Angel of Justice: Blood Moon

A few hours went by as Shining Armor and the rest of his rescue party soared over the peaceful meadows, forests, and fields of Equestria below.

By now, most everyone felt some level of anxiety and unease as they thought about their missing friends and family. If they were being honest with themselves, they didn't even know if Twilight and the others were still alive. They knew almost nothing about the strange alicorn that apparently headed the pack of vampiric ponies, let alone his intentions.

Still, no matter what, they were going to find their friends. They only prayed that they would find them alive and unharmed.

Finally, the carriages started to descend to the ground. Shining Armor poked his head out of the nearby window and looked to the team of pegasi guards, only to pause as he saw that they had apparently arrived at their destination.

A small village sat in a clearing before a thick blanket of woods, seemingly encircled by it. The town was still and dark, with only a few lights in windows and plumes of smoke rising into the night to indicate that anyone was even awake.

Hmm… so this is Coltridge? Shining thought to himself before pulling back inside and turning to his companions. "We're here." He reported.

Hearing this, Glimmer Shine put a hoof to his ear and glanced to the side as a blue magical aura appeared. "Look alive, Sparkplug. We're coming up on Coltridge now."

"Got it." Sparkplug replied after a moment. "What’s the plan?"

Hearing this, the yellow stallion and everyone else, save for Shining Armor, turned to look at Tom. Eventually, perhaps feeling left out, even Shining turned to see what everyone was doing.

“Any sign of them?” Glimmer asked, hopeful that the human’s senses could shed some light on the sleepy town.

Tom hid a tense look before sighing internally and exhaling externally. The usual puff of blue mist and unnatural hiss came out, but unbeknownst to the ponies, the usual wave of energy signatures he should have been feeling was muted and distant.

“I’m not getting much other than trace amounts of their presence. I can tell that they’ve at least been here, but I can’t say when or if they still are. Sorry…” He trailed his eyes down regretfully.

“Are you sure you’re ok, Tom?” Sunspot asked. “Usually you can tell a lot more than that.”

The human looked over to see the pegasus shooting him a concerned frown, which only served to make him feel worse. He subconsciously tugged at his shirt sleeve as he tried to think of an explanation, but before he could, Glitterball beat him to it.

“I’m sure he’s just stressed out over Twilight and the others.” The unicorn said. “His powers are based on his willpower, right?” She asked to double-check, receiving a hesitant nod in response. “Well… that’s probably why his senses are so out of whack right now.”

Tom relaxed a bit. Glitter was partially right. Whatever was causing his powers to weaken, the situation with Twilight and the others wasn't making matters any easier.

Glimmer Shine sighed to himself while pulling up his detector vial. The liquid inside was faintly glowing yellow, offering knowledge that there was some paranormal presence, but not enough of a reading to indicate direction or power.

“At any rate, the vials aren’t picking up much either, not that they would at this distance. Just keep your eyes peeled.” He explained before putting a hoof to his ear again. “We’re going to have a look around town, maybe ask some of the locals if they’ve seen anything. You and Sunspot should stay here to keep an eye on things.”

“Got it.” Sparkplug replied agreeably.

One look at Sunspot told that she wasn't too keen on staying put, but she seemed to be willing to follow orders. “You guys better watch yourselves.” She cautioned.

“You’ll be the first to hear if we find anything.” Glimmer Shine said with a knowing smirk.

Soon enough, the carriages finished their descent. The four teams of guards met ground with a brief rumble and shake before slowing to a canter, and then a halt in the center of town.

Shining Armor and Tom stepped out of one side of their carriage, while Glitterball and Glimmer Shine stepped out the other. They all took a brief look around them at the seemingly empty streets. The whole area was devoid of life, and they could only spot a few buildings that even had lights on.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash poked her head out of the window and looked over to the other group curiously as they surveyed the area. “Where are they?” She asked anxiously.

Glimmer Shine looked over to see the cyan mare and many of her friends looking out of the carriage, eager to learn what was going on. “Our readings aren’t telling us much. We’re going to have a look around and see what we can find. You guys stay here.” He said, hoping that the five mares would heed his instructions.

“What do you mean? Are they not here or somethin’?” Applejack chimed in uneasily.

“We’re going to find out. Just bear with us, ok?” Glimmer Shine pleaded sincerely. After a moment of sharing unsure glances with each other, the two mares seemed to concede.

“Please hurry… the longer they’re out there, the more chances they have to-” Rainbow Dash trailed off as she looked to Applejack and Rarity sympathetically. “Just don’t take long…”

“We won’t.” Glimmer nodded understandingly before turning to his companions. “So… we want to split up to make this go faster?” He suggested.

“Sounds good. How about me and Tom take that block of houses down there?” Shining Armor suggested, pointing to some distant homes that were dark as the landscape around them.

“Alright. Glitter and I will take that lodge.” Glimmer said, pointing to a larger building in the other direction.

As the two pairs broke off and went on their own paths, Sparkplug and Sunspot watched them leave. Although they were confident that their friends could take care of themselves, they were still uneasy as they scanned around the quiet streets.

A short walk later, Glimmer Shine and Glitterball could barely even see the carriages behind them. The faint mist rolling in from the forest in the distance wasn't helping their visibility either. Many dark shapes loomed around them from behind houses, street lamps, and distant paths, setting the two ponies on edge ever so slightly.

Glitterball kept her detection vial held in front of her as she walked. Still, no matter how often she checked it, it didn’t change from the faint glow from before.

Finally, the pair came up to the lodge. The two-storey building was mostly made of stone and wood, unlike the stores and houses around it that incorporated hay into their design. A rustic sign out front had the words 'Whistling Pines Lodge' on it, with a lantern posted on it that seemed to be the only source of light in the vicinity.

