//------------------------------// // Prologue: Midnight // Story: The Scrolls of Harmony I: Dawnguard // by Sadie //------------------------------// -Awake- Midnight. Most ponies considered it to be a rather ironic name for a sunny town of Equestria’s south. Being built right in the middle of the Hayseed Swamps didn’t stop the early settlers from building a thriving community on the mud and murky water. A natural elevation of earth provided the ideal foundation for what quickly grew into a town of over a hundred. Early on, everything from food to building materials came in on boats from Baltimare that could traverse the network of rivulets. Boats were still quite a common sight in the dark waters, hidden by the brown-green trunks of swamp trees and vines that grew rampant. Each building of the town itself was constructed primarily of fir wood, painted in pastel colours to protect against the damp of the swamp. Most houses were two storey, both levels designed with optimal airflow in mind. While summers were rather pleasant, some days when the pegasi were on break became rather unpleasantly humid. Everypony in town came to anticipate such days when the swamp weather would catch up. Tea Tree found himself sitting by the window over a cup of old dandelion mix on such a day... Day 1. Barely any steam rose from the cup at that moment. The little that did formed a small patch on the nearby windowpane. Green Leaf’s teashop was obscured from view as a result. Ironic, considering that was the part of town that Tea visited most. Most of Midnight joked that he was the only pony in town with two talents. Tree maintenance and drinking tea. He himself almost believed it at times. If he wasn’t cutting vines away from homes, then it was highly likely he was trying out a new blend at the teashop. Today was too humid for spending time in a room full of boiling water and steam however. Far from it in fact. The only reason that he continued to sip from the stale brew was the fact that it could suffice for moderately warmed ice tea. And tea was tea, even if it tasted terrible. He didn’t have time to prepare a new mix with before the next job either. It was a real disappointment, tea before work often made the laborious task of cutting back wild vines with miraculous regrowth relaxing, as opposed to routine. “Still sipping last week’s brew I see.” That was the voice of the other little pleasure of his job. Spring Heart. A pink pegasus with a mess of green hair, and eyes that only followed mares. That fact had come out at the most embarrassing time possible, for both of them at least. “I’m not frugal; I just don’t feel like taking a sauna session over a cup of tulip.” She knew that quite well. They had been engaged at one point after all. “And besides, tea that’s had a week to stew develops its own flavour over time. Like cider.” Tea Tree didn’t drink cider of course. Spring did, and that was enough for him to make a rough comparison of the two. Tea break was almost up. The upcoming job was arguably one of the hardest in town, Tumble Flower the elderly earth pony. It was that job in particular which drove him to drink week old tea. Between her failure to realize they were no longer engaged, the fastest growing vines out of the entire swamp, and the size of her home, his usual passive personality had difficulty coping. “Fine, I’ll get ready, you should head over and make sure she stays inside.” Had he been given a choice without consequence, he would have gladly chosen to stay there and wait out the humid day. Pink feathers brushed against the back of his neck. Spring had settled her wing around him for comfort. Neither of them felt the need for a deep and meaningful relationship with each other, ironically that kept them together. “Is it the humidity, or the tea making you act like this?” She took hold of the cup and poured the remains out over a few struggling flowers. “That was a rhetorical question by the way. And don’t worry; I’ll make sure that she doesn’t get under your skin or whatever it is that you’re bothered about.” In typical fashion, she made little reservation about climbing through the window to fly off. Tea Tree leaned back in his chair briefly. He had Spring at least, not entirely of course. But it was better than the early years of the business when he worked alone. Midnight was relatively pleasant, if not unforgiving of those who didn’t have friends to rely on. “Strange town if there ever was one.” Across town, he could just barely see a pink figure fly down into her tree house. “And a strange pegasus. Sleeps with a stallion she has no feelings for, and can’t even talk to the mares she likes.” Day 3. No emotion, no needless sighing, or expressions of love. A physical relationship in the truest sense of the phrase. Nights like that didn’t come around that often. And after the stressful ordeal of clearing off Tumble Flower’s home, Tea Tree was glad that such moments were rare. Even if it meant the inviting sight of Spring, sleeping soundly beside him was just out of reach. Her last words to him from the night before rang clear in his mind. Sea Breeze, she moved in recently from Baltimare. She noticed me, noticing her... Even if she isn’t the one, I think she can help me find her. He took extra care to leave the bed without waking her. The past few years had been hard on her, finally a way out of her internal confusion had presented itself. It would almost certainly mean that they would separate