Darkness Rising

Chapters

Chapter 2, Beginning of Another Story
Chapter 3, Regret
Chapter 4, Not a Cold, Dark World
Chapter 5, Awakening
Chapter 7, Trials
Chapter 8, Depression
Chapter 9, Investigation
Chapter 10, Worries
Chapter 11, Hunting
Chapter 12, Complicated Relationships
Chapter 13, Suspicion
Chapter 14a, Friend of a Friend
Chapter 14b, Meeting
Chapter 15, Distant Friendships
Chapter 16, Tensions Rising
Chapter 18, Impact
Chapter 19, Calm
Chapter 20, Aftershock
Chapter 21, Waking
Chapter 22, Explanations
Chapter 23, Ambush
Chapter 24, Forgiveness
Chapter 25, Consequences
Chapter 26, Confrontation
Chapter 27, Fears
Chapter 28, Concerns
Chapter 30, For One's Family
Chapter 31, Exchange
Chapter 32, Running From the Dawn
Chapter 33, Darkness is Rising
Chapter 1, Secrets
Chapter 6, To Fear Oneself
Chapter 17, Respite
Chapter 29, Confessions
Epilogue

Chapter 2, Beginning of Another Story

Fluttershy began backing away slowly, “W-what are you going to do to me?” She asked in terror, fear of her friend taking over logical reasoning, and thus causing her to assume Twilight meant her harm.

Twilight closed her eyes and looked to the floor. Now that Fluttershy could see Twilight more clearly, it became noticeable that Twilight was crying. Fresh tears were streaming down her face and landing next to the necklace on the wooden floor.

Fluttershy was distracted by the lightshow as well as her own fear, and as a result she completely forgot about the necklace. Even barely noticed it had clearly changed significantly. What was once polished silver now looked incredibly changed, not only looking old and corroded, but it had gone from a silver gray to a light violet. The engravings were still the same, but felt unwelcoming and threatening. Most importantly, the diamond had changed. Rather than its pure and clear surface, it was a swirling vortex of colors, mostly black and red but with an odd mix of other colors that looked simply out of place amongst the others. Most worrying to Fluttershy was that there was strange feel to it, almost as if it wanted to protect something.

Fluttershy’s glance at the piece of jewelry on the floor was interrupted by Twilight’s voice, “I… I… I have to… I have to… to… I have to kill you Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy started flapping her wings slightly, not quite enough to produce lift, but enough to generate a small amount of wind to disturb the environment. The purple unicorn had stuttered and repeated herself uncertainly, still considering if she had to do this, but her kind heart and a personality that always makes her see only the worst possible outcome made any other plan seem both dangerous and overly cruel to allow her to do anything other than ensure that nopony would ever find out the truth while making certain the innocent mare in front of her would have to go through little suffering. Twilight didn’t want to hurt Fluttershy, in fact she had hoped that she would never have to hurt any of her friends, but fate was once again not in her favor.

But Fluttershy’s fear got the better of her yet again, and while Twilight's discomfort was visibly showing, Fluttershy only heard the words ‘I have to kill you Fluttershy’.

“B-but why?” she asked, “I’m your friend Twilight, I promise I won’t t-tell anypony.” Twilight saw that Fluttershy was beginning to cry. Her doubts about killing her friend were rising even more now.

Regardless, she began walking towards Fluttershy. Not even three steps along and Twilight already tripped, not being aware of the new balance changes her wings would cause. They weren’t feathered wings like a Pegasus, but they threw off Twilight's balance just as much, if not more.

She attempted to stand up, and as she felt herself shift she immediately stretched out one of her wings to stabilize her balance. Unfortunately, this was the wrong wing, so rather that helping her stand, it only increased the rate at which she would decend.

Fluttershy watched as her friend attempted to get up again, only to fall down and land with her wing bent the wrong way, being kept in that position by Twilight's own weight.

Throughout the whole scene Fluttershy wanted nothing more than to help her friend. Fear however, is a powerful motivator at the best of times, and in this situation Fluttershy was already terrified about Twilight’s intentions.

Meanwhile, Twilight had gained a basic understanding of how to hold her balance, and through the process of trial and error figured out exactly what was going wrong. She took a few small steps towards Fluttershy before her doubts made her task even more difficult. She looked at the sobbing mare and the floor. She had, without even noticing, backed Fluttershy into a corner.

The expression on Fluttershy’s face was silently begging Twilight to spare her. She was curled up in the corner of the library, sobbing as she looked at Twilight with pleading eyes, knowing that this might be her last moments, and her final chance to tell Twilight how she felt.

Before she could say anything Twilight leaned down to speak to her at eye level, “Fluttershy… I’m so sorry. I never wanted to do this to you, or anypony. I want you to know that I’m only doing this because it’s what’s best for both of us. Please… forgive me.”

By this point Fluttershy had given up all hope, and now only had one thing to say, “Twilight, I just wanted to say that I… I… I love you Twilight.”

“Wait… you... you love me?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy nodded, “I’ve loved you for a while now. You’re the only thing that keeps our friends together and you always know what to do. You're smart, a-and nice, and I… I forgive you.”

Meanwhile, Twilight started panicking. She just couldn’t do this. Her friend loved her and would be willing to forgive her even if Twilight killed her. How does one react in this situation?

Unfortunately, by the time Twilight notice that her fangs had pierced the skin on Fluttershy’s neck, it was too late to stop, she was already turning her. She could only watch the scene unfolding before her in horror.

From what started as a pinch, slowly turned into the most agonizing pain Fluttershy had ever experience. As the pain slowly spread across her entire body her screams of pain became louder and she became more and more helpless.

Twilight could only watch and listen as Fluttershy’s screams, which only a pony in the same room would even be able to hear, became more ragged and shallow. She pulled away as soon as she could, but even so she could only cry as she watched the vampiric essence spread throughout the poor mare's body.

As her friend slowly drifted into a long and painful sleep filled with nightmares, Twilight collapsed on top of her in tears.

She stayed there for hours, doing nothing but crying before she decided it would be best if Fluttershy woke up in her own bed, even if it wouldn’t be for a while. There was still the hope that being at home would make her rest more peaceful. She grabbed the necklace off the floor and put it on, the necklace reverting to its original appearance just as Twilight did.

One note for Spike later she was gone, the only evidence that anything happened were the tear stains on the floor.

Chapter 3, Regret

“I’m sorry Fluttershy, I’m so sorry.”

No matter how many times Twilight said that she still felt no better. Perhaps it was because Fluttershy couldn’t hear her, or maybe because she feared her friend would hate her for what she had done.

Fluttershy wasn’t like Rarity, she didn’t want to be fancy and popular among the social elite, and she only wanted a quiet life with her animals. Her living space reflected that well.

Her bedroom was small, and the only decorations in the room were several portraits of animals along with a clock and a few other essentials. That hardly mattered to Twilight as she sat on a chair, listening to the sounds of Fluttershy’s gentle breathing.

Twilight had spent hours on end sitting there, fresh tears constantly streaming down her face. She hardly noticed when Fluttershy twitched or flinched, although she already knew the pegasus in front of her was being plagued by horrible nightmares, so making the connection was hardly necessary.

Her necklace, which she had taken to calling her guardian because its purpose was to protect her and her identity from those who could cause harm, whether directly or not, was sitting on Fluttershy’s nightstand. Twilight had taken it off as soon as she had arrived, as despite that it would make her mostly just like an ordinary pony, it felt much more natural to her from the moment she transferred the protective enchantments off of herself. It was almost as if she was missing a part of herself, a part that she had recently reunited with, and wasn’t comfortable without it.

Twilight heard somepony knocking on the door. She didn’t want to leave Fluttershy’s side, but it was the least she could do for her friend to take care of her duties. Feeding the animals was her least favorite time because she had to go downstairs and even outside to fill all the birdfeeders and provide food to the hundreds of animals Fluttershy kept alongside her. Fluttershy couldn’t see or hear her, so Twilight didn’t have to be there with her until she would wake, and that wouldn’t be for over a week. The only thing keeping her here was regret.

Twilight levitated her necklace around her neck, quickly loosing that part of herself yet again. Her natural ability to change her appearance was all there, but Twilight, like many of her powers, had yet to master it.

Not only could she not change her appearance without spells and enchantments, she also needed more time become resistant to the harmful effects of sunlight. She kept Fluttershy’s house as dark as possible, her magic making up for the curtains inability to block all sunlight. Some of the animals weren’t very happy with this arrangement, but it made Twilight, and possibly even Fluttershy, a little more comfortable.

Twilight opened the door to find Rarity standing outside waiting. Her mane was a bit messy and she looked like she hadn’t slept in a few days, although that didn’t come close to comparing to Twilights appearance.

Rarity got over shock at Twilights appearance quickly, and asked, “Darling, what happened to you? You look as if you’ve been crying for days.”

Twilight yawned, “Well, I’m just a bit tired right now. I’m fine, really.

“Well, you certainly don’t look that way, but I won’t bother you about it. Anyway, is Fluttershy home?” she asked, shifting herself a bit to get a better view of the inside of the house.

Wiping her face to remove some of her most recent tears, she replied, “Sorry, she’s upstairs sleeping. She... caught a bit of a cold.”

“Well, that’s a shame; I had hoped she would be available. I had to reschedule our spa appointment due to a massive order that just came in. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to go alone.”

Rarity was about to give her farewells, but Twilight spoke up quickly, “Is it ok if I come with you?”

Rarity flinched slightly at the sudden question, but caught herself before Twilight noticed. After eyeing the purple unicorn over for a moment, she answered, “Well, you certainly look like you need a spa trip, of course you can come.”

“Sorry, I’m just a bit worried about Fluttershy.” Twilight turned to leave but Rarity grabbed her

“Now darling, I don’t have to be an expert on social interaction to know that you’re lying, so now tell me, what is it?”

Twilight hesitated, before coming up with a different thing that concerned her just as much, “I… Rarity, I think I’m in love with her.”

Rarity knew Twilight was hiding something, but decided to let it go for now. Instead she decided to congratulate her, “Why, that’s wonderful. We all know she won’t find love herself. Oh I hope this works out between you two.”

“Yeah, me too.” Twilight replied, hanging her head in shame.

Rarity looked her in the eye as best she could, “What’s wrong dear?”

“Well, I may have… said a few things to her. She probably hates me right now.”

“Twilight!” Rarity exclaimed, gaining the full attention the mare in front of her, “You know as well as I do that Fluttershy is just shy of being incapable of hate. I’m sure that she’ll forgive you, if not immediately than very soon.”

Twilight looked up with a smile, but looked to the sky with worry, “I hope so Rarity, I hope so. Let me leave a note for Fluttershy, then I’ll be out.”

“Well, I must say I don’t get to see you very often these days, this is a bit exiting.” As Twilight turned to go back into the house, Rarity made another comment, “Oh and that necklace looks beautiful on you.”

Twilight smiled and nodded. She went upstairs for a moment. Even though she wasn’t going to really leave Fluttershy a note, she had to make it seem convincing. She didn’t want to hurt another one of her friends, so the less suspicious Rarity was the better. Instead she used this time to say goodbye to Fluttershy. Note or words it wouldn’t matter, she wouldn’t wake up for a while, a week at least. It just made Twilight feel better.

After holding a short one sided conversation she went back downstairs, and then left with Rarity. It would do well for her to get some relaxation

“Thanks Rarity, that was amazing.” Twilight said to Rarity as they walked away from the spa. The spa trip was really helpful, and it gave Twilight some time to think. She thought about her feelings for Fluttershy, and whether it was out of guilt or natural attraction, Twilight could only conclude that she really was in love with Fluttershy.

She also thought about the things Rarity said to her earlier. She was right, Fluttershy would never hate Twilight for what she did. Sure she would likely be the object of her friend’s fears for a while, but it would be the least she could do to be there for Fluttershy when she woke, and help her adjust to the new changes in her life.

“Well, I’m glad you enjoyed it, and of course you’re welcome to join us at any time,” Rarity paused for a moment, “Well, I have some work to do, and I wouldn’t want to keep you. I guess we’ll see each other next time then.”

She began to walk off towards her home, but Twilight stopped her, “Rarity, if it’s not too much trouble, could you make me another necklace. I really want to give one to Fluttershy.” She pleaded, giving a look that expressed desperation, using it to hide the true purpose of her request.

Rarity smiled, “I would love to. I’ll have it ready in about a week, but I really must be going now.” She gave Twilight a sweet smile that was returned in kind.

As they both went their separate ways, Twilight began to take in the beauty of Ponyville in the early afternoon. No matter how long she lived there, the small towns simple elegance eluded her. Now that she was free from the restrictions of her usual schedules, she had more time to walk slowly and admire the scenery. Seeing things like the weather team clearing some stray clouds from the Everfree or watching the Cutie Mark Crusaders attempt to get cutie marks in home repair, it warmed Twilights heart more than books and magic ever could. It made her feel complete, to know that everypony around her trusted her and knew her as the pony who would be there to save Equestria at any time she was required to.

The wind blew leaves around as she spent time watching the ordinary life of the ponies around her. Watching fillies and colts play with their friends, oblivious to the things Twilight had went through when she was half their age, of the way Twilight had never gotten a chance to do the same. It brought tears of joy to her eyes, knowing they would never have to suffer the same as her, that they would never have to fear that their friends would hate and fear them because of the monster that they were made out to be.

Everypony she saw was free of the hardships that were left to her. She knew being a vampire wasn’t easy, and it would be even harder to find trust and love from the ponies that knew her best, all because she was different. Perhaps she was a monster, destined to feed off the blood of the innocent around her. Maybe she would become what everypony thought she was, a hunter of the night, preying upon innocent ponies all around. As much as she wanted to simply make peace and live in harmony with the ponies of Equestria, or even just have some land set aside just for her and others like her, the idea was strangely appealing to her. Maybe she could fall back to that idea, with a bit of tweaking, if she couldn’t reach an agreement with Celestia.

But now was not the time, as she had reached Fluttershy’s house. She stepped into her friend’s humble abode, and ran upstairs as fast as possible. She was relieved to find Fluttershy just where she was earlier, the only changes being from some small twitches.

Fluttershy squeaked a bit, and Twilight walked over. She hugged Fluttershy but soon left her. She learned it wasn’t good for her to brood over her regrets. Instead she went downstairs, taking off her guardian in the process. She set it down on her friends table, and after looking at it for a bit, cast some protective spells around it, but before she lied down on Fluttershy’s couch, it dawned on her that somepony might come in without knocking. She took the necklace back on, and after a bit of thought, cast some spells to make sure only she could take it off. It was probably just a bit of paranoia, but Twilight just didn’t trust those animals.

Twilight lied down, and closed her eyes. It would probably be best if she tried to pass the time until Fluttershy awoke with a bit of sleep.

Author's Note

Well, it's been a bit of a long week. I've been trying to get chapters released more frequently, but the weekends seem to be the only time I get a real chance to write.

Fortunately, I'm free for the holidays, so expect relatively frequent updates over the next week or so.

Chapter 4, Not a Cold, Dark World

Twilight fell to the floor and moaned. She hadn't been here for even a week and already the animals hated her. She could hardly blame them, after all, Fluttershy fell asleep and wouldn't wake up, while she began taking over her jobs. Despite that, Twilight expected them to behave better. After all, these sort of things didn't give them the right to throw food at her when she wasn't looking, or make huge messes for her to clean up later.

It had been nearly five days since Twilight had left Fluttershy's house last, and things had been looking up for her. She would still look in on her friend, sometimes sitting next to her and telling Fluttershy all about her day. Sometimes she couldn't hold back a tear or two, but she no longer brooded over her mistakes like she used to, it just wasn't good for her.

Twilight slowly got to her feet. She felt like visiting Fluttershy, but when she got to her friend's room, she found something mostly unexpected.

Fluttershy was awake.

Their eyes locked, and both felt overwhelming emotions. Twilight felt guilt, guilt she had managed to suppress for nearly a week. Fluttershy felt fear.

Fluttershy was afraid of a lot of things, but this was unique. This was the kind of fear that a pony feels when they don't see a way out of a situation. The fear that they were going to die.

The same fear that she felt no less than a week ago.

Twilight levitated off her guardian, and set it on the small nightstand next to Fluttershy, unintentionally causing Fluttershy even more fear as she reverted to her natural appearance once more.

Slowly, Twilight began to step towards her friend. For Twilight, each step was agonizingly slow, but for Fluttershy, it was dreadfully quick, each step Twilight took bringing death just a bit closer.

Fluttershy silently prayed for a quick and painless death as Twilight stood over her, not even wondering why she hadn't died last time.

Twilight began to cry when she saw the terror in the innocent mare's eyes. Unlike last time, when Fluttershy was scared and desperate, she now laid there with a sad acceptance, knowing she was going to die and that she couldn't change it.

Without words or looks she begged Twilight to kill her as fast as possible. What happened next though, was the last thing she expected.

Twilight pulled her into a hug, sobbing into her neck. At first Fluttershy let herself relax, hoping that wherever she went next would be just as wonderful as her time here was, but then began to think that maybe something else was going on, and
that maybe Twilight wasn't going to hurt her.

After several minutes of crying, Fluttershy's fear had all but left her completely, instead being replaced by the motherly caring part of her as she slowly hugged Twilight back.

“Fluttershy... I'm so sorry, I... I didn't mean to. I never meant t-to turn y-y-you into a vampire... please... f-forgive me.” Twilight said through her tears.

Fluttershy radiated calm, but she knew that Twilight had no reason to lie to her, and that if she really was a vampire now, her life was about to become much different. Despite the fact that she was truly terrified about the possibility that she may have become a monster, she knew Twilight needed her, and that she needed Twilight.

“Shhhhh, it’s okay, I forgive you… I’ll always forgive you.” She said soothingly to Twilight, trying to calm Twilight down enough to ask the questions that she needed answered.

Twilight pulled away enough to look Fluttershy in the eye to the best of her ability, hardly able to bear seeing her friend after what she did. Although her guilt did its best to stop her, she looked straight at Fluttershy and asked, “How can you j-just forgive me like that, I mean I turned you, you should hate me right now.”

“A little, but you’re taking it harder than me right now, and besides, I know you’ll help me through this, right?” Fluttershy said to the lavender unicorn in front of her, managing to coax a smile out of her friend despite their emotions.

Twilight smiled and pulled Fluttershy close, “Don’t worry Fluttershy, I’ll do my best to help you through this, I promise.”

They both stayed like that for a long time, neither of them wanting to break the silence of this golden moment, but Twilight eventually spoke up, “So… do you… maybe… want to talk about this?”

Fluttershy lied down on the bed, and Twilight took a sitting position by her feet.

Fluttershy yawned, and finally asked the first question on her mind, “Twilight, is it scary, being… different?” she couldn’t bring herself to say the word.

“Well… it’s probably going to be a bit scary at first, but you just need to learn that you’re the same mare at heart. You’ll always be the kindest pony I know, just a little change in the way you think, a few changes to your diet, and a bit of natural magic, plenty more… but let’s not talk about that right now.

Fluttershy knew she was trying to put something off as long as possible, and she was willing to leave it at that, knowing it was probably going to be a bit disturbing. Not ready to end the conversation quite yet, Fluttershy asked another question, “You said something about natural magic, what’s that mean?”

Twilight smiled, “Well, pardon me for sound a bit like Rainbow Dash, but that’s probably one of the coolest parts. Vampires have their own form of unique magic, very difficult, if not impossible to reproduce with unicorn, pegasus, or earth pony magic, or even a combination of two or more.”

“Like turning into bats?” Fluttershy asked inquisitively, almost exited at the possibility of becoming an animal herself.

Twilight giggled, “Not quite, that’s just a myth, albeit a popular one. What I’m talking about is the ability to do things such as change your appearance, or track somepony by their blood. It’s a bit like changeling magic, a whole range of abilities and spells only available to a single race.”

Fluttershy looked at Twilight strangely and asked, “Well, how does it work?”

Twilight sighed, “Some abilities, like changing your appearance, are completely natural and just take a bit of practice. However, there are also certain patterns and forces that can be carefully woven together to create something that can only be described as spells.”

Fluttershy paused for a moment, contemplating the next question she would ask. She was now no longer afraid of Twilight, and displayed a rich curiosity instead. After a moment of delicate thinking, she asked the next question on her mind, “What about my… you know… new diet?”

Twilight, in all honesty, was mostly surprised when Fluttershy asked that question. She had been expecting Fluttershy to put it off as long as possible. Even if Fluttershy wasn’t trying to, Twilight wanted to keep her closest friend happy for as long as possible, even if it meant not telling her important information until absolutely necessary. After gathering a response, Twilight said, “Fluttershy, listen, I won’t deny that this is important, and that we’ll need to have this talk soon, but please, can we just not talk about this now… just… not now.”

“But…” Fluttershy began, being promptly cut off by Twilight before she could really relay her question.

“I know you're curious, this is a big change in your life, but there are a lot of new things you need to know about that you won't like, especially for somepony like you.”

Fluttershy tried to speak again but was cut off almost as soon as she could start, “Fluttershy, listen, if you just let it go for a little, I'll take you hunting when the time comes, but please, let's just not talk about it right now.”

Fluttershy finally calmed down after a bit, the effects of her turning catching up to her and making her tired. Twilight stood and was about to say goodnight when Fluttershy’s hoof touched her. With pleading eyes she said, “Please… if it’s no problem, could you sleep next to me tonight… I don’t want to be alone.”

Twilight looked down on her friend, and she smiled. She smiled for the first time in many days and was more than willing to oblige. She politely climbed in next to Fluttershy, eliciting a creak from the old bed, unused to holding more than the young pegasus and a few animals at a time.

Fluttershy finally began to doze off with Twilight at her side, sleepily pulling her into a gentle embrace, and Twilight began to stroke her mane as she began to speak the final words before Fluttershy drifted off into a calm slumber, “You know, you mean a lot to me. You’re just like the sister I never had, a mare that can understand me, comfort me. Somepony I can trust to be by my side for anything.”

“Fluttershy… I love you.”

Author's Note

Yes, I know this took a while, but life been hard. I promise to keep up a bit more in the future.

Chapter 5, Awakening

Fluttershy was content, she had been having a relaxing dream in which she and Rainbow had been racing. It was her first good dream in what felt like a long time.

Alas, even the greatest things must come to an end, and the dream faded as the waking world flooded her mind. At first she thought she saw Twilight as she groggily opened her eyes, but as she quickly became more aware of her surroundings she realized that Twilight really was next to her.

Fluttershy wasn’t hard to scare, and waking in bed next to the mare that not long ago was going to kill her, naturally frightened her more than anything else. Despite the vague memory of talking to Twilight sometime between then and now, she followed the first instinct to come to mind, push Twilight away and run.

In hindsight, that wasn’t the most intelligent thing she had ever done. In her panic she failed to remember that she had a bed designed for one pony, and she had slightly less space than she first anticipated.

She slipped off the edge of the bed and got wrapped in the blankets in the process. At first she began struggling, hoping that Twilight noticed nothing, then Twilight poked her head over the bed.

By this point Fluttershy had managed to wrap herself so tightly that she could barely move. She looked up at Twilight who was half attempting to control her laughter. Giving herself a moment to calm down, Fluttershy tried to remember what her and Twilight had talked about last time they had spoken. She vaguely remembered something about her being a vampire and Twilight apologizing about something.

“Um, the floor isn't really the best place to nap you know, perhaps you should get back on the bed before falling asleep?” Twilight said, breaking Fluttershy out of her thoughts. Before Twilight mentioned anything Fluttershy hadn't even realized that she had been dosing off.

She tried to stand up until she realized she was still trapped in the cocoon of blankets she had inadvertently created. Sheepishly, she looked up at Twilight and asked, “Do you think you could maybe... help me out of this if it isn't to much trouble?”

This time Twilight didn't even try to contain her laughter. After a moment to calm down she lit up her horn to help sort out the mess of blankets, although until she got started neither of them had actually realized how badly tangled Fluttershy was. Several minutes later and Fluttershy was finally free of her bindings. Hopping up onto the bed she asked,”Twilight, did you say something about me being a vampire last night?”

Twilight's happy demeanor quickly turned grim, “Yes Fluttershy, you are.” She said simply, failing to hide her growing guilt behind an act of seriousness and leadership.

Fluttershy let out a quiet yawn, “I’m not mad at you, I just want to know the truth.”

It hit Twilight like a brick that she hadn’t prepared for this at all. Spending almost a week by Fluttershy’s side, she hadn’t even pondered that she would need training. Even worse, she hadn’t even realized her own need to supply a food source her herself, let alone another vampire who didn’t even have any idea what she was doing. Within seconds of this realization she was struck by even more. Fluttershy would need books, and a safe, out of the way place to train.

“Um… Twilight, are you okay, if you don’t mind me asking? You’re kind of just staring into space.”

Twilight blinked away her panic and looked at Fluttershy, “Right, do you think you’ll be alright by yourself for a bit?” Fluttershy replied with a hesitant nod, “Great, if anypony comes by, just tell them you aren’t feeling well. I told anypony who asked that you were sick, so just go along with that story. I’ll be back in a few hours, just try to get some rest.”

She kissed Fluttershy on the forehead and in just that one moment Fluttershy was at peace. She almost wanted to beg Twilight to stay, but not a second later she ran off out the door, leaving Fluttershy alone again.

If anything Fluttershy felt only a bit bored.

When Twilight arrived at the library, she was immediately tackled by a small dragon.

“Twilight I was so worried w-when you didn’t c-come home... please n-never leave me a-alone like that ever a-again.” Spike said, breaking into tears as Twilight returned his welcome as best she could.

After a moment she got up and reluctantly initiated a moderately awkward conversation, “Actually, I’m only going to be here for a bit, I just need to pick a few things up before I go back to Fluttershy’s place, although if you need anything you can ask Rarity.” Spike’s face lifted immensely when he heard Rarity’s name. Mentioning Rarity often worked well to calm Spike when he was disappointed or angry, and Twilight had previously noted that it worked well when she needed something done and Spike was distracting her.

With a few more reassurances, Twilight made her way upstairs. Retrieving her saddlebags from the closet, she retrieved the wooden box and examined it. It had faint claw and burn marks on it. Spike had obviously tried to open it and then attempted to cover up the damage unsuccessfully. She retrieved it and put it in her bag.

Next Twilight moved on to her desk. Opening the drawer, she retrieved several bottles of ink, as well as quills and parchment.

She moved downstairs and said her goodbyes to Spike, and walked out into the cool, crisp autumn air. It felt good, but that wonderful moment didn’t last long. She had work to do, and very little time to do it, so she left.

Fluttershy couldn’t rest. She would toss and turn, trying to get comfortable. She wanted to get some rest as Twilight had requested of her, but the best she could get over nearly an hour was occasionally drifting in and out of consciousness.

When Twilight returned, Fluttershy stopped struggling to rest and said, “Please don’t be mad at me, I tried to sleep, just like you asked.”

Twilight did her best to remain professional, despite the fact that she was falling apart inside. Laying a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder to calm her, twilight said, “Its fine, I wasn’t really expecting you to actually be able to rest, but it was worth a try.”

“Twilight, why didn’t you tell us the truth? You know we love you for who you are, and no matter what happens that will never change. Why didn’t you trust us?” Fluttershy asked.

That was all that was needed. Twilight collapsed into Fluttershy’s embrace, sobbing, finally letting out the years of pent up anger and sadness

“I never wanted to lie to you. You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to tell you, to trust you, all of you with my life. I’ve lived a lie my entire life, how do I come out with the truth now? Even if I trust you all with my life, how am I supposed to come out with a truth that I’ve buried from everypony to protect myself.” Twilight sobbed, letting go of all the inhibitions she had about the topic and speaking openly for the first time in her entire life, with the one pony she trusted completely.

Fluttershy simply sat there, stroking her friend’s mane and whispering gentle comforts into her ear.

After what felt like hours of letting herself go, Twilight stood up. She looked an absolute mess, tearstains matting her face and fresh tears streaming from her eyes. Despite this, she was smiling, “Thank you Fluttershy, you have no idea how much it means to me just to talk about this.”

“I love you Twilight, I love you and I’ll always love you for who you are. No matter what you do, you’re a good mare at heart, and I’ll always be here for you.”

Twilight wanted to just stay and talk with her friend for as long as she could, but she decided against it. She needed to train Fluttershy and she still needed time to prepare for it.

She tried to approach the topic gently, “So, I have a few books I think you should read. Just some things to know before we start your training.”

“Training?” Fluttershy asked curiously as Twilight began pulling books out of the wooden box she brought back with her.

Twilight replied as she began to pile several books next to Fluttershy, “I don’t want you to get confused or hurt, but I also don’t want to ruin the fun of practicing and learning these things for yourself, so were just going to go over some of the simple and important things. For example, hiding your appearance and controlling your strengths and senses, and then maybe the basics of feeding and hunting.”

Fluttershy was intrigued up until Twilight mentioned feeding and hunting. Meekly she asked, “Feeding and hunting?”

Continuing to look through the collection of books she had, Twilight answered, “Of course, you can’t expect to keep living off ordinary food, you need blood,” she paused for a moment, “I’m not going to lie to you, stories of vampires draining their victims entirely of blood aren’t entirely inaccurate. It used to be quite common to find a body drained of blood in a forest or somewhere else out of the way. Some ponies were even afraid to marry or have foals because they feared that the guard would show up on their doorstep one day to tell them that they were dead. Of course that was well over a thousand years ago, and since then our population has decreased to the point that we can’t risk openly killing anymore, not that any of us even want to.”

“How many are left?” Fluttershy asked after hearing her friend express concern over the decrease of population, though she already knew the answer partially considering that vampires had gone from a force that was greatly feared by everypony to a mere legend.

Nothing however, could prepare Fluttershy for Twilights answer.

“Counting you and me, eleven.” Fluttershy was about to ask how it got to that point, but Twilight somehow anticipated her question and continued, “As for how it got to that point, there were a lot killed by vampire hunters, and a few because of other incidents, but most of them were killed by Celestia.” Twilight sighed, “Fluttershy, there is a reason why I’ve never told anypony about what I am. Celestia would kill me on sight if she knew what I was, and even if she didn’t I’d still be arrested and executed. Considering that I’m… considering that I’m our race’s last leader, I couldn’t take that risk, even though I trust you girls.”

“It’s okay Twilight, but if you don’t mind, could we talk more later?”

Twilight simply smiled and gave Fluttershy a book, “Read this, I’ll be back just before morning.” Before Fluttershy could say anything, Twilight leaned over and gave her a little kiss on the cheek, before bolting, leaving a very embarrassed Fluttershy all alone.

Fluttershy looked at the book titled ‘A Guide for a Recently Turned Fledgling’. With nothing better to do she turned the first page and began reading.

Author's Note

188 days, that's how long I've been working on this chapter, and I finally managed to finish it. I promise it will never take this long again, and I hope to make up for it soon. I know that the dialog isn't very smooth, but that's something I'm working on.

In the mean time, any constructive criticism you can offer will be welcome.

Chapter 7, Trials

“Alright, so Fluttershy, I've sent a letter to find somepony to help train you for the time being.” Twilight said as she and Fluttershy sat together on the couch, discussing the future.

“Why can't you just teach me?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight responded by pointing to her horn, and then to Fluttershy's wings, “We're not the same race, and I really couldn't teach you much anyway. Just don't worry about it, I've asked somepony I know to come down and visit. She's a pegasus, so she can teach you what you need to know.”

“Do we have to do this?” Fluttershy asked dejected, evidently defeated in her argument.

Twilight looked Fluttershy in the eyes and said in a calming voice, “I know this is a bad time to get into meeting other vampires, but she's really nice. Please just try.

Fluttershy simply gave up and said, “Fine.”

“Thanks,” Twilight said, “I know it isn't nice for you, but I just want to help you. We might not be benevolent creatures, but we look after our own. We kinda have to, we aren't very pleasantly received by most.”

“Well,” Twilight said after a moment of silence, “Is their anything you still need to know. Anything about what you read, or maybe...”

“I would to ask how this... civilization of ours is organized?” Fluttershy asked, cutting into Twilight's question with her own.

Twilight fidgeted a little, “Um, well... there really isn't any organization at all... we don't really how enough of us to bother with that, it would cause more trouble that it would solve.”

Fluttershy followed her question with a moment of thought, before asking one of the question the book she had read didn't answer, “In the book, why are pegasi more powerful magic users than earth ponies, I mean neither can even use magic, so why does it even mention this?”

“Well... everypony uses magic, but only unicorns use it actively.” Twilight said after having a chance to form a explanation, “Pegasi use their magic passively, mostly cloud walking and...”

She was cut off from her speech by a loud knocking at the door eliciting a squeak from Fluttershy as Twilight sprung for the door.

Twilight opened the door and pulled the pony waiting on the other side into a hug.

“Twily, you've grown!” The mare exclaimed.

Twilight laughed, “Well it's been awhile, hasn't it?”

“Fair enough.” The mare said, joining in on the laughter, “So where's this pony that you need my help with?”

“She's right in here.” Said Twilight, motioning her friend to follow.

Twilight turned around and said the only thing that would come to mind upon seeing what had transpired in her short absence, “Really Fluttershy?”

In the short few minutes she had spent facing the other direction, Fluttershy had somehow found time to silently construct a fortress out of the materials directly available, namely consisting of the cushions and pillows of the couch they were just sitting on. Stacked together and stood up, with pillows covering the larger holes and gaps in the fort, it gave the area the appearance of what many foals would build when they played together. Having built book forts in her youth, Twilight could see that Fluttershy was taking after her a lot. Unfortunately, her antics, while adorable, would be best saved for another time.

“Fluttershy, come out of there, please.” She said, earning no response.

“Fluttershy, this is not a good way to make friends.” She said in a slightly agitated tone, showing her annoyance.

This time Fluttershy responded by poking her head out slightly, catching sight of her visitor.

Fluttershy had no idea what she had been expecting, in fact, she never even thought about what another vampire might have been like. She had been expecting her to have a dark coat and mane, with an air of malevolent superiority around her. What she found instead was almost the complete opposite.

She had a brightly colored silver-white coat, a stark contrast to the bright blue mane, styled similarly to Fluttershy's own but slightly shorter. Her cutie mark, a simple depiction of wind, was slightly covered by her very long wings, suggesting that she had at least some imperial ancestry. The only thing that one could see that would reveal her nature would be the blood red eyes and long fangs.

She wore a warm, welcoming smile, radiating friendliness and peaceful intent. Slowly Fluttershy came out from her makeshift defensive position, quickly letting her fears wash away as she prepared herself to meet another vampire, besides Twilight.

“Fluttershy, this is Silver Wing, my old foalsitter.” Twilight said, leaving Fluttershy somewhat confused.

“I thought Cadence was your foalsitter?” Fluttershy said, letting her confusion bleed through into her words, making it into more of a question than a statement of her inability to understand.

“Well, I was overruled by a certain purple filly. After all, who can do better than the best foalsitter ever?” Silver said, earning little more than Twilight's embarrassment to add to her own amusement.

Twilight, for her part, made no comment, leaving time for the other two to calm down from their amusing conversation.

When they where all quiet again, Silver spoke up, “Before we go off and forget, I brought something for you.”

She flipped open her saddlebag and pulled out a bottle of bright red liquid, causing Fluttershy to flinch upon seeing it.

“I-is that blood?” She asked, leaving no guess as to her immediate discomfort. Her current situation was terrifying enough as it was, and the thought of drinking blood was negatively affecting her opinion.

Silver Wing calmly replied, “Diluted blood. Trust me, you don't need pure blood yet and you won't for at least a little while longer.”

Fluttershy took the bottle, and reluctantly drank the contents. After a brief moment, she began to feel more energized, more awake, and more powerful. The small second of sickness that accompanied it was likely the only thing that kept her from loosing herself in the high that resulted from her first time ever consuming blood.

Upon seeing Fluttershy's reaction, Silver Wing simply laughed, “It's always like that the first time, you'll get used to it.” She turned around and motioned for Fluttershy to follow.

Many ponies found it odd that Fluttershy would be brave enough to live next to the Everfree forest, especially being the weak and timid one. While true that she feared the forest, it was actually going into the forest that terrified her the most.

Twilight was taking the lead, using her magic to clear the path as Fluttershy and Silver Wing followed behind on their way to what Twilight had described as an out of the way place to set up a sort of training ground. A place that they could teach Fluttershy to master her new abilities away from the prying eyes of others.

So, what kind of job do you have?” Fluttershy asked. This was how things had been progressing for now, Fluttershy and Silver trying to get to know each other better. Through idle chatter they had picked up both information about each other and shared their funniest stories about Twilight.

“I work in the castle up in Canterlot, mostly doing the paperwork and delivering records, the things most ponies can't be bothered to do. What about you?”

“Um, I take care of animals.” Fluttershy replied meekly, yet also calmly.

“So, Silver, did you ever get back at Shining for the coffee incident?” Twilight asked, interrupting their friendly talk. Up until now she had mostly kept quiet and focused on clearing the branches in front of them.

Silver laughed, “Not yet, though not for lack of trying.” She said, Twilight joining in on the laughter well.

“Coffee incident?” Fluttershy asked, clearly confused and slightly intrigued.

“Shining Armor decided that it would an excellent idea to give Twilight here some coffee. Unfortunately, Cadence was sick that day so I had to come in instead. Hyperactive purple furball doesn't even begin to describe what she was like.”

Unfortunately, their conversation was cut short by their arrival in a small clearing, which Twilight pointed out as the training grounds they would be using before going off to the side to read a book she had brought with her.

Meanwhile Fluttershy and Silver Wing were getting ready to begin their training.

“So, what's the biggest benefit to changing your appearance?” Silver asked, both of them sitting in the middle of the clearing under the small patch of moonlight that manage to get through the trees.

“Um... nopony notices I'm a vampire.” Fluttershy replied.

Silver smiled, “Right, not only that, but with practice you can change yourself to be a completely different pony. Very good for when you need to avoid being seen or interacting with ponies under circumstances that might risk your identity. Sometimes it can be as easy of blending in with the crowd. It's pretty easy to do, very little energy is used to erect the disguise, and almost none is expended to maintain it. For many of us, its only a matter of how creative we can be. Once you've changed your appearance it can maintain itself and takes no energy at all to drop. Since it takes more time and effort to create more elaborate disguises, and more energy to create and maintain more details, many of us simply hide our eyes and fangs, and any other little details that might give us away.”

Fluttershy took a second to piece it all together, and when she was ready she nodded.

“Great, the first thing you do...”

“Well, how did she do?” Twilight asked, putting her book away as she began getting ready to depart.

Silver replied with a smile, “Took to it very fast. A bit scared of herself, but with some work she could do amazing.”

Twilight replied with a tone of relief in her voice, “What now?”

“Well, how about we come back to this next week, hopefully after most of the physical changes have taken place.”

After a quick hug, Silver Wing flew off, leaving Twilight and Fluttershy alone again.

“Well, what did you think of her?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy smiled and said, “Reminds me a lot of Cadence.”

Twilight laughed, “I feel that way a lot of the time too.” Fluttershy soon joined in as they started their journey home before morning.

Author's Note

Given my record, I'm surprised it came this quickly, hopefully this means that I'm improving and will soon stop taking many months for every chapter.

Not much this time, just some character development and funny stories, more will come soon,

I'm going to try to get the next chapter out faster, but given my record... I just can't even make a guess as to when.

Chapter 8, Depression

The sun slowly began to peak over the horizon as Twilight and Fluttershy scurried the last stretch between the forest and the small cottage they had left hours before, the sunlight much more deadly than it would have been for either of them only weeks earlier.

Twilight quickly closed the door behind them as they arrived, “That.... was close.” She said, giving a sigh of relief.

“Will Silver Wing be okay?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight took a deep breath and walked towards the kitchen with a smile, “If she hasn't already made it back, she'll probably just find a place to hole up for the day. She's resourceful like that, don't worry.”

“You do realize we only just now got back, right.” Fluttershy pointed out, joining her friend and the table.

Twilight laughed, “Well, she was probably going well over half the speed of sound, while we decided to take a bit of a romantic walk through the forest.” She earned a cute blush at this comment, giving her even more reason to smile.

“She was... a lot nicer than I had expected.” Fluttershy said in a half dedicated attempt to change the topic.

“What did you expect?” Twilight asked.

Fluttershy's reply was nervous, “Cold, distant... evil, even a bit seductive.”

Twilight, for her part, smiled. She relocated herself to her friends side and held her close, “You keep forgetting that you're one of us now. We only want to help you, and we can't do that unless we're open and friendly.”

“I know,” Fluttershy said apprehensively, “I just don't want to end up like that... you know, evil.”

Twilight continued to smile as she replied with a disarming kindness, “You won't have to. If you want to, we can just finish teaching you how to feed yourself, and we can forget all this even happened for the next hundred years or so.”

Fluttershy stuttered, unable to form a reply “Its not that... I just...”

“Don't worry,” Twilight said, “If you don't want to quit, then don't give up on it. There's no reason to simply abandon
this, but if you want to, it's always an option. I'm more concerned about you, you seem a little worried.”

Fluttershy shrank a little bit, but meekly replied, “I'm scared... you make it sound like everypony just wants us dead.”

“Well... that's more bluntly than I would put it, but yes.” Twilight replied, “I think the reason we're so feared is because we gave them a reason to fear us. We hunted them for thousands of years, and as soon as they could kill us they began to hunt us down. It isn't so bad now that we've been reduced to hiding, but Celestia still knows we're out here and there's always a few families that kept vampire hunting as a tradition.”

“Is that why all the legends are so inaccurate, to protect us?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight's response was a little uncertain as she said, “Well... not exactly. They do protect us against most vampire hunters, as well as the odd pony that somehow finds out the truth about one of us and try's to act on it, but Celestia isn't as foolish. She knows that most of the legends are untrue, and she's aware that we lurk out of sight. The biggest reason she keeps the legends around is because they protect ponies that would make the discovery and go after one of us. They would be quickly dissuaded because the pony they thought was a vampire had perfectly reasonable explanations for everything. In the event that one of us actually is compromised, we... prevent it from becoming a problem.”

“So we kill them?” Fluttershy asked coldly.

Twilight, once again, was uncertain whether or not to go on, but pressed on regardless, “Most of the time, although we do sometimes talk it out peacefully. It depends on whether or not we could convince them, and sometimes it still doesn't work. That's rare, mostly we kill outright, but if the pony is stable of mind and reasonable, we make an attempt. One less disappearance and one less live lost.”

Fluttershy looked over inquisitively from her side of the table, “That can't always work, you must miss one at some point.”

“It has happened before, but most times we pick up on it early. Nervous looks, sighs a relief when out of earshot, subtle signs that tell us who might have caught on, things an ordinary pony wouldn't notice. Then we let others know, and we keep watch on them, and we intervene when we have enough information to deem them a threat, or when they make a move against us.”

After that revelation, Fluttershy was strangely silent, and for several minutes nopony spoke. Only after the silence began to become unbearable, Twilight spoke up, “That's it, whats bothering you?”

“Nothing... I'm just a bit tired.”

Twilight, for her part wouldn't take that for an answer, “No, that might work on Rarity, but not me, now what's wrong?”

Twilight's sudden assertive push startled Fluttershy, finally pressing her to give up and simply tell all, “You told me that I wouldn't turn out like that, but now your telling me about how you kill anypony that knows something that they shouldn't, you're giving a lot of mixed messages.”

“We do what we need to do for survival, and you'll understand why soon, but for now you just have to learn. Once you know how to fend for yourself you can stop these lessons or keep learning. I want you to remember, you can live a mostly normal life if you want, you don't need to be a part of this.”

Fluttershy had nothing to say, so Twilight spoke up again, “I'm going to leave you here on your own for a while, alright.”

“How will you get anywhere? The sun already came up.”

“Well, do you remember that necklace you brought me, the one Rarity made with the diamond in the center?” Twilight asked, earning a responsive nod, “It contains a number of the protective enchantments and spells designed to disguise me and keep me safe when I was young. The most important is to protect me from sunlight. The necklace won't last long, the spells fade without a living host and the magic will corrupt and destroy the diamond over time. It helps give me time to get started on a new lifestyle and set in order anything I'll need for the future, but really it's just an overabundance of improvising to transfer the spells in a way they weren't designed for.”

Fluttershy nodded, confirming that she heard but didn't want to speak.

“I'll be back after lunch to feed the outdoor animals for you...”

“That wont be necessary, they'll come inside to eat if I ask nicely.” Fluttershy said, staring at the ground, still distracted.

“Well, aright, I'll be by after lunch to check on you. Just remember, don't open any of the curtains, don't go outside, if somepony comes by don't forget your disguise, go with the cover story I made up that you were sick, and try to do some reading while I'm gone. I'll be back to check on you later.” Twilight said quickly, rattling off a list of things she had considered might cause an incident.

She placed her necklace around her head, and after being certain that the effects held, she opened the door to leave, turning around one last time to say, “Oh, and think about this a bit, okay.”

She walked out the door, closing it behind her, leaving Fluttershy with the comfort of a dark room and a lot to think about.

Author's Note

Well, sorry. I wanted to get this out earlier, but luck did not agree with my plans.

I originally wanted the whole day to be one chapter, but I decided to split it in half. Expect the next bit to come sooner than normal.

Thing's to note, I've changed the way chapters are named and reworded slightly several parts of the description.

Chapter 9, Investigation

“Where have you been? I've been looking everywhere for you!” Rainbow Dash asked furiously, hovering just in front of Twilight. It wasn't to hard to believe she would be angry. After all, Rainbow Dash was the overprotective one of the group. She floated there, eying Twilight angrily, enough to bring fear to an ordinary pony.

Twilight, however, wasn't an ordinary pony. She remained calm as she walked past Rainbow. With pride she said, “If you had been looking everywhere for me, then you probably would have found me earlier than now.” It was a simple matter with Rainbow, she'd be mad now but if Twilight simply kept to herself and did her best to make her realize she was being brushed off, she'd drop it quickly.

“What do you mean I would have found you earlier? I asked nearly everypony in town and none of them had any idea of where you were!”

Twilight, for her part, radiated eternal calm as she walked on, doing her best to hide her slight amusement at the actions of her friend.

“Had you actually asked everypony in town you would have found me. Both Spike and Rarity knew where I was, and if you looked at Fluttershy's any time over the past week you would have found me.”

“So,” Rainbow said, “You still disappeared for nearly two weeks. Not cool Twi, not cool.”

Twilight continued on her path, ignoring her friend's complaints until Rainbow finally took off.

Twilight opened the door to the library. Finally home after such a long time, she found herself glad to be back with the good old smell of parchment and books, at least until she noticed the one thing out of place about the room.

In the middle of the main floor, Pinkie, Applejack, and Spike sat a table that looked to have been set out haphazardly, apparently having been playing poker during the hours before the library opened in the morning. What was more interesting was the pure terror displayed across each of their faces. It was quite obvious that none of them had expected her to return this early in the morning, and that they had all hoped to have avoided being discovered.

By this time she didn't even need to drop her disguise, her presence alone was enough to terrify them. With no change in expression whatsoever, she said, “I don't know whats going on here, and for the next ten minutes, I don't care either. I'm going to bed, and if you aren't here when I wake up, you were never here period.”

Twilight walked upstairs, leaving two ponies and a dragon that were both grateful and nervous, only now beginning to recover from the raw terror that was instilled upon them by an incredibly stressed out unicorn.

“Rarity!” Rainbow Dash said, once again not bothering to use the door, favoring a window yet again. In her haste though, she didn't even consider the door.

“Yes Rainbow, What do you need?”

“Rarity, where has Twilight been all week?” She asked with force, almost as if accusing her, leaving no doubt as to the fact that she was aware Rarity knew the answer.

Rarity set down her sewing equipment with a sigh, “Well, as far as I was aware, she's been staying with Fluttershy for the past week or so. Apparently the dear came down with bad cold and needed to be cared for. Why do you ask?”

“Well, Twilight said she was their, but... Wait a minute, you said Fluttershy had a cold?”

“That's what Twilight told me, although...” She trailed off, thinking.

Rainbow, sensing an opening, landed, “Let me guess, you've just now realized a cold wouldn't last a week, right?”

“Indeed,” Rarity said, “And then there's the fact that Fluttershy asked me some very incriminating questions only several days before I discovered what had happened.”

“What does incriminating mean?” Rainbow asked in a tone between embarrassment and confusion, leaving Rarity slightly annoyed. It was usually Applejack that knew nothing about what she was saying.

“It means that she asked something suspicious darling, something that makes her appear guilty.”

Rainbow, with renewed vigor at the prospect of one of her friends being in danger or worse, evil, she asked, “What kind of questions did she ask?”

It would have been difficult for Rarity to answer that in the first place, with her limited knowledge of the magics she had been questioned about, but now she was being asked questions that could either help her friend or condemn her. The answer she gave had the capacity to earn Fluttershy punishment, though of what kind she couldn't be certain. And that was assuming that she wasn't harmed by a third party before Princess Celestia could get to her. She knew from experience that some knowledge wasn't free to anypony, and Fluttershy could get a severe punishment for being involved with that sort of magic, or those that would wield it.

Then there was still the question of where those questions originated from. Those magics had been forbidden for thousands of years, necromancy for the negative side effects on the user and capacity for becoming out of control without warning, and blood magic for being pure evil and having the capability to cause devastation on a huge scale from just a simple spark, killing the user and those around him as well as causing chaotic, damaging effects on the nearby areas. If it was true that Fluttershy was involved with ponies that knew of this magic and were capable of using it, it could mean that more was going on than any of them knew, and if she had gleaned that information from Twilight herself, that was another story entirely.

Rarity had to make a choice, be honest, and risk her own life as well as the lives of her friends, possibly leading to their friendship falling apart, or lie, potentially putting all of Equestria in danger, from an enemy known, possibly even from within their own circle.

With only a short few moments to decide, she answered, “Um.... well, that's a bit... you see... I... I would like to answer, but I can't really say much on the subject. I'm not an expert, lets just leave it at that.”

“Oh, now I get it,” Rainbow Dash said, “I can't trust you either, can I?”

“It's not that...”

“What is it then?” Rainbow shouted, “Why won't anypony give me a strait answer?”

Rarity stepped over to her friend and replied, “I know it seems like I'm avoiding you questions, but darling, I think there's more going on here than either of us knows. Until I get an answer, I don't want to tell you any more than you need to know. Consider it my attempt to protect you if something goes horribly wrong.”

“Fine... now, I have a plan...” She trailed off, waiting for Rarity to respond.

“Let me guess, I'm part of this plan, aren't I?”

“Yep,” Rainbow said, “So, here's what were going to do...”

Rarity could tell this was going to be a long day.

Twilight was sorting books when she heard a knock at the door, forcing her to drop her current activity to see who it was. After all, there were only so many ponies that would visit this early in the morning, and all of them were worth seeing as soon as possible.

As soon as she opened the door, it was Rarity who rushed in.

“Um, come in?” Twilight said, closing the door behind her friend as she turned to speak to her.

“Twilight, darling you're an absolute mess. What ever happened to you this past week?”

Twilight, rather calmly, returned to her work saying, “I haven't had a chance to see myself in the mirror yet, so I might be a bit of a mess, I'll get to it later. If you're looking for Spike he's off somewhere, probably with Applejack or Pinkie.

