Angel of Justice: Blood Moon

Amidst the crowds of ponies walking the streets of Canterlot, Princess Luna quietly took in the many sights and sounds around her.

She saw many little colts and fillies cheerfully scampering past, occasionally giving pause as they noticed the princess of the night walking amongst them. She would smile and briefly converse with any who stopped her, but otherwise, she simply enjoyed the cool night air and the joyful energy of the city and its inhabitants.

As she was walking down a relatively empty back street, she slowed to a stop and skewed her expression slightly as a strange feeling started nagging at the back of her head. The young alicorn wasn't as experienced at sensing energy as her older sister, but what she was feeling now did seem like some kind of magical presence, and whatever it was unsettled her a bit.

Looking around, she could see a number of ponies around her, though most of them were in the plaza behind her moving along their own paths. She was the most alone she had been since she left the castle.

Giving a few moments to humor her sixth sense, she peered around and listened, even lighting up her horn and scanning for magical energies. When suddenly, she noticed one.

It was faint, but she could feel something coming from an alleyway up ahead between two stores.

Luna adopted a more wary expression as she slowly crept forward. Pausing at the mouth of the alley, she steeled herself for whatever would be waiting for her and poked her head out. A pale blue light filled the dark space as she lit her horn, revealing a few trash cans and some other openings further in, but nothing else stood out to her.

She raised an eyebrow, equal parts confused and untrusting of the empty silence. However, nothing popped out at her, and she gradually lost faith in what she felt before. Backing up onto the street again, she stole one more paranoid glance to the alley before carrying on her way.

“Princess Luna…”

A soft masculine voice called out to her from behind, making the alicorn pause and turn around.

Standing at the mouth of the street, there was a cloaked stallion. She could see faintly light brown furred forelegs and a shadowed face poking out of the green garb, with a couple tufts of silver hair visible as well. He seemed to have a slender frame, but he stood at a surprising height, nearly as tall as she was.

Luna was a bit taken aback by the sudden appearance of the stallion, but she relaxed ever so slightly and smiled formally. “Yes… can I help you?”

The stallion pulled a corner of his mouth back briefly. He reached up and pulled back his hood, revealing a horn and rose-colored eyes.

“No, no, far be it from me to waste your time. I simply wanted to meet you and see for myself.” He spoke, a somewhat refined and gentle air to his voice.

“See what… for yourself?” Luna tilted her head curiously, knitting her brows together imperceptibly. “Forgive me, but you seem to have me at a disadvantage. You know who I am, but I’m afraid that I do not recognize you.” She said.

Ignoring the alicorn’s question, the stallion instead walked forward at a slow pace. “Oh, I suspected you wouldn’t. Still… I had hoped that my name would have at least briefly crossed your ears.” He said, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

“I think I’d like you to stay right where you are until you answer my question,” Luna said in a bit of a firmer tone. Something felt off about this stallion, and it didn’t just have to do with the fact that the strange feeling she had felt coming from the alleyway was now in front of her. “Who are you?”

Hearing this, the brown pony stopped walking. He stared at the regal princess of the night, pressing his lips together briefly before exhaling softly. “Very well. If you must know, I am known as Dusk.” He explained. “Now that I’ve answered your question, may I ask a few of my own?”

Luna remained silent as she eyed the stallion up and down. The nagging feeling at the back of her head told her that she shouldn’t trust this pony, but she wasn't sure why just yet.

“Come now, Princess, surely you’ve heard of quid pro quo?” He smirked a toothy smirk.

“Very well… Dusk. What do you wish to know?” Luna prodded.

The stallion looked behind him at the crowds of ponies, the cheerful laughter, the silly costumes, before turning back to the princess and her own outfit. “Forgive me if this sounds strange… but,” He gestured a foreleg around him, revealing a glimpse under his cloak. Luna reeled back slightly as she saw what she could only imagine to be a wing.

“When exactly did your banishment turn into something to be celebrated?” He asked. “And what exactly brought you back into your sister’s good graces?”

Luna took a guarded step back. “What…?”

Before the stallion could elaborate further, the faint sound of nightly festivities was broken by a high-pitched scream.

Luna darted her head toward the noise, her blood running cold as more screams echoed. These were not screams of playful fear, these were screams of pure and genuine terror.

A soft sigh drew the alicorn’s attention back to the strange stallion. He had a mildly annoyed expression on his face as he looked over Luna’s shoulder. By now, several ponies in the plaza ahead were running from something.

“I had hoped that they would wait a while longer before showing themselves. Oh well… I suppose I can’t blame them.” He shifted his eyes back to Luna and took off his cloak, letting it flutter to the ground. He revealed a pair of wings, along with what looked to be a dry open wound across his neck. “I’ve been waiting a long time for tonight as well…”

Although Luna’s suspicions were confirmed, her thoughts only took a brief moment to dwell on the confusion of being confronted by another alicorn. Instead, she turned around and, without a word, bolted toward the plaza ahead where the majority of the screams were coming from.

She couldn’t see the source of whatever was causing the panic ahead of her, but she could hear faint animalistic growls and barks. The sounds were feral, and unlike anything she had heard before.

However, before she could get any further, one of her back legs erupted into pain as something cleanly sliced through her calf.

“AGH!” Luna yelped and nearly tumbled forward as her leg buckled under her. She caught herself on her forelegs and clenched her teeth as she spun around, looking down to the shallow gash on her leg bleeding steadily before looking up.

A stream of red quickly flowed into the wound on the stallion’s neck. Although Luna barely got a good look at it, it resembled the crimson fluid currently dripping down and staining her fur.

