Blood Curse Boutique

Blood Curse Boutique is an ongoing story that is written by the Dutch writer going under the penname of Rarity Belle. The story itself is a dark and tense novel sized story that is updated once a week. It features a Rarity discovers that she unwillingly is turned into a dreaded vampony and must learn how to live with it. With all the nasty surprises to come with it. The coverart for the story itself was made by pokefan-271 on Deviantart.

Style
Blood Curse Boutique is a story that is written in the third person perspective and in the past tense. The story (so far) is divided in one prologue and fourteen chapters of each with a rather consistent amount of words. The tone of the story is a dark one and focusses itself a lot more on the things were the characters go through in their mind.

Summary
As the story open ins the prologue, it speaks about how the times have been good for Equestria. Perhaps even a bit too good. That there is a cloak of shadow in the might of the alicorn sisters that rule over the land. It then speaks over the horrors that roam through woods like Everfree itself en the prologue ends with a question that can be asked throughout the whole of the story. The question if one is able to face the horrors that life can throw at one.

When the first chapter officially opens, Rarity wakes up from a sleep and notices a trail of blood. Curious to where it comes from, she follows it to the living room and finds a dead Fancy Pants. Murdered by something or somepony. As the stormy night progresses to travel over the land, more and more bits and pieces of her mind make the that she was actually the one who did it and that she has turned in a vampony. Unable to fully understand what she even is, Rarity gets rid of the body in a desperate attempt. And that attempt being that she boils it down to a crisp in the fires of the waterboiler in the basement of the boutique.

After a massive clean-up job in the boutique, Rarity is trying to figure out just what is going on with her and whether or not she is actually a vampony. While the truth is hard to witness as it was, the changes of her body do confirm the facts as they are. But she refuses to believe them. She wants and needs stronger evidence and plans to go over to the library of Twilight. It is when she makes the trip out of the shadows, that she discovers the fact that she actually burns and ends up with a forehoof that is nothing but bone. In order to counter the sun, Rarity makes a cloak much like the one Zecora has. The tailor manages to make one and then goes to Twilight. Who at first instance didn't even recognize her friend until the hood was removed. The two of them enter a small conversation before Rarity asks for the books about the subject. Twilight gives them to Rarity after a mistake of giving her fiction based books and before she even knows it, Rarity is gone again.

Back inside of the Carousel Boutique, Rarity read through all of the books and comes down to hard realization of the very thing that she has become. But still she doesn't want to believe the facts as they have been placed before her. Her mind just won't understand the fact that she is a vampony. Though it would be realization she has to learn with sooner or later, for the sake of her not being discovered by anypony. The third chapter ends on the cliffhanger that each of her friends, as well as Fleur Dis Lee (story's name for Fleur de Lis) who have discovered the fact of what she is and Fleur drives a stake through the heart of Rarity.

Rarity shocking up from her bed and realizing it was all just a dream. But still unsettled by her mind, she goes to make something to drink for herself. Sadly enough for her, that doesn't seem to be lessing her thirst by a bit. That causes her to go on the hunt for her first ever meal of blood outside of Fancy Pants. A meal she finds in the form of a sleeping stallion against a tree. When Rarity comes back to the boutique, she oddly enough merges with the shadows created by the candles of the place and starts to fall asleep inside of them. The next morning, both Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle knock at her door. Twilight wants to have her books back and the cloud were the pegasus laid on, had drifted over to the boutique. Slightly annoyed by the wake-up, Rainbow flies down and the two enter a small argument about Rarity's behavior before being allowed in.

With the two arguing ponies inside and seeing the changes the place had, they don't feel themselves comfortable at all and just want to leave. Rainbow is just death terrified while Twilight keeps her cool a lot better than expected. Rarity offers the two of them a drink before their conversation gets going. A converstaion that ended them asking a lot of questions about her. Yet it was Rainbow who eventually had enough and simply left the boutique. Twilight then soon followed up in a much more neutral way. Feeling herself happy that the two were gone, Rarity prepared herself for the night and made the decision to go to one of the towns local bars. Inside she met up with a stallion named Mixmaster and shares a drink with him. In the end, he asks her if he could bring her back home and she allows it.

But little did the stallion know was the fact that he would be ending up on the sofa of Rarity who tried to not only hypnotize him, but also throw her seducing charms in the battle to get the very thing she wants out of him. His blood. When the moment is there and she bites in his neck, the feelings are just amazing for her and she keeps on going until there is nearly nothing left inside of him. Meanwhile on the other side of town, Fluttershy discovers that Angel has made a run for it and tries to find him in the dense Everfree forest. Rarity manages to dispose of the body in the dead of night by dropping it in an allyway and placing it like he passed out from too much drinks before returning home. Fluttershy finds her beloved bunny but is then attacked by something that locals simply referred to as 'the beast', a massive wolf who manages to take Fluttershy down without much effort.