“Well, actually, I'm was looking for you.”

“Really, and what did you need?” Twilight asked, already having a rough idea of what this was about.

“Well since you asked, I'm rather concerned about a few matters that have come up in these past few weeks. Most pressing of them being that I don't quite know whether or not I can trust you right now.”

It was much more blunt than she had intended to put it, and Rarity almost panicked, believing she had said to much too soon. Ordinarily she would be careful to take it slowly, letting the conversation come naturally to her, but now she may have let slip her plan by mistake. Her concern for her friends might be interfering with her usual calm demeanor.

Fortunately for her, Twilight didn't seem to have caught on, “Alright, so what happened? If you don't trust me anymore something must have happened, so what happened?”

“Don't take this the wrong way,” Rarity said, “But I can't help but feel that both you and Fluttershy are hiding something from us. Something very interesting, given the nature recent events.”

“What are you talking about, we...”

“Don't even try to deny it,” Rarity said, “I've put all the pieces together. Isn't it suspicious that Fluttershy shows up, asking questions about dark and illegal magic, then mysteriously falls ill not more that a day or two later, and then ends up under your care. You deny that anything is wrong while you cover up whats happened by telling the rest of us she's become dreadfully ill. More than a bit incriminating in my opinion.”

Twilight backed away, “This isn't what it looks like.” Her voice showing fear as she spoke, the reality of how much damage might have been done sinking in.

“Oh, and what is it then?” Rarity asked, pressing her obvious advantage.

“I... I don't know.” Twilight replied.

The clear silence in the room hinted to Twilight that she might be taking the lead, her position becoming stronger. Fluttershy had inadvertently caused major damage, but it could still be reversed with a little effort.

Finally, the tense silence was relieved as Rarity continued, “ You... don't know?”

“No, I have no clue what your talking about. One minute we were having a perfectly normal sleepover, and then she suddenly began feeling sick. She had a high fever, chills... and she was a bit fatigued as well I might add. I took her home, and then I started taking care of all her responsibilities while she recovered.”

“I see, and did anything unusual occur, any signs that might suggest she was lying?” Rarity asked.

“No not at all, in fact she even arrived early. I wasn't quite ready for her.” Twilight said, letting herself get into an warm, welcoming mood and being as honest as she could without revealing important information. As much as she trusted Rarity, she couldn't tell her the truth, not for a long time yet.

“Just one more question, exactly when did Fluttershy arrive?”

This was the moment where she had to make a tactical decision, and quickly. Either say exactly when she really arrived, implying that they had been together the whole time, or state that she was only a few minutes ahead of schedule.

Fortunately, one of the earliest and most useful vampiric traits to develop in Twilight was faster thinking and a sharper mind, within seconds she had come up with one reasonable explanation, one that might just be insane enough to work.

“Well,” Twilight started, “She arrived about an hour ahead of schedule so she would have been here around... maybe seven, a few minutes later at most.”

That little revelation was enough to make Rarity on edge, “So Fluttershy arrived at seven, and you were with her the whole night?”

Twilight simply nodded, everything falling into place around her. She felt bad about manipulating her friend in a time of distress, but she did it to protect herself and Fluttershy, something that Rarity would understand if she was able to be told.

“What's interesting is that fifteen or so minutes later, Fluttershy shows up asking questions about dark magic, and from what I could tell, she was rather nervous as she did.”

“How can that be possible, there can't be two Fluttershys walking around.” Twilight said, mixing surprise into her act to make it seem authentic.

“Perhaps there wasn't,” Rarity said, “By now we should be considering that there was an imposter involved, and if there was, I think we both know which one it was... but who were they really, and what did they want with that kind of knowledge?” Rarity asked.

After a few seconds Twilight issued a carefully devised theory of her own, “Could it have been changelings?”

“Well, I suppose, but what reason would they have for coming to somepony who doesn't know anything and expect answers? In fact, why come in the first place?”

“Perhaps they expected answers, maybe they thought you might know something.”

“Alright,” Rarity said, “As much as I don't want to believe it, we may have a problem. We should contact Princess Celestia and get this sorted out before it becomes any worse.”

Twilight, almost in the clear, only had one final obstacle to overcome, “Actually, I would like to do some investigating of my own before we go to the princess.”

“Are you certain that's such a good idea, if there's a danger we should..”

“That's just it,” Twilight said, “do we really know that there's a danger out there. For all we know they were trying to learn exactly how much danger we posed to them. Think about it, there punted out of Canterlot, practically starving, and they wouldn't be suspicious of what we were willing to do to them?”

“Reasonable enough, though we don't have much evidence... but I suppose that's what you intend to collect” Rarity said.

Twilight nodded, silently praying that Rarity would change the subject.

“So... where's Spike been all this time?” As Rarity said those words, Twilight grew relaxed and calm, knowing that for now she warded off a potential disaster, at least for he time being.

With nothing better to do, she joined in for a bit of friendly talk between friends, “About that, you'll never believe what happened this morning...”

Subtlety was never one of Rainbow Dash's strong points, and once she thought about it, neither was thinking ahead. So after several minutes of just sitting around a short ways from Fluttershy's home, she decided to just make the plan up as she went along, which is to say there would never be a plan at all.

Fluttershy meanwhile, was trying to organize some of the most uncooperative animals she had ever encountered when a knock at the door interrupted her attempts at creating order.

What created more disorder however, was when Rainbow flew in the door at top speed, crashing into a table and tumbling over a couch.

Fluttershy quickly closed the door to avoid letting any extra sunlight in. Fortunately, Rainbow didn't notice, still picking herself out from the wreckage, quickly removing a formerly planted flower from her hair.

By the time Rainbow had finished brushing herself off, Fluttershy had lit a candle and set it down on the remaining table in the room. It offered barely enough light for Rainbow to see, though Fluttershy's natural night vision was more than enough for her to be fully aware of the room at any time.

“Hey Flutters,” Rainbow said, “Why's it so dark?”

“Twilight said it would help with the migraines.” Fluttershy said, tired and emotionless in tone.

“And whats causing those migraines?” Rainbow asked aggressively.

“Umm, I've had the flu.” Fluttershy replied, slightly intimidated. It wasn't like Rainbow to be aggressive and offensive, much less towards her friends.

Rainbow got up in Fluttershy's face, and aggressively she asked, “A whole week?”

“Um... I-I guess?” Fluttershy said with uncertainty.

“You guess?” Rainbow said, putting even more aggressiveness behind her words than before, while slowly pressing Fluttershy further back towards the wall.

“What's going on, huh? What are you hiding?” Rainbow said as Fluttershy was forced back into a wall, left with nowhere to go.

Cornered, something in Fluttershy snapped. Fluttershy reacted in a way not unlike a cornered animal, lacking a means of escape so instead instinctively fighting back. In a surge of uncontrollable anger, Fluttershy struck her friend with a strong punch.

The blow was amplified by Fluttershy's still awakening vampiric abilities. As a result, what would have ordinarily been a light shove was enough to knock Rainbow back a short distance.

When Fluttershy looked back at Rainbow however, she intermediately noticed the other unintended effect of her violent reaction. Slightly behind where Rainbow was struck she was left with a noticeable injury from where she clipped one of the legs of the upturned table from earlier, though only one thing stood out to Fluttershy at that moment.

Rainbow was bleeding.

It wasn't very much, barely comparable to a paper cut, but it was just enough for Fluttershy to lose herself in. The sight of blood, no matter how little, was enough that her instincts very nearly took her over. It had a metallic scent to it, and no matter how much the ambient background of a home that played as home to large numbers of animals drowned out the smell, it was the only thing her mind could pay attention to.

It took all her will just to bury her head in her hooves, trying to hide herself from the blood.

“Whats gotten into you?” Rainbow asked furiously, trying to stand while also trying not to apply pressure to either of her injuries.

“Please leave.” Fluttershy said, holding herself even tighter to keep the uncontrollable urge to feed on her closest friend in check.

Rainbow was about to continue her verbal assault, but instead stopped herself. She would continue seeking answers, but for now she had done enough damage, not only to her friend, but also her friends home. Silently she left, closing the door behind her and leaving Fluttershy to slowly regain control of herself, and clean up the aftermath.

“Now tell me exactly what happened.” Rarity said as she began wrapping the bandage around Rainbow's chest, covering the wound as best she could.

“I just pushed her up against the wall, and then she hit me. I flew back, hit myself off the table, and then she told me to leave.”

With a look of surprise, Rarity asked, “She hit you?”

“Yep, hit me right about here.” She said, moving to give her friend ample room to examine the point of impact, “Hit pretty hard too.”

“Hmm, looks like it bruised a bit.” She said, continuing to wrap bandages around Rainbow's chest.

After a moment, Rarity finished, “Now don't stress yourself, and it should heal perfectly. On to more pressing matters though, did you learn anything?”

“Um... no.” Rainbow said, embarrassed slightly.”

Rarity though, was not amused, “Was all you managed to accomplish getting in a fight and terrorizing her. Did you not learn anything?”

“Oh come on, I'm sure you've figured out everything you needed to, right?”

“I'm more convinced right now that Twilight's taking care of everything.” Rarity said, earning a startled reaction.

“Why would you let Twilight handle this,” Rainbow exclaimed, “Isn't she the one you were supposed to be investigating?”

“As you couldn't figure out anything useful, there's nothing to contradict Twilight's perfectly reasonable explanation for what happened. She gave me evidence to support both her own and Fluttershy's innocence and said she would look into what really happened.”

Rainbow was not convinced however, “Whatever, she may have got you, but I'm not done yet. I will get to the bottom of this.”

“So long as you let that wound heal first, otherwise the only bottom you'll be reaching is the ground.” Rarity replied, smiling at her joke.

“...And then she left.” Fluttershy said. Twilight had arrived after noon as she promised, though by now her company was less of a solemn reminder of what she had become, and more of the friendly warmth she had grown to love over the years. Over the next hour they had traded stories of their respective days, though Fluttershy's day was less than ideal.

“I'm sure you and Rainbow can make up with each other next time you see each other.” Twilight said, offering the most sympathetic voice she could create.

Fluttershy wasn't soothed however, “I'm sure we can, but that isn't what worries me. I lost control Twilight. I hurt her... I didn't want to but I hurt her.”

“You were acting on instinct, there's nothing wrong with that. It's how animals survive, isn't it?”

“I know, “ Fluttershy said, “But I couldn't control myself. There... there was blood a-and just c-couldn't control myself.”

Fluttershy broke down crying, holding Twilight close by for comfort. Twilight did her best to comfort her friend, pondering how they kept ending up in that position.

After a while Fluttershy finally calmed down. Twilight continued to hold her, “It's nothing to be ashamed about, you were only reacting naturally. Don't blame yourself for almost doing something that you do by nature.”

“I guess it did help me understand something though.”

“Oh,” Twilight said, “And what would that be?”

“I understand how why vampires need to hide themselves.” Fluttershy said with renewed vigor, “Ponies would hunt them down. And... I understand how this happened to me now. I guess I didn't realize how easy it could be to loose control.”

Twilight simply held her friend close, “You've been given a wonderful gift Fluttershy, You just haven't realized it yet.”

Author's Note

Well, if I ever say that I intend to get a chapter out in any sort of timely manner, I'm probably wrong. Other than that, I do want to get more chapters out more quickly.

This chapter was split into six parts, mostly different events taking place with different characters, and I tried to mix a bit of comedy in.

Chapter 10, Worries

“Good job, you learn quickly.” Silver Wing said to Fluttershy as they left the clearing they had used for Fluttershy's lessons.

It had been about a week since their first lesson, and although Fluttershy had very little resources from which to learn from, she picked up new tricks and abilities easily.

Twilight had decided not to be present for this lesson. She was offered to oversee Fluttershy's progress, she shot the offer down, claiming it would be good for Fluttershy to spend some time with somepony else for a bit.

“Thank you, but really all I did was do exactly what you told me to do, it really isn't worth any congratulations.” Fluttershy said in reply, expressing herself modestly.

Silver pulled her close however and said, “You aren't giving yourself enough credit. You've learned in days what some naturally born vampires take weeks, or even months to learn. You have a pretty good talent, you just need to work with it.”

“My special talent is taking care of animals.”

“Well maybe you have more than one talent.” Said Silver, “Speaking of taking care of animals by the way, how have you been doing with that.”

“Fine,” Fluttershy said, “They've begun warming up to me again. It wasn't easy, but I think they're starting to trust me.”

After Fluttershy had started taking over her responsibilities again, it became obvious that her new nature was unnerving to them at the least, and most of them were worse. Over the past week she had to earn their trust again.

Most of them were easy to win over again, simply by going through her normal routine they trusted her completely within a few days. Others however, required extra kindness and occasionally some 'encouragement' from Angel.

“So they aren't trying to bite your head off anymore, that's good.” Silver said, offering Fluttershy a friendly nudge and a smile.

Fluttershy replied, “It was never that bad.”

“Sure it wasn't.” Silver said.

Finally, after a considerable silence, Silver asked, “Fluttershy, do you consider me a friend?”

“Of course I do. Why, is something wrong?” Fluttershy replied.

“Well, if you consider me a friend, then why do you make this so awkward?” Silver asked.

“I don't try to,” Fluttershy said, “I'm just a little nervous around you.”

“Nervous?” Silver replied inquisitively.

“I feel like you're dangerous,” Fluttershy explained, “I know you just want to help me but I'm still a little afraid of what I've become, and what you are.”

Silver rested a wing on her friends back, and with a comforting demeanor and warm smile said, “It's never easy for somepony to adjust to vampirism, it hasn't been for thousands of years and honestly, I would be far more worried if you had accepted it right away.”

“Twilight and I were both born like this,” Silver continued, “We don't express it, but we both know that we've been different all our lives. Maybe you wouldn't agree, but we're both proud of what we are.”

“You're proud of... this?”

“It may not be easy for you, but for us...” Silver began, but was cut off when Fluttershy quickly motioned for her to be quiet.

They had reached the edge of the forest, and up ahead was Rarity, waiting outside of Fluttershy's cottage with an impatient look.

Fluttershy quietly whispered, “We need to be discreet. Just follow me, and pretend we were talking about... feeding birds.”

“Can't you come up with something better?” Silver asked. Upon receiving an annoyed stare however, she gave it up and nodded for them to proceed.

Given no better alternative, Silver started off their false conversation, “How was I supposed to know they didn't like daybloom seeds?”

“Well,” Fluttershy replied, “Maybe you should have realized it when they started pecking you.”

“I thought they were just hungry.”

“Excuse me,” Rarity said, breaking up their discussion of birds with convenient timing, “I don't mean to interrupt, but I'm terribly confused.”

“I should really be going now.” Silver said, taking her cue to leave Fluttershy to her friend.

As she took off, Rarity said, “I'm still very confused. Angel told me you would be out in a few minutes, or at least... I think that was what he said.”

“He was probably trying to tell you to go away, he can be hard to understand sometimes.” Fluttershy said, holding the door open to invite Rarity in.

“Yes,” Rarity said as she entered, followed shortly by Fluttershy, “That still doesn't explain why you were in the Everfree forest in the middle of the night with somepony I've never even seen before.”

“Would you like some tea?” Fluttershy offered politely.

Rarity nodded, “Yes, now about your late night wanderings, who was she?”

“Just a friend of mine. Twilight introduced us a while back, and we've been spending time together recently.” Fluttershy replied.

Rarity again nodded, “I see, and what were you doing in the forest so late? You know the forest is more dangerous at night.”

“We were just going for a walk.”

“A... walk?” Rarity asked slowly.

“Yes, just a walk.”

Rarity was confused, “What in Equestria could have possessed either of you to take a walk through the Everfree forest in the
middle of the night?”

Fluttershy began getting out the teabags as the water boiled. As she worked, she explained, “It isn't as bad as you think. It's actually very peaceful, and it isn't dangerous or scary at all as long as you don't go too far in. We never went any further in then about halfway to Zecora's hut.”

Fluttershy didn't like having to lie to her friends. All because of a simple mistake, Rarity and Rainbow Dash were now suspicious, and judging from Rarity's late night visit, neither of them had given up the search yet. The forest was much more dangerous than she made it out to be, and they had gone much further in. The best she could hope for was that Rarity would be too worried about getting dirty to confirm her story, and would forget the whole thing.

“These walks, do they often involve getting attacked by birds?” Rarity said jokingly, trying to relieve some of the tension.

Fluttershy smiled, pouring tea into a cup, she said, “She was just trying to feed some birds. I suggested she try something like that, it helps me clear my mind sometimes.”

“Thank you,” she said, levitating the cup over to her as Fluttershy poured her own, “By the way, is Rainbow still bothering you?”

“No,” Fluttershy said, “She hasn't been around since she got chased off by birds a few days ago.”

Rarity couldn't help but giggle slightly at the idea, “Everypony seems to be angering the birds this week. Might I ask what she did?”

“She tried to spy on me from the tree outside. The birds didn't like her shaking their nest.”

“Unfortunately I've been little better off than the birds.” Rarity said after a short pause, “ She's been bothering me all week, explaining all her theories, some reasonable and some that sound like something Pinkie would say on one of her stranger days. And don't even get me started on her amazing plans to catch you in the act, though I doubt she would have much success, since she can't seem to figure out what your supposed to be guilty of.”

As Fluttershy sipped her tea in the silence, she noticed something odd. The tea tasted strange. There was very little flavor, and what remained was different. The flavor was exactly the same, but now it was dry and dull, and completely unappealing. Since Rarity didn't mention anything however, she decided to simply review her books later, maybe talk to Twilight about it, being as it was probably just another effect of becoming a vampire.

“What are some of her theories?” Fluttershy asked.

Rarity looked at the ground tiredly as she said, “Mostly nonsense, that you're a demon from Tartarus here to bring down the elements of harmony, there was one about how you were a secret agent sent by Princess Celestia to spy on Ponyville. In fact the most reasonable thing she's come up with is that you're a changeling.”

“That's still what you believe happened, isn't it?” Fluttershy asked, sipping her tea again, despite the lack of taste, “By the way, does your tea taste okay?” She quickly added, deciding to ensure that it wasn't just her imagination and that their actually was something odd about it.

“It's actually a bit stronger than I expected, but it's fine, no need to worry about it.” Rarity said, glancing down at her cup, “As for the changeling explanation, I have trust in Twilight's judgment, but even that leaves me wondering, what would anypony want with that kind of information?”

After that they simply remained silent, until Fluttershy asked the single question yet unanswered, “Rarity, why are you here, especially in the middle of the night?”

“You know, to be honest Fluttershy I really couldn't sleep, and... well, I've been worried about you.” Rarity said, “I keep coming back to that evening, hearing... well, I guess it would be you, ask those kinds of questions, it made me begin thinking more about how much we don't know about each other. For all I know, you could be plotting to take over Equestria with Twilight as your accomplice, and Rainbow could be the secret agent sent to stop you.”

Rarity set down the empty tea cup on the table and on the verge of tears, she continued, “We're supposed to be friends, but I don't even know if anypony is being even close to honest with me. I keep thinking Twilight isn't doing as much as she could to sort this out, and then I keep thinking that it might have really been you asking me those horrid questions, and I just don't know what to do.”

“Um, if it makes you feel any better, I would definitely include you if I was secretly plotting to take over Equestria.” Fluttershy said, remaining calm and gentle as always.

“Well, thank you, though that hardly makes me feel any better.”

“Oh, I'm sorry I didn't...” Fluttershy began saying in a panic, only stopping as Rarity interrupted her.

“It's not you darling,” Rarity interrupted, “I fear I may be growing a bit paranoid. Perhaps we should step up our spa appointment, I could use some relaxation. Does two days sound good to you?” Fluttershy nodded, earning a weak but honest smile, “Well then, I won't keep you from your bed any longer, have a good night.”

As she got up to leave, Fluttershy said, “If I do turn evil and try to take over Equestria, you're welcome to join me.”

Turning back, Rarity smiled and replied, “I'll keep that in mind.”

Then Rarity left, leaving both herself and Fluttershy better off than they began.

Author's Note

There are still some things that could use some work, but I think I'm starting to get punctuality down pretty well... sorta.

Chapter 11, Hunting

Very few recently turned vampires would react calmly to the inevitable lesson on hunting and feeding themselves, yet Fluttershy seemed to set a new record for that reluctance.

While Fluttershy knew that it was only a matter of time before this was necessary, it became so much more frightening when Twilight told her they had reached that point of their lessons. Before, it was easy to simply pass it off before as something that would happen, and would happen regardless of her distaste for it, but when it actually came time she couldn't put off accepting it any longer. It was going to happen, and there was nothing she could do about it. Except of course, try to resist.

“Come on Fluttershy, it's time for you to learn how to feed, we can't put it off any longer or you'll starve.” Twilight said, trying to coax Fluttershy out her makeshift pillow fort again. Angel stood next to her the entire time, looking at her caretaker's fluffy fortress with a look of annoyance and disapproval.

“I don't want to come out.” Fluttershy replied, her red eyes flashing briefly as she peaked out of cover, but just as quickly they disappeared from sight again.

“Fluttershy, come on, you need to learn how to do it eventually, so why not now?” Twilight said, promptly ignoring Angel who was on the floor next to her, trying to communicate through crude gestures that this was never going to work.

Fluttershy remained quiet, desperately hoping that if she remained still and silent, Twilight might leave her alone. Subconsciously however, she knew from the start that it wouldn't be enough.

“I'm serious Fluttershy, come out of there, now.” Twilight said, quickly losing patience.

Fluttershy quietly peaked out again, only this time she stayed in eye contact with Twilight for a few seconds. Then, without breaking eye contact, Fluttershy said, “I don't want to.”

Twilight stepped closer to the fluffy fortress, and glaring at Fluttershy through the cracks in the wall she said, “I have had enough of this. This is going to happen, whether it happens under controlled circumstances or you starve yourself until you go on a rampage killing whoever you can reach doesn't matter, so which would you prefer?” By this point she was practically steaming, a sharp contrast to the calm and peaceful attitude she had only a few minutes prior. The sudden change was easily enough to put Fluttershy on edge.

Terrified, she muttered, “I don't want to hurt anypony.”

“Then why don't you come out and feed before you do” Twilight exclaimed, her anger fading, “Alright, I know you don't want to hurt anypony, so I'll make a suggestion. So we don't have to attack anypony or take blood from them forcefully, we can try to be diplomatic about it and look for somepony to volunteer, but if that fails we’re going to need to take a more aggressive approach, understood?”

Fluttershy finally gave in. Wordlessly, she pushed the walls of her unimposing fortress apart, causing the whole thing to collapse around her. As they walked out, Twilight listing ideas of places to find volunteers while they did, Angel was left to replace everything to where it was before rather than wait for Fluttershy to get back to do it herself and risk angering a vampire.

Though it took a while, Twilight and Fluttershy finally managed to work out an agreement, and they now sat together on the train, moving steadily through the countryside. In the end and after much discussion, they decided on Manehatten. Though any city was much less friendly and civilized than a small town like Ponyville, Manehatten was without argument one of the best locations to hunt. The sheer number of ponies left an ample amount of prey to choose from while the city’s crime rates were lower than most. This gave them many ponies to search through for suitable prey, while the small amount of criminal activity that was present in any large city, even Manehatten, would cover most of the mistakes they could make, provided of course they were careful about where and when they made them.

In that respect, Canterlot would have been a better choice, but Twilight had chosen to stay out of sight of the royal sisters and somewhere where royal guards were not constantly present.

Fortunately, running from a small town to a big city at night meant that there weren’t many ponies on the train. Twilight and Fluttershy managed to slip into a car all by themselves near the back of the train, and after throwing up a few basic spells to ward off eavesdropping, they sat down together.

“So Fluttershy,” Twilight said, “After this is over you don’t need to continue the lessons anymore. I mean, you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I have so much more to teach you. There are a lot of ancient arts and magic that vampires have preserved, and… sorry, what I’m trying to say is that you still have plenty to learn but this is all you need to live as much of a normal life as you can in your situation. I’d love to teach you… that is, if you want to.”

Fluttershy gave it a moment’s thought, silently looking out the window of the train as she contemplated what to say. Without letting her vision stray, she replied, “I don’t know, I’m still uncomfortable with all this. Maybe after a while, let me get used to being a vampire first, and then maybe we could consider it again.”

“That’s fine, I guess. You don't have to decide right away” Twilight replied, looking out at the fields passing them by, “So, how do you want to go about this, you know, once we reach Manehatten. We can’t just wait for somepony to volunteer.”

“I just want to find somepony willing to help us,” Fluttershy said, “Somepony who understands what they’re doing and doesn’t object to it.”

“So we’re just going to… ask?” Twilight inquired, facing Fluttershy with an odd expression.

Fluttershy looked to her and asked, “What would you do?”

“I don’t know, maybe find somepony on the outskirts of the city and catch them unaware. They never know what happened, and I get away without revealing myself.”

After those words Fluttershy was strangely quiet, not saying much for nearly an hour, thinking deeply about who the mare she had fallen in love with really was, and how that affected their relation now. Twilight had tried to kill her, turned her into a vampire, and expressed little to no regard for the strong morals Fluttershy previously admired. It seemed that now, Twilight was willing to hurt and kill to get what she needed.

What was perhaps worst however was that the love she held for her friends wasn’t as stable as Fluttershy had hoped. The false identity that Twilight wore hadn’t changed at all, but having the chance to see beneath it revealed that she was distant from them by a frightening degree. While nopony could deny that their relationship was real, in the end Twilight would see them as distant and different, and would be willing to move on if she needed to in order to protect herself, or to protect them from the danger that follows her.

Questions and concerns built inside Fluttershy the longer she simply sat there, watching the landscape pass them by, until finally she couldn’t hold it to herself anymore, and expressed every question and concern she could come up with in just a few words, “Twilight, are we… are vampires evil?”

Twilight looked up to her and smiled., “You know, that's a very good question. In the end, it's all a matter of perspective I guess.”

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked.

“In the past we've justified our actions by comparing them to the actions of a predator in the wild, and it's an accurate analogy, but the ponies ancient vampires preyed on called them monsters and demons, and that’s not wrong either.”

“What do you think?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

Twilight shifted and looked Fluttershy strait in the eye, “I think that vampires are evil, we hunt and kill ponies by instinct.” She smiled, “But I also thing that no matter how evil something is, what really matters is where it's heart is. We're coming out here, going to all this trouble to do this your way because you just want to be a good pony. You can't control what you are, but who you are is what really matters.”

“So I’m not evil?” Fluttershy asked.

“It’s your choice to make.” Twilight said as she looked back towards the window.

A few minutes later the hills next to the track ended, letting the passengers see the city of Manehatten.

Upon seeing their destination finally arriving, Twilight opened her saddlebags and pulled out two brown cloaks, and threw one over to Fluttershy.

“Here, put this on and keep yourself disguised while we're in the city. I don't want to take any chances so use an alternate appearance at all times. I don't want anypony to know that we were here, and I certainly don't want them to know what we were doing. As far as anypony knows, you and I never left Ponyville.”

Fluttershy took the cloak silently and put it on, and looked at Twilight who had already changed her appearance to that of a blue unicorn with a dark green mane, the cloak covering her cutie mark and obscuring it from view. She also messed up her mane a bit, a last minute change to make it more scruffy and disorganized, the last thing anypony would expect from Twilight Sparkle.

Fluttershy followed, thinking back to her training. Without the creativity and time to tailor something unique, she tried to think quickly of something that wouldn't attract attention. Simply using the first thing to come to mind, she changed herself to a bright orange pegasus with a purple mane. In Ponyville it might draw attention, but in Manehatten nopony would even turn a head about it. Her cutie mark, the one thing that could not be changed by vampiric magic, was covered by her cloak like Twilight's.

“Good,” Twilight said, looking over her, “We just need to make a few changes to your mane first, and we'll be ready to go.”

As the train pulled into the station, Twilight circled around Fluttershy, making minor adjustments to her mane and tail as she saw fit. For the most part it consisted of making a mess of it, undoing most of the grooming and making it more like Rainbow's. Coming to a problem with length, she turned to tying it together and applying illusion spells to make it appear shorter than it actually was. In the end, Fluttershy's Mane and tail were almost identical to Scootaloo's, only slightly shorter.

“There,” Twilight said proudly, “Does it feel uncomfortable in any way? I had to tie it to keep it from dragging along the ground, and so nopony notices the illusion.”

Fluttershy shook her head, though she did feel strange with her mane tied as it was.

Twilight smiled and said, “Alright then, just follow my lead, if you need to say anything whisper, I'll be able to hear you, and don't do anything until I signal you to.”

When Fluttershy had no objections, Twilight motioned her towards the door.

As they stepped out of the train and into the city, Fluttershy couldn't help but feel some excitement for the hunt ahead.

The process was slow, and for the most part Fluttershy had nothing to do as her companion looked around carefully, judging ponies and moving on as they didn't meet whatever requirements the now blue unicorn set for them. Though they had only been looking a short time, Fluttershy grew bored of the cities many unique sights quickly.

Finally Twilight nudged her slightly. She pointed towards a pegasus mare walking through the city. She seemed to be taking the alleys as shortcuts through the streets. Twilight silently signaled Fluttershy to come up behind her before slipping out, leaving Fluttershy all alone.

With no further directions other than follow, she began to do as instructed, hoping Twilight knew what she was doing, though she worried this would go wrong somehow.

As she rounded the corner, Twilight did the same from the other side of the ally, revealing her plan to Fluttershy as their prey was cut off from her destination. The fear in her eyes grew as she looked back to see Fluttershy cutting off any retreat.

With nowhere else to go, she she raised her wings and prepared to fly. In response and much to Fluttershy's surprise, so did Twilight. Upon seeing her friend's leathery wings come up from underneath the cloak, she raised her own, just in time for her prey to turn around to see her. With no way out on the ground or in the air she stopped. For a few moments Fluttershy waited to see who would take the initiative and speak first.

Finally, cornered by two hooded ponies in an alley, the mare nervously asked, “What do you want from me?”

Without a word, she responded by removing her hood, earning a gasp of terror from the mare. While Twilight still appeared as a different pony, she had allowed her disguise to drop around her eyes and fangs, revealing her frightening true appearance. Fluttershy mimicked her actions, revealing her vampiric appearance and inducing even more fear into the mare. Thought the silence that followed lasted barely a few seconds, for all involved it seemed to stretch an eternity.

Finally breaking the tense silence, Twilight said, “Don't worry, we won't hurt you.” Despite Twilight's reassurances, the mare's fear was mostly unchanged. After giving her a moment of pause, Twilight asked, “Could you tell us you name?”

“Morning Daisy.” She replied, her voice shaking, showing her anxiety had not been diminished by the few moments of kindness and mercy she had been show.

“Please, don't hurt me, I have two fillies to take care of alone.” Morning Daisy said, making a desperate appeal to their emotion, hoping to earn their compassion. Her appeal was desperate, although Twilight was fairly certain she was being honest.

“We don't want to hurt you.” Twilight said, “Please, we really don’t want to hurt you. We're only here to ask for your help, and I promise we won't do anything without your consent.”

This got Morning Daisy's attention. Though she was still shaking in fear, she stood attentively, her mistrust strong but waning as so far she found no deceit in their words, and no reason to deceive. If they had intended to kill her, she would not be speaking with her, calmly reassuring her of their peaceful intent, nor would they be asking for her help rather than taking what they desired by force.

What most worried her now was what kind of help they wanted. Being vampires she had an strong idea of what might be asked of her, and with it came an underlying fear not unlike what she felt earlier.

“Please listen to us.” Twilight said, “I know you're frightened right now, but she needs blood. We wont kill you, and I promise we'll make this as easy and painless as possible, but you have to trust us.”

Morning Daisy turn and looked right at Fluttershy. Though Fluttershy shied away from the attention, Daisy was silently trying to piece together more about the silent mare, and what she saw made her even more sympathetic. She was shy, even to the point of being frightened, and she looked somewhat ashamed. As far as Daisy could tell, she was somepony who would rather starve than harm another to satisfy herself. The thought wandered to her that perhaps that's how she ended up in such a fragile condition in the first place.

With a final sigh she submitted, “Alright, I'll do it... just, please be gentle.”

Twilight smiled and beckoned Fluttershy over. Once she was ready, Fluttershy let instinct take over and guide her to where she needed to bite.

As soon as she did, Morning Daisy inhaled sharply. Twilight whispered to her, doing the best she could to keep her calm.

Fluttershy however was in a state of bliss, completely oblivious to the outside world. While Silver Wing had brought her blood before, it was diluted with water and caused her some degree of sickness as the changes that came with vampirism had not been completed yet, although according to Twilight consuming blood had accelerated them. Even then, it had tasted amazing and left her somewhat elated.

As soon as she tasted the first drop of pure blood she was overpowered by an experience unlike anything she had ever experienced. The sudden rush of energy and euphoria was stronger than when she had consumed the blood Silver had brought. Although in the beginning she was hesitant to even bite, by the time Twilight had nudged her indicating she had drank enough, she was reluctant to stop.

Hesitantly she pulled away, giving Twilight room to treat the wound. After cleaning it thoroughly and applying healing magic, the wound was no longer noticeable, nor was there any risk of the wound reopening and bleeding fatally.

Morning Daisy stood up, and after a few experimental steps, stumbled and leaned against the wall for support.

“Um, do you need any help?” Twilight asked.

Daisy pushed off of the wall and stumbled for a minute before regaining her balance, “No, I'm okay, I just needed a minute to catch my balance.” She took a few for steps and stumbled again, although she remained standing this time.

“You will be able to make it home, won't you?” Fluttershy asked, earning a brief but genuine smile from Daisy.”

“I'll be okay, it's not far from here.”

Twilight smiled, “Thank you, you helped a lot.”

Daisy turned around for a moment and said, “You know, you aren’t nearly as bad as I thought you would be. Most ponies think of vampires as monsters or demons, but you're a lot kinder than I expected.”

Twilight smiled, “Thanks, that means a lot to us, a lot mare than you know.”

“Well, if you don't mind, I would be interested in getting together again sometime, getting a chance to know each other better, maybe even becoming friends. That is, if your interested.” Daisy said.

Twilight looked at Fluttershy, silently asking her opinion. When she smiled and nodded, Twilight turned back to Morning Daisy and said, “I think we would both love a chance to make a new friend. We'll contact you sometime, arrange a casual get together. Oh, and don't worry about contact information, I can track you down on my own. Do you have an objection to any of that?”

It took her a moment to think it over, but she eventually shook her head.

“Great, I'll send you a letter a few days before the next time we visit Manehatten, I guess we'll try to get together then.” Twilight said, “ Also, I would recommend you don't mention what happened here to anypony...”

“Don't worry, I know how badly some ponies would react, nopony will hear it from me.”

“Well, if that's all, then we'll head back home, and let you do the same. Bye, I guess.” Twilight said, waving a hoof to send her off. She waved back as she stumble a bit, but managed to move well enough despite her disorientation.

When she had made it out of their sights, Twilight put her hood back up and said, “Come on, let's head home.”

With the night objective completed, they walked back to the train platform, weary from the night adventures but with a new friend and renewed confidence.

The train ride back was relatively uneventful. They couldn’t find a compartment to themselves because there were more ponies this time, most of them getting off when the train arrived at Canterlot after dawn. Since they couldn't talk about much without giving away their nature or their identities they simply elected to remain silent for the trip.

Dawn broke around the time the train pulled into the Ponyville station. Twilight and Fluttershy left wearing their cloaks for protection and moved quickly, avoiding the central streets and sticking to the outer parts of town, despite nopony being in the streets at the time. Even taking a longer route, Fluttershy's home did not take long to reach.

As soon as they were indoors, away from the deadly morning light, they took off their cloaks while Twilight dispelled the illusions of Fluttershy's short mane and untied it wherever necessary. In the end it looked normal, only with the addition of looking like she had just got out of bed after a particularly rough night.

“Twilight, can we talk for a bit before you leave?” Fluttershy asked, giving her cloak back to Twilight.

Twilight smiled, “Of course, I was actually going to talk to you anyway, get some things out of the way.”

“Um, I... I kind of...” Fluttershy began, trailing off and hesitating to speak.

Twilight couldn't be certain what Fluttershy wanted to say, but her knowledge of the processes and stages newly turned vampires go through led her to a single conclusion, “Let me guess, ever since you fed you've been getting really strong cravings?”

Fluttershy nodded shamefully, “I'm worried that I cant control myself. Every time I look at somepony I just keep thinking about blood... I'm worried I might hurt somepony, or worse I might kill somepony...”

“Fluttershy,” Twilight said with no response.

“What if it's one of my friends, I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to Rarity, or Rainbow...”

Twilight interrupted Fluttershy's rant with a rough shake, “Fluttershy,” She said, “Calm down, this is normal. After feeding for the first time, vampires get a strong desire for more blood, and vampires who were turned have it much worse. It will get easier, it just takes time and a bit of self control.”

“But what if I can't control myself, what if I do hurt somepony.” Fluttershy asked, going into a state of fear again.

“If it's really that bad just excuse yourself and leave.”

Fluttershy looked at Twilight with hope in her eyes and asked, “Do you really think I can do it?”

With a smile, Twilight replied, “I know you can. You've already done so well, and I'm proud of you.”

“Also,” Twilight continued, “I wanted to apologize for how I've been acting towards you recently, I guess I let my guilt get the better of me. I pushed my responsibilities off on Silver Wing and I've been trying to avoid you because I couldn't stand the thought of us drifting apart because of what I had done.”

“But Twilight,” Fluttershy said, “You know we could never drift apart, after all we've been through together, and especially after all the times we've saved Equestria together.”

“You're right, I was being pretty stupid,” Twilight replied, “I suppose I was so worried about how this could separate us, I never had a chance to look at how it could bring us closer together. What do you say to trying again, for real this time?”

Fluttershy's smile at that moment could have rivaled even Pinkie Pie with it intensity as she leaped at Twilight, unintentionally knocking them both to the floor with her overzealous attempt at a hug.

They both laughed for awhile. Finally, after they had calmed down Fluttershy said, “Yes, I would love to.”

“Great!” Twilight said. Briefly, she considered asking Fluttershy what she thought of their relationship, and if she still loved Twilight, but her will faltered, “Well, I guess I'll get going. Mind if I stop by tonight.”

“Not at all, your always welcome here.” Fluttershy replied, waving to her friend as she put her cloak back on and stepped outside.

As they went their separate ways for the day, Twilight couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed that hadn't spoken up when she had the chance, and she resolved to do so later that evening.

Dear Princess Celestia,

Today I learned that no matter what happens, true friendship will always prevail, no matter the hardships it faces. Everypony makes mistakes, and sometimes somepony gets hurt because of those mistakes. Even though things might seem bad at the time, give your friends a chance, and they'll always be ready to forgive you no matter how bad your mistake was.

Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle

P.S. I haven't found any changelings in Ponyville yet. I'm going to keep searching, but if they were here they've likely left already.

Author's Note

This was a hard chapter to write. Not only have I set a personal record for chapter length, but I've also introduced a new character and added plenty of character development and heartwarming moments.
Regretfully however, I'm slowing this down for awhile while I work on one or two other, much shorter stories. I'm not pausing completely, but I'll be writing Darkness Rising sparsely for a short while. I'm hoping expanding my creativity will boost my quality, and that taking a break will help me focus better.

Chapter 12, Complicated Relationships

A vampire's vulnerability to sunlight was something that Twilight could never quite get used to, despite growing accustomed to the other changes as though they had been a part of her since she was born, which wasn't far from the truth. As she walked through the town she tried to avoid attracting attention from the ponies just beginning their day. After all, a cloaked pony wandering through the streets, though not abnormal for Manehatten, would be noticed right away in Ponyville.

By staying off of the center streets and out of sight, Twilight was fairly certain nopony saw her. When she reached the library she waited until nopony was around before dashing for the door. Once inside, Twilight pulled the curtains shut with her magic and took off her cloak.

Home and safe from the sun, the first thing Twilight noticed was that she wasn't alone. Sitting on one of the couches was Rainbow Dash. Fortunately she appeared to have fallen asleep there at some point, so there was no way she could have noticed Twilight's unusual entrance. Spike had probably let her stay after closing to wait for Twilight and then went to sleep, leaving Rainbow to fall asleep herself as Twilight didn't return.

Twilight took careful note of how Rainbow had a Daring Do book next to her, and another on a table nearby. She had probably waited for hours before succumbing to sleep.

Twilight nudged Rainbow to no effect in an attempt to wake her gently. When that didn't work Twilight shook her roughly. That woke Rainbow with a start, causing her to jump up quickly.

“Twilight!” She said, her short moment of panic giving way to confusion, “Wait, when did you get home?”

“About two minutes ago, how long have you been here?” Twilight asked as she picked up the two books Rainbow had out, setting them aside to put back later.

Before Rainbow could answer she became confused and said, “Um... I guess I dozed off a while ago. What time is it?”

Twilight sighed and said, “Rainbow, it's a little after seven in the morning.”

“Seven in the morning!” Rainbow exclaimed, but after a moment she regained her composure of confusion and asked, “Wait, where have you been all night then?”

Twilight, being sure to give away nothing that could be used against her while still being as honest as she could, simply said, “I spent the night with Fluttershy.”

“Oh yeah, and what were you doing all night, coming up with a plot to take over Equestria?” said Rainbow accusingly.

Twilight looked at her with anger, “What is the matter with you? You've been spending all your time either looking for proof that Fluttershy and I are evil or trying to convince everypony else that your right. I'll say this once Rainbow, Fluttershy and I are just as clueless as anypony else about what happened last month, and even if we were plotting to take over Equestria neither of us would be stupid enough to admit it to you as soon as you ask!”

Twilight finally calmed down enough to look at Rainbow, only to find her cowering from the purple unicorn's rage. Twilight felt a bit guilty as she realized that she hadn’t even tried to control herself and had terrified her friend.

Of course she felt guilty for terrifying Rainbow, but that was only part of the reason, and a minor one at that. What truly hurt Twilight about that moment was how similar Rainbow looked at that moment to Fluttershy barely a month ago as she cowered in a corner, the same night Twilight had turned her. Seeing Rainbow like that pushed her over the edge as she was suddenly forced to remember everything about that night. Every detail came back to her, and in an instant she went from overzealous anger to inconsolable sadness as she recalled the horrible thing she did to her closest friend, and the even more terrible act she had nearly committed.

Tears came to her eyes as she broke down, every barrier and reassurance she had used to keep herself from falling into regret and remorse coming apart.

“Just leave Rainbow,” Twilight said, falling to the floor and sobbing uncontrollably.

Rainbow stood up and said something, but Twilight wasn't listening. When Rainbow tried to approach however, Twilight reacted badly. Enraged, Twilight yelled, “LEAVE!”

This time she didn't give Rainbow any time to speak before using her magic to teleport her out of the library.

Twilight simply laid there afterward, crying. After a while she lost track of time, and a little while later she dragged herself up to her room and laid down on her bed. Finally, she drifted off to sleep for the day.

Twilight woke just before nightfall, her pillow stained from when she cried herself to sleep. Spike had been kind enough to leave the curtains closed for the day to let her rest, not that she could have slept otherwise.

Slowly Twilight crawled out of bed and went through the process of brushing her hair and washing her face, making herself ready to see Fluttershy again.

When she arrived downstairs Spike was placing books back on the shelves. Twilight had hoped to slip out of the library before he noticed, but she barely even made it to the bottom of the stairs before he turned around and saw her.

“Twilight!” called out Spike as he rushed towards her.

Twilight tried to think of something to say as he leapt at her in a hug, but couldn't think of anything.

“I've been so worried,” he said, “you're never home anymore and when you are you just sleep. Please Twilight, tell me what's going on.”

“Spike please,” Twilight said, trying to push him away, “not now, I need to get going.”

Spike held her tighter and said, “But Twilight your always leaving. Please, I'm worried about you.”

Twilight paused for a minute and held Spike close. “Spike, it's alright, I'm fine. You don't need to worry about me, I promise.”

“But I am, Twilight,” said Spike as he held her tighter, “you’ve barely been home in over a month, and Rainbow keeps...”

Twilight held Spike tighter and said, “Don’t listen to her Spike, she’s just being a bit too protective, maybe a bit paranoid too.”

“Promise you’re okay Twilight, promise me Rainbow is wrong.”

“I promise Spike,” Twilight said, “I not in any danger, or trouble, I’m just... spending time with Fluttershy.”

It felt like a lie, and essentially it was. Spike was closer to Twilight than anyone, and especially now that she had released her vampiric side she felt even more terrible for lying to him.

“I promise I’m fine, and I will be fine. Please, you need to let me go now.” Twilight said.

As Spike let go of her, he said, “Promise you’ll come home this time.”

Twilight grabbed her cloak and said, “I’ll be back by morning, that’s a promise.”

Stepping up to Fluttershy’s door, Twilight had to fight her nervousness just to knock. She promised herself she would do this though, and held herself together until Fluttershy answered the door.

When Fluttershy finally pulled the door open just a crack to see who was there, Twilight spoke, “Hello, do you mind if I come in?”

“Not at all,” she replied.

When Twilight stepped inside the animals fled from her. It wasn't unfamiliar to her after all the time she spent there, though it still made her uncomfortable. She wished they would be a little more trusting of her after all the kindness she had shown them, and how much she had shown Fluttershy.

Twilight took a seat and said, “I want to talk to you about something, it's been bothering me for a while now.”

“What is it?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight took a deep breath, and began, “Fluttershy, on the night this all began, the night I... well, you know, you said something to me.

“You told me you loved me, and... well, that's almost the only reason you're still alive. But now I need to know, do you still love me? Do you still feel the same way after everything that's happened?”

“I think so,” she said slowly and even a bit hesitantly.

“Fluttershy,” Twilight replied, “I think I've started to fall in love with you myself, I just don't know what to do about it.”

With that admission done, Twilight felt greatly relieved. What to do or say about that had been bothering her for weeks, and even if it didn't end well she didn't have to worry about it anymore. Now all she needed to hope for was that it would end well.

“Well, maybe we should just take it slow?” Fluttershy questioned, earning a smile from Twilight.

“I suppose that would be best,” Twilight replied, “especially after everything that's happened recently. It's probably for the best if we don't get into too serious of a relationship until you know that you can accept absolutely everything about being a vampire. If you resent me, even a little, for any of the changes I’ve forced you into, being in a romantic relationship could damage our friendship even more.”

Fluttershy came over an sat down right next to Twilight.

She put a hoof on Twilight's shoulder, “Twilight, don't worry, I'll be fine. I like it, I like not needing to be scared of everything anymore.”

They both went silent for a few moments, but waiting for the next words to be spoken seemed to drag on for an eternity as neither of them could find the will to speak.

Finally, Twilight broke the silence, “So, I guess that's it, we're in a relationship now.

“I guess so,” replied Fluttershy just a nervously.

“Listen Fluttershy,” Twilight said with a smile, “you don't have to do anything if you don't want to, but I want you to know that if your interested, you can continue learning. There are a lot more things about vampires that you still don't know, and I'm offering to help you learn. It's not much, but I want to start to get to know each other again, for real this time. I think this might be a good place to start.”

“But Twilight,” Fluttershy said, “you don't need to do that, I've already learned more about you than I ever did before.”

Twilight smiled tiredly, “I know, but you've barely even scratched the surface yet. My past, and more importantly my history, and my families history is so much more extensive than you could ever imagine. I'm not lying when I say that I know why our race has fallen so far, an even if none of us are ready to admit it, and no matter how much we want to undo some of the things that led us to this, millennia of mistakes take time to heal.

“Fluttershy, I haven't told you this yet, but.. I'm our race's last ruler, our last leader. I was born only hours before my mother was killed, and my father was dead long before. I was placed under protective enchantments and left to a trustworthy family of ponies in Canterlot, I didn't even know I was a vampire until I was seven. My adoptive parents never knew what I was, and I don't even think Shining knows I was adopted at all.

“Our race is dying Fluttershy, nearly extinct and remembered only in legends and stories. This is what I've been left with. I've lived among ponies with knowledge of my real heritage most of my life, so I have a better perspective than anypony else, yourself included. I’m the only pony that can see everything from both sides, and I need to be a leader, but I don't want to be a ruler. I want to be friends with my ponies, I want to be family, not somepony who rules with absolute power and authority.”

“I... I had no idea,” Fluttershy said stunned after a momentary pause to collect her thoughts.

Twilight smiled tiredly again and said, “I've never been this honest with anypony, even Silver. You're a good friend Fluttershy.”

“I'm not sure what to say now,” Fluttershy said after a momentary pause.

“Fluttershy, you don't need to say anything yet,” said Twilight kindly. “What I've told you can be a bit overwhelming, and some of the things you haven't learned yet will be even harder to understand. I came to offer to help you learn. History, magic, the finer details of being a vampire, I want to be there with you as you learn it all. That is, if you want to learn.”

“Of course I want to learn,” Fluttershy said, earning a well overdue, genuinely happy smile from Twilight.

“I'm glad to hear it, but there is one other thing I wanted to discuss with you,” said Twilight.

“Of course,” Fluttershy replied, “What is it?”

“You're a pegasus, and you take care of animals all the time, including bats –” Twilight rose one of her wings up “– teach me how to fly?”

Author's Note

So, originally the development of Twilight and Fluttershy's relationship was meant to occur on the train in the last chapter, and discussion of it on the way back, but due to some last minute changes to the plan they got their own chapter instead. I suppose it's better this way, as I got out of the way quite a bit of character development that I didn't know where to fit otherwise.

The beginning of the chapter with Rainbow was a bit more compressed, and slightly more extreme, than I would have liked. Meanwhile, the dialogue at the end took me ages, as I would keep going back and erasing the entire paragraph or more and starting over, only to do it again in a few minutes. It isn't perfect, but it's what I'm going with because otherwise I'd never get done.

Twilight's past will be explored more later on, but for now some important background information has been revealed, including her parentage and an explanation to why Twilight is a vampire but her family isn't, and her position among her own kind.

Chapter 13, Suspicion

Twilight rolled up the scroll she received in the mail and made adjustments to her schedule for the next day.

Nearly a week had passed since the night she and Fluttershy had left for Manehatten to teach her to feed and the events of the evening after. Fluttershy had begun teaching Twilight to fly using her new wings and she was making progress. She was far from matching Rainbow Dash, or even Fluttershy, but she could at least keep herself off the ground, if only for a few moments. Fluttershy was helpful, but being a unicorn vampire left her at a disadvantage. Having a completely different wing structure made it difficult to teach her, even for somepony who took care of bats. It would be better if she was taught by another vampire, but because of location it simply couldn't happen.

Twilight had been making an effort to begin integrating herself with the rest of her race. Having only ever gotten a chance to meet Silver Wing because of their relationship and proximity, and having been with Fluttershy for a few years before she became a vampire, she was left with eight others she had never met. Being who she was, a leader and ruler, knowing the others of her race was a priority.

With Silver's help she had prepared to meet with others, and she had finally received a reply to her first request, to meet a pony by the name of Mythic Dusk. She was set to meet him and his daughter in their home in the wooded areas outside of Fillydelphia. She thought it would be a good idea to bring Fluttershy along, believing that meeting other vampires might be beneficial for her.

She locked the scroll away in a drawer and went back to her reading, at least for a few moments before Rarity came in.

“Can I help you?” Twilight asked looking over her book.

