Equestria's Dark Shadow

by InTheStands

Dressed and Impressed

Chapter 10: Dressed and Impressed

"Whoa...this is so cool!"

"I told you it was in here!"

"Don't we have to go tell somepony?" A Western accent asked.

"And get Rarity in trouble?! Are you crazy?!"

Barnabas squeezed his eyes tightly shut before opening them, looking down from his upside-down position to see the source of the conversation that woke him up. His frustration grew to one of surprise: Three tiny ponies, possibly foals, staring up at him with wide eyes.

One was a tiny yellow earth pony, sporting a long red mane with an enormous pink bow.

The second was another unicorn, white with a curly mane of pink and purple stripes.

Lastly, an orange pegasus filly with purple hair.

He expected them to start screaming, running out of the room. Instead, amazingly, they stepped even closer, the three of them simultaneously speaking and asking questions.

Startled, Barnabas slipped off of the rafter he hung from, acting quickly to land on his feet and back himself up against a wall.

"How long have you been a vampire?" The pegasus filly asked, showing the accent was hers.

"Do you get sorry for biting anypony?" The earth pony went next.

"Are you why Rarity came home so freaked out a few days ago?" Went the unicorn.

"Girls!"

The three fillies and one vampire looked to the attic's opening. Barnabas let out a sighed. "Oh, thank mercy."

Peering out of the opening was Rarity, along with the second pegasus Barnabas encountered upon his arrival; The blue-coated one with a rainbow of a mane.

Rarity looked less than pleased with the three young ponies. Her voice was one with a tone of disapproval. "How dare you bother him, any of you! Now get down from here! For the next few minutes, he belongs with me! Rainbow Dash!"

The pegasus flapped her wings, coming into the attic and gathering the three foals. "This never happened," She whispered to them, loud enough for Barnabas to hear. Looking back to the vampire, and with the still-lingering possibility of Rarity getting in trouble if word got out, the trio nodded in agreement before following Rainbow Dash back down from the attic. Shaking her head as she followed with her eyes, she turned back to Barnabas.

"I know I've aplogized enough already, but know that this warrants yet another one. My sister must have followed me in here last night."

"Sister?"

"Yes - the unicorn, Sweetie Belle."

"...Followed you in here last night?"

"Oh. Um...yes," She grew sheepish. "I finished your coat when it occured to me I needed to make more measurements for the rest. So I...rather...made them while you were sleeping."

Barnabas felt no anger or shock. He simply stared at Rarity in disbelief. Approaching a sleeping vampire? She was either one of the bravest in this land, or the most foolish. "...I trust you got your measurements, then?"

"Oh yes!" Her expression brightened. "It's all waiting for you downstairs!" She began to descend back down when she called up, "And don't worry - every curtain in the house is closed!"

After a moment, the vampire squeezed his way out of the attic and into the house proper, following Rarity back down into her workroom.

But as soon as they got down the stairs, a hissing noise was heard. Darting his head around, Barnabas asked. "Is there a leak?"

Rarity, instead of answering, put a hoof to her mouth as she gasped. "Opal!"

Immediately afterwards, a shrill screeching could be heard as the vampire noticed a small, white cat jumping at him, claws extended.

Quickly, though, its look of determination grew to one of shock as a sharp-nailed hand quickly caught it by the neck. The cat began frantically scratching its captor's hand, but his grip didn't falter in the slightest. Realizing it was getting nowhere, its scratching slowed to a stop as it stared at him in horror.

Feeling a sense of triumph, Barnabas whispered out, "Bad kitty."

Finally, he let go. The frightened cat ran at the front door of the building, exiting via a diamond-shaped flap.

"Oh, of all the worst things to happen," Rarity put a hoof to her forehead as if she was about to faint. "That was the worst. Possible. Thing!" She faced him. "Thank you so dearly for not harming my little Opal."

"Though it would have been best if you informed me of there being a cat in the house."

"I honestly don't know where she was last night!" Rarity confessed, still leading him into the workroom. "She must have been hiding from you. Planning...something."

Barnabas couldn't help but smirk. "If those plans culminated in scratching me, then they were all for naught."

For the second time since his arrival here, Barnabas was back in the workroom. On a chair, he could see his original coat, neatly folded. But as he looked to the other end of the room...

"Well?" The unicorn asked. "What do you think?"

The vampire was aghast. The black coat. The black hat. The black gloves. All nearly perfect duplicates of the ones he had back home. Except for one thing.

"What of the sunglasses?"

"Sun-? Oh!" The mare trotted over to another table, pushed several fabrics aside, and used her magic to levitate a large pair of sunglasses. "You're lucky the eyewear store closes as late as it does," She pointed out to him. "AND that they sell pairs as tiny as this for novelties."

