//------------------------------//
// More Seeking than Hiding 
// Story: Equestria's Dark Shadow 
// by InTheStands 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 16: More Seeking than Hiding


Nopony dared to walk near the Everfree Forest, much less into it. Not unless traveling into the foreboding space was of the utmost importance. Every now and then, however, Zecora would walk out and into Ponyville, often for recipes for her potions.
Tonight, three new ponies stepped out and into the moonlight. Two were almost identical with blue coats (and blue overcoats), backpacks, and black, combed-back manes. One was much shorter, sporting an unkempt brown mane and wearing a plaid shirt. All three seemed to be walking with slight difficulty.
"Well that wasn't so bad," One of the blue stallions shrugged. "I mean, it wasn't good, but it wasn't bad."
"At least the moon's out," The other blue pony looked up into the sky. "...Wait a minute. Do...you two see that?"
"The unicorn?" The first pony spoke again. "Yeah. Huh."
The trio looked out at the town before them, the buildings illuminated both by the moon and the dim glow of whatever lights happened to be in the windows.
"Wow...Rick, do you see this? All of this - built by ponies!"
"I know, Bill. Really, I'm not surprised. If they can talk, they can most certainly build," The second blue pony, Rick, answered his twin brother. "Maybe it's a good thing those walking lessons lasted until night. We just might be able to find him if they didn't drive him away."
"They're ponies," the short one scoffed. "He's gotta be twice, three times their size. How can they take down..."
"...Willie?" Bill asked.
The short, plaid-wearing pony suddenly perked his head up, widened his eyes, and began looking around, almost as if he were in a trance.
"Willie, what's wrong?" Rick asked assertively.
The groundskeeper's mouth gaped slightly before he spoke. "I...feel it. Something I didn't feel...since Barnabas disappeared. I feel...him."
"You do?" Bill asked, confused, before it dawned on him. "You do?! You know where he is?"
"No."
"...Crap."
"But he's nearby," Willie said. "He's...somewhere over there." He pointed a foreleg off in one direction. The twins let Willie lead them into the town, passing the buildings and making sure not to make too much noise.
After a while, Willie perked up again. "It's getting stronger!" He announced. "Wait a minute...there!"
"Where?" Rick and Bill asked. "Behind the tree?"
"IN the tree."
The three found themselves gazing at a large oak tree, a silhouette in the night air. Rick stepped closer to it, squinting. "You mean UP the tree," He deduced.
"I...don't think so, Rick." Bill got his brother's attention. "Look at this sign." The other two turned to see him standing in front of a wooden sign that sported a painting of an open book. "Let's see...'Golden Oaks Library'. A library? What's in a library for a vampire?"
"Information on the town, maybe," Rick reasoned before his face betrayed his dark realization. "Maybe even population numbers." They looked back to the tree. Now realizing it was a building, they could see the windows and doors upon closer inspection.
"How do we get in?" Willie asked. "I'm not seeing a low enough window."
Bill looked to the lock on the front door. "And I don't think we can pick our way in."
Rick backed up and stared up at the tree again. "Then it looks like we're climbing up."
"Climbing?" Bill asked, dumbfounded, before looked at his front hooves. "With these?!"
"No," Rick shook his head. "Look, like this..."
Moments later, the three ponies found themselves standing on top of each other, struggling to keep balance. Rick stood at the bottom, grunting as he held up his brother, who, in turn, had Willie resting on his shoulders. Rick and Bill kept their balance by placing their backs on the trunk of the tree while Willie used his new found height to peer through any window he could reach.
"See anything?" Bill managed to ask the pony above him.
"Just a light. A small one," Was the answer, "A candle, maybe. Wait...I think I just saw someone flipping some page of a book. Fingers."
Rick exhaled as he cracked an open-mouthed smile. "Sounds like our man. Now we just need to-"
"HEY! What do you think you're doing?!"
"Huh, what?" Willie exclaimed as he turned sharply.
"Willie, don't - !" Bill tried to warn him, but it was too late. The loss of balance caused the three ponies to stumble downwards, crashing into the ground. They grunted in pain as they stood up, looking to see that a pony was running towards them.
They had no choice but to flee the scene, galloping as fast as they could away from the tree and the advancing witness, who stopped as soon as he noticed they were getting away.
"Yeah! You better run!" The male shouted at them as the distance between him and the three ponies grew greater and greater.
The trio ran quite a long distance before realizing no one was following them. They stopped to catch their breath while Bill asked, "Who was that?"
"Either a police officer or someone's neighbor," Rick guessed. "We must have looked like we were breaking in."
"Weren't we?" Willie wondered. The twins glared at him for a second.
"Hey, wait," Bill raised a hoof. "Guys, you don't...you don't think some of the ponies KNOW Barnabas is here, do you?"
"If they do, it's all the more reason to find him ASAP," Rick responded.
"No, no. I mean, they know he's here, but...they don't mind. What if, I don't know, they made a deal with a blood bank or something?"
Bill's question was met with dumbfounded stares and the dull chirping of crickets in an otherwise dead silent scene.
"Bill," Rick began. "As your brother, I've heard you say many stupid things on many occasions. But on this occasion, right now, it's quite possible you've allowed the dumbest thing in any world to spill out of your mouth."
"We don't know how they are," Bill began to defend himself. "Maybe they take in strangers no matter how-"
"He's a damn VAMPIRE!" Willie interrupted him. "Me and the Collins', that's one thing, that's family. But these cutesy critters and all the bright colors? All that with what he does to live, and there's no way he's staying alive for long."
"Bill, listen. We can think up things about these ponies all we want after the mission. But right now, we need to hide. Get some rest and get ready to look more tomorrow. We've got all we need in our bags."
Rick led the way as the three walked off to any secluded area they could find first, knowing that their search was all but hampered without sleep. The only question that remained with them was whether or not they had time to save the missing Barnabas once sleep was factored in.


