//------------------------------// // 4 Through the Balcony Window // Story: Dracula (Not exactly) // by Cyndaquil //------------------------------// A Letter to Macintosh Appleton the Large Thursday, May 15th, Cousin Macintosh Appleton, I have had an interesting encounter as of late, and I may have you to thank or blame. Yesterday I was at the opera with my arranged bride and her parents. We were having a perfectly lovely evening until the second intermission. The lady usher, a pony named Lyra who had seemed sweet and friendly before hand, entered our box with an almost zombified expression. She told us that Midnight Sparkle wished to introduce herself to Miss Rarity. We were all quite perplexed of course. What could she possibly want with my fiancee, a simple debutante? When she stepped upon the balcony, she made her introductions, and they were polite enough, yet she only seemed interested in speaking to Miss Rarity. The poor dear girl must have been traumatized, though she didn’t show it. Sparkle tried to talk to her more then once, and was clearly annoyed when myself and my in-laws insisted on speaking on her behalf. Actually Rarity did not seem to appreciate us speaking for her either, though if she was not afraid then the young girl does not understand the situation, and so she needs our protection all the more. We did manage to find out something quite alarming from Sparkle herself. Apparently, she’s searching for ponies to use in an arcane ritual of some sort, and you — you dear cousin led her to Miss Rarity. If this is true, then we shall have some serious words when next we meet. For now I must concern myself with my fiancee’s protection. Cordially Yours, Braeburn Appleton A Letter to Macintosh Appleton the Large Monday, May 19th Cousin Macintosh Appleton, Why did you ever allow that creature to enter our lives? Lately my darling Rarity has not been herself. She has grown deathly pale, her smokey coat has become egg white. She also seems low on energy, and has taken to wearing a scarf around her neck. We asked her to remove the scarf at the dinner table and she refused. I probably would have dismissed this as a mere fever or cold if not for the servants. One of the chamber maids passed by her room at a late hour and swears she heard two voices coming from inside. In addition, a stable boy saw something flying near Rarities balcony. Meanwhile, Midnight Sparkle has apparently bought the Karfax estate not far from our home. You should know this, being her real-estate agent. The family physician had nothing useful to offer, save for a referral to another doctor. This doctor specializes in matters of the metaphysical. He is a professor in the nearby university. His name is Dr. Abraham Van Neighsayer. Cordially Yours, Braeburn Appleton A Letter To Macintosh Appleton the Large Tuesday, May 20th, Cousin Macintosh I know that it takes approximately three weeks for letters to travel between your home town and mine. I hope some explanation is forthcoming as to why you led that creature into our lives. Today I went to meet with Dr Van Neighsayer. When I arrived at the University, he had just started one of his class lectures. So I sat with Neighsayer’s secretary, Miss Dot, for almost two hours. It turns out that Miss Dot knows Rarity from secretarial school. You may recall that Rarity attended the year long program. The willful girl wanted more education, but her parents didn’t even see the need for the indulgences she did receive. Dot is a dainty blue-grey mare with black hair tied in a pony-tale. She wears square reading glasses. Why am I bothering to tell you this? Anyhow, I never did get to see Dr Neighsayer, he was called off on other business; although Dot seemed quite concerned, and promised she would bring Rarity’s case to his attention. Cordially Yours, Braeburn Appleton Excerpt from the journal of Dr Abraham Van Neighsayer Tuesday, May 20th, My foolish secretary did something useful for once. I had heard reports that the dark one is here in Appleloosa, and now I know that she has her sights set on one Rarity Belle. I was actually ready to praise Dot’s work when I noticed that her roots are showing again. Such an ostentatious look and undignified appearance is unbecoming of my personal secretary. I tell the idiot to dye it regularly. A Letter To Macintosh Appleton the Large Wednesday, May 21st, Cousin Macintosh She was in our home today. Midnight Sparkle was in our home. With her was another odd mare named Starlight Glimmer. Glimmer speaks in monotone and carries a bone saw. Midnight Sparkle learned that Dr Van Neighsayer had come to do a house call for our dear ailing Rarity. She dared to fake concern and offered the services of what she called her private physician. Glimmer made some rather astounding claims. According to her, she was teleported to Appleloosa by some arcane ritual. She complained that some creature named Spike was left alone in a coal mine. While Sparkle argued with Rarity’s mother about whether Glimmer would be allowed to see the patient, Glimmer took a distinct interest in Dot the secretary. Dot is a Pegasus, I don’t know if I’ve mentioned that. Without even asking, Glimmer unfurled her wing and started feeling along the bones. “There is a deformity on your right Metacarpus,” she said. Dot was nervous, though she tried not to let it show. Acting cordial, she explained that she injured the wing in a sporting accident. Glimmer correctly predicted from the look of the scars that it was three years ago. “Can you fly at all?” Glimmer asked. The answer was no. What Glimmer said next was the height of rudeness. She hissed the word “Pathetic.” Hearing this, even Midnight seemed appalled and quickly scolded her. However, Glimmer held her ground and claimed that she was referring to the workmanship. “Workmanship?” I asked a little perplexed. She claimed that if the wing was set properly then Miss Dot would have been flying again in six weeks. Midnight asked if the wing could still be fixed now. At that point Glimmer went on a tirade. She claimed that she attached pigeon wings to a rat at four years old, and it flew. To her it was insulting for any to think she couldn’t fix one malformed bone. She reached for her bone saw declaring she would fix it then and there. Of