She floated the glasses over to him, letting him grab them in mid-air. Carefully, he inspected them. A metal frame housed oval, purple lenses, with half-circle lenses on the sides to block out light coming from the sides. Once again, they were perfect imitations of his original pair.

He looked back to Rarity, realizing she was still waiting for him to try them all on. Nodding in gratitude, he slowly placed the sunglasses over his eyes. A perfect fit.

§§§

"You attention to detail is extraordinary," Barnabas muttered to the unicorn as he pulled the black gloves over his hands, making sure not to be so hard as to have his nails rip open the tips.

"You wouldn't be the first to say that," Rarity admitted. With his glasses, his coat and his hat, Barnabas was now perfectly shielded from the daylight.

Or was he? There was only one way to find out.

He walked out of the workroom, causing Rarity to follow him in curiosity. She quickly found him standing in front of one of the large, round windows of the building, the curtains closed tight. Turning to the mare, he simply stated, "Open the curtains."

Rarity widened her eyes, but nonetheless obeyed. Pulling a cord, the cloth parted, the gap growing wider and wider until they were fully opened up.

A flood of light poured in through the window, as if the curtains were a dam holding them back. Barnabas stood square in the center of the beams. But nothing happened. His hat's brim was wide enough to keep his head encased in the shadows. He was still in one piece.

Then he realized something else.

"The window may be blocking out the light's true power," The vampire theorized. "Is there a way to open that as well?"

Rarity began to wonder if her guest simply just snapped and became suicidal. Hesitantly, she found a latch to unlock and swing open the curcular window. Pushing them outwards, she could feel the heat of the sun. She moved back in, watching Barnabas as the rays now came in unimpeded.

Nothing happened.

Slowly, the vampire raised his hands at his sides. No burns. No melting. No fiery eruption of any kind on his person.

For the first time since arriving in Equestria, Barnabas began to laugh.

"Whoa..."

Hearing a familiar voice, he stopped laughing and spun around. In a doorway stood the three foals from earlier, along with Rainbow Dash.

"You came back?" Rarity asked.

"We, uh...never left," Rainbow shrugged. "The girls are getting paranoid that somepony might follow them back here and find...um..."

"Barnabas," the vampire completed her sentence. "Well, if they're going to stay, perhaps I should know their names. Your sister told me your name, little unicorn. But what of-"

"I'm Apple Bloom!" The yellow earth pony surprised the vampire.

The orange pegasus announced, "And I'm Scootaloo!"

"And together, we're..." Sweetie Belle pulled the other two towards her in a group huddle as the trio finished the sentence and shouted, "The CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!!"

They held the pose, grinning, as Barnabas simply stared at them, his gaze unseen through his sunglasses. They frowned slightly as he asked, "What in the world is a 'cutie mark'?"

The fillies looked at him until Scootaloo said, "Wow. Guess he really HASN'T been here long..."

Apple Bloom stepped forward. "A cutie mark's what a pony has when they find their natural born talent! It's the picture ya see on their flank!" She lifted a hind leg, showing her flank to him. "Ya...can't see it here 'cause I don't have one. But I'm trying! All three of us are!"

"Well," The vampire bowed slightly. "I wish you luck on your...crusade. But if you excuse me, I must find a way to get back to-"

The five ponies gasped as he tensed up, shouted, and grasped the back of his neck. Baring his fangs, he darted from the open window, then turned to see what had hit him. Looking on the floor, his shock and anger, once again, changed to confusion. Walking over to the object, he picked it up, holding it to the light with a gloved hand, letting the equines see it as well.

The projectile that had hit him appeared to be a muffin.

Then, to his surprise, Rainbow groaned. "Oh boy..."

"Oh no!"

A sixth voice joined in. They looked to the window to see a third pegasus mare, gripping the rounded windowsill as she flapped her wings. She sported a gray coat, along with a yellow mane and tail. But what made her especially distinquishable was her yellow eyes; Not for their color, but the fact that one seemed to be looking in the opposite direction of the other. She leaned in towards the interior, showing that she was sporting a kind of saddlebag. "Uh...wait...hey! You're the vampire!"

"Yes I am," Barnabas raised the muffin in one hand and pointed at her with the other. "And I demand an explanation as to why you would think to harm me with a-"

"Barnabas, BARNABAS!" Rainbow flew to him, putting a hoof on either shoulder as she whispered to him. "Calm down. This is Derpy - and no, I don't know why she's called that. I think it's on account of...the eyes. I know her. Good Celestia, do I know her," she shook her head. "The muffin was an accident. And probably her snack."

"I don't know why you're whispering," Derpy announced, "But I'm sorry about the muffin. I dropped it when I was getting ready to eat it." She smiled as she lifted herself up from the window. "See you, Mr. Vamp-"

"DERPY. Derpy," Rainbow giggled anxiously as she flew up to meet the gray mare. "Listen to me. Nopony can know about Barnabas. Calling out to him means ponies will hear you call to him. And not everypony is as forgiving as you are about him being a vampire. We barely saved him last time. We can't have him AND Rarity getting in trouble."

