Episode 1: Our First Night
Ever since Twilight's coronation and departure from the sleepy little hamlet, things had quieted down and the residents could finally allow themselves a little breather from the constant chaos. With the quiet came growth. Without the constant destruction caused by world-ending catastrophes, Ponyville had grown incredibly quickly, changing from a small town into a major city worthy of Equestria.
Yet, despite the peace, something was stirring above the city; something no pony could have predicted.
With a sharp crackle, a bright glow appeared and expanded outwards for thirty feet, electricity arcing along the surface and within the bubble. Great streaks of lightning blasted out and smashed into the School of Friendship, burning a streak of hellfire across the entrance while other snaps of lightning screeched across the city to strike random spots with a crack. The ground beneath Ponyville shivered and groaned as the portal expanded ever outwards, threatening to engulf the top of the school's roof.
Suddenly, with a hellish scream, the portal began to close up, shrinking down to nothing and a limp, smoking body was flung out of the portal towards one specific street and one specific apartment.
Ruby had just set her pet rabbit, Johnathon, within his hutch for the night after having quite the tough time getting him to eat his greens. "Such a fussy eater," she huffed, frowning down at her pet, before rolling her eyes and heading over to her bed. Jumping up, she reached over and levitated her alarm to make sure to set it to seven fifty five so she didn't miss her classes in the morning.
Her room was like most mare's bedrooms, flowery wallpaper, a plush carpet with a double bed in the center. Beside the door sat her writing desk which held her school books and homework. Her wardrobe was next to that, then Johnathon's hutch.
Levitating a brush over, she began to slowly comb through her crimson mane, grunting every once in a while when she found a knot. Humming to herself, she jumped off the bed and stepped over to her desk to make sure that she had everything ready for school.
"Geography, Maths, Magical Theory..." she mumbled to herself, stacking the books up and nodding to herself. "It wouldn't look good to turn up to the first day of the year without the right books."
In the corner of the mirror, she noticed a glow coming from the window and looked over, confused. Trotting over, she slid it open to get a better look, then gasped at the sight of her school being scorched by a beam of magical energy.
Unable to look away from the horror, she only just noticed a brown, limp body soaring through the air and heading straight towards her room at the last second. "That looks like a- oh buck!" she cried, jumping out of the way as the body shattered through her window, covering her with glass, and collided with her desk which splintered from the impact, sending her books flying.
Laying on the ground with her hooves over her head, Ruby tentatively peered over to find the bleeding body of an earth pony laying within the remnants of her writing desk. Pulling herself up on quivering, jelly legs, Ruby inched her way over and then screamed, "Mom! Call the Hospital!"
She reached out with her magic and flicked the shattered wood off of the body and pressed her chin against the pony's neck. Upon feeling a pulse, she let out a sigh of relief, then flicked her attention to the door as her mom burst in.
"What happened?!" the tan coated, red-maned mare asked while staring down at the pony in shock, then around at the destruction it had caused.
"I... I don't know! There was some flash of light over by the school, then she crashed through the window!" Ruby replied, her quivering hoof gently holding the unconscious pony's own.
"Alright, don't move her, I'll get an ambulance," her mom said, rushing off.
Ruby nodded and returned her attention to the mare. Her bleeding didn't seem so severe now that she had time to look her over properly, but she still had burns across her coat. Moving her eyes down, Ruby frowned upon looking at the mare's cutie-mark of a silver cross.
Several tense minutes went by, until finally the paramedics arrived. Ruby had noticed that the pony's wounds had stopped bleeding sometime ago, leaving her body caked with her dry blood.
The pair of medics, a mare and stallion, rushed into her room carrying a stretcher and a bag of supplies. The mare gently pulled Ruby aside to allow the stallion to work.
"Hi sweetie. I'm Soft Touch. Do you know what happened here?" she asked, gazing around at the broken window and shattered remains of the desk. "Did she try and hurt you?"
"What? No!" Ruby replied, shaking her head while her breathing picked up. "I went to look outside and she came flying through the window out of nowhere."
"Breathing and stable," The stallion interjected, pulling back from checking the pony over. "Multiple lacerations across her body, alongside one mild burn," he continued, his magic flowing over her legs. "No breaks or fractures. We're good to move her."
"Got it," Soft replied, moving over and setting up a stretcher. "Alright, on three," she said, getting ready. "One, two, three."
With a heave, the mare was placed onto the stretcher, which was then connected to them both with a harness. "Do you know her name?"
Ruby shook her head again. "No... but will she be okay?"
