Angel of Justice: Blood Moon

Blue Bolt swooped down for a landing just outside of the serene property that Fluttershy’s cottage sat on. He could see the quaint home up ahead, cloaked under darkness as clouds drifted over the moon.

“Girls… please be ok.” He fretted, face wrinkled with concern as he slowly walked forward.

Once he made it over the stream, he adopted a stealthier approach. He paused just after the bridge, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.

As the stallion exhaled sharply, a myriad of sensations flooded inwards while a puff of mist drifted outwards. Almost immediately, he could make out a familiar set of auras within the cottage, and even one outside.

Vampires. He was certain of it. The strange knowledge ingrained into his head told him as much, not that he expected to find any other monsters. There were five of them in total, and while he couldn’t tell where Rainbow Dash and the others were, he wagered they would be with the larger group of pale ponies.

How he was going to rescue them was another issue.

Confident as he was in his new abilities, which was to say, not very, he wasn't exactly a trained soldier. Sure, he had some odd fighting knowledge knocking around his head, but most of that was techniques meant for someone with scant fewer legs and more fingers than him.

One slip up, and two of his best friends since highschool and a hoof full of innocent ponies would die. Needless to say, the pressure was getting to him a teensy bit.

He exhaled stiffly, “Come on, Blue… they need you to keep it together.” He looked down to his jittery hooves and made an effort to stop the shaking before leveling his gaze ahead. “Slayer, huh? Let’s test that out.”

With a quick flap, Blue Bolt hovered back up and glided through the air, keeping just above the sightlines of the windows as he approached the cottage.

Almost immediately, he could hear faint noises coming from behind the cottage as he stealthily landed on the edge of the roof.

It sounded like some feral roars, followed by mocking laughter. The roars almost sounded like they belonged to a large animal, like a bear. And as he crept along the roof and looked down into Fluttershy’s backyard, his suspicions were confirmed.

A pale stallion was jubilantly taunting a very injured-looking bear while a group of petrified smaller animals watched from under or around the various chicken coops and other such features nearby.

The bear was limping slightly, and it was holding one of its forearms close to its chest as the stallion waved a knife at it, poking and slashing and making a show of the whole thing.

“Hahaha! What’s the matter, big guy? Can’t catch one little pony?” The stallion taunted. Every time the bear would make a lunge for him, he would quickly back up and dance around it before making another jab with his weapon.

Occasionally, one of the other animals like a squirrel or a fox would get brave and try to approach the pony, hoping to do something to help, only to skitter away in fear as a flash of red and a visage of snarling teeth snapped at them.

Blue Bolt tensed his brow and growled under his breath. The pale stallion was most likely meant to keep an eye on the area outside while the others went about their business, but apparently, he had gotten bored and was using this as entertainment.

Not even wasting a moment on a second thought, Blue unfurled his wings and swooped down.

The pale pony on the ground laughed as the bear nearly stumbled over trying to dodge another of his strikes. “Heh… guess there’s a new link at the top of the food chain.”

“You’re right.”

The pale stallion’s ears shot up at the sudden voice and the sound of wings. “What th- Mmf!”

By the time he spun around, it was too late. He was sent to the dirt below as a dark shape overtook him and a hoof clamped over his mouth. With his unnatural vision, he could see a very unimpressed-looking blue pegasus sitting on top of him.

Looking down at the flash of fire and the ring of metal, the vampiric pony had just enough time to see a blade taking form around Blue’s foreleg before it fully extended, searing into his throat. He tried to scream, but no sound came out.

As the wide red eyes staring up at him vanished into collapsing ash, Blue Bolt softened his expression. He didn’t like how very equine they still were. As monstrous as they had become, they were still a far cry from killing the soulless strigoi.

A slight whine drew him out of his somber thoughts. He turned to see the other animals gathering around the bear, who was coddling a few injuries with a pitiful look on its fuzzy face.

The animals jumped slightly as they turned to see the blue pegasus getting up and turning around with the weapon around his foreleg vanishing into fire. However, they eased up as they sensed no hostility from him and recognized him to be one of Fluttershy’s new friends. New to them at least.

Blue Bolt frowned as he saw the still bleeding lacerations across the bear’s limbs and chest. “Hey there, big fella. You’re one of Fluttershy’s animals, aren’t you?” He asked softly.

A series of deep mumbles and a slight snort served as the bear’s answer.

“I shouldn’t say that… she wouldn’t like anyone claiming you guys belong to her,” Blue said. He was surprised to see the bear and even the other animals look to the cottage with saddened eyes. “You’re worried about her, aren’t you?”