though. For the moment, her future took precedence in his eyes. “I’ll tell her about you if I run into her. I think Jasmine would suit in the meantime.” The chances of Sea Breeze being a tea lover like him were highly unlikely, but it would certainly help get past the awkwardness of introducing her to his former fiancée. Each step he took down the stairs was slow, but not in a sluggish or drowsy way. It was a habit he always maintained, not from avoiding parents when sneaking out to see other fillies across town at all. It formed part of the reason that he took to gardening, the solemn respect for natural silence that plants gave. And of course, he didn’t want to wake Spring until there was a steaming cup of tea ready for her. The same applied to the way he pulled the door shut with magic, taking extra care to ensure that the moment where mahogany touched pine made only the slightest of audible sounds. A scream down the street from him ruined the great effort he had gone to in order to maintain silence. At a glance, Tea Tree saw two ponies. One was slumped on the ground, presumably unconscious, while the other had taken a step back in fear of his sudden collapse. More ponies were moving to help at that very moment, including Dr Fayze. “Jasmine will have to wait then.” As a gardener, he knew very little about treating the sick and other such medical cases. But he did have a fair knowledge about swamp fevers and ways that ponies could get sick from particular plants. As he approached, all he could see was that the pony in question looked very pale. There was no vomit, no discolouration. Beyond that, he knew no more than any other pony who had gathered around. Dr Fayze in the meantime was quick to begin searching for the cause of his collapse. “Can anypony tell me his symptoms before he fainted?” The pony who had accompanied him stepped forward again, clearly unnerved by the sudden event. “He was, uh... Complaining about feeling light-headed and sweaty. I assumed it was because of the weather lately. Then he started having trouble breathing, and just collapsed.” Dr Fayze placed a hoof on his neck to check the pulse. Many in the crowd began to talk with each other in a very worried fashion. Apparently, a lot of them had been feeling light-headed and sweaty after the humidity had returned to normal. Panic wasn’t far behind. It was enough for Tea Tree to step forward. “Dr Fayze, could this be related to the vines in some way? They’ve been growing faster than normal lately, especially around Tumble Flower’s home. They might be producing some sort of chemical in reaction to being cut back.” Other ponies rushed over to the group. Out of the worried babble of words, both worked out that another pony had just collapsed. Dr Fayze left the first in a recovery position and moved on to attend to the other. “It’s a possible theory, but this has just appeared out of nowhere, and affected several ponies at once. Just make sure he gets enough air, and wait for the stretcher to arrive.” Tea Tree nodded to acknowledge the instructions given. A hoof rested on his shoulder. Spring Heart. Not exactly the way I wanted to wake her, now is it? Under the circumstances, he didn’t know what he could say to reassure her. A lot of ponies had suddenly become sick to the point that some were fainting. And more would surely follow given the rate at which it seemed to spread. For once, he didn’t need to speak first. “Are you okay? I’m not feeling light-headed, not yet at least, but you got up pretty early.” He couldn’t conceal the deep sigh of relief upon hearing that she hadn’t fallen ill yet. Jasmine didn’t suit the circumstances anymore though. Something stronger for relaxation, and immunity would be better. Proper herbal tea. It meant a less pleasant flavour, with the reward of a longer feeling of refreshment. And right now, everypony could really do with a little peace of mind. Something caught his attention when his eyes glanced over the pony’s neck. The discolouration that he had been looking for earlier seemed to have been hidden by the grey mane. “Dr Fayze, I found some sort of bruise on his neck.” Tea Tree brushed the silvery hair away from the bruising to get a better look. Two pink welts glared back. It was far from the blotch of colour that he had expected to see. The growing panic in the gathering only grew far worse when many ponies started to jump to the most chilling of conclusions. Bite marks. Chaos followed. Every pony who had been feeling light-headed twisted their heads in a desperate attempt to see if they bore the same marks. Within minutes, the connection was obvious to all. Nothing could stop the ensuing panic as ponies ran through town, screaming at the top of their lungs about something biting them and making them sick. Tea Tree and Spring merely stood there in stunned silence. It was more out of shock at how prone to panic the town was than discovering the bite marks themselves. Dr Fayze returned to the first victim with a pair of stretcher ponies right behind. “Another five ponies have collapsed, and several more are feeling faint. It looks like the clinic will fill up very fast at this rate, so I’ll need every pony who can help carry the unconscious to take the pressure off the nurses.” Both unicorn and pegasus helped lift the unconscious pony onto the stretcher without complaint. Neither wanted to confront the fact that their avoidance of being bitten was probably because they had spent the night