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.