Ruby hung above the rails, her tail wrapped around a tree branch. Rusty was a few trees to her right, both of them waiting for the train to pass by under them.

They had calculated everything for the attack. The different steps were timed to the second, and all preparations were completed. Ruby was confident that it would go perfectly according to plan. They would go in, Rusty would cause a little diversion, Ruby would get White out of his cell and leave, and Rusty would follow a few minutes later with a few new test subjects. Then, the train would derail and explode, destroying all evidence of their involvement and everypony would believe that it was a terrible accident.

Sure, Princess Luna’s presence was an unexpected complication, but nothing an Elder Vampire like Rusty should have any problems dealing with.

The train appeared in her line of sight, and Ruby took a deep breath.

10… 9…

She exhaled.

8… 7…

She inhaled again, concentrating on keeping her pulse down.

6… 5…

The train came ever closer. Ruby could hear the leaves rustle from the wind it created.

4… 3…

The tip of the locomotive passed underneath her.

2… 1.

She dropped down, landing perfectly on the connection between the sleeping and the storage car. Her landing would have been as hard to hear as a kitten’s footstep at the best of times, but with the wind rushing past the train, even somepony standing directly in front of her couldn’t have noticed her.

Which was quite fortunate, because there was somepony standing in front of her.

The guard, a vampiric earth pony, opened the door to the storage car and stepped through. Ruby followed him before the door could close behind him.

She whispered, “Thank you for letting me in,” causing the guard to turn around. He looked at her with a mix of shock and anger.

And he looked directly into her Stare.

The guard activated his own stare, and Ruby could feel panic rise inside her. But she didn’t back down. She knew that it was simply the effect of his terrify-stare, and at least for a few moments, that knowledge would save her. And she would only need a few more moments until her own stare would win. So she ignored how her legs trembled and how every fibre of her being started to beg her to run away, and only concentrated on keeping her stare active.

And, after moments that felt like hours, the expression in the guard’s face changed from hatred to adoration as his stare dropped.

Ruby smiled. “I’m here to free Salt White, but I fear that it’s too difficult a task for me alone. Would you be so kind as to help me? I’m sure that with such a big, strong stallion by my side, it would be no problem at all.”

“I… yes, of course I’ll help you, my lady,” the guard stammered, “It would be an honour to assist a mare as lovely as you are. Please, follow me.”

Ruby gave him a grin before gesturing him to lead the way. Another fool that couldn’t resist my seduction-stare. I was born under a lucky star, indeed.

The guard hesitated before opening the door to the prisoner transportation cart. He turned to Ruby. “There is one guard in front of White’s cell. If you want, I can take him out for you, my lady.”

“Intriguing,” Ruby said, “but I think it would be better if you would just lure him in here so I can work my magic on him. Would you do that for me?”

Putting the second guard, a pegasus this time, under her stare took even less effort than the first one, and White stepped out of his cell only a few moments after Ruby told the second guard to help her.

“You two are the best,” Ruby told the guards, causing them both to blush. The pegasus has a cute smile. She looked at the other one. The earth pony has more muscles, though. She noticed White’s eyes fixating on her, and realized that he was still wearing the silencer around his neck. “Now take off the collar,” she told the guards.

The two guards looked at each other, and then at everything in the room—the other cells, the lockers, the chests—except Ruby, who was getting impatient. “Well? Get on it!”

The guards knelt down in front of her.

“We… We can’t,” the earth pony admitted.

“The only keys are kept in the capital city,” the pegasus added.

Ruby sighed. “I suppose it can’t be helped, then.” She turned to White, lowering her head a little bit. “I apologize for the inconvenience, Count White. I’m sure that we’ll find a way to remove it once we arrive at my hideout. But first…” She turned back to the guards. “You can look up, my dears.”

Both of them looked at her.

“I will have to leave this train now, and while I would love to take both of you lovely stallions with me, I unfortunately only have a spot for one more spouse in my home.”

The guards already took a breath to sing their own praises, but Ruby lifted her right hoof just a little bit. They immediately stopped. “And I would find it equally amusing to have you fight over that privilege, but time is of the essence, so I’ll decide myself.”

She turned to the second guard. “What’s your stare?”

“Control, my love.”