"We won't know for sure, until the hospital does some scans," Soft replied. "Let's go."
The pair exited with Ruby standing there, unsure of what to do. Her mom entered and wrapped her up in a hug, nuzzling and brushing her mane.
Buffy really wasn't sure as to what the afterlife would feel like, but full-body aching pain wasn't on her top-ten list. Hell, it wasn't even on her top-hundred list, but here she was. She had expected some sort of ethereal plane where she'd feel complete and have her mom waiting for her, but she had come to expect that reality would disappoint her.
Yet, for all of the aches and pains she was feeling, she couldn't help but find herself happy at the thought that Dawn and the others were safe and alive. Some other slayer would take her place, protect Sunnydale and maybe even close the hellmouth.
Fluttering her eyes open, she winced and let out a soft gasp at the brightness, covering her face with her arm. "Where am I?" she asked, inching her burning eyes back open, only to find her vision taken up by a brown, furry leg. After a few second, her eyes adjusted to the bright hospital lights and she pulled her leg back. She found it ended in a hoof and blinked, a cold sweat flowing across her body.
"What..." she muttered, eyes trailing up her leg that was connected to her body. "Dawn? Giles?!" she screamed, tearing the covers off herself as the heart monitor flared to life with an ever increasing number of beeps. Ripping the probes off her body, her eyes flicked over to a pink-maned, white furred nurse who rushed in, only to thrash herself off the bed in an attempt to get away.
Hitting the floor with a thump caused the IV to tear out of her leg and clatter to the floor, but if she noticed, she didn't care as she pressed herself up into the corner of the hospital room, her eyes staring at the pony who was taking calm steps towards the quivering mare.
Once the nurse was close enough, she stopped and sat down. "It's good to see you're awake. Do you know where you are?" she asked, a gentle smile on her face. Upon seeing her patient's horrified stare, she continued. "I'm nurse Redheart," she said, gesturing to her nurses-cap. "What's your name?"
Buffy's eyes flicked up to the cap, then back at the pony. She knew she didn't die, the fact that she was hurting all over and that blood was dribbling down her leg proved that she was still alive... but a small part of her was saddened by that. She jumped off that tower fully prepared to die and yet.
Willow, Xander and herself had faced so many challenges. Surely she could just think of this as another challenge, right? One that she'd end up telling them about once she got back. Xander would make a joke about her 'being the glue of their group' and they'd all move on.
"B-Buffy," she whispered, jerking away once she saw another pony rush the room, this one wearing a white doctor's coat. His coat was a more traditional brown, along with a grey mane.
"Nurse?" he asked, noticing the pair behind the bed. "Oh, my apologies..."
"Doctor," Redheart said, glancing back. Turning back to Buffy, her smile returned. "Buffy; that's a lovely name. Is there anything else you can tell me?" she asked, hearing the scribbling of notes from behind her.
Now that she didn't feel like she was in mortal danger, her adrenaline was now fading from her system, leaving her new body a quivering mess. "Where am I?" she asked, her eyes looking around the room. Everything looked just as it did at her last hospital visit, what with the washed out wallpaper, crinkly bed and linoleum flooring.
"You're in Ponyville general hospital. You were brought in last night," Redheart explained, her expression slowly softening. "Do you remember what happened?"
Shaking her head, Buffy brought her leg back up and examined it. Her leg looked comically large, compared to the ponies that she had seen before, but it felt proportioned relative to the rest of her body. "No," she replied, swallowing.
What would Giles do... she thought, looking over to the doctor taking notes.
"I don't remember anything," she lied, averting her eyes and curling up against the wall.
She had never been a perfect actor, but the effect was almost instant as Redheart inched forwards and placed a hoof on her withers.
"Hey... we'll get you better, okay?" Redheart cooed, softly whispering.
Buffy tensed up at the contact, then stared at the nurse and nodded quickly.
"Alright. Let's get you back in bed, shall we?" Redheart asked, sliding a hoof under Buffy's leg and heaving her up. "I'll clean that hole as well. Wouldn't want an infection."
Upon seeing Buffy standing there, her legs quivering like a foal, she kept hold of her. "Can you walk for me?" she asked, watching her carefully.
Buffy hid her face behind her golden mane and grimaced. She hated feeling helpless, but now she can't even stand up without help. "I... I can't," she sighed while her body tried to shake itself apart.
"A-Alright," Redheart mumbled, glancing over to the doctor with a worried look. "I'll help you up, is that okay?"
"Sure," Buffy mumbled, fighting the urge to just crumple on the ground. 'Is this really what I get after I die?'