"Looks like nopony's home." Glitter said.

Glimmer Shine stared at the dark building a while longer, narrowing his eyes as he did. "I don’t like how quiet it is."

"I don’t either… but we aren't going to find out anything if we don't poke around." Glitterball reasoned.

The yellow stallion sighed uncomfortably before looking ahead and moving forward at a cautious pace. Glitter followed close behind, keeping one eye on their surroundings and the other on her detection charm.

As they approached the front entrance, they could see that their initial assessment of the building not having any lights on was correct. Even through the leaf-shaped holes in the front doors, nothing but darkness could be seen.

Glimmer Shine reached for the door, half expecting it to be locked before it pulled open with an abrupt creak. He shared an uneasy glance with his unicorn partner before flicking on the flashlight on his vest and moving inside.

With a brief click behind him, Glitterball turned on her own flashlight and broke off from the stallion to scan the other side of the open lobby they found themselves in.

"Hello?" Glimmer Shine called out as he entered what looked to be a sitting area. "Anypony there?"

Nothing but grating silence responded.

Turning around briefly, he looked over to see Glitterball standing on the first few steps of a curved staircase. The white mare scanned the hallway above for a moment before looking back to the stallion and shrugging.

Before either of them could say anything, a sudden rattle to the side made them tense up. They both darted their lights toward the noise, only to find the front desk softly illuminated in their beams.

Although the noise didn’t happen again, it didn’t sound like it came from behind the desk. Instead, it sounded like it came from a closed door.

Looking down to her detection charm, Glitterball was a bit surprised to see that it still hadn’t changed. She pointed to it, looking to Glimmer Shine and silently communicating her findings.

Glimmer seemed equally surprised and more than a bit relieved. Still, even if it wasn't anything supernatural, it paid to be cautious.

Slowly making their way around the front desk, the pair gathered before the door. While Glitterball grabbed her strobe and readied it, Glimmer Shine lifted a hoof up and knocked.

“Hello?” He called softly.

Nothing happened for a solid few seconds.

The stallion glanced to his companion, who was looking back at him with an uncertain expression. After a moment of hesitation, he grabbed the handle and turned it.

The door opened with little issue, revealing another dark room.

Before either of them could get a good look at what was in the room, however, Glimmer Shine had something jammed into his face, sending him to the floor.

Standing before them was a gray unicorn mare with curly red hair, a broom held in hoof, and a severely agitated expression on her face that quickly shifted to confusion and then shock.

“Oh my gosh… you’re not one of them?” She asked, a slight Trottish flair to her warm-sounding voice.

Glimmer Shine rubbed his now tender nose. “Ngh… Could you have asked that before?”

“I am so sorry.” The mare softened her expression as she helped Glitterball with getting the stallion to his own four hooves again.

“By one of them, do you mean a group of pale ponies with red eyes and sharp teeth?” Glitterball asked.

“Yeah… yeah, that’s them!” The mare replied before darting her eyes to the entrance. “Are they still out there?”

“We don’t think so.” Glimmer Shine said, though his answer didn’t seem to put the unicorn at ease. “Do you know where those things came from?” He asked, unable to hide a bit of hopeful optimism.

Hearing this, the mare softened her expression and sighed. She turned to the side, drawing attention to her cutie mark, which consisted of a smoking chimney, before speaking. “I run this place. Couple’a days ago, these wee kids come through lookin’ to head up to Castle Bloodwing.”

“Castle Bloodwing?” Glitterball asked, skewing a brow.

“Aye… It’s some castle out in the woods. Prolly been there since Princess Luna was in diapers.” The mare explained, a corner of her mouth curling fondly at the thought of an adorable little moon filly.

“Anyway, these kids hired some locals to guide them there and back again. They were only supposed to be up there a day or two, but they never came back. Then, next thing I know, these pale blighters come howlin’ into town and snatchin’ up any poor soul on the street! I hid in here as soon as I could. I heard them moving past… I think they were headed back toward the woods.”

Glimmer Shine shared an uneasy look with his companion. “So, we’re thinking they came from that castle?”

“Sounds like it.” Glitterball nodded to herself before looking back to the mare. “Could you tell us a little more about this castle?”

The gray unicorn puffed some air out and wearily leaned onto her broom like a makeshift walking stick, despite being a touch too young to be needing one. “That’s a bit of a tall order, dear. Lots of ghost stories been spun about that place over the years… Although, I suppose you lot hear a bunch of ghost stories in your line of work.” She chuckled a bit.

Glitter and Glimmer merely blinked and glanced at each other before silently watching the mare, eliciting her to awkwardly peter out.

“Right… So anyway, it all started with this griffon-”
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Back outside, Tom and Shining Armor continued walking the lonely streets in search of any survivors.

The town around them was quiet. Normally, on any given night in a well-populated area, even a small town like this, there were certain subtle noises throughout even the darkest nights.

However, this town was silent as the grave. There were no buzzing street lamps, and the few lanterns around were mostly unlit. The wind had died down, leaving the buildings to just sit there in silence with no creaks or groans. The trees dotted around and the forest in the distance were still, with no air rustling their thinning branches and no animals chirping in the night. Even the crickets were absent.

Shining Armor kept a close watch on their surroundings as they walked. His movements were smooth and confident enough, but his eyes held a sense of unease to them as they frequently shifted along each alleyway and around every corner.

The sound of his clopping hooves and the boy’s footsteps were almost all-encompassing. His ears twitched and scanned for any undue noise, but he was afraid that he might miss it. It was bizarre to feel so utterly alone and still feel like he was being watched.

“Is this how your nights usually go?” Shining asked quietly, hoping for some break in the tension. “I mean… minus the kidnapping vampires.”

