Angel of Justice: Blood Moon

With the ceaseless wind whipping in through the windows, carrying flakes of snow and a layer of frost from outside, Tom stared ahead at Celestia, a silent mixture of emotions boiling under his skin, foremost of which was dread, regret, and worry. Really, it was mostly worry.

Worry that he would somehow end up killing the princess. Worry that he would fail and reveal to his friends just how fragile he was getting.

Fragile. It was an odd sensation. He hadn’t quite felt like this since he had become a slayer. He felt fear plenty of times, sure, but that was mostly fear of losing his new friends. Now, he was fearful for his own life to some degree.

Seeing that the alicorn wasn't making the first move, Tom walked forward at a slow pace. His footsteps echoed unimpeded through the spacious room, letting the fact sink in that he was alone, save for the pale pony standing across the way.

“Princess… are you in there still?” Tom spoke up as he approached, only to receive no answer. He paused, keeping a good distance still between them, as he noticed the blank look in her eyes. She was watching him, not quite like a hawk, but like a living statue. If a statue could move its head and blink, casting its uncaring gaze at a passerby, that was rather like what the alicorn was doing.

Suddenly, however, her eyes clarified slightly. She blinked hard, shifting slightly and producing a confused mutter.

“Wh… where am-” She paused as she looked around, only to find the human standing ahead of her. “Tom?”

“Princess?” Tom spoke again, a bit more hopeful.

Celestia’s eyes widened as she realized what she was doing. It wasn't by accident that she had been ordered to come here. “Oh no… Tom, stay back! I don’t know how long I have until he orders me to attack you, or the thirst returns!”

Tom stayed where he was, though he intended to do that anyway. “Have you drank any blood?” He asked, getting right to the point while she was lucid.

“No… I haven’t, but-” Celestia paused as she started sniffing, her eyes losing focus ever so slightly. “You… h-have blood on you.”

“Yeah… I guess I do.” Tom smiled nervously, glancing down to his arm. He wasn't sure if she was referring to the dried blood from his wound, or the blood in his body, and he wasn't sure which one would be worse. “Oh well… at least you can be cured.”

Suddenly, the alicorn took a step forward, and then another. She sniffed at the air, her lips curling back in a feral snarl that revealed her fangs as the light of consciousness flickered in her eyes, replaced with bloody instinct.

“Assuming you don’t turn me into a raisin right here and now…” The boy took a step back, reluctantly placing a hand on the hilt of his sword.

Celestia stalked forward a few more steps before she ground to a halt and clenched her eyes shut. She shook her head and grit her teeth, her newly acquired fangs poking into her bottom lip and drawing a bit of discolored blood, though she didn’t seem to care if she noticed.

“Ngh… n-no.” She growled, squinting an eye open to look at the human. “Please… please… run away! I don’t want… to… f-fight you!”

“You know I can’t do that,” Tom said with a flat expression. He took a step forward slowly. “But I can help you. I have something I can inject you with that should knock you out long enough for us to bring you back to Canterlot. After that, we can work on curing you.”

“Th… that sounds… wonderful… T-Tom…” Celestia panted, clutching a hoof to her head. “But… I’m afraid that… if you get any closer, I-I… I’ll lose my..self.” She took a moment, cringing and using every ounce of willpower she had not to pay attention to the tickle in her nose and the pain in her stomach. “Just… l-leave the syringe here. I-I’ll inject it… myself.”

“Ok.” Tom nodded. “That sounds like a great idea.” He smirked. Even when she was inflicted with vampirism, the alicorn was still the wisest in the room. He took out the syringe from up his sleeve and uncovered the needle. He then set it on the floor and started backing away.

Once the human was backed against the far wall, Celestia figured that he was far enough away for her to look up. She took a few deep breaths, taking care not to breathe through her nose and get another whiff of the sweet aroma teasing her senses, and lit up her horn.

Tom watched as the princess hovered the needle over and picked it up with her hoof. She examined it for a moment, briefly surprised to see that it was filled with a familiar red fluid, before looking up to the human.

“It might sting a little… ok, a lot. So, be ready for that.” He stated sympathetically.

Celestia flashed the boy a small smile before bringing the needle up to her neck. “Believe me… it will be worth the p-”

All at once, the needle clattered to the floor as the alicorn’s mouth fell agape. The reds of her eyes flashed a bit, and her pupils lost focus.

“Princess?” Tom asked as he watched her forelegs drop to the floor limply. He knew just what that look meant, and he did not like it one bit. “Oh boy…”

Soon enough, the dazed and unfocused eyes shifted to look at him. Celestia tensed the muscles in her neck and cringed, trying her best not to follow whatever order she just received, but despite her struggles, she stood up and inched forward like her body was being pulled along by strings.

“Princess, you have to fight him. He doesn’t own you yet.” Tom said, moving away from the wall and keeping a hand on his sword. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I… c-can’t.” Celestia strained, stumbling and pausing in an attempt at halting herself to no avail. “Do what you must… It’s… n-not just him.” She growled, a bit of saliva falling as she hyperventilated through her teeth.

“What do you mean?” Tom asked, keeping a healthy distance that was getting less healthy by the second.

“Hhh… huh…” Celestia panted in between cringing and averting her eyes. Soon, her movements stopped altogether as she clutched a hoof to her head and dragged it down. “Hhh...ung...ry…” She snarled, the sound shifting to something unnatural and vicious as she looked up. Now, a familiar sense of hostility and instinct was returned to her eyes as she looked at the boy like a blue-suited extra rare steak.

Tom swallowed as he slowly drew his sword and glanced up at the needle on the floor behind the alicorn, and then down to his backpack a few feet away. “Yeah… I was afraid of that.”

