The Night Shift

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Sequel

Chapter 1

Author note:
This is a sequel to The Adventures of Vampire Cheerilee which is itself a spinoff of A Dream. Those two are not required reading before begining this story.
Thanks are due to the always-amazing Doctor Whooves for supplying the cover art.

Please enjoy. If not, please tell me why.

The Night Shift

Two ponies wheeled a baggage cart off the train. The Canterlot station was busy and nopony paid them any mind as they moved their heavy cargo out onto the street.

“Seriously,” muttered the stallion. “Why are we pushing this? Can’t you just magic it or something?” He tossed his head, flipping part of his unkempt black mane out of his face.

“Sensitive cargo,” answered the unicorn mare, nodding towards the pine box on the cart. “This was your idea, after all.”

“Fine, I’m an idiot,” the other pony muttered. “Is that what you wanted to hear, Twilight?”

She shrugged. “It’s nice to finally hear you admit it, Valiant.”

“It’s a good thing my coat is orange. Nobody needs to see me blushing.” He groaned as he shoved the cart. “God, I wish I had hands for this job.”

Twilight had gotten used to Valiant’s unusual vocabulary during the few months that she’d known him. He claimed to be from another dimension, but nopony believed that because it was easier to think that he was just insane.

“I still don’t know what all the secrecy surrounding this trip is about,” said Twilight.

“Well, if Princess Celestia was as candid with you as she is with me…” Valiant grinned. Twilight knew he was trying to antagonize her, as was his habit.

The two of them made their way to the castle walls. The stone still bore some damage from the Changeling attack, but repairs were progressing rapidly. A guard glanced at the purple unicorn and orange earth pony and waved them through the gate.

They followed a maze of hallways through the heart of the castle for several minutes before encountering more security ponies outside of Princess Celestia’s private study. These armored stallions were more attentive than their counterparts outside. One of the guards demanded that the wooden box be opened for an inspection.

“You really don’t want to do that,” said Valiant.

The guard was about to retort, when the Princess, a tall, regal creature with a coat of white, stepped out the door. All the ponies in the area except Valiant dropped into a bow. He rolled his eyes.

“Come in,” said Celestia curtly. Twilight and Valiant pushed the cart past the surprised guards. The orange pony kicked the door shut and the three of them were alone with the mysterious delivery.

“All right, let’s do this,” said Valiant without preamble. He pried at the box’s lid. As it opened a crack, a lavender mare with a pink mane burst out, gasping for breath.

“You shut me in a coffin!” she panted.

Valiant chuckled. “Yeah Cheerilee, I had to have a little fun before handing you over to the Royal Vampony Corps.”

“I never asked for this!” the mare shouted. “I have no idea what you got me into! Sometimes I think being dead would be easier.” She glared at Valiant.

He shrugged. "Firstly, I don’t know if the Vampony Corps actually exists, so that means I have no idea what I got you into, either. Secondly, you’re already undead"

Cheerilee was about to retort when a polite cough from Celestia interrupted. Her eyes went wide and she spun around in the coffin, bowing as well as she could from her seated position.

“I’m so sorry, Princess, I didn’t know you were there!” she said quickly.

“Don’t worry, my little pony.” Celestia smiled. “I understand that this is a very difficult time for you.”

A side door opened and Princess Luna, Celestia's younger sister, entered. Instead of white, she was colored dark blue and was not quite as tall.

“We have been expecting you, Cheerilee,” said Luna with a smile.

“You haven’t dropped the Royal We?” asked Valiant. “Come on, I thought you worked on this.”

Luna glanced at him in irritation. “My sister and I have been expecting you, Cheerilee” she said.

“Go with her,” said Celestia to the Cheerilee. “She needs to speak with you.”

The mare in the coffin slowly clambered out and made her way to the floor. She took hesitant steps towards Luna, following the Princess back through the door that she had emerged from.

The chamber beyond the doorway was rather small, but seemed suited for having a private discussion. Luna closed the door.

“You were asked to come here because we believe that you have untapped potential,” said the Princess.

“Do you mind if I speak freely, Princess Luna?” asked the lavender pony.

“I encourage it,” Luna replied.

“I don’t know if I want to be here,” said Cheerilee. “I asked Twilight to write a letter to your sister in attempt to find some way to deal with my…condition, but now I’m not so sure this was a good idea.”

Luna nodded thoughtfully. “You teach school, correct?”

“That’s right,” Cheerilee confirmed.

“Why do you do that?” asked the Princess.

“I…I guess I just like to help others,” stammered Cheerilee.

“How could you use your status as a vampire to achieve that?” asked Luna.

Cheerilee sighed. “I don’t know.”

“It’s all right,” said the Princess comfortingly. “I know of ways you can help. There is a group I have founded that is dedicated to behind-the-scenes work. Out of the public eye, we are allowed to do anything that is needed in order to serve Equestria."

"Do you mean like some kind of secret agency?" Cheerilee asked, sounding skeptical.

Luna laughed. "No, nothing so glamorous. We are content to stay in the shadows. My sister is aware of the group, but doesn't know the details. Nor does she wish to." The Princess sighed. "It can be a rather unpleasant business sometimes."

“What would you have me do?” asked the schoolteacher cautiously.

“We have many things to ask of you,” Luna informed her. “Some of them may be rather grim I'm afraid, but I guarantee you will be making a difference in the lives of ponies everywhere.”

“I can’t leave my students to take up something else,” said Cheerilee. She wished she’d thought of them before agreeing to come to Canterlot.

“You wouldn’t need to. Your position as a teacher in Ponyville is an excellent cover. Think of the new job as auxiliary to that.” The Princess smiled slightly. “You’ll be working nights. I’m sure that suits you.”

Cheerilee thought that Princess Luna’s comment was uncharacteristically insensitive, but didn’t dream of mentioning it. It was important to choose words carefully around royalty, and suppress speaking that which came immediately to mind.

"Not good enough, Celestia! I demand at least fifty bits a week.” Valiant’s shout drifted through the door. Cheerilee’s ears twitched at the sound of it. He was her least favorite pony in all of Equestria.

“Princess, how can Valiant be allowed to get away with such rudeness?” she asked, unable to contain herself. “Isn’t he setting a bad example?”

Luna sighed. “Valiant is…difficult. The effort it would take to exercise control over him is not worth the price. He is a decidedly special case."

Cheerilee had heard the story of how the clash with the Changelings had played out. According to several ponies, Valiant may very well have saved Canterlot. It had all happed over her dead body. Literally. Cheerilee had been soaking in a pool of her own blood in the caves beneath the castle as the battle raged overhead.

“He may have stopped the Changelings, but he turned me into a vampire and killed your nephew,” Cheerilee pointed out.

The Princess nodded sadly. “I admit that we should have realized that Blueblood was a vampire. Maybe all this could have been prevented.”

Cheerilee shook her head. "I know that the vampire condition is passed like a chain from pony to pony. When you kill one and break a link, the rest that were turned should revert. I still don't know why Valiant changed back after the Prince was killed but I didn’t."

"Vampirism is not exactly a science," Luna told her.

Again suppressing some choice words, Cheerilee said, “What’s done is done. I don’t want to believe it, but it’s beginning to look like there’s no going back for me.”

“Have heart,” said Luna. “Make the most of it.”

“I’ll do my best, Princess.” There was nothing Cheerilee could do but try.

Princess Luna smiled. “That is all we ask. Go back to Ponyville for now. You will be contacted soon.” She opened the door for Cheerilee to leave.

"There she is," said Valiant as the door opened. "What took you so long?"

"I can't discuss it," replied Cheerilee, surprising herself with an authoritative tone.

Valiant promptly poked a hole in her confidence. "It's all right, I probably already know."

Cheerilee glanced at Princess Luna, who nodded.

"Despite his other flaws, Valiant is good with secrets," said the royal pony.

"She just wants the blackmail I've got on her to stay buried," said Valiant.

"Are we done here?" asked Twilight, breaking in.

The stallion nodded. "Sure. Come on, Cheerilee. You get to ride in the passenger section this time." He started for the exit.

"The coffin was an elaborate prank," explained Twilight. "If it wasn't so heavy, he'd probably tell you ride back in it, too." The wooden box, and in fact the baggage cart as well, had been left behind.

The two mares followed Valiant out of the castle. The afternoon sky was overcast. The weather ponies were building up a cloud bank for a shower that evening. Cheerilee was grateful. She didn't burn in direct sunlight, but it did irritate her eyes.

"I'll meet you at the station," Valiant said, heading in a different direction. "The donut shop is calling to me."

Cheerilee's sensitive ears heard Twilight's stomach growl at the mention of donuts.

"You sound hungry," she said to the unicorn.

"Well, I could never turn down one of Donut Joe's best," said Twilight. "I feel bad that you can't taste how good they are."

"Don't remind me," mumbled Cheerilee.

"I'll catch up to you later," promised Twilight. She hurried away in the direction Valiant had gone.

Cheerilee stood alone in the middle of the street. The train station was just down the block, but it would be quite a while before the next train left for Ponyville.

She was unfamiliar with Canterlot, knew nopony who lived in the city, and was hesitant to socialize for fear that she would somehow reveal her condition. It was terribly lonely being a vampire.

Cheerilee’s tongue touched the two sharp points that had sprouted among the rest of her teeth when she’d been turned. She had once tried chewing a rock in an attempt to break them off, but the fangs just grew back.

In fact, any attempt she made to appear more normal was thwarted by her own body. It was good that she no longer needed dinner plates and glasses, as casual scrubbing with her increased strength might have broken them. If she should happen to cut herself on the shards, the wound would close itself within minutes. She couldn’t even bleed like a normal pony.

It was strange how Cheerilee could miss the simple ability to be injured. Sometimes, she even thought a little pain would be welcome. Twilight had coached her not to have thoughts like that. While Cheerilee did occasionally go through a depressive mood swing, she had to admit that her general attitude had been steadily improving. Even the children had noticed.

The prospect of leaving a vampire in charge of grade school fillies and colts terrified Cheerilee even more than anypony else. She knew that all the students were gossiping about her sudden attitude shift. Luckily, none of them had stumbled upon the real reason.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were all on good terms with Valiant. In fact, the three of them had participated in the battle against the Changelings while piloting experimental robots that he had built.

Despite their proximity to the scene of Cheerilee’s transformation, the three fillies remained ignorant of the real reason their teacher was acting different. Valiant felt that they didn’t need to know, and had kept his mouth shut. It was the only thing Cheerilee had ever thanked him for.

The schoolteacher sighed and checked the time on the castle clock tower. A little despair began to creep into her mind as she realized how much longer she still had to wait with only her thoughts to keep her occupied..

Chapter 2

“All right class, settle down. It’s time to begin today’s lesson.” Cheerilee was at her customary position at the front of the classroom. The young fillies and colts were generally a well-behaved bunch, and grew quiet at the sound of her voice.

“Today’s lesson will be a little different than usual,” said Cheerilee. “We’re going to take a break from science and math and learn about mythology. Do any of you know what that means?”

“Oh!” said a filly with thick glasses, raising a hoof. Cheerilee called on her.

“It’s a whole bunch of old stories about monsters and heroes and adventure and stuff!” the young pony answered.

Cheerilee nodded. “Very good, Twist. Mythology was created by ponies long ago. They can be about history, or just told for entertainment. Another important use for mythology is to tell stories that describe both good and bad qualities for a pony to have. Heroes did great things, while monsters did things that you shouldn’t.”

The teacher pulled back a page on her display board at the front of the room. “As you can see, there are many monsters in mythology. Hydra, cockatrice, manticore…” Cheerilee continued reading through the list of creatures.

Twist’s hoof went up again.

“Yes Twist?”

“You skipped one, Mrs. Cheerilee,” said the filly.

“So I did,” said Cheerilee. “Vampire.”

“Wait,” said Apple Bloom. “A lot of those things, like hydras and manticores actually exist. Does that mean vampires are real, too?”

“No, silly,” said Scootaloo. “Have you ever seen a vampire?”

“What does a vampire look like?” asked Sweetie Belle.

“Haven’t any of you ever read the Moonlight Saga?” asked Silver Spoon. “They’re dreamy.”

“Getting back on track,” said Cheerilee. “Many of our stories today are based on mythological principles. Your homework is to find one story that has ties to mythology.”

The rest of the lesson was spent discussing the meaning behind some of the more popular mythological stories. When the little ponies were dismissed for the day, Cheerilee sat at her desk for a while longer, her mind occupied.

The mythology lesson was usually one of her favorites to teach every year, but it was suddenly hitting a little too close to home. She felt like a monster already, and didn’t need a chart to tell her that she was one.

The schoolteacher packed up her things and made her way home. She passed street vendors selling their wares in the marketplace. Everypony looked so happy and normal. Cheerilee was slowly growing used to feeling like a stranger in her hometown.

She checked the mailbox before going inside her home. The pile of junkmail was dumped on the kitchen table for Cheerilee to pick through it later.

Opening her saddlebags, the mare pulled out the day’s papers to grade. It was strange how such a mundane task had recently become one of her favorite parts of the day. With her mind stuck in the paperwork, Cheerilee couldn’t think about how much she disliked the way her life was going.

All pleasant things must come to an end, however. The sun was beginning to set as Cheerilee finished up the last paper. She glanced out the window and sighed. It was time to go out. The streets were nearly deserted as Cheerilee exited her front door. Nopony noticed her slipping away to the Everfree Forest.

It was lucky that the Forest occupied a broad swath of land near Ponyville. Cheerilee had been spreading out her hunting territory to keep too many animals from disappearing from one area.

It was exceedingly strange to think about a young schoolteacher out in the Everfree Forest at night looking for something to kill. That was why Cheerilee let her instincts take over when she was on the hunt.

