Darkness Rising

by SkyHighFlyer

Chapter 14a, Friend of a Friend

Sometime shortly before dawn Fluttershy and Twilight met together at the Ponyville train station.

“Good morning Fluttershy,” said Twilight, and she gave Fluttershy a ticket to Fillydelphia.

The train was mostly empty as few ponies were traveling to Fillydelphia so early in the day, so when they tried Twilight and Fluttershy had little trouble getting a private place. Most ponies gathered together near the front of the train, so the cars nearer to the back of the train were almost all empty.

Once they were alone Twilight cast the same range of spells to protect against eavesdropping as the time they went to Manehatten.

“There,” Twilight said, “now that we’re alone we can talk more openly.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, who are we going to meet?” asked Fluttershy.

Twilight smiled and replied, “His name is Mythic Dusk, a unicorn vampire who lives outside Fillydelphia. I’ve been making an effort to meet other vampires personally, so I’ve made arrangements to meet him and his daughter, Lunar Pearl,”

“Um, Twilight,” said Fluttershy nervously, “I didn’t realize that we would meeting other vampires.”

“No need to worry Fluttershy, they’re not going to hurt you, or scare you. Just talk to them like they were any other pony and you’ll be fine,” said Twilight in response, “You keep forgetting that you’re a vampire too, there’s absolutely nothing to worry about, they’ll be friendly to you.”

Fluttershy tried to look confident, but she was still nervous about what would happen. Her fear of social situations was perhaps the one fear that her vampirism didn’t cure, and with other vampires it was even worse.

Twilight tried to let the awkward tension clear out on its own, but when she realized Fluttershy wasn’t going to get on more comfortable on her own, she said, “You know, I brought some books along with me. I wasn’t sure if we would get a compartment to ourselves, but in case we did I thought you might be interested in learning something new. I know you said you might be interested in some of the other things you could be taught, so I brought some books about controlling some of your more advanced innate abilities, and a few about basic rune magic. You’re free to choose which if you want to.”

Fluttershy looked at Twilight’s bags, obviously filled with books, and said, “Rune magic sounds interesting, what is it?”

Twilight pulled out three books, all of them on basic rune magic and set them out in front of them, “Rune magic is basically what it sounds like, using runes to do… well, magic! It’s kind of complicated, but once you get used to it you can do it without even pausing to think.

“The basis is that certain symbols contain power, even though nopony knows why. If you draw them right runes can have great effect, and the more complex and detailed the writing the more specific or vast the effects are. It’s just like a book really, more complexity and length conveys more meaning.”

“But how does it work?” asked Fluttershy.

“That’s one of the things that make it brilliant, nopony has any idea, it just happens! Ponies have speculated, but most of their theories have been too a little too farfetched to be true. All anypony knows is that rune magic exists, and it works.”

Fluttershy picked up and looked at one of the books, specifically about the history of rune magic, and asked, “Why has nopony ever heard of this before?”

“That’s a good question,” Twilight replied. “It’s been a well-kept secret since the time of the three tribes, where it was kept within the highest ranks of the royal family. After unification the mostly died out within unicorn society when peace meant that they didn't need any kind of advantage, but vampires preserved the art ever since. It’s so old that the princesses probably don’t even know that it exists.”

“Alright,” Fluttershy said, setting down the book on rune magic history and picking up an introductory one, “so... how do we get started?”

Twilight smiled, retrieving some parchment form her bag, along with a quill, a bottle of ink, and a strange purple liquid.

“Learning rune magic is like anything else, start off simple and work from there,” said Twilight. “Let’s just start off basic, let’s pick a simple, easy to test rune and practice drawing it, and then we’ll test to see if it works. I’ve brought quills and ink, and I have extra in case we run out, and I’ve brought a bottle of condensed magic to activate it. You can write the runes using a magically reactive ink or chalk, but those are for more complex runes that use more advanced series of glyphs.”

Twilight opened the other book, which was a beginner’s reference guide to basic runes, and began flipping through the pages with Fluttershy, until finally they found a few that looked like they would be easy.

After a bit more discussion, they decided on a light rune, and then a fire rune if that didn’t work. Both would have a noticeable effect, especially with the curtains drawn down for their personal comfort.

