What Silence Hides

Unbeknownst to me, Black Stone had followed me home that night. I didn't know this but I still had the sinking feeling I was being watched. That night was the first time Sweet Apple Acres filled me with fear. Every tree seemed to hide demons, every shadow filled with unspeakable terrors. Every sound sent a shiver down my spine. I trembled with each step and almost tripped a few times from my now rapidly increasing haste.

While walking on the path towards our family's house, I was alerted to the presence of a creature following me. A twig had snapped behind me and that was all I needed to run the rest of the distance. I looked around but that only made everything worse. It seemed now that everything was magnified. I felt small and afraid. The trees seemed to bend out at me, the shadows lurked towards myself and I truly felt fear. I knew it couldn't be real but it felt real. It seemed real.

Upon reaching the barn, I quickly ran inside, shut the door and got my new box of nails that I went through trial by CMC to get. I must have woke every one else up in the house because it wasn't long after filling the door with nails that AppleJack came down the stairs. She was still groggy from getting woke up at an inconvenient hour.

"Big Mac what the hay do ya think yer doin' at this hour o' night. And why did ya make one o' those street lamps that are always covered in staples out o' our door?"

"There's somethin' out there sis', I just know there is. I was walkin' home and I heard it followin' me!" I said through labored breaths.

"What do ya mean somethin's followin you? What could there possibly be that's dangerous out there?" Asked Applejack as she walked to the door. I covered my eyes and cowered in fear as she began pulling off the boards that now were the only thing keeping that door closed. As she pulled off the first, I cringed my eyes, the second, I rolled up into a ball, the third, I braced for whatever it was out there that wanted me so badly.

I waited for a few seconds and waited some more. When nothing happened, I slowly opened one of my eyes to see why the demon had stayed its hoof, or claw, or whatever extremity it used. Yet again nothing had happened. All I saw was AppleJack scanning the outside. "Big Mac you ol' scaredy cat. There ain't anythin' out here! That was a good prank ya pulled there."

"This ain't no prank AJ! I know its out there!"

"Come on Big Mac. Don't ya think yet being a bit pa- par- pap- para- Paranoid! That's tha word, paranoid, dont ya think yer bein' just a little paranoid?"

"When have ah ever been paranoid?!"

"Yer serious about this aren't you?" Asked AJ

"Serious serious!" I responded

"Look, if it makes ya' feel any better, ya can come sleep in my room tonight. But you get the floor! Understand?" Said AJ.

Since that was better than anything at the moment so I nodded. I got to my hooves to walk up the stairs. I turned to see AppleJack closing the door. Before she did, I could have sworn I saw two glowing eyes. This set me on edge again and I began breathing heavily through my mouth. I was briefly aware of AppleJack running over to me before I fainted on the floor.

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Far from Sweet Apple Acres, from PonyVille, a cloud of smoke and shadow entered a small cave dug in the side of a ravine. The shadow began to coalesce to form a figure which slowly emerged as a pony. A pony with a grey fur and a slightly darker mane. Black Stone emerged from the smoke as it faded away.

"Gyah!" Roared Black Stone as he smashed a hoof into the stone floor, making a small indentation where he struck. "I see this is going to take a bit more work than I thought. I shouldn't have been so hasty to take him, one more slip up and I could accidentally expose myself. Either he comes to me or I find a way to bring Big Macintosh away from everyone else."

Black Stone removed his hoof from the indentation made on the ground from his thrust. "What does one mere mortal have against me?" Chuckled Black Stone. His thoughts were interrupted as a sudden dark thought was forcefully brought to the front of his mind. A hunger. A primal thirst. "Blasted garlic food, always makes me hungry." Turning to the exit of the cave, Black Stone began walking towards it. As he walked, his body slowly dissipated as it turned into a cloud of smoke. The cloud exited the cave and turned towards PonyVille in search of a meal.

No more than a few minutes after leaving his cave, Black Stone touched down in a dark PonyVille night. Swiveling his ears from left to right, Black Stone surveyed the area for a particular sound, one only known to mortal beings: a heartbeat. Upon hearing the desired sound, Black Stone moved in the direction from it. Walking by houses, he also became aware of many other sounds. Breathing, snoring and in some cases, chattering, were all presented to him. Although they were all able to feed him, he could not enter a house without being invited first. It was a flaw but one he could not go against. Whenever he attempted to enter a house forcefully, something pauses him in place. This was one of the defining laws for all vampires.