Another whine. For how terrifying he looked, this bear seemed like a big softy, which matched up with the few times Blue had seen Fluttershy interact with him.

Blue smiled a bit, “Don’t worry. I’m going to go save her…” He softened his eyes as he looked to the bear’s injuries again. “But first, let’s get you taken care of.” He lifted his hoof and started to project a soft glow from it.
.
..
…
A few moments later, Blue pulled away from the larger animal. “There ya go. See? I told you it wouldn’t hurt.”

The bear looked down at his newly healed leg and arm. Although the warm tingling of the strange light had gone, it seemed to take his injuries with it. He and even a few of the other animals were mesmerized at the miraculous display they just witnessed.

Blue Bolt flinched as the bear stepped forward and dragged its massive tongue up his face. By the time it was over, he was practically sopping wet, with a strand of his hair curled back the wrong way.

“No need to thank me…” He said flatly, taking a hoof and slowly removing the excess saliva from his face. He didn’t dare inhale for fear of finding out what he now smelled like.

Shifting his thoughts back to his friends, he turned toward the cottage, the only source of light as far as the eye could see. One down, four to go.

“Stay here.” He instructed to the animals, hoping that they would understand. Fluttershy made it look so easy to talk with them. Then, without wasting another moment, he extended his wings and hovered back up toward the roof.

All the animals watched as the pegasus crept up to a window and peered inside. After producing a chillingly sharp rasp and a puff of blue mist, he quietly opened the window and landed inside.

Almost immediately, Blue lost all semblance of vision. Outside, there was faint light reflecting off the clouds from the moon hidden above, but in the cramped space of the cottage, it was pitch black.

He was in Fluttershy’s bedroom, or at least he thought he was. Truth be told, he had only seen the upper floor of the shy mare’s home once or twice when she invited him to a sleepover. Navigating it in the dark would be a challenge, but it was nothing his newfound agility and sharp senses couldn’t handle.

*Thump*

“Mmf!”

Then again, maybe not.

Biting his lip and rubbing his now throbbing shin, Blue pricked his ear to listen for any sign that he had been heard.

Thankfully, no further sounds came.

Figuring that it would be better to remain silent, he lifted a hoof in front of him and projected a softer, more translucent version of his blue light. Like a flashlight in the dark, it revealed the bedroom around him, and the night table that he just bumped into.

He used this brief snapshot of vision to navigate to the door, whereupon he dimmed his glow and cautiously slid the door open. Poking his head out, he noticed some faint light coming from one direction of the hallway, from a set of stairs leading down into the main room.

Already, he could hear muffled voices down there. Some were familiar, while others weren’t.

Slowly, carefully, he crept forward. Every hoof fall measured, every creak of the floorboards scrutinized.

Pausing at the mouth of the stairs, Blue remained out of sight and listened briefly. What he heard didn’t exactly comfort him.

“Please! Leave her alone!” A shrill, timid voice rang out, immediately recognizable as Fluttershy.

“Why don’t you pick on someone your own size?!” Rainbow Dash added.

Blue poked his head out slightly, offering him the smallest of glimpses into the living room below. He could immediately spot Rainbow Dash on the ground near the stairs.

The cyan mare’s forelegs were bound behind her back and her wings were tied. She was lying on her stomach, looking up with eyes hardened and teeth clenched.

A few feet from her, Sunspot appeared to be lying on her side, unmoving. She was facing away from Blue, but he figured she was unconscious. He hoped she was unconscious at any rate.

Closer to the wall near the front door, a pale unicorn stallion was lifting a teal mare up by her throat. Judging from the few times Blue had seen her around town, this must have been Lyra.

“Put her down, numbskull. She’s no use to us dead.” A feminine voice that Blue didn’t recognize came from somewhere to the left, out of his sight. The unicorn turned his head at this and cast an annoyed glare toward the owner of the voice.

“We’ve still got the guards and that other crybaby! Not to mention the chick in the suit.” He glanced to Sunspot before returning his feverish gaze to Lyra, who by now was trembling in his grasp.

The mare from before gave an agitated sigh, “Yeah, and the more hostages we have, the better chance we can get out of this mess when more of them show up!”

“I thought the Prince was coming to get us?” Another stallion’s voice asked.

“He is, but don’t you want to show him that you’re better than any old pony he turns? If you just eat everyone that comes around, he’ll think you’re a blood starved moron… not that you aren’t.”

