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Zorin slept very well. Something she had not done in ages since vampiric sleep was not what one could call 'refreshing' in the classic sense. It was too mechanical which, on a metaphysical level, made a great deal of sense. So for much of her existence Zorin had simply closed her eyes, when she laid upon the dirt of her birthplace, and then opened them again several hours later. Not until waking up at the crack of dawn in her soft new bed in the Apple family's farmhouse did she appreciate how different waking up mortal was. She yawned cavernously and stretched, relishing the feeling of her joints popping and the muscles and tendons flexing. Light was only just beginning to peak over the far hillside and the smell of fresh coffee was wafting up through the timber floorboards.

“Coffee,” Zorin whispered longingly as she remembered the dark black elixir, and kicked off the covers. Her one unexplainable quirk as a vampire was that she had still drunk coffee. Flavored with blood of course so she could keep it down. She had loved the bitter taste of it as a mortal and it had remained as a vampire. She couldn't explain it, nor did she try. The last lower officer to question the matter immediately underwent forcible dental reconstruction courtesy of her scythe. No one bothered asking after that. Now she was mortal again, it was a perk she hadn't even considered, because finally she could drink it black again.

Zorin had just finished making her bed, a military habit she had never grown out of, when a knock came at her door. The charcoal mare opened the door to reveal Applejack carrying a tray with two steaming mugs of black heaven on her back.

“You are var too good to me Applejack,” Zorin said with a sleepy grin, and stepped out of the way to allow her host entrance. As the farmpony passed Zorin swept one of the cups up and brought it to her mouth. Grasping with hooves was surprisingly easy as they had a slight suction effect which, when combined with some pressure, made them more simple than hands.

“Aw shucks, don't sweat it, figured ah'd give ya a proper g'mornin,” Applejack answered as she tipped the tray onto the desk and grabbed her own mug.

“Vell, danke, it has been var too long zince I have had such excellent coffee,” answered Zorin as she took another grateful sip. It was scalding hot and black as coal, but the deep, rich flavor of the liquid sent electricity along her nerves. As odd as it seemed, it was only just then that Zorin truly remembered that she was alive.

“Somethin' the matter sugarcube?” Applejack asked, seeing the suddenly pensive look appear on Zorin's face. But the mare just shook her head with a small smile.

“Nein, just zhinking how different my life has become,” came the reply, Applejack shrugged but remained quiet, so Zorin continued. “I feel as zhough my life has come full zircle, I vas a farmer, zhen a... a traveler, and now I am back to being a farmer.”

“Well, Granny always says, 'We always end up in the places we're meant to be, no matter how many trips we make on the side.' Or somethin' like that,” answered Applejack. Zorin laughed softly into her coffee before taking another sip. She wondered how true that really was, and a part of her truly hoped that she were meant to be here, as a farmer.

As the thought crossed her mind Zorin furrowed her brow. Did she really mean that? No more vampirism meant no more eternal life, no more strength, speed, or regeneration. For a moment it struck her as incredibly incongruous, how much she had changed. A week ago her sadism and bloodthirst had been legendary, and yesterday she had taught a child how to sing a song. The thought made the coffee taste like ash. Just how much of her life had been a lie? She had thought she had enjoyed her time as a vampire but really she'd been a dog enjoying the act of chewing on a bone. It had been mindless and transitory for all of its supposed eternity.

“Vhat am I really?” Zorin asked herself almost inaudibly. Applejack perked her ears up at the sound though.

“What was that sugar?”

“Oh, nein, I am zorry, I vas lost in thought, apologies,” Zorin said as she came back to the here and now. With another shrug Applejack accepted her new friend's words

“So didja like tha' book?” Applejack asked. Before she had gone to bed Zorin had asked Applejack if she could borrow one of the old books from downstairs. The title on it in fading script was 'A History of Equestria', and had intrigued her. It seemed like a safe enough source to fill in some of her blanks without tipping anyone off. Zorin had explained it away by saying that, being from abroad, she had little knowledge of Equestrian lore. An entirely true statement in and of itself. She had been startled to discover that magic was almost commonplace since an entire third of the population was composed of unicorns. Zorin vaguely remembered seeing some as she had passed through town but she had been focused on not getting lost so she hadn't spent any time sightseeing. Even then she had simply assumed the horns were meant for combat, certainly not as foci for magical powers.

“Ja, it vas enlightening, especially zhis sun goddess you vorship,” Zorin said as she took another drink.

“Celestia, she's a nice gal, not anythin' like those other noble types,” the nonchalance with which Applejack spoke of a supposed deity nearly made Zorin inhale her coffee.

“V-vait, you zpeak as zhough you have met her,” she said as she tried not to choke.

Applejack tapped a hoof thoughtfully before answering, “Yeah, ah guess not many ponies could say they've met her huh? But one'o mah closest friends is her student so she comes by every now an again ta visit.”

Zorin stared, her heart had turned to ice as thoughts churned through her head. If Celestia possessed even a fraction of the power that those stories had hinted at she could be a great deal of trouble. “Z-zo she is not actually a goddess?” Zorin asked hopefully.

