Luna stirs and opens her eyes, her back thanking her for sleeping on a cushioned surface as she once more stares up at the darkened ceiling of Twilight Sparkle's library. After taking a moment to stretch her legs towards the wood-blocked sky, Luna rolls straight from the couch onto her hooves, swaying slightly as she yawns and looks around. Night Glider, Shadow Strike, and Lunar Trail salute as her gaze finds them, her scan of the recently cleaned and reshelved room continuing until it lands on a basket full of personal hygiene products tactfully placed partially beneath the armrest at the other end of the couch, the gift decorated so ornately with gems and ribbon as to have only possibly come from one pony.

Selena snickers, How subtle of her.

Rarity does have something of a point though, Luna admits, the feeling of dirt and dust on her coat, leftover from their journey through the Everfree and daytime stay in an abandoned castle, suddenly becoming uncomfortably noticeable.

“Night Glider,” Luna says, returning her attention to the three thestrals standing in the room with her, “are the rest of the Night Guard awake?”

Night Glider shakes his head, “I don’t think so. None of them have come up here, and we haven’t heard any movement from the tunnels.”

Luna nods, “I see. Please wake them and wait for me here.”

“At once, Princess,” Night Glider replies, both he and his fellow guards bowing before turning and disappearing down the tunnel to Twilight’s basement.

Taking her leave of the library as well, Luna walks over to the blackout curtains blocking access to the kitchen, preemptively raising a hoof to shield her eyes before pushing the light-impervious cloth aside with a simple telekinesis spell and walking into the light.

“Good evening, Luna,” Twilight greets through a mouthful of food, looking up from a green bowl filled with her breakfast as Luna lets the curtains fall back into place behind her. Swallowing, Twilight levitates a large box sitting beside her bowl, “Oats?”

Luna lowers her leg, eyes stinging as she squints at the box.

Sweet Oats

Grown and Honeyed Locally!

Luna smiles gratefully, “Thank you, that sounds wonderful.”

Opening one of her cabinets, Twilight levitates another bowl, this one a deep blue, in front of Luna, topping it off with oats before placing the box back on the table.

Luna lowers her nose to just above the recently poured food and inhales deeply, her eyes distant as she devours a mouthful of the oats, “Mmm~… normal food always tastes so much better after having eaten far too many desserts.”

Twilight chuckles, “I know what you mean. I’ll never understand how Pinkie manages to keep enjoying her sweets day after day, regardless of how good they are.”

“'Tis a great mystery indeed,” Luna agrees, snickering. “And yet, it is merely one of many surrounding the most enigmatic of the Pie clan.”

“Twilight, I’m back!” Spike calls out as he walks in through the open door to the outside, stopping to glance between the two giggling mares. “Did I miss something?”

“Not at all, young Spike,” Luna answers cheerfully. “Though, on the topic of food, were you able to procure the apples I requested last morning?”

Spike smiles proudly, “Yup! I just walked here with Big Mac and Cheerilee; they left four bushels of them outside, plus one empty one. Should I bring them in? The apples, I mean. Big Mac and Cheerilee aren’t here anymore; they said they were going to try and get to the town hall before too many other ponies showed up.”

Luna shakes her head, “There is no need.”

Levitating her bowl, Luna walks past Spike to stand partially through the open door, a muted burst of light from beyond the doorway quickly followed by a flurry of muffled hoofsteps and wingbeats from the library.

“We noticed that you obtained a couple gallons of carrot juice as well,” Luna says, looking at Spike as she steps fully back into the kitchen.

Spike shrugs, “As good as the Apple’s apples are, I figured some variety would be nice.”

“Our thanks, the thought is appreciated,” Luna replies, bobbing her head once before returning her gaze to Twilight. “And thanks again to you as well, Twilight, for allowing us and our thestrals to stay here, and on such short notice.”

Twilight waves a hoof dismissively, “What are friends for?”

“Still, we feel we must also apologize for forcing such a drastic change to your sleep schedule,” Luna replies, honoring the question’s rhetorical nature rather than arguing the point. “I know this is not the usual time for you to be eating breakfast.”

Twilight shrugs as she consumes a small mouthful of oats, quickly chewing and swallowing before answering, “It isn’t that different, honestly. I was researching – well, attempting to research – chaos magic before all of this started, so I was already staying up pretty late. Some days I’d eat breakfast only a couple hours earlier than I am now.”