“Oh, that would be really useful. And you don’t look too bad, either.” Ruby turned to the earth pony guard and gestured to him to stand up. She gently ran her hoof down his cheek, stopping at the jaw.

And then she rammed his head into the cell bars with enough force to bend them in.

The other guard looked shocked at the motionless body of his collegue, but turned away as soon as Ruby said, “Don’t look at him, loot at me. Look me in the eyes. You’re happy that that’s not you, right? You’re happy that I chose you over him, aren’t you?”

“Yes, of course I am.”

“Good! Then, let’s go.” A dark red mist gathered on Ruby’s back, condensing into batwings. Ruby walked out of the cabin door, White and the guard following her. Ruby and the Pegasus took White between them and jumped, catching the wind with their wings and landing on the tracks as the train dissappeared in the distance.

Snow rushed over to the empty cell, and to the guard still lying on the ground. She reached down and tried to take his pulse.

Luna walked up to Snow and asked, “Is he…”

“Not yet,” she replied, standing up.

Luna kneeled down and lit her horn, as she tried to use the little knowledge about medicinal magic she had to help the guard. “I’m more used to cuts and broken bones, but maybe I can help him.” A weak green aura surrounded the guard. He started to mouth words, but Luna could not understand what he was saying. Without looking away from the guard, she asked Snow, “can you understand what he’s saying?”

“I do, but it’s gibberish… wait, I think he’s saying a name…” her voice turned icy as she repeated the guard’s words, “Ruby.”

“Isn’t that Rusty’s sister?”

“Yes. Excuse me for a moment.” She turned around and headed for the locomotive, threw open the door, and grabbed the sobbing Mirror.She pulled her onto her hooves and said, “I know that you want to be alone, but I need you to pull yourself together long enough to tell me how far we traveled since the flashbang!”

Between cries, Mirror asked, “W-Why?”

“Because White is gone, I know who helped him, and I need to know that to make them pay.”

Mirror was silent for a moment, then walked to one of the crystal buttons set in the control panel and pressed it, causing it to project a small map. She typed in a few commands and then said, “Ten miles, give or take.”

“Ten miles, got it.” Snow nodded and started to walk backwards out of the locomotive while saying, “You focus on getting this thing working again if possible, while I bring back our cargo.”

“Make them suffer for what they did,” Mirror told her before the door to the locomotive closed behind Snow.

After having done everything in her power to help the guard, Luna took a deep breath and stepped away just as Snow came back.

“You saved him?” Snow asked Luna with surprise in her voice.

“I only bought him a few hours,” Luna admitted, “my training in regards to healing spells was limited to keeping fellow soldiers alive until the healers arrive.”

“Let’s hope that Mirror finds a way to get the train working again,” Snow said. She walked over to a chest, took out a wrist mounted crossbow, and attached it to the inside of her gauntlet. Then, she opened the door and jumped out of the train.

“You’re going to hunt after them?” Luna asked, following her. She didn’t even have to hear Snow’s answer. The dedication in her silver eyes already told the Princess what she was going to say.

Snow nodded. “He can’t have made it very far yet, and I will not let him get away again.”

“What makes you think that they didn’t just teleport away?”

“That wouldn’t be how they typically operate. It’s very likely that they had a hideout nearby, and that they are going back to it now.”

“I hope you won’t mind me joining the hunt, in that case,” Luna said.

A red aura started to surround Snow’s hooves. “Of course not. Just follow my lead,” she said, and started running along the rails at a speed even Rainbow Dash would have been impressed by. Not that she would ever admit that.

Finally, a real life presentation of vampiric speed. Luna opened her wings and flew after Snow, using her magic to give herself enough speed to catch up, thankful that the aura surrounding her wasn’t as flashy as it would have been for Celestia.

Ruby stood at the entrance to her hideout, looking over the forest again. She shifted her weight from one side to the other, and occasionally paced a few steps.

What am I forgetting? We drop down and enter the train. I go to the back, Rusty makes sure that the train speeds up and then causes a distraction. She leaves, the train derails, and then… then… ARGH!

She stomped on the ground.

The pegasus guard walked up to her. “What is bothering you, my love?”

“Rusty isn’t back yet. She should have been here half an hour ago.” She sighed. “It wouldn’t be unlike her to just make a detour on her way back, but something else is bothering me.”