Twilight set out on the small table in front of them a piece of parchment, a bottle of ink and a quill, and then set the book above them so they could easily read it.

“Alright,” Twilight said, “Look at the rune, and draw it, exactly as it’s depicted, on the parchment.”

She pointed to a small mark on the rune in the book, “See this line here, this isn’t part of the rune, it’s meant to prevent the image in the book from acting as one, to prevent accidents, so leave it out of the final image.”

Fluttershy took the quill and began drawing the rune on the parchment as instructed, being careful to prevent any mistakes. When she was done she pushed it over to Twilight.

Twilight took the parchment and carefully applied a drop of condensed magic to it.

When nothing happened, Fluttershy asked, “Why didn’t it work?”

“The rune has to be almost perfect to work. It looks like you made it a bit this line too long,” Twilight replied, pointing towards a curved line near the top. “There can be small imperfections, but only small ones.

Several more times Fluttershy drew runes unsuccessfully, no effect being produced.

Finally, after many tries, Fluttershy pushed another rune over to Twilight. This time however, when Twilight applied the condensed magic to the image it began glowing. It didn’t glow with great intensity, but it was enough that it lit up the entire car.

“Congratulations,” Twilight said, “You’ve made your first rune. It takes a lot of practice, but vampires tend to have better coordination than normal ponies. It’s easier for unicorns obviously, but you’ll get better with practice.”

They spent the remainder of the train ride going over more about rune magic, what it could be used for and how to use it. They made several more attempts at different runes, and each time it took less tries to get it right. Eventually Fluttershy had been able to summon light, fire, and a gust of wind using rune magic.

Everything about it astounded her. Being a pegasus she accepted that she would never be able to use magic like a unicorn could, and she never truly wanted to. Now that she had started fires and summoned winds though, she wasn’t even sure how to react. It wasn’t as easy as it would be for a unicorn to simply cast a spell, and she defiantly couldn’t do it on command, but with preparation she could perform feats she never would have thought possible for a pegasus.

To say she was amazed would be a major understatement.

Eventually the train pulled into the Fillydelphia station, and Twilight stowed away the ingredients in her bags, with a promise that they would continue what they had been doing if they could find an empty compartment on the return journey.

-----

The home of Mythic Dusk was well away from civilization, not unusual for a vampire who wanted to raise a foal in safety.

From the train station they followed the edge of the city until they reached to forest, and then they turned off and followed a path to a small river, and from there they followed the river upstream until the house was in view.

To anypony else, finding a small house in the middle of the woods, especially an occupied one, would be a strange occurrence, but Twilight and Fluttershy were aware of who live here and why. They understood the need for isolation in his situation. They both agreed that it was unfortunate, but it kept him and his daughter safe.

Twilight stepped up on the front porch and knocked on the door while Fluttershy tried to stay as far back as she could.

The door opened a crack, and once he had confirmed her identity he opened it the whole way.

A black stallion with a light gray mane and tail that were almost white, he smiled brightly, enough to rival Pinkie Pie, when he saw her.

“Twilight Sparkle!” he exclaimed happily. “You were barely a day old the last time I saw you, I can barely believe it. You’ve grown so much!”

His voice was gentle and soft, and it carried a hint of kindness with it. Twilight had never gotten a chance to meet him except for when she was barely a day old as he said, and she couldn’t remember the day, but she got a welcoming feeling from hearing him.

“Well, you seem to know who I am. It’s good to meet you,” she said smiling. “I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve brought along a friend of mine. She should be...”

Twilight had been expecting Fluttershy to be off hiding as best she could in the foliage that sprouted up mere meters from the door, or at least trying to stay out of sight as best she could, but when she turned around she saw Fluttershy with her front hooves partway up the steps, looking up at the scene with a nervous curiosity.

Mythic meanwhile was worried when Twilight said she brought a friend along, not realizing the friend Twilight was bringing was a vampire and believing that there was a possible danger. Once her saw her red eyes and cloak though, he relaxed somewhat, though he was still wary of her as he would be with any stranger.

“We don’t get much news out here, when was she turned?” he asked.

“Just last month actually,” Twilight said, “I thought it would be good for her to meet others, so I invited her to come with me. It isn’t a problem, is it?”

“Not at all, you’re both welcome,” said Mythic. “Please, come in.”