“Quid pro quo, Princess…” The stallion said, a hint of a colder tone to his voice. “You still haven’t answered my questions.”

Luna suppressed her racing heart and her strained breathing from her new injury. She stood up, one of her legs shaking briefly before she was back on all fours, and lowered herself into a battle stance.

“What are you?! What do you want?!” She glared, lighting her horn up fiercely and watching the strange alicorn’s every move.

Hearing this, the ruby-red eyes intensified a bit, though there was still a passive smile on the stallion’s face. “Very well… If you won’t give me answers, then I suppose I will have to take something else from you.” He said, letting a pair of fangs show as his smugly confident smile shifted to an eager grin.

Walking the streets of Canterlot, Tom made his way toward the castle at a leisurely pace. He enjoyed the vibrant atmosphere of ponies going to and fro in costumes, even if it wasn't what he was used to just yet.

Occasionally, he would be recognized and waved to or whispered about curiously. A few kids pointed to him excitedly and tried to get their parents to see. He wasn't exactly hard to pick out of a crowd in Equestria, and while he wasn't quite a celebrity or a national hero yet like the Elements of Harmony, he did get the odd praise and thanks sent his way from time to time.

He paused and looked up at the palace stretching above him, only blocked by a couple of buildings. The sight of the grand castle covered in what equated to Halloween decorations was impressive and eye-catching.

“I wonder if I’ll make it in time for the costume contest?” He pondered to himself.

Just then, the faint sound of screams reached his ears. He wrinkled his expression slightly and turned toward the next plaza. Although it was hard to make out, he could just barely see ponies running around.

“What the-”

A sudden hiss and a puff of blue mist made the boy lurch forward. He widened his eyes as he sensed a number of what could only be vampiric entities nearby.

“How the hell…?! Why didn’t I feel this sooner?!” He said, cursing his lack of ability briefly before throwing caution to the wind and running forward.

The human pushed past a number of ponies that were either running or nervously walking away from whatever commotion was being caused. Some of them seemed more terrified than others as if they had seen something that gave them ample reason to run.

Slowing to a stop in the mouth of the plaza, Tom looked ahead to see chaos everywhere. The crowds from before had mostly thinned out, but there were still a number of ponies in various clusters.

Near the back of the plaza, a pair of unicorn mares were on the ground, staring up at three other ponies fearfully and trying to crawl away. The trio were pale shades of whatever color they originally held, and their eyes were an intense shade of red that almost seemed luminescent.

“Ho boy… I was kind of hoping that my senses were wrong on this one.” Tom said before stretching out his fingers and summoning his claws.

Or at least attempting to.

The usual flash of fire that would wash over his fingers appeared briefly before sputtering out midway through.

“What?! Oh for crying out loud!” Tom growled under his breath as he tried again, only to receive similar results. Finally, he sighed and shook his head before reaching behind his back. “I guess I’ll have to fight like a normal human for once…” He said, looking to the scene ahead of him with a hint of apprehension building inside of him.

Meanwhile, the two unicorn mares were having the worst night of their lives.

The pair huddled together and cowered as three monstrous ponies loomed over them. They were having fun and enjoying the night’s festivities just minutes prior, but now they were fearful for their lives.

One of the creatures, what was formerly a white earth pony stallion with brown hair, chuckled sadistically and stepped on one of the helpless mares.

“So you two are sisters? What luck… now if I like your blood, I’ve got a whole ‘nother pony’s worth of it.” The stallion said, smiling and showing off his fangs to the pair while pressing down harder on one of them.

“Breezy!” One of the mares with pink fur and purple hair cried, reaching out as her green-furred sister produced a painful yelp.

The stallion and his two companions didn’t seem at all sympathetic to the two mares’ pleas. In fact, they were enjoying the suffering of the innocent ponies.

With little warning, the stallion picked up the unicorn, ignoring her feeble attempts at crying or grasping at his foreleg as he lifted her up and prepared to sink his teeth into her neck.

“Hey! You with the overbite!” A voice came from off to the side.

The trio of vampires scarcely had time to turn their heads before a figure broke from the crowd of ponies and swung a faintly glowing blue sword down at the stallion, carving a nasty gash down his side and causing him to stumble back as the wound erupted into burning pain.

As she flopped back to the ground, the unicorn mare and her sister looked up in stunned surprise to see Equestria’s resident slayer of evil standing with sword at the ready.

“Holy… You’re that human guy!” The pink mare said. Her sister seemed to be speechless at their sudden rescue.

“I had noticed,” Tom smirked briefly at the pair before looking up and adopting a serious expression as he locked eyes with the trio of vampires. “You two should probably run now. I’ll handle this.”

The pair blinked at the human, and then at each other, before scrambling to get to their hooves and sprinting away.

“Thank you!” The pink mare shouted behind her as she and her sister joined the crowd of ponies fleeing the area.

Meanwhile, Tom watched as the earth pony stallion yelled and clutched at the burning slash in his side. Much to the human’s dismay, the wound stopped burning and even stopped bleeding, though it remained as a dry scar on his form.

Dangit… blessed weaponry won’t cut it. Tom thought to himself. Without his spirit weapons, and with his powers of questionable strength and reliability, he didn’t have much going for him without anything silver. Thankfully, he still had his inherited knowledge of monsters.

I guess I’ll have to count on cutting off heads or destroying hearts. The boy steeled his expression and tightened his grip on his sword.

One of the other vampires, an earth pony mare with black fur and striped yellow and white hair, glared at the human on behalf of her wounded companion.

