Chapter 3: O Brave New World
Twilight Sparkle woke up in softness, and still tired. She mumbled something unintelligible, and turned over. When she did, she felt a small, somewhat hard form in bed with her. She grumbled a vague statement to the point of how putting rocks in beds was a bad idea, and then opened her eyes. It was very dark out, but Twilight knew how to fix that. She channeled power through her horn, and it lit up, illuminating what looked like a bedroom. There were windows, but they had been completely covered up and no light shone through them.
Twilight looked at the sleeping form next to her, which turned out to be Spike. She cooed at how cute he looked asleep, and then a thought wormed its way through her groggy brain:
“Hey... wait a second, didn't I go to sleep under a bush outside?”
At that point, Twilight realized that something was very wrong, and it woke her up like a bucket of ice water to the face. She let out a short yelp of surprise, and then intensified the glow from her horn, and looking at her surroundings. She was in quite a nice little room, neat, cozy, and not the least bit dusty. There was a candle and some matches (the kind designed for earth ponies and pegasi) beside the bed. Her pack was on the floor by the opposite wall. It didn't appear to have been disturbed, although her Sun Shuriken were missing. She telekinetically opened up the pack, wiggled out the knife she'd put there just in case, and floated it back towards her. She took it out of its sheath and studied it critically. It appeared to retain its edge, and Twilight knew that the enchantments on it had not been disturbed. It would do its job until she could regain her other ones.
She then turned back to Spike, and gently shook him to wake him up. It didn't really work. Spike sleepily waved his arm above him to signal that he wanted a little more nap time, and then went back to sleep, having accidentally bopped Twilight on the nose. Twilight sighed, shook her head, and then noticed the sound of the door opening.
She jumped in surprise, whirled around, and sent the knife hurtling on its way, as she usually did when she was taken by surprise.
The knife missed. It swished through the air and embedded itself in the wall behind the door. The pony who it had been aimed at (roughly), had gasped and stumbled back the instant the instant she saw Twilight holding the knife, which had probably saved her. She was now cowering and trembling by the wall.
Twilight was confused. That wasn't how vampires acted. They were mindless, heedless of danger (if they had any sense of self-preservation at all, she would have had many unbothered years back in Canterlot). No matter how well-armed she was, they would hiss and rush at her.
But this one wasn't doing that. It appeared to be frozen in fear, and as Twilight got nearer, the pink-maned yellow pegasus whimpered:
“Pl-pl-please don't hurt me!”
This was even more confusing. Vampires didn't talk. She decided to see this thing through. She told the pegasus:
“I'm not going to hurt you. You just startled me.”
The vampire didn't look at all convinced. Smart mare. Twilight decided to give another gesture of confidence- she yanked the knife out of where it had stuck and tossed it down the hall. She then asked the mare:
“Are you the one who brought me up here?”
The pony silently nodded.
That meant that she had been at this pony's mercy for what was probably hours (Twilight knew she shouldn't have fallen asleep!) and yet nothing had happened. Had this happened back in Canterlot, Twilight would be taking a ride on the express that only went one way.
Just what in Tartarus was going on here? What was she missing? She asked the pony:
“What's your name?”
The reply was too soft to hear. Twilight told her: “Speak up, please. I couldn't hear you.”
The mare's reply was only marginally louder, but Twilight could make out: “F-Fluttershy.”
Twilight was about to ask her something, but she was interrupted by yet another pony, this one a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane, and a candle-holder (complete with lit candle) held in her mouth. She placed the candle-holder on the floor, and glared at Twilight. She asked:
“And just what do you think you're doing?”
Twilight quickly backpedaled. She didn't want a fight until she could figure out what was going on, and that pegasus looked like she would attempt to beat the crap out of Twilight if anything untoward happened, and Twilight didn't want to vaporize anyone who could be friendly.
Indeed, she didn't really want to vaporize anyone at all. Despite Twilight's best efforts to ignore it and concentrate on the issue at hand, a thought was worming its way into Twilight's mind:
“What if all the vampires I killed in Canterlot were sentient too?”
She tried not to show it, but she was beginning to panic.
“I'm not a murderer! Not a murderer, not a murderer, not a murderer...”
While Twilight was thus distracted, Fluttershy answered: “I found her sleeping under a bush. She looked kinda bad, and her leg was really hurt. I took her in and put her in the spare bed. She was sleeping until recently. I was just going to check on her.”
Twilight was still in the process of panicking, with memories of her past kills, now in a far worse light than simple survival, flashing before her eyes, when the blue pegasus (Twilight's useless-detail-oriented side noted that the color was more like cyan) noticed her and asked:
“So, Purple Pony, where are you from?”
Twilight told herself: “Question. Focus on the question. Leave the rest for later.”
