Chapter 10
Coming to Light
Twilight Sparkle sat on the Library floor. Her head bent over the pages of the book in front of her. A frown creased her muzzle and her attention kept wandering away from reading. She had selected an encyclopedia of untamed animals, hoping to discover some clues to their mysterious predator's identity, but she'd made no progress and her thoughts kept wandering to other worries.
She was considering a magical security system for the Library again when a knock sounded at the door. Marking her page, she set the book on a shelf and walked to the door. "Who's there?"
"Ponyville Police; Sergeant Siren Blare," a gruff voice answered. "We need to ask you a few questions."
The unicorn froze in place. She wondered why the police wanted to see her. She gulped and suppressed the nervous feelings in her stomach. They couldn't be after her she hadn't committed any crimes. Did they know about her investigation into the creature attack? Maybe they wanted to warn her away. Twilight twisted the doorknob. "Please come in, officer."
A tall, muscular stallion stood on her doorstep. His coat and mane both shone dark red. His light blue eyes examined Twilight as he stepped inside. He wore a dark blue raincoat with the hood pulled down. A flashing siren formed his Cutie Mark. A shorter white pony followed him inside. Twilight figured him to be Siren Blare's partner. Both officers lacked horns, and with the loose raincoats on their backs, she couldn't tell if either one were a Pegasus or Earth pony, though she guessed the later.
"Thank you, ma'am," Sergeant Blare said.
"What can I do for you, officers?" Twilight asked. She wished Spike hadn't gone out to restock the quill and ink supplies now. Despite all her research on the subject, she could not brew a decent cup of tea.
"Hospital personnel indicate you were the last pony to speak with Junebug," Siren Blare said. "During your visit, did she behave strangely in anyway?"
Twilight thought for a second and shook her head. "She was very shaken up, but that didn't seem odd after what happened. Why? Is something wrong?"
The red stallion frowned and shifted his attention to the bookshelves. His partner hung back, watching the proceedings from a distance. Their faces shared the same distressed expression. Twilight's eyes widened before they answered.
"Junebug's dead," Siren Blare said, confirming Twilight's fears. "A nurse found her half-an-hour ago. She smashed the bulb in her lamp and sliced herself up."
"Oh, my Celestia," Twilight collapsed onto her tail. She couldn't believe a pony she spoke to a few hours ago had killed herself. Junebug seemed such a cheerful soul, connecting this behavior to the acts she just heard… "No, it doesn't make sense. After she survived an animal attack, why would she kill herself? Who else spoke to her?"
"The records indicate only you and some family members," Siren Blare replied.
"Have you spoken to her family yet?" Twilight asked.
He shook his head. "We wanted to talk with you first. Junebug drew two symbols on the wall before she died."
Reaching into his coat, he pulled out a folded sheet of paper and offered it to Twilight. Her purple aura gripped the sheet and held it in front of the unicorn. A large circle stretched across the paper, drawn in black ink. Several jagged triangles sprouted from the bottom and top of the circle's interior. Twilight stared at the drawing for a moment, before she handed it back to Sergeant Blare.
"What was the other symbol?"
He pointed a hoof at her flank. Twilight frowned in confusion, but craned her head around and examined her Cutie Mark. She gasped as the implication sank in. "Why would she draw my Cutie Mark?"
"We were hoping you could tell us," the white pony finally spoke up. He frowned at Twilight, who had just noticed the nightstick on his flank.
"I don't know," Twilight stepped back. Her mind raced, panicked and confused. She glanced around, instinctively searching for an exit, but the police officers stood between her and the door. Her horn glowed, a teleportation spell building. The nightstick pony stepped back, afraid the spell might be dangerous.
"Hold your horses!" Blare exclaimed. His authoritative tone made Twilight freeze and the shower of purple sparks around her horn faded. "We aren't accusing you of anything."
"But-," Twilight gasped. She found herself panting. The stress and near-teleport had combined to exhaust her.
