1 - A Beginning
The mare breathed her first new breath, the stale air of the coffin surging into her lungs as she gasped. Next, her eyes flicked open, although they didn't do much good given the abyssal, overwhelming blackness of the coffin absent of light.
"Beloved?" she groggily croaked out, not particularly worried about preserving the fresh air given her new… nature.
Her only answer was the crushing silence that you'd expect from within a grave.
"Beloved, are you there?" she questioned once more, a worried edge edging into the fringes of her tone.
Perhaps she awoke too early, so he was merely biding his time until she fell unconscious again? Shakily, one of her hooves drifted upwards towards her chest and felt around for the dull lub-dub of a pulse.
She couldn't feel it… and yet she moved. Perhaps she woke up earlier than her love expected, and he merely went out to get a nice meal for the two of them to share when she was supposed to wake up? Surely that was it?
Time slowly dragged on as she took to examining the features of the pine box as well as she could with no light to take her mind off the situation. She used a wingtip to delicately trace the intricate pattern playing across the inside of the lid… subtle though it might be.
It was entirely unlike the rare samples of the rune work by the yaks she'd seen sketches of, nor the subtle arcane inscriptions of the unicorns. This… work, however, was unlike anything she had ever seen or, well, felt in this case.
It actually made use of depth and layers in a way she's pretty sure she had never seen used, although to what end she couldn't quite determine. Not having a horn really does make such not exactly a pressing matter to learn.
Midnight's musings, however, couldn't distract her restless mind forever, and after the third round of "count the whorls," her mind eventually went back to her inevitable rescue. Indeed, even if her beloved was getting something he really, really should have been here by now.
Perhaps… something had happened.
Dread boiled up from deep in her gut, simmering over until she shouted: "Beloved, are you there?"
Once more, dead silence was her only response, and hunger deep within her made itself known with a stabbing ache.
She had to get out of here!
Her breathing sped up as she flipped around in the tight, dark confines of the tomb, sore legs kicking out in the all too meager room she had in a desperate attempt to free herself from the grave. The lid wouldn't budge due to the crushing weight of the dirt, the walls wouldn't budge, the bottom was solidly constructed, the top was definitely under hard, heavy earth. Digging up wouldn’t do anything other than damn her even more… Is this it? Is she to sit here until she starves?
A single, choking sob escaped her as the realization came over her. She began to feel a tad lightheaded in the choking blackness.
Maybe her love would save her, just in time.
The wet sobs came back in force as the weight of the situation came down on her like an avalanche.
Who was she kidding? Even if it wasn't hours like she felt like it had been, she was trapped, no two ways around it. She screamed, it was a hoarse, keening thing..
Perhaps it would be best for her to just empty her mind and let whatever happened just… happen? She did as her mother always told her and breathed deeply in, holding in for a few seconds and- she choked back another sob, throwing off her timing entirely.
Well, that wasn't going to-
"Hello? Anypony there?" a stallion's voice called out from above, muffled by the thick dirt and unfamiliar, but with concern evident in the tone.
"Ye-yes, hello! Down in here!" the trapped mare screamed, pounding her hooves against the top of the box.
There was the quite muted sound of hooves as the voice got closer, edging up closer "Here?" the voice shouted again, still muffled by the dirt. Still, it sounded a tad… off from where she was.
"No, no, over here!" she called back, swelling hope in her chest with each call.
There was a decent pause, just long enough to make her nearly slip into panic once more before the voice called back "Tell you what, you keep talking to me, so I know where you are, and I'll get you out, yeah? Perhaps tell me how you got down there?"
"I-I don't know," she lied through her teeth, although it was quite well disguised under her distress, "The last I was awake I was meeting with my," she paused to pick her next words carefully, "My love when I fell unconscious. When I next woke up, I was here, and he was gone, and it is so, so dark-" A shovel dug into the ground with a dull earthen shtick, and it sounded like it was directly above her!
"Go on, keep talking," her saviour said, the sound of the next shovel strike sinking into the dirt as punctuation.
"Well, we decided to meet out here at about an hour after sundown, and I was running late because my parents asked me to-" the shovel THUNKed against the wood of the casket, causing the bat pony to let out a surprised "Eek!"
