The moon sat high above the town of Ponyville. All the littles ponies were asleep, their dreams guarded by the Princess of the Night... All except two young ponies.
A young stallion quickly opened the door to his home, pulling a mare in after him as they kept their lips locked in a fiery sea of passion, tongues dancing across each other, their hooves exploring every inch of their bodies as they moved into a bedroom, falling onto the bed. The stallion looked down at the mare beneath him and grinned a bit, the throes of lust and emotion as he took her.
Their bodies moved as one on the bed, the scent of lust and desire thick as they reached their peaks. The stallion began to cry out in ecstasy before his eyes widen at the sight beneath him. Instead of the mare he brought home, there was a half-mare/half-snake creature there, fangs barred as she lunged forward, latching herself into his neck and began draining him of blood.
The stallion, silently screaming out as his body began to fall limp, reached his peak and filled the creature beneath him. The mare-snake writhed about as he felt him fill her up, both with blood and his seed, before discarding of his body on the floor. She quickly locked the door and window before pulling open the air vent, slithering out of the house and into the dead of night.
Several Royal Guards milled about outside the contemporary home, an older mare sitting in a chariot near the scene, hoofcuffs on her forelegs. A guard stood by, questioning her about what happened. Tears fell down her face as she pleaded with the stalwart pegasus, trying desperately to get him to believe her.
An olive-brown pegasus walked up to the scene, stopping when a guard walked up to him. "What's going on here?" the stallion asked, adjusting his blue scarf slightly.
"Just another domestic dispute... fifth one this month..." the pegasus guard replied before looking at the pony. He stared into his eyes and quickly sprang into a salute. "Commander! I... I didn't recognize you!" he said shakily, staring at the other pegasus.
"Commander? I.. at ease, soldier.." replied the strange stallion, his two-toned eyes staring at the guard. "You know who I am?"
"Of course, sir! You're Commander Tavers, the Hero of Equestria. Princesses Celestia and Luna commissioned you as a Commander in the Royal Guard, placing the Ponyville Guard Regiment under your command. We were beginning to wonder what happened to you... seems the few months you've been gone haven't been kind..." the white stallion said quickly.
"... Right! That's right. Commander Tavers, Ponyville Guard Regiment... I've... been away on personal leave. Had a few... a few things to take care of. I regenerated while away... hence why I look like this now," the Commander replied, smiling nervously.
"If you ask me, sir... you look a lot healthier now than you did before. A lot younger too... anyway, I'm sure you're here to find out what's going on?" the guard asked, looking back at the scene behind him.
"Yeah... what did happen here, exactly, Captain?" Cayden asked, slowly taking a few steps toward the chariot.
"From what we can tell... the mare we have detained killed her son. All the doors and windows were locked from the inside. We had to break down the door just to get in and find her. But that's not the interesting part..." the Captain said, walking over to a large lump underneath a vinyl tarp.
"What is the interesting part?" the olive-brown pegasus asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Exsanguination. The entire body was completely devoid of blood. There's a mark on the young stallion's neck where she seemed to have drained the blood from, but there's no trace of the blood or tools used anywhere in the house or nearby," the guard said, pulling the tarp back a bit.
Cayden knelt down and examined the body, covering his muzzle with a hoof as he looked it over. "You're absolutely sure that a tool was used to drain him of blood?" the Commander asked, looking at the Captain.
"What else could it be? A giant snake?" the guard laughed a bit, several other ponies chuckling lightly.
"Right..." Cayden smirked a bit, wings fluttering softly. "I'm going to question the mother.."
"Go right ahead... she keeps talking nonsense, anyhow..." the Captain stated, walking over to a pair of reporters.
Cayden sighed softly, walking to the chariot. He nodded to the guard interrogating the mare, watching him leave before turning to the captive pony. "Okay... we won't need these anymore..." he said with a soft smile, reaching over with a hoof and removes the cuffs.
The mare blinked and stared at the Commander, rubbing her hooves tenderly. "You... you're not afraid of me hurting you?" she asked softly, her mane in a frazzle as several tears rolled down her cheek.
