I woke up the next evening and, amazingly, I remembered the previous night. Sure it was in bits and pieces, but the letter Octavia wrote me filled in the blanks. I was on the speedy path to recovery, and although Octavia hadn’t shown up yet that evening, I was still elated. Not even the mild headache, major body ache, and dizziness I suffered from could ruin my mood

As soon as I woke, I ate, drank, and went to the bathroom, just like the note instructed. Afterwards, I pulled over the medical book Octavia had said she used to ‘diagnose’ my condition. I had read it previously, but I couldn’t place my symptoms to a disease out of memory; I’d have to read through it.

‘The infection is currently known as, for lack of a proper scientific term, blood poisoning.’ I read. Octavia had marked the page she obviously though detailed my condition. ‘An amazing contamination, it is exceedingly rare and unique to pony kind. The infection only occurs when the blood of the host becomes contaminated with certain pony-made object, as well a few naturally occurring ones.’ A list followed, which included high doses of chlorine and bleach. “That explains how I got it.” I thought aloud, continuing my lecture. The next line, however, caused my heart to skip a beat.

‘In the case of an infection, the rate of survival is zero percent. All ponies who have been diagnosed were corpses within a month. As horrible as it sounds, the best option for a pony who has become infected is euthanasia. It saves them hours of ever increasing and unbearable pain.’

‘So that’s it…’ I thought as I rubbed my pounding temple. ‘Game over, I’m dead by next weekend? No! There has to be a cure.’

I read on. ‘An infected pony will progress through several stages of the infection. Most notably, they will be in constant pain during their waking hours, which will fluctuate but always end up increasing as the infection worsens.’ I wasn’t in unbearable pain at the moment, only major pain, which was a little reassuring. Perhaps I was merely in a fluctuation, but I had to hope for the best. ‘At the second stage, the infected will develop an increase in their lethargic state, some to the point of near-comatose levels.’ Check. ‘By stage three, the infected’s flesh will begin to rot from within, due to the blood providing harmful chemicals in addition to the much needed oxygen to the cells. A noticeable increase in pain accompanies the transition and duration of the third stage.’ Not there yet, thank Celestia. ‘Finally, the blood cells will multiply to the point of replacing the muscle, tissue, and bone cells that have been destroyed, effectively turning a pony into a near-literal sack of toxic blood. This process is never completed, however, as the pony is always dead long before the innards can decompose properly.’ I was about to stop and retch, or sob, but the next line caught my attention.

‘In recent medical history and developments, the use of a revolutionary new product seems to be prolonging the life of the infected; a drug known currently as “antibiotics”. Many of the test ponies, those that are on a death sentence and have chosen to donate their body to science in hopes of survival, have effectively survived double, sometimes even triple the duration of normal infected. There have been, so far, no survivors, but hope is increasing as the medication is refined. We expect to have a finished model within the next five years, although hope is that a working prototype will be available before two full years have passed.’

In an instant, I flipped the medical tome back to the first page and searched for a production date. My heart soared when I read that the book had been produced just under fifteen years prior. The antibiotics were surely advanced enough by this point! Octavia must have reasoned it out and realised that antibiotics were my only hope. I’m glad she’s not a dumb bimbo like most other female Vamponies.

I had a sudden temptation to increase the dosage, but after reading the bottle I decided risking an overdose was a bad idea. Instead, a thought crossed my mind. The book hadn’t mentioned anything about amnesia, and a quick re-read indicated that it shouldn’t be a side effect either. This left me with a confusing problem; where had my amnesia come from? And why was it wearing off now that I begun taking the antibiotics? Or could it be something else that had happened recently?

