Angel of Justice: Blood Moon

Sheltered away from the hectic energy of the streets, Rainbow Dash and Blue Bolt walked through the upstairs portion of the haunted house.

The atmosphere was very dark, with faint lights and smoke dotted around to keep them just confused enough to be on edge without them bumping into anything, though the two pegasi were braver than most.

At least one of them was, at any rate.

Rainbow Dash chuckled warmly and held her stomach while her friend looked to the floor in embarrassment.

"Oh, man… I can’t believe that puppet actually got you." She said, barely able to catch her breath amidst her joyful outburst. She wiped a tear from her eyes as the stallion sighed uncomfortably.

"It didn’t get me." Blue Bolt protested. "It just… caught me off guard is all."

Rainbow Dash smirked as she saw how red in the face her friend was. "You scream like a filly."

"I don’t know what you're talking about." He said, turning his nose up and ignoring the cyan mare. "It must have been somepony behind us."

"Well…" Rainbow got one last chuckle out before straightening her expression. "I don’t think anyone could blame that somepony. This place ain't half bad. I would probably be a little scared… y'know, if I wasn't me."

"Really?" Blue Bolt raised an eyebrow at her. "You’re not even a little scared?"

"No, not really." Rainbow Dash said, casually strolling by as a realistic-looking snake jutted out at her from inside a vent alongside a prerecorded hiss.

"You sure? I won't tell anyone." Blue prodded.

Rainbow Dash shrugged. "I'd tell you if I was. We can go back if you're scared, though."

"Why would you think I'm scared? Pfft… I'm not scared." Blue Bolt chuckled before trailing off nervously as a particularly eerie sound effect played nearby.

Rainbow Dash half smirked as she watched the stallion trying to play off his unease. She thought it was kind of cute for him to keep a brave face, whether or not he was trying to impress her.

"You know, Blue…"

"Yeah…?"

Rainbow tittered a bit and ran a hoof through her mane. "After we get back home, you and me could just take a day to work on your flying together."

Blue Bolt raised an eyebrow. "But… we already do that."

"Well, yeah… but usually Fluttershy is with us. I mean just the two of us. You know, we could go clear out some clouds, get some resistance training in, maybe grab a bite to eat and watch the sunset?" She smiled nervously.

Blue Bolt hesitated for a moment before a look of slight surprise came over him.

"Rainbow Dash… are you asking me out on a date?"

Hearing this, the cyan mare blushed slightly and dodged her gaze to the side. "N-No, of course not. I mean, I like you… I-I mean I like you like a friend, but…" She groaned silently and facehoofed.

Blue Bolt smiled, thankful that the dark lighting hid the bit of redness reaching his own face. "It's ok… I get it. Two best buds hanging out in a totally platonic way."

"Totally." Rainbow nodded, trying her best to recover the flaming wreckage of her plans.

"Sounds good." Blue Bolt said. "But… if it was a date," He added, nodding to the side, "I wouldn’t necessarily… mind."

Rainbow Dash hid a smile and rubbed her foreleg. She felt strangely warm and fuzzy despite their dreary surroundings.

Just then, the pair looked up as they heard a series of screams and the clamor of hooves running their way.

They were in what appeared to be an open area between hallways and rooms along the edge of the house. Up ahead, a door flew open and a small group of ponies all dressed in various costumes came running out.

"Woah…" Rainbow Dash moved out of the way of the crowd, barely avoiding getting knocked into. "Where’s the fire?"

"Is something really scary up ahead?" Blue Bolt mused.

"I don’t know…" Rainbow muttered. She had seen a few ponies leaving the haunted house before because they were too scared, but the crowd that just ran past seemed different. Every one of those ponies was terrified, and not in a playful way either. They looked like they were fearful for their lives.

From the open doorway, another pony came stumbling out of what must have been a bedroom. This one was a stallion, dressed like most of the other actors they had encountered in the house. However, his fancy clothes seemed to be ripped, and he had a dark red liquid on the side of his face that looked different from the fake blood they had seen thus far.

The stallion panted heavily and glanced over his shoulder into the bedroom. He then turned ahead and noticed the two pegasi standing a few feet away with confused looks on their faces.

"Sweet Celestia… run! You two need to get out of here!" He instructed urgently as he ran over to them, nearly tripping over himself.

"Uh… don’t you think you're laying it on a bit thick, buddy?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"What?" The stallion skewed his expression briefly before shaking his head. "No, you don’t understand! This isn't part of the show! This… this is-"

A faint growl came from the bedroom, cutting the stallion off and drawing everyone’s attention away.

