Seamus tapped his hoof against his table, the dull music playing in the background and the sparse lighting of the room making him want to fall asleep. The party hadn’t even started yet and he was already depressed. In a way the gathering was just another reminder that he was doomed to a life of servitude no matter where he went, either directly as Melody did, or indirectly, as this society he was now in expected him to be. He was to be bound to the wants and need of the people. He was to be a ruler, just as Luna and Celestia were.

He looked at the performer’s podium, Octavia was strumming at her instrument professionally, her hooves moving across the bridge of the strings so quickly and fluidly it was as if the instrument was a mere extension of her body. His eyes welled up as he thought of Sky and how he could play flute like that. Compared to pale-blue pegasus, he was an amateur that fumbled to find even the slightest thread of musical coherence. Sky could play any sort of instrument with a reed, be it an oboe or clarinet or even a saxophone, the colt could play just as Octavia could play her bass, as if it was a mere extension of his mind and will, the music a direct reflection of his thoughts and emotions.  

Seamus buried his head in his hooves, heartbreak and headache mixing into his misery like cyanide into a punch bowl. He wanted to drink some so badly, if only to not have to face the fact that he had abandoned, no, sacrificed his friend and partner to his worst enemies. He could just feel the colt’s feather’s running over him, warming him  as he would lay  there in bed. Sometimes Seamus would curl around him, just to feel protected and safe, especially when it had been a rough week. The feel of the other colt grooming his wings, brushing the fine down with his hooves and whispering sensual, deeply arousing things into his ear while he massaged his back and sides made Seamus want to puke. He didn’t deserve any of that, but here he was, free, and Sky was still in the North, imprisoned and probably twice as miserable as him.

Luna trotted up and slammed her hoof onto the table, startling the colt and rattling the fine silverware.

“Get ready to…” She stopped as she looked at his face, the tears in his eyes threatening to spill out and run down his face.. “Suck it up and get ready to look nice for the guests.” She rolled her eyes apathetically. “I don’t have to sit here and counsel you over you and your damn colt-friend.”

She walked away, leaving him to cry in relative peace. He buried his face once again, shielding himself from the eyes of others with his wings. Tears ran down his cheeks, soaking the tablecloth below. He sobbed and tried to stop himself, but every time he thought of Sky, well meaning, sweet and innocent Sky… he felt another piece of his soul crumble to dust and fall into the black pit that was becoming his heart.

“Sky… I’m sorry… I just wanted to be free… I love you…” He whispered.

Luna slammed her hoof onto the table again, scaring the daylights out of him.

“Get up and dry the waterworks. I don’t care if he was the god’s damned colt of your dreams!  Get up, wipe your eyes and lets get his party under way.” She hissed, completely uncaring and insensitive to his heartache and misery.

He did as he was told and dried his tears, wiping his eyes with his wing and arranging his feathers to look neat, formal. The guests were arriving at the front gate now, many were in very formal attire and some didn’t speak any Equestrian, so understanding them was next to impossible. Seamus shook each of their hooves and meekly introduced himself to some, not putting any real attention on any specific pony. Luna leaned down to his level and hissed into his ear during a lull in the line to scold him.

“Put a little enthusiasm into it, or I’ll show you how I used to be punished when I was a foal…” She threatened.

The evening carried on and Seamus spoke to each and every visitor, even Soarin, which was an uncomfortable affair. He got it over with, though. Eventually he found himself at his own table again, he was grateful to be alone and away from Luna.

“Greetings foal.” A disturbingly familiar voice whispered.

Seamus froze and lifted his head to see Jakben, his blue coat groomed and contained under a fanciful tan suit, his blonde mane in a ponytail. “I just thought you could use some company.” He chuckled, smiling to reveal his long, dagger-like fangs..

The alicorn glanced around him desperately; there was nopony near him, nopony to call for help. Although he was at a party, he may as well be on a desolate island for as much good the crowd was doing him. Jakben fit in perfectly and he could slip away at any time he pleased, even if the young colt yelled for help, the vampire would be gone by the time anypony made it to the table.

“Guess who else is here, boy.” The nosferatu teased, toying with him and eyeing him with his dark, almost black sanguine irises. “I’ll give you a hint… his name rhymes with pie…

“Did anypony say anythingabout pie?!” Soarin was at the table faster than anypony, even Jakben could react.

“Dammit! NO! Begone, you bothersome pest!” Jakben cursed and waved the pegasus away, startled by the other ponies’ sudden appearance.

Once the Wonderbolt had left he resumed. “Anyway, your little colt-whore is here to see you. I suggest you get to the guest bedroom if you’d like to meet him again. It might be your last chance, after all….”

Seamus didn’t need to hear any more than that. He got up and left the table, his mind only fixed on the one thing he wanted most, seeing his partner again. He ran down the corridors, paying no mind to anything that was going on around him. Jakben followed, an awfully amused grimace gracing his vampiric face. The way Seamus ran like it was his sole purpose on earth amused him, like it was merely all a game or a sport to be enjoyed.

The alicorn skidded to a halt in front of the guest’s bedroom and looked up at the locked door, his feathers were ruffled and his breathe gone from his uninterrupted sprint. He broke the lock on the door magically, much to Jakben’s surprise, and charged into the room.

Fluttershy tapped her hoof on the washroom sink, contently reading a book. Parties weren’t much of her thing, so she had decided to just take a bath and read a book on the many types of forest plants while she relaxed. Her mane was in a towel and her hooves were polished to where they gleamed in the faint light, she had her hooves crossed and propped on the tub as she sat on the toilet, leaning her back against the basin. She had cinnamon scented candles lighting the small room, enhancing the relaxing atmosphere. Not a lot made it better than this, the only thing missing was Aloe massaging her shoulders and this would be one of her best spa days ever.

