//------------------------------// // Chapter 5, Awakening // Story: Darkness Rising // by SkyHighFlyer //------------------------------// Fluttershy was content, she had been having a relaxing dream in which she and Rainbow had been racing. It was her first good dream in what felt like a long time. Alas, even the greatest things must come to an end, and the dream faded as the waking world flooded her mind. At first she thought she saw Twilight as she groggily opened her eyes, but as she quickly became more aware of her surroundings she realized that Twilight really was next to her. Fluttershy wasn’t hard to scare, and waking in bed next to the mare that not long ago was going to kill her, naturally frightened her more than anything else. Despite the vague memory of talking to Twilight sometime between then and now, she followed the first instinct to come to mind, push Twilight away and run. In hindsight, that wasn’t the most intelligent thing she had ever done. In her panic she failed to remember that she had a bed designed for one pony, and she had slightly less space than she first anticipated. She slipped off the edge of the bed and got wrapped in the blankets in the process. At first she began struggling, hoping that Twilight noticed nothing, then Twilight poked her head over the bed. By this point Fluttershy had managed to wrap herself so tightly that she could barely move. She looked up at Twilight who was half attempting to control her laughter. Giving herself a moment to calm down, Fluttershy tried to remember what her and Twilight had talked about last time they had spoken. She vaguely remembered something about her being a vampire and Twilight apologizing about something. “Um, the floor isn't really the best place to nap you know, perhaps you should get back on the bed before falling asleep?” Twilight said, breaking Fluttershy out of her thoughts. Before Twilight mentioned anything Fluttershy hadn't even realized that she had been dosing off. She tried to stand up until she realized she was still trapped in the cocoon of blankets she had inadvertently created. Sheepishly, she looked up at Twilight and asked, “Do you think you could maybe... help me out of this if it isn't to much trouble?” This time Twilight didn't even try to contain her laughter. After a moment to calm down she lit up her horn to help sort out the mess of blankets, although until she got started neither of them had actually realized how badly tangled Fluttershy was. Several minutes later and Fluttershy was finally free of her bindings. Hopping up onto the bed she asked,”Twilight, did you say something about me being a vampire last night?” Twilight's happy demeanor quickly turned grim, “Yes Fluttershy, you are.” She said simply, failing to hide her growing guilt behind an act of seriousness and leadership. Fluttershy let out a quiet yawn, “I’m not mad at you, I just want to know the truth.” It hit Twilight like a brick that she hadn’t prepared for this at all. Spending almost a week by Fluttershy’s side, she hadn’t even pondered that she would need training. Even worse, she hadn’t even realized her own need to supply a food source her herself, let alone another vampire who didn’t even have any idea what she was doing. Within seconds of this realization she was struck by even more. Fluttershy would need books, and a safe, out of the way place to train. “Um… Twilight, are you okay, if you don’t mind me asking? You’re kind of just staring into space.” Twilight blinked away her panic and looked at Fluttershy, “Right, do you think you’ll be alright by yourself for a bit?” Fluttershy replied with a hesitant nod, “Great, if anypony comes by, just tell them you aren’t feeling well. I told anypony who asked that you were sick, so just go along with that story. I’ll be back in a few hours, just try to get some rest.” She kissed Fluttershy on the forehead and in just that one moment Fluttershy was at peace. She almost wanted to beg Twilight to stay, but not a second later she ran off out the door, leaving Fluttershy alone again. If anything Fluttershy felt only a bit bored. ----- When Twilight arrived at the library, she was immediately tackled by a small dragon. “Twilight I was so worried w-when you didn’t c-come home... please n-never leave me a-alone like that ever a-again.” Spike said, breaking into tears as Twilight returned his welcome as best she could. After a moment she got up and reluctantly initiated a moderately awkward conversation, “Actually, I’m only going to be here for a bit, I just need to pick a few things up before I go back to Fluttershy’s place, although if you need anything you can ask Rarity.” Spike’s face lifted immensely when he heard Rarity’s name. Mentioning Rarity often worked well to calm Spike when he was disappointed or angry, and Twilight had previously noted that it worked well when she needed something done and Spike was distracting her. With a few more reassurances, Twilight made her way upstairs. Retrieving her saddlebags from the closet, she retrieved the wooden box and examined it. It had faint claw and burn marks on it. Spike had obviously tried to open it and then attempted to cover up the damage unsuccessfully. She retrieved it and put it in her bag. Next Twilight moved on to her desk. Opening the drawer, she retrieved several bottles of ink, as well as quills and parchment. She moved downstairs and said her