She then told the blue pony: “Actually, I'm lavender, and I'm from Canterlot. I've lived there my whole life.”
The blue pegasus gave Twilight a strange look. She said: “Um, you couldn't have.”
Okay, that was confusing. “What do you mean, I couldn't have?”
After all, she had done it. How hard could it be?
… Well, for a vampire at least.
“No! It's not like that! I'm not a murderer!”
The blue pegasus sighed in exasperation and told her: “Okay, Lavender Unicorn, the thingy that turned all ponies into vampires drove all the ponies from Canterlot insane. They're pretty much mindless now. So, if you lived all your life in Canterlot, then you wouldn't be here talking to us. You'd be hissing and wandering aimlessly.”
“I'm not a murderer. Not a murderer. Not a … wait, I'm not?”
Twilight was taken aback. Canterlot vampires were non-sentient? Then she hadn't been killing ponies! She wasn't a murderer! Of course, now she had to explain to the blue pegasus why she hadn't been caught by the Event, but that was comparatively small potatoes. She could lie easily. Twilight could handle being a liar. She couldn't handle being a murderer.
“I wasn't in town when the Event happened. I was... out with my brother.”
Of course, what had actually happened was that Shining Armor had been out of town without her. A ray of hope entered Twilight's mind after she reminded herself of Shining- he had been outside Canterlot. He wouldn't have been caught! She would still have her B.B.B.F.F!
Assuming, of course, she could get word to him that she was still alive. But again, small potatoes. Where there's life, there's hope. And now Twilight knew that she and her brother were both alive. That was good.
For the first time in ten years, Twilight Sparkle felt that her life was looking up.
Of course, she had gotten used to her life in Canterlot, and she had even managed to forget about her lost Big Brother Best Friend Forever. But it had never really changed. There were small happinesses, and small pains, but most of all, it had been routine. Wake up, procure food, hunt vampires, read in any spare time, defend that day's safe house from vampires all night. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Now, though, her life was going through big changes. She could have her big brother back. She could have friends.
It was rather ironic for Twilight Sparkle of all ponies to be saying that, but ten years starved of any pony companionship had changed her. It was all well and good to say 'The fate of Equestria does not depend on my making friends” when you had parents who were always there for you, a brother you played with whenever you both had time, and a mentor who was always ready for some lighthearted pranks.
Tartarus, when Twilight Sparkle had had all of these things, she had been rather an antisocial stick-in-the-mud, disregarding much of what they could give her in favor of studying.
She hadn't known what she'd been missing. Ten years with only one other living being for companionship had taught her the true value of ponies. She'd often reflected on how ironic it was, that she had only started really appreciating other ponies as ponies at a time when she was stabbing everypony she met to death on general principles.
And now she had a chance to change. A chance to leave the blood and ashes of Canterlot behind her. A brave new world was before her, and she was going to run towards it at top speed (which, because she'd gotten a lot of practice, was actually pretty fast). She could live in peace and actual society. Perhaps Ponyville had a library she could frequent.
The blue pony reached out and tapped Twilight on the shoulder, startling her. The pegasus asked:
“Earth to Stranger?”
When she was sure she had Twilight's full attention, the pony continued: “What's your name, and why are you here?”
Well, she probably couldn't tell that pony the complete story. “My name is Twilight Sparkle, and well, I couldn't stay in Canterlot after... well, that. I've moved around a lot. Here is just the most recent place.”
Fluttershy seemed shocked. She said:
“But wait... that was about ten years ago.”
Twilight nodded.
“And you've been homeless ever since then.”
That earned another nod. Twilight explained: “The knife was for self-protection. There's a lot of nasty things roaming wild in Canterlot and the surrounding area, and some of them like to give ponyflesh a try. That's also why I threw the knife- I was already on edge because of the different surroundings and you startled me. It was entirely reflexive, and I'm really sorry.”
This was only partially a lie. There were indeed wild and dangerous animals and magical creatures, and she had met some, but they were a relatively rare occurrence, and most had learned to fear her after a while. Her day-to-day enemies were Canterlot vampires.
The yellow pegasus gasped softly.
“Oh,”
The blue pegasus looked at her askance.
“Um, Fluttershy?” she aksed, “Wasn't this the pony who looked like she was threatening you a moment ago?”
Before Fluttershy could reply, Twilight defended herself:
“I didn't mean it. Fluttershy just scared me. I'm sorry about it already.”
Fluttershy told the other pony: “She's been alone since she was a filly, Rainbow Dash. She deserves a little kindness. Also, Dash, if she does turn out to be hostile, I trust that you can protect me.”
