Equestria's Dark Shadow

by InTheStands

Roleplaying

Chapter 15: Roleplaying

"...Next thing we know," Bill began to wrap up his explanation, "We're standing right in what I presume is your lawn, for lack of a better term."

"All I own is all within this tree, and nothing else in the Everfree."

"Right. Sorry."

Rick, Bill and Willie sat in Zecora's surprisingly spacious hut in the tree. They had just finished answering the zebra's question as to who they were and what they were doing so close to her home. But the interrogation wasn't quite over yet.

Zecora began to lightly rub her chin with her hoof. "May you forgive me, but there seems to be some facts you withhold. I sense not all has been told."

Rick sighed in a mix of worry and frustration. "And may you forgive me, but we've told you everything we needed to. If we were going to give you the WHOLE why, where and how, we'd be wasting all of our time. That and there's a possibility your mind will snap trying to make sense of it all."

"Only slightly," Bill made a squeezing motion with his thumb and index finger.

Willie raised an eyebrow. "What you told me made sense."

"Did it?" Rick asked.

"...No, not really. I just know I'm in one piece now. Didn't know if I would be before." Willie leaned in closer to Zecora. "Before these two took me with 'em I thought they were crazy."

"To be honest," Bill interrupted. "Someone told us a year or so ago we'd be doing this, we'd have just as quickly called the nearest mental institution. But...exposition later," The man stood up as far as he could in the comparatively small living space. "Search and rescue now."

"Your means and ends aside," Zecora furrowed her brow. "How is it you plan to hide?"

"Hide?" Bill asked.

"In the Everfree Forest hides many signs of life, be it to cause wonder or strife. But there is no such strange a sight as you three have given me tonight."

"So...no humans, is what you're getting at," Willie concluded. To their dismay, the zebra nodded, frowning as if silently apologizing.

"Well," Bill threw up his hands in exasperation. "That...completely upends every plan I was thinking up."

"Good Lord..." Rick stood up and began to slowly pace. "This...we never went over this. Every other...place...we've been to had ways to blend in. But this?" He gestured to Zecora and her overall size. "Never mind the difference in species, we're at least two times as tall as them here!"

"We noticed," Bill remarked. "You don't need to tell us."

The three humans sat in silence, struggling to see a single upside in being the only humans in a world of miniature equines. They perked their heads up as soon as Zecora began speaking again: "There is...one potion that may give you aid. But there are a few setbacks, I'm afraid."

This got their attention, Bill's especially. "Such as...?"

Zecora walked up to a shelf containing various jars of several colors and sizes. She used her mouth to bring down a few of the jars, stopping as she spoke to them. "This potion requires several parts. And once the final step starts - your consumption of this solution mine - 'adjusting' to it may take time."

"Adjusting..." Rick muttered to himself. He looked to his brother and to Willie, silently asking for his decision. "It...doesn't sound like the best of tactics. But if we're going to be the only ones walking on two legs, it looks like the only tactic available to us."

"Then if you would be so kind," the zebra walked to a cauldron in the middle of the hut, "Please wait for this concoction to bind." She then made sure the coals underneath the cauldron were hot before standing back upright.

The three watched as the zebra moved this way and that, pausing only to search for more ingredients or to move the coals for more heat. A strange mist began forming from the solution as she poured and sprinkled item after item, the concoction changing color with each ingredient. Zecora was in her own little zone, concentrating only on the potion.

After a while, a literal cloud of the potion's mist hung over the occupants of the hut. Zecora began muttering something in what the humans assumed was her native language. The tension in the air was as thick as the mist for several moments, until, finally, the cauldron belted out a final blast of the strange gaseous substance, while Zecora let out a final chant at the exact same moment.

Regaining their composure, the twins and Willie realized the indoor cloud was gone; In it's place was a bright orange glow emanating from the still-steaming cauldron's contents. Smiling to herself, Zecora turned back to her guests.

"The potion is ready, and with no time to waste...who wishes to have the first taste?"

"Not it."

"Not it."

"Not what? Oh damn it," Willie glared at the twins. "The hell? Didn't you hear Victoria? You need me to find...you know," He withdrew his name-dropping, remembering what the twins said.

"I understand you may be scared," Zecora admitted as she collected a cup full of the orange glowing potion, "But though - something - may change, your life will be spared."

The plaid-wearing man sighed before standing up and warily approaching the zebra and the cup she set on a small round table. Hesitantly, he lifted up the cup and brought it to his face, noticing an odor that reminded him of fresh-cut grass. He looked to Rick and Bill, anticipation etched onto their faces.

Exhaling deeply, and closing his eyes, Willie let the liquid touch his lips and pour into his mouth, emptying the cup's contents in one gulp.

