Angel of Justice: Blood Moon

The soft sound of metallic clicking and scuffing filled the equipment room as the members of Spirit bided their time. Sparkplug was sitting on a crate by the armor racks, tinkering with a small rectangular device in her hooves absentmindedly.

Glitterball was sitting at the other end of the room. The unicorn was busy polishing her new crossbow and making sure it was in working order. She had a certain anxious look about her that most everyone was feeling internally.

Over to the side, Glimmer Shine was seemingly doing some warm-up exercises, with his fully outfitted vest sitting nearby, ready to go at a moment’s notice.

Everyone looked up as an audible groan announced the presence of Sunspot. The orange mare was dragging her flight suit behind her, and she had bags under her eyes. She plopped down on the floor next to Sparkplug and began checking through her equipment to make sure everything was ready.

“Sweet Celestia, Sunspot. You look terrible.” Sparkplug noted.

Sunspot grumbled and looked over to the earth pony, though her eyes struggled to focus for a moment. “That’s what happens when you haven’t had a decent night’s sleep in three days and try to take a nap.”

“Was it worth it?” Glitterball asked.

“Not really, no.” Sunspot said before sighing and looking down to her suit. She thought for a moment, the cogs in her head slowly forcing through the sleep-induced gunk to turn, before picking up her strobe and unceremoniously pointing it at her face.

The others all paused what they were doing as the pegasus flinched her eyes closed and fired a couple of bolts of light at herself, causing some colorful sparkles to fly off her face before she shook herself and conked the side of her head with a hoof.

“Who needs coffee anyway?” Sunspot reasoned as she replaced the vial into its rightful holster. She then looked over to the gray mare next to her and lifted a brow curiously. “What’cha got there, Sparkplug?”

Sparkplug paused her tinkering and looked down to the device in her hooves. “Oh, this?” She forced a chuckle before trailing off. “It’s the first thing I ever built. A prototype E.M.F meter… I just kinda like to…” She wrinkled her lip for a moment, “play with it sometimes.”

Sunspot softened her expression and nodded to herself. She could tell that the tense situation around them was starting to get to the gray mare, to all of them. However, as her attention shifted over to Glimmer Shine, she paused in surprise.

The stallion had a sort of intense look on his face that Sunspot hadn’t seen many times before. He was staring off into space while he warmed up, his thoughts clearly elsewhere.

“Everything ok over there, Glimmer?” Sunspot asked, her lighthearted voice a bit soft and hesitant.

Glimmer Shine paused his sit-ups and leaned forward, letting his hooves rest in his lap as he noticed everyone looking his way. He had barely talked to anyone since arriving, and while Glitterball and Sparkplug knew why, Sunspot apparently did not.

“You haven’t heard what happened on the Princesses’ mission?” He asked, making efforts to relax his face.

“Uh… something happened?” Sunspot narrowed her brows. “All I heard was that they found where Dusk had been and that they wanted us to be prepared. They got home alright, so I assumed everything was good.” She looked around, only to see Glitterball and Sparkplug avoiding her gaze, which only served to make her more uneasy. “Everything’s not good… is it?”

Glimmer wrinkled his mouth a bit as he contemplated how to break the news to his friend. Seeing no gentle way of putting it, he exhaled softly before looking her right in the eyes. “Dusk wiped out a town… killed everypony in it.”

The stallion’s words hit the orange mare like a punch to the gut. Her shoulders slowly sank and her mouth fell open as she stared at him, then at the others, hoping against all hope that she misheard as she often did.

“H-how…” Sunspot swallowed to stop her lips from quaking. “How many?”

“Roughly one hundred.” Glimmer explained. He trailed his eyes down and seemed to struggle to speak any further. “It was a small town, but…”

“It still matters.” Sunspot said, to which the others could only give a somber nod.

Glimmer Shine lowered his head and let his ears droop as his troubled thoughts ran wild. His eyes were soft, and his mouth curled down sharply.

Much to the three mares’ surprise, they started to see the shimmering of tears dotting the corners of his eyes. The stallion quickly wiped his face and hid a sniff.