“Ah got no clue, she's a Princess though, along with her sister Luna and her niece Cadence, and ah do know she's one of the only Alicorns,” Applejack explained, wracking her head for details. “Y'know, ta be honest, yer better off askin' Twilight Sparkle, she's the unicorn librarian here in town and Celestia's student, if anypony'd know it'd be her.”

Zorin was torn between her desire to know and her desire not to come into contact with a unicorn powerful enough to be student to an immortal sorceress. Eventually her need to know won out though, Zorin reasoned that remaining in the dark was probably worse than risking a visit. Besides, if Celestia's student was really a close friend of Applejack's then Zorin would undoubtedly meet her face to face eventually no matter what.

“J-ja, I vill do zhat vhen ve are done for zhe day zhen, if zhat is fine,” Zorin said, finding herself in a much more worried mood than she would've like.

“That'd be fine, now then, we gotta get some breakfast in us so we can start the day!” Applejack exclaimed as she got up and made her way out. Zorin followed, her mind filled with thoughts of coming face to face with a vengeful solar goddess.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The work was more uneventful than yesterday, tiring but satisfying, and Zorin actually ended up feeling better about the whole business by the time she left the fields. Applebloom hadn't visited, she'd been off at school then, immediately following her return, she'd left to meet up with some friends. Something about 'going crusading'. They had made good progress that day and Applejack had let her go a little early on account of the excellent time she'd made the yesterday. The walk from the Acres to Golden Oaks Library was uneventful, mostly because she didn't need to pass through the town to get to it. Apparently it was formed out of a living tree which made it both noticeable and not very easy to build due its irregular shape. The magic of this world seemed so benign in comparison to her home. Her own Arts couldn't be described as such on the best of days. Inactively malignant was the best Zorin could come up with on short notice.

On that note, Zorin found it incredibly curious that only unicorns were purported to possess magic. On earth those lacking inborn talent had a host of other, usually less savory, sources to turn to. Zorin wondered if her suspicions on the matter were correct, but saved her musings for her meeting with the Librarian, assuming all went well. She was still worried about meeting somepony whose power was enough to attract the attention of the nations ruler. Even ignoring the fact of godhood, attracting the notice of any powerful political figure on ones own merit was difficult enough. Had Applejack not been the one to inform her of the librarian's status she would has assumed the mare was lying. Applejack, however, was as honest as they came and, in Zorin's experience, the most difficult ponies to lie to were the ones who already knew what honesty sounded like. Zorin's thoughts were cut short as she approached the library however.

“Huh, she vas not joking, es ist ein baum,” and rather than being carved out of a tree it seemed more like the tree simply grew around a library. Steeling herself, and reinforcing her illusions, Zorin approached the tree and knocked on the door.

Then she knocked again. For good measure she even waggled the doorknob, which was locked.

Then a small voice from inside said, “Twilight, somepony is at the door.”

“Uh-huh,” came the reply.

“...”

“Twilight, you need to stop reading and answer the door,” the voice said.

“The what?”

A long suffering sigh sounded from within and two small feet, tipped with claws if Zorin wasn't mistaken, approached. The wooden door opened and a small purple and green lizard appeared staring at her fetlocks. His face slowly moved up to her face with a whistle. “Wow, you're huge.”

“SPIKE! That's rude!” A sparkling purple miasma of energy latched on to the small lizard and lifted him up. “Hey, you're the one that left him standing there on the steps!”

The lizard vanished with a yelp over the shoulder of a purple unicorn grinned uneasily, “ahahahahaa- Shut up Spike,” she growled before turning back to Zorin, “I'm sorry, welcome to Golden Oaks, I'm Twilight Sparkle, the librarian.”

Zorin smiled, feeling she had clearly been worried over nothing. “Nein, may I come in?” she asked to which the unicorn blushed and backed up, allowing her to move into the building.

Once she was inside she heard Twilight hiss from between her teeth, “Spike she is a mare.”

“What? No way.”

“It ist true I'm afraid,” Zorin answered loudly. The lizard and his mortified owner looked up to see Zorin looking at them both with a small but playful grin.

“Ah... I am SO sorry ma'am,” she starting nudging Spike with her back hoof, unsubtly urging him to leave in case the customer took offense. “My assistant is a little slow sometimes.”

Zorin, however, shook her head, “nein, I know vhat I look like,” she said easily, “bezides, familiars are rarely of high intelligence, I am zurprised you taught zhat vone to zpeak at all.”

“Hey!” came Spike's reply.

“Wait? What's a familiar?” Twilight asked, quirking an eyebrow up.

Zorin felt the blood drain out of her face, 'clearly I need no help sabotaging myself' she thought bitterly as she scrabbled for some kind of explanation. “Ah... you zee... vhere I am from...” come on, Zorin, come on, “magical ponies vill sometimes... use small animals such as...” she remembered the old witch, and her little crawlers, “rats or... lizards, to aid them.”

About half way through her explanation however she had completely lost her audience, Twilight's eyes were growing wider by the second. For a moment Zorin was afraid she'd failed utterly and was about be blow apart before...