The guard asked, “Is there anything I can do to ease your mind, my lovely lady?”

Ruby turned to him with a smile. “Actually, there is. I’ve been developing a new thralling spell I want to try out.”

Snow stopped suddenly in her tracks.

Luna had to throw herself to the right to not ram into her. She put her hooves down, sliding over the ground, desperately trying to not trip up. She came to a halt a few meters ahead and looked down. I could have sworn that my hooves caught fire.

She closed her wings and turned to Snow, who smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, your highness, I should have given you a heads up.”

“Don’t fret yourself about it,” Luna said, “but please, do tell me why we stopped.”

Snow pointed to a herd path leading off into the forest the rails ran through. “We’re more or less where the attack started. I bet that path leads to their hideout.”

“Or it could just be a normal path,” Luna said.

“Possible, but unlikely,” Snow said before slowly heading down the path. She let her eyes scan across the ground in front of her. “How much experience do you have as a tracker, if you don’t mind me asking, Your Highness?”

“Not much.” Luna followed Snow into the darkness. I wonder how many times more I’ll be following vampires into forests…

Snow nodded. She stopped, and bent down, focusing on something.

Luna lit her horn, illuminating the spot Snow was focusing on. A tripwire ran stretched across the path. “Ah,” Luna said.

Mirror looked at the remains of the converter crystal, then at the place in the engine where it belonged. “I can’t fix Kristallie… How am I supposed to get the train to work again? Magical converters don’t just grow on trees! It’s hopeless!”

She slumped down, resting her head on her claws. Tears ran down her face. “I’m useless! I couldn’t stop the attack, I couldn’t save Kristallie, and without my lab, I can’t even fix the engine!” Her claws were already drenched.

But suddenly, she thought of something. Magical converters might not grow on trees, but they do on some ponies…

She put her tool belt on and headed for the mess. Rusty was still lying in the same spot Luna had left her in.

“Hello again.” Mirror put one foot on Rusty’s face, and grabbed her horn with her right claw. She took a saw from her belt into her left one, and put the saw as close to the horn’s base as possible. “I’m going to have to borrow that for a while, but I’m sure you don’t mind.”

The teeth of the saw dug themselves into Rusty’s horn as Mirror started to move it back and forth. “Not that I would have cared either way. You forced me to kill Kristallie.”

Her claw moved the saw back and forth faster and faster. She thought about her ward waiting for her back in the Schattenrealm. “If it weren’t for Princess Luna, I would have never seen Onyx again! I wouldn’t have been able to say goodbye!”

The horn came off, and Mirror stood up. “But at least you can do something productive now.”

She put the saw back on her belt and walked back to the locomotive, but stopped and looked back again. Her left claw went to her wrench, and a wicked smile appeared on her face.

The path Luna and Snow followed, slowly but surely, guided them uphill, and had provided a few more traps. More tripwires, bear traps, and even a pitfall, but they had managed to avoid all of them.

Luna heard something rustling in the bushes to her right. Probably just an animal, she thought. She still stopped to look into the foliage, to be sure, but as soon as she stopped, Snow yelled, “Don’t stop!” and tackled her to the ground.

Luna wanted to ask what the meaning was behind Snow’s attack, but a crossbow bolt dug itself into a tree just behind where Luna’s face had been a second before, answering the question before she could even open her mouth.

“Take cover!” Snow jumped behind a bolder, Luna more than eager to follow her.

“How did you know that?!” Luna asked, lying beside Snow in the dirt.

“That noise was a trap to make you stand still. It’s a common tactic, but enough creatures still fall for it.”

Another bolt flew over their heads.

Luna tried to grab the bolt in the tree with her magic, but as soon as her telekinesis came into contact with it, she lost control, and her magic disappeared. She tried again, but the result was the same. “The bolts are anti-magical.”

A third bolt flew past them, ricocheting off a tree and disappearing into the woodworks.

Luna started to count.

“Shieldbreaker bolts,” Snow said. “The tip is made from a specific stone. Can’t remember the name right now.”

The next bolt shot through the air, scrapping the top of the bolder.

5 seconds, Luna thought.

“At least we know that we are on the right path,” Snow continued. “Too bad that we’re stuck now. Maybe if I can spot where they are…”

Snow poked her head out, but Luna pulled her back again just in time for the next bolt to almost hit her in the eye.