Twilight motioned Fluttershy to follow as she entered behind Mythic. Once they were inside they shut the door and took off their cloaks.

The interior of the home wasn’t lit at all, instead relying on the occupants and occasional visitors not being hindered by darkness. There were windows, though they were covered by heavy curtains, obviously enchanted to keep out all light.

The room they were in had several pieces of furniture and served as a social area, though it, like the kitchen that lied just off of it, went largely unused.

As soon as they were inside Mythic left through another door while Twilight took off her bags and set them next to the door.

In a moment he returned, followed a small blue pegasus with a beautiful light, sky blue mane, who looked nervous enough to faint on the spot. She was young enough to still have no cutie mark.

“This is my daughter, Lunar Pearl,” Mythic said, silently encouraging her to say something.

Twilight however wasted no time and said, “Hello, there’s no need to be nervous.” Unfortunately her attempt at reassurance made her even more scared, and she tried to hide behind her father even more.

“Just like Fluttershy,” said Twilight, looking back at her friend who was still surveying the situation curiously.

“Come on, no need to be shy,” Mythic said to his daughter, “They’re friends.”

“Hello” she said quietly, peeking out from behind her father, which caused Fluttershy to quietly squeak and hug closer to Twilight.

“See what I mean,” said Twilight, nudging Fluttershy to say something.

Several nudges later, she very quietly said, “My name is Fluttershy”

“As you can imagine she doesn’t get out much,” said Mythic, “We prefer to be alone out here where nopony bothers us and we’re in no danger, but it leaves her a bit socially awkward and nervous around others.”

“Fluttershy was the same way,” Twilight replied. “Until about two years ago she barely ever got out at all, she just stayed home with all her animals. At least now she interacts with a few ponies, although I suppose I should mention that until then I was a bit reclusive myself.”

Mythic laughed and replied, “Being reclusive is unfortunately a necessity for vampires, though in your situation I would have hoped you at least got around to making a few friends.”

“I liked reading more than I did socializing. Being made the personal student of Princess Celestia at a young age didn’t help though,” Twilight said.

“A dangerous career choice,” Mythic said, “you’re lucky to have not given anything away.”

Twilight laughed, “Well, how could I, she was such a great teacher all I could focus on was her.”

They both laughed for a moment. When they finally calmed down enough talk Mythic said, “I suppose we’ve all had our obsessions at some point. Luna Pearl has always enjoyed nature. She’ll go out for hours every night just to look at flowers. There’s actually a lot of nocturnal flora in this area, it’s kind of turned into a hobby of hers.”

Meanwhile Fluttershy and Lunar Pearl were coming around to each other. Not speaking, though they were edging closer to each other, silently observing the other with a certain unexplainable curiosity. When attention turned to them however they both quickly pulled back and hugged up against the pony they were with.

Twilight smiled, though a small degree of annoyance was bleeding through as she said, “Perhaps they’re a bit too much alike... they’ll get along perfectly.”

“Would you like to spend some time with Fluttershy while Twilight and I talk for a bit?” Mythic asked his daughter.

She nodded in reply, and when he nudged her to go Twilight did the same to Fluttershy. Lunar Pearl took her hoof led her back into another room, leaving Twilight and Mythic Dusk alone together.

“Have a seat,” Mythic said as he sat down himself. Twilight followed and sat down next to him.

“I’ll be completely honest with you; I’m at a loss of what to say. I know we’re just meeting for the first time, but I remember you when you were so young. I don’t know how to approach this.”

Twilight smiled reassuringly and said, “I think we should just get to know each other for now. I came out here to meet another vampire. I think we should try to learn a little more about each other first, then go on to more personal topics.”

“Well I'll be honest with you, there isn't much I don't already know about you. Actually, there isn't much any of us don't know about you. You're more important to us than you know,” Mythic said in an almost apologetic way.

“I don't like being thought of as a ruler or savior or anything like that,” Twilight said. “I just want to integrate myself within my own society, or what's left of it anyway.”

“Whether or not you want to accept it, the rest of us still look up to you in that light. That's the legacy of your family... princess,” Mythic replied, unintentionally causing Twilight much discomfort.

“DON'T call me that!” Twilight said angrily.

“Sorry, I didn't realize that you would be adverse to the title,” Mythic said. “I didn't mean any offense by it.”