“Glimmer, what’s wrong?” Glitterball asked, setting down her crossbow and turning to give him her full focus.

Looking out of the corner of his eye to see his teammates staring at him with soft expressions, Glimmer stiffened his posture and forced a more neutral expression to his face that didn’t seem easy to maintain. “Nothing. I’m good.”

“You don’t look good to me.” Sunspot said. “Come on… we’re all friends here. You wouldn’t leave me alone if I started the waterworks.” She reasoned.

“It’s not healthy to keep your emotions all bottled up,” Sparkplug added.

Glimmer Shine shifted his body to the side so he wasn't directly looking at any of the three mares. He wrinkled his mouth and opened his jaw, attempting to get words out a few times before stopping. Finally, he took a steady breath and relaxed ever so slightly.

“You know… after Pepper and the others died,” He brought a hoof up to rub the back of his head uncomfortably, “I made a promise to myself. I promised that I would become a fearless leader for you guys… like Brimstoke was. I wanted to be able to handle any situation so that I could stop ponies from dying.”

Sunspot, Glitterball, and Sparkplug remained silent as the stallion paused for a moment. They felt their frowns deepening as they could hear his breathing quicken and see more tears welling up.

“But… I have no idea what I’m doing.” Glimmer said, finally looking over to them. “No matter how hard I try, people keep dying. Tom died, the girls almost died, the Princesses… Even you’ve almost died, and not just from Dusk or his freaks. I just… I just don’t know if I’m cut out for this. If Pepper, or Neon, or Brimstoke… or Tom were here… I can’t help but think that they’d be disappointed in me. I let them down before, and now I’m letting all of you down.”

The others watched for a moment as the stallion tried and failed to recompose himself. He just sat there, looking at the floor and occasionally wiping his face, trying not to draw the attention that was already on him.

Glitterball stood up and walked over to the stallion, who quickly turned his head as she sat down next to him. “Hey…” She gently placed a hoof on one of his, causing him to meet her soft gaze. “You listen to me, Mr. You haven’t let anyone down.”

“But-”

“No. I don’t want to hear it.” Glitter said, like a mother comforting their child. “Look, Glimmer… I don’t need to tell you that this world can be cruel sometimes. People die, especially when monsters are involved. Princess Luna brought us all together because she thought we could make a difference… and we have. If it wasn't for all of us, a lot more ponies would have died. I heard Brimstoke talk about you after the academy. You were at the top of your class… all of us were. We were all the best that the Wonderbolts or the guards had to offer... Uh… except Sparkplug,” She paused and looked over to the gray mare, “but I’m sure she would have made a great guard after what she’s done with us.”

Sparkplug smiled, though she didn’t want to ruin the moment the stallion was having. “Thanks, Glitter.”

Glitter returned the smile briefly before looking back to Glimmer Shine. “You think any of us knew how to kill vampires and ghosts before we started this job? I mean, just look at Sunspot. She had like no fighting experience at all, and look at her now!”

“Uh… thanks… I think.” Sunspot said.

Glimmer Shine’s mouth twitched upwards, though it quickly returned to a grim line as he glanced away with worried eyes. “I know… I just… I don’t know what to do.”

“Simple,” Glitter said, leaning forward and wrapping her forelegs around the stallion’s waist. He paused, a bit surprised as she nestled her head into his chest. “Just keep doing what you’ve been doing, and you’ll keep your promise just fine… fearless leader.”

Much to Glimmer Shine’s surprise, Sunspot and Sparkplug walked over and joined in with the unicorn into a group hug. The gray mare snuck in between the pair and rested a hoof on both of them, while the pegasus wrapped her forelegs around Glimmer’s shoulders and unfurled her wings to cover everyone in a warm embrace.

And then, for the first time in a while, Glimmer Shine felt a genuine smile grace his features.

Elsewhere in the castle,

Fluttershy was just returning to her shared room, a tray carefully balanced on her back with a variety of snacks on it. As she opened the door and peered inside, she was a bit surprised at what she found.