Without warning, Celestia produced a feral outcry and galloped forward at manic speed. The boy barely had time to react and formulate a plan before she was pouncing in the air toward him, hooves outstretched. Acting on sheer instinct alone, Tom ducked to the side and jammed his elbow into the alicorn’s ribs, barely even nudging her as she sailed past due to her size and his waning strength.

Not even stopping to watch her land, he made a full sprint for his bag. He could already hear the sounds of hooves skidding on stone before galloping to pursue him much faster than he could run, but as long as he reached his bag and the contents inside, he didn’t care.

Making a leap and reaching out, Tom managed to barely clutch the top of the bag in one hand, before he felt a tug on his leg. A forceful tug.

Forceful enough, in fact, to yank his full weight backward into the air and swing him to the side before releasing, sending his bag to the floor in the far corner and sending him flying into one of the windows with a fearful yell and a painful thunk.

His ribs struck the ironwork in the window, while his shoulder smacked right into the cornerstones beside it. He wasn't going fast enough to break something, but he definitely felt like he had as he crumpled to the floor with an agonizing groan.

“Ok…” Tom panted, cringing as he waited for his body to stop ringing. “Really missing that healing factor… right about now.”

Hearing an agitated yell and some rapidly approaching hooves, Tom lifted his head to see the pale alicorn charging toward him before leaping forward, fangs bared and death in her eyes. Thankfully, however, he also saw his sword, which he was somehow still clutching in his other hand.

Rolling onto his side, the boy quickly brought up his blade and held the flat part out with his other hand to brace. Celestia crashed right into him, attempting to grab him and pull him close so she could rip into him with her fangs, only to have a faintly glowing blade pressed into her chest.

The superior strength of the alicorn might have been too much for the human to effectively push back, but before she could overpower him, a burning sensation seared into her chest.

Celestia yelped in pain and recoiled backward a good distance. She looked down to see faint smoke coming off her form and then trailed her eyes up angrily at the luminescent blue blade that her prey was carrying.

Spotting an opportunity, Tom pushed his still aching body up from the floor. He adopted a more guarded stance as he faced the princess before darting his eyes to the side where his bag was. She was closer to it than he was, and something told him that she wasn't going to let him anywhere near it.

He then shifted his attention to the needle still on the floor where Celestia dropped it. It was just waiting there for him, and all he had to do was reach it. Not that such a task would be easy.

“Can’t we just call time out for five seconds?” Tom whined, only to have the alicorn growl at him and stalk forward. He twitched his sword up into a loose fighting stance, though his movements were hesitant.

Celestia inched toward him, lowering herself to be ready to pounce at any moment. He put his weight forward, attempting to dissuade her from approaching with his sword, but she didn’t seem to care.

Finally, the pale mare bolted toward him with a hiss. Tom cringed as he debated whether or not to make good on his aggressive stance. He could easily move to slash her, but the thought of that was too much for him. As she approached and eventually passed his outstretched blade, he finally yelled and kicked out at her.

The boy’s foot impacted with her chest, stunning her backward slightly. Not wasting this brief opportunity, Tom ran to the side, making a break for the needle on the floor. He barely made it halfway before he was tackled to the floor, sending his sword clattering out of his grip and sliding away.

“Gah!” Tom yelped, or at least started to, before his face was smacked into the floor roughly. He heard Celestia reel her head back and get ready to bite into his neck. Just as she came down, he bucked his head back, catching her muzzle with his skull. As she briefly grunted in pain, he kicked his foot up into her knee with a disconcerting crack, sending her hind leg flying out from under her.

Celestia yelped angrily. She barely had time to even glare at the human before he twisted his body, reaching up and shoving into her side. Because of her newly throbbing leg, she was off-balance, and he took full advantage of this fact as he pushed with all his might, sending her tumbling over him and onto the floor beside him.

In an instant, Tom shot up from the floor and leaped onto her, putting his full weight down onto her chest. He pinned her forelegs with one hand and winded back with the other while making a fist.

“Sorry about this!” He winced before letting loose with as strong a punch he could make in his current state.

Celestia caught the boy’s fist right on her temple as she looked up at him. He probably intended on knocking her out, but her unnatural stamina and resilience allowed her to take the strike and the resulting smack into the stone floor in her stride. Only now, the animalistic bloodthirsty side of her that was in control was thoroughly livid.

Tom winded back for another blow, but before he could throw his next punch, the alicorn bucked her head forward. Much to his surprise, she aimed her horn right into his shoulder, piercing clean through his shirt and stabbing him.

“AGH!” Tom cried out in agony, clutching both hands to his shoulder, which was erupting in excruciating pain. He then felt a hoof smacking into him with terrible strength, ripping him off the sharp point of the horn and sending him tumbling backward.

After he settled, he clutched at the admittedly small hole in his shoulder, which was now spilling out blood. Since he could still use his arm, he figured that the wound wasn't deep enough to impair him beyond the pain, but the pain was nothing to shrug at.

Pushing himself up on one arm, Tom looked up to see how far he was from getting chewed on. Surprisingly, the alicorn was still getting up herself, and he could soon see why.

Celestia’s back left knee was unnaturally bent, and the leg seemed like it couldn’t hold her weight anymore. However, as she stood up, feral hunger and anger burning in her crimson eyes, she forcibly popped the leg back into its natural orientation, masking the pain with a snarl. Her horn was tipped in blood now, though not enough to drip.

“Gah… I always thought you could put an eye out on those things.” He muttered to himself, managing to get to his feet again. He rotated his wounded shoulder, cringing and getting used to the pain so it wouldn’t hinder him later. He then squared up and prepared to evade whatever attack was coming next.