Bending around a few corners, Black Stone became increasingly impatient as the rhythmic heartbeat became closer and closer. It was now a pounding in his ears as his thirst exponentially rose. Upon entering a park, Black Stone's target came into view. A bright orange mare sat in front of a water fountain surrounded by trees, apparently stargazing. She observed the night sky, looking at all the various constellations and stars.

Black Stone began to move toward her, the grass faintly crunching as he shoveled across the floor. The mare seemed to hear this and sat up instantly. Panning through the dark area underneath the trees, the mare looked for what had made the sound. Seeing nothing, she began to lie back down, thinking the sound was caused merely by the wind. As she was lying back down, she caught the glimpse of a faint glow coming from the trees. As she stared at it, the mare became transfixed on those two, red dots peeking through the foliage. Her mind became empty as she was bent to the will of her predator.

Black Stone approached the mare on the bench. In the moonlight she looked beautiful before him. Were it any other situation, Black Stone would have taken her right then and there with him into the night but he had priorities to complete. He was thirsty and a thirst needs to be filled. "Turn" was all he said to his new thrall. With no hesitation, the mare turned to expose her neck. Black Stone leaned in, exposing his fangs, his true nature. As he got closer, his hunger rose and he quickly bit down, piercing her neck.

He drank greedily of her blood, sating his every need. This mare was in his power and he felt dominant as his famish became fulfillment. Before long, he took notice of the labored breaths of his feast. Retracting from her neck, the mare flopped on the bench, weak and paralyzed from the experience. Black Stone took one fang to his hoof and bit down gently. A faint trickle of blood dripped off of it. He moved his hoof closer to the exhausted mare "Drink this, it will make you feel better." Still in his trance, the mare licked greedily at his hood, her strength returning instantly.

When all was well, the mare looked much the same she did before. "Return now to your house and rest. You must recuperate." Without emotion, the mare nodded and trotted off down an alley way. No longer hungry, Black Stone turned towards the edge of PonyVille and vanished into the night.

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"Granny, Ah'm worried about him. He's been freakin' out all day" Applejack said worriedly to Granny Smith. The elderly pony sat in her chair moving back in forth in a rhythm practiced over many long years. Being the oldest pony in all of Ponyville, she wasn't of the best of health. Some ponies even believe Apple family apples contain forbidden forms of magic and that's how she has lived so long.

"Ain't nuttin to it, yung one. He's just goin' through them puberties or whatever it is." Granny Smith responded in her heavy accent. Since Applejack, Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom were all raised around ponies that spoke differently than they do, Granny Smith had a much more prevalent accent.

"Granny, he's twenty one years old. He's done with puberty by now."

"Fiddlesticks! Ah remember that one tahm he ran naked aroun' the farm. It seems like it wus just yesterday!" Responded the jovial old mare.

"We're all naked Granny. Big Macintosh is the only one of us who wears any clothin' at all."

"Are yew sure yer naked? What's all that orange stuff on yew?" Responded the genuinely confused grandmother.

"That's my fur Granny." Replied annoyed Applejack.

"We have fur!? When wus this development!? Last tahm ah checked, ah had green skin!"

"That is yer fur Granny. But seriously, Big Mac ain't been himself recently. He came home last night screamin' about some monster followin' him around. Big Mac ain't ever been like that. What do you think, Granny?" Upon finishing her sentence, Applejack found that Granny Smith had fallen asleep.

"Granny? Granny? Ah ferget you, ah'll just go talk to him mahself."

"Erm... apples.." Muttered the elderly mare in her sleep.

Applejack picked up Granny Smith's blanket from the floor and pulled it over her. "Sweet dreams Granny." Applejack left the room Granny Smith was in and headed towards the staircase to the upper level of the house. The Apple family may live on a farm but they have a nice house at least. A three floor barn with a cellar in the basement, a kitchen, a few bedrooms and some other areas that contained other things. It wasn't one of those Canterlot mansions but it sure felt more homely than they did.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Applejack turned towards Big Mac's room. Knocking on the door, Applejack called out "Big Mac, yew okay in there?"

"Stay back, Demon!" Shouted a frantic voice from inside the room.

"Big Mac, it's me! Applejack. I'm coming in!" Applejack opened the door slowly and entered. "Big Mac, where are y-AGH!" Applejack recoiled as a fork lodged itself in the wall just in front of her. "Now what did you do that fer! Could'a killed me!"

Big Macintosh was huddled over on his bed with his blanket covering most of him. He slackened a little bit when he realized the mare that entered the room was the real Applejack. "Applejack! Get over here! It's not safe outside!"