Tom glanced over to the stallion, who was now frowning a bit. While the question was innocent enough, bringing up the pale ponies seemed to bring up some other thoughts as well, namely about the purple mare and young dragon.

“Not quite… Usually, I’m out in the wilderness. I haven’t done much hunting around towns since I’ve come to Equestria. I guess even the nastier monsters tend to stay away from civilization.” He explained.

“You know, this reminds me… Back when I got out of the academy, I would go on late-night patrols around Canterlot. Twilight was still studying with the Princess,” Shining smiled fondly. “Some nights, she would stay up late studying or reading…”

Tom gave an amused snort. “So she’s always done that?”

“Pretty much.” Shining nodded. “And when she did, she would leave a candle burning in her window. I would drop by the palace on my break, and if I saw that candle, I would come up and visit her for a minute before tucking her in.”

Hearing an abrupt silence come over his companion, Tom looked over and frowned at what he saw. Shining was staring at the ground, lost to his thoughts. His mouth twitched and wrinkled subtly, and his eyes threatened to waver.

“I’ve let her down before,” Shining said, thinking back to the events of his wedding. “I… I can’t let her down like that again.”

“We’ll get them back… I promise.” Tom said.

Shining’s sullen expression lingered for a moment before he forced his unruly frown into a straight line. “I know we will.”

Just then, a noise came from up ahead, grabbing their attention.

They were before what looked to be a general store and a library, with an alley stretching between them obscured by shrubbery and shadow. The noise sounded like foliage being shifted, so there was no doubt in their minds that this was the source.

Not one to take a potential threat lightly, Shining got light on his hooves and shifted the energies in his horn toward a new spell. A cobalt glow just started to nudge the handle of his dagger as he turned to his human companion. He eyed to the alley, posing the boy a silent question.

Catching his drift, Tom put a hand over his mouth to conceal the sound and used his senses. A faint hiss and trails of luminescent blue mist escaped the edges of his palm.

Strangely, he felt nothing changed from earlier. There were still faint traces of vampires all around, but nothing concrete. At this distance, he was sure that even his waning powers could tell if the source of the noise was supernatural or not.

“Vampire?” Shining whispered.

Tom merely shook his head. After a shared look of curiosity, both of them eased up and slowly approached.

The rustling happened again as the light from Shining’s horn fell over the mouth of the alley. The two of them paused before the bushes, which were now emitting a slight nervous whine. Deciding to make the first move, Shining grabbed the edges of the foliage with his magic and pulled them back.

All at once, a startled yelp greeted them as an equine shape fell backward to the ground.

“Please, don’t hurt me!” A softly masculine voice begged. It was a relatively young-looking pegasus stallion with gray fur, messy yellow hair, and a baseball mitt for a cutie mark.

After a moment went by without him being assaulted, the pegasus squinted an eye open and gradually lowered his hoof as he recognized who he was looking at.

“Prince Shining Armor…?” He blinked in surprise before shifting to the human with a bit of a pensive look of confusion. “And… Tim?”

“Tom.” The boy corrected, stretching out his hand to help the pony up.

The young stallion smiled nervously as he got back to all fours. “Right… sorry.”

“What happened here?” Shining Armor asked, stealing a glance around at the empty streets and lightless buildings.

“I’m n-not sure.” The stallion murmured, darting his eyes around the area behind the two to make sure it was safe. “I was just heading home when I heard some shouting down the street. There were ponies running away from something. I thought it was a wolf or some other animal, but… t-then I saw some ponies with red eyes attacking people.”

“Did you see anything else? Like three fillies, or a baby dragon, o-or a purple unicorn mare?” Shining prodded, somewhat desperately.

The young pony merely shook his head. “No… I’m sorry. I’ve been hiding ever since they showed up, so I haven’t seen much. I’ve heard some of them passing by, but none of them sounded like kids.”

This news wasn't exactly surprising, but it disheartened the pair all the same.

“Have you found anyone else?” The pegasus asked. “I think a lot of people hid in their homes… but I know some ponies got caught outside.”

Tom adopted a grim expression. “I’m sorry to say, but I think these things came here to feed. If they caught anyone, there’s a good chance that they… didn’t make it.”

“Oh… o-oh gosh…” The young pony’s eyes widened.

“Don’t worry. You’re safe now.” Shining assured. “Once we get done with our search, we’ll send word to get some guards up here to help keep it that way.”

The pegasus seemed to still be unnerved, but he started to relax as the pair looked to him with a certain confident determination. Still, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of fear as he thought about the very real possibility that some of the red-eyed ponies stayed behind.

For all he knew, they could have been watching them right now.

While the others were occupied in their search, Sunspot did her best to keep her exhaustion at bay as she quietly kept watch by the carriages. The teams of guards at the front of each were also keeping a diligent vigil until they were needed again, but the pegasus figured that it couldn’t hurt to have an extra pair of eyes.

She tapped the side of her carriage rhythmically with her hoof as she leaned against it. The tempo gradually increased the more she let stressful thoughts into her head until she finally sighed and crossed her forelegs.

Inside of the carriage, Sparkplug was sitting alongside the five element bearers. Somehow, however, getting left out of the immediate action was not helping to relax her troubled mind.

The gray mare idly twirled her detection vial back and forth on its pull cord while Pinkie and a few of the others held a conversation. Occasionally, she would take a paranoid glance to it, only to find the result unchanged since the last time. She couldn’t sit still either, constantly shifting in her seat, flicking her tail, or crossing and uncrossing her legs.

Noticing the vested pony acting a bit antsy, perhaps because she was trying to focus on anything but her thoughts, Fluttershy looked up. “Are you ok, Sparkplug?”

Sparkplug let out a stressed breath as she noticed the attention in the carriage shifting to her. “Y-yeah… I’m just a little nervous. This is kind of… my first time handling something this serious.” She blushed a bit and rubbed her mane awkwardly to try and hide it.

