Fluttershy made her way back to the stage and did her best not to stand out as she stood at the edge of the crowd to watch the crier. Thankfully, there were far fewer creatures there than when she had been up on stage, but it was obvious that at least a couple of them recognized her. They whispered amongst themselves, but she couldn’t hear anything they said. They seemed to be taking extra care in making sure she couldn’t overhear them.
It was clear the crier noticed her, too, but he was kind enough to not draw any more attention to her. He just kept circulating his papers and talking about the headlines to any who had questions.
Fluttershy studied the papers as they floated by. Most had headlines like Princess Deposed and A New Reign Begins, but Fluttershy had little interest in reading about things she’d heard all about already. Instead she kept her eye on the less prominent headlines, the more local and niche stories that didn’t warrant a major article.
It didn’t seem like the town got very much news from day to day. Most headlines were minor things, local marriages or the announcement of new stock at a store. A few were a bit bigger, like planned construction or the end of a grand opening sale. None of it really caught her eye, though.
Finally, she saw the headline Visitor To Arrive. She nearly wrote it off, assuming it was just about her, but then she remembered the carriage that she’d seen roll past earlier. She knew it would nag at her all day if she didn’t make sure, so she flew up and plucked the paper from the air.
It was a short article, and clearly not about her. It described a pony—or creature—with a long-standing, close relationship to those known as Dracula. Some even believed, according to the article, that the relationship began well before The Count’s time. Certainly, it had already been in play when The Count became Dracula. The only creature anybody knew of that was still alive from back then was this visitor, but it was widely accepted that they had played a part in The Count’s rise to power.
The article had precious little concrete information, but the final line stuck out to Fluttershy.
The Visitor is expected to arrive by carriage by nightfall.
Fluttershy gave the paper back to the crier absentmindedly as she puzzled over this new information. The Visitor. It wasn’t much to go on, but Fluttershy was certain this was the same Visitor whose portrait was empty, and this just made them even stranger. A creature older than even Dracula. She had no idea what that could mean.
She nearly left to ponder it on her own, but her curiosity quickly outweighed her anxiety, so when she got a chance she caught the crier’s eye and waved him over.
“Ah, welcome back, Miss Fluttershy,” the crier said as he strutted over to her. “It’s a pleasure to see you again. In all honesty, I’d expected you to disappear back into the castle.”
Fluttershy pursed her lips. “I, uh… I got locked out.”
“Ooh, harsh.” The crier winced dramatically. “Well, you may as well make the most of it. Is there anything you’d like to know?”
“I was wondering about that article, actually,” Fluttershy said. “About The Visitor?”
The crier gave her an awkward, apologetic look. “Sorry, Heiress, you picked the one thing I can’t tell you about.”
“Why not?” Fluttershy tilted her head quizzically.
“We don’t talk about The Visitor,” he said. “What’s in the article is all you’ll get, I’m afraid. Things that old… Well, there’s a reason you haven’t heard of any. They simply aren’t talked about.”
“Is there anypo—anybody in town who I can talk to about them?”
The crier shook his head. “I understand why you’d think so, but this goes beyond respect or fear. It isn’t that we choose not to talk about The Visitor. We just don’t. It isn’t done.”
“Hmm…” Fluttershy gave a somewhat disappointed hum.
“If it’s any consolation,” the crier said, “you likely won’t be in the dark for long. More likely than not, The Visitor is here for you.”
“That… Doesn’t make me feel much better, no,” Fluttershy said, “but thank you for trying.”
“Well, good luck with it, Heiress,” the crier said. “Is there anything else you’d like to know?”
“Is there anywhere you’d say I should go while I’m in town?”
The crier shot her a toothy grin. “Now there’s something I can answer. Well,” he stood up straight with a proud flourish, “my normal answer is fairly standard. The tavern is always jovial, and the street is lined with stores. If you’d like a bite to eat, there’s meat to the east and grain to the west. The vampire’s guild is near the inner wall’s gates, and the magic guild mirrors it on the outer wall. For you, though,” he leaned in conspiratorially, “take the west road, and on your right you’ll find a home with a wicker doormat. Knock there, and tell the mare that answers that you’d like some jewelry. If that doesn’t get you in… Well, for the time being, you’re Dracula. Just go in anyway.”
Fluttershy furrowed her brow. “What’s in there?”
The crier chuckled and stood back up. “Well, it’s just a house, of course,” he loudly announced. “Just some friends of mine you’d do well to meet.”
“Okay…”
He laughed. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, Heiress, I’ve left others waiting.” He gave her a polite nod, then turned to talk to other members of the crowd.