She’d carefully learned to manage herself, however. These days, she rarely had any episodes where she was overcome with bloodlust and lost control. It had happened a few times when she was still new, and it terrified her. What if she hurt somepony? Or worse, turned them?

This night, Cheerilee circled around to the north. She wasn’t sure what kind of animal she might run across. She wasn’t desperately hungry, so there was time to be choosy.

Just like a buffet, she thought. No, on second thought, that's a terrible analogy.

Cheerilee browsed through her choices as she walked. A squirrel had its life spared. A rabbit was not stalked. The pony's green eyes probed the darkness, searching for the right target.

A flitting shape in the underbrush made her crouch down. A red-coated fox sniffed the air, trying to decide if the noise it had just heard was a threat or a meal.

While the small canine was not Cheerilee’s ideal choice, she decided that it would do. Her muscles coiled, and she sprang from her hiding place more powerfully than a mare of her stature should have been able.

The fox got lucky, for a moment. It saw the pony coming with enough time to sidestep her attack. Cheerilee hit the ground and changed directions, dashing after her prey. Despite the animal’s shorter legs, it could sprint like lightening.

The undergrowth that the fox passed under and through tore at Cheerilee’s sides. She ignored the gripping vegetation and poured her energy into running down her quarry.

The fox had unsuccessfully tried flight, and now turned to fight. It was woefully outclassed, however. Cheerilee’s fangs tore through the red coat and deep into the flesh, taking a life in an instant.

She stood still for a moment to compose herself, the limp creature hanging from her mouth. She gently laid the fox on the ground and began drinking. There was no easy way to extract the blood from an animal, and the best method Cheerilee had found was a combination of sucking and licking up the spills.

When she was sated, Cheerilee dug a shallow trench and rolled the fox’s body into it, covering it with dirt. There was no need to litter the forest with dead creatures. Somepony might get suspicious.

She wiped her mouth with a fallen leaf to make sure she was presentable when she walked back into town. It was unlikely anypony would be out so late, but better safe than sorry.

Valiant was lying flat on his back outside the library when Cheerilee walked by. He was snoring slightly and smelled of the strange drink he called alcohol.

He would be an easy target. It would take far less effort to end his life than the fox, and Cheerilee would probably enjoy it more, too.

She stood for a moment, looking at his supine form. Valiant was the pony that had made her this way. He had tracked down Prince Blueblood and killed him in order to be turned back. While Valiant was no longer a vampire, Cheerilee often wondered if killing him would cure her affliction.

Valliant’s nose twitched with some irritation and he slapped at it with a hoof. He only seemed to succeed in knocking himself out of his slumber.

He sat up and looked at her blearily.

“Jesus, what are you doing here?” Valiant asked. “Quit staring at me. It’s creepy.” He got up and tottered towards the library door.

Cheerilee shook her head. Killing animals for food was one thing. Taking the life of a pony, even a buckhead like Valiant, was another.

The mare made her way home. The pile of mail was still waiting. Cheerilee sorted through it and found a plain envelope that she hadn’t noticed before.

At her kitchen table, Cheerilee opened the strange letter. Since talking with Princess Luna, she had been waiting for more information on the night job that she had agreed to. The note was what she had been hoping for—and dreading.

Cheerilee,

This is the beginning of your new job. Do not take it lightly. You may be ordered to do things that seem unpleasant, yet you must do them. Many of these tasks have zero tolerance for error.

You are now in service to Equestria. From this moment, there is no going back.

There was a page attached detailing exactly what was expected of her.

Cheerilee gulped. She had been slightly unsure of the assignment before, but the letter cleared that up. One way or another, she was now committed.

Chapter 3

The Canterlot Garden Party was an annual tradition. It was a great honor to be invited. Cheerilee couldn’t believe her good fortune.

She wouldn’t be going as herself, though. Princess Luna had assigned her to undercover security. It worried Cheerilee slightly that a party needed that—needed her. What could cause the Princess to take that kind of precaution?

Rarity, Ponyville’s fashion designer, had been contacted to make Cheerilee’s outfit. Princess Luna had sworn the dressmaker to secrecy.

Rarity was sympathetic to Cheerilee’s cause. Through convoluted means, she had briefly been a vampire herself. Cheerilee was not sure exactly how that had happened, but it somehow involved Valiant and that caused her to dislike thinking about it.

“Hold still,” ordered Rarity. “I can tell you’re nervous.”

“I’ve never had a fitted dress before,” Cheerilee admitted.

“Oh my, really? Well, I certainly couldn’t ask you to pay, then” said Rarity. “Regardless, Princess Luna has arranged compensation, so this dress will be the absolute best!”

“Um, I think I would prefer not to stand out,” mumbled Cheerilee.

Rarity looked surprised. “Well…I could tone it down a little. We can take off the feathers, and most of the jewelry. I suppose if I must, I could also remove about half the lace.”

“Please,” said Cheerilee.

“The Princess also asked me to provide you with a nice pair of sunglasses,” noted Rarity. “The weather for the party will be clear, of course.” She spun around a display of eyewear next to her dressmaking supplies, taking a moment to decide what would look best.

“A nice monochrome pair, I think,” said Rarity. “These will help with the simple look, and you can wear them with other things in the future, if you like.”

Cheerilee examined the sunglasses. The frames were black and the large lenses were almost that dark. “These are great, thanks.”

Rarity continued fussing over her. It was quite a bit more involved than Cheerilee expected, but that was okay. She might not get another opportunity to visit the Canterlot Garden Party.

The day of the event was a Saturday—no school. Cheerilee rode the train to Canterlot while wearing her disguise. Her mane had been elegantly curled, and her identifying features were concealed by the dress and large sunglasses. She sat a few rows behind a group of ponies that included Rarity, Twilight, and for some reason Valiant. Rarity gave Cheerilee a sly wink, but none of the other ponies appeared to recognize her.

They all disembarked at the station. Cheerilee didn’t exactly mingle with their group, but was close enough to hear some conversation. Twilight seemed confident that this year’s Garden Party would be less crazy than the year before, when her birthday happened to fall on the same date. Cheerilee also heard one of them mention the phrase "party cannon."

A pony stood at the garden gate taking names. "Countess de la Cheer" said Cheerilee, remembering her cover identity. The security pony consulted his list and nodded her through.

Cheerilee wished she didn't have to be so dramatic about things. After all, wasn’t undercover work supposed to be unnoticed?

She sighed. What did a schoolteacher know about being undercover? In fact, what qualifications did she have to get this job? Was being a vampire all it took? Cheerilee wished she could ask somepony, but now was not the time. She saw the host of the party was coming her way.

“Ah, a new face,” said a handsome white unicorn. His eyes ran over her dress appreciatively. “I’m afraid I don’t know your name, my dear.”

Cheerilee told him her pseudonym. “And I presume you are the famous Fancypants?” she asked.

The stallion smiled. “You are correct. Please enjoy the party, Countess.” He drifted away to talk to other ponies.

Standing awkwardly all alone, Cheerilee looked around. The group from Ponyville that she had shared the train with stuck together by themselves. Many of the Canterlot ponies seemed displeased by their presence, but Fancypants treated them well enough.

“Hey, you’re the Countess, right?” asked a voice.

Cheerilee turned, looking at the heavily made-up mare who had spoken. “That’s right. Pardon me, but are you Sapphire Shores, the pony of pop?” She had spotted several celebrities at the party, and felt somewhat awed to be among them.

“That’s right,” answered the show pony. “Wow, I’ve never met a Countess before. Does looking that good just come with the title? You're faaantabulous, darling.”

“Why thank you,” answered Cheerilee. Surprisingly, her disguise allowed her to feel more relaxed. For a moment, she allowed herself to believe she really was a countess.

“Well, maybe we can hang out again sometime,” said Sapphire Shores, turning away. “I’ve got to go talk to Photo Finish now. Bye!”

Cheerilee turned her gaze elsewhere. The sunglasses had been a very good idea. She could look around without anypony knowing where her eyes were pointed.

The disguse seemed to be working well. Not that there were many Ponyville residents at the party to recognize Cheerilee, but it helped her get comfortable in her role. It was almost fun to pretend to be another pony for a while. Almost. She was still on the job.

The masquerading Countess glanced over to where Sapphire Shores was chatting with Photo Finish, the famous fashion photographer. Photo did not seem to be listening. In fact, her face was turned in an entirely different direction. Cheerilee noticed her head was up, as if looking over the crowd.

Curious, Cheerilee followed her gaze across the garden. She let out a small gasp of surprise to find that the fashion pony was staring at none other than Valiant.

The stallion wore a hostile expression. He had locked eyes with the photographer, and as Cheerilee watched, he pointed his hoof towards his own face and then at Photo Finish. Knowing Valiant as Cheerilee did, his gesture probably meant something like I’ve got my eye on you, picture bitch.

After several minutes, Valiant got bored with the staring match and went on his way. And still Photo Finish didn’t take her eyes off of him. Cheerilee observed as she tracked the orange pony's movements through the crowd. She clearly was not afraid of him, and that actually troubled Cheerilee.

Valiant was a psychopath, no two ways about it. Anypony who willingly crossed him was either ignorant, or was powerful enough to deal with whatever revenge scheme he would probably concoct. Cheerilee assumed the former about the photographer.

Rather than see a messy spectacle carried out in front of everypony at the garden party, she decided that the situation needed to be defused.

Quickly running through her options, Cheerilee decided that the best plan would be to distract Valiant. It would probably be easier than trying to explain to the notoriously eccentric Photo Finish what kind of mistake she was making.

Cheerilee made her way through the crowd and caught up with Valiant at the refreshments table. Her disguise as a Countess gave her confidence.

“Pardon me, sir, what is that you’re wearing?” she asked.

Valiant took a dainty sip of punch from a glass. “The Carousel Boutique of Ponyville made this tuxedo. I enjoy their designs so very much.” He spoke with a trace of a posh accent. It was so completely out of character for him, that Cheerilee almost laughed.

“It looks very good,” she said. And it did. She just couldn’t stand what was inside it.

Valiant rolled his eyes as if she’d said something silly. “Yes. Every girl’s crazy about a sharp dressed man.” He walked away, humming something to himself.

Cheerilee wasn’t sure what to do next. After a few moments' thought, she decided to go find Photo Finish, to protect her if nothing else. Strangely, the photographer did not appear to be in the garden any longer.

After a quick glance around, Cheerilee did manage to locate Sapphire Shores, who was sitting at a table by herself. Cheerilee walked over, intending to ask where Photo Finish had gone. The pop star had a blank look in her eyes and was sitting perfectly still.

“Are you all right?” Cheerilee asked. She waved a hoof in front of the other pony’s eyes.

Sapphire blinked a couple of times and looked around. “I guess I spaced out there for a second.”

“Do you know where Photo Finish is?” asked Cheerilee.

“Nope, sorry.” The singer moved to get up but stopped. “Hey, what’s that?”

Cheerilee pulled the tablecloth back. Sapphire’s rear hooves were bound to the legs of the table. More troubling, however, was a large crystal beneath the table, pulsing with energy.

Chapter 4

Cheerilee stared the large chunk of crystal. It seemed to glow from within, pulsing slowly with a mild pink light.

“What in the world is that?” exclaimed Sapphire Shores.

“I have no idea,” said Cheerilee, “but I get the feeling that it’s not anything good.”

Sapphire tugged at the restraints that bound her legs. “I’ve been involved with some wild parties before, but I’ve never woken up, tied down.”

Cheerilee examined the material that held the pop star. It was grayish green and appeared to be organic. She’d never seen anything like it. Her mind raced, trying to figure out what to do. She decided to stay as low-key as possible and do her best not to alarm any of the partygoers

The schoolteacher-turned-vampire-turned-undercover agent looked around the garden quickly. Nopony seemed to have noticed what was going on. The sun was beginning to start its downward arc. In not very long, it would disappear behind the mountains that flanked the castle.

“Hold still,” said Cheerilee. She pulled at the bindings with her teeth. The material was very tough. She still had no idea what it could be. The taste was unpleasant, and like nothing she was familiar with.

Whatever the stuff was, it turned out to be no match for her bite. Cheerilee kept her head low, so Sapphire couldn’t see exactly what kind of teeth she possessed.

“Thanks,” said the singer once she was free. “But what are we going to do about that?” She pointed at the crystal.

“I’ll take care of it,” Cheerilee told her. “Get out of here and don’t tell a single pony about this.”

Sapphire Shores couldn’t see Cheerilee’s commanding look beneath her sunglasses, but her voice made it clear that there would be no argument. Cheerilee had spent long hours practicing that tone on unruly students.

The pony of pop walked away. Cheerilee glanced at the glass of grape juice she had left behind and casually knocked it over on the white tablecloth.

She pulled the linen off the table and dropped it on top the crystal. After bundling it up, she set it on the table, making sure the juice stain was visible.

“Bus colt!” she called. A young unicorn stallion in a uniform came over.

“Just a little too much grape juice, I’m afraid,” said Cheerilee. “I’ve already wrapped it up for you.”

“Oh my,” he said. “Let me take care of that.” His horn glowed and the wrapped tablecloth levitated into the air. He appeared slightly confused that it was heavier than it looked, but said nothing.

Cheerilee made her way towards the exit. She’d gotten the staff pony to carry the bundle because it might look suspicious if she toted it herself.

She encountered Fancypants, and apologized for leaving early. He wished her a nice evening. Before leaving, Cheerilee glanced around the garden one more time. Nopony appeared to have caught on to what she was doing.

Once outside the garden, she slipped around into the castle and located the laundry facility. Out of sight of the other guests, Cheerilee dropped her Countess attitude. Entering the laundry room, she had a look around. The stained tablecloth had been dumped in a bin. Cheerilee unwrapped it to confirm the crystal was still inside. The light from within appeared to have taken a darker shade and the period of pulsing had sped up. Cheerilee thought about what that might imply and gulped.