“It's about Rainbow,” Rarity said, “I know she means well, but this has gone on long enough. Quite frankly, it's gotten to the point where we can't stand her anymore.”

“I know she's been a little overboard recently...”

“Overboard!” Rarity half shouted, “This have progressed far beyond overboard, this is on the edge of insanity! She can't be dissuaded, and she won't leave the rest of us alone.”

Twilight closed her book and said, “I don't understand, why isn't she just giving up. She's protective, but never this much. Do you think something happened to her?”

“I have no idea why, but she's absolutely convinced that you and Fluttershy are threats, and it's more than just baseless accusations anymore, she's begun presenting logical theories. She has no proof of anything, but now she's presenting patterns and connections. Nothing conclusive, but I will admit that all of her theories are possible, and they certainly make sense.”

“Well, what kinds of theories have you been hearing?” Twilight asked.

Rarity paused for a moment nervously, “Well, it's mostly all been conspiracies, and she's basing them all on the information that she has about the... events that happened last month. I don't mean to sound accusing or anything, but if I didn't trust you more than she, I would be inclined to agree with her, at least some of the time.”

“No offense taken, but I asked what kind of theories she was putting forward,” replied Twilight.

“Nothing that actually worries me,” said Rarity, “She's been saying the same things as before, but now she's trying to convince us using circumstantial evidence. She's been explaining theories about a cult, and other theories about you trying to take over or maybe even destroy Equestria. All of it is admittedly too far fetched to believe, at least without more concrete evidence.”

Twilight quickly levitated the book she was reading, unfortunately titled 'Cults and Underground Societies' back onto the shelves, hoping that Rarity didn't catch the title or notice anything to indicate that she wasn't just putting it away as she would normally during a conversation with a friend.

“Could you explain in a little more detail please?” Twilight requested.

“Well, one of the more plausible ideas is that you and Fluttershy are part of some cult with unknown intentions. She says that maybe one of you recruited the other, or even started it. She explains the incident last month as either an attempt at gathering information or assessing my potential, as it were.”

“Rarity, I apologize to you if I influenced this in any way, I had no idea it had gotten this bad.”

“No need to apologize Twilight,” Rarity said, “You couldn't have done anything about this. She's been avoiding you and Fluttershy, so unless you were to track her down you wouldn't be able to talk her out of anything.”

“Rarity, are you saying that she's been admitting she's uncertain about what she's saying? Are you saying that she’s not being overconfident about how she knows exactly what's going on?” said Twilight as the thought crossed her mind.

When Rarity nodded, Twilight continued, “This might be worse than I thought. She's normally so confident in everything... Rarity I think she's actually worried. I think she's actually trying to push you into investigating this yourselves, or at least trying to make you aware to whatever danger or evil she thinks is present, in her own way.”

Twilight paused for a moment, but Rarity didn't break the silence, absorbed in thought. What Twilight had said unfortunately made perfect sense. Rarity would never have admitted it to herself, but she could see plainly that this wasn't some antic or prank. Rainbow Dash was scared, and she wasn't even hiding it. Maybe Twilight was right, and this was just Rainbow's way of getting Rarity's attention. In the momentary silence Rarity glanced at Twilight, and saw a possibility, one just as paranoid but just as possible as any one of Rainbow's theories.

She saw the possibility that Twilight had just made a mistake.

If Rarity didn't believe that Rainbow could be right in any way before her influence was getting to Rarity now. Twilight had pointed out that Rainbow had been scared. She may have simply been admitting, honestly and as a friend, that Rainbow was scared, but if Rainbow was scared enough to abandon the tough pony image she was so careful to maintain, even around a friend, she must have had some kind of feeling that overpowered her sense of pride, and if she was right, even if only slightly, Twilight may have inadvertent tipped Rarity's allegiance away from her favor.

Finally, after a moment that seemed like eternity, Twilight spoke, “I think you need to get the other girls and talk to Rainbow.

“I'm going to be out of town tomorrow, and I'm planning to ask Fluttershy to join me. While we're out, get together with Rainbow and talk to her. Explain your opinions, listen to hers, and then talk it out. Don’t dismiss anything without considering it from both points of view, but support your own sides. Maybe if you can come to some kind of understanding we can all put this behind us and move on.”

“Thank you for the advice, I think I'll get the others and we can try to talk this out.”

Twilight stood up and smiled, “Any time. Is their anything else you need?”

Rarity shook her head and smiled, to which Twilight reciprocated. Just before she prepared to leave however, one thing came to mind, “Just out of curiosity, where are you leaving to tomorrow?”

Twilight caught herself before she could show any signs of worry, and after a very brief time to consider her next words she said, “I'm just going out to meet somepony, a friend of a friend if you want to call it that,”

Rarity smiled and nodded, and then left silently, her growing suspicions amplified, as were her uncertainties.

Meanwhile, Twilight went back over to her desk and opened it. She retrieved a piece of parchment and a quill and inkwell, and set about writing a short letter.

Dear Silver Wing,

I'm writing to report a potential danger. Somepony close to Fluttershy and I has grown suspicious of us.

Target's name is Rainbow Dash, pegasus, currently suspicious with circumstantial evidence. No specific details, though she aware of some level of deception and the incident last month regarding the inquiry into dark magic by Fluttershy, and she is not believing the current cover story for events. She is currently influencing several specific others, with at least one of them confirmed to have doubts regarding the situation.

I am requesting advice to resolve the situation, nonlethal unless otherwise impossible, as I do not believe this event will simply blow over, even with current effort to indirectly dissuade her suspicions.

Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle

Author's Note

This chapter serves as more of an intermission than an actual chapter, setting the stage for future events while helping to transition into the second part of the story, mostly focusing on Rainbow Dash.

The next chapter will be split into two parts, and afterwards the perspective will mostly focus on Rainbow and sometimes Rarity.

Chapter 14a, Friend of a Friend

Sometime shortly before dawn Fluttershy and Twilight met together at the Ponyville train station.

“Good morning Fluttershy,” said Twilight, and she gave Fluttershy a ticket to Fillydelphia.

The train was mostly empty as few ponies were traveling to Fillydelphia so early in the day, so when they tried Twilight and Fluttershy had little trouble getting a private place. Most ponies gathered together near the front of the train, so the cars nearer to the back of the train were almost all empty.

Once they were alone Twilight cast the same range of spells to protect against eavesdropping as the time they went to Manehatten.

“There,” Twilight said, “now that we’re alone we can talk more openly.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, who are we going to meet?” asked Fluttershy.

Twilight smiled and replied, “His name is Mythic Dusk, a unicorn vampire who lives outside Fillydelphia. I’ve been making an effort to meet other vampires personally, so I’ve made arrangements to meet him and his daughter, Lunar Pearl,”

“Um, Twilight,” said Fluttershy nervously, “I didn’t realize that we would meeting other vampires.”

“No need to worry Fluttershy, they’re not going to hurt you, or scare you. Just talk to them like they were any other pony and you’ll be fine,” said Twilight in response, “You keep forgetting that you’re a vampire too, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about, they’ll be friendly to you.”

Fluttershy tried to look confident, but she was still nervous about what would happen. Her fear of social situations was perhaps the one fear that her vampirism didn’t cure, and with other vampires it was even worse.

Twilight tried to let the awkward tension clear out on its own, but when she realized Fluttershy wasn’t going to get on more comfortable on her own, she said, “You know, I brought some books along with me. I wasn’t sure if we would get a compartment to ourselves, but in case we did I thought you might be interested in learning something new. I know you said you might be interested in some of the other things you could be taught, so I brought some books about controlling some of your more advanced innate abilities, and a few about basic rune magic. You’re free to choose which if you want to.”

Fluttershy looked at Twilight’s bags, obviously filled with books, and said, “Rune magic sounds interesting, what is it?”

Twilight pulled out three books, all of them on basic rune magic and set them out in front of them, “Rune magic is basically what it sounds like, using runes to do… well, magic! It’s kind of complicated, but once you get used to it you can do it without even pausing to think.

“The basis is that certain symbols contain power, even though nopony knows why. If you draw them right runes can have great effect, and the more complex and detailed the writing the more specific or vast the effects are. It’s just like a book really, more complexity and length conveys more meaning.”

“But how does it work?” asked Fluttershy.

“That’s one of the things that make it brilliant, nopony has any idea, it just happens! Ponies have speculated, but most of their theories have been too a little too farfetched to be true. All anypony knows is that rune magic exists, and it works.”

Fluttershy picked up and looked at one of the books, specifically about the history of rune magic, and asked, “Why has nopony ever heard of this before?”

“That’s a good question,” Twilight replied. “It’s been a well-kept secret since the time of the three tribes, where it was kept within the highest ranks of the royal family. After unification the mostly died out within unicorn society when peace meant that they didn't need any kind of advantage, but vampires preserved the art ever since. It’s so old that the princesses probably don’t even know that it exists.”

“Alright,” Fluttershy said, setting down the book on rune magic history and picking up an introductory one, “so... how do we get started?”

Twilight smiled, retrieving some parchment form her bag, along with a quill, a bottle of ink, and a strange purple liquid.

“Learning rune magic is like anything else, start off simple and work from there,” said Twilight. “Let’s just start off basic, let’s pick a simple, easy to test rune and practice drawing it, and then we’ll test to see if it works. I’ve brought quills and ink, and I have extra in case we run out, and I’ve brought a bottle of condensed magic to activate it. You can write the runes using a magically reactive ink or chalk, but those are for more complex runes that use more advanced series of glyphs.”

Twilight opened the other book, which was a beginner’s reference guide to basic runes, and began flipping through the pages with Fluttershy, until finally they found a few that looked like they would be easy.

After a bit more discussion, they decided on a light rune, and then a fire rune if that didn’t work. Both would have a noticeable effect, especially with the curtains drawn down for their personal comfort.

Twilight set out on the small table in front of them a piece of parchment, a bottle of ink and a quill, and then set the book above them so they could easily read it.

“Alright,” Twilight said, “Look at the rune, and draw it, exactly as it’s depicted, on the parchment.”

She pointed to a small mark on the rune in the book, “See this line here, this isn’t part of the rune, it’s meant to prevent the image in the book from acting as one, to prevent accidents, so leave it out of the final image.”

Fluttershy took the quill and began drawing the rune on the parchment as instructed, being careful to prevent any mistakes. When she was done she pushed it over to Twilight.

Twilight took the parchment and carefully applied a drop of condensed magic to it.

When nothing happened, Fluttershy asked, “Why didn’t it work?”

“The rune has to be almost perfect to work. It looks like you made it a bit this line too long,” Twilight replied, pointing towards a curved line near the top. “There can be small imperfections, but only small ones.

Several more times Fluttershy drew runes unsuccessfully, no effect being produced.

Finally, after many tries, Fluttershy pushed another rune over to Twilight. This time however, when Twilight applied the condensed magic to the image it began glowing. It didn’t glow with great intensity, but it was enough that it lit up the entire car.

“Congratulations,” Twilight said, “You’ve made your first rune. It takes a lot of practice, but vampires tend to have better coordination than normal ponies. It’s easier for unicorns obviously, but you’ll get better with practice.”

They spent the remainder of the train ride going over more about rune magic, what it could be used for and how to use it. They made several more attempts at different runes, and each time it took less tries to get it right. Eventually Fluttershy had been able to summon light, fire, and a gust of wind using rune magic.

Everything about it astounded her. Being a pegasus she accepted that she would never be able to use magic like a unicorn could, and she never truly wanted to. Now that she had started fires and summoned winds though, she wasn’t even sure how to react. It wasn’t as easy as it would be for a unicorn to simply cast a spell, and she defiantly couldn’t do it on command, but with preparation she could perform feats she never would have thought possible for a pegasus.

To say she was amazed would be a major understatement.

Eventually the train pulled into the Fillydelphia station, and Twilight stowed away the ingredients in her bags, with a promise that they would continue what they had been doing if they could find an empty compartment on the return journey.

The home of Mythic Dusk was well away from civilization, not unusual for a vampire who wanted to raise a foal in safety.

From the train station they followed the edge of the city until they reached to forest, and then they turned off and followed a path to a small river, and from there they followed the river upstream until the house was in view.

To anypony else, finding a small house in the middle of the woods, especially an occupied one, would be a strange occurrence, but Twilight and Fluttershy were aware of who live here and why. They understood the need for isolation in his situation. They both agreed that it was unfortunate, but it kept him and his daughter safe.

Twilight stepped up on the front porch and knocked on the door while Fluttershy tried to stay as far back as she could.

The door opened a crack, and once he had confirmed her identity he opened it the whole way.

A black stallion with a light gray mane and tail that were almost white, he smiled brightly, enough to rival Pinkie Pie, when he saw her.

“Twilight Sparkle!” he exclaimed happily. “You were barely a day old the last time I saw you, I can barely believe it. You’ve grown so much!”

His voice was gentle and soft, and it carried a hint of kindness with it. Twilight had never gotten a chance to meet him except for when she was barely a day old as he said, and she couldn’t remember the day, but she got a welcoming feeling from hearing him.

“Well, you seem to know who I am. It’s good to meet you,” she said smiling. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve brought along a friend of mine. She should be...”

Twilight had been expecting Fluttershy to be off hiding as best she could in the foliage that sprouted up mere meters from the door, or at least trying to stay out of sight as best she could, but when she turned around she saw Fluttershy with her front hooves partway up the steps, looking up at the scene with a nervous curiosity.

Mythic meanwhile was worried when Twilight said she brought a friend along, not realizing the friend Twilight was bringing was a vampire and believing that there was a possible danger. Once her saw her red eyes and cloak though, he relaxed somewhat, though he was still wary of her as he would be with any stranger.

“We don’t get much news out here, when was she turned?” he asked.

“Just last month actually,” Twilight said, “I thought it would be good for her to meet others, so I invited her to come with me. It isn’t a problem, is it?”

“Not at all, you’re both welcome,” said Mythic. “Please, come in.”

Twilight motioned Fluttershy to follow as she entered behind Mythic. Once they were inside they shut the door and took off their cloaks.

The interior of the home wasn’t lit at all, instead relying on the occupants and occasional visitors not being hindered by darkness. There were windows, though they were covered by heavy curtains, obviously enchanted to keep out all light.

The room they were in had several pieces of furniture and served as a social area, though it, like the kitchen that lied just off of it, went largely unused.

As soon as they were inside Mythic left through another door while Twilight took off her bags and set them next to the door.

In a moment he returned, followed a small blue pegasus with a beautiful light, sky blue mane, who looked nervous enough to faint on the spot. She was young enough to still have no cutie mark.

“This is my daughter, Lunar Pearl,” Mythic said, silently encouraging her to say something.

Twilight however wasted no time and said, “Hello, there’s no need to be nervous.” Unfortunately her attempt at reassurance made her even more scared, and she tried to hide behind her father even more.

“Just like Fluttershy,” said Twilight, looking back at her friend who was still surveying the situation curiously.

“Come on, no need to be shy,” Mythic said to his daughter, “They’re friends.”

“Hello” she said quietly, peeking out from behind her father, which caused Fluttershy to quietly squeak and hug closer to Twilight.

“See what I mean,” said Twilight, nudging Fluttershy to say something.

Several nudges later, she very quietly said, “My name is Fluttershy”

“As you can imagine she doesn’t get out much,” said Mythic, “We prefer to be alone out here where nopony bothers us and we’re in no danger, but it leaves her a bit socially awkward and nervous around others.”

“Fluttershy was the same way,” Twilight replied. “Until about two years ago she barely ever got out at all, she just stayed home with all her animals. At least now she interacts with a few ponies, although I suppose I should mention that until then I was a bit reclusive myself.”

Mythic laughed and replied, “Being reclusive is unfortunately a necessity for vampires, though in your situation I would have hoped you at least got around to making a few friends.”

“I liked reading more than I did socializing. Being made the personal student of Princess Celestia at a young age didn’t help though,” Twilight said.

“A dangerous career choice,” Mythic said, “you’re lucky to have not given anything away.”

Twilight laughed, “Well, how could I, she was such a great teacher all I could focus on was her.”

They both laughed for a moment. When they finally calmed down enough talk Mythic said, “I suppose we’ve all had our obsessions at some point. Luna Pearl has always enjoyed nature. She’ll go out for hours every night just to look at flowers. There’s actually a lot of nocturnal flora in this area, it’s kind of turned into a hobby of hers.”

Meanwhile Fluttershy and Lunar Pearl were coming around to each other. Not speaking, though they were edging closer to each other, silently observing the other with a certain unexplainable curiosity. When attention turned to them however they both quickly pulled back and hugged up against the pony they were with.

Twilight smiled, though a small degree of annoyance was bleeding through as she said, “Perhaps they’re a bit too much alike... they’ll get along perfectly.”

“Would you like to spend some time with Fluttershy while Twilight and I talk for a bit?” Mythic asked his daughter.

She nodded in reply, and when he nudged her to go Twilight did the same to Fluttershy. Lunar Pearl took her hoof led her back into another room, leaving Twilight and Mythic Dusk alone together.

“Have a seat,” Mythic said as he sat down himself. Twilight followed and sat down next to him.

“I’ll be completely honest with you; I’m at a loss of what to say. I know we’re just meeting for the first time, but I remember you when you were so young. I don’t know how to approach this.”

Twilight smiled reassuringly and said, “I think we should just get to know each other for now. I came out here to meet another vampire. I think we should try to learn a little more about each other first, then go on to more personal topics.”

“Well I'll be honest with you, there isn't much I don't already know about you. Actually, there isn't much any of us don't know about you. You're more important to us than you know,” Mythic said in an almost apologetic way.

“I don't like being thought of as a ruler or savior or anything like that,” Twilight said. “I just want to integrate myself within my own society, or what's left of it anyway.”

“Whether or not you want to accept it, the rest of us still look up to you in that light. That's the legacy of your family... princess,” Mythic replied, unintentionally causing Twilight much discomfort.

“DON'T call me that!” Twilight said angrily.

“Sorry, I didn't realize that you would be adverse to the title,” Mythic said. “I didn't mean any offense by it.”

Twilight sighed and dejectedly said, “I know you didn't, but please, I don't like being in a position of authority in the first place, and I especially don't want to be called princess. I've spent enough time around Celestia to start hating that title.”

“Oh,” Mythic interjected, “I'd imagine you would grow to revere her. After all, everypony else beams just hearing her name.”

Twilight laughed mockingly, “You would imagine. You didn't get to hear all the things she had to say about vampires. Pure evil, nothing but killers, monsters. I was nine! I knew what I was then, and I knew Silver Wing then. Those lectures went on for a month, and then she spent another month just teaching me how to kill them. Do you have any idea how hard is is for a vampire to do any kind of light magic, let alone intensively for a whole month? By the end of it I was better at light magic than I was at dark magic, not that I spent much time practicing dark magic in the middle of the night back then,” Twilight sighed. “I'm sorry for going off like that. I don't hate her, but I don't love her either. And I defiantly don't want to be called princess. Really I don't want to be called anything but if you absolutely have to, anything but princess.”

“Sorry,” he said, “I hadn't realized that it was such a sensitive topic for you.”

Twilight nodded. She looked up at Mythic Dusk and said, “Since you know pretty much everything about me, why don't we talk about you instead. I saw you're cutie mark, is your talent rune magic?”

“As a matter of fact it is, I suppose I didn't expect you to recognize it,” Mythic said.

“The reason I recognized it though was because I started getting Fluttershy into rune magic on the way out here. I only studied it briefly in the later years of my time with Celestia, but I didn't really put it to much use or even remember most of it,” Twilight said. “Mostly just a few runes along the walls of my chamber behind bookcases and a few other things to block magical senses and detection spells. I only used it when I started taking a greater interest in dark magic. I was only sleeping down the corridor from Celestia's personal chambers, and I needed a way to keep her from noticing.”

“Speaking of dark magic, I'd imagine that having general magic as a special talent would be useful,” Mythic said in reply.

Twilight smiled almost mischievously, “I mentioned that a month of light magic designed specifically to kill vampires was hard. What I didn't mention is that anypony else would have barely been able to manage a spark of light magic by the end of it.”

“Well that would certainly be a good ability to have. The problem with having a talent in one field of magic it that you tend to have less ability than normal in others,” he said looking at the ceiling. Twilight looked up to and saw a light rune, just like the one that she and Fluttershy were using earlier that day. It was connected to several other runes, the ones Twilight could recognize being a rune of power and a connection rune between them.

In short, a self sufficient source of light that could be turned on or off at will if you knew how to.

A simple torch spell would achieve mostly the same effect, but using runes did negate the need to recast it any time you wanted a light.

“I didn't think you would have much need for lights, after all we're all doing fine without them,” Twilight said as she examined the details and complexity, trying to remember what some other runes were used for.

“We never have used them actually, I haven’t activated them since my wife died.”

“Oh, I'm sorry,” Twilight said apologetically, “I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories.”

Mythic Dusk smiled sadly, “You haven't, she died a few days after Lunar Pearl was born, it was a while ago.”

“I guess we have more in common than I thought. My mother died shortly after I was born too.”

Mythic smile happily again, “She and I got married on the day you were born you know. The wedding was interrupted by a messenger that came to tell me about the attack. I'm pretty sure that everypony in attendance was confused when somepony burst in halfway through and whispered something to the groom something that rush out as quickly as possible.

“In hindsight it's actually a little funny how awkward it was, but I was terrified when I first heard. I didn't know what to think at the time. It was supposed to be a happy day for both me and vampires as a whole and instead it ends in a massacre and me running out on my wedding. She understood that every vampire still alive needed to regroup and assess the damage though. She accepted that I would be out for weeks.”

“I'm assuming she wasn't a vampire?” Twilight said inquisitively.

“No, she was just an ordinary pegasus, and an exceptionally kind one,” He said. “She had a good enough heart to accept me for who I was.”

“What happened to her?” Twilight asked.

“Unborn vampires draw energy from the mother, and if the mother isn't a vampire they feed off of the mothers blood. She was exceptionally healthy and active, she was even given an offer to join the Wonderbolts after she gave birth.

“The pregnancy took its toll though, and she died of an infection a few days after Lunar was born.”

“Thank you for talking about it, it can't be easy,” Twilight said, putting a hoof on his shoulder.

Mythic looked at her kindly, obviously sad but still smiling, “You said you wanted to learn more about me, I suppose you did.”

“So what else do you do besides raising your daughter out in the middle of nowhere?” Twilight asked, trying to change to subject to anything less depressing.

“I actually monitor the black market, and occasionally a few of the less shady markets,” He said, getting back to his previous disposition of amusement and joy. “I keep an eye out for objects of interest. Artifacts of dark magic, certain weapons of either dark or light magic, occasionally ancient artifacts or texts that are connected to vampires.”

“Why?” Twilight asked.

“It's how I help benefit vampires as a whole. By watching for these sorts of things, I can retrieve them. This way we can collect weapons and artifacts of dark magic for ourselves and destroy anything that can be used against us, as well as recover lost pieces of history and occasionally put them to use, if they detail an ancient ruin or something else we can use.”

“I wasn't aware that anypony was doing anything solely for the benefit of vampires,” Twilight said, “I was under the impression that we just blended into pony society whenever possible. That's what I did and I've gotten along alright.”

“It's about more than just survival, it's about recovering ourselves as a race. For years we were numbered in the single digits. We cant take any major steps, especially where recovering our numbers are concerned, without attracting considerable attention. If we're seen as a threat I assure you action will be taken against us. For the past twenty years we've stayed out of sight and nopony's bothered us. I cover the black market and obtain objects of danger or value, Silver Wing feeds us information directly from Canterlot, Shadowfall is an assassin, we all contribute to the overall survival of our kind. Of course now that you've returned to us though you have a say in this, and an influential one,” He explained in detail.

Twilight stood up slowly, “While I would like to stay longer, the next train back to Ponyville leave in leaves than a half an hour, and I'm starting to get a little uncomfortable. I guess I'm just not quite used to some of the less favorable aspects of vampires yet, an I'm defiantly not comfortable with this amount of admiration.”

She called out to Fluttershy, and a moment later she and Lunar Pearl came out. Fluttershy had a beautiful white flower in her mane, and as she walked over to Twilight Lunar Pearl said excitedly, “Bye.”

Fluttershy waved back and Twilight looked at Mythic and said, “It's been good meeting you, maybe some other time we'll have more time to talk,” Twilight said, “Until then though, take care of yourselves.”

Mythic smiled, “You're the one in the most dangerous position, but thank you anyway.”

They put their cloaks on again and Twilight retrieved her bags. As they left Fluttershy and Lunar Pearl waved at each other again, and in parting Twilight said, “Told you they'd be perfect for each other.”

They trekked back through the forest and the city, talking and laughing about their respective encounters. Fluttershy had a lot of positive things to say, about Lunar and her hobbies. Being close to nature herself she understood Lunar's interests better than most others would.

Eventually they reached the city, and soon the train station. They got tickets back to Ponyville and boarded.

The journey back was perhaps even less crowded than the way to Fillydelphia, perhaps because it was the evening train and almost nopony had any reason to arrive somewhere at two in the morning. Twilight and Fluttershy found a secluded, empty car in the back, and again they closed the curtains and set up privacy spells. Then they got out the books and materials and returned to practicing rune magic, trying some more complicated runes such as freezing and a rune called solidity, which greatly strengthened the resilience of whatever object or material it was inscribed on. Much to Fluttershy's amusement the parchment became near indestructible, even to fire and some of Twilight's weaker spells, though as Fluttershy soon learned the rune would have loose its effect on stronger and more damaging attacks, as Twilight demonstrated with a blast of energy strong enough to shred stone.

Twilight also asked Fluttershy to consider learning some of what might be considered by some as more evil runes, such as death, pain, and fear runes. Though the idea wasn't very pleasant, Twilight assured her that she may have reason to use them, if not soon than some time in the next few decades. She was still strongly opposed to the methods vampires used, and to Twilight's own acceptance of them, but promised for Twilight that she would make the effort of at least looking them over, even if she swore that she would never use them. Twilight promised she wouldn't have to, but that some day she may choose to.

Rune magic would take a long time to master, so they eventually decide there would be no point in going on for the entire ride, and Fluttershy let Twilight put the books away, and then she gave Fluttershy the bags, saying she could keep the contents and study both rune magic and her vampiric abilities in greater detail later on.

With the exchange of books and materials completed and several hours ahead of them, Twilight decided that it might be better to discuss serious business and how they planned to move forward rather than attempt to find a way to fill the next few hours with small talk.

“Has Rainbow been giving you any trouble recently?” she asked.

Fluttershy shook her head, “No, I haven’t seen her at all.”

“Apparently she's actually been getting scared, either for us or of us... or both maybe. She's been giving the other girls some trouble, so I asked Rarity to get them together and talk it out,” Twilight said. “Hopefully they can at least get her to give up the investigation before she becomes a serious threat, and if we're lucky she'll stop avoiding us.”

“You wouldn't kill her, would you?”

Twilight looked at Fluttershy, taking on a stressed expression as she said, “Believe me when I say I don't want anything to happen to any of our friends. I almost killed you and it was the most regrettable thing I’ve ever done. What you have to understand is that she isn't an easy pony to convince. She already thinks we may be evil, and if she finds proof of that she'll act on her sense of righteousness, even if it mean betraying one friend for another. So please understand that I don't want her dead, and believe me when I promise that killing her will only be a last resort.

“She wouldn't really betray us, would she?” Fluttershy asked.

“That's the biggest flaw of loyalty, sometimes you have to chose a side and abandon the other,” Twilight said. “She wouldn't be betraying us Fluttershy, she would realize that we're evil, or at least evil from their perspective, and when she did she would chose to remain loyal to the others and side against us.”

“What about... you know... turning her?” Fluttershy asked nervously and shyly. The topic was obviously still uncomfortable for her, though she bravely made the suggestion anyway.

Twilight subtle avoided making eye contact with Fluttershy. Shamefully and with guilt she replied, “I've also thought about that. It's better than killing her, but... I reeeeeally don't want to put her through that. As much as you want to believe you've recovered from what happened to you, you still haven't, and the scars may never heal. You're alright with it now but would you feel the same if you had to kill somepony? Do you honestly think that you wouldn't hold it against me if you had to go through that? Other vampires where raised to accept death, but you weren't. Tell me, would you really be okay with that.”

Fluttershy nervously shook her head. She had tried to avoid the thought, but she couldn't escape knowing that she was destined to be surrounded by death. It was her future, and one she couldn't avoid, no matter how much she wanted to.

Twilight paused for Fluttershy's response, and accepting the gesture as a reply she continued, “I sent Silver Wing a letter last night marking Rainbow as a potential threat. I'm sorry about this Fluttershy, but I can't risk the integrity of the entire race for one mare, even a friend. I wish I had more confidence, but Rainbow really isn't the most rational pony.

“She'll be put under surveillance, but I'm in charge of the situation. Nothing will happen to her unless I approve it, unless action absolutely has to be taken as quickly as possible.”

Fluttershy nodded. Twilight said she had the situation completely in her control, but she was still worried about Rainbow's safety. Twilight promised that she would do everything in her power to make sure Rainbow would be unharmed, but with Twilight in charge she was perhaps even more uncertain.

The remainder of the train ride was spent discussing their future, how they would adapt to recent changes, and what they would do in a few decades, when they couldn't stay in one place without ponies beginning to realize they weren't aging, and after a century or so when they would need to completely change identities.

Such conversations take a long time though, and it seemed like no time at all before they pulled in to Ponyville.

The opted not to wear their cloaks home, seeing as it was the middle of the night and they wouldn't need the offered protection.

When they stepped out on the platform Twilight said, “Goodbye for now I guess.” Then she leaned over and gave Fluttershy a small kiss on the cheek. Fluttershy blushed wildly at that and shied away.

“We've been... in a relationship for almost a week,” Twilight said, “I figured it was about time.”

Twilight pulled Fluttershy into a hug, which she returned after a short delay. Twilight pulled away and looked Fluttershy in the eyes and smiled at her, and then went off to return to the library. Fluttershy stood there momentarily, still trying to figure out exactly what just happened, then she started off towards home for some much needed rest time to process everything that happened that day.

Author's Note

I may have gone a bit overboard with this one.
This is only part one of the chapter, see part two for more detailed authors notes.

Chapter 14b, Meeting

Rainbow Dash stood outside of Carousel Boutique, looking at the closed sign on the door and the dark curtains ominously obscuring the windows.

Rarity had found her in the market the day before and asked her to come by at eleven in the morning. Now it was about fifteen minutes after eleven, and judging from the appearance of the store Rarity was waiting for her.

Sensing nothing better to do she stepped up to the door and knocked. Barely a second later Rarity opened the door.

“Welcome darling,” she said, “please, come in.”

Rarity stepped back and pulled the door the whole way open, shutting it again once Rainbow was safely inside.

It took Rainbow's eyes a moment to fully adjust to the dim light afforded by the candles laid out around the room. Once they did she could see that she and Rarity weren't alone. Pinkie Pie and Applejack were also present, sitting on pillows set out by Rarity.

They were laid out in a circle pattern, broken by a large chalkboard that Rarity acquired from somewhere. There were two spots, one for Rarity that was obviously being used and one for Rainbow, between Rarity and Applejack.

“Have a seat,” Rarity said as she trotted over to her own spot. Rainbow followed and sat down beside her.

Seeing that everypony was ready, Rarity began, “So, I've asked you all to come here to discuss a matter of some importance.

“As I'm sure you're all aware, Rainbow has recently begun to become suspicious of Twilight and Fluttershy, and she has be expressing it rather excessively. Seeing as it's begun to become problematic, I've asked you to come here to discuss it, to see if we can't come to some kind of understanding.”

“Ain't nothin' to discuss,” Applejack said, “none of it's true!”

“Please feel free to support that argument Applejack, but you also need to listen to everypony else's,” Rarity said calmly.

“I haven’t called you here to tell Rainbow to stop,” she said, “I've asked you here so we can discuss both sides of the argument. We explain why we feel that Rainbows fears are unwarranted, and she explains how she's reached her conclusions.

“Personally I'm not entirely sure myself what to think...”

“How can you say that?,” Pinkie said accusingly, interrupting Rarity, “How could you doubt Twilight and Fluttershy like that, haven't they been great friends?”

“Yeah, how could ya say you support Rainbow, this is crazy!” Applejack added.

“I'm not saying I support Rainbow, not entirely at least for the moment, but I will admit I've seen the most of this whole situation, if you wish to call it that. I don't question them as friends but I do worry about their honesty. Twilight and Fluttershy are out of town today, going to meet 'a friend of a friend' as she called it. You must admit that this in itself is a little suspicious, even without suspecting anything else.”

Rarity looked around, Rainbow looked grateful that one pony believed her, while the other two looked angry.

“So, are there any questions?” she asked, looking around to see if anypony had anything to say. When they didn't say anything she continued, “Very well, let's get started then.”

Rarity levitated a piece of chalk over to the board and said, “We're going to start by going over everything we know. If you have something to add, then please, say so.”

She started, “So, about a month ago something suspicious happened. At a little after seven o'clock Fluttershy came in and asked me a few very suspicious question about topics she shouldn't have known about.”

She adopted a very serious look before continuing, “What I'm about to tell you is something that you aren't supposed to know, so keep this in mind and don't repeat it to anypony, and if you must talk about it amongst yourselves make sure nopony else is listening in. The only reason I'm even mentioning it is because Fluttershy asked me first. Know your enemy, as it were.”

On the board she wrote the word 'Questions', and under that she listed blood magic and necromancy. With a deep breath she said, “When she came to me she asked me about two different forms of dark magic,–” She tapped the chalk on the board “–blood magic and necromancy. Both have been forbidden and highly illegal since long before Nightmare Moon, and they aren’t something you simply come across, in fact, as I've warned you, their very mention can become trouble if word gets out.”

“If they're so bad, then how do you know 'bout them?” Applejack asked accusingly.

“Yeah,” Rainbow added, “How do we know that you aren't working with them?”

Though she didn't want to admit it to her friends, under pressure Rarity accepted defeat. With a heavy sigh she said, “I never wanted to bring this up, but before moving to Ponyville I attended, and graduated from, Celestia's School for gifted Unicorns.”

“Why would you not TELL ANYPONY ABOUT THAT?” Pinkie asked somewhat loudly, causing everypony to flinch.

“It was a part of my life I would rather forget, and can we please leave it at that?” Rarity requested.

“How do we know you really went?” Rainbow accused, “If you've been working with them, then how do we know you're not just telling us something that makes sense?”

Rarity looked around again. This time Applejack was glaring at Rainbow while Pinkie had her hoof on her chin as if in thought. Rainbow was looking at her sternly.

She sighed again, “If I must prove my innocence, then keep in mind that I didn't know anything other than the broad definitions of these magics, I warned Fluttershy that she wasn't meant to know about them, and I gave you information that I easily could have covered up and prevented you from having ever gotten suspicious in the first place. If I was involved I wouldn't be supporting the argument that something, is in fact, not right.”

On the board she added below the questions she added 'Two Fluttershys'. “Remember that, according to Twilight, while Fluttershy was here, she was also at the library, having supposedly fallen ill around the same time.”

Rarity drew an arrow out and at the end wrote 'Changelings'. “Twilight also explained the possibility of changelings being involved.”

“Can ya get ta the point already?” Applejack added.”

“Yes, we can,” Rarity said, drawing arrows from everything to one place where she added 'Cover-up? She circled the words and said, “The point is, what happened, and were they trying to cover up their involvement?”

“Ah don't see what about Twilight's explanation doesn't make sense to you.”

Rarity sighed yet again, and explained, “It makes sense but then again so does the conspiracy theory. The problem is that nopony has any proof, but Twilight and Fluttershy have continued to act strangely ever since.”

After a moments thought Rarity added another arrow from the questions to a new point where she wrote 'Curiosity'. “Thinking back to that day, Fluttershy wasn't asking about how or what these magics could do, she was more interested in what they were. Perhaps she saw them while she was visiting Twilight. Either way, from where I stand somepony wouldn't simply know the name. If you know the name of these magics at all then you should at least also know they are.”

“Then it couldn't have been changelings!” Rainbow exclaimed suddenly, “If it was changelings than they would have had to find out about it somehow, and they couldn't have found out about it unless they got it from somepony... or maybe a book or something, but if they did they would have figured out what it is at the same time, and they would have known nopony could do it or know what it can do!”

Rarity crossed the changeling theory off the board, and then had an realization, and added arrows from the crossed-out changelings and curiosity to a new text called 'Threat Potential'. The she drew another arrow from there the the cover up theory and said, “That means that one of Twilight's points about the changeling explanation is impossible. She said they may be gauging how much of a threat we pose to them after the attack on Canterlot, but then that explanation means they would have known about the magics but not know that we couldn't use them.”

“See Applejack, Twilight was covering for Fluttershy,” Rainbow said, looking pleased with herself.

“So,” Applejack replied, “It's a bit suspicious, but it doesn’t prove nothin', Twilight can get books about that stuff no problem. How do ya beat that one?”

“Unless she wasn't supposed to have them.”

Everypony looked at Pinkie, who had been strangely quiet. She just shrugged, “What, it makes sense.”

Rarity shrugged along with her and connected questions to a new point for the possibility of dark magic being part of Twilight’s studies and from there to one for the possibility that those studies where illicit.

They looked over the existing evidence for a while longer, but couldn't come up with anything new.

Finally, Rarity came up with an idea, “Why don't we go over what we have and come up with a story that explains everything, and see what else we come up with by the time we're done. It's all I can think of at the moment.

Rainbow took the opportunity to start right away, “Okay, so we know that Fluttershy was visiting Twilight, and we think she saw something, like a book or some notes, and got curious and didn't want to ask Twilight...”

“Or maybe Twilight wouldn't tell her?” Pinkie added in.

“And so she came here,” Rarity continued for her, “and asked me what I knew, but I couldn’t give her anything about the magics themselves or creatures that could have used the without the harmful and deadly side effects...”

“Wait just a minute! You never mentioned this before,” Applejack said.

Rarity added it to the board but didn't connect it to anything, and then said, “As you can see, I didn't bring it up because I couldn't see where it would have been relevant.

“She thought that somepony, presumably Twilight, may have been replaced by a changeling or something similar when I told her what the magics were and how dangerous they were to anypony casting them. She went back and took something Twilight had me make to her...”

Rarity suddenly had an epiphany, and crossed off the two Fluttershys point. Then she added a new point 'Necklace', and added a line between the two.

“Twilight had requested that I make her a necklace about a week before this happened. I let Fluttershy deliver it because she offered, and I saw Twilight wearing it a few days later. If Fluttershy was with Twilight and fell ill around the same time then how did she get the necklace?”

“So we know that Fluttershy went back to Twilight,” Rainbow said, continuing where they left off, “and when she got back she gave Twilight the necklace, and then she got sick... wait a minute, do we actually know that she was sick, or is than just another cover for something else?”

Rarity added 'No Illness?' and drew a line between it and cover-up, “So if it wasn't an illness, what could it have been?”

“Maybe,” said Applejack, who had been silent and observing the growing evidence until now, “just maybe, it really was just an illness.”

Pinkie gasped, “Maybe Twilight used dark magic made her sick so she couldn't go out and tell everypony her big secret!”

“As far fetched as it seems” – She added 'Illness Caused?' and connected it with Twilight's dark magic studies and the cover-up – “It makes sense.”

“So she gets to Twilight and Twilight finds out how much she knows, so she does something to her so she can't tell anypony,” Rainbow went on to say.

“How could she do something like that? Only a really really evil pony would do something like that to Fluttershy!” Pinkie interjected, earning a smug look from Rainbow and a glare from Applejack that silently said not to encourage them.

“If Twi made Fluttershy sick, then why's she a suspect now?” Applejack asked, “Why would she go along with any of Twilight's plans after that?”

“I don't know, maybe Twilight convinced her that she wasn't evil?” Rainbow said, earning a disappointed look that told her that Applejack wasn't amused.

“Or maybe she isn't going along with this of her free will,” Rarity added in. “What if Twilight is using other forms of dark magic we don't know she's learning to control Fluttershy?”

Everypony, even Applejack, agreed that this explanation made sense, and Rarity connected cover-up to both 'Convinced' and 'Controlled', and both of those to and new point called 'Strange Behavior'.

“So basically, Fluttershy found out Twilight was studying dark magic, then Twilight made sure she couldn't tell anypony about it, and now she's either being controlled or believes that Twilight isn't evil, right?” Rainbow asked.

“That's about the gist of it,” Applejack said in response.

But then Pinkie said the one thing that completely overturned the sense of confidence they had from everything they had pieced together, “But girls, you forgot the really important, super big question. Why is Twilight studying dark magic in the first place?”

At once they all looked at the board, which was over half full of information in a web-like layout. Nothing on their explained why.

“Indeed, that is a very good question. What possible reason could she have for studying dark magic?” Rarity asked, “From this point we can get rid of the possibility that she's doing this as part of her studies for Princess Celestia, if she were she would have no reason to cover it up as such.”

“So, she wasn't supposed to be doing this, and she's trying to hide it,” Applejack stated.

“But there are so many different reasons that she could have,” Rainbow said, “She could be involved in a cult, or trying to defeat the princesses and take over Equestria. Maybe she just want to be evil in general, or maybe she wants to feel powerful. In fact, we don't even know that there is a reason, she might just be learning it for fun.”

Soon the board was all but completely full as Rarity tried to put down everything they could think of and decide which of the two explanations for Fluttershy's strange behavior fit best with each one, or both if applicable.

When she realized they were out of room on this side of the board she flipped it over and started writing their conclusion. Nopony had anything to add, so she wrote out a time line over the board that explained the events as they know them. In the top right corner of the board she wrote each of the theories for why Twilight would be involved and put with it the most likely explanation as to how Fluttershy was involved along side her, whether it said that she was convinced that Twilight was just studying dark magic out of professional interest or forced to keep quiet about her evil nature or her plot to make all of Equestria bow before her, or if she was recruited for a cult or either forced or convinced to keep it a secret that Twilight was involved with one.

Finally they had everything they could come up, and to conclude Rarity asked, “Looking over the evidence, do you two still think that there's absolutely nothing going on? Absolutely nothing at all?”

Pinkie shook her head, but Applejack asked, “Even if somethin' is goin' on, which it probably is, isn't it Twi's business what she decides to do with her life, not ours?”

“It might be if she's just studying it, or even if she joined a cult, but if she's trying to take the throne then wouldn't it be in the better interests of Equestria if we stopped her?” Rarity replied.

“If you can find me some proof that she really is trying to take over Equestria, then I'll help you. Otherwise, it's none of my business.”

Rarity supposed that it was better than nothing, and thought that Applejack might be right and it would be better to just let Twilight decide her own business, but her inner curiosity couldn't let her give it up. Besides, what kind of friend would she be if she didn't try to help Twilight get out of whatever she was caught up in.”

“Oh, are we gonna be spies? I love spying, with spy equipment, and spy outfits, and grappling hooks, can't be a spy without 'em!”

“Er... maaaaybe you should just let Rarity and I do the spying,” Rainbow said, making Pinkie frown sadly, “Alright fine, why don't you do all the conspiracy theory stuff with the chalkboard –” She looked over at the board “– you can start by getting a bigger board.”

Pinkie perked back up with a huge smile, and Rarity said, “Well, if that's settled, I guess...”

“Wait a minute!” Dash interrupted, “Everything we’ve talked about was over a month ago, what about everything that's happened since then?”

“Well, I saw Twilight a few days after, and she asked me to...” Rarity trailed off, earning curious looks from the others.”

“Asked you to what?” Applejack questioned.

Rarity remained quiet for a moment, and then said, “It really isn't my place to say. If Twilight chooses to share with you the details of her personal life that's her business, but I won't give out her secrets. I promise it's nothing important to this particular discussion.”

“I ran into Fluttershy...” Rarity didn't even take a moment to pause before adding a new point on the already nearly full board called 'Silver Wing' and another called 'Friend of a Friend'. She drew an arrow from Fluttershy's strange behavior to Silver Wing and another to friend of a friend.

“I ran into Fluttershy a few weeks ago, she was out in the Everfree Forest at five in the morning with somepony named Silver Wing, she said they were taking a walk, and said the forest isn't as dangerous as it seems. She said that Silver Wing was a friend of Twilight's and that she introduced them.”

“Even I'll admit, that's a little bit suspicious,” Applejack said.

“So you think that the pony Twilight went to go meet is somepony this Silver Wing knows?” Rainbow asked, standing up and stretching before she had to leave.

Rarity smiled, standing up herself, “I would say that if she really is meeting somepony, this might be how they're getting together.”

“So's that all?” Applejack asked, mimicking them and standing up.

“That's all, at least until next time.”

“Next time,” said Applejack, “Don't invite me. Ah don't like lookin' into other ponies business.”

Rarity just rolled her eyes. They said their farewells and left with a new mission.

Spy on Twilight and Fluttershy.

Author's Note

This half of the chapter has much shorter lines of dialogue and overall less quality than the first in my opinion.

I want to clear this up, I want to get this fic done as soon as possible. I counted my ideas list recently and it numbered at almost 200! I have other stories I want to get on to, but I've put so much time and effort into this one that I can't just give it up at this point, even if I wanted to. I want to try to get chapters released every 1-3 days from now on, the possible exception being multipart chapters like this one that I release all at once. If I do that I hope to get done mid to late October, but plans may change.

Also, this chapter acts as a migration into the second part of the story, which focuses more on Rainbow and Rarity's perspectives, with Twilight and Fluttershy's coming up on occasion as they try to deal with the investigation.

Chapter 15, Distant Friendships

“Anything new yet?”

Three weeks had passed since they formed their little detective team, and since then they've met once a week, same day, same time, same place, to report what they've learned and collaborate on all their evidence. They only had one problem...

They hadn't learned much yet.

They got a bigger chalkboard and recopied all of their notes from the small one, but since then they'd found no valuable evidence of any kind.

Not for lack of trying of course, they had observed Twilight and Fluttershy in as much of their free time as they could, going to efforts to eavesdrop whenever possible, read personal documents, and Pinkie had even gone as far as to record all of their orders from Sugarcube Corner.

It was hard though, because as stealthy as they were their targets always knew where they were and when they were watching, personal documents and letters were locked away in drawers, and when they did purchase something from Sugarcube Corner, which was not often, every order was completely normal.

That didn't mean that they didn’t learn anything though. By casual observation or just being in the right place at the right time, such as working in Sugarcube Corner for example, sometimes proved rewarding. Some of the most valuable information, which lacked much value at all, came from running into Twilight and Fluttershy accidentally, or sometimes the other way around.

One of the two most valuable pieces of evidence that they had so far came from Pinkie, behind the counter of Sugarcube Corner. The bakery was well known as one of the more popular attractions in Ponyville, and it could also be a great place to get together with friends. Twilight and Fluttershy would come in once or twice a week, usually on slow days where the weather wasn’t suitable for getting out. They would always sit in the corner and speak quietly, and go silent any time somepony was near. Even when she was so stealthy that nopony could possibly see her they were still aware of Pinkie’s presence somehow, and would turn whatever hushed meeting they were having to small talk for as long as she was in the vicinity. Sometimes they would give glance at Pinkie, or one of the others if they were there.

They often bought a cupcake or cookie when they were there, but it would go uneaten and usually would be taken out with them. They didn’t bother to hide that they weren’t there to eat, and their meetings, if uninterrupted, would go on for anywhere from ten minutes to over an hour.

Occasionally it would be more than just talking though, they occasionally would exchange a letter or even once a package, probably a book from Pinkie’s viewpoint, but they all agreed it could be anything.

Once Rainbow and Rarity were in Sugarcube Corner together to meet with Pinkie for lunch to discuss Twilight and Fluttershy at the same time they were there. They briefly confronted the two in as friendly of a manner as they could, but they claimed they were only together for lunch.

Searching the suspects’ homes worked out little better in the end. They figured that if any evidence was to be found anywhere it would be in the homes of the two ponies they were looking into.

The actual searches themselves turned up very little though.

Fluttershy’s home wasn’t hard to get into, she never locked her upstairs window, but that was a limitation, as only Rainbow could get in, and she wasn’t the most observant of the group.

Fluttershy had a locked cabinet, large enough to hold any number of things, and a small desk with locked drawers. Fluttershy wasn’t the most careful pony, and very often would leave out letters or piles of parchment, all containing the same symbol over and over again. The letters were mostly from Twilight, acting as invitations and giving a time to meet her, either at a local spot later in the evening or at the train station before dawn. Nothing that could give any clues was left out though, and they speculated that they were more carefully locked inside either the desk or cabinet, if not destroyed outright.

Twilight’s room in the top floor of the library was more accessible. There was no reason to lock it, as most ponies had the courtesy to stay out of the upstairs, which housed Twilight’s private collection of books, as well as books gifted to her by Princess Celestia, some of which weren’t allowed to go out to the public, not to mention if she locked it Spike wouldn’t be able to get in whenever he needed to.

Twilight was a very neat and very intelligent pony, so while they were sure that there was something there, they couldn’t find it. She had very few books out, mostly books on psychology, but some on other more interesting topics, such as methods of secret communications, iconography, and most curiously of all, methods of learning languages.

While her books of choice where somewhat odd, more suspicious yet were some of the other things in her room. There was a box, fairly large and very heavy, that was always locked. There was also a desk that Rarity said wasn’t always there, though she admitted that she hadn’t been up there in some time. This caught attention because unlike the rest of the room, this desk was usually less tidy, having out ink, parchment, and sometimes even complete letters laid out across it.

None of the letters left out were evidence though. Indeed, it appeared that they were all letters containing no important information, which may shed some light onto why they were so carelessly handled. It was mostly just dates and places, always for some kind of meeting, and often out of town. This reinforced that in whatever was going on, Twilight was involved deeply, and more importantly that Fluttershy was going along with it of her own volition.

Spike was a valuable source of information though. Out of concern for Twilight and his own curiosity he willingly and eagerly gave out evidence, and the evidence he provided painted a picture that they had previously never stopped to consider.

What were Twilight and Fluttershy doing at night?

They weren’t expecting it, so it came as something as a shock to them when they heard that most of Twilights meetings with Fluttershy were nocturnal. From what Spike told them, Twilight and Fluttershy got together almost every night, either in the library or somewhere else, and though Spike was usually privy to the inner workings of the library, when those two were there it was like he was an outsider. He would be kept out of the upstairs area most of the time, force to stay on one of the reading couches on the main floor. They would be up there for hours at a time, so Spike would usually end sleeping downstairs.

The few times they were only together briefly Spike got more insight into what they were doing, but they were careful to only show him so much. The one detail he added that they couldn’t figure out for themselves from their own examinations of Twilight’s living area was that the locked box she had in the room had been in her possession for years, but until recently was unused, at least to the best of his knowledge, and contained numerous books and nothing else. The nature of the books were a mystery to him, as on the occasions when they exchanged books from the box he was allowed in the room, but not anywhere nearby.

None of what they found through all that observation served much purpose other than reinforcing their suspicions that there was something they weren’t being told, which was perhaps the only reason they were still going. They knew something wasn’t right and they were confident that they could figure it out, and then find a way to work from there.

The one other thing he could add was that she frequently received letters via couriers, appearances hidden under heavy cloaks, but he wasn’t privy to their contents

There was one piece of evidence that they had new information on though, and one that every other piece of evidence they had gathered in recent weeks had in common. That was the mare they knew as Silver Wing.

