Into The Night

Chapters

Chapter II - Arrival: The Town of Tall Tale
Chapter III - Memory I : Memorial Hall
Chapter IV - The Affliction Grows
Chapter I - Train of Memories - Edited

Chapter II - Arrival: The Town of Tall Tale

Dusk’s slumber onboard the train didn’t last as long as the unicorn liked. The volume of the conductor’s voice that filled the sleeping stallion’s cabin, as well as every other cabin onboard, had disturbed the unicorn with his loud announcement over the cabin’s speaker system. The effort of the train conductor to rouse anyone that was still sleeping as the train grew close to its destination wasn’t lost on Dusk. While it had the desired effect that the conductor wanted…it’s just that it didn’t stop the not-so-positive receptions that would follow after.

Most ponies, Dusk included, weren’t fond of a PA system that blasted in their ears while they slept.

Somewhat annoyed with the disturbance, Dusk groaned, pushed back the covers of his bed, and sat up. Turning his head over to the right, he gazed up at the map of Equestria that he hung from the cabin wall next to his bed. Once the blurriness in his vision had cleared, the brown stallion’s eyes focused on one small location just under a red dotted line that had crossed through the entire north section of the map. The red makeshift marking had stretched from one shoreline to the other on the opposite side, far below the black dotted line that was originally printed on the map to indicate a country’s border. Every time he looked at the difference between markings, the former guard always felt a pang of regret over just how much territory Equestria lost because of the war… And how many ponies that were no longer around today. The war had been catastrophic. One that those who survived would never forget.

Perhaps someday, over time, they’ll learn to grieve and heal somewhat from it. But the memories of the event will never truly be gone.

Remembering the last situation report meeting he had attended before leaving the guard, Dusk recalled just how much the active borders of Princess Celestia’s kingdom had been significantly reduced after the war. The town of Tall Tale, which was located in the upper northwest corner of Equestria under Vanhoover, was not too far away from the border of Celestia’s kingdom, just beyond Galloping Gorge. However, after the war, Vanhoover, Galloping Gorge, along with other small towns along the actual border were too dangerous to start a recolonization effort. So, the “real border” of Equestria was much shorter than what it used to be…and it didn’t include them.

The red dotted line that he had drawn on the map represented the actual safe border of the kingdom. Anything beyond that…was not under the watch or the protection of the current Royal Guard or the remnants of the Equestrian Government. During the conflict, many departments within the government and most of the Royal Guard that had been stationed around Equestria were lost. With such low numbers from both sides, the effectiveness of the border had been significantly reduced.

Rumors of remnants belonging to the invading vampire queen’s forces and other dangerous creatures were reported to be in the area of Vanhoover. By all current accounts, Tall Tale was now technically referred as “Equestria’s new northwest border town”. The current state of the Royal Guard was too thin to risk pushing into the major city of Van Hoover or the dense forest town of Galloping Gorge in order to drive out or eliminate the dangers that took residence within. Several bands of mercenaries and bounty hunters from all over the land, not just Equestria, have tried to clear parts of the area. But none were heard from again.

And so… Tall Tale had become the farthest outreach in the recolonization efforts.

Grabbing attention away from his thoughts of the map on the wall, a small light tapping perked the stallion’s ears. Turning his head towards the sound, there was a silhouette of a small pony on the other side of the clouded glass door to his cabin, their appearance provided only by the light shining from the rest of the train behind them. Without waiting to be addressed a soft timid voice spoke up from the other side of the door. “Pardon the intrusion sir, but the last call for food has already been given before the arrival into Tall Tale. Our sincerest apologies if you had intended to grab a meal from us before departing.”

Guessing that the voice belonged to a young mare, especially since how the delivery of what was normally considered an unfavorable bit of information had come from a nervous and much higher pitch voice than a stallion normally would be, Dusk smiled and gave a small chuckle to reassure the young mare. “That’s quite alright, miss. I had just woken up anyways.” He explained, informing her. “I was not hungry back then any ways. I planned on getting something to eat in town actually, but thank you for letting me know regardless. It was very appreciative of you.” He complimented in a pleasant, welcoming tone.

Dusk watched the silhouette of the mare behind the door give a surprise perk up at his reply, the mare’s head having once lowered in the delivery of the bad news now shot back up. The mare raised a forehoof to rub the back of her head through the fog-style glass of the cabin door. “Oh? W-well thank you so much sir! We, at the Eclipse Train Service, do so greatly appreciated your generous understanding, kindness, and company with us on your trip. We would love to have you again in your travels and hope you have a great time at Tall Tale. Take care.” She replied in a much cheerier tone before turning to leave.

Watching her leave, he smiled and called after her. “Well, thank you for having me miss. It was enjoyable. Have a safe trip back.” From down the train car his ears picked up the sounds of the mare giggling as he slid out of bed. Turning back towards the bedframe, the unicorn fixed the covers with a quick cast from his horn. Thankfully he didn’t have much to pack as he placed both a book from his bedside table and the travel map that he had pinned on the wall back into his saddlebag and rested it on the floor by the door. His eyes shifted over to the bedpost closest to the cabin door, where a green hooded travel cloak, that he had grown accustomed to using for a while now since his departure from Canterlot, had hung from it. After taking care of his business and stepping in for a quick shower in the bathroom connected to his cabin, Dusk returned to grab his cloak and his saddle bag. But before he donned them on, Dusk took a second to check himself in the mirror.

The stallion picked up a brush from the small table below the mirror and fixed his hair, using the long front portion of his black mane to cover one side of his face while the other side was left alone, uncovered and exposed to the open air. The usual emerald green irises that he had were still a faint shade of crimson, though they were not as bright as the night prior. With a glance down at his muzzle, the fangs from his upper jaw were also still visible.

Sighing, Dusk lit his horn.

Igniting with a flare up, purple flames appeared and began to spread from the tip of his tail and the bottom of his hooves. As the flames covered his whole body, Dusk remained still, allowing the appearance spell to change certain areas of his body. Returning back to a cool shade of emerald-green, the pony watched as the crimson color in his eyes dissipated. Soon after that, the scar that had been below his right eye disappeared as well. Reaching down to his mouth next, the two sets of sharp fangs shrunk down to normal size. Though not able their original shape anymore, the now smaller versions of his fangs managed to become hidden once more within the closed lips of his muzzle. Try as he might, there was no way he could return the shape of those teeth back to their original form with the glamour spell he had researched several months back. If it was possible, then it involved a much higher level of arcane magic that he wasn’t aware of. During both his time studying magic and serving in the guard, the unicorn had spent a large amount of his free time searching for ways to hide his new condition. Within the Canterlot Castle Archives and the library within the capitol city, both in the public and restricted sections of these two locations, Dusk unfortunately did not find a way to accomplish this. Despite his best efforts, the glamour spell he did discover was the strongest that he could find.

Turning his back towards the mirror, Dusk looked over his shoulder at his rear as a small cluster of red hair within his tail faded away to match the rest of his black tail. Turning his attention to the last area of his body to alter, the stallion watched the blank spot on his flank disappear as a rune star-like cutiemark took its place. Looking over himself thoroughly, with the help of the mirror, Dusk nodded approvingly at the alterations before wrapping the hooded cloaked around himself. He finished up with the saddlebag as he secured it comfortably around his barrel. The stallion didn’t like the idea of having to hide from everypony, but given the alternative, he had no choice but to do so. Lying was not something that he liked. He despised it actually, but as unforgiving as irony and fate could be, he eventually became that which he disliked. But rather than dwell on it negatively, he turned that cruel twist of fate into more of an amusing prank, as if somepony had tricked him into being given a poison joke plant. Humorous or not, there was a reason for his disguise. One he discovered during his previous occupation.

As far as the former guard knew from the reports of vampirism, which had been provided in order to hunt down their targets, ponies who had or were undergoing the effects of vampirism had small indicators. One of them being that a small, barely visible strand in their manes and tails that would inevitably turn red over time, depending on how far along their conversion of vampirism is. It was unclear why this would happen, but the first sighting of this indicator was found on the invading vampire forces that attacked Equestria, and when an Equestrian pony was bitten, the pony would inherit that same visual indicator over time, to varying degrees. However, the simple sight of the red strands in a pony’s mane and tail was not enough to confirm the presence of vampirism. As many ponies dyed their manes and tails out of business, work, and personal pleasure, this method was nowhere near reliable. More precise indicators had to be established before confirmation. The appearance of abnormally long sharp fangs and the turning of a pony’s eyes to crimson were such needed helpful indicators. But even then, a careful investigation had to be conducted. The changing color of the eyes was also tricky when solely used for confirmation. As spells, advances in the medical field, and other arcane practices, such as potion making, could also alter the color of a pony’s eyes to any color the user wished. On top of that, the appearance of fangs and the change of eye color were much easier to hide in the early stages of vampiric conversion. The only evidence of evidence against the pony in question, who were in the early stages, was when they experience high amounts of stress or flashes of great anger, where they were unable to control their emotions well. When these conditions happened, the exposure of both their fangs and red eye color would occur simultaneously without the owner being able to prevent it.

During their time on hunts, the Royal Guard and the Equestrian Government found that most ponies eventually did learn to guard their emotions well when more and more ponies were discovered, so finding them grew to be increasingly difficult over time. But for the ones that were tougher to track, Dusk would be lying if he said he didn’t feel a sense of excitement for the challenge in the pursuance of harder targets. However, one thing remained constant in his participation in hunts: His targets were only the remnant followers of the dead vampire queen that had laid siege upon Equestria. According to the records, the Vampire Queen, Valaire, only made her personal appearance known at the Siege of Canterlot during the final stage of the war where she was killed in the end from a battle against the two ruling princesses of Equestria. Her remains and the in-depth reports made on her body were only given to the higher ranks in the Royal Guard and the Equestrian Government, aside from the ruling royals of the crown. Which was to say, he was not on that list of “need-to-know”.

