Twilight did not recover from her initial shock.  Actually, it got worse when she got a better look at what startled her.  Pinkie and Dash were exactly like what you'd expect vampires to be.  Catlike eyes that glowed yellow, long fangs, tufted ears and leathery, bat-like wings marked them as they were.

“Vampires!”  Twilight gasped.  “You're seriously vampires!  Applejack was right!”

Twilight was going to die!  She followed the vampires back to their lair and now she was going to get killed!

“Twilight-” Dash began.

“Stay back!” Twilight scrambled backwards until she hit the couch.  She grabbed the nearest object, a pillow, and threw it at Dash.

The pillow did nothing.

“Twilight!”

“No!  Please don't kill me!”  Twilight curled up into a ball, hiding her face with her hooves and keeping her neck scrunched up.  “Please don't kill me!”

Twilight coward and coward for a pretty good time, but nothing happened.

“Twilight,” she heard Dash say, “we're not doing anything.”

Twilight slowly opened her eyes, peeking out at the three of them.  Fair enough, they were all just standing there, save Pinkie who was waving and smiling at her enthusiastically.

“Hi Twitwi!”  Pinkie called.  “I'm a vampire!  Well, technically a vampire fruit bat pony.”

“A what?” Twilight asked, opening up from her fetal position slightly.  Actually, there was a much more important question to ask here.  “You're not going to kill me?”

“We're friends, Twilight,” said Rarity.  Twilight only now realized that Rarity had assumed the form of a vampony as well.  Doing so had made her no less beautiful.  In fact, those fangs and eyes were like marvelous jewels, glittering in the light of the dull flames.  “We would never hurt you.”

“But.”  Twilight came out of her ball and sat up.  “But you kill other ponies?  L-like Applejack said?”

All three of them laughed.  Twilight didn't know if that was good or bad.

“Pinks already said we're vampire fruit bat ponies,” said Dash.  “Sugar is the only thing we eat.”

“I suppose we're supposed to eat fruit,” said Rarity, “but candy is actually far healthier and more delicious to us.  Sugar is the only thing we really need to survive.”

“Yeah, silly!  How do you think we eat bowls of candy every night and never get sick?”

Twilight's eyes darted between the three of them.  It was true they ate nothing but overly sugary foods.

“And before you ask, no blood doesn't have nearly enough sugar in it to be food to us,” said Rarity.  “Though maybe Pinkie's would come close.”

“Are you sure?”  Twilight frowned at them skeptically.  “Because I never heard anything about candy vampires, just ones that suck blood and stuff.”

“Twitwi, do you really think I'd kill a pony?” Pinkie asked.

“Well.”  Twilight rubbed her shoulder.  “I mean, no but-”

“What makes you even think we're killers?  Hm?” Rarity asked.  “Because you read a fictional book about vampires being evil?  Or because it's what Applejack said?”

Well it was true she didn't have enough evidence to convict Rarity of anything, or even fairly accuse her, really.  Twilight rubbed her head and collapsed onto the couch.  Twilight's mind was blank.  This was just so much to take in!  Vampires were real?

Twilight felt a little light headed.

“But Applejack-”

“I promised I'd tell you one of Applejack's secrets, yes?” Rarity asked.  “She has a chip on her shoulder, an unfair grudge against all vampire.  You see, a vampire, not me or anypony I've met mind you, but a vampire nonetheless hurt Applejack very badly.  It was that same vampire who killed her parents.”

“Yeah, Appledork just assumes we're all evil,” said Dash.  “It's like blaming every pegasus for what Stormfront did.  It's completely stupid!”

“I really must stress the don't trust Applejack part,” said Rarity.  “She probably tells you I'm the one manipulating her, but she's the one trying to turn you against your friends over some petty race-grudge.”

“It's just like how she lied to you about Pinkie,” said Dash.  “Just think about what else she's lying to you about.”

Was it possible Applejack just hated vampires irrationally?  It would change the story.  Applejack had been completely wrong about Pinkie, for example.  But more importantly Rarity was so beautiful there was no way she could be lying!  Twilight just wanted to stare at her forever.  This vampire form was just so amazingly perfect she couldn't find a single flaw with it!

Something else Applejack said managed to work it's way into her head, somehow, even through all that amazement.

“And,”  Twilight said, mesmerized.  She couldn't even blink right now because that meant she wouldn't be looking at Rarity for that brief moment.  “And you want to turn me into a vampire?  Applejack said that's what you're trying to do.”

“Oh, I'd absolutely love to turn you into my vampire fledgling, like I did with Pinkie and Rainbow Dash.”  Rarity gestured back to them before trotting towards Twilight.  “The process is hard and long, but at the very end, where I bite you, is pure bliss.  It is the greatest ecstasy you could ever share with another pony, so much so that you form a connection that can last for centuries on that alone.”

Rarity came over and sat down next to Twilight.  Twilight took back what she said about Rarity being just as beautiful, she was far more amazing like this.  Those glowing eyes were the single most amazing thing Twilight had seen in all her life.  They melted Twilight's heart, practically made her drool over them!  Twilight was only vaguely aware that her mouth was open.

“And I do love you, Twilight,”  Rarity nuzzled her mane.  “You are exactly the sort of pony I would want by my side for centuries and centuries.”

When Rarity said she loved Twilight, it was the single greatest moment of her life.  She felt her whole body swell with a feeling of satisfaction and fulfillment.  Twilight wanted this more than anything.  She wanted to belong to Rarity in any way she could.  Rarity was just so perfect and amazing!  Nothing could be better than being by her side!

“Yes!  Please!”  Twilight threw herself at Rarity's hooves.  “Please, I'll do anything to be by your side, Rarity!  I love you too!  I-I hate my life so much!  You're the only good thing in my life, you've given me so much!  I want to be your- your whatever it's called!  Please!”

Twilight trembled and looked up at Rarity's perfection.  Rarity smiled and leaned in close.  She brushed her fangs along Twilight's neck sending a wave of pleasure through her.  Then she moved her muzzle up to Twilight's ear.

“No,” she whispered.

Twilight's eyes opened wide.  She felt so utterly crushed.

“What?!” Twilight shot up back onto her hooves.  “You were just trying to tempt me and now-”

“-I wasn't tempting you at all, though you did bring up my first point.  This is the first time you've seen me as a vampire,” said Rarity.  “Maybe you haven't consciously figured it out yet, but the charm I have is far more intense like this.  I imagine you're just dying to do any little thing to please me, yes?”

Twilight nodded.  She was absolutely under some kind of spell, she understood that now, but it was so nice she didn't really want to get out of the spell.

“But that isn't entirely just you thinking that.”  Rarity rapped Twilight on the nose.  Then she closed her eyes and her vampire features, the fangs, the wings and the ear tufts, all retracted and vanished.  She was back to her 'normal' self.

Suddenly Rarity wasn't the living incarnation of perfection.  She looked almost ugly compared to what she'd been a second ago.  Twilight already felt less light headed and realized it was exactly as Rarity said.  Her vampire form had been warping Twilight's mind a little there.

“Ha!  'I want to belong to you, Rarity'!”  Dash did her Twilight impression and laughed.  “Rares hit you hard!”

“If it makes you feel any better, our little Dashie here actually kissed my hooves the first time she saw my true self.”  Rarity turned to Dash with a coy smile.  “It was adorable.”

Dash blushed shied away.

Twilight wasn't sure if that 'charm' hadn't worn off entirely, but she still felt so much affection towards Rarity.  She felt such a strong longing, wanted to be as close to her as possible!

“But I still want to-”

Rarity scooped Twilight up and hugged her very tightly.  Twilight squeezed back hard.  Rarity must have known exactly what Twilight had been thinking and it did relieve that longing a bit, but not entirely.  Twilight still wished she could get even closer to Rarity somehow.

“The second reason I'm saying no is because becoming a vampire isn't as simple as me biting you.”  Rarity gently rubbed Twilight's back, like she was trying to calm Twilight down.  “It takes at least two months and is a bit of a grueling process.  And finally, I can't let you make the decision so hastily.  There's too many things you don't know about vampires and too many things you still need to consider.”

“But-”

“-now if you still want to be a vampire in a year, perhaps.”  Rarity smiled like she still had fangs.  “I think I would turn you, if you really wanted it.  But until then, no.  You're going to take your time making the choice whether you like it or not.”

Twilight shot Dash a desperate look, but the other pony just shrugged coolly.

“Can't be helped,” said Dash.  “Those are the boss's rules.  Some ponies just aren't meant for our awesome lifestyle.  If we just up and turned you into a vampire you might get angry at us later and hold a grudge forever!  I've seen it happen.”