The enigmatic pony was very frequently found to be everywhere. The letters to Twilight and even a few to Fluttershy were almost always signed by her, and she was seen with Twilight and Fluttershy a few times at Sugarcube Corner and at other meeting places, though only from a distance. In any case, Rarity recognized her immediately, and confirmed her appearance by description on several occasions.

Spike helped clear up some of the mystery. From his account, she was Twilight’s foalsitter before she became Princess Celestia’s student and Cadence took over the privilege. She had a job doing some of the mountains of paperwork that went through Canterlot Castle, and would occasionally get together with Twilight, especially as she got older, and even on a few occasions since moving to Ponyville. According to him she started showing up much more frequently within the past month, and would meet with Twilight and Fluttershy whenever she was in town.

His addition took much of the mystery off her, but the question of what she was doing, and how was it related, were still mysteries. Even more importantly, it added the possibility that this wasn’t a recent change. If that was the case, this could have been going on for as long as Twilight’s early youth, even before her time as Celestia’s student.

So now it was their third official meeting, and they hadn’t made any significant progress of any kind except come across even more suspicious behavior from everypony involved, and reduce the likelihood that Fluttershy was being controlled to virtually zero, along with the chances that Twilight was only doing this only out of an illicit curiosity.

The board, as they had taken to calling it, was out in the center of the room, and when it wasn’t it would be stored in the back, out of sight, so that anypony could come in and add to it at any time if they wanted or needed to. Silver Wing had received the most attention, shortly followed by Twilight and Fluttershy’s suspicious behaviors. The contents of the first meeting, the ones focusing on the events preceding recent developments, were moved to a small area in the corner when they were seen to be less relevant. They were still significant, and still had value, but for the most part it was only vaguely related. It may have been what started all of this, or at least a trigger for something that was already brewing, but now it wasn’t playing any important role, there was no new evidence of Twilight studying dark magic and no new evidence of how Fluttershy became involved.

So, when Rainbow asked the question of whether or not there was any evidence, the others were overcome with the same involuntary feeling of incompetence.

“I’m afraid not darling, they haven’t been by my store, and I haven’t run into them across town all week,” Rarity said somewhat dejectedly. True that if she had she would have taken note of every detail and the group would have scrutinized them closely, but unfortunately whatever divide was created by this secret wasn’t being repaired, and the two mares were growing further from their friends, so the chances of running into them were growing further.

“Just the usual, cupcakes and cookies and super-secret evil meetings in the corner of Sugercube Corner, wait a minute, they’re in the corner of Sugarcube Corner!That’s so funny!” Pinkie said, earning an eye roll from the others.

“What about you Rainbow, what have you discovered?” Rarity asked. She did her best to be confident that something would have come up that somepony else could report, even though she effectively knew the answer before she even asked.

“Nothing!” Rainbow shouted, “I can’t just spend all my nap time following them around and hearing every word they say, they always k now when I’m there, it’s like they just know exactly when they’re being followed and start talking about feeding birds or something else boring like that. How am I supposed to hear them say something useful if every time I get close enough to hear what their saying they switch the subject?”

Rarity gave them a comforting look as she spoke, “It’s not your fault darling, you’ve done your best, they’ve just done a bit better.”

“But we’re still losing!” Rainbow exclaimed. Of the three, her confidence was the first to fall, and she was the first to believe that Twilight and Fluttershy were winning.

“Cheer up Dashie, we still haven’t tried everything you know,” Pinkie said, inspiring confidence but not helping actually give them any ideas.

Rarity took the advice immediately however, and saw one thing on the board that they might actually be able to use.

“What about all these suspicious locked containers they have, what if we open one of them, see what’s inside...”

“How are we supposed to open it though Rarity? I thought you said we couldn’t do any damage to them. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but they’re locked, how are we supposed to open them?” Rainbow pointed out.

It had been a policy of theirs since the first time they agreed to try searching for clues inside Twilight and Fluttershy’s homes. Leave minimal evidence, and no doing any kind of damage. It may get evidence, but they would also be leaving behind some evidence of their own. If Twilight and Fluttershy were aware that they had been breaking into their homes, especially using force to break into their collections of thing that might be deemed private, it could serve as a call to put greater security measures on anything that would have any potential value, not to mention the confrontation that would inevitably follow, and they would be lucky if that was the end of it even if what they got out of it was of little consequence. If they were to come across something that could be used against them, the actions they take might be much more drastic. They didn’t have any proof, but Twilight might have used dark magic on Fluttershy when she discovered something that she shouldn’t have, and if they were to do the same as she did they might end up facing a similar fate.

“I’m not suggesting that we break into it, I’m suggesting we do something more subtle,” Rarity said. “I’m suggesting that we pick the lock.”

They had tried to open the locks in Twilight’s home with magic, but it was obvious from the start that they had been enchanted to protect against magic such as that. Now Rarity was suggesting a more conventional method.

“Can you do it?” Pinkie asked.

“I think I can, I’m not an expert on burglary, but I must at least try. But first we must know where to do it, and when.”

“So, we do it when they aren’t home,” Rainbow said.

“While I agree with your plan, I believe that it may be a bit too simple,” Rarity replied, “We can’t simply walk in when they aren’t home, we need to know exactly how long they’ll be gone for. We can’t risk letting them simply walk in as we’re doing it, as I’m the only one of us all that can actually do it, and unlike you Rainbow I simply don’t have the luxury of simply bolting for the window.”

“So, they always leave their plans out, why not just look at their letters to see when they’re meeting somepony,” Pinkie added.

The plan seemed to work, even if it was a bit unsteady. Rarity said she knew a pony from which she could get a lock pick kit that would serve their purposes, and Rainbow could get in and out of Twilight’s home unseen to see when the next time the coast would be clear. Pinkie offered a place in the basement of Sugarcube Corner they could bring what they found to hide it, and look over it briefly before hiding it.

The plan was set, and they went their separate ways to prepare.

They didn’t have to wait long to put their plan into place. Rainbow’s intelligence gathering effort was a success and she had found a letter that gave them a time to work with. The pony named Silver Wing had requested a meeting between her and Twilight and Fluttershy just after sundown.

Rarity had retrieved a set of lock picks, not professionally customized, not even quality ones, and she was reluctant to divulge her provider. It didn’t matter though, for their purposes it would do fine.

With Pinkie standing by in Sugarcube Corner for the delivery of some of the contents of Twilights desk drawers, the plan was set in motion.

Getting to Twilight’s desk wasn’t a problem, Twilight left to door to upstairs unlocked as always, and Spike as usual had no objections to their presence.

Perhaps it was a bit naive to believe that Twilight wouldn’t have been prepared for everything, or perhaps the contents or the drawer were more important than they realized, but either way they were unprepared for what happened.

Rarity inserted the lock picks and was ready to make her best effort, but as soon as she did there was a faint orange glow from the inside of the lock and Rarity felt changes in the lock pick and slowly, she pulled it out.

“Rainbow, it... melted,” Rarity said. Sure enough, there was an added security measure that she didn’t foresee. A quick scan of the lock revealed a completely foreign type of magic flooding it, not dark by any means but still completely unknown, and still very powerful.

“Well, that didn’t work. Seriously, a lock that melts anything you put in it? I mean, how do you even unlock something like that, it would just melt the key.”

“Unless the key was specifically made to work on this kind of lock,” Rarity replied to Rainbow’s comment. A single key fitting a single lock was the idea behind the entire concept of a lock, so why not take it a step further and create a lock that would reject all but a single key?

“I guess we should go let Pinkie know that we don’t have anything.” Rainbow said, failure catching up to her and dampening her spirits.

“You go ahead, there’s something else I want to do,” Rarity said. Rainbow and Pinkie would often go together to try to eavesdrop on Twilight and Rarity, taking advantage of Pinkie sense warning them when their cover was blown and Twilight and Fluttershy knew they were being followed. Occasionally one or the other would try to go alone, but it wouldn’t turn out much better, but Rarity had did her best to avoid being the one to try, mostly because her unique skills brought her bad memories.

Now that she didn’t see any other option than wait for months more before their routine of running around with no direction rewarded them with something they could use, she was willing to make her own attempt.

The letter with the location of their meeting was still out on her desk, and they would still be out at the meeting at that moment, so Rarity took her leave, making her way out to Fluttershy’s cottage, where they would be meeting outside for Silver Wing.

One of the benefits of being a graduate of Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns was that Rarity had a wide range of magical skills she did her best to avoid using, which included spells designed to hide magical signatures, muffle sounds, and even make a pony difficult to make out visually without some kind of magical aid, to make them blend into the shadows and seem unimportant, unique skills that would make her the ideal spy.

She arrived just seconds behind Twilight, hiding herself to the best of her ability in the foliage.

Fluttershy and Silver Wing were already there, and they greeted Twilight as she arrived.

Twilight gave Fluttershy a book, giving Silver Wing an annoyed look while Fluttershy asked, “What’s this for?”

“I’ll explain later, but first, we have things to discuss,” Twilight replied, and then she turned to face Silver Wing. “We’ll discuss other matters, but there’s something else we need to take care of first.

“Rarity, would you come out here please.”

That was perhaps the most terrifying moment in Rarity’s entire life. Just like with the lock, it was foolish of Rarity to think that Twilight, in her superior education, wouldn’t be able to see through her spells. Compared to some of what she must have learned under Princess Celestia’s tutelage, her spells must have seemed amateur in comparison.

She felt terror unlike anything she had ever felt before, it was a wonder that she didn’t pass out on the spot. She wasn’t sure if she should stay hidden and hope they would think her presence to be a false alarm, but somehow she knew that it just wouldn’t work.

Slowly, she rose from the brush and stepped out into sight. At first she stopped quite a distance away, but when Twilight gestured to come closer she complied even against her own doubts.

“Hello Rarity, pleasure to see you again,” Silver said, and then she turned her head to look at Twilight and added, “You see why I’m concerned?”

“And as I keep telling you, your concerns aren’t necessary, I have confidence that the situation will not get out of control,” Twilight replied.

“I suppose that you can’t be convinced without proof, and by the time you get that it will be too late to defuse the situation,” Silver said, “I really can’t do anything about it, but trust me, if you don’t take action now it will be too late.”

Rarity had the unpleasant feeling that they were talking about their efforts at an investigation. She got evidence out of this but now she was worried it would never get delivered. Twilight seemed to have hopes that things could end well, but Silver Wing had doubts.

“We can talk about that later though,” Twilight continued. “For now, let’s talk about Rarity. First, let me ask, why? You’ve been going to a lot of trouble for this Rarity, so what is it?”

Rarity wasn’t sure what to say. She opened her mount but couldn’t find the will to speak. After a moment she said, “W-well, we’re worried, for you and of you.”

Twilight smiled, “Rarity, we’ve been friends for years. I thought that by now you would have learned to trust me a little more than that. What I do with my life if my choice.”

“What about Fluttershy, was it her choice too?” Rarity asked accusingly.

“Actually…” Fluttershy began to say before Twilight cut her off.

“Rarity, there’s nothing going on that concerns you. Believe me as a friend when I say that and give up, please.”

“Twilight, what happened to you?” Rarity asked. “You’ve changed so much.”

“Rarity, it’s honestly none of your business. There’s nothing going on that you need to worry about. I’m sorry if we’ve been a bit distant recently, but if it makes you any more comfortable we can start getting together as friends more often. In fact, I was planning on coming to see you later this week to see if you could help me with something. If there’s anything you want to talk about we can get to it then.”

Rarity nodded nervously.

“Good, now if you wouldn’t mind, we did have plans before you showed up.”

Rarity didn’t hesitate to leave as quickly as possible. She ran home as quickly as she could.

As soon as she arrived she rush to the back room to the board and started revising the evidence they had. Their meeting was terrifying, but Rarity could safely cross a few things off the board, and add a few more using what she learned. One thing was starting to become more evident over time though.

Whatever was going on, Twilight just might be the one in charge.

Author's Note

Well, somehow my chapters seem to be getting both longer and more frequent as time goes on. Two good signs I guess?

Chapter 16, Tensions Rising

The bell above the door chimed to indicate the arrival of a customer in Carousel Boutique.

Rarity, who was trying to use Applejack as a model much to their mutual annoyance, called out, “Welcome to Carousel Boutique, I’ll be with you in a moment.”

“Alright, I can wait,” called out an uncomfortably familiar voice, one that made Rarity nearly drop the needles she was holding.

“Twilight! I wasn’t expecting you, please come in,” she said uncomfortably, having trouble holding the needles steady now as she put the finishing touches on the new dress she was designing.

“Howdy Twi,” Applejack said, aware of the source of Rarity’s discomfort but not bound by the same growing paranoia.

“Hello Applejack, and thank you by the way, for staying out of other ponies business, and their desk drawers,” Twilight said.

Applejack was moderately annoyed with the others for going on, and was somewhat pleased with herself when Twilight thanked her for not being involved in their insane scheme, but was thoroughly confused when she mentioned desk drawers.

Rarity meanwhile was startled when it came up, and she briefly stumbled, and this time she did drop her needles.

“Ah don’t mean to be rude, but anypony want to fill me in on what happened?”

“Yes Rarity, would you like to fill Applejack in on what happened, and how horrendously it failed,” Twilight said, looking at Rarity with almost amused eyes.

“I, um... well you see... how was I supposed to know it would do that?” Rarity stuttered, earning Applejacks amusement as well.

Twilight turned her attention back to Applejack and said, “Maybe we should just say that I outsmarted her and leave it at that, we wouldn’t want to embarrass her too much.”

This was enough, and Applejack couldn’t help but laugh. Twilight may not have had the most mischievous personality, but when she could she took advantage of it well.

“Yes, well,” Rarity said, recovering herself, “I believe that will be all Applejack. After all, I’m sure that Twilight would love to help me finish.”

Applejacks amusement wore off when the tables were turned, but Twilight kept smiling, “It’s fine Applejack, there are some things I need to discuss with Rarity anyway, including the desk drawers.”

Rarity went off into another minor fit when she heard about that again, but Twilight said, “It’s alright Rarity, I’m not mad about it, it was easy enough to fix.”

“Well, Ah suppose I should go then, have fun you two.”

Applejack walked past Twilight and left the building, leaving Rarity alone with Twilight.

“Now, about why I’m here,” Twilight began, “I would like you’re help with something.”

She produced a worn brown cloak and continued, “I’ve been wearing this for the past month, but it’s really old and I need something new. I was hoping that you could make something similar to this. Nothing to outrageous, just a single color and one that doesn’t stand out, and it needs to be like this one, not too thick but with multiple layers, and preferably more comfortable than this.”

Rarity took the cloak with her magic. It was obviously enchanted with a number spells, but Rarity didn’t recognize most of them. As she looked it over she said, “Darling, this is... the most polite way to say it is that this is hideous, why do you even need a cloak anyway?”

“Why do you need glasses?” Twilight shot back. Rarity’s attention was momentarily drawn to the glasses perched on her face.

Rarity could see just fine without them, but when she wore them she felt like she was more immersed in her work. It was obvious that Twilight’s question was meant to be a polite way to tell her that it was none of her business. Going along with it, she replied, “Good point.”

“Would you like me to help you finish your dress?” Twilight asked.

“No, I can finish it myself, I was simply jesting when I said that,” Rarity replied. “Anyway, we both know that you aren’t just here to place an order, so what do you want?”

Twilight smiled, “Well, originally I was planning to just talk, as friends, but after I found out that you were trying to pick the lock on my drawers, I figured we might as well talk this out. Starting with, why in Celestia’s name would you try to pick the lock on my drawers?”

“We didn’t know that it was enchanted, we were just going to see what was inside, we thought that maybe it was evidence. How were we supposed to know that it would melt the tool?”

Twilight calmly replied, “Rarity, you shouldn’t have been trying anyway. Why can’t you just trust me when I say that I know what I’m doing and anything I do is my business, not yours?”

“Twilight, we really don’t know what to think, and you’ve only been making our suspicions worse with your ‘business’,” Rarity said. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but we feel that you’ve been suspicious for less that honorable reasons, and we know that you were studying dark magic.”

Twilight sighed, “Rarity, would it help if I was a little more forthcoming with you right now?”

Rarity nodded, and Twilight took that as a sign to continue. She wasn’t planning on giving away any actually important information, but she would be reassuring.

“Alright, I’ll admit that I’ve been going out of town a lot recently to meet a number of ponies across Equestria, and most of the time I’ve invited Fluttershy to come along with me. The reason is, and please don’t tell anypony, is that Fluttershy and I are... in a relationship. It’s a way for us to spend more time together, and meeting new ponies had really been helping her confidence.”

None it was actually lying, but there was also a lot she wasn’t saying for good reason.

“Oh Twilight I’m so happy for you! I’m sure you two make the cutest couple!” Rarity said somewhat overenthusiastically.

“Thanks?” Twilight said, “What I’m trying to say is that I’m not trying to push you away or anything. I’ve had a busy month, but I’m done going out of town for the most part, and I think that maybe if the six of us start getting together again more often then you’ll see that nothing’s changed since before. I just want to get past this and get back to normal life, but we can’t do that unless you give us a chance.”

“While I would like that more than anything, I agree with the others on this matter. We’re worried about you Twilight, and we don’t want to let anything happen to you.”

“Show me,” Twilight said simply.

“Show you what?” Rarity asked, not catching the vague request.

“Your evidence,” Twilight replied, “if you really think there’s something wrong and that I can’t handle it, show me whatever evidence you have.”

“Err... I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.” Rarity said in response.

Twilight laughed weakly, “Rarity, what’s the worst I could do, suddenly make everything you know wrong? There is nothing I can do in this situation other than tell you there’s nothing for you to find.”

Rarity hesitated for a moment, but the truth of Twilights words sank in and she gave in. she silently motioned for Twilight to follow and led her to the back room.

“I’m actually somewhat surprised that Sweetie Belle hasn’t found this yet,” Rarity said as Twilight stepped into the back room and caught sight of the board.

From her perspective, it had a lot of information, all of it correct, but it was nothing but information. It couldn’t help them.

“Well, none of this is wrong. Useless, but not wrong... except one thing on this board is a little bit outdated,” Twilight said. Without asking permission she erased the part of the board about the locks melting anything except the key and rewrote it, this time saying that the lock ripped apart anything other than the proper key, and then she said, “I’ve upgraded the locks since last time. I figured that you could probably find a way around the old ones, so I put something a bit harder. I’m hoping it won’t be necessary.”

“Twilight, I don’t like having to doubt you,” Rarity said. “Why don’t you just tell us the truth? We’re your friends, I would have imagined that would necessitate a certain level of trust, and you know we would accept you regardless of whatever secrets you might have.”

“Because there are some things you aren’t meant to know!” Twilight suddenly said angrily, “You’re playing a dangerous game Rarity, so please, quit while you still can.”

Rarity took a step back, and Twilight took a deep breath, and then she said, “I don’t want to scare you Rarity, but some secrets aren’t meant to be known, and if you continue this search there will be consequences. My advice to you is to quit while you’re ahead and let us all continue our lives and mend our friendships in peace.”

Rarity looked at Twilight with fear. Whatever she and Fluttershy were doing they obviously didn’t want it to be discovered.

Twilight took another moment to calm down and said, “I would like that cloak by the end of the day tomorrow, earlier if you can.”

Twilight trotted out of the room briskly, leaving behind a stunned Rarity. In parting she yelled back, “And think about what I’ve said!”

Chapter 18, Impact

Rainbow Dash was bored. There was very little more to say about it.

Sundown had come nearly an hour ago, and Rainbow wasn't the best at nighttime flying, but she wasn't tired and didn't want to go to sleep yet, or even go home for that matter, so instead she spent the time lazing around on a cloud above the library, watching and waiting until she could actually fall asleep.

It was actually Rarity's turn to keep watch on Twilight this week, so Rainbow didn't need to be their, but since it was also Pinkie's turn to be watching Fluttershy, that meant that Rainbow didn't have anything else she was meant to be doing. Since Rarity couldn't be watching Twilight every hour of the day though she figured there was no harm in observing Twilight in her free time.

By now the group had realized that there wasn't much new evidence to find. Twilight and Fluttershy were still doing the things they had been, but nothing new had surfaced in recent weeks, so instead they changed their tactic to expanding on the evidence they already had. One of the things they had decided to try was recording more information on the different things they had been observing.

This included couriers, one of the things they had almost no information on at all. Meetings were always recorded in great detail, as was the locations and times of semi-frequent trips out of Ponyville, but one of the greatest mysteries remained the cloaked ponies that would show up without warning and deliver letters or even small packages. Nopony could see who they were under the cloaks, and they could find no kind of identification or explanation anywhere.

Rainbows observation yielded no better results. It was about fifteen minutes earlier that she saw somepony arrive with a letter, but she didn't see anything other than that.

Rainbow grew more and more bored with just floating atop the library, and eventually what she thought would be an excellent idea turned out to have been wasted time. Seeing no further point in silently watching, she decided to just go down and bother Twilight for a while. If she was really lucky she might learn something new, and if not anything would be better just watching the building for another hour.

Jumping off the cloud, she glided down to the balcony of Twilight's home and entered directly on to the second floor.

Twilight was absent at the time, but for the moment it didn't cross her mind that Twilight hadn’t actually left the building, and therefor must still be there somewhere. The room was empty, and without Twilight there her attention was caught by an open letter sitting out on her desk.

She made her way over, still oblivious to the lit candles and other numerous signs that said that Twilight was still home, and started reading.

Twilight,

I'm aware that you believe to have the situation under control, and that you will likely turn down our recommendations again, but once again Shadowfall and myself advise that Rainbow Dash be eliminated, as well as Rarity and possibly Pinkie Pie. We also recommend that Applejack be monitored more closely in the near future, especially if you choose to heed our advice.

I know that you have objections to this, but you also don't have very much experience. The situation is under control now, but in the near future there will be a point of impact, after which the situation will be almost impossible to contain.

Silver Wing

As she read on, Rainbow's sense of apprehension grew. She didn't know the exact meaning of the word 'eliminate', but she knew that it couldn't be good, for any of them. Had she actually understood the full implications of the letter she would have grabbed it and ran.

She read through the letter again, and then started to read it again a third time. The contents were startling, and she just couldn't seem to take it in.

Reading the letter through a third time was a mistake though. She was barely past the first paragraph when she heard the door from the first floor creak open. Her head shot up to see a startled Twilight, looking just as terrified as she was.

Twilight fearful expression went completely unnoticed by Rainbow however. Not expecting anypony else in her home, Twilight hadn't gone to the trouble of disguising herself, so all that Rainbow could pay attention to was her menacing, evil looking red eyes, and the sharp fangs protruding from her mouth.

They were both caught, and so standing at nearly opposite ends of the room they simply stared at each other.

Rainbow took a step back and glanced between Twilight and the letter. Twilight picked up on this, and realized that Rainbow had read the letter she received. Twilight levitated the cup of hot tea she had been carrying with her off onto her nightstand as it suddenly became insignificant.

With no clue where to start, Twilight took the initiative by saying, “Hello Rainbow.”

It was an awkward, nervous greeting, and one that Rainbow didn't return. She didn't mean to remain silent, but her curious adventure had caused her to stumble onto one of her friend's darker secrets, and she knew it, and that was what frightened her the most.

Twilight saw that Rainbow was afraid, and for a moment she thought about how Rainbow's strength and confidence fell so easily when friendship failed her.

Clearing her mind of the distraction of how Rainbow feared her right now and focusing on how she should try to alleviate the situation, she said as reassuringly as possible, “You know, I wasn't actually going to take their advice, I value our friendship to much for that.”

Rainbow wasn't completely sure how to react, but in her moment of weakness she wasn't thinking straight, and the rational part of her mind mind was telling her that Twilight had been lying to her and was only trying to trick her and get her to lower her guard.

Rainbow continued to look at Twilight, and seeing no other option than escape, she grew tense and prepared to run for it. Twilight may have had wings, but Rainbow knew that she would still be the fastest flier of the two.

It was a great plan, but Rainbow couldn't compensate for Twilight. If Twilight were limited by being a normal mortal pony, Rainbow's plan might have worked, but she couldn't have possibly factored in Twilight being more than capable of stopping her.

“Please don't run,” Twilight said, both startling Rainbow and driving her into a panic. Twilight could see Rainbow growing tense and preparing to flee, and she tried to convince her to stop.

If she was really desperate, she could have used magic to keep Rainbow there by force, or to override her will and take away her ability to leave, but she knew that that would be no way to get Rainbow to trust her, and if she didn't want to hurt Rainbow in any way, she would need Rainbow to trust her completely.

It wasn't an desperate move though, and Twilight knew that if Rainbow ran, she could stop her before she got to any windows or to the balcony.

It did however work opposite to how it was intended, and the moment she said it Rainbow bolted for the nearest window, not even bothering to avoid smashing through it. Twilight was faster though, and before she had even made it half way Twilight sprinted with unbelievable speed and tackled her to the ground.

Rainbow yelped midway through the collision, and once she got herself upright again her eyes were watering from pain.

“I asked you not to run,” Twilight said, “now look what you've done, let me see your wing.”

Not having much other choice, Rainbow made room and let Twilight near her against her better judgment, not that she could have stopped Twilight if she did anything.

“Well, it's not broken, just dislocated, I know how to fix it, just hold still,” Twilight said after examining her hurting wing.

Causing Rainbow much pain, Twilight spread the wing out, and quickly and without warning snapped it back into place, earning a small cry of pain.

“This wouldn't have happened if you just didn't run,” Twilight said.

Rainbow looked at her again, and then, despite her aching wing, she tensed and prepared to make another break for it.

Twilight, seeing this, said, “Please don't run again.”

Rainbow didn't make her move immediately this time, but didn't back down either. Twilight took note of this, and despite the fact that she knew it would make Rainbow even more afraid she decided to go for a heavier approach and said, “Rainbow, listen to me, you're safe here. Nopony will hurt you, I wont hurt you.

“Rainbow, please listen, you're safe here, but if you leave this library I wont hesitate to have you hunted down and killed. Please, don't run again.”

That caught Rainbow's attention. Slowly she relaxed and breathed deeply. Twilight's tactic had worked and Rainbow was no longer trying to escape, but it also made her terrified and even more distant.

Rainbow tried to calm herself, but she couldn't. Murder was unheard of in Equestria, the last time it had happened had been over twenty years ago, before she was even born. She wasn't quite sure what she had found out about Twilight, but if she was willing to kill to make sure that it didn't get out it had to be incredibly important to her.

Now Rainbow wished she was dealing with a plot to take over Equestria, or some kind of an evil cult, either of them would have been a lot easier.

Twilight felt bad for putting her friend in this position, especially every time Rainbow looked up at her with sad, begging eyes. The way she had tried to make herself as small as possible and was lying on the floor terrified of Twilight painfully reminded Twilight of Fluttershy when she was in the exact same place begging Twilight for her life. Things may not have been as grim for Rainbow Dash, but it was little comfort to Twilight.

Finally unable to stand the silent terror anymore, Twilight asked, “Would you like some tea?”

Rainbow nodded fiercely. She didn't even like tea that much, but she was terrified of doing anything that might anger Twilight, which included turning down her offer. With her death looming over her, both figuratively and literally, at least from her perspective, she was desperate to do anything that might please Twilight.

“Well, come on then,” she said, gesturing for Rainbow to follow her. Rainbow didn't hesitate for a second, but the whole way downstairs she kept her distance.

Twilight led her across the library and through another door. Part of the library doubling as a home meant that there needed to be a kitchen, which was built in a small room next to the main library area. Twilight went around and poured each of them some tea out of a kettle she had left there, having completely forgotten about the tea she already had upstairs.

She turned around and set them both down on the table, and when she did Rainbow saw Twilight from the front for the first time since they got downstairs, and she was shocked by how normal Twilight looked. The fangs were gone, and her eyes were their normal purple. Rainbow wasn't sure how to react to the sudden change, but it certainly didn't make her feel any more safe or secure knowing that Twilight could that easily change her appearance to that of a normal pony.

“Sit down Rainbow,” she said, not commandingly or threateningly but with the same friendly kindness Rainbow had always known, adding more to her apprehension.

Twilight sat down across from her and said, “So, is there anything you want to say, or anything you would like to ask?”

Rainbow remained silent, glancing back and forth between Twilight and her tea. Seeing that Twilight was silently pushing her to say anything, she gathered the courage to quietly ask the one question she wanted answered the most, “Why?”

Twilight, hearing her perfectly despite her almost whispering, replied by asking, “Why what?”

“Why lie?”

“Survival,” Twilight said simply, “We hide, and we're left alone, and if we don't, we're killed. It's a cruel logic, but a simple one.

“And that why we're here now, to make sure that you understand us, and to be sure that you wont betray us. We honestly don't want to hurt you Rainbow, but if we need to we'll kill you to protect ourselves.”

Rainbow remained quiet, trying not to look Twilight in the eye, partly because she didn't want to see whatever expression Twilight had on her at the time, but mostly because she was afraid that if she looked at her again she would have the same horrifying eyes as she did upstairs.

“Rainbow, listen to me, please,” Twilight said, “I never meant for any of you to get involved, not you and especially not Fluttershy, but I need you to trust me Rainbow. I need to make sure you'll keep our secret. Once you understand you'll be free to go, but if you refuse to cooperate then I'll have to force you to understand, and you wouldn't like it if I had to do that.”

Rainbow did her best to hide it, but she was terrified. She felt that if she didn't get out of there as fast as possible, she would die for certain. With only a few seconds to plan she bolted, again not caring if she broke the window and not caring if she got hurt because of it.

It was a hastily thrown together plan, but it did stop Twilight for a second. The table was between Twilight and the door, and if she went around the table she wouldn't be able to compensate quickly enough and would have to either slow or collide with the wall.

Acting without any kind of plan of her own, Twilight launched a spell at Rainbow, not meant to do anything other than deliver a concussive force.

It hit it's mark perfectly, and Rainbow was knock off course and collided with the wall at high speed. Abandoning her disguise completely she spread her wings and propelled herself over the table before Rainbow could recover, and made her way over. She may not have been able to fly yet but she could definitely use her wings to get of the ground.

She didn't sprint over, but she moved fast enough to avoid Rainbow from recovering and escaping in the meantime.

Rainbow was terrified now more than ever before in her life. There was no way she could escape, and in her state of mind she expected no mercy from Twilight.

Desperately she backed away in the little space she had before she hit the wall. “No, please, please I'm begging you!”

It made her feel a little guilty, but she was actually amused by Rainbow's fear somewhat. It was a deeper part of her that enjoyed seeing Rainbow lying on the ground, helplessly begging. It was the same part of her that would enjoy the hunt drawing to a close and knowing her prey was defeated.

“I gave you a chance Rainbow, and you ran,” Twilight said. “I'm sorry Rainbow, but you brought this on yourself.”

That didn't stop Rainbow though, and she continued to beg. “Please, I'm sorry! I'll do anything, but please, don't do this!”

“I'm sorry Rainbow,” Twilight said, closing the remaining distance between them and bring her head beside Rainbow's. Rainbow tried to continue begging but was cut off when Twilight's fangs pierced her neck.

Twilight started drawing blood, savoring the taste. She didn't actually have any intention of feeding off of Rainbow until she died though, in fact she actually took very little blood, knowing that Rainbow would need it for what came next.

Abruptly, Twilight stopped and instead started releasing vampiric essence from her fangs, the exact same thing she had done to Fluttershy, and the first part of turning somepony.

What started off as a burning feeling from where Twilight had bitten her quickly began to spread, moving from her neck through the rest of her body and causing indescribable amounts of pain. Rainbow tried to avoid making any sound, still believing she would die and trying to be defiant until the moment she did. Even with all her will behind it though, she couldn't stop herself from whimpering slightly as she began to loose consciousness.

With the process completed and Twilight's part in it done until she woke, Twilight carried her back upstairs and set her on the bed, and began composing a letter to Silver Wing.

A letter that said she was right, and they had reached a point of impact.

Chapter 19, Calm

After a week, the repercussions of the incident with Rainbow Dash were still making themselves apparent. They were now referring to the event as impact, in light of Silver Wing's letter using that very term to describe the events that followed because of it, and because it was a suitable word to describe the beginning of things falling apart.

Everypony was surprised by how well Twilight managed the situation so far, and how she was keeping it contained for the time being, Fluttershy included. Unfortunately they could see very clearly that it wasn't going to last, already Twilight was having trouble, and when the others realized that Rainbow was nowhere to be found things would start piling on top of the existing problems, and everypony, Twilight included, knew that when it did, their hold on things might collapse.

So far though, Twilight was being more reasonable than before. Still she wasn't willing to kill her friends, or turn them unless she absolutely had to, like she did with Rainbow, and that was one thing Fluttershy agreed with completely.

She was however accepting more advice from Silver Wing, and had allowed Shadowfall to move into Ponyville for the time being. For now she didn't have any long term plans for where to stay, and tended to jump between staying with Twilight and Fluttershy, her slight paranoia and complete distrust of non-vampires limiting her options as she refused to stay anywhere else, including the town's small and often unnoticed inn. Twilight was trying to work out something more permanent, but she wasn't making it easy.

Rainbow Dash was less trouble to deal with though. After consulting with Fluttershy and Silver Wing they moved her back to her own home. Since it was the one cloud house in Ponyville they could already be sure that only Ponyville's pegasus population could find her, and nopony else ever stopped by except to deliver mail.

Her job with the weather team wasn't hard to take care of. After a bit of practice in the most advanced parts of changing appearances, Fluttershy managed to take on Rainbow's look and voice completely. Using cleverly placed saddlebags to cover her cutie mark, she went in to the weather office and requested time off, about a month. She kept it specifically vague, as they didn't know how long it would take her to wake.

The time it would take for Rainbow to complete the changes was the hardest factor to plan around, because for each pony it would be different. Turning somepony was a complex process, starting with vampiric essence spreading though their body like an infection, then beginning the process of changing the pony's soul.

The changes to the soul were the longest part, with the changes to the physical body coming afterward, and in only a few hours.

The soul was the most sacred and critical part of a pony, and no magic was known that could affect it. That was what made vampirism incurable, it was one of only known two processes, along with alicorn ascension, that were capable of affecting a ponies soul on such a fundamental level.

How vampiric essence could do this was a mystery, and likely one that would never be solved, but the process was much more well understood than the mechanics. After spreading throughout the body, it moved on to target the victims soul directly, dragging them into a coma as they began trying to fight it off. Nopony, apart from an alicorn however, would be capable of driving it back, and it would gradually take hold.

The time spent fighting would vary from pony depending on their individual strength. Fluttershy took only a week, but for Rainbow it would be much longer. For the entire time the process was going on, the pony would experience nightmares that were representative of the ponies soul resisting the effects. They usually weren't remembered, nor were the first few days after finally waking, but as Twilight had seen with Fluttershy it was unpleasant to experiance.

Since impact, she hadn’t seen much of Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Whether or not they had caught on to the fact that Rainbow was missing yet was unknown, but the longer they took to figure it out the better.

So that left Rarity, just over a week after impact. She needed a book on the style of formal dresses used by royalty and nobility four hundred years ago.

When she pushed open the door to the library though, she found herself receiving two glares. One was from Twilight, and the other was from Silver Wing.

“Oh dear, I'm not interrupting anything am I?” Rarity asked. She genuinely hadn't intended to arrive in the middle of something, but seeing who she ran into she had no regrets about it.

Twilight gave her a forced friendly smile, not hiding her annoyance very well. “Not at all, we were just finishing up.”

She turned back to Silver wing and said cryptically, “To finish this up, impact was an isolated incident that only happened because of unforeseeable circumstances. I've take even more precautions now than before, this will not be repeated.”

“But the problem is that it happened in the first place,” Silver Wing replied, “and it happened because you didn't take our advice before and you didn't listen when we said, on more than one occasion, that something exactly like this would happen.”

Twilight gave her a slight glare. “I know, that was a mistake that I won't make again. I may not listen to your advice, but I wont dismiss your concerns outright anymore.”

Silver sighed. She gave Twilight a tired, stressed look and said, “That's good, but it wont fix the problems we already have.”

“The best we can do is smooth things over,” Twilight responded. “I know it won't undo the damage that's already been done, but I think it's time to implement the new system. If Fluttershy needs anything I can tell her myself.”

“It's better than nothing, but it isn't a perfect solution,” Silver Wing said, making her way past Rarity. “Just hold everything together, that's all you can be asked to do at this point.”

As Silver made her way out and closed the door forcefully behind her, Rarity asked, “Anything you'd like to tell me?”

“No Rarity, there's nothing you need to know,” Twilight replied, “Now, was there something you needed?”

Rarity scowled at Twilight, not prepared to give up on this just yet. “Don't try to change the subject Twilight, why won't you just trust us? We're supposed to be friends, and friends don't keep secrets from each other like this.”

“I’m keeping this from you because you're my friend!” Twilight said in anger, “I trust you completely Rarity, I trust all of you more than anypony else, but I don't want this to ruin our friendship. I want to be open, and I trust that you would make the right decision, but I'm not ready to take the risk that you wouldn't understand, and I'm not willing to risk our friendship because of it!”

“Twilight, we would never abandon you, and whatever it is we wouldn't rest until we understood what you wanted us to.”

“I know... I know but I just can't. If you knew you would see why,” Twilight said, losing control of her emotions and struggling to fight back tears.

“Twilight, please,” Rarity said, apparently oblivious to Twilight's discomfort, “whatever it is, we'll be on you side.”

“I'm done talking about this Rarity,” Twilight said. “Now, what did you want?”

“Just a book on high class dresses from around four hundred years ago,” Rarity said, seeing that trying to go on would be pointless.

Twilight pulled on off of the shelf without even looking. “This should cover a period of about three hundred to five hundred years ago. Is there anything else you need.”

Rarity shook her head and accepted the book. On her way out she said in parting, “We're worried about you Twilight, please be safe.”

As Rarity left her alone again, Twilight truly wished things could go back to the way they were.

Chapter 20, Aftershock

Sugarcube Corner was a public establishment, which would, in theory, reduce it's value as a meeting place, especially for meetings of a sensitive nature. Sugarcube Corner was unusual in that regard however. So long as it wasn't crowded there were a few tables in the corner, ones that ponies only used if there was nowhere else to sit as no sunlight reached them. For Twilight and Fluttershy however, these were perfect to sit down and speak in hushed whispers, relying on their abilities to hear each other.

Today though, the lack of nearby windows wasn't a problem. Without Rainbow there to help for the next few weeks, the weather team couldn't postpone the storm until they had her back, so they went ahead with the schedule anyway. Because Rainbow made up a large portion of the weather team's results on her own, they were struggling to keep things running without her, especially since they simply didn't have enough ponies to make up for the amount of work Rainbow put in effortlessly.

The storm may not have been very good, but the cloud cover was the easiest part. Nopony could come up for an excuse for messing that one up.

Even with the lights on, Sugarcube Corner wasn't very well lit, and the bright, inviting allure was replaced with only moderate amounts of light and an unobstructed view of the rainy outdoors.

Twilight and Fluttershy were having one of their normal secret meetings today though, the weather making no change. Twilight had always found weather like this to have it's own, unique beauty, and as they grew closer, Fluttershy couldn't help but see it herself.

They had already covered the most important events, namely the changes to their means of communication which involved all mail between Twilight and other vampire's across Equestria being written in their own ancient language. It would eliminate the possibility of any incidents like the one with Rainbow happening again.

They were about to get into the more casual part of the meeting, mostly just recent news and relevant information, something that would be communicated verbally for the foreseeable future, at least until Fluttershy mastered enough of the language to read the messages herself.

Twilight also planned to ask Fluttershy if they could take their relationship a step further, beyond simply acknowledging their feelings.

Today’s meeting was interrupted however. They were sitting at their preferred table when Rarity, Pinkie, and Applejack came over. Standing over them and receiving annoyed and awkward looks from both of them, most intensely from Twilight, Rarity was the first to speak. “We need to talk.”

“By all means, join us,” Twilight said, intentionally emphasizing her irritation at the interruption. Applejack cringed slightly, but the other two took a seat next to Fluttershy on the other side of the table. After a short moments hesitation, she sat down next to Twilight.

“Something's come up that we need to talk to you about,” Rarity said, “None of us have seen Rainbow in over a week, and she missed our last meeting. To put it bluntly, we suspect you to have had something to do with it.”

Twilight wasn't surprised by their accusation, in fact she had been expecting it a bit sooner. Rainbow was hidden in her cloud house, which would be inaccessible without Twilight's aid unless Rarity could find a book to teach her a cloud walking spell, and even then they would still have the problem of reaching the clouds in the first place. With no way to search for her at home, they would have no way of disproving the false evidence they left at the weather office.

Before Rarity had a chance to continue, Applejack said, “Just to be clear, Ah still think this is none of my business. Ah only came along because somepony” – She gave Rarity a harsh glare – “wouldn't leave me along until Ah agreed to come.”

Rarity gave her a harsh look, but Twilight smiled. “Thank you Applejack, for actually being considerate enough not to bother ponies about things that don't concern you. As for you two, what makes you think we had any involvement. What evidence do you have to support your claims?”

“It isn't so much the evidence we have, it's more of what evidence we don't have,” Rarity said. “Somepony is missing, and what we don't have is evidence that says you weren't involved.”

Twilight took a deep breath. “You know she's missing, do you know anything else, anything that implicates us in any way?”

“We asked around, and apparently she requested a month's worth of time off of her job, and hasn't been seen since,” Pinkie said, a rare level of discomfort showing clearly. Her and Rainbow Dash were close, and this was obviously affecting her on a greater level than the others.

“If she asked for the time off, then how could we have been involved in her disappearance in the first place?” asked Twilight. The whole reason for leaving a cover story behind was so that they couldn't be implicated so easily, and Twilight and Fluttershy rehearsed this conversation before. They knew how to answer these questions before they were even asked. It was all prepared for, and that was one of the things Fluttershy admired about Twilight's plan for dealing with the situation.

“Yes, that's true, but the ponies that actually saw her request time off said she looked nervous, like she was apprehensive of something, almost like she was trying to get away from something,” said Rarity.

Twilight shot a glance in Fluttershy's direction, one that carried the message that this wasn't going to plan. Really Twilight couldn't blame Fluttershy for any of this, she was the only one that could take Rainbow's appearance to do what they needed to. A vampire's ability to change appearance was limited to things such as coat and eye color, and wasn't inclusive of physical alterations, such as mane length or taking on the appearance of a unicorn or pegasus, although it could be used to hide wings if one so desired, as Twilight did frequently. Illusions were great for small changes, like mane and tail length, but the more complex the illusion the more difficult it is to maintain, and wings were a very detailed thing to create, and the spell could very easily break, even with Twilight's level of magical prowess.

Rarity noticed the glance, but she didn't mention it, seeing as it could have simply been nothing, and even if it wasn't it would only be played off as such, making it pointless to ask about.

“Well... even if she was afraid of something, you don't have any proof that it was us,” Fluttershy said confidently, though her argument was shallow at best. Still, she felt as if it were her job to fix this seeing as it was her fault this line of questioning came up in the first place. She tried her hardest to act as Rainbow Dash would, but she was aware even then that her performance was riddled with signs of anxiety.

“Ah don't think we need to play this game,” Applejack said, much to the surprise of everypony else present, “As much as Ah don't want to say that Rarity's right, Ah can't see what else it could be. You can deny it all you want but all of us know that the only thing Rainbow Dash is afraid of is you, and whatever little secret you have.”

Applejack's addition shocked everypony else, especially Twilight, who had thought Applejack would be remaining neutral. Seeing that the situation was getting away from her Twilight desperately said, “Even then, you don't have absolute proof.”

“We would never hurt our friends unless we absolutely had to, there's no reason for anypony to be afraid,” said Fluttershy, still trying to make up for her previous errors, despite still making little difference.

“I'm sure you wouldn't, but we don't know where the limits of absolutely needing to are set anymore,” Rarity replied, adding more stress to Twilight's existing problems.

As if that wasn't enough, what Rarity said next was both unexpected and troubling. Adopting a darker tone she said, “We know you've been studying dark magic, Twilight, and I know the kinds of things that kind of magic does to a ponies mind just as well as you do. I don't know how far you've taken this, but if you are practicing dark magic, in any form, then we both know the consequences, and we both know that you would have been affected already, possibly irreversibly.”

What Rarity was saying was shocking and completely new to them. They hadn’t heard anything from Rarity other than that dark magic was highly forbidden and illegal. Hearing that it could effect a pony's mind like that, and that it could possibly be irreversible put them all on edge, even Applejack.

Twilight however, countered it quickly. “What? No Rarity, no, no I would never, why would you think I would be using dark magic? I know how stupid that is, and for that matter, how do you?”

“I have my sources,” Rarity replied, keeping it vague intentionally, “I'm more interested to know what you would want with dark magic.”

Twilight sighed in defeat, not genuinely, but a well enough deception that she would be believed. “Alright I'll admit it. Yes, I have been researching dark magic. I'm not actually allowed to be studying this, so Princess Celestia has no idea. I'm not planning on using it, I'm just studying the theory, considering the possibilities, maybe even inventing entirely new spells based on what I learn. It's not even related to everything else that you've been accusing me of.”

Rarity didn't entirely believe her, but seeing as it was a rational explanation she couldn't just turn it down without something more, assuming there actually was more.

“Don't worry, we promise we'll keep your secret,” Pinkie promised, receiving no disagreement from either Applejack or Rarity, but all of them sharing unspoken concerns.

“As much as I know you don't want to hear it, why won't you simply include us in whatever it is that you're keeping a secret?” Rarity asked under an almost painful glare from Twilight. “What is it that's so important you won't even trust your friends in it?”

“It isn't that simple,” said Fluttershy before Twilight could.

“As much as we would like to include you in everything and tell you everything you want to know, Fluttershy's right, it isn't that simple,” said Twilight apologetically. “Before we can tell you the truth, you need to have a certain level of understanding and acceptance, but you can't understand unless you know the truth already.”

“You see where the problem is now?” Fluttershy asked.

“In that case, how did you get involved in the first place?” Pinkie asked Fluttershy, earning a brief but awkward silence as both mares tried to think of a response.

Coming up with an idea, and seeing that Fluttershy hadn't, Twilight said, “Well, about that... Fluttershy and I are... in a relationship right now.”

Rarity caught on to what she meant first, and then went starry eyed and said, “That's wonderful, I'm so proud of you two!”

Pinkie and Applejack took a few more seconds, but both smiled proudly when they figured out what Twilight meant.

“We just sort of came together, and then the rest kind of just got caught up in the middle, and she was just in the know all of a sudden, and neither of us minded that much,” Twilight explained. “Actually, before you showed up I was planning on asking her if she was ready to take our relationship a little further.”

When she heard that she beamed. “Of course I'm willing!”

“When Rarity finally came down from the wonder of hearing about Fluttershy's relationship with Twilight, she said, “Not to ruin the moment, but I would like to point out that we were talking about Rainbow.”

“Listen Rarity, I'm sure she's fine. She'll probably show up after a while and explain everything herself,” Twilight said, “You can only blame us for so much, not everything's our fault.”

“I hope so,” Applejack replied, “Rainbow's my friend too, and Ah don't want to see her get hurt. As long as she's fine, it's none of my business what you get up to.”

“Thank you again Applejack, for being respectful of our privacy,” Twilight said.

Turning her head to look at Fluttershy, Twilight said, “Why don't we get together at the library in say... two hours?”

“That sounds great,” Fluttershy replied excitedly.

Everypony stood up, and before she left Twilight said, “It was good to talk to all of you, even if it wasn't just a friendly conversation.”

She put on her cloak before stepping out into the pouring rain and making her way home. After saying her own goodbyes, Fluttershy left as well.

Once the three of them were alone, Applejack spoke up, “I do not like to say this, but they weren't being entirely truthful, about a lot of things. Ah still don't want to get involved, but you should keep your guard up, just in case.”

Despite knowing that fact, it made them no more certain about their friend's motives, and no more comfortable with the situation.

Chapter 21, Waking

Once the fourth week of Rainbow's transformation began extra precautions were taken. In order to inform Twilight quickly of when she woke, she inscribed a series of runes on a small stone that would teleport it to her, and left a small vial of condensed magic with whoever was on duty to watch her.

Shadowfall had been staying with Twilight for the past two weeks, after they finally managed to get arrangements that satisfied them all. Spike asked annoying questions about the mysterious, somewhat rude mare staying with them, as did Rarity and Pinkie, but all they got was that she was a friend.

Shadowfall was actually quite friendly to Twilight though, treating her like a friend some of the time, and a roommate for the the rest. Fluttershy got some cold treatment because she was turned, but being in a relationship with Twilight helped earn favor.

Shadowfall typically was the one that ended up keeping an eye on Rainbow's progress, simply because she didn't have much else to do around town. Twilight tried to cover whenever she could, but she had to keep from being suspiciously absent too often, and for too long. Fluttershy took a few shifts, but her animals needed her too, so when Twilight insisted she didn't need to come she would stay at home.

Rainbow wasn't going to be unconscious much longer, they knew by this point she had to be in the final stages of the transformation. Even the most extreme cases never took more than two months, and they were ponies that were much stronger than Rainbow. The process typically took two or three weeks, but Rainbow could fight it better, hence the extra time to complete the transformation.

Shadowfall was half sleeping when Rainbow first displayed signs of consciousness, twisting in her bed. It was so slight that at first she didn't realize at first. It wasn't until Rainbow moved a leg trying to sit up that Shadowfall shot awake. Before Rainbow could manage to wake herself enough to notice her she took the vial of condensed magic, and opened it, pouring its contents over the rune in an imprecise and sloppy manner. It was enough to make the rune disappear however, sending it off to it's destination, where it would be noticed by Twilight right away no matter where she was.

Rainbow meanwhile was in a state of confusion. The first thing that came to mind was that she wasn't dead, which had to be a good thing. They second thing she noticed immediately was that she was laying on a cloud. She struggled to sit up for a minute, feeling lethargic to an extreme degree.

When she finally managed to get into a sitting position, she opened her eyes and spent a minute trying to focus her vision. Once she realized that she wasn't alone however, her eyes snapped to the other mare in the room, and for a moment neither of them moved.

Shadowfall wasn't the best pony for this job, and she wished that Twilight was here for this moment instead of her. Still, Twilight was on her way, at least that was what she hoped.

Concluding that she would have to do something, Shadowfall said the first and only think she could think of saying, “Um.... hello?”

She had no idea what she was doing, as her social experience, and any desire for social contact she had at all, was solely with other vampires. Seeing as Dash hadn't even realized what she was yet she definitely didn't constitute as another vampire in Shadowfall's mind.

Rainbow saw her red eyes, the same ones that Twilight had, and reacted sluggishly by concluding she had to get out of there.

Her plan for escape was good, but actually doing anything was almost completely impossible. She barely managed to lean towards the side of the bed before collapsing, unable to collect the strength to move further.

“Don't try to move, just save your energy,” Shadowfall said. With no intention to, or any idea that it would happen, her words made Rainbow Dash terrified. It was inadvertent, but the way Rainbow took it was far less literal than it was intended, and once again she perceived a danger.

When Rainbow didn't listen and again tried to move, Shadowfall silently hoped that Twilight would get there soon.