The nurse turned around quickly and pressed a button on the side of the bed, which quickly lowered it down to the ground. She then guided Buffy onto the bed and tucked her in, before taking hold of the crank and raising the bed back up.
"There we go," Redheart sighed, smiling. "Now, let's get that leg cleaned up."
Book Worm meandered through the collections of books stacked high throughout the school's labyrinth of a library. He felt at home throughout the various sections and quickly navigated his way back towards the lobby. Night had fallen and due to the damage done to the front of the school, Starlight had deemed it necessary to postpone the start of the school year for at least a few days while it was being investigated and cleaned up.
Stepping out of the dark and dingy stacks, Book levitated a small selection of books beside himself and wandered along the small raised walkway and down the pitiful excuse for some stairs.
He had been thankful when the Princess had donated much of her old collection to the school, easily filling up the space made by the extension that had been made to the school and library. Unfortunately, it felt a little too empty to him now and he was sure that it would go unused far too often.
Entering his office, Book sat down on his chair and flicked on his light, before sliding his glasses onto his muzzle. "Now, what have we here?" he mumbled, using his magic to close the door and levitate over some paper and a pencil.
Placing his books down, he pulled the top-most tome over and ran his hoof over the surface, allowing his lips to curl slightly. Opening the book up, his eyes ran over the ancient texts, then finally settled upon an image of a silver cross stained crimson.
Leaning closer, he frowned at the minuscule writing. "One mare? No..." he mumbled, pausing every so often to translate. "One girl in all the world, a chosen one-"
"Book? Are you in here?" a female voice called from outside. "Book?"
Rising up, he groaned and opened the door. "Just in my office. I'll be right there, Starlight!" he replied, closing the book and trotting out. Upon seeing the mare, he put on his best smile. "Starlight. What brings you to the library," he began, glancing at the window to see darkness, "at this time of night?"
"I was just finishing up some-" Starlight began, quickly sighing after seeing Book raise his brow. "Alright, a lot of work. I knew I'd find you here and just wanted to check in to see how you're settling in with the renovations."
Book's smile grew slightly more genuine upon hearing that. "Oh... well, it's great to have this extra space, as well as the new books. Most of my time has been spent organizing them actually."
"I'm glad to hear that. We would have hired another librarian, but the budget only really stretches so far. Besides, there's more for you!" Starlight joked, grinning. "Anyway, I have to head off. Have a school to make safe and all that. Be careful, alright. Ponies have been saying that some weird things have been happening recently," she said, making her way towards the door and exiting.
"Don't worry about me," Book sighed, taking off his glasses to wipe against his leg. "I'll be fine, here, organizing."
The early morning light had just broken across Ponyville on the summer morn and Ruby was waiting on the doorstep to her friend's home, impatiently knocking on the door. The outside of the home was rather well kept, with various daffodils and roses having been planted just in front of the porch to brighten up the garden.
"Come on, lazy bones..." she groaned, stomping her hoof on the wood when she caught a glimpse of Lamp Light sleepily making his way down his stairs to the front door through the window.
The door opened to reveal the yawning Pegasus, his dark blue mane and tail matted with bed head and his light grey coat unkempt.
"You still haven't showered?!" Ruby huffed, frowning at him as she looked him over.
"What's the time?" he mumbled, rubbing his eyes.
"It's nearly nine am! We're going to be late!"
"Late for what? School's postponed for another few days, Rubes..."
"I told you yesterday," Ruby sighed, rolling her eyes. "We're going to see that mare in the hospital, remember?"
"Oh yeah," Lamp mumbled, perking up. "Let me brush and we can go."
"No time!" Ruby gasped, lighting her magic up and pulling at his leg to drag him out.
"Ah!" he cried, having just enough time to close the door as she pulled him out of the house. "Alright, alright," he huffed, frowning at her. Once she let go of him, he started to trot beside her, glancing over. "Why do you want to see her anyway?" he asked. "From what I saw, she tore up your room pretty bad. Wouldn't you want to just forget it?"
"What sort of pony would I be if I simply forget about someone that's hurt," Ruby replied, shaking her head. "It would go completely against Twilight's teachings! Plus, she was kinda cute."
Lamp's ears perked up. "She was cute? You didn't say that yesterday."
"Maybe it didn't cross my mind," she said, playfully smirking.
The pair continued on down the road and into Ponyville proper, stopping for a few minutes to buy some sweet smelling flowers and some nibbles that the mare would rather have instead of the hospital food. For them, the trip didn't take too long, considering that it was still early morning and the hoof-traffic was still relatively low.