“You should’a been here back when the hooded ponies attacked. If you think some blood-sucking ponies are scary, you would be white as a sheet at some of the stuff we went through.” Applejack offered a dry chuckle.

“Yeah. I still get the willies whenever I take a swim now.” Pinkie added with a bit of a shudder.

The orange mare’s words didn’t seem to have the desired effect on Sparkplug, but she forced a half-hearted smile anyway. “Heh… with all the stuff you’ve faced, you’re more of a member of Spirit than I am.”

Rarity waved an airy hoof. “Oh, don’t be so hard on yourself.”

“Yeah. You were really brave back at Fun Land.” Fluttershy added. “And you’ve held your own since you’ve joined the team.”

“Not like it matters...” Sparkplug muttered to herself, though some of the others caught it.

Pinkie frowned a bit as she saw how disheartened the gray mare looked. “What?”

Looking up and realizing she had been heard, Sparkplug darted her gaze to the side and held herself. She wrinkled her mouth as she started and stopped trying to say something several times over before finally flattening her ears.

“Forget I said anything.” She returned to staring out of the window and fiddling her hooves together, though now it was much more diminished.

After a few moments of sharing concerned looks with her friends, Rarity reached over and rested a hoof on Sparkplug’s foreleg, causing her to look up. “Darling… what happened to Sweetie Belle and the others wasn't your fault.”

Hearing this coming from the unicorn of all people, Sparkplug paused and stared, a bit at a loss for words. She looked over to Applejack and Pinkie. The pink mare was offering a sympathetic frown, and while the farm pony was still feeling hurt and anger over losing her sister, even she seemed to agree with her unicorn friend.

“I…” Sparkplug started, her mind still going over so many different scenarios like she was trying to find the one broken cog that could fix the whole machine. “I should have…”

“You shouldn’t have done anythin’ different,” Applejack added. Her words were kind enough, but she sounded a bit aloof. “We all got our hides tanned back there… no sense in hoggin’ all the blame yourself, sugarcube.”

Sparkplug felt a wave of regretful sadness washing over her as she looked between the two mares most affected by the three fillies being taken, so much so that her eyes welled up and her lips trembled.

Finally, she sniffed and wiped her eyes while getting up. Rarity and the others softened their expressions as they watched her open the carriage door.

“Sparkplug…” Fluttershy frowned and started to reach out to the vested pony, but she seemed unreceptive of being touched or even looked at.

“Sorry… I-I just need some air.” Sparkplug said, hiding another sniff as she exited the carriage.

The closing of the door behind her punctuated her landing onto the dirt road below.

Almost immediately, she became aware of a set of curious eyes on her. She glanced over to see Sunspot still leaning against the carriage before shifting her gaze so her tears wouldn’t be seen.

“Sparkplug?” Sunspot asked, shifting to all fours and inching toward her newest friend. “You ok?”

Sparkplug took a moment to center herself. She rubbed her eyes and reversed her downcast expression as best she could before turning to the pegasus briefly. “Yeah. I’m… I’m good. Just needed to stretch my legs.”

Sunspot narrowed a brow suspiciously. She didn’t buy that for one minute, but the gray mare clearly didn’t want to share how she felt. Either way, some space to clear her head would probably do Sparkplug some good.

“Just don’t go out of sight.” The pegasus explained, a soft look on her face.

Sparkplug smiled a bit and nodded. “Right.” She said, bracing herself against the cold night air as she turned and walked down the street a short way.

Sunspot watched her teammate for a bit before settling back in, this time sitting beside the carriage. She made sure to keep her head on a swivel, not just watching Sparkplug, but the entire area around them for any signs of undue movement.
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Meanwhile, Glitterball and Glimmer Shine were still in the Whistling Pines lodge listening to the sordid and morbid past of the castle they were most likely about to go visit.

The unicorn was mostly listening with a mixture of veiled intrigue and subsequent unease as the red-haired mare recounted her knowledge to them.

Glimmer Shine was absorbing what she was saying as well, but his focus was more on his surroundings than the story being told. He would look up every so often and scan the lobby, darting his eyes along the curving staircase and open hallway to make sure no out-of-place shadows had sat down to hear this tale with them.

“And after he died, the griffons left the land to us. The few ponies stubborn enough to make the trip up there came back with all manner of ghost stories and talk of black magic and torture devices, so folks ‘round here started to call it Castle Bloodwing.” The mare finished, a bit surprised to look up and see that the pair were mostly still paying attention.

“I see.” Glitterball formed a stiff smile after hearing so many skin-crawling events. Most of it was rumor and myth, but being a monster hunter had given her a new perspective on myths. “And do you believe these stories about black magic?”

“Well, I didn’t used to,” The mare said plainly, “But when a gaggle of red-eyed monsters comes through and starts pluckin’ folks off the streets, I’m inclined to believe a lot of things.”

Glimmer Shine scratched his chin briefly as he went over the information he just received in his head. “You did say that people thought that Skala Herz guy drank the blood of his enemies.”

“Aye, but that’s just supposed to be a story! Hay, some folks believed that all griffons drink blood and eat ponies. Some folks still do.” The mare reasoned.

“Story or not, it might be our best bet of explaining where these vampires came from,” Glitterball added, finishing her companion’s previous thought.

Just then, both ponies heard and felt a vibration against their vests. They both pulled up their detector vials, which were glowing throughout and pulsing brightly, indicating a close reading.

The red-haired mare narrowed a brow curiously at the strange vial. “What’s that?” She asked, though the serious air about the vested ponies didn’t exactly comfort her.

Glitterball stood up and lit her horn. She lifted her silver dagger out of its sheath and floated it beside her as she hastily shifted her eyes around the area. “Um… that, is what we in the business refer to as not good.”

