Byron Family Mansion, winter of 1730.
The old pendulum clock of the grand hall chimed twelve times and the night already covered the world in its spectral domain. Lord Byron was playing chess with his friend Hathor in front of the fireplace, the board dimly lit by the dim candlelight.
"And that's how things went down during the sign of the trade agreement with the buffalo tribe. I'm really glad you supported our new leader, now the nomads will have a better place to settle and the incomes for the Griffin Kingdom are assured."
The gryphon said cheerfully as he sipped his glass of wine. He gave a look at the board and with a movement captured the bishop of his friend. Lord Byron levitated his own glass and sipped the sweet liquid.
"I'm happy for that, if Thanathos had continued on the throne, war surely had broken out in just a few months more. But now that everything is at it should be, we can carry on with our business, I hope your proposal to help me get much of the wine market at Helios is still standing."
"Of course, your product is of the highest quality, we also have the support of the mayor of the city, remember that he is also a great admirer of your product."
They both laughed and emptied the last part of the bottle into their glasses.
"By the way." The gryphon said. "Do you think we could drink some of your special harvest?"
"Why of course, old friend, today is an occasion to celebrate."
Lord Byron took a small bell giving it a couple of shakes, a few moments later an earth pony entered into the room.
"Yes? Lord Byron, how can I help you?"
"Ah Rigar, just the pony I needed, please, could you go to the barriques and bring a couple of bottles of the special harvest?"
"Right away, Sir." Rigar said bowing his head.
Rigar took his scarf wrapping it around his neck. He left the house making his way towards the wine warehouse at the north of the property. With only an old oil lamp as a source of light, the stallion tried to keep a steady pace, something that was more easily said than done.
He could hear how the air whistled when passing through the trees, it seemed as if the air howled with a thousand voices at once. He kept walking but stopped dead in his tracks after a couple of minutes, he could almost swear that someone called his name and looked in all directions, his eyes only finding darkness. Fear began to get into his mind so he quickened his pace, but not enough for the lamp to fall down.
Upon arriving at the wineries, Rigar left the lamp on the floor and lifted the heavy door of the basement. He placed the lock on it and then took the lamp before he descended into the darkness of the place. Once he had disappeared into the shed, the wind blew harder and someone or something unlocked the heavy door and closed it gently, Rigar didn't even noticed it.
When he reached his goal at the end of the cellar, Rigar left the lamp on a small table while filling his saddlebags with the bottles, he also took one bottle and opened it taking a few drinks to calm his nerves. He was filling the second saddlebag when he managed to hear a soft chuckle behind him. He turned around but saw nothing, his nerves were at the edge and adrenaline ran all over his body.
He continued filling the bag when he heard the laugh again, only that this time it was louder and closer to him. He turned around again, no more than a couple of meters away from him, a beautiful mare of white fur and purple mane was standing with her glassy dark eyes fixed on him, she was wearing a gray dress that accentuated the curves of her body, something that despite his fear, Rigar couldn't avoid to notice.
"What... what are you doing here? Don't you know this is private property? "
There was no answer from her.
"Listen, I don't know who you are, but you better go before I call the guards and..."
Rigar stopped talking as the mare began to reduce the distance between them. She pounced on him, they both fell to the ground and she hugged his neck and kissed him wildly. At first he try to get away from her, but it didn't take him long to give in to his instincts. The feel of her mouth coupled with the heat of her body only excited him more. He wrapped his arms around her and both began to let out sounds of euphoria and pleasure.
Minutes went by until he knew something was wrong, the warmth of the mare that at first he had felt had started to disappear, now what Rigar felt was a freezing cold. The atmosphere around him became even colder to the extent that he could see the steam from his breath.
The mare above him stopped moving, a moment later she sat up on his lap. Rigar saw with horror that her beautiful blue eyes had disappeared leaving only bloodied empty holes of a deep black color, he wanted to scream but she smiled and closed his mouth with a kiss.
Rigar could only watch in terror how her mouth turned into hideous jaws full of sharp fangs, the dress that covered the her body was torn apart when bones started pierce her skin in a bath of blood. The creature roared and dropped over the body of the earth pony making him scream in pain as he felt some of the bones enter into his flesh. Rigar couldn't do anything else, the creature roared again and sank his fangs into the neck of his victim ripping his throat.
***---***---***
Both friends heard the hoof steps of someone coming down the hall. The door of the hall was opened by a faint purple aura and a figure dressed in a black robe walked around to face them.
"Rigar, what took you...so long...?"
Lord Byron couldn't continue, the hooded figure smiled and gave two steps towards them.
"Who the hell are you? How did you evade the guards?"
Hathor was speechless, he saw emerge from the shadows a pair of huge amorphous creatures that chewed what appeared to be the remains of the guards. Both Byron and Hathor took their rifles and pointed towards the hooded figure who laughed and then discovered her face, Lord Byron felt a chill ran down his spine.
"S-Sparkle?" Lord Byron was trembling. "No, this cannot be... you are dead!"