Hearing this, the unicorn started to turn around, when suddenly Rainbow Dash snorted.

“You bozos really think that Dusk is coming to save you? Pfft… get out of here! You’re nothing but tools to him! He’ll throw you away the first chance he gets… Matter of fact, I’ll bet he’s expecting us to kill all of you!” Rainbow stated, rolling over slightly to properly point her glare at the pale mare.

There was a slight pause, and then Blue heard hoofsteps approaching the stairs, approaching Rainbow Dash. He softened his expression as he saw an earth pony mare with burning red eyes storm up to the bound pegasus.

With a choked yelp, Rainbow found a pale hoof stepping on her neck and applying pressure. The pale mare lowered herself to be right in the cyan pony’s face and growled.

“Don’t you dare talk about the Prince like that. I’ll break your wings off and snap your neck!”

Rainbow squinted an eye open and twitched her mouth upwards. “We… hrk… we both know… that your ‘Prince’ wants us alive. He wants to kill us himself.”

The pale mare scowled intensely for a moment, but eventually lessened the pressure off Rainbow’s neck. Still, she kept her hoof in place as she contemplated for a moment before smiling and turning toward the unicorn and Lyra.

“Maybe… but he doesn’t give a damn what we do to your friend there.” The pale mare chuckled, eliciting a look of horror to slowly wash over Rainbow’s face. “I changed my mind. Kill her.”

“Wait, no!” Rainbow jerked and tried to get out from the mare’s hold, but she couldn’t do anything.

“Lyra!” Another feminine voice came from out of view. Blue vaguely recognized it to belong to Bon Bon, the local candy mare and Lyra’s friend.

Lyra whimpered as the stallion produced a pleased snarl.

“I thought you’d never ask.” He smirked before opening his maw wide, exposing his fangs.

Just then, a loud creak came from upstairs.

The pale stallion and even the mare froze and pricked their ears up.

“What the hay was that?” The stallion asked, dropping Lyra and leaving her to slide to the floor in a petrified heap as he turned around and faced the stairs.

Stepping off of Rainbow Dash and looking up into the darkness of the upper floor landing, the pale mare sniffed the air a few times before scrunching her nose up in disgust. “I don’t know… but it smells weird.”

Taking a few steps forward until her forehoof was resting on the bottom step, she glared up into the unknown, daring whatever had made that sound to move again. “Whoever you are, you better get down here.” She threatened.

Nothing but silence greeted her.

Rainbow Dash took a quick glance over to the other side of the room, where Fluttershy and Bon Bon were sitting against the couch and the two guards were piled up next to each other. The fear in both mares’ eyes was palpable, and even the two stallions had a worried look about them as the remaining two pale ponies stood by.

She then looked up the stairs where all the red eyes in the room were converged. A mixture of worry and relief swirled around inside of her. Had her friends come to rescue them? She almost wished they hadn’t.

Seeing no response from upstairs, the pale mare narrowed her eyes. “I know you’re up there. If you don’t come down, I’m going to kill someone.”

Again, no response.

Finally, she shrugged. “Alright… her funeral.” She said, walking over and picking up Sunspot by the scruff of her suit. The orange pegasus’ head lolled around, seemingly confirming that she was knocked out.

“Put her down.” Rainbow Dash pleaded. “There’s nobody up there!”

“Shut it!” The pale mare snapped.

Suddenly, Sunspot’s eyes fluttered open. She started to stir with a lethargic moan, but she quickly found her forelegs bound and her body being held aloft. “Wh… wha?!” She jerked back, but the vampiric pony holding her didn’t relent.

Instead, the pale mare growled in annoyance and turned to the flailing pegasus with intense eyes. She opened her mouth and picked Sunspot up further, pulling her close despite her fearful yells and kicks.

“Sunspot!” Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy cried in unison.

Just before the orange mare’s neck was pierced, the hurried sound of hoofsteps came from upstairs, followed by a flash of orange and a powerful current of air rushing down.

The pale mare and everyone else trailed their eyes up as a blur of blue and orange bounded off the stairs and sailed through the air toward the pair by the door. Before he could even react, the pale stallion threatening Lyra was knocked flat onto his tail end.

Nearly everyone present recognized the figure standing over the stallion, even despite his glowing eyes and fading fiery wings.

Rainbow Dash smiled eagerly, “Blue!”

The next few moments happened in a blur as both parties reacted.

Blue Bolt turned to the pale stallion on the floor, who took one look at him before turning and lunging for Lyra. Blue sprang forward and swiped his foreleg into the pale pony sideways at the same time he summoned his weapon.