Luna said, “Tell me what else you know about this.”

“They normally use a special scope that can see life force,” Snow said, not bothering to thank Luna, “so invisibility spells don’t work.”

“Aren’t you undead?”

“Yeah? Necrotic life force exists as well.”

Far away, the sheer force of the paradoxical nature of what Snow said caused Twilight to wake up with a cold sweat.

“Flying away would be a bad idea as well,” Luna thought out loud.

“Only if you don’t want to be shot down like a… I forgot what,” Snow said.

Luna picked up a stone. “And I suppose this also would be a bad idea?” before teleporting it back to the railway. But as soon the magical stream left her horn, something in the opposite direction redirected it.

The stone reappeared a good bit away from them and was first trapped in a cage of bright yellow lightning and then pulverized by a crossbow bolt.

“Judging by the color, it’s a Mark IV trap, around a thousand years old. It rechargers using the magic of the teleportation spell it intercepts, so I can’t just teleport junk at it until it’s drained.”

“Exactly,” Snow said, impressed, “but how do you know all that?”

“Who do you think originally commissioned them?” A small grin stole itself on Luna’s face. Oh, irony, aren’t thou a cruel bitch.

“Do you have a plan?”

“Well, as you said, we first need to find out where they are—” another bolt hit a root next to them “—and at least we have a general idea.” Her horn began to glow and dark clouds filled the night sky.

“And how is less light going to help us?” Snow asked, confused.

“You said that they’re likely using a scope, right? Which basically is a small telescope?”

“Yeah, so wha- OH! You’ll send lightning through the clouds, and I’ll be able to see the light reflecting off the scope! Clever.”

After the next arrow lodged itself into the ground in front of them, Luna filled the sky with lightning.

“Found them,” Snow said. “Do you see the little cliff up ahead?”

Luna peeked around the boulder for a moment. “The mossy one?”

“Yes. They’re on top of it.”

70 meters… the bolts travel less than a second, Luna thought. She looked through the forest, looking for more cover, and noticed a dried out river running from a spot to her left further into the forest, past the mossy rock. I could de-age myself to fit into it, but I’d be trapped if they see me run to it…

She turned to Snow and pointed to her right. “Could you cause a distraction? I have a plan.”

“Of course, your highness.” Snow ran out of their cover, hiding behind a tree that had the misfortune of getting the next bolt sinking itself into its bark.

Luna watched Snow running from tree to tree a few more times, and then turned herself into a filly again. The weight of her sword almost caused her to topple over. She concentrated and it dissolved into shadows.

She galloped to the riverbed, not daring to look at the sniper, and leapt down into her new cover.

The sound of the wrench hitting Rusty’s body echoed through the mess. Two guards watched Mirror from the far side of the car.

“How long has she been doing that already?” one of them asked.

“Eight minutes or so,” their colleague responded, “and no signs of her slowing down.”

“Shouldn’t we stop her? It is kinda macabre, after all.”

“Go ahead, I won’t stop you. But I wouldn’t bet on her not giving you a taste of the wrench as well.”

“You know what? On second thought, I think it’s better to just let her vent.”

Luna climbed out of the riverbed, returning to her full size. She summoned her sword and had to hold back a sigh of relief when feeling it’s familiar weight on her back. She carefully made her way up to the sniper while casting a silencing spell on her hooves.

Her sword drawn and her horn charged, she approached the sniper, a hunched over stallion in a ghillie suit. His crossbow was mounted on a tripod and a lot smaller than Luna had imagined. It’s string runs back and forth multiple times over wheels on either end, how curious… Just a few more steps and it’ll be mine. I just have to be careful to not step on anything.

The sniper started to reload his crossbow and was about to shoot again, but Luna put her sword to his neck and said, “Pull the trigger and I’ll take your head.”

The sniper immediately swirled around while dodging under Luna’s blade and tried to shoot her, but Luna fired a blast of magic at him that catapulted him off the cliff. Luna stepped forward to look after him, ready to fly after him in case if he tried to run away, but Snow was already running towards him, the silver of her drawn flickblade shining in the moonlight.

Seeing that Snow was taking care of the sniper, Luna walked up to the crossbow and stored it in her dreamscape.

After she was done, Snow climbed up to Luna, and they continued walking uphill.