"Nah... to be honest, you don't look like you could hurt a fly..." the Commander said with a smirk, holding out a hoof.
The mare slowly took it and stepped out of the chariot. "Th-Thank you... I... I'm H-Honey Applewood..." she stated shakily, looking up at the stallion.
"I'm Cayden... walk with me, Miss Applewood," he said softly, heading up toward the house. She followed by slowly, watching the other guards out of the corner of her eye. Once the two were inside, Cayden turned to her and asked "So, Miss Applewood... where were you last night?"
Honey looked at the ground nervously, poking at it with a hoof, mumbling something quietly. Her ears were folded back, tail swishing about as she tried to avoid the question.
"Miss Applewood... I can't help you unless you tell me your side. I want to help you... I want to believe," Cayden said, guiding her to the couch. She shakily sat down, looking at the ground, as Cayden sat down next to her, his hoof gently rubbing her back.
She sniffled and nodded, sitting up more. "O-Okay... I... I was out with some friends last night... We... We always went to Sandy's house and played bingo Thursday nights. I... I came home late last night... sometimes, after bingo, I like to just sit under the stars and watch them... They make me feel.. at peace..." she replied shakily, her eyes closed.
"Miss Applewood... What happened when you got home?" the pegasus asked, touching her shoulder lightly.
She opened her eyes and sighed, looking up at him. "R-right... umm... I came in, as I normally do. The lights were dimmed, which didn't surprise me... my son... he liked to read or bring home his marefriends and he left the lights dimmed... so I didn't pay it any mind when I saw him with a mare, heading up the stairs. Instead, I went into the kitchen and grabbed some water, then went to bed. I... I forgot to set my alarm last night, so I woke up late. When I went downstairs, I noticed that my son's saddlebags were still here. He... He always brought them with him when he went to work. So, I... I went upstairs to wake him. When he didn't answer, I opened the door and saw hi- Saw him..." Honey said, bursting into tears. She leaned her head into Cayden's chest, sobbing loudly.
Cayden wrapped a hoof around her and stroked her back. "It's okay... I'm sorry..." he said quietly, kissing the top of her head.
"I... I f-found something on the floor..." she said in between sobs, pointing a shaky hoof at the kitchen table. "I... I know he didn't have anything like it... I've never seen it before..."
The pegasus stallion looked at the kitchen table and slowly got up, walking over to it. He looked around and saw a piece of some kind of dried skin sitting there, the faint outline of scales embellished on the surface. Cayden lifted it up and looked it over, frowning slightly. "Snake skin?" he asked, looking back at disheveled earth pony.
She wiped her eyes, sniffling loudly. "B-But I've never heard of a snake being anywhere near large enough to shed a skin that big..." she replied shakily.
"No... I... mind if I have a look at his bedroom?" the olive-brown pony asked, motioning to the stairs.
Honey nodded slowly, sniffling again. "Y-Yeah... m-maybe you can find something the p-police didn't..."
Cayden nodded before trotting up the stairs slowly, wings fluttering a bit as he pushed the door into the bedroom. He slowly walked inside and looked around. His eyes slowly ran over the room, looking over pictures on the dresser, posters of mares on the walls, before stopping on the bed, a large dark red stain on the sheets. He took a deep breath before walking in, looking at the window. He tested it with a hoof, trying to open it, then looked at the bed. He walked over to it and knelt against the ground. He looked under it and frowned, his hoof slowly pressing against the frame and pushed the bed across the floor. He stood up and looked down at the vent underneath, wings twitching nervously. He knelt down and touched a spot, pulling his hoof back, a crimson spot on the tip.
A knock rang out from the door behind Cayden, his ears twitching as he looked up. In the door stood a light blue earth pony with a mint green mane, a red cross with four pink hearts on her flank. "Excuse me, but I was told the scene had been cleared..." she started before staring at the pegasus, her eyes slowly navigating down to his flanks and stare at his cutie mark, a red cross with four blue hearts, a blue shield in the middle with a rearing yellow pony on it.
