The Sorrow and the Temptation

by Hustlin Tom

Chapter 5

The Antrozi had come to accept the protection of Princess Luna, and several weeks had passed since their initial arrival to Everfree Castle. The staff of the castle had their doubts of the new guests. Whispers, gossip, half-truths, and whole lies flew within and without the castle walls, but never near the earshot of the Princesses or the bat ponies themselves. The soldiers that were garrisoned in the castle, under the watchful Captain of the Guard, Storm-Eye, were trained to hold no doubts or reservations about their new charges; if the Princesses welcomed their presence, they should not question the wisdom and judgment of their insight. Even so, guards would involuntarily shift their body into a prepared stance in the company of any of the Antrozi, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice if one of them were to attack. Even on Orpheus this fact was not lost, and though he noticed such things occurring, he never knew why the guardsponies acted the way they did.

On one night in particular, in the early hours of the eventide, Orpheus was playing in a corridor of the castle, perhaps daydreaming of training to be a great fighter or a knight, his fantasies played out by waving an imaginary sword in his two front hooves, when he heard the sound of two ponies coming. Acting on instinct, Orpheus took to the air, flying into the wooden rafters of the castles high lofted roof, where he perched on one of the smaller beams with his back hooves. It would be a while before they actually entered the hallway, on account of the colt’s sensitive hearing, but in time two mares, both members of the cleaning staff, came to wage their daily war on the forces of dust, grime, and general messiness.

“I can’t believe that we got assigned to this stupid hallway again for the second month in a row! I swear, the Housekeeper despises us.”

“It could be worse, remember that much!”

“How could it be? Scrubbing the same bleeding floors, dusting the same bleeding tapestries for two months straight, with no happy distractions such as the lords or ladies coming to petition or conversations we’re not supposed to overhear because we work the bleeding graveyard shift!”

“You could have volunteered to clean their room.”

The first mare blanched in fright, “Do I look like a pony with a death wish? I’m not going anywhere near that vam-pony brood!”

“Makes these ‘bleeding tapestries and floors’ seem more appealing, no?” The second mare smirked at her partner while she idly polished an ornate silver vase. The only response she received was a frustrated growl and an increase in the tempo of the first mare’s scrubbing of the stone floor.

Orpheus silently let go of the rafter he had been clinging to, and drifted down the hall away from the cleaning staff. With skills afforded to him by his racial disposition, the little bat pony silently made his way to the rooms where he and his Coven were safely away from prying eyes and whispering lips. The conversation the two maids had had with each other troubled the child greatly; why were they afraid of him and his family, and what was a vam-pony? Acaeus would know for certain; he knew just about anything under the moon! Seeking out the wizened Covenmaster was not a hard task; he was in his private quarters meditating, as was his near midnight custom. Orpheus made sure to knock quietly on the wooden door and wait patiently until he heard a soft “Enter” from within. So permitted, the colt made his entrance and softly closed the door behind him. All around the small but comfortable room were unrolled scrolls, each with different colors of ink decorating their surfaces. Some simply held the written Antrozi language, detailing parables, fables, or accounts of honorable warriors who had fought battles against the great beasts of the Everfree Forest. Others were grand depictions of some of these stories through the artistic abilities of Acaeus’ calligraphic endeavors. Each stroke, whether by quill or brush, was flowing and elegant. The characters and pictures depicted within each scroll radiated a sensation that put one at ease, which helped to clear Orpheus’ mind of fuzzy distractions and gave him peace simply by looking at them. Acaeus was seated on a pillow in the center of the room, with a bureau behind him from which he created his artwork, a pillow before him for his company to sit, and to his left was a window with deep burgundy curtains.

“Hello, little Orpheus! Come, sit with me,” the old bat pony smiled warmly as he spoke to his kin.

“Thanks, Grandfather!” Orpheus politely said as he sat down on the soft downy pillow before his Coven Master.

“What is on your mind, child? What guidance can I give you?”

“I was in the western corridor when I overheard some of the maids talking about us.”

