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Perique Blend had been in the ballroom of Castle Blood before. The castle itself stood at the edge the hunting forests, where predators and prey chased each other, but a different kind of predator pursued prey in a different sort of way here. It was, to put it simply, Clocktower's home for vampires, and the people who ran the Clocktower Society could sometimes be a bit unsubtle about things.

Which meant that as she walked into the spacious chamber the first thing she saw was red. So was the second, and the third. In fact the ballroom was covered in every possible shade of scarlet, crimson, ruby, vermilion, wine, rose... They splashed the room, from the polished bloodwood floors to the ruby crystals in the chandeliers. The wall-paper was red-on-red, the drapes covering the massive windows were wine-red velvet, even the furniture was all carved of bloodwood or stained or painted red. The decorators had probably gone just a little bit overboard, to be perfectly honest. But at least nopony would ever be in doubt about just what the theme here was, once they walked in the door.

Perique's own warm brown coat and orange mane and tail actually clashed a little bit with the more purple-toned blood theme of all that red.

Castle Blood wasn't busy that night. It almost never was. It was a meeting place for bloodplay enthusiasts, especially those who preferred the more slow-paced and delicate arts of vampire role play, artistic cutting, and needle play, as opposed to those who engaged in rougher, more primal activities that might or might not involve a little blood. There was considerable overlap, of course, between those who liked rough, primal scenes and those who enjoyed vampire play or cutting, but there was a different tone, a different flavor, if you would, to the blood shed in this particular place.

Such a very specific sort of play meant that a relatively small number of ponies were into this kind of thing, and tonight there were only about a dozen in the spacious ballroom. There were vampire balls, she knew, when the entire castle was packed to the battlements, but right now no particular event was taking place. It might have seemed echoing and empty, but the lavish decoration made the space feel smaller and more intimate than it really was.

She adjusted her mask slightly as her eyes scanned over the ponies present. She didn't normally wear it, but it was useful to have one's roles on display when meeting somepony new. Her survey of the other inhabitants of the space revealed two other thestrals among the little gathering, quite a large percentage really, but then thestrals tended to be attracted to this sort of play.

She certainly was.

Perique smiled as her eyes fell on her quarry. He was a pegasus stallion, a white and black piebald with a black mane and tail. He was quite short for a stallion, about the same height as the mare he was currently talking to. He wore clothes; dark trousers, a crisp white shirt, and a long black jacket that covered his cutie mark and most of his tail as well, though that and his mane were both worn long, so the end just peeked out beneath the coat.

He had a red collar on, simple, with no other adornments, which meant, among other things, that he was bisexual. Perique felt a tiny bit of tension she hadn't even realized she was holding ease. Straight stallions could be... difficult for her sometimes, and she'd forgotten to ask Scarlet about the stallion's orientation. But she was getting ahead of herself. His orientation didn't really matter if he wasn't interested in playing with her, after all. Scarlet had said he was just up her alley, but whether or not they actually clicked remained to be seen.

Approaching casually, Perique paused at a polite distance, since he was still talking to the other mare. She wore a submissive's collar too, so they probably weren't setting up a scene, but it would still be rude to just barge in. He flicked an ear back at her, and a moment later, when their conversation apparently reached an end, turned and gave her a small smile. His eyes were intensely blue, and she could see them flicking over her, taking in her appearance and her mask. "Good evening, ma'am."

Perique answered his smile with one of her own. "Hello. Are you Fleeting Flame?"

"I am, yes."

"My girlfriend Scarlet has said I should speak with you."

"Ah! You must be Perique, then. It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am." His smile broadened a little bit, and Perique was interested to see that he had small, sharp fangs. Apparently he was quite dedicated to his role. He gave her a little bow and added, "She's said nothing but good things about you."

Perique tried to control her faint blush. "Ah, well, sadly she did not tell me much about you, save that your interests and mine might align when it comes to blood."

"I rather hope they do. It can be difficult for me to find a compatible partner."

"Why is that?"

Flame lifted a hoof and tapped it against his collar with a little smile. "I do switch on occasion, but I much prefer to be on the submissive side of things. But most donors are looking for someone to ravish them by moonlight, and so on." He gave a little shrug with his wings. "I don't ever play the donor role. Vampire only. But of course it's uncommon to find somebody who's interested in letting me take their blood while I remain in a submissive role."

Perique blinked at him a little bit. "Ah, that is uncommon, aye. How does such a scene work?"

"Generally, I have to earn it, ma'am. Blood is my reward for service well rendered." He ducked his head in a little submissive gesture, no longer meeting her eyes. Perique considered her view of his forelock and ears thoughtfully, her tail flicking as a stir of interest went through her.

"I believe I see. And what sort of services do you provide?"

"Whatever you wish, for the most part. I don't have many limits."

Perique raised one eyebrow at that. "There is a rather wide variety of things that go on around here, you know. Having no limits opens you up to many things which a pony might find unpleasant."

"I didn't say no limits, ma'am. Just... not many. I have a mild needle phobia, that one comes up here," he waved a hoof at the explosion of red around them, though he still kept his head down, "often enough. I might push that with someone I'm close to but it's not something I'll do immediately with a new partner. I am not especially into, er, bodily excretions as it were, though I can tolerate piss if necessary, it's just always going to be my last choice. Other than that, ma'am, the things I'm unwilling to do aren't allowed here anyway."

She blinked at him again. "I see. That does not narrow my options down terribly well, though."