"Big Mac, don't you think yer overreacting just a bit much?" Applejack looked at Big Macintosh with a feeling of sadness to see what her brave, stoic brother had been reduced to in a matter of hours.

"Overreacting!? Ah'm not overreacting! Yer under reacting is what's wrong! Ah'm perfectly content to spend the rest of mah life here if it makes me any safer!" Shouted the hysterical, quivering blob on the floor.

"Yer overreacting an yew know it! Ah know yew want to stay here forever but ah need yer help! If it makes ya feel any better, Ah just came from outside and ah'm perfectly fine and alive!"

"How do yew know yer alive!? For all we know, yew could just be a ghost!"

"Ah ain't no stinkin ghost you big oaf! Now ya better get outside before ah drag ya out there ma-self!" Shouted the now very annoyed Applejack.

"But it's not safe!"

"It's gonna be much safer out there than in here very soon unless yew get yer red rump out there now!" Threatened Applejack. A few seconds passed until Big Mac finally conceded, saying "Fine! But Ah'm taking ma safety fork!" Applejack helped bring Mac to his hooves and led him to the bedroom door. They began traveling down the stairs until the front door came into view. Upon seeing it, Big Mac froze like a rock, causing AppleJack to trip down the remaining stairs. "Now what'd yew do that fer ya oaf!?" Big Macintosh had been paralyzed upon seeing the portal to the outdoors. "Get down here now!" Screamed Applejack.

Big Mac remained frozen for a few more seconds until he began to move again. Slowly. At this point, Applejack was ready to pit Mac and a jar of molasses against each other in a race. "Come on now..." Said Applejack. Mac finally reached the bottom of the stairs and began to shuffle towards the door, savoring every last second he could of his life which he was sure would end as soon as he left the security of his home. Step by step, hoof by hoof, inch by inch, he slowly made his way. Applejack couldn't help but roll her eyes at the situation. "Hurry it up. We ain't got all day and ah need to start gettin' ready for the Summer Sun Celebration and you need to help!" She said with force as she began to push Big Mac out the door. With one final squeeze, and plenty of resistance from her brother, Big Mac was pushed out the door with Applejack sent flying. "Finally, now we got- Big Mac?" Applejack turned around to find her older brother fainted on the floor.

"Gosh darnit." muttered the farm pony.

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Many miles away in the capital city of Equestria

"Twilight Sparkle!" Signed Spike the purple dragon as he finished his companion's letter to Princess Celestia. "Got it!"

"Great! Send it" Responded Twilight Sparkle.

"Now?" Questioned the tiny dragon.

"Of course!"

"Uh, I dunno Twilight. Princess Celestia is really busy getting ready for the Summer Sun Celebration. And its like the day after tomorrow."

"That's just it, Spike." Hastily responded Twilight Sparkle. "The day after tomorrow is the thousandth year of the Summer Sun Celebration. It's imperative that the Princess is told right away!"

"Imperi- Impera-"

"IMPORTANT!" Shouted Twilight, throwing Spike back a bit.

"Ok, ok" Spike blew a breath of green fire, enveloping the letter and whisking it away. "There. It's on it's way. But I wouldn't hold your breath."

"Oh I'm not worried Spike. The princess trusts me completely. In all the years she's been my mentor, she's never once doubted me." Twilight was cut off as Spike's mouth inflated before belching out a letter with Princess Celesta's royal seal emblazoned on it. "See? I knew she would want to take immediate action."

"Ahem." Spike said, prepping himself to dictate Princess Celestia's letter. " My dearest, most faithful student Twilight. You know that I value your diligence and that I trust you completely. But you simply must stop reading those dusty old books!"

Twilight gasped at the words of her mentor.

"My dear Twilight, there is more to a young pony's life than studying, so I'm sending you to supervise the preparations for the Summer Sun Celebration in this year's location: Ponyville. And, I have an even more essential task for you to complete: make some friends!" Spike finished reading princess Celestia's letter. " Look on the bright side, Twilight. The Princess arranged for you to stay in a library. Doesn't that make you happy?"

"Yes, yes it does. You know why? Because I'm right! I'll check on the preparations as fast as I can, then get to the library to find some proof of Nightmare Moon's return." Said Twilight as she began to rush around her room, packing up her belongings.

"Then... when will you make friends, like the Princess said?"

"She said to check on preparations. I am her student, and I'll do my royal duty, but the fate of Equestria does not rest on me making friends."

Upon finishing her brief packing, Twilight Sparkle boarded a royal carriage and set off for PonyVille.