§§§


A sharp knocking awoke Barnabas. He glanced down at the floor, noticing Spike approaching the front door of the library. Swiftly, he jumped down, startling Spike. "Are you gonna do that every time you wake up?" The dragon sighed as the vampire brushed off his coat.
Spike turned the knob of the door, only to have it fly open. A burst of rainbow streams knocked Spike back as Rainbow Dash feverishly looked around.
"Where's Twilight?! Is she okay?!"
"Okay from what, Ms. Dash?" Barnabas asked.
"You didn't hear?!" The pegasus let her mouth hang open. "But you were right here! No loud noises or anything?"
"I'm afraid I was rather preoccupied, Rainbow," Barnabas confessed as Spike called upstairs for Twilight. "I was reading the story of the performance I am to help this...Lyra with."
"Rainbow?" Twilight asked, her purple body appearing as she descended the stairs. "What's going on?"
"Not what's going on - what went on!" Dash declared. "Somepony tried to break into the library last night!"
"What?!" Twilight's eyes widened. "But...why would...Barnabas."
"Yes?"
"No, they must have been trying to get to Barnabas," She explained. "That has to be it."
Rainbow continued. "Somepony walking nearby heard them talking about him. They were gonna bust through the window before the pony chased them away. It was too dark to get any good looks of them, though."
"This is serious," Twilight shook her head. "But what can we do? Bringing in guards will only attract more attention."
"Yeah...hey," Rainbow began to beam. "What if WE were his bodyguards? Taking turns looking out, making sure nopony gets any bright ideas? We can get other ponies to look out too!"
"That's...actually almost perfect." Twilight looked up to the vampire. "Barnabas?"
"Considering the fact that these would-be assassins may possibly be anyone in the village, you would understand I have my reservations."
"Then we remind them that the Princesses are watching out for you," Dash pointed out. "Anypony who messes with you...messes with them. If that doesn't go through their heads, nothing will."
"Then all we have to do is find the ponies willing to be Barnabas' lookout," Twilight said, looking up at a nearby clock. "And if they're not running late, the first candidate should be...now."
Almost immediately, the front door began knocking. Spike quickly answered it, revealing the mint-green unicorn Lyra, and the cream-colored earth pony Bon-Bon, both sporting matching saddlebags.
"Can we come in?" Lyra asked, excitement evident in her voice. The two were quickly welcomed in, and Lyra instantly trotted up to Barnabas. "The others down at my house can't wait to meet you! Here." Lyra used her magic to pull out a thick packet of paper from within her saddlebag, letting it fall into Barnabas' open hands. "The script is all ready. We just need to get the costumes refitted, and we're good to go!"
"Not...exactly, Lyra," Twilight interrupted her. "Before we let Barnabas go outside, we need to talk to you and Bon-Bon about something that happened last night. And steps we're taking to make sure it doesn't happen again."