyes went wide and she practically dove for the door, yanking it open and allowing a trio of ponies squeezed their way into the already crowded hall.
The first was an older female pony. With a sea blue green coat and a white mane and tail, she almost looked like part of the ocean come to life. Which would probably explain the crashing wave cutie-mark. She was delicate in build and feature for a horse and- Sun imagined at least- beautiful by pony standards. Which made the obvious black eye all the more ugly. It was a truly ugly thing, a mixture of black and sickly purple that had swollen enough to force her right eye shut.
A hat, once a thing of finery was perched atop her head. But now it's violet color was marred by muddy hoof prints and the brim was torn on the left side, a shredded strip of fabric dangling lamely before her good eye.
Despite all of this, she stood tall and kept her head high, though Sun could see the real shock and fear behind the mask she was wearing. A mother being strong for her foals.
The young ponies were huddling behind her legs and looked even more shell shocked than their parent. They were a boy and a girl from what Sun could deduce. The girl was the larger of the two and shared her mother's coloring, albeit reversed. Occasional whimpers rose from her shaking form, though she tried to stand as tall as her mother. The boy was in much worse shape. Goldenrod in coat and light brown in mane, he just softly sobbed while trying to bury his face in his mother's side.
Fluttering’s reaction was immediate. “Seabreeze!” she exclaimed, swooping down on the poor mare and hip checking Sun aside with surprising force. “What happened? Where's Water Spout? I thought you were just going to the pawn shop!”
“W-we did,” Seabreeze managed to stammer out. Her voice was soft but with a tone that Sun could only call “refined”. Considering the hat, she was probably from an upper class background. She licked her lips before continuing. “I managed to sell most of what I managed to take with us. We...we were crossing the park on the way back and were part way through that large tunnel on the east side when a trio of...of….thugs attacked us! Two ponies and a griffin. They took all the bits and Spout...Spout….”
Relaying what happened to Water Spout was too much for Seabreeze and she broke down with a mighty wail, practically falling into the forelegs of Fluttering.
“She...she...didn’t listen! She ran off into the park! We tried to find her-”
“Stop,” Fluttering frowned. “Stay here and keep the door locked. I’ll go take a look at the park with Fang.
“Oh! No!” Fluttershy interrupted. “He’s feeling better, but he’s not well enough to maybe...umm...fight somepony.”
“Tartarus! I promised that Spout would be safe here!” Fluttering cursed, whirling on her cousin, her wings flaring as wide as they could go. Sun blinked. It really was an amazing transformation from the nervous mare that had answered the door. With a more...real threat to one of her charges, she now seemed ready to go charging into battle. All ninety five pounds of neurosis.
“Well, if you insist on going, I’m going with you,” Fluttershy said with an air of finality.
That sense of situational bravado apparently had a familial connection. And Fluttershy looked even meeker than her cousin! Even despite her statement, she was practically hiding behind her long mane in the presence of three traumatized ponies. These two were going to run into a major city in the middle of the night to find another traumatized kid, while the “thugs” that attacked Seabreeze in the first place might still be out there? Yes, it might have been a random mugging, but the memory of those bug ponies were still quite fresh in Sun’s mind. A certain amount of paranoia was not unjustified as far as she was concerned. And, of course, that paranoia gnawed at her human side and the sense of morality that still hadn’t fled her completely.
“Wait,” she frowned, trotting after both Flutterings as they started to head out the door. “I’m coming with. I know how to handle myself in a fight, should things go south.”
Fluttering did not look pleased. “You came here because you needed help. This isn’t-”
“Not having it Fluttering. If you leave on your own, I’ll just follow you myself. And the longer you argue with me, the longer that foal is out there on her own.”
Fluttering winced. “That’s extortion.”
Sun had a simple response to that. “It’s reality.”
“...Fine. Let’s just go!”
- - - -
The park- apparently named after Princess Celestia- was huge, reminding Sun of all the pictures she had seen of NYC’s Central Park. Of course, with a park this size, a young kid could be anywhere. Still, the spot where Seabreeze was ambushed was their best and only place to start. Thankfully, Fluttering seemed to know the layout of the park and quickly lead the way to this tunnel.
It wasn’t a long one, little more that a straight path under a bridge that stretched between a pair of serene looking hillocks. The path that ran through the tunnel was a quaint little cobblestone one, lined with equally quaint looking wrought iron fences and matching lamp posts. It was the kind of place Sun could see happy couples walking along during the day, laughing at each other’s jokes and doing other lovey dovey things.
It was also an amazing place for an ambush in the middle of the night. The location was actually a little isolated from the rest of the park paths, with thick tree cover providing a lovely screen. On top of that, the lampposts were poorly arranged. They were set back just a little too far from the tunnel entrance, leaving it mostly cast in shadow.
“I got good money that says that Seabreeze’s attackers were waiting right there,” Sun said, pointing towards the shadows of the hills.
“Why do you say that?” Fluttering asked, tilting her head slightly.
“Perfect ambush spot. Hide there, wait till your target is halfway through then step in behind them. Then your third friend is at the other side and comes from that direction. Now your targets are hemmed in and easy pickings.”
“Oh my,” Fluttershy squeaked. She nervously glanced around the area, lightly tapping her forehooves together. “Why would they do that? Just to rob some ponies?”
“Maybe..,” Sun frowned, trotting closer to the tunnel. “Fluttering, I don’t suppose that this place is particularly known for muggings?” She glanced back over her...shoulder? “Or is that more ‘bad things don’t happen in Equestria’?”
Fluttering winced, while Fluttershy looked back and forth between them. “No,” Fluttering said after a moment. “Nothing like that. This park is safe.”
Right. Safe, Sun thought to herself walking right into the tunnel. The cousins hung back, which was fine by her. Fluttershy’s scent was still maddeningly delicious. There was something strange about that pony. Just another thing to add to the pile of stuff Sun really wished she had Deep Digger to help her answer. In the immediate though, there was a young pony in trouble that needed to be found and thankfully Sun was practically bursting with blood after raiding that hospital.
She spent a little to reinvigorate her organs again, letting the illusion of life settle back into her body. Then she took a deep breath, letting all the smells in the area fill her equine enhanced nose. There was a chorus of stale background scents, most likely from the ponies that had wandered through the area during the day. But there was a quartet of pungent odors that were undoubtedly much more recent.
Two of them were similar, a repulsive mixture of beer and heavy cigar smoke. Sun could only imagine how much of both the ponies just have imbibed so stain their bodies with that smell. The third trail she picked up was a mixture of chicken and a rush of hot spices. That was probably the griffin. Finally she could smell a blend of sweet with just a hint of dryness that reminded her of saltwater taffy. But layered on top of everything else was a familiar coppery smell.
Blood.
“Someone’s injured,” Sun said, rushing forward and taking another deep breath. She could smell the trail running deeper into the depths of the park, copper ontop of the smoky cigar. It seemed like the foal might have gotten a piece of her attackers.
Good girl, Sun thought. “Come on! This way!”
With that she threw caution to the wind and lead the chase. It took a conscious effort to not use her Celerity right then and there and rush ahead of the Fluttering cousins. Her Brujah passion was riled at the moment, feeding into the desire to save a child. But she had to stay in control. Her true nature had been revealed to too many ponies as it was.
The trail ran deeper into the park, alternating between bursts where foal and pursuers seemed to be running full out and areas where the latter paced about, sometimes doubling back over their own tracks as they searched. Seabreeze’s muggers were clearly trying to hunt her foal down and more than ever Sun was questioning just how random the “mugging” was.
“Fluttering, what can you tell me about Seabreeze?” Sun asked as they picked their way through an empty playground. “This whole situation doesn’t feel right.”
Fluttering nervously rubbed her foreleg. “What do you mean? She did just come back from a pawn shop. I hate to say it, but that is a good time to ambush a pony for their bits.”
Sun stopped, fixing Fluttering with an even stare. “But they already had the bits. Why go chasing after a foal? You’re risking more serious charges if you get caught and risking getting caught in general by not just getting out of the area with your loot.”
“So you...think she’s being targeted?”
“You’re the pony who greeted me from behind six locks and who looks after ponies who need ‘help’.” Sun sat back on her haunches, twitching her hooves in the best approximation of the finger quotes gesture she could manage, before crossing her forelegs. “You tell me.”
Fluttering winced and began to nervously wring her mane. “Oh...if what you’re saying is true...that’s bad for us. Very bad.”
Sun motioned for her to continue.
“Her husband is Sugar Shine, CEO of Sugarmare Sugarcubes.”
She paused, almost as if she was expecting Sun to gasp or exclaim her disbelief. Sun sighed back, rolling her eyes. “Fluttering...I’m not from around here and I didn’t exactly come from a good home. I don’t know who that is.”
Fluttering dropped her voice conspiratorially. “He owns half of Manehattan! ...Or that’s what the papers say. But...he’s also a major philanthropist, I just can’t see him…”
“Hiring thugs? Even after his wife and children came running to you? What the fuck did she tell you?”
“Nothing specific,” Fluttering answered. “She said that she and Sugar Shine were ‘having difficulties’. Which isn’t too unusual. I get minor cases like that sometimes and usually help by putting them in touch with a marriage counselor I know. She...acted like she might have been abused. But he just seems so nice in all those articles! He even helped build a few hospitals! I thought that maybe they just needed a break…. I mean, Sugar Shine squeaks when he walks. He has no tells!”
Sun’s deadpan stare grew into a full glare, that Fluttering immediately recoiled from. “Seriously? Just because a pony puts on a nice public face doesn’t mean anything! In my experience, the ponies that shine the brightest, cast the darkest shadows.”
“Umm...that’s not entirely fair,” Fluttershy whispered. “I know Princess Celestia. She’s very nice and understanding.”
Sun turned her glare on Fluttershy who eeped and recoiled in shock. “Then you just don’t know her well enough,” Sun snarled.
A poignant pause hung in the air for a few moments before Fluttering spoke again.
“What did your parents do to you?”
“...Shut up,” Sun growled, feeling her temper beginning to rise again. She was on the verge unleashing a fresh round of insults when Fluttershy interrupted with a surprisingly forceful voice.
“Listen! Did you hear that?”
Sun and Fluttering paused their argument, straining their ears to listen. There, on the breeze, came a high pitched cry.
“Heeeeeelp!”
They exchanged a glance before charging off towards the voice. Sun took the lead again, bounding over bushes without a care in the world now. She quickly found herself following another cobblestone path that ran alongside a lake. Up ahead, she could just make out a boathouse framed by a pair of lampposts. The door on its side was wide open, almost ripped off its hinges in fact. And standing just outside that ruined door were her targets.
Two hulking ponies as sturdy as, and the color of, a pair of mighty boulders. They flanked a griffin who was sleeker, but still muscular, with a snowy, bald eagle-ish head and tiger like hind quarters. Dressed in a dapper looking dark grey vest, a cigar was clamped firmly between his hooked beak, while he dangled a squealing pink and white foal by her hind leg.
This time, there was no hesitation. Sun drew upon her well of blood and charged at blinding speed.
- - - -
Sunny Days was a frightening pony.
There was something about her that had unsettled Fluttershy from the first moment they had crossed paths in her cousin’s hallway. The way she carried herself as she walked, the way her eyes always seemed to be searching and on the prowl. They were the behaviors of a predator. And then there was the fact she was a bat pony. Her very appearance reminded Fluttershy of her nightmares. Those horrible nightmares where she just kept attacking all her friends like she was some kind of monster! She knew that would sound horrible and tribest, but it was how Sunny Days made her feel! As such, she had mostly stayed quiet while they had gone searching for Seabreeze’s missing child.
All of that was temporarily forgotten when Sunny Days charged. She was moving as fast on four hooves as Rainbow Dash did by wing, crossing the dozens of feet between them and the griffin in seconds. He barely had time to look up before Sunny Days crashed into him like an out of control manticore. With a squawk of shock, the griffin was sent flying into the lake, cigar tumbling to the ground where he had been standing. Water Spout fell as well, but lashed out with her forehooves and latched onto Sunny Days neck. Sunny Days whirled around, charging back towards her and Fluttering just as fast.
“Take her,” Sunny Days growled.
“W-what?” Fluttershy blinked.
“Take. Her. Get her back to a safe place. I’ll deal with the idiot brigade over there.”
The surface of the lake exploded into a shower of water as the griffin soared into the air, an expression of pure fury on his face. “I will beat you like a drum!”
Fluttershy grabbed Water Spout without objection. “Well...alright. Let’s get you back to your mommy.”
Water Spout sat on her back, nodding slightly.
Sunny Days didn’t wait for her and Fluttering to leave, already rushing to intercept the oncoming trio. Fluttershy spared her cousin a glance, before turning and taking flight with her. As they plunged into the darkness again, she just hoped that Sunny Days knew what she was doing.
- - - -
Sun was grinning now.
Logically, she knew that she should be more concerned about engaging in combat. There was always a chance, every time she did it, that she’d get lost in the throes of a frenzy. But right now, the thought of taking out her frustrations on a trio of child kidnappers was very appealing.
One of the mountains of muscle tried to dodge around her to chase after the retreating forms of Fluttershy and Posey. Still charged by her Celerity, Sun moved even faster and threw herself into his legs. Limbs crumpling under the impact, the pony cried out and hit the ground like a sack of bricks. She turned to see that his fellow was lashing out with his hind legs in a powerful kick. She sidestepped the strike and following her spell enhanced instincts, struck back with her own buck. There was a satisfying crunch as the other pony stumbled away, clutching at his side.
The griffin landed before Sun. He clacked his beak at her, while patting at his vest pockets for something. “Well, ain’t you a scrapper?” he said, producing another cigar. He lifted it to his beak in a gesture that seemed almost instinctive, before he realized its soaked, half ruined state. With a growl, he flicked it away. “Beatin’ you down looks like it’ll take some time and I am a busy griff. So, I’m gonna be generous here and give you one chance to get out of my damned way.”
“Listen...whoever you are….”
“Just call me Terrance.”
Sun smiled sweetly. “...So then, Terry. I’ve heard that Equestria is supposed to be all polite and shit, but it’ll be a cold day in Hell before I let a dime store gangster like you kidnap a kid.”
Terry dug his talons into the dirt. “Last chance you bat eared freak. Don’t try to stop us, or you’re a dead mare!”
Sun laughed. “A dead mare huh?” Then she fixed Terry with a furious glare. Now she really wanted to inflict some pain on these assholes. “Buddy...you couldn’t begin to fathom the amount of dead behind me.”
It was a statement that, under different circumstances, Sun would have been more regretful about the truth of. The unfortunate truth of the matter was that since becoming a vampire, she had to kill a lot more often than she cared for. Especially once she had gotten dragged into LaCroix’s plotting to get his hands on the sarcophagus that ended up being her prison.
Her glare must have did the trick, because Terry took a few nervous steps backwards, before shouting to his minions. “Take her out!”
Sun laughed, leaping into battle.
- - - -
“Stop!” Fluttershy shouted.
Fluttering stopped, hovering in place. “What?”
Fluttershy didn’t answer right away, instead looking down at the wide pale blue eyes of Water Spout. “My cousin is going to take you the rest of the way, okay?”
“O-okay.”
She quickly passed Water Spout over, Fluttering holding the foal tightly to her despite the confused stare she was giving.
“Are you...going back?”
Fluttershy nodded. “I have to. She’s there on her own...and...well..,” she fidgeted for a moment, lightly tapping her hooves. “I have been in some dangerous situations with my friends in the past.”
“Ah, the whole Elements of Harmony thing,” Fluttering frowned. “Are...you sure?”
No, she wasn’t. Not really. Right now her stomach was doing all kinds of butterflies and backflips at the thought of diving into a fight. But she always had those feelings at the thought of danger and had fought through them to help her friends. Sunny Days might not have been a friend, but she was on her own against three very scary looking individuals and her gut- frightened and churning as it was- told Fluttershy that she needed help. So, she took a deep breath and nodded.
“Yes.”
“Okay...cousin. Be safe.”
Fluttershy spun around and began flying back towards the lake as fast as she could go. The vast stretch of the park zipped past under her hooves, a carpet of darkness broken up by occasional dots of lights from the lamp posts. She followed the twisting paths back towards the lake the best she could in the darkness of night, talking to herself as she went.
“Okay Fluttershy. You can do this. You just need to be assertive! You can be assertive. Just land down there and...act like Rainbow Dash! Screaming and hollering should help!”
The lake came into view after another moment or two of flying, the moon shimmering on its glass like surface. Fluttershy dropped towards the boathouse, taking a very deep breath as she did. Landing on all four hooves she closed her eyes and let that breath go in the loudest scream she could muster!
“Ahhhh!” she squeaked, sounding more mouse than assertive warrior.
“...What are you doing?”
Fluttershy opened her eyes and gasped. The strong ponies were sprawled out on the ground, unconscious, and sporting massive welts on the sides of their heads. Sunny Days was kneeling on the short docks that jutted out from the boathouse, her forehooves in the water, a few full pouches sitting by her side. Blushing a little in embarrassment, Fluttershy decided to check on the unconscious ponies.
“I...came to help.” She pressed an ear against the warm flank of one of the attackers. He was still breathing, so it seemed that Sunny hadn’t done more than knock him out. “I guess I shouldn’t have bothered.”
“Maybe not,” Sunny smiled. “But I appreciate it all the same.” She motioned her head towards the bags at her side. “Took these off of Terry the Not So Terrible, one of them belongs to Seabreeze I think.”
“Oh,” Fluttershy blinked. “That’s good. Where is Terry though, did he run off?”
“Yeah, he did. I imagine he’s probably lurking around somewhere though. Might not be best to stick around.”
“But...what about you?”
“Hey, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine!”
Fluttershy blinked again. Was Sunny trying to get rid of her?
“Sunny...why are your hooves in the water like that?”
“I’m soaking them. Punching those guys hurt a bit.”
The situation wasn’t sitting right with Fluttershy. Sunny was too calm for having just been in a fight, even compared to her more action inclined friends. Even Rainbow would be more animated, usually joyously exclaiming about how she (or they) had just “kicked flank”.
“...Show me your hooves.”
Now it was Sunny Days’ turn to blink. “Err…”
Fluttershy frowned, a bit of a hard edge creeping into her voice now. “Show me your hooves!”
Sunny Days jumped back from her. Almost immediately the head of Terry the griffin broke the surface of the water, gasping for air. He bolted for Fluttershy in a flurry of thrashing limbs and wings.
“She’s-she’s a monster! Keep her away from me!”
“Says the ass who attacked a family and then tried to steal a kid,” Sunny Days snarled, beginning to stalk their way. “And you’re going to tell me who hired you to do that. Or do you want a take another dip?”
Fluttershy was aghast as Terry dove behind her and began to cower. Then she was angry, her previous fear of the batpony forgotten. “You...you...meanie! How could you do that to him?”
“I could do it easily,” Sunny Days growled back. “Because he’s a piece of garbage who doesn’t deserve your sympathy and who needs a bit of persuasion to admit what he knows!”
“What were you going to do, drown the answers out of him? You could have killed him!”
Sunny Days had reached her now and her expression was furious as her eyes bored into Fluttershy’s. “I know what I was doing! He just needed to be scared into doing the right thing. Now get out of my way!”
“Everypony deserves a little kindness! Maybe if you tried talking to him instead trying to kill him!”
“I wasn’t going to kill him! I-”
Fluttershy felt a strong pair of talons shove her from behind. She toppled forward, Sunny Days catching her instinctively. Before either of them realized what was going on, the sound of flapping wings filled the air.
“You fucking idiot!” Sunny Days shouted, kicking Fluttershy off of her. “Now how am I supposed to find out who’s after Seabreeze?”
“I am not going to apologize for stopping you from drowning someone!”
An animalistic snarl escaped Sunny Days. Before Fluttershy even realized what was happening an unearthly red glow filled the bat pony’s eyes. “I should rip your goddamn throat out!”
Fear rose like bile in the back of Fluttershy’s throat, but as fast as it swelled into being she felt something else rise with it. She found herself glaring back with an equal intensity, matching Sunny’s glowing red eyes.
“There is absolutely no need for that kind of language missy! Or that attitude! I know that you were worried about Seabreeze and her family, and self defense is one thing, but we do not do what you did to anyone!”
The red light died from Sunny Days’ eyes and she took a step back, her ears slicking back. “But….”
“You could have killed him! That would have made you officially worse than them! And threatening to ‘tear my throat out’?”
Sunny was cowering now, wilting under the intensity of The Stare. “I…what do you want from me?”
“An apology for starters.”
“What?”
“Apologize!”
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry alright! Just please, stop staring at me!”
Fluttershy let The Stare end. “There, doesn’t that feel better?”
Sunny blinked at her. “...I have to go.”
Without another word Sunny galloped to the fallen bags, snatched the lesser of the two with her teeth and took off into the darkness. Fluttershy watched her go before slumping.
“Oh dear.”
- - - -
Sun didn’t stop running until Fluttershy was far, far behind her.
Only when she was absolutely sure that those horrible blue eyes couldn’t drill into her anymore did she slide to a stop in some alley and drop the bag of money at her side. Squeezing her eyes closed, Sun just pushed the image of Fluttershy’s glare to the deepest, darkest depths of her mind.
“What. The. Fuck?” she growled.
Whatever power Fluttershy packed in that adorable frame of hers was terrifying. Sun had managed to throw off ( admittedly, with some mystical help) a domination attempt from a damned eldar vampire. That adorable little pony, who looked scared of her own shadow, had managed to reduce her to groveling.
It seemed that, despite her knowledge that magic was a thing in this strange new world, that she had vasty underestimated just all of what it was capable of. In retrospect, it was a foolish position to take. Deep Digger had changed her body from that of a human to an equine through chanting and could levitate multiple objects with just a thought. Fluttershy though...there was something extra in that one. Her blood was just...intoxicating. Sun shivered at the thought, turning her attention to the bag of coins she had “liberated” from Terry.
“Time to gear up.”
She grabbed the bag of coins again and set off at a slower, more determined pace this time. She’d get shake her curse, no matter what.
It didn’t take Sun long to find a pawn shop in the various buildings that lined Not-Central Park. Most of the businesses were closing down as the night wore onward, but the late night nature of those who bought and sold the belongings of others had managed to last beyond the fall of humanity. A large wooden sign above the door, illuminated by a pair of flood lights, proudly declared the store’s name as “Bits ‘n Things”.
She pushed her way inside the store, pleasantly surprised to find soft music playing and the smell of roses wafting through the air. The merchandise was all neatly displayed, some on low shelves, some behind glass cases. Most of it seemed antique in nature, a haphazard collection of jewelry, clothing, household nicknack's, furniture and books. Even a few comic books, much to Sun’s surprise. A pony behind the counter looked up, a cheerful smile immediately appearing on her face. She was white coated with a pale yellow mane, cut short in a pixie-ish bob, with a golden coin for a cuite-mark. She also smelled like bananas. Fresh, ripe, delicious bananas.
“Good evening!” she chirped. “Is there anything I can getcha tonight?”
Trotting up to the counter, Sun dropped the bag of coins from her mouth. “I’m in the market for a watch,” she answered, her eyes roaming over the rows of glass cases. “And some clothes with pockets. Maybe a bag of some kind too.”
“Well, a watch should be easy enough. Do you want a fetlock or pocket version?”
Assuming that fetlock was something like a wrist, Sun answered. “Fetlock. I don’t really want to be fumbling around for something.”
The pony nodded, taking a few steps to her right and waving a hoof at a case’s contents. “I have a selection right here. Are you looking for something more ornamental, or…?”
Sun motioned to her slitted, bat like eyes. “I’m just looking for something that’ll let me keep track of when dawn is. Nocturnal and such.”
The mare’s face fell slightly, the thought of a juicy sale clearly fleeing her mind. She plucked a watch from the many glittering under the main light. The band was simple, black and unadorned. The bezel around the crystal was a thin, silvery ring, and the watch face was marked with a little sun and a little moon behind a two of the numbers.
“I’ll give this one to you for thirty bits. Belonged to guard pony, so it has the sunrise and sunset times marked on it.”
“Done,” Sun nodded. “Now, what about the other things?”