The three ponies looked over just in time to see a shadow starting to form along the ground. The shadow got closer and closer, accompanied by the sound of something walking and some deep heavy breathing.

Seeing this, the stallion widened his eyes and all the color left his face. He yelped fearfully and scrambled to get away, leaving the two pegasi staring at him warily.

"Run! Run for your lives!" The stallion screamed behind him.

Rainbow Dash and Blue Bolt watched the stallion leaving for a moment before gradually looking at each other, and then at the open doorway.

The shadow on the ground grew and grew until finally, another shape came out.

It was hard to make out details in the low light, but the pair could definitely make out the two glowing red dots staring back at them. There were hints of wings, gray fur, and stringy hair, but its body looked off somehow.

Blue Bolt took a step back as the figure appeared. "Woah… that’s new." He said hesitantly. It was unlike any costume he had ever seen.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash twitched an eyebrow warily as a dripping sound pricked her ears. She could faintly see some kind of liquid falling to the floor in droplets off of the figure's mouth. A faint metallic smell hit her nose around the same time she made out the outline of numerous jagged teeth on the figure.

"Uh… Blue, maybe we should turn back?" She suggested quietly.

"Why?" Blue Bolt said, looking to his friend a bit confused. "I thought you weren't scared?"

"Ssshh…" Rainbow Dash hushed the stallion and pulled him back a few steps, taking care not to make sudden movements. "Blue… don’t panic, but I think that might not be a costume." She whispered tensely.

Blue Bolt narrowed his eyes slightly. "Huh? What do you mean? You're saying that that thing is…"

The stallion paused abruptly as a low growl made the hairs on his tail stand up. Both ponies slowly looked ahead, only to find the shadowy figure looking right at them. It stepped forward into the light from a nearby window, revealing a faint glimpse of wrinkled skin, sunken eyes, and sharp teeth covered in blood.

"...real…?" Blue Bolt squeaked.

Without warning, the figure let out a fierce roar and darted forward.

Rainbow Dash and Blue Bolt screamed in unison as death incarnate lunged at them.

The cyan mare shoved her friend out of the way before jumping back as the creature snapped at where she just was with a mouth full of teeth. Undeterred from the slight setback, the beast jumped at the elusive pegasus with hooves outstretched, catching her off guard and sending her into the wall.

"AH!" Rainbow yelped as she shot her hooves up to push the thing away. The creature made a lunge for her neck with a violent fervor that could only come from a hunter closing in on its prey. She managed to hold it at bay, but her forelegs immediately threatened to give out under the beast’s immense strength.

Just as she prepared for her flesh being ripped into, Rainbow Dash was suddenly freed as the creature was kicked off of her with a mighty yell.

"Get off her!" Blue Bolt glared intensely at the beast as it bounced along the floor.

The creature settled to a stop against the far wall, letting out an agitated snarl as it smacked into the wood. As it stood up and barked like a wild dog, the ponies got a full look at its gnashing teeth sending blood spattering off in the full moonlight streaming in through the nearby window.

Blue Bolt reeled back slightly as he got a good look at the creature. Even Rainbow Dash was disturbed by its monstrous appearance.

"Are you ok?" Blue asked, stealing a concerned glance to his friend while adopting a lowered stance and facing the malformed beast.

Rainbow Dash nodded, a bit shaken by her close encounter. "Yeah… thanks."

"What do we do about this thing?" Blue Bolt asked tensely.

"I don’t know!" Rainbow replied. "I'm not exactly an expert at this kind of thing, Blue. Just don't die!"

"Sage advice as usual, Rainbow!" Blue Bolt stated before looking over and widening his eyes as the creature leaped at him. He dodged to the side, even giving a beat of his wings to get away faster, causing his hat and monocle to fall off.

The creature landed just after Blue Bolt in the spot he was just in. It turned and snapped at him, forcing the stallion to back away.

"Hey, ugly! Over here!" Rainbow Dash taunted loudly, fluttering up near the ceiling and waving her forelegs to get the creature’s attention.

Hearing a different victim, the feral pony jerked its head to look up at the cyan mare hovering in the air and snarled.

Blue Bolt watched as the creature ignored him and went after Rainbow Dash. It leaped up at her and snapped with its jaws, nearly catching one of her hind legs and eliciting her to tuck in her limbs and hug the ceiling.