-Elsewhere-

The air was somber and quiet as Shining Armor’s group pressed forward, following the readings from Sunspot and Sparkplug’s vials.

However quiet it was at the moment, a tense mixture of emotions was boiling just under the surface for much of the group, ranging from sadness, to dread, and even anger.

Sunspot stared ahead at Shining Armor with a sour look on her face. She snorted and furrowed her expression before taking a moment to try and put words to what she was feeling. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into leaving him there.” She spoke finally.

Shining Armor glanced back to see the pegasus directing a bit of a glare in his direction. “It was the best option we had to avoid someone getting hurt.” He said, though his lack of eye contact seemed to betray his words.

“What about Tom?! Doesn’t he count?!” Sunspot snapped, catching Sparkplug off guard and triggering a bit of a jump from both Pinkie and Spike, who were trailing along behind the group.

“Of course he counts.” Shining Armor said earnestly. “He’s my friend too.”

“It really seems like it… But I guess I’m one to talk. I left too.” Sunspot trailed her eyes down, her stiff expression softening after a moment.

“But… Tom told us to leave. We should trust him… right?” Pinkie chimed in from the back.

A sigh parted Sunspot’s lips. “Pinkie… normally I’d agree with you, but this is the princess he’s fighting. He can’t just run up to her and-” She paused as she looked back to see Spike. The dragon was plodding along with his arms crossed and had been staring at the floor, but now he was looking to her with soft eyes and listening intently to the conversation. “He… can’t just do what he normally does, and his powers can only take him so far.”

There was silence again for an uncomfortable stretch of time as the group digested her words.

After a moment, Sparkplug looked over and opened her mouth to say something, only to trail her eyes away and close it again. She rubbed her shoulder against the cold before slowly getting up the courage to speak her mind.

“Sunspot… I think Tom knew what he was doing when he asked us to leave.” She reasoned. “I mean, think about it. We can’t do anything to the princess. We would just get in the way and get ourselves hurt, or worse.”

“Sparkplug’s right.” Shining Armor added. “The best thing we can do right now is to find Twilight. After we do that, and after Tom neutralizes Celestia, we can leave.”

Sunspot remained silent for a moment before her eyes fell along with her expression. “If something happens to him… it’s our fault. You know that, right?”

Shining Armor didn’t answer, and although the others couldn’t see, he trailed his eyes downward briefly. He knew she was right. Still, the stallion had a job to do, and not just because Tom insisted. He had to find his little sister if it was the last thing he did.

Meanwhile, Pinkie looked down to check on Spike, only to find him with a troubled look on his face. He was staring off into space, shifting his eyes around and wrinkling his lip. He almost looked like he wanted to say something.

“Spike, what’s wrong?” Pinkie asked, ever sympathetic.

The dragon broke free from his thoughts and looked up. Apparently, his internal crisis was a lot more external than he first intended. “Nothing.” He lied.

Pinkie frowned. “Come on, what is it? You can tell me.”

Spike bit the inside of his lip and averted his eyes. “Pinkie… can I ask you something?”

“Of course, silly.” She smiled.

“O-ok…” Spike swallowed uncomfortably. “If you knew a secret about someone, and they told you not to tell anyone… but then that person got into trouble because of that secret… what would you do?”

Noticing that the young dragon was being quiet, Pinkie took the hint and craned her neck to be close enough to whisper. “Well… I would try to help them however I could.”

“And… w-what if helping them out was dangerous?”

Pinkie softened her eyes with worry. “Spike, why are you asking stuff like that? Is something wrong?”

Spike pulled away slightly. “No, no… everything’s fine. I was just… curious.”

After a moment of thought, Pinkie’s already troubled expression deepened. “Is this about Tom?” She asked, watching him for a reaction, to which he stiffened up suddenly. “Oh gosh… it is about Tom? Spike… what’s going on?”

“I can’t tell you!” Spike said a bit louder than he intended before darting his eyes to see the others still walking ahead. He turned to the pink mare with shimmering eyes and jittery movements as he clasped his hands together. “Please, Pinkie… I really wish I could tell you, but I can’t. Just please don’t tell anyone I said anything.”

Pinkie frowned, but before she could respond, a loud buzz drew their attention forward. Both Sunspot and Sparkplug looked down to their gear, where a single vial was glowing yellow and vibrating in their hooves.

“Looks like we’re getting closer.” Sparkplug noted, shifting her attention to the other vial full of glowing sand.

“Yeah, and it looks like we aren’t the only ones dropping in on this party,” Sunspot added.

Shining Armor turned and looked at the vial in the pegasus’ hoof. He might not have fully understood how the charm worked, but he gathered that a nearly fully glowing evil detector was a bad sign.

"You think it's a trap?" He asked.

"I think it's a bit weird that we've only fought three vampires in this spooky vampire-infested castle since we got here." Sunspot replied.

"Well…" Shining sighed before turning back ahead. "Let’s not be late to our own surprise party, I guess." He motioned for the others to follow and started walking again.

The two suited ponies gave each other a hesitant glance before heading to join the stallion. As they were about to round the corner, Sparkplug looked back and noticed that Pinkie and Spike weren’t behind her. "Come on, guys. Don't fall behind." She waved.

Pinkie looked to Spike and frowned softly, seemingly contemplating whether or not to hold up progress to continue her conversation with the dragon.

"We'll talk about this later." Pinkie said quietly, giving the dragon a nudge with her hoof to get him moving with her.

Spike was equal parts relieved and unsettled as they rushed to rejoin their friends. He wasn't sure what to expect as they neared their goal. He only hoped that they would find Twilight unharmed and that they wouldn’t have a run-in with the sadistic alicorn that kidnapped them in the first place.