“Okay, I guess.”  Twilight rubbed her head.  She was starting to feel just a little more in control.

Rarity brought Twilight over to the couch and set her down, sitting close next to her.  Twilight's mind was still reeling, but she felt like she was just now able to actually think about what happened, free from the initial shock and Rarity's magical charm powers.

“But why didn't you tell me this earlier?”  Twilight asked her first question.  “It does seem like kind of a big deal!  After all those times I called Applejack an idiot.”

“Applejack is an idiot,” said Dash, “so you can relax there.  But anyway, we only tell ponies we trust about this.  The general public isn't so accepting, in case you haven't noticed.”

“And vampires have seriously been able to keep this a secret for however long it's been?”

“A secret from some,” said Rarity.  “But Celestia and her inner circle know about us.  They are the ones who decided all of this needs to be secret, not us.”

“Celestia?  Why the buck would she try to keep vampires a secret?”

“Think about it.” Rarity tapped Twilight's head.  “What's Celestia's entire excuse for why she alone should rule forever?  Why does she say the masses should pamper her, tirelessly devote their lives to her, sacrifice their happiness for hers?”

Twilight knew the answer to that without thinking.  She'd gone to Sunday school for over a decade where the answer to that was drilled into her head by rote.  Celestia was immortal, her life was so much longer than yours that anything that happened to you was insignificant compared to what happened to her.  That's why it was important to sacrifice yourself for Celestia, to put her before yourself in all things.

Because she was ageless.

“Wait!”  Twilight felt an electric surge through her body at the realization.  “Is it really because she thinks ponies won't worship her if they're ageless too?  Is Celestia seriously that petty?”

Rarity nodded.

“The whole philosophy she furnished is that longer lasting things are more important than fleeting things.  Just the knowledge that other immortals exist is threatening enough to that.  If vampirism became public knowledge many ponies would seek out our eternal youth.  Make everypony's life potentially as long as hers and all that pampering could vanish overnight.  Every time one of us tries turning too many ponies, or spreading word of our longevity too far, Celestia goes on a genocidal rampage against us.”

“Dang.”  Twilight collapsed one of her elbows on the arm of the couch and plopped her head down on her hoof.  “I knew making it illegal to question her and making us all worship her was kind of sketchy – but this just makes her sound... almost evil.”

“In my opinion she kind of is,” Dash said.  “If anything I'm surprised she's still got you thinking she's above morality and all that.”

Twilight still wasn't sure where she stood on the 'Celestia is above morals' thing anymore, but-

“But hold on.”  Twilight sat back upright.  “If Celestia's the one keeping us – er, you – down, then wouldn't becoming a vampire put me at risk?  I don't want to have to deal with Celestia hunting me down!”

“We have a sort of understanding with Celestia,” said Rarity.  “Celestia would beat us, but at great cost and her victory wouldn't be permanent.  So long as we don't give her too big a headache and stay in the darkness Celestia simply leaves us alone.  I have no intention of trying to overthrow the government and so long as you don't either, you'll be safe.”

“Won't be determinant?  Celestia couldn't just kill you all?”

“Celestia isn't the only 'true immortal'.  There is another princess out there, a vampire princess, who, like Celestia, cannot be killed by any means.  She will always live on and thus there will always be vampires.  Though that's all I can tell you about the vampire princes for now.”

For now... that's right.  Twilight had just realized there was a whole new dimension of the world she'd never even heard of.  There were so many new things to learn here!  New cultures, biologies, magics,  histories, and possibly even physics were just waiting there for her.  And if Twilight loved one thing it was learning!

“I have so many questions!”  Twilight's smile was becoming more excited now.  “How does vampire magic work?  Are there a lot more vampires?  How long do you live and why don't you age?  Is that magic too?  Where did the first vampire come from?  How do ponies become vampires?  Do you die in sunlight?  Well, I guess I already know you don't, but what does kill you?  How does the biology of that transformation work out?  How do-?”

Twilight found herself yawning despite herself.  The coffee was starting to wear off and now she was back to exhaustion, but even worse than before.  Her limbs felt impossible to move.

“But on the other hoof I'm so incredibly tired,” said Twilight.  “Staying up all night takes the, uh, the buck?  Yeah, the buck out of you.”

“Takes the buck out of you?”  Dash raised an eyebrow.  “Yeah, I think maybe this was too much for you.”

“But hey!” Pinkie bounced over to Twilight and came halfway up onto the couch in excitement.   “Since you're already here we could just have a sleepover!  Maybe even an eternal sleepover?”

“Wuh?”  Twilight gave Pinkie an exhausted look.  “But you just said I don't get to be a vampire.”

“Actually there was something else we wanted to ask you,” said Rarity.

The three of them sat down in front of Twilight.  This sort of thing had only happened when Twilight was in trouble before, but Pinkie's excited smile was reassuring.

“You know how you gotta go to school soon?”  Pinkie asked.  “And how you'll be stuck at your job and school all the time and never be able to have fun ever again?”

Twilight didn't know about the 'ever again' part, but nodded.  She'd been thinking about that a lot recently as well.  She only had a few weeks of summer vacation left, then she'd be going to school and working full time.  Twilight either had to stop sleeping or else cut out her job, schooling or friends.  She didn't like any of those choices, but her friends were the only one her life didn't depend on.  Twilight wouldn't be able to hang out with them like this any more.

“Well,” said Rarity, “the three of us talked it over and we decided that, if you wanted, you could come and live with us, at least until you're done with school.”

“And then you won't need a job!”  Pinkie jumped forward, landing on her front hooves an inch away from Twilight.  “You can stop doing your boring old work and play with us after school instead!”

“Yeah!”  Dash pushed Pinkie aside and gave Twilight a confident bump of her hoof.  “Most ponies your age don't need to worry about working full time jobs, you know.  Why should you have to?”

“L-live here?!”  Twilight pulled back a little.  She wasn't sure if she really understood the offer.  “You mean like, I'd move out of my apartment?  And stay here?”

They all nodded.

“And- and how much rent would-”

“-no rent.”  Rarity put her hoof over Twilight's mouth.  “No nothing!  I'll even buy your food and whatever else you need, darling.  If you accepted... why we'd consider you part of our family for as long as you stayed.”

“You mean like-”  Twilight wasn't sure what she was even going to say.  

Getting to actually live somewhere rent free again, like she had with her parents, would be amazing!  The only thing was that it'd be a bit too amazing.  Twilight had only known these three for like a month and they were already offering to adopt her.  Something in the back of her head kept screaming that there had to be a catch.

“I wouldn't have to agree to be a vampire or anything?”  Twilight looked at each of them in turn for some clue about the catch.

“If you want to leave for college afterward that will be your choice,” said Rarity.  “Though if you'd like to stay for, perhaps forever instead, well I'd be much more willing to bite you if you still want it by then.”

Rarity flashed her fangs.  Some unconscious part of Twilight made her shrink her neck whenever Rarity did that.

“You'd be an honorary vampire, Twi,” said Dash.  

“But why would you do so much for me?  I mean, letting me live here without rent would be a huge thing! It'd be unbelievable nice, don't get me wrong but... I guess it's the 'unbelievable' part that makes me want to know why?”

“We don't like you being all alone either, you know,” said Pinkie.  “How would you feel if one of us was in your place, huh?”

“And if you were insanely rich,” Rarity added, “to the point helping would be incidental to you.”

Twilight seriously thought about that.  It wasn't hard to imagine Pinkie in her head, living on the streets as she had been before Rarity found her.  She didn't like the thought of her friend being forced to look for food in a dumpster.

Yeah.  Twilight would help Pinkie if that were the case, she would let Pinkie stay in her underground mansion, even though they'd only known each other for a few months.  Granted Twilight's current situation was nowhere near as bad as that, but she could understand what they meant.

“I say you stop being so paranoid.”  Dash gave Twilight a playful jab.  “The only question you should be asking here is whether you'd rather live with us or stay where you are!  Don't worry about all this crap about what's normal.”

“Well.  I would want to live here,” the words came out so easily.  That was true.  Twilight could say with absolute certainty that would be a dream come true.  “I would love to live with you three!  You're my best friends ever.  It'd be amazing!  It's just- I dunno!  Getting so much in exchange for nothing – it's not even that I think you're trying to trick me, it just feels wrong.”

“You think you're nothing?”  Rarity asked.  “We'd be getting you, wouldn't we?”

Twilight so badly wanted to say yes.  It would be so great if Twilight said yes.  Twilight wanted a family again so badly.  Why was she even hesitating?  Was it really just her sense of 'normal' holding her back?