“You’ll regret that!” She stated, stepping forward and baring her teeth.

Tom prepared to strike at the mare, until the other vampire mare, a pegasus with red fur and blue hair, charged at him and nearly tackled him until he dodged to the side.

Just as he was recovering, Tom looked to the side just in time to catch the stallion slamming into him and knocking him to the ground roughly.

“You think you can just cut me and get away with it?!” The stallion hissed at the human beneath him and lunged forward, barely being held back by bare hands.

“The thought did cross my mind…” Tom grunted nervously as he struggled to keep the pony out of biting range. It was around this time that he realized that the feelings of exhaustion that he had been experiencing translated to his enhanced strength being gone.

“Not so tough now, are you?” The black mare taunted as she watched her companion gaining the upper hand.

The red mare chuckled warmly, kicking the human’s sword away and barely paying attention to the slight burn in her hoof she got from touching the blade. “I was honestly expecting more from him.”

You and me both… Tom cringed softly, doing his best to kick or squirm out from under the stallion, but the vampiric pony wasn't going anywhere.

“Ok…” Tom grunted, “Sorry guys… I wish I could help you, but right now all I can do is make sure you don’t hurt anyone else.”

“Really?” The stallion grinned. “Because right now, the only thing I’m hurting is y-”

Before the stallion could finish his thought, Tom wrenched his hand free and faced an open palm at his face. A brief flash of blue erupted from the boy’s hand, causing the pony’s entire form to burn. He produced a painful shriek and backed off of the human.

Tom immediately leaped to his feet. He turned to find his sword, only to hear a noise behind him and spin around just in time to catch a hoof to the face with surprising force.

The sudden strike sent the human stumbling backward. He looked ahead to see the red mare glaring at him with a satisfied smirk. Wiping the corner of his mouth, he found a trickle of blood. He hated the sight of blood, especially when it was his own.

“The Prince will be so pleased with me when I bring him your bloodless husk!” The pegasus exclaimed before rushing toward the human.

Tom lowered into a battle stance before feeling something metallic under his foot. He glanced down to see his sword lying underneath him, and then looked back up at the charging mare. With a spark of instinct and reflex, he flicked his foot under the blade and then up, sending the sword flying up where he swiftly grabbed it by the hilt and swung.

The red mare let out a strangled croak as she sailed past the human and tumbled to the ground. Before she even landed, a burning slash formed across her neck all around, effectively separating head from body without it actually detaching. Her body erupted into burning embers and quickly dissolved before she even came to a stop, her final scream fading into the night.

Panting heavily, Tom leveled his sword and looked ahead to the other two vampires, who were glaring at him with newfound intensity from killing their companion. Although he kept up a brave front, he could already feel his stamina draining and a gripping fear of death that he hadn’t felt in a long time cementing itself in his core.

“You’ll pay for that!” The stallion exclaimed angrily, stomping a hoof down and lowering his stance as the mare beside him growled and intensified the glow of her eyes.

Tom half-smiled amidst his panting. He glanced out to the rest of the plaza, noticing that most of the ponies had either run or distanced themselves enough to safely watch the outcome of the fight. The few onlookers were nervously chattering amongst themselves, desperately hoping that he would win and save them from the pale monsters.

The boy flashed the crowd a reassuring expression before turning to the vampires and gripping his blade tightly.

“You want a piece of me? Come on… I’ll give you the whole damn pie!”

Elsewhere, Fluttershy stood outside of the haunted house with Sunspot. The two mares were waiting for their friends to get done with the scariest experience the event had to offer.

While Sunspot seemed indifferent, Fluttershy had a bit of a guilty look in her eyes as she looked to her orange companion.

“You know, you don’t have to wait out here with me, Sunspot.” She said softly. “You could go through one of the other paths and I’ll just stay here.”

“Nah. I’m good.” Sunspot stated plainly, stretching her limbs and settling in. “I don’t mind waiting around. I don’t even really care about the haunted house. I just wanted to do something with someone.”

Fluttershy frowned slightly at that. She could tell that the orange mare wasn't entirely being honest. Perhaps she didn’t really initially care for the haunted house, but she seemed like she wanted to do more than just go down the kiddie path. After all, she did pay for everyone in advance.

Looking up to the second floor of the building, Fluttershy’s thoughts shifted to her two friends. They both seemed confident that she would be brave enough to at least go through the intermediate path with them, but she ended up letting them down. They might not have shown it outwardly, but she could tell that Rainbow Dash at least was disappointed.

“Actually…” Fluttershy started, taking a quick breath and briefly reconsidering what she was about to say. “I think m-maybe I could go through the intermediate one.”

Sunspot looked over in surprise. “Really?”

Fluttershy nodded shakily “Yeah… But only if you went with me.”

“Sure…” Sunspot blinked, still a bit shocked that she was hearing such a thing from the yellow mare. “Yeah, of course.”

Both ponies made their way up the steps and paused before the front doors. Sunspot looked over, only to see her companion trembling slightly and staring ahead like a deer in headlights. “You sure you want to do this?”

“Not really, no.” Fluttershy stammered. “But… I need to do this. I can’t just let fear prevent me from doing things anymore.” She said, a bit more resolute. Much to Sunspot’s surprise, she actually stepped inside first.

Sunspot hesitated for a moment and stared ahead with a bit of a smirk.

Neon would be so proud… She thought to herself before joining her friend inside.

The pair found themselves in the lobby again. Strangely though, they were alone. The stallion that worked as the greeter was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey, where’s that guy in the tux?” Sunspot asked as she looked around the empty space. “Hello?”