As they rounded the corner, the group was presented with yet another hallway. However, this one had a large set of double doors set into the left wall just ahead.

Sparkplug and Sunspot both converged their vials. Both the sand-filled vial and the vial of yellow liquid were glowing brightly when they pointed toward the left.

“They’re in there… whoever they are.” Sunspot said, letting her detector retract on its pullcord and pulling out her crossbow.

“It’s Twilight… it has to be,” Shining said.

“But what about the yellow light? I thought that was bad?” Spike chimed in.

“Reading’s too strong to make much of a guess about how many are in there.” Sunspot explained with a shrug. “For what it’s worth, I think it would be reacting a lot more to that alicorn if he were here.”

“You think or you know?” Sparkplug asked.

“Sparkplug… sometimes ignorance is bliss.”

“Yeah, and this is not one of those times.” Sparkplug replied tensely.

Sunspot tilted her head and cocked her bow. “Hey… you wanted to hunt monsters.”

Sparkplug looked over to see Spike looking up to her like she was one of the only things standing between him and an undetermined number of bloodthirsty ponies with superpowers, which she basically was. She wrinkled her lip and sighed as she pulled out her dagger. “I did want to hunt monsters…”

With everyone as ready as they could be, Shining Armor gave a slight nod to his companions as he grabbed hold of the intricately carved doors with his magic.

The stallion gave a quick shove, and the doors slid open with a deep wooden groan and minimal drag. Immediately the flickering orange light of fire greeted them from overhead.

Looking around, the ponies found a vast space, carpeted in what was once a deep rose color. Chandeliers full of blazing torches hung down from rafters high above them, providing much of the light in the room alongside wall sconces.

The ponies quickly realized why these were the only doors on this side of the hallway. The entire space led to this one room. It must have been the great hall of the castle, evidenced by the cracked wooden throne directly ahead of them, which had a familiar purple shape lying on the ground just in front of it.

“Twily!” Shining called out as he laid eyes on the form of his sister. She was bound on the floor, gagged by some kind of red rope-like substance and staring up at them. The purple mare wiggled against her bindings and made a muffled noise as she saw her friends and her brother.

Without even taking a moment to think, Shining Armor bolted forward into the room.

“Shining, wait!” Sunspot reached after the stallion to no avail, the readings from her detection vial forefront in her mind as she darted her eyes around the seemingly empty room. There were some tables and cupboards toward the sides of the room that could be hidden under or inside, but otherwise it seemed like nothing but wide open space.

Uncaring of any danger that he might be running into, Shining bolted straight to his little Twily. He knelt down as he reached her and held her up as he examined both her and her bindings. Thankfully she seemed relatively unharmed, but the red substance keeping her hooves tied together was bizarre, to say the least.

As he gently took the gag out of her mouth, Twilight took a quick breath before looking up to the stallion with alarm in her eyes.

“Shining, it’s a trap!” She exclaimed.

Shining merely smiled at her. “You really think a trap is going to keep me from rescuing my little s-”

A deep growl filled the air, cutting the stallion off. It was unlike the growls they had heard before. The mere sound of it sent a tingle down their spines.

“What… in the name of Celestia, Luna, and everything that is holy and decent, was that?!” Sparkplug said, darting her wide eyes around the room and keeping her dagger clutched tight. She nearly jumped out of her skin as both Pinkie Pie and Spike backed into her.

Meanwhile, a different sort of dread and fear slowly welled up in Sunspot as she realized something. She had heard that growl before.

“Oh no… not this again.”

Twilight and Shining looked up to follow the sound, only to see a chandelier above them. The shadows cast by the torches surrounding the decoration made it difficult to see much of the rafters above.

Then, a set of red dots opened up. And then another, and another.

All at once, three gaunt shapes stepped out of the darkness and loomed over the sides of the rafters, staring down at the two unicorns with empty, hungry eyes.

A cold chuckle echoed through the room, causing the ponies to dart their eyes around before converging on two more shapes in the rafters above the door. A pair of pale ponies were standing precariously on the same plank, uncaring of how high up they were as they watched the group below them with unsettling smiles.

“Did you really think the Prince would just let you come in here and take his toys?” A pink earth pony mare with curly yellow hair cackled down at the group.

The beige earth stallion beside her smirked as he brushed his green hair out of his face. His cutie mark seemed to indicate a more rustic talent, perhaps farm work. “Sugar, don’t be rude. I think it was nice of them to come all this way to entertain our friends.” He looked up to the three gaunt ponies in the rafters eagerly. “Careful… they play rough.”

Almost as if they were given the go-ahead, the three figures all barked and leaped down from the ceiling toward the two unicorns, revealing hollow expressions and mouths full of sharp teeth.

“AHH!” Twilight screamed and reeled back to the floor as she watched the creatures heading straight for her.

Shining Armor raced to cast a defensive spell, and with a quick spark of magical energies, a shield formed around him and his sister. The three monstrous ponies all landed on the shield, with two of them finding balance on the forcefield and one of them bouncing off like a bird hitting glass.

Uncaring of the obstacle in their way, the trio started biting and clawing at the glowing magenta barrier, offering Twilight and Shining a disturbingly close look at them. Two were regular ponies, while one seemed to be a guard.

Their skin looked like it would crack and fall off if it were touched. Clumps of yellow, green, and white fur clung to them, along with tufts of dull-colored hair, offering some hint at their previous identity. The skin around their flanks was so stretched and distorted, and so much fur was missing that it was hard to see their cutie marks. They all feverishly groped and snapped and gnawed to get at the pair like it was their only purpose in life. They resembled animals more than ponies, and it wasn't just because of their disfigured lanky appearance.