"Sorry..." Cayden said, slowly getting up, smiling a bit. "Wasn't aware the Guard had called for medical examiner to come out. I'm Cayden.." He held out a hoof to her, holding his smile.
She stared into his eyes before slowly reaching out and shaking his hoof in return. "Tenderheart... I'm the Lead Trauma Nurse at Ponyville Medical. The... The guards asked me to examine the scene to see if their theory was probable," Tenderheart replied, looking away suddenly.
"I.. I don't think it is. Their theory, that is," the pegasus started. "I don't have one myself, but.. I don't think the mother did it."
"If you don't think it was the mother, then who?" Tenderheart asked, crossing her forelegs.
Cayden held up the piece of snake skin in his right hoof. "Either a giant snake.. or something new," he replied, sighing.
"A giant snake... of course you'd assume that..." she sighed softly, closing her eyes as she facehoofed herself.
"I said it could be something new... look, she said the last pony to see him was a young mare, right? And that she was here with him when he happened," the pegasus started, looking around as he paced about. "So... maybe it's not a snake at all..."
"Not a snake... next you're going to say a half-snake, half-pony creature did this and slithered out of here through the vent," she continued, looking at Cayden.
He smirked and nodded. "That's exactly what I was going to say. Think such a creature exists?"
Tender sighed and shrugged. "I don't know... stranger things have happened in Equestria..."
"Great. Could be potentially a mythical creature. Awesome. Means we won't have the assistance of the government..." Cayden said, heading to the door and walking down the stairs. "Means we'll need to do research... if it is a mythical creature... and I hope it isn't... we should find out how to kill it..."
"Kill?" she groaned, following the winged pony. "Why do we have to kill it?"
Cay stopped and looked at Tenderheart. "This thing has already killed a young stallion. Who knows who else it killed already? Whoever... or whatever... it is, is a monster. And monsters get killed. No exceptions."
"And I'm sure you'd know all about that..." she replied, gently pushing him out the door.
"Spent several weeks stranded on Thyferra several years ago... The Yuuzan Vong were hunting me. Trying to kill me. Taunting me with the strung up corpses of my platoon. So yeah... I know about monsters. I killed each and every last one of them for what they did to my platoon. Decapitated them all with one of their own blades, then torched the bodies in a mass grave..." he responded quietly, walking outside and heading down the street some.
Tender stared after him, frowning. "Cayden... I'm sorry. I... I didn't know..." she started.
"No. You couldn't have... it's not your fault though... I failed to save them all. I failed each and every last one of them. The day I burned them all, I swore that I would vanquish evil wherever I went... No one deserves to die like my soldiers did..." he continued, heading around the bend.
She followed silently alongside him, biting her lip. She almost jumped when a thought came to her. "You said we need to do research, right?" she asked, looking at Cayden.
"Yeah..? We... also need weapons. All I've got is my blaster rifle, and a DC-15S probably won't be enough..." Cay replied, glancing at Tenderheart.
"I... I know where we can get some weapons and armor. But..." she stopped, taking a deep breath. "But... you might have a hard time dealing with what else we find there..."
"What do you mean?" he asked, trudging along the cobblestone road.
"It's... my brother's house... he passed a month ago, so I stay there, raising his four kids.... well, three. His oldest went back to the University after I practically begged her to..." she continued, glancing between Cayden and the ground.
"Oh joy... kids. Just perfect. Hopefully they're well-behaved and don't get in my way..." Cayden said, his body moving around a decently-sized rock.
"My brother raised them to be good colts... well, his three youngest, at least. His oldest takes after him too much..." she sighed a bit. "She's going to end up getting hurt one of these days... either that, or she's going to rule the kingdom..."
"She's that good at what she does?" he asked, looking at the nurse.
"She's that cocky about how she does things. Like I said, takes way too much after her father..." Tender giggled a bit, smiling at an old memory.
The pair continued down the road, turning here and there as they wove their way through Ponyville. Eventually, the two ponies stopped outside a large house, metal door gleaming a bit in the light of the sun. A camera above the door turned slowly as the duo made their way up the overgrown cobblestone pathway. Tenderheart pressed her hoof to the scanner, waiting a moment before it beeped. The door slid open, interior lighting coming on.