“We are glad to know that our presence has not caused you too much trouble,” Luna says. “And though I am loath to burden your hospitality further, may I make use of your balcony and your bathroom?”

“You may,” Twilight replies, smiling slightly at the correctness of Luna’s request.

Luna gives a nod of thanks, levitating her bowl with her as she walks towards the library, only to pause in front of the curtains and look back at Twilight, “Also, have you had any further thoughts on my proposed plan since last night?”

Twilight shakes her head, “Not really. You have some good points, and logically I think your plan makes a lot of sense, but I just can’t shake the feeling that it still won’t be enough. The changelings I’m not so worried about, especially since Fluttershy agreed to help with the announcement, but also because the worst case scenario for them would be to either move somewhere else and take another form, or to return to their hives. The vamponies don’t have the benefit of any of them embodying an Element of Harmony though, and we don’t have any backup plans besides telling them ‘please go hide by some other town and try not to get caught until we think of something else’, which would then cause a whole bunch of new problems for Ponyville too – assuming they’d even agree to leave.”

Twilight hesitates, looking at Luna uncertainly, “I… suppose we could cite the few existing laws Equestria has regarding endangered species, since vamponies would almost certainly qualify, but at that point we might as well just decree whatever we want for all the good it would do to actually convince anypony.”

“I would be lying if I said we did not share your worries,” Luna says solemnly, though a smile nonetheless manages to make its ways across her lips as she speaks. “But, if last night’s party is anything to go by, then I am also confident that our worries are misplaced.”

Twilight’s lips curve into a small smile as well, and she nods, “I hope so.”

Leaving Twilight to finish her meal, Luna re-enters the library, the smile adorning her muzzle slowly replaced by a frown as she sees all but one of her thestrals gathered around four bushels, each of the wooden containers holding a steadily decreasing supply of apples as the fruits’ shrunken husks are tossed into the fifth bushel. Meanwhile, a lone guard sits a few feet away from her comrades, an amused grin on her face, several drained apples at her side, and a miniature, gallon-sized barrel of carrot juice held in her hooves as she watches the feeding frenzy.

Draining the last few mouthfuls from the undersized barrel, the carrot juice drinking guard places it on the floor next to the remains of the apples she had consumed, lazily sending a glance towards the shaft of light coming from the alicorn-wide gap in the curtains to the kitchen, then returning her gaze to the feasting taking place in front of her. Less than a second later her eyes widen and she jumps to her hooves, sparing enough time to chuck a few apple husks at her fellow guards before standing at attention, the annoyance of those hit by her projectiles lasting only until they look over at what had caused her to throw them.

Once she has the undivided attention of every last one of her guards, Luna steps further into the library, the gap in the curtains closing behind her with an ominous swish.

“We see that you have all donned your full armor,” Luna states disapprovingly.

“Yes, Princess!” several thestrals reply not quite simultaneously, their responses overlapping disharmoniously.

“Including your steel hoofshoes,” Luna adds, her eyes narrowing in the ensuing silence. “Which you are using to walk upon the wooden floor of Princess Twilight Sparkle’s place of residence.”

The thestrals’ eyes widen in horror as they look down to see the nicked up wood beneath their hooves, all 28 of them hastily pulling off their shoes and placing them to the side of the room while Luna walks past.

“If Princess Twilight wishes for the damage to her floor to be repaired, you will all be volunteering to aid her in that task,” Luna says from part way up the stairs to the second floor, Rarity’s gift basket glowing blue and rising to float behind her bowl of oats.

Reaching the highest balcony of Twilight’s tree house, Luna exhales slowly, releasing the annoyance caused by her guards into the evening air. Turning to the west, she munches on her oats as she watches the last minutes of the day pass, gently pushing her sister’s sun beneath the horizon before turning to the east, the moon beginning its ascent under her command and supervision.

Descending the way she had come once her pair of tasks are complete, Luna stops at Twilight’s bathroom, placing the basket as well as the now empty bowl on the floor. Taking a toothbrush and a tube of toothpaste from among the many other hygiene-focused products, she begins systematically purging her mouth of plaque, her eyes watering as the minty tasting paste comes into contact with her tongue.

I would have preferred chocolate flavored, personally, Selena comments.

Luna rolls her eyes, Quiet, you.

Placing the toothbrush and paste back into the basket once her teeth are sufficiently clean, she rinses her mouth, levitates a bar of scented soap held snugly in a crystalline container, and turns on the shower. However, instead of standing beneath the cascade of water, she catches the liquid in her magic, the stream of cleansing fluid swirling around the soap before touching her body and returning to fall into the shower drain afterwards – her magic leaving none behind to dampen her coat. Returning the soap to the basket as well, she pulls out a mane brush, eying it dubiously as it floats in front of her.