course at that point we put aside our fear and forcefully demanded these lunatics leave our home. What have you gotten us into Cousin Cordially Yours, Braeburn Appletone Excerpt from the journal of Dr Abraham Van Neighsayer Friday, May 23rd, I just had a deeply concerning conversation with my secretary. Her mind had been even less on task then usual, and I had to scold her repeatedly. I thought she was frightened by her encounter with that horrible creature, yet the true reason for her distracted behaviour is even worse. Today she asked me if I thought that Glimmer mare could actually fix her wing. I told her it was likely so. She actually smiled. At this point I reminded her just what those creatures are, and what they mean to Equestria. I told her that she should throw away her pictures and trophies from before the accident that disabled her wing. They were clearly too much of a temptation for her. I don’t know if she listened to me. Do I really ask so much of her? I suppose loyalty is hard to come by these days. A Letter To Dr Van Neighsayer Saturday, May 24th, Sir, we may have another problem. As you recommended, we have all been taking turns keeping watch over Rarity at night; despite her protests. Last night your secretary Dot came, and offered to keep watch. Surprisingly Rarity did not resist. I had hoped we were finally getting through to her. None-the-less, my mind was troubled, so around two in the a.m. I looked into Rarity’s room. To my shock they were both gone. The balcony window was ajar and the metal bars we recently installed had been bent. The next morning they had returned. They acted as though nothing had happened. How much of an idiot do those mares take me for? Your secretary even had bandages upon her wing that were not there before. Sir, we need your help. Concernedly Yours, Braeburn Appleton A Letter To Dr Van Neighsayer Monday, May 26th, Doctor Van Neighsayer, we have reviewed the case and we concur with your findings. Rarity Belle is somehow integral to whatever Midnight Sparkle is plotting. You have our organizations permission to end her life. There will be no legal consequences for carrying out this task. Please perform the necessary duties post haste. Though you have our full support, we prefer the matter be handled with anonymity if possible. Dear Mother and Father I know you have been worried about me for the past while, and I hope I can put some of your fears to rest. Unfortunately I doubt this letter will fully succeed in doing so. The truth is I have been associating with Midnight Sparkle. After that night at the opera, Midnight feared she may have come on too strongly. To amend this and win my favour, that very night she came to my balcony with gifts. Funny story actually, you know how you’ve been worried about how pale my coat is, well because of all the coal that is burned in our awful city every ponies coat is a little greyer then it ought to be. One of Midnights gifts was a shampoo that washed all the coal out. It turns out this beautiful pure white is my natural colour. Midnight told me stories of another Rarity from another world. This Rarity was creative and generous. She owned multiple businesses and designed beautiful dresses. At first this made me feel small, but Midnight said she told me this because she wants me to know I have more potential then others have led me to believe. The real reason I’ve been so tired is because I’ve been staying up late at night to practice dress making. Midnight has even been tutoring me. Our tastes are very different though. As for the scarf, hiding my neck, well… she bit me. It’s a small cultural misunderstanding that we’ve mostly worked past. She was just marking me so that any of the lunar realm would know that I must be protected from harm by orders of a Countess. It’s a weird custom I know. Anyhow, by the time you get this letter I will be gone. I am running off with Midnight. I know you think I couldn’t survive as anything other then a kept mare, and I intend to prove you wrong. I am not getting my own shop like the other Rarity, though Midnight would probably just buy me one if I asked. Instead I will earn my own way as an apprentice dress designer. The only charity I will accept is a small loan from Midnight in order to live in another town, closer to her. I want you to know I am not doing this to defy you, I am doing it to be happy. I love you all, I even love Braeburn, though not as a wife. Farewell, Your Daughter Rarity P.S. My friend Dot is coming with me. Midnights private physician has fixed her wing, and my special shampoo has washed out that ridiculous black dye from her hair and grey from her coat. She will be returning to her original name, and is simply done with Dr Neighsayers unreasonable demands. Excerpt from Appleloosa Daily, Appleloosa’s Premiere Newspaper Friday, May 23rd, Testimonies of the incident vary greatly. On the evening of Thursday May 22nd, Rarity was taken from her home in the Belle estate. According to Dr Neighsayer, the mare was sick and delusional. He claimed that the family could no longer provide proper care for her, so she was being taken to a mental health facility. The family was so opposed to this, that one Braeburn Appleton, her fiancee, actually gave chase to the doctors wagon. By Dr Neighsayer’s account, Rarity tried to escape on the narrow canyon roads and plunged to her death. Braeburn claims he saw Dr Neighsayer push the mare to her death. Both are wrong however, because local fisherman have photographic evidence showing that Rarity was saved. Her saviour appeared to be a Pegasus with a polychromatic rainbow coloured mane. The photos have allowed this mysterious Pegasus to be identified as Rainbow Dash. Dash was an aspiring athlete who many believed would be the first mare in the Wonderbolts, until she suffered a career ending injury. State registry records have revealed that Dash legally changed her name to Dot, and had been living a more low key existence ever since the injury. Doctors say that if this is Rainbow Dash, her flying once again is nothing short of a medical miracle. We have no information on their whereabouts at this time. However the family of Miss Belle has asked that both mares be given their privacy and be allowed to stay together.