She approached Rainbow to try to calm her down, but Rainbow just tried to back herself further away. With how little she was capable of doing, she barely managed to move at all, and she was starting to have trouble staying awake.

“Calm down, just rest,” Shadowfall said, trying to be calming but her inexperience counteracting every one of her attempts.

Twilight arrived a few moments later, and said, “I came as quickly as I could.”

Shadowfall felt relieved at her arrival, but relief was the exact opposite of how Rainbow was feeling. Seeing as she didn't even know how she was alive right now, seeing the pony that tried to kill her, at least from her perspective, was far from calming. She began struggling to get as far away from Twilight as she could.

“You can go now, take the rest of the day for yourself,” Twilight said to Shadowfall, who left eagerly, saying her thanks as she almost sprinted out of the room, leaving Rainbow and Twilight alone together.

As Twilight approached Rainbow, she tried with every bit of strength she could gather to mount some kind of defense. Much to her surprise though, Twilight's first action was to pull her into a hug, one that she couldn't even struggle against, much less break free of.

“Why did you have to be so stupid?” she said, not maliciously, but apologetically and with a hint of guilt in her voice. When she realized that Twilight wasn't doing anything horrible to her she ceased attempting to struggle. Any other time she would have kept trying, but she simply had no strength, even if the reason why wasn't clear to her yet.

Twilight wasn't trying to kill her now, and wasn't threatening her or saying anything that might imply that she was a prisoner. If Twilight wanted her dead, she wasn't going to do it right now.

After what seemed like an eternity to Rainbow she pulled away. Rainbow tried to speak, but couldn't even find the energy or willpower to do that. Twilight seemed to understand though, and she hushed Rainbow and said, “Don't try to talk, you need to rest. Just lay down Rainbow, everything's going to be fine.

Consciously, she didn't want to let her guard down like that, but her will failed her and finally she collapsed. Twilight repositioned her more comfortably on her bed of cloud as she drifted off into slumber, making only fleeting efforts to fight it.

One of the side effects of fighting so hard to rid vampiric essence unsuccessfully was that for a time it left the victim weak, without the ability to draw upon the energies that give vampires life, the same energies they consume blood to replenish, or the willpower to do much other than fall into unconsciousness while they begin to recover. Fluttershy went through the same thing, although it was much less awkward for Twilight to stay with her than it was with Rainbow.

Regardless of her feelings however she did so. Rainbow needed somepony to guide her, and because of how she had no idea what she was, and had no understanding of how to survive when the world grew harsher, she would need that guidance immediately, and unlike with Fluttershy Twilight wouldn't let her regrets get in the way of being that guide.

Rainbow was slow to wake, and she took a long time to regain consciousness. When she did though, she was far more aware, and with far more strength than she had before.

She woke slowly, and when she did Twilight was the first thing she saw. Twilight saw her open eyes immediately, and each stared at the other for a moment, Rainbow in fear and Twilight with an awkward smile.

Looking at Rainbow regretfully, Twilight said, “Hi Rainbow, it's good to have you back... I suppose you have some questions.”

“Twilight... I thought you were going to kill me,” said Rainbow, speaking the only words she could think of. She was still afraid, but now that she could think a little more clearly she figured still being alive counted for something.

“I said I would kill you if you left the library Rainbow, you didn't make it out,” Twilight said. “I... well Rainbow, you see... you're one of us now.”

Rainbow looked at her curiously for a minute, before what she said finally began to make sense. The first thing she did when she understood Twilight's meaning was put a hoof to her mouth, feeling for the menacing fangs that stood out in Twilight. A sharp pain in her hoof proved that she did indeed have fangs, and that they were incredibly sharp.

“What... What have you done to me?” Rainbow said furiously, making Twilight cringe.

“I made you one of us Rainbow, so that you could understand, and so that you would have just as much to loose as we would for revealing to other ponies what we are. You're a vampire now Dash, like us. I'm sorry, but I didn't want to kill you, and you wouldn't listen to me when I tried to talk to you about it,” Twilight said. Rainbows discontent faded after a moment, and eventually while she was still angry it wasn't at the forefront of her mind.

“Um, Twilight... what's a vampire?”

Twilight jaw dropped at Rainbow's question. Rainbow wasn't going to be easy to teach, she knew that from the beginning, but to say they were starting at square one might have been a bit of an overstatement.

Chapter 22, Explanations

“Now do you get it?” Twilight asked for what felt like the hundredth time.

“Yeah, magical creatures, drink blood, everypony hates us, I got it,” Dash replied, irking Twilight further.

They had been going at this for nearly a day, with long breaks when Rainbow fell into unconsciousness again, though she was gaining strength and staying awake for longer periods of time.

Twilight was making an effort to get Rainbow acquainted quickly enough to avoid making her disappearance more suspicious than it already was, and thus when Rainbow wasn't getting the point of the whole discussion she grew more frustrated.

“That's not what I'm trying to tell you Rainbow, I'm trying to explain to you that ponies try to kill us. They don't just hate us, they hunt and kill us, and they won't give up unless Princess Celestia kills us first!”

“Yeah,” Rainbow said arrogantly, “like I said, everypony hates us, I told you Twilight, I get it.”

Twilight was reluctant to take her answer like this, but she couldn't delay any longer. Rainbow wasn't great, but she had to move on with their lessons at some point.

“Would you like to see Fluttershy? She's missed you a lot, and maybe you'll listen to her better than you listen to me,” Twilight asked. She had planned to bring Fluttershy to see Rainbow the whole time, hoping that seeing her oldest friend as a vampire might help her to adapt to it better, knowing that at least one other pony that she trusted and loved since her foalhood was just like she was now.

Rainbow Dash wasn't really having a problem adapting though. She took in the information pretty easily, though Twilight's concern was that she wasn't really getting the significance of it, and once she did she didn't have any objections to any of it, simply lazing around her bedroom in various positions as Twilight tried to reinforce the concepts in her mind.

Without knowing what a vampire was before she was turned might have had something to do with it, as she hadn't heard the legends of monsters that abducted ponies and left only death in their wake, though she did try to get it into Rainbow's head that that was how other ponies would look at her now.

“Sure, why not, I could use somepony more interesting anyway.”

That made Twilight absolutely infuriated, though she contained her anger. After all, Rainbow wasn't strong enough to heal grievous injuries yet, as much as Twilight felt the urge to give them to her.

Taking a deep, calming breath, Twilight said, “Alright, how about I go and get Fluttershy while you stay here.”

“Yeah, fine, whatever,” Rainbow replied with seeming disinterest, bringing Twilight even more unnecessary anger.

“I'm serious Rainbow,” Twilight replied, “the last thing we need is for you to be wandering around like this right now, assuming you could even make it tho the ground without getting hurt first.

Rainbow just climbed up onto her fluffy cloud bed. “Relax Twi, I'm not going anywhere, just go do what you need to do.”

“Alright,” Twilight said, and decided to leave without saying anything else. What she didn't know was that Rainbow was actually trying to make her angry. She acted okay with it, but the strongest emotion she felt was hate, hate towards Twilight for turning her into this, and a lesser hate for lying to them and decieving them about her true nature.

She would get over it eventually, but for the time being she was doing her best to give Twilight as much trouble as she could.

-----

Fluttershy was initially unwilling to come along, nervous about Rainbow seeing her as she truly was, and terrified of actually seeing Rainbow now that she had changed. She tried to be strong, but she really didn’t want to go.

Despite her fears and apprehension however, she felt that she had a duty to her friend to be there and to help her in a difficult time.

Twilight brought her up to Rainbow’s cloud house, at almost three in the morning. It was virtually impossible to get to and from the ground during the day, as in order to fly one’s wings would need to be out from any kind of protective covering, regardless of what type of wing it was. In theory it would be possible to land alright by jumping off, as vampires could survive the impact with little to no injury, but the problem of keeping sunlight away was still the primary difficulty, and even once the ground was reached the same problem persists for returning up. Teleportation could mitigate the problem, although the amount of energy it used bothered Twilight, especially when bringing somepony else along.

Use of unicorn magic, especially frequently and in great intensities, would drain energy from the vampire using it. Where a normal pony would need time to recover after long term or strenuous use of magic, vampires, like with sleep, were exempt from this, drawing the power to cast spells directly from the stored energy they get from blood. The problem with this was that using magic would drain from their energy every time they used magic, scaling more with the power of the spell, which meant that magic users like Twilight would need to feed more often to keep up with their abilities.

That wasn’t easy, as she had yet to work out an effective system for feeding, having twice since turning Fluttershy gone out and fed on somepony from Ponyville while they were sleeping. She wasn’t a fan of doing this, but she used numbing, sleep, and healing spells so that they would never even notice that they had been drained of blood, and the worst they suffered was minor discomfort or lethargy the next morning.

That was one of the reasons she decided to bring Fluttershy up at this time. She wasn’t sure how long it would take and she didn’t want the responsibility of ferrying her back to the ground via teleport if it took too long, and if she was ready to bring Fluttershy in later in the day it would be an even worse drain.

Rune magic could be used for teleportation between locations instead, but that was an incredibly complex rune that she didn’t know how to craft yet.

When they arrived at Rainbow’s home Fluttershy almost didn’t want to step through the door, with some more prompting from Twilight and some words of encouragement however she finally came around.

Rainbow either didn’t see them, or didn’t want to acknowledge them, until Fluttershy said, “Hello Rainbow.”

She said it nervously, once again regressing in self-confidence to how she was before being turned. Twilight felt a pang of guilt as Fluttershy said those words with near terror, but tried to bury it for the time.

Rainbow was slow to rise from her relaxed position, still showing signs of weakness, but looked at Fluttershy with friendly eyes.

At least for a moment she did. After she saw Fluttershy as she truly appeared her expression turned somber. Twilight had explained that Fluttershy was also a vampire, though she conveniently left out the details on how it happened, but actually seeing Fluttershy had a much stronger impact on Rainbow than simply hearing it from somepony else. Seeing the pony she had known and trusted like a sister from the earliest days of her youth standing before her, as the same monster she had now become, filled her with emotion.

Most of that emotion was rage directed at Twilight, for being the beginning of the whole thing, but also for corrupting the one thing in the world that she saw as completely pure and innocent. The rest of it was a mixture of grief, sadness, and sympathy.

“Hi Fluttershy,” Rainbow said, though it was clearly forced. For the time being the only thing holding her back from attacking Twilight with everything she had was her weakness.

“I’ll... I’ll just leave you alone,” said Twilight as she quietly backed out, looking to get a few moments to herself as well as give them some time together.

With Twilight out of the picture, Rainbow grew calmer as Fluttershy made her way over and pulled Rainbow into a warm embrace, one that she gladly returned without hesitation.

“I’ve missed you so much Rainbow, you have no idea,” she said gladly.

Letting Rainbow go and looking her in the eyes she said, “I’m so sorry for lying to you, it just wasn’t a good idea...”

“Yeah, Twilight already gave that speech,” Rainbow interrupted. She laid back, fighting the urge to sleep successfully, but not being able to keep herself upright any longer.

“How are you feeling?” Fluttershy asked. Though it wasn’t easy, she was growing more comfortable with talking to Rainbow as they went on.

“I hate this Fluttershy, I hate this so much, and Twilight, and... I can’t stand being like this!”

“Shh, it’ll be alright, you’ll get used to it,” Fluttershy said in the most soothing voice she could, putting a hoof on Rainbow’s foreleg in a comforting fashion.

Staring at the ceiling, Rainbow asked, “How can you do it Fluttershy, how can you stand being like this?”

“Oh, um... I don’t actually have a problem with it, Rainbow. In fact, I actually love it.”

Not even her own physical weakness could prevent her from shooting up, staring at Fluttershy with wide, fearful eyes when she heard those words.

“How,” she asked with a mixture of fear and sadness, and even a little pity mixed into her voice as she expressed her shock, “how can you actually like this... being this?”

Pulling back because she saw that Rainbow was growing uncomfortable, Fluttershy’s comfort dropped immediately and she began having second thoughts about even being here.

Rainbow didn’t even acknowledge Fluttershy’s change in expression, she simply laid back down and said, “Just go away Fluttershy, just... go away.”

Fluttershy left sorrowfully without any other words, leaving Rainbow alone to think about how something of such purity could fall so far as she drifted off to sleep.

-----

When Rainbow woke a few hours later, Twilight and Fluttershy were nowhere to be found, nor was Shadowfall. Somepony different was there instead, somepony she had never met before, but looked vaguely familiar.

“Good Morning,” she said. Unlike Twilight and Fluttershy, she at least appeared normal. Her eyes were a rich shade of blue, and none of the other characteristics that Twilight and Fluttershy had displayed were present. Her wings were long, the tips of her feathers partially obscuring her cutie mark, which revealed that she had to be a pure blooded descendent of imperial pegasi, an almost extinct bloodline, one almost never seen in this day and age.

She wasn’t fooled however, she had seen Twilight turn from a vampire to the appearance of a normal pony before, and even told her that it was one of the first and most important skills to learn. It was unusually comforting though, seeing somepony that didn’t look like a monster sitting beside her bed.

“Who are you?” she asked, not getting up yet.

The mare by her bedside smiled, “My name is Silver Wing, Twilight asked me to come in and watch you for a while. She got called away on business. It’s completely normal for vampires to request help with something, in fact I’m surprised that it hasn’t happened to Twilight sooner.”

“Are you a vampire too?” Rainbow asked, finally putting forth the effort to rise.

Silver nodded. “Yes, but unlike the other three I have a lot more experience dealing with normal ponies than any of them, so I know hat it’s more comforting to see something a little more familiar.”

Although still apprehensive, Rainbow had to admit that she like this mare so much better already. She was considerate, but still honest about her nature and intentions.

“Do you like chess?” she asked. It wasn’t awkward or meant as a means to ease the mood, but rather as a legitimate question about her interest.

“Never learned how to play,” Rainbow replied.

Silver gave her a light smile, and a very reassuring one. It was hard for Rainbow to be afraid or angry in her presence. “Would you like to?”

“Why not,” Rainbow replied. She had better idea of what to do, and Twilight said she wanted to start teaching her soon, but there was no telling how long it would take for her to get back.

They spent nearly half an hour going over the rules of the game. She had brought a chess board along with her, not knowing what she was going to do with Rainbow for however long Twilight would be away for, which would most likely be at least the whole day.

“I can’t stand her,” Rainbow finally said partway through their first game, where despite how slow and passive the game was, she was having fun. The reason she had never learned how to play was because she couldn’t sit still long enough, and the game involved no physical activity.

“Who can’t you stand,” Silver Wing asked, taking another pawn, pushing Rainbow closer and closer to loosing.

“Twilight, it just makes me so angry that she did this to me, without even trying to get me to listen another way first.”

Silver Wing gave her a knowing smile, “I know, she can be a bit of trouble at times, I would know best, I was the one that watched over her when she was younger. Anyway, you really can’t blame her for being overprotective...”

“Why shouldn’t I?” Rainbow said violently, growing a little angry.

Silver Wing’s smile disappeared, but she remained calm and collected. “It isn’t her fault really, she cares too much about to let you die. If she didn’t she would have killed you on the spot. She’s never been good with ponies, even though she’s always lived with them and understood them she’s never quite trusted them. In some ways she’s worse than Shadowfall about that.”

Rainbow made a move, placing a knight in a strategic position. “Why doesn’t she trust ponies?”

“She did at first, when she was young, but once she learned everything about what she actually was she just kind of fell apart. Her friendships with other ponies came apart and she became socially unreachable,” Silver explained.

“Why, what happened to make her so defensive that she just kills anypony who knows her secret?”

Silver Wing’s expression took on a darker hint as she said, “Once she learned everything she wasn’t willing to give her trust away so easily. She found out what happens to vampires that are discovered, and she found out how her parents died, and she started looking at normal ponies as threats.”

“I thought her parents were still alive,” Rainbow said questioningly.

“You’ve met her adoptive parents, her real parents have been dead for a while. Her father was killed before he even knew he was going to have a daughter, and her mother... well, that’s a different story.”

Rainbow’s curiosity perked, she asked, “What happened to her mother?”

“The day Twilight was born was supposed to be a day of celebration. There were over fifty vampires in one place, which was all but a tiny amount of our population at the time. Our leader, or ruler if you prefer the term, nopony ever really bothered with the specifics, was giving birth to a foal. I was there, and so was nearly everypony I knew,” she explained. “That ended up being one of the worst days in our entire history.

“A few hours after she was born Celestia and what had to be a small army of paladins, or soldiers specifically train to wage war against vampires, attacked us. We weren’t expecting it, we had no defenses prepared, and we still don’t know how they discovered where we were. The whole thing was a massacre from the beginning. When the fighting started, I took Twilight and hid, and then I snuck her out while all the fighting was going on elsewhere. I was only eight then.

“After that, well, from that point things couldn’t get any worse. I made my way to the one vampire I knew that wasn’t dead and all surviving vampires regrouped. By tradition, Twilight would succeed her mother as our leader, but nopony could take care of her, they were all either too young or burdened with something else, and even if they weren’t it was concluded that leaving her with other vampires was too dangerous, so everypony worked together for over a month to craft magic that would protect her from everything, suppressing her vampiric abilities and shielding her from sunlight, and preventing her from doing anything that would reveal her. She looked like a pony, acted like a pony, and even felt like a pony. It was exceptionally complex to craft, no detail was overlooked, and it fooled even her.

“After that, we left her with a couple who wanted a daughter but were having trouble conceiving. I brought her to Canterlot and left her on their doorstep in the morning with a letter, rang the doorbell and got out of sight. They took her in, and raised her as their own daughter, and with the excess amounts of bits we had left I was able to move into the house across the street to keep an eye on her.”

After she finished the story, Rainbow still hadn’t forgiven Twilight, but she did see her friend in a whole new light. After the moment of silence that indicated that the story was over Rainbow asked, “Why was it so important that she be the next ruler, why not anypony else?”

“It wasn’t as simple as that,” Silver Wing explained, “Our leaders have been determined by purity of bloodline for over five thousand years. Rank was a hierarchy, which was first and foremost determined by those descended from vampires directly over many generations. The ponies who could trace their descendance back to a time when even vampires had no surviving record of history were called, in our ancient language, ralanis verolar alin nocinil, which roughly translates to ‘born of the first moonlight’, so obviously not a perfect translation, but then again it is an almost infinitely more complex language. When speaking in Equestrian, the term ‘firstborn’ was more commonly used, but ever since the days when the number of firstborn dropped significantly, no particular title has been associated with them. They were always known for being more powerful as a result of having pure vampire ancestry over such a long period of time.

“To put it into perspective, you wouldn’t just replace Princess Celestia with somepony off the streets, it would be a lot more complicated than that.”

“Makes sense, I guess,” Rainbow said, sounding confused. When Twilight explained it, it was like talking about them as just another race, like unicorns or pegasi. Rainbow never considered the possibility of such an advanced culture and society, or how harshly they were hunted. When Silver said she had more experience talking to normal ponies, she wasn’t lying, even if it technically didn’t apply to Rainbow any longer. She put things in perspective much better.

“I don’t understand why Twilight has trust problems though,” Rainbow added.

Silver Wing took a deep breath. “Twilight was a very social pony when she was little. I became her foalsitter after she was seven, and for the first few years she had a lot of friends. I explained to her what she was when she was nine. I told her all about what she was and how she was different, and about what happened to her real parents, and made an extra point of warning her to protect her secret with her life if she had to.

“Afterwards, she just drifted away from her friends. Every time she looked at somepony she trusted before she felt like they were a danger, that they wouldn’t trust her and that they would fear her, and she became closer to me and her adoptive brother. She and I formed a kind of sister relationship, something that I felt for her since the day I saved her life, even as everypony I knew was slaughtered

“When she was ten she became Celestia’s personal protégé and was privileged enough to get Cadence as she foalsitter, but she and I still kept that sister relationship, and I provided for her study materials on dark and forgotten magic, and when she started needing it, at an unusually young age because of her magical talents, I started obtaining and providing fresh blood for her, until recently when she became capable of getting it for herself.”

After another short pause and another deep breath, Silver Wing said, “I got a bit off topic, what I’m trying to say is that Twilight’s never trusted ponies because once she learned what happened to her parents, and what was done to vampires in general, she stopped trusting all but vampires and a few ponies she loved like family, like Shining Armor, because she knew they wouldn’t understand her. Even if they might have, she just didn’t believe it could happen. I was actually surprised when she made friends out here in Ponyville, I didn’t think she would trust anypony enough, nor did I think she would give up her future plans to settle down in Ponyville.”

“So, she didn’t trust us because she was afraid we wouldn’t trust her?” Rainbow asked.

“That, and she was probably also afraid of abandonment,” Silver said. “I know for a fact that she never meant for this to happen. Fluttershy was an accident, and one that she regrets deeply. Because of that she had more to deal with, and you started to notice the changes in her behavior, and that distrust drove you further apart until this happened.”

“I... I didn’t know, she made it seem so much simpler than this,” Rainbow said, starting to regret being so angry towards Twilight, just a little.

“I know she isn’t very easy to get along with, but she really does care about you, and she deserves your forgiveness,” Silver Wing said. “Oh, and by the way –” She made a move on the chess board “– checkmate.”

Chapter 23, Ambush

While Rainbow would spend the remainder of the day under the care of Silver Wing, Twilight was on a train, partway to Fillydelphia. Mythic Dusk had issued a request for assistance on something, although exactly what remained unspecified, as the letter was written in Equestrian. While they were together they could hopefully find time to bring up the fact that by Twilight’s order, under Silver Wing’s advice, all communications were, until the order was repealed, to be written in ancient vampire and destroyed after being read or when no longer needed.

With her were Shadowfall and Fluttershy. The request for assistance was delivered directly to Shadowfall, with instructions to bring at least one other if possible. Since Silver Wing was available, Twilight volunteered, and Fluttershy offered to come with her.

The train was crowded, as it usually was during the day, leaving them surrounded by ponies. Fluttershy, for most of the time, sat in boredom as Twilight and Shadowfall conversed quietly in ancient vampire, an action that drew some strange looks from the other ponies in the car. Fluttershy was actually glad that they had been instructed by Twilight to be disguised at all times, an action that Shadowfall had no objections to. The stares didn’t bother her as much when she was a different pony.

Twilight and Shadowfall were unfazed by the strange looks however, and continued speaking quietly, Twilight for the most part understanding everything, only occasionally coming across a word that she didn’t understand, which she would request that Shadowfall explain the meaning of. Fluttershy could only pick out a few words the entire time, mostly just simple, common ones.

When they got off the train they went to a predetermined meeting point that was in the request from Mythic Dusk. They maintained their disguises once they got there, but Mythic didn’t have any trouble recognizing them, and as they approached he said, “Glad to see you could make it. I wasn’t quite expecting you two though.”

“You really need to find a way to get more news, a lot has happened since last time we spoke,” Twilight said, giving him a smile.

“Well I’m afraid that will have to wait,” he said, “We need get going, I’m making a trade, and we need to get to the location in about ten minutes.”

“We’re just making a trade,” Shadowfall said curiously, “I thought you said you needed our help?”

“I can make the trade myself,” Mythic said, “The problem is that I think there’s something wrong here. Something’s off about this whole deal.”

“What do you think’s wrong?” Fluttershy asked as they went off the path into a thick wooded area, one that was very difficult to navigate in, the perfect place for a secret meeting.

“Beside the fact that texts written in ancient vampire rarely ever show up on the market at all, something just seems off, about the location, the time, the whole thing feels wrong to me,” Mythic said. “I might just be being paranoid, but I wanted to get some extra protection for this particular deal.”

Twilight looked around at the almost black forest, and even she couldn’t overcome an ominous feeling. One thing was for certain, the location was definitely far out of the way.

“What exactly is it we’re buying?” Twilight asked, staying close to Fluttershy and putting one of her wings over her back, trying to comfort her.

“That the other odd thing,” Mythic replied, “it’s a completely intact text, written in ancient vampire, exact age uncertain. It came into the possession of a pony I trade with in ancient artifacts, who realized that the characters in the book matched the several I gave him as a sample for unknown languages I would be interested in procuring. I’d be more suspicious about that, but he sent me an excerpt and it was definitely legitimate.”

“What are you expecting?” Shadowfall asked, her own apprehension about the situation growing.

“I’ve got no idea, I’ve just got a really bad feeling.”

They walked silently for nearly five more minutes before stopping. Mythic dusk took off his saddlebags and set them down. “Alright, the trade is going to happen in a clearing just a little further, I want you three to take positions up in the trees, stay out of sight and just watch, make sure nothing goes wrong.”

He opened his saddlebags and gave them each a small object, the size and shape of which implied it was meant to be worn over a pony’s hoof. Shadowfall took hers immediately, putting it on and scrutinizing it closely. Twilight took hers hesitantly, and Fluttershy took hers with a confused expression. Seeing the look on her face, Mythic asked, “Do you know how to use this.”

Fluttershy shook her head, and Twilight stepped over to help her, “Just put it on your hoof. It’s a sword, standard issue for Equestrian military during times of war or unrest. The spears the guard uses aren’t actually meant to be used as weapons, their just for intimidation.

“The blade is designed to be efficient and easy to use in battle. It’ll extend or retract based on the users will. Just will it to come out, and the blade will come out, do the same to put it away.”

Curiously, and somewhat nervously, Fluttershy put it on and tried. Without even needing to think it followed her wishes. Looking over the bladed weapon it her hooves, she felt frightened, fearing that she would need to use it. She put the blade away and asked Twilight, “Have you ever used one of these before?”

Twilight nodded. “Celestia taught me how to use it briefly. She didn’t actually plan for me to ever be in battle, but she wanted me to know how in case I was. That was around the time when she was teaching me to kill vampires, she wanted me to know how to fight.”

At that point Mythic Dusk interrupted “Alright, I don’t mean to cut you short, but it’s time, go out and take different positions along the edge of the clearing.”

Shadowfall jumped up, using her wings to keep balanced as she move along the branches to the edge of the clearing almost like a squirrel. Twilight and Fluttershy parted ways, each going in the opposite directions.

Fluttershy got up to the top of a tree, almost the opposite end of the clearing, and assessed the area.

Twilight wasn’t actually that far from Shadowfall, barely a quarter of the clearing, making Fluttershy very far away from them. By the time she took position the meeting was already taking place.

Fluttershy kept watch, and for some time nothing happened. Unfortunately, she realized that Mythic Dusk may have been right when she caught sight of ponies moving around in the foliage near the other edge of the clearing, she tried waving a hoof, but Twilight and Shadowfall’s attention was not on her, rather on the meeting and on a very select area on her side of the tree line, which as far as she could tell was completely devoid of any ponies.

She tried to avoid taking any desperate action, hoping that she could get Twilight’s attention, but when she saw that the ponies in the foliage were armed and preparing to attack she had no other option, and as loud as she could she yelled, “AMBUSH!”

Her timing was perfect, as the moment she yelled Mythic jumped and turned to face her direction, hoping to get some clue as to where the ambush actually was, and by doing so he narrowly avoided a spear as it cut through the air where his head was only a moment ago.

And that was when chaos broke out.

Fluttershy was too afraid to do anything as the attackers leapt out into the clearing. Mythic Dusk turned and prepared to fight. The pony making the trade tried to run, but Shadowfall stuck him with her blade as she leapt down from the tree, killing him without mercy and not even looking back as she charged into the battle before her. Twilight did the same after making several magical attacks, none of which actually hit their targets but forced them to take action to avoid the deadly black bolts of magic.

Fluttershy wanted to help, but couldn't bring herself to join the violence happening below her, and was only able to watch as Twilight danced around the battlefield with extraordinary precision, killing just as many of the attackers with her magic as she did with her sword.

Shadowfall didn't do much differently, gracefully moving below and taking on as many as four ponies at once, dodging and blocking their attacks with amazing speed and precision while still finding space to make her own attacks, always hitting her mark and crippling her targets if she didn't kill them outright.

After the fighting went on for a few minutes, Fluttershy finally had enough courage to jump down from the tree she was now hiding in and approach the fight, though she was sure to keep her distance. She waited, trying to collect herself enough to get into the fighting, but the though of killing somepony, even if they were trying to kill her, was horrifying.

So she watched the fight, staying on the edge of the battleground and watching with a mixture of disgust and curiosity as her companions killed pony after pony, as more and more bodies piled up on the scene.

There had to have been at least twenty ponies in the fight, and Fluttershy didn't contribute to the fight in any way at all. Even though she knew that Twilight wouldn't hold it against her, she felt bad for not at least helping, until the end that is.

When the battle was dieing down, and the other two were fighting off the last few attackers, Fluttershy saw a pony sneaking up behind Twilight while she was engaged in battle with another in front of her. Seeing an opportunity to help, she sprinted from her hiding place and tackled the pony. She thought that if she just incapacitated him, the others might not kill him outright, maybe interrogating him for more information on the attack, or doing something more merciful.

That hope was lost in a moment however, because when she knocked the pony to the ground she made a lot of noise, and as soon as she heard that Twilight exploited the momentary lapse in concentration caused to the pony she was fighting to deliver a killing blow, and then whipped around and fire a jagged, black bolt of dark magic the cleanly hit the pony she had pinned to the ground in the chest, killing him instantly as it pierced his heart. Fluttershy tried not to seem too disappointed, but was noticeably distressed.

“Nice of you to finally join in,” Twilight said, assuming that her discomfort was more general than the death of one pony.

Fluttershy looked back down on the pony, standing up and backing away. She may not have killed him outright, but she was indirectly responsible for his death.

But she had no feelings of guilt or remorse. She could see plainly that if it wasn't him, it would have been Twilight.

“Over here,” Shadowfall called out, and for a moment Fluttershy thought their might have been a survivor, but what she found was much more horrifying.

Mythic Dusk was dead.

Everything seemed to stop for Fluttershy as Twilight knelt down beside him, and examined the wounds from the battle. The one that killed him was clearly the one that pierced his side, the rest being too shallow to do that much real damage.

“How could this have happened,” Shadowfall said in anger, turning and looking away from the scene.

Twilight meanwhile picked up a broken spearhead off the ground and ran her hoof across it, and then walked up to Shadowfall and ran it across her back resulting in a flinch, a small cry of pain, and a minor burn mark that did not heal immediately.

“What was that for?” she said, again in anger, and this time also surprise.

Twilight offered a sheepish smile. “Sorry, just checking, it wouldn't have affected me.”

Shadowfall growled at her slightly, and then said, “Mythic Dusk is dead, why would you think these weapons aren't enchanted with magic that could kill us?”

“Like I said, just checking.”

Shadowfall grumbled at this, but didn't argue. Twilight's resistance to light magic and unique capability to cast it wasn't outright revered, but it was admired amongst other vampires. It was a sign of strength, and rendered even otherwise deadly weapons harmless. Though this resistance wasn’t very strong, most weapons enchanted with light magic wouldn’t harm her, even as identical weapons would kill those around her. Contrary to Fluttershy's belief, she was never really in any danger. The wounds inflicted on her, while painful, would have been no more deadly than those of any conventional weapon.

“What about the book?” Fluttershy asked, trying to take her mind off the fight by distracting herself with other things.

With a look of revelation, Twilight teleported over to the dead trader, not even bothering to walk. A brief search later, she pulled out the book.

As soon as it was moved the blood covering it ran off like water. The book wasn't damaged in any way, and a quick check with her own magic revealed that their was active rune magic holding it together, hidden beneath layers of covering that kept it from sight. She leafed through the book quickly, confirming that the entire book was legitimate, filled with spell diagrams and outlines of magic in numerous forms laid out in such a way that when cast, would work in harmony with each other to great effect. The whole thing was amazing to her, and it took much of her willpower and a gentle nudge from Fluttershy to remind her that they had more important things to do than reading the book right now.

The reminder of what had happened had been a solemn sign of all that needed to be done. Now that they had lost one of their own, they had to begin tying up loose ends. They couldn't afford these kinds of losses, especially not these days.

“What about his daughter?” Fluttershy asked as they made their way back over to his body. Shadowfall was examining the bodies of the ponies they had slain, searching for signs that could identify them, or whatever pony or organization had put them up to the ambush.

“I don't see any other option than move her in with somepony else,” Twilight said, “she can't live alone. She can stay with me if she needs to.”

Not pausing her examination of the bodies, Shadowfall replied, “That would probably be best, you're the only one who can actually take care of her and keep her out of danger at the same time. I just hope you have the necessary parenting skills for this.”

Twilight gave a small laugh at that, but it wasn't enough to cover up the sadness she was feeling. She may not have know Mythic Dusk very well, but vampires were like family, and even though she was just starting to get to know them and learn her way around her own nature she still felt that familial connection to them.

“Alright, so what should we do with his body?” asked Twilight, feeling that she should know the answer already.

“We’ll perform a burial,” said Shadowfall, “We’ll make a grave, out by his house. It was where his wife was buried, after she died. It seems like that’s where he would want it.”

Twilight nodded, and then Shadowfall asked, “You don’t need me in Ponyville anymore, do you?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, Silver Wing is helping watch Rainbow right now, and then Fluttershy and I are going to take over once we get back, why?”

She flipped one of the dead ponies over, much to Fluttershy’s disgust, and showed them the bottom of one of his front hooves.

There was a symbol on the bottom of his hoof, engraved into the skin by way of a method that Twilight imagined would be quite painful unless done under the influence of numbing spells. She didn’t recognize it, but it obviously had some kind of meaning.

“Found it on every one of them, including the trader,” Shadowfall said. “It looks like some kind of kind of identification, probably for an organization.”

Twilight frowned. “So more than just a lucky band of vampire hunters. You’re saying that this was part of an organized movement?”

“Maybe,” Shadowfall replied. “Anyway, since I’m not needed in Ponyville anymore I plan to find out. I’ll get my things and head out, get a few more vampires and start a more thorough investigation. I plan to find out who did this.”

That was the first positive thing Twilight heard since the fight, and she was confident that it would turn out well. For a moment she toyed with the thought of applying her authority to the situation, allocating more of their accumulated resources. After all, it was more than just the death of one of their own, it was still a threat to be dealt with. She filed the thought away, making a mental note to look into the possibility later, along with a reminder to check on what resources they actually had.

“While we’re here, we should take the chance to feed. It isn’t always this easy to find blood,” Twilight said, a little hesitation and reluctance in her voice.

Shadowfall wasted no time following her advice, biting into the body of the closest pony with remarkable speed, eagerly consuming whatever blood was still left in the body. Twilight wasn’t as vigorous, and took her time and fed slowly and calmly.

Fluttershy only joined in because she knew she needed to. Living a calm lifestyle helped, and she tried to spend as much time as she could sleeping, but she still went through the energy she got from Morning Daisy’s blood as time went on, and she was getting close to the point where she would have to feed again, regardless of whether or not she wanted to.

It felt wrong to her, but she stopped hesitating and started feeding on one of the corpses. Though it made her feel terrible, the blood tasted amazing, though it didn’t have the same euphoric effect as last time, only giving her slight cravings for more. She moved on to another body when she was done, and another after that before she started to feel sick from consuming to much blood. Both Twilight and the books she was given explained that she could only consume so much blood at a time before she couldn’t store any more energy, a capacity that would improve with time, as well as when she consumed large amounts of blood at once.

After a few minutes of feeding, all the corpses were drained of blood, and Shadowfall said, “We had better get moving, the sooner we do what we need to, the sooner we can avenge him.”

Despite the harsh way she said it, Twilight found herself in complete agreement with Shadowfall’s words. Twilight didn’t share the aggressive views most others did, and she had never once felt contempt or hatred for the normal ponies, nor did she ever wish any violence on them, but this time she felt a violent hate, even if only for a moment and barely noticeable. She did her best not to return to the thought, but it lingered in the back of her mind, telling her to go out and exact vengeance.

Shadowfall picked up Mythic’s body, with some help from Twilight, and they made their way out of the clearing. They followed the same path they came in until they could get their bearings, and followed alongside the path, just out of sight in case a pony was wandering around late at night.

They circled around at the river and made their way along the banks to the small house, and finally set the body down.

Without speaking, Shadowfall got to work, digging the ground with her bare hooves. Twilight and Fluttershy got the hard job, breaking the news to his daughter.

The entered the house, and found the young filly sitting around in the same room Twilight had sat in not too long ago to talk to mythic dusk for the first time.

When they entered, she looked up at them curiously. For the moment, they just looked at each other, and then Twilight made the first move and said as gently as she could, “Lunar Pearl, your father... he died about a half hour ago. I’m sorry.”

As opposed to the vibrant conversation of earlier that day, the return trip was more solemn, almost entirely silent.

As was typical of any trip at night, the train was nowhere near capacity, leaving them with and empty car all to themselves.

Lunar Pearl had finally managed to fall asleep on Fluttershy’s lap, her fur stained from the hours of crying. When she was told that she needed to come back with them, she hadn’t the strength or the will to do much other than pack a few necessities, mostly just precious items. Twilight assured her they would be able to return for the rest at a later date. With nopony living there for the time they locked the place up and left it. One of the things about the home of a rune magic expert however, was that it was akin to a brilliant inventor. The way rune magic intertwined and mixed, working in harmony with itself, left all but infinite possibilities, and security measures were abundant. It may have been a cottage in the woods, but it was still their home, and they did have years of free time to perfect the design. The place would only open to a vampire, and would be all but impossible to enter for anypony else, save perhaps an alicorn.

They remained silent for the most part, not having anything to say. Shadowfall’s plans were clearly outlined, gather her possessions and make her way to Los Pegasus, where she would meet up with two others and they would begin their investigation by returning to Fillydelphia. Twilight had promised that she would allocate any resources she would need.

As the other two sat around quietly, Twilight was going through the book they had recovered, the one positive outline of the trip.

They had identified it positively as a journal kept by one of the ponies responsible for Twilight’s protective magics when she was young. According to Shadowfall, there were three ponies directly involved in the creation of the magic, two others having been dead for some time, and Mythic Dusk being the last.

Of the three, there was Mythic Dusk, who was responsible for the rune magic that was applied in the process, which was mostly what kept the magic running without drawing so much energy that Twilight starved to death, but also was responsible for giving Twilight sensations such as exhaustion and hunger, things she wouldn’t ordinarily experience.

The other two were each experts in their own fields. The journal they had belonged to the pony who worked with the dark magic involved, which was the least used of the three fields, only providing miscellaneous effects and providing a framework in addition to suppressing her vampiric abilities. The final and most important of the three was the expert on illusion magic, which was not only the field of magic that hid her appearance, but also what protected her from sunlight.

Each field either couldn’t work or would be useless without the other two, making the whole thing a marvel that she could barely believe they pulled off. The effects were amazing, although unfortunately they needed a vampire as a host or they would fail, as was evidenced by the necklace she had acquired from Rarity, which had only taken a few weeks to disintegrate from the time the enchantments were transferred to it.

Other than detailed descriptions of how the magic worked, documented so effectively Twilight would be willing to say she could replicate the effect given the resources, it also contained personal notes and a few extra bits that Twilight found very interesting, including an explanation as to why Cadence was an alicorn. Unfortunately what happened to the other two was never discovered, as Mythic Dusk had never told anypony and there was no known record of their fates.

Finally, after nearly two hours of silence, Fluttershy asked, “Was it worth it?”

Shadowfall looked at her sadly, and Twilight lowered the book and said, “What we got out of this was valuable, that can’t be questioned... but it will never be worth what it cost us.”

Chapter 24, Forgiveness

Gradually, the next week passed and Rainbow slowly became more accustomed to her changes. After they got back Twilight had explained to Silver Wing what had happened, right in front of Rainbow. Silver didn’t take the news very well, and left as soon as she could. Rainbow didn’t actually know him, and couldn’t say that she was saddened by his death, but she could feel for Twilight. His death also inspired new fears in Rainbow, fears that she felt justified Twilight’s actions more than they already were.

Silver Wing had help put things into perspective for the entire day. Everything Rainbow could ever want to know about vampires, Twilight, and the history of Equestria was free for her to ask about, and some of the things she learned were hard to believe, but in the end she understood that she was hearing nothing but the truth.

She had finally accepted that her life wasn’t quite going to work out how she had planned. She couldn’t go out in the sun, so her dreams of joining the Wonderbolts were out of the question, as was her love of flying. She could finally get the hang of night flying, but it just wasn’t the same when nopony else could see her.

Eventually though, they had gotten to the point where Rainbow was ready to learn how to feed, the same lesson Fluttershy had gotten. She was taking it better, but she didn’t like the thought of leeching off of some innocent pony like that. What was worse was that Silver had explained to Rainbow that ponies like her were the ones that tended to like it the most. She was most likely to become one of the vampires that would begin to disregard the lives of her prey, and the thought alone terrified her.

It was only a small comfort to hear that it wasn’t a guaranteed outcome, and it did little to mask the fear that she would become just like the vampires who made ponies fear them in the first place. Twilight didn’t bring it up, but she shared the same concern.

Unlike Fluttershy, Rainbow didn’t have any serious objections to Twilight’s proposal. Knock somepony out and feed from them, then cover up the evidence and leave before anypony noticed. She didn’t like the idea, but wasn’t going to argue with somepony she was willing to acknowledge as more knowledgeable than herself.

Twilight had insisted on bringing Fluttershy along for the trip, even when Rainbow said she really didn’t need to be there. Regardless of her objections, it was comforting to have her with them as the train left the station in the middle of the afternoon. She grew more accustomed to being around Fluttershy in the recent few days, after getting the chance to see how little she changed. Her newfound confidence was a positive improvement and the only major change at all.

They boarded a train to Appleloosa. It was out of the way, and it wasn’t the friendliest of territories. The buffalo were at peace, but there was still the risk of bandits or the occasional unfriendly pony wandering the streets at night, drunken to the point they did quite know what they were doing.

The selection of ponies wasn’t as important since they weren’t trying to find a volunteer like last time. The whole point of this was to get Rainbow blood, and teach her how to feed. They had already emphasized that she may want to look into the possibility of a willing donor, or even more than one, in case this method wasn’t as reliable or practical. For physically active ponies, or ponies who pushed themselves to perform feats such as the sonic Rainboom, feeding would be a more frequent occurrence, just as it would for intense magic users like Twilight. It had come up as a conversation point that Rainbow might even be able to travel between cities under her own power, at the expense of a lot of energy to get their faster than a train. Both Fluttershy and Twilight, assuming that she ever learned how to fly, could do the same thing, but Rainbow wouldn’t have any difficulty pushing herself that far.

“So, I wasn’t quite sure what we could do on the train ride, so I brought some things along to choose from,” Twilight said, trying to bring up a conversation after the tired silence they had endured for the first ten minutes. “When Fluttershy and I did this, we got into rune magic. I doubt you’d like it, or be very good at it, but I brought it along anyway, just in case.”

They didn’t need to worry about being overheard or seen, as there was only one other passenger on the entire train. The train to Appleloosa only ran every few days, and it didn’t leave unless there were actually passengers willing to go there. The other pony on the train was somepony who lived in Appleloosa, returning home from a visit to Canterlot. They had talked briefly, but under their disguises they were unrecognizable. Twilight and Fluttershy had their preferred disguises that they used any time they went out, and Rainbow had been quite creative with hers, tailoring each aspect with wonderful precision and artistic flare. In the end, Twilight wouldn’t even be able to differentiate between Rainbow and the pastel green mare sitting beside her in the train unless she already knew that they were the same pony. She had chosen on a pink mane, slightly lighter that Fluttershy’s and her eyes were the same light pink, only of a slightly darker shade.

The only sign that could give her away was her cutie mark, which was hidden underneath a new cloak that Twilight had obtained using a favor owed to her by a tailor in Canterlot. It would have been easier to simply go to Rarity, but with Rainbow still not making public appearances after a month they were getting very suspicious and Twilight wanted to avoid giving her any more evidence to use against them.

“What’s rune magic, and how can I use it if I’m not a unicorn?” Rainbow asked, not bothering to even look at Twilight.

Hiding her annoyance at Rainbow’s rude behavior, as she had been doing for the entire week, Twilight replied, “Rune magic doesn’t need a horn, but it does take a lot of precision. If you get the hang of it you can do amazing things.”

“It’s really fun,” Fluttershy added, “it can take some time to get right, but if you know what you’re doing you can do thing I never though a pegasus could do.”

Twilight shook Rainbow. “Remember that time we went to Manehatten for the Wonderbolt’s show with Luna? The explosion on the train, that was Fluttershy.”

That caught Rainbow’s interest, and she looked at Fluttershy curiously. For the most part, Fluttershy had an amused smile that said she found the event funny. “Twilight was the one who put too much power in it, but I drew the rune.”

Rainbow paused for a moment, and gave it a bit of consideration, but in the end she said, “Maybe some other time... any other suggestions?”

“What about our ancient language?” Fluttershy asked, earning a bemused look from Rainbow.

“So now there’s an entire language you expect me to learn, are you expecting me to do all of this?”

“No,” Twilight replied, “well, at least not right now. Give it a few hundred years, you’ll probably get into most of it.”

That made Rainbow worried. A few hundred years was a long time, even for somepony who didn’t age. It didn’t catch her off guard, she did think about it before now, but the fact that she had hundreds of years’ worth of things to learn was startling, even if the immortality did seem kind of cool.

“I tried to bring as much as I could, but unicorns get the most things to learn, with all the dark magic there is to study,” Twilight said. “Rune magic and our language are the big things, but there’s also plenty of things to learn about your vampiric abilities, and over five thousand years of history to catch up on. Just in case, I also brought a few Daring Do books, you know, for if you didn’t feel like doing anything else.”

Without even pausing for a moment to think, Rainbow replied, “Give me one of the history books, it’s not like I haven’t read all the Daring Do books before.”

Twilight gave an uncomfortable look at her seeming disinterest with anything else, but regardless, she opened her saddlebags and retrieved a large number of books, laying them out on the seat beside Fluttershy.

Rainbow stared in shock at the pile of books. Not only were their six entire books, they were massive. Rainbow had to learn a little history when she was in flight school, but all the books she had back then combined were barely a fraction of even one of the ones Twilight had brought with her.

“This isn’t all of them, but these were the ones I found the most interesting. You can pick out whichever one you want.”

Rainbow looked over her options. Each book covered a surprisingly small time period for their size. It took a moment of looking through the books, but she settled on the one detailing the time just before the three tribes came together. The books were written by vampires and had the vampires own history in it, this book more than most because of how the ponies lived in that time period. Small, isolated villages and no real order as opposed to how vampires lived in clans back then, still small and isolated but with greater communication. They often terrorized the villages and ponies, if not picking them off after dark then using fear as a means of asserting influence. Several clans were even known to have demanded sacrifices from the villages in their territory, unleashing horrors and dark magic or just simply killing ponies or crops if they refused.

As the train ride went on and the others took the time to sleep, Rainbow continued to read the book with rapt interest, and more often than not a sense of horror. The things these vampires did to ponies when unchallenged were horrific. Sure, the society of vampires back then was interesting. With the only means by which vampires could die being exposure to sunlight and starvation, the clans never fought, being unable to do any damage to each other. They would go after resources and villages under the control of another clan when a territorial dispute arose, but it was all rather civilized.

The things they did to the ponies of that time however were beyond brutal, even to the point of being so evil that it could not be described in the Equestrian language. The ones that were killed outside their homes were often the lucky ones. The ones who were captured, and sometimes the ones that were offered as sacrifices that were taken back, were subject to far more cruel fates, things Rainbow didn’t even want to think about yet were described in vivid detail.

And despite how horrific these things were, Rainbow couldn’t help but feel a strange satisfaction from reading about them, and though she was absolutely terrified of that feeling, she just couldn’t find the will to stop.

It wasn’t until almost the next morning that the train arrived at its destination. Rainbow was barely a quarter of the way through the book, though between the size of the book and Rainbow’s slow reading speed it was less than surprising. Regardless, she had been enjoying herself. After the initial shock of the book’s contents had worn off she actually began to enjoy reading about the less gruesome aspects of that time, and though it still disgusted her, the darker parts had a unique appeal to them. Many times over the course of reading the book her mind wandered back to the things Silver Wing had told her, about how when ponies like her were turned, they the ones turned out to be the least compassionate and merciful. She had shrugged it off before as something that would never happen to her, but now she wasn’t as sure of herself.

Reluctantly, she marked her place and returned the books to Twilight, asking to be promised that she could read the book some more on the way back.

They disembarked and made their way to a secluded place just outside of town. Once there, Twilight asked, “Do you have any preferences for how you want to do this?”

Rainbow shook her head. “No, let’s just get this over with.”

Twilight gave her an encouraging look that said this would go alright, but Rainbow’s outlook wasn’t changed.

“Well then, let’s just wait for somepony to wander off on their own and go after them, do you have any objections?” Twilight asked, putting a hoof on Rainbows shoulder in another attempt to reassure her. Rainbow shook her head again.

“Alright then,” Twilight said awkwardly, “let’s go.”

They had all been here before, and they all knew the layout of the town. Twilight led them to the path between the town and orchards, and the waited patiently for somepony to make their way out, being careful to make sure they weren’t seen.

It was nearly two hours until sunrise, so not many ponies would be out this early, but after nearly twenty minutes their patience was rewarded. A young mare was making her way out to the orchards for an early start that morning, and Twilight was satisfied with the conditions. Nopony else was around to witness what they were about to do.

The area they were in was completely open, save for the rock they were hiding behind, so Twilight signaled Rainbow to jump out and attack the moment she passed. Rainbow seemed to understand the unspoken instructions with an overwhelming dread. It was time to do this and there was no way out of it.

They waited until the mare was just passing their hiding place before Rainbow quickly rushed out behind her, grabbed her, and bit into her neck before she could react.

Everything seemed to slow down in that moment, when the horror of what she was doing and the wondrous feeling of tasting blood for the first time both caught up with her simultaneously. For just that one moment, she felt both at the same time, but the horror was soon overtaken by the pleasure of the experience and the thrill of the moment. Just as Fluttershy did before her, Rainbow was experiencing the euphoria of feeding for the first time, and she loved every second of it.

All her hesitation seemed to flow away, and with nothing but the intent of getting more blood she began feeding faster, oblivious and unconcerned about the harm she was causing the mare she was feeding from. Even as Twilight and Fluttershy shook her violently, she didn’t stop, or want to stop.

It wasn’t until the flow of blood slowed and eventually ceased that she came down from the high, and realized what she had done. Her prey was dead.

In that short moment, all the horror of her action caught up with her, and she slowly began backing away from the lifeless body in front of her, unable to look away from the macabre scene before her yet also unable to accept what she had done.

She was a killer, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t bring herself to accept that.

Ignoring whatever Twilight was saying at the time, Rainbow fled, not caring where she went, just as long as she could get away from everypony.

It took Twilight and Fluttershy nearly twenty minutes to track her down in the vast arid plains. When they did, Twilight came up behind her and tried to put a hoof on her shoulder, but Rainbow aggressively turned around, revealing her tear stained face.

“This is all your fault!” Rainbow said with pure anger and contempt, masked only by her sadness. “You did this to me, you’re the reason this happened.”

That was what it took. For the first time, Twilight felt she had truly destroyed her friendship through her actions, and her regret then could never be matched.

Her own eyes filling with tears, she put her hooves around Rainbow. “You’re right, this is all my fault. I’m sorry Rainbow, I should never have done this to you. I should have tried harder, done something else. I’m so sorry, Rainbow, I’m so sorry.”

