It used to belong to us. The ponies that is. Equestria used to be full of life, of playful foals and cheerful ponies. It used to be ruled by Princess Celestia who controlled the sun. She would light up the days. The day… our safe haven.

Now Equestria has fallen into ruin. There are no more frolicking ponies. No foals playing under the sun.

I say that, of course, but it doesn’t mean Equestria is uninhabited. No, there are still plenty of creatures in Equestria. There are the animals, like the squirrels and the cats.

And then there are the monsters…

We used to think they were just legends. Storied told by mothers to keep adventurous foals in their beds. I heard them when I was just a little filly, many, many times… I wish my mother was still around to tell them to me now.

It all began eight years ago, on the night of the winter equinox. The longest night of the year. The night that they’re at their strongest.

They had been rallying for months. Slowly rallying in and around the smaller towns; Ponyville, Appleloosa, Trottawa… Nopony even suspected it.

Then, the moment the sun went down, they sprang. They separated, searching for isolated targets, hiding the comatose bodies until they completed the transformations. In one night, all of Ponyville was converted, as were the other towns, with not a scream nor a cry.

The sun rose, and they waited. News spread, talk of deserted cities, ghost towns made overnight. In the remaining cities cities, ponies began succumbing to fear. What could have caused this? Talk of investigation was had, but the monsters didn’t care. After all, they had just cut the oppositions forces while bolstering their own numbers dramatically. In one night, they had begun a war.

The ponies of the other cities reacted. They locked their doors, enchanted the perimeters of the cities. Curfew was in effect. Imaginary deterrents, such as garlic, were kept close. But it wasn’t enough.

At dusk of the second day, they were off.

The Pegasi rushed to the cities in the skies. Cloudsdale fell over the course of a week. The enemy lost a many soldiers, but but for each monster that fell, two more rose to take it's place. With Cloudsdale gone, they turned their attention to the most opulent earth pony city.

Manehatten took longer, if for no other reason than the sheer size of it, although the defensive measures helped too. After a month, only half the population remained. But as soon as they had numbers, the enemy switched tactics. Brute force became their new weapon, and it only took three more nights to finish Manehatten off. They had started as individuals, but now they were an army.

With two major cities out of the way, they took their time, slowly converting the rest of Equestria. They knew that once they began to siege their goal, there was no turning back. They gave it another month, finding the isolated farms, the survivors holed up in the wilderness, every un-abandoned stronghold, and the infiltrators, the few who managed to disguise themselves and live among their ranks.

Finally, it was time. Only the capital city remained. The jewel of Equestria, where the two most powerful ponies lived. The ruler of the day, and their greatest foe, Princess Celestia. She was the only pony who they couldn’t convert; the ruler who had to die, the tyrant who's very existence caused nothing but pain and death to the monsters.

And there was the second. The queen of the night, who suffered for a thousand years on the moon because of her sister. Their ruler. Their princess. She was the true ruler of Equestria, the younger sister, the one who had spawned our enemy. Princess Luna, the creator and ruler of the Vamponies.

The siege was a magnificent war. Many nights of combat ended in stalemates. The Vamponies couldn’t break through Canterlot's defenses, but the Canterlonians were losing ponies to ensure the barriers held firm. The spring equinox was coming; the moment where the night and day would have the same length. Both sides knew that reaching the equinox meant victory for the remaining ponies, as they would have more and more time to recover between attacks.

All through the war, Luna had remained sided with the ponies. She was waiting, biding her time. One night, mere weeks before the equinox, she tore a tiny hole in the shield. A single Vampony snuck in, fixing it up behind her. She took refuge in a small house nearby, converting the single pony that lived there. With her powerful magic, she managed to remain undetected, escaping the searching flow of magic that spread through the city at day break. During the night, she would invade a new home, converting the ponies inside, after which she would set up barriers to ward off the searching magic. For seven days she repeated her actions, managing to convert seventeen ponies within Canterlot’s borders.

With ten days left, the Vamponies, both inside and out, coordinated a power push. The ones inside made a suicidal run at the guards protecting the barrier at the southernmost entrance, managing to disable them long enough for the Vamponies on the outside to shatter the barrier and force their way in. The guards fell back as the stream of monsters infested the outer city, converting hundreds of citizens who were too close to the edge, and any guard who was too slow to escape. With the help of the solar princess, who forced the sun up an hour early, the guards managed to remake the barrier around the palace, taking in every citizen that was still unconverted. But it was too late.

The moment the next night fell, Princess Luna finally showed her true colours. She shattered the barrier from within, allowing her subjects to flood the building. The remaining ponies became the victory feast, their blood feeding the swarm that now ruled over Equestria. There was only the solar princess left; the king on the ponies chessboard. She would die, the venom of the Vamponies lethal to her. And the one who bit her was her most faithful student; the Vampony who had invaded Canterlot and who was now the apprentice of the lunar princess. Twilight Sparkle.

They won, and control of Equestria was theirs. With no ponies left, they had to settle for other, lesser meats and blood, but it was worth it, for now they no longer had to fear the ponies and the threat they posed. The next year was spent renovating Equestria during the night, adapting it to the Vamponies needs; light canceling shutters, copious amounts of bloody meat (both living and dead) and seeking out the few real ponies that remain alive. That was a popular activity.