She bundled the crystal once more and slung it onto her back. She was almost to the door of the laundry room when a mare in a cleaning uniform stepped in.

“Uh, can I help you, ma’am?” the worker asked.

“Oh, well, I accidentally dropped some juice on this tablecloth,” Cheerilee said quickly. “I felt so terrible that I wanted to clean it so you didn’t have to.”

“That’s kind of my job,” said the other pony.

“It’s just a little thing,” said Cheerilee. She winked. “And I get to tell my friends that I helped with the famous Canterlot Garden Party, even if it was only cleaning a tablecloth.”

“Well, okay,” said the laundry pony. “But bring it back.”

Cheerilee left the room, surprised how easily the fake story had come to her. Was it because she was so used to hearing her students come up with creative excuses?

In the Castle hallway, Cheerilee stopped. Now what? She had no idea what the crystal was, and didn’t know of any pony who could tell her. She decided that the best course of action was to get the thing as far away from the crowded garden as possible.

The castle was built into the side of a mountain. Cheerilee slipped around the base of the castle wall and began to head up the slope. She paused to check the crystal. Its tempo had picked up, and now it was pulsing steadily. The color had changed to almost red.

Cheerilee ran, dodging over boulders and other obstacles. She was far enough from the party that she probably wouldn’t be seen. That was good. She was moving far faster than any normal pony should be able.

In only a few minutes, she made it to the summit and stopped again. A harsh crimson light flashed angrily from within the crystal. Cheerilee paused only long enough to take a deep breath, and threw it as hard as she could.

Down at the Garden Party, there was a short burst of sound and hundreds of glittering objects flew into the air from a nearby mountain top. They caught the light of the setting sun, sparkling with color. The crowd let out a collective gasp and applauded politely.

Cheerilee saw none of the show. The crystal had barely left her hooves when it exploded. There was no smoke or flame, just a loud powerful burst that threw shards everywhere. Half a dozen of them tore through her body at high velocity.

She stumbled, barely catching herself before she went rolling down the mountain. Cheerilee coughed, liquid bubbling up out of her throat. It seemed strange to taste her own blood for once. Pierced lungs, she thought. Still standing, so no skeletal damage. That fact that she was still lucid enough to diagnose herself seemed astonishing.

Cheerilee looked at herself. The dress had been torn and was slowly absorbing blood from her wounds. Everything seemed very quiet. Probably deaf from the explosion. Her legs started to shake and she settled to the ground.

One ragged breath after another. That’s all it took. Just keep going. How long did a pony live when hurt this way? The answer was not in the classroom science textbooks she’d memorized.

For several minutes, Cheerilee lay as still as she could. The pain was dulling, and she felt cold. The sun had disappeared beyond the next mountain peak. She rolled slightly on her side and pulled down the neckline on the dress. The wounds on her chest had closed.

Cheerilee picked herself up, shivering slightly in the mountaintop breeze. She took a deep breath of the cool air. The hurt of her injuries had almost completely disappeared.

She touched her tongue lightly to the sharp points of her fangs. It was the easiest way to confirm that nothing had changed, and at the moment, that was all she could ask for.

Dear, sweet Celestia… Cheerilee took a few minutes to compose herself. Her body’s ability to mend itself to perfection had been tested before, but never to such an extent. The mental scarring she would have was literally more severe than the physical.

Cheerilee glanced at the dress. The rips were still in the fabric, but the stains had disappeared as if the blood had reversed its flow back to where it belonged inside her body. She shuddered, attempting to push the eerie thought from her mind.

The chill breeze got Cheerilee to move her hooves. She left the top of the mountain. The long walk back to the base gave her time to think, perhaps too much.

Cheerilee did not want to die. She understood that all creatures must someday meet their end, but the idea still scared her. The thought of how close she had come, of how she should be dead, was the stuff that nightmares were built on.

She shook her head. There were other things she needed to take care of at the moment. The regeneration had taken a lot out of her. She had to eat something. Now.

Chapter 5

After descending the mountain, Cheerilee turned and looked back through the trees towards the peak. What had happened there was not a pleasant memory and she decided that she would do her best not to think about it again.

On the opposite horizon, the moon was slowly rising. It looked like it would be especially bright that night. Cheerilee preferred more darkness because it would keep her from being seen. She could see regardless.

Her hunger prodded Cheerilee onwards. She had never hunted in the mountains of Canterlot before, but figured there had to be something out there she could catch.

There was a faint flutter of feathered wings. Cheerilee glanced up and spotted Princess Luna descending towards her.

The earth pony sank into a bow. “Princess, what a surprise! I’m sorry that I’m not looking my best at the moment.”

“That is a very minor concern,” said Luna. “I observed you leaving the Garden Party early, and I most certainly did not schedule that fireworks display.” She smiled. “You did a very good job.”

Cheerilee flushed. Such praise directly from the Princess! “Do you know what that thing was?” she asked.

Luna frowned. “Unfortunately, no. Some kind of weapon intended to maim or kill, obviously.”

“Who would do such a thing?” wondered Cheerilee. “Do you think it could have been…?”

“I admit, Valiant is a tempting suspect,” said the Princess as if she’d read Cheerilee’s mind. “But remember, he was at the party and in danger, too. I also doubt that he would use magical weapons.”

As Luna spoke, Cheerilee found herself fascinated with the Princess’ throat. She looked at the ground quickly. “So, was Sapphire Shores the target, or just at the wrong place at the wrong time?” she asked.

“So far, it’s uncertain,” answered the royal pony. “She will have to be interrogated. I trust you to manage it in a discrete manner.”

“Yes, Princess.” Cheerilee nodded. She still didn’t meet Luna’s eyes, afraid of what might happen if she didn’t keep a tight rein on her hunger.

“Are you feeling well?” asked Luna, taking a step forward. “Were you injured?”

Cheerilee took several steps backwards. “Uh, yes I was, Princess. I’m fine now, don’t worry.”

“Very well,” said Luna. “Take care of yourself, Cheerilee. You have already done Equestria a great service, but I fear that more trouble may loom on the horizon. There will be another letter arriving for you soon.”

The Princess flapped her wings and soared back to the castle. Cheerilee took a moment to remove her sunglasses and ruined dress. They would only slow her down. She turned to the forested mountains and let her instincts take over.

None of the fillies and colts that arrived at school Monday morning had any idea what their teacher had been through that weekend.

Cheerilee sat at her desk. Her face showed no indication that she’d been caught in an explosion, nearly attacked one of the Princesses, and slaughtered a cougar.

To be fair, the big cat had attacked her first. There were few animals that were hostile to ponies on sight, but maybe it had felt threatened by the lavender mare. She had been running feverishly through the woods with her fangs out. It hadn’t been a short fight, either. Cheerilee absently rubbed her side as she thought of it. The claw marks had faded, but the memory of the sharp pain lingered on.

She had intended to wear her new mane styling left over from the party, just to try something different, but the mass of blood caked in it had spoiled that plan. It was probably just as well. The more ponies that considered her to be “just boring old Cheerilee the schoolteacher,” the better.

All the foals had done their homework. Cheerilee decided to cut the mythology lesson short. They were supposed to be talking about literature, not her life.

“What other genres of fiction do you like?” she asked the class.

“Action!” said Snips.

“Mystery!” put in Snails.

“Romance!” chorused Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

Cheerilee did a mental facehoof. This wasn’t as bad as talking about mythological monsters, but still not very comfortable. She wished there wasn’t so much action and mystery in her life. As for romance…well, that was out of the question.

At the end of the day, Cheerilee dismissed the class. It looked like a few of them had been inspired by the lesson to head over to the library to search for interesting books.

“Here, Ms. Cheerilee,” said Twist, laying a peppermint stick on her desk.

“Thank you very much,” the teacher said.

Twist hung around for a moment. “Aren’t you going to try it?”

“I’m sure it’s very good,” said Cheerilee. “I’ll save it for later.”

The young filly smiled and walked away. When she had left the room, Cheerilee scooped the candy into the wastebasket. Aside from blood and maybe water, there was nothing that could pass her lips without making her sick. The agony of it was, she could still taste and smell just as well as before. She wanted to eat the peppermint. It was sure to be delicious. Her body wouldn’t let her.

Twist might be getting suspicious. The student had brought her famous hoof-made candies to share several times. Cheerilee wondered if she should inform the filly that she was allergic, and tell her that she’d been accepting the peppermints to keep from hurting her feelings. It seemed like a mean thing to do, but she certainly couldn’t tell her the real reason.

It troubled Cheerilee that lying had become almost second nature to her. Granted, it served a serious purpose, but it clearly was not a healthy habit to have.

Cheerilee trotted back to her house with her usual load of homework. She found a plain envelope in the mailbox when she got there. Going inside, she sat down at the table to read the letter. The language was informal and short, as if it had been written in a great hurry.

Sapphire Shores may know something about what happened at the party. Enclosed is a ticket and a backstage pass to her concert in Trottingham on Wednesday night.

Cheerilee had heard that the popular concert was completely sold out and didn’t know how a ticket had been obtained only two days before the event. Princess Luna had her ways, apparently.

There were no instructions to tell Cheerilee exactly how she was supposed to find out what Sapphire knew. The mare sighed and left the letter sitting on her kitchen table. She had to go see Rarity.

Over at the boutique, the white unicorn was aghast at the damage to the dress. “How in the world did you manage this?” She shook her head. “Never mind, I don’t want to know.”

“Sorry,” said Cheerilee.

“It’s no trouble,” said Rarity, waving a hoof. “The dress was paid for, after all. In fact, the Princess has a tab open for you in case a need arises in the future.”

“Oh, um, well, I’m going to the Sapphire Shores concert in a few days,” said Cheerilee.

Rarity smiled. “Let me see what I can do.”

Later that evening, Cheerilee returned to her house. The idea of slipping into another disguise was strangely comforting. As long as she could pretend to be another pony, it made her second job a little more bearable. Rarity had reviewed a few options with her, and said a completed outfit should be ready soon.

The schoolteacher returned to the pile of papers that she needed to grade, briefly allowing herself to forget everything that had happened in the past few days. She plowed into the work with enthusiasm. For just a moment, her life felt normal.

Chapter 6

The concert hall was packed. Most of the ponies in the crowd were teenagers. Cheerilee felt slightly out of place, but once again Rarity had come through with an excellent disguise and nopony gave her a second glance.

“I understand the need to ‘dress down’,” the seamstress had said, “but that doesn’t mean you can’t look glamorous. If it helps, think of it as camouflage for a social environment.”

So Cheerilee had put on her glamouflage and taken the train to Trottingham. The clothing and accessories were different from the ones she had worn in her own teenage years, but with careful hairstyling and makeup, she blended in with the concertgoers. For a little extra anonymity, she kept her sunglasses on.

After some thought, Cheerilee decided to wait until after the performance to approach Sapphire Shores. The singer would probably have more time then, and there would be fewer audience members around.

It had been awhile since she’d been to a concert of any kind. Sapphire Shores was not Cheerilee’s favorite artist, but she was looking forward to the performance. She found her way to the seat number that was listed on her ticket.

The crowd was huge. Glancing around, Cheerilee spotted a few VIP seats. Surprised, she recognized Photo Finish, Hoity Toity, and a few other important faces from the fashion world. Sapphire was popular enough that she was almost more of a brand identity than just a singer, and required a small army of other ponies to maintain her image.

The lights in the audience dimmed and the stage lit up as the entertainer stepped out. “Hello Trottingham!” she called. “You’re the greatest fans in the world!”

The crowd cheered wildly. Cheerilee allowed herself to get caught up in the energy. She made sure to keep her eyes moving and alert to threats, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy herself.

Sapphire turned out to be one of those singers who sounded better in concert. It might have been the energy she exuded that made her stage presence breathtaking. It was honestly rather difficult for Cheerilee to keep scanning the crowd instead.

After two hours, Sapphire finished the last song, a wildly popular number called Trot 'Cause I Love You. She waved goodbye and took a bow. The curtains closed and the crowd began filing out, a happy mood hanging over them. Cheerilee headed for the backstage area. She showed her pass to a security pony and he let her through.

In not very long, she found herself looking at the singer’s dressing room door. After glancing around, Cheerilee knocked.

“Who is it?” called a voice.

Cheerilee briefly debated what she should say to get the singer to let her in. “Countess de la Cheer.”

The door opened. “I didn’t know you were here!” said Sapphire. “Come in.”

Cheerilee followed her inside. She closed the door behind her and locked it. Sapphire didn’t appear to notice.

“So, what happened at the Garden party?” asked Sapphire.

“I think I should be asking you that,” said Cheerilee. “How did you get bound to the table? Who put that crystal beneath it?”

“I don’t know,” said the pony of pop.

“You have to know something,” said Cheerilee, her voice rising. “Did you black out? What’s the last thing you remember?”

“I was talking to Photo Finish and…that’s it.” Sapphire shrugged.

“What were you talking about?” asked Cheerilee.

“What does it matter?” the singer said. “Who are you really?”

“I’m not important,” said Cheerilee. “That crystal was a magical weapon. If we hadn’t discovered it, a lot of bad things could have happened. You need to tell me everything you know so we can find who brought it to the party.”

Sapphire shook her head. “I don’t know anything.”

“That’s for me to decide,” insisted Cheerilee. “Tell me what happened.”

“I think I’d like you to leave,” said the singer.

“I’m not going anywhere until you help me figure out who was behind this.” Cheerilee advanced on Sapphire menacingly.

“I’m getting security.” The pop star attempted to push past, but Cheerilee put her in a headlock and forced her to the floor.