"Any evidence against you is purely circumstantial at the moment," he said. "We are treating this as a murder case. Like you said, it doesn't make sense she would kill herself. We think whoever attacked her last night, returned this morning to finish her off, and did an excellent job of making it look like suicide."
"You don't think it was an animal attack do you?"
He shook his head. "The bite marks indicate an animal, but we haven't found any unusual tracks near the crime scene and we've been unable to match the bite marks to anything."
"Did you question Junebug?" Twilight asked. "You know, before…"
The two ponies shared a glance. Siren Blare frowned and clicked his tongue. "We did not. Our timing was rather unfortunate."
"I asked her about the attack," she said. The two detectives turned their full attention on her. Their intense stares unnerved Twilight for a moment and she cleared her throat, buying time to collect her thoughts. "She described her attacker as a pony with a mouth full of fangs. The pupils of its eyes were dead black with red outlines. Its coat was purple… dark purple."
The white pony arched an eyebrow at her. "That's… an interesting description. A pony like that should be easy to find."
"I don't think so," Twilight replied. "If there's some kind of pony-like creature perpetrating these attacks then it'll be very adept at blending in with its prey."
"Perhaps the murderer simply prefers to wear a mask," Blare said. "There's no reason to assume this is anything more than a common serial killer."
Twilight frowned and stepped toward the nearest bookshelf. She pretended to scan its contents as she thought. Something inside her gut told her Siren Blare was wrong, maybe she'd dealt with too many monsters and demigods, but this didn't feel like a normal crime to her. Pushing for a supernatural explanation might seem suspicious to the police, especially if they were considering her as a suspect, but she decided to speak her mind. "No, we should assume the killer is more than just a pony. What other explanation is there for Junebug's strange suicide?"
"Unicorn magic," Siren Blare said, and then grimaced as though he hadn't intended to speak aloud. "Do you know of any spell that can-?"
"No!" Twilight interrupted. "I know of nothing like that."
Except for the Want-It Need-It spell. She wished she'd never learned that one, or picked up the spell book from that shady Canterlot vendor. Fortunately, after she realized just what the book taught, she'd burnt it and sworn never to use any of the spells in it. With one exception, she'd kept that vow.
A hoof banged against the door. All three ponies jumped at the sound and shifted their gaze to the exit.
"Is Sergeant Blare there?" a voice hollered from outside.
"Yes, what is it?" the red stallion called as he moved towards the door.
"There's been another victim and we have a witness, but she's not talking."
"Who is it?" Siren Blare asked.
"Applejack. The victim is her brother."
Carrot Top left Derpy at the house and cantered toward the hospital. When Derpy passed out, Carrot Top had hauled her chubby flank onto the couch. The grey pony muttered and groaned in her sleep, but at least, she'd stopped screaming. Carrot Top considered calling a neighbor over, but decided not to bother anypony.
The Earth pony didn't exercise much, but she kept in better shape than her friend did and knew how to pace herself. Dark clouds covered the sky, but the rain and thunder had stopped. The wet grass squelched under her rain boots. A cool breeze swept between the buildings, but her raincoat kept her warm.
When she reached the hospital, she found a small herd of ponies surrounding the entrance. Carrot Top slowed to a walk and pushed through the crowd. The ponies ignored her for the most part and shouted questions towards the building's entrance. They all wore press hats and carried either a camera or a pencil and notepaper. She squeezed through a pair of Pegasi and approached the hospital entrance. Two stallions in dark blue police uniforms stood in front of the door. The nearest of the pair stepped forward to meet her.
"Do you need medical attention?" he asked in a curt, businesslike manner.
"I need a doctor to examine my friend at my house," Carrot Top replied, nervously grinding a hoof against the cement.
The stallion nodded and stepped aside. The orange-haired pony muttered her thanks and stepped into the hospital lobby. She glanced over her shoulder at the crowd of reporters and wondered why they had flocked to the hospital. The curiosity disappeared as she remembered her mission.
Walking up to the counter, Carrot Top tried to stop the nervous twitching of her tail and the rapid beating of her heart. She needed Derpy to be okay, the cross-eyed pony was almost like her little sister. She spoke to the nurse, a pink-maned white mare. "I need somepony to examine a friend of mine."