“I can see a cave up ahead,” Snow said, crouching down. “I bet that there’s a hideout in there. But I think it would be better if you would wait here, your highness.”

“I appreciate your concern,” Luna said, “but I assure you that I can handle myself.”

Snow shook her head. “It’s not that. It’s… err… your mane.”

“What about it?”

“It’s not really stealthy, and it would be better to not draw unnecessary attention. We don’t know what we’ll find in there.”

“I didn’t think of that, if I’m to be honest,” Luna admitted. “Just give me a moment.” She concentrated, and her flowy mane dissolved, leaving only a short, dark blue mane with an undercut on the left side. Her physique grew leaner and more cat-like. As she finished her transformation, the moon in her cutie mark turned black. “I hope that nopony will spend a sleepless night over this.”

Snow looked at her with confusion, so Luna explained, “Every time I use this ability, it creates a lunar eclipse. I haven’t had to use this spell in ages, but during the Unification, it was a regular occurrence.”

“I think I remember stories about that, but I’m not sure. I didn’t really pay attention in history class…”

“You were taught Equestria’s history?”

“Of course. We’re supposed to be able to blend in, after all. So it’s only natural that we should have at least a basic understanding of it. My… lack of enthusiasm for the topic even got me denied permission to operate in equestrian settlements.”

“To be honest, your lack of knowledge would have made it easier…”

“Huh?”

“I’ll explain later. Now I think we should continue the hunt.” Luna gestured to her to lead the way. “After you.”

They slowly walked up to the cave and found it to be perfectly ordinary when Luna illuminated it with her magic. It was empty and showed no sign of having been entered by anypony recently.

Luna frowned. Something isn’t right here.

Snow inspected every stone and every crack looking for hidden buttons, but couldn’t find anything. “Nothing.”

Luna concentrated more and more, her eyes turning to slits. Her horn glowed faintly, and she felt a weak pull somewhere around her.

She turned her head from one side to the other until she found the source. She walked up to it, put her hoof on the wall, and sent her magic, acting like an extention to her senses, into the stone. She found what felt like a small metal ball with countless seams running across it. As a physical object, it would have been the nightmare of anypony who already had problems with a Magic Cube. “A magical lock…”

“But I checked for those,” Snow said defensively, “There was no vampiric magic anywhere in the cave!”

“Not vampiric. It’s unicorn magic. And if you could be silent for just a moment, I could unlock it.”

She let her magic run across the sphere to get a feel for the seams. There’s a few spots where two seams cross each other… what a shoddy design. Her magic formed into needles and poked into the sphere. The magic of the sphere tried to repel Luna’s magic.

I just have to change the frequency a little bit and…. there! Luna felt the sphere clicking, and a part of the cave wall disappeared silently, revealing a staircase leading deep into the mountain. It was not high enough for Luna to fit through without having to keep her head down and wasn’t wide enough for them to walk side by side. Red crystals were set into the ceiling every few meters, giving of a faint red glow.

“It appears that our friends forgot the first rule of securing a hideout,” Luna said, amused. “Never go cheap on locks.”

But then the amusement left Luna’s face as she remembered Celestia’s and Twilight’s castles. Although at least they have locks at all…

Luna sighed. “Let’s head down. And this time, I will lead the way.” She headed down the stairs.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, your Highness?” Snow asked, following her.

“I might not have a lot of experience in the art of hunting,” Luna said while casting a silencing spell around them, “But I am very skilled in the art of infiltration.”

And I’m sick of playing second fiddle.

The stairs ended at the end of a long, wide entryway. Bright crystals illuminated the hallway, and from the middle to the end, each side had three alcoves with coffins inside.

A few meters in front of them, Ruby’s newest thrall kneeled in the middle of the hallway, looking at the floor.

“Lady Rusty, we are honored by your return. Lady Ruby will be delighted to see you. If you would please follow me—” The thrall looked up at Luna and Snow, realized that they weren’t Rusty, jumped around, and ran down the hallway, his hoofsteps echoing from the stone walls.

Snow pointed at him with her left hoof, and a small silver bolt lodged itself into his neck. The thrall’s legs gave in, and he slid over the ground, coming to a halt a few steps away from the door.

“Nice shot,” Luna said.

“Thanks,” Snow replied, “But it’s not over yet.”

