The mood darkened in the cottage once another meeting was called. At the center of it was Sombra, who'd borrowed a black bathrobe with a scarlet sash from the hostess, the closest thing he could find to suit him. Everyone else had redressed, studying him with mixtures of confusion, pity, bemusement, or contempt as they mostly sat around the room. He forced a wry smile.

Spike snarled at him, his hackles raised. “Hello to you too,” the occultist mused. He sat between Pacific Glow and Inky Rose, who draped themselves upon his arms protectively. “I see my reputation proceeds me?”

“Spike, stop that.” Fluttershy stroked his furry shoulders. “Sombra is our guest. That said, I can hardly blame him.”

“We've heard your proposal,” noted Moondancer who adjusted her glasses. “But it's not like we've forgotten the role you've played in the last debacle. Something a number of us have to make up for.” She looked to Sonata who shuffled awkwardly.

“I understand your reluctance to trust me. So I'll be frank. I'm not doing this out of altruism.”

Rainbow Dash leaned upon a wall with her arms crossed. “Obviously!”

“Let him finish,” said Applejack who glared too. “I wanna hear what kinda poison this rattlesnake is peddlin' now.”

Sombra cleared his throat, trying not to bear his teeth. “As I was saying...I may know of a well to restore your geodes swiftly. However, I will need the assistance of Twilight and Moondancer to do so. With our combined genius and the right equipment it shouldn't take too long. Face it. We have a common enemy in Tirek, and you could use all the help on offer.”

“Chrysalis made a similar proposal,” reminded Inky who wetted her dry lips.

“So, better the devil we know, huh?” Sunny shrugged, sitting with her legs splayed and leaning on a small table as she drank. “Well, I don't hold a grudge. You may not have intended to, but you kind of saved my life, and I'm thankful for that. Whatever your odd hobbies are.” She decided not to think too much about how he'd been screwing her corpse in his sordid tantric rituals.

Flash Sentry also stood. “You're too much of a wildcard. We simply can't-”

“I'll do it,” offered Twilight who narrowed her eyes in determination. “He has a point? Tirek and the Dazzlings could be too much for us. Look at what happened to Tree Hugger. Imagine if she hadn't been turned?”

Sombra grinned at the hippie. “She's a vampire? I'm envious. A shame such power is wasted on you.”

“It's no shame at all,” replied Hugs with a crooked smile as she tossed her dreadlocks about in a casual manner. “Your aura is completely out of balance. You like to appear in control, but the truth is you're totally miserable.” Her smirk spread at his hateful sneer. “Just like Aria. Radically self-destructive, man. Your own worst enemy. I certainly don't envy that.”

“Don't rile him up.” Pacific pressed closer to him. “You don't know what he's endured!”

Moondancer looked between them. “I'll help, too.” She fetched a notepad and pencil from her purse. “Tell me what you need.”

“Oh, and another condition. I need more blood from one of you. Pacific has healed me less each time I drank from her, and I suspect it will be the same with Inky. We must constantly seek out new sources. Perhaps this is a way the vampire's curse functions; to assure they'll seek out new victims to sire. Now, which of you will volunteer, I wonder?”

He looked over all the delectable possibilities with a leer. “Anyone but you,” he said when his crimson eyes passed over a steel-faced Flash. “Or the mutt.” He stared down Spike who snarled at him with bared yellow teeth.

“Prove you can do it and we'll consider it,” said Twilight with pursed lips. “For now, we'll decide the terms.”

“At least the storm's abated,” said Sunset who sat near her counterpart, trying to lighten the mood with a forced laugh. She looked to Pinkie Pie for support, but the party girl simply shrugged. “How about some more food and drinks? I could use a pick-me-up.” She rose and headed towards the kitchen, needing some space to clear her head and take all this in.

“Ooh, count me in.” Trixie trailed behind her.

The pair helped collect and prepare another small feast for the party on trays. Her mind wandered the entire time she worked, not helped by the way Trixie would hum and make little flourishes with deft hands while she helped her collect snacks.