He suddenly dropped the wooden cup as he began to groan and clutch his stomach. An orange aura suddenly appeared as the man doubled over onto the floor.

"Willie!" Rick shouted as he and Bill ran up to him. But before they could touch him, a bright orange flash forced them to step back (including Zecora). They shielded their eyes before realizing the flash was already gone. They lowered their arms and looked to where Willie was.

"...What the holy HELL." Bill practically shouted out.

"What?" Willie asked the dumbstruck twins. "Just gas. What was that supposed to...to...two...two hooves." He muttered as he looked down at his arms. Only to realize that, in their place, there were two light brown hooves. "Why are there two hooves?" He looked behind himself. "Four hooves. Tail? And - what the hell is this on my ass?"

"A picture," Rick answered. "Of...a watering can. A rake. And a lot of other gardening tools. Zecora, what's all this mean?"

Zecora, in response, motioned to the spiral sun design on her flanks. "Willie's cutie mark. For all to see a particular pony's destiny. Once they find their true calling, their task to perform, this resultant badge takes form."

"So, wait...it's not gardening," Bill realized. "It's groundskeeping."

"Didn't know there was a difference," Willie shrugged with his new front legs. "Didn't really care anyway."

"You have a mirror nearby?" Bill asked Zecora. "Willie's probably wanting to see himself."

Zecora stepped out of the main room, then returned carrying a small, round mirror. Bill carefully took the reflective glass, knelt down, and held it up to Willie's face.

Willie saw, in place of his human face, the face of a brown stallion. His large blue eyes darted around as he glanced at the lighter brown stubble on his face, then the curly, combed-back mane he now sported. Finally, for reasons unknown, his plaid shirt and black sweater was transformed to fit his new body. "Why's my shirt changed?"

"With a sampling of this potion, no matter how much, your body will change along with any clothing it may touch. It may have to do with your body and your skin absorbing what you take in," Zecora gave her best answer.

"Willie?" Rick asked the human-turned-pony. "Are...you alright?"

"Hmph," Willie raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't too worried before."

"We're sorry, Willie," Rick sincerely replied, "But look at it this way: We were ALL going to drink this sooner or later."

"So why was I sooner?"

"Willie," Rick whispered so as not to have Zecora hear them, "think back on what Barnabas and Victoria made you do all this time. The blood, the bodies, the stalking. Is this really as bad as everything else?"

The earth pony looked downward in thought. Tapping the ground with a forehoof, he finally let out a sigh. "No. Guess not. In fact, it didn't even hurt, really. Felt like everything was stretching apart, though."

Bill lightly patted Willie's back. "That's the spirit." Bill then stood up and looked to Rick. "So who's up next?"

Rick looked to the cauldron, almost full of the potion. He looked to his brother, raised his eyebrows, and shrugged. "Who said it had to be one after the other? Zecora? Do you have more cups?"

"A rather silly question," The zebra smiled as she shook her head, "But still a fair suggestion." She quickly procured a second cup, then proceeded to fill both with the orange potion. The twins walked up to the table and picked up their cups.

Bill turned to a still-siting pony Willie and raised his cup. "See you on the other side," He announced, then steadily sipped his drink until the cup was empty, with Rick doing the same. Lightly gasping for breath, they brought the cups down onto the table, each with a respective knock of wood on wood.

A moment passed. Nothing happened.

"...Hm," Bill muttered. "Maybe we didn't drink enough. We're both a bit taller than Willie, maybe we need another oh God there it is." Bill suddenly changed his sentence and his tone of voice as he felt a knot forming in his stomach. Just like Willie said, it felt almost just like a gas bubble. Though it didn't hurt so much as ache, Bill still found himself kneeling down onto the floor of the hut.

He looked up, only to see Rick doubled over in discomfort as well. Zecora simply looked on, the look on her face giving off silent reassurance. Rick tried to stand up again, only for a burst of light, just like before, to completely engulf him and his twin brother.

Zecora and Willie shut their eyes, opening them once the flash was gone. Instead of two black-haired humans, there now were two identical, sky-blue coated, brown-eyed, black-maned earth ponies. Their dark blue trench coats and suits, just like Willie's clothes, were refitted for their new pony bodies.

Rick looked at his hooves, his face betraying his amazement. "I...feel exactly the same. No pain. Almost like I always was a pony."

"Hey Rick," Bill suddenly declared. "Look at the mark you have!"

Rick obeyed his brother and turned to look at his flank. On it was a picture of a gold balancing scale, with the left scale appearing to be the heavier one (though nothing was in either tray). Rick then looked to his brother's mark: The exact same scale, only with the right half being heavier.