“Maybe he’s on break or something?” Fluttershy suggested. “We could come back later. It’s fine.” She said, starting to slowly backpedal toward the door until an orange hoof grabbed her.

“Eh, don’t worry about it. We’re paid in advance, remember?” Sunspot said, gently ushering the timid pegasus toward the curtained-off doorway on the right.

Fluttershy could feel her muscles stiffening in refusal to her actions, but she resisted the urge to lock up and kept following behind her orange friend as she went through the curtain.

Almost immediately, they noticed a shift in atmosphere from the lobby and the beginner path. It was much darker through the hall, with any windows tightly covered up with frayed fabric. There also wasn't any eerie ambient music playing, letting their foreboding surroundings sink in.

Peeking into a boarded-up doorway as she passed, Fluttershy bit her lip as she saw a light painting a shadowed figure on the wall from just outside of her vision. The light flickered softly, and the silhouette seemed to make slight movements each time it did.

“Not bad…” Sunspot remarked casually, noting her surroundings with a sort of indifference. Perhaps it was due to her profession, but it was very easy for her to separate these eerie surroundings from a real threatening situation, and as a result, she wasn't nearly as uneasy as her timid companion.

“I’m already regretting this,” Fluttershy muttered as she eyed the many unsettling paintings and dark rooms they were walking by. If something even as innocuous as the cardboard cutouts from the beginner path popped out at her here, she was afraid she might faint.

Sunspot tightened her grip on the trembling pony’s hoof and smiled at her. “You’re doing great. Just think, Rainbow Dash and Blue Bolt are going to be so impressed that you did this.”

“You th-think so?” Fluttershy asked, trying her best to keep her focus on her friend.

“I know so. I’m already impressed that you even suggested this.” Sunspot said in a sincere manner.

Hearing this, Fluttershy felt a bit of courage welling up inside her, which was swiftly snuffed out as she redirected her attention to the hallway ahead. Still, she took a few breaths and tried to push through her unease.

Up ahead, the linear path that had been made for them funneled them toward an open room. Through a mostly ajar door, they could see what looked to be the beginnings of a kitchen, with many cupboards and cabinets and a single pan hanging down from a central table.

Strangely, they could also hear a noise coming from the room. It didn’t seem like it was a recording, and it sounded moist and disgusting.

As they drew closer to the door, they could just make out a hint of moonlight streaming in through some windows against the back wall, one of which appeared to be broken, with glass scattered along the ground and on top of a stove.

Sunspot shared a hesitant glance with Fluttershy before they entered the room. If she was being honest, even she was mildly unsettled by whatever sound was coming from up ahead. It was so visceral and messy sounding, like a wild animal tearing into a carcass.

As they stepped into the kitchen and looked around, their eyes moved past a number of macabre props and decorations and settled on a pair of figures at the back of the room.

One was a blue mare in a maid costume that was lying on the ground. She had a plastic-looking axe headpiece that was covered in fake blood. Her outfit had many small cuts and tears in it that appeared to be purposefully made, and some others that seemed more jagged and frayed.

The other figure was unlike anything either of the two had seen. It seemed to resemble a pony, but it was a horribly disfigured mess. Its snow-colored fur was matted and patchy, revealing broken and emaciated skin that clung to its bones loosely. It was also wearing what looked to be royal guard attire, though the chest piece was cracked, and the helmet was missing entirely.

The two mares widened their eyes in stunned shock as they witnessed what looked to be a scene out of a real haunted house. The monstrous pony had its face buried in the blue mare’s neck, which was covered in crimson fluid. As it ripped upwards, taking what looked to be a chunk of flesh with it, it revealed a mouth full of gnarled and razor-sharp teeth as it stared ahead vacantly with glowing red eyes.

“Oh my gosh…” Fluttershy shrank back a bit at the horrific sight before her.

“Woah…” Sunspot said in a softer, noticeably taken aback manner. “If this is the intermediate path, what’s the really scary one like?”

The creature tilted its head and twitched an ear as it noticed the newcomers in the room. It looked at them with its sunken eyes and produced a low snarl as it finished its meal.

Sunspot lowered her expression as a strong scent of copper hit her. The blood around the mare’s neck was much different and more realistic looking than the fake blood they had seen thus far. Her heart dropped as she realized that that was real blood, which meant that that was a real dead body. Her pupils shrank as she followed her train of thought and looked up to the monstrosity before her, which also must have been real.

“Fluttershy, get behind me.” She instructed tensely as she slowly reached down to her hind leg and fumbled for her strobe.

Fluttershy glanced to her companion uneasily before settling her eyes back on the feral pony slowly stepping closer. “What do you mean…? It’s… i-it’s just part of the act, isn’t it?” She asked, her voice shrinking to a tiny squeak as she slowly entertained the possibility that the monstrous creature was real.

Sunspot started to respond to the timid pegasus when the creature lowered itself to the ground and prepared to pounce. She jerked her strobe up and cringed while rapidly pressing the button, firing a burst of projectiles into the beast’s face.

Three balls of light exploded into a shower of sparks against the creature, eliciting a shrill cry of pain as its skin smoked and sizzled ever so slightly. It held a lanky foreleg up to attempt to shield itself, but this wasn't working as well as it initially thought.

The two mares’ hearts collectively skipped a beat as they realized that the strobe wasn't actually killing the beast. If anything, the repeated bursts of light only seemed to enrage it with meaningless damage, a fact that was made abundantly clear as the monstrous pony gradually uncovered its face and glared at them fiercely.