Checking to make sure he didn’t miss anything; Dusk did a quick thorough search of the cabin before stopping in front of the cabin door. With a steady exhale, the unicorn reached for the door handle, turned it, and left the room. Immediately upon leaving his cabin, the brown stallion winced. A wave of discomfort and pain had encased the pony so quickly that he nearly dropped the floor. Swaying a few steps, Dusk hastily tried to recover himself by grabbing onto the wall of the train car for support. Turning towards the culprit, the stallion brought a hoof up to block the sunlight from the afternoon sun that filtered through the train’s windows. Unrelenting and strong, the rays of heat that flooded the train had been the cause of the pony's sudden discomfort. Reaching back, the brown unicorn lifted the hood of his cloak up and over his face, blocking out as much direct exposure towards his face as possible. Using the temporary moments of relief it provided him, Dusk recomposed himself and moved away from the window, avoiding direct line of sight with it.

Ever since the discovery of his illness, it didn’t seem to matter what time in the day it was. The harmful effects of the sun, as it turned out, remained consistent regardless. It wasn’t so much the effects of the sun that caused him the most alarm. Not even the momentary loss of balance and stoicism following the harmful damage it brought him. No, it was the visible appearance of it around other ponies. If they were there to witness it, such a sight would garner their curiosity, suspicion, caution, and even sometimes fear given what happened so very recently. He, like so many others, had to make sure that other ponies would not be given any reason to suspect him. Suspicion like that would complicate things wherever he was. Having to dodge and avoid not only the curiosity of ponies but the inevitable attention of the local authorities that would be tipped off by his public display of weakness would only make his life and safety that much harder to protect. The recent law of reporting any suspicious signs of vampire ponies or ponies afflicted with vampirism was something that was regularly enforced, mostly due to the natural fear the general public usually had towards things they didn’t know about. And what they didn’t know, they reported.

Turning towards the closest exit of the train car, Dusk quickly moved down the hall. Stepping out onto the platform and into a sea of ponies exiting and boarding the locomotive, the stallion made his way towards the station exit while at the same time doing his best to avoid bumping into anyone that crossed his path or that came too close to him. Such a course was nearly impossible as ponies didn’t seem to mind being in such close proximity to one another. That being said, the unicorn’s efforts made a few close calls, but he kept his calm when it did seem unavoidable at times as he weaved in and out of the traffic. In addition to the navigation through the busy station platform, Dusk had to keep his body under control while the sun’s harm effects continued to batter on him the longer he continued to be outside under its reach.

From their time studying and hunting the queen’s forces, the Royal Guard discovered that while the sun didn’t outright kill the invading night dwellers from direct sudden exposure—but it did severely hurt them over time if they stayed out too long in the sun’s reach. This danger led to their discovery, and, eventually, their death by lethal amounts of heat exhaustion and severe burns if they did not find adequate shelter after being out in the open.

For Equestrians who were turned, the impact of the sun was not as severe. But the prolonged effects would, eventually, end in the same way. It was discovered that for Equestrian ponies, the process would take longer, though that varied differently for everyone. If an infected pony stayed outside for too long, they would pass out before the exposure reached that critical and fatal point. And if they did not receive help in time, the result would be the same as the ones who invaded Equestria.

During the studies, it was found that Celestia’s subjects would first feel light-headedness as the afflicted would find it difficult to remain standing for long periods of time under the sun. Then nausea would follow, soon to be joined by vomiting. And finally, severe muscle exhaustion, to which the state of unconsciousness would soon claim the afflicted pony moments later. Then, if not rescued, the last stages would occur; consisting of lethal heat exhaustion, severe burning, and a multitude of other harmful symptoms that inevitably ended in the pony’s death.

Though so far, out of all recorded encounters, there were only a few cases where such tragic ends had been found. Nearly all of them, as it turned out, was not caused by accident, or by foul play, but rather….self-inflicted.

Before the war, it was not uncommon for a pony to shut themselves in during the day. Some ponies moved about at night, depending on the pony’s personal reasons or obligations. But after the war, however, that kind of action now garnered attention.

As Dusk found out, such acts of avoidance would draw scrutiny of many ponies. And eventually, if not mitigated, the attention would attract the local authorities. During the first two to three months after the war, many ponies infected with vampirism were caught because of this. What became of those that were caught was unknown to the public; but to him, the rest of the guard, and the equestrian government, that was not a mystery.

It would become a dark memory to everypony that was around during that time. Something that he and the rest of the guard were vehemently opposed to since the beginning…but were unable to do anything about it, as it was not up to their authority to do so.

According to the records every guard and government official had to study prior to participating in hunts, among other useful intel, was the difference between “vampires” and “ponies with vampirism”, also known as “vampirists”. These reports revealed one distinct factor that was very helpful for the hunts.

“Vampires” were designated as ponies that belonged to the race that the Vampire Queen came from. However, equestrian ponies that were bitten and converted by a “pureblood vampire” of that race were also given the same designation, because as a result of their conversion, the equestrian ponies who were bitten by purebloods…had the same ability to turn other ponies into vampires.

Ponies with Vampirism, aka “Vampirists”, were designated as equestrian ponies that were bitten and converted by a “non-pureblood” vampire of the queen’s forces. Equestrian ponies that were infected by these vampires did not have the ability turn other ponies into vampires. When they bite, all they were able to do is feed on blood.

From what was known through interrogations of captured “purebloods” and non-purebloods of the queen’s forces, as well as information gathered from medical examinations on the bodies collected during the war. The “Purebloods” had bloodlines that were of direct lineage to the fallen Vampire Queen, while non-purebloods were mixed breed with bloodlines that no longer had such pure lines. Purebloods were also far stronger, both physically and magically than non-purebloods, with the higher ranks in society and in the military under their queen’s rule. Non-purebloods were not given such advancements.

Of course, this information now presented a complication for the former guard stallion. When Dusk had to change his normal daily habits towards the evenings and nights, he needed to make sure to keep his change of behavior as inconspicuous as possible around other ponies. Unfortunately, in order to keep that end, the stallion realized that he couldn’t succeed in doing that…if he continued to do what he loved. Trying to even attempt this while still a member of the guard would be suicide. Dusk knew this. But still, even though he understood the hard truth…it pained him no less in the end.

If the unicorn didn’t leave and the sudden change in his behavior or daily routine didn’t somehow pique the curiosity of other members of the guard…then the inevitable conditions of his illness, when it finally reaches completion, most certainly would. He feared that no matter what he did, the condition would somehow get the better of him. Cause himself to fall prey to it and do something that he most definitely would regret and be unable to live with afterwards. He would never forgive himself if he hurt other ponies, especially those he served with. Knowing how much everypony suffered at the hooves of those vampires, Dusk didn’t want to add himself to that.

The potential outing of himself to his brothers and sisters was too great a risk. And such a situation, forcing him to either flee the capitol city or surely be thrown in cage or even killed, whether he could try to prevent it or not…

…was something the Princess of the Night, herself, had been forced to do.

The events of that day would never be forgotten. Not for any member of the Royal Guard that was involved, and especially, not for Dusk. Every guard there that day felt the worse. Pain, heartache, and a sense of hopelessness. It was something that would never go away in the history of the guard.

So, instead of risking a similar event, Dusk resigned.

Despite the protests of others, including his superiors and even the current ruling royals, Dusk left the Royal Guard, the castle, and the capitol city. Gathering the rest of his belongings, he hopped on the next train out and never looked back.

Leaving the greatest risk of discovery behind as Dusk’s train departed the capitol, the stallion wanted to say he felt a huge relief…but that would lying. During his time alone aboard the train, realization over every action…every mistake…that the stallion had made during his time in the guard had come back to him in a way he had no idea how to prepare for.

It haunted him.

So much so that the stallion’s sleep would be violently disturbed in the middle of the night, again and again. Happening repeatedly over more times than he could remember, Dust would wake up screaming or crying from the nightmares, and then discover that his body was drenched in sweat when he finally managed to calm himself down. This repeated series of events quickly forced the stallion to cover his cabin in a powerful sound-dampening spell whenever he was going to sleep. There had been several severe close calls during the first few days of his trip where he only just barely managed to persuade the concerned staff that happen to overhear his midnight terror wake ups. When they insisted to have him see the medical staff onboard after the first few times, Dusk managed to dissuade them from the idea by attributing his nightmares to just being stress from the war.

In truth, he wasn’t lying. He was just being vague about the precise details.

After that last communication with the train staff, Dusk sound-proofed his cabin and shut himself away from everyone as much as he could. Only letting himself out of the room to keep up appearances as well as getting something to eat. As days turned to weeks, changing from one train to another, moving from town to town, the nightmares he experienced only got worse. By the last train towards his final destination to the border town of Tall Tale, Dusk would be lying if he said was not ashamed of how much he had done both during and after the war.

He was never ashamed of rescuing ponies during the war, but…

The amount of vampire ponies he had a hoof in killing, coupled with the lack of empathy he had whenever his brothers and sisters would try to get him to stop, on top of their efforts to try and get him to stop participating in every vampire hunt…that had hurt him the most.

Dusk regretted how cold and stern he was towards his fellow guardsmen. And when every time somepony had asked him about his experience in the war, those reminders would come back. And unfortunately, by the time he would make it back to his cabin Dusk would inevitably break down, crying into a pillow for a long time until he eventually fell sleep.

He didn’t want to continue to be like that. And although he knew could never run away from his actions, Dusk wanted to believe that the rest of his life would not be this way, where he would continue to suffer and be reminded of this forever. Taking that final train to the farthest reaches of Equestria, Dusk had hoped to find someplace far away. Far enough that the reminders of the dark past he had once made would allow him to finally hope that he would be able to come to terms with his mistakes and move on.

Where he would also find a new reason for his survival, and, to continue living.

And so now, many months later, here he was. Exiting the train station and stepping onto the main road of Equestria’ farthest border town, the Town of Tall Tale.

Stepping out onto Main Street, Dusk reached for the hood of his cloak, making sure that it was covering his head properly. Even though the station behind him had overhanging covers to protect the ponies against heavy rain and other inclement weather conditions, Dusk felt that his face had begun to work up a small sweat. The direct sunlight had begun to cause him problems, along with the feeling of discomfort. Exposure started to siphon strength away from him, similar to one would experience from running a marathon. His breath was shortening. Due to this, the brown unicorn began to take deeper breaths to compensate.

