The Master Mev : Chapter 03 – The First Meal

***

(Audiobook Reading)

The morning after reading the book Fluttershy gave her, Rainbow Dash walked next to her wisteria-colored alicorn friend, Twilight Sparkle. “Feeling back to normal?” Twilight asked as they worked their way toward her castle’s dining room.

“Mostly,” Rainbow admitted. “Like the book said, I liked wearing my fangs at night and this morning, I was way more cool with pulling them back into regular teeth. I can still do it either way, but during the day, I’m more comfortable as a pegasus. I’m not as hungry for magic. I’d still take it if somepony offered, but I’m not scared I’m about to pounce and tear into your neck just being within a few feet of you.”

“Thanks?” Twilight said with an uncertain tone.

“You’re welcome,” Rainbow said proudly. “Tank still looks at me like I’m me, but then, he didn’t wake up until after sunrise. I do feel different between day and night,” the sky blue pegasus explained.

“Did you sleep at all?” Twilight wondered.

“Only twenty minutes,” Rainbow answered.

They arrived at the door, and it swung open.

“Twilight and Fluttershy said you’ve become a mev: a magic eating vampire!” Pinkie Pie bounced in front of Rainbow with a smile before bouncing away into her seat.

“We have a lot to discuss,” Twilight told everyone as she found her seat, “after breakfast.”

Rainbow saw that Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity were all present already and quietly sitting, watching her. Every seat had a stack of pancakes ready to be eaten, so once Rainbow joined the table in the last empty chair, the others dug in. Rainbow stared at her Pinkie-prepared stack almost as if she weren’t sure what to do with it.

“Something wrong?” Rarity asked. “Besides you know…that thing.”

“Food isn’t the same anymore,” Rainbow admitted. She took a bite, chewed, and swallowed. “I can’t really taste this right now.”

“Oh no, what do you mean? I can make it better somehow!” Pinkie offered.

Rainbow shook her head. “It’s fine. If I can start eating my new real food, the taste will come back.”

“My my,” Rarity noted.

They finished their meal and went to have a meeting in the throne room.

“Before I explain more,” Twilight said. “Rainbow, I want you to,” she paused to clear her throat, “demonstrate a couple of things for us if you don’t mind.”

“I’m guessing the first thing is the full vampire form,” Rainbow said.

Twilight nodded.

Rainbow lifted herself to fly and land on the table. She transformed and spread out her bat-like wings. She looked at each friend and opened her mouth to plainly show the fangs, from Twilight to Applejack to Rarity to Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy too even though Fluttershy saw it already.

Applejack and Rarity nervously swallowed but said nothing otherwise.

“What’s it feel like?” asked a curious Pinkie. “It can’t be all bad if you can do it whenever you want and still talk to us.”

“It feels good,” Rainbow admitted, “even better at night though I actually prefer to be a pegasus most of the time still. What’s the other thing, Twilight?”

“I’m going to try casting magic on you, just lift you off the table,” Twilight said.

Rainbow nodded in compliance.

“Move closer to your seat so I can see,” Pinkie said.

Rainbow rolled her eyes but did as asked. She still stood on the table but closer to her own throne, so all the ponies could see the magic attempt from Twilight more easily. She and the other girls watched as the magenta aura appeared on Twilight’s horn and shorted out.

“Maybe don’t try the whole body,” Rarity advised. “Just her front mane scraps. That’s easy and light.”

Twilight nodded and still failed.

“You try too,” Applejack suggested to the white unicorn.

Rarity nodded. Her blue aura appeared and shorted out, failing as well.

“Thanks Rainbow,” Twilight said. “That’s enough to confirm a couple of things we read in the book. Girls, listen up. We have a lot to tell you.”

Twilight then explained a large part of what Rainbow read the night before. All became contemplative.

“So, she should probably get six fledglings then?” Applejack figured aloud.

“I don’t know,” Twilight confessed. “The fledglings are outright servants to the master, but they need to have a strong bond. It’d have to be somepony like us. Do any of you want to be her servant?”

“I do! I do!” Pinkie Pie volunteered. “I don’t mind. I’d make a great fledgling. Oh wait, does this same thing happen to us with food?”

“No, just me. I take on a lot of that load. Look, the whole master and servant thing is weird, but the book says that bond is specific to the pack,” Rainbow explained. “It’s not like I’m going to start barking orders for you girls to start washing my dishes or bringing me apple cider at my beck and call. It’s just…it’s a job, alright? I’ve been picked for a job and just like we all help out Twilight with the map and now the school, this job suggests friends in my pack. I’m in charge for that. Even if they are my servants, as the master, I have an obligation to them too. It’s not all take and no give. The regular exchange of magic makes everyone, including the fledglings, stronger.”

“Do the fledglings need fledglings?” Applejack asked.