"You notice it too?" Bill asked. "What's it mean?"

Zecora began her answer. "Twins complete each other in your world, correct? In Equestria, most of their marks complete their own set."

"So...apart, there's no balance..." Rick began.

"But together it all evens out?" Bill finished the question. "Kind of clichéd, to be honest. But I can live with it."

"With that, yes," Rick pointed out. "But living with completely new bodies? How long are we going to stay like this anyway, Zecora?"

"Before you return to your own bodies and ways, these effects remain for seven days."

"A week?" Bill asked. "But by then we'd be used to this!"

"But by then we'd probably find our target," Rick responded. "And we're not going to find anyone sitting here for seven days." He began to stand up from his sitting position. "Let's get the bags and - OOF!" He grunted sharply as he fell straight to the ground. "Ngh...what? Oh. Right. Extra set of legs. Oh God..."

Zecora walked up to the blue pony, outstretching a hoof. "Before going to the target you yearn...there may be something you need to relearn."

"You gotta be kidding," Willie sighed, laying on his back and staring at the ceiling in annoyance.

"Wait a minute," Bill raised his hooves. "This isn't so bad. Rick, we've seen horses walking and running all the time. That and the fact that they practically learn as soon as they're born...this shouldn't take long."

Rick sighed as Zecora helped him back up on his four legs. "All the more reason to get this over with. Okay...Zecora. You've, obviously, been doing this longer than we have. Do you mind showing us?"

§§§

"So here's the plan," Twilight began, looking amongst her guests and the vampire. "When Barnabas goes back to Canterlot Castle, he can request permission to search the libraries for any books, any documents, any little bit of information that suggests ancient unicorns practiced magic on ancient humans at ANY point. I'll look for what I can here."

"Seems as good a plan as any," Rainbow Dash replied, with the others agreeing themselves.

Twilight smiled and stood up, using her magic to levitate the book on archaeology back in it's place. "Perfect. If that's it, then Barnabas, I guess you can-"

She was interrupted by a knock on the library door which grabbed everyone's attention. Twilight looked at it for a moment before asking Spike to answer it. The dragon quickly did as he was told, letting the door lightly swing open.

Outside stood a unicorn and an earth pony, both mares. The unicorn was mint green with yellow eyes, sporting a mint-and-white tail and mane, and a golden lyre for a cutie mark. The earth pony had a cream-colored coat, with a curly mane and tail of pink and purple. Her cutie mark consisted of three pieces of wrapped hard candy, and her blue eyes were half-open as she looked at her companion with apparent exasperation.

"Lyra?" Twilight asked as she saw the two visitors. "Bon Bon? What are you two doing here? I thought you were preparing the big Night Mare Night play."

"Yes." Bon Bon blinked and sighed. "About that."

Lyra spoke next. "That airhead of an actor decided to wait until now to tell us he was too sick to rehearse. At first we thought it was all over, but then I remembered-"

"Lyra, please," Bon Bon pressed a hoof to her forehead. "Reconsider this. He obviously has better things to do than put on a play."

"He?" Twilight asked. As soon as the single-worded question was uttered, she came up with a guess. "You mean...Barnabas?"

"...Yes," Was Lyra's answer. "The play's about a vampire, and he's a REAL vampire along with being a human, so-"

"Wait, what?" Spike spoke up. "How did you know about humans? Isn't that kind of stuff really hard to find?"

"It's only hard to find because Lyra has almost all of it," Bon Bon sighed again. "So far I only got her to give away that book on archaeology; That one she had for the ONE chapter on humans."

"...Are you done?" Lyra asked, growing annoyed with her companion. "Are you done nitpicking just because I happen to find it all fascinating?"

"Can we...please," Twilight interrupted the argument. "Getting back to the subject. You're putting on a vampire play. Barnabas happens to BE a vampire...so that means..."

Lyra lightly kicked the ground with her hoof. "I - we - were wondering if Barnabas could maybe fill in as the main vampire for the play."

The library fell silent as Twilight and the library's occupants stared at Lyra. A second passed before Bon Bon planted her hoof into her forehead a second time.

At five seconds in, Twilight finally spoke. "You're not serious. You...you can't..." She rubbed her head. "What line of thinking led you to believe that THIS was the best solution to your missing actor? No backup plans, no understudies, nothing?" Lyra's ears began to lower as Twilight grew more and more flustered. "And Barnabas. We've been spending the better half of this week looking for a way to get him back home. Did you honestly think he had absolutely nothing better to do than put on a play?"

"Twilight-"

"Please, not now." Twilight refused to turn and speak to whoever called her name. "How would YOU like it if you were stranded somewhere only for somepony to walk up to you and ask if you could help with a play?"