"Ah, there we are!" the voice happily called, shovelling a few more scoops off to the side, "Give me a few moments to get the rest of it shovelled off." Time crept by slowly with each strike of the shovel against dirt, just a bit closer to freedom with each.
"There, we're clear enough. I'll lift, you push on three!" said Midnight's saviour. The bat pony nodded, then finding herself feeling rather dumb given the circumstances.
"One," he called, and she braced her hooves against the lid, "Two," her muscles tensed and she breathed deeply, "Three," she heaved mightily. The cover came free with a mighty crack, tipping off to the side followed by a soft crunch. Light and a cold wind flooded the coffin, making her cry out quietly and shut her eyes.
"Oh, bugger me, that came off easier than I thought, think it smacked one of my hooves," the stallion said, but say, that accent sounded a bit… off to the bat pony now that Midnight heard it more clearly.
Regardless, she flipped herself right around and bolted up, taking a deep breath of the fresh, cold air before finally opening her eyes, of course looking down to the ground not to blind herself again.
Dread wormed its way up through Midnight's throat as she saw the interior of the pine box, this time in daylight, averting her eyes.
Carefully, slowly she crawled her way out of the coffin and onto the ground, softly crunching snow underneath her hooves.
She slowly wiped the tears from her eyes with one of her forelimbs, soft dark blue fur providing a good enough substitute for a handkerchief for trying times like this.
From behind her, somepony cleared their throat, making her jump.
"Oh, sorry!" she turned around, freezing up. Her saviour wasn't one of her fellow bat ponies, no, it was one of the ponies from the south, an earth pony! He was of average build, a medium length blonde mane barely obscuring the worried gaze of his light yellow eyes.
"Lady, are you okay?" he questioned, snapping her out of her short reverie and making her shake her head to clear her thoughts as she took a few halting steps towards him.
The stallion visibly tensed as she closed, with the obviously quite distraught mare very much towering over him this close up. Letting out another sob, she leaned forward and wrapped her forelimbs around his neck, pulling him close. Everything came crashing down around her emotionally at once as she embraced him, mumbling, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you," again and again as her tears matted his fur. She was so close that she could hear the gentle beating of his heart increase as she thrust herself into his personal space.The muffled thumping was comforting, in a way.
She felt his legs awkwardly wrap around her in return, cautiously patting her back. "There, there," he uneasily comforted, "You're out of there now, you're going to be fine. You're a bit cold, though, do you want something to wrap around you?"
She froze mid-sob in a much more metaphorical way, tensing up before stating, "No, no, I'm fine. I'm just naturally cold to the touch, Mom always said that I was internalizing all that heat or something like that."
After a few minutes more of the two of them holding there, she had calmed down, and he removed his legs from around her, the bat pony taking the cue to release her death grip on him and take a step back. "So," he said, forcing an uneasy smile onto his face as he once more cleared his throat, "What's your name?"
Oh. The pony probably thought Midnight was terribly rude, given he, well, saved her, and she hadn't even done the simple courtesy of giving him her name! "Pardon my lack of manners. The situation has thrown me a bit… off, to say the least," she explained, half hiding her face behind an outstretched wing, "You probably think I'm a bit of a mess. My name is Midnight Harmony, and it is a pleasure to meet you, although I wish it could be under better circumstances." Curtsy, Midnight, curtsy!
Perhaps a bit unsteadily, she put both her wings out from her sides and angled them almost like sails to show him the full span of their lightly coloured expanse as she crossed her forelegs and slowly brought them apart, dipping her head as her front half drew lower in turn.
He chuckled, shaking his head, "Let me guess, a noble's daughter?" he paused, although for nowhere near long enough for her to answer, "Anyhow, the name's Gold Boon, pleased to meet you too." He did not attempt to introduce himself adequately other than a slight nod, which made her feel all the sillier.
Midnight huffed, "No, a merchant's on my mother's side and a supply officer on my father's."
“Ah," he nodded sagely, looking somewhere off into the distance, past the dead tree he had found Midnight under, "You live around here, lass?"