"Blue, get out of here!" Rainbow said, pointing to the door they came from urgently.

Blue Bolt reeled back at the mare’s request. "Are you crazy?! I'm not leaving you here with that thing!"

Rainbow started to reply, when the creature jumped even higher to reach her. She narrowly escaped, only to look behind her as she backed into the wall.

The creature jumped again, certain that it would have its prey. It would have connected with the cyan pony if she didn't kick out a hind leg, catching it in the side of the head.

Rainbow Dash grinned triumphantly as she watched the beast flop to the floor and heard a snap from its neck. Her smile faded as the creature got back up and snapped its head back into place without so much as a yelp.

"Oh, that's just great!" She exclaimed nervously.

The feral pony growled and barked up at the pesky pegasus. It started to make another leap at her, when it was suddenly shoved into the wall from behind by Blue Bolt.

While the creature was stunned, Blue Bolt quickly spun around and delivered a strong kick to the back of its head. A bone-rattling noise came as the beast’s head collided with the wall, leaving a dent in the plaster.

Blue looked on in surprise as the creature got back up, seemingly unfazed by his attack.

"How durable is this thing?!" He asked, backing up cautiously as the beast turned toward him. He prepared to dodge as it bolted at him, only to watch as a cyan blur slammed into it from above.

Rainbow Dash flopped her full weight onto the creature as it collapsed to the floor. She wrapped her forelegs around it and tried her best to keep it on the ground.

"Help me hold it!" She pleaded.

Blue Bolt rushed forward to assist his friend, only to reel back as the creature’s head shot up and barked at him.

He watched uneasily as Rainbow Dash held on while the creature stood up. It tried spinning around and biting at her like a dog chasing its tail, only to resort to bucking after that didn’t work.

"Holy hay…" Blue Bolt backed up hesitantly as the creature stomped and jumped and bit at the mare on its back. He wanted to help her, but he was afraid anything he did might have made her situation worse.

"Gah… Th… this thing's… s-strong!" Rainbow Dash stammered, not out of fear, but from the creature’s attempts at bucking her off.

"What should I do?" Blue asked in a concerned manner.

"I don’t know… My… gah… my plan kind of went out the window!" Rainbow replied.

Suddenly, a look of revelation came over Blue Bolt’s face. "Out the window! You're a genius, Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow skewed her expression in brief confusion. “What…?” She said, unsure if the stallion wasn't making sense because of her brain being jostled back and forth, or if he just wasn't making sense. However, after a moment, she got it. “Oh… out the window! Haha, yeah! I’m totally taking credit for that idea!”

Meanwhile, the stallion shifted his attention to the windows along the wall, only to have his heart sink at what he saw.

There were bars on every one of the windows. They didn’t look too solid, most likely a prop from the haunted house, but they did look strong enough to impede any normal escape attempts.

"Dangit… that won't work! There's bars in the way!" Blue cursed.

“Can you take them off?!” Rainbow asked, growing more urgent as she struggled to keep herself tied to the proverbial tiger.

“I don’t know… they look pretty stuck on there!”

“Well, figure it out! I don’t know how much longer I can keep this thing busy!” Rainbow stated through clenched teeth.

*CRACK*

Out of nowhere, the creature stopped what it was doing and twisted its head around with a violent pop. It barked at the cyan mare and glared at her with the glow in its eyes intensifying.

“AHH!” Rainbow Dash yelped and let go of the creature, falling back to the floor roughly. Ignoring her painful landing, she scrambled backward and stared ahead with wide eyes as the feral pony stared back, despite facing away from her.

The creature growled at the prone pony before turning around and limply snapping its head back the right way. It took a few steps toward her until a blue blur smacked into it from the side, shoving it to the ground once more.

Blue Bolt panted briefly and glanced over to see his friend getting to her hooves. “We really need an exit strategy here, Rainbow. We can’t beat this thing.”

“Look out!” Rainbow exclaimed, diving into the stallion and pushing him to the floor just in time for the creature to sail over both their heads. She glanced down at him and shared an appreciative look before turning toward the beast. “But yeah… I see your point. This freak is too fast and too persistent for us to just run for it.”

Blue Bolt nodded uneasily. Before he could get a chance to add anything, however, Rainbow Dash pulled him up by his shirt and helped him dart to the side as a blur of gnashing teeth and glowing eyes galloped at them like a bull charging a pair of matadors.

Racing to come up with some kind of plan of action, the stallion shifted his attention to the bedroom off to the side and the door hanging open like an invitation, an idea popping into his head as he did.