"You need a house call?" Nurse Redheart asked. Carrot Top nodded. "Can you describe your friend's symptoms?"
"She can't keep food down and her throw-up has blood in it," she replied. "I'm not sure, but she might be delirious, too. She started screaming and then passed out."
"Oh, dear," the white mare said. "I'll go get a doctor right away."
She left the desk at a fast walk and Carrot Top sat down to wait. Her hoof continued to grind its way into the floor. The nurse returned in a few seconds accompanied by a light grey stallion with a short black mane and grey eyes. The martini glass complete with olive that covered his flank caused Carrot Top pause, but he seemed to be trotting a straight line. He wore a pair of white saddle bags emblazoned with a red cross.
"This is Doctor Hawkeye," Nurse Redheart said.
"Hi, how are you doing?" he asked, placing a leg forward.
"I'm fine," Carrot Top replied, quickly shaking his hoof. "Sorry, but I really want to get back, I left Derpy all by herself after she passed out."
"Let's saddle up then," Hawkeye grinned.
Carrot Top groaned and led the way out of the lobby. Outside the police had moved the reporters back. The herd now stood behind a line of observant, uniformed officers. Hawkeye asked the direction of her house, Carrot Top pointed and dashed off. The doctor charged after her.
He asked the yellow pony several more questions about Derpy's health as he tried to keep pace with her. Carrot Top related the whole story of how she saw the mail pony wandering in the rain and invited her inside, gave her lunch, and then watched as she threw everything back up. She described Derpy's collision with the fridge and her subsequent freak out.
"It scared the carrot juice out of me!" she exclaimed as they stepped onto her porch. Twisting the knob, she pushed the door open. She hung her raincoat on the coat stand and kicked off her boots. They walked through the kitchen into her living room.
Green wallpaper covered the four walls of the room. Carrots decorated the field of green. A brown carpet covered the floor. Her light green couch sat in the middle of the room with a polished brown coffee table in front of it. As Carrot Top flicked on the ceiling light, the illumination revealed the vacant space on the couch. The yellow pony scanned the room. "Derpy? Derpy Hooves, where are you?"
Something plopped behind her and Doctor Hawkeye grunted in disgust. She turned around and saw a white glob splattered across his forehead. Carrot Top recognized it as the icing from her carrot cake. Another glob dropped onto the back of Hawkeye's neck. He glanced upwards and his mouth dropped open. She followed his gaze.
Derpy Hooves hung from the ceiling above them. Her hind legs somehow gripped the smooth surface, her wings wrapped around her upper body like a cocoon. Icing still covered her blonde hair and a thick strand of drool hung from her mouth. She raised her head and stared down at them with huge, pale yellow eyes. Her lips drew back, baring a pair of pointed fangs. The two Earth ponies stared at her in a combination of horror and disbelief. Derpy's wings spread and she dropped, crashing down front hooves first onto Hawkeye's back.
The impact knocked him down, banging his chin off the floor. The grey Pegasus wrapped a leg under his neck and wrenched up his head. He sputtered for air. Derpy plunged her fangs into the side of his throat, growling in satisfaction.
"Stop that!" Carrot Top exclaimed, stepping forward to wrestle her friend away from the doctor. Derpy swung her free leg and struck her across the cheek. It felt like a strike from a cast-iron frying pan, rather than a flesh-and-blood pony. Carrot Top crashed onto her coffee table, splitting it in half. The Earth pony groaned and dropped her head to the side, dazed. Her vision blurred, and the sound of Derpy's groaning and growling faded.
Her vision began to clear as hoof steps approached her. She tried to sit up, but a hard shove to her chest forced her down. Derpy's leering face came into view as she climbed on top of Carrot Top, pinning her down. Red stained the hair around her muzzle. The Pegasus lowered herself down and licked Carrot Top's cheek. Her tongue was wet with blood and left a red trail on her fur. A shiver shot through the Earth pony's body. Fear and confusion clouded her mind, she tried to force Derpy off, but her weight clamped down like a vice. The grey pony's mouth drifted towards her neck and her frantic mind blurted out the first thought that came to it.