Or maybe it was something else.  Applejack's words always seemed to come ringing back into Twilight's head no matter how hard she tried to forget them.  Was she really not good enough for them, like Applejack said?

Rarity put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder.

“You have a couple of weeks to think about it,” said Rarity.

Twilight nodded.

“This is so great!”  Pinkie gave a leap into the air.  “We're gonna get a new vampire!  We're gonna get a new vampire!”

“Twi hasn't agreed to anything yet, Pinks,” said Dash.  “Don't get too excited.”

“Well, duh!  But the obvious choice is 'yes',” said Pinkie, “and Twilight's smart so she'll realize that.  But for now- sleepover!”

That brought a little bit of energy to Twilight.  She'd never had a sleepover before!  They could make smores or something!  But then the energy faded already and she yawned.

“Sheesh.  Maybe we could get to the sleeping part a little early, though?”  Twilight asked.

“Of course,” said Rarity.  “We'll talk more about Vampires tomorrow.”

“And”, Pinkie added, “we'll do the smores and makeovers and stuff that you normally do at sleepovers.  It'll be like a reverse sleepover!”

That sounded like a good plan, the sleeping part especially.  The three of them lead Twilight down a hall, then down some stairs, then down another hall.  This was way bigger than what three ponies would need.  Twilight silently wondered what was behind all the doors she passed, but wearily wondered which was the guest room more.

“We have two bed rooms.”  Rarity pushed open one of the doors at last.  “This is the main one and our other is right across.”

Rarity pointed to the adjacent door.

“Only two bedrooms?”  Twilight glanced at the door behind her, then back to the main bedroom.  “In all this?  And there's three of you!”

“Well normally we all sleep in the same bed,” said Rarity.  “The other room is for guests or when I want to be alone with just one of my marefriends?”

“You all sleep together?”  Twilight peeked into their main room and sure enough there was only one bed in there.  “In the same bed?

Once again, Twilight found herself staring at them dumbfounded.  You'd think that'd stop happening at some point, but nope!  They just kept pulling out crazier and crazier ideas.

“You never slept in bed with somepony?”  Pinkie asked.

Twilight shook her head.  Sharing a bed just sounded so wrong!  Who did that?  Even spouses typically had two beds, Twilight knew her parents did.  Sure they technically got in the same one to do... necessary things... but it wasn't like they'd spend the night cuddling together afterward!

“It's really not that different from hugging.”  Dash shrugged.  “You should try it!  Sleeping in a pony pile is the best way to sleep, Twi.  Trust me, have I ever steered you wrong?”

“I dunno.”  Twilight found herself glancing away.  Part of her wanted to, Dash was right that everything she said was great really was great.  But then there was that old part of her, screaming this was absolutely immoral.  “I guess you haven't.”

“Don't feel like you have to do anything you don't want to, Twilight.”  Rarity jumped into the bed and sat down near the head.  “If you want the guest bed take it.”

“Oh!”  Pinkie gave a small leap into the air.  “Of if you want to feel like you're roughing it you can use the inflatable!  I just remembered we had that thing.”

The feeling of resistance was coming back.  Twilight didn't last two seconds against it this time because she didn't want to.  She knew resisting this temptation wasn't going to do her any good.  But giving in...

“Wait!”  Twilight stopped Pinkie just before she left to get the inflatable.  “Maybe – I guess I can try sleeping in bed with you!  If it's still alright, I mean.”

Rarity just beckoned to Twilight.  With trembling hooves, Twilight pulled herself onto the bed.  She knew her ears were probably pinned all the way down,

“You're sure this is, uh, fun right?”  Twilight tried to smile.

“Cuddling when you're awake is great,” said Pinkie.  “But when you're going to sleep it's like a hundred times better!  You'll see!”

“And, uh, you do want me to, right?”  Twilight looked down at the open sheet one more time.

“We'd love for you to,” said Rarity.

Twilight nodded and laid down and a moment later the blanket was thrown over her.  She was under the covers with Rarity now.

Rarity pulled Twilight close and tucked Twilight's head under her chin.  Whenever they cuddled, Rarity would always take this sort of dominant stance, but that was the way Twilight liked it, in all honesty.  It filled her with this warm feeling of complete affection and safety when Rarity just did it.  Twilight felt like the need to resist was gone now and that familiar feeling of relief came back.

Dash came in and settled on the other side of Rarity, throwing a wing over her with just the tip of it reaching Twilight.  Pinkie, meanwhile, came in from the other side and glomped onto Twilight, throwing several legs around her.

Twilight closed her eyes and relaxed.  This really was the best.  Just like Pinkie said, cuddling was greatly enhanced by being in bed and by going to sleep while you were doing it.  Secure, warm, soft, love.

And the feeling just got better and better as Twilight sank into the affection and as she sank into sleep.

_______________________________

True to form, the others were eating candy for breakfast, cupcakes and one of those cereals that had so much sugar it was basically candy.  Pinkie was considerate of Twilight's dietary needs and made pancakes and eggs with banana slices for her instead.  So at least Twilight didn't have to worry about dying from vitamin deficiency if she decided to live here.

Twilight was shocked at how luxurious everything was.  Rarity didn't just splurge on that bed, she had the best of everything in this place.  The furniture was top quality, the food was top quality, even the bowl Twilight was eating out of was top quality.  It had little gold tacking on the side of it, making a vine-like pattern.

They'd shown her their library, which was far more extensive than Twilight's.  Rarity had collected a large volume of books over the centuries, enough to almost be a library in its own right.  Many were old and rare, possibly even one of a kind, given some were hoof-written, from before printing presses were common.  Above all else, Twilight looked forward to getting to look through this treasure trove of knowledge.

Rainbow Dash had a room with four guitars and a couple hundred albums in it.  Pinkie had a baking room stuffed with baking supplies where she did 'horrible' baking experiments.  In every direction you turned, you'd find something astounding.

On one of the tables laid a small bag of gold coins, just sitting there out in the open like it was nothing, and to those three it probably was.  Twilight had read a book about coins once and recognized them from that.  Each one was worth over 2000 bits and the bag must have had at least a seventy of them.  It was several times Twilight's net worth, but just something you left lying about to them.

She almost felt a sting of jealousy for a moment, that they could have just so much more than she ever would, but it quickly faded.  Twilight could have this, she really could!  She could have wealth and friends, time and security and even more.  All this just because somepony cared about her.

The only barrier was her fear and ignorance.  Applejack's warnings about being a prisoner in her own body and how Rarity could never really love someone like Twilight were burned into her mind.  And then there was the fact that Twilight knew so little about vampires and what living with them would mean.  The second problem had an easy solution, at least.

“So, uh.”  Twilight took a bit of her eggs and chewed it, looking over the vampires she was having breakfast with.  Really, the strangest part was how casual it was.  “I guess I should ask what the vampire rules are?  There are vampire rules, right?  ”

“Hm.  Well let's see.”  Pinkie stuck her spoon in her mouth and flicked it around with her jaw as she thought.  “Going into somepony's house uninvited is a big no-no.  That makes you burst into fire!  Holy water and anything Celestia-shaped burns us.  Silver and sunlight makes us lose our powers.  We're okay with garlic, though.  And uh...  what am I forgetting?”

“The good stuff?”  Dash offered.  “You stop aging once you become a vampire!  Suddenly life doesn't have a time limit anymore.  Vampires don't get sick and we heal from any wound that doesn't kill us and it takes a lot to kill us.  You got a fifty fifty shot of surviving decapitation, even.”

“And then there's the other powers,” said Rarity.  “The older you get the stronger your charm becomes.  You've felt it, haven't you?  It's not that you get more beautiful every year, it's the other ponies simply see you as more beautiful.”

“Okay, that's the first thing I have a problem with,” said Twilight.  “Or at least I think I have a problem with it.  Isn't that a little like mind control?”

Twilight didn't want to say it out loud, but all this morning she had a creeping fear about Rarity's charm.  What if the only reason Twilight like her friends was because she was being mind controlled?  Slight it may be, but it would still make her feel cheated in a way.

“I'm not entirely comfortable with it myself,” said Rarity.  “It's the reason why I rarely take my true form, even though these two beg to see it so often.”

“I do not beg you to do it,” Dash rolled her eyes, but then added in a mutter, “just kind of ask you to sometimes.”

“I admit it!”  Pinkie nodded and stabbed her spoon into her cereal.  “Rarity is so amazingly beautiful like that how could I not want to see it?  And it feels great when her charm is sinking it's fangs into you.”