The metallic blade flashed into existence just in time to pierce the stallion’s chest. He gave a pained yelp, which quickly shifted to an agonized scream as a ring of flame overtook his body.

No sooner did the stallion’s skeletal form start to collapse did Blue Bolt lift his other hoof and point it ahead. The pale mare widened her eyes and held Sunspot in front of her like a living shield as a torrent of blue light filled the area.

Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Bon Bon, and the two guards flinched their eyes shut or looked away as the light surged forward.

The two vampires at the back of the room yelled in pain as their fur and skin started to singe and burn away. They both scrambled and jumped behind the couch before they could be completely immolated in the radiant flood.

Meanwhile, Sunspot was forced to cooperate as the pale mare clung to her. The vampire was tucking her fragile form in and hugging the orange pony’s chest, but even then parts of her were exposed and mildly burned.

As soon as the light died down, the pale mare threw Sunspot forward and scrambled backward, falling to the floor in her attempt at gaining distance. She looked up to see Blue Bolt approaching, and she couldn’t hide a hint of fear in her eyes.

“Don’t just hide back there, get him!” She yelled to her companions as she raced to her hooves and fled backward.

Almost on cue, a pair of badly burned and slowly regenerating vampires came rushing from behind the couch. They snarled and leaped into a full sprint toward their attacker.

Blue Bolt rushed down to Sunspot and used one of his blades to slice through the ropes around her forelegs.

"Ngh…" Sunspot grunted as Blue simultaneously pulled her backward and up to her hooves. “Thanks for the-” She immediately looked up and widened her eyes as she saw two vampires charging toward them. "BWAH!"

While the orange pegasus was fumbling on her suit to try and find a weapon that hadn't been taken, Blue Bolt stepped in front of her and summoned his other blade.

The two ponies paused and sized him up for a moment before one of them got brave and lunged forward.

Blue made a swipe at the approaching stallion. The curved point of his blade narrowly clipped through a few strands of mane as the pony ducked under the strike.

Not one to waste an opportunity, the stallion grabbed Blue's foreleg and held the blade facing away.

Tensing his jaw, Blue spun his other blade around its circlet before locking it into a new position and stabbing it toward the stallion’s chest. “Let go!”

The pale pony jerked back, but not before catching the tip of the blade in his shoulder. He yelped and clutched at the wound as it started to sizzle and burn. Blue prepared to finish him off, when the other vampire, another mare, suddenly charged forward with a yell, colliding with the pegasus and tackling him to the floor a few feet back.

While Blue was struggling with his own vampire, Sunspot smiled nervously as the wounded pony shifted his eyes to her and growled. She lowered herself into a hesitant battle stance, having found that all of her silver weapons had been taken.

“Can’t we just settle this over cards or something?!” Sunspot squeaked as the stallion lunged toward her. She reached up and tussled with him, pressing one of her hooves into his still-injured shoulder.

Using the momentary distraction caused by his pained outcry, she shoved him backward a short way, giving herself some breathing room. She reached down to her suit once more and pulled out her popper, thankful that the pale ponies couldn’t identify it as a weapon.

The pale stallion growled as he got back to his hooves. He started to make another charge for the orange pegasus when he suddenly felt something impact his side, hard. He stumbled over, nearly losing his footing and going to the floor.

Sunspot looked over to see Rainbow Dash still on the floor, recovering from a kick from both hind legs. It was about all she could do in her current state. Sunspot smiled a bit at her friend’s quick thinking.

Rainbow Dash smirked up at her friend as well, until her eyes widened at something behind the orange pegasus. “Watch out!”

Barely even processing the cyan mare’s warning, Sunspot spun around, only to widen her eyes as she saw a blue shape hurtling toward her. She yelped and stepped to the side just in time for Blue Bolt to sail by and crash to the floor with a painful grunt.

Looking ahead at a feral snarl, Sunspot lifted her popper and flicked off the safety as the pale pony that was wrestling with the blue stallion came charging at her.

The air in the cottage was split by a series of three cracks. Flashes of green light briefly tinted Sunspot and her surroundings as she opened fire. Bolts of arcane energy zipped forward, practically faster than the eye could see, and punched holes in the pale mare’s form. Discolored blood sprayed from both sides of her body.

However, she seemed mostly unfazed and seriously ticked off.

Thinking fast, and thinking back to the advice she received from Tom on killing vampires, Sunspot cringed and took aim for the final shots she could get off before the mare would be on top of her.