“Are those things coming back?” The mare asked, voice diminished with fear as she shrank back toward the supply closet she was hiding in. She appreciated having the two monster hunters there to protect her, but there were only three of them. Two and a half, really, with her lack of fight experience, broom notwithstanding.

“Stay close to us.” Glimmer Shine said, pulling out his crossbow and unfolding it before turning to Glitter. “Call the others. Let them know we have company.”

The unicorn immediately put a hoof to her ear. However, just as the colorful aura enveloped the tip of her hoof, another sudden noise made her stop.

Both she and Glimmer Shine darted their flashlights forward to the front door as a wooden creak came. The door was slightly ajar, but otherwise, nothing was there.

A slight scuff off to the side pricked their ears, and again both of them pointed their lights and weapons ahead. Once again, nothing but the empty lobby seemed to be around them.

“Who’s there?!” Glimmer Shine demanded, backing closer together with his companion and the mare behind them while shifting his outstretched crossbow around the area. “Show yourself!”

The red-haired mare flitted her eyes around the room and grabbed her broom. She clutched the meager weapon tightly as she slowly backed further into the supply closet behind her.

What sounded like hurried hoof beats came from the dark. Glitter and Glimmer’s lights danced around the room trying to keep up. Left, right, above them, around the corner. They were always too slow, but once or twice they nearly caught a glimpse of movement at the edge of their beams.

And then… silence.

Nothing but cold, empty silence.

The only sound to be heard was the scuffs and clinks of their gear shifting on their vests as they darted to and fro, and the slight vibration of their detection vials still pulsing in warning.

Glitterball started to lift her hoof to her ear again. If they had numbers on their side, they could stand to fight whatever number of foes was toying with them.

However, before she could even make contact, a deep growl filled the air. And as all three of them looked up, the red eyes staring at them from the wooden beams of the ceiling were illuminated, revealing a pale shape that immediately pounced down at them with fangs bared.

“AH!” Glitter yelped at the sudden movement. She moved her dagger up, but the pale pony was on top of her before she could even react further, sending her crashing to the floor.

Glimmer gasped, “Glitter!” He raced forward to assist his friend when he suddenly found himself getting smacked in the face by a swinging hoof.

The blow made him reel back and bump into the wall with a pained cringe. He looked up, only to see a red-eyed mare grinning at him from over the front desk.

In the instant of recognition he had, Glimmer tensed up and leveled his crossbow at her right around the time she leaped over the desk toward him with a hungry snarl.
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Sparkplug sighed as she stood in the middle of the street, staring off into the distant plains outside of town. She was so far away from her home, yet somehow she felt like she hadn’t gotten anywhere.

Glancing down to the patch sewn onto the shoulder of her vest, she stared at the logo for a moment in thought. The winged crescent moon was meant to symbolize that even the darkest night was under their watch, under Luna’s watch, and the three stars beneath it were there to pay tribute to the three founding members of Spirit that lost their lives before she even joined.

The uniform made her look so professional, but what did it matter when the pony underneath was anything but?

Hearing the crunching of frost behind her, Sparkplug looked back to see a yellow pegasus and white unicorn walking toward her.

The pair were a bit jittery from the cold, but they seemed to pay no mind to this as they approached wearing soft expressions.

“Fluttershy? Rarity?” Sparkplug blinked. “What are you two doing? You should be in the carriage where it’s warm.”

“I would hardly call it warm in there.” Rarity smiled before easing her expression. “Besides… we were worried about you.”

“Worried?” Sparkplug offered a dry chuckle and a wiry smile. “Why would you be worried? I told you before, I’m fine. You should head back… I’ll join you in a few minutes.”

Fluttershy frowned, “Sparkplug… I might not have been there with you, but I know you did your best.”

Hearing this, the gray mare’s ears drooped along with her eyes. She shifted her body away from the pair and rested a hoof on her foreleg. “That’s the problem. I did do my best against those vamps, but it didn’t matter. I’m a member of Spirit… I’m supposed to be able to protect people, but I couldn’t even protect some kids.”

Rarity walked over and sat down in front of Sparkplug, causing her to eye upwards sheepishly. “You’re not a superhero, darling… and neither are Sunspot and the others… neither are we. All we can do is our best. That’s all anyone could ever ask.”

“And what about when our best isn’t enough?” Sparkplug asked.

The unicorn paused at this. She softened her eyes as thoughts of her sister drifted into her head. “Then we keep trying. If we gave up when it seemed like we lost, we would never have beaten Nightmare Moon… let alone the hooded ponies.” She said, glancing to Fluttershy for confirmation.

Sparkplug looked at the two mares, a bit surprised to see how understanding they were. She should have been the one comforting them and telling them it would be ok. Still, as she reflected on the unicorn’s words, she felt a sense of determination welling up inside her. Sitting around and moping wasn't going to bring Twilight and the others back.

Fluttershy and Rarity looked up as Sparkplug stood on all fours again and held her head high. She had a certain intensity to her eyes that seemed the polar opposite of the shimmering regret they displayed before.

“I promise that I won’t let you down. We’ll get them back… all of them.” She said.

“That’s putting the spirit in Spirit.” Fluttershy smiled. Her smile faded slightly, however, as a hint of light caught her eye. A vial on Sparkplug’s vest was glowing yellow and vibrating softly. Her expression fell even further and a hint of fear worked its way over her as she realized which vial it was.

“Umm, Sparkplug…”

The gray mare looked down as Fluttershy pointed out the buzzing charm. She took it in her hoof and held it up, a feeling of unease working its way over her as she stared at it. “Uh oh…”

“Is that what I think it is?” Rarity asked hesitantly.