"Welcome home, Miss Tenderheart. The boys are still in school. Comet is currently sleeping soundly in his room," a metallic voice said over the intercom.
"Thank you Delta," she replied, walking across the marble floor. She led Cayden around the large crystal fountain in the middle of the room, smiling a bit.
"... a bit lavish for a modest home, don't you think?" Cayden asked, looking at the tapestries lining the walls, raising a brow at their familiarity.
"My brother designed it off his foalhood home..." the earth pony said with a slight smile, going into the main corridor and heads towards a pair of large dark oak doors.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say it was designed off the Unifar Temple on Onderon..." the olive-brown pegasus said, looking at a picture of an olive-brown unicorn with a grey and brown mane with four kids, a young red pegasus mare, two unicorn colts of similar size, one blue and the other the same olive-brown as their father, and a young unicorn foal colt, his bright blue coat and teal-brown mane a stark contrast to the rest of the family.
Tender bit her lip as she opened the large doors, heading inside. "This is the library. My brother has accumulated a massive wealth of knowledge during his life... hopefully we'll be able to see if there's any information about a snake-pony creature."
Cayden blinked as he looked into the large library, bookshelves and data storage mainframes lining the walls, his wings fluttering a bit as a smile crept along his face. "Alright... let's get to work then..."
The two ponies sat at the desk, books and datapads piled high in front of them as they poured over old lore and mythology, trying to find any shred of information on the creature they were searching for.
Tender sighed as she closed another book, stretching some. "We've been searching for hours, Cayden... maybe it's just a big snake... or really was the mother..." she said tiredly, blinking her eyes slowly.
"It wasn't the mother," he said flatly, not looking up from the old tome in his hooves.
"But how can you know? Ponies do lie, Cayden... you have a hard time remembering that..." she said quietly, looking down at her hooves.
He blinked and looked up at her, sighing. "I'm sure it isn't her, Tenderheart. It has to be something else."
"Ma'am, if I may be so bold as to interject?" the mechanical voice said over the intercom.
"Go ahead Delta. What you need?" Tender asked, looking up a bit.
"Well, I've been scanning the facility database for the last few hours for what you two have described as 'a half-mare/half-snake creature', and have only found one possible solution." A projector on the desk lit up as it displayed a picture of a half-mare/half-snake creature. "It's called a Lamia. Historically, they're normally isolated to the deserts of Saddle Arabia, but have been growing bolder and more adventurous when the locals began hunting them all and executing them. The Lamia typically lures males from places of sin, usually taverns or brothels, to the victims home, where they have a night of coital bliss... which ends in blood and death for the male. The Lamia drains the body of it's endorphin-enriched blood and escapes. They have been known to be able to slip through the smallest of holes to escape dwellings undetected."
"... And you just happen to have this in your database?" Cayden asked, frowning a bit as he looked at the creature.
"The Director has prepared for anything and everything in the event of his unexpected and untimely demise," Delta said, a slight twinge of sadness in his mechanical voice.
"Great... so how to we kill it?" the pegasus asked, looking up some.
"Decapitation with a red hot blade," he said, the image changing to a sword with a superheated blade of steel.
"... would a lightsaber work?" Tender asked, looking at Cayden a bit.
"Possibly. The blade needs to cauterize the blood vessels leading out from the neck and head, severing the link between the head and body," the AI continued.
"And where in the hell are we supposed to get a lightsaber?" Cayden asked, frowning. "Last I checked, Skywalker hasn't been too big on spreading enclaves out into the galaxy yet, let alone coming to this planet to establish one."
"My brother has a few in his armory. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if we borrowed them..." the earth pony mare said quietly, looking at Cayden more.
"... your brother... what did he do for a living?" the olive-brown pony asked, looking at Tenderheart.
"He.. ran a defense company.. served in the military for twenty years.. and generally traveled about saving ponies," she said, watching the young stallion.
"So he was a soldier... how did he get his hooves on a lightsaber then?"