Though Twilight couldn’t see it, Rainbow smiled at that. She moved one hoof to return Twilight’s embrace. “It’s alright, I forgive you.”

Pulling back, she said, “But, you just said...”

“Silver told me everything, and I know why you did it,” Rainbow interrupted. “I forgave you a week ago Twilight, I’ve just been waiting for you to admit you were wrong.”

“So, you don’t hate me?” Twilight asked hopefully.

Rainbow still smiled. “I hate you more than I can put into words Twilight, I really do. I forgive you though, and I won’t let what happened break up our friendship.”

“Thank you Rainbow!” Twilight said, burying her face into Rainbow’s fur with a joyful, genuine smile, tears of joy flowing freely.

The tender moment seemed to go on forever, and neither of them wanted to interrupt it. Eventually though, Fluttershy said, “I don’t mean to interrupt, but it’s nearly morning. We need to get on the train home soon.”

Finally, they let each other go, and with renewed faith in each other, they made their way back to town just as the first rays of light came up over the horizon.

Chapter 25, Consequences

For the ponies of Ponyville, nothing was truly strange anymore. Between Nightmare Moon, Discord, and being the residence of the bearers of the elements of harmony, nothing really surprised them.

So when Princess Celestia arrived along with a battalion of guards, ponies only stared on in amazement for a few moments, before cautiously returning to what they were doing before.

Between the guards questioning ponies in the town square and Princess Celestia giving out orders, nopony noticed the mysterious cloaked pony rushing between the alleys.

“Twilight!” Rainbow said bursting into the library, “Twilight, we've got a major problem! Princess Celestia is here with an army!”

Setting down her book, Twilight walked over to the door and said, “I'm sure you're overreacting.”

She opened the door just enough to see out without making contact with the sunlight, and saw what could definitely be defined as a small army spreading out across Ponyville.

Closing the door again, she said, “This... is bad.”

“No kidding,” Rainbow said, “what's your brilliant plan this time?” She asked it as sarcastically as possible, but she obviously wasn't joking about how serious the situation was.

“Just... just give me a second to think,” replied Twilight. She paced for a few moments, and then she replied, “Just... make yourself look normal, I'll get Fluttershy.”

She didn't ordinarily like long distance teleporting, as it was one of the most draining feats of magic she could perform, but with how much blood she got from feeding after the ambush on Mythic Dusk, and the severity of the situation, she could afford to be a little carefree with it.

First Twilight teleported upstairs to retrieve Lunar Pearl. Ever since her father died she had been living with Twilight in the libraries second floor, using the guest bed that was vacant with Shadowfall's departure. She was no more quiet then she always was, but the signs that she was still struggling with the event was evident. She had no interest in meeting anypony new, and even her passion of plant life was buried, she had no interest in exploring the Everfree, even after being told of the wondrous variety of unique and magical plants that grew there and nowhere else.

She would spend all of her time upstairs, browsing Twilight's personal collection of books. While many of them would ordinarily be off limits to anypony else, she made the exception for the young and timid filly. In the two weeks she had lived their she hadn't even come downstairs once.

Spike had asked questions, but upon being told that she was going through a hard time he agreed to just leave her be. He was much less cooperative when he was told that she would be moving in with them, maybe even for years, but Twilight held him off by saying that she knew Lunar Pearl's father, and that she was going to be caring for her after he died. Spike didn't like the explanation, but accepted it nonetheless.

Not having left the library once yet, she was shocked when Twilight teleported right next to her, and then grabbed her and teleported to Fluttershy's cottage in barely a second.

Ignoring the shocked expression on them both, Twilight quickly said, “Celestia is here! Lunar, hide here until I come and get you, Fluttershy, you need to disguise yourself and come with me.”

Fluttershy barely had time to hide her fangs and eyes before being unceremoniously teleported away to the library, appearing in front of a very confused Rainbow.

“Just pretend you've been here for a while, and act natural,” Twilight said, grabbing the book she was reading while simultaneously pulling two more books from the shelves and throwing them to Rainbow and Fluttershy. Rainbow got a Daring Do book, and Fluttershy got a random book on birdwatching. All three of them adopted relaxed positions, as if they had indeed been here for some time.

In the end, the whole thing took no less than fifteen seconds. The urgency proved unnecessary however, as it was nearly two minutes more before Celestia arrived, flanked by no less than eight guards.

“Princess,” said Twilight with the illusion of surprise. Rainbow and Fluttershy simply stared. Since Twilight removed her protective enchantment and Fluttershy was turned, they had encountered Luna once and it had gone well. This situation was different, as they both knew that of the two Luna was the merciful one, and even Rainbow felt a twinge of fear.

Celestia gave Twilight a weary smile, and turned to her guards. “Retrieve the other element bearers.”

Six of the guards left, the other two remaining by Princess Celestia's side.

“Princess, what's going on?” Twilight asked, feigning confusion, though she knew the most likely answer already.

Celestia did not spare Twilight a smile this time, and wearily she said, “It would be best to wait for the others first.”

It took a few minutes for them all to arrive, mostly because of how long it took for Applejack to get there from the farm, but they each had the same sense of confusion.

“Now that you're all here, we may begin,” Celestia said, “I'm sorry to say that I'm not here to deliver good news. There has been a murder earlier this week.”

A look of shock came across all their faces, although for Twilight, Rainbow, and Fluttershy, it was not a genuine look of surprise. The shock was partially realistic, but it wasn't the same horror the others were feeling. It was mostly the result of their actions in Appleloosa catching up to them so suddenly.

Between tracking down Rainbow and the approaching sunrise, they had simply made their way back to the train station, outright forgetting the body entirely, simply leaving it in the middle of the path to the orchards.

Not that it would have made any difference even if they did do something. She would have been gone for a while, but eventually a professional tracker would have been called in, and then through use of magic and investigative techniques the body would have been located, and this moment would have merely been delayed.

Seeing that nopony had anything to add, Celestia continued, “A pony in the town of Appleloosa was found dead outside town six days ago, and because of the remote location, the response has been somewhat delayed. The body has been identified as Apple Fritter, one of the local farmers.”

A look of guilt washed over Rainbow for a moment when she realized that not only did she kill somepony, but the pony she killed was one of her friend's relatives as well. The short change in expression went entirely unnoticed however, as all eyes were on Applejack at the time.

“What happened, how?” she asked, shock quickly giving way to anger. She looked at Celestia expecting answers.

What she got however, was less than encouraging. In a sympathetic voice, Celestia replied, “I know it is not encouraging to hear, but I'm afraid that information is classified under the Equestrian military.”

“What?” Applejack said, anger flaring even more, “What do you mean classified? She's family, don't her family deserve to know what happened to her?”

“I'm afraid not this time. This would not be the case, if not for the unique circumstances,” Celestia replied. “As it stands, I’m here to extend this information to Twilight, as she's the only pony I trust to receive it, given her unique training.”

Putting on a slight look of fear, Twilight said, “Wait, please tell me you aren't saying what I think you're saying.”

As for the rest of them, their confusion was genuine, for all of them this time. Rarity was the first to speak out. “Princess, I don't mean to pry, but since when has Twilight been a member of the Equestrian military, much less of such a high rank?”

Twilight quickly answered, “It really isn't a military position, I'm the only pony with that has training for this, assuming it's what I think it is.”

Celestia laughed. “Yes, I suppose that would make her a specialist, though I assure you, she's much more capable than the royal guard in this matter.”

“Princess, if what you're saying is true, why are you here?” Twilight asked, trying to progress the conversation and get it done with as soon as possible, simply so that Celestia would leave.

“I fear that the suspects may have departed to Ponyville after the event unfolded,” said Celestia ignoring the shock and terror of all the ponies present in the room once more. “This is not public knowledge, and I would prefer that it stays that way to prevent panic. That being said, the news that there was a murder at all will not reach the public for several more days.”

“Princess, I don't meant to interrupt the conversation we're having here, but can we please discuss this upstairs,” Twilight said, growing desperate to bring this to an end so she could get Celestia to leave as soon as possible. Seeing as she was the only pony briefed on the situation, the guards wouldn't be a threat, but since the last time they had spoken Celestia had grown to become something she feared, amplified by her friends she now needed to protect in addition to herself.

Once they were upstairs, Twilight closed the door. Surveying the area, Celestia said, “I'm surprised by how little this place is organized.”

It wasn't a surprise to Twilight to hear that. Lunar Pearl tended to clean up after herself, but she didn't make much of a priority of it. As a result, the area would grow to be cluttered, and despite the effort Twilight made to correct it, there was a degree of chaos amongst the room. Still, it didn't feel right to ask Lunar to keep everything organized, at least not until she got settled in.

“It's good to see you're finally moving away from your compulsive organization,” Celestia added. Twilight made no effort to acknowledge her, simply grateful that she didn't suspect that anypony else was living there.

“So is it true, are vampires back?” Twilight asked, trying to move things forward. Considering who she was dealing with, it was a miracle that she was able to maintain her deception.

Celestia's reply carried disappointment. “I'm afraid so. The cause of death was blood loss caused by puncture wounds to the neck. Time of death was confirmed to have been between six and seven in the morning, but the autopsy wasn't performed for several more days due to the time it took for the information to reach Canterlot.”

“What about the suspect?” Twilight said, very nearly making the mistake of saying suspects, giving away that she was already aware that there was more than one pony involved.

Despite managing through trust to keep Celestia's suspicion focused elsewhere, one mistake could be enough to bring down the web of secrets she was working to maintain.

“According to the records at the train station, and the testimony of the pony attending at the time, there were three ponies who purchased tickets to Ponyville on a train that left a short time before the body was discovered,” said Celestia, “The information we have only confirms that one of them was a vampire however, the others could have simply been in league with her.

“All of the suspects were mares, though they all wore heavy covering, so we have no accurate description of their appearance apart from their faces, and even then very little to go off of, not that it would make much difference with their ability to change appearance at will.”

“What are we doing to counter this?” Twilight asked, “are you considering reforming the paladin order?”

“I've already begun drawing up a list of candidates, but until we have confirmation that this is not an isolated incident I see no reason to put forth the resources to train and equip a dedicated force,” Celestia replied. “As of now, you remain the only pony trained for this, and therefore I've put you in command of the guards that will be stationed here until further notice, though I don't expect our target will stay here for long once they realize that we've found them.

“Your orders are simple, you will instruct and aid the guards in locating the vampire without giving out classified information or creating unneeded panic, and you will protect your friends from any danger they might be in.”

Twilight took a deep breath. “Alright, I can do that.”

Celestia smiled. “I know you can. Now, let's not keep the others waiting.”

With that done they returned to the first floor. Everypony watched them expectantly, and Celestia said, “I'm afraid this is a rather busy time, so I'll have to leave you now. Twilight knows what to do in this situation, and I expect that she'll perform her duties admirably.”

After she left, an awkward silence lingered in the room for a few minutes before Applejack finally said, “So, there's a killer in Ponyville.”

“Don't worry about it,” Twilight replied, “If they haven't already left, they probably will soon, and if they don't I can handle it. Don't worry Applejack, we'll figure this out.”

“I have faith in you Twi, I'm just worried you aren't being sincere.”

They talked for a few more minutes, and then the others left to continue on with their day, leaving just the three vampires alone.

“So, this isn't going to be a problem, is it?” Rainbow asked Twilight, giving her a brief look of concern.

Twilight pulled back a little and gave her a nervous smile. “Well, I was the only one told what's going on because Celestia doesn't want vampires to be public knowledge anymore, so they won't find us unless I lead them to us. They might call out somepony looking suspicious though, so avoid traveling with a cloak during the day, and keep out of sight at night.”

“So in other words, don't go out during the day at all?” Fluttershy asked.

“That not what I said, I said don't go out with a cloak, you'll be fine ask long as the sun isn't out,” Twilight replied.

Fluttershy looked at Rainbow, and Rainbow got defensive and said, “Don't look at me, I had to quit my job because I can't fly during the day anymore. Whatever the weather is, it isn't because I scheduled it.”

Twilight took a deep breath. “It's going to be hard to find us, but if they do it will end badly. I need to send out a warning, let the others know that Ponyville isn't safe right now.”

She made her way back upstairs, leaving Rainbow and Fluttershy together.

“This is all my fault,” Rainbow said after a short moment of silence, “if I had just controlled myself none of this would be happening.”

“It isn't easy the first time, I know, I went through the same thing,” said Fluttershy.

“But you didn't kill somepony,” Rainbow said on the verge of tears, “you controlled yourself.”

“But I didn't want to.”

Rainbow looked at her. Fluttershy was clearly overcome by feelings of guilt. She gave Rainbow a weak smile as she said, “I never said anything, but when I was drinking blood, I didn't want to stop. I knew that I could have hurt her, even killed her, but all I wanted at that moment was more blood. The only reason I didn't was because I was afraid of what Twilight would think of me. I would have killed her if Twilight wasn't there.”

“But you were strong enough to stop yourself, I could barely even think,” Rainbow replied.

Fluttershy's expression changed suddenly, from a quiet, forced smile to a look of complete guilt in an instant. She couldn't look Rainbow in the eye, instead looking down at the ground as she solemnly said, “No Rainbow, I wasn't strong at all. If I was strong, then I would have killed her, without a second thought. I was so afraid of what Twilight would think of me, that she might hate me. I wanted to kill her Rainbow, I just didn't want anything to happen between me and Twilight that could destroy our relationship.”

“Fluttershy,” Rainbow said, shock evident in her voice and expression, “do you realize what you're saying?”

Fluttershy gave a timid nod, still refusing to look directly at Rainbow. This was obviously something that was hurting her a lot, and Rainbow wanted to say something to comfort her, but nothing came to mind.

To make things worse, their conversation was interrupted when Twilight came back and said, “Alright, I'll get the message out as soon as possible. In the meantime, be careful. We're all in danger from this, so if one of you caught it's bad for all of us.”

Rainbow nodded, and Twilight understood that it was for both of them, even though Fluttershy was only staring at the ground. They still weren't used to their enhanced senses, and often didn't realize that Twilight could still hear them even when she wasn't in the same room. She had heard everything they had said while she was upstairs. She knew that she wasn't meant to hear them though, and decided against mentioning anything.

“We still have a few hours until sundown, and I don't want anypony looking suspicious. I'd like if you could stay here until the sun's not out.”

Fluttershy and Rainbow both nodded this time. None of them mentioned it at the time, but they all knew that things weren't going to get any less stressful any time soon.

Chapter 26, Confrontation

Autumn was quickly drawing to a close, and the ponies of Ponyville were finally beginning to wrap up and prepare for the winter ahead of them. For many ponies, it included getting out heavy winter clothing, preparing emergency stores of food, and stocking up on wood for their fireplaces.

For ponies like Applejack though, it meant getting the season's harvest ready for the long winter ahead. The entire apple family was dedicating themselves to selling off the excess and storing the rest.

That was Applejack's task for the day. She woke early, had breakfast, and then started work.

It was all she imagined she would be doing for the day, so it came as a surprise when Rarity and Pinkie made their way up to her on the farm.

“Howdy girls,” she said, “What can Ah do for ya?”

“Yes, good morning Applejack,” Rarity replied, “I think we need to talk.”

Not pausing from her work Applejack asked, “About what?”

Rarity started to speak, but before she could get a word out, Pinkie cut in and said, “We need to talk about Rainbow.”

It wasn't her usual excited voice, and it was a nervous awkward tone that made Applejack pause. It was the kind of voice you use when you need to break something bad to somepony.

“Ah don't like the sound of this,” Applejack said. “How's Rainbow doing anyway? It's been a while since I’ve seen her.”

“That's why we're here. I know you've ask to be left out of our... investigation before, but I think you should listen to us this time,” Rarity said. She gave Applejack a look that said she would be furious if she said no.

At the risk of disappointing her friend, Applejack nevertheless asked, “Why? Ah don't see anything new.”

“Because we think Rainbow's changed sides.”

Pinkie's response was swift and shocked Applejack and Rarity both. Something in her wasn't quite as easygoing and nonsensical as before, and she was serious, and obviously concerned. Rarity was going to be more tactful, but Pinkie summed in up in one go and even managed it in a way that got Applejack's full attention.

“She's... changed sides?” Applejack asked. Although she didn't believe their investigation was justified in any way, the way Pinkie said it and combined with her own knowledge, it wasn't hard to discern why they were coming to her.

For now, she wasn't concerned. If Rainbow decided to get in on whatever it was they were doing, it was her choice to make. She still believed that it wasn't her business to be messing with, but she couldn't say she wasn't curious.

Rarity was the first to speak out of the stunned silence. “Well, I suppose that was the point I was trying to make. Ever since she's got back from wherever she was, she's quit her job, and barely anypony's seen her.

“Well where's she been?” asked Applejack, ignoring what she was doing before and approaching her friends.

“Everypony says she's always at the library now, reading. Nopony knows why, but she usually doesn't even go home anymore,” Pinkie said. “Spike says that some nights she doesn't even go home, she just stays their for the night, sleeping on the first floor.”

Rarity gave a fake cough, prompting Pinkie to let her speak. “That's not all, she's joined the others in their mysterious activities. Now she's going around with a cloak and trading secret messages. I don't want to accuse her of anything, but at this point she's almost certainly joined them.”

“Ah see,” Applejack said, “and how does this affect me?”

Rarity gave her a light frown. “Well, I suppose it doesn't, but Rainbow's your friend too, didn't you say that. Don't you at least want to make sure she's alright.”

Applejack sighed. Rarity was using her own words against her again. She did say that Rainbow was her friend, and that if anything happened to her then it became her business.

“Alright Rarity, you win this time. I'll go along with this for now, but this doesn't mean Ah think Rainbow's been doing anything worth worrying about. There's nothing wrong with doing... whatever it is they're doing.”

“Thanks Applejack,” Pinkie said with a sigh. Without waiting for anypony else to say something, she began to lead them away. Rarity gave Applejack a look that said she shared the same worries about Pinkie.

Applejack just sighed and began to follow as Rarity started off as well. This was going to be a long day.

Rainbow Dash, according to what they knew, had returned to Ponyville some time in the past week. After being missing for nearly a month, her return was certainly quiet. Nopony knew exactly when she got back, they just started seeing her again.

Even though she was back, she wasn't the same. She barely flew, she quit her job, and she started spending a lot of time around the library.

Once everything was explained to her, Applejack wasn't doing so well with the knowledge. She told Twilight that Rainbow was her friend, and if she wasn't being hurt, it didn't become her business what they got up to. As reluctant as she was, Rainbow had definitely changed, and if Rarity and Pinkie were to be believed, she was now in with Twilight and Fluttershy.

There was no question to whether or not something suspicious was going on, that much was obvious, and they had even admitted to it. The mystery was what they were doing.

Applejack held on to the vague hope that whatever changed Rainbow so much was completely unrelated to Twilight and Fluttershy, but after everything that had happened recently there was little doubt that there was no link between the two.

She put a lot of thought into it on the way into town, but she couldn't think of any rational explanation for the unexpected changes in Rainbow's lifestyle. She hoped that Rainbow could offer a better explanation.

Rainbow was in the library. Pinkie said they didn't check but she was never anywhere else anymore. When they arrived, Rainbow was exactly where they said she would be.

She was immersed in a book when they entered, lying back against a cushion she got from somewhere. She looked up at them for a short second when she heard them enter, but payed no further attention, simply returning to her reading.

Pinkie and Rarity stepped up to her. Applejack stayed slightly further behind, reluctant to involve herself until the others had at least started some kind of dialogue.

The others didn't notice anything however, and Rarity gave Rainbow a stern look that went unnoticed until she said, “Rainbow, we need to talk.”

That was enough to get her attention. Peeking over her book at the three ponies confronting her, she let the book lay open on her chest and unfazed by their expressions, she replied, “Sure, what about?”

“Well,” Pinkie said, “You've been gone for a whole month, and you didn't even tell anypony when you got back, and now you're messing around with Twilight and Fluttershy all the time. So, what have you been doing.”

Rarity gave Pinkie a brief look of irritation at her blunt responses that day, but didn't say anything. Instead she looked at Rainbow and said, “Well, I suppose that's why we're here. Where have you been Rainbow? Everypony's been worried about you, and now you've been going out and getting together with Twilight and Fluttershy.”

“Look, I was out traveling, alright,” Rainbow said. “I needed to get out for a while, so went and explored Equestria a bit.”

Applejack cringed a bit, though it went entirely unnoticed. Rainbow was a terrible liar it turned out, and she was all but certain that not a single word that Rainbow just said was true.

“But even if that's true, why go out and join Twilight and Fluttershy when you got back?” Pinkie asked.

Rainbow fidgeted for a moment, giving Applejack a bad feeling, and then she said, “When I got back, I stopped to check in with Twilight. I saw a letter that I wasn't supposed to, and she caught me, and then she explained everything.”

Applejack wasn't buying it. One does not become the element of honesty without having some ability to tell when others aren't being truthful, and everything Rainbow was saying was either a complete lie or twisted to fit the story.

Feeling that she had to step in, she asked, “And just what is the big secret?”

Rainbow fidgeted again, and started to look very uncomfortable all of a sudden. “Um, well, the thing is... I'm not exactly allowed to tell you.”

Everypony gave some kind of sigh or groan at those words. They had heard the same thing from Twilight and Fluttershy s many times. Still, it was worth trying.

Seeing everypony's reactions, Rainbow quickly added, “It's not as bad as you think. It's a little scary at first, but there's nothing evil going on, and there's a really good reason for keeping it a secret.”

“So what is it Rainbow, if it's not evil then what is it?” Pinkie asked.

“Well,” Rainbow replied, “I can't tell you exactly what it is, but I can tell you that it's not a cult, and there's no plot to take over Equestria.”

“Ah think we've bothered her enough girls, let's go,” Applejack said. The others tried to protest, but Applejack had everything she needed already. She had been willing to stay out of it because she trusted Twilight and Fluttershy, and they never outright lied to anypony even if they occasionally bent the truth a little. Now that Rainbow had been being dishonest about nearly everything she said, Applejack was starting to get concerned about what they were really doing.

She felt somewhat safe because Twilight had said that they would never hurt their friends. Unfortunately, their was very little else they had to go off of, and anything was possible at this point.

Once they had made it outside and out of earshot, Rarity asked, “What did you make us leave, we we're starting to get somewhere?”

“No offense Rarity, but ya weren't getting anywhere. Almost everything she said was a lie, and Ah can tell. Element of honesty and all.”

Applejack's revelation took Rarity by surprise. “So, you mean she...”

“She wasn't traveling, that's for sure.” Applejack shivered a little, and not just from the cold weather.

“So, now do you think that you should get involved?” Pinkie asked, her eyes lighting up in hopeful anticipation.

“Ah never thought I'd say this, but it's about time we got to the bottom of this.”

Chapter 27, Fears

The cool forest air rushed past her as she ran, her prey just barely ahead of her, and the distance was closing quickly.

The stallion ahead of her didn’t slow, but the chase finally drew to a close as the rough terrain finally made him lose his balance, bringing him to a violent and sudden stop on the forest floor.

She slowed to a stop, giving a predatory smile to her prey as he tried to back away.

“Please, you don't have to do this!” he said desperately, backing into a massive tree that blocked his escape.

She made her way forward slowly, savoring the moment and basking in the stallion's fear as his eyes darted around, looking in vain for an means of escape.

“No,” she said evilly, “I want to do this.”

Her prey tried to struggle as she stood over him, leaning down to his neck. It was all futile though.

She paused there for a moment, drawing the stallion into a false sense of security as she drew out these final seconds just a little longer.

Then she bit down hard.

And with that, Rainbow Dash woke with a start.

“Are you sure you don't need anything else?” Twilight asked as she used her magic to levitate a glass of water over to Rainbow, which she accepted graciously.

“No thank you,” she replied. Twilight had already given her a warm blanket. As a vampire, warmth and water weren't necessary, but it was more for comfort that out of an actual desire.

Rainbow had been having nightmares for weeks now. They started a few days after she killed that mare in Appleloosa. It started off simple, replaying the events of that moment, but that only lasted a short time. Since then, she had been having horrifying dreams of hunting and killing innocent ponies, whether it was ponies she knew or ponies that were simply figments of her unconscious mind.

The dreams were vivid, and all of them had the one common factor that she had enjoyed the act of killing somepony. In her nightmares, she would remember vivid feelings of enjoying every tiny aspect of it.

Being a vampire, she didn't actually need to sleep. She could get along just fine without it, but as she had discovered, it was a little uncomfortable going so long without sleep when she had spent a fair portion of her life napping. She was prone to fits of boredom, especially during the daylight hours.

Besides, there was something about these nightmares, a certain thrill that despite the terror of what she was doing was so attractive that she didn't want to stop. That was what terrified her the most, the knowledge that some part of her was actually enjoying what she was doing in her dreams.

What she feared was that she would become the mare she was in her dreams. Despite the rush she got each time she slept, she didn't want to do such things in the waking world.

For now, Twilight was the only pony who knew about these dreams. Rainbow had gone to her, hoping that by having more experience she would be more understanding of her troubles. So far however, she had only been able to be a sympathetic ear. She never went through the same troubles, instead having learned about her nature long before she experienced it. She had developed morals and self-control skills over the course of her entire life, only recently needing to use them for the first time.

“If you're sure,” Twilight said, taking a seat next to Rainbow. After a brief pause she added, “Why don't you get us started.”

Rainbow took a deep breath. “I don't know what you want me to say Twilight, it's the same as it's always been. The dreams haven't changed, and I'm worried that I kinda like them.”

Twilight tried to give her a friendly smile, but her sharp teeth made it a bit more menacing than it was intended to be. Rainbow made a half-hearted attempt to see it in a more friendly light, but at the moment she was a bit on edge.

“If nothing's changed then I can't give you any more advice then I already have. You can either try to go without sleeping, or you can try to resolve the source of the problem, but I can't do anything unless you know what the problem is,” Twilight said kindly. “I'll try to help you, but you need to be open. You know that you can trust me with anything, right?”

Rainbow nodded, staring down at her still full glass of water.

“Right, so what's the problem?” Twilight asked. She once again gave an encouraging smile that was not well received. Rainbow took a brief moment, hesitating to speak her mind, before caving in and agreeing that Twilight was better than nothing, even if she was unintentionally responsible for the entire problem.

“I... I don't know. I guess I’m afraid of hurting ponies,” she responded. “Look, I'm not very good at this whole dream interpretation thing. I need help Twilight, I can't take this anymore.”

“You're doing well,” Twilight replied. “You said you're afraid of hurting ponies, and that makes sense. All we need to do is find out why it's haunting you. Do you think it's guilt over what happened in Appleloosa?”

“I don't know!” Rainbow said harshly. “I don't know why, I just want it to stop. Please Twilight, I need help.”

Twilight gave her another reassuring smile. “I think it's because you're worried that you might do something like that again. Did you enjoy what you did?”

“Of course not!” Rainbow replied violently, dropping the still full glass of water, which Twilight caught in her magic before it could hit the ground and shatter.

Setting it within reach of Rainbow but in a place that it wasn't at risk, she asked, “I need you to be honest with me right now. I know you hate what you did, but did you like it at the exact moment it happened, before you realized what you had done?”

“NO!” she said at first, but after seeing the look Twilight was giving her she added, “Alright, maybe a little bit, but what does that have to do with anything?”

Twilight sighed. “That actually has a lot to do with it Rainbow. It usually impossible to control yourself the first time, and I don't blame you for enjoying it, but I think that's part of the problem. The fact that you denied it at first is proof that, on some level, you're angry at yourself over it.”

“So,” Rainbow said defensively, “Fluttershy could do it, why shouldn't I blame myself?”

“It's not the same thing, she...” Twilight said, but her argument fell short as soon as she realized that what Rainbow was saying was entirely true, “Fluttershy... I don't know, maybe she was just stronger, but she still enjoyed it. That's the point, it isn't something you can control, you'll always enjoy feeding no matter how much self-control you have or how much you hate it. You can't overcome your own nature Rainbow.”

“Fine, but you still haven't explained how that fits into my dreams.”

Her voice carried agitation and aggression, but Twilight could plainly see on her face that she was tired of these dreams. Her anger wasn’t directed at Twilight, she just wanted a solution, one that Twilight couldn't easily give.

“I think that might be the problem, or at least part of it,” Twilight explained. “I've never been an expert on dreams, and I don't want to get Luna involved in any way unless I absolutely have to, but I think that you're conflicted, between enjoying it and hating it. I know it doesn't make much sense, but I think that your problem is that you're horrified by what you've done, and you're projecting that in your dreams. At the same time, you're also horrified about how you enjoyed it, and that's also being reflected. I don't have an instant solution for you Rainbow, you need to deal with this yourself, all I can do is support you.”

“So... my problem is that I hated it, but I loved it at the same time, and I can't decide which one it was?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight gave her another friendly smile that Rainbow still didn't find comforting. “Not quite, what I'm suggesting is that the nightmares are happening because you're still horrified by what you did, and the fact that you enjoyed it is making it worse.”

Rainbow didn't reply. She took a sip of her water, but didn't say anything else. Sensing that the situation wasn't going anywhere, Twilight said, “Rainbow, I know that I've said otherwise, but I do sort of understand what you're going through now. When I was nine... I went through something similar when I found out what I was. I want you to know that you aren't a monster because of what you are.

“As for what you did... well, you feel remorse, don't you?”

As she carefully set down her water to avoid dropping it again, Rainbow replied, “I know what you're going to say Twilight. You're going to say that I'm not a bad pony because I regret what I did, but that still doesn't change what happened!”

“And because you can't accept that, you're having trouble moving on,” Twilight said. “You're going to have to work this out eventually Rainbow. You can choose to do it now, or you can live with this pain for the next few hundred years.”

“How?” Rainbow said, her anger flaring again, “I can't just forget everything that happened. Applejack is devastated, and she's going to be even worse after she gets back from the funeral. How am I supposed to... if I could, what would I tell her?”

She simply couldn't say any more than that, and she didn't need to. Twilight was painfully aware, now more than ever, that she had no idea how much Rainbow was hurting, or Applejack.

And it was all her fault, Rainbow was right about that. Fluttershy may have been too kind to admit it but she felt the same way, and the fact was slowly starting to grow on Twilight.

Some things were beyond her control, but she also needed to accept that it was her choices that led to this. Her choice to stay in Ponyville and make friends may have been one that she wouldn't change for anything, but turning her friends and keeping her nature secret had done nothing but lead her downhill from the very beginning.

“If you could Rainbow... I don't know either,” Twilight replied. She wanted to go over and comfort Rainbow, but she knew that Rainbow would react harshly.

“Why can't we tell them what we are Twilight?” Rainbow asked, repeating the question Twilight had already heard so many times from Fluttershy, and from herself. Tears started to flow from Rainbow's eyes, and she didn't even make an effort to hold them back.

Truthfully, she didn't know how to answer. Twilight looked down at the ground, and in a saddened voice, she said, “I wish I knew myself. Maybe someday we will, but... not now. I don't think any of us are ready yet.”

Chapter 28, Concerns

Twilight always found dark magic interesting. The way it worked, what it could do, and what it could be used for. From the first time she had started reading about it, dark magic captured her interest and curiosity.

Unfortunately, she always had to be careful studying dark magic around the castle. Celestia wasn't aware of everything that went on, but it was hard to keep something hidden from her, be it reading a forbidden text or casting an illegal form of magic.

As a direct result of that, Twilight's study of dark magic mostly incomplete. She knew a few spells out of a variety of categories, but she didn't get many openings where she could be absolutely sure Celestia wouldn't catch her, and that precious little time was divided between studying the theory and practicing the spells themselves.

Now that she was in Ponyville, she had a lot more freedom to do a variety of things, dark magic included. Naturally, she did what anypony else would in her situation and took the opportunity to jump on everything immediately, without any sort of order or direction. Although once she had a chance to calm down and get used to the freedom she had a bit more focus, her general approach to anything regarding dark magic was to ignore any sort of planning or order and study whatever specific field or book held her curiosity at the time.

It was unlike her, but her obsession with planning and order was something she had picked up under Celestia's tutoring, intended to help her prioritize and avoid letting her become easily distracted as she was prone to doing at the time. Like many things she had learned from Celestia, she intended to drop the habit in the future. She simply never got around to doing it, in part because it still helped her.

It was a completely normal morning save for Twilight herself. Sleep for a vampire was more of a luxury than a requirement, a fact that she discovered soon after lifting the protective enchantments from herself. As the enchantments were designed to make her all but indistinguishable from an ordinary pony, they had to be designed in such a way that she couldn't be discovered before she learned what she was and how important it was to keep it a secret. That meant preventing her from doing, saying, or knowing anything that might give away her secret before she was ready for the responsibility of protecting it for herself.

Having lived her entire life with the need to sleep, it was a strange transition to suddenly have hours of extra time each day if she needed it. In order to better keep her secret and relieve the general stress that her new life was putting on her, she chose to continue sleeping as she normally would, save a shift of a few hours for her to better indulge in her nocturnal nature.

So together, all of that led up to this mostly normal morning. Spike woke up nearly an hour before she planned to get up, and about forty minutes later he shook her awake and told her he was making breakfast, giving her ample time to shake herself awake and drag herself downstairs.

The only fact that he was unaware of was that Twilight was as awake as she was going to be within a few minutes. This meant that she had at least fifteen minutes to herself that constituted as free time before she had to pretend to be tired and go downstairs for breakfast.

With her schedule for the day full of normal tasks, she didn't have any time to herself until later that evening. So, she took advantage of the short few minutes of privacy to pull out one of her books on dark magic and get some reading done when nopony was around, just as she would do back in Canterlot.

It was a short read in the morning when she was supposed to have been struggling to wake up. Anypony would have thought her to be crazy to expect to have any trouble.

Nevertheless, Twilight was startled by the sound of Rarity's voice.

“Darling, are you awake yet?” she asked. Her approach had been so silent and sudden that Twilight's was caught off guard, though it may have had something to do with the fact the she was deeply immersed in a book a usual. Had Twilight been in a more incriminating position at the time, she may have had trouble.

She had little to fear though. Her disguise was already active from the moment Spike woke her up as she didn't bother to drop it for the short time she would be alone, and a quick glance revealed that Lunar Pearl was still asleep in the guest bed. Her father's death was still affecting her deeply, though Twilight had finally managed to convince her to try to sleep for a while.

It had taken many stressful hours, but she had finally manage to fall into a deep sleep with the covers pulled over her head. Twilight felt deeply for her loss, and knew that she wasn't the only one disappointed at the lack of results from Shadowfall's team.

With no risk of Lunar Pearl raising questions, the only loose end was the book. As fast as she could she turned and slipped the book under her pillow, and then turned and faced Rarity, acting as if she hadn't just blatantly stuffed a book under her pillow.

“Um… I don’t mean to be rude, but whatever it is you’re trying to hide, you’re doing a poor job of it,” Rarity said, stepping into the room without waiting for an invitation, approaching with a bewildered look.

With a groan, Twilight fell back onto her pillow. “I was hoping you wouldn't bring it up.”

Stepping around Twilight's bed, Rarity directed a fierce gaze towards Twilight’s pillow. “So, would you care to share what you were reading?”

Twilight shifted back towards the pillow defensively. She met Rarity's gaze with her own and spoke with an aggressive undertone. “What are you doing here anyway?”

“Well, I was hoping to invite you to join me for a spa trip today. I tried to ask Fluttershy, but for whatever reason she said she couldn't make it.”

Of course, Rarity had her suspicions of why Fluttershy turned her down, but said nothing. It wouldn't be wise to antagonist Twilight this early in the morning, especially now that she had something more interesting to investigate for the moment.

“Come on Twilight, just tell me what it is you've been reading,” Rarity said after a moment’s pause. A strange expression crossed Twilight's face for a moment, as if she was questioning whether or not she should do as Rarity asked.

To Rarity, that was a sign of progress. Seizing the opportunity, she said, “Come on Twilight, we're friends. Whatever it is, you can trust me with it.”

Again Twilight hesitated, but her expression betrayed her thoughts. She was considering revealing her present topic of study to Rarity, but had doubts.

“Come on Twilight, you know that I can keep a secret if I need to, you can trust me,” said Rarity, again attempting to break Twilight's silence.

This time she finally succeeded. Twilight, figuring that it wouldn't do too much harm and would be better than raising further suspicion, finally caved in and said, “Okay, I guess it can't cause too much trouble.”

Of course, she was downplaying the severity of it. Studying dark magic was far from a simple matter, and the consequences would be severe if she was caught.

“Just... don’t tell anypony,” Twilight said, pulling out the book with what felt like painful slowness. She took a brief glance at the cover, and then flipped it around to show Rarity.

The book was titled ‘An Introduction to the Field of Dark Magic’. It was one of the books Twilight felt she never paid enough attention to, simply because it was basic and less interesting than some of the other, more specialized and unique fields, as it was simply the application of the arcane in similar fashion to light magic. In some ways, it was a natural antithesis to light magic, working off of the same theory but with the opposite affinity. In all ways, it was perfect for creatures of darkness such as vampires.

When Rarity saw the title, her reaction was far more one of shock and surprise than anything else.

“Twilight,” she said, “why would you have this... and where did even get this anyway?”

Dropping the book, Twilight immediately became defensive. Her expression and voice took a more angry turn as she said, “I already told you I was studying dark magic, and I explained why! Don’t you dare try to turn this against me, you know my reasons perfectly and there’s nothing wrong with them!”

“I’m sorry Twilight, I didn’t mean to sound angry or anything, it just surprised me is all,” said Rarity, doing her best to calm Twilight down. Truthfully, she had been nervous about Twilight studying dark magic since she first found out, but this was the first time Twilight had let it stand out to her so glaringly.

Twilight took a slow, deep breath. “I guess I overreacted a little bit. I’m sorry Rarity, but I don’t want you hounding me over this. Studying dark magic over the past... I guess it would be nearly ten years now... it’s been good for me. I know I’m not supposed to be doing this, and I’m not allowed to have these things, but it’s just...”

“Wait a minute,” Rarity said, cutting off Twilight’s outburst that otherwise would have continued unopposed, “you’ve been studying dark magic for ten years? I... how have you managed to get away with this?”

“Believe me, it wasn’t easy,” Twilight replied. “Princess Celestia has this uncanny ability to know everything that’s going on around her, even if she really shouldn’t. Between that and hiding all the materials, it was nearly impossible until I moved to Ponyville.”

“I see... and is this related to...” Rarity trailed off, knowing, or at least hoping that Twilight would catch her meaning. Of course, she also had to hope that Twilight wouldn’t get irritated at her asking.

Letting out a sigh, Twilight picked herself up again. “I know it’s a little suspicious, especially with everything else that’s going on right now, but I promise that it’s completely unrelated. I’ve been studying dark magic for years, and the rest is more recent.”

No matter how she worded it, what she said was only a half truth. She wasn’t studying dark magic solely because she was a vampire, but being a vampire was what inspired her studies. In the end, she could say that it was her talent for magic and her thirst for knowledge that led her to this, but no matter how she put it she would only be stating the lesser half of the cause.

Rarity seemed to take her words as truth however. For a moment neither of them said anything as Twilight just stared at the ceiling, the feeling of overwhelming defeat occupying her mind. Finally, Rarity broke the awkward and almost unbearable silence. “Twilight, just out of curiosity, what field of dark magic were you studying?”

Twilight shot up almost instantly. Rarity’s question touched on her interest in dark magic, and she was eager to share. Unfortunately, she didn’t really know what to say at that point, so her excitement died down in an instant and she instead simply said, “Oh... well, I guess... just dark magic.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand what you’re trying to say... what field of dark magic are you looking into?”

Sensing a question she could share the answer to, Twilight’s eagerness returned, and she replied, “Actually, what a lot of ponies don’t know is that dark magic is its own field of magic, in addition to being the name of the broad category that contains it. It’s generally the easiest to learn because it’s so similar to arcane magic.”

“I... didn’t know that,” Rarity replied. A short but tense pause followed before she went on and said, “Twilight, I don’t mean to accuse you of anything, but with the way you say that... I’m just worries that you may actually be planning on attempting to cast dark magic, and I don’t think I need to remind you that there are horrible consequences to that.”

Ignoring the nagging question of how Rarity knew so much about dark magic in the first place, Twilight responded in the most comforting manner she was able to. “Rarity, I swear, I’m only studying the theory behind it. I’ve already learned so much that I can apply to normal magic without any risk to myself. Part of the reason I’m so good with magic is because of the things that I’ve learned from all these untouched fields of study.”

As much as Twilight attempted to avoid outright lying as much as she could, that time it was necessary. While it was true that she had learned some highly effective techniques from dark magic that made other forms of magic easier to use, everything else she said was untrue. She used dark magic frequently, and especially so in recent months.

Rarity breathed a sigh of relief, though a tense apprehension still plagued from her yet undiminished fears. Far from it in fact, her fears were in fact worsened by Twilight’s revelations. Even though Twilight promised that she was being careful, Rarity worried that Twilight may sacrifice absolute safety to exploit her learnings more effectually.

Though she was truly worried for Twilight’s safely, she reminded herself that Twilight was a mature, intelligent, and exceptionally gifted mare that probably knew what she was doing far better than Rarity could ever aspire to.

With that in mind, she shook those dark thoughts from her mind and said, “Well, this has been an interesting discussion, but I came here with the hope you would be able to accompany me to the spa. I know it’s a bit more sudden than you’re used to, but would you be able to accompany me?”

Twilight thought about it for a minute. Rarity usually had her spa appointments late in the morning, which would be about the time she was scheduled to meet with Silver Wing to discuss the progress of Shadowfall’s team and help to plan out their next move, even though their odds of success seemed rather distant.

“Sorry Rarity, but I have something very important scheduled and can’t make the time,” Twilight replied, though she felt as if it would be better to simply skip the meeting and go with Rarity. It wasn’t as though the meeting would change anything. Her input would hardly increase their chances of success, but she did want to be involved, at least in some way.

Rarity sighed. “Well, I suppose I can still ask Pinkie. It’s a shame though, you really look as though a spa trip would do wonders for you. I suppose if that’s it, I should be on my way. Good luck with whatever it is you’ll be doing, in any case.”

Once Rarity had left, Twilight looked at the book again, then to the clock. With an irritable groan she got up and place the book back into the box alongside all her other books on dark magic, and then made her way downstairs.

One thing was certain, this was going to be a long day.

-----

Twilight could never quite get used to the winters in Ponyville no matter how long she lived there. The weather could be called harsh on a good day, and in some cases that was putting it mildly.

Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow had been exploring their newfound resistance to the cold as winter got underway, and all of them found it surreal. Not only could they walk around town comfortably in such cold conditions, but it also allowed them freedom to travel and meet outside during the night without fear of freezing to death.

For other ponies however, heavy winter cloths and a warm fire were necessities.

“Just wait a while. We can consider it again in a few years if you want, just have patience,” said Twilight to Fluttershy. They were discussing their relationship, and Twilight was trying to explain how relationships among vampires were usually taken very slowly. The reason for this was tied in to their immortality, and the importance of maintaining a relationship that can last throughout the centuries.

Applejack and Pinkie came in just in time to catch the tail end of their conversation. As they tried to recover a little warmth, Twilight said to Fluttershy. “Why don’t you sit down, we can talk some more in a little bit.”

Fluttershy did what was asked of her and sat down. Twilight took a deep breath, and then gave them an angry glare that could rival Celestia herself. “I can guess why you’re here, so just come out with it, what are you accusing me of this time?”

“Whoa now, calm down, we aren’t here to accuse you of anything,” said Applejack, “we just came here to talk to you.”

Twilight’s glare lightened ever so slightly, but she kept her guard up. Fluttershy could sense that an argument would inevitably break out, and began to look a little more nervous in the background, and all the way across the library Pinkie did the same. Nopony present could say that Twilight didn’t command a frightening amount of power. It created an aura of tension that felt to Applejack as if it drained her very confidence.

Under that tension, it took her a moment to realize that Twilight was waiting for her to continue. She tried to shake it from her mind and said, “We heard from Spike that somepony was staying with you. We just came by to ask you about it.”

Twilight’s face shifted from a silent glare to a haunting anger. Applejack took an involuntary step back, seeing that her friend was only containing her rage out of a polite sense of decency. Contrary to their perceptions though, her anger wasn’t directed at them at all. She actually couldn’t blame their curiosity, even if it wasn’t only simple curiosity. She was angrier at the luckily absent Spike. In light of this, she and him would be having a long and detailed talk about discretion.

Realizing that her anger would be better saved for another time, Twilight took a deep breath, and then much to the surprise of all others present, she adopted a more pleasant mood, and complete with a polite smile she replied, “Yes, there is somepony else living here right now. I'm sorry, but I thought Spike would be more subtle about it.”

“But Twilight,” Pinkie said, “Why wouldn't you tell anypony? We can have a party and...”

“NO!” Twilight said suddenly. “No, no parties. That's the whole reason I haven't told anypony. She doesn't like being around other ponies in the first place, and she's going through a hard time now. Now listen, I don't want you anywhere near her. What little trust she has for other ponies has been shattered recently, and I don't want anypony to bother her.”

“But she trusts you?” Applejack asked.

“Yes,” Twilight replied hastily, “but that's because she knows me. Everypony else in this town is a complete stranger.”

“But... Twi, why's she living here?” Applejack asked.

By now, what little patience Twilight had found in their honest and innocent questions was wearing thin. “Because she's an orphan and she needs a home. I knew her father so now I'm looking after her, and unless something better comes up she's going to be here until she's ready to go off on her own.”

Applejack and Pinkie took a few steps back. As Twilight usually became angry when they pried into matters that she didn't want them to investigate, they both got a little suspicious at her renewed anger, which was unfortunate as they didn't want to acknowledge that a foal could be involved too.

Neither of them mentioned it, nor did they give each other any sort of gesture. Fortunately, Fluttershy relieved the moment by putting a hoof on Twilight's shoulder.

“I think you had better go,” she said, “Twilight and I have a lot to talk about, and you're just making things worse. Please, just go.”

Neither of them hesitated. In no time at all, they were gone.

Twilight put her leg around Fluttershy and pulled her into an uncomfortably tight hug. “I can't take this anymore, we've got to do something.”

Fluttershy returned her gesture with much less force, and as Twilight started to cry she said, “So you think we should just tell them?”

“I don't know!” Twilight replied. “It was supposed to be so easy, nopony was supposed to notice the changes. I just wanted to be myself but still live here with my friends.”

“Twilight, I think we should tell them.”

“Really?” Twilight asked, though she wasn't surprised.

“Really,” Fluttershy replied with extra confidence. “I know how much keeping this secret means to you, but we can't keep it forever, not if we want to keep our friends. Besides, if they're friends worth keeping, we can trust them to understand.”

“I don't want to admit it, but you're right,” Twilight said. “We can't keep doing this forever, and your right, if they really are our friends then they would understand. We should have just told them in the first place. We need get Rainbow’s opinion too, but I just know that things aren’t going to get better from here. This is probably the best thing we can do.”

Chapter 30, For One's Family

Nearly three months had passed since they confessed their true nature to their friends, and as far as things went, the future was looking promising. They had earned their friend's trust and as spring began to turn into summer it looked as if they were finally used to the idea of their best friends being vampires.

Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow got together to discuss their futures. Namely, how Fluttershy and Rainbow needed to start studying more about vampires culture, history, and language. Although Fluttershy had begun to grasp their ancient language and Rainbow had taken a light interest in their history, Twilight thought that it would be a good idea to push them towards spending more time studying these things. They were vampires, and just because these things weren’t regularly practiced didn’t mean that vampires didn’t value them very highly.

Halfway through their conversation however, they were interrupted by a loud and frantic knocking at the door.

Twilight went over to see who it was. As soon as she started to open the door, it was pushed open with amazing force and a white unicorn rushed in.

Attempted to rush in may have been more accurate through. Her entrance was blocked by the unfortunate Twilight, and they ended up tumbling over each other, coming to a stop a considerable distance from the door.

Rainbow could barely hold back her laughter as she watched a disoriented Twilight trying to get their new arrival's dark gray mane out of her face.

Meanwhile, the mare that entered didn't make any immediate effort to get off of Twilight. Her first action, after recovering from the unexpected collision, was to survey the room.

Once she recognized the identities of everypony else in the room, she let out a sigh of relief, and allowed her own disguise to fade, revealing her to be another vampire like them.

Rainbow's amusement morphed to discomfort almost instantly, and she involuntarily took two steps back. Fluttershy had a similar response, spurred instead by a sense of curiosity but still expressed with caution.

Once she realized that the only ponies in the room were vampires, she used her magic to close and lock the door, and finally got off of Twilight.

She offered a hoof and an apologetic smile, which Twilight returned with a bemused expression as she took the mare's hoof and stood up.

“Sorry,” she said, in what was perhaps the most awkward way imaginable. She shook her head to get her mane out of her face, bringing attention to the fact that it was very poorly groomed.

Twilight was fairly quick to get past what just happened past her, smiling warmly and pulling their guest into a hug.

Noticing her friends were looking left out, she pulled away and said, “Oh, this is Swift Wind. I'm guessing you've already figured out how we know each other.” She felt that because of the way the others reacted to her it wouldn't be wise to tell them any more about her at the time. Swift Wind’s special talent was spells related to sound, making her a naturally skilled assassin. Though her illusion magic could use some practice, the ability to move about in complete silence and strike an opponent without making a single noise made her highly efficient regardless.

“So what are you doing here?” Twilight asked.

As soon as Twilight asked her that question, her expression sharply changed. The open, social attitude and welcoming smile that brought some comfort to Fluttershy and Rainbow before was gone in an instant, and what was left in its place carried a strong sense of dread that was almost contagious.

“Swift Wind, what happened?” Twilight asked with urgency and worry. She stepped forward until she was right in front of Swift Wind, and asked again, “Swift Wind, what happened?”

“Silver Wing was captured.”

Horror washed over Twilight and left her speechless, and Fluttershy asked in a whisper, “Captured?”

“I mean in Canterlot,” she clarified. “I was sent out to drop off a report from Shadowfall to her as we were passing through, which she would deliver to Twilight. When I got there she was missing, guards were trying to get ponies off the streets, and suspicious individuals were being detained. I sent the rest of the team off ahead and did some reconnaissance, and all I can tell is that she was captured some time earlier this evening.”

“Well,” Rainbow said as Twilight recovered from her stupor, “Then we've got to get her out.”

“That's not in question, but how?” Swift asked in return.

“Um, can't we just break her out?” Fluttershy asked.

Swift frowned. “Canterlot Castle is probably the most heavily guarded place in equestria right now. Trying to get in there would be suicidal.”

Rainbow threw her arms up in the air. “Well that doesn't leave us with anything!”

Twilight dropped to the floor and covered her face with her hooves. Rainbow was right, the mare that had guided her along her entire life was in danger and would die, and there was nothing she could do. The others looked at her with concern, knowing full that they too could do nothing either, for Silver or for Twilight.

Much to everypony's surprise, it was Fluttershy that spoke up to give them the strength to carry on. “We can't just give up like this. Silver told me once that we look after our own kind, we can't just abandon her because there's no easy way out. There has to be something we haven't thought of yet, we still have time to think of something, don't we?”