Twilight had to agree with Pinkie that it felt great to be under Rarity's charm.  Maybe as long as it was temporary and consensual, then it really wasn't too different from a hug.

“But when I'm like this.”  Rarity swiped a hoof across her beautiful self.  “Really I have no more mind control than all the other beautiful ponies in the world.  Of course pony's want my attention, to do things for me, but that's true of all pretty mares, isn't it?”

“What about hypnosis?  I heard vampires are supposed to have that.  I also heard that-”  Twilight braced herself.  Here was the big question, about what Applejack's book said.  “-well I read this book, you see?”

“Did Appledork give it to you?”  Dash asked.

“Yes?  It's, uh 'The Only Official Guide to Vampires' by Granny Smith.”

“Twilight, that book was written by a serial killer!”  Dash slammed her spoon down over the table and leaned over the table.  “Granny Smith murdered like sixty people, half of them weren't even vampires.  Are you seriously going to trust a deranged ax murderer over an actual vampire?”

“Well you said to test and question everything, right?”

Rarity nodded.  Dash conceded she was right and slumped back into the chair.  Pinkie Pie held up her bowl to drink the last of the sugary milk inside.

“Okay, uh.  Well first of all it said vampires do kill ponies,” said Twilight.  “It said you sucked out the blood and soul of other ponies, burning them up for energy.  The book didn't say anything about this.”

Twilight pointed to the last piece of candy on Pinkie's plate before she popped that into her mouth.

“And I bet you've only seen evidence to the contrary,” said Rarity.  “We only eat sugar and never in my life have I killed another pony.”

“Yeah, you've seen us eat plenty of candy before,” said Dash, “but you ever once seen us be like 'oh, hang on a sec while we go hack this guy to pieces'.  Just look at how much sugar we got in this place!”

It was true that their pantry was filled with nothing but fruits, candy, bags of sugar, bottles of syrup and honey and all manner of sweet things.

“Indeed,” said Rarity.  “The evidence that we're right is all around you, and the only thing on the other side is that someone wrote something down on a piece of paper.”

“Well, that and the fact that ponies are turning up dead,” said Twilight, “like Applejack mentioned.”

“And like you mentioned that's because of the dreadstalker,” said Rarity.  “Those deaths have been investigated, Twilight.  I'm sure Fluttershy can tell if something is really a dreadstalker.”

“And hey, how do we know you didn't do it, huh?”  Dash jabbed her fork at Twilight.

“Well-!  Okay, I guess you have a point there,” said Twilight.  “There's one more problem the book mentioned, though.  It says vampires, like when they make a minion that minion is under the direct control of its sire.  The book said it was to the point where you don't even get to move your own body any more.  You're just stuck inside yourself.”

“If that was the case there'd only be one vampire controlling all the others, wouldn't there?” Rarity asked.  “And yes, there is an 'original vampire.'”

Twilight wanted to hit herself in the head.  Why hadn't she thought of that?  Though, then again that was only the case if there was an original vampire.  Twilight needed to ask about vampire history later, find out where they came from.

“And do me and Pinks really look like mindless drones to you, Twi?”  Dash asked.

“Yeah!  Would a mindless drone do this?”  Pinkie set down her empty plates and ran over to the couch.  She jumped up onto the back of it, laughing, then stumbled and fell to the ground.  “W- whaag!  I, uh, meant to do something else.”

Twilight watched Pinkie pull herself back up.  That was strangely convincing.

“It is true that you share a mental link with anypony you create,” said Rarity.  “The two of them have a direct connection between their minds and my magic.  As a far older and more powerful vampire, I could influence their thoughts and actions very strongly.”

“So then you admit it?”  Twilight asked.  “You really could force them to do what you wanted?”

Rarity wiped her mouth, got up and trotted over to Twilight's side.  She put one of her hooves on Twilight's cheeks.

“Twilight, I could bash your head into oblivion with one slap.”  Rarity gave her a very gentle one instead.  “But I would never do it, because I love you.  Just the same, I could easily force my fledglings into doing my command, but I would never want to do that.  Rainbow Dash and Pinkie are my beloved sisters, not my slaves.”

“Yeah, it's more like being a changeling,” said Pinkie, “but without having to do all that gross bug stuff!  We can kinda feel each other's emotions a little, that's all!”

“I'd know it if Rarity was trying to force anything on me,” said Dash.  “And for the record I wouldn't like it.  Don't think I'm just some pushover, either.  You ever see me stumble over, looking like I'm in the middle of a mental battle, well then you have my permission to punch Rarity.”

“I suppose the bottom line is I can't prove for certain they aren't mindless drones,” said Rarity, “at least, not any more than anyone can prove they aren't a murderer.  But as I said, I'm not asking you to make the decision now.  I'm not even letting you.  Just watch everything we do carefully and learn what you can about mental links and then decide.  You have as much time as you want”

“That could work.”  Twilight nodded to herself.  It was prety simple, actually.  It'd take a long time to get to that level of mastery, but once she did Twilight could be fairly certain if they were being mind controlled.

Though only fairly certain.  Twilight would only really know for sure if she actually took the plunge herself.

“Any more questions?”  Rarity asked.

“Endless amounts!”  Twilight assured them.  “Like, uh.  What's even next?  What about that vampire princess you mentioned?  Who is she?”

“Can't tell ya!”  Pinkie shook her head.  “I mean, I know who she is.  Met her even!  But can't tell you her name.”

“Yes, I suppose that's the one thing I forgot to mention,” said Rarity.  “A vampire can't reveal the identity of another vampire.  If hypothetically, you knew another vampire I wouldn't be able to tell you they were a vampire.  I wouldn't even be able to hint at it too much.  The best I could muster is to warn you if their intentions weren't very good or something like that.”

“And are there any more 'rules' you forgot to mention?”  Twilight asked.  “That's a weird rule, though?  Why wouldn't you be able to do that?  Actually, why any of these rules?  None of them make any sense!”

“I have books in the library about that,” said Rarity.  “I could go over it with you later.  Isn't there anything more pressing you have to ask about, though?”

More pressing?  Yeah, probably a million things!  But what to ask about next?

“About immortality, maybe?” Rarity suggested.  “That tends to the be the first thing ponies go for.”

“Oh, yeah!  Well like what do you do for the millions of years?”

“We do whatever we want,” said Dash.  “How many times to I gotta tell you that?”

“But you don't work?”

“I move money around,” said Rarity.  “That's all the work any of us need to do.”

“But doesn't that get boring?”

“Pffft!”  Dash rolled her eyes.  “Celestia's got you good if you think you gotta work at that pony/11 to enjoy life.”

“No work and no school is the best part of being a vampire, Twi!”  Pinkie agreed.  “Cause instead of doing all that boring stuff you get to do whatever you want!  Like my baking experiments!  And I get as much time as I need to design new games, learn ponynese and play with you and Rarity!”

“Well I guess hobbies could keep you occupied.”  Twilight chewed some banana thoughtfully.  “But won't everything get boring to you eventually?  Like, since you'll be doing it over and over for centuries.”

“I've only been a vampire for two years,” said Pinkie.  “But so far I haven't gotten bored with one thing!”

“Everything is a lot of things to get bored of, Twilight,” said Rarity.  “I've been a vampire for centuries now.  I know some vampires who have lived longer than Celestia, one of them is fifty thousand years old, even.  Not one of us ever got bored with everything.  It's true that after ten thousand years you start to develop some strange habits and ancient memories fade, but mentally a fifty thousand year old vampire is better off than a hundred year old pony.”

“I don't understand how that's possible,” said Twilight.  “Can you seriously be content with doing the same hobby for hundred or thousands of years?  Most ponies get bored with their hobbies long before they even get to eighty!”

“You may not know it, but when I was young I was absolutely enthralled by fashion.  Making dresses was what I lived for.  Just like you said, that passion slowly faded away and by the time I was one hundred or so I barely touched dresses any more.  But then, when I was maybe two hundred and sixty it suddenly came back to me and it was just as wonderful as the first time.”

“That's how it goes.  However many times you fall out of love with something is the same number of times you'll fall in love with it again.  You're interests in all things ebb and flow over the course of millennia, but no love ever truly vanishes.  You may need to wait centuries, but it will always come back to you, as dress making will always come back to me.”

“Maybe that doesn't sound so bad,” said Twilight, “but I really can't wrap my head around the idea of what living for centuries would be like.”

“I know what it's like,” said Rarity.  “And it's worth a try, dear.  I can assure you of that.”

“I know you're not really supposed to ask this, but how old are you, exactly?”