"He made them... he was rather good at building weapons. I'm surprised his cutie mark wasn't geared towards that..." Tender looked down a bit, sighing softly.
"Cutie mark?" Cayden raised an eyebrow some.
"A tattoo on one's flanks symbolizing their special talent. Usually obtained when one figures out what they are good at," Delta replied.
"So that's what this is..." Cayden slowly stood up and showed his flank to the mare, his cutie mark sitting there proudly.
"Ma'am, isn't that identical to the Director's?" Delta asked.
Tender nodded silently before speaking. "Yeah.. it's not common at all, but... sometimes, more than one pony will have the same special talent... When did you get that, if I might ask..?"
"I... I've always had it... as far back as I can remember... I remember seeing infant pictures of myself, the same symbol sitting on my flanks then as it does now..." the stallion replied quietly, looking down some.
She blinked, then looked up some as a small smile crept along her face. "Then... then you're a very special pony indeed, Cayden. Come on... let's get ourselves armed so we can kill this thing."
The pair sat across the street of a bar, watching ponies go in and out of the building. Tender rummaged through the duffle bag at her hooves, inspecting everything inside. "Was it really necessary to bring shotguns?" she asked, taking one out and loading shells into the loading port.
"You never know when a shotgun comes in handy..." Cayden replied, putting a communication headset on his head and tapped at it. "Delta, do you copy?"
"Affirmative, Mr Tavers. I read you loud and clear," the mechanical pony responded. "Do you see the target?"
"Negative. Just patrons going in and out," the pegasus said, glancing at Tenderheart.
"Delta, we just find her and cut her head off, correct?" she asked, getting her headset upon her head.
"Correct, just... wait, hang on. Oh... well, this isn't good..." Delta started.
Cayden muttered something under his breath about stupid machines before asking "What's wrong?"
"You two are going to hate this... but... she can only be killed while feeding."
The pair looked at each other, Tender gagging as Cayden was blushing.
"Delta, you're absolutely sure about that?" Cayden asked shakily, glancing towards the bar.
"She's only vulnerable when she feeds upon her victims. Unfortunately, I do not make this stuff up."
"Well that's great.. where are we going to get a stallion willing to do that on such short notice?" Tenderheart asked before glancing at Cayden, a weak smile on his face. She frowned and crossed her hooves. "No. I'm not going to allow it."
"I'm not risking decapitating an innocent pony, Tenderheart. I'm doing it and that's final," he said firmly, slowly standing up. He looked back as Tender grabbed onto his hoof, her eyes pleading with him to not go. "I'll be fine. I've got this," he said, patting the lightsaber in his saddlebags. "And you're gonna be nearby anyway..."
"But what if she prevents you from attacking her? What if she isn't alone? What if-" she blinked as she found the stallion's hoof on her mouth.
"If any of that happens, you have a lightsaber too. Just startle her, or them, enough to that I can get mine out and finish them off... alright?" he asked, smiling a bit.
She sighed and nodded, looking down a bit. "Be careful Cayden... please..."
"I al- usu- well... I'll do my best..." Cay smirked before heading across the street to the bar, heading inside quickly.
Tender facehoofed and watched from her spot, biting her lip as she waited. Several hours passed before she watched Cayden walk out of the building with a brown mare leaning on him, giggling lightly as he lead her down the road. Tenderheart got up, grabbing the bag as she followed the odd pair from across the street, watching them. She blushed a bit as she watched the strange mare intertwine her tail with Cayden's, both of them smiling drunkenly as they shared a sloppy kiss. Several minutes went by before she ducked down into a bush as the two walked into a motel room, the door closing behind them.
Tenderheart slowly made her way closer to the room, her eyes looking around as she tried to stay as hidden as possible. When she reached the window, she slowly peeked up and blushed brightly as she saw the pair inside going at it like rabbits on the bed. She ducked back down, trying to shake the image from her head as the noises of what was going on inside leaked through the thin walls of the motel room.
Cayden grunted and groaned as he did his best to keep up with the mare, his body moving fluidly with her's, hips slapping loudly against her's as he drove himself further and further down the rabbit hole. His hooves wrapped around her, pulling her close as he kissed her lips sloppily, tongue pressing firmly into her mouth.