Entering Ponyville General Hospital, they found that it had many more ponies than they would have expected. Some had cuts, bruises and other minor injuries, and some were drowsy or outright catatonic. Wandering up to the front desk, they saw the nurses frantically rushing about, no doubt unused to the amount of work from the usually safe city.
One nurse sat at the front desk, her head down as she scribbled out notes.
"Uh, hi..." Ruby greeted, glancing around at the chaos. "I'm looking for a pony which was brought in about two days ago?"
The nurse held her hoof up and continued writing, but after a few seconds looked up. "What's the cutie-mark, dear?" she asked with thick southern accent while rising up and moving down the desk to file some papers.
"Oh, a silver cross?" Ruby replied, watching the nurse pulling a file with the cutie-mark on the front.
"Relation?"
"She crashed into my room... I just want to see if she's okay."
The nurse glanced up at the pair, then back down to the file. "I'll take you to her. I'll need to warn you though, she's been quite unresponsive to anyone other than Redheart," she said, walking around the desk and gesturing to follow.
Ruby and Lamp shared a look, then followed the mare. "What do you mean?"
"Just as I said, dear. She won't speak to anyone else but the head nurse."
Stopping outside of the closed room, the nurse turned around and held a hoof up to the pair. "I'll go in and make sure she's awake and okay with having visitors."
Opening the door, the nurse entered and gently closed it behind her. The soft beeping of the heart-monitor could be heard, but as soon as she took a step, it began to quicken. Walking around the curtain, she saw a tense Buffy staring at her.
"Hey there, sweetie... Just making sure you're awake. Are you okay to have some visitors?" she asked, stopping just behind the invisible barrier of the curtain. Not getting a reply, she turned to leave.
"Yes," Buffy whispered, her hooves dragging along the cotton sheets as she stared down at them.
The nurse's lips curled slightly as she left the room. "Buffy said it's okay to go in. But no sudden movements, okay? She's easily spooked."
"Yes, ma'am," Lamp replied, nodding.
"Don't be discouraged if she doesn't reply. Try and stay positive and just act normal."
With that, she opened the door once again and Ruby made her way in, with Lamp Light just behind.
Taking slow, careful steps, Ruby heard the nurse wander off after a few seconds. She moved around the curtain to find the pony staring at her, then her eyes flicking onto Lamp Light, almost examining him closely. "Hi there, Buffy," she greeted, waving a hoof. "I'm Ruby Haze," she continued, before being nudged by Lamp. "Oh, right, this is Lamp Light."
"Hey," Lamp added, smiling awkwardly over to Buffy.
Ruby slowly hovered a pair of chairs beside Buffy's bed and sat down, only to see the mare staring at Ruby's horn.
"Oh, did I scare you?!" Ruby asked, wincing and glancing at Lamp, who only held his hooves up in protest.
Despite the look of shock, Buffy stayed silent and looked back down at her hooves. It feels so normal... natural, she thought, pressing them together.
Ruby cleared her throat, causing Buffy to twitch and shy away from her. "Sorry," she muttered, before perking up. "So, you crashed through my window. Oh, wait, I doubt you remember that, because you were unconscious... well, my mom fixed it up. It's not so cold at night, thank Celestia," she continued, rubbing the back of her neck. "I, uh, do you remember anything at all?"
Buffy flicked her attention over to Lamp, who was lounging back on his chair and smiling over towards her. She remembered the same carefree smile back when she had met her friends and turned away. "No," she whispered, wanting desperately to be able to clench her sheets out of frustration.
Ruby blinked and resisted the urge to grin at the fact that the mare was talking. It was only one word, but it was still an achievement. "Of course. I saw something strange before you entered my room," Ruby began, seeing the mare's ears swivel towards her. "There was a big ball of blue electricity or magic above our school, then the ground shook. It was gone when I checked it after the medics brought you here though..."
"Did any electricity hit anywhere?" Buffy asked, her eyes trailing across the bed to stare into Ruby's eyes.
"Uh- I think so... the school had it's entrance burnt. Otherwise we'd be there now," Ruby answered, finding herself tense up from the mare's stare. "You know something about that, don't you?"
"I... You wouldn't believe me."
"This is Ponyville," Ruby simply replied, a deadpan look on her face.
"She's right. It's been pretty quiet recently, but this was practically crazy-central not too long ago, what with Discord and everything else," Lamp agreed, nodding.
Buffy felt conflicted. Somehow it felt wrong for her to simply spill the news that she was the slayer. It was so ingrained in her to not put anyone in danger... but there wasn't any danger was there? She had stopped it. Closing her eyes, she let out a sigh and said, "I don't know the specifics, but that bubble was a gateway to hell."