Rainbow Dash was there, which was to be expected. The pair had been hanging out for a few minutes, talking with each other like old times until they both got peckish. What was surprising, however, was the anxious expression on the normally confident mare’s face. She was kicking her hind leg against the side of her bed and staring at the floor, chewing a lip the whole time.

Noticing her friend returning, Rainbow immediately stiffened her posture and relaxed her tense features. “Oh, good… you’re back. I was about to starve.” She smiled eagerly as the yellow mare left the door ajar slightly and entered the room with her haul in tow.

After setting the tray down and settling in on the bed next to her friend, Fluttershy looked at the cyan pony with a bit of a frown. “Something wrong?”

“Huh?” Rainbow blinked, pausing midway through chewing a hay fritter to look at her friend. “No… not last I checked. I mean, there’s still a freakishly overpowered vampire alicorn on the loose, but that’s out of my hooves.”

“Are you sure?” Fluttershy asked, a hint of suspicion in her otherwise soft and friendly voice. “It looked like something was bothering you.”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Rainbow Dash waved a hoof dismissively, looking off to the side. “You worry too much, Flutters. I’m fine.”

“Does this have something to do with Blue?” Fluttershy said, causing her friend to pause abruptly. “You’ve been looking kind of sad around him ever since he got back with the princesses.” She inferred.

“Well…” After a few moments of stalling and trying to think of a way out of this conversation, Rainbow sighed and deflated her shoulders a bit. “Alright, you got me.”

“What’s wrong, Rainbow?” Fluttershy set her food down and turned to her friend with soft eyes.

The cyan mare let her hooves pool in her lap. She pursed her lips briefly and shifted in her seat before finally speaking. “It’s just… I’m worried about him, y’know?” She explained, casual but diminished. “I mean, he’s a slayer now… You know what that means, right?”

Fluttershy thought about it for a moment before shaking her head slightly. “Umm… I’m not sure I do.”

“Tom said that slayers struggle just to exist. Every day they go out and fight monsters, and one day that stress just gets too hard for them to handle, and they just… fade away.” Rainbow trailed off, perhaps letting some sad memories surface again. “How long before that happens to Blue? What if he’s just on borrowed time or something? What if… what if he fights Dusk and he dies again?!” Her voice wavered a bit before she took a few breaths and calmed herself down, though she still looked visibly upset.

“Dashie…” Fluttershy rested a hoof on her friend’s shoulder, frowning a bit at how tense it was. “Blue has the best chance of beating Dusk out of any of us.”

Rainbow merely trailed her eyes down and inched her head forward. “So did Tom…” She muttered to herself somberly.

A sudden knock, followed by the already ajar door creaking open, made the two mares look up to see a certain blue stallion entering the room.

“Blue?” Rainbow leaned back a bit, a hint of unease in her face as she saw a somber look on his.

“Sorry… I was heading back to my room, and I couldn’t help but overhear.” Blue explained, his expression shifting from concern to calm intensity as he stood in the center of the room, his full attention on the cyan mare.

“Blue, don’t worry about it.” Rainbow insisted. “I was just venting a little. I’m sure you’ll be f-”

“I don’t care,” Blue said flatly, causing both Rainbow and Fluttershy to give pause.

Rainbow skewed a brow. “Wh… what?”

“This whole slayer thing… Fighting monsters, dying horribly. I don’t care.” Blue continued, looking down at his body pensively. “I see this as an opportunity to spend more time with you guys and do some good along the way. A year… a week… it doesn’t matter.” He looked back to them and smiled. “I’m already dead, Rainbow. If I am on borrowed time, I want to make the most of it.”

“Blue…” Fluttershy muttered, a worried frown forming as she saw a familiar look in the stallion’s eyes. She had seen it from Tom right before he fought Dusk. It was acceptance.

Rainbow Dash stared at the stallion silently for a moment before setting her pouch of snacks aside and opening her forelegs. “Come here.”

Blue Bolt shifted his weight back and skewed his expression in surprise. “Uh…”

“Come here! Don’t make it awkward, jeez.” Rainbow insisted.