“Follow me!” Blue exclaimed, taking the cyan mare by the hoof and running for it.

Rainbow Dash stole a tense glance behind her as she heard the sound of interrupted snarls and pants. She saw the disfigured beast rushing after her with renewed vigor. If it had lost any stamina in their fight, it wasn't showing any signs of it as it charged forward like a murder machine.

The two pegasi ran as fast as their steadily depleting stores of energy would allow. With a nightmare made real hot on their tails, they bolted into the bedroom and shut the door behind them.

Blue Bolt put his back against the door and cringed as a loud impact shook the very frame and nearly knocked him forward slightly. An agitated howl and some scratching noises came from behind the door as the creature doubtlessly tried clawing its way in with its bare hooves, uncaring of whatever pain such an endeavor might have incurred.

He looked up to his friend and flashed a nervous smile. “Having fun now?” He panted.

“Oh yeah, this place is really top-notch. Remind me to come back next year.” Rainbow Dash flattened her expression at the stallion before looking around.

The bedroom was plenty fancy looking and plenty creepy in its own right. There was a king-sized bed against the back wall behind them with some small steps leading up to it and a hole-ridden canopy surrounding it. Underneath the crimson sheets was a lump that seemed to be a prop of some sort, which made a repeated movement every few moments.

A wardrobe stood off to the side just outside of a line of moonlight from a window. The door was slightly ajar, and a monstrous-looking claw was holding onto the edge with a glowing yellow eye peering out unblinking. This would have been somewhat unnerving, but there were far scarier things outside of the room for the pair to deal with.

However, the scariest thing in the room didn’t seem to be part of the act.

Rainbow Dash widened her eyes as she saw a pegasus stallion lying in a pool of blood. His clothes were torn to shreds, and his face was contorted in his final moments of pain and panic. There was another door a few feet away that had seemingly slammed open, with some wooden splinters on the ground from something breaking off. The stallion seemed to have been thrown or dragged through the door, as the puddle of blood had a smaller trail that led out of the room.

“Sweet Celestia…” She frowned sympathetically for the fallen pony before looking back to Blue Bolt and the door he was guarding. “We need to find Sunspot… or, or Tom or someone. We can’t let that thing get out into the city… it would be a bloodbath.” She said softly, more than a hint of disturbance crossing her face as she thought about the grim possibilities.

Blue Bolt nodded tensely. “Yeah, well… we need to make it out of here alive first.”

“Heh… we’ve been in worse scrapes before. Remember the timberwolves?” Rainbow produced a small smile, hoping to keep morale high in spite of her shocked nerves. Her companion couldn’t tell if she was trying to make him feel better or trying to make herself feel better.

“I think I would actually prefer timberwolves right now. I can’t believe I just said that.” Blue said, cringing softly as the door behind him rattled some more with a muffled growl.

Suddenly, the noises against the door ceased entirely.

The two ponies eyed around while listening intently, only to find a strangely uncomfortable silence in the air. They shared an uncertain look with each other, which only grew more confused the longer things went without any sign of the creature.

“Did it… leave?” Rainbow tilted her head and crinkled her eyes in disbelief.

“Wait, hold on…” Blue said, holding an ear to the door and listening closely.

Several seconds went by with nothing happening. No growls, no hoofsteps, no scratches. Nothing. The silence was suffocating.

“I think it might be gone.” Blue Bolt whispered.

“Yeah, or it’s waiting for us,” Rainbow replied, a bit of anxiousness bleeding through her hushed voice.

Blue Bolt carefully got up, still keeping his body pressed against the door. He glanced around before settling his eyes on the open doorway on the other side of the bedroom. He then turned to his friend.

“On three… we’re going to make a break for that door and run to the nearest exit. Ok?” He said, having to take pains to go slow so she could understand with him being so quiet.

Rainbow Dash nodded slowly, preparing herself for another bout of running for her life.

“One…” Blue mouthed, bobbing his head once.

“Two…” Rainbow nodded as well, tensing the muscles in her hind legs and twitching her wings.

Then, just as the stallion was about to finish the countdown, there was a rapid noise of hooves against the floor outside.

A loud crash rang out, followed by the breaking of wood and a loud snarl. Rainbow Dash watched, stunned and barely processing what she was seeing from how fast it happened, as Blue Bolt yelped and sailed past her with a dark shape on top of him.