"Oh, yeah," she said, "I'm from Hollowbrook. It should be around here somewhere, assuming I wasn't taken too far while I was out." Midnight knew she wasn't, she knew exactly where she was... but to say that would be suspicious, to say the least.
"Well, I'll be damned!" he said, "That's my next stop, I'm staying there over the day before heading south come nightfall."
"Nightfall? Isn’t it hard for southern ponies to see in the dark?" Midnight questioned, eyes drifting around the clearing surrounding the dead tree systematically, searching. At least it only appeared to be just beyond dawn; she was gone for perhaps seven hours at most. Surely her love left her something? It just wasn’t possible that he left her all alone without any explanation.
Gold Boon shrugged, "I can see well enough to navigate a well-kept road by lantern light. Besides, this trip kind of messed up my sleep schedule already. Need to be awake when prospective customers are, after all!" Chuckling heartily, he gestured off to the side with a hoof, "I was just taking a break from pulling my cart and then, well, I hear you calling!"
There, a small piece of parchment over by the base of the tree! "Ah, I see," she said, dragging her gaze reluctantly back over to him, "I trust you'll be heading into town shortly?
"Aye, probably will be in a few minutes," he said, nodding to himself, "I'd be off now, but I'm still trying to get over the shock of finding a bat pony in a coffin, like some old mare’s tale."
Despite the situation, she chuckled, shaking her head, "You take your rest, I'm going to go on a bit of a walk, stretch my legs and all, so I don't lag behind."
Rather than acknowledge her verbally, he nodded, and she took it as a clear dismissal, strutting off towards the note.
It was a short walk, but it felt like it took ages with the snow crunching underneath her hooves with each step. Was it going to be an explanation? Did somepony out him and make him have to flee? Was Midnight getting out on her own a vital part of the process he forgot to tell her about… and if so, what was going to happen to her since Gold Boon helped her?
Finally, Midnight made her way over to the tree, bending over and, glancing over at Gold Boon to make sure he was looking away, before darting her hoof out to grab the letter, quickly hiding it underneath her wing before slipping back behind the tree. She took a glance for any indication that Gold had seen her... only to see his back, letting her breathe a sigh of relief.
She bit her lip, drawing a bit of her blood as she carefully unfolded the parchment, revealing the soft, tranquil lines of her love's writing, eyes drinking in each word slowly. It read:
"Midnight, my love, I'm sorry,
I'm writing this with a little time to spare, so I'll be brief. Someone has recognized me, putting us both in danger if I'm to stay, although I have every bit of faith in your ability to adjust. I hope that you'll forgive me in due time, but I can not stay here for a moment longer, and my escort back to Canterlot has already arrived. I can not say when I'll be back, sadly, but I will come for you.
With love, Heart Weaver. "
The only reason she didn't cry is that she had already wept herself out, so she settled instead for holding the letter tight to her chest and closing her eyes. Who could have possibly found out?
Her love, the one she was going to stay by the side of for the rest of their days, the one who had talked her into this, was gone… and that was a fact she couldn't escape, no matter how much she wished it wasn't a fact.
Steeling herself, she opened her eyes once more and gazed out into the snowy forest, slipping the letter back under her wing.
Then she would wait for him… as long as needed.
With a false smile plastered across her face, she made her way back to Gold Boon, who just happened to be getting back up on his hooves. "Hey, you ready to go?" Midnight called out to him.
He nodded back, "Aye, you?"
Nodding in return, Midnight started back towards the road, Gold following soon behind and, soon enough, the way was showing through the trees… and Gold's cart off to the side of the cleared gravel road. "Aren't you afraid of your cart getting robbed?" Midnight asks, causing Gold to once again shrug.
"Eh, the road's not oft used often for trade, so you don't get any of the brigands, and this part of the north is pretty calm, not like the east," he explained pretty clearly. That makes… a lot of sense, at least, unlike the rest of this damnable situation.
It was a quick job for Gold to hook himself back up to the cart, although she had to deal with a sudden stab of pain from her gut. Ugh, she better get back to town soon and get something to eat; she couldn't see herself pestering Gold for something after he helped her so much already.
The two of them walked in deafening silence, the only sound for a good few minutes was the snow under their hooves.