A line that I had read in the side effects section sprung to mind. ‘A potentially dangerous combination occurs when a unicorn is infected and simultaneously magically suppressed.’ I flipped to the part of the book that detailed magic suppression. ‘It is well known that a healthy unicorn must frequently discharge the magic they build up over the course of their daily lives. Whether they are the weakest or a magical prodigy, a unicorn who willingly or unwillingly suppresses their own magic is likely to begin feeling the unwanted side effects of magic suppression syndrome (MSS) and, in extreme cases, overly cluttered cognitive meltdown (OCCM) (possible lethal). Although it is relatively harmless on its own, MMS is known to have many side effects on subjects’ brain when suffering from certain other diseases, infections, parasites and other medical anomalies. Most notably among these are the following: Hallucinations, insomnia, amnesia, and a much lower resistance to OCCM, which can lead to permanent insanity, dementia, and in incredibly rare cases, a literal magical explosion in the subject’s brain (Lethal). Other side effects are possible, but rarer.’ A list followed, covering an entire page with possible side effects and their description. I stopped reading at that point.

Without the horn ring, the MSS should pass, so long as I casted some spells every day. At this point, that wasn’t my main concern. Instead, I began to worry. Where was Octavia? It was almost daytime, and she promised she’d be by. I knew it was silly to worry about the only Vampony who was actually a legitimate threat to my existence at the moment, but I missed her. Things between us were awkward at best, but it had been nice to have another living, intelligent creature to talk to.

I thought back to earlier this night. “I’m kidding. Yes, it’s because I want you to get better”. Well, it had been a nice thing of her to say. And she had kinda risked her life to get me what I needed… I didn’t even thank her. And her hooves; they had had burn marks on them. Her whole body had had them! The memory was fuzzy, but at the time I hadn’t even noticed just how much being under the sun had damaged her. She suffered through daylight to save my life.

I felt something slide down my face. Octavia had saved and spared my life dozens of times by now. It was hard to believe the pony who had almost gobbled me up in my own home a week ago was now my saviour, and my best friend.

I wiped away the tear, taking some deep breaths as I prepared to cast my painkiller spell. Obviously these were tears caused by the pain, and not because I was emotionally weak, unlike the soulless bloodsuckers.

With the spell finished, I realised Octavia must have read up on MMS too; that’s why I wasn’t wearing the horn ring anymore. I wondered, briefly, if she took it off simply for medical reason, or perhaps because she trusted me enough to chance me living with the ring off. In the end I decided to abstain from jumping to a conclusion.

I wasn’t feeling particularly sleepy yet, but to run the risk of falling unconscious outside wasn't a good idea, tempting as the idea was. Instead, I snuck over to the window, simultaneously attempting to stretch out some of the stiffness in my back without causing my hooves to flare up any worse then they were already.

I tried to open the blinds, but they were far too heavy for my weakened state. The shutters which the Vamponies had created were made of extremely heavy metal, to ensure the light of day couldn’t harm the creatures of the night.

"Stupid shutters!" I barked. They were the only thing separating me from my beautiful light, but even in health I had been too week to open them. What reason was there to assume the situation would be improved by sickness?

As it were, I wanted to feel the sun. No, I NEEDED to. I had gone too long without; two weeks, I think, without Celestia’s glorious ball of light and heat. The sun was a staple in my life, and I’d be a fool if I was to let an opportunity like this slip by.

I threw caution to the wind and trotted down the stairs and over to the front door. Vamponies be damned, I was going to sit outside once the sun was in the sky!

*****

I woke to a severe head ache, body ache, hoof ache; basically my daily life at this point.

I groaned in complaint, squirming on the hardwood floor as I tried to return to the realm of dreams, instead of suffering through that of the waking. Unfortunately, Luna didn’t want me returning to her safe, painless haven.

I blinked, a thought entering my head. Luna was the monarch of the night, creator of the Vamponies and the destroyer of my race. She had her own sister killed, watched thousands of ponies be torn to shreds by hungry bloodsuckers, and she also control sleep.

So why hadn’t she discovered me yet?

It had never dawned on me that I should fear sleep itself, but now that I thought about it, shouldn’t the evil witch have found and eaten me like her kind did to so many others?

