Darkness Rising

by SkyHighFlyer

Chapter 25, Consequences

For the ponies of Ponyville, nothing was truly strange anymore. Between Nightmare Moon, Discord, and being the residence of the bearers of the elements of harmony, nothing really surprised them.

So when Princess Celestia arrived along with a battalion of guards, ponies only stared on in amazement for a few moments, before cautiously returning to what they were doing before.

Between the guards questioning ponies in the town square and Princess Celestia giving out orders, nopony noticed the mysterious cloaked pony rushing between the alleys.

-----

“Twilight!” Rainbow said bursting into the library, “Twilight, we've got a major problem! Princess Celestia is here with an army!”

Setting down her book, Twilight walked over to the door and said, “I'm sure you're overreacting.”

She opened the door just enough to see out without making contact with the sunlight, and saw what could definitely be defined as a small army spreading out across Ponyville.

Closing the door again, she said, “This... is bad.”

“No kidding,” Rainbow said, “what's your brilliant plan this time?” She asked it as sarcastically as possible, but she obviously wasn't joking about how serious the situation was.

“Just... just give me a second to think,” replied Twilight. She paced for a few moments, and then she replied, “Just... make yourself look normal, I'll get Fluttershy.”

She didn't ordinarily like long distance teleporting, as it was one of the most draining feats of magic she could perform, but with how much blood she got from feeding after the ambush on Mythic Dusk, and the severity of the situation, she could afford to be a little carefree with it.

First Twilight teleported upstairs to retrieve Lunar Pearl. Ever since her father died she had been living with Twilight in the libraries second floor, using the guest bed that was vacant with Shadowfall's departure. She was no more quiet then she always was, but the signs that she was still struggling with the event was evident. She had no interest in meeting anypony new, and even her passion of plant life was buried, she had no interest in exploring the Everfree, even after being told of the wondrous variety of unique and magical plants that grew there and nowhere else.

She would spend all of her time upstairs, browsing Twilight's personal collection of books. While many of them would ordinarily be off limits to anypony else, she made the exception for the young and timid filly. In the two weeks she had lived their she hadn't even come downstairs once.

Spike had asked questions, but upon being told that she was going through a hard time he agreed to just leave her be. He was much less cooperative when he was told that she would be moving in with them, maybe even for years, but Twilight held him off by saying that she knew Lunar Pearl's father, and that she was going to be caring for her after he died. Spike didn't like the explanation, but accepted it nonetheless.

Not having left the library once yet, she was shocked when Twilight teleported right next to her, and then grabbed her and teleported to Fluttershy's cottage in barely a second.

Ignoring the shocked expression on them both, Twilight quickly said, “Celestia is here! Lunar, hide here until I come and get you, Fluttershy, you need to disguise yourself and come with me.”

Fluttershy barely had time to hide her fangs and eyes before being unceremoniously teleported away to the library, appearing in front of a very confused Rainbow.

“Just pretend you've been here for a while, and act natural,” Twilight said, grabbing the book she was reading while simultaneously pulling two more books from the shelves and throwing them to Rainbow and Fluttershy. Rainbow got a Daring Do book, and Fluttershy got a random book on birdwatching. All three of them adopted relaxed positions, as if they had indeed been here for some time.

In the end, the whole thing took no less than fifteen seconds. The urgency proved unnecessary however, as it was nearly two minutes more before Celestia arrived, flanked by no less than eight guards.

“Princess,” said Twilight with the illusion of surprise. Rainbow and Fluttershy simply stared. Since Twilight removed her protective enchantment and Fluttershy was turned, they had encountered Luna once and it had gone well. This situation was different, as they both knew that of the two Luna was the merciful one, and even Rainbow felt a twinge of fear.

Celestia gave Twilight a weary smile, and turned to her guards. “Retrieve the other element bearers.”

Six of the guards left, the other two remaining by Princess Celestia's side.

“Princess, what's going on?” Twilight asked, feigning confusion, though she knew the most likely answer already.

Celestia did not spare Twilight a smile this time, and wearily she said, “It would be best to wait for the others first.”

It took a few minutes for them all to arrive, mostly because of how long it took for Applejack to get there from the farm, but they each had the same sense of confusion.

“Now that you're all here, we may begin,” Celestia said, “I'm sorry to say that I'm not here to deliver good news. There has been a murder earlier this week.”

A look of shock came across all their faces, although for Twilight, Rainbow, and Fluttershy, it was not a genuine look of surprise. The shock was partially realistic, but it wasn't the same horror the others were feeling. It was mostly the result of their actions in Appleloosa catching up to them so suddenly.

Between tracking down Rainbow and the approaching sunrise, they had simply made their way back to the train station, outright forgetting the body entirely, simply leaving it in the middle of the path to the orchards.