“Three-hundred and seventy nine,” said Rarity.  “A mare is only old once she stops telling you her age, in my opinion.  Without good reason, anyway.  Take Rainbow Dash here.”

Rarity leaned the side of her head against the side of Dash's, smiling far too widely.

“How old were you again?”

Dash folded her forelegs and grumbled something.

“She's fifty six.”  Rarity pushed Dash aside.

“What?  I've been hanging out with a somepony in her fifties this whole time?”

“I would have thought the pony in her three hundred and forties would have been a bigger shock,” said Rarity, “but yes.”

“I mean, you don't act like your fifty.”  Twilight scratch her head, looking Dash over carefully.  “Isn't it a little weird for you to be spending your time with a teenager?  Shouldn't you be playing shuffle board or something?”

“Being ageless means I don't gotta act like I have an age!”  Dash grumbled.  “That's literally the definition of the word.”

“Oh come now, Rainbow,” said Rarity.  “You should try acting your age!  Do some taxes, complain about how unruly foals are?”

“Well if we're 'acting our age' then you should be dust, Rares!  So why don't you blow away, huh?”  Dash blew a harsh breath at Rarity.  When Rarity failed to scatter to the winds, Dash turned back to Twilight.  “Come on!  Is it really less creepy to have a somepony four hundred years old around?”

Twilight laughed.

“I think you're creepier cause I know it'll make you blush,” she said.

Dash banged her head against the table as everypony else laughed.  Even if they were vampires, they really were still her friends.  That much was something Twilight could put her trust in.

_________________________

Twilight hadn't exactly said 'yes', but she was basically living with them.  She'd spent the past three days over there and hadn't been home, or to work, since.  She hadn't seen the sun or left their presence yet and it was the best three days of her life.

The work part may have been a bit risky, but she was faking sick, Twilight could get away with that for a little while.  And it might not even be so bad if she just stopped going entirely. The fact that she even had that option now was empowering in a way.

Twilight closed her eyes and concentrated as hard as she could, trying to feel out the lay lines  She'd need to find all twelve of them to block Rarity's spell.

And Twilight struck, reaching out with her magic to grab at the lines.  She got three at them, but grabbed onto nothing for the most part.  She only felt the faintest hint of magic pouring into her head and only because of the lay lines she had grabbed hold of.  The magic poured into Twilight's head and suddenly she felt like she'd been spinning for hours.  She collapsed from dizziness a moment later.

“Better,” Rarity said.  “I have to commend how clever you are, Twilight.  Most ponies your age wouldn't even make it this far.

Rarity released the spell and the world stopped whirling about in every direction.  Psionic magic was very hard to detect, but at least Twilight was able to do it a little bit now.

Rarity was teaching Twilight about psionic magic.  She suggested it to help alleviate Twilight’s concerns about being mind controlled, as well as to help Twilight function around Rarity's vampire form.  Detecting psionic energy and mental shielding were the first targets of this training.  Once Twilight got that down, she wouldn't have to worry about any mind control from Rarity – purposeful or not.

It was like a dream come true in a lot of ways.

Had Twilight gone the traditional route, she would have needed to complete another year of high school, then four years of college, then go to graduate school before she even had a chance to get this kind of one-on-one training.

She would have needed to throw herself into massive debt and work like a dog for years and years just to be able to afford such an education too, and even then she was very unlikely to get a mentor as skilled and knowledgeable as Rarity, with her hundreds of years of experience.

“I think that's enough for today,” said Rarity.

“What?” Twilight dropped everything and turned to Rarity.  “But I can keep going!  I want to keep going.  I'm learning so much.”

“You aren't going to get the way lines today,” said Rarity.  “You need to sleep on it first.  Sleeping on things is a very important part of learning them.  We'll try again tomorrow.  Don't worry, we have plenty of time.”

Twilight let out a frustrated sigh.  At least Rarity was right about that last point.  If Twilight did become a vampire there'd be no hurry to learn things.  No rush to cram as much as she could into her brain before it started to rot into senility  Twilight would be able to spend decades, centuries more learning than she would have been able to otherwise.

“Hey, Rarity?  If I wanted to I could just learn magic from you, right?”  Twilight asked.  “Like, instead of going to school?  Because getting this kind of magical training was the whole reason I was going there in the first place.”

“I think you should finish high school for now, Twilight,” said Rarity.  “You might regret it if you don't.”

See, Rarity was always acting like that – like somepony who wasn't manipulating her.  Yet no matter how hard Twilight tried she couldn't shake what Applejack had told her over and over.  It just kept coming back out of nowhere.

Twilight was worthless.  No one would do all this for her.

“Rarity?  How come you're doing all this for me?”  Twilight asked.

“This again?”  Rarity asked.

“I just feel like I'm not good enough for you.”  Twilight hung her head in shame.  “You have so much and I have nothing.”

“Listen to me.”  Rarity lifted up Twilight's chin and gave her a serious look.  “You need to stop thinking about what Applejack says to you.  She isn't your friend Twilight.  You need to try to stop, okay?”

“But she's right.” Twilight shook her head.  “You're so great and I',-”

“Okay, Well ask yourself this,” said Rarity.  “Do you think I deserve to get what I want?  Do you think I deserve to have my family, to have three or so marefriends who worship me?”

Well if Rarity didn't deserve whatever she wanted, she certainty acted like she did well enough to convince Twilight.  

“Are you,”  Twilight swallowed hard.  She couldn't believe she was finally about to say this.  “Are you trying to seduce me?”

“You're already sleeping in my bed, Twilight.”  Rarity brushed up against Twilight.  “I'm not sure how much more seducing is left to do.”

“I'm not a lesbian.”  Twilight lowered her head and pawed at the ground.  “So th-there's a limit.”

“No there isn't.”  Rarity ran her muzzle along Twilight's neck.  “Not until you give in to your desires completely.  Every time I see you resisting something I just want to break that down.  Like right now,  with you not wanting to admit you're a lesbian.”

“What?!”  Twilight was honestly surprised at the accusation.  “Um.  No?  It doesn't work like that, Rarity!  You're either born straight or you're born gay and I know for a fact that I'm attracted to stallions.”

“Sexuality really isn't that simple.”  Rarity chuckled.  “But I think maybe it would be easier for you to just start calling yourself a lesbian.  It'd be cuter too.  I'd like it if I got you to do that.”

“But I'm not!”

Rarity put her hoof on Twilight's head and swept it back to her plot, which she pressed down, bringing Twilight to a sitting position.  She moved her face in front of Twilight's and cupped Twilight's face in her hooves.  Twilight shifted in place just a little.

“You know, straight mares don't get all bothered when a pretty mare teases them like this,” Rarity cooed.  “Now think.  What you want, Twilight, is a 'stallion', or what society portrays stallions as.  You want someone strong who can take charge of the relationship, protect you, take care of you.  That'd be your ideal lover, yes?  A more dominant pony?”

Twilight nodded.  That much was absolutely true.  Her ideal boyfriend would be the take-charge sort... the same sort as Rarity.

“But what you didn't realize was that you wanted a dominant mare,” Rarity whispered into her ear, sending a shiver down Twilight's spine.  “I just described all the things you love about me, didn't I?  You've been attracted to colts in a way, wanting those traits, but you were never attracted to them like you are to me, were you?”

Twilight shifted uncomfortably.  Was that true?  Her heart was beating hard.

“And I doubt it's just me.”  Rarity began rubbing small circles on Twilight's back.  “I've seen you glance at Rainbow Dash as well, she's the in charge type too, isn't she?  You're attracted to mares far more than you are to colts and really you probably only ever liked colts out of confusion.  So if you're being honest, what does that make you?”

“A... lesbian?”

“Wonderful!”  Rarity hugged Twilight hard from behind.  “Now say it, Twilight.”

Twilight's heart was pounding so fast.  She wanted to say it, even if it wasn't true just because of how excited it made her.  But then it was making her heart race because it was true, everything Rarity said was all the truth.

“I'm a...  I'm a lesbian.”

“And what makes you a lesbian, Twilight?”  Rarity

“Because I like mares.”  Twilight was shaking.  Her legs felt weightless.  She was sure she'd fall over if Rarity wasn't holding her.  “Because I'm attracted to you?”

“And if anypony asks you about this from now on-”

“-I'd- I'd say I'm a lesbian.”

Rarity kissed Twilight on the nose.

“There.  Now relax.”  Rarity got up and sat down on the couch opposite of Twilight.  Twilight was tempted to follow, but knew that wasn't what Rarity wanted.  “I know you're a bit, ah, flustered now, but I'll bet you already feel better now that you've admitted it, don't you.”