Before Sparkplug could even answer, a noise from off to the side made the three mares turn. All they could see was a pale green blur of motion and flapping wings in the shape of a pony heading straight toward them.

Then, the blur crashed into Fluttershy, sending the pegasus off her hooves and bouncing along the ground a few feet. By the time she came to a rough stop and looked up, she was met by a snarling face, with fangs dripping eager saliva and glowing red eyes piercing into her.

“AHHHH!!”

Sparkplug and Rarity felt their hearts seize as they heard their friend screaming bloody murder with a pale figure on top of her.

“Fluttershy!” Sparkplug raced for her silver dagger, and Rarity rushed forward without so much as a weapon.

However, neither of them got very far before another distinct growl drew their eyes upwards, where multiple sets of red eyes were staring down at them from the roof of the nearby house.

Back by the carriages, Sunspot’s ears shot up at the sounds of vicious snarls and familiar yells of terror. She darted her head toward her friends, only to widen her eyes at what she found. Multiple pale figures were jumping down and attacking the three mares, with Sparkplug and Fluttershy already struggling on the ground, and Rarity being pushed up against a building.

"Holy hay!" Sunspot exclaimed, startling to her hooves and grabbing her knife off of her suit. As she was starting to rush off, she paused and turned to knock on the carriage. "Girls, we're being ambushed!"

A moment later, Applejack and the others started poking their heads out at the commotion.

"What in tarnati-" Applejack muttered before widening her eyes as she looked ahead. Without another word, she started fumbling for the carriage door.

"Sweet Celestia!" Rainbow Dash raced to hop out and rush to her friends' aid, with Pinkie Pie close behind.
.
…
……
A sharp gasp rang out as Tom bent forward, all of the air exiting his lungs alongside a stream of blue mist.

The young pegasus stallion cocked a brow at the odd sight. “Uh… are you ok?”

Meanwhile, Shining Armor knew to be concerned by the sudden occurrence. “What did you feel? Are those pale ponies back?” He asked, darting his gaze around the area and keeping his dagger floating at the ready.

Before Tom could answer, a faint scream carried through the night, coming from behind them. As they all turned to look in that direction, both Shining and the human widened their eyes as they realized that they had left their friends back there.

“Oh no, the girls!” Tom exclaimed, already running forward.

Shining Armor rushed to follow his companion before pausing and turning back toward the confused and mildly concerned pegasus stallion. “Stay hidden! We’ll be right back!” He shouted before sprinting ahead to catch up with Tom.

The pegasus was a bit uneasy as he watched his only protection leaving, but he could tell that they had more urgent matters to attend to. He started to crouch back down behind the bushes around him when he suddenly widened his eyes as he noticed some movement along one of the roofs beside Shining Armor.

“Look out!”

Hearing the stallion shouting behind him, Shining Armor turned just in time to catch a dark silhouette leaping down towards him, a set of fangs bared and a set of red eyes flaring.

With a startled yelp, the unicorn was driven to the ground by a pale earth mare landing on top of him with surprising strength for her size. A short ways ahead, Tom froze in his tracks as he heard his companion cry out, only to spin around to see Shining struggling with a vampiric pony on top of him.

“Crap!” Tom exclaimed before unsheathing his sword and rushing to aid his friend. He made it about three steps before two more pale ponies jumped down in front of him, causing him to back into a defensive stance.

“Well, well, look what we have here.” A cocksure-sounding unicorn stallion said as he and his fellow vampire, a pegasus mare, stalked toward the boy.

“Doesn’t it feel kind of wrong to kill the only human in Equestria?” The mare asked, though by the tone of her voice, she didn’t sound too off-put by the idea.

The unicorn chuckled, “We can have him stuffed and put in a museum later.”

“Ok, first of all, eww. Second of all, get off him!” Tom leveled his hand in front of him and let loose as much of a burst of light as he could. It only amounted to a solid second or two of exposure, but it was enough to make all three vampires yelp and flinch.

As the light faded, the pale ponies didn’t seem too flustered. Their fur and skin were reddening, and a few tiny dots of orange cinders quickly dimmed where the burns were most severe, but otherwise, they hadn’t even moved.

However, while the mare on top of him was lifting a hoof to her face, Shining Armor lit his horn and grabbed his fallen dagger off to the side. He zipped it up and plunged it into the pale mare’s ribs, causing a pained outcry as she arched her head back and swiftly dissolved into ash and ember.

The two remaining vampires glanced back to see Shining Armor quickly getting to his hooves and facing them. One of them kept facing the unicorn, while the other turned and squared off against Tom.

“Ok… on second thought, let’s skip the stuffing thing and just rip him to pieces.” The mare said, growling and letting her eyes glow fiercer.

Then, they all lunged headfirst into battle.
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..
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“Gah!”

Glitterball yelped as she was tossed into a wall, knocking a painting down on top of her that only added to the rough and painful landing. She ignored her aching back and throbbing head to look up, only to find the same pale stallion she had been fighting with heading straight for her.

The unicorn dodged to the side as an angry yell preluded a hoof being sent through the wall where her head just was. The seemingly effortless hole that was created made her cringe and squeak nervously.

She raced to bring up her silver knife and stabbed it forward, only for the earth stallion to grab her foreleg and wrench it to the side. Her nervous unease grew into outright terror as she was pushed backward into another wall.

“Uh… Glimmer?!” She called, turning her head to the side and flinching as a pair of hissing fangs grew closer and closer despite her attempts at resisting. “A little help would be appreciated!”

The yellow stallion’s response came in the form of a fearful yell and a loud thump on the other side of the darkened lobby as Glimmer Shine was tossed through the air by a vampiric earth mare.

He landed on his back and slid slightly before coming to a stop and panting, exhaustion plain on his face as he stared at the ceiling. “Don’t worry… I’ll be right th-AHHH!”