“Oh, I have no doubt of that,” Acaeus said, “We are the most excitement the rumor mill in this place has had in many years.”

“They’re afraid of us.”

The old Antrozi stallion nodded, “All too often ponies are afraid of that which they do not understand.”

“They called us vam-ponies. Grandfather, what is a vam-pony? I’ve never heard that word before.”

Acaeus looked at the young colt before him passively for an instant; no emotion was to be found on his face. In time, he closed his eyes and let out a slow, soft sigh. “Orpheus, we are Antrozi. We hold the spirits of both the Day and the Night in us. We are part pony and part bat, but our race more strongly identifies with our winged mammalian cousins. Thus we eat as bats do, live as bats do, and act as bats do. As I said, ponies fear what they don’t understand, and because of our different lifestyle and appearance, we have garnered the suspicions of our pony cousins.”

“But how is that fair,” Orpheus spoke up, “a pony shouldn’t judge somepony else based simply on their appearance or race. They have no reason to be afraid of us.”

Acaeus’ old eyes brightened the tiniest bit as he gave a small chuckle, “You are blessed with wisdom beyond your years, little one. But the ponies around us are afraid, and they do have some reason to be so. Our race has..a condition. Look here,” he pointed at a scroll whose designs depicted bat ponies mingling with unicorns, pegasi, and earthern ponies, “In the early days of the world, gone hundreds of years now, we the Antrozi did in fact live side by side with some of these ponies. Of the three outcast races, we were the second closest to being one with the people of Equestria, behind the Zebharans. It was in this time we discovered our disease.” He pointed now to a scroll filled with many dazzling shades of ink, and a bat pony flipped on its back, “The unicorns can create wonderful displays of color with their magic, and so can some Pegasi. These flashing lights are what trigger the illness. Antrozi would fall to the earth as if they were dying, their mouths overcome with froth and their eyes rolling like marbles. The other ponies would become alarmed upon seeing such fits, thinking our people had dealings with the evil spirits from the pits of Tartarus, and all other twisted creatures that may emerge from its dark, unmerciful maw, like the Windigos and the Shapetakers. In time, the more imaginative folk thought we would in these fits become as one of the vampire bats, preying on the unwary in the darkness, feasting on their blood and kidnapping their children to make them like us. Because of this, our race holds this stigma of being called “Vampire ponies”, or “Vam-ponies” for short.”

Acaeus rose from his pillow and placed his forehooves on Orpheus’ tiny shoulders, “This is why,” the old bat pony solemnly continued, “you must always be on your best behavior. Others will fear you, and some may try to use your heritage against you. You must learn to fight with your words and your smile as well as your hooves and your teeth, and you must be beyond reproach of any sort.”

“But Princess Luna is protecting us. Can’t she just order everyone to like us?”

“It is easy enough to make a law, and only a little more difficult to enforce it, but even Princess Luna with all her power cannot immediately change the hearts of those around her or around us. You cannot rely solely on her Majesty to help us out of all our problems. You must use your mind, above all else, to help you survive. Though we are in caves of fine cut stone and in groves of pruned gardens, the hunt is afoot, and our predators could be anyone at any time. Remember; be wise, be on your best behavior, and be beyond reproach.”

“I think I understand, Grandfather.”

“Very good, Orpheus. Now I’m sure there is something you’d rather be doing, so go ahead and have your fun with what remains of the night.”

Orpheus got up from his pillow and embraced Acaeus, “Thanks Grandfather. I love you.”

“I love you too, Grandson. Now go on, enjoy yourself.”

Orpheus trotted to the door and opened it partially before he paused, and his face became clouded with his thoughts. Taking notice, Acaeus trotted to his side, “What is it, Orpheus?”

The young bat pony looked back to his elder inquisitively, “I was just thinking, does our family have the sickness that our ancestors had? Could it be that someday we might collapse and be seized by the flashing lights of others’ magic?”

“I don’t know. I can only hope that for our sakes we are spared our ancestors’ pain.”