Twilight was still very uncomfortable sitting there, but she tried to do as Rarity asked and calm down.  She thought about all the things Rarity had said more carefully.  Twilight felt that familiar feeling of resistance fade in her mind and realized that in saying that she was giving in to the truth once again.

“I am a lesbian, aren't I?”  Twilight asked.

“Well, close enough.  It's easier to say that is all,” said Rarity.  “Next time you see the others, make sure you tell them you've realized you're gay.  It'll do a lot to help you accept it.  And once you accept it you can be who you really are and allow yourself to fall in love with a dominant mare like you truly want.  You'll be much happier being honest with yourself.”

Free to fall in love with a dominant mare.  Twilight had already done that, hadn't she.  She looked over Rarity's gorgeous features, her clear eyes, her long horn, her curves.  Rarity was beautiful and she was sexy.  Just letting herself find Rarity attractive made it like she was seeing the mare for the first time again.

It seemed so obvious now, how Twilight had ever thought she was straight, why she was fighting against her real feelings this whole time, she'd never understand.  She'd blame it on Celestia's brainwashing, but even Celestia was okay with homosexuality, so what was even the problem?

“Um, can I ask you something Rarity?”  Twilight asked.  “A-are you.  Y-you said you wanted me to be- um, like-  Did you want to uh, go on like a date-date with you?”

“That'd be completely wrong.  I think we both know I'd be the one taking you out on a date.”  Rarity winked.  “But I do absolutely love the path you're going down, Twilight.  The more unchained you become the more I find myself loving you.  I so adore corrupting you.  I think maybe soon you'll be corrupted just enough to be enjoy being part of my harem.”

“I think I like being, uh 'corrupted', too,” said Twilight.  “It always feels so good when I give in!  I honestly can't believe how much I was stupidly holding back for no reason.”

Even in the middle of reveling in this corruption, Twilight already wanted more.  She though hard about what else she could do.  Then it came to her, a very exciting idea.

“Hey, Rarity?”  Twilight asked.  “Actually, I decided I want to let you change my hair.”

____________

Dash and Twilight were stalking through the darkness, stalking their prey.  There was a lone mare the two of them had seen roaming the streets and Twilight was determined to teach her a lesson about how dangerous that was.

Twilight looked over to Dash and made a hushing gesture

This was a step up from ding dong ditch to be sure, but it was so much fun!  Twilight didn't even hesitate with this stuff anymore, she just snickered with Dash in the darkness.  Pranking ponies was every bit as fun as Dash said it'd be!

Twilight used her magic to shake a dumpster behind her target.  The mare turned around and looked at the source of the noise.  She bit her lip nervously, no doubt worried it could have been the dreadstalker, before turning back and hurrying off at a canter.  Little did she know she was heading straight for Dash who knocked over an empty trash can, letting it roll from the alleyway and onto the sidewalk in front of the mare.

Whoever this was, she was not going to walk passed that alley now.  Instead she turned to take a different rout.  Meanwhile, Twilight stalked up on her from behind, as she changed course to another street.  Some time passed, with the mare glancing back behind her with less and less frequency.

Then, just when the mare was beginning to calm down, Twilight jumped out of the darkness and gave her a surprise hug from behind!

The mare screamed and slipped out of Twilight's grasp like a slippery eel.  Her screams turned to a stunned silence after realizing Twilight was a pony and not a dreadstalker.

Dash, laughing hysterically, landed next to Twilight a moment later.

“Thought I was the dreadstalker?” Twilight asked.

“You touched me!”  The mare staggered back.  She looked Twilight over, taking in her new mane cut and the fact that Twilight was a unicorn and scrunched her nose just a little at the sight.  “What is wrong with you?”

Rarity had redone Twilight's mane, making it a spiky up-do, swept back.  It really was something you'd see on a pegasus.  Ponies dressing outside there tribe was something ponies had a problem with, though it was a to a greater extent than Twilight had originally though.  Not that it mattered.  Twilight was actually growing to like the way other ponies judged her.

“I didn't just touch you.” Twilight cocked a smile.  “I hugged you!  Lucky it was me.”

“You freak!”  The mare stumbled.  “You can't just hug somepony!  If you touch me again I'm calling the police!”

But Twilight and Dash just laughed.

“That was great!”  Dash slapped Twilight on the back.  “I knew you'd be good at this sort of thing once you stopped worrying about everything!”

“Yeah.  Thanks.  I feel so alive!”

As they continued on, the spotted another mare across the street.  Twilight could tell Dash was thinking about playing another prank, but looked over at the horizon and shook her head.  It was a bit late for yet another prank, the sun beginning to peek over the horizon.  And besides, Twilight recognized this pony.  She was Seaswirl, one of the ponies who worked with Twilight at the Pony/11.  At least she had an excuse for being out this early, having to go to work.

Having to go to work.  Pft!  Twilight was glad she didn't need to bother with that any more.  Twilight just lifted her head, intending to stride passed Seaswirl, but the mare kept an eye on her, looking Twilight over like she was trying to remember her.

“Twilight?”  Seaswirl asked as Twilight walked passed.  Realization dawned on her face and she couldn't help but gasp.  “Your hair!”

It was clear Seaswirl was restraining herself, trying not to give Twilight the look of mild disgust she got from ponies who saw her new mane.  That was better than what she got from a lot of ponies these days, Twilight could give Seaswirl that much?

“You got a problem with it?”  Twilight lowered her sunglasses.  “Cause there's a long line of ponies waiting to go buck themselves.”

“Oh!  Uh, no.  It's fine.  It's uh.”  Seaswirl forced herself to smile, unconvincingly but at least she was trying.  “It's very unorthodox.  But where have you been?  You've been out of work for over a week!  People are getting a little worried.”

“Oh, I'm fine.”  Twilight shrugged.  “Guess I just quite is all.”

“You quite without telling anypony?”  Seaswirl looked so confused.  Poor thing.  “Why didn't you give two weeks notice or anything?”

“Cause I don't have to!”  Twilight ruffled Seaswirl's mane before trotting off with Dash.

Twilight felt absolutely invincible!  She didn't have to worry about what other ponies thought anymore.  She didn't have to worry about work or dying either.  She was under Rarity's protection now, nothing could get her and she could do anything she wanted.

“See?” Dash asked.  “You don't even need us to fight your battles for you any more.  And to think you were just a stupid dork a few months ago.  Rarity really does good work.”

Rarity really did.  Twilight was so free now!  So comfortable with what she was becoming.

In fact.

Twilight gave Dash a kiss on the cheek.  Even Dash was taken aback by that just a little.  Twilight was proud of the fact that she finally managed to do that!

“Ah man!  Wait till Rarity hears about this one!”  Dash swatted Twilight away, but Twilight pushed back just as hard.  “You spending the night with us again?”

“I wish, but I really do need to take care of a few things back home,” Twilight groaned.  “Need to spend a couple of hours there at least.”

“Need help?”  Dash offered.

“Nah, I don't want to bore you.  Sides, I know how much you hate the sun.”

“That much is true.”  Dash gave the red off on the horizon a glare of disdain.  “Guess I'd better get going before I need to look at that thing.  See you tonight.”

Twilight waved to Dash as she flew off back home... the home that could be Twilight's as well soon enough.

As Twilight trotted home, she noticed a crowd of ponies down one of the roads she normally passed.  Sunrise was an odd time for a crowd to be forming, especially in a residential area.  She stopped to look, trying to recall who's house they were around, but if she even knew she couldn't remember.

Next question was if Twilight cared enough to go over there and look.  She was leaning towards just assuming it was something stupid and trotting back home when she saw Fluttershy.  Fluttershy was walking away from the crowd just then, in Twilight's direction.

Fluttershy had never stopped visiting Twilight and she was totally cool with her new haircut and everything like that.  Twilight had started to see half the town as totally lame, to the point she understood why the others never bothered with them, but Fluttershy she still liked.  She decided to go over and see if Fluttershy knew what was going on.  It'd be nice chatting with her either way.

“Fluttershy!”  Twilight called on her way over towards her.  “Hey, did you get a look at what that crowd's about?”

She noticed Fluttershy didn't look like her normal, chipper self.  Her gaze was down at the floor and she was trudging about rather than trotting.  She looked up, snapping out of deep though, when Twilight called out to her.

“Oh, Twilight.”  Fluttershy gave her a smile, but Twilight could tell it was forced.  “Oh my.  Um.  You were friends with Thunderlane, right?”