Part of her was thankful the dangerous weather had died down...but somehow that seemed even more ominous. Like recent events were a mere prelude and something much worse would soon follow. Sunset tried to shake away such absurd superstitions. But was it so crazy to have such premonitions in a world that seemed madder all the time?!

Tree Hugger and Fluttershy also excused themselves from the party, heading to their shared room, which was decorated with a number of crystals, unlit incense, and posters with so many peace symbols they bordered on blatant propaganda. For a moment the couple sat on the bed and simply held hands. They had tried to play it cool up to now, but there was no denying how scary their encounter with the Dazzlings had been. Through a small twist of fate one or both of them might've been killed.

“Um...do you think you're immortal now? I know all the superstitions don't apply, but-”

“I have no idea, babe. This is all new to me too, you know?” She squeezed her hand. “I...I'm scared. My life flashed before my eyes, I was turned into a monster, and worst of all, I've got this terrible craving for blood. What if I hurt you?”

Fluttershy smiled and blushed. “I...I don't mind.” She pulled down part of her white top to expose her neck. “Drink from me. Please.” Hugs was visibly shaking and drooling at the same time, fighting with herself. “In fact, you should turn me, too. I can't bear the idea of being without you.” Her eyes were starry. “We could be together forever. Wouldn't that be so romantic?”

Tree's expression hardened in a way she rarely did. “No. There's nothing romantic about death.” She turned away. “What if I am damned? I couldn't possibly pass such a curse onto you, babe. I...I'd sooner die than ever harm you!” She stared at the peace signs on the posters and small scarlet tears ran down her cheeks. “It was scary as hell,” she choked out the bitter words with a pained sob. “You know?! I used to think blood was one of the nastiest sights ever...now I crave it more than anything!”

Tears ran down Shy's face as she dabbed at the scarlet droplets with a napkin. “Please, Tree, you'll hurt yourself!” She quickly pulled off her blouse, and snapped her bra open, freeing her bust which swayed loose as she arced her chest forward. “Drink.”

With a tremble Hugs tried to hold back, but eventually instinct overwhelmed reason, and she bared her fangs with a hiss, sinking her teeth into her lover's tit. She moaned and tensed up with a shudder when Tree started to needily suckle at her. But she hardly cared. She couldn't bear to live without her. Even if it meant she had to throw away all traces of sanity in the process.

Without a proper master and no instructions from the one who sired her Tree Hugger was simply an aimless bearer of the vampiric curse. Almost a slave to it. While her softer nature kept it from twisting her heart so quickly, she too could feel the darkness envelope her, a corruptive force that would render her a perversion of all she believed in.

She wept some more once the hollows of her fangs started to pump a potent mixture of her blood into her lover's system...

The newspaper stuffed into the bottle was lit by Aria's lighter, and she chucked the molotov cocktail at The Hive, glass shattering as flames consumed the alcohol. A blaze started to envelope the club. “Let's fumigate this shithole!” She was already preparing another round, and Adagio smirked beside her, as she too joined in the festivities. They needed to clean this up fast; within a few hours the sun would start to rise. And while most cops tended to avoid this part of town, almost like they considered it a lost cause, between the fire and warfare that was about to break out they'd have no choice but to intervene.

A number of strippers-turned-succubi and bouncers-turned-incubi rushed out armed with an assortment of melee weapons. Likewise vampiric thugs driven by pure instinct rushed to meet them, while Aria and Adagio hung back, choosing to let the fodder whittle their numbers down before they leapt into the fray. Shrieks, hisses, and the clash of steel mixed with the snap of bones. Soon an excess of blood ran down the neon streets and flowed into the gutters when the two gangs clashed.

“It's almost like old times,” observed Adagio who traced her lips. “A shame Sonata couldn't make it.” She had to admit that wandering around naked made her feel like she was in her most natural state. Sirens never would have bothered with clothes unless it was to help them seduce someone, after all. But was she truly a siren anymore after she'd been vamped?