Maybe she couldn’t see my dreams… Or maybe she simply didn’t care enough to search through all the Vamponies for a single meal. Whatever the reason, if I hadn’t been eaten in the last eight years, I doubt she’d come at all.

But all this was irrelevant, really… I should probably have been more focused on the fact that I woke up on the floor, in pain, and right in front of the front door.

“The sun…” I whispered to myself. “I needed to see the sun.”

I had no idea what time it was; midnight, noon, the witching hour. It honestly didn’t matter to me; I needed fresh air almost as much as I wanted the big ball of gas to grace my needy body with its presence. It didn’t matter if my head felt like it would explode. I didn’t care that my hooves were burning like a Vampony out at day. The world could be spin as fast as it wanted to; I was going to outside right this minute.

With an agony inducing crawl, I pulled myself forward, towards the biggest, toughest, most powerful obstacle that I had ever faced down in my life! The door .

I flopped down in front of it, having successfully managed to yank my broken, bruised and battered body across the wide plain that is my living room floor. Now came the hard part.

I tried it the easy way first; grabbing the lock in my magic and turning it. A satisfying click rewarded my efforts. Once I turned the handle, the door slowly began to slide inwards.

I had to shield my eyes from the fierce glare that assaulted them. Behind the door, light shone through, flooding the room and chasing away the dark, dreary atmosphere the Vamponies had instilled upon the world. Without hesitation, I shoved the door open as far as it could go. The light coated my body in a warm blanket of happiness and safety. The moment it touched me, I felt my headache lessen and the ache in my hooves vanished. I pulled myself outside, allowing the sun to embrace me directly. A sigh of happiness left my lips as all my pain drifted away, instead replaced by a pleasant warmth, as if Celestia herself was tending to my wounds.

“That is because I am, my child.”

My head lolled to the side, and I before me stood the Princess of the day. Her white coat possessed a sur-pony beauty. Her mane flowed delicately in a non-existent breeze. Her smile, wide and warm, reminded me of all the love that only a pony could deliver. I felt tears run down my face as the goddess approached me.

“But… You’re supposed to be dead.”

Her smile turned to a chuckle. “I am dead, dear Vinyl. As dead as an immortal, un-killable goddess may be. My poor sister; she was still blinded by her fury at having been imprisoned for a thousand years. She feels terrible, as I did the moment I was forced to exile her.” A tear slid down the side of Celestia’s cheek, but she made no move to stop it. It looked wrong; such a beautiful creature should not cry. “Truly, it is not her fault, and I do not resent her.”

“But, but she killed thousands of ponies; I am the last of my kind!” I sputtered, still laying, exhausted, on the ground.

“It is merely nature’s course, my dear. Luna did not create the Vamponies; that is a foal’s tale. Equines are not the first intelligent creatures to grace our world, and we shan’t be the last. But the Vamponies are as children to her as the ponies were to me; they were hunted to near extinction, and Luna could no longer stand to see them suffer. Our world is cruel, dear Vinyl, since we are not at the top of the food chain. We must kill what is higher than us, or be eaten by it.”

I felt my body lift of the ground, only to be deposited on my hooves. “You have done well to survive this long, my dear, and I shall hope that you manage to live until your natural death. Do not weep for me, or for pony kind; we shall return to this world in time, when I awake from the comatose state the Vampony poison has caused me to enter. It may not be in your lifetime, but rest assured that your race will not die with you; Luna has made sure of that. Perhaps one day, ponies and Vamponies will live together, as opposed to this bitter rivalry that has had them hunt each other for the past several thousand years…” She sighed sadly.

“But, but you’re a goddess!” I shouted, confused. “I don’t get it; if you can come to me and tell me everything’s going to be fine, can’t you just wake up and fix it all?”