It was the last thing anypony in the room expected, the timid, quiet Fluttershy granting them unseen strength, but it worked. The atmosphere completely turned around and everypony perked up.

“She's right,” Swift Wind said confidently , “We still have until morning, and we still have the advantage in single combat. They'll be expecting an attack, but if we're careful and follow a good strategy we may be able to avoid combat altogether. Fluttershy is right, we still have time to prepare.”

The next few minutes went by quickly. Twilight took a large piece of parchment and drew up a crude map of Canterlot castle, not even bothering to use ink and instead simply scorching the outline into the parchment with controlled bursts of magic.

They huddled around the table in the kitchen, using the map to plan some sort of approach that would be silent, minimum risk, and above all avoid any contact with the princesses.

When it went nowhere for some time, Rainbow said, “What about a distraction? Make them think the threat is coming from one place, and then sneak in through one of the drainage pipes that leads in near the dungeon.”

Swift shook her head. “No, that wouldn't work. They're smart enough to see that one coming, and even if they didn't it would be suicidal for the group creating the distraction. It would be every guard in the castle and both princesses at once.”

“There's got to be something,” Fluttershy said, “Some way of getting her out peacefully, without unnecessary violence and without attracting too much attention.”

Twilight's head shot up. Just as Fluttershy was starting to lose the strength that had inspired the rest of them, she inadvertently said something that brought to mind Twilight's memories of Celestia's dull lessons on diplomacy that she never thought to be of much value.

“An exchange! Fluttershy, you're a genius!” With that, Twilight was gone, out digging through books in the main room, leaving all eyes on Fluttershy. All she could manage was a few murmurs of confusion.

Almost as fast as she left, Twilight returned with a large scroll, unrolling it with complete disregard to the map of the castle they had already drawn up, revealing it to instead be a map of the city and the surrounding areas. Instead of the crudely drawn corridors, they were now left staring at streets and alleys that could only be relevant if planning around the patrol routes of the guards, information that they didn't even have access to.

Everypony just looked at Twilight, awaiting an explanation of her sudden, brilliant idea.

Twilight, for the most part, didn't even notice the confused stares she was receiving. With her eye's glued to the map, she said, “If we can't break her out, maybe we can get the princesses to agree to an exchange. If we have something she wants, we can send her an ultimatum. If she refuses, then the drainage pipes are close enough to the dungeon that if we're quick and quiet, and leave somepony to deal with approaching patrols at the two major points along the way, we might be able to get in and out without being detected.”

“Only one problem,” Swift replied, “what do we give her?”

“That's easy,” Twilight said with a smile, “me.”

At first, Fluttershy and Rainbow thought very highly of the plan. The more experienced Swift Wind immediately rejected it though. “There is no way that could possibly work, and get all of us out alive without the princesses knowing anything! As soon as the exchange was completed they would check to see if you were an imposter. They would know you were a vampire instantly and we would be back to square one again, except this time we might not be able to get you out at all.”

Twilight never lost her mischievous smile through all that, which made Fluttershy a little nervous. For added effect and just to irritate Swift, she waited a few seconds before responding. “I never said I would be there. Well, I will be there, but not as part of the exchange. Even if my minor resistance to light magic would be enough to thwart a regular check, a spell to strip the disguise from a changeling would still have a noticeable effect on a vampire. The safest thing to do would be to promise to release me after the exchange, and prove to her that I was Twilight in Ponyville later.”

“But wouldn't you still have the same problem in Ponyville?” asked Rainbow. Swift continued to give her an annoyed glare.

“Celestia is smart, she knows that vampires can’t perform light magic. As soon as I prove that I can, I just have to prove that I’m really Twilight.”

“And I’m assuming that you have a plan for that too,” said Swift. Fluttershy got the uncomfortable impression that Swift Wind didn’t think that Twilight really knew what she was doing. It kind of felt to her as if she was treating Twilight as a foal that had no experience and had no idea what she what she was doing. Considering that vampires don’t age like ponies, that wasn’t an unreasonable interpretation.

Twilight still never lost her smile. In fact, as time went on it became almost giddy and excited. “If I had just been captured by hostile magical creatures that were threatening to kill me, I would be on edge, right? So I would take cover here in the library and wait. When Celestia arrives to make sure I’m alright, I take cover and stay out of sight and launch a light magic attack near her the second she comes in. Then, once we’ve reasonably established that I’m not a vampire, there are ways of establishing my identity that we set up after I became her student. A verbal message can either prove that I’m Twilight, prove that I was coerced into giving up the signal, or prove that I am Twilight but that I’m being blackmailed or threatened depending on how it’s worded. It was never meant to, but it can work both ways. After attacking her in a panic, I would reword the question to prove that it was Celestia, but prove that I was me in the process.”

Swift Wind finally managed to find a place to speak, and in that moment she said, “This is a very dangerous plan Twilight, what are we do if something goes wrong?”

“If something goes wrong, then we run,” she replied. “If anything goes wrong, then we grab what was can and just run.”

Silence fell across the room with that eerie, final statement. Nearly a minute passed before Swift spoke up again. “Well, if the plan is established, then all we need to know is where the exchange goes down and when.”

Twilight put her hoof down on the map. “Right here.”

It was right next to Canterlot Mountain, and bordered on the edge of Whitetail Woods. Under the cover of darkness, the flat bit of terrain was perfect.

“That’s great and all,” Rainbow said, “but how are we supposed to get there?”

“Teleportation runes,” Swift Wind said, “That’s how I got to Ponyville. I can help you set them up. We can use it to get away too, as long as we destroy the runes in the process.

Twilight’s attention was immediately caught. Teleportation runes one of the most useful things that a vampire could learn to use, but also one of the most difficult. Aside from the complexity of drawing it, it also required a unicorn to set the destination. Twilight had used a simpler rune for teleporting a small stone after turning Rainbow. But it was simpler to draw, and it only teleported the object it was written on to the unicorn that activated it, or provided the condensed magic used to activate it.

The larger teleportation runes were much harder to set up. They were larger and more complicated, set up on the ground, and usually required several other runes working in harmony with it in order for it to function practically. Once a unicorn set a destination however, it could teleport ponies to a destination regardless of distance. It was fast and efficient, though due to the complexity, it was often use only by unicorns that had reached the end of their studies of rune magic and perfectly understood every single component of the rune.

Realizing that the present situation was more important than her own curiosity, Twilight shook herself back to reality. “We can use an explosive rune that activates after the teleportation rune. It would wipe away any evidence.”

“Aright, anything else to add?” Swift asked. When she got no response, she said, “Alright, then let’s get to work.”

Spike's peaceful rest was interrupted when he was roughly shaken awake. The first thought to pass through his head was that Twilight had gotten up early and was impatiently waiting for him to get up. When the second time nearly rocked him out of his basket that was when he realized that something was wrong.

He sat up, and when he finally looked, he was surprised to find that it was not Twilight, but a mysterious cloaked mare that had somehow managed to get into their bedroom. From his lower position, he could just barely see her white hooves. That was when fear started to set in.

With her hoof, she took a letter from somewhere inside her cloak and threw it in front of Spike. He couldn't tell from that action whether she wasn't a unicorn or simply didn't want to use magic for some reason.

“Send this to Princess Celestia,” she said in an unfamiliar voice.

Unnerved, Spike picked up the letter and asked, “Where's Twilight? Who are you?”

“If you ever want to see Twilight alive again, you will send that letter to Princess Celestia immediately.” She turned and walked away.

As she made her way down the stairs to join the others, Twilight could hear the sound of Spike sending the letter. It felt a little strange, sending her own ransom note, but for their plan to work it had to be done.

She just prayed that everything would turn out alright in the end.

Chapter 31, Exchange

In the time between their arrival outside Canterlot and the time the exchange was meant to take place, Twilight learned just how difficult setting up teleportation runes really was.

First the teleportation rune itself had to be inscribed. Depending on how large the area of effect was meant to be, getting the proportions right alone could be a tricky task, not to mention the complexity and sheer detail of the rune itself. Once that was finished, it then had to be linked to several other runes to collect the magical energy needed to complete the teleport. Depending on the size of the rune, a large number of gathering runes could be required to complete the teleport in any sort of timely fashion. Then a unicorn needed to use their magic to specify a destination using yet another rune.

Ordinarily that would be enough, but for their purposes, everything needed to work perfectly the first time. There was no room for error in the event that anything went wrong. Once all of that was in place, each section of the system had to be tested to ensure it was working properly without actually setting off the teleport. That usually involved activating each component separately, and then quickly casting a spell to nullify the rune before it actually activated.

Finally, they made one final modification. Ordinarily, a teleportation rune would have runes that would drain any magic from the system, leaving it inactive. If it didn't the draw of magical energy would have powerful side effects on the nearby area, leading up to the rune tearing itself apart, along with everything in the immediate vicinity.

For their purpose however, they couldn't leave behind any traces of rune magic, as over thousands of years it had become one of their race’s greatest secrets. Rather than draining the magic, they were forced to replace it with runes that would ensure complete annihilation of the evidence.

Their solution was to blow it up. It was an inelegant solution, but an effective one. By replacing the draining runes with explosion runes acting on a slight delay, they could ensure that while not a quite escape, they would leave behind nothing but a small crater. As they couldn't test these runes for obvious reasons, they drew an excessive amount of them. This would ensure that they had multiple redundancies in the event that one, or even several of them, failed to go off.

At first Twilight was elated. After the first hour though that feeling quickly wore off and the pressure of the upcoming event and the complexity of the rune that they were so carefully crafting bestowed upon her stress and a sense of dread and apprehension.

For the most part, Fluttershy and Rainbow just stayed off to the side, eagerly waiting for the moment this was all over, regardless of the outcome. Neither of them talked much.

Crafting the rune took just over two hours. That included drawing it, testing it, and covering it with the light foliage surrounding them. As it was just drawn in the loose dirt, the explosion would destroy it entirely, and aside from the light it would make for the ten seconds or so while it was charging, nopony wouldn't even know it was there.

They all wore their cloaks and disguised their voices. When it was time for the exchange, they kept an eye out for anypony approaching.

Swift Wind was the first to point it out. Princess Celestia and a few guards were approaching on hoof, likely due to the prisoner they brought with them. As soon as they saw that Silver Wing was safe, a feeling of relief washed over Twilight, though she reminded herself that they were not clear of danger yet, and they had yet to get out safely, and convince Celestia that Twilight was in fact who she said she was. Thus, the most daunting tasks still remained ahead of them.

Each of them took up a position just on the edge of the rune. Princess Celestia approached, not even bothering to hide her anger as she normally would.

She and the five guards she brought with her stopped, keeping enough of a distance to ensure they if they were attacked, they would have enough time to react to any attacks, ranged or magical, that may be directed towards them to open the conflict.

Celestia's immense anger seemed almost immeasurable, yet when she spoke her voice carried with it an overwhelming sadness. “Where's Twilight?”

“Don't worry, she's safe,” Twilight said, leaving no clue to her identity in her voice. “Once Silver Wing is safe she'll be released just outside Ponyville. We don't want any conflict Princess, we just want to protect our own kind.”

“Then let's not delay this any longer,” She replied. Her response carried with it a sorrow no different than that of her first words, a sorrow that drowned out even the anger she felt. Indeed, it hurt Twilight to see her in such pain. As Silver Wing began walking out to meet them, Twilight even saw tears rolling down her face, reflecting the moons gentle light.

Twilight looked and almost wanted to cry with her. Twilight was aware that she couldn't possibly know what Celestia was feeling at that moment, and if she did things might have turned out very differently that morning.

There was just one detail that Twilight wasn't aware of when they made their plan. For all her time with Celestia, all her lessons on vampires and all the time she spent listening to Celestia's lectures on why they could never be trusted, she never realized how deeply that mistrust ran.

From the moment Celestia saw that Twilight wasn't with them, she knew that Twilight was already dead. Wherever she was, she was gone, and it wasn't worth letting her killers get away just for the vain and distant hope she may still be alive somehow. She knew in her heart that there was no hope to save Twilight now, and all she could do, all that anypony could do, was fight on in her memory.

Twilight expected that she would allow them to leave peacefully to ensure that she was safe. The idea that she might betray them and just let Twilight die was so unimaginable that nopony was expecting it when it happened.

Silver Wing had reached them, Swift Wind had channeled magic into the gathering runes, and the teleport was nearly half way charged when the attack came. Celestia directed an attack towards Twilight. She never imagined that a small, contained magical explosion would do anything more than incapacitate the vampire that appeared to be their leader for the short time that it would take for her to heal.

What happened in the few seconds that followed shocked her even more that every other event of the past day put together.

Twilight was blown back by the force of Celestia's attack. Though she managed to use her wings and magic to right herself and come down gently, her cloak did not survive the experience. At some point, her hood had come off, and the rest of the cloak was tattered and in some places even a little burnt. Twilight didn't have her appearance disguised during the exchange, believing that the cloak would be enough to conceal herself.

The explosion destroyed one of the gathering runes, delaying their departure by a few seconds. The attack acted a signal for the guards to attack, but Celestia could do nothing. She was frozen, her eyes locked with Twilight's. All she could pay attention to was Twilight. Her red eyes, her black wings, her sharp, deadly fangs.

She was flooded with emotion for that brief moment. Betrayal, sadness, anger, even a deep love for the lavender filly that she watched grow up coursed through her, immobilizing her.

Twilight could only stand there in fear, her mind desperately trying to make sense of what happened.

Two of the guards entering rune brought her back to her senses however. Barely a second before the teleport, she shook herself back to reality and launched a concussive blast at each of the guards. They may have had a few broken bones afterward, but injuring them now was far better than needing to kill them later. A second later they teleported.

Celestia's eyes never left Twilight until she was gone.

And when she was, Celestia's eyes never left the spot where she was standing.

Not until an explosion forced her to look away.

Chapter 32, Running From the Dawn

The teleport was over in an instant. Thanks to Twilight's quick action none of Celestia's guards were inside the rune at the time of the teleport, but there was no way of knowing how many were caught in the explosion after they were gone. Aside from the severe disorientation common to any kind of long range teleportation, they were all unharmed, even Silver Wing.

All five of them shook themselves out of the daze with a fair degree of urgency. Silver and Swift were both familiar with teleportation runes and were somewhat accustomed to the side effects, and Twilight’s experience with teleportation spells included a few occasional long distance teleports.

Still slightly dazed, Fluttershy asked, “What do we do now, will the plan still work?”

“No,” Twilight replied, “We might be able to convince her that I'm not a vampire or a changeling, but after she attacked us if she finds me unharmed she'll suspect that I'm collaborating with them willingly. The plan might work, but only for so long. No, we need to leave.”

“Leave?” Rainbow asked in disbelief, “Twilight, Ponyville is our home. We can't just leave.”

“Twilight's right, there's no way the plan we came up with can work for long,” Swift Wind added. “Even if Twilight can shake their immediate suspicions, she would be caught eventually. After that it's only a matter of time before everypony close to her falls under suspicion as well. You can either leave now or wait here until you forced to choose between running away or dying.”

Once she understood their position, Rainbow grew quiet, even though she really didn’t want to. Twilight was right, there was no way they could stay forever.

Taking Rainbow's silence as a sign of defeat, she said, “We don't have a lot of time then. Celestia will be here soon and I want all of us out of Ponyville by the time she gets here. Get anything important to you and be back here as soon as possible. You have about ten minutes at the most, but that's pushing it a bit, try to be back sooner if you can.

“Swift, go with Fluttershy. In her house, there's a cabinet protected by runes. Get rid of the runes and take the lock with you, and bring the contents with you. Silver Wing, you’re with me.”

After Twilight left, Spike crawled into his basket and desperately tried to fall asleep. Even as he tried though, his mind kept him awake, wandering to Twilight and what might have happened to her. A threat of murder was no small thing, and whoever asked him to send that letter to Celestia obviously had more in mind than simply sending a massage, and they intended to use Twilight's safety to get what they wanted.

When Spike heard ponies moving around downstairs, he first assumed the worst, that Princess Celestia was there to deliver some horrible news about Twilight, about what had happened to her.

To his surprise, Twilight and Silver Wing came in just a few seconds later.

“Get Lunar Pearl, I'll get the box,” Twilight said with urgency. She used her magic to retrieve a book that she left under her pillow and return it the box with the others.

“Twilight, what's going on?” Spike asked.

Silver Wing gently shook Lunar Pearl awake and picked her up. She let Lunar Pearl climb up on her back on her back and went to wait by the door for Twilight.

“I'm sorry Spike, but there isn't time for me to explain right now,” Twilight said. “Celestia will explain everything you need to know once she gets here, but right now we have to go.”

She used her magic to teleport the box outside, where she could retrieve it on the way to rejoin the others and hide it somewhere in the Everfree, maybe bury it somewhere to collect later on, once they had a better idea of where they would go from there..

“But Twilight, where are you going?”

Twilight smiled. “Don't worry Spike, I'll be alright. Maybe we'll see each other again someday. I’ll miss you.”

Before Spike could say anything else, she rushed out the door and Silver followed close behind her. All alone, Spike curled up in his basket again and kept going over Twilight's last words as he waited for somepony else to come along, to explain what exactlys had happened that night.

Chapter 33, Darkness is Rising

If anypony in Ponyville were awake in the earliest hours of the morning, they might mistakenly assume the town was being invaded. Princess Celestia strode through the town, and behind her every member of the royal guard that could be armed on such short notice followed.

That wasn’t very many though. Since weapons enchanted with light magic were no longer being produced, the only ones that they had available were a few kept in storage in case of emergencies such as this. There were certainly a few others lying around, but it would take days to dig them all out from wherever they were hiding.

Every guard received some form of weapon, even if it was one they weren’t entirely sure how to use. Their orders were fairly simple, spread out, secure the town, and ensure that the element bearers were safe and bring them to the library.

All except Twilight, for her they were ordered to kill on sight. They were given no explanation for their orders, nor any justification for using such violence, but they all obeyed, even if a bit reluctantly.

Shining Armor was instructed to accompany Princess Celestia personally. He was very uncomfortable being ordered to kill his little sister without reason, and the princess promised that she would explain everything to him with the rest of the element bearers, once Ponyville was secure and the bearers were safe.

As they walked through town and towards the library, Celestia was still shaken by all that had occurred that morning. When she saw what her student had become, she was frozen. She was paralyzed and couldn’t act. Though she reacted quickly afterward, this left her with only more uncertainty, and with the passage of time even more questions went on unanswered.

As they arrived at the library, it occurred to her that she didn’t know if she could face Twilight again, and that her guards certainly had no hope against her.

Her worst fears were realized. The vampires had returned, and her faithful student had fallen to them. In the course of one night, the two events she dreaded more than anything else had come to pass.

She gave Spike the same promise that she made Shining Armor, that she would explain everything that was going on once the rest of the element bearers were there. She told him that she always prayed that she would never have to bring this news to him. With nothing better to do, he joined her in waiting.

Pinkie was the first to arrive, and then Rarity. It was her most sincere hope that everypony would arrive safely, but when her guards returned with the news that Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were nowhere to be found, she knew instantly that they arrived too late to save them. Celestia blamed herself, believing that if she had just paid more attention she could have saved them all, even Twilight. Nevertheless, she maintained the expression of calm serenity, save for a little anger that seeped out despite her best efforts to conceal it.

Applejack arrived last, much to Celestia’s relief. Finally forcing herself to accept that the others weren’t coming, she stood up and said, “It’s good to see that you’re alright, though I wish I could say the same for the others. I’ve prayed for years that I would never have to deliver this news again, and especially not where Twilight is concerned. Guards, leave us.”

Her guards bowed and stepped outside, closing the door behind them. Rarity and Pinkie shared a worried glance with each other.

Now that they had some privacy, Princess Celestia continued, “First, I would like to say that I share your loss. Twilight was just as much of a friend to me as she was to all of you.”

“Princess, I’m sorry to rush you, but can you please tell us what’s wrong. What’s happened to Twilight?” Shining Armor asked impatiently.

“Not just to Twilight, I fear that Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash may have also suffered the same fate,” Celestia replied. “It’s a little complicated. I’ll try to explain as best I can, but I must warn you that nothing that is said here is to leave this room. We were caught unprepared earlier tonight, and mass panic is the last thing we need.

“A long time ago, Equestria lived in terror of an ancient race of magical creatures. Though they’ve long since fallen from power, they were once a powerful race that stalked the night and preyed on the innocent and defenseless ponies of the time. They are pure evil, beings of total darkness. Long ago, I vowed that I would not rest until they were destroyed completely, and for a long time we fought them back. They faded into legend as a result of our efforts.”

“As time went on and they became a shadow of the threat they once represented, we made the mistake of letting our guard down, and now Twilight has paid the price for our failure. She has become one of them. I'm sorry to say that she can’t be saved now, once somepony is turned by them there’s no cure and no hope for redemption. I’m sorry to deliver this news, but we can do nothing now except to stop her before she can harm anypony else.”

Princess Celestia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. As much as it pained her, Celestia knew that killing Twilight was the only way to protect innocent ponies. It was what Twilight would have wanted, and it was the best way to honor her memory.

“Um, Princess,” Rarity said, “I don’t mean to interrupt your story, but we already know all of this. Twilight told us this over a month ago.”

That caught Celestia by surprise. She gave Rarity a strange, inquisitive look. “I see, what exactly did she tell you?”

“A lot more than you have,” Rarity replied. “She told us what legends were inspired by them, and a little about their history, although she told it all from a different perspective. She also told us that she was born as one of them, not turned like Fluttershy and Rainbow. She said that Shining’s parents adopted as a foal.”

Celestia remained silent, though she had a hard time believing that what Rarity said was true. She had no reason to suspect that Rarity was lying, but she also knew enough from Twilight’s youth to disprove what she said. Still, it would be necessary to follow up that particular branch of investigation when they got back to Canterlot.

“In any case, Twilight is gone now, as are Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. We are now aware of a direct threat to the safety of Equestria and its ponies. We’ll begin arming and mobilizing the royal guard immediately. Twilight has proven elusive this time, but we won’t make the same mistakes again. We will be ready next time they act, and we’ll do whatever it takes to defend Equestria.”

Shining Armor stood up and gave Celestia a desperate look. “Princess, surly there must be another way out of this. We must be able to negotiate with them, right?”

“Shining Armor,” she replied, “I know this these creatures better than anypony else. I have lost more to them than you can ever imagine, and I’ve learned from experience that they cannot be reasoned with. They will only continue to kill innocent ponies without cause or reason until they are destroyed. Two guards have already died to them this morning, and three more are severely wounded. I’m sorry about Twilight, but you need to move on. She’s no longer the pony you knew, and if you cannot understand that then you’ll fall into the same trap that so many have before you. I’ll give you a more detailed briefing when we return to Canterlot.”

She stood up and turned to the others with a stern, fierce look. “The same goes for you. I understand that they were your friends, and I want you to understand that I feel your loss. I too have lost many close friends to these creatures, but you cannot trust them anymore, or they’ll use that to their advantage.

"There is a great darkness rising, and we aren't ready to challenge them yet. For now, I’m leaving my guards in Ponyville, in case they attempt to target the remaining element bearers. Captain Shining Armor and I will return to Canterlot and begin coordinating a response.”

As she left the library, Celestia couldn’t help but feel as if there was something she was missing. She shook it off, dismissed it as unanswered questions. She had no doubt about Twilight’s intentions now, even if she was the only one.

Chapter 1, Secrets

Fluttershy trotted up to the door of the library with a spring in her step. Earlier that day Twilight had asked her over for a sleepover, just the two of them. This excited her, because she had never been asked to stay at the purple unicorns house before, coupled with a few hidden feelings for her close friend. She promised she would be over as soon as she finished her chores for the day.

Sure she had stayed at Rarity's for a night of gossip and fun once in a while, or spent the night at Sugercube Corner after one of Pinkies more wild parties, and of course being Rainbow Dashes oldest friend, and for a long time her only friend, she certainly accepted an offer to spend some time catching up once and awhile. She even spent a few days with Applejack after they got snowed in while spending the day with her.

Naturally, her animals weren't too happy to be stuck without food for two days.

Fluttershy knocked quietly and waited until Spike opened the door, “Oh, hey Fluttershy, come in.” Fluttershy stepped in as Spike continued, “ I got invited to the crusaders sleepover over at the Apples place, and AJ's gonna need a lot of help with those three anyway. Now that your here I can leave, hopefully they haven't gotten in too much trouble yet.”

“Bye, have fun.” she told Spike as her walked out the door that she herself entered only a moment ago.

“I'll try.” Spike replied cheerfully, “Twi's been acting a bit weird lately, so I need some time away from her anyway.”

“Oh, how so?” Fluttershy asked, her interest perked.

Spike shifted uncomfortably before answering, “Well...she hasn't really been getting much sleep, and she doesn't like when ponies come in for books. She gives them their books and rushes them out.” Spike shifted again, “She kicks me out all the time and keeps locking her books in this one box... almost as if she's hiding something.”

"What would Twilight have to hide?” Fluttershy asked.

“I don't know, but Fluttershy, could you please look into it. She's really starting to worry me, and I just want her to be okay.”

“I will.” Was all Fluttershy said as Spike closed the door behind him.

Fluttershy assumed Twilight would be upstairs studying, so she decided to check there first. True to her assumptions, Twilight was deeply immersed in a book. Not wanting to disturb her friend Fluttershy stood in front of Twilight for a few minutes before being noticed.

Twilight jumped slightly, but almost instantly regained herself. She grabbed a bookmark and shoved it in her book violently, “Fluttershy, your early, I wasn't expecting you for another hour at least.” Despite her rapid attempts to get all her books locked away in a small, ornate wooden box, her voice carried a tone of surprise, with an underlying hint of worry and fear.

“I finished everything as fast as possible... I was really excited for tonight.”

“Are you sure you aren't forgetting something?” Twilight asked, still maintaining the previous nervousness in her voice.

Fluttershy shook her head, and as she did she noticed a book Twilight hadn't yet managed to carelessly shove in her box laying on top of the bed. Curiously, Fluttershy moved up and began to read the title aloud, “Advanced Necromancy...” Was all she managed to read off the cover before the book was pulled towards Twilight's box at speeds that would kill a pony instantly. Had Fluttershy been expecting that, she could have read silently or at least glanced at the subtitle, but that opportunity was now inside Twilight's box.

“Just a bit of background reading, nothing to be concerned about.” Twilight said, her voice betraying her and showing fear and anxiety.

Fluttershy noticed this, though her knowledge of magic was too limited to understand the title alone at first glance. Twilight gave a small groan and began rearranging the books to make enough space in the box for the others. While she was doing this, Fluttershy noticed that the book Twilight was reading when she had arrived was still in its initial position.

Fluttershy read the cover aloud again, “Blood Magi...”The book was swept away in a purple aura, joining the others before Twilight closed the box.

“Nothing to be concerned about, just pretend you never saw that!”

Fluttershy was bit shocked at Twilight's sudden outburst, but rather than crying about it like she would at any other time, Fluttershy pulled through on her concern for her friend and asked, “Twilight are you okay, you’re acting a bit weird?”

“Of course I'm okay silly,” Twilight said loudly, seemingly leaving the fear behind her as she adopted a more... Pinkie-like attitude, “So, are you ready to get started?”

“Oh yes.” Fluttershy exclaimed in her ever so soft and gentle voice.

Twilight clapped her hooves in joy, “Yay, but, before we start, are you absolutely sure your not forgetting anything.”

Fluttershy was about to deny, but as she thought about it, if she was going to figure out what Twilight was up to, she would need to see somepony, somepony who knew about magic, and somepony she could trust.

“Well, I might have forgotten to feed the chickens.” she lied.

Twilight frowned, “Well, hurry back, I really want to get started.” She offered up a generous smile, which Fluttershy returned before she turned to leave.

Fluttershy didn't like lying to her friends, but she was genuinely worried. A lie to find out the truth, it seemed so ironic to Fluttershy, but it made enough sense in her situation. Thinking about the phrase in general, Fluttershy realized that if one were to say it, it would seem to make little sense.

Fluttershy's thought's took her all the way to Rarity's. She knocked on the door four times and waited for an answer. The answer came in the form of a slightly sleep-deprived unicorn.

“Oh hello Fluttershy, what can I do for you.” Rarity asked, taking a sip from coffee.

“Hi Rarity, do you think you can explain some magic stuff to me?”

Rarity looked at her questioningly, “Wouldn't Twilight be able to explain it better than me?”

“Yes, but she's been acting weird lately.” Fluttershy replied

“Oh, do you think she has another incomplete project.?” Rarity asked. Fluttershy answered with a shrug, “Well, I guess I could answer some questions, what would you like to know dear?”

Fluttershy smiled, “Okay, what can you tell me about necromancy?”

Rarity looked slightly taken back by Fluttershy's choice of question, “Well, necromancy is a form of dark magic,” She paused to allow Fluttershy to ask questions but Fluttershy motioned her to continue on, “It's a type of magic that deals with death. Sometimes a pony will use necromancy to raise the dead, or maybe kill another. Necromancy is… simply a magic that deals with death.”

When Rarity looked at Fluttershy she was sporting a slightly nervous expression, “Okay, what about blood magic?” She gave an sweet, innocent smile but that wasn't enough to stop Rarity from falling to the ground, her coffee cup falling and shattering loudly upon hearing Fluttershy asking this. Sweet, innocent Fluttershy asking questions about dark magics, and even more disturbing to Rarity was that she wasn't going to the more intelligent pony, who would simply turn her in to Celestia, to obtain this information.

“Fluttershy... I can't believe you would ask me these things. Darling, what could possibly corrupt you like that?”

Fluttershy frowned and took a step back, “I was only curious.”

“There's no way I can possibly believe that. You just asked me about a branch of magic that is barely even mentioned in the most advanced magic classes, classes that even Twilight would have trouble keeping up with,” A tear escaped her eye, “I can't believe what I'm hearing. When you asked me if I could answer some questions about magic, I thought you would ask me something simple. Something innocent.

“But Rarity I didn't know, I just picked it up somewhere and I was curious...” Fluttershy began but was interrupted by Rarity's shouting.

“And just where did you pick it up!?” Fluttershy hesitated, trying to think of a lie. If what Rarity was saying was true, Twilight could get in a lot of trouble for the possession of those books, and who knew what other things she was hiding in that box. Unfortunately, the single moments hesitation was enough for Rarity to continue her verbal assault, “You don't have an answer do you?”

Fluttershy backed away, “I'm sorry, I didn't know.”

Rarity hesitated to continue assaulting the already shaken pony, but continued, “Fluttershy, you not telling me this means your only protecting somepony else or trying to keep me away from wherever you obtained this information in order to protect yourself. Not only are you endangering yourself, you’re also endangering those around you and breaking the law, I think that allows a bit of suspicion.”

Fluttershy backed away a little more, before noticing that Rarity a mistake in her suspicions, “Rarity, if I knew that, why would I come to you asking about it?”

Rarity paused, considering her friend’s certainly valid point, “I’m sorry Fluttershy, I didn’t really think this through, and I guess I really shouldn’t have suspected you of such a thing without letting you explain first. Perhaps I can answer a few questions.”

Fluttershy immediately, upon hearing the offer to have her questions answered, asked the one question that was bugging her the most, “How do you know this Rarity?”

Rarity sighed, she had said she would answer her friend’s questions, “Well, I’ve never told you this, but I used to attend Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns, and even took the advanced classes.”

“Okay, maybe that’s a story for another time, but right now could you tell me what blood magic is, if that’s alright with you.” Fluttershy asked politely

“Well, blood magic, as one might discern from the title, is magic fueled by blood or in some cases a combination of blood and magical energy. Due to its evil nature and the fact that it’s incredibly dangerous, it has been outlawed and all information regarding spells and ways to cast them have been locked away in the royal archives, although as I have mentioned earlier, it is briefly mentioned in the more advanced magic classes.”

Taking the moments silence as a signal to ask her next question, Fluttershy continued, “Well, what’s so dangerous about it?”

Once again Rarity entered a long explanation, “Well, as blood magic is fueled by blood, it is often very easy to die of blood loss, but more commonly ponies will die from other effects first. I believe that the most common is their heart imploding, but there are cases of more… messy deaths.” Rarity shuddered slightly.

“Alright, is there any creature that could use it safely, preferably something that could take the appearance of a pony?” Fluttershy asked

Rarity thought about it for a minute, “Well, I know that vampires can but I’m not sure about anything else.”

Fluttershy stood there for a minute, processing the fact that her closest friend might be a vampire. Despite the fear clouding her mind and the dangers unknown to her, Fluttershy resolved to find out the truth, “Well, thank you Rarity. I have to go now, I still have to feed chickens.”

Fortunately, Rarity didn’t see through her unprofessional lie, “Well your always welcome here, but Fluttershy, please be careful, I don't want to see you get hurt.

Fluttershy reassured her, “Don't worry, I'll be fine.”

Rarity waved goodbye to Fluttershy as she trotted towards the door, “Bye dear, and if you see Twilight, tell her that I have her necklace ready for her.”

Fluttershy perked up slightly, “Necklace?”

“Oh, Twilight asked me to make her a necklace. Of course I'm not much of a jeweler, but the request was simple enough, and I hate to leave one of my friends in need.” Rarity yawned, “Perhaps I should take a nap, being overworked as I am, but if you do see Twilight, tell her it's ready.”

Fluttershy paused for a minute, “Well, I could take it to her on my way home, if that's okay with you."

“I guess it would save all of us a bit of hassle, let me go get it.”

Rarity left the room shortly and returned with a small jeweled necklace. It was a simple piece, a polished silver chain supporting the larger ornate piece of silver, whose engravings were more of a piece of art than part of a piece of jewelry. In the center was a diamond, carved and polished masterfully, not a single imperfection anywhere.

Fluttershy stared in awe, “Rarity, this... this is the most beautiful necklace I've ever seen.”

Rarity yawned again, “Thank you darling, I did do my best, but if you'll excuse me I would very much like to get a bit of sleep. I'll see you at our spa appointment in a few days, so we can have a bit more time to talk then.”

“Bye Rarity.” Fluttershy said, taking the necklace from Rarity and turning around to leave. Rarity attempted to say the same in return but her words were cut off by yet another yawn, so she settled for waving instead.

On her way back Fluttershy walked slowly, attempting to gather courage she simply didn't possess. Terrified of the prospect of confronting Twilight about something this severe, she dreaded the moment that she had to do this. But, like always, when one dreads the future, the future comes more quickly than normal and she soon found herself at the door to the library.

The sight when she opened the door was certainly not what was expected. Twilight was sitting on her couch eating what appeared to be a chocolate cookie. Twilight looked at Fluttershy before she could say anything and started one of the most awkward conversations between them up to date, “Before you ask, I have no idea how I burnt lettuce this badly.”

Fluttershy giggled, “How'd you burn lettuce?”

Twilight looked at her lettuce, “Well... I think I cooked it too long.”

“Twilight, you don't cook lettuce.” Fluttershy said in a fit of laughter

The mare in question looked at the lettuce, “Well... that explains a lot actually.”

They both laughed awhile before they had calmed down enough for Twilight to ask, “So, did you feed the chickens?”

“Yeah, and I also stopped at Rarity's, speaking of that I said I'd give this to you.” She gave Twilight the necklace

Twilight took the piece of jewelry and examined it closely, “Wow... I didn't think Rarity could make it this good.”

While she continued to examine the necklace Fluttershy collected the courage she needed, and finally when she concluded she wasn't going to be anymore ready she said, “Twilight, we need to talk.”

That seemed to snap Twilight out of her trance, “Sorry about that, now what do you want to talk about?”

Fluttershy took a deep breath, “Well, while I was at Rarity's, I asked about those books you were reading.” Twilight immediately started hyperventilating and her eyes went wide upon hearing what Fluttershy had done.

Fluttershy quickly corrected herself, “Wait, I didn't tell her they were yours, she doesn't even know I was here!” That served to calm Twilight down rather quickly.

“I told you to forget it Fluttershy, why didn't you just listen to me?”

Fluttershy once again felt the pressure of a friends anger, “I was worried about you, and I was right. Twilight... why are you studying illegal dark magic?”

Twilight stood up quickly, “Enough! Fluttershy, I like you a lot, but this doesn't concern you. Now, I'm going to go get some cookies, and then we can spend some time together and just forget this ever happened.”

That was almost enough for Fluttershy, and would have been had she been speaking to anypony else, but Twilight was her best friend and she couldn't let go of the fact that she was keeping secrets this big, so now it was time for her to ask the question that was bothering her the most, “Twilight, are you a vampire?”

Twilight stopped, and slowly turned around. Fluttershy saw pure fear on her face, “You are, aren't you.” she said, slowly backing away.

Twilight sighed, giving a look of defeat. She picked up the necklace and held it in front of her. Her horn color slowly changed from a bright purple to a mix of black and red. Arcs of dark lightning flew between her and the necklace. A red mist formed around her, the glow making the room's lighting become a similar eerie shade.

Once the light show had ended, Fluttershy's look had changed to of horror upon seeing her friend. Leathery wings, almost like a bat's, but slight lighter in color were now hanging limply at her sides. Fangs had cleanly replaced two of Twilight's teeth, and her eyes were closed.

Slowly and weakly, Twilight looked to Fluttershy and opened her eyes. Fluttershy's expression was one of only pure terror as the purple unicorn glared at her with menacing red eyes and angrily said, “Why couldn't you just stay out of things that don't concern you?”

Chapter 6, To Fear Oneself

It took a bit, but Fluttershy slowly began to warm up to the idea of being a vampire over the course of the night. The book Twilight gave her was helpful in that regard.

It explained so much that she didn’t know. It introduced the concepts of feeding and disguise, as well as other little necessities such as subtlety and secrecy, amongst other things.

Being nocturnal, side effects of sunlight, weaknesses and strengths, and all this was only in the basics. There were three different sections for the three races. While the introduction was mostly just text and headings, the pegasus section was filled with diagrams and pictures to accompany it, astounding to find in a hoof written book.

Fluttershy was grateful that everything was explained down to the finest detail, as it would save time from asking Twilight to many more questions. Before reading, she never would have noticed that her wings were longer, sleeker. It was a barely noticeable change, but one that might gain the attention of ponies such as Rainbow Dash, who knows more about wings than some others.

Within several hours, Fluttershy had completely read through the entire book. Being oddly awake, she flipped back from the conclusion in the end of the book to the unicorn section, figuring that it might be fun to read a bit more before going to sleep. The first page was similar to the pegasus section she had already read, detailing how a unicorn’s horn would grow longer and sharper.

A few minutes later she was sound asleep, book lying on her chest like a makeshift blanket.

Twilight meanwhile spent much of her time panicking. In an effort to adjust Fluttershy to her new changes, and teach her a few things she would need to know, she would need help. Given that she wasn't even the right race, let alone able to do many of the things she would have to be teaching, Twilight spent much of her time writing a letter to the one vampire among their small number that she already knew, who happened to be a pegasus by chance.

After mailing her letter at the post office, Twilight headed back through town to the small cottage on the edge of the forest.

As soon as she arrived, she looked upstairs to find the adorable sight. She was actually familiar with falling asleep while reading. Her parents always made her go to bed before she was ready, though she usually wasn’t tired at the time. So she would carefully light her horn when nopony was looking, and continue reading whatever piece of literature she was interested in at the time.

She almost always woke up with a book draped over her, so often in fact that Shining Armor had actually started a collection of photos he had taken with the camera he had got for his birthday. He had quite a few embarrassing photos as well, one of which featuring a sleeping Twilight attempting to eat a book, and another where she was holding onto a book tightly, as if it was protecting her from whatever bad dreams had been plaguing her at the time.

Of course, those photos weren’t just a collection… they also made for great blackmail material. In fact, that was one of the only things that kept her from driving Cadence insane when their parents were out.

Perhaps she was beginning to adjust a bit better. Fluttershy wasn’t a pony that would be expected to adapt to being a predator easily but perhaps Twilight had doubting her a bit too much.

Twilight pulled herself away from the sight. A couch might not be as comfortable as a bed, but Twilight would also do well with a nap.

Fluttershy was not pleased right now. The source of her displeasure was the giggling unicorn standing in front of her.

Fluttershy had been sleeping well, no nightmares or fears to haunt her. Sometime during her slumber Twilight had woken her... abruptly. In the process she had fallen out of bed... again. Twilight went on saying something so quickly that it took her several seconds to realize that Fluttershy was on the floor.

So here they were, Twilight giggling about Fluttershy's placement on the floor, and Fluttershy getting up in such a way as to attempt to show exactly how displeased she was. In the end her scow and uncoordinated movement only came off as cute however.

“So how did you sleep?” Twilight said, trying to change the subject in one of the most obvious ways she could. The fanged smile she wore as she said in made her look even more adorable and embarrassed than she actually was.

“You woke me up.” She replied dully.

“Oh, well you can forgive me for that, can't you?” Twilight asked, inciting a tired laugh from her friend.

After a short moment of silence, Twilight sighed and said, “Alright, I know you just got up, and I really don't like having to be the one to break this to you, things are not going to be easy for you for a while. It's not that I don't want to just forget any of this happened, but it just can't be done. There's nothing we can do but move forward now, and that frightens me...”

“Why?” Fluttershy asked.

“Because whether we like it or not, things are going to change. Everything you know about the world is wrong Fluttershy, and the truth isn't pleasant. I didn't want to have to drag you or any of our friends into this, but you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and... and I just panicked alright! I... I didn't want to hurt you... I...” Twilight took a moment to breath and calm herself before continuing, her voice shaking, “Ever since I came to Ponyville, I've loved you and all our friends. I tried to plan around our friendship when I prepared for this. I tried to think of ways I could perform the full extent of my duties while keeping you all in the dark about who I was, what I was.”

“I had contingency plans, and I even made sure my contingency plans had contingency plans. I thought of ways to get out of going to parties and picnics and ways to go to parties but still do everything I needed to do. I love all of you so much. You were like a second family to me, and I couldn't bear the thought of anything happening between us. You trusted me and never even once thought I would lie to you, even though I lied to you every moment since I met you, you still loved me.”

“It wasn't that I didn't trust you, or that I didn't think our friendship was strong enough to overcome this, it was just that... I could finally let my guard down and just be myself a bit. I didn't need to hide behind some false personality and I could have fun for once.”

“I know that you already forgave me for this, but I can't forgive myself for bringing you into this.”

Fluttershy took a moment to process it all, but then said, “It's alright, in fact, I sort of like it.”

“How can you like this!?” Twilight asked with surprise.

“Well, I mean, we aren't so different anymore, and you don't need to go through this alone anymore.” Fluttershy said, “I love you even though you hurt me, and now you finally have somepony that understands you.”

Twilight looked down and sighed, “I know, but is that really a good thing?”

Author's Note

Yeah, I know, I can never keep a schedule, never...

I've wasted a lot of time so far, so I'm working to catch up, and in that regard, I would expect to get chapters out regularly from now on... or irregularly but with much more frequency :twilightsmile:

For now, I know this chapter has a giant monologue in the middle of it, and there's two reasons for that. First is that I wanted to make it so that Twi would be speaking quickly and leaving no time for interruptions trying to justify herself and what she did so far, and second is that monologues are just what I'm best with. :twilightblush:

I'm aiming for chapter seven within the next several days, and for once I actually expect it to happen... hopefully

Chapter 17, Respite

Twilight sat at her desk, trying to think how to word the letter she was writing. Silver Wing had written that she was growing more uncomfortable with the situation as it evolved, and this time she wasn’t alone. Shadowfall, a mare that Twilight had gone to meet the previous week and an expert assassin, had also stated that Twilight was letting emotions cloud her judgment and that her friends were not vampires, and they wouldn’t understand. She had requested to move into Ponyville so that if necessary she could intervene if the situation got out of control. It wouldn’t hard to arrange, she never stayed in one place for long, and if nopony she could trust would house her she could make herself a temporary shelter in the Everfree.

She would have preferred to stay with somepony else though, and while assassination wasn’t the most profitable job, especially in such a peaceful world, she still had a variety of skills that suited her for other jobs, mostly ones that paid exceptionally well, and ones that might be incredibly dangerous to anypony without a vampire’s abilities. As such, she tended to have a decent amount of bits available at any time.

Twilight felt she had the situation well under control, but even she was willing to admit that it wasn’t going ideally. Fear and friendship was an odd combination, but it seemed to be enough to implant doubts in their minds, and Twilight was perhaps too confident, as from her perspective just being friends and using fear as an occasional means of dissuasion would earn their trust, or at least convince them to stay away from the truth.

That level of overconfidence was perhaps the biggest problem, and although they didn’t know Twilight’s friends as well as she did, and they could not argue that fact, Silver Wing and Shadowfall were not as easily convinced of the situation’s positive status, especially the less trusting and less socially experienced Shadowfall.

So Twilight was at her desk, trying to figure out how to write a letter that would convince them that she knew how to repair and contain the situation, when she heard the sound of Spike receiving a letter coming from downstairs. At least one of the benefits of being a vampire was that with her improved hearing she knew exactly when something was happening downstairs, and when she should either go down to investigate or when somepony was on their way up to her.

“Twilight, letter from the princess!” Spike called out as she got up to the top of the stairs. Twilight couldn’t help but roll her eyes out of sight. Of course it was a letter from the princess, what else could it be?

“Alright Spike, just set it somewhere and I'll get to it in a minute,” Twilight said, paying very little attention to Spike or the letter.

“Um, Twilight... it’s from Princess Luna,” Spike went on to say. That caught Twilight's attention, and she turned around and gave him a curious look.

“Let me see that,” she said, pulling the letter out of Spikes grip with her magic and opening it.

My dearest friend Twilight Sparkle,

My sister has recommended that I go to see a branch of the military known as the Wonderbolts perform in the city of Manehatten next week. We I still do not understand why a branch of the Equestian military is performing for the entertainment of the populace, indeed it is completely unheard of, but regardless my sister was rather persistent in the matter, and it is our my pleasure to ask you and your friends to join me. I am still much in your debt for your aid in defeating Nightmare Moon, and if my sister will not allow me to rest until I have seen this show, then I would choose to see it with ponies I consider friends.

Sincerest regards,

Princess Luna

“Huh,” Twilight said, looking in detail at the six tickets attached to the letter. Between the crossed out text and the poor attempt at informality, it was obvious that Luna was still struggling with modern language.

“What’s it say, Twilight?”

“It’s an invitation, to attend the Wonderbolts show in Manehatten next week...”

Perhaps it was a little too much to expect everypony to be free to join them. Coming up on the end of autumn and going into winter meant that everypony had something they needed to be doing.

Applebuck season was only a few weeks away, and the entire apple family was hard at work, and Applejack refused to leave the farm for two whole days just to see what she called ‘a bunch of fancy flying’.

Because the harvest was expected to be even bigger than last year, Pinkie had already volunteered to help them, saying that it’s what friends do. Despite Applejack not actually needing the help, Pinkie was very insistent, and even took time off from her job at Sugarcube Corner just to help them, not that she needed to, the cakes had a standing policy of as long as she wasn’t needed, she could go do whatever she wanted to. Their wasn't that much to do in preparation, but she wanted to be their anyway. Twilight was accepting of this, though she felt that Pinkie wasn't being entirely honest in her reasons.

Rarity claimed to have to start work on her winter line, which wasn’t strange at all for this time of year, but judging from the look she was giving Twilight when she said it Twilight again had doubts that it was the only reason. Just to be safe she decided she was going to add a few extra runes to the locks at her and Fluttershy’s homes, just as an added precaution against another attempted theft.

That was where the misfortune ended however, as Rainbow Dash would never give up a free chance to see the Wonderbolts perform, especially from the perspective awarded by being the guests of the princess. As soon as Twilight mentioned it to her she said yes.

And now Twilight was on to convincing Fluttershy. As far as she was concerned Fluttershy too had already said yes.

Twilight knocked on her door just after dark. As usual she cracked the door to see that it was Twilight and then opened it the whole way and welcomed her in.

“Hi, how have you been?” Twilight asked.

“I’m alright,” Fluttershy replied. “Learning the language you asked me to is really stressful though.

The week before, at Silver Wings request, Twilight gave Fluttershy a book during the meeting that Rarity interrupted. The book was on the vampire’s ancient language. It fell out of style about one thousands years after Celestia and Luna were born. Before the unification of the three tribes, when vampires started needing spies within pony society, the language was still primarily spoken and vampires would spend a short time learning Equestrian before assuming an infiltrator role. After unification when ponies began to become a stronger, united force it became normal to learn Equestrian as a secondary language as well as their culture. At this time vampires were still separate from Equestrians in terms of society, but once Celestia and Luna took the throne and Equestria went on the offensive, it became less of a primary language as time went on, and eventually in recent centuries it came to be used primarily as a means of secret communication.

The language itself was known amongst vampires for its complexity, which only added to its value as a means of communicating secret or sensitive information. It was made up of ninety-two characters, in addition to an incredibly complex grammar system. Newly turned vampires who were expected to learn it would often be intimidated, and Fluttershy didn't seem to be having any easier of a time with it.

Once somepony understood how to pronounce the words they were usually left alone to develop their skills further, as it was easily one of the easiest languages to learn out of a book because of the way the text was pronounced just as it was spelled.

That was where the simplicity wore off unfortunately. Because of how long vampires lived, the language rarely changed and when it did it only became more complex and advanced. There could easily be over five or even ten words that translate to the exact same word in Equestrian, but all have subtly different meanings. This meant that even those that picked it up as a first language were expected to take as long as a decade to speak it perfectly, and much longer for those that first picked up on a much simpler language from birth.

Even Twilight was still in the process of learning it. Because of how studious she was she had picked up on it much more quickly than other ponies leaning it after Equestrian and could hold a conversation in it, but the most complex parts she was still learning.

Twilight just laughed, “It’s fine Fluttershy, I didn’t expect you to get it. Can I ask what you're having trouble with?”

“Everything,” Fluttershy sighed, “I can't even remember all the letters yet, I don't know how I'm going to learn an entire language.”

Twilight smiled, “You don’t have to learn the entire thing in a few days, you can take centuries if you need to. Silver was the one pushing for you to learn it, so I really don’t mind if you take a while. It will get easier though, just keep trying and once you get the hang of all the specifics you just need to learn the words. Give it a chance and some time and you’ll speak it better than you will Equestrian.

“That’s not why I’m here though. I actually came because I got an invitation from Luna to see the Wonderbolts show in Manehatten next week, and I came to see if you could go. Rainbow and I are the only other ones that can make it.”

“Of course I’ll go, when is it?” Fluttershy asked.

“Exactly one week from today, the train ride is already covered, we leave just before dawn. Remember that Rainbow will be with us this time so there are things we can’t do or say.”

“So no rune magic?” Fluttershy asked disappointedly.

“Bring the materials along anyway,” Twilight said, “We’ll be taking a special car that will have curtains for privacy, and I know soundproofing spells. The others are already well beyond suspicious, so we don’t need to worry about acting strange.”

“What about the pony we met last time we were in Manehatten, do you think we should try to get together and talk with her?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oh,” Twilight said, “that’s right, I think her name was Morning Daisy. I’ll send word ahead and invite her to meet with us, that is, if she wants to.”

Dear Morning Daisy,

You probably wouldn’t recognize me by name, so I won’t name myself in this letter. We met about a month ago in an alley in Manehatten, and you helped a friend of mine, of which we are still grateful.