The six coffins opened with a creaking noise, releasing their inhabitants, lesser vampires carrying short spears.

Snow looked at Luna. “You take the left ones, I the right ones?”

Luna grinned. “Actually, I would prefer all of them. It’s been ages since I could cut loose.”

Snow nodded and stepped back.

Luna drew her sword and opened her wings. Her magic flew out of them, forming blades out of her feathers, a dark blue fog with brilliant white lights shining from within. ‘As if the night’s sky warped itself around your wings,’ Labrys used to say.

The first vampire to reach Luna came from the left and aimed his spear at her chest. Luna brought her sword down and pushed the spear to the side. She closed the distance between them and slashed her wing across his neck.

The second came from the right, pointing his spear at her flank. Luna caught the spear with her wing and spun, allowing her sword to sink into his chest.

Luna threw the spear out of her pirouette, taking out the third vampire.

The fourth one leaped at Luna, fangs ready to bite. She moved back just enough for it to just barely miss her, and then uppercut him with both front hooves, flapping her wings to give her punches even more power.

The last two vampires were more cautious, slowly backing away.

Luna galloped towards them. She leaped over their heads with a flip, slashed them over the backs in mid air, and they collapsed as well.

She landed with a pirouette, her wings held high. The magic surrounding her wings dissolved and rained down around her like glitter until she finally came to a halt, looking back at Snow.

“I hope you enjoyed the show,” she said with a bow. Her sword flew back into its scabbard.

“I certainly did,” Snow replied, “I wasn’t sure if you were fighting or dancing, to be honest.” She jokingly added, “You weren’t a dancer in your past life by any chance, were you?”

“A minstrel, and an illusionist,” Luna said, “although it seems that part of my past was forgotten as well.” She sighed. “Not that anyone would know that it was me, anyway. After becoming a princess, I was… advised to distance myself from that, including dropping my stage name.”

“And under what name were you known,” Snow asked, “if you don’t mind me asking?”

“The Great and Powerful Lula Luxia.” Although— a grin appeared on her face —after becoming an alicorn, ‘great and powerful’ was self-evident, anyway. She turned around and walked to the end of the hallway. “But now we have a Count to catch.”

She opened the door and stepped into the next room. Luna looked around, letting her eyes wander across the floor. It consisted of large tiles, and two of the mortar joints running from left to right were suspiciously lacking of mortar.

“Trapdoor.”Luna opened her wings and flew a few meters before landing and going around a corner.

Snow took a few steps back, then galloped forward and leaped across the trapdoor.

Behind the corner, the hallway ended ten meters in front of them. There were four doors, two on the right side and two on the left, one pair only a few steps in front of them, the other at the end of the hallway.

Luna inspected the door to the left while Snow walked up to the first door to the right and silently opened it. She had found the dungeon of the hideout, a square shaped room with three cells, one in front of her, one to her right and one to the left. A vampire was standing in the entrance to the cell straight ahead with their fangs bared. Two ponies, a mare and a filly cowered in the corner.

Snow concentrated her vampiric magic in her hooves, leapt onto the vampire’s back, and pushed her flickblade into their heart.

The vampire immediately collapsed under Snow’s weight.

Snow stood up and looked at the ponies, trying her best to not look threatening. “It’s ok, you’re safe now. He can’t do anything to you anymore.” It’s been ages since I had to hide my fangs…

“Th-Thank you,” the mare said, still shivering.

“Were either of you bitten?”

“Not yet, thank Celestia.”

Celestia had nothing to do with it! Snow had to bite her tongue to not say her thoughts out loud. “Look, I’m here because I’m looking for a specific vampire. White coat and mane, two red eyes, likes to shout. Did you see him?”

The mare shook her head.

Snow sighed. “Ok, listen, I can get you out of here, but I need you to wait here until I’m back, ok? It shouldn’t take too long, so you just need to stay here a little longer, and then I come and get you out. Can you do that?”

The mare nodded.

“Good. I promise that I’ll hur—”

Luna entered the room with her sword drawn and ready to fight, but lowered her weapon as soon as she saw that there was no danger.

“P-P-Princess Luna?” the mare asked shocked.

“You are correct, but how do you recognize me in my current form?”

“Only one pony in Equestria has the Moon Mark. Everypony knows that, your Highness,” she said, bowing down, the filly following her example.