“Oh you silly~” She said, her voice changing to a very familiar one. It was Octavia’s, and yet not Octavia’s. There’s no way Octavia had ever sounded so… happy. So vibrant and full of life. “Of course I can’t; I’m not even real. You’re just hearing what you want to hear; reassurances, promises of happiness.”

In front of my eyes, Celestia’s coat changed from a beautiful, shimmering white to an even more astounding gray. It wasn’t like normal, dull, boring gray; it shone in the light, exuding confidence, happiness, and caring. Octavia’s face shimmered into existence, her long, luscious black mane sparkling and dancing in a wild wind.

“Oh Vinyl.” She sang. “You must stop deluding yourself; I’m the only one for you.”

My mind was spinning. What was going on? My eyes felt heavy, my body wouldn’t move anymore. I tried to run to her, into the hooves of my love, but she floated away. I tried to shout out to her, to tell her to come back, but it was too late.

*****

I woke with a start. My body jerked and twitched, spouting profanities at me for trying to move it. The pain as it had been for two weeks now, crashed into me like the Canterlot express mid-delivery. My head spun, and I saw the houses twirl and glide in and out of focus.

I was lying in the street, a few steps outside my house. All around me, the world kept spinning. I just wanted to lie there and let them find me; the dream had been so real, so perfect. Maybe if I died and went into Celestia’s realm, into the afterlife, I could meet her. Finally get to know the real her, and fall in love for real…

“Octavia.” I whispered. “Where are you?”

Then the world came crashing back to reality. I couldn’t die here! Octavia was still alive, so she wouldn’t be on the other side. Not yet. I didn’t need the afterlife; the real Octavia is alive, in this world, and she needed me.

“I’m not gay.” I said to myself with a smile on my face. “I’m just a little bi-curious.”

And now was certainly NOT the time to be sitting in the middle of the road. Behind me, I felt the sun’s rays still washing over my coat. But they were weak, and as I turned around, it was clear by its position in the sky that the sun wouldn’t protect me for much longer.

I struggled to my hooves. The pain had lessened since the dawn, but it was still enough to drag out a small groan. I slammed the door behind me, locking it as I always did and hoping that Octavia had kept the key. ‘She’s locking it and unlocking every time she comes over.’ I reasoned. ‘She has to be; it was locked when I tried to get through it.

Once I was safely inside, I reached into my fridge and pulled out a banana. It reminded me that I hadn’t been active in over a week now, but I was hardly in the mood to do anything of the sort anyway.

In fact… lust was a part of what got me into this mess anyway! Stupid Vamps and their stupid need to get tail. If I wasn’t a virgin, or so good looking, maybe they would’ve just left me alone.

I sighed. The past was unchangeable. But maybe the future wasn’t… When I ended up going back to school, if I told them Octavia got to me, then I’d be a lot less popular! I would still be good looking, but not the ultimate temptation. It was perfect!

But wait, Octavia wasn’t allowed to have sex with other ponies. It might end up affecting her situation with her mother, and her family, even if it was a simple lie. I’d have to ask her about it; I’m sure it couldn’t hurt to ask.

That reminded me of another thing; Octavia’s family. I didn’t know much about them. In fact, the only thing I really knew was that her mother disapproved of her daughter sleeping around. In this day and age that was completely ridiculous, obviously. Regardless, I should ask Octavia more about her family and Vamponies in general; for a race of lusty, sex crazed super-ponies, they had very few classes about themselves. I can’t remember ever discussing anything about Vampony anatomy, and for some reason that I couldn’t fathom, the turning was a horribly tabooed conversation topic. If anypony so much as mentioned it, they were met with glares.

“It must be because they experienced it…” I said to nopony. “Could it be horrible enough to make reliving it unbearable?” I thought about watching my loved ones change at my hooves; becoming monsters. They had joined the assault against the living without missing a beat. I couldn’t imagine how thousands of ponies could just turn on the rest of their race like that; was the hunger that strong? Or was there something else?