Selena snickers, Has she not seen your mane?

Luna sighs, nevertheless running the brush through her mane a few times, though it simply flows back into its previous shape, the essence of the night sky contained within moving according to its own whims.

“-and we’re really, really sorry for our thoughtlessness, Princess Twilight,” Luna overhears as she descends the final flight of stairs, looking down at the ground floor once it comes into view to see Twilight resting her face on one of her forehooves while Spike glares at the thestrals, his arms folded across his chest and a look of utter disappointment etched onto his features.

“Are you ready to depart, Twilight?” Luna asks, levitating her gift basket and empty bowl onto the couch as she leaves the last of the stairs behind her.

Twilight sighs, glancing around the floor of her library resignedly, “I… I guess.”

We really must make it up to Twilight for taking over her home

And damaging it, Selena adds helpfully.

Luna groans internally, That too.

Letting none of her mental conversation show on her face, Luna leaves Twilight’s home, Twilight and Spike following to stand beside her. The trio waits a few steps beyond the front door as the Night Guards file out after them, the armored thestrals hastily re-equipping their hoofshoes once outside and forming a protective circle around the pair of princesses and dragon before setting off, Night Glider, Lunar Trail, and Shadow Strike taking point.

The group comes to a stop just outside the circular town square, their path blocked by a herd of ponies nearly a thousand strong packed into the area surrounding the entrance to the town hall. However, the presence of the princesses and their guards quickly draws the attention of those closest to the royal escort and they back away, the resulting gap creating a route to allow the entire formation to march onward unchanged. The crowd continues to part in front of the alicorns, thestrals, and dragon as they walk forward, moving aside like water before the bow of a ship – and closing behind them just as rapidly.

Walking around a podium perched on the topmost step of the stairs leading up to the town hall once they make their way through the crowd, Night Glider and Shadow Strike hold open the double doors to the town hall’s interior. As soon as the two princesses and Spike pass through the doorway, each of them allows their door to close and takes a position to the side of the door they had held open, Lunar Trail standing a few strides in front of the doors while the rest of the Night Guard spread out along the edges of the whispering crowd.

Inside the town hall, Luna and Twilight look over the ponies waiting for them, Luna speaking after a quick check verifies all those needed are present, “We are glad to see that you are all already here.”

Luna’s gaze sweeps the gathered ponies once more, moving from the undisguised Bon Bon and Cheerilee standing beside their special someponies, to the four vampony volunteers, to the rest of the Element bearers and Mayor Mare, “Before we begin, does anypony have last minute questions or concerns they would like to voice now?”

Several ponies glance from side to side as the silence drags past several seconds, Luna nodding after seemingly an eternity, “Very well. In that case, it is time for us to head outside; however, there are particular positions I would like all of us to take. I will be at the center with Twilight on my right and Mayor Mare on my left, both half a step behind me; Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Spike will stand approximately three steps directly behind us; Bon Bon, Lyra, Cheerilee, and McIntosh will be on Mayor’s left and another half step behind her; and Midnight, Moon Shadow, Blue Moon, and Aurora Moon will be on Twilight’s right, also half a step behind her. Are there any objections to that arrangement?”

Everypony present shakes their head, a few giving their quiet verbal acceptance as well.

Luna’s lips twitch in a suppressed smile at their responses and she stands a little taller, pride in her fellow ponies warming her heart as she briskly turns to face the doors, “Then, let us address the town.”

The town hall’s doors glow a translucent blue and swing open, swatting Lunar’s tail and just barely missing his hindquarters. The thestral guard gives a belated hop forward out of the door’s range, then jumps aside as Luna leaves the building, his princess walking past him to stand behind the not quite tall enough podium placed front and center of the crowd. Everyone else follows in her wake and takes their assigned positions, Bon Bon and Cheerilee sticking side-by-side with Lyra and Big Mac while the vamponies move together in one larger, nervous clump with Midnight in the lead.