“Not their own fledglings, more like the connection through the pack,” Rainbow said. “If they don’t feed once a week, they do feel weaker at night but are fine during the day. Even though it’s not in the book, I’m betting that the ideal pack number eases that weakness. I’m the only one at risk of going berserk.”

“Oh,” Pinkie Pie thought. “That night weakness is a bit of a downer,” she realized.

“It’s only if we miss,” Rainbow defended.

“I don’t mind,” Fluttershy offered. “I could do it. My nights are pretty easy to deal with, and I’ve known Rainbow for so long…I’m sure I can do it. I could be part of her pack.” She and Rainbow Dash exchanged quick, small smiles to each other.

“And if you can get to six, I’m in then and there!” Pinkie Pie declared.

“If we count that as two, four to go,” Twilight noted for all to track.

“How about you Rarity?” Rainbow asked.

“Hmm, well like Pinkie Pie, once you reach your magical number of six and assuming indeed this master and servant thing is how you describe it…you know what I find acceptable I trust.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow for a moment before smiling and nodding. “Of course.” So long as she let Rarity be Rarity, it’d be fine. “Sort of halfway with our two if we get the right number. Applejack?”

“You sure about this pack bond thingamajig?” Applejack asked.

“Pretty sure,” Rainbow replied. “I don’t exactly have any fledglings yet to test it out on. The book says that’s how it’s supposed to be, and my instincts agree.”

“Hmm, well, I reckon somepony else will have a turn before me so we can find out then,” Applejack determined.

“Fair enough,” Rainbow conceded. If nothing else, she at least had Fluttershy in her corner, so that was one assured test besides the required first unicorn. Fluttershy was much more assertive about saying no to any random request that came her way now.

Everyone looked to Twilight. “I…don’t know…I want to think about it. Since I’m an alicorn, then things could be different. The book didn’t have anything about alicorns at all.”

“Well, maybe I could feed off you once to see if the recovery time is faster since you’re a different type of pony with special powers,” the mev suggested. “I still need to eat, or I’ll get a lot worse. Counting last night as my first day, I only have six more nights before I need something.”

“Let’s do that experiment later,” Twilight suggested. “We could ask Starlight. I don’t know how she’d feel, but it’s worth a shot. She’s bound to be back from her breakfast with Trixie by now. I haven’t had a chance to tell her the news.”

“I’m cool with that. If she agrees and you and Applejack come around, we’re actually all set,” Rainbow stated.

Applejack and Twilight exchanged looks and said nothing before Twilight eventually decided, “Let’s have me and Rainbow talk to Starlight first. We need to know if we can count her. Everyone else, stay here.”

***

“Sure, I’ll do it,” Starlight agreed where she stood, facing a standing Twilight and a hovering nearby Rainbow Dash in the unicorn’s own room in the castle.

“What?” Twilight asked in disbelief. Her pupil took this far more easily than Twilight herself did.

“Of course. Think about it. If you get to six, it’s a cinch,” Starlight pointed out. “If not, you have a real vampire running around Equestria who might really take my magic for an entire week instead of zero days. Better to nip this in the bud. Rainbow’s not even that different so long as she actually gets fed, right?”

“Well, yes, I suppose,” Twilight admitted with a mild lament in her voice.

“You’re awesome!” Rainbow hovered down and closed in to hug Starlight.

Starlight blushed, and Rainbow let go, returning to her hovering state next to Twilight. “That means you’re all set then right?” the lilac unicorn asked. “Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, plus me, you’re already there.”

Rainbow folded her forelimbs and looked to Twilight with a smirk.

“What? I don’t get it.” Starlight looked to Rainbow Dash, then to Twilight, then to Rainbow Dash, before finally settling on Twilight yet again. “Wait, don’t tell me you’re hesitating,” Starlight realized.

“Well…” Twilight’s voice trailed off.

“Twilight, she’s your friend. Everything you two just told me screams this is something you should do to help her. Why wouldn’t you do it?” Starlight argued.

“Because…I’m an alicorn. The one book we found on the subject of mevs doesn’t even mention alicorns, like we didn’t exist back then or at least that masters didn’t deal with us at all. I’m just afraid of what that might mean,” Twilight confessed.

“As a fellow expert on magic, I can tell you that it means you’d help Rainbow make a really strong pack. If you’re so scared, just let her eat your magic now and see what happens. I’ll bet you ten bits the worst that happens is you recover twice as fast as a unicorn would. I’ll be here and still have my magic. If one of us still has magic, we can get through the recovery time. The sooner Rainbow has her first meal, the better. Don’t forget. You can start doing research that the book you have doesn’t cover. First ever alicorn feed for a master mev. This whole thing is a brand new experience to be thoroughly documented and researched.” Starlight winked over at Rainbow Dash before flashing an enthusiastic grin and nod at Twilight.

Twilight looked up to her hovering friend.

“Gotta admit, Twi, she makes a strong case,” Rainbow noted.

“You’re just saying that to eat my magic,” the wisteria alicorn pointed out sharply.