“Twilight, take this and teleport over to the others.” Shining Armor instructed, briefly glancing at his sister and handing her his dagger before looking around at the three creatures. “I’ll be fine.”

Twilight’s ears fell. “I can’t do that… The guy that brought us here cut anti-magic symbols into me.” She explained softly.

“He what?!” Shining turned, only to reel back slightly as she moved her mane out of the way, revealing some kind of symbol crudely carved into her skin. The mere sight made him soften his face with concern before narrowing his eyes angrily. “When I get my hooves on that guy…”

Meanwhile, Sunspot and the others watched the three creatures attacking their friends with tense expressions. While Spike and Pinkie didn’t have much of anything to effectively strike back with, the two suited mares were a different story.

“Hit ‘em where it hurts, Sparkplug.” Sunspot said, aiming her crossbow for one of the two beasts on top of Shining Armor’s shield.

“R-right.” Sparkplug replied, taking a quick breath and steadying her bow as she leveled it toward the one on the floor.

After a brief moment of synchronizing, they both had their targets in sight.

“Fire!” Sunspot shouted, and with that, they both pulled their triggers.

The pegasus’ bolt zipped straight into the green-furred earth pony, hitting it right in the side. Twilight and Shining Armor watched as the creature erupted into burning embers with a sharp howl before its skeleton collapsed on top of the bubble and scattered into ash.

Sparkplug’s bolt, however, smacked into the shield right beside her mark, harmlessly bouncing off. The yellow furred feral pegasus stopped what it was doing and snapped its head to the side with an unsettling pop.

“Uh oh…” Sparkplug muttered, staring at the creatures as they both turned to look at her and her friends.

With a ferocious growl, the yellow creature barked at the group before bounding toward them, its friend hopping off the shield and running to join it.

“AHH!” Spike, Pinkie, and Sparkplug all screamed in unison, while Sunspot merely fumbled to pull out her dagger.

Before the two feral ponies could reach their prey, they smacked into another glowing barrier. The three mares and their young companion looked up to see that a magical bubble had been formed around the beasts, trapping them inside. They then noticed that Shining Armor and Twilight no longer had a shield around them, though the stallion’s horn was still aglow.

“Phew… That was close.” Pinkie deflated with relief, offering a slight wave to the two unicorns. Suddenly, her eyes widened as she looked up, only to catch movement in the rafters. “Oh no… Look out!”

Shining Armor and Twilight looked up just in time to see two figures lunging towards them. They both yelped and backed up, going in different directions as the other two vampires landed where they just were.

“You unicorns always think you can just solve everything with magic!” The pink mare snarled, baring her fangs as she loomed closer to Shining Armor. She reeled her hoof back before shooting it toward his face. “I’d like to see you magic your way out of this!”

Shining Armor jumped back, narrowly dodging the mare’s hoof. He looked to the side, where the remaining two strigoi were being contained by his shield, before darting his eyes ahead to see his sister backing away from the pale stallion. “Twilight!”

Twilight glanced up to her brother before a growl drew her attention back to the red eyes fixated on her. She produced a timid squeak and held out the silver dagger, hoping to dissuade the stallion from getting any closer. Even with the dagger, she felt defenseless without her magic.

Seeing the danger their friends were in, Sparkplug and Sunspot leaped into action. They both rushed around either side of the magical bubble, ignoring the two creatures gnashing at them from inside.

Sunspot reached down to her suit, slipping her hoof into her ammo pouch only to find it to be empty. "Dangit… out of bolts." She cursed under her breath before rushing to put away her bow and pull out her popper. "Time to try this out." She said, a hint of trepidation to her voice.

With a quick twist, the cap to the vial gave a slight click, indicating that it was now ready to fire. She leveled it toward the mare attacking Shining Armor, grit her teeth, and flinched an eye closed as she pushed the button.

A startling bang sounded through the room as a flash of green light painted the area around Sunspot. Almost instantly, a spray of discolored blood came from the pale mare’s side from a newly formed hole.

"AGH!" She yelped and clutched at the wound. As she looked to see what happened, she could see that her fur was singed around the impact site.

Before she could even glare at the pegasus, she looked over to see Shining Armor rushing for her. He grappled her, throwing his forelegs around her and holding on for dear life as she cried and hissed, trying to get him off.

Meanwhile, Sparkplug quickly loaded her crossbow and took aim at the stallion backing Twilight into a corner. Although her previous miss weighed heavy on her mind, she suppressed her doubts and fired.

The stallion twitched an ear as the gray mare’s bow discharged. He raced to dodge out of the way, but even with his enhanced reflexes, he still caught the bolt in his hind leg.

Immediately, the stallion yelled in pain as his leg crumbled into ash from the knee down. He stumbled back and brought a hoof to the brittle remains of his limb, but he barely had time to process what to do next before a glint of silver in the torchlight drew his attention forward.

Taking advantage of the opportunity presented to her, Twilight stabbed her dagger at the stallion with a yell. Much to her surprise, her attack was halted as he grabbed her hoof.

The dagger sizzled against part of the stallion’s hoof, but he pushed through the pain and kept his hold on her as she struggled to pull back or push the dagger forward.

Hearing the sound of frantic hooves approaching, both of them looked to the side to see Sparkplug charging right for them. The gray mare yelled as she tackled the pale pony, sending him to the ground.

The stallion grunted as he struggled to keep Twilight’s dagger under control at the same time as pushing Sparkplug away, but it was clear that he was favoring the unicorn.

"Gah!” Twilight yelped as her hoof was wrenched to the side painfully. Her grip on her dagger loosened as she struggled to stop the stallion from snapping her wrist.