When we met, you expressed an interest in seeing us again. My friend and I will be in Manehatten again as we have been invited by a friend to attend the Wonderbolts show this Thursday.

I understand when you said that you would be interested in seeing us again, it was after an emotional moment and that you were somewhat disoriented, but if you are still interested there is a small outdoor cafe on the corner of 6th and 7th street. If you want to, meet us there at noon, and come alone. If you aren’t interested, you may simply disregard this letter and we’ll leave you alone.

If you can’t make it but are still interested in meeting, there are instructions on how to contact us attached with this letter. If you aren’t interested, feel free to disregard them as well.

Sincerely,

A friend

The next week went by fast. Unbelievable as it may be things were mostly calm within Ponyville and Twilight and Fluttershy had no real problems with the others. Just as a precaution though, Twilight upgraded their locks again to make them nigh impossible to open without the proper keys.

Silver had managed to get access to of some records for Manehatten using her position in Canterlot Castle and obtain residential information. As Twilight discovered, that was one of the things she was excellent at, and like Mythic Dusk said it was what she did to help vampires as a race. Using the information she dug out, she relayed Twilight’s letter to Morning Daisy.

Of course, neither she nor Shadowfall were happy about it. The one downside to them both living together for the time being was that anytime Twilight did something they would both complain about it simultaneously. Because of her position they couldn’t do anything about it, but it was still annoying.

Rarity brought Twilight a new cloak that worked to her satisfaction later the previous week, while Fluttershy had gotten hers from Rarity not too long before the beginning of winter the previous year, leaving it in far better condition.

So now it was morning, the day of the Wonderbolts performance in Manehatten. The plan was for them to arrive in the city shortly before noon, and the show would be in the evening. The weather team had decided to make a cloudy day over the city, so everything worked out in Twilight and Fluttershy's favor. After the performance they would spend the night in the city and leave the following morning.

Twilight and Fluttershy arrived a bit early, and only ten minutes before the train was scheduled to leave did Rainbow appear. She wasn’t happy about having to get up as early as she did, but she wouldn’t let anything stop her from seeing the Wonderbolts, not even sleep.

As a gift from Princess Luna, they were given a private car on the train. As it stood, it was fairly luxurious. It was actually a car specifically designed for Royalty, to be used whenever a princess needed transportation. Unfortunately it was rarely ever used, as the princesses often had faster and more direct transportation, and even then they only used it for public appearance. Otherwise they would teleport directly to wherever they needed to be. Still, it was maintained to the highest standards and would occasional be gifted for use by guests or friends of royalty.

“Why do we need to leave so early?” Rainbow said tiredly, making no attempt to cover up her annoyance.

Twilight, wide awake because of her and Fluttershy's unique nature, just laughed. Leading them to the train, she said, “We're leaving early because that's when the princess decided that this is when we should leave. She probably just doesn't get that most ponies are still sleeping this early. Besides, we get extra time to explore the city.”

Rainbow just groaned, earning another short laugh from Fluttershy.

“Oh come on, Rainbow,” Twilight said, “don't you have friends in the city that you could visit?”

“No,” Rainbow replied. She obviously wasn't going to be convinced that anything good could come of leaving so early.

Twilight was still smiling, and trying to remain serious she said, “Oh come on Rainbow, there are plenty of sights to see.” Rainbow merely grumbled at that.

The royal car was magnificent. Under Celestia's tutelage, Twilight was privileged enough to have ridden in it with her several times before, but Fluttershy and Rainbow were in awe at what they saw.

The colors were very bright, and there were plenty of windows that would let in sunlight for the journey. They fortunately had curtains already enchanted to keep out light entirely in case the occupants needed a little less light.

It was complete with two alcoves with three windows each, along with a curtain to block sight from the rest of the train and a table in the center. Luxurious seats lined the other sides, and there was even a small kitchen, currently unattended.

Like Twilight had suggested Fluttershy brought along her language texts and rune magic reference guide, along with the necessary materials to practice them. Twilight, armed with privacy spells that would keep Rainbow from intruding on them, set her saddlebags out on one of the alcove tables. Fluttershy followed her example and set her bags down beside Twilight.

“Wait, what are you two doing?” Rainbow asked. In hindsight, both Twilight and Fluttershy should have realized that Rainbow would have forgotten to bring anything for the train ride.

Twilight, looking somewhat guilty, said to her, “Oh... right, Fluttershy and I brought things do do. I guess that you didn't bring anything with you.”

“Heh, I guess I didn't really think ahead. Can't I just do whatever you're doing?” Rainbow replied. She looked at their bags, which looked like they should have been painfully heavy, and then looked back to them.

Rainbow smiled, but Twilight avoided direct eye contact. She had to stop herself from smiling as she said, “Well, sure. You're welcome to join us if you're interested in studying ancient languages and obscure magical theory.”

Rainbow balked at that. In a shocked and confused maner she said, “Why would you... Fluttershy's not even a unicorn!”

“You don't have to be a unicorn to study the theory,” Twilight said, “If you don't want to join us, you don't have to.”

Rainbow shook her head to clear the confusion before saying, “No thanks, I'd rather just.... I’ll think of something.”

Twilight gave her a warm, friendly, apologetic smile before stepping into the alcove and closing the curtain.

As soon as it was closed Twilight cast spells to prevent Rainbow from hearing or seeing them, and then she pulled the curtains on the windows shut, letting absolutely no light in.

Without needing to ask Twilight what they were going to be doing, she pulled out the materials to study rune magic.

“I guess rune magic is more interesting than learning our language?” Twilight asked jokingly. Fluttershy nodded in response.

“It's so much fun, but learning the language is really hard,” she replied a little sheepishly.

“It's okay, I don't mind. I wasn't the one that wanted you to learn the language in the first place, I think rune magic is more fun too,” Twilight said. “I'm not expecting you to learn any noticeable portion of an entire language in a few hours, why not have some fun while we travel?”

For the next hour or so, they worked on crafting more complex systems of runes. Fluttershy was an exceptionally fast learner, and in barely a month she was way past the basics. By now the things she was practicing included functional arrays of runes working in harmony for practical purposes. For the day ahead of them they decided to try a rune that would start or stop a fire at the users command. It was a three part system, a rune to create the fire, a rune to gather the magical energy to power it, and a rune to drain all energy to deactivate it. A more complex version existed where the user could also control the intensity of the fire, but that was more advanced, so for now they were going with something simpler.

The problem with using rune magic as a pegasus was that it was first and foremost a magic used by unicorns, even since it's earliest days. Unicorns could channel magic directly into the runes and had an advantage in their precision, making the crafting of the runes themselves much easier. Being a vampire did help her coordination, but she still had to rely on Twilight to provide her with condensed magic to activate the runes.

Meanwhile, while they where playing around with runes, Rainbow Dash was growing bored beyond her tolerance. While Twilight and Fluttershy spent all their time behind closed curtains, not making a sound, Rainbow couldn't do anything other than sit there. No flying, no Daring Do, and she couldn't even sleep because of how uncomfortable the seats in the train where compared to clouds, or even a normal bed.

It wasn't overly long before she couldn't stand it anymore, and in desperation she rushed over and ripped open the curtains.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately from a different perspective, she decided to barge in at just the moment Twilight was about to activate the rune by channeling magic into it.

If anypony had dropped even a small vial of condensed magic onto that rune, the entire train car may have exploded. Fortunately, Twilight offered to activate the rune herself.

Even still, the amount of magic channeled into it can influence it's intensity greatly, and when Rainbow barged in she startled Twilight. Her sudden appearance led her to inadvertently channel more magic into the rune than she meant to, leading to a massive burst of fire that completely incinerated the parchment, despite having an active solidity rune on the back to prevent that exact thing from happening.

When she saw to explosion, the first thing that came to Twilight's mind was to protect the books and supplies, which she sent off beside Fluttershy with a rather large amount of force. Her second, more obvious reaction was to put out the fire. Fire extinguishing was a relatively simple spell, even if Twilight didn’t have much use for it. Practicing magic in two different libraries over the course of her life left her with the innate fear that she might ignite the books, and later on the entire building, seeing as the library was completely made of wood.

“What are you two doing back here?” asked Rainbow, fanning some of the lingering smoke away from them with her wings. She wasn't scared or angry, in fact her tone suggested that she was amused.

Not actually needing to breathe meant that the smoke didn't affect Twilight and Fluttershy in any adverse manner. Once the smoke had cleared well enough to breathe anyway, Twilight replied, “We were attempting to do some very delicate magic, which we completely lost control of because of you.”

“Sorry,” Rainbow said, “I didn't know what to do, it's so boring out here.”

“I'm sorry Rainbow, but I honestly don't know what to do,” Twilight said apologetically. “We only brought books for us to do our own activities. I would have made room to bring something for you, but I didn't think that you would need me to.”

“There are explosions back here, you've got to be doing something interesting. Why can't I just do what you're doing? Don't you trust me?”

Rainbow was trying to guilt trip them into letting her in on what they were doing, that much was obvious even if it was a legitimate curiosity or she was trying to investigate their enigmatic secret meetings.

“It wasn't supposed to explode! I'm sorry Rainbow, but there's really nothing you would be interested in back here. It's just magic, and I know that you would never be interested in magical theory,” Twilight said. She tried to sound apologetic, but really she was just making an excuse to keep Rainbow away. It still wasn't lying though, because as much interest as Fluttershy had Rainbow would be neither interested in or capable of anything they were studying.

“Well there's got to be something,” Rainbow said, “Come on, I can't just sit around here for hours!”

Twilight was about to say something else to convince her to leave, but saw how she could turn the situation to their advantage. By talking to Rainbow and spending time with her, they could start to earn her trust again.

“Actually, Fluttershy put away the books, I think it would help if we spent some time with Rainbow.” Twilight said, doing her best to give Fluttershy hints at her idea without actually communicating them. It wasn't hard, because as unkind as it was Twilight knew that Rainbow couldn't pick up on the finer details of nonverbal communication. Even when directed at her she didn't pick up on gestures, expressions, and sometimes even tones. Knowing this, even if she didn't like abusing it, she could afford to be carefree with her expression.

“Oh, okay.” Fluttershy said after a momentary pause spent trying to catch on. Without speaking she quickly moved anything they had out at the time of the explosion into her bags, giving Rainbow no time to see what might be written of them.

Rainbow didn't seem to notice though. Twilight gestured for her to come sit next to her, and Rainbow took advantage of it immediately.

With hours left to go until they got to Manehatten, the three started up a conversation. More than once Rainbow none too subtle led the conversation to magical theory, but she didn't get any answers. She wasn't angry though, her anticipation for later that day outweighing anything that she felt from when things didn't go the way she wanted.

They talked like friends though, and that was more than they had done for some time. Just like Rainbow tried to lead the conversation to magical theory, Twilight and Fluttershy managed to bring the conversation topic to their investigation with much more ease. Rainbow didn't give away much information, and none that Twilight didn't already know they had from her visit to Rarity.

As the conversation went on, Twilight took any chance to let Rainbow know, again, that there was nothing going on that concerned her, and that she could trust them unconditionally.

As far as Twilight was concerned, they were making progress.

If she had a few more hours, they may have made enough of a difference to turn Rainbow's alignment to their favor, but unfortunately the day must always continue. As the hours went on and the three merely enjoyed each others company while pushing towards their own goals to varying degrees of success, the train moved across the countryside.

Eventually they could feel the train slow, and Rainbow pulled back the curtain on the window that Twilight and Fluttershy requested remain closed for the journey, and then told them, “We're here. Wow, that took no time at all.”

Twilight and Fluttershy put on their cloaks and retrieved their bags. Rainbow gave them a strange look, but didn’t say anything to them about it. After a quick reminder not to get into any trouble and meet them at the stadium around the time of the show, Rainbow departed in a separate direction from them. Just to be safe Twilight insisted that they take an extended, elaborate route, just to be sure that they weren't being followed.

They went though several alleys and through more than a few streets in the wrong direction before circling around making their way back to a small cafe that Shadowfall personally recommended to them.

They arrived and told the waiter that they were expecting somepony else to join them at noon, and asked for a specific table. It was out of they way in the back, and was one of the last tables to be filled when the cafe was really overcrowded. Shadowfall had personally recommended this place. Even though she wasn't enthusiastic about the idea she at least tried to add something constructive.

They had their hoods on, even though the weather was cloudy. The weather office for the Manehatten area came up with the idea to have a cloudy day, and then clear it up before the show later that evening.

The reason they kept their hoods on was to protect their identities. They fully intended to tell Morning Daisy who they really were, which was the part of the plan that Silver Wing was most annoyed about. They kept their hoods on so that they could tell her who they were on their terms, which meant waiting until she was fully aware of the consequences of failing to protect their secret.

They arrived about ten minutes before noon, and patiently waited. Noon came and a few minutes after Morning Daisy arrived, slightly out of breath.

The waiter led her to their table and she sat down. The first thing she said was, “I'm sorry that I'm late, I got caught up in work and I lost track of time.”

“It's alright,” Twilight said, “A few minutes isn't a problem.”

“I didn't want you to think that I wasn't coming,” Morning Daisy said. “I wasn't sure about it, but I figure that if I didn't come I wouldn't be able to deal with the curiosity.”

“We're glad you did,” Fluttershy added. She smiled lightly, but under her hood it went unseen.

Morning Daisy's nervous smile was more noticeable though.

Twilight cleared her throat to get their attention. “Anyway, we're glad your here. We will get to introductions soon, but there are some things that we need to get out of they way first. Besides the fact that specific others haven't stopped complaining, it is kind of necessary that we mention the importance of keeping what we are a secret.”

Morning Daisy got the message they were trying to get across. Twilight looked around before leaning in closer and saying quietly, “What we say after this point stays between us, alright?”

Morning Daisy nodded, starting to become worried about what she gotten herself into.

“First of all, nopony can know what we are, at all. Second, it would be best for you if nopony knew that you know any vampires, you might catch some unwanted attention.

“Now, what you need to know is that if anypony finds out that we're vampires, there will be trouble. Princess Celestia doesn't like vampires at all. If she know what we are, she will hunt us down and kill us, and whether or not we survive, if she finds out about us because of you other vampires will find and kill you as a traitor. We take care of our own kind, and others wont think very highly of you if anything happens to us.”

“How could the princess do that? How could you do that? I don't understand, why would anypony use such extreme methods?” Morning Daisy asked, managing to remain quiet even if barely. Her eyes went wide when the impact of what Twilight just said. Murder was unheard of in Equestria, and everypony knew Princess Celestia as a kind and forgiving figure. To hear that not only she, but also others, would use this form of violence so freely unnerved her greatly, and more than ever she feared that she was getting involved in things way over her head.

“Trust me, most of what you know about Equestria is wrong,” Twilight replied. “History is written by the victor, or at least the pony who's in power. Vampires were erased from history entirely almost four hundred years ago, even though a secret, specialized branch of the military existed to hunt us until about twenty years ago when we were believed to have become so little a threat that it wasn't worth keeping them, and that was assuming that we weren't completely wiped out.

“The point is though, Equestria isn't as peaceful as you believe it is, or at least it hasn't been for as long as you thought. We fight each other because of uncorrected past rivalries, and when we do it can get violent. She believes that we're pure evil, and that is kind of our fault for not making any efforts to change the way we acted in over five thousand years.

“What I'm trying to say, and sorry for going off like that, is that she believes us to be pure evil, and that trying in to survive we take extreme measures to protect our secrecy. You aren't in any danger, I promise, the threat of death is just a deterrent.”

Morning Daisy took a deep breath before she replied, and when she did her voice was shaking, “Alright... I can accept that... just please, promise me that I’m still safe.”

“Nopony is going to hurt you,” Twilight said in a comforting voice, “Right now we think of you as a friend. You won't be harmed by any of us, and we'll never feed from you unless you expressly volunteer.”

“What about my foals,” Morning asked, her voice still shaking, “Will they be safe too?”

“Of course they are,” Fluttershy said, “Hurting foals is the last thing we want to do.”

Twilight smiled, which like Fluttershy went unnoticed under her hood. “We love foals as much as anypony else, they wouldn't be hurt, no matter what.”

Morning Daisy calmed down a little, but she still kept her guard up. Twilight put a comforting hoof on her shoulder. With yet another unseen smile she said, “We'll understand if you want to back out, there are some dangers. As long as nopony knows that you know vampires you'll be safe. If you want to go, you're free to, but if you're ready, we can introduce ourselves for real.”

Morning looked worried for a time, but she took a deep breath and said, “I'm ready.”

There was no going back once she knew who they were, but she was ready to trust them that she would be safe from any kind of danger so long as she kept their secret.

“Before we show ourselves, just to remind you, if you betray our trust you will be killed, regardless of whether or not we're killed because of it,” Twilight said.

Morning Daisy nodded, terrified of what she might find but eager to end the suspense of not knowing. Twilight took her shallow gesture as a yes and took off her hood. Fluttershy followed her example after a short delay.

What Morning Daisy saw wasn't what she expected. It was obvious that they wouldn't show their vampiric appearance in public, but it still surprised her to see two normal ponies sitting with her.

“I... I'm actually a little surprised, you look so... normal.”

Twilight laughed lightly, and Fluttershy smiled. For Morning, it seemed so normal, like meeting friends for lunch. The suspense that plagued her only a moment ago was gone and replaced with a strange sense of familiarity.

“Well, you wouldn't be expecting us not to hide ourselves in public. Do you recognize us?” asked Twilight. Morning looked at them both for a minute, trying to imagine where she might have seen them before.

When she couldn't come up with a name to match them, or even a previous meeting she said, “I'm sorry, but I can't remember ever seeing you before.”

Twilight smiled. “That's alright, you've never have seen us before, at least not personally. My name is Twilight Sparkle, and this is Fluttershy.”

As soon as she heard their names, Morning Daisy recognized them. Startled, she said, “Oh, I've heard of you. Actually, I'm pretty sure their isn't anypony who hasn't heard of you. You're kind of celebrities.”

Fluttershy flinched a little bit, but Twilight laughed. Morning Daisy looked to Twilight and said, “I know a lot about you, you've been in the news for a while actually, ever since you were made Princess Celestia's personal protege when you were a filly.”

Twilight gave her a warm smile that Morning Daisy wasn't expecting from the pony she agreed to meet. Twilight said, “As you can see, public image tends to be a little inaccurate.”

Morning Daisy looked at her, her surprise still lingering. “I guess so. Still, I remember reading about you on occasion when you were a filly.”

Twilight's smile lost some of it's strength, but she still had the same warm welcoming look as she said, “There's a lot about my time as a filly that nopony else knows about. I didn’t just study what Celestia taught me, I also studied dark magic, and various other independent studies that she didn't know about.”

Morning Daisy's surprise quickly turned to shock. “I didn't... I mean... dark magic!”

She wasn't loud enough to be heard by anypony else, but she was still loud enough to get across how shocking the revelation was to her.

Twilight asked, “Are you alright?”

Morning Daisy looked at her with a small degree of fear that she hadn't felt since they first met. “No, I'm worried. Why would you be using dark magic?”

Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder and shook her lightly. “It's alright, I understand why you're concerned. There's nothing to worry about. It's typical for vampires to study dark and forgotten magics just like a unicorn would learn any other kind of magic. As recently as a hundred years ago ponies would study light magic, and vampires can't use light magic in any form, it's actually harmful to us. Because vampires aren’t adversely affected by dark magic like normal ponies, it used to act like a counterpart to the light magic that everypony else would learn to protect themselves.”

“Actually, I'm unique among vampires,” Twilight went on to say, “My cutie mark is in magic, and that means all magic, and I'm even the bearer of the element of magic on top of. I'm the only vampire ever to be able to use light magic in a limited fashion. I'm also immune to it's harmful effects on vampires, again to a very limited degree.”

“Still,” Morning Daisy asked, “dark magic, isn’t that still evil, as in really evil?”

Twilight adopted a more serious look as she replied, “That's really up to debate I’d say. The most common historical applications of dark magic have been for evil, not to mention that they occasionally cause insanity, and almost always will influence a pony towards making more of what would be considered 'evil' decisions.

“For example, there was a unicorn about a thousand years that started practicing shadow magic. Before that he was probably completely normal, but it wasn't to long before he went insane, usurped the throne of the nation he lived in, and then proceeded to enslave the populace.”

“And you expect me to just be okay with this, especially after that story?” Morning said. By this point she wasn't even worried anymore, just stressed. As the conversation went on, she became more overwhelmed by everything.

Twilight meanwhile was trying not to overload her with shocking information, but wasn't doing such a good job of it. It wasn't entirely her fault, she was basically talking to a complete stranger and often when she was speaking to somepony on a personal level she expected to know more about them than they did her. It was a skill that allowed her to control the conversation, and because she mastered it early in her life she was able to keep discussion away from sensitive topics, but because she had developed skills tailored towards keeping her one step ahead of anypony else, she was lacking in skills for other forms of dialogue.

“Well, like I said dark magic usually makes a pony go insane, and influences their mind,” Twilight said. “Vampires are immune to this effect, and being creatures of darkness we also have a unique affinity for it. Like I also said, we can't perform light magic.”

Morning Daisy fidgeted in her seat. “I don't like this.”

“It can take some getting used to, just try not to think of dark magic as evil, just dark, and think of us as beings of darkness,” Twilight said.

Morning wasn't entirely over her worries, but she accepted Twilight's explanation. She turned to Fluttershy and asked, “What about you, what was your foalhood like?”

With attention suddenly turned to her, Fluttershy grew uncomfortable. Almost to quite to hear she said, “Oh, well, when I was a foal I wasn't a very good flier, and I would always be teased about it. One day, I ended up on the ground, in a forest, and I discovered how good I was with animals. As soon as I was old enough I moved to the ground and started looking after them.”

Morning was much less worried after seeing Fluttershy at her most innocent. It countered the stress and fear she had received from Twilight's talk about dark magic.

“And... how did you get like... this?” she asked nervously, fearing somehow hurting them by bringing it up. She believed that they might have uncomfortable memories, but her wariness, in the end, was unnecessary.

Much to Morning Daisy's surprise, Twilight replied warmly and openly, “I was actually born like this, and I lived most of my life under powerful magic that would hide and inhibit my true nature so that I could hide in plain sight. Fluttershy... wasn't like this until a few months ago.”

In a few words she had grown somber. It obviously wasn’t Morning's intention to upset either of them, but she had inadvertently brought out a sensitive topic.

It was fairly obvious what happened as far as she could tell. Something had happened and Fluttershy and been turned into a vampire by Twilight, and Twilight greatly regretted what happened.

“It's alright, you don't have to say anything. I think I understand what happened,” she replied apologetically.

“It isn't all that bad,” Fluttershy said, “It takes a lot of getting used to, but it isn't that bad anymore.”

“What's it like?” Morning Daisy asked. It was a curiosity mostly geared towards Fluttershy, but it made Twilight twitch a little, obviously causing her some kind of annoyance.

“We probably shouldn't get into that, it might be a little unpleasant,” she said, trying to steer the conversation away from this line of discussion. “Besides, this was supposed to be a personal meeting, not a lesson on vampires.”

Fluttershy however, wasn't bothered at all, and much to Twilight’s obvious annoyance she spoke up her the first time in this entire meeting, “It's not bad, scary, but not bad. I don't want anypony else to have to go through this, but I'm okay with it.”

Twilight gave her a stern look, but as soon as Fluttershy looked back at her she couldn’t help but give her a forgiving smile.

She turned and looked at Morning again, then asked, “What about you? We told you about our foalhoods, what about yours?”

“Oh not unusual,” she replied, “I went to school, graduated, and had two foals. Then their father left us because he couldn't keep up with his work as an archeologist while living in the city, and now I work a job doing paperwork for an orphanage in town just to make enough bits to sustain us.”

Their conversation was interrupted by a waiter arriving with their food. They had all gotten something small, but as soon as the waiter was out of earshot Morning said, “I didn't think you would actually get food while you were here.”

“We don't have to eat,” Fluttershy said, “We can though, it just isn't as enjoyable.”

“I don't get it, there so much more to you that I don't know, it's a little over my head,” Morning Daisy said.

“It can be complicated sometimes,” Fluttershy said. “Learning everything is the hardest part of being a vampire, but it gets easier. Eventually everything just comes together.”

“Listen, I know you're curious, but it takes a long time and a unique perspective before it all makes sense,” Twilight said. “I understand what you feel like right now, I went through the some thing when I was nine. It was overwhelming, especially since that was the first time I had even heard of vampires, and it was from somepony I trusted telling me that I was one.”

Morning looked at Twilight tiredly. “I know that, I'm just saying that it's not easy to understand you as ponies when I don't know more about vampires.”

“It's not actually that hard, just think of us as normal ponies, with normal personalities, just like you would for anypony else,” Twilight said.

Morning Daisy took a deep breath, but didn't say anything else. After a moment Twilight picked up the conversation by asking, “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I'm fine, just a bit overwhelmed.” Morning Daisy replied.

Well,” Twilight said, “ in that case maybe we should just focus on nicer things.”

Morning still needed a moment to calm herself. Once she had a chance to process everything as best she could and got herself to look at Twilight and Fluttershy in a different light she said, “Alright, I'll need a lot of time to think about this later, but I guess I'm ready.”

Twilight gave her an encouraging look and nodded, telling her to go on, “So, why are you in Manehatten? You said you were here to see the Wonderbolts show later today, but you didn't go into much detail.”

Twilight smiled at the simple question. “We were invited by a friend of ours. Actually all the elements of harmony were invited, but only half of us could go. Fluttershy and I thought it would be a good idea to see you while we were here, like we agreed we would last time we met.”

“I wish I could go to the show, my foals love the Wonderbolts, but we can barely afford everything we need, we just don't have any bits for things like this.”

Twilight felt sorry for her at first, but then she got an idea. “You know, if you're interested I could probably get you extra tickets.”

“No, please, you don't need to do that for us.”

“I insist,” Twilight said, paying no heed to Morning Daisy's objections, “The pony who invited us is really nice, and I'm sure she would be willing to give the unused tickets to friends of ours.”

Morning Daisy continued to insist that Twilight didn't need to do that, but Twilight wouldn't take no for an answer. She was set on showing their new friend this kindness. Fluttershy meanwhile gave Morning Daisy looks of encouragement, pushing her to accept Twilight's offer. Morning didn't want to burden them with the effort, but after much pushing she finally said yes, although she also told Twilight that she didn't want her to do that much for her.

They finished their meal and parted ways after another promise that Twilight would get the tickets for her, which she still objected to until Fluttershy asked her not to argue and let them do this one kind thing for her.

For the size and wonder, Manehatten wasn't actually as interesting as it was always made out to be. Sure the city had it's sights, and for ponies like Rarity it had unique attractions, but for two vampires spending an awkwardly romantic day in the city, it gets boring quite quickly. Of course it didn't help that the entire relationship was awkward.

The Wonderbolts show wasn't scheduled until sunset, courtesy of Celestia's efforts to make her sister more comfortable, and as a way to convince her to go to the show at all. Because Twilight and Fluttershy arrived earlier in the day and their meeting with Morning Daisy only took about a half an hour, they had the whole rest of the day to spend, and nothing to do.

If the show was in Canterlot, Twilight would have plenty of out of the way sights to show Fluttershy, including everything from pleasant little restaurants to parks that rival the natural beauty of Ponyville's own, and that wasn't even getting into the less than legal places and ponies Twilight had been affiliated with at some time in the past, although more than anything that might make things even more uncomfortable for Fluttershy.

But instead they were in Manehatten. Aside from the time she brought Fluttershy here to teach her to feed, she had only ever been here once, brought by Celestia to see the Summer Sun Celebration when Manehatten was hosting it.

With no idea of what to do for the next eight hours until sundown, Twilight and Fluttershy visited the waterfront, several popular tourist attractions, and even tried some of the forests outside of the city, but none of them kept them occupied for long.

The hours pasted slowly, but they passed nonetheless, and after what seemed like an eternity of boredom and exploration, Twilight and Fluttershy made their way to the stadium the show was being performed at. They had tickets for a special box high above the rest of the audience, reserved for the high class spectators and on occasion royalty.

Rainbow was standing outside the stadium when they arrived. Somewhat to Twilight's surprise she had managed to stay out of trouble for the whole day, though she looked like she had taken the time even more badly than they did. Twilight had always been a very patient pony, having learned a lot from Celestia, and mentally preparing herself for her exceptionally long life that she had ahead of her. She had taken things a bit more quickly once she moved to Ponyville, when the amount of time she had with her new found friends became limited by the lifespan of mortal ponies, but even still she had the patience to endure much more than a few hours.

Fluttershy and Rainbow weren't as good with time though. Rainbow Dash was perhaps one of the most restless ponies in Equestria, and Fluttershy did have limits. Twilight had been trying to passively condition her by bringing up the idea of immortality and discussing how she'll deal with living centuries, even millennia past her previous expectations, but it was a slow process, and for the time being she was still as bad with waiting as anypony else.

They met up with Rainbow who was waiting at the entrance for Luna to arrive, and they joined her in waiting.

Sundown came, and they still waited. It was nearly ten minutes afterward that Luna arrived.

“Princess!” Twilight called out as Luna stepped out of her chariot and the guards pulling freed themselves. Twilight stopped just short of the princess, and gave her a welcoming, friendly smile.

“Twilight Sparkle, it is good to see you once again!” Luna said, loudly but without using the Royal Canterlot Voice, a distinct improvement over the last time.

“It's good to see you too Princess,” Twilight said. “I hope you don't mind, but I have a favor I'd like to ask, if it isn't to much trouble.”

“Of course,” Luna replied, “You are welcome to ask for a favor anytime.”

“Well, Fluttershy and I have a friend who lives in Manehatten. We were hoping you would be willing to let her and her two foals have the tickets that our friends in Ponyville didn't use. They would really like to see the show, but they don't have the bits to spare.”

Luna smiled, “Of course, I brought the extra tickets along in case any of them changed their minds. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine as well, and they are welcome to join us.”

The three unused tickets floated out of the chariot and Twilight took them.

“Thank you princess!” Twilight said. She rush up and gave Princess Luna a hug, much to her guards discomfort as they didn't know whether to stop her or allow it.

Fortunately for them, Luna smiled, “It is no trouble, I assure you. Go now, and hurry back, before the show begins.”

Twilight wasted no time, and teleported away immediately. Silver Wing sent the information she had found on Morning Daisy along with her message saying that this was a bad idea after mailing the letter Twilight wrote, which fortunately included where she lived.

Twilight made her way through the streets, dashing through empty alleys wherever she could. She made it a a small apartment building a few blocks away from the stadium in just a few minutes.

Morning Daisy's apartment was on the third floor, so Twilight started taking the stairs, but after the first few steps she simply teleported up. She made her way down the hall until she came across the door that led to Morning Daisy's place of residence.

She knocked on the door, and waited a few seconds. Morning Daisy opened the door and said, “Twilight, this is a surprise.”

Twilight smiled and held up the three tickets. Morning Daisy gasped. “Twilight, I said you didn't have to do this.”

“That's what friends do, right?” Twilight said, earning her a hug from her friend. Morning Daisy smiled at her.

“Keep in mind that the warnings we gave you earlier still apply,” Twilight went on to say. “You'll be the only pony there besides Fluttershy and I that knows the truth, and there will be ponies there that will act swiftly and with finality if they were to discover what we really are. I want to be a friend, and so I don't want to scare you, but remember the consequences of failing to keep this a secret. The threats we made are meant to be a deterrent, but if anything happens to us because of you, or if anypony finds out, none of us will hesitate act on them. Like I said earlier, we look after our own.”

“Thank you!” she said, then without losing her smile, she called out, “Dawn, Violet, were going to the Wonderbolts show, get ready and come out!”

The sounds of cheering came out from inside the apartment. It took a few minutes, but two fillies came running out as quickly as they could, each dressed lightly for the cool autumn evening.

Twilight could tell which filly was which just by seeing them. The filly called Dawn had a brilliant, vibrant orange coat that stood alongside her poorly groomed yellow mane. In contrast, the filly called Violet by her mother had a dark purple coat a few shades darker than Twilight's own that strongly contrasted her light, sky blue mane that had a single stripe of white going through it, not unlike Twilight's own.

“Girls, this is Twilight Sparkle, she's going to take us to the Wonderbolts show,” said Morning Daisy. She didn't have time to say much more before they practically began dragging her toward the stairs.

Twilight just laughed. “We really should get going, we don't want to miss the beginning.”

The stadium wasn't too far from where they lived, but the two fillies were practically dragging their mother along all the way. Twilight had no trouble keeping up with the two energetic fillies, but by the time they made it to their destination Morning Daisy was practically exhausted.

Twilight led them through the main entrance and up past exits that led to the stands. Though her foals were impatiently pulling her along behind her, Morning Daisy looked around with confusion as they passed the last door leading outside to the rest of the audiance.

Trusting Twilight's sense of direction she just followed behind her, fortunately leading them at a more acceptable pace than before. She led them through an obviously underused passage.

They came out to a staircase, and at the top of the staircase two of Luna's guards waited for them, diligently guarding the door against threats that would never come.

Where the two fillies previously pulled their mother along behind them, they now stood behind her. None of them had ever seen Luna's personal guards before, and all three of them looked on nervously as Twilight showed them the four tickets. After a moment the guard gave them back the tickets and nodded, letting them pass.

Twilight led them up around a bend and up another set of stairs. They came out to an open, well maintained space that sharply contrasted the dusty, poorly lit way they had came. Princess Luna, Rainbow Dash and a very scared looking Fluttershy turned as they approached. Twilight assumed that Fluttershy's expression was just from being left alone with Rainbow and a princess, but resolved to ask about it later just in case.

After having gotten over the shock from the guards earlier already, when the two foals saw Princess Luna sitting standing at the end of the aisle there wasn't any way to contain their excitement. Before her mother could stop them they rushed up to her excitedly.

Morning Daisy couldn't make any move but look on in panic. Fortunately, Luna didn't mind and greeted the playful fillies with a smile and laugh.

Morning let out a tense breath when she saw Luna's warm smile. She went up slowly and carefully.

“I am so sorry Princess,” she said, “I hadn't realized...”

“There is no need,” Princess Luna said, “I love foals, though I do not get many chances to interact with them anymore.”

Morning Daisy finally let her guard down as she saw that Luna was pleased, and gave Twilight an annoyed look, obviously for not telling her that they would be watching the show with Princess Luna herself.

Twilight gave her a sheepish look, and walked down and sat next to Fluttershy. Morning Daisy, still watching with a vague degree of fear took a seat behind Twilight.

Rainbow Dash looked impatiently over her shoulder at Princess Luna and said, “Come on, the show's about to start.”

Princess Luna, Dawn, and Violet quickly made their way to the front row. For the duration of the show Rainbow Dash looked on and cheered along with the two fillies. Despite her earlier opinions of the Wonderbolts that she had when she wrote the invitation, Luna's enthusiasm grew as she evening went on.

Twilight and Fluttershy sat a few rows back, watching the show with a little less enthusiasm, and behind them Morning Daisy watched, still nervous about being so close to Princess Luna.

The show went on for an hour, and after a spectacular ending Luna said her farewells and exited in a somewhat rushed manner. The reaming five ponies talked for a little longer before leaving themselves.

“You never told me we would be watching with Princess Luna!” Morning Daisy said, expressing her anger as well as her relief. Dawn giggled at her mother's frustration, and Violet did the same after a moment.

“I didn't think to bring it up, sorry if you were stressed.”

“Stressed,” Morning Daisy said sarcastically, “not at all, where would you get such an idea?”

Twilight laughed lightly. “Listen, I'm sorry for not mentioning it, it's just that you don't really tell ponies that you're friends with a princess. I didn't want to bring it up, so I avoided mentioning her name.”

“Well, everything turned out alright I guess,” Morning Daisy practically whispered, “Just promise me that being friends with you won't become a problem later.”

“Don't worry, everything will be fine,” Twilight said confidently. “Anyway, I was hoping we could keep in touch by mail, seeing as we won't be out here that often, just remember not to put anything in a letter that you wouldn't say to us in a public place.”

“I... I think that would be great,” Morning Daisy replied.

“That's excellent, I'll send you letter with contact information soon, and I hope to hear from you soon,” Twilight said breaking off to go her own separate way.

“And did you see...” Rainbow said, once again trying to bring attentions to something she found amazing during the show.

This time though Twilight interrupted her. “We get it Rainbow, everything was awesome. Now, could you please go to your own room and go to sleep.”

Princess Luna had generously arranged them to stay at a hotel close to the train station, for their ease in the morning, and because it was one of the highest quality hotels in the city. Three rooms were rented, each with two beds. Since there were only three ponies there however one of the rooms went unused when Fluttershy decided to join Twilight for the night.

“Fine, no need to get all angry about it,” Rainbow said, doing a flip off of the foot of Twilight's bed, narrowly avoiding the ceiling before settling upright in midair. “See you in the morning, I guess.”

With that she departed their company. Once she was gone Twilight turned out the dim light illuminating the room now that nopony present needed it. She rolled over to look at Fluttershy, and lying in bed she asked, “So, how do you think today went.”

“It went alright, I think,” she replied, “Morning Daisy trusts us, and Rainbow didn't ask questions, it could have gone a lot worse.”

“And Luna doesn't suspect anything. To be honest things could have gone a lot worse, but we got through it like always,” Twilight said, giving her a sleepy smile.

Fluttershy wasn't very tired though. As vampires they didn't actually need to sleep, although sleep did let them go longer without feeding, and helped pass the time and blend in as normal ponies. It was something that Celestia always found baffling when Twilight would go on study binges for days at a time without even growing tired, and something that concerned her parents to no end for as long as she lived with them, and even after she moved out to live in the castle they still requested she get a decent amount of sleep as often as they could.

“Twilight, can I ask you something?”

“You can ask me anything Fluttershy, you can always ask me anything.” Twilight responded.

“Where does Luna stand, you know, on us?” she asked.

Fluttershy managed to catch Twilight's attention with that question, and Twilight shook herself awake and sat up. “Well, that's a bit complicated.

“Luna is the princess of the night, so she does sympathies with us better than her sister. She understands that vampires are creatures of pure darkness, and because she's worked with other creatures of the night before she can make the distinction between darkness and evil.

“She tends to agree with her sister most of the time though. Just because we aren't evil by nature doesn't mean we won't become evil at the earliest opportunity. Unlike her sister Luna can understand the difference between killer and predator, and between darkness and evil, but she's learned from millennia of experience that without some kind of moral guidance a vampire would abandon mercy and compassion.

“So, what I'm trying to say is that she's more sympathetic and merciful to vampires if she sees good in them, or at least doesn't see any evil. She's let ponies go where Celestia would kill them on the spot, but she wouldn't hesitate if she could see that they were a danger.”

“I... wow,” Fluttershy said, letting what Twilight sink in, “I never knew.”

“There's no doubt that she's the better of the two princesses to find out about us,” Twilight said, “if one of them were to find out.”

“What about Cadence?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight smiled tiredly again as she laid down once again. “Cadence is the princess of love, and she probably knows me better than anypony else, except maybe a few ponies. She would listen to me, and she would be more compassionate, but she would probably be uncomfortable with it.”

“I didn't know that this was so complicated.” Fluttershy said, sleep gradually overtaking her.

Twilight gave her one more smile. “I know, but being a vampire is a dangerous business. You have to know your friends... and your enemies.”

Author's Note

When I started this chapter, I was only expecting it to reach 6000 to 6500 words, and instead it turned out to be almost double my previous record for length, which is part of why it took so much longer than I would have preferred.

Chapter 29, Confessions

Over the past few months, I know that our relationship has been strained, and that mutual distrust has been driving us apart. We’ve been evasive and overly secretive, and we responded to your curiosity and your concerns with hostility. I’m sorry that this has gone on as long as it has, and that it’s gotten this bad. As much as we value our secrecy, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and I have agreed that your friendship is more important..

I want to invite you to a slumber party on Thursday night. I’m hoping that we can work things out by being open and honest with each other. I’m not saying that the truth won’t change our friendship, but I’m confident that we can all come to an understanding.

I look forward to seeing you, and I can’t wait to put all of this behind us.

Sincerely,

Twilight Sparkle

Nervous simply could not describe how Twilight was feeling. Even though she had sent out the three identical invitations over a week ago and spent as much time as she could preparing for this moment with Fluttershy and Rainbow, she still felt as though she wasn’t ready. Part of her felt that she would never be ready.

Nevertheless, something had to be done. By doing this they were letting their friends learn the truth under controlled conditions. It was better than letting them find out by chance and having another incident like what happened with Rainbow and Fluttershy. Besides, being honest might make the others more inclined to trust them than if they just found out on their own.

Even with Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow having spent the whole week preparing for this night, they still had no idea how it would go. They discussed ways to deal with anything that might happen after they revealed themselves, and while they liked to believe that they were ready to handle anything that came up, somehow they knew that they were going in blind.

And worst of all, they knew that no matter how much planning and preparation they went through, there was nothing they could do to get ready for the things that would come afterward. There was no doubt that this would permanently affect their relationship, and things would never be the same for years to come.

Pinkie arrived first, nearly a half hour early. The fact that she seemed more excited about the slumber party than learning their secret was surprisingly comforting to Twilight.

Applejack arrived next, barely on time. She could barely believe that they were just going to tell them everything. In fact, part of her still didn't believe it. Nevertheless, she joined Pinkie in waiting for Rarity to arrive.

Rarity arrived last, nearly ten minutes late, apologizing profusely for the delay. Apparently she had been held up by a client that was a little late for being fitted for a dress.

They engaged in an small, awkward conversation that failed to dispel the suspense of the moment, before finally Twilight asked if they could step out for a moment to get ready. The others were not oblivious to their fear, but allowed them to go into the kitchen for a moment regardless.

“So, we're really doing this?” Rainbow asked. Her voice was filled with apprehension. Nopony else would admit it, but she wasn't the only one having second thoughts.

“I don't think we have very much of a choice,” Fluttershy added before Twilight could say anything similar.

When Rainbow looked back at Twilight for answers she just nodded. “I know how you're feeling right now, trust me you're not the only one, but if we don't do this now then it will just keep getting worse.”

“Twilight's right, if we don't do this now they wont stop until what happened to us happens to one of them. You know that, you used to just like them. That's how you ended up here.”

“So we're just going to tell them everything?” Rainbow asked. She took a quick glance through the doorway to where their friends sat waiting, talking amongst each other and sharing their speculations about what would happen that night.

“It's like Fluttershy said,” Twilight told her. “It's too late to back out now. We can just hope for the best.” She too glanced out at their friends. To her, they seemed so peaceful she would almost consider them naive.

She looked fearful, more so than Fluttershy and Twilight, but finally it was Rainbow who broke the awkward delay. “Well, then lets get this over with.”

They had already prepared for this part. They spent hours, awake for nights at a time, trying to plan for everything that could go wrong. This opening moment was the most important. They had to be sure that by the end their friends would feel comfortable around them, or at the very least have enough reason not to fear for their safety.

They made their way back out to the others, without disguises or any intent to deceive them any longer. As insane as it might seem, they all decided that the best course of action was to forgo subtly and simply reveal themselves, and trust that they would be able to convince their friends to trust them afterward.

All things considered, things went pretty much how they expected. Once the initial shock wore off, Rarity moved to stand between them as if ready to protect them if necessary. While it was too much to assume they would be expecting a trap outright, they considered it to be a distinct possibility.

“Well... um, you wanted us to tell you our secret, this is it I guess.” Internally Twilight was kicking herself for that opening.

“What... what are you,” Rarity asked, still unable to believe her eyes let alone pay any attention to Twilight's failed attempt at starting a conversation. Behind her, Pinkie and Applejack held each other close.

Fluttershy stepped forward. “It’s okay, there's no need to be afraid of us. We won't hurt you, I promise. You just need to trust us.”

Twilight took the opportunity to approach Rarity, albeit slowly, and put a hoof on her shoulder. “Rarity, have we ever done anything to hurt you? We're your friends, and we really just want to talk. We'll answer you're questions, I promise. Just calm down and we'll explain everything.”

Slowly and cautiously, Rarity let her guard down and sat down. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow sat directly across from them.

Fluttershy tried to look as benign as possible, leaning her head on Twilight's shoulder with her eyes closed and just relaxing there. Meanwhile, Rainbow couldn't help but feel restless and awkward, looking around nervously in an attempt to avoid making eye contact.

“Well, where to start?” Twilight said, trying to keep things going.

“How about you start by explaining exactly what you are?” Rarity asked.

“Right... Well, to start, have you ever heard the legends of vampires? It may sound like a stupid question, but apparently some ponies have never heard them,” Twilight asked to start. She didn’t look, but she was pretty sure Rainbow was glaring at her.

Despite the nature of the question, their friends didn't seem to be any more afraid than they were a moment ago. From their expressions, they seemed to be more curious, if a bit skeptical. Rarity took the initiative and though overwhelmed by a state of disbelief, managed to say, “Vampires... but I thought... I heard stories, but I always thought they were just myths.”

Fluttershy smiled, and being clever she hid her fangs in order to look less frightening. “Well, they aren’t exactly myths, but the legends are very inaccurate. Vampires are magical creatures that are often misunderstood, usually for their long history of violence. They need blood to survive and are harmed by direct sunlight, but otherwise the legends are either wrong or just really outdated.”

“The reason we never told you was because we really just want to be left alone,” Twilight explained. “Like Fluttershy said, vampires have a history of violence that originated form the fact that the ponies of that age usually couldn't protect themselves. Once Celestia took the throne ponies began to fight back and eventually we fell out of power. Now that there aren’t that many of us left we would rather not bring attention to ourselves. We never told you because while having ponies who know what you are that you can turn to is important, we weren't sure how you would react and we didn't want it to hurt our friendship.”

“Wait a minute,” replied Applejack, “Your saying that you're some kind of magical creatures, and the reason you never told us is because you were afraid that we would stop being your friends?”

“That's awesome!” Pinkie suddenly shouted, cutting Twilight off just before she could respond. Her sudden outburst was unexpected, but welcome. After a short pause that followed Twilight started to laugh, and soon after all the others joined in. It might not have been the appropriate time, but they needed to relieve the tension.

But all good things come to an end. Their laughter died down and the serious attitude they had before returned swiftly. Rarity was the first to speak again. “So I guess this is it, but there's a lot I don't understand. What does this mean for our friendship?”

“As far as I'm concerned, things are going to change,” Twilight replied, “These days, vampires value their privacy and secrecy more than anything else. If you're willing to be our friends, then we're going to expect a lot from you. This has to stay a secret no matter what happens, and you have to be patient and accepting, even if you don't approve of some of the things that we do.”

“I’m not sure I like the sound of that,” Rarity said. “I don’t mean to seem disapproving, but I’d like to know what we’re getting ourselves into before I commit to something like that.”

Meanwhile, as the conversation went on, Rainbow grew more and more agitated. Finally, she broke her silence and said, “You were the ones that wanted to get involved in the first place! Now that you finally got what you wanted, you don’t even want to get involved?”

“I never said that I didn’t want to get involved, I’m just concerned about what I’m getting into. Besides, didn’t you want the same thing as we did just a few months ago?”

Rainbow gave Rarity a haunting glare. Sensing the tension, Fluttershy said, “Nopony needs to get angry. Rainbow did want to find out the truth, and once she did she told you that there was nothing to worry about. We all warned you that you shouldn’t get involved and tried to persuade you not to. You may not like everything that we represent, because sometimes it’s not very nice, but it’s just who we are.”

Twilight started to stroke Fluttershy’s mane as she picked up where Fluttershy left off. “Vampires are only now beginning to recover a steady decline in power that almost wiped us out over twenty years ago. I could take centuries before we get back to where we were then. We do have a long history of violence and unopposed power, but we may never return to where we were thousands of years ago and we certainly could never do it in your lifetimes. For now, we just want to be your friends. If you don’t want to get involved, then all you have to do is accept our friendship and we won’t drag you into anything that you don’t want to be a part of.”

Fluttershy smiled, a friendly and disarming smile that was hard to ignore. The others weren’t really afraid of them anymore. On the contrary, they actually felt that they were truly in no danger for the first time in months. Out of their depth maybe, but they felt secure.

“Just one question, how did you get this way in the first place?” Applejack asked.

Twilight didn’t smile this time. She glanced at Fluttershy, so peaceful that she could be sleeping there. “I was born this way. After my parents were killed I was put in the care of a pony family. I turned Fluttershy after she somehow made the connection between vampires and blood magic and I panicked, then I turned Rainbow after she found a letter on my desk and tried to run away in terror.”

Rainbow glared at Twilight for the part about running away in terror, and Rarity was suddenly overcome with guilt upon realizing that by telling Fluttershy the association between the legends of vampires and blood magic, she was partly responsible for what happened to her, and indirectly to Rainbow as well.

“Come on girls!” said Pinkie Pie spontaneously and joyously. “They’re not scary monsters and they’re not trying to take over Equestria yet, so why not have fun. It’s supposed to be a slumber party!” She put extra emphasis on the last word, trying to stress her point that they were supposed to be having fun.

“What do you mean not trying to take over Equestria yet?” Applejack gave Pinkie a weird look, as if she had somehow caught onto some unspoken bit of information she shouldn’t possibly be able to know once again.

“She’s just being Pinkie again –” Rainbow eagerly jumped up from where she was sitting “– And besides, we’re supposed to be having fun. Let’s just forget the whole vampire thing for a while and enjoy the night.”

Fluttershy stood up and stretched. “Oh, in case you didn’t already figure it out, vampires are nocturnal. If it’s alright with you, we’ll probably be spending most of our days asleep, or at least indoors.”

“While we’re mentioning relevant details, I should probably mention that Lunar Pearl is a vampire too,” Twilight added, “I finally managed to get her to go out for the night and explore the Everfree a bit. She’ll be back by morning, so if you see her just give her some space. She doesn’t like being around ponies very much.”

Finally, Twilight got up to stand with the others. She wasn’t on her hooves for more than a second before being struck by a flying pillow, originating from a large pile that Pinkie had somehow managed to procure in the few seconds that nopony was looking.

Her momentary bewilderment was broken by a second high-velocity pillow that she just narrowly managed to duck under. “Oh, it is on!”

The rest of the night was filled with laughter and joy, all their troubles and worries forgotten for just a few hours.

Epilogue

One month later...

Covered by a dark grey cloak, Twilight shifted through the shadows of the city, keeping a sharp watch for any guards that might be looking for suspicious ponies prowling the streets at night.

Twisting through the alleyways, she saw the occasional city guard peering nervously around corners or glancing behind them to make sure they weren’t being followed. Ponies were now being advised to stay indoors at night for their own safety, adding to the ominous feeling of silent, empty streets.

She stepped out of an alley and turned down an empty street, stopping in front of an all too familiar wanted poster. With a slightly mischievous smile, she lit her horn and the poster was engulfed by a black flame. With the poster gone, she moved on, even as her mind wandered to its unspoken meaning.

War was coming, and there was nothing anypony could do to stop it.

Author's Note

It's long overdue, but this marks the end of Darkness Rising. I posted the final thoughts and authors notes for the story separately, they can be found here. :pinkiehappy:

PS:Yes, there are plans for a sequel at some point in the future, see the afore mentioned blog post for more info.