Looking back at his decision on his new attire wear, the stallion was thankful that no pony would be able to tell that he was breathing more heavily. Due to how much his traveling cloak had provided coverage, such actions were impossible to see.

In addition to becoming slightly winded, the stallion felt the sweating across his body increase a bit more. Even with the big spots of cloud cover in the sky and the current time of day, Dusk still felt that uncomfortableness persist. What would’ve been easy for a regular pony given their natural resistance to heat-related exhaustion, his condition degraded that and easily became one of the things that annoyed and worried him at the same time. The last thing Dusk wanted was to pass out in the middle of the street or around other ponies. Given a pony’s natural curiosity and tendency to aid in somepony else’s wellbeing if seen visibly distressed, his discovery would be pretty much guaranteed.

Making his way down the street the unicorn found himself having to wipe sweat away from his face more often. As he did so, the brown stallion noted that his breaths had shorten even more, ending in audible pants. With that discovery, Dusk increased his pace down the street, passing more and more shops and business stands along the way. Despite his travel here, Dusk hadn’t really gotten a proper sleep yet, so being only about half rested, the brown unicorn knew he had to get to his new home…soon. The decreased resilience he had right now, amplified with his lack of sleep and food, was decaying faster than he had hoped.

Passing more and more shops on both sides of the street Dusk noticed that the Town of Tall Tale was a relatively small. Despite the university it had on the outskirts, residing just on the opposite end of the town’s main street, the unicorn saw that the end of the main street in town was coming up rather quickly. It wasn’t taking him too long to reach it despite his starting point at the train station, which was on the opposite side of the main road from the university. The campus itself, in comparison to the town it was around, was massive, stretching out well into the woods that surrounded the town from what the stallion could see as he got closer.

Back in the day, Dusk remembered the school was a place primarily where earth ponies sought a degree, but even so, a good score of unicorns and pegasi also attended the school as well. Now, Dusk suspected the majority at the school would be even more earth ponies with an even smaller score of unicorns and pegasi this time around. Well, at least for now. Pegasi, after the war, sought the safety of the sky over the ground. Many had returned to Cloudsdale after the conflict ended, despite the recolonization efforts to entice them to branch out across Equestria for towns that were resecured and fixed up. Likewise, was said for unicorns as they resided in towns much closer to Canterlot. This left the earth ponies to be the majority of those that took part in the recolonizing effort. Dusk could not blame them for wanting to feel safer and to stick to their roots.

Had he been a civilian instead of a guard during that dark time, he most likely would’ve done the same.

Now in the most active part of town, with an incentive to gain the best progress through the area, Dusk had to ignore the crowds of ponies that moved about between the shops and the fruit stands in the road to make it over to the next street where the residential homes began. To keep up appearances, the young unicorn waved and exchanged quick pleasant greetings to ponies that had attempted to engage him in conversation, giving brief explanations to those who questioned him as to why he couldn’t stay to chat. Ponies were naturally heavily social creatures. Despite his time in the guard where he didn’t really engage with others outside the service, unless addressed, Dusk had to ignore that naturally driven tendency and stick to his former training. From the road beyond the main one in town, it was one more street over from that to where he would be staying. Turning the corner up ahead, he left the main street and reached the first set of homes in the residential area. With no one in sight on the first residential street, Dusk broke out into a gallop, crossing the empty road where houses populated both sides, and darted through an alleyway on the opposite side.

Reaching the next road, the stallion skidded to a halt just before the alley ended. Peering around the corner, he saw once again that no pony was in visible sight on the street. But turning his head, he made notice of two homes on the opposite side of the street that had interior lights on. Preferring stealth over the loudness of moving quickly, Dusk made his way right, down the road, and stopped in front of the last house in the cul-de-sac. Looking up, he took in the design of his new home for the first time. From the looks of it, it was a two-floor dwelling, the outside being similar to the designs that Ponyville homes had when he visited the town a few times in the past. Except the colors of his home and those he had passed on his way to get here were instead a neutral mix of darker fall colors then the vibrant ones from Ponyville.

Looking down in front of himself, the stallion noticed an old mailbox in front of the house by the road. The old wooden mailbox was tilted to the right with the house number covered by dirt and the wear-n-tear of the weather. After several years of being left alone as the town was lost early on in the war, the unattended mailbox was at the mercy of the weather it had in the area. The state of wear showed clearly who won in that struggle of resilience. Reaching out with a hoof, Dusk brushed and scrubbed away the dirt and grime to finally read the number that was on the side of the mailbox: #4-116.

The brown pony had only started to wonder just how many homes this small town had fixed to allow the recolonizing effort when a sudden loss of balance swept through his entire body. Without a chance to regain his senses, the stallion stumbled forward. Reaching out and using the mailbox for stability, Dusk held on tightly as his vision slowly began to swirl while a small wave of nausea settled in.

Groaning as he held on, Dusk swore in annoyance under his breath just before the sudden nausea caused him to heave. Facing away from the mailbox, towards the grass, the stallion threw up. “Ughh…d-damnit all…” He groaned again, cleaning himself up after his body had finished. Looking down at the bloody mess for a brief moment, Dusk chastised himself for being so stupid into letting this happen out in public as he took a moment to quickly look around the street to see if anypony had seen him. What was worse, as he looked around, was that it took place in front of his new home. Thankfully though, there was no pony in sight, to which he sighed in relief. Lighting his horn, he managed to clean the grass enough to hide the trace amounts of blood and the other remaining evidence from sight.

Since his illness started, Dusk appreciated even more now that he was a unicorn. But looking back at that thought, the stallion closed his eyes and sighed.

He, among other unicorns that had his condition, were the ones who had more luck in disguising their affliction. While the others…from the other races…were not so lucky.

Looking back on that, Dusk had always felt a deep sadness for the ones who were that unfortunate.

Even though he never hunted Celestia’s ponies that were afflicted with vampirism, he was deeply sorry for them when they were eventually sought after by pony officials from the equestrian government. He and the other guards wished that they could put a stop to that…but the current ruling royals had forbidden them from doing that.

Which, in truth, was another major reason why he left Canterlot and everything he once had behind. War changes ponies. And while some of those changes were good. Others…were more often not. From remembering how the former captain of the guard was like before…to seeing what he was now when he assumed the throne with his wife, the former princess of the Crystal Empire. For Dusk, and the other guards that left before, during, and after he did, the Royal Guard was never the same again. To the ones that left, they could not overlook, nor forgive, what the former captain turned into.

With his ears pinned back against his head, Dusk sighed. Even though there was no pony around to hear it, the stallion still apologized for his moment of insensitivity, giving a soft-voiced apology to the pegasi and earth ponies that were going through what he was, but without magic. He couldn’t begin to imagine the stress and fear they would’ve had in trying to hide their condition from other ponies without the use of magic.

He had been so adamant about reaching his new home, that somehow, during that, he momentarily forgotten about why he had tried to reach it so quickly in the first place. And so, his body chose to remind him of why in a more…direct method. Holding onto the mailbox in an effort to regain some clarity before he moved towards the front door, Dusk found that it barely helped. He was still feeling lightheaded and nauseous when he finally let go and started towards the house. It took longer than he liked, but he made it to the front door as his breath started to end in heavier pants. He nearly tripped several times on the rock and gravel path leading up to it. Retrieving a small white envelope from his saddlebag, he took the single item from within, placed the key into the lock on the door and turned it. With the door unlocked, Dusk pushed inside, shutting the wooden frame quickly behind him before collapsing to the floor on his right side. With the shutters on the windows around the living room and front hallway already closed, the room he was in was shrouded in the dark. This provided much needed relief and cover for the stallion as the pony remained on the floor. Panting hard, Dusk groaned from the exhaustion, discomfort, and pain that wrecked his body. Barely having enough concentration to use a spell while on the floor, the stallion found that he was only able to relax just a little as his scan over the whole house revealed that the residence was empty.

After a while of staying on the floor to recover, Dusk eventually rose back up to his hooves. Moving around the home, checking every room and closet, the brown pony took note of some rather interesting discoveries along the way. When he had finished, Dusk entered the living room. Lying down on the carpeted flooring, the unicorn thought over everything he had found…and did not find.

First and foremost, there was no mistaking where he was: he was in someone else’s “recent” home. While the recolonizing teams had tried to reconnect with the former owners of each home in this town. There was barely any that were still, well, around. Tall Tale was one of the first towns near the border to be lost in the first year of the war. According to the casualty reports he was able to access back in the guard, nearly everyone that resided here was either dead, turned, or a mix of the two. There were only a rather scarce number of survivors. Dusk had doubted there would be any survivors that early in the war, but he hoped he was proven wrong. It was the height of Queen Valeria’s brutality against Equestria and Celestia’s beloved ponies. If there were indeed any survivors, the former guard seriously doubted that a single one of them would want to come back here to settle down again.

Who would want to?

Who would want to return to a place where they lost everything? And quite possibly, everyone.

And to be honest, Dusk didn’t blame them. He would’ve done the same.

He never returned to the town where he and his foster parents had lived after the war ended, and especially not the town where he and his real parents had once lived. What was left of those town were not salvageable. The fires created during the attack had burned everything to the ground. The only things that were left were charred remains and painful memories. Homes, stores, and everything else that was once able to show that a community of ponies had lived before was now gone.

Beds, furniture, and appliances around his new home had been replaced. While on the search, the walls and other damaged areas in the house had also been fixed or replaced. However, Dusk still noticed the scars left behind…and could tell where things had gone down. In some areas of the house Dusk found himself wrinkling his nose at a certain scent that was picked up. The faint scent of specifically designed cleaning products still detectable. The former guard stallion knew the reason behind the concentrated areas within the home with this distinct smell. Did it bother him? Sure, perhaps a bit, but he had seen many reminders upon the towns he and the rest of the guard had visited after the war ended. So, the effect wasn’t as bad as it had used to be.

As Dusk’s search continued through the house, the stallion noticed the removal of picture frames along the walls and countertops within the kitchen, the living room, the dining room, and the three bedrooms upstairs. Anything that had reminders of the old family that had use to live here were cleared out. This action, unfortunately, had crossed the former guard the wrong way. Personally, Dusk felt that the action was disrespectful to the memory of the ones who passed away here.