The day afterwards, both Rainbow and Twilight seem to have suffered nightmares from the unicorn as she tried to bite both of their necks. While Twilight tries to find Spike, who has been send on a travel across the world, she ends up with Smarty Pants on her back and overlooks the situation as a while before continuing on her duties. Hours later, Rainbow flies in scared to death and she explains the whole situation to Twilight. Something that ends up in the two having yet another massive argument. In the end, their differences are put aside as Twilight reads a rather disturbing newsstory, the discovery of Mixmaster and with whom he was last seen with.

With that information known to her, Twilight confront Rarity with it on one evening. An evening where Rarity isn't exactly happy with as also Sweetie appears to be in the boutique. Rarity first brings Sweetie to bed and cares for her like a sister before entering the conversation with Twilight. Again are the facts presented to the ivory unicorn but she just brushes them off with logical sounding lies. And much to her own disbelief, Twilight actually falls for them. Yet that doesn't mean to her that she can't take it any lighter. According to herself, Rarity needs to work a whole lot more carefully if she wants to keep her conditions hidden.

When the next day hits, Rarity is rudely awoken by Sweetie who says they have a meeting with Applejack, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Rainbow. All six of them, would be going out and crusading for the marks. Rarity was completely oblivious because of it as she didn't remember anything in the week before her transformation. But with an army of lies and tricks as well as her cloak, she is ready to tackle the day head on. Once the day is finally over, the mares take the exhausted fillies with them and part their ways. Rarity goes to her parental home and after Sweetie is brought back to bed, she purposes something to her parents.

Rarity eventually goes to bed herself inside of her old room but the thirst still haunts her and it drives her crazy. With three preys in the house, she starts to sneak through the building and first ends up in the chamber of her parents. There she fights the urge to bite both Pearl (her mother) and Magnum (her father) and speaks some thankful words to the both of them before giving them a kiss in the neck. But the hardest part comes when she enters Sweetie's room. The urge is there and she almost does it, with withholds herself. It is only when the two of them are downstairs, Rarity because she opened a bottle of wine and Sweetie because of a nightmare, that the unthinkable happens. Rarity bites in the neck of Sweetie Belle for her blood.

Devastated by the fact that she almost killed her beloved little sister, Rarity rushes over to the bathroom in utmost silence. There she tries to save her little sister's life with everything in her might. Though she had initially given up, the heart of Sweetie starts to work again and the vampony is filled with joy. But that still didn't took away of the guilt that she caused the harm. Sweetie is placed back in bed and the following day has not even a clue of what happened to her. Pearl sees the taped off neck and just wonders what could have caused, but before an answer is given, Sweetie is back to sleep. As the day progresses, Sweetie regains her strengths and Rarity just leaves the house after a small talk and a hug to Sweetie. The sooner she got out, the better.

In the past set of days, Rarity had noticed something on the moon every time she looked at it. A redfish color over it and it even dared to call her name in a whisper. Tired of hearing and seeing it, she does wonder what it could possibly be. However, with the full moon standing down upon her, her legs lose all of their control and she is forced by them to walk into dreaded woods of Everfree. In those very woods, she comes across a castle that looks like it could belong to Nightmare Moon. Yet the owner of the castle is revealed to be Shiva, a mare whose body has gone and been replaced with a vortex of shadows. The two enter a violent sounding conversation (mostly from Shiva's side) that eventually ends in Rarity wishing to change her eye colors on command. The wish is granted to her.

When Rarity wakes up again, the revelation is made to her that she can actually change the very colorings of her eyes. Content with the outcome, Shiva gives her access to one the castle's many rooms Rarity appreciates the offer and takes it without a question. After a terrible hike on countless stairs, she arrives at the door she needs to be and goes through it. The mare then finds herself standing in a room that is literally too beautiful for words and she gazes in awe over it. Though she wants to clean herself a bit from all the troubles and decides to take a bath. A bath that ended up in a masturbation session from the mare, the first in a long time. Meanwhile, Shiva sits in the realm of the shadows as she talks about that she is dying herself and perhaps, found a replacement for her throne.

Two months have gone by, by the time Rarity is revealed again in the open and nightly streets of Ponyville. She is on the hunt for some fresh blood and finds it in the form of a pony who is revealed to be Lyra Heartstrings. But the mare appears to be tougher then she looks and manages to stand through the seduction of Rarity. Something that causes the vampony to do it the old fashioned manner and knocks her out cold before starting to drain her from her blood. Rarity eventually goes back to the boutique in the dead at night to prepare herself for a slumber to take on the next night. And it is in the day that sweetie goes off to the Acres and Fluttershy wakes up like a wreck. Nightmares plagued her and she had not a single clue of what she was doing every single night. But there was only one bright side to the whole story, and that was the fact that the beast had left the woods of Everfree, much to the pegasus her relief.

Characters
While the story mainly focuses on Rarity and her changes, the story also features numerous OC's as well as official characters with a changed personality or even their whole persona.