"Hell?" Ruby asked, confused.
Buffy opened her eyes and looked over. "Oh, right... pony. It's a dimension of endless suffering that a god opened to get back home. It would have combined every dimension together into a single, hellish plane of agony," she explained, quickly glancing away once she saw the ponies staring at her.
"W-Wow, uh..." Ruby mumbled, looking over to Lamp, who leaned forwards.
"So what you're saying is that it's a good thing it went away?"
Buffy nodded.
"Great," he laughed, patting Ruby on the shoulder. "One thing though... where did you come from?"
Buffy opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated. I can't say that I'm not a pony... they'll throw me in the loony bin. But they did just seem to buy that like it was no big deal.
"I must have passed through it from my world."
"Your world?" Ruby asked, herself leaning forward now. "You're not from Equestria?"
Buffy chuckled and shook her head. "Nope, I'm from Earth," she trailed off, looking down. "Now that it's closed, I guess I'll never see it again," she sighed. "I was living in a city called Sunnydale. Small, sleepy, filled with vampires and demons."
"Uh, wait, what? What are Vampires?" Lamp asked. "And Demons?!"
"Oh, right... uh, I helped to hunt vampires and whatever else lurks about in the darkness alonside my friends."
"You... hunt demons?" Ruby asked, suddenly unsure. She leaned back and glanced at Lamp.
"I knew you wouldn't believe me. No one ever does," Buffy mumbled, sighing.
"No, no! It's not that we don't believe you," Ruby protested, waving her hooves. "It's just... it sounded so strange when you said it so casually."
"I never thought about it like that," Buffy said, humming. "I'm so used to it that it seemed so mundane, you know?"
A silence soon fell over the room as she gazed outside at the sunlight, the soft chirps of birds keeping them company.
After a small while, she turned to the pair. "I guess there's no need for a slayer here, is there?" she asked, a tiny slither of a smile appearing. There's definitely worse places to go after death.
"I doubt it, honestly. Ponyville isn't exactly known for it's demons," Lamp chuckled. "It's been peaceful for several years now, since Princess Twilight took the throne."
"Who?"
"Princess Twilight. She lives in Canterlot, but Ponyville was her home for many years with the other Element Bearers. I think there's still a couple that live here actually..." Lamp answered, tapping his chin.
"I told you to pay attention in history," Ruby huffed, frowning at Lamp. "Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie still live here, remember."
"Oh right," he muttered, rolling his eyes.
Buffy raised her brow at them, confused. "I only know what some of those words mean."
Ruby blinked, then tapped her chin. "Oh! We can do a little history lesson!" she gasped, her smile turning into a grin as Lamp groaned.
"You had to go and do it..."
"Alright, so. It all began when..." Ruby started, giving an abridged version of Twilight's story.
Buffy, for the most part, was following along well enough. Despite all she had seen, even she was a little skeptical on the fact that friendship had saved the world several times, but let it slide. The lecture only took a couple of hours, including a break for lunch.
"And now Princess Twilight rules from Canterlot," Ruby finished, looking over to Lamp to find him hunched over and sleeping. "Lamp!" she grumbled, slapping his leg. "Wake up."
"Huh, I'm awake!" he squeaked, glancing about. "Sorry, Ruby."
Narrowing her eyes at him, her frown quickly morphed into a smile. "It's okay. I know how tired you get learning."
"Yeah, I d- hey!"
Ruby giggled and turned back to Buffy to find her gazing down at her hooves, deep in thought. "Buffy, are you okay?" she asked, taking a chance and leaning forwards to place a hoof on the mare's leg.
Buffy tensed and her eyes stared down at the furry appendage, but didn't move it away. "Y-Yeah... this is all so strange, you know?" she replied, moving her eyes up to Ruby's. "Everything is so new."
"I bet it is. But I think I speak for Ruby that we'll help you with anything you need, right Rubes?" Lamp asked, nudging her as he leaned forward and placed his hoof on Ruby's.
"You'll do anything for a cute mare," Ruby teased, to which Lamp pouted. "But I agree. You may have scared me half to death, but I'm glad you're alright. Maybe once you're out we'll even have the same classes?"
"Same classes?" Buffy asked, glancing between the two. "What do you mean?"
Ruby blinked and leaned back, yet didn't remove her hoof. " You look about our age," she noted, humming. "Oh, let me check the chart. They usually put what age they think the patient is on there."
