The library door suddenly burst open. "Twilight! Twilight! You have to help me!" yelled Fluttershy as she galloped in. Because of her haste she bumped into Spike before spotting Twilight and heading straight for her.
“Hey!” Spike snapped as Fluttershy bumped him; then looked up to see the tall stack of books he was carrying begin to shift. “Woah!” he cried as he tried to regain the books’ delicate balance.
“I’ve got you,” said Twilight as she used her magic to return the books to a neat stack in Spike’s claws. “Maybe you shouldn’t try carrying so many books at once,” Twilight commented. He walked into the other room, muttering something under his breath. Twilight ignored him turning her attention to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, calm down. What’s wrong?”
“It’s terrible Twilight!” Fluttershy exclaimed, clearly in a state of panic. “Something must have gone wrong with your spell yesterday because I’m not a vampire fruit bat pony, now I’m just a vampire pony!” she wailed.
“What are you talking about? There is no such thing as a vampire pony. What makes you think that you’ve turned into one?” Twilight asked with a hint of worry in her voice.
“Well this morning when I walked outside into the sunlight I felt really weak. I’ve never had that happen before so it must be because I’m sensitive to sunlight like a vampire.”
“Fluttershy, you were unexpectedly affected by a powerful spell that made you think like a vampire fruit bat for a while before I was able to remove it. I think you’re overreacting to a little bit of light sensitivity; though I should have warned you that it could be a side-effect of the spell. Besides, the myths about vampires say they are not sensitive to sunlight just nocturnal.”
“It wasn’t just that Twilight, when I went to the market to buy food there was a clove of garlic on the ground. When I went to pick it up to put it back I got a shock of pain that startled me so much I ran away.”
“Hmm,” Twilight hummed as she tapped a hoof to her chin in thought. “It’s true that garlic is supposed to be a ward against vampires, but let’s not jump to conclusions. I don’t have any garlic in the kitchen so if it’s ok with you, why don’t we go back to the market and make sure it was really the garlic that hurt you?” Twilight proposed as she put a comforting hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder.
“Ok Twilight, I’ll go back to the market with you,” Fluttershy said. She didn’t seem too keen at the idea of returning, however.
Twilight tried to put on a reassuring grin for her before calling out “Spike! I’m going out for a while keep an eye on the library.” A muffled reply came from the other room which seemed to be enough for Twilight as she motioned to Fluttershy and the two of them headed for the market.
~*~*~
Upon reaching the market Twilight turned to Fluttershy. “Now which stand were you at when this happened. We need to make sure all the conditions are the same if we want to duplicate the results,” she stated matter-of-factly.
“It was that one over there,” Fluttershy pointed out as she lead Twilight towards it.
The stand they were headed towards was an average sized one but it was crammed full of all manner of different herbs and spices. Some were already in preservative jars while others were fresh, including a small pile of garlic cloves.
As they approached, the mare working there looked over and recognition spread over her face. “Fluttershy,” she called out. “I’m so glad you came back. Hold on one moment I have someone here who wants to talk to you,” she said as she disappeared behind the stall.
Fluttershy and Twilight barely had time to exchange confused glances before the mare returned followed by a young pegasus colt.
“Now what do you have to say to miss Fluttershy?,” the mare asked in a commanding motherly voice.
The colt looked up from his hooves to meet Fluttershy’s eyes “I’m sorry for shocking you with my hoof buzzer earlier miss Fluttershy,” he said weakly before going back to staring at his hooves.
“H-Hoof buzzer?” Fluttershy asked in disbelief.
“Yes,” the shopkeeper said nodding her head. “He couldn’t get his friends to shake his hoof anymore, so he thought it would be funny to sneak up on one of my customers. I’m so sorry about what happened.”
“I-It’s ok, it just startled me is all,” Fluttershy stammered.
"Thank you for understanding," she said before turning to the colt. "Make sure you thank miss Fluttershy. Then you can go home, but you better have your homework done when I get there," she told him.