He squealed in terror and rolled to the side as a visage of glowing eyes and bared fangs leaped at him, managing to get out of the way just in time before the pale pony landed right where he was.

As his back hit the front desk, bringing him to a stop, Glimmer fumbled his hooves to his vest to find a weapon. His knife had been knocked away near the start of the fight, but he had a spare somewhere.

Unfortunately, just as he found the right holster and started to undo the clasp, a pale hoof jammed into his throat and picked him up before slamming him back against the desk in a chokehold.

The pale mare snarled, saliva dripping from her mouth as she forcibly exposed Glimmer’s neck. “What’s the matter? Don’t stop… I like it when my dinner squirms.” She said, smiling cruelly before biting down.

However, just before she could close her mouth around the stallion’s neck, the pale mare suddenly felt something blunt striking her in the back of the head so hard that she lost balance and flopped to the ground.

“Sorry, love. No food and drink in the lobby.” The gray and red unicorn mare commented, grabbing her broom out of her own corona and staring down at the monstrous pony with a sense of determination accompanying the fear in her eyes.

The vampire mare grunted and rolled over, clutching a hoof to the back of her head. The blow stunned her more than anything, but now she was angry. “You hoof-headed bitch! I’ll kill you!” She growled and started to lift up from the floor when a burning pain pierced down into her stomach.

Glimmer Shine and the unicorn watched as the pale mare erupted into flaming ashes, collapsing and leaving behind a knife clutched in the stallion’s outstretched hoof. The sight and sound of her dying scream were disquieting, to say the least, but right now they couldn’t focus on that.

With his friend’s panicked yelps drawing his attention back to the struggle taking place on the other side of the room, Glimmer Shine raced to his hooves and looked around for his lost crossbow. He found it on the desk nearby where it had apparently fallen, snatching it up before taking aim.

After a moment to steady himself, he fired off a bolt straight and true, hitting the vampiric stallion attacking Glitterball right in the ribs. The stallion immediately yelled and clutched a hoof to his already disintegrating side before succumbing to the spreading embers and collapsing into dust.

Glimmer Shine sat leaned up against the front desk, empty crossbow still outstretched in one hoof as he panted and struggled to catch his breath. He watched as Glitterball slid to the floor, sitting and recuperating in a similar state of exhaustion.

“You ok, Glitter?” Glimmer asked, to which the unicorn raised a hoof and nodded without speaking, choosing to conserve her spent energy.

The stallion then turned to the gray and red mare beside him that had come to his rescue. He had assumed that she was still cowering as far away from the battle as she could, not that he would have blamed her. However, she apparently found the courage to aid the pair.

“Thanks for the save.” Glimmer said.

The mare smiled and waved a hoof sheepishly. “Oh, don’t mention it. It’s the least I can do to make up for knocking you on your tail before.”

“You are pretty handy with that broom, I’ve got to admit.” Glimmer added. Then, his expression tensed with unease as he looked toward the entrance out into the moonlit streets. “Listen, we have to go check on our friends. If you stay here and keep yourself hidden, you should be safe until we can send for help.”

“You’re not going after those things are you?” The mare asked, a bit of a concerned frown on her face as she watched the pair gathering themselves and their equipment.

Glitterball flashed a reassuring smile. “It’s part of the job. Besides that, they took some friends of ours with them.”

“Well… just be careful, alright? I don’t want to see any bad news about you in the papers tomorrow.” The mare said. As she started to shelter herself in the backroom once more and they started to leave, the pair shared a wave with the unicorn before exiting the lodge.

Almost immediately after they left the building, Glitterball lifted a hoof to her ear and focused on her pegasus friend as they trotted. “Sunspot, keep your eyes open. We’ve just had a run-in with some vampires, and we think there might be more.” She explained. Then, she started to shift her focus to Tom so she could ask him to use his senses, when she lifted a brow as she didn’t receive the expected response from the pegasus.

“Uh… Sunspot? You there?” Glitter asked, a bit of concern welling up in her voice. Nothing but silence greeted her.

“That can’t be good.” Glimmer Shine noted.

Before either of them could further decide a plan of action, they came to an abrupt stop at the sound of high-pitched squeals and yells coming from up ahead. They rushed to round the corner, only to find absolute chaos waiting for them further down the street.

A small crowd of pale ponies were fighting with Sunspot and the others. It was hard to see from this distance, but they could tell that some of their friends were on the ground or against a wall, struggling for their life against one of the creatures. Some of the pegasus guards from the carriages seemed to have unhooked themselves from their harnesses and rushed in to help the seven mares, but there was only so much they could do.

“Ok, that’s definitely not good!” Glitterball stated in a mild panic. Both she and Glimmer grabbed their weapon of choice off their vests before rushing forward.

In the midst of the battle taking place, Applejack grunted as she was sent to the ground, a vampiric mare on top of her pressing hooves into her chest.

She tried to reach for her nearby silver dagger, but this attempt was quickly met by a hoof stomping down on her shoulder, pinning her foreleg down and eliciting a painful cringe. “Get off me!” She yelled, only to flinch back as a snarling visage of red eyes and sharp teeth glared down at her.

Then, just as she thought she was about to become an entrée, two colorful orbs of light smacked into the pale mare’s side, causing her to yelp and lessen the pressure on Applejack. Not one to waste such an opportunity, the farmer jerked her foreleg out and grabbed her knife before stabbing it up and into soft flesh.

The sensation and sound of the dagger sliding in with ease were more than a touch morbid and disturbing, especially when combined with the death shriek the mare made as she collapsed into ash.

Applejack shielded her face with a hoof from the shower of debris before looking over to find her savior. She found Pinkie Pie a few feet away, strobe in hoof and already contending with her own problems again after breaking away just long enough to help a friend.