goodbyes to Spike, and walked out into the cool, crisp autumn air. It felt good, but that wonderful moment didn’t last long. She had work to do, and very little time to do it, so she left. ----- Fluttershy couldn’t rest. She would toss and turn, trying to get comfortable. She wanted to get some rest as Twilight had requested of her, but the best she could get over nearly an hour was occasionally drifting in and out of consciousness. When Twilight returned, Fluttershy stopped struggling to rest and said, “Please don’t be mad at me, I tried to sleep, just like you asked.” Twilight did her best to remain professional, despite the fact that she was falling apart inside. Laying a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder to calm her, twilight said, “Its fine, I wasn’t really expecting you to actually be able to rest, but it was worth a try.” “Twilight, why didn’t you tell us the truth? You know we love you for who you are, and no matter what happens that will never change. Why didn’t you trust us?” Fluttershy asked. That was all that was needed. Twilight collapsed into Fluttershy’s embrace, sobbing, finally letting out the years of pent up anger and sadness “I never wanted to lie to you. You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to tell you, to trust you, all of you with my life. I’ve lived a lie my entire life, how do I come out with the truth now? Even if I trust you all with my life, how am I supposed to come out with a truth that I’ve buried from everypony to protect myself.” Twilight sobbed, letting go of all the inhibitions she had about the topic and speaking openly for the first time in her entire life, with the one pony she trusted completely. Fluttershy simply sat there, stroking her friend’s mane and whispering gentle comforts into her ear. After what felt like hours of letting herself go, Twilight stood up. She looked an absolute mess, tearstains matting her face and fresh tears streaming from her eyes. Despite this, she was smiling, “Thank you Fluttershy, you have no idea how much it means to me just to talk about this.” “I love you Twilight, I love you and I’ll always love you for who you are. No matter what you do, you’re a good mare at heart, and I’ll always be here for you.” Twilight wanted to just stay and talk with her friend for as long as she could, but she decided against it. She needed to train Fluttershy and she still needed time to prepare for it. She tried to approach the topic gently, “So, I have a few books I think you should read. Just some things to know before we start your training.” “Training?” Fluttershy asked curiously as Twilight began pulling books out of the wooden box she brought back with her. Twilight replied as she began to pile several books next to Fluttershy, “I don’t want you to get confused or hurt, but I also don’t want to ruin the fun of practicing and learning these things for yourself, so were just going to go over some of the simple and important things. For example, hiding your appearance and controlling your strengths and senses, and then maybe the basics of feeding and hunting.” Fluttershy was intrigued up until Twilight mentioned feeding and hunting. Meekly she asked, “Feeding and hunting?” Continuing to look through the collection of books she had, Twilight answered, “Of course, you can’t expect to keep living off ordinary food, you need blood,” she paused for a moment, “I’m not going to lie to you, stories of vampires draining their victims entirely of blood aren’t entirely inaccurate. It used to be quite common to find a body drained of blood in a forest or somewhere else out of the way. Some ponies were even afraid to marry or have foals because they feared that the guard would show up on their doorstep one day to tell them that they were dead. Of course that was well over a thousand years ago, and since then our population has decreased to the point that we can’t risk openly killing anymore, not that any of us even want to.” “How many are left?” Fluttershy asked after hearing her friend express concern over the decrease of population, though she already knew the answer partially considering that vampires had gone from a force that was greatly feared by everypony to a mere legend. Nothing however, could prepare Fluttershy for Twilights answer. “Counting you and me, eleven.” Fluttershy was about to ask how it got to that point, but Twilight somehow anticipated her question and continued, “As for how it got to that point, there were a lot killed by vampire hunters, and a few because of other incidents, but most of them were killed by Celestia.” Twilight sighed, “Fluttershy, there is a reason why I’ve never told anypony about what I am. Celestia would kill me on sight if she knew what I was, and even if she didn’t I’d still be arrested and executed. Considering that I’m… considering that I’m our race’s last leader, I couldn’t take that risk, even though I trust you girls.” “It’s okay Twilight, but if you don’t mind, could we talk more later?” Twilight simply smiled and gave Fluttershy a book, “Read this, I’ll be back just before morning.” Before Fluttershy could say anything, Twilight leaned over and gave her a little kiss on the cheek, before bolting, leaving a very embarrassed Fluttershy all alone. Fluttershy looked at the book titled ‘A Guide for a Recently Turned Fledgling’. With nothing better to do she turned the first page and began reading.