Although, on the other hoof, he understood the opposing side to that course of action as well. Not many ponies would feel comfortable being reminded every day of the ones who used to call this place “home”, especially if they knew the previous owners had lost their lives there. All the former guard could do was just hope that the photos, and other memorabilia that was collected, were either sent back to any of the surviving relatives still within Equestria or had been kept somewhere in town as part of a town memorial. They deserved that much.

Regardless of whether something was done to honor the family that once lived here and called this place home, Dusk did not want to sit back and leave that sentiment to chance. If he was going to live here, he was going to honor the real owners in his own way.

Rising from his lying position on the living room floor, Dusk removed a rune marked candle box from his saddlebag. He placed one of the engraved candles from the package on the glass table in the middle of the living room and placed a cross behind it. Moving over towards the front of the display, the stallion knelt before the table and bowed his head low. With a golden aura of magic now emanating from his horn, Dusk recited an incantation. Reaching out, the gold aura connected with the engraved candle with a tether. In an instant, a bright golden flame flared to life from the candle. Cancelling the tether to his horn, the stallion moved back from the table and sat down. For a while, Dusk sat back on his haunches and stared at the flame, watching it cackle and burn as it illuminated the room around him. Moments later, the pony sighed, speaking to the flame in a low near-whisper-like tone.

“When I joined the Royal Guard all those years ago…it was my way in doing my part to protect and serve the citizens of Equestria. Both to those who play under Celestia’s sun and to those that worship Luna’s moon. I desired myself to become a shield for the innocent, the weak, and the vulnerable. While also serving as a sword to destroy those that would harm them and everyone else. For a long time, we kept the land safe, and the ponies within it. We thought our training and numbers would be more than enough to deter any threat and protect everyone. We believed it too…”

With a sudden flash of anger, Dusk drove a forehoof against the floor. “EXCEPT WE FAILED!” He snapped, his voice low and threatening with a growl. The stallion’s eyes narrowed threateningly, looking away from the table. However, moments later, the flash of anger quickly died away. Taking its place, was a feeling of shame that enveloped him. His tone, dropping down to a mere shadow of itself, “We failed. We failed the princesses. We failed Equestria.” His gaze returned to the flame. Instead of anger filling his eyes, there was shame, sadness, and…regret. The pony felt his throat constricting, nearly choking his next words. “But most importantly…we failed you.”

Looking at the flame, Dusk could almost feel like he was actually talking to the pony family that once lived here while sitting in front of the memorial he made for them, even if it was only for a moment. But deep down, the stallion knew they weren’t really here, let alone even listening. But even so, that didn’t change the sentiment he felt, not even a little. Sure, Dusk didn’t know them, but the evidence of their passing was not lost on him. He cared deeply for ponies he didn’t even know. The reasoning behind it made his next words barely come out in a low whimper, half choked by the soreness in his throat. “Like so many other ponies, your family paid a terrible price.” He sighed. “And, while others may have forgiven us, I-I…” Hesitating, Dusk sucked in a breath before resuming.

“…I don’t feel deserving of that forgiveness.”

Both of his ears flattened back against his head as he looked away from the flame. “After I lost Thunder…who was someone I knew, and someone who I held most precious to me. I-I…I am ashamed to admit, that I went down a dark path after that.” He winced. “A very…very dark path.”

“After the vampire queen died and the queen’s forces retreated from Canterlot, I hunted down every one of them that I could find…”

Dusk remained still for moment.

“…and showed no mercy to them, for what they did.”

The color in the stallion’s eyes dulled.

“Not only for Thunder, but for every citizen of Equestria.”

Dusk shifted his gaze to one of his forehooves, lifting the leg up in front of his face, and staring at the brown fur coat covering his appendage. Even though it was clean now, his eyes remembered the stain that covered that brown fur. From way more than just one occasion.

“So much…so much blood has stained the fur my hooves since the day I started hunting.” He admitted.

“So much in fact, that the others in my unit, who had accompanied me on these hunts, had grown increasingly worried at my seemingly insatiable bloodlust for hunting down those vampires. Slaying them without hesitation. And despite their concern for me, I still swore that I’d make every one of those mindless beasts pay. None of them deserved anything less than death. For what they had done.”

Dusk’s eyes narrowed. “And yet, as a result from my own actions that was caused by my own rage and grief, I became one of the same despicable monsters that I had spent so much time hunting down.” Now aware of a distinct growing sensation in his mouth, the brown stallion growled. Dusk glared at his raised hoof before bringing it back down hard against the floor. A loud crack suddenly disrupted the silence of the room. The sound of cracked wood beneath the carpeted floor reached the stallion’s ears as he growled again.

“In the end, I became one of the same ones that took so many of you away.”

“Back then, when I was so adamant about catching vampires from that foreign country, it didn’t matter to me in the slightest about how many of them would die.” He admitted.

Dusk’s angered expression fell. With the stability and confidence in his voice breaking, the stallion whined softly as he looked at the floor. A wave of conflicting emotions rushing the stallion. Dusk winced. The stallion found it suddenly more excruciating to swallow. The knotted feeling that was clogging his throat became much more painful, making it very difficult to speak. Dusk looked away and pushed back from the table. The soreness that was in his throat grew worse. Every time he took a breath, it hurt. But when he finally spoke, it was at its worst. Taking a deep breath, Dusk felt a tremble in his hooves. “But now that I became one of them…I didn’t know what to do.”

As the stallion spoke, the brown pony could feel tears begin to trail down both sides of his face.

He couldn’t keep it in anymore. The resistance he had up until this point, since he left Canterlot, was now gone. When he sat back down in front of the candle, the pony cried. “I caused so much death…so much pain. And now, I’m scared.” He admitted, tears now in free fall.

“I know that discovered vampires must be reported to the authorities…but….”

Dusk looked away. “…but I can’t bring myself to do that.”

The stallion’s gaze dropping to the floor as he stared. “Equestria has changed. The Equestrian government started hunting citizens who were infected with vampirism. Even though they didn’t do anything. They wanted help from us at the Royal Guard to assist them. But we refused. However, after we refused, their off-the-book hunts soon became “law”. Turning into something much worse.”

The stallion shook his head, his tone turning bitter. “But I never partook in those hunts, even after it became law. I refused any government official who came asking for my assistance. I had no reason to. I didn’t have any ill will towards Princess Celestia’s beloved subjects.”

Keeping his gaze away from the table, Dusk brushed back his mane with a hoof. “They didn’t deserve to be targeted for something they never asked to become.” Dusk turned his attention back towards the flame, his eyes deepened in sadness. “And now, on top of having to live with their new “condition”, they’ll have to do it while knowing they’ll be hunted for it.”

If Dusk had a mirror in front of him, the stallion would’ve seen that his disguise had dropped. But even though he didn’t have one, the unicorn could tell that the concealment spell he had used had worn out. As he sat there by the candle, he could already feel his new form taking hold. If somepony who knew Dusk had decided to join him in the living room they would have been shocked to see the brown unicorn sitting on the floor in front of the candle light with his eyes now a shade of red instead of their natural emerald green, with strands of bright red hair now mixed in with his mane and tail, and a pair of sharp fangs now visible from his upper and lower jaw.

With the darkness of the room now disappearing from his sight as his new condition started to allow the pony to see at night, Dusk sighed as his ears lowered against his head. His eyes now focused down at the floor by his hooves.

“I don’t deserve forgiveness. Hell, I don’t even have the right to ask for it.” He started, only pausing to wipe a tear from his eye. Once he put his hoof back down, he continued. “The same could be said towards having the right to feel afraid. And yet…I still do. I’m still very much afraid even though I don’t deserve to be.”

He sighed again.

“I guess all I can do now…is hope. Hope that something in the future will be able to give my life meaning again.” Dusk raised his eyes back to the cross and flame lit candle, not even bothering to wipe the warm tears that had begun to cloud his vision once again. As he looked pleadingly at the memorial he set up, he sniffed.

“Celestia knows…that what I’ve done might not be possible for me. But even so…all I can do now is hope. Hope that I’ll be given a second chance.”

He let the tears trail down his face as he recited a prayer for the fallen family here, for their souls to find peace and to be able to move on. Afterwards, Dusk remained silent for a while before he got up and left the room. Looking back after he reached the stairwell, the stallion watched the single candle illuminate the cross and the living room around it before letting out a much deeper sigh.

To him, a vampire that had inside of a house once belonging to a family of innocent ponies that were unjustly taken from this world by the very same species that he was now a part of, Dusk, that same aforementioned vampire, pondered over a simple but blunt set of questions in his mind.

Did he even deserve to be alive after everything he had done?

Or should he be dead to pay for his sins?

Deep down, he knew he had no right to stay here in this house. Or to even stay in Equestria anymore, for that matter. He had no home, no family to go back to after leaving the guard. He was alone. And now that the only one he had ever cherished for in his life was gone. He had nowhere to go.

But if he had family…

Would they even want him back after they realize what he was turning into?

On top of what he had already turned into?

Would they be frightened of him?

Like so many other ponies had found out, when their view changed towards others that were discovered to be infected with vampirism, would his new appearance be the same? To become a constant painful reminder of the family, friends, and other loved ones that his family, or anyone, had lost?

To be honest, Dusk didn’t know if he could live with knowing that his new existence had caused that.

Stopping himself from dwelling any further on that derailed train of thought, the brown stallion shook his head. He couldn’t even bear the thought process of learning how to cope with himself, in the event, that he learned that he had caused anything like that for other ponies. And even attempting to do so would hurt him even more. So, till Celestia knows when, he banished it from the surface of his mind.

Turning away from the living room, Dusk went upstairs, closing all the window shutters in the house with a cast of his horn. For as long as he could remember, during his travels across Equestria from the capitol city, a much-needed sleep had called on him. And since the moment he left the castle gates--he could not answer it. Not until now at least. Safe or not, Dusk couldn’t continue to ignore it anymore.

Dropping his cloak and saddlebag by the door of the closest bedroom, the stallion gave thought to what he might face tomorrow as he climbed into bed and slid under the covers. As his body began to shut down, he tried to reassure himself that he would learn to control this condition of his so it wouldn’t be exposed. However, when his vision slowly started to fade to black, one thought gave him pause and the most concern.