It took a little bit of searching through the stocks to find some clothes to Sun’s taste. Long, flowing clothes such as skirts and full dresses were right out. Sure, she wanted to be covered up. Walking around naked was still a little on the weird side, even with the fur coat. But being able to move easily was very important if she got into another fight. Though that wasn’t the only thing delaying the search. The shopkeep’s delicious smell kept gnawing at Sun, bringing back that dull throbbing ache at the root of her fangs. It would be so easy to strike, to sink into her throat and gulp down the red sweetness within. Already, she could feel her fangs lengthening in her mouth-
“Miss? Are you alright?”
The question pulled Sun away from the visions of yummy blood. She shook her head to clear the lingering desire from her mind before responding. “Yeah...I’m fine. Just got lost in thought for a moment.”
The shopkeeper blinked but then shrugged, motioning a hoof towards a light violet vest. “How about this? Pegasus cut, so it'll have room for your wings. Also, pockets in the front.”
She helped Sun into the outfit, doing up the buttons in the front with a near supernatural grace for a woman who didn’t have fingers. As it finished being buttoned, Sun had to admit that she liked the vest’s feel. It struck a nice balance between being snug enough to help her feel more secure and clothed, but not so tight that it would make it hard to run and fly in.
Fly.
Was that something she could actually do now? She’d have to give it a try later. For now she settled on the vest and a plain set of bags that draped over her back like they would on an actual horse. That was certainly something that was going to take some getting used to. While she counted out the golden coins back at the front counter, Sun decided to do a little digging for information.
“Hey, this might be a shot in the dark, but you wouldn’t happen to know anyone who deals in magic stuff?”
“What kind of magic stuff?” the shopkeeper asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Spell books and stuff. Especially anything that deals with curses, their effects and cures.”
The mare’s eyes narrowed. “...Are you a guard? Because if this is supposed to be a sting, I’ll tell you the same thing I told the last group of clankers to stop by my shop. I don’t deal in dark magic!”
Sun raised a hoof. “Hey, calm down. I’m not a guard,” she said, even as she dipped into her blood reserves. “I just have an idiot friend who decided to dabble and I need to find something that can help her.”
The pony blinked for a moment as the effect of Sun’s Presence settled over her. Then she sighed and rolled her eyes. “Unicorns and their dabbling. Somedays I’m convinced they’re going to kill us all.”
“Maybe,” Sun wryly smiled back. “But she’s still my friend.”
“...Okay...I might know one pony that deals in that. His name is Far Finder. Trades in really rare and out there stuff. Also not the most up and up pony from what I’ve heard. Pretty much every other pawn shop owner in Manehattan gives him a wide berth.”
“Is he supposed to be dangerous or something?”
“Maybe. He certainly likes to play up the mysterious angle. But if anypony is going to have books on curses and dark magic outside of restricted libraries and government institutions, he’d be it.”
Sun nodded as she shoved the pile of gold across the counter. It looked like she’d be paying another pony a visit tonight.
“Don’t suppose you can give me some directions?”
The mare nodded and set to scribbling out a sketch like set of directions. “You know, it’s funny,” she chuckled once the map was done. “You’re the second pony I’ve sent towards him today.”
Sun raised an eyebrow. “Sea blue green coat? White mane and tail?”
“Yeah. She wanted to sell some jewelry, which I was all for at first. But then I saw their magic marks and decided against it.”
“Magic marks?”
“It’s something unicorn gem cutters do for high end stuff. Mostly so that you can only resell them at official dealers.”
“...Or to a pony shady enough to take the risk,” Sun frowned.
“Yup,” the pawnbroker nodded, sliding her map across the counter. “So, just watch yourself there.”
- - - -
Guilt was a familiar emotion for Fluttershy.
Because of her own acute shyness and fear she often felt like a horrible burden upon her friends. To her at least. No matter how many times they had worked together to save Equestria, Fluttershy was still afraid that one of these days her nerve would fail her. The guilt that had settled over her as she trudged back towards her cousin’s was different, but just as unpleasant. This was a guilt that came from being the source of another pony’s pain.
The Stare.
How could she have used it on another pony? Especially after what happened with the vampire fruit bats! Then again Sunny Days could have seriously hurt that griffin, so maybe it had been the right choice after all?
But that thought was driven from her mind by the memory of the confused and hurt expression on Sunny Days face. Unleashing the stare on a pony already beaten down by bad life? She could have traumatized her! Maybe she already had. Sunny did run off with barely a word after all.
“Fluttershy? What’s wrong?”
Fluttershy looked up, the sidewalk forgotten at the sound of Twilight’s voice. She lingered just outside Posey’s home. The front door was hanging open and Fluttershy could just make out the sound of conversation emanating from within.
“Twilight? I thought you were visiting your teacher?” Fluttershy asked.
The question made Twilight wince. “She was...attacked. By a monster. Apparently some pony was staying with her and saw it? Sunny Days? I came here to speak with her.”
A monster attacking somepony certainly wouldn’t have helped Sunny’s…attitude. But the revelation brought a fresh wave of anxiety crashing down upon Fluttershy. “Oh Twilight, I...I’ve ruined everything! I made her run away!”
It was too much. She squeezed her eyes shut as her previous feelings of guilt doubled back upon itself. The world fell away from her and a hideous buzzing sound filled her ears. She was still tainted, not only hurting some poor pony that had already seen plenty of horror in her life but chasing away a witness to some other attack! Overwhelmed by the thoughts and possibilities, there she stood, shuddering like a leaf caught in a horrible tempest.
Eventually, a soft sensation tickled the side of her barrel. Slowly, she opened one eye to see just what it was. Twilight was standing at her side with a soft smile and one of her wings gently draped over her.
“It’s not your fault,” Twilight said, her voice cutting through the buzzing haze.
“I used the Stare on her,” Fluttershy whispered back.
Twilight’s wing hugged a little tighter and Fluttershy leaned into it. “And why did you use the Stare?” Twilight asked.
“...She was holding a griffin’s head under water.”
“She was what?” Twilight exclaimed, the hug temporarily forgotten. “Why was she doing that?”
Fluttershy sighed and told Twilight the whole story, not sparing any details on what Sunny Days had said during the hunt. Twilight’s expression grew increasingly concerned as the tale was spun and had settled into a frustrated grimace by the time Fluttershy reached the part where Sunny had torn off into the night.
“That’s… unfortunate. She sounds like a pony who could really use some help and she’s the only witness we have to professor Digger’s attack!”
“I’m sorry, Twilight. It's all my-”
“No, Fluttershy. It’s still not your fault,” Twilight said with a firm stomp of her hoof. “You were just trying to help.”
Fluttershy still didn’t entirely believe that. But another question bubbled to the surface of her thoughts over her misery. “Should we go look for her?”
Twilight considered the situation. “...No. She could literally be anywhere right now and Manehattan is massive. This is where she’s staying right now. You and I can wait here. The Manehattan Guard can search for her if she doesn’t come back.”
The thought of leaving Sunny on her own in the city made Fluttershy’s stomach twist. But she couldn’t find fault in Twilight’s logic. Two ponies randomly searching in a city this size wouldn’t get far. But if waiting was the plan, Fluttershy was going to be the first pony Sunny saw so that she could properly offer an apology. Nervously ruffling her wings, Fluttershy sat back on her haunches to wait.
As Twilight ducked back inside, an idle thought floated through Flutterhy’s head.
She can’t get into that much trouble...right?
- - - -
The shop was what Sun would have expected from a hole in the wall, “we’re not entirely legal” kind of store. Far, far away from the bright lights of the buildings lining the park, she was now back in the rows of more reserved, residential housing. The shop itself was down a short flight of stairs and built into the basement of a cramped looking tenement. There was no sign, no illumination calling attention to its presence, and the few small basement windows that faced the streets were kept dim. This was the kind of place that did not ask for, or even want attention.
Sun had to give Seabreeze credit. For an upper class pony that probably had been pampered most of her life, she had enough courage to walk into a place like this. A soft bell chimed as she pushed her way inside, a very heavy smell of incense smacking her right in the face as she did. Tendrils of the stuff rose between rickety looking shelves, bursting to the brim with trinkets esoteric and strange. Tribal wooden masks jostled for position next to jars and bottles of mysterious liquids. Statues made of materials Sun couldn’t recognize and depicting creatures she had never seen were shoved into corners, amulets and other charms draped across their immobile forms. Silken lanterns decorated with, what she assumed, was the Equestrian version of kanji hung from the ceiling; there were even skeletons of flying creatures mixed among them.
Here and there books were jammed haphazardly into the lot, the real goal of her search. Hopefully one of them would have some magic charm or spell to break the Curse of Caine. Not that the last strange curio store she had been in had helped her with that. The White Cloud, in the depths of Chinatown, run by one Mister Ox. A creepy old man who spoke in riddles and that Sun had some serious doubts about the humanity there of.
An idle wonder passed through her mind about the fate of Mister Ox and some of the others she had met through her journeys. There had been that Japanese girl too...Yukie. The “demon hunter”, seeking to avenge the death of her master and one of the few Sun had met who was both aware of her vampire nature and completely pleasant to be around. She couldn’t have been older than fifteen when they bumped into each other at a Chinatown noodle shop. She would be long dead by now, of course. Sun just hoped that the rest of the kid’s life had gone well enough. Someone she had met deserved to not have their lives cast to ruin by mere proximity.
She had just pulled one of the books from the shelves when her ears flicked towards the sound of a match being struck.
“May I help you, traveller?”
The pony was an older stallion, grey coated and purple maned, with the latter twisted into a neat braid that fell on the right side of his neck. A golden silk skullcap with red trim was perched between his ears, looking for all the world like it was authentically made in China. He also wore a matching red scarf around the neck, a tan shirt, what looked like a heavy leather apron over his hind quarters and a round pair of spectacles balanced on the end of his snout. He observed Sun carefully, as he placed the smoking remains of a match down next to the candle it had just lit.
“Curses,” Sun said. “Word on the street is that you’re the pony who might have books on them and how to break them.”
“It is...possible, that such tomes have passed through my shop. But what is the mare’s interest in such things? You certainly don’t look cursed.”
It had been a little bit since her last conversation, so Sun spent a little more blood to refresh her Awe before answering. “It’s for a friend.”
“For a friend? That is quite vague. Not exactly a statement that brings confidence that you’re not up to something.”
“Do I really look the dark wizard type?” Sun said. She batted her eyes towards the shop owner. It really was rediculously easy to be cute and innocent looking in this body.
“You could be buying for a dark wizard type. They do like their cute little assistants.” His eyes narrowed into a steely glare. “I don’t know you.”
“And I don’t know you. But I have money.” She poked at her bag with a wing, letting the sound of her remaining coins clink against each other. “And I’m willing to pay well to find the information I need. So, do you have the books, or not?”
The stallion observed her for a moment or two, before doffing his hat and giving a small bow. “In that case, right this way.”
Turning, he picked out a book from the shelf and pulled it. A section of the bookshelf swung inwards, revealing a second set of stairs. “The books out here are mostly for show. If you’re looking for things that can break curses, we’ll have to check out my...special stock.”
...There was a time when this would have been weird, Sun mentally sighed, before following.
The hidden passage ran down a short flight of stairs, before opening back into a small square room dominated by glass cases. Ancient looking tomes were securely locked within said cases, each one unique in its appearance. There was a book whose leather cover was so dark, it seemed to absorb the light of the room. Another one was little more than a collection of stone tablets, bound together with twine. Yet a third had dozens of gems set into the cover, their dark green forms glinting with a dangerous energy. A reading stand stood in the middle of the room, directly under one of the ceiling lights.
The store owner shuffled over to case containing the black covered book, digging a key out of his smock like skirt. “Of all the ancient sorcerers to dabble in the art of dark magic, few were as skilled at traps and...debilitating conditions as King Sombra of the Crystal Empire.”
Sombra.
That name resonated in Sun’s mind. There were many vampire clans she shared the night with back in the day and few had a more sinister reputation as Clan Lasombra. Predators and social Darwinists unparalleled, they were one of the founding pillars of degenerate vampire sect that was The Sabbat. She had never crossed paths with a member of Clan Lasombra and it was something she remained eternally grateful for. Their mastery of shadow magic was something she didn’t really have a tool to deal with.
Her wings flared instinctively as the heavy black covered book thumped into place on the reading stand. “Feel free to peruse,” the shopkeeper said, “ to see if it contains what you’re looking for. Then we can discuss price.”
Evil magic books! Now with a try before you buy policy! Sun mused to herself as she trotted up to the stand and began to flip through the book.
A quick scan through the first few chapters revealed them to be observations on the historical King Sombra’s rule. It was about what Sun would have expected from someone who dabbled in dark magic and became the ruler of a country. Oppression, enslavement, mind control, dark magic infection, war, murder-
Wait a minute. Sun blinked, jumping back a few paragraphs. Resting her hoof on the page, she traced it along the paragraph that had caught her attention.
Of all King Sombra’s forces, the most dreaded was the Shadow Legion. Each member was hoof chosen by Sombra for their viciousness, devotion to him and devotion to the idea of a unified Crystal Empire. Once the prospective member was chosen, they would undergo a private magical rite conducted by Sombra. While the details of the rite remain unknown so far, the ponies that underwent it were forever changed.
They were faster and stronger than a normal pony by far. Some reports even include stories of the changed being able to move via shadows, or dominate the minds of their victims. The one weakness they seemed to share was a lethargy during the daytime, even when Sombra kept the sun blocked with his shadow magic. Thankfully for modern pony kind, the Shadow Legion was destroyed as a military force in combat with Princess Celestia during the Crystal-Equestria war and the rite of their creation was lost with Sombra himself.
The page opposite that section featured a drawing of King Sombra himself. It was a profile shot from the shoulder up, showing the pony in an open mouthed roar that couldn’t help but show off his wicked fangs. Sun shuddered. This was becoming all too familiar. In the worst possible ways.
A mysterious “magical rite” that could only be conducted by a conveniently fanged pony. Mysterious new powers, including enhanced strength, enhanced speed and what was clearly domination of some sort. And perhaps most damning was the sensitivity to light.
They were vampires.
Somehow, some ancient member of Clan Lasombra had managed to continue into this brave new equine dominated world. Whoever that vampire was, he had passed on the Curse of Caine to this King Sombra. And it clearly didn’t stop there. Shape shifting bug ponies stalked the nights here. She had shared her nights with the shape shifting, flesh warping vampires of Clan Tzimisce. These sugar sweet little ponies, so ready and willing to trust, had no idea what was hunting them.
The soft chime of the front door bells rang in the distance. “Ahh, pardon me. I’ll be back in a moment,” the shop keep said.
“Sure. Whatever,” Sun muttered.
Growling under her non-existent breath, she plunged onwards her eyes flicking across the page with a renewed vigor now. The writer’s analysis of history quickly gave way to theoretical discussions about King Sombra’s magic and curses. While Sun didn’t really understand the details of magic, the book’s writer was clearly trying to deduce details about the Shadow Legion’s curse by studying what else King Sombra had done.
Further and further she pushed through the words, the writing growing more unhinged the deeper the author chased the mystery of King Sombra. Though within those frantically scrawled sentences Sun was able to pluck out one bit of good news.
She killed them! Celestia killed them all! I...I never wanted to believe it. But she tracked down every surviving member of the Shadow Legion and killed them! I don’t understand...the war was over...they could have made a deal… Sweet Harmony, I don’t know what’s going on anymore. I swear that the shadows are looking at me these days. I can’t...I can’t…
The shadows live! The shadows live! The shadows live!
The words trailed off at that point, leaving Sun with only a single thought. That was...pleasant.
Of course, the one pony she knew that could help make heads or tails of this stuff was unconscious by her own hand...hoof...whatever. Still, this book was another possible piece in the puzzle of her freedom from the curse.
“Alright, I’ll take i-”
Something slammed against the back of her head. Hard. Slammed muzzle first into book and podium, she was vaulted over the whole affair to go rolling across the floor. Sun came to a stop at the foot of one of the cases, with something heavy sticking out of the back of her head. A vicious hiss of rage escaped her lips as she stumbled back to her hooves. Her eyes locked upon the shopkeep, now flanked by that griffin she had beaten up in the park and two of those bug ponies. Though these bug ponies seemed to be wearing blue chitinous helmets. But somehow, through her blinding rage, that seemed less important than the question burning in her mind.
“Did you just try to kill me, little man?”
All he could do was mouth wordlessly and stare at whatever was sticking out of her head. Terry the griffin was also staring, but more stony faced. The bugs...their expression was unreadable. Snarling again, Sun reached up with both her hooves and yanked the offending implement free. The thing tore free with a wet squelch, the bloody axe clattering to the floor a moment later.
“Put that thing in the ground!” Terry snapped, pointing a talon at Sun.
The bug ponies charged forward and Sun charged to meet them, drawing on her blood as she did. But as fast as she moved with Celerity, the bugs moved just as fast. The one in the lead smoothly flipped up into a hovering position, kicking out with all four of its hooves. The legs swelled in size with a sudden surge of angry crunching noises. Hooves half the size of Sun’s body crashed into her with a frightening amount of power. She felt the strikes right to the core of her bones as she was sent flying backwards, splitting one of the other cases in half as her body smashed right through it.
She was back to her hooves in a flash but the bugs were already upon her, propelled by wings that were suddenly oversized. One slammed into her neck, pulling backwards and wrenching Sun to the floor. The other pounced on her hind legs, it’s limbs swelling to hold her in place.
The bug holding Sun by her throat chittered to its companion. “Hold the leech down!”
“I am holding the leech down! Just burn it and be done!”
A flickering green ball of flame appeared at the tip of the bug’s horn. Every bit of Sun’s vampire instincts were screaming in sheer panic at the churning ball of fire. With a mighty surge of motion Sun bucked with all her might, feeding a mass of blood into her limbs. The bug holding her hind legs was sent tumbling backwards, just as the other one loosed at jet of flame.
Sun screamed as it hit her in the chest. She screamed as her flesh crumbled, exposing bone and withered organs to the air. She screamed as the vice like fear of final death gripped her mind. And as she screamed with a mixture of anger and fear her rational mind mercifully switched off.
- - - -
Curious Curio could only watch the battle playing out in his shop with a growing sense of horror. The fact that he was going to be out what would have been a very lucrative sale was bad enough. But then Terrance had shown up, demanding to know if he had spoken to anypony about Seabreeze. Which of course he hadn’t done! He was the one who had contacted Sugar Shine about his wife’s arrival in his store! Their business relationship wasn’t worth ruining!
In retrospect though he had wished that he hadn’t mentioned the presence of his batpony customer. Terrance had burst into a sputtering rage before shoving his way through the front door with his changeling support. And now his book vault was being completely destroyed!
“Hold the leech down!”
Leech? Well, that’s rather uncalled for. They eat fruit, not blood!
Then came the fire, the revolting stench of burning flesh and the poor pony’s horrible, horrible scream. Curious could almost feel himself turning green at the gills. There...wasn’t any need to watch this. He turned his head. The unpleasantness would be over with soon. He had no sooner made that decision when a shocked cry and a loud crunch echoed through the room. Looking back, Curious blanched at the macabre sight. The unassuming looking customer clutched the ruined remains of a changeling’s horn in her mouth. A patchwork of horrid burns spread across the right side of her face, but it was nothing compared to the horror that was her front. There skin and muscle had been burnt away enough that Curious could stare right into her barrel cavity. Withered organs twitched in mockery of living ones.
The changeling that had been holding down her upper body now clutched at the shattered stump, hissing in a mixture of pain and anger. Spitting the remains out of her mouth, the monster customer pounced on the creature that had wounded her so badly. Another crunch echoed through the room as her jaws clamped down around the changeling’s throat. With a wet tearing sound and a splatter of green, ichor like gore, the front half of the changeling’s neck came away. A shocked expression settled over the changeling’s face, as if it couldn’t believe what had just happened, even as it reached its forehooves towards the goopy ruin that had once been its throat. But then it collapsed, a final gurgle escaping it lips as it lay still.
Terrance spoke for everypony present. “What dark corner of Tartarus did that thing crawl out of?”
The monster’s head snapped towards him, hissing viciously. Terrance froze, nervously glancing from walking dead pony to Curious. The mental calculation that was running through his head was clear to Curious. After all, one didn’t have to outrun the metaphorical dragon. They just had to outrun the other ponies running from the dragon.
Before she could strike though, the other changeling shot a blast of its crackling fire from its corner at the room. She managed to duck at just the last moment, the far wall gaining a fresh scorch mark. Her wings snapped out, the light of the room passing through their thin membrane, casting a blood red glow upon the floor around her. Curious swallowed hard. He could see blood bubbling and flowing through the almost transparent skin. With a single, powerful beat, she flew across the room slamming the changeling back into its corner before it could unleash another torrent of fire.
As another round of sickening cracks and slurps filled the air Curious made the only rational decision he could. He dove for the doorway out. Unfortunately Terrance had the same idea. They collided in the doorway, falling backwards in an undignified pile. Before Curious could recover from that, Terrance slammed a taloned fist into the side of his head.
Dazed and confused, Curious flopped onto his back. A moment later, a light pink blur shot overhead and the sound of shouts and crashes came from the stairwell. Groaning, he flopped back onto his belly, mind racing for a way out. The sound of the battle rolling into the front room gave him a slight opportunity. If he could slip past the pair, he could go out the back door to the alleyway.
He had taken a few, shaky steps towards the stairs when Terrance gave a loud squawk of alarm, then fell silent. A heavy dragging sound began to work its way back towards him, becoming punctuated by rhythmic thuds of something large thumping its way down the stairs. Something large...like a body.
The customer that he should have never let in appeared at the bottom of the stairs. Her jaws were clamped firmly around Terrance’s neck, who simply hung there, limp and still as the grave. Curious backed away, mind racing as the monster wearing the skin of a pony bore down upon him. Terrance’s body was dumped, unceremoniously, at his hooves. Without a griffin blocking his view, Curious could see that the hideous wound on her front was slowly beginning to close, flesh knitting itself back together. There was truly only one thing to do, considering the circumstances. Beg.
“Please…don’t kill me! I’ll tell you anything you want to know! I’ll do anything you want!”
The monster paused. Her voice came out in a dry, raspy hiss of malice. “Anything?”
Curious nodded rapidly. The monster considered this, frowning down at the still unmoving form of Terrance. She jabbed a hoof at the corpse. “...How do you know him? Him and the bugs.”
“Terance works for Sugar Shine! Anything he wants handled off the books! The changelings...well, I don’t exactly know the nature of their business, but they work with Sugar Shine!”
Her nostrils flared and she shook her head at that bit of information. “What use does a confectioner have for shapeshifters? You don’t have any theories at all? You don’t know anything?” She snarled, showing off fangs that were far too long for a batpony.
“All I know is that Sugar Shine asks me to keep an eye out for desperate ponies! Usually ones who come through my shop to sell or buy things.”
That nugget of information seemed to catch her attention. She frowned staring down at her hooves as she thought. Curious took the moment to inch his way backwards, anything to get away from the walking abomination in front of him.
“What does he want with them?”
“I assume he gives them to the changelings in exchange for something! They feed on love. They need ponies to feed from.”
The monster’s head snapped back up, her eyes narrowing. “You help him...sell ponies?”
Curious gulped. “P-please. I’m just a grunt! The whole thing is really above my head! I’ve told you everything I know!”
She nodded. “...You told me everything you know.”
“Great! You’ll be...leaving...then?”
She cocked her head, observing him in a curious manner. “...No.”
“What?”
She grimaced, stalking towards him. Her steps were slow and deliberate. Her glare furious. “I spent a lot of blood fighting them, and I have this goddamn hole in the middle of my goddamn chest!”
“Y-yes, that is t-true,” Curious managed to stammer out. He took another step back, his hooves tripping over the upended reading stand. “It’s quite a nasty wound. B-but you’re still up and about!” he laughed, fueled by a manic desire to live. “ ...Which is a very impressive trick, I will admit.”
In one fluid motion, the monster-customer jumped the distance between them. Hooves lashed out and before Curious realized what had happened, he found himself pinned to the floor. “You ponies...your blood smells so potent. I can almost taste it.”
“B-blood?”
She ignored that comment, taking a deep breath as she smelled the air. A quivver of some emotion shook her body before the angry glare returned. “Normally, I’d feel much more guilty about what I’m about to do. But I am. So. Very. Hungry. And you? ...You are so… very… guilty.
The last thing Curious Curio saw was a leering, fang filled maw.