“AH!” Sunspot yelped, while Fluttershy produced a scream as the creature leaped at them with its fangs bared.

Both of them scrambled forward, barely making it out of the flight path in time as the white pony landed where they just were and skidded to a halt.

Sunspot spun around and tensely aimed her strobe at the creature again as it recovered from its lunge. She darted her eyes to her friend, only to see the yellow mare backing up while staring ahead fearfully, only to pause as she caught a bit of broken glass from the window above.

Suddenly, Sunspot’s face lit up as she realized something. “Fluttershy, climb out the window!” She instructed urgently.

Fluttershy looked over to her friend before glancing between the horrific beast and the window above her. The pane was almost completely shattered, offering a slim pegasus like her an easy way out.

“What?!” She reeled back in shock. “I can’t just leave you with that thing!”

“This is my job, remember?” Sunspot insisted, only to produce a frustrated grunt as she saw that the yellow mare wasn't budging in spite of her fear. “Just go! I’ll be fine until you can go get help!”

Fluttershy whined softly as a small corner of her mind screamed at her to listen to the orange pony. Sunspot was a trained monster hunter, so perhaps she did have a point? Then again, she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if she let something happen to another member of Spirit.

However, her tense contemplation was broken as she saw Sunspot look ahead and gasp in a panic while opening fire. In an instant, a blur came lunging through the air, catching all of two strobe shots before slamming into the orange mare before she could move.

“Sunspot!” Fluttershy reached for her friend, but by then it was too late. She cringed fearfully as both the creature and Sunspot sailed across the room and smacked into a countertop.

The two ponies fell to the ground with a painful thud, with Sunspot immediately shoving her hooves out to stop the creature on top of her from biting at her.

No sooner did they settle before a drawer came loose from them smacking into it, thankfully falling on top of the monster before spilling out its contents all over the floor with a loud clatter. Now, a scattered mess of fancy spoons, forks, and knives was littered along the ground, most likely a leftover from the mansion’s actual owners.

Sunspot turned her head and tried to recede into the floor as the creature lunged down at her. This close, she could see a scar running down its right cheek and smell its sour breath as it bit at her. She just barely managed to keep it away from her neck with its gnashing teeth, using every ounce of strength in her forelegs. Still, the creature’s strength far surpassed her own, and she couldn’t keep it at bay for long.

Over to the side, Fluttershy was having a miniature panic attack as she witnessed her friend struggling for life and limb against a terrible monstrosity. She saw the orange mare’s strobe lying on the ground nearby, but that didn’t seem to be effective enough to deter it.

The timid pony was about to rush up and try to pull the creature off her friend when she suddenly paused as she saw something.

Amidst its thrashing and struggling, the creature brushed a hoof against one of the spoons on the ground. Much to Fluttershy’s surprise, the area around where the monster contacted the spoon sizzled a bit, with the skin burning orange before dimming as the feral pony jerked its hoof away.

Silver…? Fluttershy blinked, briefly curious as to why such a thing would affect a monster like that. Then she remembered her time back at Raven Feather’s mansion, and how the only weapon they had against the ghosts there was iron. If one monster had a weakness to a certain substance, then maybe this one did too?

Sunspot could feel the muscles in her forelegs slowly giving out as the creature gained ground on her. A thick cloud of deathly stench came from the thing's mouth with each snap of its jaws.

Just as she thought she was going to die, she looked up as her yellow friend rushed up from the side and picked something up from the floor.

Barely taking a moment’s hesitation, Fluttershy yelled in a mixture of fear and determination as she stabbed a small knife into the feral pony’s side.

The knife sank in with surprising ease, offering only a disconcerting crunch as resistance. No sooner did she stab the knife in did Fluttershy jerk back as the area around the blade erupted into smoldering cinders.

A bone-chilling screech emanated from the beast as its body swiftly burned up. The last Sunspot saw of it before covering her face was a glowing husk of a skeleton that started collapsing to ash on top of her, the broken bits of armor it was wearing scattering along the floor.

The knife clattered to the floor before the room was silent again, leaving the two mares alone once more.

Sunspot gradually uncovered her face and opened her eyes. Amidst a rain of fleeting embers, she saw Fluttershy sitting back, staring ahead with a stunned expression.

"Wow…" Sunspot chuckled nervously as she brushed off the remains of the monstrous pony. "Nice save, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy blinked and suppressed a tense shudder as she let the situation sink in. "T-thanks… I just can’t believe I did that. Stabbing it, I mean..."

"I’m glad you did… Whatever that thing was, it didn’t seem like it wanted to chat." Sunspot picked up the knife and observed it briefly. "Ok… so, these guys don't like silverware. Or silver… Yeah, it's probably the silver."

"What was that thing?" Fluttershy asked softly, still a bit shell-shocked from their brief encounter.

Sunspot made her way to her hooves and stared at the pile of ash still littering the floor before looking up and paling slightly. "I don’t know… but whatever it was, it’s one nasty customer."

Following her friend’s gaze, Fluttershy looked over and widened her eyes as her attention shifted to the mare on the floor in the maid costume.

"Oh my gosh…" Fluttershy clasped a hoof over her mouth as she stared at the blue pony.

Sunspot rushed over and briefly started reaching down to check for signs of life until she stopped and frowned softly.

The mare was pouring blood out of her neck from where the creature had been chewing on her. Although much of the injury was obscured by the crimson fluid, it was far too severe for her to still be alive.

