Hey, Farm Girl!

Apple Bloom sat bolt upright in bed, immediately regretting doing so. Her head was aching horribly, and no matter how she tried to stay still, she still felt as if the room were spinning. Apple Bloom didn’t think she’d ever felt quite so… drained.

Her window shades had been tightly drawn shut, and the light beaming against them burned her eyes, even though it was very dim. Apple Bloom groaned in misery, dragging herself from her bed as the beating on her door grew louder.

“Come on now, young ‘un” Applejack called, pushing the door open and poking her head inside. “Just how late are you gonna sleep in today?”

“Ah don’t feel so good,” Apple Bloom stumbled past her sister, forcing her weary legs to pull her down the hall.

“Heh, you don’t look so good either, sugar cube,” her elder sister said with a hint of concern, watching as Apple Bloom blindly made her way to the restroom. “Lookin’ just about as pale as a snowmare, don’t you know it?”

The filly silently latched the door behind her, sliding against the cool sink and grasping her head in her hooves. She groaned quietly, the headache pounding loudly. Such a strange dream that she had been having… she couldn’t quite seem to clinch the mystery together. Perhaps she could if she weren’t in such an awful state.

Apple Bloom ran cold water through the tap for a few moments, letting the liquid pool into her hooves until they began to grow cold, and she dashed a bit of it against her face. Blinking heavily and giving her head a good shake, Apple Bloom breathed deeply into the towel she used to dry herself with.

She looked up sharply, staring in shock at her reflection.

Or, rather, her lack of one.

She gawked at the empty spot where she was supposed to be, blinking a few times and rubbing her eyes. Apple Bloom leaned in closer, straining to catch sight of the filly that wasn’t there. Apple Bloom felt herself to make sure she was really still there; and for some reason, a couple of her teeth seemed really sharp. She could see everything else just fine, the only thing missing from the mirror was her. It was completely mind boggling –

“Heytherefarmgirl!”

Apple Bloom fell backwards with a bloodcurdling shriek of terror as Alucard’s head burst seamlessly from the mirror, as if he were simply gliding through the wall. She clutched her heart in horror as he poked his head through the mirror, somehow managing to appear as if he were on the other side of it and coming through.

It took her a moment to realize that her heart wasn’t beating.

She sat in stunned silence, confused.

“I ain’t got no heartbeat!” Apple Bloom blurted in confusion eventually, leaning with her back against the wall.

“First of all, that’s a double negative statement,” Alucard pointed out, propping his head up with his hands as he balanced his elbows on the sink, leaning bent over through the mirror. “And secondly, pack your shit, Farm Girl.”

“Right in front of you?” Apple Bloom asked.

“… Wait, what?” Alucard blinked.

“But you said –”

“Fucking Christ on a Ferris wheel, you creep me out a little,” the vampire frowned. “Maybe drinking your blood wasn’t such a great idea after all.”

Apple Bloom’s hooves flew to her neck, and she patted around and eventually felt a tender spot on the side.

“I’m a vampony?!” Apple Bloom gasped in shock.

“Yes, for god’s sake,” Alucard rolled his bright red eyes, and Apple Bloom wondered if hers looked any different. “Now hurry up, we’re burning daylight.”

“I thought vamponies couldn’t go out durin’ the day?” she said in confusion.

“It’s vampire,” he explained. “And that’s a common misconception. For me, anyway. Yeah, you’ll get seven kinds of fucked up if you try going out in the sun without drinking blood.”

Apple Bloom blanched in horror at the thought.

“B-b-blood?”

“Yes,” he deadpanned, handing her a small plastic bag full of red liquid from inside his coat. “And even that’s no guarantee, considering that you’re a fresh fledgling. Just make sure that you drink up and fix your goddamn sleep schedule.”

He retreated into the mirror and vanished completely, leaving the stunned Apple Bloom staring at the small blood bag with slight disgust.

Where he even managed to get it was beyond her.

Apple Bloom stared in thought for a while, unblinkingly.

Did this mean that she was dead now? Sort of?

“Apple Bloom?” her sister rapped quietly on the door. “You alright in there, darlin’?”

“Y-yeah,” she replied weakly, pouring the blood down the sink in revulsion and washing it away. “Just, uh… just having a few… problems with blood, is all…”

It was dead silent for a moment, before Applejack snorted.

“Well, dadgum!” she chortled. “Sure are growin’ awful quick. I remember goin’ through the same problems, sugar cube.”

“You-you do?” Apple Bloom leaned against the door, almost hopeful.

“Eeyup,” she heard her sister reply. “Sucks to be you, darlin’. Puberty ain’t something fun.”

Puberty?

It suddenly occurred to Apple Bloom that technically, she had died before reaching puberty.

She wailed loudly, thumping her head against the sink.

“Bellyachin’ ain’t gonna make the cramps stop, darlin’.”