"Ms. Sparkle-"

"No help in getting home, just 'put on a costume and make us laugh'!"

"If I could interrupt-"

"Just what do you think he is? Who do you think you-"

"TWILIGHT SPARKLE!"

The ponies and dragon shrank back as the vampire, now standing upright, shouted at the top of his lungs. He made sure he had their undivided attention, Twilight's included. He walked up to the door, looking down at a now-frightened Lyra and Bon Bon.

Lyra began to stammer. "Uh...Y-you know what? Twilight's right. This was a stupid idea. It was a stupid question. You obviously need to get home, and I obviously need to plan ahead more."

"Yes, you do," Barnabas agreed. "But now that your performance is in peril, it seems you need every bit of assistance you can obtain." He knelt down to the mint pony's level. "And now you have mine."

"Oh Celestia," Bon Bon breathed out.

Spike and the other ponies were shocked. Twilight walked up to him. "Barnabas, what...what about the books? What about getting you home? What about the Princesses who've been waiting for almost three days for you to go back to Canterlot?!"

"I have not forgotten about them," Barnabas kept calm. "Nor the hospitality they and your friends have shown me. It seems only fair that the favor is returned. And barring a sudden fire or flood, the books we seek will stay where they are." He stood back up. "And besides - who knows better of the afflictions of a vampire than one himself?"

"You'll...you'll do it?!" Lyra beamed before hugging his leg, sending him temporarily off-balance. "Oh thank you thank you THANK YOU! Just give me time to get you a copy of the script and I'll see you tomorrow at rehearsal!" The unicorn loudly laughed in delight as she trotted out of the library. Bon Bon stared up at the vampire with a deadpan expression, but her glare softened.

"On one hoof, I'll never hear the end of this. But on the other, it would've killed me to see Lyra so disappointed in not getting to put on her show. So - for what it's worth - thank you. I just wish it were under better circumstances." Bon Bon and Barnabas said their goodbyes before the library door closed. The vampire turned around, only to see the Cutie Mark Crusaders, having been quiet for quite some time, now smiling up at him.

"You just saved the Night Mare Night play!" Sweetie Belle grinned. "AND you get to be in it!"

Twilight shook her head. "Even though we have more important things to take care of."

"Um...Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. "When you think about it...it's not such a bad idea. Barnabas just wants to pay us back for how nice we've been to him."

"Fluttershy's right, darling," Rarity spoke up. "Now seems as good a time as ever to make amends. A little bit of a sendoff before we get him back home. IF we do, I mean."

Twilight listened intently to her friends' words before inhaling softly, calming herself down. "Okay. When you put it that way, I see why he'd agree. But on such short notice? Night Mare Night's only a week away. Most performances are rehearsed long before that."

"A WEEK?!" Pinkie suddenly jumped up. "Oh no...oh no no no..."

"Pinkie?" Dash grew worried. "Pinkie, c-calm down, it's gonna be okay. We can get Barnabas ready in a week, no problem!"

"No, I'm not worried about the play! I'm sure it's gonna be extra-super-fantastic!" Pinkie bounced a little to emphasize her sentence. "I'm worried because I still need to get my costume ready!"

"...Oh HORSEAPPLES!" Dash suddenly gripped her head with her hooves. "Me too!"

"All this time focusing on Barnabas," Applejack reasoned, "Night Mare Night was just about pushed clean outta our heads."

Twilight looked out the window, noticing the sun beginning to go down. "Well, I'm sure we can all get back on track after a good night's sleep. I have books to find, we've got costumes to make, and Barnabas has a play to rehearse. Goodnight, everypony."

They said their farewells as they left the unicorn's library. In a moment, all that remained were Twilight, Spike, and Barnabas.

"We don't go to bed for at least another hour," Twilight told the vampire. "Maybe we can at least find some of the material we need to read. Oh!" A thought struck her before she lightly trotted to the other end of the library, her magic pulling out a small book with a red cover. "I just remembered - I have a copy of the novel the play's based on!"

Barnabas and Spike walked up to her. Shaking his head, Barnabas said, "How is it I haven't heard of this performance until tonight?"

"Well...they made a few posters, but most of it was just word of mouth. It's more for fun than a professional production." Twilight answered as she flipped through the book before bringing it up to Barnabas' level. "Here. You can use this to get yourself familiar with the play's general story. You need me or Spike, we'll be over at the history section."

Barnabas gripped the book as the magic aura around it faded. The unicorn and dragon walked off to the other end of the library, leaving Barnabas to crack open the book to the front page.

Then, fully realizing he'd need to stay here until tomorrow, he silently, exasperatingly exhaled, and almost instinctively glanced upwards, looking for any rafters.