Rarity
The main star of the entire story and the one who is suffering the drama for the most part. Right of the bat in the first official chapter, she has been turned into a vampony with just her eyes being turned from a sapphire blue to a crimson/maroon red coloring and that two of her teeth have changed into fangs. In one of the following chapters she discovered the third and final change of her body. A pair of batwings that carry white bones and a near translucent purple skin in them. These wings have the unique ability to literally curl themselves around her body to create a deceptive nightgown for disguise. So far, the wings have never been used for any actual flight.

Her mind is severely tormented by the changes in and of themselves while the lust for blood isn't making anything easier for her either. Where she tries to uphold her values and norms, her more primal side wishes to do nothing else then to feed off of the blood of others. Resulting in a constant struggle. She has also told a lot of lies about her conditions to hide it from both friends and family alike.

Fluttershy
The only other pony of the mane 6 so far to have any significant changes to themselves. Near the end of chapter 6, she is violently attacked by a creature that is called 'the beast', which is in fact just a giant wolf. But what happened after the attack isn't clearly stated so far, but the shimmers have given through that she was being turned into a werewolf as well. Another interesting fact is that she is having nightmares, no idea what she has done at night and feels exhausted during the day.

Original Characters
There have been some original characters who only played a small, yet crucial role in the story.

Pearl and Magnum are the loving parents of both Sweetie Belle and Rarity. The two of them are deeply in love with one another and only desire the best for their children and show that in any possible manner. Though were Pearl is a bit more on the serious side of life, Magnum can make a little joke about everything. The two loving parents still live in their house as seen in one of the episodes of the show.

Shiva is a character introduced in the story by chapter 12 and 13. According to herself is she the oldest vampony alive and thus a selfclaimed queen. Any actual description of the feminine pony isn't given as she is a swirling vortex of shadows with red rimmed eyes. Her residence is a castle hidden deep in the Everfree forest, on a spot where no 'mortal' can find. Her character can be summed up as mysterious and deceiving. Two of her known powers are the fact that she is a swirling vortex of shadows and thus can disappear and reappear whenever she likes. And she has the ability to make a pony willingly change their eye colors.

An unnamed stallion makes his appearance when Rarity is on her first hunt after Fancy Pants had been discovered dead inside of the couch. This particular stallion is vastly asleep below a tree before Rarity sets her fangs in him. As of chapter 14, he hasn't made a return in the story yet.

Mixmaster is a (assumingly) earthpony stallion who Rarity meets near the end of the fifth chapter in a bar and the two get on with a little talk. At the end of the chapter, the two leave the bar and the majority of the sixth chapter is spend as him ending up as yet another meal for Rarity. According to the story he is a student of Canterlot university and quite well informed about Rarity's line of work. Outside of his appearances in both chapters 5 and 6, he isn't seen again. The only exception being a few mentions in chapters 7 and 12.

Locations
The story of Blood Curse Boutique takes place in a couple of locations that may be quite familiar to the reader such as the Carousel Boutique and Ponyville as a whole as well as its nearby surrounding. Outside of the town can the infamous Everfree forest be found together with a hillside where the repaired showwagon of Trixie stands. The author tries to stay as close as the Ponyville and the overall world, as it is presented in the actual cartoon when it comes down to the locations themselves.

The description that is given for the boutique itself is rather detailed for the interior with the kitchen, living room, small hallway, main shop area and the working area all being connected to one another thanks to the circular shape of the building. Upstairs is just as equally detailed in placing of the rooms that can be found there, under whom the bedrooms of Sweetie Belle and Rarity, as well as the bathroom and the inspiration room.

Yet there is one location that is unique to the story itself and that is the castle where Shiva lives in. A place made out of a material called 'dark stone', the imposing castle is everything but friendly. Inside of the throne room stands the stone chair of Shiva as the stained windows each tell a story of a famous vampony hailing from all over time. The chamber where Rarity can live during the events of the Blood Moon is a room that isn't all that bad either as she discovered herself on one night.

Interview
On October 26th, an interview was made public by the author herself and followed the lines of how the interviews on FIMFictions were used to made. In there, the author revealed a couple of things about the story as well as some other facts. However, the interview was made for fun for herself. This was eventually revealed in the final segment of the interview. Nonetheless, it still does provide a fair bit of information about how the story came to a stand and the work put into it.

Release of the story
While the story was announced in the form of a teaser trailer back in April of 2013, the interview revealed that the story itself started the production back in October of 2012. The original release date was announced in a blog on FIMFiction that it would be September 14th of 2013, but was eventually pushed to September 16th of that same year.

The release of the story went accompanied by a trailer released by the author that was the longest ever made with a running time of 2 minutes and 19 seconds. The trailer itself is made up as all of her other ones but features a music that was made for the single purpose of the trailer. The song itself was released under the same name as the story and was produced by RaRa Leaire.