- - - -
Sun drank. She had already feasted on the griffin, but her wounds required more. Beyond that she wanted more! She wanted more of this delectable, succulent, rich, downright addictive blood! She had never fed on anything so delicious in her life...or unlife. She could just drink and drink and drink and never be satisfied! She could-
The flow stopped.
Sun blinked. The body fell from her mouth, face locked in a rictus scream of terror. He was dead as a door nail. Drained dry of every last drop. The full impact of her actions settled over Sun in a haze now. She had done that. She didn’t even have vampiric frenzy to fall back on as excuse like with the bugs and the griffin. It had been a simple combination of anger and hunger that had pushed her on. That had pushed her to kill that pony.
….Not that the axe to the back of the head hadn’t helped play a role in that anger.
Still, it was a horrible waste of life. Poor, dumb bastard was probably just trying to make a buck before Terry got involved.
If there was a silver lining to this gore colored cloud at least she could now put a name to the bugs. Changelings. And they had a deal for living ponies. Sun glanced back down at the dead shopkeep, sneering at the memory of his role in all of this. On second thought, perhaps that sympathy had been misplaced.
The wound on her chest still wasn’t closed yet though. Her gaze turned towards the pair of changeling bodies. The nasty wounds on their throats continued to leak a virulent green icor.
She shuffled over to them, the acrid smell of the liquid tingling her nose. “Waste not, want not,” she muttered to herself, before biting into the first of the open wounds.
It tasted...strange. The flavor shifted as she drank, running such gamut of tastes to be a true suicide shake of vitae. Definitely a more pleasant taste than that griffin’s blood, that was for sure. She drank both of the changelings dry before dragging all the bodies into the corner and throwing them onto a loose pile. As she dumped the shopkeeper on the top, she paused to check her new watch. It had managed to survive the fight much better than her charred vest, or her now trampled and battered saddlebags. It had been hours since her stop at the first pawn shop. Dawn was still hours away and while she probably could make it black to Fluttering Posey’s…
She glanced down at her chest wound. The flesh had mostly knitted back together by now, leaving behind a bare patch of skin that was stretched and tattered looking. It would take more time to heal. She turned her attention back to the shopkeeper’s body and began to poke through his robes. It wasn’t long before she found a set of keys.
Taking them in her mouth, she trudged for the front door with a dark cloud hanging over her head. If there was a single word she could have applied to this trip, “fiasco” would have been it. Four more bodies added to her tally. And while she might have these books now, she didn’t have anyone who could understand the damn things. If only Deep Digger was awake! Maybe she could sneak back into the hospital and give her another dose of blood to help the healing process? And then there was this CEO, Sugar Shine. Her gut told her that he was going to be a problem. It was the way of powerful men when their plans were interfered with.
For now though, Sun settled for locking every door in the shop and shoving a few heavy objects in front of them to boot. Then she stalked back to the hidden room, closing the concealed door behind her. Today, she’d bed down with the corpses. Tomorrow...she’d figure her out her next move.
- - - -
The white stone spires of Canterlot gleamed in the morning sun, the gold accents of the roofs casting glittering beams of warmth into city’s wide streets and avenues. Said streets were already filling with ponies beginning their morning routines. It was part of the daily bustle and rhythm of the city, a rhythm that Princess Celestia had come to know and love over the centuries of her rule.
She watched her little ponies go about their business from her bedroom’s balcony. With the morning sun raised, it was time to see to the other duties of being a princess of Equestria. Turning from the balcony, she glanced across the room, where her assistant dutifully stood and waited. Raven looked in many ways like a librarian with her dark mane done up in a bun and square glasses. It wasn’t an unfair comparison either as she currently stood with a small pile of letters and correspondence that would require her attention this morning.
“What’s on the agenda for today, Raven?”
“Well, I have another stack of official invitations your highness. Two plays, a few libraries, a half dozen farms, eight schools. You know, the usual appearances.” Raven smiled mischievously.
Celestia smiled back. “Of course. Any more pressing matters?”
“Well, this letter marked urgent came in from the Manehattan Historical Society. As per your standing instructions, I placed it at the top of the pile.”
Celestia took said letter from the top of Raven’s stack, keeping her expression neutral as she perused the contents. After a few minutes of reading, she neatly folded it back up and tucked it under a wing.
“I’ll join you downstairs in a moment Raven. I must speak with my sister first.”
Raven bowed and backed out of the room. Celestia waited a few minutes for her to trot down the tower stairs before crossing the hall to her sister’s room. The door was thick, painted a midnight blue, and was adorned with a metal crescent moon dead in the center. Celestia hammered a hoof against the moon and hard, the metal of her golden shoes clashing loudly against the metal of the knocker. She waited for a minute as the sound finished echoing through the halls, before hammering on the door again. Getting Luna to wake from her slumber was sometimes like pushing a massive boulder uphill. Eventually though, the door swung open and Luna peered out, blinking blearily against the morning light.
“What do you want sister? I had a very long night and-”
Celestia thrust the letter towards her sibling. “Read.”
Luna spared a grumpy glare before flicking it open with her magic. But as her eyes scanned the words upon the page her sleepy state fell away, being replaced by a glimmer of recognition in her eyes and a growing smile.
“Another leech?” she asked. While she spat the last word out, there was an undeniable cheerfulness in her voice.
Hunting vampires was one of the things that brought Luna an almost unparalleled joy. Guilt momentarily twisted through Celestia’s gut. While they had began the hunt together, Luna had already been banished to the moon by the time she had hunted down the remaining members of the Shadow Legion.
“Yes,” Celestia said, a curious frown on her muzzle. “And one that seems to have maintained her human form.”
The look that settled over Luna’s face was one Celestia had seen before. Her sister ducked back into her bedroom and she followed. The heavy blues and shimmering silvers of her sister’s decoration made it like stepping into a star filled night sky. It was also like stepping into a rummage sale. Luna had a magpie like propensity towards collecting trinkets and over her very long life had amassed quite the collection. So it was not a surprise to find Luna halfway under her bed, rummaging for something. She emerged a moment later, a truly massive sword held aloft in her aura.
It’s blade, almost as long as Luna’s body, was forged out of enchanted silver. The razor honed killing edge glinted in Luna’s magic, still just as sharp as it was when it was forged. No matter the tally of vampires or other monsters it culled, it never dulled.
“Intending to track the vampire down yourself sister?” Celestia asked.
Luna pouted back. “You killed half of the Shadow Legion without me! It’s been so long since I hunted a leech!”
“...It would be much easier for me to just raise the sun tomorrow night and let nature take its course.”
“That’s no fun!” Luna said, stomping her hoof. “Besides, what if this bloodsucker is inside, or has managed to ghoul some of our citizens already? This can only be solved with a proper hunt!”
Frowning, Celestia paced the small section of clean floor for a moment, weighing all the options in her mind. She dearly, dearly wanted to strike as soon as possible before the vampire had a chance to spread her vile curse. At the same time though, Luna did have a point. This wasn’t a fire and forget situation.
“Stay in magical contact?” she asked, looking up from her pacing.
Luna stepped to her side and shared a sisterly nuzzle. “Of course.”
“Then hunt well sister.”
Luna galloped to her own room’s balcony and lept into the air. As she took wing for Manehattan, Celestia set off to begin her own day. She hummed softly to herself as she slowly trotted down the stairs an idle thought coming to mind.
Equestria had high standards of medical care. Some of the highest in the world, in fact. Celestia wanted her little ponies to be healthy and happy and so the government bits flowed into the system without interruption. Doctor Clear Health had never been more glad for Celestia’s dedication to proper care than he was right now.
Somepony had broken into Green Hill Hospital and ran off with eight bags of donated blood. Eight bags! The fact that somepony would think about stealing even one bag was horrible enough, but eight was unbelievable! Not to mention all the damage the fight had done in the basement and the unconscious form of Doctor Morning Glory shoved into their morgue drawers! But, as fast as the spike of frustration had come, it fled again. Nopony had died, the government would help them get back on their hooves soon enough and the guard would track down whoever was behind the theft. In the meantime however, it meant that Clear Health was stuck covering his fellow doctor’s shift while he recovered.
Moving on with his rounds, Clear Health trotted into the next room and scooped up the patient’s chart. Peering over the rim of his glasses, her perused the information. This was the poor mare that had required a massive blood transfusion. Due to a monster attack of all things! While that was concerning enough, the even deeper concern was that she remained completely unresponsive so far. He glanced up at the mint green mare sleeping the world away. An IV drip steadily fed her right foreleg, giving her additional support from the transfusion.
Slipping on his stethoscope, Clear Health pressed it to Deep Digger’s chest. The rhythmic rumble of her breathing filled his ears. Everything normal there. A more rapid series of thuds came over the stethoscope as he moved it to the heart. He looked down at his watch, counting the beats to the ticks of the hand.
That’s odd. Her heart-rate is far to elevated for being at rest, he thought. Maybe we need to do some more tests.
“Doctor?”
Clear Health jumped at the soft, but cracked and strained voice. Deep Digger was suddenly awake, staring up at him with wide eyes. Clear’s mind began to race. She had been in a complete vegetative state not two minutes ago and now she was up? Indeed, Digger’s eyes were locked on him, intense and questioning.
“Do you...know where you are?” Clear Health asked, managing to collect his wits.
Digger glanced around the room. “...A hospital,” she croaked.
“Do you remember what happened before you came here?”
“I was attacked.” Digger winced, rubbing at her forehead. “How…”
“Your student brought you in.”
Digger blinked. “My...student?”
“Bat pony? Name of Sunny Days.”
“Oh...her...right.”
With that she grunted and rolled out of bed, taking a moment to fumble for her glasses. The movement dragged the IV pole along the floor and Digger glared down at it for the infraction. A foreleg was quickly shoved under Clear Health’s snout.
“Remove this please. I have things that I must get back to.”
“I will do nothing of the sort!” Clear Health gasped. “You were in a deep coma due to blood loss! We need to conduct more tests to make sure there aren’t any other side effects!”
Deep Digger’s glare was...intense. “I feel fine doctor.”
“Whether that’s the case or not-”
Deep Digger snorted, grabbed the IV with her teeth and yanked it loose in one smooth motion. Clear Health could only stammer helplessly as she shoved her way past, knocking him to the floor. His clipboard clattered against the ground, Deep Digger’s hooves snapping it in half as she stormed onwards.
“Miss Digger!” Clear Health exclaimed. “That behavior is completely unbecoming of you and unacceptable! I’m simply trying to look after your best interests!”
Deep Digger paused at the doorway, resting a foreleg against the frame. She seemed to slump and Clearth Health felt lump of worry well in his throat. “Come back to bed,” he said, scrambling to his hooves and rushing to her side. “You almost died!”
A sigh that was more of a hiss slowly flowed from Digger. “Doctor...I understand that you are just doing your job. But I have work of my own to do,” she said, turning her head to glare at him. “I can walk. I feel fine. There is no reason to keep me confined to this room!”
Clear Health sighed. The mare’s mind was clearly made up and she was perfectly lucid while moving around. She was stronger than she looked too as the growing bruise on his side from being shoved aside attested to. Somehow, he doubted that he’d really be able to keep her here if she wanted to leave.
“Very well. But I insist you return if there are any changes to your condition at all.”
Hesitation played across Digger’s features and for a moment Clear Health was concerned that she’d object to that as well. But then she gave a curt nod of agreement and he could breathe easy.
- - - -
Everything about the city grated on Deep Digger as she worked her way home. The natter of the ponies around her, the clatter of cab wheels on the road, every spilled bit of garbage or food that the street cleaners hadn’t gotten to yet. So she trudged along the road with her head down, ears pulled back and tail flicking at imaginary flies.
As much as she didn’t want to admit it, she was furiously angry. Rage seethed under her skin. She was angry that Sun had attacked her. She was enraged with herself for not considering how magic might have interacted with the vampire curse. She was hopping mad that she had no idea where Sun actually was now. And she was incandescently furious at the very fact that her anger was so pronounced.
The level of anger that coursed through her was on a level she had never experienced before. She was wound tense, like a spring near its breaking point, or a bomb ready to go off. In fact, as she thought about it some more, the bomb metaphor seemed the more apt of the two. If the wrong pony bumped into her, she was pretty sure she’d explode on them for whatever minor transgression they had done.
One realization did manage to push its way through the haze that had settled over her brain. This situation had officially pushed past her ability to handle it herself. The situation with Sun required a bona fide magical genius and that...wasn’t her.
She needed Twilight Sparkle.
“...I’ll ask for forgiveness later,” she grumbled, making an abrupt turn and changing course.
- - - -
As she had been rendered unconscious and taken to the hospital, Digger was devoid of her usual keys to the Historical Society’s employee entrance. After considering her options she settled on hammering on the door till somepony noticed the racket and let her in.
Still grumbling about the situation, Digger reared up and pounded her forehooves against the metal door. To her surprise, the strikes rattled the whole door in its frame, cavernous echoes rolling through the room beyond. She froze, staring at her right hoof. That...couldn’t have been her punch. She was a unicorn! But she shook the heavy metal door like an angry earth pony!
She pressed a hoof to her chest, icy dread pressing in on her from all sides. Had Sun lied? Had she passed on the curse when she attacked? Was she a vampire now? Panic rose in the back of her throat, threatening to overwhelm her.
Wait a minute...it’s the middle of the day, Digger thought, the warmth of the midday sun managing to distract her from her panic. Wouldn’t I be burning right now if I was a vampire?
It was possible that Sun had lied about that too. But Sun still slept like the dead during the daytime and while she was up and about. However, before she could continue chasing that particular line of paranoia, the door swung open.
“Digs?”
Sturdy legs pulled Digger into a tight hug and she found herself reciprocating it despite the emotional rollercoaster she had just gone through. While she and Far Sight might bicker, right now she wanted...no, needed a familiar face right now. They held the hug for what felt like hours before Far Sight found his voice again.
“I was afraid that you were going to die. That that thing…,” he trailed off, unable to bring himself to finish the sentence.
“I’m sorry Far Sight. Things just...got away from me.”
Far Sight pulled back from his hug, now fixing Deep Digger with a furious glare of her own. “What in Celestia’s name were you thinking! Trying to bind a monster with the help of some student I’ve never met? Why didn’t you ask me for help? Why didn’t you wait for the Princesses to get back to us? How could you be so foolish!”
“It...seemed like a good idea at the time,” Digger muttered lamely. “I thought that if we could capture it, the Society could get the prestige for discovering the last remains of a forgotten race.”
It was a lie...of sorts. Those desires were, technically, true. One just had to leave out the existence of a vampire. Speaking of said vampire, there were matters to attend to.
“Before I was attacked, I sent a letter to Twilight Sparkle. Did she…?”
“Showed up last night. Helped the guard poke around your apartment too. Couldn’t get the damn things trail, unfortunately.” If Digger hadn’t already decided that she was going to bring Twilight in on the situation, that fact would have cinched it. Even with the ritual circle half destroyed it wouldn’t take her long to piece together what it actually was. And that was assuming that they didn’t find the book she used to enact the transformation, or anything else strange in her apartment…
...Say like a set of improvised robes designed for a biped.
“Buck!” she shouted, the curse coming too fast to stop. Her hooves smashed against the ground over and over in the sudden surge of fury. “Buck, buck, buckity-buck!”
Far Sight jerked away, his eyes wide. “Digger? Stars above! What’s gotten into you?”
“Because nothing’s going right! Ever since we found that stupid sarcophagus things have been going straight to Tartarus! It was a stupid stone box! How could there be so much trouble in a stupid stone box! It’s a box! A box that dead things go into!”
The bout of fury now exhausted, she lapsed into a fuming silence. Far Sight could only stare, utterly shocked at the outburst.
“Are you sure that you’re alright? I don’t think I’ve ever heard you call a find ‘stupid’ before.”
“This...this situation has just been really, really stressful,” Digger sighed. “I actually wanted to talk to Twilight Sparkle about what she found. This situation needs to be fixed. There’s just so much do to-”
“You go talk to the Princess of Friendship. I’ll hold the fort here.”
“Are you sure? What about the the exhibit launch tonight?”
“I already pushed it back to tomorrow to give myself some extra time. But I’ll get the launch done. But Digger?”
“Yes?”
“This time, include the guard in your plans.”
- - - -
Coffee.
The rich brown liquid lightly sloshed around Twilight’s mug as she paced the length of her shared hotel room. It’s delicious aroma tickled her nose, stirring energy back into her sleep swamped mind. Staying up to wait for Sunny Days had left her and Fluttershy completely exhausted. Her friend was still fast asleep, curled up under the covers of her bed. While Twilight had gotten some sleep, it had been a fitful bout at best. Everything she had seen in Professor Digger’s apartment was gnawing at her.
Taking a large swig of her coffee, she was grateful for the suites built in kitchenette as the flood of caffeine helped push the haze of exhaustion from her tired mind.
“Ahhh,” she sighed, before turning her attention to her own bed. There she had turned the covers into an impromptu lab table. Sketches she had made of the magic circle were arranged around the book Professor Digger had used for her ritual. Now all she had to do was sort through the book, compare the runes, and she’d be able to narrow down what kind of creature Professor Digger had been trying to bind! And once she knew that, she would help the Manehattan Guard find it!
With a task to set her mind to, Twilight felt even more invigorated and set to work. Despite that energy, it remained a process that most ponies would find incredibly tedious. But Twilight wasn’t most ponies and she flipped through the tome’s crisp pages while humming a cheerful tune to herself. At least she hummed at first. But the more she delved into Professor Digger’s book of rituals, the more her enthusiasm drained away.
“None of this is right,” she muttered. “Binding circles are based on forces and life magic. These patterns are more attuned to life and matter.”
The general logic behind a binding circle was to entwine the schools of forces and life to keep your target locked in place. Combining life and matter however? Well, there were a few different ways a caster could take that. Bringing inanimate things to life was a standard one. But one could also use such a spell matrix to transform a living pony as well. ...Or a non-pony.
Twilight nervously licked her lips, the improvised set of robes that Rarity had found now taking on a new significance. Her eyes flicked over to the still sleeping form of Fluttershy, this mysterious Sunny Days coming to mind again. The pony that had been there when Deep Digger was attacked. This pony that seemed ready and willing to inflict violence upon others. Suddenly, Sunny Days was much more suspect.
“Calm down Twilight,” she said, taking a deep breath. “You don’t know for sure she’s this monster. She could be Professor Digger’s student or assistant. A coincidence isn’t proof. You should at least talk to Sunny Days before making conclusions.”
Further thought along this line was interrupted by a chorus of pained whimpers from Fluttershy. Shoving Sunny Days aside for a moment Twilight rushed to the side of her friend’s bed. The whimpers came faster now, with Fluttershy beginning to toss and turn, her legs thrashing out in a blind panic. Wordlessly, Twilight clambered onto the bed and embraced her friend. Fluttershy fought against the hug while in the grips of the nightmare she faced but Twilight held tight with limb and magic, setting her jaw against Fluttershy’s panicked squirms and squiggles.
“It’s okay. I’m here for you,” she whispered into her friend’s ear. “It’ll be alright.”
Eventually, Fluttershy’s mournful whimpers and cries stopped. The struggles stopped not long after and not long after that, Fluttershy’s eyes flickered open. She blinked, confusion settling over her features as she realized who was holding her.
“Oh my.”
“Sorry. You were having another nightmare.”
“Oh,” Fluttershy sighed, her head drooping. “...I remember now. I was...her again. And this time I was attacking Sunny Days.”
Twilight frowned. “Fluttershy…”
Her friend abruptly flitted off the bed and trotted over to where her saddlebags rested. “I’m going to go look for her. I need to apologize.”
“I’ll come with you-”
“No!” Fluttershy snapped.
The force behind that single word made Twilight take a step back. Fluttershy gasped, shocked at her own words. “Oh! I’m so sorry Twilight! I just…,” she motioned a wing towards the drawings still scattered on Twilight’s bed. “You have your own problems to deal with right now. That’s more important.”
“Fluttershy...I’m not sure she wasn’t involved in Digger’s attack anymore. I don’t like the idea of you looking for her alone.”
Fluttershy cocked her head. “Why do you think she might have been involved?”
“Because the magic matrix Professor Digger was using wasn’t right for a binding spell. But it was right for a transformation spell. And Rarity did find those sheets that were modified to be clothes for a biped. I think…,” Twilight said, before pausing and biting her lip for a moment. “...There’s a chance that Sunny Days may actually be the monster that attacked her. And if that’s the case...I don’t want you to be alone with her. Not until we know more information.”
The room was quiet as Fluttershy frowned, her tail and wings twitching as her brow furrowed in thought. “I’m not sure Twilight,” she eventually said. “Sunny Days may have been a little violent, but she did help my cousin and I save a foal. I don’t think she’s a monster, monster. Not like Sombra or something.”
“We don’t know what she is!” Twilight exclaimed, unable to keep the exasperation out of her voice. “The only pony that, apparently, had any contact with this creature is currently in the hospital! If I could just talk to Professor Digger, I might-”
The heavy echo of knocks shook the hotel room door.
Twilight and Fluttershy exchanged glances before Twilight walked over to the door and yanked it open.
“Professor Digger!”
Deep Digger slunk into the hotel room, her eyes nervously darting around. Yet, she managed a smile when she looked at Twilight. “...You’ve gotten taller.”
Twilight chuckled, spreading her wings. “Really? That’s the only thing you noticed?”
Deep Digger chuckled back. “It is hard to believe that one of my former students became an alicorn… Yet, here we are.”
While Twilight would have liked nothing more but to catch up with her old teacher, there were more immediate problems to address. “Are you alright? I heard about the attack and I was looking at those magical circles of yours…”
“I know. I know. Just...everything about this situation has spun out of control. I need your help.”
“Alright Professor Digger. Tell us what happened.”
“Well-”
“Hello darlings!” Rarity said, bursting into the room. A collection of full shopping bags bobbed in the air beside her head. “I had just the most wonderful...mor...ning..,” she trailed off, looking around in confusion. “Did I miss something?”
- - - -
After another quick round of introductions Twilight, Fluttershy and Rarity listened as Digger told the story of the sarcophagus, the creature that had been found within and the horrible curse that she bore. Twilight could only frown in disgust as Deep Digger explained the details of the curse, as they had been relayed to her by Sun Shang.
A curse that traps somepony between life and death? I...I don’t know if I can handle that.
“...and I tried to replace the entropy magic infusing her form with life magic. The transformation spell was a useful conduit for doing that,” Digger explained. “But the magic just...tore her up. It was horrible! And then she just flew into this frenzied rage!”
“According to the police report though, she was also the one who saved you. Called for help and followed you to the hospital,” Twilight said.
“Mmmm. A change of heart?” Rarity asked.
“She helped my cousin,” Fluttershy said with a frown. “She’s not all bad.”
Twilight sighed. “But she’s still dangerous. Because of that curse, it sounds like she can fly into a rage at the right trigger.”
“That’s why I need you! You and your friends managed to heal Nightmare Moon! You finished one of Starswirl’s unfinished spells! Sun is...she’s the last remnant of a whole world that we’ve never heard of. Forget the knowledge she could provide us. She’s alone. Her whole species is gone. She needs help.”
“Miss Digger...while I can certainly sympathize for the dear and understand that desire to help, I’m not sure what you think we can do. We don’t have the Elements of Harmony anymore. They had to be returned to the tree to stop Discord’s plunder vines.”
“Maybe we could take her to the tree?”
Digger sighed. “You’d have to get her to trust you. And trust is something she has in short supply. From what I’ve gathered in our conversations, vampire society was a cutthroat den of snakes. I’m...technically breaking her trust by telling anyone but Twilight about her.”
Twilight sighed. “I don’t know Digger. I mean...we have done amazing things with the magic of friendship. I guess it's possible that it could break the curse, or that I could find some other way…”
“Twilight. I think we can help her,” Fluttershy said.
Twilight didn’t even question why her friend was taking that stance. The parallels between Fluttershy’s curse and Sun’s were easy to see. Though drinking blood was certainly more morbid than apple juice. Of course, the fact that Sun had to drink the blood of living creatures was going to force their hooves...
“I want to talk to her,” Twilight firmly declared. “I won’t know what kind of pony, human or vampire she is until I talk to her.”
“Assuming you do talk with her though, what’s your plan darling?” Rarity asked. “We still don’t have the Elements of Harmony anymore. We won’t just be able to blast the curse away with rainbows.”