"Is she…?" Fluttershy murmured, still holding onto the smallest shred of hope.

Sunspot merely shook her head somberly. She then turned to look back at the door they came from, her thoughts elsewhere.

"Come on, we need to find Rainbow Dash and Blue Bolt and get out of here. There might be more of them." She suggested, gesturing for her companion to follow as she trotted off and placed a hoof to her ear. "Hello, can anyone hear me?" She asked tensely, hopeful that one of her teammates was in range of the communication spell.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy had other thoughts racing through her mind as she trotted to keep up with the orange mare.

"Blue… Dashie… please be safe." She muttered uneasily. If her friends encountered one of those horrible creatures, then they might not be as lucky as she and Sunspot were.

Back out on the streets, the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their group were still going around and gathering candy and good times alike.

The three fillies all huddled together on the side of a curb and looked over their hoard of sweets with eager smiles. By now, everyone had more than enough to last them a month, even though it would probably only take them the better part of a week to eat it all.

"I can’t believe we actually got so much," Scootaloo said.

"We should come to Canterlot for Nightmare Night more often!" Sweetie Belle suggested giddily.

Off to the side, the four older mares stood near a few buildings and watched the trio with empathetic joy.

Applejack looked up at the crowds of ponies still walking through the plaza ahead before looking to the sky and noting how late it was.

"You think we should reign it in for the night?" She asked, looking to her friends and trying not to let the fillies hear her.

"I suppose it is getting late." Rarity said.

Pinkie Pie deflated slightly at the mention of stopping. "Aww, come on girls, it's not that late. I don’t feel tired at all."

"No offense, Pinkie, but I don’t think you’re a good point of reference as far as average stamina goes." Sparkplug chimed in as she quietly enjoyed a few hard candies.

The others started to converse further when a commotion from up ahead quieted them down. Everyone looked to the mouth of the plaza as several ponies came running and screaming through.

"What the hay…?" Applejack stood up and took a few steps forward as she tried to determine what the crowd was running from.

"What’s going on?" Sweetie Belle asked uneasily.

Rarity ushered the three fillies behind her and rested a hoof on her younger sister’s back. "I'm not sure, Sweetie… but it's probably fine." She assured.

"I didn’t think Canterlot ponies got this much into Nightmare Night." Pinkie said.

Suddenly, Sparkplug heard a familiar voice in her head.

"Hello, can anyone hear me?" Sunspot spoke up, a bit of uncharacteristic unease in her voice.

"Yeah, we’re here, Sunspot." Glitterball’s voice chimed in after a moment. "Is something wrong?" She asked in a concerned manner.

"You can say that again." Sunspot stated. "We've got a bit of a situation over here, and we could really use some help." She explained urgently. After a moment went by, nobody responded to her. "Uh… Glitter? Hello…? Is anyone there?"

The others watched as Sparkplug stared off into space like she was hearing voices in her head.

"You ok there, Sparkplug?" Applejack asked hesitantly.

"Ssshh!" Sparkplug gestured to her ear tensely. The others quickly caught her meaning that she was trying to listen to her teammates over the communication spell.

The gray mare started to press her hoof to her ear to respond when she suddenly paused and stared ahead as something caught everyone’s attention.

Up ahead at the mouth of the plaza, there were still a few terrified ponies blindly running away from something. However, the thing they were running from quickly became apparent.

Around three pale ponies with red eyes either walked or jumped into the plaza. Two of them were eyeing up members of the crowd and flashing sharp fangs at them, while the third pounced on a helpless unicorn in a bat costume and used said fangs to plunge deep into his neck.

"Woah!" Pinkie reeled back in shock. "I like a good vampire costume as much as the next pony, but that is taking things way too far!"

Meanwhile, Rarity backed herself and the three fillies away while Applejack and Sparkplug stood their ground.

"I don’t think those are costumes, Pinkie." Sparkplug said uneasily. She reached down to her hind leg, only to brush against nothing but gray fur and cardboard leggings. "Uh oh…"

"What’s wrong?" Applejack asked, not averting her eyes from the strange ponies dispersing the crowd and getting uncomfortably close.

"I forgot my strobe…" Sparkplug said, the corners of her mouth twitching nervously.

By now, one of the pale ponies, an earth pony mare with auburn hair and sickly yellow fur, looked over and noticed the group off to the side. She smirked and chuckled to herself as she eyed up the trio of fillies and the four mares before walking closer.

“Are you really tellin’ me that we don’t have any weapons to fight monsters right now, Sparkplug? Because it looks like we’re about to fight some monsters.” Applejack whispered uneasily as she watched the pale mare approaching. She was willing to fight to the death to protect her friends and her young sibling, but she wouldn’t turn down an unfair advantage.

“You guys have a plan for fighting vampires without equipment, don’t you?” Pinkie Pie asked the gray mare.

“Sorry, Pinkie, but training didn’t quite cover that.” Sparkplug replied.

“What?! What kind of monster hunter doesn’t have a plan to fight vampires?!” Pinkie’s jaw dropped.

“I’m a mechanic that builds robots in her spare time. If you want someone with royal guard training, go find Glimmer and Glitter!” Sparkplug whispered tensely.

“Look alive, girls…” Applejack said in a serious manner as she readied herself for a fight. The others looked up to see the yellow mare standing a few feet away. “Rarity, Pinkie, get the kids out of here.”

Apple Bloom peered out from behind Rarity and watched her sister getting ready to confront such a scary-looking monster with a concerned frown. “Sis’… aren’t you comin’ with us?”