His movements became more erratic as the pair neared their peak, his hooves slapping her flanks hard. He groaned loudly as he slammed harder and faster into her, sweat pouring down their bodies as he firmly planted himself deep into her. He cried out shakily as his climax hit, his body freezing as he poured himself deep into her.
She moaned out lustfully before she looked down at him with a evil smile, her body changing on top of him. Her legs slowly melted together, turning into a serpentine tail. Her eyes changed too, changing from normal pony eyes to slitted ones. She grinned wide before biting down hard on his neck with her sharpened fangs, his cry of pain music to her ears as he began drinking his blood into her.
His eyes widened at the bite, his right foreleg reaching out for the saddlebags at the side of the bed, the strap sitting barely out of his reach. He thrashed about beneath her, trying to get himself closer to the edge, his hoof flicking lightly against the dark brown strap.
Tenderheart peeked up into the room again and her eyes widened as she saw the creature latched onto his neck, draining his blood as an infant would from it's mother's breast. She took the lightsaber off her belt and moved to the door. Giving it her all, she kicked the door in, the yellow blade igniting as she walked in.
The lamia, startled by the sudden intrusion, quickly looked up and hissed at the mare, her tail constricting around Cayden's body. Cayden gasped as his airflow was beginning to be restricted by the serpentine tail, his hooves beating at it uselessly as he tried to free himself.
Tender quickly moved to the bed and swung the energy blade as hard as she could, the saber cutting through the flesh and bone of the lamia like it was air. The creature's head fell to the floor, the cut below the chin smoking. She spit on the head, turning the lightsaber off. "Nopony touches my little brother..." she said quietly.
Cayden felt the tail relax as it slumped down on top of him. He tried to push it off but sighed when he couldn't. "Some help here, Tenderheart?" he asked, slapping the body with a hoof.
The earth pony nodded quickly, putting the weapon away before moving over. She grabbed onto the carcass and pulled as hard as she could, falling backwards as the body moved with her and fell onto the floor.
The pegasus stallion slowly rolled off the bed, groaning. "Thanks..." he said weakly, pulling a pillow off the bed and held it to his neck. He pulled it back and grimaced as he saw bright crimson blood on the cloth, sighing. "Think we can burn this thing and take a trip to the hospital?"
Tender nodded quickly, slowly standing back up as well. "I... I can treat that at the house.." she replied, picking the head up and tossed it onto the body before taking out a canister of lighter fluid. She poured the clear liquid onto the body and sighed, her hoof reaching into her bag and pulled out a book of matches. She lit it and tossed the flaming set of matches onto the body, it igniting in flames upon contact.
Cayden slowly stumbled around the fire and leaned against Tenderheart, groaning some in pain. "L-Let's get out of here..." he said, turning around slowly and walked out of the room.
An hour later, Cayden sat on the couch in the living room as Tenderheart finished putting stitches on the bite on his neck.
"And... done," she said with a smile, cutting the thread from the needle. She put the needle away and set it aside. "How are you feeling?"
"Better... now that I'm not leaking blood everywhere... I'm so not going to be staying at that motel anymore..." he sighed a bit, looking off to the side.
She bit her lip before an idea came to her. "Why don't you stay here, Cayden?" she asked, smiling softly. "I'm sure the kids wouldn't mind..."
Cayden looked at her and smiled a bit. "You sure..? Seems like I attract danger like food attracts fat ponies..."
"Nothing this family isn't used to, to be honest... my brother was good at attracting danger too. He just... he never let it interfere... and I know you won't either," Tender replied.
Cay smiled a bit more before leaning over, giving the mare a gentle hug. "Thank you, Tenderheart..."
Tender bit her lip and smiled weakly, hugging the pegasus back gently. "Anytime Cayden... anytime..."
Author's Note
Well then! New story, new style, new Cayden! A whole lot of new, and a whole lot of action!!!
Lamia. I do not like them. I also had to adjust the lore surrounding them to fit with the story. I'll be doing that a lot.