"By the way," Midnight finally uneasily said, "I'd very much prefer if you didn't tell my parents about the little incident that happened out here."
"Not tell them, lass?" he incredulously replied, "You were kidnapped, buried, and almost killed!"
She sighed in return, shaking her head, "If they find out, I won't be leaving the town ever again to go on a walk, hunt," she couldn't help but notice he flinched slightly at the mention of hunting, "Or swim, or do anything!"
"You're asking me to leave whoever did this running free, lass, you understand that, right?" Gold said, looking off to the side of the road as they rounded another bend and making sure to not slide off the slightly too steep grading.
"I'm not asking for that… no, I wouldn't feel safe out here unless I knew whoever did this was long gone. Look," Midnight lied, "I know someone on the local guard, a lieutenant. I'll go to his office first thing tomorrow night and let him file a report for me on it. That way, they won't have to hear about it unless the ruffians get caught, and I get the peace of mind knowing that it is being looked into."
Gold's gaze drifted from Midnight and down towards the ground, before he eventually muttered, "I suppose that such would be acceptable, although I do trust that this isn't anything too common around these parts?" There was an edge of unease in his voice as well; perhaps he was trying to figure out if a potential trade route was worth it? She supposed that she couldn't fault him for being cautious.
"No, no, it is rather calm up here, serene even, most of the time," she assuaged him, and this time she told the truth, "The last attack on anyone out on the roads was… perhaps a year and a half ago, and even then, it turned out to be a quarrel over debts rather than actual banditry."
He nodded sagely, seemingly mollified by her answer, "You know, for someone who was out there with their lover, you sure haven't asked about your lover once."
Her breath caught for a moment before she responded, spinning an ever more complicated web of lies, "Ah, him? He already was headed back to town when I was attacked, I'm not exactly worried about him… although I expect he's worried about me." It was mostly true, at least, aside from the whole "attacked" part of it.
"Fair enough,” he said, not taking his gaze away from the path. Soon enough, they breached through the thick pine canopy, revealing the not so distant stone walled, snowy town of Hollowbrook and its surrounding farmland sitting in the middle of the plain, occasional jet of smoke rising from the chimneys.
From there, it was a short trot to the western gate, perhaps an extra ten minutes of hoof-work before they made their way over, which was still open, of course, not everypony had the luxury to work exclusively while it was dark out and it wasn't exactly close to noon yet.
"I suppose I'll see you around, Gold Boon? I'll make sure to buy something from you before you leave tomorrow as thanks," she said, smiling before realizing her mistake, "Actually, what do you sell, anyhow?" Midnight really hoped she wasn’t prying, she’d hate to offend someone who helped her so much.
"On this trip? Mostly odds and ends; tryin' to figure out what sells well up here for my guild," he said, giving her a smile, "Oh, and make sure you do that. I expect a pretty decent purchase given I saved your life, yes? Give your old pal Gold Boon a little love, eh?" He chuckled, and she did so in turn.
"Yeah, see you about," Midnight said, shaking her head as she left the strange earth pony trader to his work and, presumably soon enough, his rest.
She got naught more than ten steps before a stab of hunger pained her again, making her flinch. Ow, yeah, she had better get home soon, maybe if she was lucky they saved her dinner.
Midnight trotted quickly past the familiar cobble paths and stone houses, now well decorated in shining silver streamers and twinkling metal lanterns. She made a note to avoid the alehouses on her way through. After all, it was just about the right time for them to be kicking the lushes and drunkards out to close down. Perhaps a bit early at any other time of the year, but tomorrow was the Festival of Stars; if anything, they'd have plenty of time to get as sloshed as they wished tomorrow with the day off of work.
All too soon, her walk ended, and she came to her family home, the gray two-story townhouse standing alone with unlit windows… but the bedroom curtains were not yet drawn.
She breathed a sigh of relief as she slinked her way up to the entrance and knocked out the familiar pattern, knock-knock-knock-knock, pause, knock-knock! Of course, Midnight wouldn't have ordinarily knocked on her own home's door, but in her rush to meet her love earlier, she might have slightly kind of sort of forgotten her key. Oops.
