The clacking of hooves on fire worn cobble. A cloaked figure sprinting across the streets. It was dark as ink outside, save the lanterns on posts. The shadowy figure paused and took a step back, revealing tears flying from their face. They stood there, staring at an orange maned yellow pony replacing the broken lantern on a pole.

“One wouldn’t hurt... right?” The figure mumbled in a muffled voice. The pony changing the lantern turned around to face the mysterious being.

“What was that?” The pony, now revealed to be a stallion with an orange slice in a lemon for a Cutie Mark, asked. “Is something wrong? Are you lost?” He asked in a genuinely concerned voice. The shadowy figure sniffed.

“Oh... I’m so sorry...” the figure mumbled, falling to the ground. The stallion foolishly came closer. “This will hurt you more than it’s gonna hurt me...” A sniff came from the figure.

“What’s gonna hurt?” The stallion said, as he took a step closer. “Is someone hurting you?” The gap between the figure and the stallion was around a foot long. The figure looked away.

“No... don’t be concerned... I’m so sorry for this... I’m a monster... The nicest ones hurt the most...” The stallion was worried now. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say anything else, the last thing he ever saw was a flash of fangs and two tear filled red eyes.

There was a blood curdling cry of fear and pain, quickly cut off as the stallion fell to the ground. If you listened closely, you could hear a sucking sound and the sound of somepony crying. At last, the figure stood up and took a step away from their prey. On the stallion’s now pale and shrunken neck, there were two round holes. Those two round holes are a tell-tale sign of a vampony victim, and not the last you will see. A faint trickle of blood came from a hole as the figure pressed a shadowy appendage on where the stallion’s heart should be, and the figure started drinking again. Once again, the figure stepped away, this time more than two steps. The figure sniffed as they looked at the sucked dry stallion lying on the ground.

“I’m so sorry... I wish I could have stopped myself... I’m a monster... But I was so thirsty...” The figure said, sniffling, and they speed-walked away into the dark night, away from their most recent prey.

*One sunrise later*

It was a sad day for Citrus Burst. Her lemon scented fireworks broke some stuff, the grapefruit crop was smaller than normal, and when she left the magic underground bunker farm thing, well, it would be best if you read for yourself. Citrus angrily tramped through the citrus orchard. She had her sad sized grapefruit crop in a cart trailing behind her, and her mane was still singed in spots. As she dragged the cart of fruits behind her, she could smell... oh no...

“No, no, no, no!” She dropped the cart and sprinted like all heck had broke loose. Out she ran of the bunker entrance, and onto the flame worn cobble. She came to a stop just in front of a paled yellow earth pony stallion with an orange mane. She kneeled before the corpse of her dear brother. This... no.

“No, no, no! Orangeade! Don’t be dead! Please! You were supposed to live a happy life with that mare you liked! You were supposed to be there for me! You... you...” Citrus broke off when her voice cracked. She slumped before the corpse with loud sobbing. He seemed oddly... thin... “Orangey?” Citrus stood up, and walked around him. She pulled back his dull, lifeless mane to reveal... two holes... two perfect holes... “Vampony... Bitemarks...” Citrus let go of her dead brother’s mane. She stood up, and looked down on the corpse, tears flowing freely. “You’re still skinny as a stick, ya know?” Citrus gave a sad smile. She looked up into the cloudy sky, her crying stopped. “You are leaving me... just... like...” Tears again, but slow. “Mom... Dad...” Citrus looked back at the corpse.

“I swear upon the Great Seedling’s orange filled antlers,” Citrus took off her grapefruit colored Stetson and looked to the sky. “I will avenge your blood on this wretched leech, or die trying.” And with that, lightning flashed and thunder boomed, ruining the possibility of a nice morning. Suddenly, however, a hole was punched in the clouds revealing a blue Pegasus and a cockatiel colored gryphon.

“Come on Tiger, the storm is scheduled for tomorrow!” Said the Pegasus.

“But Crystal, the pony down there swearing death to something above another pony’s corpse like she needed a change in scenery to make this-“ Tiger’s Eye was cut of by more angry Pegasus.

“No! The storm happens tom- wait what?” The blue Pegasus looks through the hole in the sky and gasps. “Tiger, get the rest of the weather team to clear the clouds away. This looks serious.” Crystal Skies jumped through the hole and glided down to Citrus.

“He was a good stallion.” Crystal said to Citrus. Citrus nodded and moved some of Orange’s lifeless mane from his neck, revealing the bite marks. At this Crystal gasped.

“A vampony drank him dry. He... my brother... I will avenge him. Nobody messes with a member of the Citrus fam and gets away unscathed. I will hang their vampony dust in the lanterns above the family’s dining table and hang their evil cloak-“

“That’s awfully over the top, huh Citrus?” Crystal asked mildly disturbed. “You were always the melodramatic pony around here...”

“Yeah, that was a bit much. But...” Suddenly Citrus has a stake of some kind of citrus wood and a ring of garlic around her neck and on her head. “I will never ever forget what the vamponies did to my parents. Never. Now I have yet third reason to kill every single vampony on sight.”

Author's Note

Hello irregular schedules of postage and annoying Spellflame comments to continue!