“Maybe understanding them better will help me blend in more in the future…” I whispered. I should use the fact that I had an in, and interrogate Octavia about all the facts that I hadn’t learnt about Vamponies.

‘Knowledge is power.’ I had learnt the hard way, years ago, that disguising myself meant I had to supress every tick and nervous reaction ponies had. I became the master of deceit by watching and learning. I wasn’t about to let lack of knowledge kill me off.

But right now, I had more important things to do then rush off on a quest to interrogate my roommate. Like wondering where said roommate was. It was past dusk; she should have arrived by now. It wasn’t like her to go such a large period of time without checking up on me.

I briefly debated going to see her, but in my present condition it would be far too dangerous. With the unpredictable fainting and extreme discomfort, not to mention the smell I let off, it would be suicidal to think I could make it un-discovered.

Instead, I took my antibiotics, re-dressed my wounds, and did some stretches. It simply wouldn’t do to let my physical condition deteriorate, and being sick was no excuse to stiffen up like a board. Still, I was getting kinda bored of just laying around.

I paused for a moment, listening for anything unusual. Once I felt moderately safe, I made my way to the living room. Even though I knew I was alone, I glanced around conspicuously. I grinned a little as I pulled the rug off my super-secret trapdoor, opening it and climbing down the stairs to my basement and hiding it again with my magic.

The basement was pith black; no light could penetrate it. I pulled a cord dangling near the bottom of the stairs, and was greeted with my producing studio. It was exactly as I had left it: my recording booth was immaculately clean and organised; my rec room, with my pitiful collection of exercise equipment, was swept clean, the floor free from sweat stains.

But the star of the room, and my butt mark, sparkled with the brilliance of diamonds in the sun. My turntables were polished to perfection, and had several layers of enchantments cast on them to prevent dust, rust, and anything else I could think off from running them. They were neon blue and two toned, just like my hair. My babies, with a small stack of records on the floor next to them, were raring to go.

I hadn’t been getting much use of them recently, even before Octavia. The night club sucked all the life out of music for me, and my turntables had only served as a reminder that my special talent was null and void in this world. Vamponies hated music with any kind of upbeat, fun, club-like sounds. All they wanted was dreary classical junk, not that I hate classical. To be honest, I like a lot of music, but the Vampony version felt… wrong. It was toned down and slowed down. The rhythm was week, the base section almost non-existent. It was like listening to Beethoven’s symphonies played entirely on chalkboards with broken nails. The pitch was too high.

I reached for my spare headphones and plugged them into the recording booth. I might not have my music player, but whatever I had been recording last would be good enough. My music was my prised possession; even if I could never get famous for it, music still comforted me in a way nothing else could. I’d wasted entire days just listening to music in my bed. It’s always with me when I go harvest my fruit. It’s my primary source of entertainment in this disgusting, horrible, dangerous, boring world.

I hit the switch. The volume was turned down, as I always left it, but I heard one of my favorite songs. It had been a club favorite back before the turning, and I tried to remix it. I really wanted to see how well it mixed with some country at first, but that was a total flop. Then I tried some metal.

Point being, I wasn’t one for making my own music. I did do it on occasion, especially when I’d first earned my “tramp stamp”, as the bloodsuckers tended to call them, but then I realised how hard it was to synthesise music from sounds. Instead, I decided to try just mixing some songs together or adding new sounds to them. Not only was it much easier, but it was way more fun too! I loved the feeling of control it gave me, and soon enough I had mangled enough of them to create my own song list.

Sometimes, when I dreamed of being a real DJ, I thought about playing one of my songs. In my fantasies, the ponies were always loudest during my set. They were always happy, dancing like nopony was watching. It was back before the turning, when I was still young.

My train of thought chugged on, and I thought back to when I was ten. The turning had just started and by the miracle that is good luck and quick thinking, I managed to survive. If it weren’t for the pony who’d helped me...

I shivered. I couldn’t think about him. I turned the music louder and sat on the floor, letting the music wash over me and hoping it’d blot out the world for a few hours.