Sooner or later, no matter how hard he would try to restrain himself…

His body was going to need blood…if he wanted to live.

As his body shut down to sleep, Dusk tried to reassure himself that he would learn to control this condition of his, so that he wouldn’t harm another pony. But he would be lying if he tried to convince himself that he didn’t have doubts. He had personally seen what happens to ponies infected with vampirism who tried to refrain from ever satiating this requirement. It never ended well…

And for the pony who tried?

Well, coming from personal experience in witnessing that happen to someone that he and every other guard knew, let’s just say that pony came to regret their choice to abstain.

Because, sooner or later, the thirst always won out in the end.

Or maybe he could find an alternate source? Instead of taking from another pony.

That thought gave Dusk a small sense of hope. Or at least, the stallion hoped it would before his eyesight finally faded to black. Now exposed with his new appearance, Dusk laid there under the covers as he drifted off to sleep.

And as the afternoon sky outside his shuttered window darkened completely and turned into night, the slumbering stallion hoped that his first day tomorrow would be the start of something better.

Author's Note

My sincerest apologies for the late chapter submission. Unfortunately circumstances with my job made me work nearly every day over the month of December, which left me with very little time for anything else. Let alone the focus to work on this chapter. But I hope this chapter satisfies you while the next chapter is already under way.

Chapter III - Memory I : Memorial Hall

Standing by a closed pair of massive double doors in Canterlot castle, Dusk found himself waiting in one of the castle’s largest hallways along with the rest of his brothers and sisters. He was off duty that day, as were the others in his unit. For an event such as this, it was customary to be given the day off. More of a courtesy than a proficient decision. Along with his brethren, every single mare and stallion that gathered outside of the room were dressed in the same attire. Full-dress uniforms.

Like everyone else, Dusk hated times like this.

Not because of what it represented, but because of the gravity behind it.

While others in the crowd stood about silently, a few had made quiet conversations. Dusk, on the other hoof, had joined the silent majority as he stood by the closed doors to the ballroom. Even though some had tried to converse with him, those who did quickly ceased their efforts when they noticed the faraway look in his eyes. By the look on their faces after his dismissal, Dusk could tell it expressed shame and regret for them trying to get his attention. It was harsh, yes, but he didn’t blame them for trying. Since the time he had arrived in the hallway, Dusk didn’t make a sound or any unnecessary movement. Even his tail had remained completely still as he focused solely on the closed doors.

To be truly honest, the brown unicorn guard didn’t want to be there. But he knew he would never forgive himself if he didn’t come.

When the locks on the double doors finally clicked and gave way, Dusk and several others of his unicorn brethren each gave one another a pained look before they lit their horns in unison and grabbed hold of the massive wooden frames.

Pulling the doors open, the enormous ballroom revealed itself to the waiting crowd of over two dozen guards. While normally the ballroom was empty except for social gatherings and parties of the like, this time however, the polished stone floor had rows upon rows upon rows of closed cloth-covered, pony-sized, white caskets raised on bush-like decorated platforms. Beside each one, was an expertly crafted wreath and a picture frame of a pony smiling back in the photograph.

The decor of the room had been carefully designed. Despite its current use, the stallion did have to admit the atmosphere it portrayed was appropriate. The windows along the ballroom walls had various colors of uniquely designed glass panels, the sunlight filtering in through the decorated glass coated the room completely in that colorful palette. Reaching all the way back to far end of the room, the entire floor was covered by the arraignment of the memorial.

When the doors were completely opened, Dusk, along with the rest of his brothers and sisters, entered the room in silence. Except for the occasional sniffles and lowered volume of crying that started from guests within upon reaching their individual destinations, the atmosphere in the ballroom was quiet. From all around the hall, no pony was heard making a single word of conversation. Dusk watched many stoically renowned stallions and mares lose their composure, allowing their emotions to come out and win over them. But no pony would hold that against them. In places like this, this was one of the only times where a guard could let down their expectation of professionalism without being reprimanded for it.

Passing several of his closest friends, both alive and “sleeping”, Dusk felt his chest tighten with every step as he made his way towards the back of the ballroom. The alphabetized order of the memorial had the one the stallion was specifically here to see be placed at the far end of the room. And because of that order, Dusk had to pass by every fallen member in his unit. With each passed casket, and the other guards present today mourning the loss of someone held close to them, Dusk felt his pace slow down gradually. The more he passed, the more the emotion that the stallion was suppressing inside of him continued to build up. Looking from one photo to the next, the stallion felt as if heavy weights were placed on his back with every step he took. By the time he reached his destination, the strain on his body and throat felt beyond words he knew to describe. Standing in front of the very last decorated casket placed beneath the ballroom’s largest designed window, the brown unicorn guard was barely holding it together.

Draped over the white designer cloth, a double blue stripe ceremonial strip with an emblem in the middle presented the pony’s rank and position within the winged division of the Royal Guard. Looking down at the name sewn into the white fabric, Dusk’s own stoicism finally cracked as his right forehoof touched the lettering on the cloth. As he began to read over the memorial display, warm tears started to form.

Cpl. Zephyre “Thunder” Sky

To the side of the casket was a white card with an engraved set of golden letters arranged in a message:

Here lies Cpl. Zephyre “Thunder” Sky, a brave pegasus guard of the 7th Recon Air-Assault Division.

A pegasus who gave his life, beyond the call of duty, to rescue civilians during the fall of Trottingham.

Though fallen, his courage, spirit, memory, and sacrifice will never be forgotten.

Finishing the last line of the card, Dusk turned to the enlarged photo beside the casket. Picking up the frame, the brown unicorn gazed at the pony in the photo. A deep blue pegasus stallion with a black medium-length mane and tail smiled back at him, his eyes a bright sapphire-blue that always seemed to sparkle in his view. Dusk remembered every time he had saw the blue wing pony, said stallion had always been able to brighten up his day, especially after a hard difficult day of guard duty. Between his caring nature, yet stoicism when it came to dealing with serious matters, the pony also had a teasing side that always worked on the brown unicorn.

Since that night, Dusk kept every bit of his pain inside, never bearing to let others to see him like this. Because of the war, he never had the time to grieve. Due to this, everything that Dusk was struggling to keep inside now crashed down around him all at once.

Dropping backward onto his haunches, Dusk raised his head up to the ceiling with eyes closed, feeling a warm wetness trail down his cheeks. A moment later, Dusk did not try to reign himself in this time as he let out a loud scream mixed from anguish, pain, rage, and regret.

Every single memory he had with his only childhood friend, turned lover, just two years before the start of the war, began to replay in his mind. Nothing had spared him; even the horrific moment of this loss resurfaced.

All of it tore him apart.

Flashes of white-hot anger caused the brown unicorn’s horn to flare up. Sparking violently, purple currents of lightning washed over the guard stallion. Reaching down to his tail, the charge slipped off the end of it with a loud crackling sound.

Like he had figured, before he even arrived here: his attendance to this memorial was a mistake. Even now, Dusk was at war with himself. And unfortunately, he knew that this inevitable conflict would become visible and would not go unnoticed by the other attendees in the room. However, at this point, Dusk didn’t care. Even though he grew to enjoy being in the royal guard, he still also held them partly to blame for the loss of his only foalhood friend, and his own life’s meaning of happiness.

Whenever he remembered this, it made his blood boil.

Dusk didn’t want Thunder to join the Royal Guard when he did during college. He didn’t want to risk bearing any fear for his lover’s safety whenever Thunder was away from him on assignment. Not that he felt that his friend couldn’t handle the job, it was just that he didn’t want to ever experience any semblance of fear that the last time he saw, held, or even kissed his coltfriend to be just that, his last.

If it meant that he was selfish in that regard, then the brown stallion felt every couple was that way when their partner was involved with a dangerous job. Growing up together, he knew Thunder had other ambitions to explore in college and beyond. But since joining the guard, those were put on hold. When he joined, and Dusk confronted him about it, Thunder confessed he only joined to be with his coltfriend. It was one of their only major fights, and Dusk went to be bed alone in their apartment’s guest bedroom that night, crying himself to sleep.

Yet even though he was against it, Dusk didn’t want to control his coltfriend’s decisions. He accepted it and didn’t press the matter any further.

But looking back on that decision now, as the grieving stallion cried to himself beside the memorial casket, Dusk held himself as the prime source to blame for everything that he had to endure now.

And when he finally did manage to calm himself down slightly after a while, the unicorn placed the photo that was between his forehooves back down on the table beside the casket. His elevated breaths now receding into soft pants, that sometimes ended in barely audible growling. Coming here was a mistake, he knew that. But not coming at all? He felt that would’ve been much worse.

Looking down at the photo of the deep blue pegasus smiling up at him, Dusk sighed and stepped back from the memorial to leave the hall. He was done here. There was no further reason to stay. Not at this memorial…or within the castle. As he gave a weak but trying smile to his resting better half, Dusk blew a kiss before turning. He didn’t want to deal with any further problems as he went back to the barracks to gather his belongings when he went to hand in his already filled out resignation letter.

But, as if on cue, a loud commanding male voice sounded behind him as it’s origin got closer.

“Corporal Dusk, you need to calm down. Your behavior is inappropriate.”

Dusk stopped, closed his eyes momentarily and growled rather viciously under his breath. He didn’t need to guess who it was that interrupted him. And out of all the ponies he had ever met, this one had become the least one he wanted to deal with right now. It took every bit of strength Dusk had to not turn around and go off on this one particular stallion, as much as he wanted to. And, by the Princesses existence, oh he really did want to.

Turning only halfway, Dusk gave the white unicorn stallion with a blue two-toned mane a side glance, recognizing the shield and three stars above it on his rear.

Begrudgingly, Dusk addressed him.

“Captain Armor. Sir, why are you here? Now is not the time.”

Shining Armor watched the guard stallion before him closely before answering. “Watch that tone soldier…I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for your sudden outburst. It’s disrupting the service.” He replied back.

Dusk huffed. “Frankly, sir, you’re the one disrupting the service.”

He continued. “My service. I am alone over here, captain. Which you should no doubt be able to see for yourself. And I’m not bothering anypony from where I’m at. So…leave. Me. Alone.”