“Mm, not denying I want it, but you know…it’s still true,” the sky blue pegasus mev replied. “All that stuff sounds like stuff you’d want to do. You didn’t sound against the idea earlier.”

Starlight pressed further. “Among the Elements of Harmony, you are the Element of Magic, and one of your best friends is chosen by the land itself to be this master mev that can reserve and manage magic. That’s probably not a coincidence. Doesn’t the Tree of Harmony link to the land too? “

Twilight brought a hoof to her face in thought and frustration. She exhaled slowly. “Fine. Let me have Spike help check my schedule first. I need to make sure I can manage a week without magic.”

The three ponies left Starlight’s room, stopped by the throne room to relay the plan to the other girls, eventually entered the library, and saw Spike working. At the sight of them, he said, “Oh Rainbow Dash. The others said you became a magic eating vampire. Is that true?”

Rainbow hovered in place and reached up to massage the back of her mane with slight nervousness. “Yeah, it happened last night.”

“You don’t look any different,” he remarked.

“That’s part of the mev magic to help me blend in. I can change my appearance during the day or night,” she explained. “Oh and that includes this.” She planted herself on the floor and showed her wing change. “Strange option but kinda cool. I still prefer the feathered look. Even the book I read about it said the bat wings are mostly for show.”

“If you need another fledgling, I could do it,” Spike offered.

“Spike, no, you can’t!” Twilight hissed.

“Why not?” he wondered. “I may not be a unicorn, but I have magic. I’m sure Rainbow would still let me be your assistant.”

“That’s nice and all Spike, but kids are off-limits for mevs,” Rainbow explained. “I’m pretty sure a fledgling has to be a pony anyway. Twilight’s right. You really and truly can’t.”

“Really and truly?” Spike asked wistfully.

Rainbow nodded. “A real shame too. I bet dragon magic would be great. Still, we could actually really use your help as Twilight’s assistant right now,” she urged.

“Oh?” Spike perked up at being useful nonetheless.

“I need the schedule for the next seven days,” Twilight told him. Off he went to aid her.

Rainbow hovered and flew around at a small pace as she waited for the other three to pore over the schedule to see if Twilight could manage seven days without magic.

“Okay then,” Twilight considered aloud. “I guess Starlight was right. It’s much better to try it now rather than later.”

“Yes!” said an excited Rainbow Dash, flying upward in a loop of excitement and landing on the library floor.

“As in, right now?” Spike asked. “I thought vampires ate at night.”

“Different type of vampire,” Rainbow told him. “How about you and Starlight wait outside?” she suggested. “It’s our first time,” she playfully fluttered her eyes with a raspy whisper.

Spike and Starlight stifled laughs as they walked out. “Right, of course,” Spike replied, shifting into a more serious and apprehensive mindset.

With the library door shutting behind those two, Rainbow Dash stood for a moment and closed her eyes, letting her fangs grow before re-opening them to eye her meal with now red eyes.

“Be careful,” Twilight spoke a nervous request. The look on Rainbow’s face was a familiar one, the smirk she used when presented with a challenge her competitive streak enjoyed.

“It’s going to be fine,” Rainbow said, her raspy voice became gentle, and she could sense herself instinctively activating the enchantment in her eyes. She felt the alicorn ensnared to her pleasure, as if she had all the power to pull the trapped creature closer into her by a single, masterful command. Of course, that was not necessary given she already stood close, her mouth brushing against Twilight’s neck. She let out a small breath, and Twilight felt excited chills over her whole body. Rainbow bit in and felt the glorious sensation of the magic she’d been hungry for since the previous night at last filling her. She sucked it in for a brief time.

For Twilight, the bite and drain were also a pleasure, no doubt part of the powers her transformed friend now possessed.

Once Rainbow finished, the source of her meal fell gently to the floor. The bite marks healed so fast on their own that she never even saw them. No blood drained from one pony to the other, only the magic. The vampire wiped her mouth with her right forelimb, staring down with a blank expression before her lips curled into a smile. “Not bad for a first time, not bad at all.”

Alicorn magic was quite delicious indeed. She hoped Twilight would eventually agree to join her pack, what an enticing weekly meal. Rainbow pressed her ear up to the fallen Twilight, and she was able to hear a heartbeat and breathing. The mev herself breathed a sigh of relief and flew to the door, opening it for the awaiting purple dragon and lilac unicorn.

“That was fast!” Starlight exclaimed. “Did it work? Is she okay?”

“Yeah, it worked. She’s alive and asleep. The book doesn’t talk about this part at all, but I think she only sleeps for an hour, more or less,” Rainbow said.

“Spike, start a timer so we’ll know,” Starlight told the dragon assistant. “Rainbow, what makes you think that’s how it’s going to be?”

“Just a kind of gut feeling, and said gut also says it’s part of my powers as a master mev,” Rainbow replied.