Time seemed to slow down as she turned her head to find the creature on top of the stallion at the side of the bed. It produced a vicious hiss and lunged its gaping maw down into Blue Bolt’s neck.

There was a wet sound like moist newspaper tearing, a strangled noise of pain, and a spurt of red.

Rainbow Dash felt her heart stop as her jaw dropped open and her stunned shock was replaced by fear.

“NO!” She yelled, leaping forward with reckless abandon and tackling the feral pony.

The cyan mare tumbled head over tail with the creature as the both of them rolled off of Blue Bolt. She felt herself losing her grip on the beast and sliding forward from her momentum before she smacked into a wall and bumped her head on a windowsill.

She looked up, only to find the monster a short distance away and already recovering. Rainbow raised up, sliding her back along the wall before coming to a stop over the window behind her. She darted her eyes back at it before shifting them forward to see the creature preparing for a lunge.

With a powerful jump and a loud bark, the feral pony reached for the cyan pegasus with its jaw open wide. Just before it made contact with her, she dove to the side, leaving the beast to slam into the window and keep going as the fake bars and glass broke.

Rainbow Dash listened and paused as the creature’s surprised howl was cut short by the sound of flesh being pierced. She poked her head up and looked outside, only to reel back slightly in surprise as she saw the beast impaled on a jagged fencepost.

The metallic pole was jutting through the creature’s chest cavity, right around where the heart would be. It was still and unmoving for a second before it rocked its head back and clenched its limbs as its body started burning up around the wound.

With a pained howl fading into the night, Rainbow watched as a flurry of embers were taken by the wind, taking any trace of the creature with them.

Right around now, a triumphant feeling of victory should have been welling up inside her, but instead, her heart was only filled with panicked concern as she turned around.

“Blue!” She cried as she rushed over to her friend on the ground. The sight of the stallion’s neck pouring blood from a gaping wound sent a wave of dread through her as she rested her hooves on his chest.

Blue Bolt clutched at his injury and looked up to see the cyan mare. He opened his mouth to try and speak, but all that came out was a slight croak and a sputter that left a trickle of blood to run down his chin.

“Rh… R..ain..bow…” He strained.

“No… No!” Rainbow’s voice cracked as she saw how gravely her friend was injured. She grabbed one of his hooves and held it tightly in her own, her eyes starting to threaten tears. “This can’t be happening… this… this can’t…” Her breathing quickened to match her heart rate, and she felt like her head was spinning.

Pressing her shaky hooves to desperately try and stop the bleeding, Rainbow Dash looked into the stallion’s already pale face and tried to keep her jaw from trembling as she spoke.

“Stay with me, Blue! You’ve… y-you’ve come back from worse. Remember the forest?” She said, forcing a smile before her expression fell as she barely got a reaction. She turned toward either of the doorways, a look of desperation in her eyes. “HELP! SOMEPONY!” She shouted, only to receive no response.

Feeling something weakly brushing against her soaked hooves, Rainbow looked down to see Blue Bolt trying to grab onto her with little success. She spared a hoof and grabbed the limp foreleg before it fell, looking up to see him staring at her with a sad look behind the pain in his eyes. He seemed unable to speak, and he was barely breathing.

“No… no, no, no! Don’t do this to me… please.” Rainbow hiccupped and let two streams of tears drop down her face and onto the stallion’s already bloodstained costume. She tightened her grip on his hoof and let out a silent sob. “You… y-you can’t die… not now. I was… we… we were just getting back to knowing each other again. I… I-I…”

Rainbow Dash paused as she felt the tiny grip on her hoof fade. She looked up, a gasp catching in her throat as she saw a small reflection of herself in empty blue eyes. A slack expression was stuck on Blue Bolt’s face.

She stared ahead, unmoving for several seconds. Her agape jaw started to tremble, and a fresh set of tears welled up in her eyes. Her throat spasmed and a broken sputter made it past as she pressed her lips together and clenched her eyes shut, trying to reject the wave of emotion about to take her, as if allowing it to hit would be like admitting that this was really happening.

After fighting to ignore the mental image of her motionless friend for so long, she peeked open her eyes slowly. She found him unchanged since she last checked, no rise and fall of his chest, and no movement other than the slight drainage of blood from his neck.

Finally, she fell forward slightly, letting her hooves fall to either side of the stallion and onto the bloodstained floor, and released a mournful wail that echoed through the halls of the mansion. Although the haunted house was mostly empty by now, any who would have heard the sound would feel their spines chilled far more than anything the attraction could have produced.