Twilight thought that that line was quite heartwarming, and it increased her will to not harm Fluttershy The blue pegasus, who was apparently named Rainbow Dash, didn't look like she was convinced, but she said:
“Okay. I'll stand by you, Fluttershy. But, Twilight Sparkle, if you ever do anything to hurt her, you'll be in the hospital before you can say 'to the moon'.”
Twilight nodded. If it came to that, she was pretty sure that Rainbow Dash couldn't hurt her that badly before Twilight could kill Dash. But it wouldn't come to that. Twilight would make sure of it. She wouldn't be a murderer. She wouldn't. Ever. She didn't kill ponies. Sure, she defended herself, and sure she killed Canterlot vampires, but those were different.
They had to be.
Rainbow Dash appeared to be moderately satisfied by Twilight's nod. At least, she relaxed a little, and yawned. She grumbled:
“Ahh, I'm tired. We really shouldn't be up this time of day. Fluttershy, you don't mind if I stay on the couch, do you?”
Fluttershy replied: “I don't mind at all. I have some spare blankets that I can give to you, if you want them.”
Rainbow shook her head and said: “Nah. It's too near the solstice. It's hot enough already without adding blankets to the problem.”
Fluttershy replied: “Ah. Okay, then.”
She turned to Twilight, an almost apologetic look in her eyes, and told Twilight: “I'll be going to bed too. My room is just down the hall to your right- wake me up if you need anything. The bathroom is the next door on your left.”
She gave an adorably shy smile, and then turned away and left for bed. Rainbow Dash, too, retreated, leaving Twilight alone with her thoughts once again. After the companionship, for the first time in ten years, it felt strange to be alone. Twilight thought that it was strange that she thought it strange, after she had been so often alone growing up. Things were changing.
Twilight returned to her own room, mind still working on accepting that situation. A stirring from under the covers reminded her of someone who she'd forgotten about in the whirl of new information that was her conversation with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash: Spike.
Her erstwhile companion for her time in Canterlot and her most trusted assistant/confidant/friend (and in fact her only assistant, confidant, and friend). Someone who'd stood by her side for all of that time, and killed vampires alongside her.
He deserved to know this, but how to tell him? Should she just drop the bomb on him, or should she be more tactful? How could she be more tactful? After 10 years with only one companion, tact was pretty much a foreign language to Twilight.
He quickened her decision by stirring on his own and getting up. Once the last residue of sleep had been cleared from his brain, he too noticed what Twilight had: This was not the bed that he had gone to sleep in. He, like Twilight, immediately sprung to full wakefulness. Spike noticed that Twilight was already up and asked her:
“Twilight... what happened? How'd we get here?”
Oh well, so much for whatever half-baked plans she'd managed to formulate. Time to wing it. She told her dragon companion:
“Um... a vampire found us and brought us up here.”
Spike gave her one of his patented are-you-quite-sure-you-haven't-been-hitting-the-funny-mushrooms-again looks (Twilight was never going to live that one time down. She really was grateful she had Spike as a companion, and never more than then, but why oh why couldn't he just let that incident fade?). That was the expected reaction. Had Twilight been in his place, she would have done just that. So, if she was in Spike's place, what would convince her that she had been wrong and that some vampires were actually good?
Twilight considered what to say, and eventually said: “Well, how else would we get here? Also, if I had been the one to take us here, don't you think that I'd have brought my knives and Sun Shuriken?”
Spike considered what she said. His expression was thoughtful. Twilight decided to press her advantage. She continued:
“I was as surprised as you are now, once I figured it out. I mean, what kind of vampire would just move me to a nicer bed when I'd given them a perfect opportunity to get to me? I got my emergency knife from my pack, and when I was surprised by someone, I reflexively threw the knife at whoever it was.”
Here, Twilight paused for a moment, to see if Spike was taking the whole story in. When it was clear that he was, she continued:
“When my mind caught up to what I'd done, I noticed that the knife had embedded itself into the wall, right above a yellow pegasus with a long pink mane who was cowering in fear. I thought that that was strange, since vampires aren't smart enough to understand fear.”
Twilight paused again, this time to catch her breath. Spike was obviously interested. This story was fantastic and unbelievable, but Twilight and Spike were friends and companions of ten years. They didn't lie to each other, and Spike was pretty sure that Twilight wouldn't want to start right then. Well, he hoped she wouldn't, at least. When Twilight had her breath back, she continued:
“I was even more confused when she begged me not to harm her, because vampires don't talk. I decided to talk this through, and threw the knife away. I asked her for her name, and it took a few tries before I could hear her response. She was whispering it, because she was scared. A vampire, scared. I was confused, and I was going to inquire further, and then another vampire showed up. She threatened me, but the first vampire- whose name is Fluttershy, by the way- spoke up to defend me. She wanted the other vampire, Rainbow Dash, to give me an extra chance. I think she pitied me, because I told her that I had lived alone in Canterlot- except for you, of course.”