Climbing down from her chair, she wandered around to the door and peered out, before levitating the chart in, then walking back to Buffy.
"Alright, let's see," she muttered, scanning the chart. "Aha! Right here. They put down fifteen, uh, based on bone density and body mass."
Buffy stared at Ruby with an incredulous expression. "I have to do high school all over again?!" she groaned, hitting the bed with her hooves.
"It's not so bad," Lamp said, chuckling. "Maybe it's not as exciting as demon killing, but we'll get to hang out, right?"
Ruby nodded, then turned back to Buffy with a sympathetic gaze. "Besides, if you've been through it once then this time will be a breeze."
"Alright, Buffy, keep it up. Just a few more steps!" Jacked Muscles cheered as he watched Buffy make her way across the mat while being held up by the physical therapy harness.
The harness wrapped under her barrel, and chest, while suspending her slightly off the ground. It connected to two bars either side of her, with elastic, and allowed her to walk up and down as it took the weight off her hooves.
Buffy gritted her teeth as she focused on each and every step that she had to take to make sure that she wouldn't fall over; not that the harness would let her. If faith could see me now... she grumbled. Back leg, front leg, back leg, front leg, she repeated, not feeling as if she was getting anywhere, even after the second hour.
"This isn't working," she spoke up, looking over to the red furred Earth pony.
"These things take time. It's only been a couple of hours. It'll just click and you'll remember how to walk, trust me," he replied, moving closer. "Let's try it one more time, okay?"
"Fine."
Ruby laid down on her bed and stated over at the brand new window that had been installed the day prior. She kept going over the things that Buffy had gone over: Demons, other worlds. It wasn't as if there weren't other worlds; Princess Twilight even said so in her biography.
Yet, the thought of Buffy having been forcefully ripped out of her own didn't sit right with Ruby. She might have only known her for a few hours but Ruby couldn't just let her suffer without at least trying something.
Levitating her phone over, she dialed Lamp Lights number and waited for the stallion to pick up, impatiently tapping her hoof on the bed.
"Hello?" Lamp greeted, sounding tired.
"Hey, Lamp."
"Oh, Rubes, what's up?"
"I'm going out to the school library to find something to help Buffy. I couldn't just sit by and let her feel so down about what's happened to her."
"At this time of night? Won't it be closed?" Lamp asked with a hint of worry.
"Nope. Miss Starlight said that the library will be twenty-four-seven after the expansion. School isn't for another few days, but I doubt they'd turn me away."
"Well," Lamp began, pausing. "Do you want me to come with you? It's pretty dark out?"
Ruby giggled. "I'm sure I'll be fine. This is Ponyville after all. The worst thing that'll happen is Mrs Pie scaring me or something."
"Okay... But phone me when you get to the school, alright?" Lamp asked, sounding serious. "I don't like the idea of you out there alone."
'I know," Ruby sighed, a smile creeping onto her face. After a second, she shook her head and jumped off the bed. "Alright, I'll talk to you in a bit. Bye!"
Not waiting for a reply, she placed the phone down and trotted out of the door, before peeking back in and levitating a blue, cotton scarf off of her hook and around her neck.
Ruby had been walking for several minutes and was nearing the school campus. She crossed over the road and looked around, finding the air had grown rather frigid.
Giving off a little shiver, she tightened the scarf and stopped to blow warm air onto her hoof. "So cold..." she whispered glancing around again, this time with the fur on the back of her neck standing up.
Beginning to walk again, she passed several shops and just as she was about to pass an alley, a brown coated stallion popped out in front of her. He stood slightly taller than her, with his jet black mane.
She bumped into him with a gasp and took a step back. "I... I'm so sorry," she stammered awkwardly.
"Oh, it's no problem at all," he replied, giving a small chuckle as he looked around, his confident smile never leaving him. "It's quite the evening for a stroll, don't you think? If you're not careful, you'll catch your death out here."
Ruby could only nod as she took another step back, before realising he had taken one towards her. "What do you want?" she asked, trying to remember her self-defense magic. I should have listened to Lamp...
The stallion's smile changed into a smirk as he shook his head. "Me? I don't want anything," he said, gesturing behind Ruby. "But my smoochums is hungry."
Ruby slowly turned her head around to see a pink furred mare, her face contorted into a ghoulish caricature of a pony, with the forehead morphed into a permanent scowl and bright, yellow eyes.
"Yum," the mare giggled, showing off her fangs, before punching Ruby in the face, knocking her out.
Tap Tap Tap
Buffy's eyes fluttered open and with a groan she turned over to face the window. "Lamp?" she mumbled, squinting.