She heard a crash and the deadbolts on the bathroom door ram home, the locks permanently breaking into position. She rose from her comfortable seat and checked the door handle. It was locked and the mechanism wouldn’t work from her side. She thought about yelling for help, but she heard whispers from the other side of the door.

“Well, should I go get him?” A cultured male voice hissed.

“Not yet, I have a little gift for the boy.” A female voice commanded.

Fluttershy covered her mouth with her hoof to muffle her gasp. She recognized the voices of Melody and Jakben, the two must have snuck in when among the guests. She froze; if she was detected Jakben would undoubtedly torture and kill her in the most brutal way he knew. She remained silent and looked through the keyhole, trying to get a better view of the situation.

“I don’t care about your games with these foals, my prey is at the party and I want to sink my teeth into her flank now!” Jakben hissed, licking his lips. He looked paler than usual and his lips were white; Fluttershy knew he was starving. “That bitch is going to beg for it… her last act is going to be begging for me to finish her.”

Fluttershy fought back panic, knowing that if she did panic her heart would betray her, he would hear it beating and that would be the end of the line.

“I don’t care, go find the boy so we can get started. After all we only have one night. Ah, the things I have in store for that wretch…” Melody sighed. “Go, find him so we can finish both of them, you did hide the boy, right?”

“He’s under the bed and blindfolded, helpless as a newborn. I’ll be back momentarily.” The vampire disappeared in a breathe of wind.

Fluttershy looked around for any way to get out and warn somepony, but the vents to the room were far too narrow and there were no other exits. Next she looked around for anything that could be used to defend herself, a razor or maybe even a silver rod. No such luck. She was alone and helpless in the washroom. Moments passed… then minutes… after a while it felt like hours… the only thing she heard was her heart hammering blood into her ears as she crouched on the tile floor, terrified that she would be found.

“I have to warn somepony…” She whispered to strengthen her resolve.

Her determination failed, miserably. Panic set in. She was doomed. If Jakben came back and found her she was worse than dead. If anypony came to find her they would be killed and she would be killed as well. If somepony managed to overpower both Jakben and Melody then it would probably be one of the two’s dieing acts to kill one of the young colts. She was in the worst place at the worst time, as usual. Something in her clicked at that moments, an almost natural reaction to knowing you’re confronted with certain death.

She relaxed, if it was going to be her last moments on earth, she didn’t want to diminish the chances of somepony else surviving. So with grim acceptance, she leaned back toward the door to look into the room.

Melody was pulling a sack out from under the bed and untying it. The ropes were thick and her dainty hooves had to work to undo the knots, but eventually she succeeded and pulled the bag off the young colt, who was similarly tied, his wings bound to his sides and his mane untidy and in his mare-ish face. She gave him a jolting smack; Fluttershy winced at the blow, it resonated off the walls and made her think hooves on a chalkboard. The sound was so sharp her ears rung afterwards.

Sky jolted awake, a huge hoof-print on the side of his head and a trickle of blood running from his ear.

“What was that for!” He yelled, his voice cracking.

“To wake you up, you waste of life.” She spat.

His eyes watered and his skull still wrung with the reverberations of her cruel backhoof. He buried his face in the mattress and mumbled something unintelligible to himself.

“What did you just say?” She hoisted him to her eye level by his mane, causing him to whimper in pain. “Tell me what you said, wretch!”

“I want to see Sea.” He said, his voice hardly a whisper.

She threw him back down onto the bed and rolled her eyes. “You’ll see him in due time, I assure you. I made you a deal and I’m a mare of my word….

Sky sighed and sat down on the pillow, which to him was massive, and took a small black feather out from under his wing. He ran it over his cheek and kissed it lovingly, his eyes half-closed.

“Sea…” He sighed, imagining seeing his love again.

“Stop fantasizing, queer.” Melody spat. “I have half a mind to put you down just because of that. You’re damned lucky you talked me into signing this agreement with my daughter, otherwise you would still be performing cunnilingus for the guard captains.”

Sky shuddered at the memory. He had been locked in a room with the guard captain and she had pinned him down... she'd made him…. The colt shook away the thought, focusing on Seamus. He was going to see him again, and there was nothing he wouldn’t do to be able to just touch the other colt one more time, to apologize and to say that he had always loved him. Even if it meant he had to do… ‘that’ again.

Jakben  strode into the room with Seamus close behind him. The vampire slammed the door shut and Sky jumped off the bed to embrace his partner. Each of the two captors seized one of the colts to keep the two apart. Jakben pulled out a magical sheathe and tied it over Seamus’ horn to keep him from using any spells to escape. Melody pulled a vial of red liquid out from under a pillow as this happened, unstoppering it.

“Now, you two can go on your merry ways once Sky drinks this.” She held up the vial of poison.

Seamus screamed and leapt at her to be caught again by the vampire, who held him back by his horn and wings, applying constant leverage.

“If you want to ever do magic again, stop struggling or I’ll snap it off.” The nosferatu applied pressure to his skull, causing the alicorn to go limp and stare at the venom in Melody’s hooves.

“You can both go free, but Sky must drink this first.” She smiled, shaking the glass and holding it out to Sky.

Sky looked at it and then to Seamus, who shook his head before Jakben could stop him, his eyes were huge, begging him not to. The pegasus looked then to Melody and asked.

“How long will I have?” He said, his voice barely audible.

“Twenty-four hours, then you slip into a coma and die.” She said sweetly, a mocking smile on her face.

He looked at it one more time and downed the venom in one gulp.

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