As the green bolts ripped into her chest, the vampiric pony stumbled back and widened her eyes. She looked down to a bleeding crater in her form, right around where her heart would be, and watched as orange light flickered to life and started spreading.

While the mare’s curses and yells abruptly faded as her form disintegrated, Sunspot suddenly felt a pair of hooves grasping her by the shoulders and jerking her into the nearby wall.

“Ack!” She squawked, dropping the vial from her hooves from the impact and reaching up. Darting her fearful eyes to the side only revealed an open maw full of teeth.

The orange pegasus seized up and flinched, fully expecting this to be her end.

Then, a stabbing sound and an agonized yelp made her open her eyes, only to see the form of the pale pony holding her being overtaken by fire and ash. An ornate and very sharp-looking blade was jutting into the air where the vampire just was, and it was connected to a metal circlet around a blue hoof.

“You ok?” Blue asked, somewhat urgently. They were still in a combat scenario as long as one of the pale ponies was alive.

“Ye-”

“HOLD IT! HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!”

Sunspot was cut off abruptly by a shrill voice.

All eyes in the cottage swiftly converged on the couch toward the back wall, where the pale earth mare, seemingly the leader of this band of vampires, was standing with Fluttershy and Bon Bon held by the neck and head.

The pale mare appeared to be trembling, and her darting pupils were small with fear as she kept a close watch on both Blue Bolt and Sunspot.

“If either of you takes one step closer, I’ll… I-I’ll kill them! I’ll kill t-them both!” She demanded, tightening her grip around the two mares and making them squeak in pain.

“Please no!” Bon Bon whimpered hysterically. She was stiff as a board and afraid to move.

Fluttershy looked between her friends with the fear of death in her eyes. “Blue… S-Sunspot… please…”

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash yelled from her position on the ground. She flopped forward, but the bindings around her forelegs made it so she couldn’t move all that well. “Let them go!”

“Bonny!” Lyra gasped and reached a frail hoof out toward her friend.

Meanwhile, Blue Bolt and Sunspot were standing beside each other in the middle of the room, staring at the cornered animal that now had their friends by the neck.

“Now, hold on a minute. Let’s talk this out like grown ponies and-” Blue started, until another series of distressed noises from Fluttershy and Bon Bon made him freeze.

“Stay right there!” The pale mare squealed. She roughly shoved Bon Bon to the floor away from her and put her full focus on Fluttershy, hugging the timid pony close and keeping both hooves around her neck.

She looked to Blue Bolt stiffly. “The Prince t-told us about you! You stay r-right there and keep your hooves on the floor!” She demanded before eyeing to Sunspot. “You too! Keep your hooves off that stupid suit and where I can see them!”

As offended as she should have been, Sunspot was more focused on Fluttershy. She reluctantly stayed as still as she could while she struggled to work out a plan in her head. Most of her weapons were missing, and even if she had her crossbow, she couldn’t get a shot off in time. The pale mare would kill Fluttershy.

The pressure of the situation was clearly reaching her. There was nothing she could think to do. Her limbs started to shake as she envisioned helplessly watching Fluttershy die. She had made a silent promise to herself and to Neon Streak that she would protect the yellow mare and her friends, but now she was about to let that promise shatter.

Then, however, her eyes shifted to the side as she noticed the stallion beside her standing up straight. Blue Bolt had a grim look on his face as he stared the pale pony down and slowly unfurled his wings.

“Blue… what are you doing?” Sunspot whispered tensely, not even risking turning to face the stallion as she watched the pale mare, sweat starting to fall down her face.

Blue Bolt barely even acknowledged her. All of his focus was on the vampire threatening his friend’s life.

He had been through so much with the yellow mare in their relatively short time together. He owed so much to her and Rainbow Dash. He was not about to let some monstrous pony hurt her.

“Hey! Didn’t you hear me?! I said stay back!” The pale mare threatened again, making sure to keep Fluttershy in front of her and in her grasp at all times. She started backing toward the kitchen, taking slow and infrequent movements as she watched the stallion.

Blue didn’t know everything about his new powers. Truth be told, he was winging it most of the time and learning as he went. He knew that he wasn't using the boost of speed from his wings to its full potential, but he also knew that if he tried to focus harder on it, that it would threaten to make him pass out again.

However, as he looked into the trembling violet eyes of his friend, and saw how fearful she was, he suddenly didn’t care.

In the span of three seconds, he acted.

The edges of his wings started to glow orange, each feather warming with supernatural energy working its way to each appendage’s base. His hardened stare lit up a similar color as he tensed his forehooves and leaned forward.