Not that it would have made any difference even if they did do something. She would have been gone for a while, but eventually a professional tracker would have been called in, and then through use of magic and investigative techniques the body would have been located, and this moment would have merely been delayed.

Seeing that nopony had anything to add, Celestia continued, “A pony in the town of Appleloosa was found dead outside town six days ago, and because of the remote location, the response has been somewhat delayed. The body has been identified as Apple Fritter, one of the local farmers.”

A look of guilt washed over Rainbow for a moment when she realized that not only did she kill somepony, but the pony she killed was one of her friend's relatives as well. The short change in expression went entirely unnoticed however, as all eyes were on Applejack at the time.

“What happened, how?” she asked, shock quickly giving way to anger. She looked at Celestia expecting answers.

What she got however, was less than encouraging. In a sympathetic voice, Celestia replied, “I know it is not encouraging to hear, but I'm afraid that information is classified under the Equestrian military.”

“What?” Applejack said, anger flaring even more, “What do you mean classified? She's family, don't her family deserve to know what happened to her?”

“I'm afraid not this time. This would not be the case, if not for the unique circumstances,” Celestia replied. “As it stands, I’m here to extend this information to Twilight, as she's the only pony I trust to receive it, given her unique training.”

Putting on a slight look of fear, Twilight said, “Wait, please tell me you aren't saying what I think you're saying.”

As for the rest of them, their confusion was genuine, for all of them this time. Rarity was the first to speak out. “Princess, I don't mean to pry, but since when has Twilight been a member of the Equestrian military, much less of such a high rank?”

Twilight quickly answered, “It really isn't a military position, I'm the only pony with that has training for this, assuming it's what I think it is.”

Celestia laughed. “Yes, I suppose that would make her a specialist, though I assure you, she's much more capable than the royal guard in this matter.”

“Princess, if what you're saying is true, why are you here?” Twilight asked, trying to progress the conversation and get it done with as soon as possible, simply so that Celestia would leave.

“I fear that the suspects may have departed to Ponyville after the event unfolded,” said Celestia ignoring the shock and terror of all the ponies present in the room once more. “This is not public knowledge, and I would prefer that it stays that way to prevent panic. That being said, the news that there was a murder at all will not reach the public for several more days.”

“Princess, I don't meant to interrupt the conversation we're having here, but can we please discuss this upstairs,” Twilight said, growing desperate to bring this to an end so she could get Celestia to leave as soon as possible. Seeing as she was the only pony briefed on the situation, the guards wouldn't be a threat, but since the last time they had spoken Celestia had grown to become something she feared, amplified by her friends she now needed to protect in addition to herself.

Once they were upstairs, Twilight closed the door. Surveying the area, Celestia said, “I'm surprised by how little this place is organized.”

It wasn't a surprise to Twilight to hear that. Lunar Pearl tended to clean up after herself, but she didn't make much of a priority of it. As a result, the area would grow to be cluttered, and despite the effort Twilight made to correct it, there was a degree of chaos amongst the room. Still, it didn't feel right to ask Lunar to keep everything organized, at least not until she got settled in.

“It's good to see you're finally moving away from your compulsive organization,” Celestia added. Twilight made no effort to acknowledge her, simply grateful that she didn't suspect that anypony else was living there.

“So is it true, are vampires back?” Twilight asked, trying to move things forward. Considering who she was dealing with, it was a miracle that she was able to maintain her deception.

Celestia's reply carried disappointment. “I'm afraid so. The cause of death was blood loss caused by puncture wounds to the neck. Time of death was confirmed to have been between six and seven in the morning, but the autopsy wasn't performed for several more days due to the time it took for the information to reach Canterlot.”

“What about the suspect?” Twilight said, very nearly making the mistake of saying suspects, giving away that she was already aware that there was more than one pony involved.

Despite managing through trust to keep Celestia's suspicion focused elsewhere, one mistake could be enough to bring down the web of secrets she was working to maintain.

“According to the records at the train station, and the testimony of the pony attending at the time, there were three ponies who purchased tickets to Ponyville on a train that left a short time before the body was discovered,” said Celestia, “The information we have only confirms that one of them was a vampire however, the others could have simply been in league with her.

“All of the suspects were mares, though they all wore heavy covering, so we have no accurate description of their appearance apart from their faces, and even then very little to go off of, not that it would make much difference with their ability to change appearance at will.”

“What are we doing to counter this?” Twilight asked, “are you considering reforming the paladin order?”

“I've already begun drawing up a list of candidates, but until we have confirmation that this is not an isolated incident I see no reason to put forth the resources to train and equip a dedicated force,” Celestia replied. “As of now, you remain the only pony trained for this, and therefore I've put you in command of the guards that will be stationed here until further notice, though I don't expect our target will stay here for long once they realize that we've found them.