The tone of his response being spoken made the white unicorn square up his shoulders as he stepped closer to Dusk, almost in front of his face. The renowned stoic face of the returned guard captain suddenly became tense.

Dusk didn’t move, let alone flinch in the slightest. Their glaring eyes met one another in a fierce stalemate.

“Watch yourself Corporal…” He started to warn.

This time, Dusk turned towards the captain fully.

“Or what? You’re going to sacrifice me as well?”

The white stallion visibly winced and stepped back for only the briefest of a second. He recovered himself quickly afterwards. “…what did you say?”

Dusk pressed, seizing the uncomfortable silence left between them. “Don’t act so confused Captain, we all know what happened in the Crystal Empire. With you and Princess Cadence.”

Shining’s face flashed a hint of anger as he hissed. “Corporal...”

Dusk pressed further, unfazed. “You sacrificed your entire guard. Not just our brethren, but the Crystal Guard too. Even the Crystal ponies that worked in the castle…”

“Corporal, cease…”

But Dusk did not.

“We all knew the evacuations were complete, well, as well as it could be. And if they had a little cover from you, the guard under your command could have evacuated as well. All they needed was a little help, from you, or Princess Cadence…but what did you do?”

Dusk raised his head and stared at Shining in his eyes, emphasizing his next point. “You ignored them…ordered them to stay…and left. We all knew that there would be no chance of survival if they stayed.” His stare turned into a fierce glare. “You killed them. Sacrificed them. Like a pig for slaughter.”

The brown stallion huffed again.

“And what’s worse…is that you didn’t tell anyone. Not even us. You owed us that much, yet you didn’t say a word. You didn’t even acknowledge your actions when questioned. You kept it hidden and went on like nothing ever happened.”

Dusk looked away, “you might’ve returned to Royal Guard, Captain. And new our commander might’ve given you your old rank back. But that doesn’t mean things will be the way they were once before. Because it won’t. Not after what you did.”

Shining stood there, expressionless, as the room became silent. Curiously, the white unicorn looked behind him and noticed every other guard in the room had stopped to pay attention to the conversation. The same expression that Dusk had on his face, was displayed on each guard as well. Dusk didn’t have to put two and two together to know what Shining was thinking as the guard captain looked around the room. Dusk knew how his brothers and sisters felt about Shining Armor’s action back during the fall of the Crystal Empire. Of how his actions led to the deaths of his entire Crystal Guard, nearly all of the crystal ponies, while the only ones to make it out of that hell hole were him, his wife, his child, and a few crystal ponies closest to them. After the war had ended, and an official census was conducted to assess the population loss, the crystal ponies were designated as an endangered race.

When Shining recognized their shared expressions, any shred of the white unicorn’s anger evaporated. Turning back to Dusk, he noticed the faraway look in the corporal’s eyes as the brown unicorn didn’t even look at him as he spoke again.

“We may be the Royal Guard, Captain, and we would gladly put our lives on the line for the safety of other ponies. In fact, we’d do so willingly…” Dusk started slowly before pausing. Without a response from the white unicorn captain, he continued.

“…but we are not drones. And we are not expendable assets.” Dusk spoke every line as firmly as the last. “We’re ponies too. We hurt, we feel, just like anypony else. And something like that should not be thrown away so easily…like one would do when they have broken toys.”

Shining visibly flinched, stepping back at the sudden comparison, observing as the brown unicorn guard’s stare turned to one of such disdain, and regret. Looking around the room, Shining noticed the same expression now visible on the other guards. Seeing the guard captain’s state of shock for himself, Dusk chose not to relent. If he did not say what needed to be said, then he feared that the others in the room wouldn’t have the strength to. He knew how deeply the morale had fallen since the end of the war. How everypony in the Royal Guard felt when somepony they all cherished and loved so much was harmed because of their inability to protect her during the final battle, at the Siege of Canterlot.

When Dusk looked at each guard in the room, they all looked back at him with sadness and pain, but at the same time, with slight hopefulness that he’ll finish what they wanted to be addressed. Turning back to Shining Armor, Dusk stared at him with mixed emotions. He wasn’t just speaking for himself now. He had become a representative for the others in the room, including ones who had lost a significant other like he had. This made the brown unicorn wipe his face as his tears came back.

“If Princess Celestia were here,” He started, cursing his faltering composure, hissing at the next part. “Instead of being trapped in a coma by that damn vile dead vampire bitch…”

Stepping up to the white unicorn, Dusk made his last point before turning away and walking off, “…she would be angry with you…just as we all are.”

Shining Armor stood there, stunned, as the sounds of other hoof steps departed the room. Passing by the captain, Dusk whispered in a low dejected tone, eyes turned away from the silent white unicorn.

“I used to idolize you when I joined, like so many others. I pushed myself to try to be as good of a guard as you. I even thought, if you were the one leading the guard in this war, then maybe we wouldn’t have lost so many ponies, especially our own.” Dusk’s voice suddenly hitched with difficulty, wiping at his face again, “and I…probably wouldn’t have lost the stallion of my life…as well as my reason for living.”

Shining looked up and spun around at the brown unicorn guard with wide eyes, his voice cracking.

“Dusk…please, wait.”

But the brown guard stallion ignored the captain’s plea attempt, not bearing to look back at him.

“However, looking at you now…I see that we would’ve lost a lot more.”

When Shining didn’t respond, Dusk sighed and shook his head.

“Goodbye, Captain….”

Without another word, the former esteemed guard captain was left in the room. Alone.

Following the other guards out of the room, Dusk waited at the end of the line before exiting out into the hall. Instead of following the rest of his squad mates back to the barracks, the brown stallion turned the other way and entered the nearest bathroom, checking to make sure it was empty first. When there was no other ponies in the male restroom, Dusk lit his horn and locked the door, turning to the first sink nearest him. He couldn’t reach out to it fast enough before his legs finally gave out and he collapsed on the floor, crying. Everything that happened in the memorial hall as well as memories of his now pass significant other crashed around him. It went on for a while before Dusk was finally able to stop and stave off the thoughts from further harming him. He rolled over onto his side to recompose himself. When he was able, Dusk lifted himself off of the floor and moved over to the sink. Looking himself over, the stallion watched the eyes staring back at him in his reflection flicker from its normal color to a glowing shade of crimson despite the bloodshot teary state of them.

Groaning, Dusk sighed as he just realized that he nearly made an irreversible mistake in the memorial hall. Looking back at his actions in the hall, he started to regret allowing his emotions to get the better of him back there. He wasn’t going to agree with what the former esteemed guard captain had to say, but he was disappointed in not reigning in his emotions before it nearly got too far out of control like that. If he had stayed there a little longer, then his secret would’ve been revealed far earlier than he would be prepared for. At this, Dusk groaned in annoyance at his lack of self control as he turned on the sink to clean himself up.

“Damnit…” he huffed, cleaning his face with a wet cloth before turning and leaving the restroom, heading back to the barracks to grab his belongings.

“The last thing I need right now is to give Shining Armor another reason to dislike me.”

Author's Note

My sincerest apologies for the long wait. Many things have been happening which had been keeping me away. But I wanted to get this chapter out. The next one will be posted within the next 1-2 days. As an apology for being away so long.

As always, I hope you enjoy.

(Keep in mind that characters portrayed as they are right now may change as the story progresses. Shining Armor is one of my favorite characters, but I thought I'd give different spin on his reaction to the war in the story. As it is said, war changes people. Sometimes for the better. Sometimes not. But nothing is set in stone.)

Chapter IV - The Affliction Grows

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter I - Train of Memories - Edited

Transferring to a new town was always difficult. Not knowing anypony in that new area always complicated that. However, that issue was not new to anypony now. After a war, it was essential to repopulate the cities and towns that had once fallen. They were cleaned up of course, that was customary for any town brought back for resettlement. Any damage to the buildings or infrastructure that needed to be fixed took time, while priorities over essentials were overseen first.

As gruesome as this war had been, many ponies wanted to forget or push that memory as far from the surface of their mind as possible.

It was a good goal to strive for, admirable even.

Even if it had very limited effectiveness.

Returning to these recolonized towns one would often come across a scene where the reminders of that war occurred, triggering an involuntary revival of repressed memory, such scenes happened to be a destroyed home, a damaged building, or a certain personal landmark to somepony…where they had lost a loved one during that horrible event a few years back.

Those that survived from or near the affected areas had witnessed the events first hoof. Many would never speak of it again, less it triggered attacks on their anxiety and PTSD levels they suffered ultimately from. Some that did choose to speak of it, however, regarded it in a few different ways. Some good, some bad.

During his trip over to Tall Tale from the Equestrian Capitol City of Canterlot, Dusk was approached countless times about what he and his brothers in the Royal Guard had seen during the war. He, of course, did not fault them for asking such blatant and loaded questions, regardless of whether they knew if it would have an effect on him or not by re-living those memories to talk about it. If they did know, they didn’t show it.

But the flashbacks of memory that always accompanied those questions was always inevitable in leading the former guard stallion towards discomfort. Every time Dusk had finished, he would have to excuse himself from the inquisitive group to rush back to his cabin car. Upon reaching it, Dusk would always fall to the floor almost immediately, his hooves shaking uncontrollably from the effects of the scarred memory. No longer having the ability to stand at those times, his heartrate would skyrocket while the thoughts and memories in his mind would flash about, as if caught in a terrible whirlwind. The emotions and memories that collided with each other trapped the stallion within them. As they replayed over and over constantly, this only worsened his reactions. Thankfully, if not mercifully, the sounds of the train were able to mask the painfilled cries Dusk had made from under the covers of his makeshift bed.

The duration of such outbursts varied, depending on how long the stallion had endure the questioning others gave him. However, Dusk would always have to excuse himself every time it became too much to hide or to deal with without drawing attention. Having to endure this over and over again during his trip on the train, and at times even before the train, had exacted a heavy toll on the former guard.

The cause of everything he endured now had started during winter about three years ago. What was initially thought to be only a serious illness or some kind of plague…quickly became something else.

Something far, far worse.

Starting out only as a reservist guard back then, with nothing more than the usual monthly training and meetings that was required of him, none of that experience had prepared Dusk for when the war against the vampires kicked off.