“Oookay…?” Blue slowly shuffled forward until he was right before the bed. He looked over to Fluttershy, who was equally confused. Normally, the cyan mare wasn't so open with displays of affection.

Finally, Blue gave in and opened his forelegs to wrap around her. She leaned forward and hugged him around the shoulders for a moment…

And then a sharp pain came from his back.

“Ow!” Blue yelped and pulled away, looking up in protest to see Rainbow glowering at him.

“You feel that?” She asked.

Blue rubbed the spot where he was pinched with an irritated frown. “Yes, actually!”

“Good.” Rainbow nodded, satisfied with herself. “You’re not already dead, got it? And you’re not just here to die again. I don’t want to hear any more doom and gloom from you. Tom started thinking like that, and it got him so messed up that he lost his powers!”

“You were the one who started it with the doom and gloom!” Blue protested.

“Yeah, and I’m over it. You’re not dying on me twice. I have friends that deal with ghosts all the time, and I can personally ensure that you get punched in the afterlife!”

Blue Bolt looked over to Fluttershy stiffly, hoping for any sign that Rainbow was joking. The sympathetic look of hesitation he got only made him more afraid. At this rate, Dusk was the least terrifying thing he had to worry about.

“With friends like you, who needs enemies?” Blue tittered awkwardly.

Rainbow managed a smile. “You got that right.”

“Can I at least get an actual hug?” Blue asked, widening his forelegs pitifully.

Rainbow Dash sighed. She did sort of owe him at least that for pinching him. “Fine… come here, you big softy.” She smiled a bit as she embraced her friend. Fluttershy even leaned over and joined in.

However, soon after, a muffled munching noise made Rainbow’s smile fade, only to be replaced with irritated surprise. She pulled back, only to see the stallion reeling back with a hayfritter clutched in his mouth.

“Hey!” She shouted, taking hold of her now lighter pouch of snacks defensively. “You little thief!”

“Come on, what’s a few hayfritters between friends?” Blue smirked, his voice muffled by the fritter still held tightly in his teeth.

Rainbow’s eyes narrowed and a low growl came through grinding teeth. “Fluttershy… could you go get Twilight for me? I’m about to stress test a slayer’s healing powers!”

“Uh…” Blue swallowed the last bites of the fritter uncomfortably as beads of sweat started to form on his face. He took a few careful steps toward the door, like someone slowly retreating away from a wild animal, before turning to the yellow mare. “It was nice seeing you, Fluttershy, but uh… I think I need to go now… heh.”

“Blue BOOOLT!”

“Bye now!” The stallion said before turning tail and running as fast as he could out of the room.

Over on the other side of the castle, Twilight walked through the marble halls on her way toward her mentor’s private study. Her mind was heavy with thoughts about Dusk and everything he could have been doing, so she wanted to at least discuss a plan with the wise alicorn, to ease her anxieties if nothing else.

However, as she neared the door and raised her hoof to knock, she paused abruptly as she heard a familiar voice on the other side.

“Ow!” The voice exclaimed, seemingly in pain. “Not so tight!”

“Hold still, Raincloud. You’re making it worse for yourself.” Celestia chided, her patient voice laced with annoyance.

Twilight knocked on the door and slowly opened it. She stuck her head inside hesitantly before spotting her mentor and the pale blue pegasus.

Celestia was fiddling with the collar around Raincloud’s neck, much to the mare’s discomfort. Both of them paused and looked up to see the unicorn poking into the room.

“Uh… am I interrupting something?” Twilight asked sheepishly.

“Kinda,” Raincloud said, struggling to keep still while the alicorn pulled and pushed on her collar to get it back into place. “I tried telling her to put a sock on the doorknob, but apparently that would get across the wrong ide-ACK!” She clutched a hoof to her neck as her collar was suddenly yanked.

“What did I tell you about snide remarks?” Celestia narrowed her eyes down at the still-struggling pegasus.

“Hey… we agreed I get three a day. I still have two left!”

Twilight started to recede back. “I can see that you’re busy. I’ll just come back later.”