“There’s no need for bowing in a situation like this. I normally would ask you what ill twist of fate brought you into this predicament, but I’m afraid that will have to wait.”

“I understand,” the mare said, looking up. “Your companion already told us that we have to wait here.”

Luna nodded, then turned to Snow. “Let’s go, then.”

Luna’s ears twitched when she and Snow reached the far end of the hallway. “Is it just me, or is somepony shouting?”

“There is,” Snow said coldly, “and I’d recognize that voice anywhere.” She turned to the door left of them and walked through. A big cave opened to her left, but the voice came from in front of her, so she climbed down the flight of stairs leading down towards her target.

Luna walked to the stairs but hesitated before descending. She couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched, and looked into the cave, but couldn’t see anything, so decided to follow Snow.

Ruby hid behind the corner. How did they get in here?!

She felt panic rise inside her and tried to find an explanation to calm herself down. They must have escaped Rusty and then they found one of the secret entrances into here. I didn’t see any wounds on them, so they didn’t get noticed yet.

A plan started to form in her head. She waited until Luna and Snow were far enough away, then headed towards the main entrance. She was sure that she could still turn the situation around. She would awaken her strongest servants from their coffins, then seal off all ways out of the hideout and…

And then she found their bodies. The best of her creations, carefully created and trained over decades, all gone.

Ruby’s eyes widened for a moment, but then she took a deep breath. Well, it seems that I underestimated them. If the six couldn’t stop them, then nothing in here can.

She stepped over the lesser vampires and up the stairs leading to the surface.

Ruby didn’t bother raising an alarm or trying to evacuate any of her servants. She could just create new ones later, anyway, and without looking back, disappeared into the forest.

Snow peeked through the keyhole to the room White’s angry voice was coming from. “There’s only one other vampire inside there with him. Probably the one who took off his collar. I count to three, you throw the door open and the servant gets a bolt in the eye. Can you get Salt? Alive, preferably. There’s something special prepared for him in the capital.”

“I think I have the perfect thing to get him to follow us back and to get him to stop shouting.” Luna charged her horn. “Ready when you are.”

“One… Two… Three!”

Luna kicked the door open, causing White to shut up and glare at her. He tried to stare Luna, but his eyes started to glow deep blue instead. All emotions left his face, leaving behind a blank expression.

The servant’s body collapsed and Snow put her hoof on the ground again. She looked at White, then at Luna, and then back at White. She stepped in front of him and waved her hoof in front of his face, but he didn’t react.

“Mind control?” she asked, surprised. “You managed to cast a mind control spell on a vampire that’s more than a thousand years old? That should be impossible. Or at least not that easy.”

“Oh, if you know the right work arounds…” Luna said with a grin. “I’ll gladly explain how it works when we’re back at the train.”

“Right, let’s head back. Not that I wouldn’t love to bring back Ruby’s head as well, but who knows what other dangers lie deeper, and we already got the spineless piece of straw we came for.”

Back on the surface, Luna picked up a stone and teleported it to the rails.

“Good, no traps here.” Luna turned to the others. “Alright, everypony, gather around!”

White was already standing next to Luna, and Snow with her flickblade ready next to him. The ponies they freed looked at each other and, slowly and anxiously, walked to Luna’s side, paying attention to not look at either White or Snow. Luna charged her horn and teleported all of them back to the mess of the train.

Snow didn’t lose any time and turned to the guards standing at the entrance of the car. “You two, bring the prisoner back to his cell! And make sure he stays in it this time. Weld his chains to the walls if you have to!”

The guards nodded, put a new set of shackles on White, and tried to pull him to the cells, but he didn’t move, his eyes still glowing blue.

Luna said, “Right, sorry. White, go with them.” And as soon as she finished, White started to cooperate and the guards left the car with him in tow.

The lights in the car turned on again, and Mirror entered the car. “Ok, the engine is working again, but my fix will probably not work for long, so if they don’t come back soon, we’ll have to—” she noticed Luna and Snow — “Ah, good, you’re back. As I was saying, the fix won’t last long, so we—”

The filly screamed and buried her face in her mother’s coat. Snow and Luna turned to them, and looked at what had scared her so much, discovering Rusty’s damaged body.