“Well...while we don’t have the Elements themselves, their principles should still apply. Any magic experiments I might need to conduct will need her cooperation. And that means trust. And...well…” Twilight trailed off for a moment, ruffling her wings. “That means at least trying to be her friend.”
Rarity chewed her lip. “Well...I suppose that it's possible. Reforming Discord didn’t seem possible either. And he didn’t want to change, unlike this Sun girl.”
Twilight grinned, her mood raised by a growing wellspring of confidence. “I’ll approach her first then and we’ll see what we can do for her. We can beat this curse!”
- - - -
Sun woke up pre-angry tonight.
While the wound inflicted on her had closed over by now, her coat hadn’t completely grown back in yet. Instead she had a fine layer of peach fuzz there. A fine layer of a coat that would lead to even more awkward questions by every one of this stupid, stupid insanely helpful little ponies!
Her eyes flicked over to the corpse of the shopkeeper. His face remained frozen in terror, eyes almost accusing in death. “...Okay, so you’re not all helpful then,” she grumbled. “I hope you rot in pony hell for what you did.”
Squirming the saddlebags containing the books she paid for with blood back on, Sun stalked towards the front door, pausing only to close the hidden room’s door behind her. Right now, she just wanted to get as far away from here as possible.
Slipping through the streets, Sun quickly fell into the general flow of ponies moving through Manehattan. A few gave her sideways glances due to her lack of a mark, but most were concerned with their own lives and their own problems. They had no clue that a quadruple murder had just been carried out in their city and so they trotted on in blissful ignorance. Ignorant of the murders. Ignorant of the insects that slithered and gnawed through their society like termites. Ignorant of the monster that walked alongside them.
Ignorance had always been vampire kind’s greatest tool and was probably one of the few things that was keeping her alive right now. But now she quivered with irritation at its existence, her tail snapping like a whip, her ears folded close to her skull. Stupid, idiotic little horses completely unaware of the creatures that could be right alongside them right this minute!
Then again, perhaps she was just angry that the griffin and those bugs had found her in the first place. It could have been a coincidence. The shopkeep worked with Sugar Shine and the attempt to get his wife back had gone south. Perhaps it had been simple enough as Shine checking up to make sure his asset hadn’t been the one to turn on him. But she was also concerned that it had been a more active attempt to track her.
Unlikely...but not something she was prepared to rule out either. She had clashed with these bugs twice now. Silently, she changed her direction, moving to a more random pattern. Any of these ponies sharing the street with her could be one of those bugs and she would be goddamned if she was going to lead those things to Sea Breeze and her kids. She may have been a vampire, but she’d rip the throat out of any mother fucker who tried to rough up a bunch of kids!
As she continued along, she continued to seethe. It was taking every ounce of willpower she had to keep her anger from flying out of control. Her inner beast was straining at the chain to escape. The wild vampire wanted to feed, to rip, to tear. It wanted to crush the heads of any and every one of these stupid bug vampires! It wanted to rage and destroy and lash out at everyone and everything that had ever slighted her!
Even worse was the gnawing hunger that had returned, burning its way through her gut. How? How could she still be hungry? Even taking into account the healing she had gone through, she had drained four ponies worth of blood last night! Her vitae reservoir should have been a goddamn ocean at the moment, but her fangs were still aching-
She bumped into someone.
“Why are you in my way?” she snapped at the offending pony.
“Because we’ve been waiting for you.”
I know that voice… Sun thought. Latching onto that, she pushed the anger down and focused on the pony in front of her. Mint green coat, glasses, pink mane.
“Holy shit,” Sun breathed, before pulling the pony into a hug. She still smelled as delicious as ever, but the sheer relief she felt at seeing her alright helped Sun tamp it back down. “Deep Digger! You’re okay! Fuck...I’m so, so sorry I attacked you! Just...that magic you used fucking hurt.”
“And I’m still sorry for that. I had no idea the spell would react that violently with your body.”
Sun pulled away from the hug, confusion marring her features. “How did you find me anyway?”
“I talked to Twilight and her friends. Fluttershy told me where you were staying.”
It was just then that Sun realized she had wandered back to Fluttering Posey’s while stewing in her rage. But hot on the heels of that realization, came another pair. The first name that Digger had mentioned and the lavender coated pony who was standing just off to the side in the shadow of Posey’s building.
“Shang?” she asked, stepping forward with a soft smile. “That’s your actual name, right?”
The scent that wafted off of Twilight smacked Sun right in the face. She was this heady mix of blueberries, raspberries, grapes and just a hint of lavender flowers underlying the whole thing. It was an amazing cocktail of blood that almost made her want to tear into Twilight right then and there.
Twilight must have picked up on her sudden interest because she faltered slightly and took a half step back. “Err...Miss Shang? Are you okay? I just wanted to talk-”
“Not here,” Sun hissed. “We don’t talk about this shit on a public street. Let’s take it to my room.”
Twilight and Digger didn’t object, so Sun lead them to the little room that was hers in this halfway house. As they passed the living room, she noticed that Sea Breeze was reading to her foals in the sitting room, while Posey (somehow) knitted next to her big two headed dog. The serenity of the domestic scene was enough to calm Sun’s anger, at least a little bit. She had helped make that possible and that was something at least.
Once they all squeezed into her bedroom, Sun shoved the door closed and flopped down on her bed. “Goddamn!” she exclaimed. “What is it with your blood? It’s so damn potent!”
Twilight chuckled nervously. “...Thanks? I can’t say I’ve ever been complimented on the...potency of my...blood before.”
Sun glanced at Deep Digger. “I’m guessing she’s your student?” Her eyes flicked back to Twilight, roaming over her wings. “I thought that only princesses had the wings?”
“Well, that’s because I am a princess,” Twilight said. “The Princess of Friendship.”
“...Seriously?”
“Seriously.”
Sun frowned as her tail flicked in aggravation. “This world sometimes….”
“Was it something I said?”
“Never mind. I’m guessing that Digger has brought you up to speed?”
Twilight nodded. “She has. I’m not going to lie...this is going to be a challenge to fix. But, I think we can do it!”
“No offense, but Digger was pretty confident too. What’s different about your take?”
“Twilight’s a better mage than I am,” Digger said. “She’s also one of the element bearers. She’s tied to magic, especially the magic of friendship more than any other pony I know.”
“Come again?”
“The magic of friendship,” Twilight said. “It’s the bond that exists between my friends and I. It’s what let us claim the Elements of Harmony. And...it just might help us break your curse.”
Sun’s gut reaction was to laugh in Twilight’s face. The idea that just...being friends could somehow produce magic and that said magic could actually break the Curse of Caine seemed absolutely ludicrous on its face. But, then again, Twilight Sparkle’s blood was ridiculously potent. Potent enough to add a bit of legitimacy to her claim that she had some kind of mystical connection to these Elements of Harmony. And that book she had read on the history of the princesses did say that those items had been used to both banish some chaotic spirit and Celestia’s own sister.
In for a penny, in for a pound I suppose.
“Alright Twilight, I’m willing to give you some trust here.”
“Great! Now-”
“On one condition.”
Twilight blinked. “What’s that?”
Sitting back up Sun dug the tome she had paid for with blood out of her saddlebags. “I’ve spent the last few nights looking for any kind of books I could find that might be useful on my condition. Managed to acquire this one from a dealer and the pony it describes within sounds like a vampire to me. Even better, the author scribbled a lot of notes in here. Maybe it’ll help you crack the curse if friendship magic can’t.”
Twilight gingerly took the book in her magic, making a face like she was holding a dead dog. “Ew. This thing just looks sinister. But I’ll see what I can work out. Though..,” she trailed off a sly smile creeping across her lips. “If I’m going to be studying this, I’ll be too busy trying to help you through friendship magic.”
“I’m sure that I’ll manage.”
“Oh no,” Twilight said, neatly slipping the book into her own saddlebags. “You’re not the only one who can set terms. You want me to work on this? I want you to go and make some friends.”
“...You can not be fucking serious,” Sun deadpanned.
Twilight blushed slightly at Sun’s curse, but nodded. “I am absolutely….serious. My mentor told me to go make some friends and we’ve saved Equestria multiple times now!”
“How am I supposed to do that? I literally can’t walk around during the day.”
“You can meet my friends then!” Twilight said. “I’m sure they’d be happy to meet you.”
Sun glowered at Twilight and her optimism. “No.”
Twilight glowered right back. “Yes.”
“No! I’m not just going to up and admit what I am to anyone else and I can’t really be expected to make friends-”
“Oh, for buck’s sake!” Digger exclaimed. “Would you stop being so damned stubborn and just accept that we’re trying to help your ancient undead flank!”
Silence. Twilight turned to stare at her old teacher with jaw hanging open in shock, only for the silence to be broken by a round of uproarious giggles from Sun.
“Oh lord, Twilight. I’m sorry, but the expression on your face was hilarious! Have you never heard her swear before?”
“No! I haven’t! And considering some of the students she taught that’s saying something!”
“Sorry Twilight. I’ve just been feeling incredibly...angry since I woke up,” she said, fixing Sun with a strong glare. “Are you sure that you didn’t turn me into a vampire?”
“Quite. If you’ve been walking around during the daytime, you’re not a vampire. No, what you are right now is what we call a ghoul. It’s not as bad as it sounds!” she quickly amended to Digger and Twilight’s horrified looks. “I took a lot of your blood, Digger. I was afraid that you were going to die. So I gave you some of my blood. As a ghoul, you’ll heal faster, live longer and inherent some of my vampire powers.”
“...There has to be a downside,” Twilight said.
“Oh yeah, there is. Without a steady flow of blood, the abilities will fade. And the more of a vampire’s blood a mortal drinks, the more they become devoted to said vampire. It’s an addictive effect.”
She pointed right at Deep Digger, her voice dropping to a dead serious tone, icy and brooking no arguments. “Which is why I’m not giving you a drop more. I’ve seen ghouls fully in the thrall of their vampire before and I won’t have anything to do with that shit. Give it a few weeks and you’ll be back to normal.”
Deep Digger smiled as Sun flopped back onto the bed again. “Well, that puts me at ease. Thank you Sun.”
“Yup, that’s me. Your friendly neighborhood vampire. ...Who can fly into a murderous rage at the right stimuli.”
“That’s the anger?” Twilight asked.
“Yup. Every vampire has to deal with it. But we of Clan Brujah feel the anger more than others. But I’m still not leaving. Thugs went after Sea Breeze and her kids. I don’t trust those behind it to not try something else.”
Twilight frowned for a moment, then ruffled her wings in a light shrug like gesture. “Fine. I’ll stay and keep an eye on things then. You are going to make some friends.”
“...Fine!” Sun huffed. “But don’t forget to research that book while I’m off on this little play date of yours!”
Twilight huffed back. “Don’t worry about me when a book is involved! Books are my thing!”
“Fine!”
“Fine!”
“And before this devolves into an all night argument, let’s get going,” Digger said, prodding Sun. “Don’t you want to see if this works?”
Sun grumbled and rolled back off the bed, allowing Digger to lead the way.
- - - -
“What the hell was that?” Sun practically snarled at Digger once they were a few blocks away. Then she dropped her voice, whispering in her ear. “This is the magic expert you brought in? ‘Go make some friends’? What the fuck is this?”
“Twilight Sparkle has forgotten more about magic than you’ve ever bothered to learn, so I’m not sure you’re in any position to pull rank here.”
“Her advice still boils down to ‘go make some friends’! I mean, yes, we kindred aren’t always the most personable lot, but we make friends...sometimes. And I’ve yet to hear of a vampire that friendshipped their way out of the Curse of Caine.”
“And things clearly don’t work the way they used to, considering that magic is much more prevalent than it was and ponies are one of the dominant species on the planet.”
Sun snorted. “Since when are you little miss sassy britches?”
“Since I’ve become really tired of your stubborn attitude!” Digger snapped, whirling around to jab a hoof into Sun’s chest. “This situation could easily be over by now if you had let me go to the princesses in the first place!”
“Or, I’d be a pile of ash on the ground!”
“Princess Celestia isn’t like that!” Deep Digger hissed back.
“Based on what? Her public record? There is a mare in the building back there who had to run from her CEO husband. The world might be wrapped up in a new candy colored shell, but ponies aren’t that different from humans. Hidden secrets and agendas are par for the course.”
“If you’re so cynical, why are you even bothering with this?”
Sun sighed, stopping mid step and fixing Deep Digger with a deadpan stare. “...Do I look like someone with other options?”
“Then, would it really hurt you to just...try things our way for a change?”
Sun sighed again. “Fine. I’ll do this. But only because you think it's a good idea Digs.”
Digger smiled back. “My opinion suddenly matters so much?”
“Considering that I almost killed you, you have the most right out of anyone to smack me when I’m being stubborn,” Sun said, lightly shaking her head. “Let’s try and go make me some friends.”
“Hey Diggs, what do you know about a group of kind of insect looking ponies?”
Deep Digger blinked. The question had come right out of nowhere as she and Sun stood together in an elevator in the hotel where Twilight Sparkle’s friends were waiting. She knew about the changelings of course. Nopony could deny their existence since the Canterlot wedding fiasco. The fact that Sun had encountered them though…
“Well, they’re called changelings,” she answered after a moment. “They’re a race of shapeshifting creatures that feed off of love energy to sustain themselves. For a while they were shrouded in myth and rumor until they and their queen tried to take over Canterlot.”
A wry smile played across Sun’s muzzle. “Cripes. Even your vampires are candy coated. Do you have any idea how easier my existence would be if I could feed off of something esoteric like love?”
“Maybe...I’m curious where you encountered them though.”
“Basement of the hospital I took you too.”
Digger raised an eyebrow. “What were you doing in the basement of the hospital?”
“...Picking up some food to go.”
That took a moment to register. “...You were stealing blood?” Digger hissed after she made the connection.
Sun fixed her with a deadpan stare. “How is that any worse than taking blood from living ponies? This way there’s a lesser chance of someone getting hurt.”
“But what if somepony needs a transfusion?”
“And what if I drink too deep and put somepony into the hospital in the first place? Like I actually did!” Sun snapped.
Digger’s ears drooped one hoof reaching to the spot on her neck where she had felt Sun’s fangs pierce her flesh. It was easy to forget that despite her unassuming appearance, that the mare standing next to her carried a curse that made her very dangerous. All of a sudden riding up a building in a small metal box with her felt much more foolish than it had been a minute ago.
Sun picked up on her nervousness and sighed, reaching over to drape a leathery wing across Digger’s withers. “Look Diggs, I’m sorry. But my unlife is a running mass of little compromises to survive another night. That’s...that’s why I’m counting on you and that lavender nerd of yours.”
“No pressure then,” Digger said as the elevator doors dinged open. “So, what were the changelings doing down there anyway?”
“Trying to replace a doctor,” Sun said as she stepped into the hallway. “The love comment gave me the missing piece of the puzzle. You can probably soak up a whole lot of the stuff being the doctor that everyone likes.”
“What did you do to them.”
“Drove em off.”
Digger opted to not walk further down that line of questioning and headed down the hallway instead. It wasn’t long before she came to the Twilight’s room.
“Here we are.”
Sun eyed the door like it was a raging manticore for a moment before sighing and knocking. “Here goes nothing.”
- - - -
Sun really wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to the friends of a princess. The white coated unicorn that answered the door somehow managed to still catch her on the back foot though. Perhaps it was the long eyelashes that Sun was pretty sure were fake. Perhaps it was the level to which her mane and coat were perfectly maintained, far beyond anything Sun thought was possible for a species lacking fingers. Or maybe it was the way she answered the door with the kind of perfectly cheerful voice that reminded Sun of every drama club member she knew in high school. Then again, perhaps it was the way she smelled of freshly poured champagne, bubbly and effervescent.
“Oh! Welcome back darling,” she said to Deep Digger before turning her attention to Sun. There was a slight shift in her smile. It was subtle and hard to pick up, an easy thing to miss unless one had spent a lot of time dealing with duplicitous vampire elders. “And you must be Sun. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Sun glanced at Digger with a raised eyebrow. Digger shrugged back.
“I had to tell her.”
“And people wonder why I have trust issues,” Sun muttered.
“Do come in, dear. Let’s talk.”
Sun slunk into the hotel room behind the prissy white pony. Her tail twitched with aggravation at the fact Digger spilled her secret to more than the one pony she had given her permission to, but there wasn’t much to do about it at this point.
I need allies. Calm down Sun.
Yet, another surprise was waiting for her inside the room. A familiar yellow pegasus sitting on one of the beds.
“Fluttershy?”
She smiled back from behind her pink curtains of hair. “Hello Sunny. Or Sun, I suppose.”
“You’re friends with Twilight then?” Sun asked, helping herself to a seat on the other bed.
Fluttershy nodded. “For a few years now. We met-”
Sun frowned. “Saving the world, or so I’ve been told. I still find the whole idea of doing that with friendship a little suspect.”
“I suppose that if one wanted to be technical, our bonds of friendship allowed us to claim ancient artifacts that let us save the world,” Rarity said. She took one of the sitting chairs in the room, while Deep Digger took the other. “Now, Miss Digger has told us some of your curse. But I would like to know a bit more about yourself. It’s not everyday that one meets somepony from ancient times.”
There was a certain logic to Rarity’s statement. If friendship and the magic thereof was the goal, then starting with small talk was the logical beginning.
“Well...I was born in a human city by the name of San Francisco…”
- - - -
It had been a long time since Twilight had been so engrossed in a book.
It felt like with every page she turned, she was stepping deeper into a hidden world, and that with every word she read she was descending further into some Tartarian abyss of monsters and magic the likes of which she had never dreamed of before. In fact, if she hadn’t just spoken to one of those creatures her first response would have been to dismiss most of this book’s contents out of hoof. As she turned another page, the paper crackling slightly under the grip of her magic, she stopped upon a leering picture of King Sombra. King Sombra and his wicked looking fangs. It seemed that Sombra might have been even more ancient than she first realized.
The magic scribbles in the book were probably the most confusing set of arcane formula she had read since Starswirl’s incomplete spell. They were rambling in their nature, wandering down possible explanations for the vampire curse only to abandon them once it was clear that they weren’t going anywhere. There were some repeating themes though. Always the schools of life, time and entropy magic. Life. Time. Entropy. Entropy. Time. Life.
From what she had sussed out from both the book and Deep Digger’s own efforts in breaking the spell, the nature of the curse kept Sun Shang locked in a naturally state of entropy. Her life force was suppressed and she was locked in the state she was in at the time of her “death”.
“At least until Deep Digger tried her spell,” she muttered to herself, beginning to pace the length of the room. “It was enough to bypass the curse at least long enough to make her a pony. ...But not a unicorn.”
That pointed to the curse having enough of an active presence to twist the nature of Digger’s efforts.
“Just overriding it won’t be enough. ...Transference maybe?”
The thought had popped into her head out of the blue, but the more she considered it, the more it seemed like a possible angle to take. Fluttershy. She had been cursed her own way through the transference of the essence of a vampire fruit bat into her.
“Maybe with the Stare and my magic? We could try and transfer the curse into a harmless item that could be easily disposed of...”
It was possible. Maybe. She’d have to do some calculations.
A heavy pounding echoed through the building, making Twilight jump. Looking towards the bedroom door, she blinked. No. It wasn’t coming from that door. Somepony was knocking on the front door of the building, as hard as they possibly could.
Trotting to the window, she pulled the curtains aside and peered out. The angle of the building made it hard to make out the front door, but she could just make out the hind ends of a pair of ponies.
As another round of knocking hammered against the front door, Twilight frowned and resolutely trotted downstairs. Fluttering Posey was at the door, peering through the peephole and nervously biting her lip.
“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.
“It’s Sugar Shine,” Fluttering answered. “And a pony that looks like a lawyer.”
Twilight’s ears twitched at the sound of a soft gasp coming from behind her. Turning, she saw Seabreeze quavering in the doorway to the dining room. Her foals were hiding behind her legs, peering at the front door like Cerberus himself was on the other side.
“Open up in there!” A muffled stallion’s voice shouted. “I demand to talk to my wife!”
Sunny Days looked back down the hall and waved a hoof at Seabreeze. She nodded and stepped backwards into the dining room, closing its door behind her. Seabreeze then opened the door, just a crack.
“I’m sorry sir but this is a refuge. If your wife doesn’t want to talk to you, she doesn’t have to.”
“Horse apples! You can’t keep her from me!”
“Sugar, let me handle this,” a second stallion’s voice cut in. “Miss Fluttering Posey? My client is prepared to bring this issue to court if you do not allow him entry to speak with his wife.”
Twilight glowered. She knew a blatant attempt at intimidation when she heard it. She trotted to the door, gently placing a wing on Fluttering’s back. “Fluttering, can I help?”
Fluttering bit her lip again, nervousness etched in every line of her face. But she nodded and took a step back, falling into place beside her orthros. For his part, Fang resolutely stared at the door and growled, low and rumbling. It was with a little more force than was strictly necessary that Twilight undid the chain and threw the door open.
Sugar Shine was every inch the picture of a rich pony. As white coated as the sugar cubes he sold (such to the point where it was hard to make out his sugar cube cutie-mark), his pale blonde mane was swept back into a flamboyant pompadour. A pale pink suit that unquestionably cost a great many bits perfectly framed a slightly pudgy figure that spoke to sampling his own products a little too much. He would have struck a kindly, gentlestallion-ish figure if not for the anger that burned in his deep blue eyes. Though it was an anger that fled when he realized who he was looking at.
“...Princess Sparkle?”
Twilight nodded, glancing over at mister Shine’s legal council. The dark brown stallion was far more scruffy looking than his client. His suit was patched in a few places and his coal black mane was stricken with a distinct case of bedhead. If anything, he seemed more the fly by night type of laywer.
Funny, Twilight thought. I’d expect a CEO to have a better class of lawyer on his side.
“Might I ask what the Princess of Friendship is doing slumming it in a place like this?” Sugar Shine asked.
“Last time I checked this is a shelter, not a tenement building,” Twilight answered, keeping her tone even. “And that is private business of my own. But I have to agree with Fluttering. Seabreeze doesn’t have to talk to you if she doesn’t want to.”
Sugar Shine snorted. “My wife is something of a drama queen. I will not have her hiding here, slandering me to everypony she can twist the ear of!”
“Funny, she hasn’t tried to twist my ear yet.”
“With all due respect Princess, you are the princess of friendship,” Sugar Shine almost spat. “You are disproportionately inclined to believe any sob story that comes your way so that you can fix whatever petty little problems have crept into their lives. Our personal domestic issues are far beyond your skills and you certainly aren’t an expert when it comes to the law. I want to speak to my wife. Now.”
Twilight’s ears pulled flat against her skull as a familiar flood of aggravation welled up in her chest. Sugar Shine’s dismissal burned her to her core. She may have been Equestria’s newest princess, but that didn’t mean she was a foal to be dismissed and shoved aside! Equestria’s well being and the well being of its ponies was just as much her responsibility as it was Celestia’s!
She took a deep breath and held it for a moment. When she exhaled, she put on her brightest, most princessy smile she could, even while fixing Sugar Shine with a smouldering glare of anger.
“I am sorry that you find my domain so worthy of dismissal Mister Shine!” she said, imitating the sweet tone of her mentor. “However, I couldn’t help but notice that your lawyer just tried to intimidate Fluttering with a false court claim!”
“False?” Sugar sputtered. “I’ll have you know-”
“I’ll have you know that Fluttering’s rights to run this shelter are protected by law. I know this because Princess Celestia told me about them during one of our lessons together. Unless you have some manner of proof that your wife was coerced into coming here, your lawyer is blowing a lot of hot air!”
She and Celestia discussed many things during their student/teacher relationship and now Twilight felt her mind drifting back to a story Celestia had once told her about a tricky round of negotiations with the griffin kingdoms.
“Now, while I could simple write the princess, informing her of your underhooved behavior, thusly dragging you and maybe your company into a legal quagmire that could last for years, that wouldn’t be very friendly, now would it? Instead, I’m willing to write all this off as a mistake made by a passionate pony and let you go back home to sleep your sudden stunning lack of judgement off!”
Princess Celestia had described the dual roles that a princess played in terms of a metaphor. That the nicest ruler had to have a core of strength to not back down in the face of bullies. To be a block of steel wrapped in the trappings of a silken cover.
Silk hiding steel. And right now, Twilight was feeling very steel like.