“No, no…” Celestia sighed, casting one last dirty look at Raincloud before softening her expression. “Please, come in, Twilight.”

As instructed, Twilight entered all the way and closed the door behind her. She watched the alicorn fiddling with the mechanical parts of the collar, a myriad of tools floating in her aura that she would use for moments at a time. “What are you doing?” The unicorn asked, a bit curious.

Celestia finished screwing something in and closed a panel on the side of the collar before setting her tools down. “The remote to Raincloud’s collar broke on our mission. The collar itself was damaged as well, so I need to fix it before I can sync up the new one.”

“Can’t we get Sparky to do this?” Raincloud whined. “At least she was gentle.”

“Perhaps you should have thought of that before threatening her on multiple occasions?” Celestia lifted a brow at the pegasus as she made some finishing adjustments.

“Aww, come on… I’ll play nice. Promise. Anything to get away from you and your clodhoppers.” Raincloud wrinkled her mouth in annoyance as she was jostled around again. “I thought princesses were supposed to be dainty or some crap?”

“And I thought you were tough enough to not whine like a filly at a little tug?” Celestia retorted. “There’s no need for Sparkplug to deal with you when she and the others have so much on their plates already. You’re lucky that she had the forethought to write down repair instructions and make spare remotes in the first… ngh... place.” She grunted as she finished tightening a particularly stubborn bolt. Much to Raincloud’s relief, she stepped back and picked up the spare remote off the nearby desk and clicked the button to test it.

As expected, the collar whirred to life, spinning the metallic inner circle closed and reforming the line of symbols once again.

“There we are.” Celestia smiled, equally pleased to be done with such an arduous task as the pegasus was glad to be free.

The gray mare let out a relaxed breath as she adjusted the collar to be somewhat comfortable, her eyes tracing along the remote still in the alicorn’s magical grip. “Spare remotes, huh?” She muttered under her breath before pausing as she shifted her attention to the unicorn that had been silently watching.

Twilight felt a twinge of discomfort well up inside her as she stared her former enemy in the face. She knew that Raincloud was in the castle shortly after the pegasus arrived, but she hadn’t met face to face with her yet, and it wasn't exactly an accident.

“Raincloud.” Twilight greeted flatly, trying her hardest to remain cordial.

Raincloud sighed. “Look, if you want to say anything, just get it out. Come on… let’s hear it.”

Twilight took an even breath as she contemplated saying something. Princess knew that she had a lot of somethings to say. Like, an unhealthy amount of somethings that could fund a therapist all the way to retirement. Celestia and even Raincloud were surprised at how calm she was being.

“Rainbow Dash thinks that you can become a better person… so I’m not going to start any fights with you,” Twilight said.

“Wow… I thought you’d be livid with me after I went after you and your pet dragon.” Raincloud raised her brows, while Twilight merely twitched hers.

“Spike is not my pet. He is my friend, and you almost killed him… on top of everything else. If things weren’t so dire, and I were a more violent person, I’d have half a mind to tie up your wings and dangle you off the top of the palace.” Twilight said with a surprising intensity in her eyes.

Raincloud inched back and softened her expression the slightest bit. She wasn't expecting to feel intimidated by Twilight Sparkle of all ponies.

“Unfortunately, dire times make for strange bedfellows.” Celestia chimed in to clear the air. “Enough reminiscing on past… unpleasantries. Did you want something, Twilight?”

“Actually, I was just wondering…” The unicorn trailed her eyes away briefly, letting her mouth fall before picking it up again as she looked to her mentor. “Do we have any plans to deal with Dusk that don’t involve Blue Bolt getting involved?”

“What prompted such a question, if I might ask?” Celestia softened her expression as she detected a hint of sadness in her student’s eyes.

Twilight let her shoulders sink a bit and lowered her head. “It’s just… I don’t want him to end up like Tom.” She said with some difficulty. “I wasn't here when Blue died… but I know that it must have destroyed Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. I don’t want them to have to go through that again… and I don’t want Blue’s second chance to be wasted.”

