Alucard didn't know where to go now. He wandered the town, his hastily sewn-together pants a stark contrast to his eons old shirt. His belly was full, and the sun was making him drowsy now that it wasn't burning him. Even if he could no longer be hurt by it, he was still a nocturnal creature by nature. His body was whispering in his ear to sleep, and awaken only when the moon rose.
“HELLO!” A voice yelled by his ear, scaring him out of his groggy state. He whipped his hand around and grabbed whatever had just destroyed his eardrum right out of the air. He looked at it and saw that it was that pink pony he had met at the castle. She was trying to talk around his hand, but was having no luck.
Alucard dropped her head and she landed in a heap. Quicker than even Pinkie Pie could start talking, he was gone. He went from holding her head to walking away and moving down a side street faster than she could get out the first word.
As Alucard shook himself of that little encounter, he moved out onto another wide road. Pinkie Pie was searching for him not far away, but he was confident he gave her the slip. He looked up and spied a large tree with windows and two small balconies. Out in front of it, there was a sign that showed only a picture of a book.
He gave a small exhale and walked up to it. If he was correct, this was the town library. ‘What else is there to do?’ Pushing open the door, two purple figures looked up in shock. It was Twilight Sparkle and some other creature. It looked like a little, pudgy dragon with no wings.
“I would tell you to come in but you already have.” Twilight said with a nervous smile, but there was a hint of steel in her eyes.
“Is this a public establishment?” Alucard challenged her back. She nodded at him, confused on where he was going with that statement. “Then why would I knock? Are you selective about who can read your books?”
Twilight’s jaw dropped. She gaped at him as he began to move around the room and trace his fingers on the spines of her books.
“Hey, you can’t—“ the dragon spoke up, but he was halted by Twilight. She just shook her head at her small charge.
“Let me handle this, Spike.” She whispered. Louder this time, “Spike, this is Prince Alucard. He's new around here.”
“What's he a prince of?” Spike asked with curiosity. He was still a little hot about Twilight being talked down to, but he would put that behind him. He was a big dragon and had to act like it.
Twilight opened her mouth, but halted when she realized she didn't know. She turned her head to Alucard and was about to ask when the strange being spoke.
“My father was King of the Vampires, and the Prince of Darkness.” He spoke without a wit of interest in his voice. He didn't even look at them when he said it, just kept on moving methodically down the bookshelves.
Both Twilight and Spike choked at Alucard’s words. ‘Prince of Darkness? That doesn’t sound friendly!’
The older of the pair questioned him, “Darkness, you say? Could you, uh, tell me about him?” Twilight hedged around it. She didn't want to upset Alucard, but she had to know about whether or not he was a threat. He had a temper, she had seen it for herself. But that didn't make him evil… Or so she hoped.
Alucard, himself, contemplated her question. His hand halted from tracing its path down the books. What could he say about Dracula without garnering the hatred of this peaceful species? It would be inconvenient if they came after him for deeds so far in the past, even if he was complicit in some of the evil acts.
But he was in a relatively good mood, blood still sloshing around pleasantly in his stomach. So he would humor the poor thing. “What would you like to know, Lady Twilight?”
“Well…” Twilight was expecting a rebuke for trying to pry, and hadn't prepared a question. But she wouldn't pass this chance up. “What was he like to you?”
“He was a loving father to me and a good husband to my mother. He treated those under him with respect.”
She felt relieved at his words, but it didn't last. Alucard continued, “But make no mistake, he was a monster at his core. When all was stripped of him, he lashed out violently. He was a creature of Chaos, and the touch of his hand was poisonous.”
Twilight swallowed and felt herself beginning to sweat. This was Alucard’s father? “You keep saying ‘was’… What happened to him?”
The Prince’s profile looked thoughtful as he said quietly, “There was once a holy book among the species known as humans. One passage said, ‘Those who live by the sword, die by it.’”
Twilight looked down at the floor, then remembered something. “Your wisdom is pretty dark. ‘An eye for an eye’…”
“That was from the same book. My father was fond of it and read it when he thought no one was looking. I think it reminded him of something, but I do not know what. I picked up my own copy sometime after his death and read it quite frequently. Humans thought vampires were abominations and should all be killed. I find it a little ironic that he was fond of a book written by his hated enemy.”
Twilight was sweating buckets, but chilled to the bone. This conversation was a little much for her innocent mind. Hatred and death were dark subjects never talked about in a pony’s day to day life. Violence and the thought of murder… Just where was Alucard from?
“Prince Alucard… How far away is your homeland?” She looked up at him and met his eye. He gave a small smile to her but it was gone in a flash.
“Do not worry, Lady Twilight, you have nothing to fear from humans or vampires. They are all far, far away from this place.” He looked down and saw the little dragon clinging to her leg with wide eyes. It was positively tiny compared to him. Dragons could become huge, so this one was probably a baby.
Twilight and Spike breathed sighs of relief. She decided to move on to other topics. “Can you tell me about where you were from?”
Alucard had a feeling he would never find a book at this rate, so he decided to end their conversation. “Not now. I tire of talking.”
Twilight was both disappointed that she couldn't learn more, and a little relieved that she didn't have to listen to his disturbing life. She was broke from her thoughts when he asked, “Is there somewhere that is completely black? A basement? A tomb, perhaps?”
“A tomb?! What do you want to do in a tomb?!” She yelled in confusion and horror.
“Sleep, of course. I can only sleep where it is completely dark and silent.” He was a little bemused by her obvious disgust of him sleeping in a tomb. ‘What is it they used to say? Don't knock it till you try it?’
“You aren't sleeping in a tomb! We have a basement, but you shouldn't even sleep there either! And why do you need to sleep anyway? It's the middle of the day!” She shouted at him, her voice going high-pitched in her horror. She could just see it now: NEW HEADLINE. STRANGE CREATURE FOUND HAUNTING THE FAMILY CRYPTS. Panic would spread like wildfire.
“Because I am nocturnal.”
“Oh. Well. I'm sure we can find somewhere that isn't full of corpses.” She would just use her considerable brain power to figure out where he could sleep.
“Do not worry. I can dig a hole in the ground.” He was getting more and more exhausted as he spoke.
His words only made her even more horrified. “First, you want to sleep with corpses. Now, you want to be one!”
“I will not die. Air is no problem for me. I do not need to breathe.” With that conundrum of a statement, he began walking outside.
“Don’t… Need to breathe?! Of course, you need to breathe! Everything does!” Twilight chased after him, and saw him by the roots of the tree sinking his claws into the ground like butter. He was throwing huge clumps of dirt behind him.
“Not me.” He turned toward her sputtering face. “I told you my father was a creature of Chaos. He was not alive the same way you are, and neither am I.”
“But—but—but—“ Her mind was boggling, and her heart was racing. ‘He DID say that…’
“Twilight, over here!” Spike called her. When she trotted over to him, he held a piece of parchment for her. “Why don't you write a letter to the Princess about everything you learned? I'm sure she'll know what to do! Don't worry about that guy. If he starts dying under the ground, he'll probably just bust right out. He doesn't seem the type to kick it from taking a nap, no matter how bizarre the bed.”
Twilight looked over her shoulder, and saw that Alucard had successfully excavated himself a hole and was laying in it. He started piling the dirt back onto himself, starting with his legs.
“I guess… Take a note, Spike!” He whipped out a quill, already inked. “Dear Princess Celestia…”
Completely covered in the earth, Alucard let the weight of it push out the air in his lungs. He relaxed quickly, and slipped into a light snooze.