He concentrated on the strange force within him, exercising more control at the cost of more exhaustion. The strange tingle in his head appeared as if reminding him that he wasn't ready for such a display of power. He pushed it aside and focused on his next actions.

Then, he vanished.

Sunspot, Rainbow Dash, and even Lyra flinched as a shockwave of air blew past them. They caught a hint of orange flashing across the room for an instant before they shielded their eyes from the breeze.

When they looked up, Blue Bolt was no longer beside them. They trailed their eyes ahead, only to widen them at what they saw.

Fluttershy was on the ground, sitting and staring up in similarly stunned awe as her friends. The pale mare was staring ahead blankly, eyes wide open and mouth agape, as a familiar blue stallion stood next to her.

His wings were still aglow, and his form seemed still as a statue as he held his foreleg out. The blade around his wrist was stuck into the vampiric pony’s chest.

“Wh… what…” The pale mare muttered, at a loss for words. She never found any more as a wave of fire overtook her.

Silence reigned in the cottage for a solid few seconds after that as everyone processed what just happened. As the realization that they were safe once more sank in, many of them started to relax, though most were still fixated on the act of supernatural power that they just witnessed.

Sunspot blinked, “Holy Luna… Blue, that was amazing!”

“She didn’t even know what hit her!” Rainbow Dash noted from the floor, grinning despite her bindings as Sunspot came over and untied her.

“That was incredible… how did you do that?” Bon Bon asked as she slowly stood up. Before she could get an answer, she turned to see a teal shape rushing across the room toward her. She barely had time to process before Lyra wrapped her up in a tight hug.

“I’m so glad you’re ok!” Lyra said before turning to Blue with joyful tears in her eyes. “Thank you so much, Blue Bolt.”

“Yeah. You really saved our tails.” One of the guards on the ground piped up, sounding very much exhausted and pained.

Blue Bolt let his weapons vanish, though he was still staring into blank space where the pale mare was. “Sure… y-yeah, it was… it was no… problem.” He said, sounding quiet and distant.

Fluttershy’s expression dropped a bit as she watched her friend for a moment. His eyes were unfocused, and he teetered a bit as he took a few steps. “Blue… are you ok?” She asked softly.

By now, Sunspot had finished untying Rainbow Dash, and the two mares had gathered around the stallion.

“I’m fine… I… I-I just… Ngh…” Blue cringed and brought a hoof up to his head. The one eye that wasn't clenched shut glowed orange briefly as the familiar and disorienting tingle came, more intense than before. It reminded him of the first time it happened, right before he passed out.

Rainbow Dash put a hoof to Blue’s forehead. She recoiled and softened her gaze at the result. “He’s burning up. Uh… Fluttershy, get a cold rag or something.”

“O-ok.” Fluttershy nodded sporadically before rushing off into her kitchen.

“What’s going on?” Sunspot asked as she finished untying the guards. She hovered nearby, ready to offer some kind of help to the stallion, who was starting to shake.

“This happened before he passed out last time.” Rainbow explained as she helped her friend to a seated position and supported him so he wouldn’t fall over. “Stay with us, Blue. Just take it easy.”

“Is he ok?” Lyra asked, standing nearby with Bon Bon and watching the group rushing to aid their friend with worried frowns on their faces.

Rainbow Dash turned and started to answer when she paused as Blue Bolt spoke up.

“I’m good… I’m…” He panted, barely audible and starting to hyperventilate slightly. A bit of clarity came back to his eyes for a moment before they drifted into empty space again. “Just… tired.”

Soon after, Fluttershy came rushing back with a moistened rag in her mouth. She sat down next to the stallion and held the cloth to his forehead while whispering reassurances to him and trying her best to comfort him.

While this was going on, one of the guards turned to Sunspot and adopted a more serious expression. “What’s the situation with the other attacks?”

“We’ve got things under control.” Sunspot said.

“Maybe you should check in with everypony?” Fluttershy suggested.

Sunspot frowned a bit at the thought that her teammates were having similar trouble in dealing with the pale ponies. If Blue Bolt hadn’t shown up, who knows what was about to happen to them?

“Yeah. I’ll let them know we’re ok.” She said, lifting a hoof up and pressing it to her ear. “This is Sunspot… Anypony free to respond?”

Almost immediately, a relieved voice echoed in her head.

“Thank Celestia! We were getting worried about you!” Sparkplug said, informal as usual.