“Yeah, like you really ever gave a shit.” Aria rolled her axe in both hands. “We were always tools to you. You always claimed it was vengeance for our race, but you treated us shittier than most of the men you hate so much. The whole universe is trash.”

“No need to be so bitter. Consider this an opportunity. I...did miss you, Aria.”

“Piss off.” She snarled which made the nasty vermillion scars across a portion of her face more prominent. She'd once tried so hard to win her elder sister's love and respect. “The last thing I need is more of your manipulative bullshit.”

Adagio shook her head. “It's true. You've made me proud. Let's forget our old lives. This is what we are now.” She tilted her head at the carnage ahead of them, limbs torn apart in a savage display of brutality. She readied her blade with both hands now that quite a few had fallen on both sides, bodies strewn across the stained asphalt. “What do you say, sister?”

“Why not?” Aria raised her axe and the sirens rushed in. Vampires were driven by blood, and these creatures by lust, natural competitors for the same prey. They started to carve a swath through the thinned herd, spatters of scarlet soaking their naked forms, which shimmered under the neon shimmers which flashed upon them. “Hell yeah! Die you fucks!”

The axe split a bouncer's skull open with a thud. Brains oozed out and his muscular frame slumped down. She ripped her tool free and turned to the next opponent, who rushed her with a machete in hand, only to receive a two-handed blow to his paunch. Intestines spilled free and a psychotic smirk split her faces as her unnatural eyes brimmed with renewed life.

Unlike her companion Adagio moved with sheer grace, but she proved no less deadly when her careful stroke beheaded a stripper, whose head rolled and left a scarlet trail in its wake. She picked up the severed piece, a shocked expression etched upon the once lovely woman, and kissed her still warm lips. “What a waste. Ah well.” She tossed it aside.

They battled side-by-side and back-to-back, even shared a laugh and a smile, for a moment all the bad blood between them forgotten. The sisters had often bonded in such a way, albeit far less bloody. But these small fodder were little more than distractions; unless the Queen was slain she could always start anew. “We need to renew our strength,” said Adagio.

Aria nodded with a lick of her lips. “Let's herd one of those bitches into an alley.”

“Certainly. I'll be the bait.” Adagio strolled in a sultry manner into a side-street, intentionally left a trail of blood which dripped from her blade, and faked a limp once she caught the eye of another stripper. This one was a delectable blonde bimbo, more boobs than brains, and she suppressed a smile. They were the ultimate predators now. Why shouldn't she freely indulge?

She disappeared into the narrow area, and the succubus followed, certain she was an easy mark. A fatal mistake! She dropped her weapon which clattered and rolled across the concrete. Her prey moved in with her own knife readied, unaware of the shadow that crawled over the alleyway. A scream escaped the stripper when Aria's blade severed her achilles tendon.

She started to fall and dropped her blade. The sisters closed in from both sides. Aria ripped her top off from behind, spinning the wide-eyed meal to face her, and hatefully sank her teeth into a rather generous breast. Her squeal turned into a whorish moan as she suckled messily from her, a mixture of blood, saliva, and milk running down her pale and veiny udder.

Adagio wondered for a moment if she was pregnant, or if this was some characteristic of her succubi nature to make her more erotic, but she couldn't afford to let her sister drain the bitch completely before she had her fill. She ripped off the thong bottoms and sank her own fangs into a meaty buttock. The siblings cheerily slurped in tandem on their paralyzed snack.

Her lactate was almost sickeningly sweet. She quivered and drenched her loins, shrieking in euphoria as her face turned rosy and she climaxed repeatedly harder than she ever had in her life, almost colorless as she died happier than she ever could have believed possible. They dropped her corpse like it was so much trash and licked their lips clean.

“Fuck.” Aria traced her scars. “Why won't they heal?!”