The unicorn mare laughed insanely, she lifted one of her hooves and pointed towards them. The beasts at her side pounced on the gryphon and the unicorn. The silence of the night was cut by the screams of pain and the roars of beasts coming from the mansion. That night all the Byron Family and servitude were massacred without mercy.
***One Hundred Years Later***
"C'mon Braeburn, those boxes are not going to download themselves alone, you know?"
Said a beautiful pegasus mare of yellow fur and fiery mane that was carrying a couple of large boxes over her back.
"I'm on it honey, heavens, I know you're excited but could we rest a bit please?"
"Of course not, I want to sleep with a roof over my head tonight, it was a very long and decamped trip and we still have to put all this inside the house."
Braeburn let out a sigh and sign the delivery note of the moving company.
"Are you really going to live in this place?"
Asked a unicorn, boss of the small group of workers who stood outside the entrance of the mansion without daring to take another step towards it.
"Sure, this place was a bargain." Braeburn answered. "Why are your workers not moving a muscle?"
"They are afraid sir, do you not know the legend surrounding this mansion?"
"Don't tell me you believe in that old children's story." Spitfire said while walking towards her husband. "Pfft, a ghost who kills the entire family over a century ago? Ha, don't make me laugh."
She looked at the workers and shouted.
"Hey guys, if you hurry up and place everything inside the house in less than three hours, you will leave carrying a barrel of cider, special harvest of the Apple Family, what do you say?"
"Yes ma'am!" They all said in unison and left their fear aside, after all, the cider was well worth it.
Braeburn pondered the words of the boss of the group. He gave look at the big old mansion in front of him, something made him feel fear, but he could not make out what it was.
The full moon over the city of Helios bathed the streets with a soft blue glow, the night had brought with it a fresh breeze that moved the trees and that took with it the nocturnal sounds.
"SOMEONE HELP ME!"
Screams of terror cut the nocturnal silence, the next thing that was heard was the sound of someone running at full speed through the solitary streets of the city. Under the moonlight, a terrified mare seemed to be running away from something, she was desperate and her green eyes were filled with tears, yet, no one dared to come to her aid.
During the last few months, the city had been the scene of a series of gruesome murders, many of them indeed horrible. The corpses of the victims showed signs of unimaginable brutality, deep gashes in their bodies, marks of teeth and members cut off by powerful jaws, the strangest and most macabre thing was the fact that the heart of all the victims had been ripped from their chest.
In the last attack, the killer entered into house of a small family, the father died trying to defend his wife who was pregnant. What no one could explain was the fact that she survived. When she was questioned about the attack, she said that "the monster" stood face to face to her, all it did was lick her belly and walk away without hurting her, as if it knew that she was carrying another life inside her.
The description she gave was more than enough to spread the fear throughout Helios and for all its inhabitants to lock themselves in their houses before nightfall. A four legged bull-sized creature covered with thick black hair, jaws full of long fangs, huge claws and intense red eyes.
A howl made the poor pony's heart sink even more in terror. She regretted not having heeded the warnings the warnings and now she knew that her end was near, nobody would help her, the curfew had been very strict, not even the authorities of the city would dare to leave their headquarters doe to the fear of being part of the list of dead.
She kept running without stopping until the moment she gave turn in the corner of a building and found herself in a dead end. The mare looked in all directions for a way to escape but there was none. At her back, the sound of something falling and breaking the tiles on one of the ceilings that surrounded the place was heard. She turned around and her fear reached its peak.
From the shadow casted by the moonlight, two big red eyes that looked like burning coals were fixed on her, the huge creature opened its jaws and its long and sharp fangs shone like silver. The beast gave a long and painful howl, then it leapt from the roof and stood in front of its victim. She began to retreat as the beast slowly approached, her hind legs met the wall and there was nothing more she could do.
"P-please... don’t h-hurt me... I beg you..."
She said in sobs, but the creature didn't understand, it was only moved by its thirst for blood. The mare threw herself to the floor, curled up between her legs and waited for the inevitable. The beast pounced on her, however, it never managed to touch her.
A flash of orange light illuminated the darkness of the alley, an explosion was heard and a mass of fire struck the creature's body causing it to crash against the wall of a warehouse passing through it. The mare didn't dare to move, but the sound of hooves approaching towards her made her look up. In front of her she found the image of a unicorn who held out his hoof to help her to her feet.
"Miss, don't you know there's a murderer on the loose? You shouldn't be alone in the late hours of the night."
The unicorn told her with a cocky smile, she looked at her savior and was about to say something when she saw the creature emerging from inside the warehouse roaring with anger. The beast ran towards them ready to tear them to pieces.
"Watch out!" The mare shouted.
Quickly, the unicorn took his shotgun, turned around and waited for the precise moment. The beast jumped with the intention of smashing its prey, but the unicorn raised its weapon and fired at the creature. The bullets passed through the body of the beast, the force of the impact was such that it throw the monster backwards causing it to fall like a bale against the ground. The creature groaned in a terrible way, yet seconds later it was standing again.