The pale pony glared up at her with sinister intent. In one swift motion, he brought his hoof away from Sparkplug and reached up, grabbing the now limp dagger by its non-silvery handle and flipping it around in a slash at the unicorn’s body.

Twilight flinched and backed up, but not before catching the tip of the blade across her chest. She squeaked in pain and clutched at the newly formed cut, which stung like crazy for its small size.

With his first attack successful, the stallion smirked and prepared to stab up into Sparkplug’s gut. Just before he could, he looked up and widened his eyes as he saw that the gray mare had produced her own silver dagger.

“NO!” The stallion cried out, far too late to stop her as Sparkplug stabbed into his chest with a grunt of exertion. Almost immediately, the pale pony’s form ignited, spreading out from the knife and overtaking him as he rocked his head back and screamed.

Over on the other side of the room, the vampiric mare in Shining Armor’s grasp looked up as she heard her companion’s cry. She widened her eyes as she witnessed the stallion’s form collapsing into ash.

“Honey!” She yelled, her jaw falling slack for a moment before her eyes flared with anger. “You bitch! I’ll kill you both for that!” She barked, struggling against the stallion holding her with renewed vigor.

Shining Armor cringed as the pink mare butted her head back into his nose. Still, he kept holding on, doing his best to simultaneously concentrate on his spell keeping the other creatures contained.

Hearing someone approaching, both the mare and Shining looked up to see Sunspot rushing up to them, brandishing a knife in her hoof. She swiped at the mare’s chest, only to receive a kick to the jaw as the pale pony leaned back onto Shining Armor to free her hind legs.

The impact sent Sunspot stumbling back onto her haunches. Her entire muzzle throbbed with pain, and she could taste a bit of blood already. Looking back up, she snorted angrily and yelled as she rushed forward again.

As the pair struggled to land a killing blow on the pale mare, both Twilight and Sparkplug, and Pinkie and Spike drew closer. The four were unsure of what they could do from this range without risking injury to Shining or Sunspot, but they had to do something. The pale mare was somehow managing to keep both of them at bay by kicking, biting, and ducking.

Throwing an elbow into Shining’s stomach, the mare used the moment he lurched forward with a pained grunt to buck him off, sending him tumbling to the floor. She then looked up and dodged to the side as Sunspot made another stab at her.

Sunspot made a few swipes at the agile mare, hoping to catch her enough to distract her with a wound long enough to land a more solid hit. She jabbed toward her chest, only for the pale pony to grab her foreleg, and then her other foreleg.

“Gah! Get off!” Sunspot protested, trying to shake free of the mare’s grasp. Her annoyance shifted to alarm as she realized that she couldn’t move effectively.

The pale mare smirked hungrily and opened her jaw wide, revealing her fangs. She grasped the struggling pegasus tight and held her head, exposing the orange pony’s neck before lunging forward.

Just before Sunspot could feel sharp teeth piercing into her windpipe, a small zap came from the side as a bolt of light smacked into the pale pony. A shower of colorful sparks showered off the vampiric mare, eliciting a slight yelp and drawing her attention to the side.

Both of them looked over to see Pinkie Pie opening fire with her strobe. The tiny vial flashed and smoked as she sent burst after burst toward the one assailing her friends.

“Ow!” The mare flinched at the slight burning sensation from each impact. She lifted a free foreleg and did her best to block the blasts, but she wasn't having much luck.

Looking up, she realized that the ponies were about to gang up on her. Sparkplug and Twilight were rushing toward her, and Shining Armor was about to attempt to grapple her again.

However, just before she started to panic, her eyes shifted to the magical bubble in the middle of the room, and to the two feral ponies still trapped inside. A slight smirk crossed her face as she saw how close the three mares and young dragon were standing to the barrier.

Shifting her weight onto one hind leg, the pale mare looked back to see Shining Armor running straight for her. She kicked out at his foreleg, catching him in the joint and causing the limb to buckle.

“AH!” Shining yelled and nearly went to the floor. Before he could even clutch his new injury, he looked up and saw the mare recovering from her kick, and preparing another.

*Whack*

With a rattling impact to the head, Shining was knocked back into the wall, hitting the back of his head as well. His eyes immediately fluttered as he stumbled and slid to the floor, briefly falling out of consciousness.

As the stallion lost consciousness, his horn died out. Twilight and the others froze as they all realized what this meant for them.

Pinkie and Spike darted their eyes to the side just in time to watch the magical bubble next to them vanish, leaving them staring headlong into a pair of hollow pits with red dots staring back at them. A guttural snarl reverberated out of the decrepit pegasus as it inched forward.

"AHHH!!" The pair screamed at the top of their lungs as the lanky creature pounced toward them.

"Pinkie, Spike!" Twilight’s face paled as she watched her friends being attacked. Before she could even think of something to do to help, a bark drew her attention to the side, where the second creature was already in midair heading toward her with its maw open.

Twilight felt her heart skip and her body seize. A startled shriek died in her throat as she backed up, though she knew that it was far too late.

Suddenly, Twilight felt a shove from the side. She grunted and slid to the floor, only to look up just in time to watch the creature plowing into Sparkplug.

"No!" Twilight yelped, helpless to stop whatever was about to happen in time.

Sparkplug produced a fearful squeak as the gaunt guard lunged down at her, saliva falling from its jagged teeth. It bit down at her neck.

There was a wet squelch and a fountain of blood as a chunk of flesh was ripped free from the gray mare’s foreleg.

Sparkplug screamed in absolute agony as the creature jerked its head away. It was all she could do to prevent the beast from biting her neck, but this was too much for her to bear.