Slowly turning her head from one side to the other as she looks out across the sea of faces, Luna clears her throat and draws in a deep breath, an enchantment on the podium magnifying her voice so all can hear her clearly, “Greetings, everypony. As I am sure you are all more or less aware of by now, there has been a great deal of unusual activity going on these last few days, perhaps moreso than is normal even by Ponyville’s standards. The end result of all of this being the discovery of two more tribes of pony making their home here, in addition to earth ponies, pegasi, and unicorns.” Luna gestures to her right, “Members of one of these tribes, vamponies, were entirely unknown to exist previously, and live nearby within the Everfree Forest,” she gestures to her left, “while the other tribe, changelings, have been living in Ponyville itself as members of your community.”

“Both myself, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and my sister, Princess Celestia, have spent time talking with, and learning about, them, their tribes, and their reasons for being here, as well as their admittedly rather unique needs,” Luna continues, her voice echoing faintly as it bounces off the buildings surrounding the town square. “You were all called here tonight so that everypony will know what we have found out, and so that you will all be aware of the path forward that myself, Twilight Sparkle, and Mayor Mare have decided upon in order to allow the earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi of Ponyville to have the greatest degree of safety and choice possible while also allowing the changelings and vamponies to obtain what they need to survive.”

Luna takes a moment to lick her dried lips, her audience remaining utterly silent, “Of the two tribes, it is the most recently discovered one, the vamponies, which I believe will prove to be the most controversial – but also the most important to Ponyville as a whole, as well as to everypony who lives here in one way or another – and therefore is the topic that shall be covered first.”

Luna pauses, allowing herself a couple deep breaths in preparation for the next leg of her speech, “There have been, I am sure, many rumors swirling and growing to all kinds of proportions about them, so I will get straight to the point. They are called vamponies for a reason. They do require drinking pony blood at regular intervals in order to survive, and they are entirely carnivorous, which is to say they do not eat plants at all, however-”

Luna ceases speaking as fearful whispers erupt from the crowd, her brow knitting in irritation as they quickly grow in volume until they are no longer whispers, “SILENCE!”

A hoof touches her shoulder as she glares angrily out at the now completely quiet crowd, her head jerking to her right to see Twilight standing closer and offering an encouraging smile.

Luna blinks and looks at the floor, taking a few deep, panting breaths as she lets the brief rush of panic-induced adrenaline begin to fade before looking back up at the assembled ponies, “I do realize how that sounds at first; the idea that there are blooddrinking carnivores living close by is, by itself, quite terrifying. However, it is of paramount importance for that information to be put in the proper context. It is true that they eat meat, and it is true that they live very close to Ponyville, but it is in fact their very presence which allows Ponyville to exist as it does, or even, perhaps, to exist at all. I say this because vamponies do not eat other ponies; they instead eat other creatures of the Everfree, many of whom are also predators and would eat a pony, if given the chance. Their presence is what keeps monsters such as manticores and chupacabra at bay; it is what allows the occasional filly or colt to wander into the Everfree and return unharmed; it is largely what has allowed Zecora to live inside the Everfree and survive doing so for as long as she has; and it is what has allowed Ponyville to grow as large as it has while being located right next to the Everfree Forest, yet at the same time only suffering the rarest of attacks from creatures originating from the forest – even then those attacks are almost entirely by timberwolves, which are made of plant material.”

Luna pauses once more and sighs, taking the opportunity to examine the crowd’s reaction.

They seem more confused than anything now, Selena comments.

Confused is far better than fearful, Luna replies, a random sampling of ponies’ expressions giving a diverse set of results. Though I believe ‘uncertain’ would be a more apt description.

Still, we’re not even close to half way through our announcement.

They’ll have all the time they need to consider what we have said after we have said it, Luna thinks in response, slightly adjusting her footing and position behind the podium.

“Now, that covers part of their diet, the other part then being their need to drink pony blood.” Luna looks out across the entire width and breadth of the crowd in front of her, “And I do mean need. If they do not consume pony blood every one to three weeks, they will eventually die. So, given the benefits of their presence to Ponyville, and the fact that they have been living beside Ponyville without causing any harm to anypony for centuries, we have come up with the following framework – which myself, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and Mayor Mare find acceptable and which the vamponies have agreed to follow – in order to allow both them and us to continue peacefully coexisting now that we are aware of their presence.”

“The way things currently work,” Luna continues, “and have very likely worked since nearly the founding of Ponyville, is that at night, if a vampony needs blood, they will come into town, sneak into somepony’s house, bite one of the occupants, drink the blood they need, heal the wound, and then leave. The pony whose blood has been drunk then wakes up the next day unharmed and, as evidenced by how long vamponies have been able to do this without being discovered, none the wiser that anything has even happened. I can also vouch for the harmlessness of this method personally, having voluntarily allowed one of the vamponies standing up here to feed from me while I was conscious. Therefore, we – Mayor Mare, Twilight Sparkle, and I – have decided to follow the tried and true adage ‘if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it’; there does not seem to be any compelling reason to force dramatic change on something that has worked well for hundreds of years. This means that vamponies will, by default, be allowed to continue doing what they have been doing as though nothing has changed.”