“What happened to her?” Snow asked.

Mirror turned to Snow. “The repeated application of a blunt instrument at high velocity.”

“And where is her horn?” The image of having her own horn removed sent shivers down Luna’s spine.

“Well… I had to saw it off. As I was trying to say twice already, I managed to use her horn as a make-shift converter, but I doubt that it will last long.”

Luna didn’t want to believe it. “You what?!”

“Well excuse me, Princess, but I was supposed to get this train moving, and that’s exactly what I did. If you don’t like how I did it, you are cordially invited to walk the rest of the way.”

Luna didn’t respond.

“Thought so.” She looked at the filly and her mother. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

The mother just stared at her, but the filly seemed fascinated by her augmentations. “You’re a cyborg! Like Iron Mare!”

“I am!”

“Cool!”

Mirror looked at the filly, then at her mother, and the gears inside her head started to turn. “Hey, would you and your mom like to see the locomotive?”

The filly turned to her mother. “Can we? Please?”

“I’m not… not sure if that’s a good idea,” she said, still wary of Mirror.

“It’s ok,” Luna told her, “Mirror is the on board engineer, you can trust her.” She leaned down to whisper into her ear, “and it’s the only place on this train without vampires.”

“Thank you,” the mother responded. Then she turned to her daughter. “Okay, if you want to, we can go with her.”

“Yay!” The filly bounced while going to the locomotive with Mirror. The mother, still nervous because of the vampires in the room, was happy to follow. Before closing the door, Mirror turned around and looked at Snow.

“I do not want anypony to enter my locomotive until we arrive at the capital,” she said before throwing the door shut. A moment later, locks of the door were engaged.

Luna took a deep breath and turned back into her normal form. Her flowy mane returned, and the full moon illuminated the night once more.

“Really?” Snow asked annoyed. “‘The only place on the train without vampires’. Really? Was that really necessary?”

“You heard it?” Luna asked, embarrassed.

“Super-hearing, remember?”

“It seems like I did. But we just rescued them from a purist hideout. I think you’ll be able to forgive her for not wanting to be around vampires for a while.”

Snow sighed. “Yeah, you’re right, Princess. But it still stings.” She walked over to the counters, picked up a hayburger and sat down at a table with her back to Rusty. “That was more than enough excitement for one night, wouldn’t you say?”

“It was entertaining, yes,” Luna said, taking the seat opposite of Snow. She rubbed her neck where Rusty had bitten her. It still stings…

“Heh, that’s not the word I would have thought of.” Snow took a bite. “I’ll make sure that a group of Silver Eyes takes out the hideout once we reach Pfahling. It’s troubling that they were able to establish one so close to the capital, anyway.”

“If anypony will be left at that point.” Luna looked out of the window and noticed that the train was moving. I didn’t even hear it starting. It really is a marvel of magic.

“Yeah,” Snow admitted with a full mouth, “They’ll probably all be gone, but hey, loyalty isn’t really their strong suit, so we might find a few of them still lying in their coffins. And now—” she swallowed the last mouthful of her burger “—I think you owe me an explanation.”

“Right, the spell.” Luna leaned back, preparing to tell the story of how she learned it. “You know Sombra, right?”

Snow nodded. “Tragic story.”

“After Celestia and I defeated him, I studied his magic, especially his mind control spell, and it was truly fascinating, because it wasn’t just one spell!” Luna’s voice was full of adoration. “It’s made up of two different components. One spell puts the victim into a vision showing them their worst fear, but that’s only in order to occupy their mind. The second component then controls the body. I have never seen a spell that’s built like that before, or ever since. He was a villain, but his abilities as a spellwright far exceeded Starswirl.”

“So, what are you showing White?” Snow asked with a smirk

“Nothing, if I’m to be honest. I changed the spell. Because it’s made up of two basically independent components, I was able to swap out the first one. Instead of nightmare-ish visions, he’s in a dreamless sleep right now. And it’s a very low cost spell, all things considered, so I don’t even notice the amount of magic needed to keep it up.”

Just as Luna had finished her explanation, the train entered the tunnel leading up to vampire capital, blocking out the night sky.

Author's Note

Terribly sorry for the long wait, there were a couple adjustments I had to do in my personal life.

Anyway, if you liked the episode, please leave a comment, would help a lot with motivation.