Sugar Shine opened his mouth to argue again when his lawyer shoved a hoof against his lips. “Our apologies princess,” he said, dipping his head slightly in a bow. “Perhaps we were a little hasty. My client just cares about Seabreeze very much. Please let her know that whenever she wants to talk, Sugar Shine’s door is open.”
Twilight nodded curtly. “I’ll pass on the message.”
The lawyer smiled back. “That’s all we ask. Hopefully, we won’t meet under these circumstances again...princess.”
With that, the pair turned and trotted off, Sugar Shine peering back at Twilight a few times with a fresh round of furious glares. Twilight didn’t leave her position in the doorway until they were both completely out of sight.
Why do I have a really bad feeling about them?
- - - -
“...that’s when I woke up, passed out in my friend’s bed with a golf club and Susan’s bra. And that’s how I learned to never drink absinthe again.”
Rarity blinked a few times. Fluttershy and Digger just stared at her. Sun shrugged back.
“Hey, it was my first concert at a club. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I didn’t find out it was illegal until after I woke up from my little hallucination trip. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
They all kept staring. Sun forced a sigh through her lungs. “Okay, it was stupid. But in my defense, I was still a freshman.”
It was Rarity who broke the silence with a little cough. “Well, I suppose one can be forgiven for a few youthful indiscretions. Though it was probably a good lesson to learn before you actually went into the field as a journalist.”
Sun allowed herself a small smile. “Heh...yeah. Though I suppose it all wound up pointless in the end. Becoming a vampire certainly pbut the breaks on that career path.”
Rarity tisked. “Please darling. There is no reason that career path has to have ended! Equestria has colleges and scholarships. We have newspapers. Stop thinking about your current condition as an endpoint and more of an...interruption. Once the curse is broken, I would insist that you pick up that path again!”
Despite the anger simmering under the skin that was the bane of her clan, Sun couldn't help but allow herself a chuckle. Rarity was a pure melodramatic queen of ham, who wouldn’t have been out of place in amongst the self- proclaimed artistes and posers of Clan Toreador. But there was a certain infectious charm in her positive attitude.
“I’ll admit, I’ve been so focused on just the idea of being human again that what I’d do after I pulled it off rarely entered my mind.”
She glanced down at her hooves with a slight frown. “Especially now. Unless we find some more humans hiding under a rock, I’ll be the last of my kind in this world. ...Fitting in should prove interesting.”
“You could stay that way I suppose,” Digger mused. “It’d make finding the right sized housing easier at least.”
Sun stuck out her tongue. “No offense Diggs, but I don’t really intend to stay this way. I’ve only been a quadruped for a few days now and I already am getting tired of not having hands...or fingers.”
Deep Digger chuckled back. “Then I have two words for you Sun. Little Minos. Hope you like pitas and gyros!”
“Ha! So long as it's not blood, I’ll be happy to eat anything!”
“Speaking of food, it is getting around dinner time. Perhaps we could continue this conversation over a bite?” Rarity asked.
A bite. Sun licked her lips, suddenly very aware of how good the three ponies in the room smelled to her. Fangs instinctively tried to push their way into being before she managed to tamp the desire to feed upon her allies back down.
“Sorry Rarity. I literally can’t eat food. And I think that hanging around a restaurant would only remind me of what I lost and probably make me hungry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m hungry.”
Rarity nervously licked her lips for a moment before sighing. “That’s...unfortunate. As is your nocturnal nature. It makes finding things to do as friends slightly difficult.”
“Well...just because you can’t eat doesn’t mean you can’t go to dinner,” Fluttershy said. “Sometimes, just spending time with other ponies is worth it. I don’t always like everything my friends do, but I try to spend time with them anyway.”
“Hey! I have an idea,” Digger said. “What about the show at the museum tomorrow night? I can pick up some more of my magic books while I’m there to help out Twilight and it’ll be a decent night of seeing a bit of pony history as well as an entertainer or two. I seem to remember that we booked a magician.”
Sun considered the idea. “That...doesn’t sound too bad actually. I’ll admit that I am legitimately curious about the history of your world. And I’m doubly curious about what a stage magician is like in a world with actual magic.”
“It is formal attire though,” Rarity mused as she rubbed her chin in thought. There was a new sparkle in her eyes now. One followed by a growing smile. A growing smile that made Sun feel like she was under a magnifying glass all of a sudden. “I do believe this calls for a makeover!”
“...What.”
“A makeover darling! I’ll make you a dress for the occasion, do your mane, help you do your makeup!” She squealed with joy, clapping her forehooves together. “I’ve never made a dress for a bat pony before! This will be a whole new challenge!”
Sun glanced over at Fluttershy. “Is she always like this?”
Fluttershy giggled back. “Sometimes, but it is her special talent. She’ll make you something really special.”
Sun could only watch as Rarity began to pull fabric, tape measure, needles and thread from the depths of her suitcase. They floated towards her, somehow in their own way just as dread inspiring as a rival vampire.
Ugh. I hate this Elysium shit, she thought, as Rarity went to work.
- - - -
“And the catering is ready? And the entertainment?”
Far Sight went over the details for tomorrow’s event for the third time that day, one of the junior registrars nodding with each tick marked off on the sheet. It seemed that despite the disruptions caused by the presence of a literal monster from the depths of Equestria’s past, the exhibit would go up on time.
Providing nothing else went wrong of course.
And just like that, I’ve probably jinxed it.
Almost as if he had summoned Discord himself with that thought, an angry chorus of knocks echoed against the the rear door. Which he heard all the way up in the main gallery.
“What fresh bout of chaos is this?” he groaned.
“T-think it could be the monster?” the registrar stammered.
“I don’t think that knocking is really the style of blood sucking monsters,” Far Sight sighed, shoving the list at her. “I’ll go see what it is.”
The knocking continued all the way down to the service entrance, growing louder and more insistent along the way. The service door was practically shaking when he finally arrived. So he threw it open with a frustrated shout.
“WHAT?”
He found himself almost muzzle to muzzle with Princess Luna. He froze, his brain completely locking up over the fact he had just shouted at one of Equestria’s co rulers. For her part, Princess Luna seemed unconcerned with his breach in etiquette simply peering down at him with a neutral expression.
“Greetings. I’m looking up for a pony named Far Sight. He requested help with an ancient beast of sorts?”
“Ahh...I..,” Far Sight stammered out a few times, before his mind managed to catch up to the reality of the situation. Princess Luna had actually read his letter! “Of course! Come in! I’m Far Sight.”
“Hmmm. Give me a moment if you please.”
Magic shimmered around her horn as a shimmering sphere of light appeared in the air next to him. Luna watched it and his reaction to it for a moment before dismissing the spell with a thought.
“Congratulations Far Sight. You have survived an encounter with a Kindred without being infected by their taint.”
“...A Kindred.”
“What I am about to tell you is a matter of highest secrecy. The monster that attacked you is hopefully the last of an ancient line. They can pass on their curses. You are lucky enough to have avoided that dark fate.”
Far Sight nervously licked his lips. “...It attacked one of my co-workers too. Could she-”
“I will have to check,” Luna curtly responded. “But for now, I wish to see the vessel this being was trapped in.”
“Of course Princess! Right this way!”
The sarcophagus remained in the examination room he and Digger had first dragged it to, now harmless and empty with its contents now stalking the streets of Manehattan. Princess Luna trotted neatly over to it, circling the mass of stone and looking over every inch of its construction and that of the iron chains still bolted to its frame. She casually, almost delicately, picked up one of the rune marked weights, giving it a dismissive glare before dropping it back to the floor with a loud clang.
“Ming Xiao, what have you done…”
“Who?”
“An old acquaintance of mine. …Have you had any visitors as of late? Of the non-blood sucking variety?”
“Well...we are having a visiting show tomorrow. A display of far eastern artifacts.”
“And who was your contact in arranging this show?”
“A kirin by the name of Radiant Dawn.”
Luna smiled and it was one of the most terrifying things Far Sight had seen in his life. A thin, vicious thing that carried a promise of violence with it.
“Very well. I will be paying this show a visit tomorrow. You will not speak a word of this to anypony, understood?”
“O-of course your highness. I wouldn’t dream of interfering with the crown’s business. But...you’re not going to cause trouble...are you?”
Luna’s smile grew wider. “On the contrary. I intend to solve a problem.”
- - - -
“Are you almost done?” Sun deadpanned.
Rarity hummed softly to herself as she measured the dress’ hem for what felt like a tenth time.
“Not quite. But we can take a break if you’re getting tired.”
Sun sighed. “Nah. I don’t really get tired anymore.”
“Well then, I suppose this cur-”
“Don’t you dare finish that fucking sentence,” Sun snarled, her anger spiking.
Rarity jerked back, her eyes wide. Sun sighed, squeezing her own shut as she shoved the building vampiric anger back into its box.
“I’m sorry. Just...I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt because you don’t know, but as far as I’m concerned, this curse ruined my life. The things I’ve had to do since becoming a vampire…”
She trailed off, her eyes focusing on Fluttershy, if for no other reason than to look at something rather than Rarity. Fluttershy smiled back softly, placing a hoof on her side.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she almost whispered.
She couldn’t talk about it. She shouldn’t talk about it. Not when she was trying to get these ponies to trust her.
“...I’ve killed,” she muttered, unable to stop herself. “More than once.”
“I...see,” Rarity said. “Was it...an accident?”
“One was,” Digger answered. “The first feed. You told me about that.”
“Yeah, well, it wasn’t the only one Diggs. When you get dragged into vampire politics, bodies tend to pile up. Some were in self defense...others were poor bastards that wound up lower on the undead totem pole than me. A fair number were members of a rival vampire sect that hated mine. And a few more...well, those were personal.”
The room was deathly quiet for a few long minutes.
“Just how many have you killed?” Deep Digger eventually asked.
“Too many, Diggs. Too many. At a certain point, lashing out at the monsters around me became the only way I could see forward. And in the end, all it got me was a trip into a stone box and a one way passage to a world that barely makes any sense to me anymore. Right now...right now I’m just looking for a way out.”
She laughed, pressing a hoof to her forehead. “Shit. I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this! Maybe I’ve been so used to secrets and lies that some honest to God kindness is making me sloppy!”
Any further rambling was cut off by Fluttershy who pulled her into warm embrace. Sun’s wings flared instinctively, the smell of her delicious blood filling her nostrils. The beast wanted to feed and it wanted to feed now!
“You poor thing,” Fluttershy said. Her voice was soft and motherly and her embrace was surprisingly strong for her soft appearance. “I...well...I kind of know what it's like to hurt those you care about. It’s not the same, I admit. But the important thing to know is that you’re not alone.”
As much as she wanted to bury her fangs into Fluttershy’s neck, Sun instead focused on her voice. That soft, sweet voice that was telling her that everything was going to be okay. The voice that sounded like it truly belived that the light was at the end of the tunnel. And inch by inch she shoved the vampire back into its box and just focused on the pony embracing her.
“...I’ve been alone for a very long time. It..would be nice to not be alone anymore.”
“Well then! Tomorrow night we shall all have an enjoyable night together,” Rarity declared. “And don’t worry Sun. There will be a way out of this.”
Sun allowed herself a small smile back at Rarity. “I’m gonna hold you to that.”
“Tell me Sugar Shine, are you trying to be reckless? Or does foolishness just come naturally to you?”
Sugar Shine peered over his morning paper at his erstwhile ally. The Changeling Queen was wearing one of her many false faces at the moment, this time choosing to appear as frumpy looking unicorn mare with a sour apple coat to match the sour apple expression she wore at the moment.
“I’m surprised that I have to explain the concept of love to you Chrysalis. I will not just leave my wife in that hole!”
The sour frown gave way to an odd half smile as Chrysalis idly paced before the desk. “My dear ‘friend’, I’ve forgotten more about love than you’ve learned so far. But I am concerned that your mind is not focused on our mutual goals. Are you aware that we’ve lost good minions and drones as of late?”
Sugar Shine rolled his eyes. It had been quite the unpleasant surprise to find Chrysalis waiting for him outside his penthouse door. He didn’t need random mares visiting him at his home. Pearl Towers was the home of half of Manehattan’s high society and they loved to gossip and spread muck like pigs in a barn.
Pushing away from his office desk, he crossed the room to its mighty picture window. From here his view of the Manehattan skyline and the city, his city, was unimpeded by the other buildings. The view was a reminder of just how high he had climbed in his life. Once he had been just another sugar merchant, working Manehattan’s docks. Now he had the money and connections that even the self proclaimed Queen of the Changelings came to him.
Said power was on visible display in his home office. A rug imported from Shouma filled the floor, actual golden threads part of its intricate mozaic like weave. Columns mimicking the style of the great temples of Minos supported the roof in the room’s four corners. Art from some of Equestria’s greatest creators filled the walls. He would not be intimidated by his ally.
“I am quite aware. I am also aware that the mare responsible is living in the same building as my wife! You told me!”
“Ahhh, so you were paying attention,” Chrysalis chided. “And there’s an additional wrinkle. My spies tell me that Princess Luna has arrived in the city as well.” She crossed to the window as well, her eyes flashing with emerald light. “One wrong move and the network of drones we’ve been slipping into this city could be exposed! Which is why I want to know why you decided that trying to drag your wife out of a battered mare shelter personally was a good idea! In front of Princess Twilight Sparkle at that!”
“I will not be intimidated from taking back what’s mine by that child!” Sugar Shine snapped. “Princess Celestia was a soft hearted old cow for allowing her to take a position of power in the first place! And just because you are scared of her, doesn’t mean I will be! You have drones! You know where she and that..what did you call it...kindred beast lair? Why not deal with them and be done with it?”
Chrysalis was silent for a moment.
“Perhaps you have a point.” She smiled, catlike as she pulled back from the desk. “A kindred is best dealt with in the daylight, when they are helpless. If we play our cards right, we could have Twilight Sparkle at the same time. Imagine the political power you might be able to have with the Princess of Friendship in your pocket!”
Sugar Shine considered that. While he didn’t think that the young mare was much on her own, the position of a princess carried a certain amount of social power.
“Do you require any assistance from my ponies?”
“Not at all my dear Shine. I’ll handle this. You just keep picking targets among Manehattan’s elite.”
With that, she bobbed her head in a curt nod and headed for the door. Sugar Shine returned to his desk and his paper, satisfied that he had won the argument.
- - - -
That pony is pushing the limits of his usefulness, Chrysalis thought to the drone at her side. He was wearing the form of a young pony, so kindly helping his aging grandmother along. But he isn’t wrong to be worried about that kindred.
Shall we slay the blood sucker my queen? A half dozen drones-
Would be far too obvious. No. With Princess Luna here, we have to step lightly. ...Besides, there might be an opportunity here.
My queen?
Princess Luna’s hatred of kindred will drive her to seek out and attempt to slay that vampire. If we were to pick the battlefield where that fight were to take place…
She could practically taste the excitement that radiated off the drone. Then we could make Equestria pay for what it did to us!
Chrysalis allowed herself a small smile. Such a clever little one. You’ll go far with a mind like that.
Queen and drone walked on, the city oblivious to the monsters in their midst.
- - - -
Coffee.
Twilight was beginning to get thoroughly sick of the drink. She was also pretty sure that she had drained the hotel’s little convenience shop of all its supply. Still, it had been worth it. The sprawling map of arcane formula spread out before her was, in her humble opinion, a thing of beauty!
She was going to transfer Sun’s curse right out of her body!
...She wasn’t sure what she was going to transfer it into yet. ...Or if it would work outside the conceptual, theory stage. But it was a start! She yawned, allowing herself a moment to sink in her chair and close her eyes from the all night work session. Yet, even with that one task behind her, she didn’t want to let herself sleep yet. A thousand half formed thoughts and concerns buzzed through her mind, an annoying swarm of metaphorical bees that just wouldn’t let her mind rest.
Sugar Shine’s obsession with his wife made her worried. Perhaps it was worth writing Princess Celestia? Or was she overthinking things? Seabreeze was an adult after all and had enough presence of mind to seek help and not go running back to him when-
Light washed over her face as the room’s curtains were pulled open. Wincing, she glanced over at the form of Rarity, her white coat almost golden as she was framed by the rising morning sun. Twilight blinked.
“I worked all the way till dawn?”
Rarity glanced over her shoulder. “Oh! I’m sorry darling! I had no idea!”
“Neither did I,” Twilight groaned. “But this was the most difficult bit of magic I’ve had to grapple with since...well...the spell that gave me these.”
She extended her wings to emphasise her point. Rarity giggled, coming over to Twilight’s side. “Hopefully, the results will be just as magical as the last time.” She paused, nervously chewing on her lip. “Twilight...are you sure we’re doing the right thing here?”
“...What do you mean?”
“It’s just...last night Sun admitted to us that she’s killed quite a few people in her day. I’m trying to keep an open mind and not judge...but I just don’t know.”
Twilight frowned, taking a moment to rub at her tired eyes. “That is somewhat concerning, but…” She sighed. It was a thorny question, the question of how far friendship and redemption could go. “Technically, I’m sure that Discord probably caused some deaths back during his original reign. We gave him another chance, even though sometimes I’m not entirely sure he’s really sorry for what he did back then… Sun’s even older than him, has a horrible affliction and her world does sound so very different than ours.”
Rarity gave a wry smile. “So is that the standard by which we judge these days? How long its been since the crime happened? Because neither Sun or Discord’s victims are still alive these days, we’ll give them a pass? ...We didn’t give Sombra another chance.”
“I’m not saying its a perfect system...or that it even is one. But Sun’s world is so far gone, she’s literally the last bit of it left. If she wants to just be a normal mare again, I think we should give her that chance.”
Rarity hummed softly to herself. “Did you ever picture us having to make decisions like this when we set out into the Everfree those years ago?”
“Can’t say that I did,” Twilight said with a wry smile of her own. “I was just trying to fix things in the moment.”
Rarity looked towards the sleeping form of Fluttershy. “I just hope this works out. I think that Fluttershy sees a kindred spirit in Sun. I’d hate to see her get hurt again.”
“Me too Rarity. Me too.”
- - - -
The day dragged on, Manehattan remaining unaware of the forces that were in motion. The ponies of the city worked their jobs or went to school, until the time came for Celestia to lower the sun.
And as it vanished over the horizon, Sun Shang stirred once more.
Her fangs were aching as she woke, a hunger gnawing away at her gut. She snarled, kicking her covers and their attempts to smother her away.
“Fuck!” she exclaimed. “I ate four ponies one night ago! How am I hungry again?”
Maybe she needed to hunt again? Going into a frenzy in the middle of a crowded event would see her finally dead for sure.
“Ugh. No! There is no way I burned through all that blood already!”
It was temptation talking. Pony blood remained delicious in ways that human blood never had been. Maybe it was something about all that sugary sweet kindness they liked to give off that made their blood taste better? Still, she wasn’t going to give into temptation and become some vampire fatty, engorging herself.
Grumbling to herself, she stalked her way downstairs to where Fluttering, Seabreeze and her foals were enjoying dinner. Fang was curled up under the dining table and gave her an evil eye as she stepped into the room.
“Evening, everypony,” Sun said.
Fluttering Posey looked up from her plate and gave Sun a smile. “Good evening! Care to join us?”
“Nah. I really shouldn’t.”
“Please?” Seabreeze asked. “I still haven’t been able to properly thank you for rescuing my daughter.”
“It was nothing...really,” Sun said, shuffling her hooves. “Besides, I have to do a few things before I join Twilight and her friends at the Historical Society.”
“Oh, well, if you already have plans then. I hope that you enjoy yourself,” Seabreeze said.
Sun smiled back. “I plan to try the best I can.”
She headed out into the city, following the same path towards the hotel as last time. Deep Digger and her would meet the others there and move onto the Historical Society. As grumpy as Sun was, she had to admit that she was looking forward to this. It would be nice to do something normal for a night and not skulk around dark alleys or chase ancient conspiracies. She was also looking forward to spending some time with Digger, Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy. While she didn’t know a lot about the latter three, they all seemed nice. Especially Fluttershy. That pony just radiated a kind serenity that it was easy to lose one’s self in. And Digger….
Well, after all of this was done, she owed Deep Digger the biggest gift she could possibly track down. She had gone above and beyond anything that Sun could have expected from her and she stayed by Sun’s side even after she had attacked her. She would have been completely lost without that pony’s efforts.
Eventually, she worked her way to the hotel and up to Twilight and company’s room. One knock later and the door swung open to reveal the form of Twilight Sparkle in a simple blue dress of her own. She gave Sun a tired smile.
“Hello Sun. Glad to see you again.”
“You too Twilight. Long day?”
“Something like that. I dug through that book you gave me. I think that I have a spell for your...condition.”
Relief. The sensation flooded through every inch of Sun’s body at those words. “Really? I mean...so fast?”
“Well...like I said, I think I have something. I won’t know for sure until I…,” she drifted off as a mighty yawn interrupted her. “...try it out.”
As eager as Sun was to give Twilight’s spell a try, her exhaustion was evident. So, Sun opted to not push the situation. “Considering that you’re dead on your hooves, are you sure that you want to come to the party?”
Twilight giggled back. “Hehe! Dead on your hooves. Cause you’re a vampire!”
Sun peered past Twilight. “Rarity? Fluttershy? I think your friend needs a nap!”
Rarity joined them at the door, wearing quite the fluffy gown for tonight’s festivities. “Oh, I know! But she’s being so stubborn!”
“Hey! Going out and making friends was my idea. What kind of Princess of Friendship would I be if I didn’t follow up on my own advice!”
“Twilight, you were up all night working on that spell. You need rest.”
“Nuh-uh!”
Sun sighed. “Then I apologise for this in advance.” Calling upon her reservoir of blood she looked Twilight Sparkle right in the eyes. “You want to go to sleep.”
Twilight rocked on her hooves for a moment, before glaring right back at Sun. “...Did you just try to mind control me?”
“...Well, more influence your emotions,” Sun muttered. She raised an eyebrow, looking the bookish pony over again. “But, come on! You need some rest. Rarity, Fluttershy and I will be fine on our own. It’s a museum opening! I’ve been in more dangerous situations walking to the corner diner.”
That last part wasn’t an exaggeration either. There had been an incident at a local diner involving a bunch of gang bangers and some machine guns that had ended….poorly. ...For them. But Twilight sighed, her head slumping.
“Fine. I’ll rest. But tomorrow night when I try out this spell, you and I are going to have a conversation about that...mind thing you just did!”
“Deal.”
“Well then,” Rarity said with a charming smile. “Let’s get you into your dress.”
- - - -
Despite everything that had been going on since they found Sun’s sarcophagus, Deep Digger was glad to see that the turn out for the exhibit’s opening. It helped keep a sense of normalness in her mind while she dealt with everything involving Sun. So while waiting for the vampire to arrive, she mingled through the crowds making small talk with the regular visitors and the bigger donors alike.
She had done a few circuits of the three galeries the show was taking place when she spied Sun, Rarity and Fluttershy. Rarity was wearing an elegant purple gown that glittered in the light, its skirt puffy and lacy like the layers of a cake. Fluttershy’s outfit was much more simple, being a light powdery blue color with a plain skirt and higher collar.
Sun’s outfit was probably the most striking of the lot. Possibly to counter her pale coat and mane, she was dressed in sheer black fabric. The sleeves on her forelegs came down to her fetlocks, while its plain skirt stopped just a few inches past her hind hocks. The dress also sported a high collar and matching black beret.
Smiling to herself, she trotted over to the trio. “Glad that you managed to make it. Where’s Twilight though?”
“Off to dreamland,” Rarity answered.
“She worked herself to exhaustion coming up with a possible cure for...well...you know,” Fluttershy said, nodding her head towards Sun.
Sun smirked. “We’ll let her sleep, while we enjoy the show.”
“Fair enough. I hope that you’ll all enjoy this display of ancient relics from the far east, as well as our usual galleries.”
“Anything you’d recommend for a pony that’s rather history ignorant?” Sun asked.
“Well, I’d suggest the west gallery. We have a very nice collection on the founding of Equestria. And Radiant Dawn has some of her more elegant pieces in that gallery as well.”
“Sounds good to me. Fluttershy, Rarity, shall we?”
“You two go ahead, I’m going to mingle a bit.”
With that, she vanished into the crowd. Fluttershy and Sun peeled off next, leaving Deep Digger alone for a moment. At least until Far Sight swooped down on her with a pegasus mare in tow. She was a pretty looking one, with a deep blue coat and black mane. Deep Digger smiled at the pair.