“Thunderlane?”  Twilight had forgotten that guy even existed.  Truth be told, she saw him as boring to the point of cringe now.  Or rather, she admitted that was how she'd seen him the whole time.  “I dunno if I'd say we're friends, but we met.  Did something happen to him?”

Fluttershy's smile was already faltering.  She looked down at the ground mournfully and gave a weak nod.  Thunderlane may have been one of the lamest ponies in the world, but the crowd still worried Twilight.  And whatever happened had clearly gotten to Fluttershy.  Twilight didn't like that.

Even after 'giving in' Twilight still respected Fluttershy, she decided.  Fluttershy was kind and you could actually talk to her, unlike 99% of the world.  She didn't want Fluttershy of all ponies to be sad.

“Thunderlane is,”  Fluttershy didn't seem like she'd be able to finish that sentence.  “It was the dreadstalker.  It came into town again and... it found him.”

“Again?!”  Twilight stepped back in horror.  That was three ponies that thing had killed now!  “Sheesh, that thing is bucking deadly.  And Thunderlane lived in the middle of town too...”

Fluttershy was staring down at the ground.  It was then Twilight remembered it was Fluttershy's job to deal with that thing, that she'd been trying to find it for like a month now, that she probably blamed herself for this.

“I just don't understand why I'm having so much trouble finding it.”  Fluttershy's lip quivered a little.  “Normally It'd only take me a day or two.  If I had been faster, nopony would...”

Twilight said nothing, but gave Fluttershy a gentle nuzzle.  She'd discovered that Fluttershy was okay with physical contact, unlike most ponies, and the nuzzle was enough to get her to smile just a little.  This was much better than how most ponies did it.  Words probably wouldn't have gotten her to smile even that much.

“I'll be okay.”  Fluttershy lifted her chin.  “But, Twilight, you've been going out a lot at night, right?”

“Yeah.”  Twilight nodded.  “But I'm always with Rarity.”

Twilight only now realized that explanation probably sounded weird to most ponies.  She was some kind of vampire lord and had enough power to slaughter a dozen dreadstalkers, Twilight was sure.  But it wasn't something she could just blurt out to Fluttershy.

But Fluttershy nodded with understanding.  Even without knowing she was a vampony, Rarity had a force of presence about her.  Just looking at her, you knew she wasn't to be messed with.  Maybe even a dreadstalker would get that impression of her.

“That's good.”  Fluttershy's smile looked much more real that time.  “It's probably best you do stay around her at night.  It may sound weird, but you're probably safer being outside and with her than alone in your house since dreadstalkers hate groups so much.  This one doesn't seem like it's scared of going inside houses, either.”

“I guess it's a good thing I'm up all night these days,” said Twilight.  “Otherwise I might be a bit scared sleeping alone.”

“It really is,” said Fluttershy, “but don't forget that it's out there.  Try not to be alone at night, okay?”

Fluttershy sighed and took the stuffed rabbit off her head, looking at it critically.  She didn't seem to be in the mood to talk.  Twilight knew that's what not having a stuffed animal on her head meant.

“Hey,” said Twilight.  “How about I come visit you sometime?  During the day, I mean.  Rarity's taught me some cool new spells that I could show you.”

“I'd love that, Twilight.”  Fluttershy threw the rabbit onto her back.  “But I really need to get going for now.  I have work to do.”

And the two parted ways.  Well that encounter left Twilight unsettled.  Twilight decided it'd probably be best to read over that pamphlet again.  She was sure she still had it around somewhere.

She was trotting along trying to think of where the buck she left that thing.  She got a bit too lost in thought and ended up bumping into something.  She looked up to see what it was, not liking what she saw.

Applejack.

“We need to talk.”  Applejack was looking deathly serious as usual.

“Out of my way, Appledork.”  Twilight brushed passed her, pushing Applejack to the side as she did.  “I don't have time to waste on you!  You can try to kill me later.”

“I ain't ignoring this any longer!”  Applejack ran into Twilight way and stopped her in her tracks with a shove.  “We're talking, now.”

Applejack glared into Twilight's eyes.  Twilight knew better than to bother with her.  She just lifted her chin and tried to turn away, but Applejack forced her way back into Twilight's face and continued to stare at her.

“Don't look away from me!”  Applejack growled.

Twilight's blood just boiled for some reason she couldn't place.  She growled a little and glared back at Applejack.  She just couldn't ignore her!

“What?  You wanna complain about my hair or something?” Twilight asked.  “When I tell Rarity about this-”

“Rarity is the one who killed Thunderlane.”  Applejack butted heads with Twilight, the brim of her hat against Twilight's horn.  “And she's gonna keep killing ponies until we stop her

Twilight wanted to facehoof so bad.

“Again?  No.  You're just being stupid and paranoid, okay?”  Twilight asked.  “Watch out for the dreadstalker, huh?”

“Like I said, there is no dreadstalker.  Think about it, Twilight.  Isn't it just a little convenient that dreadstalkers suck out all your blood– just like a vampire would?”

“Lots of monsters drink blood, dumbass.”

“And it's not strange that this dreadstalker just happens to be acting so unusual?”  Applejack pressed on.  “Coming up here when it's already too cold for it?  Coming into town to hunt?  Oh, and let's not forget that nopony's seen the car-sized spider charging through the town.  Not even the master monster-tracker Fluttershy can find this mythical beast.  Probably cause it doesn't exist.”

“Dreadstalkers are always hard as buck to find.”  Twilight tried to find a way around Applejack, but couldn't get around.  “And they can get sick too.  That's what Fluttershy herself said.”

“And do you think it's a coincidence that Thunderlane was the pony who got killed?”  Applejack asked.  “The only other pony besides those three you were friends with is dead now.  Oh gee!  Now it looks like you got nopony but Rarity to turn to now!”

“I wasn't friends with that idiot.  Thunderlane was a bucking doofus,” said Twilight.  “I'd rather choke on a dick than have to talk to that lame moron.”

“Which is exactly what Rarity wanted you to think,” said Applejack.  “Twist your mind into thinking that then off the poor guy.”

“Oh?  And how exactly did she make make me think that?”  Twilight asked.  “Thunderlane was annoying and stupid.  And that's not just me, he actually bragged about how stupid he was himself.  I think I can realize someone like that is lame.”

“Mind control,” said Applejack.

Twilight frowned.  Their charm powers were something she was legitimately uncomfortable with.

“You see?!”  Applejack jumped on that hesitation.  “The only reason you like Rarity is because she's controlling you with her vampire powers.”

“No!”  Twilight pulled back but couldn't seem to get Applejack out of her face.  “I like them because they're fun and show me new things.  I trust Rarity.”

“Because they're mind controlling you.”  Applejack shook her head.  “Rarity's playing you like a fiddle Twilight.  All she wants is to turn you into a mindless vampire slave.  She don't care about you one bit-”

“-Rarity cares about me more than anypony else in this town!”  Twilight snapped back.  “She seriously loves me!  I've never seen anything to the contrary.”

“None of that is real!  It's all just mind control Twilight.  Look at me, Twilight.”  Applejack stared deep into Twilight's eyes.  “You really think somepony that amazing is gonna jump through all these hoops for you?  A shut in?  Even if Rarity was this amazing pony you wouldn't be good enough to be her friend, let alone get all these gifts and attention.  You know this is all too good to be true.”

“Shut up!  I am good enough for them!  They said so themselves.”

Twilight gritted her teeth she seriously wanted to punch Applejack in the face.  She just wanted to shut up about the whole mind control thing.  Applejack clearly knew she was getting to Twilight and smiled.  She should just leave already.  Why couldn't she just get out of here.

“You're thinking about hitting me, huh?”  Applejack asked.  “That just goes to show you how right I am.  Can't even prove me wrong.  You think you're gonna get love but all that gonna happen to you is you'll end up as a mindless drone.  Rarity

“You're wrong!  I know Rarity and you don't, okay?!  She's not like that.  She holds back on using her charms with me.  She lets me make my own decisions.  She's never forced me to do one thing!”

“She's forced you into all of this with her powers.  I was right about them being vamponies,” said Applejack.  “I was right about them making you curse all the time.  I was right they'd suck you away from your job and make you spend all your time with them, corrupting you into... this.”

Applejack swept her hoof across Twilight's person, giving her a look of disgusted contempt as if Twilight herself was a murderer.

“I'd say there’s a real good chance I'm right about this too.”

Without another word, Applejack turned and left, leaving Twilight fuming.

It was completely ridiculous  That stupid, stupid idiot!

Yeah, Twilight was insecure about being good enough for her friends to actually love her, but what right did Applejack have to rub that in her face?  It was a horrible thing to do!  How dare she?  She was just playing on Twilight's insecurities to rattle her cage!