The orange mare formed a grateful smile as she got up from the ground. However, her relief and gratitude shifted to alarm and horror as she noticed something elsewhere.

Everyone in the scuffle was in trouble to some degree, but they were mostly holding their own. However, some of their number were less apt at combat than others. Fluttershy in particular seemed to be just struggling to keep herself and her friends alive rather than fighting back to any meaningful degree, a strategy that had landed her in grave danger as a pale stallion caught her and lifted her up toward his mouth on the edge of the fray.

“Fluttershy!” Applejack reached out to the yellow mare, far too late to be able to reach her in time. Rainbow Dash and Sunspot turned from their own struggles to see their friend about to be bitten into, but not even they could do anything fast enough with the pale ponies keeping them occupied.

Just before disaster struck, a few zaps and some more strobe shots came from behind the group. The small volley hit the pale stallion holding the screaming pegasus, causing him enough pain and distress to let her wrench free of his grip and scramble backward.

Fluttershy and those free enough to look turned toward the rest of the street, only to find Glimmer Shine and Glitterball rushing into the fray. The unicorn was holding a strobe, which she was using to keep the pale stallion occupied with her continuous bursts.

“Ow!” The stallion yelped and shielded his face from the many burning orbs exploding into his form. They weren’t doing much damage, but they hurt like the worst sunburn ever, sizzling his fur and skin with each impact. “Why you little-”

Then, a magical burst of energy came from the other direction, hitting the stallion in the back. This one actually pierced his body, creating a sizable hole and knocking him forward onto the ground.

Fluttershy looked up, surprised as she saw two figures fast approaching. It was Tom and Shining Armor. The pair seemed somewhat disheveled and fatigued already, almost like they had been dealing with their own scuffle before arriving.

Off to the side, while the battle was still waging on around her, the pale pegasus mare that initially started the ambush stepped back from the fray and looked around as the tides started shifting out of their favor.

With the group reunited, more and more vampires started falling under their combined efforts. Soon, they were even starting to outnumber the pale ponies.

“Crap…” The pale pegasus muttered to herself before darting her eyes around in search of a solution. There was no way they were winning this now. Then again, maybe they didn’t have to.

Amidst the constant fighting, Rainbow Dash looked up at the sound of wings. She was surprised to see one of the pale ponies flying away. “Hey! That one’s getting away!” She pointed out, preparing to go after the pegasus until she noticed Rarity squealing for help ahead of her.

Seeing that the fight was starting to go in their favor, Glimmer Shine stepped back and took out his crossbow. He lined up a shot toward the fleeing mare, but hesitated and eventually refrained as he realized that his target was out of range.

“Dangit…” The stallion muttered before shifting his attention to the stragglers and pulling out his knife so he could help his friends with cleaning up.

Soon after, the group managed to dispatch the last of the remaining pale ponies as Tom took the head off a unicorn stallion.

The human stood there as the pony’s body evaporated into ashes, panting and catching his breath. Luckily, he hadn’t suffered any visible injury, so he didn’t have to make up an excuse to his friends for not healing. He did, however, feel several bruises coming on.

Off to the side, Glitterball helped Sparkplug off the ground, briefly examining her friend for injuries before turning toward the others. “Is everypony ok?”

“I think we’re alright… all things considered.” Applejack noted, frowning a bit at a few cuts and bruises shared between her friends. Luckily, nobody was hurt badly enough to warrant medical attention.

“Tell that to my chiropractor…” Sparkplug groaned, resting a hoof on her lower back and stretching out some of the knots she had been twisted into during the fight.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash seemed more concerned with something else as she hovered nearby and stared off toward the distant forest. “Shouldn’t we be going after that mare?”

“Yeah, she could lead us straight back to them!” Sunspot suggested, ready to go flying off with her cyan companion in hot pursuit. They might not have been able to see the pale mare with this much of a head start, but they could track her with their detectors.

Glimmer Shine rested a hoof on the suited pegasus’ back, bringing her back to the ground once more. “No need. We already know where they’re going.”

Shining Armor perked up at this. “You do?”

“Yeah.” Glitterball nodded. “One of the locals told us about a spooky castle out in the woods. It’s supposed to belong to a griffon warlord way back when who, get this, was rumored to drink the blood of his enemies.”

“That sure s-sounds spooky…” Fluttershy cringed at the mere thought.

“It also sounds like a prime candidate for housing the materials some alicorn would need to turn themselves into a vampire.” Tom reasoned.

“That’s good enough for me,” Shining said before adopting a serious expression as he turned to the group. “Glimmer Shine, come look for the local guard outpost with me. Rainbow Dash, Sunspot, do a sweep of the town from the air and see if you can find any survivors or more of those pale ponies. The rest of you, pack up and get ready to leave. As soon as we get word for some backup to come and secure this place, I want us airborne.”

“You got it, boss.” Sunspot said, saluting even though she wasn't really a guard. She along with her cyan companion darted into the air to begin their surveillance of the area.

Tom walked up to the two stallions as they prepared to leave. “You guys want me to come with you?”

Glimmer Shine shared a glance with Shining Armor before smiling confidently. “Nah, I think we’re good. Those vamps played their hoof already, so I doubt if there’s any more of them here. Just give me a call if you feel anything off.”

“Besides that, I’d feel a lot better if you stayed here and kept an eye on the girls.” Shining Armor added.

“Alright… but you two better be careful.” Tom cautioned.

And with that, the group started making preparations to leave as they watched the two stallions break off. The various pegasus guards that had joined the fight hooked themselves back in line with their respective carriage teams, and the seven mares and their human friend settled down in the carriages and recuperated.

However, they couldn’t rest easy just yet. They knew that they still had a long night left ahead of them, and they still had friends left in danger that needed rescuing.