Applejack glanced back at the three fillies, unsure of what to say. Before she could even think of something to comfort her sister, however, a cold chuckle brought her attention forward.

“What a sweet little filly. I could just eat you up in one bite.” The pale yellow mare cooed, letting her fangs poke out and her eyes flare with a brief glow as she stepped forward.

Applejack growled under her breath and leered at the monstrous pony, which didn’t carry as much weight as it normally would under her costume. She prepared to step in between her friends and the pale mare, but much to her surprise, Sparkplug beat her to it.

The gray pony swallowed tensely before putting on her best brave face. “Sorry, lady, but we frown upon that sort of thing in this city… and most cities. I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

Hearing this, the pale pony didn’t seem to be at all intimidated. In fact, she seemed a little annoyed. “Oh, I’ll give you something to frown upon.” She flattened her expression before producing a feral growl and lowering herself a bit before pouncing forward.

“Wh-AHH!” Sparkplug yelped as the yellow mare lunged through the air and crashed into her, hooves first. She tumbled backward and tried to kick off the vampiric pony with her hind legs, but the mare shoved her down with surprising force, knocking all the air from her lungs.

She looked up just in time to see a set of fangs descending toward her, sending her into an all-encompassing panic that she didn’t have time to express.

Just before the yellow mare could sink her teeth into Sparkplug, Applejack rushed up and grabbed her around the back before yanking her off just enough for the pinned earth pony to roll to the side.

Applejack started to wrestle the pale pony to the ground when she suddenly received a reverse headbutt that was surprisingly strong for an equine. She fell backward and clutched her muzzle in pain. Luckily enough, her clown nose took a bit of the impact, preventing her from breaking her actual nose. Before she could reflect on the tactical uses of rodeo clown attire, she looked up and reeled back slightly as the yellow mare spun around to face her with an agitated glare.

“Nobody interrupts me when I’m eating! Especially not a clown in a stupid hat!”

“Hey!” Applejack glared at the pale mare before a hostile sounding hiss silenced her and she cringed in preparation for whatever struggle was about to happen.

Before the yellow mare could lunge forward, a magical zap sounded out and a bolt of soft blue light zipped into her shoulder, scorching her fur and producing a pained yell. The mare clutched her already healing wound and looked over her shoulder with teeth bared, only to see a white unicorn standing protectively in front of a group of fillies.

“Rarity?” Applejack said, a bit taken aback to see the normally passive unicorn using her magic offensively.

Rarity smirked at her orange friend before shifting her attention to the yellow pony. She started to charge up another blast until a yell came from the side as Sparkplug tackled the creature to the ground.

Spotting an opportunity to help, Pinkie Pie dove on top of the pair on the ground and took one of the yellow pony’s forelegs. The pale mare bucked upwards and growled, bruising both of them with unnatural strength. Still, the two of them barely managed to keep the monstrous pony restrained.

“We got her!” Pinkie announced.

Sparkplug averted her face as a cold and foul breath escaped the yellow mare along with a fierce yell. She peered one eye open and looked up, only to gasp as she saw that another of the three creatures had made their way over to assist their companion.

“Applejack, look out!” Sparkplug exclaimed.

A low growl came from behind the orange mare, causing her to stiffen up before turning around. She looked just in time to catch a brief glimpse of a gray unicorn stallion with black hair staring at her with a hungry look in his red eyes before a hoof reached up and violently smacked her aside.

“Oof!” Applejack grunted as she hit the ground and tumbled into the side of a building, sending her to a rough and immediate stop.

“Sis’!” Apple Bloom took a step forward and reached for the orange mare. She would have gotten closer if Rarity didn’t gently nudge her back in line with her two friends protectively.

Sparing a concerned glance at the three fillies, Rarity started backing them away from the scene until she looked up and froze. The unicorn stallion was looking right at her and the trio behind her with what she could only imagine was bloodlust in his eyes.

“You stay away from them, you brute!” She stamped a hoof down and lit up her horn in what she hoped would be an intimidating manner as she stepped between the terrified crusaders and the pale pony.

Instead of offering so much as a word in response, the stallion lit up his horn and pointed it ahead. In an instant, a magical bolt of energy fired out and headed straight for the white mare’s legs.

Rarity widened her eyes and tensed up as she saw the projectile coming. She could probably dodge in time, but she couldn’t risk one of the fillies getting hit. Instead, she cringed and stayed where she was, letting the magical blast slam into her foreleg.

She let out a yelp as a scorch mark was left in her leg. The bolt didn’t seem to do very much damage, but it did look plenty painful.

Before she could even clutch at her new injury, Rarity felt a magical aura tug on her violently. She was practically dragged to the side, stumbling to keep her balance before she put weight on her injured leg and outright collapsed as the stallion shoved her to the ground.

“Rarity!” Sweetie Belle rushed to her sister’s side, or at least started to before she was snatched up in a magical aura. Her two friends tried to grab her and hold her down, but they were powerless to stop her from floating over to the stallion.

The white filly struggled helplessly against the magical hold over her before freezing up with a timid squeak as she was confronted by a pair of glowing red eyes.

“Sweetie Belle!” Apple Bloom widened her eyes as she watched her friend being held against her will.

“Let her go!” Scootaloo demanded.

The stallion produced a hearty chuckle before shifting his eyes over to the young unicorn in his grasp. He produced a slight snarl and bared his fangs as he brought her close enough to grab with his own hooves.

Suddenly, an orange blur slammed into the stallion from behind, nearly knocking him to the ground as a pair of forelegs wrapped around his neck and attempted to choke him, breaking his concentration and letting Sweetie Belle drop to the ground.