“I haven’t met many celebrities,” Cheerilee admitted. “Are you all ungrateful horseapples like this? I saved your life, so the least you could do is help me stop the perpetrators.”

Sapphire gasped for air. Cheerilee backed the pressure off the singer’s neck long enough for her to draw a breath, but then tightened her grip again.

“I’m going to ask you a couple of questions,” Cheerilee said. “If you don’t answer me, I’ll start choking you again. Do you understand?”

Sapphire managed to nod fitfully. Cheerilee relaxed her hold. “Now, what’s the last thing you remember?”

“I was talking to Photo Finish,” the singer managed to say.

“About what?” asked Cheerilee.

“I was wondering why she’d been absent so much lately.” Sapphire paused to recall a memory. “She was kind of distant and didn’t seem to be acting normally.”

“What’s that mean?” Cheerilee prodded.

“Well…she seemed kind of normal, which for Photo Finish isn’t normal.” Seeing Cheerilee’s confused look, Sapphire said, “Trust me, Photo Finish has a pretty distinctive personality. I’ve worked with her a lot, and she was acting different at the party.”

“Is there anything else you can tell me?” asked Cheerilee.

“Uh, well, aside from Photo Finish being weird in a different way, and me being tied to a table with some weird glowing crystal, it seemed like a pretty normal day.” Sapphire shrugged.

"That's it?" prompted Cheerilee.

Sapphire nodded. "I told you everything, okay?"

“Thank you,” said Cheerilee, letting the singer go and heading for the door.

“Hey wait a minute!” shouted Sapphire. “I’m going to have bruises from what you did!”

“You’ve got makeup to cover them,” Cheerilee reminded her. “I would keep this just between us. You wouldn’t want me to visit you again.” She walked out of the dressing room.

Cheerilee did not like harming anypony, but she was surprised how effective it was at getting things done. A little intimidation would certainly get her students to behave, but she quickly pushed that idea aside. Pop stars were one thing, but she would never think of hurting any of the foals in her classroom.

Outside the concert hall, the sky was getting dark. Cheerilee paused for a moment to consider what Sapphire had said. It was not the schoolteacher’s job to evaluate the information she collected, merely to report it back to Princess Luna. However, she couldn’t help but think things over.

Photo Finish had gone missing for a while, and when she returned she seemed different. After coming in contact with her, Sapphire had blacked out as if hypnotized. A strange material had been found binding the singer to the table. A magical weapon had been planted.

All the clues seemed to be leading to something. Cheerilee had a bad feeling about what. The mare shook her head and started for the train station.

She’d only gone a short ways when she spotted Photo Finish. The fashion pony appeared to be in a hurry to go somewhere. Cheerilee stealthily fell in behind her, leaving about a city block of space between them.

The train was scheduled to leave soon. Cheerilee didn’t know how much time she might have to observe the fashion pony. There was another train to Ponyville later that night, so if she missed the first one it wasn’t a huge problem.

The photographer kept walking, eventually heading right out of town. Cheerilee was growing concerned. She couldn’t stalk her target all night. More importantly, outside the city and on the country roads it would be a lot more obvious that she was following.

The bushes rustled suddenly and an orange stallion stumbled out. “Hello Cheerilee.”

“Valiant,” she snapped. “What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question,” he said. “It’s a little strange to see you away from Ponyville.”

“You know I’m on a secret mission for Princess Luna,” she said.

He shrugged. “Well, I’m following Photo Finish too. Could you please share with me what you’ve learned about her?”

Cheerilee was somewhat taken aback. Rarity had once told her that Valiant had had troubles with the photographer in the past, but she never expected him to be out here following her, too. Perhaps she had something in common with him, but…

“I’m sorry, but if the Princess didn’t tell you, I don’t think I’m allowed to,” Cheerilee said.

The stallion nodded. “All right then. Sorry to have bothered you. I’m going to go to the train station and see if anypony can sell me a ticket.”

He turned to go.

“Hey wait,” called Cheerilee.

“Yes?” said the pony, turning around.

Cheerilee knocked him to the ground and clamped her jaws shut on his throat.

Chapter 7

Delicate flesh tore under the pressure of Cheerilee’s teeth. The orange earth pony struggled, but only for a moment. She jerked her head and a chunk of his throat ripped away. Her victim collapsed, gurgling his final breath through the gaping wound.

With her tongue, Cheerilee moved around the lump of flesh in her mouth, sampling the flavor. It was the first time in quite a while that she’d had anything to chew. Her face contorted in disgust, and she spit the piece of pony out. Cheerilee still didn’t like drinking blood. No matter how it tasted, eating meat was sure to set off a whole new wave of psychological trauma.

The lavender mare glanced at the limp body on the ground. She was sure that it wasn’t actually Valiant. Sad as it sounded, the pony she’d just killed had been too…polite.

She gazed down the road. The mare she’d been pursing, Photo Finish, had disappeared into the distance. Looking back down, Cheerilee’s eyes went wide as the corpse in front of her began to change. The pony’s body morphed into that of a unicorn stallion, silver with a blue mane. Was this the effect of some kind of transformation spell? Cheerilee had never seen anything like it before.

“You found that bastard!” shouted a familiar voice from behind her. “I’ve been looking for that imposter all over to give him some retribution for identity theft!”

Without looking, Cheerilee kicked out as hard as she could with her hind legs. Her hooves connected solidly with somepony.

There was a grunt of pain and a thump. Cheerilee turned. Valiant was facedown in the dirt, having apparently been slammed against a nearby tree from the force of her kick. He was breathing, but lay motionless, bleeding from the head.

And good riddance, thought Cheerilee. She lifted the dead pony’s body and moved it to a patch of tall grass off the road. She returned, brushing dirt over the spilled blood.

Belatedly, she realized that she’d just killed her first pony. It was substantially different thing than taking the life of an animal. Was there a moral difference between killing for sustenance and murder? Did it matter if the creature had the ability to talk or had a citizenship?

Wait a moment, killed her first pony? Was it good for her mental health to assume that she would murder again? Cheerilee shook her head to clear her mind. There was a job to do. She set off at a gallop in the same direction Photo Finish had disappeared.

“Are you okay, Ms. Cheerilee?” asked Twist.

“Hmm? Oh, I just didn’t sleep well,” answered Cheerilee. She’d searched late into the night, returning to Ponyville just in time to get ready for school. It seemed that the photographer she’d been pursing had simply vanished.

A report of everything that she’d learned the previous night had already been sent. Cheerilee hoped that Princess Luna could determine what in the hay was going on. None of it made any sense.

“Here, some sugar will help you stay awake,” said Twist. She placed yet another candy cane on Cheerilee’s desk.

The teacher smiled. “Thank you. I’ll eat it if I start to feel drowsy.” She slid it into her desk drawer.

Class began. The fillies and colts all seemed to be excited to discuss what they’d read from the fiction section the previous day.

“They didn’t have anything from the Moonlight Saga,” grumbled Diamond Tiara.

“I found a cool story about Royal Guards!” said Snips. “They were saving Equestria and stuff. It was awesome!”

Cheerilee managed to get the group of students focused more on the subject of fiction rather than the stories themselves. They covered the whys and hows that made ponies want to read made-up stories. The idea of the lesson was to get the little ponies to think a little more about their choice of reading material in an effort to improve their minds.

That afternoon, Cheerilee left the school and headed home. A now-familiar plain envelope was waiting in the mailbox. She took it inside and read it.

The information you’ve uncovered appears to implicate Photo Finish. However, after discovering a pony with Changeling-like abilities, it’s possible that she has been replaced with a doppelganger. Proceed with caution.

Tomorrow, Captain Shining Armor of the Royal Guard will come to Ponyville to have a meeting with you. He believes that he knows something related to the mysterious shapeshifting pony. To prevent a duplicate from taking his place, he will have a passphrase:

“The night is darkest just before the dawn.”

Cheerilee sighed. Things kept getting more complicated, and her second job was taking up a significant fraction of each of her days. As a small consolation, she had less time to feel depressed about being a vampire.

She shook her head and started in on the pile of homework to grade. It was a short stack tonight, and she finished quickly. Cheerilee put the papers back in her saddlebags and glanced at the letter from the Princess still lying on the table. Putting the subject from her mind, she decided to take a walk, a real one this time. After dealing with the shape-changing stallion the previous night, she wouldn’t need to feed for a while.

The sun was almost down, and the Ponyville streetlamps were lighting up. The market was closed, but there were several ponies lounging around the town square.

A blue unicorn mare with a silver mane and a pointed purple hat was pinning flyers wherever they would stick. Cheerilee thought she looked familiar, but couldn’t remember why.

She stopped and looked at one of the papers. There was a picture of a silver and blue stallion and some text. The Great and Powerful Trixie wishes to know the location of her brother, Glimmer Spark. The reward will be great for anypony who locates him.

Although he wasn’t covered in blood in the picture, Cheerilee was reasonably sure that the stallion was the same one she’d attacked the day before. A lump formed in her throat. He’d been in disguise, but there could be other reasons for that. What if…what if he was just an innocent passerby that she’d murdered? She ran to find the pony who was putting up the flyers.

“What do you require from the Great and Powerful Trixie?” asked the unicorn when Cheerilee caught up with her.

“I think I may have seen your brother yesterday in Trottingham,” Cheerilee told her.

“Hmm, yes, that makes sense,” murmured the blue mare. “Tell Trixie, did he have anypony with him?”

“No,” said Cheerilee. “Why, should he have?”

Trixie’s standoffish attitude slipped. “Well, he keeps questionable company. Trixie…I…think he might be in trouble.”

“What sort of trouble?” asked Cheerilee.

“Crime, maybe?” said Trixie, sighing. “I’m so worried about him. Nopony has seen my brother in any of the other cities in the area. Ponyville has never welcomed me, but I’ve been putting up flyers here, too.”

Cheerilee wondered how much more she could ask without raising the mare’s suspicions. She decided to contact Princess Luna again and tell her that she’d discovered the identity of the shapeshifting pony. Perhaps the Princess could provide guidance as to how to handle Trixie.

At least she didn’t feel like a murderer anymore. Despite the touching scene of having family looking for him, it looked like Glimmer had been involved in something bad. Trixie seemed hopeful that her brother might be found in Trottingham, and Cheerilee didn’t have the heart to tell her otherwise.

The lavender earth pony headed back to her home, thinking about what she would write to the Princess. They’d worked out a system of communication. Cheerilee would put a note in a plain envelope and leave it in the mailbox exactly the same way that she received instruction letters from the Princess.

Walking into her kitchen, Cheerilee glanced at the bare table and then did a double-take. Where was the letter she’d left there?

Chapter 8

Twilight did not appear to be amused by the knocking on her door late at night. Still, upon seeing who it was, her face showed a look of concern. “Cheerilee, what is it?”

“I need you to send a letter to Princess Luna,” explained the schoolteacher. “It needs to be absolutely secure, and it needs to get there now.”

“I’ll go wake up Spike.” The purple unicorn invited Cheerilee in and went to rouse her assistant.

The little dragon stumbled out of bed, yawning. “Oh, hi Cheerilee. It’s kind of late, isn’t it?”

“Sorry about that,” said the mare, giving him letter that she’d already written. “This is really important. It needs to go to Princess Luna.”

Spike frowned. “Well, okay. I think I can do that.” He took the scroll from Cheerilee and burnt it in a puff of green fire from his mouth. The smoke zipped out the window.

“More business with the Princess?” Twilight asked.

Cheerilee nodded. “We usually have other ways of communicating, but this is a special case.” Special as in, somepony had broken into her house and stolen the letter from Luna.

“Well, I hate to push you out the door,” said Twilight, “but I have a big day ahead of me tomorrow. My brother’s coming to town.”

“Good night,” said Cheerilee. “Thanks again.”

On her way home, Cheerilee had time to think about the problem that had developed. Whoever had taken the letter now knew that Shining Armor would be in Ponyville the next day. Also, they knew the passphrase that he would use. Perhaps worst of all, there was now no doubt that Cheerilee was taking orders from the Princess. The teacher wished she knew who her enemies were getting their orders from.

Cheerilee sighed. Tomorrow was not going to be a good day.

“You aren’t looking so swell, Ms. Cheerilee,” said Twist.

“Oh, I was just up all night working on something,” answered Cheerilee. After realizing that her house had been compromised, it had been difficult to fall asleep.

“I didn’t bring any peppermints today, sorry,” said the filly.

“You know what, Twist?” said Cheerilee. “I’ve been a little concerned about my weight lately. Those candies are absolutely to die for, but I really should cut back.”

“Oh, okay.” Twist walked away to her seat. Cheerilee reviewed the day’s lesson plan for a moment. She assumed that Shining Armor would catch up to her later in the day. For now, there were young minds to teach.

They were nearly finished with the lessons about fiction. A fitting end to the week. On Monday, they would have to start navigating the nonfiction section of the library.

Cheerilee dismissed the class in the afternoon and left for home. As she approached her door, she spotted a white unicorn stallion waiting for her. His mane was blue, and he wore a pair of saddlebags.

“Ms. Cheerilee, I presume?” he said.

“That’s right,” the mare said.

The stallion nodded. “I’m Prince Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard. You can just call me Shining.”

“Let me set my things down inside,” said Cheerilee.

“Do you mind if I come in?” asked Shining.

“Oh, I wish you wouldn’t,” said Cheerilee. “I didn’t get any time to clean up, and the house is a mess. I’ve been under a lot of stress lately.”

“It’s all right,” the stallion said. “I understand how hectic things can get sometimes, and you think it can’t get any worse. Just remember, the night is darkest just before the dawn.” He smiled at her.

Cheerilee excused herself and set her saddlebags full of papers down inside the door. “Do you mind if we talk over at the library?”