“Your orders are simple, you will instruct and aid the guards in locating the vampire without giving out classified information or creating unneeded panic, and you will protect your friends from any danger they might be in.”

Twilight took a deep breath. “Alright, I can do that.”

Celestia smiled. “I know you can. Now, let's not keep the others waiting.”

With that done they returned to the first floor. Everypony watched them expectantly, and Celestia said, “I'm afraid this is a rather busy time, so I'll have to leave you now. Twilight knows what to do in this situation, and I expect that she'll perform her duties admirably.”

After she left, an awkward silence lingered in the room for a few minutes before Applejack finally said, “So, there's a killer in Ponyville.”

“Don't worry about it,” Twilight replied, “If they haven't already left, they probably will soon, and if they don't I can handle it. Don't worry Applejack, we'll figure this out.”

“I have faith in you Twi, I'm just worried you aren't being sincere.”

They talked for a few more minutes, and then the others left to continue on with their day, leaving just the three vampires alone.

“So, this isn't going to be a problem, is it?” Rainbow asked Twilight, giving her a brief look of concern.

Twilight pulled back a little and gave her a nervous smile. “Well, I was the only one told what's going on because Celestia doesn't want vampires to be public knowledge anymore, so they won't find us unless I lead them to us. They might call out somepony looking suspicious though, so avoid traveling with a cloak during the day, and keep out of sight at night.”

“So in other words, don't go out during the day at all?” Fluttershy asked.

“That not what I said, I said don't go out with a cloak, you'll be fine ask long as the sun isn't out,” Twilight replied.

Fluttershy looked at Rainbow, and Rainbow got defensive and said, “Don't look at me, I had to quit my job because I can't fly during the day anymore. Whatever the weather is, it isn't because I scheduled it.”

Twilight took a deep breath. “It's going to be hard to find us, but if they do it will end badly. I need to send out a warning, let the others know that Ponyville isn't safe right now.”

She made her way back upstairs, leaving Rainbow and Fluttershy together.

“This is all my fault,” Rainbow said after a short moment of silence, “if I had just controlled myself none of this would be happening.”

“It isn't easy the first time, I know, I went through the same thing,” said Fluttershy.

“But you didn't kill somepony,” Rainbow said on the verge of tears, “you controlled yourself.”

“But I didn't want to.”

Rainbow looked at her. Fluttershy was clearly overcome by feelings of guilt. She gave Rainbow a weak smile as she said, “I never said anything, but when I was drinking blood, I didn't want to stop. I knew that I could have hurt her, even killed her, but all I wanted at that moment was more blood. The only reason I didn't was because I was afraid of what Twilight would think of me. I would have killed her if Twilight wasn't there.”

“But you were strong enough to stop yourself, I could barely even think,” Rainbow replied.

Fluttershy's expression changed suddenly, from a quiet, forced smile to a look of complete guilt in an instant. She couldn't look Rainbow in the eye, instead looking down at the ground as she solemnly said, “No Rainbow, I wasn't strong at all. If I was strong, then I would have killed her, without a second thought. I was so afraid of what Twilight would think of me, that she might hate me. I wanted to kill her Rainbow, I just didn't want anything to happen between me and Twilight that could destroy our relationship.”

“Fluttershy,” Rainbow said, shock evident in her voice and expression, “do you realize what you're saying?”

Fluttershy gave a timid nod, still refusing to look directly at Rainbow. This was obviously something that was hurting her a lot, and Rainbow wanted to say something to comfort her, but nothing came to mind.

To make things worse, their conversation was interrupted when Twilight came back and said, “Alright, I'll get the message out as soon as possible. In the meantime, be careful. We're all in danger from this, so if one of you caught it's bad for all of us.”

Rainbow nodded, and Twilight understood that it was for both of them, even though Fluttershy was only staring at the ground. They still weren't used to their enhanced senses, and often didn't realize that Twilight could still hear them even when she wasn't in the same room. She had heard everything they had said while she was upstairs. She knew that she wasn't meant to hear them though, and decided against mentioning anything.

“We still have a few hours until sundown, and I don't want anypony looking suspicious. I'd like if you could stay here until the sun's not out.”

Fluttershy and Rainbow both nodded this time. None of them mentioned it at the time, but they all knew that things weren't going to get any less stressful any time soon.

Comments

[hamiltonds]

Omg i sense a twilight being a b**ch moment i would guess she needs to pin this on three ponies who dont socialise are hated and feared so far i have two i would frame G.P.T and a zebra

[SkyHighFlyer]

5253522 ...What?

[hamiltonds]

5254011 I mean iwould frame trixie and zecora but I can't think of a third pony to frame if twilight went down that road