The moon was bright and cast the pony at her second floor window in darkness.
"What the..." she sighed, pulling the sheets away. Climbing off of her bed, she shakily made her way over and unlatched the window.
"What's going on?" she asked as she pushed the window open and let the stallion in.
"Ruby hasn't called!" Lamp answered, climbing in and moving past her. Turning back with wide eyes, he even let out a worried little whinny and asked, "What if something happened to her? What if she's hurt?"
"Woah, Lamp, calm down," Buffy ordered, using her hoof to move him over to a chair. "Sit down and tell me what's going on."
"Okay," he whispered, parking his rump down and rubbing his hooves together. "She called me a few hours ago saying she was going to the library at school to try and find some information about what might have happened to you," he began, sniffling. "I wanted to come with, but she said she'd be okay... She was supposed to call me when she arrived, but she hasn't!"
Buffy frowned and looked outside. "It is pretty late... Why did you come to me though? Surely there's police here?"
"I called them. They said they'd send a squad out..." he said, trailing off and sounding less hopeful about it. "You said you helped with demons and stuff... I don't know; I thought you could help."
Lamp started to rise up, but Buffy's hoof kept him there.
"Do you know what route she may have taken?" she asked. "I'll try to find her."
Lamp's eyes widened and he smiled. "Dear Twilight, thank you!" he gasped.
"I don't really know my way around, so you'll have to show me."
"Of course," he replied, nodding. "Let's go."
"Uh, Lamp?"
"What?"
"Second floor, remember."
"Oh, right... I can float you down. It won't be graceful, but it won't break your legs," he suggested, climbing up into the window. With a hip, he flapped and hovered just in front, before turning around. "Alright, now just grip my hooves."
Buffy reached out and took his hooves, before letting out a yelp as he pulled her out of the window. The pair began to drift down at an alarming rate, until Lamp flapped his wings harder and harder. Slowing slightly, they still hit the grass under the window with a thump and rolled into the pavement.
Groaning, Buffy was the first to pull herself up onto shaky legs, her footing still not perfect. "Come on. The more time we waste, the higher chance she's hurt," she said, reaching down and pulling the Pegasus up by his leg. "No time to waste here."
"O-Of course," Lamp replied, clearing his head of stars. "We can start at-"
"Are there any graveyards near to where she would have walked?" Buffy inturrupted, stepping in line with him, albeit still quite unsure of her steps.
"What? Graveyards... uh, yeah. We have three in the city, but only one that's close," Lamp stated, humming in thought. "Why?"
Looking over at the conflicted stallion, Buffy sighed. "Look, I've been around long enough to know that when stuff like this happens, it's not a coincidence. I show up and then Ruby doesn't call," she said, looking around at the vaguely familiar architecture.
Things were close enough to what she could understand for it to feel wrong and the feeling only grew worse now that she might have had a hand in bringing god knows what to this seemingly peaceful city. As if she needed more things to worry about on top of her family in another dimension.
"Hey Lamp?" Buffy asked, keeping her tone low and recieving a hum in response while the stallion glanced about. "Thank you."
Lamp turned back to Buffy, confused, and asked, "Uh, what for?"
With a sigh, Buffy let out a chuckle. "While it may have been for pretty bad reasons, you got me out of that hospital."
Glancing across the street, Lamp's eyes widened when he saw Ruby's blue scarf strewn across the street. Suddenly, he took off towards it, leaving Buffy to awkwardly follow. Reaching down with a wing, he scooped the scarf up and turned to Buffy.
"She wouldn't leave this for anything... I swear to harmony if somepony's hurt her," he growled, wrapping the scarf around his neck and looking around. "Ruby!"
"Hey, hey... chill, alright. We'll find her, but if someone's taken her, it's best not to announce that we're here," she explained, placing a hoof on his shoulder to calm him. "Now, take me to the graveyard, okay?"
Still riled up, Lamp let out a sharp snort and turned away. "Okay," he muttered, beginning to walk towards the burial grounds.
Reaching the entrance to the graveyard, Buffy turned to the stallion and pressed her hoof to his breast. "This is where I go in alone." Seeing him begin to frown, she shook her head. "I know you want to help but I can see that you have no fighting experience," Buffy pointed out, gesturing to his posture, and receiving a hurt look. "Besides, if it's not a coincidence and these are vampires or demons, you'll only get in the way."
Seeing the cogs turn in his head, she decided to press the advantage. "You'll have to be here for when she runs out. Knowing my luck there'll be more than one." There's always more than one...
"But won't you need backup? I could call the police!"