Fluttershy stood there for a moment and thought of what to do. She wasn’t especially hungry, which she suspected was because of what happened the night before, and she didn’t have anything pressing to do at the vampire’s guild. The magic guild sounded interesting, and it was also probably worth checking to see if it was safe, but the crier had seemed so insistent on that house. Her desire to find out why was steadily outpacing her plans to do anything else.
Soon enough she decided that the magic guild could wait, seeing as she probably wouldn’t be able to get Starlight here anytime soon anyway, so she turned and made her way west.
The first houses she passed were large and lavish, although not to the degree that they seemed braggadocious. The other homes in town weren’t small, after all. The community was too tight-knit for that to happen. These houses were just bigger, and the ponies who owned them were largely interested in making them look nice.
Just as she was wondering who might own these homes, she came across the home of the town’s blacksmith. This much was obvious because at the base of the home was a small, packed forge. The stone walls were seamlessly connected to the house built on top of them, which on its own would have already made the home seem larger than most, but even past that it had been made into an architectural work of art. The dark, smoky wood used for the walls fit perfectly with the murky greens used as decoration, and even with how dark it was she could see how carefully every tiny detail had been designed.
“Oi, Heiress!”
Fluttershy hadn’t even noticed that the forge was lit, but evidently she’d been caught staring at the house, because the blacksmith was calling her over.
She looked the blacksmith over as she walked closer, although there wasn’t all that much to examine. The deep black coat and bright green flames made them impossible to forget. Fluttershy hadn’t seen many Niriks in her life, and she felt fairly confident that this town only had one.
Fluttershy waved as she got close. “Good morning,” she said cheerily, “is there something I can—”
“Catch.” The Nirik picked up the rod of iron they’d been heating up and tossed it across the forge.
Fluttershy nearly stuck out a wing to catch the rod, but at the last second realized how much of a mistake that would be and pull away from it. “Hey!” She narrowed her eyes at the Nirik. “That could have really hurt me!”
“Aye.” The Nirik grabbed the rod with their magic and floated it back into the flames that had been heating it. “I’d like a word.”
Fluttershy frowned and walked the rest of the way into the forge. The heat inside was intense, nearly too much to handle, but she forced herself not to back away. “That wasn’t a very good way to start up a conversation.”
“True enough, but it would’ve been an excellent way to hit an idiot with a stick.” The Nirik fiddled with the flames a bit before turning their gaze to Fluttershy. Their wide, white hot eyes bore into Fluttershy like a drill. “Folks ‘round here call me Fire.”
“Just Fire?” Fluttershy raised an eyebrow.
Fire nodded. “Go down the other way, find the place that mirrors mine and you’ll meet Bon. She sells my stuff.”
“Bon…” Fluttershy looked off in the direction Fire was talking about as she thought. “Is she—”
“The Kirin,” Fire interrupted, “yeah. Don’t ask. We won’t tell you.”
“Oh, that’s fine,” Fluttershy said. “So, what did you want?”
“Well, mostly I wanted to throw something at you to decide if I cared to introduce myself. I suppose while I have you, though, I may as well ask why you’re here.”
“Well, I was just walking by,” Fluttershy said, “and I noticed your house—”
Fire groaned. “No, not here. Here. Why have you got your eyes on the throne?”
“Well, I didn’t really have a choice,” Fluttershy said. “The Lady told me to.”
“Yeah, and I told you to catch hot metal. You didn’t do that.”
“It would have hurt me!”
Fire shook her head and turned back to her forge. “If you think this business isn’t going to hurt you, we’d best start preparing the casket now.” She pulled the rod out of the flames, then produced a heavy mallet and started hammering away at it.
“But she—” Fluttershy stopped. She didn’t have any rebuttal to that. Instead, she decided to pivot. “What are you making?”
“Bars.” She tilted her head to the side, towards a pile of long, flat iron bars. “Folks always need bars.”
“Oh.” Curious, Fluttershy glanced at the other finished products lying around. Long nails, sturdy tools, plenty of horseshoes, all piled high and ready to ship out.
“Disappointed there’s no swords?”
“I guess I’m just shocked,” Fluttershy said.
“Uh-huh.” Fire slammed away at the rod a few more times in silence. “We aren’t monsters.”
“Huh?” Fluttershy inhaled sharply. “Of course you aren’t! I would never—”
“Yes you would.” She grimaced. “Go. I’m through with you.”
“But—”
She pulled the rod up and swung it wide over Fluttershy’s head. “Get! Go play hero somewhere else.”
“I…” Fluttershy nodded and turned to walk away. “I’m sorry.”
Fire didn’t respond, so Fluttershy just walked back out onto the street.
Once out, she took a deep breath and righted herself. She didn’t want to be seen wallowing in self pity. If she wanted to do right by the creatures of the night, she had to get serious.