“However,” Luna says, raising her voice over an outbreak of discontented murmuring, “while by default nothing will be changing from the vampony’s side of things, there will be a small change on the residents of Ponyville’s side, one which I believe most will see as a change for the better, as well as a choice to be made.”

Luna inhales deeply, holds the breath for several seconds, then exhales, making sure her thoughts are gathered and in order before speaking, “Ponyville is a rather unique town for many reasons, one of those being its relative safety despite its proximity to the Everfree Forest. In Ponyville’s case, as has been mentioned, it is the vamponies’ presence which provides this safety. Most towns anywhere near the Everfree do not have such an arrangement however, the result being that those towns are required by necessity to provide for the maintenance of a protective wall or barrier as well as to support a contingent of guards and-or a group of protectors from one of Equestria’s monster hunting agencies. As Ponyville does not have to support that kind of infrastructure due to the vamponies living nearby, it then makes sense to update Ponyville’s tax laws to reflect this much more unique trade-off. What this means in practice, is that everypony who allows things to remain as they are now will be able to deduct roughly five percent from the total of their taxes due to Ponyville. There will, of course, be exceptions for those who are too young, too old… essentially anypony who would not be eligible to donate blood.”

Luna pauses for a few seconds, letting her words sink in before continuing, “And I say ‘allows’ because, as I said, everypony here has a choice to make. You can choose to let things remain as they have been for hundreds of years, and receive a tax reduction for helping those who have, by and large, kept the dangers of the Everfree Forest at bay, or, you can choose not to. For those of you who would prefer to make the second choice… ” Luna levitates a small, wooden sign out from the hollow insides of the podium, the sign featuring a single, red drop of blood carved into the wood overlaid by a black circle with a slash through it, “This sign will be available free of charge for you to hang on your front door, or if some ponies in a household object to assisting the vamponies while other do not, to hang on individual doors within one’s home. You will be able to pick these up after this speech is over, as well as at any time from Mayor Mare’s office in the town hall.”

Luna smiles, her shoulders sagging with relief as she places the sign back inside the podium, “And finally, there will be another, as of yet untested option which will become available in the next weeks for those uncomfortable with the status quo – donating blood at Ponyville’s hospital. Those who opt into this method will receive a flat amount of bits in return based on volume given, as well as a few other factors. Mayor Mare will give more details on the changes supporting that option will require.”

Her speech complete, Princess Luna moves to the left and backs up as Mayor Mare does the opposite, Ponyville’s elected leader taking Luna’s place behind the podium.

“Thank you for that very thorough explanation,” Mayor says, giving Luna a nod of acknowledgement before looking out across the crowd wearing a calm smile. “As Princess Luna said, there will eventually be the option to donate blood through our local hospital as a way to support the vamponies; however, the hospital will need to receive some modifications before that is possible. The first change will be an expansion of the current blood bank maintained by the hospital. This will require new equipment, upgrades to some of our current equipment, as well as additional staff to operate everything along with allowing blood donation on a walk-in basis. So if anypony knows any medically inclined ponies who would be interested, there will be at least a few new positions opening up within the next several weeks.”

Mayor pauses for a second, continuing after shifting from standing to sitting behind the podium, “The second, and more significant, of the changes will be the addition of an entire new wing dedicated to vampony research which will be headed, in part, by our own Princess Twilight Sparkle,” Mayor says, gesturing at Twilight with a raised foreleg. “This will be a much larger project, and will require renovating certain parts of the hospital since, although you can’t tell from the outside, some sections of the original hospital are still present, and as such are over 100 years old. The old operating theater, for example, which was outdated almost as soon as it was built, will be replaced with one, or perhaps even two, proper operating rooms depending on the available space. There are also some rooms that lack basic things like air conditioning, as anypony who has ever been unfortunate enough to have been placed in rooms 131-133 can confirm, which will finally be fixed during the renovations as well.”

“YEAH!” Bulk Biceps shouts amid a smattering of other cheers and stamping of approval.