From what he was informed when the war started and his unit was activated, his company commanders told him and the other reservists in the unit that beyond the borders of Equestria and the known lands surrounding the kingdom, a foreign race of ponies had pushed into Princess Celestia’s and Princess Luna’s domain. That before the actual war had started, it was determined that a small force of scouts had infiltrated the border towns of Equestria to gather intel on the strength of the country’s forces. During which, the foreign ponies took what they needed to survive from the local populace. Capturing, converting, and draining Princess Celestia’s beloved ponies of their blood. Using the cover of winter, the local disappearances were blamed on the harsh conditions of the weather and the severe sickness that commonly came from it. Only when entire towns along the border had finally gone completely silent and the medical research and rescue teams that was sent to them from Canterlot by the sun goddess herself had also disappeared was when the real truth was revealed. Because of this, the attacks on the next set of towns had become more brazen and open. In doing so, units of the Royal Guard that were stationed nearby had finally arrived and encountered the enemy. During this battle, several reports were sent back to the capitol city to inform the two diarchs of the discovery. By that time, the invading race of blood thirsty ponies, now reinforced with equestrian-turned-converts and other members of their kind, finally declared war on Equestria and began to lay siege on one town after another. And thus, the war had begun.

Of course, all of those in the active guard units knew about what was really happening long before his unit was made aware of the situation. But when he and everypony else in his unit were finally told, they were all put under strict orders to keep that information a secret. Despite feeling it was wrong to withhold such crucial information, many of the members in the guard had family and friends in those affected areas, and none of them wanted to be forcefully confined in canterlot, held under arrest for violating the order, when they would have the opportunity to be deployed in areas where they could try to rescue their loved ones.

His foalhood friend, Zephyre Sky, whom Dusk had regarded by his friend’s nickname as “Thunder” during his time in the orphan system while growing up as a foal, had informed Dusk that his twin sister and a younger sister in the nearest town that was affected by the war or was close to being at-risk. And while his friend was good at hiding his emotions from others, Thunder knew that he could never hide his feelings or anything that was bothering him from Dusk. And thankfully, he never tried with the brown unicorn.

Shortly after the war started, Thunder confided in Dusk many times of how badly he wanted to travel to his sister’s town and get them out by any means necessary. By orders, or not. But if he was to leave, Dusk’s friend feared he would be held in jail for leaving without permission. As the regional patrols around the safe borders in Equestria intensified, Thunder knew that the units stationed there would surely catch him if tried to sneak through. That wasn’t to say Thunder wasn’t very fast or agile for a pegasus…but it was just nothing when comparing that prowess against a well-trained unicorn’s magic or several other equally-trained pegasi guards from the active service branches that patrolled those areas.

But when the time came that their unit was to be sent in to secure the nearby towns for aiding the evacuation and the pacification of the infected, a deep sense of worry filled Dusk when Thunder volunteered for his sister’s location. And when Dusk volunteered to join his friend and the rest of the team to be sent there, that feeling only grew worse.

But still, feeling or not, he wasn’t going to let his best friend head there alone. He had grown to care for him over the years…far beyond that which a normal friendship would venture into.

Having grown up together, through all his schooling and shortly before the war had started, Dusk had found that he had fallen in love with the pegasus.

But before he could get the chance to open up to his best friend about his feelings, the foreign vampire ponies had invaded Equestria. And the dreaded feeling Dusk had about his friend going on this rescue mission had only affected him even more if he didn’t go with him.

But little did he know…that that decision to go….

Only made things much worse.

“So, what happened?”

“…Dusk?”

Pulled away from his own thoughts by a sudden voice closest to himself, Dusk blinked from the startlement. With a black flowing fringe style mane covering one side of his face, the brown stallion turned his gaze away from the train car window to the vocal source of inquiry. The voice seemed to belong to an earth pony mare that looked no older than 20, her coat being light brown save for the bright green color mane and tail she had. Unable to make out the apple cutie mark from her sitting position, he turned his gaze to her two other friends, one being a light blue pegasus mare and yellow unicorn mare that sat beside her. Both of her friends remained quiet as they patiently listened to the started conversation.

Using that moment of silence as her cue, the earth pony mare rephrased her question.

“Pardon me, Dusk. But in that town that you first went to with the other guards, what happened there?”

Dusk gave each of them a glance before returning his gaze to the snow just outside the window after hearing that question. His ears lowered to the sides of his head.

A moment later, he sighed heavily.

Despite being a bad time for all of Equestrians, the war was still a pretty popular topic. He was surprised that there was still somepony on this train that didn’t know of his recollection of events. Surely it would’ve gossiped around the entire train by this point, especially since they were nearing their destination.

On the other hoof….

Whether they truly did not know, or had heard about it already from the other passengers but preferred to hear it themselves directly from him…there was no way to tell.

“It was tough…” He began, but paused shortly after, inhaling and exhaling slowly with his eyes closing for a moment.

“Did you…see them there?” The light blue pegasus mare, beside her friend, added in.

Dusk opened his eyes again and nodded silently, his gaze once again transfixed on the train car window.

Her follow up question nearly became inaudible as the sounds of a resurfacing memory replayed once again in his ears, the glass window in front of him giving his eyes a personal flashback recollection of the memory.

// Screaming. Shouting. The cries of the terrified ponies fleeing in all directions around, amidst the sounds of battle taking place all over. The recently infected turning around the corners of the townhomes nearby and leaping on the nearest fleeing pony, biting into their flesh as they screamed in pain, shock, and terror. The sounds of his unit moving in to assist the active service guards at his location and engaging the enemy with them. All the while the recently infected attacked the active service guards and fed upon them and the fleeing refugees they caught. //

Dusk shook his head, bringing his mind back to the present. Without looking towards them, he responded.

“Perhaps the biggest problem for us was not seeing an actual “enemy” that we could distinguish from every pony else and fight without hesitation.” He explained. Pausing only briefly before continuing, “…and you would think that the enemy was some other creature from a foreign land. Something that you can easily identify friend from foe. But here…it was not that.”

Dusk’s eyes narrowed, ears lying flat against his head while a small growl was added to his next words.

“…but it was not that. Not at all.”

Raising a hoof to the window, Dusk’s eyes shifted to it, recalling how the crimson color of blood that had once stained not just his leg, but the short brown fur covering his entire body. The many battles and close calls he had been in since that night.

“They looked like us, too.” Answering bluntly. “Princess Celestia’s beloved ponies. Equestrians. Not some other creature that was grotesque, or mutilated, or even undead looking. They looked normal, like us! Sure, their bodies had signs of physical wounds, bite marks, and even blood around their muzzles. But that was it! Their eyes were normal; save for when it would go full red during the times they would feast on somepony. They even speak as you and I do. You would think something so ravenous or monstrous behaving would be easy to identify, that their ability to act, move, and speak normally would be impaired or something—but no, you’d be dead wrong. You wouldn’t be able to tell that something was off about them until they were too close. Until you had let your own guard down…to which there would be a price to be paid for making that mistake….”

Dusk’s voice trailed off as his gaze morphed into that of a 1,000-yard stare.

“…as somepony very close to me found out…”

The mares gasped.

“…some stallion that I loved.”

Hesitantly, one of the mares ventured to ask.

“What happened to him…?”

Turning to her, Dusk didn’t respond.

All three mares visibly flinched.

“Oh no…” one of the mares barely squeaked out.

“My first engagement with the enemy…was against somepony I knew. Somepony, I grew up real close to…and eventually fell in love with.” Dusk replied while trying to keep his voice from cracking, the volume of his voice fracturing from the failed attempt.

The sounds of everything around him tuned out once again as the former guard picked up a certain voice echoing faintly in his ears.

// The sound of a distinct pegasus guard, crying in relief, while hugging his twin and his younger sister amidst the chaos of the battle raging on around them…only for it to suddenly be turned into one of sudden immense pain. //

When the memory ended, the room was silent. The indistinct chatter that carried on in the background during his interaction with the three mares had vanished at some point.

His hoof, that had been pressed against the window during the talk, began to tremble. At the same time, when he finally realized it, a warm wet sensation was already dripping down the side of his cheek. Dusk’s eyes widened. Acting instinctively, he turned his face away from the mares and any pony else that was probably watching him. Biting his lip, he silently began to chastise himself for the momentary loss of self-control. The effects that he felt every time he was retelling his story had started to return. And at this point, it was beyond what he could manage to reign back in. He had to wrap this up now and leave before it got any further out of hand.

Pulling his hoof away from the window, Dusk took a minute to collect himself as best as he could before rising from his seat. The three mares across from him openly stared at the stallion from a loss for words. Why they were so suddenly at a loss the stallion did not know. And to be honest, that made him anxious. And now that Dusk was able to look around the room beyond them, the rest of the dining car had seemingly caught the last bit of his conversation as the ponies from all around the room remained silent. Dusk could feel every pair of eyes on him as he gave the mares a polite “goodbye” and headed for the nearest train car exit. Passing the last table in the dining car closest to him, Dusk reached the door before a voice behind him spoke up. To which, he froze.

“Dusk…are you alright?”

Turning away from the door to the owner, a gray unicorn stallion donned in golden armor seated at the last table by the door with two other grey unicorn guard stallions. The other two guards looked at him but had remained silent. The one who spoke, looked Dusk over slowly as if already recognizing the answer the former guard was going to give.

Dusk returned the gaze, looking over each of them before returning to the first. “You already know the answer to that question…Raze.” He replied, giving the particular guard stallion a knowing look.

Said stallion nodded back, his gaze turning to one of more sympathy. “Yeah, but still…we miss you brother.” His ears lying back against his head, the guard looked at the floor. “After you left, our unit was never quite the same as it used to be.”

Dusk nodded in agreement. “…I know.” Reaching over and gently lifting his fellow guardsman’s head back up to meet his own gaze, Dusk looked directly at Raze. “But you remember why I left?”

Raze nodded again, answering with a low disheartened tone, “…Thunder.”

The other two guards looked down at the floor one after the other, having visibly flinched at the mentioned name. The rest of the dining car was still silent, but neither Dusk nor his fellow brethren paid them any mind as the four guard ponies remained silent for another long moment.