“Honestly, if he takes that Dusk freak with him when he goes, would it really be wasting it?” Raincloud asked.

Celestia cast a flat look at the pegasus and narrowed her eyes. “Raincloud, could you go ask one of the guards outside to escort you back to your room?”

“Aww, come on. I was just getting used to stretching my legs again!” The pegasus protested.

“Raincloud.” Celestia intoned.

Raincloud sighed and rolled her eyes as she started for the door at a dramatic saunter. “Yes, mooom!”

After the door opened and closed, leaving them by themselves, Celestia turned back to her student and walked closer. She placed a gentle hoof on the unicorn’s shoulder and looked her in the eye with a soft expression.

“Twilight… I understand your concern for Blue Bolt. I know that losing Tom was and still is hard for you and the others, and I know that you’re afraid for what might happen if Blue were to face Dusk again... But, think of it like this.” She explained. “A slayer is someone with a righteous heart. Someone that would not stand idly by while an evil such as Dusk threatens the world. Even if we made a plan that didn’t involve him, I’m certain that young Blue Bolt would want to fight anyway.”

Twilight seemed to understand the alicorn’s words, but she still harbored a bit of unease in her face. “But… but what if-”

“I know, Twilight… I know,” Celestia said somberly, lowering her head for a moment as painful memories of her fight with the human and his eventual death surfaced. “I wish I could just defeat Dusk by myself, but I’m afraid that if we are to win, we must work together… all of us.” She managed a smile. “Besides, I’m quite sure we have nothing to worry about. After witnessing Blue Bolt’s abilities first hoof on our mission, I can say with confidence that he can defeat Dusk.”

Twilight paused as she noticed the alicorn lowering her head in thought. Celestia pulled her mouth tight and her eyes wavered as she seemingly dwelled on some unpleasant thoughts. Somehow, the unicorn knew just what her mentor was thinking.

“Princess…” Twilight spoke softly, causing the alicorn to lift her head again. “I know I have no right to say this… especially with how I’ve been acting… but,” She paused for a moment, shifting her eyes to the side before meeting her mentor’s gaze with calm and collected confidence, “it’s not your fault. What happened to that town… what happened to Tom, and all of the other people Dusk has killed. That blood is not on you, no matter how much you might think it is. Dusk is a monster… and he would have ended up the same if he never met you.”

Celestia lifted the corners of her mouth, though her smile didn’t seem to reach her eyes.

That may be true, but he is a monster that I had caged… and I let him out into the world…

“Thank you, Twilight. I… needed to hear that,” She rested a hoof on the younger mare’s shoulder and flashed one of her trademark warm smiles. Twilight found herself smiling as well.

Before the conversation could wind to a close and the two could go their separate ways, the doors to the study opened with haste as a familiar blue alicorn came rushing into the room with wide eyes and pale face.

“Sister!” Luna exclaimed before catching her breath.

Celestia shared an uneasy look with Twilight as she walked closer to her exhausted sibling. “What is wrong, Luna?”

“It’s Dusk!” Luna stated. “He’s been sighted in New Hoofshire.”

A wave of dread and alarm washed over both student and teacher as they imagined what cruel fate could befall the ponies there. New Hoofshire was closer to a city than a town, and the death toll could be horrifyingly high when compared to the measly hundred souls lost in his last attack.

“Notify Blue Bolt and Shining Armor. I want enough transports to get Glimmer Shine’s team and us four there immediately!” Celestia instructed, already starting to rush out of the room.

Luna stopped her sister for a moment, her already alarmed expression growing more serious as she continued. “That’s not all… We just got a report of a town being attacked by some of the ponies missing from Unicorn Ridge.”

“Where?” Twilight asked, darting her eyes between the two alicorns. “What town is it?”

Luna stared at the unicorn for a moment, perhaps a few moments too long, with hesitance in her eyes. “Ponyville…”

The moment the words left Luna’s mouth, Twilight and Celestia both looked like their hearts just exploded. Their jaws fell open, and their blood ran cold in their veins as all of the color drained from their faces.