"The police will only get themselves killed, or worse. I'll go in alone, quietly and get her out."
Buffy glanced around and spotted an old, brown wooden bench just inside of the graveyard that seemed to be falling apart. "Bingo." Walking past the high stone walls and wrought iron fence, she took hold of one of the planks and with a heavy, tore it away.
She held the plank in one hoof and began to shorten until it wasn't so unwieldy in her hoof. "It'll do..." she mumbled, missing her hands, tools and generally everything about her past life. "Now," she began, pointing the makeshift stake at Lamp. "Stay here."
As Buffy stumbled off, Lamp rolled his eyes and grumbled. "Not know how to fight... Bah," he muttered hopping up onto his back hooves and punched at the air. "I bet she just wants to look good saving the mare."
Buffy stalked along the pathway that ran throughout the graveyard; ornate headstones with various inscriptions sat on either side, lining the path. Further back, away from the main path, stood the mausoleums that housed the more wealthy Ponyville residents which were fitted with iron bars and tighter security.
It didn't take Buffy long to find what she was looking for: A single occupant mausoleum with its front bars having been torn off.
For anyone else, it would have looked fairly normal, but taking a closer look would show that the hinges were still attached, as well as various scrapings along the ground.
Buffy took a hesitant look around. She may have bend rather numb to the prospect of slaying a vamp or two, but she was in unfamiliar territory, in an unfamiliar body. But, that is what she did best: improvise.
Taking a step closer, she froze once she heard talking from inside, as well as a soft whimper. "Ruby..." she whispered, pressing forward as gently as possible so she didn't make any noise on the stone floor.
Peering inside, she saw two vampires standing in front of Ruby, who was tied up to the wall, a collar clamped tight around her neck.
"Babe! I'm starving... I wanna eat her!" the mare asked, stomping her hoof.
"We just have to wait a little bit. She said her friend would come looking for her, so we just wait and we can have a main course as well," the stallion replied, letting out a sigh and moving over to caress a hoof against her cheek. "Just a little more and you'll be full on lovely pony, okay?"
The mare grumbled, but nodded, leaning into the affection. "Fine, but I can't promise I can hold myself back if they don't show!"
"You know, you vampires never cease to amaze me," Buffy said, walking in and letting the Moonlight wash over her to reveal herself. "I thought I killed all the dumb ones back in Sunnydale."
Ruby gasped and jerked against her bindings upon seeing Buffy, the spark of hope fanning inside her.
"Who the hell are you?" the stallion asked as his face contorted into his vampire form, the mare's own changing seconds later.
"You guys really aren't big on communication, are you? Well, I'll give you a small hint. I'm the slayer," she revealed, causing the vampires to look to each other in confusion.
"Who?" they asked simultaneously, much to Buffy's annoyance.
"Really? I get two of the worst prepared vampires ever?" she groaned, causing them to growl and lunge at her.
Letting out a grunt, she jumped back and smacked her stake against the side of the mare's head, throwing her to the side as the stallion hit into her and knocked her back onto the ground.
Ruby continued to stare wide eyed at Buffy, not believing what she was seeing.
With a grunt, Buffy hit the ground in her back and held the stallion back, before sliding her legs under her and kicking him off her.
The mare hissed and jumped at her, but she grabbed the stake and thrust it up into her chest, spearing the vampire through the heart. With a scream, she disintegrated into dust and sprayed over Buffy.
"Yuck..." Buffy groaned, spitting Vampire dust out of her mouth.
"You... That was my smoochums, my baby girl!" the stallion cried, staring at Buffy with hatred.
Pulling herself up, Buffy brushed her coat off with a hoof and spun the stake around on her hoof while smirking. "Now she's dead."
"You'll pay for this..." he warned, rushing at Buffy, to which she sidestepped.
Yet, he kept going past her and out of the door, galloping at full speed, leaving Buffy and Ruby alone in the mausoleum.
Buffy turned away from the entrance and rushed over to Ruby's side. "Hey, I got you..." she mumbled, holding the shocked mare's hoof.
"T-They... They were going to..." she panted, eyes wide.
"Yes, but not now. Let's get you out of this," Buffy muttered, taking hold of the collar with her hooves and pulling bending the iron open.
Ruby, once free, wrapped her legs around Buffy's neck and held her tight. "I..." she began, breaking down in sobs.
Buffy wrapped a leg around Ruby and let her cry into her coat.
Try as she might, she couldn't help but think, They're only here because I'm here.
Closing her eyes, she hugged tighter, finding Ruby to be her unknowing anchor.