"Yes mom. Thank you miss Fluttershy," the colt blurted as he ran off.
"See Fluttershy? There was a perfectly logical explanation for what happened here," Twilight said, "Now do you believe you're not a vampire pony?"
"Um, no, sorry Twilight," Fluttershy mumbled. "You see, after I was startled and ran off, I almost ran into somepony moving a mirror. I managed to stop before I hit them but, Twilight, I-I-I didn't have a reflection in the mirror!" she meeped as she began hyperventilating.
"Calm down Fluttershy," Twilight soothed, "Let's go check it out and make sure. Ok?"
"Ok," Fluttershy agreed, "This way."
~*~*~
"There it is," Fluttershy stated, pointing out an oval mirror. It was on display just inside the open doors of one of the stores that lined the streets. "C'mon Twilight," Fluttershy insisted as she trotted straight for the mirror.
Twilight took a moment to look up at the sign hanging above the door before rolling her eyes and following her distraught friend.
"See! See? I don't have a reflection," Fluttershy wailed as she stood in front of the mirror waiting for Twilight. "AH!" she yelled when Twilight was beside her. "You don't have a reflection either! Are you a vampire pony too Twilight?!"
"No Fluttershy," Twilight said with a deadpan expression. "This is a trick mirror. We're in a joke shop."
Fluttershy finally looked away from the mirror to take in her surroundings. On the shelves were trick candles, trick glasses, hoof buzzers, and all other manner of joke paraphernalia.
“Oh, yes, um,” Fluttershy stuttered, “Well that explains why we don’t have reflections, but there was one other thing Twilight.”
“What is it?” Twilight snarled.
“Um, well, there’s probably a good reason for it,” Fluttershy began stammering, “It’s just, well, I don’t have a shadow,” she finished in barely a whisper.
“What do you mean you don’t have a…” Twilight trailed off as she looked at Fluttershy’s hooves. “What? No! How? That’s not possi-,” she cut off as she looked back up at her friend. “Hold on. There’s one more place we need to check before I believe this,” Twilight said as she lead Fluttershy out of the store.
~*~*~
“Twilight what are we doing at my house?” Fluttershy asked.
“We’re catching a thief,” Twilight stated as she continued to walk towards the cottage. She noticed that the curtains in the windows had been closed. There was a small gap though and she saw a flickering light amid the dim interior and couldn’t help but grin.
“I thought we were trying to figure out why I have no shadow,” Fluttershy said with a very puzzled expression.
“We are,” Twilight replied as she reached the cottage door. “But you didn’t lose your shadow,” she continued as her magic aura engulfed the door. “It was stolen!” she finished as she opened the door, revealing the scene inside.
Discord looked up with a start when the door opened. He was sitting on the couch in the dark, save for the flashlight held in his tail and the now open door. Upon the opposite wall was a large white screen. The flashlight was pointed at the screen where a life-size silhouette of Fluttershy and Discord were dancing about. The Discord on the couch seemed to be manipulating them like marionettes.
“I’m sorry. I should have asked before borrowing your shadow Fluttershy,” Discord appologised. “But you didn’t seem very attached to it so I thought you wouldn’t mind,” he added with a smirk.
Fluttershy closed her mouth, which had been hanging open in shock, and turned back to Twilight. “So I’m not a vampire pony?” she asked hesitantly.
“Definitely not,” Twilight confirmed with a nod.
“Vampire pony,” Discord chimed in, clearly chagrinned at being ignored. “Even I know that there’s no such things as vampire ponies. How absurd.”
Fluttershy blushed and gave Twilight an embarrassed smile and a small squeak. “I’m sorry for accusing you of turning me into a vampire, Twilight,” she said, “And for dragging you all over town because I jumped to conclusions.”
“It’s alright,” Twilight said, “I’m just glad that we were able to find logical explanations for your vampiric resemblance.”
“Me too,” Fluttershy admitted.