"Coming!" called the voice of her brother, followed by the now more sharp sound of hooves against the wooden floors as he rushed over from the living room, followed by the distinct clink of the deadbolt coming undone.
The door opened to reveal her brother's frowning face, which made Midnight wince in turn. Oh, brother, here we go. "You're late," he just stated.
"Come on, little bro," she smirked, "It isn't that," she made sure to stretch the ‘that’ for emphasis, "I just got a little lost is all."
"A little lost," he repeated back to her.
"Yes," Midnight affirmed.
"In the woods?"
"Yes."
"The ones that you've been going out into since before I was born?"
"...I actually laid on top of a tree and fell asleep looking at the stars." she lied.
North Star shook his head and stepped to the side, permitting her to very awkwardly step into the house.
Without any ceremony, he shut the door behind her, switching the bolt over to lock it closed, and finally let her relax.
"Wow, thanks, I had lost track of time and-" Midnight began before he raised a hoof to her lips to silence her.
"Look, you've obviously been crying with how red your eyes are, and I know about your little… tryst with that foreign bat," North Star sighed, looking away to hide his still obvious disapproval.
Whatever tension Midnight had lost came back twofold, her hoof shooting its way up and holding his muzzle in place in turn. "Shhhh!" she hushed, "Do you know what mother or father would do if they heard?"
With merely a roll of his eyes, North Star reached up and brushed her hoof aside from his muzzle. "Calm down, calm down… I've known for months," he explained, "And you're still my sister; I'll support you no matter what, yeah?" She merely nodded, and he gestured to their living room, "Dad had to go back out for some final prep for tomorrow and Mom's in the study, do you want to talk to it?" Another hesitant nod from Midnight and the two of them strutted over, sitting down on the lounger together. "So, you want to tell your little brother what happened?" he asked, tone wilting a tad towards the end.
Wordlessly, she slipped the letter from against her side, passing it over to him. Also wordlessly, he read through it before quietly placing a gentle wing over her back. "Oh Midnight…" he trailed off, perhaps not quite sure of what to say.
"I… I think that I'm fine," she lied, "I cried my tears over the situation when I found the letter by our little meeting spot."
"That's good. I mean, that you've gotten it all out, not that this had happened in the first place and, wow, am I ever putting my hoof in my mouth here, eh?" Star stammered, both of them sharing a hearty chuckle, followed by the two of them falling into a comfortable silence as they shared a loving, familial embrace.
For a time, she closed her eyes and just let herself be lulled by the gentle beat of his heart.
"You know, you're a bit cold still. Perhaps you should get some food in you and get to bed?" Star asked, and almost on cue Midnight's aching stomach growled.
"Shush," she joked as her eyes lazily opened, "I think it is listening but forgot before you opened your big mouth."
He rolled his eyes, hopping off the couch and strolling over to the kitchen, with Midnight soon following. "You know, maybe if you weren't the size of two siege engines stacked together, you wouldn't need so much food?" he joked, causing her to playfully jab him in the foreleg.
"Hey, I'm not big, everyone else is just too small. Seriously, I'm not sure how you all manage to navigate when some of the snowfalls put more down than you are tall," Midnight said as they walked into the kitchen… revealing a wooden bowl with a plate across the top. "Porridge?"
"Yeah, plus a bit of rabbit that dad picked up from the market," North Star explained, shrugging, "Everypony else already ate, so it is all yours."
Licking her lips, Midnight simply said, "Don't mind if I do," as she grabbed the bowl, making her way over to the kitchen counter, "Oh, and North Star?"
She looked up to see him in the doorframe, about to leave the room. "Hmm?"
"Thanks," she said with mock embarrassment, making him grin.
"Pfft, what else does it mean to be a little brother?" he said, "I mean, aside from helping out your siblings just absolutely constantly?"
It was her turn to grin, "You mean aside from getting to hide behind your big sis whenever the other little foals picked on you?"
And so the horseshoe was on the other hoof, real embarrassment worked its way onto Star's muzzle with a scrunch, "Hey, those foals were mean! Hmmph, I'm going to bed. See you at dusk."
"See you at dusk," she replied as she was stuffing her face with an unusually large chunk of potato from the mostly cold porridge.
