//------------------------------//
// Finding Out, Hiding Out 
// Story: Equestria's Dark Shadow 
// by InTheStands 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 4: Finding Out, Hiding Out


My name is Spike. Last night, I went from leaving the library to waking up on the floor with Twilight talking about a monster having popped up out of nowhere. Now, this morning, she's been darting left and right for books on the shelves. It would be a regular day...if it weren't for the topics of the books she was looking for.


§§§


"Vampires?!"
The young dragon couldn't believe his ears. The purple unicorn he spoke to turned to him as he repeated the answer to his question.
"Yes, Spike. But not just vampires - any book about any creature that may take on similar characteristics of a vampire."
Spike heard none of the explanation, his mind focused on one more question. That was when he decided to ask it. "Wait. Wait. That...thing you said showed up...I was attacked by a...vampire?"
Twilight stopped in her tracks. She could hear the fear in Spike's voice; A variation of his speaking pattern that she did not enjoy in any way. She levitated her stack of books onto a table and walked up to the dragon. "I don't know. It could've been anything. Whatever it was, you have my word that we'll find it. But in order to do that, we need to look up as much as we-"
Her speech was interrupted by a sharp knocking on the front door. The two looked at each other for a moment, only for the knocking to grow harder and louder. Twilight quickly responded to the second set of knocks, opening the door. "Hello? How can I-"
She was met by somepony shoving paper into her face. Stumbling backwards, she removed the paper to let her eyes rest on Rainbow Dash, followed by Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity. "Uh...what's going on?" Twilight asked.
Dash simply pointed a hoof. "Read today's paper and find out."
Twilight looked down at her own forelegs. Sure enough, it was the most recent edition of the Ponyville Express. Her eyes passed over the main story headline until they widened in horror. "'Monster Steals Blood from Hospital'?! 'Doctors, nurses and security guards working in Ponyville Hospital last night responded to an intruder, only to find a large, monstrous creature making off with several blood packs. The thief escaped, leaving no trace behind except a trail of blood across the hospital and strange, long hoofprints that disappear several horshoe lengths away from the building'". She looked up at her friends, face flushed with worry. "Oh NO..."
"The hospital was as occupied as could be!" Rarity despaired. "It could've drained every last one of them if it had the mind to!"
"And Old Hay Bale Brown said somepony was screaming outside his house!" Pinkie Pie admitted. "It looks like they're getting even angrier! And I can't throw a party for them because they're angry at US! We HAVE to do something!"
"PLEASE, calm down!" Twilight dropped the paper and pleaded to her friends, who immediately obliged. "Alright. Now...I started this research with healthy skepticism. But now this...this just throws everything out the window. Maybe...we ARE dealing with a vampire." She sighed, her breathing growing shaky. "A vampire that could come to get anypony at any time of the night."
"But what do we DO about it, sugarcube?" Applejack stepped forward. "One life lost to some bloodsucker is one life too many! We gotta get going before IT does!"
"But how, is the question," Twilight retorted before thinking to herself. "First, we have to keep locking things up. Then...maybe we should alert the Princesses."
"And tell them what?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Tell them that we brought something here that could kill us all?!"
"If we don't tell them anything, it would just make things worse!" The unicorn pointed out. "But then there's the last problem: If we're going to stop a vampire...we need to find it first."
The five ponies and one dragon felt their blood run cold. Fluttershy spoke up, shivering like a twig. "Find it? Look for it? H-having to go n-near it?" Dash quickly moved to let Fluttershy lean against her for support.
"No, no, nothing like that," Twilight assured the yellow pegasus. "I was thinking more along the line of...your animal friends. Especially the ones that don't have much blood in them for them to be attacked."
Fluttershy stopped her deep breathing to think. "I...suppose some of the birds can look around. But then what?"
"Then we just make sure. If we go at this without being absolutely certain we'll find him, then it may be the last chance we'll get. And considering what it might do to us, we can't in ANY way, ruin this chance. Understand?" Every one of them voiced their acknowledgement. "Good. Now...to do something I should've done last night." She walked over to a table and used her magic to pull out a piece of paper and a quill. "'Dear Princess Celestia...'"