Adagio shrugged. “Perhaps it's a side effect of Spike's now supernatural nature?” She wasn't certain what sort of mysticism now flowed inside the lycanthrope, but feared it could make short work of even a powerful vampire.

“Well, whatever. They make me look more badass, anyhow.” Aria recovered her axe. “Let's find this Chrysalis.”

Smoke now funneled into thick grayish-black clouds. The inferno raged with a crackle. By now most of the minions on both sides had fallen. However with the fresh blood in their system, the Dazzlings could move at speeds much faster than any human, and they leapt to a nearby building for a better vantage, crouching down animal like on their haunches to survey the streets.

Chrysalis had slain a few vamps with her curved sword, the evidence scattered around her, and she made a beeline for a black sports car. Aria's axe was hurled two-handed, and the Queen barely evaded the edge that sailed her way from seemingly nowhere. A crunch sounded when it slammed into the hood which crumpled and creaked with a hiss of steam.

“Why, if it isn't more of Tirek's vermin.” She stood her ground when the Dazzlings landed before her. All it would take was a kiss and her geode would activate which would place them under her control. She couldn't rely on that from the almost braindead vamps she'd confronted so far. But these two? Soon she'd have the pair eating out of her hands! “Come a little closer...” She stared into their eyes, knowing that her sheer presence weakened the wills of anyone who encountered her.

She'd led tons of lost women into her service with a few seductive words and sensuous looks. Men were even easier. Especially when she played dumb and vulnerable! She told herself Tirek had made a terrible error, that her time was finally at hand...

Bones creaked and skin crinkled like sandpaper when Tirek surveyed the warehouse. He almost casually turned over the now empty chair which once bound Sombra and exhaled. He'd vanished with Pacific Glow and Sunny. “I could blame the wretched traitors, but it was my careless mistake. I'm so tired.” Every moment felt like he was on the verge of death. No matter how much blood he drank his almost mummified frame refused to heal.

Perhaps this was a side-effect of his immortality? He and his brother Skorpan had been born into ancient times, when humanity was still primitive, and when they reached adulthood they explored further than their tribe ever dared, into ruins they were forbidden to enter. The treasures they'd stolen from the temple's tombs had inflicted them with a terrible curse. They had returned home and spilled the blood of friends and family in a fit of madness until they were the sole survivors.

At last a crazed Skorpan had turned on him, attempted to slay him, but no matter how many times the spear pierced his heart he couldn't die. At worst he was rendered a broken shell who pleaded for mercy. That had been answered when Skorpan carried his bloodied form back to a sarcophagus and sealed him in. He'd screamed for his brother who he'd still loved, wept blood, and lied there broken for what felt like an eternity, until the sweet release of slumber claimed him.

Thousands of years passed when foolish modern day explorers finally uncovered his prison, now buried deep by shifts in the earth. He'd become a wizened old man during his sleep, one that barely looked human anymore, and in a mad rage he'd butchered them to the last and drained them dry. He'd never forgotten that betrayal. But he wasn't certain if Skorpan even lived anymore. He was simply damned to walk the earth forever by his lonesome, to seek out new slaves and spread his terrible curse.

Would he simply continue to age until his body was useless yet unable to ever die? The thought horrified him. He'd desperately searched for some solution but none was forthcoming from this world nor Equestria. However he refused to resign himself to such a bitter fate. If there was no way to absolve himself then he'd simply take the entire planet down with him!

He collected the artifacts taken from Equestria and prepared another ceremony. He opened a bottle filled with the purest, most virginal blood he could find, and scattered it to form a sigil. Evidenced by Sombra's dabbling the occult was almost meaningless beyond a symbol in this world; but he'd found the spells could be worked after all with the blackest Equestrian magic. Spells outlawed by Celestia and Luna which would be unthinkable in their candy-colored world. He chuckled at the idea.

Raspy chants escaped his strained throat. The crimson sigil shimmered. He'd unleash Hell itself on the people of this world...

Author's Notes:

A little bit of bonding over blood and boobs!