Spike took it all in, and asked the obvious question: “So these vampires are sentient?”
Twilight nodded.
Spike continued that train of thought with the same question Twilight had asked herself: “Does that mean that the Canterlot vampires were also sentient?”
Twilight swiftly answered: “No! No they aren't. They were driven mindless by the Event. It's okay. We weren't really killing anypony. We weren't at all.”
Spike hid his skepticism of that response. Twilight needed to be able to calm down. She didn't need any questions about her mental state. Spike reminded himself that, while he had been a young dragon and remembered very little of the Event, Twilight had been older and remembered too much.
Twilight continued:
“Anyway, we've got a chance for a normal life now, so let's play it safe. Fluttershy seems very nice, and she's letting me stay here for the moment.”
Twilight unconsciously tensed, waiting for Spike's all-important response to their new situation. She had accepted it, but she didn't know what he might think, and she didn't want to live a new life without Spike.
Spike considered Twilight's words, and what they implied. He really had no idea how this was to work out. It was a situation he had never been in before. Twilight had, but Spike had his doubts about her mental stability. Spike considered the dilemma for a bit before deciding that the pros of their new situations outweighed the cons, and that he could stop Twilight if she went off on a murdering spree.
Spike hoped that that wouldn't be necessary, of course. One of the largest draws of their new situation was the potential for rest, both of the body and of the mind, and if all went well, then perhaps both he and Twilight could relax, and push the parts of themselves geared for violence out of the fore, and find peace.
With the decision made, Spike nodded to show his understanding and his implicit consent to the new change in their lifestyle. Twilight relaxed, and smiled happily. Everything was going according to the new plan. There was just one more step in it that they could do immediately. Twilight told Spike:
“Well, we're going to need a little more sleep if we're going to keep a vampire schedule, so let's go to bed for a little more.”
Spike nodded, and with that matter settled, Twilight turned back to the bed and snuggled in, with Spike climbing in after her and making himself comfortable on the other side of the bed. Spike went to sleep quickly, but it took a while for Twilight, with her mind occupied as it was with all the new possibilities of this new world. She spent quite a lot of time staring at the candle beside her bed and dwelling on the kindness of the pony who put it there before she finally managed to calm herself enough to go to sleep.
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Wow! I was not expecting to see another update to this!
I'm finding it a bit confusing how thoughts are presented in ordinary quotation marks; I keep wondering if Twilight is speaking them. Sorry.
"Also, if any reviewer has suggestions on how to improve the story, I'll be more than happy to listen."
Ah, well okay then. :)
Maybe put internal thoughts in italics or something?
Interesting direction this is going in.
7017029
Darn it, I was intending to put the thoughts in italics! Thanks for pointing that out.
7017029
Fixed now.
7017425
Well, I had unpublished it temporarily for edits. Maybe that's what happened. It's back up now.
I like it. Seems a bit of an easy way out that specifically Canterot vampires weren't sentient, but there's really no other explanation. And I expect Twilight and Spike are gonna have a fair bit of PTSD that makes living with the Ponyville-vampires... tricky.
7017413
7017451
Ah, glad I could help. :)
How about updates more frequently than 15 months?
Sorry to put it so bluntly, but really.
7019077
Yeah, I know. I'm really horrible about that. Sorry. I'll try my best.
More or less, when are you going to upload the next chapter?
Good story, I really like the story. =3
7081614
When I get it done.
good story, I kind hope cadence and shinny armor are in the town.....
Is there going to be a new chapter soon it's been a few months now.
not to be mean or anything...
So, ActionPony, have you heard about the alternate ending for I Am Legend that was scrapped?
8655406
Which adaptation? There's rather a lot of versions of this particular work.
8655479
The one where Will Smith's character realizes that he is the one who does not belong, that he is basically the one who is the monster, not the other way around. The Nostalgia Critic ranked it as the Number 1 "WTF Alternate Endings". Let me find a link to it.
Found a clip:
The actual theatrical ending has him sacrificing himself to let the woman escape with the cure. He pulls the pin on a grenade and runs into the group of creatures.
8655514
Oh. Yes, I have heard of that one.
Man Twilight, you and spike the only non-Thestrals. Thats got to suck.
So... Update please?
so Twilight is the only non vampire and everyone else besides the vampires in Canterlot are sentient
9306633
That is essentially what's going on, yes.
This story is disturbingly close to the canon of I. Am. Legend. and i like that. I assume you don't know the background stories and trivia.
way deeper than what it looks at surface level.
this video goes in depth on the vampires, and how close 'some of them being sapient' actually is to canon.
https://youtu.be/8j4kD0-hjrs
based on description of the story, as actual hasn't seemed to catch up yet