The creature chewed and swallowed in a sickening instant of gnashing teeth and slurping, and it was ready for more.

Sparkplug could barely see straight. She clutched her newly created wound, but she couldn’t stop the blood from pouring out, staining her coat and vest, coating the floor in warm sticky crimson. All she could do was avert her eyes and keep her forelegs close as the maw of teeth descended on her again.

All at once, the sound of flesh being pierced rang out. Instead of feeling a bite ripping into her, Sparkplug suddenly felt the weight on top of her lessen as a cloud of what felt like dust collapsed onto her. She uncovered her face and looked up, only to see Twilight standing next to her, jutting a dagger into thin air where the creature once was. The gray mare was covered in dim embers and ash, which had scattered along the floor around her as well.

The pair could hardly offer any expression of relief or gratitude, between Sparkplug’s pain and Twilight’s nerves, but they couldn’t even linger for a moment as their thoughts turned to their friends.

Twilight turned to see a similar scene to what she just intervened in. The feral pegasus was lying on top of Pinkie Pie, trying to bite at her. Thankfully, the pink mare had found a better position to put her forelegs in to prevent the creature from reaching anything vital, but she barely had control as it snapped and bit at her.

Off to the side, Spike was watching with wide eyes, unsure of what to do as his friend struggled for her life. Sunspot was still busy wrestling with the pale mare, and Shining Armor was still coming to consciousness. Twilight and Sparkplug were too far away to do anything in time.

“Pinkie!” Spike reached out, inching closer in the hopes of doing something, anything to aid the pink pony. He flinched back as the creature stole a bark in his direction. It even attempted to go after him, but Pinkie was holding her forelegs against its shoulders and keeping it loosely anchored to herself.

Pinkie reeled her head back to the floor as the creature returned its attention to her. She flinched an eye closed and averted the other, catching a glimpse of the young dragon as she looked away from the beast.

“Spike… get away!” She pleaded.

Just then, the creature swiped a lanky foreleg at her, its chipped hoof raking across her face roughly and leaving a slight cut. Her right foreleg slipped momentarily, allowing it to get closer to her neck before she scrambled to shove her hooves into its neck and push it away again, but this time she had to strain just to keep it from inching closer.

In the process of the pink mare rushing to move her foreleg, the strobe she was holding fell out of her hoof and clattered along the floor.

Spike stared at the tiny vial, an intense need to help his friend welling up and overshadowing his petrifying fear. Without even taking a moment to hesitate, he rushed forward and snatched the vial up in his hand before fumbling it around. It took a moment to find the proper orientation and a way to hold it, but once he did, he pointed it at the creature and pushed the button on the cap with his thumb.

Three bursts of colorful light shot out of the tip of the vial and exploded into the feral pegasus. The area around the impacts sizzled and smoked slightly, but other than a slight noise of agitation, it didn’t seem to cause a reaction.

Although, that wasn't entirely accurate. It did cause the creature to jerk its head toward the dragon and growl viciously.

Spike’s arms fell slowly and he backed up a step. The color drained from his face as he stared ahead, eyes wide with fear as the creature singled him out.

Pinkie tried to keep the beast focused on her, even at the risk of her fragile hold on it keeping it away from her neck, but there was nothing she could do to stop it from getting up and pushing off her as it leaped at the dragon.

“SPIKE!” She reached out, unable to tear her eyes away as she expected to watch the gaunt pony snatch up the dragon in its maw.

Just before disaster struck, Spike flinched and shielded his face as all torchlight vanished and the shadow of the looming creature fell over him.

A second went by, and then another. Strangely, he felt no pain.

Squinting one eye open, Spike looked up, only to jump slightly as he saw glowing red eyes and a maw full of teeth, along with two disfigured forelegs reaching for him. However, the form of the creature was outlined in a sparkling magenta aura, and it was floating in the air.

“Shining…?!” Spike blinked, the corners of his mouth rising into a joyous smile as he looked over to see the stallion.

Shining Armor was still on the floor, but he was lifting himself up with one hoof. A dazed look was stuck on his face, but he was staring ahead with as much focus as he could muster with his horn aglow. He then flinched suddenly, and it didn’t take long for the dragon to figure out why.

The creature jerked against its magical prison. Although it didn’t move much, it moved enough to make Spike stumble backward with a nervous yelp. It seemed like this was more of a reprieve than a rescue.

Pinkie rolled over and darted her eyes between the pale yellow pegasus in the air and Spike. She wasn't sure what to do. However, before she was about to rush over and pick the dragon up to flee, she heard someone shouting behind her.

“Pinkie!” Sunspot yelled before a metallic clatter came from just behind the pink mare.

Looking over, Pinkie saw Sunspot still struggling with the pale pony. However, she no longer had her dagger, which was now a short distance away.

Not wanting to waste this opportunity, Pinkie steeled her expression and leaped at the dagger. She picked it up in one hoof and skidded to a halt, spinning in place and rushing toward the floating monster, hoping to reach it before Shining Armor’s hold over it faded.

“Sorry, whoever you are, but I have to do this!” Pinkie shouted as she jumped up and planted the dagger into the yellow pony’s back.

The pegasus let loose an ear-piercing yip as its form tensed. It didn’t even get a chance to move any further before a wave of ashes passed through it, leaving a loosely formed skeleton floating in the magical aura before Shining dropped it scattering to the floor.

Spike and Pinkie gradually looked at each other after they watched the beast being engulfed. The dragon flashed a hesitant smile. Pinkie smiled back, but her expression fell abruptly as her thoughts turned back to Sunspot, who was now weaponless.

Picking up the dagger on the floor, Pinkie spun around and started to rush forward, but she widened her eyes and skidded to a halt at what she found waiting for her.