Now, eight years since the fall of Canterlot, they’ve settled in. Our world is relatively unchanged, although most buildings have been painted in darker colours, and there is very little light within them. As far as I’m aware, there are no longer any living ponies left. They believe this as well, seeing as the number of pony hunters is next to zero. The few remaining ones are searching far and wide, but they won’t find any. If they’ve hidden themselves for eight years, they must be safe by now.

Like me…

I’m the last pony…

And my name is Vinyl Scratch.

I’ve done the unthinkable; I’ve blended in with their kind.

They have spells that I’ve adapted to, searches that I avoided. I’ve covered up my scent with perfume, a special kind that makes me smell like them. My heart beats silently, so they won’t hear it. Magic and science have combined to make me one of them while not being one of them. I live among them, acting as they do, eating as they do, living as they do. I hardly remember what it means to be a pony.

Of course, it isn’t easy. There are many, many habits I’ve had to suppress. Vamponies don’t sweat, so I use a special ointment that helps keep my body cool. I avoid physical activity as much as possible. I always keep cold beverages handy, just in case. The biggest problem with this is that Vamponies don’t shiver either, so I need to keep the balance between the two. Not hot enough to sweat, not cold enough to shiver.

A rumour we used to believe was that Vamponies are stronger and faster than regular ponies. This only true when they were hunting us, and since we no longer exist, I’m able to keep up with them. They can sometimes show bursts of strength or speed, but my lack thereof is not enough for them to suspect me.

Vamponies also have reduced emotional responses. Where a pony would laugh, a Vampony merely smiles. Where a pony would strike out with rage, a Vampony frowns, and, if they’re particularly angry, they might hiss. I’ve dampened my emotions even more, so that I seem almost cold. Better hated than suspected in this world.

There’s more, much more; they don’t twitch, they don’t squint, they don’t get itches. The list goes on for a long time, but the essential is this; don’t stand out.

They have one weakness, and only one. The sun. The sun burns them. It’s not instantaneous. In fact, it takes about ten minutes in direct sunlight for them to die, which diminishes the more diluted the sunlight is. But during those ten minutes, they weaken slowly. They get massive migraines after the first minute. By the third they have trouble moving. After the 7th, if they’re still alive, they cannot leave the sunlight under their own power. If they get no help, they’ll roast, combust, and turn to ash.

But they need the sun or they’ll lose the crops, lose the crops and they lose the livestock. Lose that and they’re out of luck. Famine will take them. If only they would die of starvation, then maybe I would stand a chance. But no, that’s a dream that will never happen. Luna controls the sun now; loathed though she is to let it hurt her subjects, she knows they need it's light to survive.

I live among them. I am one of them. I eat as they do, I talk as they do, I am smarter than most of them too. It’s too bad my coat and mane stand out so much, but I’ve learned to live with this disadvantage. I always wear my shades, not only to hide my vivid, breathtaking eyes, but because Vamponies don’t have blood. If I take my shades off and they see, I’m boned. The vessels in my eyes are the only giveaway. A dead giveaway that I’ve managed to hide. Every Vampony knows that I’m always wearing my shades. They think my eyes are sensitive to light, even the microscopic amount that exists in the Vampony world.

It might sound easy, but it’s not. Many would wonder why I don’t just become a recluse, and there’s only one answer to that. Because ponies need to socialise. It’s a physical need. Many ponies have tried to suppress it, and none succeeded. They would be found out eventually, and devoured. It was not uncommon to see one run out into a large crowd, shouting “I can’t take it anymore!” and slicing off a part of their body. The moment Vamponies smell pony blood, they lose it. Nothing will stand between them and their target.

This is why I’m probably the last. Only a unicorn could possibly manage to blend in this well. The other races would be found out the moment they were forced into close proximity of a Vampony. Their scent or the sound of their heart would give them away.

Not me. I will live. For all the ponies who died, I will live on. Hopefully I can find an unconverted stallion and restart our race, but my hopes for that aren’t high. Until then, I’m living the life of a normal teenage Vampony; high school.

Oh yeah, did I mention that I’m one of the most attractive fillies in school? Which nets me a lot of unwanted attention from colts. And fillies.

Vamponies are lusty bastards. They can reproduce through sex, and they die with age, contrary to what our rumours said. I suppose it’s a win and a loss. But the awesome part is, unlike with ponies, it’s the female Vampony that makes the first move. The males can drop hints that they like a female, but it’s up to the female to choose her mate. And I sure as hell won’t be picking any Vampony.

If only it weren’t for the Celestia be damned fillyfoolers… They get to move first AND they can go for another female. I tried to make it clear that I’m straight, which I totally am by the way! But they just don’t get it! It’s probably because I’m so damn sexy! And don’t get me started on the males; I get hundreds of hints dropped left and right. I ignore them all, of course, but it’s grinding on my nerves. Maybe that’s why they don’t believe I’m straight…

So that’s my life, in general, and honestly, it’s better than it sounds. I could give you a summary of the day-to-day events from my birth all the way up to the mass conversions and then the eight years following that, but instead, I’m just gonna jump straight to now.

Cause now, I boned up, bad.

I am Vinyl Scratch, the last pony, and this is the story of my greatest mistake.

Author's Notes:

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