“Rare to see you with a pretty mare Far Sight. Did you manage to snag yourself a date for tonight?”
“On the contrary,” the mare answered. “I am here on deadly serious business.”
- - - -
“...and so, the founders of Equestria drove the wendigos away with their bonds of friendship,” Fluttershy finished explaining. “From there, they’d go on to found the nation of Equestria.”
She had been walking Sun through the gallery, explaining the context of the various artifacts on display. Or at least the bits that she knew about directly. Twilight could have probably done a more through job.
Not that Sun seemed to mind. She took in each piece with what seemed like a genuine interest, occasionally throwing in a question of her own. But when they came to the end of gallery and its centerpiece of a marble statue of the founders, she paused with a slight frown.
“I already know from a book I read on the Princesses, that they showed up later to help shepard Equestria along after this lot had passed on. But I noticed that no one seems to know where they really came from, or how they became alicorns.”
“Oh, well...nopony knows. The princesses don’t like to talk about that aspect of their past.”
“Hmmm.”
Sun’s expression turned dower as she stared off into the distance in contemplation. The sudden shift in mood was enough to make Fluttershy concerned that she had trod upon sensitive ground somehow. So, she shifted the subject.
“Can I talk to you something?”
“Sure thing.”
Fluttershy motioned towards another gallery, one not part of the traveling show, with a wing. Sun followed and once they were a bit away from the other ponies, Fluttershy dove into her question.
“Do you ever have nightmares about your...condition?”
Sun eyed her wearily for a moment before shrugging. “Sometimes. I’ve seen my fair share of horrific things since becoming a vampire. Nightmares are kind of an inevitable side effect of that.”
The length of time that Sun had been asleep flashed through Fluttershy’s mind. It must have crossed her face as well as Sun smiled softly and shook her head.
“If you’re thinking that I had nightmares for centuries while in my stone box...I didn’t. Torpor was just one giant blank of time for me. And honestly, I don’t entirely begrudge them either.”
Fluttershy blinked at that. “What?”
Sun’s gaze wandered over the artifacts, lingering upon a spear that was carried by Commander Hurricane. “They remind me that my sense of morality hasn’t become warped yet. Vampires tend towards the sanguine and becoming rather numb to violence and bloodshed. It’s becomes easier to kill and just not care about who you’re hurting. The fact that I still have bad dreams...well, call it a good sign.”
“I have nightmares too. From my own time as...well I suppose it was almost like a vampire…”
Sun raised an eyebrow and Fluttershy shrunk back slightly. “Well, there was this time where I had the essence of a vampire fruit bat funneled into me. I kept flying around and draining all the apples on my friend’s farm.”
“...And you have nightmares about that?”
“Well...not that. More nightmares about not stopping at apple juice. Of attacking my friends.”
“I have to admit, I have a real hard time picturing you attacking anyone.”
Fluttershy frowned, even as she tried to hide behind her mane all the more. “Well, I almost did! And I wanted to know...how do you handle your nightmares?”
Sun frowned herself, now focusing all of her attention on Fluttershy. “Tell me more about what happened and how you acted during it,” she said, idly waving a hoof for her to continue.
So, Fluttershy did. “I don’t really remember much. But my friends told me that I didn’t do much more than hiss, snarl and go straight for every apple in my path.”
“So, no higher thought? No real choices? Just instinct?”
“I suppose.”
“You do know it’s not your fault then?”
“Well...yes, but I can’t stop myself from thinking back and worrying about what I might have done.”
Sun rubbed the back of her head. “So...when I was kicking around San Francisco as a vampire, I once happened to meet this religious man. I hadn’t been a vampire for longer than a few weeks at that point and I was looking for...answers...salvation...peace,” she trailed off gradually before shrugging. “I was looking for something at any rate. He told me ‘Don’t weep for the past, you’ll be crying all day.’ At a certain point, you have to accept that the past is past and move on. ….Which is probably really stupid sounding coming from the person desperately trying to buck a curse...”
She sighed and shook her head. “Look, I can’t tell you to just up and ignore what happened to you in the past. But you have friends that care about you. You have value. You are loved. They dragged you back from the depths and have stayed right by your side. That? That’s something you can hang onto.”
“Well said Miss Sun.”
Fluttershy blinked, turning towards the entrance of the gallery. An elegant kirin mare approached them with a distinct slink in her step. Her scarlet mane was done up in a bun and held in place with a pair of glittering gold hairpins. The gold of her dress glittered like her emerald scales, while a playful smirk played across her face.
“I’m sorry but...uhh...who are you?” Fluttershy asked.
She opened her mouth to respond, but Sun answered first.
“Ming Xiao,” she snarled, spitting out the name in disgust.
Fluttershy turned her attention back to Sun and instantly recoiled from the vampire. She was glaring at Ming Xiao with an intent that Fluttershy could only describe as murderous, her lips pulled back into a horrible snarl that showed off her fangs.
Ming Xiao nodded. “Yes. It’s been quite a long time Shang.”
“Don’t,” Sun hissed. “Don’t you dare address me like we’re friends, you back stabbing bitch! How many centuries was I in that stone box thanks to you? We were supposed to be partners!”
Ming sighed, turning her gaze to Fluttershy. “If you’ll pardon us, Miss Sun and I have quite a lot to catch up on.”
Fluttershy looked from Ming to Sun and back again. She wasn’t sure what Sun would do to Ming if left alone with her. By her own admittance, Sun was no stranger to violence and if Ming Xiao really had trapped her in that sarcophagus…
But they were already walking off together, heading deeper into the museum. Biting her lip for a moment, Fluttershy did the only thing she could do. She galloped off to find Rarity.
- - - -
“So, care to explain to me how the fuck you’re here?” Sun snarled.
Ming Xiao. Of all the people she had known from her old life, Ming Xiao was probably at the bottom of that list. Admittedly, Prince LaCroix was the absolute bottom of said list, but as she had killed the fucker that was a name she could easily check off.
The casual shrug that Ming gave back just infuriated her all the more. So much so that her inner beast was chomping at the bit to break loose, to tear and rip and break. Gritting her teeth, she shoved the monster back into its box. If she was going to kill Ming Xiao, she wanted to be quite lucid when she did the deed.
Oh and how tempting it was. Ming had lead the way to the lowest levels of the museum, away from every other pony in building.
“It’s been a long and winding path,” Ming answered, maintaining that infuriatingly casual tone and stance. “But the more simple explanation is that I was reborn along with the world after…”
“After what….Gehenna?”
“...Among other things. If I’m being honest it was a regular sample pack of apocalypses that all ravaged the world at once.”
The idea that the earth had faced some end of the world scenario had been sitting in the back of Sun’s mind since she woke up, but the confirmation stung like acid all the same.
“So...what is it that you want? Did you come to finish me off? Was shoving me into the sarcophagus not enough?”
Ming sighed. “I deserve that. But no, I came here to help you.”
“Help me? HELP ME? The whole reason I’m in this crazy horse based world is because of you! You betrayed me after I tore through the LA Camarilla, which you were quite happy to have me do by the way! And you ripped me away from what was left of my family!”
“Sun...you were quite happy to kill as many vampires as you could get your hands on after LaCroix killed your sister. You certainly didn’t have any issues taking my money or resources at the time.” “Because I thought we were on the same side! I thought we had both come to the agreement that vampires had to end! What happened to helping me become mortal again?”
“At the time, it was a lie,” Ming answered. “I viewed you as so much trash, just like the rest of your kind. But useful trash. Then I was approached by someone else who proposed using you as part of his larger plan. It was an easy choice. At the time. But I’ve had a long, long time to think about my actions. And I wanted to let you know...I’m sorry.”
Sun blinked. “...What?”
“I’m sorry. I wronged you and I’m sorry.”
Anger surged through Sun’s body. “You’re sorry? Oh! I’m so glad that you’re sorry for throwing me into a stone box for centuries, ripping me away from everything I’ve ever known and leaving me as the last of my damn kind in a world of little horses! You did that to me...and you’re FUCKING SORRY!?”
“Yes.”
She didn’t even realize that she had made the decision to attack at first. There was only the instinct to unleash her rage upon the person that put here. The corridor turned into a blur as she accelerated to breakneck speed, leaping into the air and bringing her forehooves down on Ming Xiao’s head. Or at least, she tried to.
Ming bent like a reed in the wind, her spine and body twisting in ways that should have been impossible. Even as she twisted about, she swung out with one of her own hooves, the whole limb growing and warping to curve about and strike Sun on the side of the head. The blow knocked Sun off course and her hooves slammed into the ground with a stone shattering crack.
“Sun...I don’t want to fight you. Let me help.”
“FUCK OFF!”
She kicked off the wall, spinning about and lashing out with kick. Ming’s neck simply stretched to the right like a rubber band, the strike just barely missing her. Ming reared onto her hind hooves, her forelimbs shooting out and unraveling into ribbon like tendrils. Lashing out with her new snake like appendages, Ming’s tendrils wrapped around Sun’s head and body before slamming her against the wall.
“Stop it! I know that you’re angry, but attacking me won’t make you human again!”
“I wouldn’t trust you to help make me human again if you were the last person on earth!” Sun snarled, thrashing in Ming’s grip. “I already have allies!”
“Then let me help them!”
“Fuck. OFF!” Sun roared. Flexing every muscle in her body at once, she flooded her system with blood, putting the strength of steel behind her. She burst from Ming’s grip and launched herself at the kirin with a hiss.
Slamming into Ming, Sun smashed her up against the opposite wall and pressed her right foreleg against Ming’s throat. With her pinned in place Sun unleashed a flurry of punches with her other foreleg, it turning into a blur of pale pink from the Celerity enhanced speed. Ming grunted with each strike, her body shaking with each blow.
Then she detached her head.
The whole thing ripped free, dragging her organs and viscera along with to a wet squelching sound. It was enough to make Sun stumble backwards in shock. Right before Ming reached out with her own internal organs and wrapped around Sun like a bloody anaconda. Then they grew and stretched, engulfing Sun almost entirely, save for her head.
“Enough! Sun, I know that you don’t trust me. But you need my help! If Equestria’s princesses find you, they’ll tear you apart without a second thought! They-”
A blood curdling scream echoed through the hallway. Sun and Ming both looked back down the hallway, where Rarity, Fluttershy and Deep Digger were standing. Judging by the horrified expression on Rarity’s face, she was the one who had screamed. Immediately, Ming recoiled from Sun, snaking back into her body with an embarrassed expression.
“I can explain!”
“Explain? Explain why you’re some kind of organ based monster, attacking someone and ruining a dress that I put many hours of work into?” Rarity shrieked.
Rarity’s sheer incredulity was enough to punch through Sun’s anger. “...Seriously? Out of all of that, it’s the dress that’s the worst part of it?”
Rarity huffed. “I worked hard on it! Do you have any idea how badly blood stains?”
“...Actually, yes, I do.”
Fluttershy took the opportunity to glare at Ming Xiao. “Why were you attacking Sun?”
“In my defense, she swung first,” Ming answered with a slight huff of her own. “But I suggest that we have this conversation elsewhere. If the any of the princesses-”
“And just what would the princesses do, little kuei-jin?”
Ming winced as everypony now looked at the opposite end of the hall.
Princess Luna was stalking towards them, massive glittering silver sword held casually in her magic. Her eyes were locked firmly on Sun, while a gleeful smile played across her lips.
Normally, she’d be happy to see Princess Luna outside of a Nightmare Night situation. But the smile on her muzzle and the sword she casually held in her magic told Fluttershy that she was not here for tea and biscuits.
The kirin...or was it kuei-jin? Whatever she was, she was facing down Princess Luna with her teeth grit and a furious glare.
“Luna. Don’t even think about doing what I know you’re thinking about doing!”
“How Equestria deals with threats is not your concern, Xiao.”
Threat? Because Sun was a vampire?
“I beg your pardon, princess. But this all is terribly confusing. Why are you here with a very large looking sword?” Rarity asked. “And why are you referring to Sun as a threat?”
“Because she is a kindred and to be a threat is in their nature,” Luna declared. It was a simple statement, almost like she had asked somepony to pass her the jelly. “Now, kindred. If you don’t resist, I can promise you a quick and clean final death.”
Sun reacted to the offer about as well as expected.
“Oh, fuck right off!” she snapped. “I’m not going to apologize for existing and I’m not going to bare my neck for you! Especially when I have a possible cure staring me down!”
Luna rolled her eyes. “There is always a possible cure and they always end up being false. And then kindred like you go on to spread your contagious curse so that you’re not facing down eternity alone.” She pointed her sword at Sun, practically snarling her next sentence. “I have seen your kind bring ruin upon all that is good as just in the world! And I shall not tolerate your poison to flow through Equestria!”
That was all that Fluttershy could take.
“Princess Luna! How dare you just...write somepony off like that! You’re going to kill her just because of something she might do? And how can you say that? You were Nightmare Moon! You tried to plunge the whole world into eternal darkness! How many ponies would that have hurt?”
Princess Luna’s expression remained stoic. “My own madness was not infectious! And while I did fall, I was stopped before I could cause such damage. Vampires can not make that claim. Her kind ate a whole world!”
“Oh, come off of it!” Ming Xiao shouted. “It wasn’t just vampires that killed the world that was! Or do I have to remind you about your other great failure? The all mighty Luna, unable-”
“Don’t you dare finish that thought!” Luna shouted back.
“Unable to stop the White Howlers from dancing the black spiral!”
Luna snarled. It was a vicious thing, sounding more like it came from the mouth of a wolf than a pony.
“I will not be talked down to by a kuei-jin! Your misbegotten lineage made things all the worse in Asia! And we wouldn’t be in this situation right now if you hadn’t thrown that one in the sarcophagus! All for a plan that didn’t even work!”
“Shut up the both of you!” Sun snapped. “I don’t trust either of you and I’m not going to die for anyone!” She saved a particularly angry look for Princess Luna. “And, princess? I don’t want to fight a monarch, but if you come after me, I will defend myself.”
Luna sighed. “So be it. We shall do this the old fashioned way.”
Magic glittered around her horn and then Princess Luna began to change.
- - - -
Sun really did not want to fight a princess.
Starting an international incident had never been high on her list of things she wanted to do. Being the last representative of humanity only increased that desire...even if she was currently more equine in shape.
But when Princess Luna began to change her form, Sun realized that she was in really, really deep trouble.
Luna….grew, moving from quadrupedal to bipedal in a matter of moments. Hooves unfolded to hands and feet, tipped with razor sharp claws. The princess’s cute equine nature just vanished under a growing wolf like features.
If Luna had loomed over the ponies in the hallway before, now she towered over them. A navy blue tower of fur, muscle, claw and fang. Princess Luna was now one of the creatures that Sun dearly wished that she’d never meet again.
A werewolf.
Why, why did Luna have to be a werewolf?
It was a brutal fact that most vampires didn’t want to admit, but werewolves were very much their supernatural superior. Fast and strong and with a tendency to hunt in pack tactics, werewolves could tear through vampires like so much dead wood. The last time she had been chased by one of these monstrosities, she had barely escaped it’s claws. And this one was also a magical pony princess. Somehow. As Luna reached her full height, she let loose a horrible, bellowing roar. In the face of the monster now looming over her, there was only one option at her disposal.
Run.
She kicked on her Celerity without a second thought, turning and bolting back down the hallway at top speed. Luna’s response howl sent chills down her spine, the sounds of her claws scrabbling on the tile of the floor as she gave chase. Vaguely she was aware of panicked shouts coming from everyone around her but the details were lost in the panic of her own fight or flight response.
Hallways turned into a blur of color as she galloped with all her might, Luna’s cries and howls echoing through the halls after her. She slammed out of the building, the back alleys of Manehattan becoming just another maze to escape. She ran and ran and ran until she reached the point where she would have collapsed if she were still mortal. It was only when she couldn’t hear any traces of Luna that she dared come to a shaking stop. Judging by the glass bottles scattered around the dumpster back here, she was behind some kind of bar or club.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!” she cursed, pacing about the little alley. “Ponies are ruled by a werewolf! A goddamn werewolf!”
From where she was standing, she only had one option. She had to get to Twilight Sparkle. She was a fellow princess. If the title was worth anything, she had to have some legal authority to intervene in this situation.
“Unless she’s a werewolf herself? ...No, she wasn’t in the mood to kill me on our first meeting.”
Begging the “Princess of Friendship” was probably one of the worst plans she had ever conjured up. Still, it wasn’t like she had any other options.
“Right...which way is the hotel from here?”
Princess Luna came bounding into the alley.
There hadn’t been any warning either. The air just seemed to part before Sun as the furious hybrid of human and wolf barreled right at her, the edge of that glittering silver sword already swinging through the air towards Sun’s neck.
Sun threw herself backwards, pressing her body against the ground in a reaction of pure panic. The blade passed over her by inches, just barely missing the decapitation strike. But Luna didn’t let up, springing forward with jaws wide open. They crunched down on Sun’s upper left foreleg like a steel trap, werewolf teeth puncturing the normally resistant dead flesh with ease. Luna’s charge continued onwards, smashing Sun against the building with all the force and fury that a nine foot tall ball of muscle and teeth could manage.
Sun screamed.
Luna released her jaw based death grip, only to slam Sun back against the wall with a clawed hand.
“I’ll confess a certain amount of disappointment, leech,” Luna growled in a voice that sounded like she was gargling cement. “I was hoping that the last of the vampires would put up more of a fight.”
Though her body was still in absolute agony, Sun pushed through it to make one last attempt to save her life. “Princess...please. Twilight Sparkle is working on a cure! She told me she had something!”
“It will fail. Just like all the other attempts.”
“She fixed you! She and her friends fixed you! Don’t I deserve at least a chance to be free of this curse that I never asked for!”
“I am sorry, but I can not and will not take the chance you will spread on your curse.”
“I don’t want to spread the fucking curse!”
“For now. But can you say that will remain the same in five years? Ten? One hundred?”
“I don’t want to be a vampire in a hundred years!”
Luna smirked. “Of that, we are in agreement. Die well, kindred. May your spirit move on to join with the rest of humanity in peace.”
But before the killing strike could come, the backdoor of the nearby club swung open and a pony trotted out with a bag of garbage balanced on his back. Sun snapped her head forward, smashing her forehead into Luna’s protruding, wolfish, snout.
Luna gave a pained yelp, dropping Sun as she clutched at her nose. Sun bolted for the door, dodging past the confused pony and into the depths of the bar beyond. Even in the kitchen, she could hear the thumping rhythm of music in the next room. Even through her pain, the music was enough to make Sun seize upon an idea.
She burst through the next door, already hearing the angry howls of Luna’s wolf form pushing their way into the kitchen. The dance club was packed with ponies of all kinds, the dance floor itself full almost to the point of bursting. Though as Sun came stumbling into the room, everypony found new things to focus on.
“Stars above! Are you bleeding?”
Sun reached into her blood pool, drawing a mass of the precious vitae forth to power what she was about to do. With the blood fueling her powers, Sun opened her eyes and just let her power wash over the room. The flow of the blood through her body pounded in time with the music, the power caressing the minds of everypony and drawing all their attention to her. At the moment, she was the center of attention. The most important thing in all these ponies lives.
She just hoped that Princess Luna wasn’t a bloodthirsty one.
Werewolf Luna smashed her way through the pony sized door a new expression of rage burning in her eyes. Sun reacted as appropriate for a fair damsel being chased by a horrible monster.
She screamed bloody murder, pointing a hoof Luna’s way. “That beast wants to eat me alive! HELP ME!”
At once, the crowd’s mood shifted, becoming one of anger and indignation. Furious shouts tore their way through the room as the ponies swarmed towards Princess Luna. One pony, with a brilliant red beard and mane, even jumped onto a table, waving a bottle of booze above his head.
“It’s a monster! Kill it! KILL IT!”
Luna’s eyes went wide. “What? No, I-”
The wave of club goers engulfed Luna, her navy blue fur vanishing under the multicolored horde of angry ponies. Sun allowed herself a cheerful cackle before bolting for the exit.
- - - -
“Care to explain what all of that was?”
Deep Digger was angrier than she had ever been in her life. More confused too, but the anger took a bit of priority considering everything she had just seen.
“That, was a werewolf in full rage mode,” Ming Xiao answered dryly.
“And why is Princess Luna a werewolf?” Rarity exclaimed. “Why were you just a pile of floating organs! Just how many hidden monsters are there in this world?”
“A lot fewer than there used to be,” Ming Xiao answered. “Sun and myself are probably the last of our respective lines of supernatural creature.”
“Speaking of which, what exactly are you?” Deep Digger asked. “They kept calling you-
“Kuei-jin. It’s a portmanteau of a few different languages that effectively means ‘ghost person’. I’m what they used to have in the far east in place of vampires.”
“Fine then,” Deep Digger growled. “But I want some answers. We want some answers. Why does Princess Luna want to kill Sun so badly?”
“Because vampires helped destroy the world that was and neither Celestia nor Luna are eager to see that cycle repeat itself. They’re terrified of the whole cursed lineage starting over again,” Ming Xiao snapped. “As foolish as it might be to inflict such lofty assumptions on what is effectively a scared child compared to them!”
“You keep talking about this world that existed before. What happened to it?” Rarity asked.
Ming’s tail thrashed angrily. “We really don’t have time for this! If Princess Luna catches up with Sun, she will kill her! If you’re serious about helping her, we have to go!”
“She could be anywhere in Manehattan though!” Fluttershy exclaimed.
“I have a way to track her, especially now that I’ve gotten close. But we need to go!”
Digger’s eyes narrowed. “Lead on then.”
- - - -
“Miss! Where are you going!”
Sun stomped right past the hotel receptionist and towards the stairs, taking them two at a time. Blood marred her coat and she looked like an absolute fright, but she didn’t care, just pushing onward to Twilight Sparkle’s room. Every step of the way, she kept glancing over her shoulder, half expecting Princess Luna to pop out of the air again. Werewolves were already terrifying. The fact that they could move through….the air? Reality? Either way, it made them all the more terrifying. However, as she reached Twilight’s door the halls remained werewolf free.
“Twilight! Open up! I need sanctuary!” Sun shouted, hammering a hoof against the door.
After a few moments the door swung open, revealing the purple pony princess. Her eyes were immediately drawn to Sun’s wounds.
“Oh my goodness! What happened to you?”
Sun pushed past her, eager to get away from the halls and into a place that was theoretically safer. “One of your princesses tried to bite my head off! Literally! That Luna is a piece of work.”
“Luna can be...intense, it’s true. But why is she trying to kill you?”
“Because I’m a damn vampire!” Sun shouted. “Apparently we’re super bad as far as she’s concerned!”
“That’s...unfortunate.”
“We need to try your spell. Now! Maybe if I’m mortal again it’ll stay Luna’s hand!”
“...My spell! Right!”
Sun cocked her head. She hadn’t forgotten about it, had she? But as Twilight approached, her horn glowing, a smell wafted across her nose that she had missed in her panic to enter the room. It was not the scent that she had come to associate with Twilight Sparkle. Rather, it was the ever shifting potpourri that she had come to associate with the shapeshifting changelings. If Sun weren’t already dead, her blood would have gone cold. Where was Twilight?
When the creature was an inch away from her, she slammed her hooves against either side of the horn, snuffing out the magic with a cry of pain.
“What-”
Sun leaned in, hissing into the changeling’s ear. “I can smell your blood.” With that, she whipped the changeling across the room, its body impacting off the opposite wall. “What the fuck did you do with Twilight you little shit!”
The disguise fell away and the changeling hissed back at her. Sun, far past the point of being willing to deal with changeling trickery, charged. Much like Luna had pinned her hours before, Sun now slammed the bug against the wall and bared her fangs. There were points to be made.
“Where. Is. Twilight?” she hissed.
“I’ll tell you nothing, leech!”
“Ha! That’s rich, coming from the likes of you! I don’t think you quite realize the situation you’re in, little bug. You’re either information or extra blood and if you’re not going to tell me where Twilight Sparkle is, then you’re literal fast food!”
“You’re...not serious...right?”
Sun allowed herself a sinister chuckle. “You really don’t know what kind of monster I am, do you?”
“N-no?”
“Dinner it is then.”
She opened her mouth again, letting her fangs reach their maximum length. The changeling squealed and squirmed within her grip.
“No! Wait! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die! We took Twilight Sparkle to Sugar Shine’s penthouse! Our queen meets with him there all the time!”