"Come on, Derpy! We tried this back in high school and we both agreed it was just too weird!"
The bite pierced her neck near the shoulder, making her yelp. The pain faded along with every other sensation in her body. She couldn't feel her legs and soon couldn't move them either. Her tongue grew heavy in her mouth and just lifting her head seemed to take all her strength. Her chin brushed against something soft and yielding, one of Derpy's ears. Carrot Top gasped and clamped her jaws down on it. Derpy screeched in pain, Carrot Top barely felt the fangs leave her neck. Sensation returned to her body, but she couldn't move her limbs yet, so she clung to Derpy Hooves' ear. The angry Pegasus thrashed and screeched as she tried to pull free. Her ear slipped loose and she dropped over backwards.
Carrot Top stumbled upright, her legs shook and she reeled forward, but managed to regain her footing before she crashed back down. She spotted Hawkeye lying on the floor, blood flowing into the carpet around his throat. Derpy sat up and blinked, her crooked eyes morphed back to normal. Blood dripped from the bite marks in her left ear and Carrot Top registered a coppery taste in her mouth. Gasping, she spat it out.
"Ugh, what happened?" Derpy asked, touching her injured ear.
The Earth pony spun around and planted a kick in Derpy's confused face. The grey pony swayed from side to side before dropping to the floor with a loud thud. Carrot Top exhaled a sigh of relief.
The Whitetail Wood took on a dreary aura after the thunderstorm. Branches hung from the trees, broken by the gale of the wind. Smaller sticks littered the ground. Rainwater turned the trail muddy. The blank white sky cast dark shadows beneath the treetops.
Fly Fisher barely noticed the destruction around him as he trekked through the forest. The tan earth pony wore a fishing hat ringed with flies and hooks, a white vest, and two saddlebags containing his fishing equipment. A fishing rod hung over his shoulder. A red and yellow fly decorated his flank. He whistled as he walked.
His colt, a dark brown earth pony named Radar, followed him. Radar wore a dark green wool cap along with a set of saddlebags and carried his own fishing pole. He only reached his father's mid-neck in height. His Cutie Mark was a dark gray circle with a green line sweeping over it.
They trotted along the trail from their campsite towards the stream. The Fisher family arrived the day before and planned to stay until the end of the week. Fly worried when the storm hit that morning and hoped the Ponyville weather patrol hadn't planned for terrible weather all week. When the storm ended, he'd felt a childish burst of joy and gathered their fishing gear.
The walk from their campground to Fly Fisher's favorite stretch of stream took several minutes, but he didn't mind the exercise. In fact, he planned to retire to Ponyville someday and spend his twilight years fishing and hiking in the Whitetail Wood.
"Uh-oh," Radar's high-pitched voice interrupted Fly's imaginings of a thatch-roofed house with a white picket fence.
"What? Did you forget something?" the old stallion stopped and glanced at his son.
Radar pointed ahead. Fly followed his hoof and spotted a crumpled sky blue form lying on the trailside. Rainbow hair decorated the stranger's head and a pair of wings splayed around its body. Streaks of red covered the brightly colored pony and streams of blood pooled around it. The Pegasus' side rose and fell as it breathed.
"Stay here," he told Radar before stepping forward. He approached the blue pony slowly. Its short muzzle made him think it was a mare, albeit a very muscular one. No wounds covered her body; rather the blood seemed to leak out of her eyes, ears, nose, and every other opening. The coppery smell permeated his nostrils as he stood over her. His stomach turned at the scent. "Excuse me, can you hear me?"
The mare groaned and twitched a leg. Her eyes blinked open, revealing huge dark red irises. Fly Fisher's eyes widened in surprise before the Pegasus lunged and sank her teeth into his ankle. He screamed in pain and reared back, but she clung to his leg with a death grip.