"Son of a bitch! I see you're a stubborn one... but not enough to deal with me."
The unicorn rushed in the direction of the beast and when he was only a few meters away from it, he jumped as his right hoof started to glow with golden light. The beast opened its huge jaws and prepared its claws to receive him. The unicorn descended over the monster striking it in the face with such brutality that it crashed against the floor, the sound of cracking bones was heard and its blood stained the unicorn's coat.
He recoiled a few steps and his hoof stopped shining, but moments later, an intense pain ran through his body causing him to grunt and close his eyes leaving him out of combat. He didn't saw that the creature was standing again, but its jaw had been shattered thanks to the force of the unicorn's attack.
The beast walked up to him to hold him with one of hit claws and lift him in the air. The unicorn tried to break free hitting the monster's face a couple of times, but he only managed to make it angrier. The beast slammed him against the wall and tightened his grip around the neck of his adversary. The unicorn managed to hold the shotgun with its magic, aimed it at the chest of the beast and shot making it fall backwards and freeing himself from the attack.
Pieces of flesh hung from the beast's chest and yet it stood up again. The stallion dropped the shotgun, then he took an old revolver from his holster. The weapon was black as the night with borders in red and white, it also had the letters "AC" and "CC" engraved in gold on both sides of the handle. With a little spark of magic, the faint golden aura once more covered his hoof and took the form of a claw with which he held the revolver and aimed towards the beast.
"GO BACK TO THE DARKNESS YOU CAME FROM!"
He shouted, but before he could shoot, a soft melody reached his ears. Several lines of purple energy emerged from the ground holding the beast's limbs with tremendous force. The tune increased its intensity and one more entangled around the neck of the monster suffocating it.
The unicorn pulled the trigger, the bullet passed between the beast's eyebrows causing its brain to end scattered on the wall behind it. The tune ceased, the energy lines disappeared and the corpse of the creature fell to the ground.
"For a moment I thought you wouldn't show up to the party, Tavi."
The unicorn said while looking up. His eyes met with those black and purple eyes of a beautiful mare of long black hair and gray fur sitting in the roof of a nearby warehouse. The mare that held a violin with her front hooves smiled at him and jumped off the roof.
"And leave all the fun to you, Lazarus?” She asked him with voice soft as silk. “I don't think so. Besides, I think you were in troubles so technically, I just saved your life."
She said while passing beside him caressing his face with her tail. He smiled and put his weapons away.
"Not at all, it's just that our friend here took me by surprise."
"Yes, I'm sure that was it." Octavia told him smirking.
He shook his head laughing as he walked to the terrified mare that still could not believe what had happened.
"Are you okay?" He asked her.
She nodded. "What... what is that thing? Who are you?"
"Well, it's hard to explain, so the best would be that you don't know it. I'll just tell you that what happened here you will not remember.”
"Wait... what do you mean?"
Lazarus touched the pony's forehead with his horn. A moment later she had disappeared. He turned and walked to where Octavia was examining the body of the beast. His eyes danced over the forms of his companion and they stopped on her flank admiring her cutiemark in the form of a musical note.
"Lazarus... stop admiring my ass and come here."
"Come on Tavi, don't ruin me the fun."
He said between laughter and nuzzled her black mane. She smiled and rubbed her face against Lazarus's chest.
"So, what do we have here?" He asked.
"Looks like a skinwalker case, it seems that this beast was of a medium level."
"Medium scale?" He sounded surprised. "The bastard received three complete shotgun discharges and didn’t die, those bullets were made with silver from the cave of the whisperers."
"I know, but a bullet from the revolver was enough to finish him off. One of a higher level would have needed two or three, remember Gevaudan?"
"Yes... quite well..."
Lazarus looked at his shoulder, the marks of huge fangs were still visible.
"Anyway, let's get this over with."
Sighing, he placed his hoof on the monster's head. Octavia took her violin and began to play. Lazarus's hoof shone with a faint purple glow that took the form of a ring with arcane signs. The creature's body glowed brightly as all its energy began to be absorbed by Lazarus's body. He only clenched his teeth due to the pain that the act produced. A minute later the spell ended leaving him weakened, he almost fell but Octavia used her body to hold him.
"I hate this part."
"I know, but it's what helps you keep the flow of your power. With this energy you will not have to worry for several months."
He was about to say something when his eyes opened wide, she saw surprise and concern in the face of the unicorn.
"Lazarus? Are you alright?"
"I expect the mayor to fulfill his part of the bargain and pay us before we have to tell him the real identity of the murderer."
Lazarus's words didn't like her at all. Octavia looked at the corpse in front of them and ended as surprised as the unicorn. The creature had returned to its natural form, a pink-furred young earth mare with purple and white mane.
"Tell me she's not who I think she is." Octavia sighed.
"I'm afraid so." Lazarus used his hoof to close the eyes of the dead mare. "It's Diamond Tiara, the mayor's daughter. You know? I think we're in serious trouble."