together. Creatures of the night often singled out prey that were alone after all. Day 5. Tea Tree hadn’t slept the past two nights. The afternoon on which the sickness had presented itself was chaotic. He spent most of the night almost drowning in cups of strong smelling tea in an effort to avoid restless sleep. The following day brought no relief, as more and more ponies started to fall ill. He had helped load the worst cases onto a cart to Baltimare. Another restless night followed, drowning the growing stress and worry away in kettle after kettle of tea. Now he met the morning with the fear that things had become worse still. And things couldn’t get much worse. “Tea Tree!” Spring Heart virtually crashed through the open window of his bedroom to wake him out of the dreary half-slumber. As if she hadn’t been stressed enough over the past few days, she now looked more terrified than ever. “Tea Tree, you need to come quick! I just got back from Baltimare; only five carts arrived last night. We sent out six.” The sudden news caused him to jump out of bed in panic. If one of the cart pullers had fallen ill and couldn’t make the journey along the way, the entire group would have been exposed to the swamp night. And with their immune systems down from the sickness... It took some time for him to regain composure. So far, he had avoided being bitten, but his strength had been sapped by lack of sleep instead. “Alright, round up anypony who isn’t sick, and have them gather at the northern bridge. We’ll take the road on hoof, there’s no way a cart could get far off into the swamp.” Several cold cups with tealeaves stuck to the bottom clinked against each other when he bumped against the side table. Midnight was quickly heading into disaster. And they still had no clue as to what was biting them. * Eight ponies, including Tea Tree and Spring formed the party that began on the northern road that the carts had taken. Paranoia was strong in each of them; one of the pegasi in particular had taken to walking backwards. The swamp trees that grew to either side of the road felt imposing, keeping the sky hidden from them. Everything was disturbing enough already without the very environment around them contributing. That and the chattering of Bee Knees’ teeth. Some way off the path, a group of animals native to the swamps began to call. Bridge Builder looked around their surroundings wildly in response. “I don’t like this, not at all. First everypony’s getting bitten by bats or something, and now carts are going missing in a dark part of the swamp?” Tea Tree checked the magic in his horn to be sure. Full capacity. At least they would have a source of light if they entered a very deep and dark area. The display seemed to calm most of the group down as well. Fizzle Brain wasn’t exactly well known for the success of his unicorn spells. Some time passed before they finally spotted the cart in the very far distance. Spring guessed that they were at the halfway mark between the edge of the swamp and Midnight. “Tea, what do we do when we get there? There were over a dozen ponies on that cart, including the puller. None of us are strong enough to pull the cart back to Midnight, let alone Baltimare.” Fortunately, he had considered that problem on the relatively silent journey there. “We don’t have to pull them back, just confirm that they’re alright. Dr Fayze provided me with some supplies to keep them going until we can get help from Baltimare.” As they approached, he expected to see at least one pony heading in their direction. The moment of relief was quickly swept away by the ominous absence of pony life once more. “Okay, I’m starting to agree with you Bridge. If nopony has attempted to come back for help, they must be in really bad condition. We need to hurry.” Hooves began to hit the ground firmly as each pony broke into a gallop. When they finally reached the cart, all eight ponies came to a grinding halt. None moved from that position for a full minute, as disbelief and shock took full hold of their bodies. The cart was completely devoid of life. Blankets, food, even a little filly’s stuffed doll were there in the back. It looked very much like every patient being transported had simply, vanished. Fizzle Brain began twitching uncontrollably, stuttering out all manner of phrases and rhymes. “Good Celestia, this couldn’t possibly be the work of animals. But what kind of monster would kidnap a cart full of very sick ponies?” Spring Heart was first to approach the empty cart. What scared Tea Tree most was that she had stopped shivering altogether. Their discovery had sucked the life out of them in shock. “I helped Summer Bloom onto this cart... I gave her the doll, to keep her company...” Tea clenched his teeth as his way of dealing with the rush of emotions. Seeing her experience such, a traumatic moment tore away at his calm nature. Fizzle was right to guess that monsters had taken the occupants of the cart. Only monsters could do such a thing without feeling any guilt over their actions. A sick pegasus dropped through the tree covering above them, leaving a hole that cast the cart in sunlight. The healthy ponies moved quickly to assist her. Between wheezing breaths, she grasped at Spring’s dark green mane. “A pony, at the hospital... She asked about you... Said it was urgent.” The pink pegasus glanced at the group while the one in the cart looked around in concern. “Where are the others?” It was a question