Now that the vampiric mare’s only ally was gone, she shifted her efforts from attacking to defending. In the time it took the others to turn their attention to her, she wrenched a hoof free and punched Sunspot across the face, hard. Using the pegasus’ stunned recoil, she got behind her and wrapped a foreleg around her neck.

“Hold it right there!” The mare yelled. “If any of you come any closer, I’ll break this featherhead’s neck like a twig!”

Pinkie backed up a step and lowered her dagger as she tensely watched her friend being held hostage. “Ok… ok… please, don’t hurt her.”

Sunspot struggled to get free, but a harsh pressure applied to her neck forced her to stop. She couldn’t even reach down to her suit without getting reminded of her predicament.

Hearing movement off to the side, the pale mare darted her eyes over, only to find Shining Armor getting to his hooves and looking right at her.

“Same goes for you! If I so much as see that horn of yours light up, I’ll kill her!” The mare said, giving shining a disapproving glare.

Shining Armor growled under his breath, but he loosened his posture into a less threatening stance anyway. “Alright… you got us. What do you want?”

“Don’t worry about me, guys. Just kill her and get it over w-” Sunspot croaked suddenly as her windpipe was squeezed and a hoof was pushed against the side of her head. She grasped at the pale pony’s hooves, but her poor positioning and inferior strength made it nigh impossible to do anything meaningful.

“Shut it, you!” The mare instructed tensely. It was clear that she was still uneasy and nervous about her situation, even with her new leverage. She darted her eyes between the ponies, lost in thought before a devious smile crept across her face.

“Alright,” She said, “Here’s what we’re going to do. Y’all are gonna throw down all your weapons and fancy gear, and we’re gonna go see the Prince. If any of you look at me funny, I’ll kill her. If I feel like you’re doing something I don’t like, I’ll kill her. If any of you leave my sight-”

“Let me guess, you’ll kill me?” Sunspot strained, managing a half-smirk before another squeeze forced a cringe.

“You say one more thing! Just see what happens, smartflank!” The pale mare threatened before turning to look at the stallion, who she recognized to be Shining Armor, prince of the Crystal Empire, captain of the royal guard, and the likely leader of this little outfit. “How about it, Captain? The Prince might be feeling generous today. Do you want to maybe die later, or do you want to lose somepony for sure right now?”

Shining Armor felt a heavy knot in his gut as he silently thought about what to do. Sunspot was staring at him, conveying as much as she could through expression and slight head shakes for him not to give in. However, he couldn’t think of any other option where she lived, and he wasn't going to let anyone else die tonight.

“Ok…” He said finally, letting his shoulders sink and hanging his head slightly. “We’ll go with you.”

“Good…” The mare nodded sporadically before giving a slight joyous snort. “Good. Now then,” She shifted her eyes over to the other members of the group. “You, drop that knife.” She instructed to Pinkie before looking to Twilight and Sparkplug. “And you there, head to the door. Slowly.”

Twilight swallowed uneasily as she watched her friends complying with the demands of the vampiric pony. Then again, there wasn't much she could do without her magic. She took a few cautious steps toward the door before she paused and looked back to Sparkplug.

The gray mare was still on her back, lying on the floor and cradling her gruesome wound. She seemed like she might be descending into shock, and her movements were jittery.

“Get up and git movin’!” The pale mare shouted toward Sparkplug.

“She’s hurt… Please, cut her some slack.” Twilight pleaded softly, starting to go back to help the wounded mare up until a pained grunt from Sunspot made her freeze.

“I don’t care, and I didn’t tell you to head back! Get moving!” The pale pony shouted.

Meanwhile, Sunspot trailed her eyes away from Twilight and looked to Sparkplug. Surprisingly, the gray mare was more lucid than she first appeared. Sure, there was a lot of pain in her eyes, but she was looking back at the pegasus, darting her eyes down suggestively. And as she looked down, Sunspot immediately knew why.

“Do you want your friend to die?!” The mare shouted, darting her eyes between Twilight, Pinkie, and Shining Armor. “Get to the door, now!”

“Don’t do it, guys. It’s not worth it.” Sunspot pleaded.

Suddenly, the pale mare tightened her hold and leaned back, causing a strangled croak to escape from the pegasus, who was now squirming for air.

“Didn’t I tell you to shut-”

*POP*

A sound like a firecracker going off filled the room. All at once, a green bolt of light zipped straight into the pale mare, hitting her right in the head. A cloud of red exploded out of both sides of her forehead, rocking her off balance and causing a painful yelp.

“AGH!” The mare yelled as she struggled to maintain her balance. “What the h-”

With that, Sunspot elbowed her in the gut, and then in the jaw. The pegasus wrenched herself forward, managing to free herself and plop to the floor.

The pale mare looked down at Sunspot, an angry scowl forming on her stunned face. However, before she could act on her fury, two more miniature explosions rang out.

*POP* *POP*

Two more green projectiles burned into the mare’s form at lightning-fast speeds. The first ripped through her shoulder, spinning her around to face the second shot, which hit right dead center into her neck.

With wide eyes and a gurgle of pain, the yellow-haired pony fell backward toward the floor. Much to the surprise of the watching group, the bloody hole that had opened up into her neck started to glow, and a ring of embers spread out around it before overtaking the rest of her body.

She didn’t even hit the ground.

Stunned and at a loss for words, the group turned their eyes toward the source of the shots. They found Sparkplug, lying on the ground and holding out her popper, which was smoking at the tip. The liquid showing through the streaks of glass was yellow, and a soft sizzling sound could be heard.

Soon, however, the liquid faded back to green, and the room was silent once more.