He looked up at her through his lashes, and one corner of his mouth quirked up just a bit. "I apologize, ma'am."

"You don't have any preferences?"

"I do have preferences, ma'am. Of course I do. I just also enjoy pleasing others. It's why I'm a sub." Another little uneven smile. "And I'm willing to tolerate quite a lot in exchange for what I need."

Perique almost chuckled at that. It seemed he was sticking to his vampire role even during this pre-play negotiation. Or perhaps he merely meant a more mundane sort of need, the need for release, the need for the fulfillment of one's fantasies. That need was why she was here, certainly. But it was always best when it was a two-way street. Simply demanding he cater to her desires wouldn't satisfy her. So... "What do you prefer to do, should I give you a choice?"

"It depends a bit, I suppose." He flushed faintly as he added, "I tend to prefer sexual service most of all, though."

Perique did chuckle this time. "It's a common preference." She enjoyed sex herself, so she wasn't going to object to that idea too strenuously. But her mind slipped back to something Flame had said earlier. "You say you switch at times, though?"

"Yes. As I've said, it's difficult to find partners for the kind of vampire scene I like best. But it can also be... enjoyable to be a predator, to hunt and feed. I want the submission rather badly at times, but what I need is the blood, and it can be a lot of fun getting that the other way." He peered up at her under his lashes again, and this time when his eyes met hers there was a flicker of something dangerous in them. His small, fanged smile for a moment seemed predatory indeed. But then he let his gaze fall, lapsing back into his submissive posture.

"I switch also, and if you enjoy both sorts of scenes, well... would you consider an exchange? The sort of scene I desire, for the sort of scene you prefer?"

"That sounds possible, certainly," was Flame's reply. "What sort of scene do you want?"

"The primal sort," said Perique, "and the sort where I might be the prey."

"The kind they have in the forest, then, with the vampire chasing his helpless victim, ravishing her, and taking his dinner as he pleases, hmm?" He'd looked back up again, with that predatory look in his eyes, and Perique felt a tiny, pleasant shiver go down her spine.

"Yes."

"And in return, you will command me, force me to please you, and reward me with your blood?"

Perique grinned. "It sounds as though I'm getting the better side of this deal, being pleasured and also ravished! But yes."

"Ah, but I get to feed twice. And I do enjoy a hunt, especially when I like the person I'm hunting." He was still looking at her with that dangerous glint in his eyes. Then he ducked his head again and added, "I do think I could come to like you, ma'am."

"I think I could come to like you too." Then she steeled herself and added, "Though before we commence, if we're going to dip into the sexual, I would be remiss if I did not make you aware of one small matter." Her chest was suddenly tight, her pulse just a little too fast, and her stomach had instantaneously spawned an entire swarm of butterflies.

Flame peered up at her, tilting his head curiously. "Hmm?"

Perique took a very deep breath and then let it out slowly. The world would not end if one potential play partner rejected her. Not even if he rejected her cruelly. "I'm transgender," she said, "And I haven't had all the spells yet."

Flame's eyes flew wide and he stared at her, dropping his submissive posture entirely. Perique felt a flicker of confusion. She was used to roughly four different flavors of reaction. There was the instant anger, the ones who were mad that she had tried to "trap" them. There was discomfort, the ones that didn't blame her, but just could no longer see her as female. There was interest, the ones that were curious and wanted to know all about it, which could sometimes be a little bit annoying. And there was acceptance, the ones who didn't even think it mattered much, she was a mare and that was all. She wasn't sure she'd ever seen outright shock, though. Transgenderism wasn't exactly common, but it was widely publicized, and this could hardly be the first time Fleeting Flame had heard of such a thing.

Then he gave her the last reply she'd expected. "I... I am too. Though I've had all the spells. I was one of the first stallions."

Now it was Perique's turn to look surprised. "You are?"

He nodded and gave her a smile, not under his lashes but direct and warm. "It's why I'm so short. The earliest version was simpler than the ones they do these days, so it didn't include height. Though I've never minded being short that much."

Wondering exactly how old Flame was--he looked about her age, in his mid-20's, so he must have been pretty young when he got the stallion gender change spells if he'd gotten an early version--Perique returned his smile. "I have somewhat begun the process, but the final step... That is a weighty decision, and I have yet to fully make up my mind about it. One of these days I no doubt shall forge ahead. Yet it is rather intimidating to actually make an appointment."

"I know what you mean. And... wow it's good to be able to say that. I don't meet many other transponies."

Perique nodded. "There are more of us around Clocktower than you might think, many of us seem to feel at home here. But yes."

"Not only that, but you're a transpony who's kinky, and into blood, and switches... I don't suppose you're a writer too?"

"Ah, well, not professionally, but I do dabble somewhat."

"Wow. That's a little bit surreal, actually." Flame was still looking more than a little startled.

Perique was somewhat surprised too. It was odd to run into somepony with such a list of rare things in common. Though dabbling in writing probably wasn't that rare. Switching might not be either. But the other two... If someone had told her an hour ago that she was the only transgender vampire play enthusiast in all of Equestria, she wouldn't have been shocked. "It rather is. We have a great deal in common, it seems." She flashed him a smile, her own fangs showing just a bit. "Shall we go explore a few of those things now?"

Flame blushed, and the feathers at the base of his wings fluffed up a little in sudden, anticipatory arousal. "Yes, ma'am. I'd be delighted."