that struck the mare sharply, causing her to look away in order to avoid answering. Tea Tree moved to take that responsibility instead. “We found the cart like this. And we need to warn Midnight.” He nodded to Bridge Builder and the other ponies while lifting the supply bags off of his back. “I’ll return with Spring, try and help her stabilize before making the trip back.” He moved to one side of the road to leave a good distance between himself and the cart. Spring soon joined his side. “This may hurt around the edges, teleportation spells are rather hard. But I think now is a good a time as any to use it.” A scroll poofed into existence before his eyes. When a wing clasped around his side firmly, he recited the words listed on the scroll. A flash of white light took them from the depths of the Hayseed Swamps to Midnight Clinic. Some ponies jerked back in surprise, most were simply too sick to show any physical response. Dr Fayze quickly approached the pair from attending to a pony laid out on a blanket. “I trust that Dandelion made it, she was the healthiest pegasus that I could send.” Spring’s nod was shaky. “A pony named Sea Breeze asked for you. I’m afraid that her case is one of the serious ones, and she volunteered to stay here last night so that others could return to Baltimare.” Both stallions could hear the breath catch firmly in her throat. They hadn’t been given a chance to meet yet, and now it was under very grim circumstances. “How long?” There was no definitive answer from the doctor, who could only look back at her with an expression of uncertainty. Following that, he led the pair through to the bedside of the blue pegasus mare. Both watched from a few steps back while Dr Fayze carefully woke her from a sleep of weakness. It was another trauma for Spring Heart, seeing a beautifully healthy mare become so sick in a matter of days. “Hey, you’re Spring Heart... right?” Her voice was incredible. Even in her condition, it had a soothing and peaceful nature about it. “Tea Tree came by last night, offered me a place on one of the carts back to Baltimare. But I barely got here anyway, so he told me about you instead.” Tears emerged from green eyes, rolling down Spring’s face. “Oh come on, Dr Fayze says I’ve still got some time, and I’m awake too. You don’t want to keep a dying mare waiting on conversation, do you?” She fumbled for the nearby chair, almost missing it when attempting to sit down. “Until now, I didn’t really have any interest in ponies in the romantic sense. But, I might as well make the most of things, while I can...” Day 7. Their conversation went well into the late evening. And even then, Spring Heart didn’t leave the side of Sea Breeze, opting to stay with her for as long as she had. Tea Tree didn’t question nor deter her from that decision. Instead, he spent the rest of the day assisting Dr Fazye where possible. With the clinic overflowing, many ponies were taken to Town Hall instead. It was a situation that they knew couldn’t possibly end well. By the next day, Town hall was full as well. Only a handful of residents could even stand, and fewer still could do anything to help the sick. He had collapsed out of sheer exhaustion in the chair near his window around the time that shared the name of the town. When morning broke over his face, the turn of events that they had all feared quickly made itself known to him. While he slept, the population count of their town had begun to drop, rapidly. It was clear enough in the expressions of the few ponies that wandered around in despair. And it brought great guilt to him. As of yet, he had still evaded the toxic bite that was now claiming pony lives in its wake. Somewhere in the middle of pondering the demise of his beloved town, a shallow knock at the door caught his attention. Tea Tree didn’t rush to answer however. In fact, he took a long time to find the emotional strength to pull himself away from the window. The knocking began to grow more desperate as he approached, finally cumulating to Spring Heart stumbling forward into his grasp. Tears were flowing this time when she held him tightly in anguish. He quickly realized that it was not just because of the appearance of bite marks on her neck. “I’m so sorry. This should never have happened, especially not to you two. I would have taken her place if there was ever a choice.” Only a week ago, they had been joking about how his batch of tea had become repulsive, and how Tumble Flower could get on the nerves of even the most patient pony in town. “I have to go help Dr Fayze, he’s been under a huge strain, and we need him. Try to sleep, and keep fighting whatever the bite is doing.” When he attempted to move, he found that she was still firmly holding him. For that long moment, he waited instead, letting her cry freely. * -Seven Thousand Steps- The amount of figures beneath white sheets was disturbing beyond anything Tea Tree had seen before. Such loss of life was beyond the comprehension of any pony he knew. Things like that weren’t supposed to happen in a land of magic and purity like Equestria, yet he saw the evidence of such right before his eyes. While he made his way through the clinic, all he could hear was the crying of little foals, and the desperate attempt of mothers to reassure them that things would work out. It caused him even more pain that he had to conceal for the good of everypony. Dr Fayze looked truly terrible. Bloodshot eyes, twisted mane, even his voice