Twilight sighed and dejectedly said, “I know you didn't, but please, I don't like being in a position of authority in the first place, and I especially don't want to be called princess. I've spent enough time around Celestia to start hating that title.”

“Oh,” Mythic interjected, “I'd imagine you would grow to revere her. After all, everypony else beams just hearing her name.”

Twilight laughed mockingly, “You would imagine. You didn't get to hear all the things she had to say about vampires. Pure evil, nothing but killers, monsters. I was nine! I knew what I was then, and I knew Silver Wing then. Those lectures went on for a month, and then she spent another month just teaching me how to kill them. Do you have any idea how hard is is for a vampire to do any kind of light magic, let alone intensively for a whole month? By the end of it I was better at light magic than I was at dark magic, not that I spent much time practicing dark magic in the middle of the night back then,” Twilight sighed. “I'm sorry for going off like that. I don't hate her, but I don't love her either. And I defiantly don't want to be called princess. Really I don't want to be called anything but if you absolutely have to, anything but princess.”

“Sorry,” he said, “I hadn't realized that it was such a sensitive topic for you.”

Twilight nodded. She looked up at Mythic Dusk and said, “Since you know pretty much everything about me, why don't we talk about you instead. I saw you're cutie mark, is your talent rune magic?”

“As a matter of fact it is, I suppose I didn't expect you to recognize it,” Mythic said.

“The reason I recognized it though was because I started getting Fluttershy into rune magic on the way out here. I only studied it briefly in the later years of my time with Celestia, but I didn't really put it to much use or even remember most of it,” Twilight said. “Mostly just a few runes along the walls of my chamber behind bookcases and a few other things to block magical senses and detection spells. I only used it when I started taking a greater interest in dark magic. I was only sleeping down the corridor from Celestia's personal chambers, and I needed a way to keep her from noticing.”

“Speaking of dark magic, I'd imagine that having general magic as a special talent would be useful,” Mythic said in reply.

Twilight smiled almost mischievously, “I mentioned that a month of light magic designed specifically to kill vampires was hard. What I didn't mention is that anypony else would have barely been able to manage a spark of light magic by the end of it.”

“Well that would certainly be a good ability to have. The problem with having a talent in one field of magic it that you tend to have less ability than normal in others,” he said looking at the ceiling. Twilight looked up to and saw a light rune, just like the one that she and Fluttershy were using earlier that day. It was connected to several other runes, the ones Twilight could recognize being a rune of power and a connection rune between them.

In short, a self sufficient source of light that could be turned on or off at will if you knew how to.

A simple torch spell would achieve mostly the same effect, but using runes did negate the need to recast it any time you wanted a light.

“I didn't think you would have much need for lights, after all we're all doing fine without them,” Twilight said as she examined the details and complexity, trying to remember what some other runes were used for.

“We never have used them actually, I haven’t activated them since my wife died.”

“Oh, I'm sorry,” Twilight said apologetically, “I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories.”

Mythic Dusk smiled sadly, “You haven't, she died a few days after Lunar Pearl was born, it was a while ago.”

“I guess we have more in common than I thought. My mother died shortly after I was born too.”

Mythic smile happily again, “She and I got married on the day you were born you know. The wedding was interrupted by a messenger that came to tell me about the attack. I'm pretty sure that everypony in attendance was confused when somepony burst in halfway through and whispered something to the groom something that rush out as quickly as possible.

“In hindsight it's actually a little funny how awkward it was, but I was terrified when I first heard. I didn't know what to think at the time. It was supposed to be a happy day for both me and vampires as a whole and instead it ends in a massacre and me running out on my wedding. She understood that every vampire still alive needed to regroup and assess the damage though. She accepted that I would be out for weeks.”

“I'm assuming she wasn't a vampire?” Twilight said inquisitively.

“No, she was just an ordinary pegasus, and an exceptionally kind one,” He said. “She had a good enough heart to accept me for who I was.”

“What happened to her?” Twilight asked.

“Unborn vampires draw energy from the mother, and if the mother isn't a vampire they feed off of the mothers blood. She was exceptionally healthy and active, she was even given an offer to join the Wonderbolts after she gave birth.

“The pregnancy took its toll though, and she died of an infection a few days after Lunar was born.”