“Girls, run!” Applejack instructed the fillies as they gathered around Sweetie Belle and helped her up from where she had fallen.

Before anyone could react further, the vampiric stallion heaved and hopped backward, landing on top of the orange mare roughly. While she was still cringing from the new pains racking her body, he knocked an elbow into her stomach hard. Applejack yelped in pain and jerked upwards, but kept her grip around the stallion until he hit her again in the ribs.

Sweetie Belle and her two friends cowered back and screamed as the stallion got up and lunged for them with fangs at the ready.

Just before the stallion reached the fillies, Rarity rushed in between them, catching the brunt of the pale pony’s pounce. She grunted in pain as she was sent to the ground once more, only this time she had a hoof around her neck.

Sparkplug and Pinkie Pie looked up and gasped as they saw their friends struggling with their own assailant. Applejack tried to assist the white mare, only to receive a strong kick to the chest that sent her back to the ground, where she seemed unable to move again.

Before she could think of a way to help, Sparkplug felt a set of fangs sink into her flank. She yelled and raced to push the yellow vampire’s face away, but as she let go of the mare’s foreleg, she received a strong smack that sent her rolling off.

Pinkie cringed with surprise as she saw her companion getting swatted away. She tried to tighten her grip on the vampiric mare until she was bucked off roughly.

Rarity grasped at the foreleg around her throat weakly. The stallion wasn’t putting enough force on her to choke her out, but she couldn’t move if she wanted to.

Looking around, she quickly found that her friends were just as incapacitated as she was. Applejack was lying on her side and trying to get up with one foreleg while clutching her stomach with the other. Sparkplug was on the ground as well, while Pinkie was being pinned down by the yellow mare.

The stallion on top of her stared down at her with a sinister sort of half-smile. Rarity croaked as he picked her up slightly by the neck.

Before the pale unicorn could do anything else, a pebble hit him in the face, forcing him to clench an eye shut as he was assaulted with more stones.

Off to the side, Sweetie Belle and her friends were picking up whatever they could find and throwing it at the monstrous pony.

"Leave her alone!" Sweetie yelled.

"Why don’t you pick on somepony your own size, bat breath!" Scootaloo added.

The stallion growled under his breath as the pebbles kept flying. Finally, he lit up his horn.

All at once, all three of the fillies felt themselves being lifted up against their will. They yelped and tried to hug the ground, but it was no use.

Without even looking, the stallion shoved Rarity to the ground. Her head erupted into dull pain as the rest of her energy left her. She groaned and turned over, only to see the vampiric unicorn walking up to the floating crusaders.

"Ngh… no…" Rarity reached out to her sister and the other two defenseless fillies. At this point, it was all she could do.

Sweetie Belle watched with wide eyes as the stallion approached her with a hungry look on his face. She whined softly and tried to inch away as a hoof roughly grabbed the back of her costume and pulled her closer. Her fearful outcries got louder and more desperate as the stallion hissed and opened his mouth while bringing her neck up close.

"HEY!"

A voice shouted from off to the side, causing everything to stop.

Everyone, even the two vampires, looked over to see the source of the voice. Over at the other end of the plaza, the third vampire stepped away from a terrified group of ponies, allowing them to flee as she walked closer to her colleagues.

The green unicorn mare had an annoyed look on her face as she saw what her two companions were doing.

"Would you two stay on task for five seconds?!"

The stallion stopped what he was doing, and the yellow mare backed away from Pinkie’s neck and hid her fangs.

"What? We're just having a little fun." The earth pony mare said.

"Looks to me like you're having a lot of fun." The green mare pointed to the three fillies and Pinkie. "You know the Prince wants us to leave them alive, and you damn well know that he wants us to take anyone close to them back… also alive." She said, leering at the stallion.

Much to the four mares' collective surprise, the two ponies went silent almost immediately. The yellow mare let Pinkie Pie go, and the stallion backed Sweetie Belle away from his mouth.

"So what do you suggest we do now?" The stallion asked.

"Pack it in. We've done enough damage. Let the wild ones wreck the place until the Prince gets done." The unicorn mare said, gesturing back the way they came.

The stallion looked toward the now-empty street they started from. He then turned to the fillies in his grasp and smirked.

"Looks like you three are coming home with us." He said, flashing a glimpse of fangs and relishing the look of panic washing over the trio.

Rarity watched as the stallion and the mare started leaving. She locked eyes with a terrified Sweetie Belle as the unicorn took the fillies with him.

"No…" She groaned softly as she struggled to get to her hooves. "No! Let them go, you monsters!"

Applejack shakily turned her head to see the stallion walking away with her sister and the other two crusaders in tow. She tried to do something, anything to stop the pale pony, but her sore and exhausted body could barely move.

"Apple...Bloom…"

"Sis’!" Apple Bloom cried and reached a tiny hoof out to the orange mare on the ground. "Help us, please!"

"Rarity!" Sweetie Belle yelled fearfully, her eyes wet with tears as she watched her friends and sister staring back helplessly as she got further away.

"Somepony help us!" Scootaloo cried as she desperately tried to free herself or one of her friends to no avail.

Sparkplug limped forward on three legs, while Pinkie merely managed to get to her hooves as the both of them watched the three pale ponies leaving. They looked over to see Rarity sluggishly trotting forward to desperately try and reach the fillies until she stumbled and nearly face-planted into the pavement.

"Sweetie Belle!" She called out, tears flowing freely as she listened to the fading cries of her sister and the other two fillies.