Sunspot chuckled half-heartedly, “Sorry guys… I was a little tied up.”

“It’s good to hear from you, Sunspot. Is everyone ok over there?” Glimmer Shine asked.

“More or less.” Sunspot said, taking a concerned glance to Blue Bolt. “Enough about us. What have I missed?”

There was an uncomfortable pause that didn’t go unnoticed.

Sparkplug eventually started, “Well… uh… we’ve gotten the farm and Sugarcube Corner taken care of.”

“That’s good.” Sunspot said, her mouth falling into a flat line despite her words. “Why don’t you just go ahead and tell me what’s wrong?”

An abject sigh came from Glimmer Shine as he seemingly worked up the nerve needed to explain whatever bad news had befallen them. “Sunspot… it’s not looking good over here at the square. Twilight and Glitter have been taken hostage."

“What?! And you let them?!” Sunspot raised her voice, immediately grabbing the attention of everyone in the room.

Although the pegasus’ outrage wasn't specifically directed at her, the familiar reaction struck a chord in Sparkplug. “There wasn't anything we could do.” She said softly.

“There had to be something!” Sunspot shouted before taking notice of the concerned stares she was receiving and quieting down. “How do we just up and lose two people to those freaks?!” She whispered forcefully, turning so that the others couldn’t read her lips.

After a moment, it was Glimmer Shine who answered. “You weren’t there, Sunspot. Some ponies were going to get hurt… and Twilight and Glitter volunteered themselves up so that wouldn’t happen. I get that you’re upset, but this is not the time to be turning on each other.”

Sunspot took a few breaths to get the lingering shock out of her system. “Yeah… yeah, ok. Sorry. What are we doing?”

“Glitter’s been telling us where she and the other hostages are. We’re getting ready to storm inside and take the vampires out before they can hurt anyone.” Glimmer explained.

“That sounds like something I would say. Are we sure someone doesn’t want to come up with a more well thought out plan so we don’t end up getting Glitter and Twilight killed?” Sunspot asked.

There was an uncomfortable sigh. “This is the only plan we have. We’re trying to make it well thought out as we go.” Glimmer said.

“Yeah, and I think the well thought out thing to do here is to get Blue Bolt over here pronto,” Sparkplug added.

Sunspot cringed hesitantly as she looked back to see the stallion still out of it. “Blue is kind of… indisposed right now.”

“Indisposed?” She could practically hear Sparkplug’s eyebrow shooting up. “Well, you better re-dispose him!”

“That’s… not an option. Look, he’s having that thing happen to him that happened before he passed out last time. I think he used too much of his power or something. Whatever. The point is that he can’t help… but I can. I’m heading over there right now.” Sunspot said, already going around the room and collecting her missing gear from the various hiding spots the pale ponies had stashed it.

“As much as I think we could use the help, I’m not sure if we can wait that long.” Glimmer Shine said. “Shining Armor wants us in there as soon as possible… and I can’t exactly blame him. We don’t know what they could be doing to Twilight and the others, and Glitter has been quiet for a while.”

Sunspot nearly tripped over a night table as she struggled to replace her gear onto her suit while also keeping a hoof to her ear. “It’s like you said, Glimmer. I’m not there. You do what you gotta do… just make sure to get to them in one piece if you bust in before I get there.”

“Copy that.” The stallion said, voice full of somber determination.

“What he said.” Sparkplug chimed in.

Soon after, nothing but silence came as her teammates left her to her own devices. They had more important things to do than talk with her, she was sure.

As she let her hoof fall from her ear, Sunspot felt a bit of unease well up inside her as the silence in the room punctuated the end of her conversation. Before anyone even spoke, she knew what was coming.

“What was all that about?” Rainbow Dash asked, prompting the orange mare to turn and face the group.

They were understandably concerned after hearing her outburst and what few words they could make out from her conversation. Even without hearing the other half, it didn’t paint a good picture.

“Is everyone ok?” Fluttershy fretted, her eyes shimmering ever so slightly as she braced herself for whatever bad news awaited.

Sunspot lowered her ears a bit and shifted her eyes to the floor briefly. “Twilight and Glitterball have been taken hostage over at the square.” She explained, figuring that it was best to be upfront. After all, she would want someone to be honest if one of her best friends was in grave danger, which was actually the case.

Rainbow snapped her eyes open. “What?!”

“Oh no…” Fluttershy recoiled back in shock.

“Oh my gosh.” Bon Bon muttered, while Lyra merely gasped and covered her mouth with her hooves. She might not have known who Glitterball was, but the thought of anyone going through what she just did was horrible.