Shining smiled. “I’d like that. I was going to go see my sister anyway.”

The two of them walked over to the large tree that had been converted into a building. Cheerilee figured Twilight would be better able to tell if this was actually her brother.

When the purple mare answered the door, she excitedly threw her hooves around the stallion’s neck. “It's so good to see you!” she exclaimed.

Shining laughed. “Just your BBBFF stopping by for a visit.” Cheerilee didn’t know what that meant, but it seemed that Twilight did.

“Here, I brought you something,” said Shining. He lifted a book out of his saddlebags.

“Oh, the latest Daring Do novel! My favorite!” Twilight beamed happily.

“Where’s Spike?” asked Shining. “I have something for him, too.”

“I’m right here,” said the dragon. The stallion gave him a small pouch of something. Spike opened it and pulled out a few brightly-colored jewels.

“Oh hey,” said Spike. “Canterlot Sparklers! These are great, thanks a lot.” He popped a few into his mouth and chewed happily.

Cheerilee was beginning to believe that maybe this was the real Shining Armor. The stallion spoke a few quiet words to Twilight, who agreed to leave him and Cheerilee alone to talk.

“How about the back room off the kitchen?” suggested Twilight.

“That’s great, thanks,” said Shining. He led Cheerilee through the front room, passing a lumpy form on the couch. It appeared to be a pony completely wrapped in bandages with only the tips of his orange-colored ears sticking out.

Once the two of them were alone, Cheerilee said, “So what did you want to talk about?”

Shining’s face had gone serious. “How much do you know about the Changeling attack?”

“Not a whole lot, I’m afraid,” said Cheerilee.

“Well, keep what I’m about to say to yourself. We’ve been hiding it from the media.” Shining cleared his throat. “In the confusion of the battle, some of the Changelings penetrated the Royal Archives. We don’t think they made off with much, but perhaps they saw something that they wanted to come back for.”

“Like what?” asked Cheerilee.

Shining shrugged. “It could be any one of a thousand things. There’s a lot in there that isn’t public knowledge. What’s important is that the Archives are at risk.”

Cheerilee thought for a moment. “Can’t you set up more guards?”

“Sure,” Shining nodded. “We have. It would be better, however, to deal with the problem directly.”

He pulled a folder of pictures out of his saddlebags and showed them to the mare. They depicted the bodies of several dead Changelings. Their wounds appeared to be magical in nature.

“From what we’ve seen, these ugly buckers don’t usually run around in small groups. Hive mind and all that.” explained Shining. “These half-dozen or so were found recently in Trottingham. The questions we’ve all been asking are, who killed them, and why didn’t they report it to the authorities?”

“Because they themselves were also wanted by the law?” guessed Cheerilee.

“It looks that way,” said Shining, nodding. He leaned forward. “What’s worse is that the scene looks like a business deal gone bad.”

“You’re saying that somepony was working with the Changelings to break into the Archive?” asked Cheerilee.

“That’s the way the evidence looks,” said Shining. “Perhaps Changeling form-shifting magic was part of the deal. That would explain how some ponies we’ve encountered are managing it. Either way, we need to get to the root of the problem and stop it. That’s where you come in.”

“What do you know about me?” asked Cheerilee defensively.

“I’m both the nephew-in-law of the Princesses, and the Captain of the Guard,” said Shining. “I’m cleared for everything.”

Cheerilee’s eyebrows went up. “You aren’t worried to be in a small room with me?”

Shining shrugged. “I believe in giving everypony a chance.”

“That means a lot,” said Cheerilee, touched.

Shining explained that further communication from the Princess would be delivered in a different, more secure way. He mentioned that he would be staying in the library for a while to catch up with Twilight. Cheerilee said goodbye and left the building.

Back at her house, the schoolteacher collected the paperwork from her saddlebags and set about grading it. It was another light day for paperwork, and she was soon finished.

Cheerilee debated what to do for a moment. Perhaps she could take a walk. Maybe if she felt hungry later, she could extend her stroll to the forest. With no better plan to pass the time, she set off.

The town square was relatively busy when the schoolteacher passed through. The Friday evening crowd was about normal. A white stallion came over and walked beside her.

“Oh, hello Shining,” said Cheerilee. “What can I do for you?”

“We need to talk,” said the pony. He coughed. “The night is darkest just before the dawn.”

Cheerilee’s eyes narrowed. “I see. Come along, I know a place where we can be alone.”

Chapter 9

Cheerilee studied the stallion next to her as the two of them walked down the street. Her instincts told her it wasn’t the real Shining Armor, but she wanted to be sure. To that end, she led him towards the school. There would be nopony there during the late evening.

The lavender mare didn’t know exactly what she would do. Interrogation of the imposter was a priority. She wondered, however, if she should take him into custody. It would certainly raise a lot of questions about why the local teacher was involved with a shapeshifting criminal.

Outside the school, Cheerilee said, “What was the name of those gems you gave Spike?”

“Uh, gems?” asked the stallion in confusion.

Cheerilee rolled her eyes. “You might as well drop the act. What kind of pathetic idiot thinks he can get away with pretending to be one of the most well known ponies in Equestria?”

In response, the disguise slipped off the pony, revealing what was underneath. He looked much bigger than before, and covered in a suit of armor.

Cheerilee took an involuntary step back. This was about the last thing she expected. The metal plates on the pony’s body coated him completely, with only tiny slits for his eyes. The teacher saw no easy way that she could hurt him.

Taking advantage of her surprise, the pony kicked Cheerilee in the chest, a burst of magic amplifying the blow. The mare flew backwards, slamming into the front door of the school and knocking it off its hinges.

Moving quicker than Cheerilee would have thought possible, the stallion advanced into the school. Magic appeared to be assisting with his armor, which would have been very heavy and difficult to move otherwise.

Cheerilee struggled to get up, but another powerful kick sent her sprawling across the room. Her desk flipped over as she slammed into it, spilling its contents all over the floor.

The armored stallion advanced slowly, as if playing with his adversary. Something was wrong with Cheerilee’s back legs, and she couldn’t get up. She heard a cracking noise from the bones in her spine.

The metal-clad pony pushed the mare over on her back. She struggled, but with half her body out of commission, there wasn’t much she could do to resist. Her attacks beat ineffectively against the armor.

The stallion loomed over Cheerilee, pressing his forehooves down on her neck. She was at a disadvantage and couldn’t use her full strength effectively. She tried to keep him from crushing her. The stallion did not appear to notice the clanging of her hooves against his armored body.

Cheerilee flailed, running out of options. Her hoof met something on the floor that had spilled from her desk. It was a peppermint stick from Twist. She snapped it in half and shoved the jagged end through one of the eye holes in the armor.

The stallion screamed in pain, and Cheerilee was finally able to get him off. While he was distracted, she managed to jerk his metal helmet off. She found a grey pony with a close-cropped mane, blood streaming from his ruined eye.

Cheerilee got herself behind the pony and wrapped her front legs around his neck. Her mouth was right next to his ear. “Who sent you?”

In response, the stallion only screamed incomprehensibly. Cheerilee tightened her grip until he didn’t have enough breath to continue. “Talk,” she ordered. “If you don’t, I’m going to start removing your body parts one by one.”

The pony gasped. His horn started to glow, and Cheerilee slammed his face into the floor.

“You don’t get it, do you?” she shouted, knocking his head against the floorboards again. “You tried to kill me! The only reason you aren’t dead right now is that I like to think I’m better than lowlifes like yourself. I don’t like killing, but believe me when I say I am more than capable of ending your life. Do you want to go on living? Tell me what you know.”

“Photo Finish isn’t going to like this,” muttered the stallion.

“Is it actually her?” prompted Cheerilee.

“How should I know?” he said. “With all the disguises, nopony knows any of the rest.”

“The disguising magic; is that where the Changelings fit in?” she asked.

The pony snorted. “Those idiots. They thought they could give us the shapeshifting spells and we would just happily help them crack the Archive.”

“What’s so important in the Archive?” asked Cheerilee.

“Well, there’s probably a lot of stuff in there.” The stallion shrugged. “Whatever we can't use, we could sell to the highest bidder.”

“Who’s ‘we’?” the mare questioned.

“The rest of the group. We set up our base of operations in the swamps near Trottingham.” The pony winced. “Can I see a doctor now?”

Cheerilee shifted her grip. “That’s not going to happen.”

“But you said you’d let me live!” argued the pony.

“And I did, for about a minute. Fighting with you made me thirsty.” Cheerilee pulled his head back, giving her easy access to the pony’s throat.

The stallion’s good eye widened in horror as he saw her fangs. His terror didn't last long, however. Cheerilee felt him go limp shortly after she tore open his jugular. A short while passed. The darkened school was quiet, the only sounds coming from Cheerilee's mouth as she drank the pony's blood.

Once she was sated, the mare began to inspect his strange armor. It appeared to be fitted closely to him, and bore some unusual symbols. She wasn't sure if they were trademarks or magical runes, and decided to leave studying them to somepony else.

Several minutes later, she was washing herself off in the school’s restroom. There was a dark expression on Cheerilee's face that was frightening enough even without the blood accenting it.

She had willingly killed the armored stallion. As much as he deserved it, Cheerilee couldn’t seem to justify her actions. Animals were one thing, but now she had moved on to ponies.

Cheerilee rinsed off and looked in the mirror. It was definitely her face. She’d know those green eyes and lavender coat anywhere. It was her—and she was a monster.

How had this happened? Was morality really so easy to lose? Cheerilee did not want to be a killer, but the deaths of the two ponies couldn’t be taken back. Two ponies so far, she miserably reminded herself.

Did it matter that she felt bad about it? Regardless, she had still done it. Cheerilee sighed. She was going to have to face her conscience eventually. For the moment, there were other things that needed to be done.

The teacher stepped out of the lavatory, surveying the ruined classroom. Several student desks had been knocked aside, and her own desk had been completely turned over. The dead pony lay among a few small crimson stains. Cheerilee had licked up the rest of the blood. She shuddered slightly at the memory of running her tongue over the floor like some kind of animal.

She stepped around the body and went out the door. The mess would have to be cleaned up, but for now she had to speak with Shining Armor. Luckily, he hadn’t left town yet, and Cheerilee found him at the library.

“Hello again Cheerilee,” said Twilight.

Shining was a little more observant and noticed that there was something on the teacher’s mind. He excused himself and walked outside with her.

Cheerilee gave him a brief rundown of what had transpired at the school. The two of them walked in that direction. Shining listened carefully to the information that she’d managed to get.

“The place looks like a mess, and we can’t let the foals see it like that,” she finished. She indicated the opening where the door had been knocked down.

Shining poked his head inside, quickly surveying the scene before backing away. “I’ll get a cleaning crew over there.”

“Do you…need cleanup very often?” asked Cheerilee.

“Well, no.” The stallion shrugged. “It does happen occasionally in this business though.”

The more Cheerilee found out about the secret workings of Equestria, the more she was convinced that it was good that the public didn’t know these things.

“I’ll tell the Princess what you managed to find out,” said Shining. “We’ll have to wait for her orders, but I’m guessing that she’ll send you to Trottingham.” He sighed. “I get the feeling that something big is going to happen.”

“Do you trust me to handle this?” asked Cheerilee.

Shining looked at her, and then glanced towards the school, where the slain stallion still lay. “I believe that you can take care of yourself.”

Cheerilee looked away. “I…I never wanted this. I don’t like who I’m becoming.”

“I understand that you don’t have much choice,” said the stallion, frowning. “I’m sure you’ve heard this before, and you’re tired of it, but just try to make the best of things.”

The mare sighed heavily. “I’m trying.”

Shining put his hoof gently on her shoulder. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it—you’re cursed. You know that. But, you also have abilities that no other pony has. You’ve done more for Equestria in the past week than many do in their entire lives.”

“I don’t know about that,” said Cheerilee.

“I don’t think I could be a vampire,” said Shining. “I think I’d go insane before I touched blood. Somehow you’re surviving, no matter how you feel about it. That’s something.”

Cheerilee finally met his gaze. “Do you really think so?”

“Let me put it this way,” said Shining. “Princess Luna wouldn’t have recruited you if there wasn’t a good reason. Like it or not Ms. Cheerilee, you’re talented at this and we’re happy to have you.”

Surprising even herself, Cheerilee allowed a small smile onto her face. “That means a lot. Thank you.”

Shining nodded. “I’ll get in touch with the Princess and we’ll figure out what needs to happen next. Rest up tonight. You might need it.”

Author note:
Wow, we're really earning the Dark tag. I'm going to try injecting some more humor into the next chapter. I'd like to thank Rechte for suggesting the peppermint idea.

Chapter 10

Saturday morning, Cheerilee was in Trottingham. She sat at a small café across from a fashion shop in the downtown area.

Trottingham was considerably larger than Ponyville. It was no Manehattan, but there was at least more than one store to buy clothing. This particular place, however, had called attention to itself.

Half a sandwich sat on a plate in front of Cheerilee. The rest of it was carefully hidden in her saddlebags, and a few crumbs were sprinkled around. She had made sure to order something she didn’t like, just so the smell wouldn’t be so distracting.

To remain inconspicuous, Rarity had fixed the lavender mare up with a beret and an ensemble that made her resemble a trendy artist. Of course, Cheerilee had her sunglasses on.

She looked up from the book that she’d been pretending to read. The reason she’d staked out the shop was because Photo Finish was known to frequent the business. Whether it was the real fashion photographer or not remained to be seen.

However, as Cheerilee looked down the street, a familiar face unexpectedly showed itself. Sapphire Shores? This was a surprising development. The singer and two ponies that Cheerilee took to be bodyguards strode into the shop.