Without a further worry, she dug into the food, her mother's cooking by the taste of it, she always did absolutely love her thyme. Quite right, of course, although if she ever had a dissenting opinion, she wouldn't ever let her mother know; getting smacked on the muzzle with a spoon from across the room once was one time too many.
Soon enough, she was done, and she was on the way up her stairs to her shared room, creeping up to the door on her tippy-hooves, careful not to disturb him… and she nearly doubled over as another hunger pang struck her.
What? She just ate… didn't she? Whatever, her stomach was probably just a bit upset if anything, she'd just sleep it off like she usually did.
With a sigh, she slowly opened the pine door, which thankfully barely creaked, and made her way over to the bed, slipping under the old, slightly scratchy covers without complaint, settling her head down on the pillow stuffed with the feathers of a kill of hers a year or so back.
Yawning, she settled down, settling on the idea of going out and seeing if she could bag herself an elk, a bear, really anything for a better blanket at some point.
Midnight awoke, ravenous hunger gnawing at her from deep inside. No, in fact, hunger was too weak of a word to describe it: It was starvation, suddenly realized rather than creeping up. It was desire, of not only the body a deep, unnatural longing in her mind now awakened. It was, perhaps most of all, an unquenchable lust… mortal sin concentrated in her soul.
She breathed heavily, sharp slit eyes cutting through the darkness of the room, black curtains blocking out the last traces of the dying sunlight. It was early, too early for anypony in the household to be up.
Despite the pain, the longing for something unfamiliar, a rictus grin crept its way across her muzzle. She knew, despite knowing not what she desired, she'd seek it alone!
Effortlessly, she flicked the blankets off her bed and gracefully landed on the ground, hooves instinctively seeking the planks that would not creak under her landing.
She hissed, and it was not the hiss of one of the southern ponies, nor that of one of a bat pony; it was one of a real predator, one that needed flesh, needed blood, needed vigour, for what was life but the taking of it?
To exist is to exist because another does not, whether they are a beast, a plant, or something… else.
Lub-dub.
Her head whipped around, narrowing on the lax form of her brother, gentle breathing, telling her that he was asleep.
Lub-dub.
The hooves on the wood were as silent as death itself as she crept up, his heartbeat growing louder with each closing step.
Lub-dub.
Her shadow loomed over him, each disjointed, jerky movement bringing the two of them closer together.
Lub-dub.
Her fanged maw gaped open, rivulets of saliva running between the top of the bottom.
Lub-dub.
Her prey's eyes slowly drifted partially open, groggily asking, "Sis?"
Lub-dub.
She didn't even hesitate to sink her fangs deep into his neck with a wet shlink.
LUB-DUB!
His eyes shot open with a gasp, mouth open in a silent scream for just a moment before she pinned it back closed with crushing strength. She moaned around his neck, sweet, hot, delicious fluid running over her tongue.
LUB-DUB!
He struggled, but it was little effort for her to bowl him over onto his back and park herself on top of him. His hooves beat on her sides… but she could hardly feel it. No, all she could concentrate on was the taste. Her tongue licked over the twin punctures, and it was like nothing she ever tasted. She tasted the sweet-tang of panic, the spiciness of the betrayal, the afternoon late hickory taste of the fear, and the richness of the impurities… It was all, all too much.
LUB-dub!
She gulped down more of the delicious nectar. Her prey's body seized up, eyes still darting around the room even as the bat's limbs went stiff. The hickory and sweet-tang flavours increased in eminence.
Lub-dub.
North Star went almost limp in her grasp as Midnight's mind came back to her, horror welling up from deep within as even as she absentmindedly licked the blood from around her muzzle.
Lub-dub…
Midnight backpedalled away from her brother, jaw-dropping agape and tears welling up from her eyes once more. North Star, still, was frozen in place, limbs completely unable to move aside from his now drooping eyes.
Lub-dub…
She started breathing yet more heavily, gaze around the room, flipping between things erratically. Midnight threw her saddlebags on, stuffed them with her bit bag and as many of her belongings that her frantic gaze could find, threw on her cloak and fled from her home. Once again, she did not take her key.