"Dad!" Radar shouted.
"Stay back!" Fly ordered.
He raised his free leg over the Pegasus' head, but she yanked on his leg, flipping him onto his side as she rolled upright. Her fangs ripped free of his skin in the tumble, leaving a large gash. She hissed and bared her crimson-stained teeth at him. Radar yelled as he charged at the creature. She ducked as he reached them, hooked her head and neck under his body, and bucked him over her shoulder into a tree trunk. He yelped as he struck the hard bark and then again, when he dropped to the ground. The colt groaned and didn't rise back to his feet.
The feral pony turned her attention back to Fly Fisher. The stallion had crawled a few inches away with his torn ankle. She stepped after him and slammed a hoof down on his back, eliciting a loud crack from his spine. He screamed in pain, prompting a sadistic smirk from his tormentor. Rainbow Dash ground her hoof into his back as she leaned down and sank her fangs into the side of his neck. She thrashed her head and tore a huge wound in his flesh, a tide of blood washed into her mouth. Her gums stopped burning and her muscles ceased shaking as she snorted down Fly Fisher's life fluid. A cooling, pleasurable sensation filled her body, prompting her to moan. Her jaws released Fly's neck; the earth pony lay on the ground dead before Rainbow finished feeding. The relief faded and her hunger returned, so she started towards the unconscious colt.
A dark purple unicorn stepped out from behind a tree and approached the trail. Rainbow Dash froze and glared at the newcomer. The unicorn wore a black cape over a red suit vest. His Cute Mark showed a boutique of red roses. He picked his way through the mud and leaves with careful steps, shooting an amused glance at the unconscious colt. "Well, you have some spunk, I'll give you that."
Rainbow Dash hissed at him and prowled forwards, crouched low like a cat. The unicorn raised an eyebrow before sighing. "Still hungry?"
He raised a leg to his mouth and bit his ankle, opening up a long scratch. The dark pony held out the bleeding limb to the snarling Pegasus. Her eyes flickered to the cut, her mouth gaped open, and then she lunged forward. She wrapped her front legs around his arm and sucked hard on the cut.
"I forgot how demanding you young ones are," he commented, gritting his teeth as Rainbow's fangs dug into his skin. "That's it, good girl."
The unicorn whistled as the blood drained from his arm. When none of her memories flashed through his mind, he frowned. "You little… You've already ascended?"
He pulled his leg away, but Rainbow clamped her jaws down tighter and grunted possessively. His horn flashed black and searing pain pierced her forehead. She opened her mouth to screech and the dark pony drew away. The Pegasus dropped to her knees as the unicorn glared down at her. He sighed and the black aura vanished. Rainbow Dash groaned and rubbed a hoof against her throbbing skull.
"Are we coherent now?"
The alarmed Pegasus shot an alarmed glance at the strange pony in front of her. She leapt into the air and hovered a few feet away. "Who are you?"
"I have been called many names, but you may call me Purple Haze," he replied with a slight bow.
Rainbow frowned in confusion, before glancing down at her blood-covered body. She shrieked in horror and spun around, spotting the body lying on the ground behind her. "Ohmigosh, ohmigosh!"
"Relax, I can make sure nopony ever finds them," Purple Haze said calmly. He stepped forward and reached up to place a reassuring hoof on Rainbow's shoulder.
She shoved him backwards and spun around to face him. Tears washed at her blood-streaked cheeks. "What are you talking about? Who are you?"
The purple stallion smirked, showing a mouthful of sharpened teeth as his eyes flashed black and red. Rainbow's heart stopped and she almost dropped out of the sky when she forgot to beat her wings. Her mouth gaped open in surprise.
Purple Haze's horn glowed and snapped Rainbow's mouth shut as he stepped past her. He glanced down and examined Fly Fisher's body.
"You're the one that…" Rainbow gasped and spun around. She rose onto her hind legs and swung a kick at the back of his head. Her hoof passed through empty air as the pony burst into a purple cloud. The mist drifted a few feet away and reformed into Purple Haze, who shook his head at her.