Sun snorted. “Finally, some goddamn compliance for a change.” Her eyes narrowed. “Though how do I know this isn’t a trap? Or that you’re not going to stab me in the back the minute I turn around?”
“I don’t want to die!”
“You established that,” Sun muttered. Narrowing her eyes, she pressed her leg against the changeling a little harder. “Take me there. Now.”
- - - -
Queen Chrysalis peered down at the unconscious form of Twilight Sparkle with a victorious smile. She intended to savor this moment, having the pony who helped ruin her plans for Equestria helpless at her hooves. Wrapped in a cocoon, she’d stay locked in a deep sleep until...well, Chrysalis would decide exactly what to do with her later.
“Do you have to keep that here?” Sugar Shine snarled.
Chrysalis looked up from her prize, letting a shark like smile play across her lips. “For now. Until I can spring my trap.”
Sugar Shine grunted in response, meandering his way over to his drinks cabinet. “I’m still not excited about this ambush happening here.”
“Then you probably shouldn’t have kidnapped your wife back,” Chrysalis mused. “Be it for Twilight Sparkle, or Sea Breeze, that vampire will come. They are quite possessive little creatures.”
“Hrmph. Well, the guards have been given a description of her appearance at least. They’ll be able to handle her.”
Chrysalis knew full well that Sugar Shine’s guards could in no way handle a vampire. But a nice trail of bodies would only add to her plan. She wanted Princess Luna good and angry for what she had planned.
- - - -
Sun wondered if there was some significance to the fact that most of her enemies chose to live in giant, fuck off towers.
This one was impressively large, though it lacked the gothic “charms” of Prince LaCroix’s edifice to his own ego. This one was far more of a modern construction of sleek steel and glass. Though the giant golden horse head situated on the roof was...interesting.
“And his place is right at the top?”
The changeling, in the guise of a green coated earth pony, nodded rapidly. “Yes! Now please let me go!”
Sun rolled her eyes. “Fine. But if I smell you again, you’re lunch, got it?”
Without sparing another word, the changeling galloped off into the night. Sun watched him go with an impassive stare. She wasn’t so naive as to believe that this wasn’t a trap of some kind. But she didn’t have any other options. It was either step into the trap or wait until Princess Luna tracked her down. Trotting into the building, she easily spied the elevators on the far side of the spacious marble floored lobby.
No guards here though.
Into an elevator she went before pressing the penthouse button. And much like it was back in her time, light and cheerful elevator music was pumped in while she rose through the floors. It seemed to be running slower than normal and by floor twenty she was thoroughly bored waiting in the metal box.
“Dun da da da, dun da da da,” she idly muttered to herself in time to the music. “I-am-here-to-kick-all-the-asses! Da da da.”
Ding.
The doors slid open, revealing a hallway full of ponies. Dressed in dark suits, most of them appeared to be unicorns. There were a baker's dozen between her and a large set of wooden double doors.
“Boy, this is taking me back.” She took a moment to wave at the assembled guards as she stepped out of the elevator. “Hey fellas! Insurance premiums all paid up today?”
“Take her down!”
Sun grinned. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
The corridor was suddenly full of magical bolts of power. The first fusillade crashed against Sun, the tingle of magic rippling across her body with a surprising lack of effect. There was no time to wonder why though, so Sun charged at the nearest suited unicorn. Hitting him like a freight train, she spun him around and yanked him close to her body before sinking her fangs into his neck.
The delicious rush of blood gushed into her mouth, bringing with it a flood of memories of a better time in her life. It was distraction, true. But she needed the blood for whatever was beyond those doors.
“Sun above! She’s drinking his blood!”
“Forget the stunning spells! Blast her to pieces!”
Another blast of spells came screaming in. She shoved her guard forward, letting his body take the spell blasts before bounding over his sizzling body and plowing into the next group. She was a pale pink blur as she tore into the neck of another guard, slamming her twitching body into one of her fellows. Spinning about, she lashed out with a powerful buck, bones crunching under the iron bending strength of Potence. With more blood fueling her body, Sun dug called it forth, enhancing her speed with Celerity and then winding up her nimbleness within the enhanced speed. Now she was akin to a winged specter of death as she blazed through the hallway, twisting and snaking around fiery bolts of magic, hooves and fangs snuffing out the lives of those who dared to stand alongside the slaver masquerading as a businessman.
“Look out! She’s on your right!”
“AHHHH! Holy shit! My horn! She broke my horn!”
“Celestia help us!”
The bloody advance continued. Half the unicorns were down now. Maybe she could get the remainders to surrender?
Before she could even ask the question though, fire raked her side and a furious hiss of pain, rage and fear tore from her throat as the remaining six unleashed their magic, even as they backpedaled towards the sturdy wooden doors. The fire tore at fur and flesh, stirring The Beast within the depths of her soul. It both feared the flame and wished to unleash even greater violence upon the poor ponies before her. Indulging in the frenzy was always dangerous, as was the nature of giving into to base instincts and letting the higher mind fall away. But Sun needed this fight over with before Luna caught up with her and the remaining ponies were now bunkering up, flipping over a receptionist desk to fire from behind. Hesitation now could cost her everything.
So she let her inner monster off the chain.
- - - -
Chrysalis observed the entrance to the penthouse cave inwards as the kindred forced her way into the room. Blood was streaked across muzzle and face, while burns raked her side. The unfocused look in her eyes made Chrysalis all the more pleased. Frenzy. That would make the next part of her plan all the easier. It seemed that Sugar Shine’s guards had managed to accomplish something before going down under vampire fangs.
As the vampire advanced, she could feel Sugar Shine’s fear radiating off him, no matter what kind of brave face he put on. A low hiss escaped the vampire’s lips as she paced towards them, hunger and rage in her eyes. Chrysalis wrinkled her snout. Celestia and Luna were idealistic fools, but there was one thing she could agree with them on.
Kindred remained utterly disgusting creatures.
The vampire accelerated towards Sugar Shine and the CEO stumbled backwards his fear spiking.
“Call your changelings! CALL YOUR CHANGELINGS!”
Chrysalis rolled her eyes and stomped a hoof against the imported, hardwood floor, feeding ancient magic into it. The wood, while now quite dead and inert, remained a natural product and responded. A massive spike shot from its surface, punching directly into the vampire’s chest with a sickening squelch as it found her heart. The charge turned into a helpless flop, her body hitting the floor with a lame, quite helpless, thud.
“...Is she dead?” Sugar Shine asked, eyeing the vampire like she was ready to explode.
“Technically, she was dead even while running around. But no, she’s simply stunned. If I remove the stake, she’ll move again.”
“And now?”
“We go back to waiting.”
- - - -
“...You’re absolutely sure this is where Sun went?” Fluttershy asked.
Ming Xiao nodded, tucking the glittering crystal back into her dress. “Quite sure. Top floor, judging by the direction it was tugging.”
“Why would she come here though?”
“Well…,” Rarity muttered, rubbing her chin. “She moved one direction, then changed suddenly to move here. Maybe she found something out at where ever she stopped first and it lead her here?”
“Either way, our answers await inside and up,” Ming Xiao said, striding for the doors.
The four ponies trotted into the the massive tower. The lobby was eerily silent and empty as they crossed its cavernous interior. No signs of ponies were evident as they approached the elevators.
“It doesn’t look like there’s been a fight here yet,” Fluttershy observed. “Maybe we got here ahead of Luna?”
“We’ll see once we reach the top,” Digger muttered as she hit the button.
After a minute or two of waiting, the doors opened with a chime and the trio stepped inside. Rarity eyed the buttons for a moment before hitting penthouse. The doors began to slide shut...only for a glittering blue aura to size it and hold it open. A moment later, Princess Luna pushed her way onto the elevator, silver sword still floating at her side.
She was back in her alicorn form and looking quite disgruntled as she shoved her way into the middle of the elevator.
“Rarity, Fluttershy,” she said, nodding politely to them. Her gaze hardened as it passed over Ming Xiao. “Ming.” She paused when she noticed Deep Digger. “...My apologies, I’m not sure you told me your name.”
“It’s Professor Deep Digger!” she snapped as the elevator door snapped shut. “And you have some nerve acting so casual after what you just tried to do!”
“I will protect Equestria and its little ponies by any means I see fit and I will not allow the curse of Caine to spread.”
Deep Digger threw up her hooves. “Stop speaking in riddles! The only pony here who has any clue what you’re talking about is little miss detachable head over there and she’s been completely useless in terms of telling us...anything! And just what did you turn into in that basement?”
Luna swung the sword around to her front, gazing into its reflective silver surface. “...They were called the Garou, or as humans knew them, werewolves. They were...warriors. Created to protect the earth. I was their patron...in another time...another life.”
“Just what happened in this ‘other life’?” Rarity asked.
“Many, many things,” Luna answered. “But I assume you’re asking specifically about how humanity became not even a legend and how we came to this world.”
Everypony nodded.
“The story would take longer to tell than we have time for. But the long and short of it is that monsters destroyed the world. Ancient vampires- the progenitors of every line - were just one of the legion of horrors that crawled out of every black pit to snuff humanity out.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, giving a long sigh. For a moment the princess seemed weaker. Almost frail in fact, despite the weapon she carried. “The world that was died screaming. And the Garou...my Garou, sacrificed themselves to the last so that this world could rise from the ashes. I will not let that vampire become the new founder of a vampire lineage. I will not let the apocalypse come again.”
Deep Digger was about to argue the point when the doors to the elevator opened onto a scene of carnage.
Dead ponies were scattered all over the floor. Some of their limbs were bent at odd angles. Others heads seemed to be caved in. Two had stretches of red ruin where their throats should have been.
Fluttershy began to whimper. Rarity collapsed into dry heaves. Princess Luna snorted dismissively.
“Behold, the tender mercies of vampire kind.”
Ming Xiao rolled her eyes. “Yes, because your own Garou never slaughtered innocents as part of some larger goal. Or from their own hubris!”
Luna ignored her, advancing and idly swinging her sword in preparation for a fight.
Digger stormed after her. “Even if she did do this and not in self defense, then she should be arrested, not just executed! We have laws!”
But she was shoved aside as Luna stormed onwards, shoving the broken doors at the end of the hall open with casual ease, revealing an unexpected sight. Deep Digger was familiar with the general appearance of Sugar Shine from his presence in his company’s advertising. She was not expecting to see him looking disheveled and standing over the unconscious form of Sun Shang with a stake of wood jutting from her chest.
“Princess,” Sugar Shine managed to bow. “This is a rather pleasant surprise, considering the circumstances. This beast broke in and slaughtered my guards. I think I managed to kill it.”
“No, you did not. A wooden stake merely stuns a vampire, until removed.”
Deep Digger galloped ahead of Luna, placing herself between the alicorn and the fallen vampire. “I am not just going to stand here and let you murder a helpless pony!”
Ming Xiao and Fluttershy quickly joined her, staring Luna down even as she raised her blade. “Step aside!”
“No!”
“Princess...how can you be so determined to kill somepony with a curse after what you went through?” Fluttershy asked.
“You don’t understand how dangerous that creature is! Now step aside or I will move you!”
“...How did you know to use wood?”
Everypony stopped. The question had come from Rarity, who was staring intently at Sugar Shine.
“Pardon?” he asked, blinking in confusion.
“That’s clearly a shaped piece of wood you used. A proper stake. It seems an odd thing to carve in the middle of a battle. So how did you know it would work?”
In response, Sugar Shine opened his mouth and spat something into Luna’s neck. Luna whickered in surprise, crashing to the floor as Sugar Shine was engulfed in a flash of crackling green flame.
Deep Digger gaped at Luna’s neck, where a leech like….thing...was sucking away at her neck, growing more and more bloated while Luna moaned in pain. At the same time, the fire fell away from what had been Sugar Shine and what was now an alicorn sized, black shelled monster. More changelings came streaming into the room from others, swarming them in a massive wave of chittering black.
“Run!” Ming Xiao shouted before diving into the nearest group of changelings.
For a moment, she completely vanished under the swarm of changelings, the nearest of the group kicking and stomping at what Digger assumed was her body. But then a swelling form began to rise from the horde. A massive mountain of rippling green scale and muscle, it burst from the group, rising to almost ten feet tall in the center of the room. Ming Xiao gave a warbling roar of challenge to the surrounding changelings and began to tear into them with long, sweeping swipes of the rubbery tentacles that grew from every side of her body.
“Oh you Kuei-jin,” Chrysalis chuckled. “Always so dramatic.”
In the next moment, Digger was overrun by changelings, her world being obscured by black chitin.
- - - -
As her changelings tackled two of the Elements of Harmony and the professor to the ground, Chrysalis turned her attention towards the Kuei-jin
She seized Luna’s sword, wreathing it green fire. A quick buzz of her wings propelled her towards the writhing form of Ming. The Kuei-jin saw her coming and spun the upper half of her body around like it was on a top, her tentacles becoming razor sharp spears as they thrust towards Chrysalis. Chrysalis calmly hacked away at the incoming strikes, already calling upon her own ancient magics. Ming Xiao screeched in pain as fire carved through her body with ease. For as much as the Kuei-jin had considered themselves superior to the children of Caine, they shared a weakness to fire.
So, more flames were conjured and Chrysalis wrapped them into rings before snaking them around her opponent. The smell of burning flesh quickly filled the air along with smoke and even higher pitched screams. She shrunk back to her kirin form, desperately rolling across the floor to try and smother the flames.
“Take her,” Chrysalis drawled. “I’ve longed to experiment on a Kuei-jin. Perhaps there are attributes we can add to our brood.”
As Ming Xiao was extinguished and secured, the real Sugar Shine emerged from his bedroom. He eyed the unconscious form of Sun.
“What about the blood sucker?” he asked.
Chrysalis spared a glance at a nearby wall clock. “...Leave her for the sun. I want the leech to know the depths of her failure before she faces final death. Princess Luna, a Kuei-jin, and three of the Element Bearers in one fell swoop. She was an amazing little piece of bait.”
“...Are you sure that’s wise?”
“So long as you don’t remove the stake, she is helpless. Now-”
Princess Luna suddenly lurched back to life. Horn glowing, she attempted to extend her aura around everypony present. Chrysalis snarled back, igniting her own magic.
“You won’t take my prizes from me! In case you’ve forgotten, Luna, I’m a survivor! I survived the fall of the Glass Walkers, I survived the Apocalypse and I will survive you and your accursed sister!”
Aura’s clashed in the middle of the chamber, green grappling with sparkling, midnight blue. Despite her weakened state, Luna continued to put up a fight, her magic trying to worm past Chrysalis’. For a brief, heart stopping moment, it seemed like she might have had more fight than Chrysalis anticipated when a blue tendril of magic swiped across her muzzle. But Chrysalis pushed back, drawing upon reserves of magic that, unlike Luna’s, hadn’t been drained by her little parasite. But as her magic doubled back on Luna’s and began to snuff it out, the alicorn pulled it back, wrapping it around herself and Sun.
And with a soft pop, both vanished into the night.
Almost immediately, her legs gave out from underneath her and she collapsed to the ground. Shame and anger coursed through her. How could she have been so stupid? She was so focused on chasing the vampire that she had been oblivious to the trap that had been set. Groaning, she extended her magic towards the thing burying itself into her neck. It took a supreme amount of effort with the energy she had left to pry it off, but the engorged leech-
A leech. An actual leech.
Delirious giggles escaped her lips as the bloated monstrosity flopped to the ground with a wet splat. While hunting for a metaphorical leech, she had been undone by an actual one.
“Damn that Chrysalis,” she grunted. “Overgrown...cockroach.”
She attempted to force herself back to her hooves, only to collapse to the ground again. She was in no condition to fight. But Twilight-
- - -
Luna gasped as consciousness snapped back to her. ...How long had she been out? ...It was still dark out at least. Groaning, she glanced over at the sole figure she had been able to drag out of the trap with her.
The vampire.
With the stake still buried in her chest, her expression was locked in a glassy stare forward. Why had she even grabbed the vampire? The question echoed in Luna’s mind, her brow furrowing as she tried to remember the answer. It had almost been instinctual, her attempt to grab as many as she could. Again, she tried to stand. To push herself to chase after Chrysalis. She had managed to slip a tracking spell upon the changeling in the battle. But it was no use. Down she went again with pained groan. If Twilight and her friends were going to be rescued…
“Spirits preserve me, I can’t really be considering this, can I?”
Yet, those ponies did clearly care about this vampire. ...Did she care about them at all? One thing she did know, however, is that the minute she removed that stake, the vampire would be right back to her normal self.
“...Harmony, let me be right about this.”
Reaching out with her magic, she ripped the stake free.
- - - -
Sun sprang back to her hooves, ready to lash out at Chrysalis-
She was in an alley, not a penthouse. Princess Luna was laying at her hooves alongside a bloated leech...slug...thing and breathing heavily. And considering that there were no other ponies present, Sun could only come to one conclusion.
Shit had officially gone south. ...More south than it already had at least.
“What. Happened?”
“Chrysalis used you as bait. Ambushed us when we arrived. Captured almost everypony.”
“They have Twilight too...I went to get her help when you tried to murder me!”
Luna chuckled dryly. “Well then, now you have a chance to prove the depths of my foolishness. I am too weak to oppose the changeling queen now.” Her horn glittered for a moment and Sun felt a tingle settle over her. “That is the tracking spell I managed to place on Chrysalis. If you do truly care about other ponies...I regret that you will have to save them.”
“Wait...what? How! That bug kicked my ass the minute I set foot in that penthouse!”
But Luna was no longer conscious and was instead snoring away amidst the light scattering of litter.
“Hey! Hey! Wake up!” Sun shouted. Grabbing Luna by the sides of her head, she shook the alicorn with all her might. “You expect me to do this myself?”
But Princess Luna did not wake up, continuing to sleep away. Sun groaned, letting her thud back to the ground.
“How the fuck am I supposed to handle this? Chrysalis is totally above me…”
Her eyes fell upon the massive leech, gorged with blood. Luna’s blood. Alicorn blood. Groaning, she ran her hooves through her mane. This was insane! There was no possible way she could fight Chrysalis...right? ...She could walk away right now. Find some other pony to save her ass. ...She could abandon Deep Digger and the ponies she had brought in to help her to an emotional vampire. She could, in effect, be every skulking elder vampire, throwing away pawns on a chessboard for her own means. She could feel the vague tug of Luna’s spell, pulling her elsewhere in the city like a mental beacon.
There really was only one choice.
She picked up the slug and extended her fangs.
- - - -
Manehattan’s wide waterfront district was almost a sprawling maze of buildings, docks and industrial constructions. It was a hive of a different sort, one of industry and commerce rather than tunnels dug into the rock.
It made a quite a useful place to blend into for Chrysalis’ operations in the city.
It was in one of the various warehouses, squatting on the edge of the river, that Chrysalis had brought her prisoners. Neatly wrapped up in binding cocoons now, they would be smuggled by ship to her main hive the Badlands. Far away from the hooves of Celestia and making them that much harder to find. And once there...oh, the wonders she would show them!
After hours of waiting, the boat under her control had finally passed all of the legal checks to dock. Now it was time to get underway and out of this city.
“Get them loaded up, quickly! Luna won’t be down forever and I want to be far away from here by the time she comes to!”
Her brood dutifully carried out her commands, bearing the cocooned ponies on their backs as they scuttled up the gangplanks to the hulking cargo carrier. While not perhaps the size of the behemoths that used to ply the waters of the world that was, she could still hide her equine cargo among legitimate goods and walk the bearers and their friends right past Celestia’s nose.
While the ship got underway, Chrysalis stood on the edge of the deck, watching the lights of Manehattan glitter and twinkle against the night sky. Part of her was expecting Princess Luna to drop from the black velvet of the sky to challenge her once again. But as the ship began to pull away from the docks and steam back towards open ocean, no alicorns appeared to fight her. Smiling to herself, she turned and trotted into the depths of the ship.
- - - -
A little while later, they were back into the open ocean, steaming their way south. They’d basically follow the coast until they reached Neigh Orleans. From there they’d cut back inland on foot before turning south again and heading into the vast deserts of the Badlands. Twilight and her friends were properly stored in the cargo hold. The deck was being patrolled by drones, while Chrysalis herself watched from the bridge.
So far, everything was going according to plan. Which meant that it was the perfect time for things to go wrong. Reaching out on her mental link, she brushed against her drones. Each one mentally responded in turn, sounding off with a quick acknowledgement. Until-
A shriek of panic echoed across the mental link, followed by silence. A few moments later, another rang out. Followed by a third. And a fourth. Then a fifth. All coming from the drones she had stationed in the cavernous cargo hold.
All drones, to me! We have an intruder on board!
Like the good little drones they were, they all fell in on her. The press of changelings behind her became a creeping carpet of black and glowing green eyes as they descended into the looming chamber, full of cargo containers.
The stacks of metal and wood loomed above them, forming a maze of corridors within the steel walls of the ship. Chrysalis paused, her drones following suit. Thirty at her disposal on the ship. They could move as one, but then locking the vampire down in one place would become tricky at best. But if they spread themselves too thin…
Small groups it was.
At a silent mental command they split up into pods of five and setout through the winding stacks, Chrysalis taking the lead of one. As they advanced the only sounds that reached their ears were the groaning of the metal hull, the occasional creak of wooden crates and their own hooves clicking against the floor. But then-
“Chrysssssssalissss…”
Chrysalis stopped. The vampire’s voice had seemed to come from all around them. “You shouldn’t have come here kindred,” Chrysalis called out. “I have the numbers and I have your bane.”
She punctuated that declaration with a jet of fire crackling off her horn. To her annoyance however, the kindred did not opt to run away. Instead she cackled back at her.
“You’ve over-extended yourself.”
Screams echoed through her mental link while the sound of wet crunches rose from one of the other rows.
“You know, as sweet as pony blood is, I’m starting to enjoy the tuti-fruity flavor of your changelings.”
“You shouldn’t be worrying about my drones, kindred. You should be worrying about me!” Chrysalis snarled.
With a buzz of her wings, she flitted to the top of one of the crate piles. From there, she could see most of the cargo hold-
Something slammed down on the crate next to her with a massive crunch of splintering wood. Chrysalis whipped about, green flames dancing along her horn. She found herself facing down a roiling cloud of shadow with two glowing red eyes burning from the depths of the cloud. Chrysalis unleashed a torrent upon said cloud but it was just as suddenly not there. In the next moment, something slammed into her from the side and she was catapulted across the length of the cargo hold. The impact of her body against the hell resulted in a mighty clang as she almost punched straight through the metal and onto the other side.
The blob of shadow returned, dropping down in front of Chrysalis. As she glared at the mass of darkness, it parted, revealing the form of the kindred within. She looked distinctly different from the last time Chrysalis saw her. For one, her eyes had taken on an unearthly reddish glow. Her wings were bigger now, effortlessly holding her aloft with barely a flap. But it was her expression that was probably the most different. Wide eyed and grinning, she looked like she was enjoying the prospect of a fight, rather than stewing in anger like before.
All at once, Chrysalis realized that she had made a tactical error in allowing Luna to escape with a creature that reacted strongly to the blood of magical creatures.
The kindred grinned, showing off every inch of her teeth and razor sharp fangs. “You know, I’ve been pushed around by all powerful beings a lot. More than any person should ever have to deal with in their life. Breaking you in half is going to be a thrill!”
Chrysalis chuckled back. “Oh, my little vampire. Better monsters than you have tried.”
Kicking forward, Chrysalis’ body began to swell and change.
- - - -
There was something different about this transformation from the others, Sun could tell that immediately. There was no burst of flame that came with this one. This was more like a insect discarding its shell, or an actor throwing aside a mask. Chrysalis doubled in size, then doubled again, quickly reaching the size of your average bus. The equine shape of her queen bugginess gave way to something much more scuttling and primal one.
A cockroach. Chrysalis was a giant cockroach.
While that truth was still sinking in, her mandibles parted and a crackling wave of fire spewed forth. Sun wheeled over, trying to avoid the fury of the flames that roared through the air, clawing and grasping for her body. Strangely, her vampire instincts were silent as she wove and dodged around the grasping tendrils of fire.
Then again, she was still charged from the blood she drank. It had been an almost indescribable feeling as the power had coursed through her. It had been so powerful that the taste (that of a very fine cheese for some reason) had almost been lost in the torrent of perfect...power. Hell, she was actually flying thanks to the boost!