“Thank you for talking about it, it can't be easy,” Twilight said, putting a hoof on his shoulder.

Mythic looked at her kindly, obviously sad but still smiling, “You said you wanted to learn more about me, I suppose you did.”

“So what else do you do besides raising your daughter out in the middle of nowhere?” Twilight asked, trying to change to subject to anything less depressing.

“I actually monitor the black market, and occasionally a few of the less shady markets,” He said, getting back to his previous disposition of amusement and joy. “I keep an eye out for objects of interest. Artifacts of dark magic, certain weapons of either dark or light magic, occasionally ancient artifacts or texts that are connected to vampires.”

“Why?” Twilight asked.

“It's how I help benefit vampires as a whole. By watching for these sorts of things, I can retrieve them. This way we can collect weapons and artifacts of dark magic for ourselves and destroy anything that can be used against us, as well as recover lost pieces of history and occasionally put them to use, if they detail an ancient ruin or something else we can use.”

“I wasn't aware that anypony was doing anything solely for the benefit of vampires,” Twilight said, “I was under the impression that we just blended into pony society whenever possible. That's what I did and I've gotten along alright.”

“It's about more than just survival, it's about recovering ourselves as a race. For years we were numbered in the single digits. We cant take any major steps, especially where recovering our numbers are concerned, without attracting considerable attention. If we're seen as a threat I assure you action will be taken against us. For the past twenty years we've stayed out of sight and nopony's bothered us. I cover the black market and obtain objects of danger or value, Silver Wing feeds us information directly from Canterlot, Shadowfall is an assassin, we all contribute to the overall survival of our kind. Of course now that you've returned to us though you have a say in this, and an influential one,” He explained in detail.

Twilight stood up slowly, “While I would like to stay longer, the next train back to Ponyville leave in leaves than a half an hour, and I'm starting to get a little uncomfortable. I guess I'm just not quite used to some of the less favorable aspects of vampires yet, an I'm defiantly not comfortable with this amount of admiration.”

She called out to Fluttershy, and a moment later she and Lunar Pearl came out. Fluttershy had a beautiful white flower in her mane, and as she walked over to Twilight Lunar Pearl said excitedly, “Bye.”

Fluttershy waved back and Twilight looked at Mythic and said, “It's been good meeting you, maybe some other time we'll have more time to talk,” Twilight said, “Until then though, take care of yourselves.”

Mythic smiled, “You're the one in the most dangerous position, but thank you anyway.”

They put their cloaks on again and Twilight retrieved her bags. As they left Fluttershy and Lunar Pearl waved at each other again, and in parting Twilight said, “Told you they'd be perfect for each other.”

They trekked back through the forest and the city, talking and laughing about their respective encounters. Fluttershy had a lot of positive things to say, about Lunar and her hobbies. Being close to nature herself she understood Lunar's interests better than most others would.

Eventually they reached the city, and soon the train station. They got tickets back to Ponyville and boarded.

The journey back was perhaps even less crowded than the way to Fillydelphia, perhaps because it was the evening train and almost nopony had any reason to arrive somewhere at two in the morning. Twilight and Fluttershy found a secluded, empty car in the back, and again they closed the curtains and set up privacy spells. Then they got out the books and materials and returned to practicing rune magic, trying some more complicated runes such as freezing and a rune called solidity, which greatly strengthened the resilience of whatever object or material it was inscribed on. Much to Fluttershy's amusement the parchment became near indestructible, even to fire and some of Twilight's weaker spells, though as Fluttershy soon learned the rune would have loose its effect on stronger and more damaging attacks, as Twilight demonstrated with a blast of energy strong enough to shred stone.

Twilight also asked Fluttershy to consider learning some of what might be considered by some as more evil runes, such as death, pain, and fear runes. Though the idea wasn't very pleasant, Twilight assured her that she may have reason to use them, if not soon than some time in the next few decades. She was still strongly opposed to the methods vampires used, and to Twilight's own acceptance of them, but promised for Twilight that she would make the effort of at least looking them over, even if she swore that she would never use them. Twilight promised she wouldn't have to, but that some day she may choose to.