"But he won't get in trouble, Rainbow Dash! The Mayor said so!"

The cyan pegasus stared blankly at the wall-eyed mare before giving out a flat, "What."

Rainbow having let go of her, Derpy began to explain. "After Princess Luna saved him and talked to the mob, Mayor Mare made it so anypony that hurts him 'just because' would get in trouble. As long as he doesn't hurt anypony, he's okay!"

The five ponies and the vampire looked at the pegasus in silence. Rarity snapped out of it to ask, "And when, pray tell, did all of this happen?"

"Yesterday," Derpy replied. "It was in the newspaper! Oh! Speaking of papers..." Derpy reached into her bag, pulling out various pieces of mail before exclaiming in victory as she pulled out a large brown parcel. "This is addressed to you, Rarity." The dressmaker used her magic to bring the package inside. The gray mare turned around, bid them farewell, and flew off.

"W-wait!" Barnabas suddenly realized something. Leaning out the window, he shouted, "What about your muffin?!" as he held up the baked good in the air.

"Keep it!" was the answer. "There's more where that came from!"

The vampire pulled himself back inside as Rainbow Dash touched down, folding her forelegs. "So...that happened," She shrugged.

"I don't believe it," Barnabas muttered, staring at the muffin. "All this time hiding...and I could've simply walked in as I pleased?"

"Well we had no way of knowing," Dash scoffed. "The Mayor delivers speeches like Pinkie Pie hands out sweets. It gets to a point where you either don't know or care when the next one is."

"Hey Rarity," Sweetie Belle walked to her sister. "What's in the package?"

"We're just going to have to find out, aren't we?" The dressmaker looked at the sender's address, eliciting a gasp from her. "It's from Canterlot Castle! Oh, what could it be?!" She began to carefully yet eagerly undo the string and pull away the brown paper that covered the package. Flipping open the box, her expression of joy turned to one that mixed disappointment with disgust. "Oh. Um...what?"

Hesitantly, she used a hoof to pull out the box's contents. The other ponies recoiled in surprise and horror, but Barnabas stepped towards the unicorn.

"Blood?" He asked. Sure enough, what Rarity held in her hooves were at least three blood packs. Each had a label identifying their source as a Canterlot hospital. Eager to be ridden of the packets, Rarity quickly gave them to Barnabas. She looked back into the box, only this time noticing a rolled-up piece of paper. Levitating it out of the box, she undid the string around it, unrolled it, and read it aloud.

"Barnabas," Rarity began, "I am disappointed in your departing as abruptly as you did. Had I known, there would have been much safer ways of bringing you to Ponyville instead of flying through a window and leaving my confused sister standing in the hallway." The five ponies glanced towards Barnabas, who shrank back slightly. "You were also lucky in revealing your destination to Luna. I could've only imagined what would transpire had your 'thirst' returned at an inopportune time. I will allow this to occur only this time. Upon your return to Canterlot, all windows and doors will be locked with only myself and Luna to demand them open. And keep in mind your coffin remains with us.

"Any business you have in Ponyville, please complete it as soon as possible. And for your sake and the sake of those expecting you home - be careful. Sincerely, Princess Celestia."

"Sounds like she didn't hear about the Mayor's order either," Dash pointed out. "So what's this mean for you?"

Barnabas, placing the muffin on a table, turned to Rainbow Dash. "That my movement will be drastically restricted. So I will have to make my stay in Ponyville count. Starting with a reunion with one Twilight Sparkle."

"Well why didn't you say so?" Dash puffed out her chest. "I can get you there no problem!"

"What of the Crusaders?"

"The girls?" Dash looked to the three fillies. "How about it? Wanna see if you get a cutie mark in escorting a vampire?"

Scootaloo, like the other two Crusaders, grew nervous. "You sure nopony's gonna try and get to him?"

"Derpy might not be the Element of Honesty, but she's no liar, either," Dash reasoned. "So are you coming or not?"

A moment later, Rarity said her goodbyes as the group left the boutique. She had closed the door, but the five figures simply stood (or floated in Dash's case) in place. Cautiously, they looked at their surroundings. Barnabas pushed the brim of his hat over his face, fully feeling the heat of the sun on him.

Rainbow clicked her tongue absentmindedly. "Well...so far it's been thirty seconds. And nopony's coming. Ready to follow me to Twilight's, or what?"

A sense of dread filling him, Barnabas nonetheless gestured and answered, "Lead the way, ma'am."

Comments

[PlaguePaladin]

YES

[meloonie28]

Walking over to the object, he picked it up, holding it to the light with a gloved hand, letting the equines see it as well.
The projectile that had hit him appeared to be a muffin.

My favorite line of the whole story!!! lol