I kicked the vampony, my left-front hoof smashing into its throat, a satisfying crunch as I crushed its larynx. Its red eyes widened and it lunged at me, fangs snapping on empty air as I dodged.

We both landed, rolling on the slate tiles of its burial chamber, and we hit the obsidian plinth that held its coffin.

It gasped, a cry of terror and pain escaping its lips, as it looked at its chest.

"Got you, you motherfucker," I snarled. The sharp wooden stake protruded from its heart.

The creature collapsed, limp, and I dragged it by its tail from the underground tomb complex to the dusk light of the Everfree. As I dragged the body into a sunbeam, it burned to ash.

"All right, Lyra," I said. "Revenge, served cold."

My whole body flamed with aches and pains. I was out of shape, too many soft years in Ponyville without any monster hunting.

A particularly sharp pain seemed to emanate from my neck—

I touched it and saw blood on my hoof when I drew it back from the twin puncture wounds.

"Oh, Lunadammit, not again!"

THE END

Author's Note

Comments are appreciated!