Rune magic would take a long time to master, so they eventually decide there would be no point in going on for the entire ride, and Fluttershy let Twilight put the books away, and then she gave Fluttershy the bags, saying she could keep the contents and study both rune magic and her vampiric abilities in greater detail later on.

With the exchange of books and materials completed and several hours ahead of them, Twilight decided that it might be better to discuss serious business and how they planned to move forward rather than attempt to find a way to fill the next few hours with small talk.

“Has Rainbow been giving you any trouble recently?” she asked.

Fluttershy shook her head, “No, I haven’t seen her at all.”

“Apparently she's actually been getting scared, either for us or of us... or both maybe. She's been giving the other girls some trouble, so I asked Rarity to get them together and talk it out,” Twilight said. “Hopefully they can at least get her to give up the investigation before she becomes a serious threat, and if we're lucky she'll stop avoiding us.”

“You wouldn't kill her, would you?”

Twilight looked at Fluttershy, taking on a stressed expression as she said, “Believe me when I say I don't want anything to happen to any of our friends. I almost killed you and it was the most regrettable thing I’ve ever done. What you have to understand is that she isn't an easy pony to convince. She already thinks we may be evil, and if she finds proof of that she'll act on her sense of righteousness, even if it mean betraying one friend for another. So please understand that I don't want her dead, and believe me when I promise that killing her will only be a last resort.

“She wouldn't really betray us, would she?” Fluttershy asked.

“That's the biggest flaw of loyalty, sometimes you have to chose a side and abandon the other,” Twilight said. “She wouldn't be betraying us Fluttershy, she would realize that we're evil, or at least evil from their perspective, and when she did she would chose to remain loyal to the others and side against us.”

“What about... you know... turning her?” Fluttershy asked nervously and shyly. The topic was obviously still uncomfortable for her, though she bravely made the suggestion anyway.

Twilight subtle avoided making eye contact with Fluttershy. Shamefully and with guilt she replied, “I've also thought about that. It's better than killing her, but... I reeeeeally don't want to put her through that. As much as you want to believe you've recovered from what happened to you, you still haven't, and the scars may never heal. You're alright with it now but would you feel the same if you had to kill somepony? Do you honestly think that you wouldn't hold it against me if you had to go through that? Other vampires where raised to accept death, but you weren't. Tell me, would you really be okay with that.”

Fluttershy nervously shook her head. She had tried to avoid the thought, but she couldn't escape knowing that she was destined to be surrounded by death. It was her future, and one she couldn't avoid, no matter how much she wanted to.

Twilight paused for Fluttershy's response, and accepting the gesture as a reply she continued, “I sent Silver Wing a letter last night marking Rainbow as a potential threat. I'm sorry about this Fluttershy, but I can't risk the integrity of the entire race for one mare, even a friend. I wish I had more confidence, but Rainbow really isn't the most rational pony.

“She'll be put under surveillance, but I'm in charge of the situation. Nothing will happen to her unless I approve it, unless action absolutely has to be taken as quickly as possible.”

Fluttershy nodded. Twilight said she had the situation completely in her control, but she was still worried about Rainbow's safety. Twilight promised that she would do everything in her power to make sure Rainbow would be unharmed, but with Twilight in charge she was perhaps even more uncertain.

The remainder of the train ride was spent discussing their future, how they would adapt to recent changes, and what they would do in a few decades, when they couldn't stay in one place without ponies beginning to realize they weren't aging, and after a century or so when they would need to completely change identities.

Such conversations take a long time though, and it seemed like no time at all before they pulled in to Ponyville.

The opted not to wear their cloaks home, seeing as it was the middle of the night and they wouldn't need the offered protection.

When they stepped out on the platform Twilight said, “Goodbye for now I guess.” Then she leaned over and gave Fluttershy a small kiss on the cheek. Fluttershy blushed wildly at that and shied away.

“We've been... in a relationship for almost a week,” Twilight said, “I figured it was about time.”

Twilight pulled Fluttershy into a hug, which she returned after a short delay. Twilight pulled away and looked Fluttershy in the eyes and smiled at her, and then went off to return to the library. Fluttershy stood there momentarily, still trying to figure out exactly what just happened, then she started off towards home for some much needed rest time to process everything that happened that day.

Author's Note:

I may have gone a bit overboard with this one.
This is only part one of the chapter, see part two for more detailed authors notes.