The teacher sat for a moment, debating what to do. It was hard to believe in coincidences when they showed up so blatantly. She left some money on the table and walked away from the café. Cheerilee’s route took her down the block and circled around behind the fashion shop. She wondered if she could slip in the back door and perhaps overhear what was going on inside.

As Cheerilee approached the door, the building exploded.

It was not a massive fiery blast. Instead, the shop came tumbling almost straight down with little collateral damage to the buildings next to it. The exactness of it had to have been a carefully planned event, and had not been carried out by amateurs. I don’t know what idiot ordered that book on precision demolition for an elementary school, thought Cheerilee, but I’m glad I read it before throwing it away.

She looked down in pain. A shard of wood, probably from a supporting beam or something, had stabbed through her lower stomach, neatly pinning her to the building next door. Cheerilee managed to extricate herself, gritting her teeth against the agony. She didn’t really know if the “stake through the heart” story was true about vampires, but this was too close for comfort.

Once free, Cheerilee took a deep breath, recovering for a moment. Her ears were ringing from the blast, and she looked around, making sure nopony would sneak up on her while she was injured.

Once she felt well enough to walk, Cheerilee started into the rubble of the building without fear. After all, it couldn’t explode twice.

Torn scraps of cloth from the shop’s wares were everywhere. Building materials lay haphazardly, and dust filled the air. Cheerilee looked around, sensing something was missing, but not immediately sure of what.

A pair of saddlebags lay in the corner. They had been ruined in the explosion, and Cheerilee wondered who owned them. Then it struck her. Where were the bodies? She gave the building a quick once-over, but didn’t discover any ponies or even any parts of ponies.

As her hearing began to return, Cheerilee heard a siren in the distance. It was her cue to leave. She walked out what used to be the rear door of the building. A few blocks away, she caught sight of a carriage that was slowly rolling away. It was of the stagecoach design. Two ponies sat on the roof in a defensive posture. They were the bodyguards that had accompanied Sapphire Shores into the building.

Had the singer tried to make it look like she’d been killed? Cheerilee didn’t know, but decided that she was going to find out. She crossed the street quickly, finding herself in a back alley that ran behind the row of buildings and parallel to the main road. She broke into a gallop that quickly ate up the distance. She caught glimpses of the carriage through the gaps between buildings. It was headed out of town, towards the swamps.

Cheerilee put on a burst of speed and ducked out from behind the buildings, catching up to the carriage. The two guards were looking ahead for threats and didn’t notice her climb on the back. She hung there out of sight for a few minutes until she was sure the carriage was far enough out of Trottingham that no innocent bystanders were around.

She climbed onto the roof and addressed the guards. “Why did that building explode?”

Surprised, the two stallions turned around. Without answering her question, they attacked. Cheerilee swatted aside a kick from the first pony and demanded, “Is Sapphire Shores trying to fake her own death?”

All she got in reply was another blow aimed at her head. Well, I tried, thought Cheerilee. She ducked inside the kick and bit deeply into the stallion’s upper leg. He screamed in pain, and tried to shake her loose.

The ponies pulling the carriage couldn’t turn far enough in their harnesses to see what was going on, but at the sound of the scream they picked up the pace. Cheerilee gave the stallion she was biting a push, and he tumbled over the side of the carriage, falling beneath the wheels.

She turned to the other guard, who looked at her in horror. Cheerilee glanced down, realizing she still had the other stallion’s leg clenched in her teeth. The torn end dribbled blood.

The mare took a step forward. The guard moved away, all the way to the edge of the roof. Cheerilee tossed her head and the hoof attached to the ripped-off leg smacked him in the face. He tumbled backwards off the moving carriage and slammed into a tree beside the road.

Cheerilee spit out the appendage and looked over the side of the vehicle. She kicked the lock off the door and swung down from the roof into the interior of the carriage. It was time to have another chat with Sapphire Shores.

The pony of pop flattened herself against the opposite wall of the carriage’s cabin as Cheerilee appeared, blood smeared on her face.

“Again? Who are you?” the singer demanded.

“You’re not in any position to be asking questions.” The lavender mare glared at her. “Start talking.”

“I’m a citizen! I have rights!” Sapphire insisted.

Cheerilee shrugged. “I think it’s pretty clear that I’m not the pony you should be complaining to. Now, are you going to make this easy, or am I going to have to force it out of you?”

Sapphire’s mouth dropped open. “I…” she managed.

The carriage suddenly slowed, coming to a halt almost instantaneously. Cheerilee, standing near the door, was tossed off her feet and ended up on the other side of the cabin. Sapphire Shores took the opportunity to make a break for it.

The schoolteacher sighed as she picked herself up. She didn’t want to torture the singer for information, but if Cheerilee had to run her down that was probably what it would lead to. She jumped out of the carriage.

Outside, Cheerilee was surprised to find a small group of Royal Guards holding the ponies pulling the carriage at spearpoint. Shining Armor had Sapphire Shores on the ground and was putting hoofcuffs on her. He looked up and handed the task off to one of his subordinates.

“That’s a bad injury you’ve got there,” he said, quickly shepherding Cheerilee off towards the rear of the carriage and out of sight from the rest. He gave her a handkerchief to wipe the blood from her face.

“I’m not actually hurt,” she told him.

Shining nodded. “It’s easier to pretend than it is to explain the truth. Just go with it.” He took the handkerchief and carefully dabbed a bit of blood back on her face to simulate a wound.

“How did you find me?” Cheerilee asked.

“After the explosion, we just followed the bodies.” Shining shrugged. He may or may not have been joking.

“So what happens now?” asked the mare.

“We’re going to give Ms. Sapphire Shores a proper interrogation.” Shining shrugged. “No offense to your methods, but we have more practice.”

“What should I be doing now?” asked Cheerilee.

“Stay around Trottingham,” Shining told her. “We’ll find a job for you.”

Chapter 11

It was turning into a heck of a day. Cheerilee had been caught in an explosion for the second time in a week, fought on top a moving carriage, and helped capture one of the most popular entertainers in Equestria. It was barely noon.

Cheerilee sat outside a building on the outskirts of Trottingham. Her sunglasses had been lost somewhere in the chaos of the last few hours, so she made sure to keep to the shadows. The nearly-overhead sun didn’t make that easy.

The building was a safehouse used by the Royal Guard for special circumstances, for instance the covert interrogation of a pop star. The walls were well insulated, and Cheerilee’s sensitive ears could only pick out snatches of conversation from inside.

A member of the Royal Guard sat with her. He was dressed down to keep from drawing suspicion. His name was Rapier, and he talked incessantly.

“That was Sapphire Shores, wasn’t it?” It sounded like he knew, but was trying to get Cheerilee into a conversation.

“Yes,” she said. Cheerilee was too polite to simply ignore him, but felt that she didn’t need to contribute any more than the minimum to the dialog.

“I wonder what she’s doing here? Captain Shining Armor is the only one cleared for it. He’s in there talking to her now.”

Cheerilee shrugged.

Rapier pressed on. “Hey, speaking of clearance, yours is probably pretty high, right?”

“It is,” Cheerilee told him.

“I mean, I know more stuff than the regular army.” The guard sat back, amazement in his voice. “But that just takes the cake. I’ve heard stories that there are things out there that are above even the Royal Guard’s clearance. ‘Dark’ operations, as they say.”

“That’s me,” said Cheerilee, not looking at him.

“So, how does a pony get into the business?” Rapier sounded interested, perhaps he thought she could give him tips on how to get a new, more interesting job.

“First, your life is taken away. You aren’t your own pony anymore. After that, you begin to lose your morals. It’s hard to tell right from wrong. Then, apathy sets in. You don’t care what you do, or who you hurt.” Cheerilee’s voice was at a monotone. She looked off into the distance, as if plucking the words from the horizon.

The guard shifted uncomfortably. He was just about to ask another question when the door opened and another stallion stepped out.

The newcomer looked at Cheerilee. “Ma’am? I’ve been instructed to take over for you. The Captain says you can go get some lunch or something.”

Cheerilee sprang up. “Thanks.” She hurried away.

Everything she’d said to the guard was true. She could feel her sense morality slipping away, and wasn’t sure she cared. What was the point if the process was inevitable?

That guard had no idea what her job was really like. She had probably spilled more blood in the past week than he ever would in his life. ‘Dark’ operations indeed. Dark as night.

Cheerilee visited the local eyecare shop and spent a few bits on new sunglasses. After that, she wandered around town for a while. She was aware that any prying eyes would quickly pick her out of the crowd, but for the moment, she didn’t care.

Four ponies. That’s how many she had personally ensured the death of. So far. While murder verses self defense was debatable, that was still four more deaths that Cheerilee thought herself capable of.

It’s not me, she decided. I wouldn’t do that. But I’m somepony—no, something—else now.

With that realization, Cheerilee had a fleeting thought about finding a carriage or train to throw herself under. Instead, she looked around and saw a group of young schoolfoals playing and enjoying the weekend. She stopped in her tracks, staring.

Cheerilee had known for a long time that children were her calling. Her cutie mark represented the happiness she could bring to them as her teaching helped their young minds bloom. Regardless of what else happened in her life, she couldn’t give that up.

The foals would never know about her second job. They didn’t realize what she did for Equestria. They didn’t have to. As long as she was making a difference in the nation, and by extension the lives of her students, Cheerilee decided that was good enough for her. She may have become a monster, but that didn’t have to be all she was.

As morbidly strange as it sounded, “killing bad ponies for the sake of the children” was the most comforting thought she’d had all week.

A few minutes later, Cheerilee stopped in front of a hat shop. She pretended to examine the wares through the large window. In the reflection of the glass, however, she was examining three ponies who she’d noticed following her. They were not difficult to pick out from the crowd. All three wore cloaks that looked a little bit warm for the weather. It was almost as if they wanted her to notice them.

Well, she might as well see what they wanted. Cheerilee moved away from the shop and ducked down an alley. Behind the building, she scrambled up a loose pile of crates and found her way onto the roof. Crouching low, she saw the three ponies enter the alley.

They were unicorns. Two stallions and a mare. They all looked similar enough that Cheerilee was willing to bet they were related. They seemed a little surprised that she wasn’t in the alley any longer.

Cheerilee heard a faint sound, like a flutter. Acting on instinct more than anything else, she threw herself sideways, a wooden stake stabbing shallowly into her side. It would have gone straight through her heart had she remained still.

A pegasus with an ugly look on his face shouted in frustration that his sneak attack had missed. He pulled another stake from a loop on the vest he wore and tried again. Cheerilee tossed herself off the roof to avoid the strike.

She hit the ground hard and struggled to get up, finding that the three unicorns had all drawn knives from beneath their cloaks. The blades were all identical, finely made and deadly-looking. Cheerilee suddenly realized why they had been so obvious in following her. She’d been set up.

The pegasus came down off the roof, aiming his weapon for another attack. He flew faster than an earth pony could run, pushing his stake forward.

Cheerilee threw up her front leg, the pointed wood driving straight through it, although stopping before reaching her heart. She screamed in pain, but that didn’t stop her from twisting her leg away, stake and all. Now weaponless, the pegasus flared his wings in an attempt to retreat, but Cheerilee wrapped her other front leg around his neck, drawing him in.

She slapped at his back with the stake buried in her leg, inflicting small wounds. The stallion desperately beat on her ribcage with his hooves, trying to escape. The pony’s wing joint presented itself, so Cheerilee dug her teeth in. Something crunched in her mouth, and the pegasus cried out in agony.

Cheerilee let him go and the pony dropped onto his back, his mutilated wing flopping helplessly. She pulled the stake from her leg, wincing in pain. Then, she gave the weapon back to him, driving it into his chest where it remained sticking up like a fence post.

Limping slightly on her injured leg, Cheerilee turned to face the other three ponies. Their knives hovered menacingly. Using her teeth, the bloodstained mare pulled the other stake from her side. She dropped it in front of her.

“Well?” asked Cheerilee. “Which one of you wants to die first?”

Several intense seconds passed. For the second time that day, a siren cut through the air. The three ponies quickly sheathed their knives and turned tail to run. As close to the mouth of the alley as they were, there was no way Cheerilee could catch them before they made it to the street. She seized the stake from the ground and hurled it as hard as she could. To her surprise, it stuck in one of the stallions and he tumbled to the ground. The other two disappeared around the corner.

The teacher went over to the stricken pony as quickly as her damaged leg would allow. The stake had lodged in the stallion's upper back. He was gasping for breath. Cheerilee put one hoof on his neck and grasped his head. A quick twist efficiently broke the pony's neck and stopped his struggles. She dragged him backwards towards the other end of the alley.

Cheerilee paused for a moment, turning her head to look at the wound in her side. As she watched, the bone and muscle began to knit itself back together. She caught a fleeting look at her guts and wished she hadn’t.

There was a dumpster nearby, and she heaved the two dead ponies into it. Shining Armor would have to call another cleanup crew. Cheerilee almost felt bad for making such messes. The keyword was almost.

For the children, she reminded herself.

Chapter 12

The safe house the Royal Guards had set up was plain, but unsoiled. Or at least it had been. The blood Cheerilee tracked in would have to be cleaned up.

The mare raised her head from the bathroom sink, noticing Shining Armor reflected in the mirror. He stood at the door, not coming any closer.

“Sapphire Shores told us what she knew,” he said, looking away from the mess Cheerilee had all over her. She gestured for him to continue as she ducked her face under the running water again.

“She wasn’t exactly honest in her business dealings, but other than those civil infractions we’re done with her. Photo Finish’s imposter must have suspected that Sapphire noticed the odd behavior and decided to kill her to protect the secret.”

“So what was with the exploding fashion shop?” asked Cheerilee.

“You were right,” said Shining. “She was trying to fake her own death because she was scared. Sapphire thought that we might get the idea of who was after her since Photo Finish frequented the place.”