“But you helped us eliminate so many of the vampire ponies because of him, Dusk. While some others in the guard believed you might’ve become obsessed with volunteering to go on vampire hunts after the war ended. We, by that I mean us and the rest of your former unit, don’t blame you at all for that.” The third guard added.

Dusk sighed.

“But the acting captain, at the time, saw differently. He believed that I had an unnatural “blood lust” for wanting to hunt down any remaining vampire ponies that still belonged to that dead vampire queen,” Dusk countered.

“He wanted to keep me stationed at the castle ever since he started believing that,” Dusk clarified, looking at the third guard. “And because of him, it made my decision to leave the Royal Guard all the more bearable. If I can’t go out to protect Celestia’s beloved ponies from those damn monsters when they scattered across Equestria after their loss from the siege on Canterlot…and from when the princesses finally killed the damn vampire queen…then why would I continue to be there at all?”

The three stallions didn’t have an answer, so Dusk continued, huffing in annoyance.

“I did not join the Royal Guard to become some glorified hall monitor. I joined to protect everypony in Equestria, especially the princesses. Just because some captain didn’t like that I always volunteered for a hunt--.”

“Dusk, it wasn’t your fault. Not with what happened after Canterlot. And certainly, not with what happened to Thunder.” The second guard interjected on Dusk, trying in an effort to comfort the fuming former guard stallion.

Turning away at his words, towards the door, the quivering of his hooves grew worse as Dusk now felt a steady warm wet trail of tears flow down both sides of his muzzle. He found himself staring at the door as his breath became shaky, all the while trying desperately to hold back from breaking down.

“P-please…s-stop saying his name.” The brown unicorn pleaded.

// The sound of the pegasus’ pain-filled scream slowly echoing in his ears once again. //

“I…I’m sorry Dusk,” the second guard apologized, looking down at the table in front of him, body lowering in his seat dejectedly.

Although everyone in his unit once tried to convince him that he wasn’t guilty for what happened that night, Dusk knew it wasn’t true. Nor did it help as they thought it did. He knew chastised himself for not seeing the possibility of danger coming. And when it did, he should’ve done something. Anything. Instead, he froze, like a pathetic, helpless, terrified foal. Watching somepony he grew up with, his best friend that he had fallen in love with, reaching out to him, screaming in terror and pleading for help. The terrified expression on his face as he was attacked by his own sisters. To which, he, while his best friend since they were foals in the orphanage together was being attacked and pleading for his help, did nothing but stand there. Stunned. Frozen. Terrified. Because of that, Dusk witnessed his best friend, and his love, die right in front of his eyes.

Only to come back….

“You all know…,” Dusk replied slowly, reaching for the doorknob, opening the cabin door.

“…that that’s not true. He died because I hesitated. He died because of me.”

Tears started to fall, but he didn’t move to stop them.

“And because of my mistake…”

He choked, his breath shaking uncontrollably now as he started crying, his body trembling in pain-mixed rage.

“…you know what I was forced to do with the stallion I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I had to watch him die for a second and final time! Because of my own hooves--”

“Dusk! He came back and attacked you!” The third guard interrupted again, rising up from his chair. This time, the stallion’s voice was pleading in desperation. “You had no choice! You would’ve died if you didn’t stop him! It wasn’t--”

Dusk shot back him with a glare that silenced the guard instantly.

Without another word, Dusk stepped through and slammed the door behind him with a flare up from his horn, leaving the patrons of the train car silent.

Ignoring the ponies in the hallway, Dusk had barely managed to slip inside his own cabin car near the back of the train before dropping to the floor, the sound of the train masking his fall from any curious ears. Shaking all over, Dusk started to pant as all sense of strength left him as he broke down and cried loudly, grabbing the cover of his bed and screaming into it. For a long time, the stallion laid there on the floor and cried the hardest he had ever done since he hopped on a train leaving the capitol city. The toll of having to retell and relive everything was far too much anymore. He couldn’t bear to do it again. No, as a matter of fact, he wouldn’t do it again. It was too much. Even if ponies were naturally too curious to a fault, he wasn’t going to allow himself to satiate their curiosity again. But for now, for as long as he needed it, the distraught unicorn allowed himself to let it all out. Pushing past every memory that resurfaced from over the recent years. From under the cover of the train in motion, and the thickness of his bed cover, Dusk sobbed, cried, and screamed away his pain, to relieve the building emotion and tension he had felt since he started this cross-country trip. And by the time that he finally felt that his emotional outburst started to wane, the stallion had realized that he had completely lost track of time.

With his crying now subsided, along with a groan of pain and protest, Dusk eventually managed to drag himself up from the floor; using the sink inside his cabin as support to steady the weakness in his legs. Looking up at the mirror that was positioned above a white clay sink, the pony was greeted with a face that he had hated for a while now.

Mirroring him in the glass’ reflection, a brown unicorn with a black mane that matched his tail looked back at him. On the side of the pony’s face that wasn’t covered by the long black strands of his mane, an emerald green iris stared back at him. Upon his flank, where a pony’s cutiemark would be located, the remnants of the mark had started to fade away. While his illusion spell was active, a rune-like star design would appear on his rear. But when the spell had worn off, or in this case, was disrupted, the unicorn was an adult “blank flank”. However, not having a cutiemark wasn’t concern anymore. And when Dusk brought one of his forehooves up to part away the mane covering his other eye, his new concern returned as if on cue, causing the stallion to let out a groan of pain as his stomach suddenly heaved. Reaching for both sides of the sink, he leaned over, holding on tightly as he began to throw up.

The sounds of the hardened clay starting to crack reached Dusk’s ears as his body continued to heave for a few moments longer before finally coming to a stop. Letting go with one of his hooves to turn on the water, Dusk groaned again as he watched the stream wash away more than several splotches of blood down the drain. This daily occurrence had started happening since the week he left Canterlot. Though, before that, he had been having painful coughs and soreness, along with other symptoms of illnesses for a while now, a lot longer than this new daily heaving. A few weeks ago, when he was still in the guard, he had been suffering these symptoms for some time, but in private. At first it was a shock to him, as he never experienced something like it. His first instinct was to see a doctor. Sure, he had sometimes gotten sick with the flu in his life. But this was different. Normally the hallmarks of the flu would be present, but with this, there was no lingering effects or symptoms that stayed with him day to day. But as he read up on his symptoms on his time off, matching them with reports of similar cases, his worst fears were proven correct.

Panting under his breath, while still holding onto the sink, Dusk felt his body shivering from before increase. Having an instinctual urge to reach for the device on the wall to heat up the confines of his cabin, the stallion remembered that he hadn’t changed the cabin’s thermostat since had he left for the dining car this evening. Which meant...that the real reason his body was shivering like this, despite the room not actually being cold, was...was....

Dusk stopped, his eyes widening.

Looking back up to the mirror nervously, his eyes widened even more upon noticing the fur on his face and the rest of his body was now dampened by the likeness of a cold sweat. Brushing his mane away from the right side of his face in sudden haste, Dusk watched in horror as both of his emerald-green eyes flicker before turning a bright crimson. The fang-like scar just underneath his right eye did not hinder the function of his eyelid as the stallion stared in fear at the crimson color his eyes made in the mirror’s reflection. Feeling a sensation in his mouth, his eyesight dropped lower as a pair of razor-sharp fangs slowly grew from the top and the bottom jaw as the unicorn opened his maw. The top pair protruded very noticeably when he closed his muzzle just moments later. The sight made Dusk growl as he pushed himself away from the mirror and the sink, his crimson eyes flaring up brightly in the reflection. The combined appearances very nearly prompted the stallion to lash out and smash the glass out of anger...but he relented.

As much as Dusk wanted to lash out, this was not his home after all, so drawing attention to himself would not be very wise. And as furious as he was about the leap in progression of his condition, there was nothing the stallion could do. Turning away from the sink, Dusk turned out the cabin light and laid down underneath the covers of his bed. The stallion stared up at the ceiling of the train as the room was still as bright as day…without the aid of any light active in the room.

Leaving because he didn’t want to be forcefully stationed at the castle wasn’t the real reason why he had left the Royal Guard. In fact, it was because he was turning into a monster. When he finally realized his diagnosis, everything seemed to fit into place. Since the siege of Canterlot, Dusk had felt his personality, as well as his “outlook” on life, begin to change. Between diving into volunteering for vampire hunts, his overwhelming hatred for vampires, his social distancing from the other guards in his unit, and a growing apathy for anything else other than a longing to hunt those blood drinking ponies, the stallion didn’t realize that something was wrong till he figured out what was ailing him. After he found out, he began to notice other symptoms as well: sensitivity to sunlight, weakness during the day, among other things. At first, it was very so minimal in scale that he chalked it up to his wounds and recovery from the war. But the more he researched everything he could, the more these little things became apparent as more than what they seemingly were.

Eventually, he knew what the symptoms led up to. And that was why he couldn’t stay. He didn’t want to be a threat to other ponies, let alone to anymore members of the guard. Which was why he decided to resign and hop on the earliest train to the farthest reaches of Equestria. He signed up for the recolonizing effort in a way to get as far away from everypony as possible. Even if that means leaving the border town he was heading to behind and venturing out beyond the safe zones of the Equestrian border. Faced with what he was becoming, he didn’t himself to be near anypony.

And as his eyes slowly started to lose focus the longer Dusk stared at the ceiling, one last thought occupied his mind just before sleep and exhaustion claimed him and the unicorn passed out to the rocking of the train.

…Was turning into a monster the cost I had to pay my mistakes and sins?...

Author's Note

Writer's Edit: Looking through the first chapter, I found so many areas that needed drastic editing and change. Prior to the release of Chapter 3, I will be making an edit of Chapter 1.
I hope you enjoy the edit! Thank you for reading.

Howdy there!
This is a first for me to post a story for others to read. I'll be working on the pacing of the story in the following chapters.

The first chapter is always a test. I didn’t want to risk flooding it with too much exposition. That can be evenly done in the next coming chapters, especially the 2nd chapter.

Criticisms, comments, concerns, and questions are welcomed. :derpytongue2:

Have a great day!