"Don't… ever try anything like that again," he said with a grave expression on his face. "I've killed ponies for less than that."
"You've ruined my life!" Rainbow Dash bellowed at him.
"Have I?" he asked with an exaggeratedly quizzical frown. "First, let me point this out to you; I wasn't myself when I bit you. Reforming after a hundred odd years as a pile of ash tends to make a pony hungry and you should know all about hungry by now, young lady. If I had been in control, I would have drained you and killed you, instead of moving onto the next meal. So consider yourself lucky."
The Pegasus gasped and sputtered. She couldn't believe how bluntly this unicorn spoke of killing her. She gritted her teeth and snorted. "Oh, yeah? I'd like to see you try and take me in a fair fight."
"Perhaps we'll attempt that later. I could have killed you just now while you were in the feral throes of bloodlust, but I didn't," he continued. "The fact is, I'm behind the times right now and you could be very helpful to me. In exchange, I can help you control your darker side and teach you how to survive in your new state."
Rainbow Dash stared at him. She distrusted this strange creature already, but his offer to help her seemed too good to pass up. "How can you help me?"
"Well, first, I can tell you that animal blood is not a good idea," he shook his head. "If this sorry buck hadn't wandered across you, you'd probably have died. Pony blood is best, but you can make due with donkey or cow as well."
Rainbow Dash's eyes widened in horror. "What? You mean I've got no choice, but to kill other ponies and make more of… us?"
"No, if you kill them before draining all their blood, or release your hold on their throat, and let them die of blood loss, they won't come back as more of us," he replied as though they were discussing the weather. He glanced back at her latest victim's neck. "Wounds such as that often prevent regeneration as well."
"Then Big Mac's not…" Rainbow glanced away. She stared into the depths of the forest. She wiped a leg over her eyes as she sniffled.
Purple Haze paused and considered the blue Pegasus. Ordinarily, he chose ponies without family or friends to turn. Connections to your mortal life just made things hard; he was so relieved all his family had died. He reconsidered killing her, but she reminded him too much of somepony…
"It's probably better if he doesn't come back," he said. Rainbow frowned at him. His face remained an emotionless mask. "Most can't handle the change."
"I'm sorry…" Rainbow growled. "Was that you trying to be comforting? Cause you suck at it. I killed him. Okay? It's my fault he's dead. It's my…"
Tears choked her voice and she spun around so Purple Haze couldn't see her crying. He walked over and stood next to her as she tried to control her emotions. She shot a glare in his direction, wishing she could shout blame and hate at him, but her voice failed her at that moment.
"I suppose I've witnessed too much death for it to bother me anymore," Purple Haze said. He frowned as something drew his attention. "Hold on…"
Rainbow Dash turned and watched him trot toward the trees. A dark brown colt lay amongst the roots of a tree. Dash hadn't noticed him, but guessed he had accompanied the older pony she had killed in her animal rage. He groaned and rubbed his head as Purple Haze stopped next to him. Rainbow's eyes widened in horror as he knelt over the colt and opened his mouth, his jaws closed around the back of Radar's neck, and he twisted hard. Rainbow flinched as she heard the snap.
He wiped his mouth off with a handkerchief from his vest pocket and turned back to her. "Now, what were we talking about? Oh, right. Death… It's never easy for mortals to deal with, I guess."
Sorry for the wait, bronies. Have an extra long chapter for the trouble. Also, I'm going to assume most of you know about General Zoi's pony creator (if not you should be able to search it out on deviantart.) Anyway, I've created a pretty accurate representation of Purple Haze and vampire Rainbow Dash with it. I'd post the codes for the characters here, but the site has a 'helpful' auto-correcting feature that deletes them. So I'll put the codes on Zoi's pony code compilation page for those that want to take the time to find them.
One more thing, after the reaction Rainbow's Rant got from everybody, I'm considering doing an ask Pony blog for vampire Rainbow Dash and I'm just curious to see what everyone thinks of this idea. (And if anyone's interested in doing the art for such a project...)