“OMIGOSH YOU KNOW FOREIGN MAGIC?!” Twilight practically shrieked into her ear. And she had thought Pinkie was excitable.

“J-ja... bits und pieces,” Zorin replied with an uneasy grin, feeling the conversation steering in an entirely unwanted direction. The librarian was already staring with wide and gleeful eyes however. “Zhat is, I could not te- AH!”

Somepony had somehow mistaken Zorin's tail for the doorknob and pulled vigorously on it. Without thinking Zorin's left back leg kicked up and collided with something that issued a high-pitched 'EEP' and tumbled backwards, striking the ground with a muffled 'thump'. Turning around Zorin saw a pastel yellow pony, a pegasus judging by her wings, sprawled out in the yard with a book sitting squarely on her face. Clearly the petite mare had not been watching where she was going when she had made it to the door. With a sigh Zorin marched over to the prone figure and picked the book off of her face.

“Are you okay Fräulein?” Zorin asked a trifle loudly in case she had rung her bell harder than she'd thought. Fortunately that didn't seem to be the case as the mare stirred and opened her eyes... to stare directly into Zorin's and fill with abject terror. Then, with the most curious bleating sound, the pegasus went totally rigid and folded over.

“Oh no... not again,” Twilight's voice came from behind Zorin, “sorry about that, Fluttershy is, uhm, very easily frightened.”

“Zhat is qvite clear,” she answered, thinking that the phrase 'Easily Frightened' did not nearly do the matter justice.

Twilight surrounded the unmoving mare in that same purple miasma and lifted her up, taking her into the library. “Wow,” came Spike's voice, “usually it takes at least a conversation before she goes catatonic.”

“She mistook my tail vor zhe doorhandle,” Zorin replied as followed.

“Oh, ouch.”

“Ja, vill she be alright?”

Twilight nodded as she sat Fluttershy down on her couch, “Oh yeah, she has very frail nerves but she's stronger than you'd think.”

“Sie müsste,” muttered Zorin sarcastically as she closed the door behind her. She felt a little bad though, it occurred to her that once she would have found the terror pleasing. Such was no longer the case though. She turned back to be greeted by Twilight's wide grin and bright eyes.

“So, where were we?” she asked. Zorin groaned inwardly and facehoofed, she had almost dared to hope that mess with the pegasus had distracted the studious mare but to no avail.

When she looked back up though she saw the mare studying her carefully with her head cocked to one side. Uncomfortable with such scrutiny Zorin backed up a little as Twilight closed one eye and stared, then the other, and stared.

“V-vhat?” Zorin asked, a growing fear rooting into her heart.

“Well it's just... I don't know it's like...” Zorin never found what it was like though because suddenly Twilight's brow furrowed. The 'careless bookmare' expression vanished from Twilight's features and turned instead to one of anger.

“Hold still,” she commanded and before Zorin could open her mouth there came a blinding flare of purple light and a thunderclap from the tip of the librarian's horn. A powerful surge of magic fell across Zorin like a waterfall, blanking her mind for a moment.

When Zorin opened her eyes she saw Twilight backing away with a mixture of fear and fury painted on her face. “Scheiße,” Zorin whispered, and looked down at her form. Sure enough the telltale blurry edges on the right side of her body were gone meaning her tattoos were in full view.

“Who are you and what the...” Twilight grappled for some kind of word to describe the headache-inducing marks on the black mare's flesh but failed utterly. “What the HAY are those?!”

“B-bitte... ah... P-please do not, I am zorry, I should not have hid zhem but...” Zorin tried to find an explanation that would fit the occasion but this was just about the worst case scenario short of the goddess herself being present.

“I need to tell my teacher, now.”

“Scheiße,” Zorin hissed “Please do not!”

“Spike take a letter! Dear Princess-”

“Schau mir in die Augen!” Zorin's words rippled the air in front of her, wrapping around Twilight and Spike and pulling their gazes towards her own. Her Hexenauge had caught them off-guard completely, and now they were trapped.

“W-what are you-”

Zorin's right eye glowed with an unearthly light. Her runes were lit by corpsefire as her tongue began rolling over arcane syllables, dragging out the powers that her Oma had stitched and scarred into her flesh. Zorin felt her heart wrench with every forced word. This was not how she had wanted it to end.

“T-twilight? What's happening?!” came Spike's terrified voice.

“I'm so sorry Spike, I-, I can't-” Twilight gasped, unable to tear her eyes away from the swirling vortex of power coming from the black mare's eye. She couldn't even form her thoughts together enough to form a spell before it all flew apart into that Eye.

Zorin fought the tightness in her chest, the guilt, they surely thought she was going to kill them. She pressed onward though, letting the scripts, letters, and runes leak from her skin and crawl over the walls like sentient insects. The two poor creatures in front of her, caught in her illusion that would give her enough time to escape.

“Forgive me, please,” Zorin said softly as darkness closed around Twilight's mind. She was begging for the first time since she had been a tiny child in the witches hovel having her eye torn out. “I vill give you happy memories.”

Darkness overcame the unicorn and her assistant and, once she made sure they were entire enraptured, Zorin bolted out of the Library at full gallop. Overhead it had begun to rain.