*****

“It’s been two days…” I whispered.

After my… cleansing quality time with my music, during which I hadn’t passed out as I had expected to, I’d taken my meds again and done a few exercises. Then, having nothing to occupy my time, I read ahead for school. I couldn’t draw attention to myself, so falling behind in school wasn’t an option. I’d catch up on my own, like I’d done during my heats. Besides, detention was always sexual, whether it was a student gangbang or a special lesson by the teacher, and the teachers looked for any excuse to get us in there. Not like the students minded, at all, ever.

I covered a decent amount of ground before I decided, of my own accord for once, to go to sleep. I also woke up before the sun was gone, so I managed to sneak in a few more rays. But now I’m worried about Octavia, and it’s consuming a lot of my attention.

I took a shower and cleaned myself up good and proper. I had a plan, in order to find out if Octavia was okay. I’m sure it was just that her mother came by early, but I didn’t want to wait any longer to see her. Not that I liked her, mind you! I might think she’s nice, but I wasn’t about to fall head-over-hooves for a Vampony. I was just… gonna be a little more pleasant, in return for her pleasant-ness!

Now that the fainting seemed to have tamed itself, and the amnesia was gone, I felt relatively safe going outside again. Whether the fainting was gone because of the meds or because I was moving to the next stage, I didn’t know. The lack of unbearable pain was hinting at the medication.

No matter, tonight was the night I went outside. I had it all planned out; I would go to Octavia’s house, knock, and ask if I could see her so we could talk about the project. Since Brandon and Mark thought that’s why we were interacting anyway, it was a perfect plan! I even had a banana in my saddlebags to shove into her mother’s face when she asked.

Clean and with all my pony characteristics hidden, I made my way outside. The cuts were healing remarkably well, as far as cuts go. They were nothing but scabs at this point, and I hoped they’d be completely hidden by my fur by next weekend, so I could stop wearing thebandages. My fever was also gone, the pain was down to a dull ache thanks to certain spells, and I wasn't dizzy at all. I might not be fully recovered, but I was on the right track.

I made it to Octavia’s house in a reasonable delay. It looked just as it had when I first arrived; huge and intimidating. All the more so now that there was a new, older, horrible abomination inside. But hopefully Octavia could keep her mother in line.

Oh how misguided that thought was.

*****

Vinyl was safe, back at the house. I would have to leave her alone, possibly, but I knew she would survive. Hopefully her illness would keep her bedridden until my return, so I would not have to worry.

The book on pony anatomy as well as a special medical tool I’d found were in the saddlebags I’d decided to bring home with me. After all, why would I leave a book that had so much porn in it at Vinyl’s house?

I opened the door to my mansion, calling out to my servants to prepare for my mother’s arrival. I was not expecting her for another few days, but it never hurts to be prepared in the unpredictable storm that is my mother’s case.

When Brandon and Mark did not reply immediately, I began to call out again, only to be cut off by the most terrifying and ear-splitting sound that had ever had the ability to assault my ears.

“OCTAVIA PHILAHORMONICA! WHERE. HAVE. YOU. BEEN!”

Author's Notes:

Hello dear readers. I do believe I got the next chapter finished, and in a semi-reasonable amount of time too!
Before I say anything else though, look at the beautiful art that was created by Swift Blaze for several Octa/Scratch stories!
The art
Isn't it beautiful? *sniff* someone likes my story enough to make Art out of it!
That being said, I hope yall like the chapter. I'll be on break for the last month of summer vacation, but yall know I'm bad at making commitments.
So I won't!

Comment, like, favourite, watch, make some art, write a review. Any or all of these are things I appreciate! :3 I love you all!
-Mavinator5, expert at Dota 2

PS, one more thing; if I ever missed a comment to reply to, I'm very sorry. I try to hit them all, and please don't be insulted; just tell me and I'll be sure not to miss it again :3