Mayor Mare raises her other foreleg, this time gesturing at the princess on her other side, “And while this kind of project is quite expensive, Princess Luna has generously promised funding to pay for both these changes in their entirety.”

A significant portion of the crowd voices their approval of this news, Mayor only continuing once the noise dies down, “Now, that covers everything there is to say regarding the vamponies, but as I’m sure you’ve all heard – and can, well, see – vamponies are not the only new tribe of pony to have been discovered living here. A few changelings have been found to be living in Ponyville as well, their presence having quite reasonably sparked some concerns which Princess Twilight will be addressing momentarily.”

Mayor Mare steps back, swapping places with Twilight who scans the crowd now staring at her and smiles nervously, “Hello everypony. As Mayor Mare said, many ponies have voiced their concern over the presence of changelings in Ponyville, most of whom have been willing to do so privately, though a few have felt the need to do so rather, uhm, publicly.”

Twilight swallows, “I-In any case, the first thing that I think needs to be established is that, like the vamponies, changelings living in Ponyville is not actually a new occurrence. Bon Bon has been living here for a few years, Cheerilee has been in Ponyville for even longer, and prior to the invasion of Canterlot and my becoming an alicorn there was what could be considered an entire small changeling community living peacefully within Ponyville for many years. That said, the only changelings living in Ponyville right now are the ones standing up here with me. If they are not up here with me, then they are not possibly a changeling, so please, stop reporting ponies to me as potentially being changelings just because they do something you think is weird – at the rate this is happening, every pony in town will have been reported at least once in another five days or so. Also, on a related note, none of the changelings up here have replaced anypony. There is no ‘real’ Cheerilee or Bon Bon being held in a cocoon in a cave somewhere who needs to be rescued.”

Twilight clears her throat, “Anyway… now that that’s out of the way, it is also very important to note that none of the changelings in Ponyville had anything to do with the invasion of Canterlot. In fact, they aren’t even from the same hive as the one which attacked Canterlot, and learned about what happened at the same time everypony else did. And yes, I did say they are not from the same hive, which does mean that there are other changeling hives within Equestria – several, in fact. As far as those other hives are concerned, Princess Luna and I will be heading to Canterlot in a couple of days to meet with Princess Celestia and Princess Cadence in order to write a letter to be sent to these other hives and their queens. Once that is done, and a lower latency method of communication can be established, there will likely be some form of negotiation between us and them, just as if we had found an independent, hidden enclave of any other sapient species within Equestria for some reason.”

“Now, regarding the fact that changelings feed on emotions – I have not yet been able to gather as much information as I would like on the subject, given how busy Mayor Mare, my friends, and I have been while Princess Luna was in the Everfree,” Twilight continues, her voice strengthening with conviction. “Nevertheless, I can tell you with the utmost confidence that it is almost certainly harmless in all but the most extreme circumstances. The reason I can say this, despite not having all the information I would normally need, is because of the ponies involved.”

Twilight points at the closest of the changelings to her left, “The first of whom, Bon Bon, risked everything to willingly reveal herself to her marefriend, Lyra, after the invasion of Canterlot, despite Lyra having been attacked and brainwashed by the hostile changelings at the wedding, so she would know that not all changelings are bad. Then there’s Cheerilee, who is, based on everything I’ve ever heard from parents and students alike, one of the best teachers Ponyville has ever had – the only real complaints being about a few boring classes or difficult homework assignments, which when you’re dealing with fillies and colts their ages by yourself in a one room schoolhouse is nothing short of amazing. And finally, because of one other pony who you all should know, and who is a very good friend of mine.”

Luna sidesteps away from Twilight, leaving a gap between them as Twilight looks at one of the ponies standing behind them, her voice quiet enough to not be picked up by the magical podium, “Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy twitches at the invitation into the spotlight as though the words had given her whole body a static shock, after a few seconds taking one small, tremulous step forward while staring determinedly at the ground, then another, eventually coming to a stop between Twilight and Luna in front of the once more completely silent crowd. The wooden platform beneath her hooves blurs before her eyes, the frozen pit of anxiety in her gut expanding across her chest and down each of her shaking limbs as she stands in front of the entirety of Ponyville, the collective emotions of the crowd directed at her steadily overwhelming all other senses.

A touch of heat pierces the cold however, the supportive emotions reaching her mind a couple seconds before the feeling of a hoof on her left shoulder manages to travel through her deadened nerves. Soft, feathery warmth spreads across her back a split second later, and she looks up, Luna’s hoof on her shoulder and one of Twilight’s wings covering her back.