Shooting high above the flames now, she dove back down towards Chrysalis’ wings. The mighty membranes buzzed and thrummed as she swooped in, the shadows gifted to her by Luna’s blood already reaching forth to pluck the things from her shell. But before the shadows could reach forth a cloud of buzzing wings and biting mandibles. Roaches were crawling all over her, biting and tearing into her with a fury and strength that they normally shouldn’t contain within their little bodies.
Snarling, she shifted the flow of her shadows the tendrils flicking out to try and dislodge the little bastards from her body. But distracted as she was, trying to remove the the magical cockroaches she missed the giant limb swiping at her from the side. Chrysalis’s strike was more of a driving punch of a hit, spiking Sun into the floor of the cargo hold. Sun responded by biting the offending limb with all her might. The crunch crumpled the limb, spraying ichor across Sun and the floor. Chrysalis responded to that by whipping Sun like a baseball. She smashed through multiple metal containers before coming to a stop.
For a moment all was quiet, but then one of the massive containers shifted. With her Potence supercharged by alicorn blood Sun effortlessly lifted the shipping container over her head.
“Catch!” she shouted, throwing it with all her might.
Thousands of pounds of metal soared across the cargo hold. It stopped an inch away from Chrysalis’ face, caught by the changeling queen’s shimmering green magic. That didn’t stop Sun though. She spun around and ripped a door off another container and threw it. Then another hunk of metal. And another. She added her Celerity to the mix, a blur of metal shards and chunks screaming across the way and slicing into the form of Chrysalis. Chrysalis roared back, throwing the first shipping container back at Sun before summoning even more spiritual cockroaches to tear at the vampire. Her drones heeded the call as well, swarming in on Sun with furious cries.
Despite her boost in power, Sun was still losing.
Snarling and lashing out, Sun spent more blood now calling upon her Presence and thrusting it towards the changeling horde. For a moment, they froze in their attack. In the next heartbeat, they pounced on each other, biting, tearing, punching and kicking. Screams of rage filled the air as normal changeling instincts were overridden by a wave of violent emotions. Sun whirled about and vanished into the stacks again, aiming to find a new angle of attack. If only she had some backup!
“Where’s that bravado you had just a little while ago?” Chrysalis shouted. There was a glee in her voice.
Sun could hear the sounds of cargo containers being smashed aside as Chrysalis charged after her. The containers spilled open as her massive form plowed through the stacks. Cans and boxes of food were scattered across the floor in a wave of waste. More blood was spent by Sun as she pushed a wave of shadow behind her, sweeping the horde of spilled cans under Chrysalis’ legs. Briefly, the massive cockroach slipped and stumbled.
With her mandibles buried in the slurry of burst food tins and bent metal, Sun had a brief moment to reassess.
There!
Across the way, she could make out five round green shapes among the ruined remains of the cargo hold. In those green shapes, she could make out five vaguely pony shaped figures. Back the other way she went, using her new found flight combined with Celerity to shoot over the head of Queen Chrysalis.
Landing atop one of the pods, she struck without hesitation.
- - - -
Twilight Sparkle awoke, her head swimming with confusion.
...Hadn’t she gone to bed just a little while ago?
Now she was dripping with green goo and she could hear something screeching nearby-
“WAKE UP!”
“Gah!” Twilight yelped.
She found herself staring up into a pair of burning red eyes. Angry, evil-
“Twilight! Snap out of it! I have an angry changeling queen on my hooves here!”
That was Shang’s voice!
“I will tear you apart, kindred!”
And that was Queen Chrysalis.
Twilight groaned, pulling herself out of the ruins of the pod she had been in. Shang was back to clashing with an absolutely massive cockroach. Wincing, she began to channel magic through her horn. Weaving a spell, she began to weave a glittering circle of magic in the air. It was painful work, as her head was still throbbing from her time in the cocoon. The spell she created was barely one. It was more raw mana, crudely hammered into an arcane loop of crude magic. With her creation forged, she whipped it outwards, wrapped it around Chrysalis’ legs and yanked it tight.
The Queen of the Changelings toppled forward, crashing to the floor in a splatter of half crushed food and other waste. Shang didn’t hesitate when Chrysalis fell. She pounced, slamming her hooves repeatedly against the changeling’s head. The impacts shook the whole of Chrysalis’ body, the metal underneath her groaning and warping from the strikes. Each punch was shaking the whole hull, from top to bottom.
Twilight realized what was about to happen, a minute before it did.
She reached out with her magic again, wrapping it around the cocoons that held her friends. Right as the floor of the ship gave way with a horrific shriek of metal she completed the teleportation spell and they vanished.
- - - -
When Twilight reappeared, she collapsed to the ground, her lungs burning and body aching. Sand was under her hooves, tickling their frogs as she just laid there for what felt like a very long time.
That was, unquestionably, the worst teleport she had ever pulled off. And one that she hoped to never do again.
Another groan escaped her lips as she lifted her head. She was near the edge of the water and out in the distance, she could just barely make out the silhouette of a ship, illuminated by its own lights, slipping below the waves.
It was gone.
While she was worried about Sun, her more immediate concern were her friends in the cocoons. A quick scan of the beach turned up a broken seashell. Using it, she sliced open each one of the pods, her body still aching the whole time. One by one her friends spilled out of the goopy interiors, coughing and hacking as they came too.
“What happened?” Rarity asked as she pushed a goopy mess of her mane out of her eyes.
“We were captured by the changelings. Sun managed to save us I think,” Twilight muttered. She was still slightly confused about it all. “There was a ship...it sunk.”
“What about Sun?” Deep Digger asked. “Is she okay?”
“I...don’t know. I tried to grab her too, but my head was swimming. I think she went down with the ship…”
Deep Digger gasped, but Ming Xiao placed a hoof on her back. “I wouldn’t worry,” Ming said. “Vampires don’t need to breathe. It would take much more than a sinking ship to kill her.”
“But she went down with Queen Chrysalis...I think,” Twilight groaned. “I mean, she wasn’t a giant cockroach the last time I saw her, but-”
“Many of us wear faces different than we did in a bygone era,” Ming said. “That was an old mask of Chrysalis’.”
“What should we do now?” Fluttershy asked.
“I’m not sure there’s much we can do, besides wait,” Twilight said with a sigh. “That teleport...was really exhausting. I don’t think I could magic my way down to that ship if I wanted to.”
So they sat and waited, watching the ocean waves lap against the shore. The first warm rays of the dawn were just beginning to creep into the sky when a shape began to emerge from the water line.
Sun Shang came stomping out of the water, soaked to the bone and looking as disgruntled as a very wet cat.
“Bitch escaped,” she grumbled. “Couldn’t see a damn thing underwater and she slipped away in the darkness.” Her gaze roamed over the collection of ponies before her. “But hey, you’re all okay. I’ll call this one a win.”
Slumping to the ground, she eyed the lightning horizon. “Which is good. Because I think that I’m officially out of time.”
Twilight could only helplessly watch as the sun rose fully over the horizon. Smoke began to rise from Sun’s body, the vampire giving them an oddly serene smile.
“At least I went out doing some good for the world.”
And then the whole of her body was wreathed in flame. She was screaming as the fire roared over every inch of her form. The horrible stench of burning hair and sputtering fat filling the air. Rarity and Fluttershy were screaming, Ming Xiao was watching with a horribly pained expression and Deep Digger-
“Twilight! Do something!” she shouted.
Twilight bit her lip. She could try the transfer spell, but if Sun was still on fire when she did that… Grabbing a whole mass of seawater, she whipped it into a shimmering sphere and engulfed the Sun’s body in it. The water hissed, bubbled and sputtered furiously, sending hot droplets in every direction.
The fire did not go out.
Twilight grit her teeth and wove another spell now, plunging the temperature around the sphere of water. But the fire simply roared higher, shattering the forming sphere of ice with ease. The flame and light built and built, becoming almost blinding as Sun began to rise off the ground. She could feel a swell of magic building in the area, one that was near overpowering.
“Get down!”
The building magic exploded as everypony threw themselves to the sand.
- - - -
Whiteness. It was the only thing around Sun Shang. She turned in place to make sure, squinting against the omnipresent whiteness that saturated everything.
“...Is this what being dead is like?”
If it was supposed to be Heaven...it was really unimpressive. If it was Hell, she would have expected more fire.
“Shit! Am I in Limbo?”
Hmmm. So there was one left…
The voice echoed straight to the depths of Sun’s soul. She whirled about again, finding no source for the legion of tones that had come together to form such a single, powerful, force.
“Hello?” she called out. “Who’s there?”
The voice opted not to answer the question, instead continuing to mutter to himself...itself? Theirself.
Many deaths. But a willingness to sacrifice herself for others as well. Hmmmm.
“Come on! Don’t talk about me like I’m not here!”
She made the effort, at least. Let this be the end of the accursed line.
Suddenly, Sun felt like she had been placed under a massive microscope. The full attention of the mysterious voice was focused on her and her alone.
Shang Xiang Sun. Through the power and mercy of the heavens, I give you pardon and peace. I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Those final words slammed into Sun like a battering ram, the white void falling away from her. As it fully vanished from sight, the legion of voices offered one final set of words.
May you live well, daughter of Eve.
- - - -
Sun awoke to someone prodding her in the side.
“Mmmph! Leave me alone. I’m tired.”
It was true. She felt tired in a way she hadn’t felt in...well, a long time. Admittedly, she hadn’t expected final death to feel so warm.
...Wait, if she was dead, why was she being poked?
“Come on Sun! Wake up!”
That was Deep Digger.
Slowly Sun opened her eyes only to immediately jam them shut again. Bright. Everything was way too bright! Opening her eyes again, she shielded them with a hand as she sat up.
Wait...a hand?
Now the brightness was forgotten as she looked herself over. She was human again! Completely naked, but human all the same. Whatever had happened, had undone Digger’s spell. Her heart was beating a mile a minute as she looked around-
Her heart was beating.
She could feel it beating in her chest. She could feel her chest rising and falling without needing to force air through dead lungs. Shakily, she reached a hand up to the side of her neck and pressed two of her fingers against her main artery. Her blood continued to pump and her skin was...warm.
“Somebody...please tell me that I’m not dreaming?” she asked, her voice hitching.
Deep Digger was beaming as she placed a hoof on Sun’s back. “You’re not dreaming.”
Tears were streaming down her cheeks before she could even stop herself. The sobs of joy came immediately after, the whole of her body shaking. Deep Digger almost immediately wrapped her in a tight embrace. Sun hugged back, letting the intense sense of relief flow along with her tears.
“But...how?” Twilight exclaimed. “You were on fire!”
Ming Xiao rubbed her chin. “There have always been legends among the kuei-jin of a kindred that came from the west, seeking absolution for his curse. He never found it. It seems that Sun managed to find what he did not.”
“An interesting proposal to be sure.”
Everypony turned towards the advancing form of Princess Luna. Deep Digger moved to position herself between Sun and Luna, but the alicorn princess raised a hoof.
“Peace, Professor Digger. There is no need to enact a bloody solution now that the Curse of Caine has been vanquished.”
Sun glowered at her, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “I’m so glad. What happens next though?”
Luna’s eyes glowed. “Sleep.”
Eyes rolling into the back of her head, Sun collapsed to the sand.
- - - -
When she awoke again, Sun was thoroughly tired of being randomly knocked out by powers that be. Sighing, she sat up to examine her surroundings.
Having been in prison before, she recognized her current accommodations instantly. The small cot, the bars on the window, the bars that were the door. Still, the walls were painted bright colors, the bedding felt soft and the pillows were fluffy. She was dressed in a simple orange prison outfit that seemed like it had been adjusted slightly to fit her frame better. Which she supposed made sense, considering the general lack of humans in Equestria.
“Ahh, You’re awake.”
A guard had paused outside her cell. He was giving her an odd look. Like he didn’t quite believe she existed but was holding back on commenting because of professionalism.
“So...what am I in for?”
“Twelve counts of murder according to Princess Luna.”
...Oh yeah, all those guards I killed.
“Anyway, your arraignment is tomorrow morning. You’ve managed to already hit the evening editions.”
“Don’t suppose I’m entitled to an attorney in Equestria?”
“...You are actually. How’d you know?”
“Call it a hunch.”
“Well, she’ll meet you before court tomorrow. For now, I’d suggest you get some rest.”
He moved on, leaving Sun along with her thoughts. Sighing, Sun flopped backwards onto the cot. Jail was a less than ideal place to be, that was for sure. Yet, despite that undeniable fact, she still felt light on her feet. She was free! Free of the curse! Free of needing to hunt for blood. Just...free. Even if she was behind bars.
Of course the question was what to do now. Fight the charges? Confess? Try and strike a deal? There was no question that she had wracked up a tally of dead bodies since her awakening. Maybe the best option would be to try to get out on good behavior?
Still, as she learned back and considered her options, she did so with a smile on her face.
- - - -
The next morning Sun was lead to large room full of tables and chairs. Prisoners were chatting away with friends and family at about half of the tables. Not as full as she would have expected for a major city, but not a complete collection of sunshine and rainbows either.
At one of the tables, a collection of familiar faces were waiting for her. Deep Digger, Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle had been joined by a new mare. She had a cream colored coat and a short brown mane and tail. Judging by the stern looking square glasses balanced on the end of her snout, the crisp gray jacket and matching dark blue tie and the briefcase on the table, she was most likely a lawyer. Sun saw no horns or wings, so she must have been an earth pony.
Sun took a seat opposite them, giving a warm smile as the new mare extended a hoof.
“Pleased to meetcha,” she said, with what sounded like a distinct Brooklyn accent. Which was a nice trick, considering a lack of Brooklyn in Equestria. “Buttercup Spring’s the name. I’ll be your public defendant for this case.”
Sun shook her lawyer’s hoof. “Nice to meet you Buttercup. Give it to me straight. What are we looking at here?”
“We can discuss the details a little later, when there aren’t ponies around that’ll violate privilege. ...No offense your highness, but I’ll be damned if I’ll put my client in a position where you could be subpoenaed to testify against her.”
Twilight sighed but nodded. “None taken. You have to do what’s best for her.”
Buttercup nodded. “So, the long and the short of it is that Princess Luna is throwing the book at you and she has the punch to back it up, since she got a chance to look inside your head while you were sleeping.”
Sun blinked at that. “What?”
Deep Digger crossed her forelegs, her lips twisting into a derisive sneer. “Dream walking, I’m afraid. I never thought that Luna would stoop so low as to use that as part of a prosecution!”
“...And she can do that?”
Buttercup nodded. “Magical evidence is legal. Luna’s dreamwalking magic is a known thing. She’s essentially testifying as a witness to the events.”
Sun sighed, running her hands through her hair. “Can’t we discuss a deal of some kind?”
Buttercup frowned and looked at the ponies around here. “Can you girls give me the table for a bit?”
“Okay,” Fluttershy said with a slight nod.
The fell back out of the room for now, leaving Sun and Buttercup alone. Buttercup steepled her hooves and looked Sun right in the eye with a stern look.
“So...fourteen counts of murder. Twelve guards, one shopkeeper and a griffin thug. Did you do it?”
Sun nodded. “Yup. But in the case of the shopkeep, it was self defense. With the guards...well I knew that Chrysalis had Twilight Sparkle and they were protecting Chrysalis…” She sighed and shook her head. “Look, I’m not sorry about what I did. People needed protecting. I’m fine with doing the time. Some of those poor bastard guards probably had no clue who they were working for. I’d just like the opportunity to get out if I keep my nose clean.”
Buttercup was quiet for a little while as she drifted off into thought.
“Considering that you were under the effects of a magical affliction at the time, I might be able to cut you a deal based on the idea of not being completely in control of your actions at the time. ...But understand, if you go this route, you will be spending a decent amount of time in prison. Are you sure that you’re okay with that?”
“I did a lot of horrible things as a vampire, Buttercup. I think it's time I paid back to society, at least a little bit.”
“...Alright. I’ll make the arrangements. If you’re sure?”
“I am.”
Buttercup nodded and shook Sun’s hand again. With the decision made, she trotted out of the common area to do her lawyer thing. Sun watched her go with a smile. This was the right call and ultimately, her decision.
Whatever happened in her life from here on out, it would be under her control.
The crinkle of a page turning fluttered through the cell.
Shang Xiang Sun’s eyes scanned down the page, drinking in every word. A collection of other books on Equestrian journalism were on a little cart across the cell. Sun had to give Equestria credit. They had an amazing rehabilitation program.
Buttercup had done her job well and a deal had been struck. Now Sun would be spending time in prison until she was deemed “no longer a danger to society”. She could live with that. Especially since she could actually work on finishing her journalism degree. Though, as there were no real records from her now non-existent college, it was more starting over again. Such was life, she supposed.
It had been a few weeks since her sentencing and she had started to settle into a routine.
“Mail call!”
Dropping her book back onto the cart, Sun hopped to her feet and and strolled over to her cell door. The pegasus guard on the other side had a trio of letters tucked under his wing. He passed them through the bars, Sun eagerly taking them to see who had written her this time.
The first featured the flowing script of Fluttershy. That wasn’t surprising as they had been exchanging letters since the sentencing, usually discussing some of her lingering feelings about her time as a bat pony. She had been showing a bit more confidence as of late, which was nice to see.
The second was from Deep Digger and cut straight to the point. She’d be coming by for another visit this weekend to do some more work on their book about the old world and Sun’s life during it.
The third was more of a surprise. The violet colored envelope bore the name of Twilight Sparkle on the return address. Flipping it over, she popped the wax seal and unfolded the letter within.
Hello Shang,
This is a bit of an odd letter for me to write. Since our little adventure in Manehattan, I’ve been talking to Princess Celestia about your world and what she remembers of it. ...I will admit, it took me a little bit to get over the fact that Celestia kept this information from me, but after a bit of a heart to heart, I think I understand her mindset a little more now.
But that’s not the important thing. The important thing is that she also told me about a previous student of hers. Her name was Sunset Shimmer and apparently she had been able to work out some bits and details about your world during her studies with Celestia. She vanished after she and Celestia had a fight about some kind of magical mirror she was convinced would help her become an alicorn.
I need to do some more research and track down where this mirror might actually be, but I figured you’d want to know. You might not be the only thing left over from the world that was!
-Sincerely,
Princess Twilight Sparkle
Sun sank into a seat on her cot, her mind drifting back towards that strange white void she had been in before her curse was broken. The voice had called her “daughter of Eve”, with no commentary on her being the last or not.
…Just what had this Sunset Shimmer found?
- - - -
Sunset Shimmer grumbled under her breath as she fished in her jeans pocket for her apartment key. With her arms full of grocery bags, it wasn’t exactly an easy trick to pull off.
“...This would have been so much easier if I was still a unicorn,” she hissed under her breath. “Stupid world. Stupid humans!”
Her attempt to become an alicorn had not gone to plan. For the low, low price of burning down her relationship with Princess Celestia, she had gotten herself a world full of bipedal hairless apes, whose magic was so damn unreliable it had almost blown her up the first time she had used it here!
Finally, her fingers closed around the key and she managed to jam it into the lock and slip into her apartment before dropping any of her bags. She had grown so tired of this world. The bitter irony of her search for magical power leading to a world that seemed to lack it in any real concentration was enough to make her puke. Even worse, when she had gone back to the portal to return to Equestria and perhaps beg for forgiveness...she had found the damn thing sealed.
Walking to her kitchen, she caught her reflection out of the corner of her eye in the hallway mirror. Long blonde hair, pale blue eyes and fair, peach colored skin. She sighed. She missed her two toned mane. She missed her amber colored coat.
She missed her home.
Despondent, she went through the motions of putting the groceries away. Her apartment was a far cry from her lodgings in Canterlot. Small and cramped it was furnished with cheap, second hand furniture that always made her back ache. But it was really the best she had been able to manage. At least she had been able to use her magic to establish an identity and get her into a college where she could establish some sort of life in this stupid world. ...Going through high school again had not been fun.
Just as she put the last of her food away, there was a knock on the door. Sighing, Sunset stomped back across the apartment and yanked it open. Two women in dark colored suits were waiting on the other side. The one on the right had dark brown hair, pulled back into a neat ponytail, pale skin and was wearing glasses. Her partner had the chocolate brown skin of this world’s people of african descent and wore her dark brown hair short and somewhat wild.
“Hello! Are you Sadie Summers?” the bespectacled woman asked, her voice light and cheerful.
Sunset nodded at the mention of her alias. “That’s me.”
Both women flashed badges at her. Sunset’s hair stood up as she took in three bold letters. FBI. She had learned not long after her arrival in this world that they were one of this nation’s law enforcement agencies.
“I’m special agent Temple Shaw. This is my partner special agent Isabelle Zabkar. We’re investigating some reports of identity theft in the area. Can we talk?”
Sunset frowned. “Do you have a warrant?”
Agent Isabelle shook her head. “This is just a conversation mam. Hoping to find a few leads.”
Sunset shrugged. “Sorry, I don’t really have anything I can help you with. I’m just a girl going to school for architecture.”
“You haven’t noticed any strange behavior from some of your fellow students?” Isabelle asked. “Because we have good reason to believe that there is an identity theft ring operating out of your college.”
Sunset shook her head. “Nothing has stood out, no.”
Before Agent Isabelle could ask any further questions, something in Agent Temple’s pocket began to beep. The agent removed a device that...well, it looked like a smartphone. Agent Temple frowned as she looked at something on the screen and then looked up at Sunset.
“It’s her. She’s the reality deviant.”
“What?”
Agent Isabelle’s arm lashed out, a hand closing around Sunset’s neck like a vice. Sunset could only hack and cough as the dark skinned woman effortlessly lifted her off the ground.
She smiled viciously at Sunset’s discomfort. “Well, well, well. Temple, I do think we’ve hit the jackpot! And I thought this little bitch would just point us in the right direction.”
Sunset did the only thing she could do. She channeled her magic through her hands in a wild and uncontrolled burst. Agent Isabelle was sent flying backwards, crashing into the side of a dark paneled van parked on the street.
Sunset gasped for air as stumbled back to her feet. Her body was aching from that blast, the backlash of magic having torn through her body in addition to throwing her attacker away.
Isabelle pulled herself from the side of the van, cracking her knuckles as she advanced, a murderous look in her eyes.
“I’m going to tear you apart!”
Sunset prepared to channel again, ready to fight against whoever these strange women were. She-
Pain tore through her body as electricity coursed through her. Agent Temple had jabbed a taser like device into her side and she collapsed to the ground again, her body twitching from the electricity.
“I could have taken her!” Isabelle shouted.
“Not without doing a lot of damage to her!” Temple snapped back. “She’s no good as a subject if she’s broken! Now help me get her in the van.”
Isabelle grabbed her legs, while Temple grabbed her arms. They began to haul her towards the back of the van when the sound of singing began to float through the air. The agents froze, dropping Sunset as they began to sway in time with the lyrics.
Feel the wave of sound,
As it crashes down,
You can’t turn away,
We’ll make you want to stay!
Three new women were advancing down the street, clearly the source of the song. The pale one in the middle had a mass of truly voluminous reddish-orange hair and wore and expression of smug superiority as she sang. To her right was a tanned skinned woman whose dark brown hair was pulled back into a pair of pigtails, that had some purple streaks dyed into them. To the first girl’s left was another pale skinned one, wearing a chipper expression as she advanced. Her hair was pulled back into a single ponytail.
Just as soon as she finished taking in these arrivals, Sunset heard the screech of tires on asphalt. A red colored pickup truck came to a screeching halt just behind the van. A blonde haired woman was behind the wheel, dressed in simple jeans, a button up red blouse and a cowboy hat.
“Unless ya wanna wind up in a lab, get in!”
Sunset didn’t need any convincing. She practically dove for the passenger’s side, tearing open the door and toppling onto the seat. The other three girls clambered into the bed of the truck, before the driver slammed on the gas and roared off, leaving the strange agents far behind them.
“I suppose I owe you one,” Sunset breathed after a few long silent minutes of driving.
“Couldn’t just leave ya to the likes of them,” the blonde girl spat. “Name’s Jackie by the way.”
“Sadie.”
“Nice ta meet ya Sadie.”
“So...just who were “them”. I’m guessing they weren’t actually the FBI?”
“Nah. They’re a whole hell of a lot worse.”
“But who are they?”
“They’re the Technocratic Union, sugarcube. They control the world behind the scenes. Consider this your introduction to the resistance.”