had suffered greatly. Every nurse had symptoms, and yet they continued to persevere as he did. “Try this compound instead. At this point, if it buys them a few more hours of peace, I’d say that’s a success.” His expression shifted upon seeing the gardener in the doorway. “I performed another round of blood tests this morning...” The hoof that reached for a clipboard was shaking almost violently. “Did you find anything that could be causing this? A virus, bacteria, or a parasite? ” Tea Tree pulled up a chair beside him, surprised to see the head shake in response. “Well, what then? Is this connected to the plants after all, and the bite marks are just coincidental?” Again, he received a silent ‘no’ as the answer. The clipboard fell flat onto the table when the doctor struggled to grab it. His magic was probably exhausted altogether. “It wasn’t what I found in the blood tests... It was the blood tests themselves.” He motioned his hoof around the room of sick patients. “When I did the first round of tests, I didn’t notice a pattern. But this time, it was harder to extract the right amount of blood from ponies with severe symptoms, critical patients being the worst...” His heartbeat began to increase. Surely, it was because of the fact that their bodies were trying to retain heat to fight off an infection that their blood was becoming harder to extract. “These bites are not transmitting a disease. They are drawing the very blood out of Midnight.” Down towards the other side of the room, one of the patients went into violent convulsions. His pale skin began to take on a sickly green colour, the jaw deforming into a more bat-like mouth. When he jerked up, two stick-like limbs shot out from his shoulder blades, torn leathery surfaces forming wings. The blue eyes with grey whites quickly turned amber. When it turned to look at the two stallions at the other side of the room, a look of pure, malicious hunger formed. “Get out!” Dr Fayze used the last remaining strength in his body to shove Tea Tree through the door and slam it shut. In the moment of panic, he had only seen the mutated pony charge right for them in an animal-like rage. Loud thuds mixed with weak screams as unimaginable horrors passed beyond the safety of the door. There was nothing that the gardener could do to save his friend from a terrible demise. The only other option remaining... was to run. In less than a minute, the door to his tool shed had been kicked in, soon after which he stormed out with a pair of pitchforks. Spring had made her way back down the stairs at that point, only to be greeted by the handle of the second tool he had brought. “Tea, what’s going on? Why are you waving a pitchfork in my face?” She jerked back in surprise when he took his turn to hold her tightly. For once, his ever-calm face was wrought with fear. “I just saw a pony transform into a monster before my eyes, right after Dr Fayze said that something was sucking blood out of everypony in Midnight. At any moment, this town is going to be overrun with monsters. The bite was carrying a disease after all.” When he released her and offered up the pitchfork once more, she hesitantly took it. It was a huge shock to process, only made worse by the fact that he seemed to imply they would use the tools as weapons. Against other ponies. “I won’t let them hurt you. Not after what they did to Sea Breeze.” The light from outside began to grow dark. Both rushed to the window in time to see thick black clouds sweep over the town in a chilling wave. Something very dark and evil was overtaking their town. Why Princess Celestia and Luna weren’t there to combat it, neither could possibly fathom. It only added to their sense of being alone in the coming darkness. The town of Midnight, darker than the time it was named after. Both glanced at each other when the voice faded away as suddenly as it had appeared. They didn’t need to speak to work out that they had both heard it. “Come on, stay close!” With little concern for the damage done to his front door, Tea Tree kicked it open and galloped right for the nearest walkway into the swamp. Spring Heart followed behind desperately in her struggle against the growing dizziness in her head. Behind them, what remained of Midnight screamed in terror as the darkness blotted out the sun altogether. It only grew worse as monsters emerged from Town Hall and the clinic, gradually silencing the few survivors. The empty cart paled in comparison to what was happening as the pair fled. They didn’t get too far before something caused Spring to trip. She barely had time to call out to him before things concealed in the darkness dragged her out of sight. Her pitchfork hit the walkway after she was gone. Tea Tree was left there, alone, armed with only a pitchfork against the darkness that crawled towards him. “Show yourselves you monsters! Are you afraid of a gardener!?” “Of course not, you fool.” A bolt of blood red magic hit his horn, shearing it clean off his head. He collapsed to the walkway in extreme pain while magic seeped from the wound. “We have plans for your pathetic excuse of a love. But you, your blood is very sweet. And I am very hungry...” In the last moments, he only saw a pair of red eyes, surrounded in glowing amber. Below them sat two long, white fangs, protruding from the mouth of a pony with terrorizing beauty. Black closed in, shielding his eyes from the moment that the pony of darkness took hold of his neck with her jaws.