//------------------------------// // Chapter 22: Burning Questions // Story: Heir To Darkness // by Leafdoggy //------------------------------// “You’re sure you feel up to going back?” Fluttershy was standing in the hallway, leaning heavily to one side. Bandages were wrapped tightly around her shoulder, and every so often she would shift her weight and wince in pain. The cloak she had been wearing at the start of the day sat in a bloody heap on Helsing’s floor, torn to shreds and completely useless as clothing, and her hat was nowhere to be seen. Helsing was standing in the open door to his room, giving Fluttershy a hard look. Fluttershy smiled softly and nodded. “I can walk, and my wings didn’t get too hurt. I should be able to get back to my room, and if Pinkie is there already I don’t want her to worry.” Helsing laughed under his breath and shook  his head. “If you say so. Who am I to stand in the way of The Heiress.” “Will the guild be alright without Windbreaker?” He scoffed. “These things are all centuries old, they’re not going to break down over the loss of one vampire.” “Alright, well, you can always call for me if you need anything,” Fluttershy told him. “I do feel responsible, after all.” “Will do.” He nodded politely and stepped back into his room. “Okay, I need to sleep. You kept me up all night.” Then he shut the door without waiting for a reply. Fluttershy chuckled and walked away. Despite everything, she had a smile on her face as she walked out into the lounge. The fire crackled noisily in the center of the room. Vampires lounged all around it, some together, most on their own, and were in the midst of a rowdy conversation. They laughed and jeered and didn’t seem to have been affected in the least by Windbreaker’s absence. One of them noticed Fluttershy enter the room and waved at her without getting up. “Yo, Heiress! Come say hi!” Every vampire in the room turned their gazes to Fluttershy. She blushed from the sudden attention and chuckled nervously before making her way over.  Two of the vampires eagerly spread apart to make room as she approached. “Take a rest,” one said, “you’re earned as much.” Fluttershy smiled politely and sat in the open space. She was tense and nervous, and it was obvious that even though she’d sat down, she wasn’t relaxed at all. Now that she was among them, she was able to get a better impression of the vampires of Trotsylvania. It was a strange mix of cultures. Some ponies looked modern, with their manes cut stylishly and their clothes, if they wore any, sleek and contemporary. Others, though, were stuck in the past. Stallions lounged in stiff suits, ponies wore ancient, golden jewelry, and some of them had styles Fluttershy had only seen in history books. Rarely, though, did those vampires pull from a single time and place. They were a mish-mash of centuries of life experiences, and Fluttershy got the impression that, if she looked hard enough, she could find something from just about every time and place that had existed in the past thousand years. “Um…” She muttered as she looked around at them all. They stared at her expectantly. “I, uh, can’t stay long, but… Hello?” “Aww, c’mon Heiress, you’ve gotta hang out,” said the vampire who’d initially called her over. His orange fur looked red in the glow of the fire. “We wanna meet our next Dracula!” All around the fire, ponies voiced their agreement enthusiastically. “Well, I can come back,” Fluttershy said. “Maybe I could even bring Pinkie, and—” “Vampires only,” one of them said, interrupting her. “And Helsing,” a mare added, and several of them laughed. “Oh.” Fluttershy pursed her lips. “Well, I just don’t want Pinkie to worry, is all.” The orange stallion reached over and smacked the pony next to him. “Hey, go tell the castle The Heiress is safe.” “Yeah, alright,” the pony grumbled back as he got up and started walking towards the door. “There, now you don’t have to worry,” the orange pony told her. “Well…” Fluttershy sighed. “Alright. I guess I do have a responsibility to get to know you all if I’m going to become Dracula.” All around the fire, ponies cheered. One of the ponies next to her punched her playfully in the shoulder, which made her yelp in pain, and that only made the crowd even rowdier. “Okay, okay,” the first stallion said over all the cheering and laughing, “so, Heiress, what the heck happened last night? That hallway is rancid!” “Been a while since we had to fix a wall,” another said. “And where’s Windbreaker?” A third added. “Did you kill her or something?” Fluttershy gasped. “No, of course not! I didn’t hurt her at all, I just sent her off to talk to Princess Twilight.” “So you did kill her.” There was another round of laughter. “Twilight isn’t as dangerous as you all think she is,” Fluttershy said. “One day I’ll bring her here, and you’ll all see that she’s just a regular pony like me.” “A fresh vampire that can take out our two strongest fighters in one night and live to talk about it ain’t a regular pony,” one said, and several others agreed with them. “I didn’t do anything special,” Fluttershy said. “I mean, I could do The Stare even before I was a vampire. Also, um… I’m not sure I did live? I think I might have died while Dayfall was attacking me.” There was a beat of silence, then they all burst into laughter. Fluttershy blushed. “I’m serious! I talked to The Visitor and everything, it—” A pony near her waved for her to stop. “We believe you, Heiress,” they said, “it’s just, well… I mean, do you hear yourself? ‘Yeah, I died, no big deal. I’m just a normal pony.’” “Oh.” Fluttershy’s blush deepened. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to boast, I just… I guess I didn’t realize.” There was more laughter, and the conversation moved on. They asked Fluttershy anything they could think of, from her life before becoming a vampire to what she planned to do as Dracula, and Fluttershy answered every question patiently. They were loud and unruly, and had absolutely no sense of personal space or manners, but to Fluttershy’s relief they seemed, at least for the time being, to be kind and friendly ponies. Eventually, Fluttershy yawned and realized how long she’d been there. “I really should be going,” she said, and she stood up and smiled at them all. “It was lovely meeting you, and if any of you have questions for me, you can feel free to come find me at any time. I’m here to help, after all.” They complained, but ultimately said their goodbyes and let her go, and she made her way to the heavy iron door that she’d first come in through. It took some effort to pull the door open without using her injured shoulder, but she managed it, and as it creaked slowly open a sliver of light trickled through. Fluttershy bit her lip anxiously at the sight of it, and opening the door the rest of the way revealed just what she had feared. The sun was already up, and it was morning in Trotsylvania. She winced and hissed quietly as she stepped out into the light. She could shield her eyes with a wing, and that stopped most of the discomfort, but the scrapes and cuts scattered all over her body started to ache as soon as the sunlight hit them. They got almost unbearably hot, and Fluttershy started moving as quickly as possible towards the castle, although that wasn’t very quick with her injuries. A deep frown etched itself onto her face as, when she approached the gate, the two guards crossed their spears in front of it. “Really?” Fluttershy asked as she walked up. “I’m still not allowed back in?” “Sorry, Heiress,” the more talkative guard said. “Orders are orders.” Fluttershy gave a frustrated hum. “Well, how long did the orders say to keep me out?” “Until further instruction.” “But I want to see Pinkie!” There was a desperation in Fluttershy’s voice that she hadn’t expected. The guard frowned sympathetically. “We can’t disobey orders, Heiress. We could be exiled for it, or worse.” Fluttershy’s hooves started to feel very hot on the gravel under them, and she began shuffling in place impatiently. “Well, I… Who even gave you the orders? Dracula said she was leaving everything to me.” “Miss Sable did, Heiress.” “But I’m The Heiress! I know she’s helping me learn things, but how can The Gardener give me orders?” “She can’t,” the guard said. “She gave us orders.” Fluttershy pouted. “Come on, isn’t there anything you can do? Please?” “We can only follow orders,” the guard said. “Ugh!” Fluttershy growled and rubbed her neck, which felt like it was starting to burn. “That doesn’t make any sense, I’m supposed to be acting as Dracula, I should be able to just—” Fluttershy stopped moving as a thought hit her. “I…” She hummed anxiously. “Stand aside.” “I’m sorry?” The guard looked at her curiously. “Let me in,” Fluttershy said. “That’s an order.” The guards exchanged a glance, then uncrossed their spears and stepped away from the gate. “Go on in, Heiress.” Fluttershy groaned. “Seriously? What was that, a test? I just had to—” Her shoulder throbbed, and she hissed and shook her head. “I’ll talk to her later. I just need to get inside.” Once through the gate, Fluttershy would have sprinted across the castle grounds if not for her shoulder, but even with the injury she got close. Her body felt so hot at this point that the pain that shot through her as she cantered down the path. She slammed through the front doors with a bang. As soon as she was in the shade of the small hallway that connected the front doors to the main hall, she slid to a stop and started panting. She stood there for several minutes as her body cooled down. Eventually, though, she felt well enough to move on and made her way into the main hall. Nothing seemed out of place as she walked in. Her hollow hoofsteps echoed out as she crossed the cool tile. The fountain still sat in the center of the room, although now that she’d tasted fresh blood it was far less tantalizing. It still looked good, and she would have loved to take a drink from it, but she didn’t want it enough to brave the electricity again. Her eyes traveled up and into the winding paths above. It all looked unfamiliar, the walkways and staircases all sitting in just the wrong places, but she could still see clearly up to her door, which beckoned to her with its rich red wood. She crouched down and stretched her wings out, preparing to fly. “She’s not up there.” Fluttershy yelped and sprang forward in surprise, just barely managing to land on her hooves. Then she wheeled around to the source of the noise. Above the door, Vale was hanging upside down with his tail wrapped around a light fixture. “Oh,” Fluttershy said with a relieved sigh. “Hello, Vale. Good, um, morning?” He laughed. “You look like you had a fun night.” “Yeah…” Fluttershy rubbed her sore shoulder. “Things got a little heated. I’ll be alright, though.” “Sure.” “What do you mean, though? She’s not up there?” “Your pink friend,” Vale said. “I think she probably got lost somewhere in the castle.” Fluttershy gasped. “Oh, no! What happened?” “The Hag told her to take a bird down to the dungeons. She just never came back.” He shrugged. Fluttershy bit her lip. “S-She’s lost in the dungeons?” “Looks that way.” “Um, I, uh…” Fluttershy looked around frantically, although she didn’t know what she was looking for. Finally, she turned back to Vale. “How can I find her?” “Uh… Go look?” “Look?” Fluttershy swallowed hard. “In the…” “The dungeons, yeah.” Vale groaned. “You can’t be afraid of your own house!” “I…” Fluttershy shut her eyes and concentrated. “Okay! Alright, I’ll do it. I can do it. To help Pinkie.” Fluttershy nodded and went off, heading through the closest door muttering affirmations to herself under her breath. A moment later, she burst back into the main hall and looked up at Vale. “Where are the dungeons?”