Cheerilee finished rinsing and turned the water off. “What happens to Sapphire now?”

Shining shrugged. “She’s not who we’re after. We’ll get some local cops to bust her for the minor things. I’m going to ask Princess Luna to authorize a memory spell that will make her forget the part about Photo Finish.”

“I thought those were illegal,” commented Cheerilee.

“So is murder,” replied Shining pointedly. Changing the subject, he said, “Come down the hallway. I’ve got something to show you.”

Cheerilee followed him. On a table in the next room was a knife. It was finely crafted with intricate decorations. The blade, despite its wicked edge, was quite sturdy and made to last. It had been taken from the unicorn Cheerilee had encountered in the alley.

Shining looked at the mare seriously. “There are only three of these weapons in existence. They’re carried by the Sabre Siblings, as the media calls them.”

Cheerilee’s mouth felt dry. “I thought they were a rumor to scare foals away from strangers.”

Shining nodded. “That’s the way we want it. If the public thought those killers for hire were real, I can only imagine the panic. The three of them are serious muderers.” He gestured to the knife. “Well, two of them, I guess.”

“I don’t understand,” said Cheerilee. “If they’re that bad, why did they run from me?”

“They’re some of the smartest criminals Equestria has ever seen,” explained Shining. “There was no point in attempting to fight you fair and square with the police on the way. You got lucky in taking one of them out.”

Cheerilee wasn’t arguing that point. She was still amazed that she’d managed to throw the stake so accurately. She asked, “What’s going to happen now that one of them is dead?”

“The Royal Guard has been trailing them for a while, so we know a little about their habits even if they keep eluding us." Shining's mouth was set in a hard line. "They haven’t killed any guards, at least not under my watch, thank Celestia. They don’t forget, and they don’t forgive. The other two will probably try their best to kill you.”

Cheerilee wasn’t used to suddenly being the hunted one. Regardless of the other problems she’d developed due to vampirism, seldom had anypony been stalking her. However, if the Sabres were half as bad as the scary stories about them indicated, she would gladly attempt to take them down.

She looked Shining Armor in the eye. “Tell me where I can find them.”

He gave her a small smile. “I was hoping you’d say that. Obviously they’re working with Photo Finish’s group. They’re set up in the swamps. That whole area is mostly uncharted due to constant fog, but I can give you a few good places to check.”

Over the next few hours, Shining reviewed a pile of data and maps with Cheerilee. She began to get a sense of what exactly she might be up against.

Besides the two Sabre Siblings, there would be several other ponies around who were undoubtedly hostile. There had also been unconfirmed reports of violent animals being used for guard duty as well.

“It’s not going to be easy,” said Shining. “Then again, if it was we wouldn’t need you.”

“I’m flattered,” said Cheerilee. She actually was, if only slightly.

The Captain of the Guard checked out the window. “The sun’s almost down. Are you ready to go?”

The lavender mare took one last look at the large map in front of her. There was a vague layout of the buildings in the swamp, but not much other useful data. The whole area was generally covered in fog, and that made scouting it difficult.

Cheerilee nodded. “I’m ready.”

Shining started to head out the door but stopped. “Would you like to take a weapon?” He glanced at the knife that was still on the table.

It seemed only fitting, but Cheerilee paused. As an earth pony, the only way she could hold it easily was with her mouth, and that wouldn’t allow her to use the weapons she was most comfortable with.

She shook her head. Shining nodded and led her outside. “Well, good luck,” he said, somewhat reluctantly. Cheerilee understood his hesitation. It seemed wrong to wish luck for the job ahead of her. She wanted to something fitting in reply, but was unable to think of anything appropriate. She just nodded and walked away.

Cheerilee ran her tongue over the points of her fangs. She often did that as a reality check. Yes, this was really happening. She, an elementary school teacher, was really about to go on a mission to kill. An assignment sanctioned by the Princess, no less.

The moon was out. Cheerilee gazed up at it, wondering if Luna had come to watch. She couldn’t blame the Princess if she hadn’t. It was a grim business, and Cheerilee was almost happy that she was doing it rather than letting some other pony suffer through the job. Leave the monstrous tasks to the monster.

She dropped her eyes, taking a deep breath. The fog hanging over the marshlands was beginning to thicken as she got closer. The mist would dull even the bright moon, making the swamp inky black.

Cheerilee moved forward into the darkness.

Author note:
Yes, short chapter is short. Trust me, you’ll want to read what happens next in one piece.

Chapter 13

Undisturbed by tide or current, the swamp water was surprisingly clear. Some scum grew along the surface, but Cheerilee had no problem with visibility. She glanced up, spotting the moon still shining faintly through the thickening fog. The light looked distorted from underwater. Her hooves squished noiselessly into the soft mud. It didn’t seem to have a lot of silt in it, and didn’t leave a trail of murky water behind her.

The swamp was composed of channels of water interspersed with islands and sections of relatively dry land, forming a maze-like area that was an ideal place for a hideout. The darkness of the night sky and constant fog helped with that.

However, it was also excellent territory to approach undetected. As long as she stayed underwater, Cheerilee was practically invisible. She’d filled her lungs with water, and that helped her stay on the bottom.

Not breathing was a very strange feeling. After spending her whole life getting into the habit, it was hard to break. It had been Twilight who informed Cheerilee that vampires were anaerobic. The teacher had no idea where the bookish pony had found that fact, but she had to admit that it was useful.

As she penetrated further into the swamp, the moon disappeared behind the thick mist. Cheerilee passed slowly by a pony who stood at the water’s edge. He seemed to be on watch. She left him. He was unimportant.

When Cheerilee first became a vampire, she was content to let her instincts take over when she had to kill something to survive. She didn’t want it to be her, the schoolteacher, that was spilling blood. At the same time, though, she didn’t like to be out of control of herself. What if some innocent pony was at the wrong place at the wrong time and her instincts said kill?

So, Cheerilee reluctantly began working in partnership with her vampiric nature. It handled the slaughter. She told it where and when.

At the moment, her bloodlust wanted to eliminate the guard pony. The teacher decided against it. There would be others. No point in risking an alarm so early in the mission.

In only a few minutes of underwater trotting, Cheerilee came upon the first of a few buildings that she expected to be there. A small boat was tied up to a makeshift pier. The mare maneuvered herself under the dock and raised her head barely above the water for a better look around.

Nearly invisible in the mist was another nearby building. If the map Shining Armor had showed her was correct, there should be a few more on the other side of it. This was the place Cheerilee would have to leave the water.

There was another pony standing a short distance away. The mare slipped beneath the water again and moved down the channel a short ways to get closer to her target. She slowly rose from the water, as quiet as the mist. Rearing up, Cheerilee jerked the guard’s head back and shredded his throat with a vicious bite. He dropped without a sound.

Cheerilee dragged the stallion backwards, her teeth still buried in his neck. After pulling the body beneath the surface of the water, she reemerged and stealthily made her way to the corner of the nearest building.

After pausing a moment to quietly shake the water from her coat, the schoolteacher scanned the group of buildings. There was not a pony in sight, but she knew it would be stupid to just walk right out into the open.

There was a sudden shout. Another guard had noticed his partner missing. Cheerilee ducked away to avoid being seen, but he must have heard the sound of her hooves. Other ponies in the area began to respond to the alarm. From the sound of their voices all around her, Cheerilee almost felt like she was being driven somewhere like a herd animal. What if that was exactly right?

The mare suddenly found out where the ponies were trying to get her to go. A thunderous roar filled the air. Cheerilee’s ears laid back involuntarily. It sounded big.

The small shed next to her was torn apart as a huge beast—a manticore!—leaped at Cheerilee. She ducked and just barely avoided its attack. The creature turned quickly, facing her. Its lion head and claws were offset by a wickedly curved scorpion tail. The rough fur on its body was black as night. Not that Cheerilee had seen many beasts like it, but she wondered if it had been specially bred to be such a color. That was a scary thought.

Cheerilee was aware of guard ponies running into the area, but that was a small problem compared to the manticore in front of her. The creature swiped at her with a paw full of sharp claws, barely missing as she ducked away.

A stallion ran up, trying to attack Cheerilee with a blade attached to his hoof. She saw the manticore readying its tail for an attack and bucked the guard in that direction. His momentum combined with the scorpion tail’s strike drove the stinger straight through the pony’s body.

Cheerilee kicked the end off the stinger where it stuck through the stallion’s back. Poison gushed out. She grabbed the sharp tip in her mouth, the vile fluid burning slightly. The manitcore was still trying to extract its tail from the other pony when the mare ran up and jabbed the beast in the paw with the end of its own stinger.

Roaring in pain, the creature jerked backwards, unable to put any weight on its wounded foot. Cheerilee jumped forward, going for its throat. The other front paw intercepted her, but she managed to get a hold of the manticore’s lower lip with her teeth.

The beast shook her wildly. Cheerilee felt her body flailing like a ragdoll. She managed to get her legs wrapped around the underside of the manticore’s neck and held on for dear life.

The giant brute tried to pull her off, but she bit at its paws. Cheerilee sank her teeth into anything she could reach. The manticore tried to crush her by dropping to the ground, but it gave the pony an opportunity to reposition her grip on its neck.

Pulling hard with her legs, Cheerilee felt something give. The bones in the manticore’s neck separated and it fell in a heap, its spinal cord ruined.

Cheerilee pulled herself out from under the creature’s limp form. Things had suddenly gone very quiet. She looked around. No other ponies were visible, save for the one that the manicore had inadvertently killed. Feeling a little thirsty, Cheerilee walked over to the pony. Surprisingly, the manticore venom made a pleasant spice.

When she was finished, Cheerilee had a look around the complex of buildings. She seemed to be all alone. Evidentially, the squad of guards wanted nothing to do with somepony who would willingly engage a manticore in combat.

Cheerilee stood for a moment on the shore. Further out into the swamp, the water deepened, leading to a fairly large section of open water. The heavy mist prevented getting a look at it. As she debated what to do next, the mare heard a faint creak from out of the fog. Pausing for a moment, she heard it again.

After pausing for a moment to expel the air from her lungs, Cheerilee slipped into the water.

The structure was not really a building and not really a boat. It looked to Cheerilee like some kind of isolated fortress, and perhaps that’s what it was. The thick fog prevented her from seeing all of it at once, but by swimming a few laps around she was able to get a sense of the configuration.

After that, it was just a simple matter to climb aboard. Cheerilee landed softly on the deck of a small platform where a boat was tied. She may not have been heard, but somepony definitely saw her.

The nearby door that led to the inside of the structure burst open and two ponies with blades fitted to their hooves attacked. Instead of jumping back into the water, Cheerilee stood her ground and got stabbed in the lower abdomen for her trouble. She crumpled to the deck, a pool of blood spreading out around her.

“Is she dead?” asked one of the guards hesitantly.

“Obviously,” retorted the other. “Look at all that blood she lost.”

Cheerilee chuckled. “No, that was just my dinner.” The knife wound in her stomach was in the running for the least serious injury she’d received in the past week. She pushed herself up.

The mare looked at the two guard ponies, who were wide-eyed with fear. “Now I’m hungry again.”

Neither of the stallions made it back through the door.

Cheerilee stepped inside, licking blood from her lips. Her eyes adjusted to the few lamps that lit the rooms and passageways. Regardless of whether she was in a building or aboard a boat, it would take a while to explore. Perhaps it had been designed as a labyrinth on purpose.

A staircase led to the upper levels. Cheerilee decided to try it. Halfway up, she encountered two doors. The locked one appeared to lead further upwards. Deciding not to try breaking it down until she was out of other options, Cheerilee took the second door.

It led back outside to a deck with a railing. Perhaps it was an observation platform or something. Cheerilee wondered what there could be to observe with the relentless fog and dark night.

The door slammed shut. The two Sabre Siblings showed themselves from where they had been hiding, invisible. Cheerilee mentally berated herself for not suspecting a trap.

The two unicorns circled, knives drawn and deadly serious expressions on their faces. Cheerilee looked back and forth between the stallion and the mare, trying to decide which of them would attack first.

As it turned out, both. A razor-sharp blade jabbed her in each side at the same time. Cheerilee gasped in pain and attempted to turn her wrath towards the stallion, which only let the mare press her attack. The two of them stayed to either side of Cheerilee, coordinating their movements perfectly.

Cheerilee suddenly turned and rushed the mare. She was almost there when the unicorn teleported away, stabbing her knife at the schoolteacher. Cheerilee spotted the movement out of the corner of her eye and caught the weapon out of the air, her teeth biting into the hilt. The unicorn tugged at the knife with magic, but Cheerilee wasn’t about to let go.

The female Sabre pony gritted her teeth and began to pull her knife back, reeling Cheerilee in like a winch. She may have been a vampire, but the earth pony weighed the same as always and her hooves slowly began to slide across the deck.

The stallion suddenly sent his blade shooting towards Cheerilee’s face. She jerked her head, and the two knives nicked each other, throwing sparks in the darkness. The pony’s knife came around for another attack.

Thinking quickly, Cheerilee let herself get pulled along with the weapon in her mouth, putting her off balance for just an instant. She quickly released the knife and used her momentum to roll forward, kicking her back hooves at the knife that was speeding towards her.

The powerful jolt sent the knife careening into the wall, where it stuck tightly. Cheerilee completed her roll and came up face to face with the stallion. Her teeth were clamped around his gullet before he could blink.

The pony struggled for a moment, but fell still. Cheerilee turned to face the unicorn mare, dragging her brother’s body over the deck.

The last Sabre faced Cheerilee. The teacher had never before seen such a look of pure hate. She dropped the stallion’s body and stared down her opponent, raising a hoof to beckon the unicorn forward. Bring it on.