But even knowing that, Twilight couldn't get the thoughts out of her head.  Like it or not, she was insecure about a lot of the things Applejack said.  That image of Rarity betraying her, pretending she loved her only to turn around and turn Twilight into a puppet – that was her greatest fear these days.  It was irrational, sure.  Twilight trusted Rarity, sure.  But that thought was just so cruel that Twilight couldn't get it out of her head.

Add all that to those coincidences and Twilight almost felt like crying.  She wanted to get those thoughts out of her head, but how?  If Rarity really was just manipulating her and using mind control then anything she said would be suspect.

But wait!  There was a neutral third party expert that Twilight could go to to get this stupid idea out of her head for good.

Fluttershy.

Fluttershy was a super-expert when it came to animals.  Twilight thought she knew a lot from her extensive studies, but Fluttershy made her look retarded  It was like there wasn't a single thing Fluttershy didn't know about animals and monsters.

Twilight would go to her and ask how Fluttershy knew it was a dreadstalker.  Of course Fluttershy would have had a reason for thinking that.  It wasn't like she just heard somepony was dead and concluded it was a dreadstalker because derp, right?

And if Applejack was wrong about something then her track record was broken.  Just one mistake Twilight would finally be able to push this stupid thought out of her mind.  She'd be able to dismiss Applejack and go back to enjoying her now awesome life with her new family.

Twilight marched her way across town and to the pond near Fluttershy's house.

Actually Fluttershy lived pretty close to Rarity and the others, Twilight could see their secret house from here.  She was sure she'd feel a lot better soon.  Maybe she could go ask them to let her spend the day there after.

“Oh, Twilight!  I didn't think you'd come to visit so soon,” said Fluttershy.  “Is something wrong?  You look upset?”

Did she?  Twilight had to admit she was still a little rattled.

“Hey Fluttershy,” said Twilight.  “I was uh, hoping to talk to you about the dreadstalker?  Like, um, how do you know it's a dreadstalker?”

Twilight gave a sheepish smile.  She just now remembered that Fluttershy said she was busy today and that this was probably a weird question with no good way to explain why she wanted to know.  Twilight would be forced to say it was mere curiosity when Fluttershy asked.

And yet Fluttershy closed her eyes and thought hard, giving something serious thought.  Then she nodded at Twilight.

“Okay,” she said, and let Twilight in without another question.

Twilight had never actually visited Fluttershy's house before, at least not come inside anyway.  It was really cozy in there, nice and soft.  The place was filled to the brim with stuffed animals, to the point Twilight decided she may have meant it literally when she said she had 'a ton of stuffed animals'.  Nearly every part of the walls were covered with plushies stacked on plushies.  Every table or dresser had several plushies on top, as did the couches.  Most of the drawers were open to show the plushies stuffed inside.

It was hardly like a landfill, though.  They were all arranged neatly and perfectly clean.  The room was full, but not messy.

Twilight came to a room with two couches.  One was too covered with stuffed animals to even sit on.  The other also had stuffed animals on it, but mostly on the back and side of the couch, so Twilight was able to sit there.

Fluttershy exhaled, calming herself.  It looked like she was just about to go on a vital job interview or something.

“Okay.”  Fluttershy reached into a drawer behind her and pulled out what looked like a piece of black metal, twisted into some unnameable shape.  “So this is one reason why I know it's a dreadstalker.  This is part of its shell, they molt off small pieces of it pretty often.  Sunlight burns through these so unless you bring it inside it'll break down into dust in just a few days.  If you see dreadstalker carapace around, then the dreadstalker isn't usually far.”

Twilight looked it over.  Even she could tell it wasn't actually metal upon closer inspection, but didn't feel confident saying what animal that had come from.  Still, she did have an animal expert right in front of her and was certain Fluttershy would be able to know what it was.

“But could somepony maybe have bought those somewhere and put them in the woods?”  Twilight asked.

"What?”  Fluttershy tilted her head and scratched herself behind the ear.  “Why would anypony do that?”

“To cover up a, uh – like this couldn't be a serial killer, could it?”

“Why do you think that?”

Twilight really had to think about that one.  Really all she had was Applejack's conjecture and she couldn't bring that up without accusing Rarity specifically, not to mention revealing her status as a vampire.  

“Well if it makes you feel better, it's not a pony killing them,” said Fluttershy.  “Though honestly, I think you'd be better off if it was a serial killer.  Dreadstalker's kill their prey by, um...”

Fluttershy put her hooves over the chest of a near-by teddy bear, then pulled them back like she was opening an imaginary door on its chest.  Twilight knew what this gesture meant.  Dreadstalkers ripped your rib-cage open when they killed you.

“Well they open you up like, um, that.”  Fluttershy gave her teddy bear an apologetic pat on the back.  “That's how we found the ponies.  And not just them, either.  It's been hunting animals in the woods too.  And on top of that they shoot spines and spray an acid if their prey resists.  We've found plenty of both.  It's absolutely a dreadstalker.”

This was all good evidence, really.  If Rarity was killing ponies she was doing it in an exceptionally elaborate way.  Surely there'd be a better way to cover up a murder than planting dreadstalker parts all over the woods and mutilating animals.

“I guess the only real thing that concerns me is the fact that you can't find it,” said Twilight.  “It's been well over a month since I moved here and you said it normally only took a day or two.  Also a dreadstalker shouldn't be able to get into the middle of town so easily, right?”

“It can teleport,” said Fluttershy  “Um.  Actually I'm not supposed to tell anypony that yet because they want to be careful about how it gets out.  What I said about it being infused with magic turns out to be true, though.  We had a wizard look things over and it's infused with a blink spell.  That's how it gets inside houses in town and why it's been hard to find.  It keeps teleporting all over the woods.”

A teleporting Dreadstalker?  That seriously was scarier than a serial killer.  All this did make Twilight feel better in a way, that was a terrifying thought in and of itself.

“But you'll be safe as long as you're with your friends,” Fluttershy assured her.  “Even if it teleported right next to a group of ponies, it'd probably just run away.  They only go after solitary prey.”

“Right.”  Twilight nodded a little.  Everything Fluttershy said made perfect sense.  Her friends would protect her, so long as Applejack wasn't right.

“Was it Applejack?”  Fluttershy asked.  “Did she tell you it was really a serial killer?”

That scared Twilight a little, it was like Fluttershy had just read her mind.  Twilight's hear skipped a beat and Fluttershy nodded.

“She told me she thinks Rarity killed those ponies,” said Fluttershy.  “Twilight, I think she just doesn't like Rarity very much and she's just spreading mean rumors about her.  I'm 100% certain this isn't a pony.”

“Well, one of the big things Applejack said is that Rarity and the dreadstalker came to town at the same time,” said Twilight.

“No.  The dreadstalker got here first,” said Fluttershy.  “Besides, you came here at around the same time and so did I.”

“But you came to Ponyville because of the dreadstalker, right?”

“Exactly.”  Fluttershy nodded.  “Twilight, I was with Rarity when the second pony died.”

“Wait.  What?”  The idea of Fluttershy and Rarity being in the same room just sounded bizarre to Twilight.  It was like they were part of two separate lives she was living, lives that were never supposed to cross.

“Well we are neighbors  Of course I go visit them sometimes.”  Fluttershy motioned to the window overlooking the lake and the cliff where Rarity lived.  “Was there anything else Applejack said?”

“Well.”  Twilight thought about that and there really wasn't.  All of her concerns had been answered perfectly by Fluttershy.  “No, I have to believe you.  The evidence is overwhelming and all Applejack had was baseless accusations.”

“I'm glad I could help,” said Fluttershy.  “I know you're friends with Rarity and the others.  I wouldn't want rumors to hurt your friendship.”

Twilight felt better after that, but trotting home she did feel a little empty.  That was exactly the answer she wanted, but it felt like a hollow victory for some reason.

Was it because Fluttershy knew Rarity, and that just seemed so strange?  An idea came into Twilight's head, one that was too brilliant and terrifying to ignore.  Thankfully, there was an easy way to test that too.

Okay.  This would settle it!  Twilight would do this one thing and then never question that her friends really did love her again.

The link of the vampire extended to Fluttershy.  The mental link, the same kind Rarity had with the other two, the same kind that latched onto ponies under her charm or when she used hypnosis on them, was on Fluttershy.

Fluttershy was under Rarity's control.  The pony investigating the deaths was under Rarity's control!

Twilight didn't know what fear even was until that moment.  She ran.  She didn't even know where she was running, she just ran.