“Whenever you’re ready, Fluttershy,” Twilight says gently.

Fluttershy draws a deep, shuddering breath, doing her best to focus on the emotions emanating from those beside and behind her despite the constant, crushing weight of the crowd’s attention.

“You can do it, Flutters!” Rainbow Dash whispers loudly.

“Yeah, go get ‘em, tiger!” Pinkie adds.

“Indeed,” Rarity agrees, “you have our support.”

“Well?” Applejack asks after a long pause, adjusting her Stetson. “Can’t keep ‘em waitin’ forever, sugarcube.”

Fluttershy smiles, their friendship surrounding her like a shield to keep the torrent of emotions from the crowd at bay, and closes her eyes, a swirl of green fire surrounding her as Twilight and Luna return to their previous positions.

“Ponyville’s animal caretaker, bearer of an Element of Harmony, and, as I recently discovered, Changeling Princess, Fluttershy,” Twilight pronounces.

Fluttershy cracks her eyes open, everypony in sight staring back at her, some with their mouth hanging open in shock.

Twilight meanwhile continues speaking, heedless of her audience’s reaction, “From her seasonal help with Winter Wrap Up, to her saving Ponyville and Equestria from being covered in dragon smoke, to her embodying the Element of Kindness in order to both help save Princess Luna and reimprison Discord, you won’t find a pony more willing to help any who need it, even if it involves putting herself in danger. So, while it may be that these three ponies are changelings, none of them would intentionally cause harm to anypony, and I would hope that everypony here is able to look past the surface and accept them for who they are and what they’ve done, even if they’re actually bugponies instead of earth ponies or pegasi.”

After a few more moments of quiet, Luna taps Fluttershy’s shoulder, the changeling princess hopping half an inch off the ground at the unexpected touch on her chitin and looking up at Luna. The eldest of the assembled princesses smiles reassuringly in response, gesturing towards the four other Element bearers with a quick tilt of her head. Fluttershy nods and backs up to rejoin her friends, her knees wobbling more and more with each step until she allows them to give out, sitting heavily between Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.

Luna swaps places with Twilight as soon as Fluttershy’s shell hits the wooden floor, her horn glowing to open the doors of the town hall and levitate two large sets of stacked vampony opt out signs, placing them both side by side to her right at the bottom of the steps leading to the podium, “Anypony who does not wish to aid the vamponies may pick up one of these signs now. Also,” Luna points to her left, “anypony who has questions may begin forming a line to the right of the podium.”

“Excuse me, Princess? Err, Luna,” Applejack clarifies. “Would ya mind much if Ah made a small announcement of mah own?”

Luna moves aside, “Not at all, Applejack.”

Applejack takes a couple steps forward to stand behind the podium, “AH GOT ONE-” she cuts herself off, rubbing her ears as the magical podium amplifies her voice further. “Wow that’s loud. Anyways, as Ah was sayin’, Ah got one last thing to say before y’all get yer signs and whatnot. In order to be more accommodatin’ to all the nocturnal ponies that’re stayin’ in town at the moment, Sweet Apple Acres will be stayin’ open fer a couple hours after sundown for as long as they’re here, or as long as open pickin’ season is goin’ on.”

The ponies on the other side of the podium continue to watch her with bated breath as the echoes of her voice fade away, Applejack giving them a flat look after a long moment of silence, “That’s all Ah got ta say; ya won’t be gettin’ any earth shatterin’ speeches from me.”

A wave of sighs washes over the crowd at her words, scattered chuckles also rippling out from a few places as ponies stand, stretch, and start to move around. Princess Luna carefully observes the gradually dispersing crowd, her amusement at Applejack’s short speech slowly being dampened by the increasing number of ponies attempting to make their way towards the opt out signs. Quickly scanning the crowd, Luna locates the Rich family relatively close to the front, Filthy and Spoiled sitting calmly with their eyes trained on the Lunar Princess while Diamond Tiara impatiently glances at the ponies moving around them. Luna locks eyes with the two parents for an instant, Spoiled standing after a several second delay and taking a few steps towards the opt out signs only for a horrified gasp from her husband to stop her in her tracks.

“Spoiled, dear, where do you think you’re going?” Filthy asks loudly.

Spoiled gives him an annoyed look, “To get one of those horrid looking signs, where else?”

Filthy presses a hoof to his chest, a pained expression on his face, “But why in the name of Celestia would you do that? If we do nothing at all, we’ll get more bits! Princess Luna is literally giving away free bits, and you don’t want to take advantage of that?”