The pony with the knife teleported away, and Cheerilee whirled around to find her closer than before. With another burst of magic, she jumped to another place. The earth pony knew that the maneuver was designed to confuse her, and couldn’t help but notice how the distance kept closing.

Cheerilee was startled by a flash right in front of her. The unicorn had appeared as close as she was going to get. Her knife drove deep into the lavender mare’s chest.

The teacher took a step backwards in shock. She had known an attack was coming, but had been unable to block it. With magic, the unicorn twisted the blade, forcing it deeper.

Cheerilee looked down at the weapon burrowing its way into her body. Am I going to let this murderer get the best of me?

She jerked the knife out with her teeth, turning the movement into a slashing attack that cut the unicorn from her chest to her chin. The pony dropped to the deck, a look of disbelief in her eyes as her life hemorrhaged away.

Cheerilee wished she had time to relax, but the fight had undoubtedly attracted attention. She quickly searched the two ponies, finding a ring of keys.

Instead of going through the locked door where other attackers might lie in wait, the mare decided to take a different route. She walked over to the knife stuck in the wall and delivered a kick to the pommel, driving it in further. It looked sturdy enough, so she used it as a step to climb up.

There appeared to be living areas for various ponies on the upper levels. Cheerilee went through them quickly, finding a few things that appeared to be related to the Royal Archives. A safe, which she had the key for, contained information that detailed plans, ponies involved, and other things. All of the things went into a watertight box that she found. Going outside, Cheerilee lowered it into the swamp on a length of rope.

That left everything else to search. Cheerilee was somewhat concerned that she’d encountered no other ponies aboard. Surely there had to be more?

Rounding a corner, the mare caught a glimpse of—was that a foal? It disappeared too quickly to be sure. Cheerilee ran in that direction. A light bobbed ahead of her, carried along by whoever it was that she pursued.

Through a twisting maze of spaces and hallways, Cheerilee finally caught up. The passage dead-ended in a room filled with weapons. Sharpened blades, blunt objects, and other arms lined the walls. Several barrels of gunpowder were also stored nearby. In the middle of it all was a small pony.

The fog must have lifted slightly, allowing the moon’s light to struggle through. In the faint illumination cast through the window, Cheerilee saw a tan filly with a fearful look on her face. The oil lamp she’d been carrying had been set on the floor.

“P-please don’t kill me,” the young pony stuttered. “I know what you are.”

“What are you doing here?” demanded Cheerilee. In response, the filly burst into tears.

Cheerilee’s special talent was dealing with children. It was her duty to make sure they didn’t cry. It hurt to think that she might have caused it.

Wait a moment, what was wrong with this? Just because Cheerilee didn’t often see bawling foals didn’t mean she couldn’t spot the different between real sadness and an act.

“Not convincing enough,” she said, glaring. “Who are you really?”

The sobbing slowly morphed into a laugh. The filly threw back her head and began to gain stature. Her coat changed colors. She was soon an exact duplicate of Photo Finish, complete with glasses.

“Does it matter who I am?” said the pony. “I can be anyone.” A few more disguises flickered past Cheerilee’s eyes, just to demonstrate.

“You have a lot to answer for,” growled the lavender mare. She started forward.

The pony shrank, her coat taking on a lighter color. Purple glasses appeared on her face, and a candy cane cutie mark showed up on her flank.

“You wouldn’t hurt me, would you Ms. Cheerilee?” asked Twist’s voice.

The teacher pulled up short. She had no idea who or what she might be facing. The innocent face tore at her heart, but there was something she was absolutely sure of. It was definitely not a foal.

Cheerilee kicked the lamp. It shattered against the wall, flaming oil dripping downwards towards the gunpowder…

In the next instant, Cheerilee had herself halfway out the window. That wasn’t good enough, however, and a thunderous detonation knocked her across the deck. She rolled over, trying to put out her burning coat before giving up and simply dropping into the water.

The mare surfaced, looking at the window she’d just escaped. It wasn’t there. The whole wall had been blown apart, and the entire room was engulfed in flames. Good riddance.

Working slowly due to her crispy skin, Cheerilee dove to retrieve the waterproof box. Maybe the true identity of the shapeshifter was in the documents somewhere. Had it been the real Photo Finish? A disguise as an eccentric photographer would have allowed the pony to collect information while not arousing too much suspicion. In the end, it didn't matter. Whatever their name had been, they were surely dead.

The teacher set off for shore, her charred hide slowly giving way to its usual lavender color as she swam. At the water's edge, she pulled herself out. Glancing back, she could see a faint orange glow of fire through the fog.

Cheerilee sighed and began the walk back to Trottingham. It had been a long day.

Chapter 14

The sculpture garden was dark on Sunday night, lit only by a half moon. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves of the bushes and decorative trees. Cheerilee waited upon a pedestal, doing her best to look like an actual statue. Of course, it helped that she had been painted with plaster and weathered to resemble stone.

“I’ll layer things with paper to make the coating more durable, but too much movement could crack the plaster,” said the artist who had been brought in for the job. He joked, “Could you perhaps keep the breathing to a minimum?”

“I’ll do my best,” Cheerilee had told him, serious.

At least mimicking a piece of garden art gave her time to think. The ambush had been set, and all she had to do was wait for it to play out. With so many hours ahead of her, Cheerilee let her mind drift.

The swamps outside Trottingham had been heavily guarded for good reason. The documents Cheerilee recovered provided more than a little valuable information. The unique terrain had also been the source of the uncommon plant material that had been used to bind Sapphire Shores to the table at the Garden Party. The fog and general impassibility of the area make it likely that there might be other new plants or animals in the swamp that had yet to be discovered.

Analysis of the recovered data had answered most of the big questions. Organized crime was something Equestria had rarely seen before. The group that had built their operation in the swamp posed problems because of how unconventional they were. Princess Luna had remarked that it was a good thing they had an unconventional warrior to combat them.

The title had made Cheerilee very uncomfortable. It was still very hard to admit what she had done. Though it seemed inevitable, the mare did not look forward to killing again.

Perhaps she had it wrong. It was easy to say that it was the vampire doing the slaughter, not Ms. Cheerilee the schoolteacher. That almost seemed like she was trying to shift the blame off her shoulders. What would it take to fully admit what she was? How could anypony come to terms with something like that?

Does feeling bad about it count for anything? wondered Cheerilee. She hadn’t hesitated to kill, but she regretted each time that she had done so.

The forlorn pony continued to think as the hours passed.

Two ponies walked hurriedly through the park. The aged mare was surprisingly able for as old as she looked. Her pace may have been caused by the stallion’s prodding. The unicorn looked much younger than her, and kept glancing around. They entered the sculpture garden. It was decorated with various statues, most of them ponies. Neither of them noticed the eyelids of one particular mare open as they walked by.

“Come on,” muttered the stallion. “You’ve come this far, Photo. Just a little further.” He and the pony continued on, leaving the sculptures behind and entering an area decorated with various large rocks hauled from around Equestria. A green-eyed statue watched them go.

Cheerilee took a deep lungful of air. The familiar habit of breathing served both to calm her down and to crack the hard shell on her body. She shifted slightly, pulling her feet up from the stone base she rested on. Quietly, she stepped down, shaking off shards of plaster.

The two ponies were now out of sight. Cheerilee went down the path after them, gliding as silently as mist. She knew what she had to do.

The stallion may not have been told to watch out for a particular lavender mare, but anypony would have noticed the fire in her eyes and expected trouble. When Cheerilee descended on him, he didn’t react calmly. Shoving the third pony out of the way, he kicked at his attacker.

Cheerilee easily dodged the strike and knocked the stallion over. He jumped back up, his horn sparking with magic. A bubble-like shield appeared around him.

Unimpressed, Cheerilee bucked the magical barrier. It dampened the effect of her blow, but the stallion was surprised to find his hooves sliding backwards several inches from the force.

The mare kicked the bubble again, harder. She kept hammering away at it until the shield was positioned very close to a nearby boulder.

With one final buck, the bubbled slammed against the rock, bouncing back and giving the stallion an unexpected one-two pummeling. Temporarily stunned, he dropped the bubble. Cheerilee whirled around, balancing on her rear legs and drove her forehooves into the pony with enough force that he left the ground and landed on the other side of the boulder.

The mare walked around the rock, finding the stallion lying on top of a small metal plaque and groaning in pain. The words—Specimen contributed by the Carousel Boutique, Ponyville—were cast into the tablet as raised letters, and would probably cause him some interesting bruises.

As Cheerilee approached, the stallion managed to get himself turned over and fired a bolt of magic that struck her squarely in the chest. The mare tumbled head over heels and slammed into another nearby boulder.

The unicorn struggled to get up before Cheerilee recovered. He didn’t manage to rise before she pounced on him, pinning the stallion on his back. She bent down, her mouth opening…

“You’re under arrest.”

Cheerilee flipped him over, pulling on his legs to keep him from getting up. “And if you even think of using magic to get out of this, you’re in for a world of hurt.”

The pony that had been with the stallion when the fight broke out came over cautiously. Since his shapeshifting spell had worn off, she no longer resembled a frail old mare.

“What is this?” asked Photo Finish with her distinctive enunciation.

“You’re safe now,” Cheerilee told her. “That’s all you need to know.”

“I must preserve this moment.” Photo looked through the pockets of her coat for something but gave up. Apparently, her camera was gone. That was just as well. Cheerilee definitely didn’t need her picture taken while on her night job.

“Countess! Is everything all right?” It sounded like Shining Armor’s voice. A chorus of hooves sounded through the garden as the Royal Guard arrived.

“Countess? Magnificent!” exclaimed Photo. “Take my card. Take it! We must meet once again.”

Cheerilee thought her false identity was rather cheesy and hoped it would be changed soon before it became a permanent nickname. She released the captured stallion into the custody of the guards. They put him in restraints, both physical and magical. Photo Finish was taken away by a different set of ponies. She probably had some recuperation to do after her long captivity.

The schoolteacher let out a sigh and leaned back against one of the boulders. Shining Armor came over. “Another group of guards took down the last few ponies from the gang that were going to try and break into the Archives. Leaderless, those that remain aren’t going to be able to do much. We’ll go to work rounding them up.”

The stallion sighed. “Not all of them are bad ponies. Some just got in too deep with something they didn’t know anything about.” Cheerilee thought of Trixie’s brother.

“That flunky escorting Photo Finish was taking her to meet up with the rest of the group," said Shining. "They may have been planning to ransom her or something, but we intercepted them. That was good work with the rescue.”

She smiled. “Some of the best I’ve ever done.”

Shining’s eyebrows went up in surprise. “Why not penetrating a heavily defended area, killing half a dozen armed ponies and a manticore, and digging up enough information for us to clean up everything else?”

Cheerilee looked at him. “You said it. Killing.”

The unicorn nodded with realization. “I see.”

“I understand it was part of the job,” explained the mare. “I was alone against all of them, and there wasn’t any way to take prisoners or restrain them for later. It was never said, but we both know I was expected to kill them.”

Shining nodded regretfully. “It’s a terrible thing, taking a life.”

“I didn’t want to, but it was better than the alternative of not stopping them.” said Cheerilee.

Shining was relieved that he hadn’t had to say that. It probably would have sounded insensitive coming from his mouth. Quietly, he asked, “How are you coping?”

“I don’t want to be evil.” Cheerilee looked at the ground. “I’ve done things that I regret. While I was stewing in self pity though, it occurred to me that as long as I had the capability to feel bad about what I did, then I’m not a soulless monster.”

Shining said nothing. The mare was thinking out loud, and he didn’t dare interrupt.

“I don’t want to hurt ponies,” Cheerilee sighed. “I don’t want to kill, even if they deserve it. The thing is, I can. I’m even good at it. I’m not saying that I should use that ability at every opportunity, and I hope I don’t have to. It is my responsibility to do what I can. I don’t have to like it, but it’s my job. I don’t need any more regrets. I’d like to know that I did my best with the situation I was thrust into.”

She looked at Shining. “You probably think I’m babbling nonsense.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to like killing anypony,” he said. The stallion tipped his head, aware that what he said next would put him on thin ice. “But when we swept the area, a couple of the bodies were lower on blood than expected.”

Cheerilee swallowed nervously. “I thought about that for a long time. Would it be worse to waste it since I had already crossed the line of killing the pony? In the end I decided…maybe drinking it would spare the life of some innocent animal. One less death.”

“I guess that makes sense,” said Shining hesitantly.

Cheerilee’s ears twitched, hearing the sound of a far-off whistle. She got up. “I should go to the station before that train gets here.”

Shining hadn’t heard it, but nodded. “We’ll find something new for you to do. It might be a few days. Take some time to relax.”

Cheerilee laughed. “Me, getting a good night’s sleep? The foals will think I’m a different pony.”

“They didn’t notice any changes after you were first turned?” asked Shining.

“What’s the difference between a schoolteacher and a vampire?” the mare asked him abruptly.

The unicorn thought for a moment. “I don’t know.”

“Nothing. I’m both. The students took the change better than I did, because they didn’t know about it. The reason they didn’t know is because I kept doing my job like I always had. By focusing on a higher purpose—teaching school—I was able to get through it. I realized that my other job worked the same way. There are other ponies depending on me to do it right.”

Shining put a hoof to his chin. “Maybe I can adapt this into a motivational speech.”

Cheerilee laughed. “Good luck with that. I have to go now. There’s school in the morning.”

Author note:
In the words of Jigoku Luna: Hail to the Mare

I try to be a transparent guy and don’t cover up my mistakes. However, enough loyal readers expressed their feelings over the original ending of this story that I caved to the pressure and rewrote it. It still may not be exactly what should have happened, but I’ll stop hogging your attention now.

Thank you very much for reading (and commenting).

Sequel

The next piece of the story:

Murder on the Mind