§§§


Barnabas awoke, staring at the mouth of the cave. The thick leaves of the trees shaded most of the sunlight, but several rays bled out and onto the ground. Trying to raise himself up, he remembered that he had draped himself upside down from the cave's ceiling.
Sighing, Barnabas dropped down, stepping close enough to the cave's opening so as to still be shielded from the sunlight. He turned back to the interior to glance at his bounty from last night: Several blood packs from the town's hospital.
One had already been drained. He rationalized before going to sleep that he would need to make this supply last; No doubt they increased security after his intrusion.
He sat down on a rock, thinking to himself. He had deduced that the multicolored ponies he first saw upon opening his casket may have had something to do with his arrival here. But the question remained: Would there be a way to return?
For all he knew, the equines were little more than bounty hunters, under orders to capture him. He began to grow tense as his mind began to imagine what they might do to him if they found him. Torture him? Kill him?
Or perhaps they would follow the lead of Angelique and bury him once more?
Barnabas stood up and began to pace. This situation was proving to be the most dire. Anyone could be an enemy. Anyone could be missed if he were to feed on them.
Anyone could be searching for him. Right now.
He gasped slightly. A twig had snapped somewhere outside. Quickly, he retreated to the darkest part of his shelter, staring intently at the cave's mouth. After several moments, he could hear a low growling. Definitely not the ponies. He could see darkened shadows nearing the cave, the rustling of leaves growing louder.
Then he saw them. At least five wolf-like animals, peering into the shelter with glowing yellow eyes.
He grew confused when he truly studied them. When he noticed there was no trace of fur on any of them. Only bark.
The tree-like wolves then snarled. They had seen him. They had cornered him. But he knew he had an advantage.
"I warn you now, beasts. You do not have me trapped. You have trapped yourselves. Stay back! For your survival, stay-"
Barnabas was interrupted as one of them dove for him. He jumped out of the way, and spun around to face the wolf. Promptly, he gathered his strength and kicked it in the head, sending it flying into the cave wall. It fell over, dead.
The others quickly sped towards him, undeterred. Quickly, he noticed his cane propped up on a rock. Jumping upwards to avoid the beasts, he landed, gripped his cane between his hands, and struck one of the wolves across the face. He heard an audible crack as a response, followed by the wolf crumpling to the floor.
A third one tried to jump at him again, followed by the vampire quickly gripping it by the neck and throwing it into the wall. He turned. Only two left.
They continued to growl, but were now backing away from him. Defiant, Barnabas strode towards them. "Now you fear me. Now you realize this was the last mistake you shall make. If only you realized this sooner."
Then, in a flash, he plucked one of the two wooden wolves from the ground, lifting it in the air. It thrashed, it clawed, it bit at the air, struggling to break free. Barnabas gripped the handle of his cane in his other hand as the one holding the wolf tightened. A moment passed before he began to bare his teeth. To show the animal his own fangs.
To bite down hard on the beast's neck, a loud yelp escaping its mouth as he began to draw its life essence.
Coughing, he dropped the dead animal on the ground as he finished. The bitter taste filled his mouth; A bizarre mixture of blood and what he assumed to be tree sap. He looked around the cave. Four of these creatures, dead. The fifth, he assumed, escaped.
He sat down to bury his face in his hands, his mind reeling. Unicorns, dragons...and now these wooden wolves. Ordinary men would be driven insane by this point. But Barnabas had one thing that kept him fighting.
His family.
The family that needed him to fight for them. To survive for them. To return to them.
He sat upright, staring into space as he thought to himself. Concentrating on his mental quest for an escape from this world, he blocked out all outside distractions.
As such, he ignored a small group of birds perched nearby, having watched his ordeal with the wolves. Seeing enough, they flew off as one, returning to the shy yellow pegasus pony that sent them out.