“Well, no, of course I do,” Spoiled answers, shifting uncomfortably, “but it doesn’t quite feel right to give them permission to enter our home whenever they feel like. And besides, what would our friends in Canterlot think if they knew we agreed to this?”

“I suppose it does feel a little strange,” Filthy admits, “but they’ve apparently been doing this for centuries already anyway; and besides, Princess Luna has given her word that it’s safe, which is good enough for me. As for our friends, what could they possibly say about it? This plan has been approved by both Princess Luna and Princess Twilight at the very least, and unless they’re doing all of this without telling Princess Celestia anything at all, then she must at least implicitly approve as well. Princess Luna even gave some blood herself, and if it’s good enough for a Princess of Equestria, then there can hardly be any shame in it for anypony else.”

Spoiled wavers, glancing at the opt out signs, then sighs, “You’re right, of course; I don’t know what came over me.”

“Think nothing of it,” Filthy says, smiling magnanimously. “These are strange times, even for Ponyville, but we must be sure to think things through so that we can make the right decision not only for us, but for all of Ponyville before taking action. Why, if the vamponies were unable to get enough blood and decided to leave, and then one of the monster hunters or Guards who came to protect us in their absence died, I don’t know how I’d be able to sleep at night knowing that they might still be alive had I chosen differently.” He nods at the mass of ponies who had stopped to watch him and Spoiled, “I’m sure many of these fine folks feel the same way as well.”

Luna scans the crowd again, a feeling of relief and satisfaction welling in her chest as she sees a fair number of the ponies who had been heading for the signs hesitate. Some eventually decide to continue onwards, though many instead alter course, either walking to join the line on the other side of the podium or heading off towards their homes.

The Rich’s performance complete, Luna, Twilight, and Mayor Mare take a couple steps back from the podium, all three sighing simultaneously as they sit.

“I’m still not sure that was the right thing to do,” Twilight says after a moment. “It feels like we’re tricking ponies.”

Luna shrugs, “It is politics. Besides, they did not lie; everything they said is completely true.”

Twilight shifts uncomfortably, “Still… ”

Luna puts a hoof on the younger princess’ shoulder, “Believe us, Twilight; in a few centuries, when you have nobles, subjects, and an established domain of your own, you will appreciate when it is better to use a little subterfuge rather than trying to argue with and convince everypony that you are correct.” She raises an eyebrow, “You should recall, for example, when you informed my sister of our imminent return, and she instead dismissed your concerns and sent you here to make some friends?”

“Hrmm… ” Twilight grumbles, Luna’s words clashing with her own deeply ingrained perception of Celestia, yet also unable to refute the description of the events leading to Luna’s return. “Either way, it’s ‘me’ and ‘my’, not ‘us’ and ‘our’.”

Luna huffs belligerently, raising her nose as if offended, “As a Princess of Equestria, I reserve the right to refer to ourselves however we wish to refer to myself.”

Twilight stays all but frozen next to Luna, the only movement the twitching of her right eye as her mind processes Luna’s sentence.

Luna’s expression melts into a playful grin after a few seconds and she laughs, “But enough of this. Come, let us answer our subjects’ questions.”

Twilight brushes aside her damaged train of thought with a well placed massage to her temples and looks down the still growing line, glancing sheepishly at Luna once she notices an unfortunately familiar face, “Actually, there’s one thing I need to take care of first, if that’s alright.”

Luna glances at Mayor, who shrugs, “Very well, but try not to take too long. This will go far faster if we can split the questions three ways rather than two.”

Twilight bobs her head, “Thanks.”

Spreading her wings, Twilight flies next to the line, landing beside one pony in particular, “Hello, Caramel.”

Caramel dips his head respectfully, “Uh, hello, Princess Twilight. Is something wrong?”

Twilight shakes her head, “No, nothing like that. I’ve just been so busy that I never got around to apologizing to you for leaving you in Cloudsdale, and I couldn’t find you when I finally came back to get you either, so you ended up having to make your own way back to Ponyville.”

“Oh yeah, that,” Caramel replies. “You don’t need to apologize, I actually had a pretty good time while I was there.”

Twilight blinks in surprise, “Wait, really?”

Caramel nods, “Yeah, a few minutes after you left Rarity and I there… ”

Author's Notes:

Summary Thus Far

"vamponies exist"
*~130k words later*
"alright, here's what we're going to do about it"