Not satisfied at simply reacting, Rainbow Dash stood up and took a few steps forward. “What are we waiting for? We gotta get over there!”

“No, I gotta get over there. You gotta stay here and keep an eye on Blue until he gets better.” Sunspot stated, firm but friendly enough.

“Sunspot, are we really going to have this fight? Twilight and Glitter need us!” Rainbow insisted.

Sunspot softened her expression. “Rainbow… look around you.” She pointed to the utter mess that Fluttershy’s living room was in. “We almost died. If Blue didn’t show up, who knows what they would have done to us?”

Rainbow Dash wrinkled her expression. “So you’re saying that was my fault?!”

“What? No!” Sunspot shook her head. “I just don’t want you involved! It’s way too dangerous!”

“Oh, so you and the others get to go and risk your lives for Twilight, but I can’t risk my life for Glitter? I thought we were all in this together?!” Rainbow asked, unable to hide a bit of hurt underneath the anger in her voice.

“Girls…” Fluttershy piped up softly, hoping in vain to be able to calm her friends down.

Rainbow stepped forward while Sunspot faced away from her and fiddled with her gear. “This whole time we’ve been fighting these things together! We’ve bled together, we’ve almost died together more times than I can count! Why are you so hung up on us helping now?!”

Finally, Sunspot turned and shouted. “Because I can’t take losing one of you!”

This seemed to make Rainbow Dash give pause. The orange mare’s eyes had a fierce intensity to them, but they were also trembling with sadness and even starting to water at the corners.

“I made a promise that I would keep you guys safe. I hate that you’ve had to fight these things with us… I hate how often you’ve gotten hurt or almost died! You’re civilians for crying out loud!” Sunspot took a shaky breath before continuing. “After Blue died… after Tom… after Dusk almost killed you, I kept telling myself that there was nothing I could do. It was the only thing that kept me going. I’ll do better next time. Next time I’ll save them. But this is different!”

Rainbow Dash softened her expression as she saw a few tears roll down the orange pegasus’ face. “Sunspot…”

“If I let you come with me, and something happens to you, I’ll never forgive myself. Or worse, if something happens to Twilight, or Glitter or somepony else, you’ll end up feeling the same way!” Sunspot panted as she finished, feeling emotionally exhausted. Much to her surprise, Rainbow Dash walked up to her and gave her a brief hug.

“Sunspot… they’re our friends too. You, Glitter, Glimmer, Sparkplug… you’re all our friends. We might not be trained like you guys are, but when one of us is in danger, we all come together to help.” Rainbow smiled as she pulled back. “I know there are risks… and I know that we could get hurt or worse, but Dusk and the rest of his pointy-toothed henchponies don’t care who they hurt. Like it or not, we’re in this together.”

Sunspot looked at Rainbow’s genuine expression and even over at Fluttershy, who was wearing a similar warm smile. The stiff corners of her mouth gradually lifted as a fuzzy sensation broke through all the fear and doubt she had felt. “You’d just come anyway even if I said no, wouldn’t you?” She asked.

“You know me too well,” Rainbow said lightheartedly.

“We can’t both be the stubborn one. We’d get nothing done.” Sunspot chuckled before sighing. “Well… if we are doing this, we better get going.” She said, producing the spare dagger they had and handing it back to the cyan mare.

Rainbow Dash smirked eagerly. She was more than ready to go rescue the two unicorns and whoever else was in danger. Nobody threatened Ponyville or its citizens on her watch, and especially not her friends.

Then, the pair turned as they heard a soft grunt. Much to their surprise, they saw Blue Bolt actually standing up. He was still shaky, albeit less than before, and his eyes looked like he was taking in his surroundings for the first time in a few minutes.

“I’ll go too…” He said, trying and failing to hide a cringe as he struggled to take a step forward. He didn’t make it far before he puttered to a stop, where Fluttershy caught up to him.

“Blue, you should be resting,” Fluttershy said, gently trying to coax him back into a sitting position.

“But… I can’t just let them go alone.” Blue protested.

Eventually, Rainbow Dash walked over to the stubborn stallion. She sighed and pulled a corner of her mouth up as she lifted a hoof and pressed it to his muzzle, pushing him back to his haunches with relative ease.

“Sorry, Blue, but you’re not helping anyone like this. I think you’re gonna have to sit this one out.” She said before shifting her eyes to Fluttershy. “Will you be ok staying here and keeping an eye on him?”

Fluttershy smiled softly. “Only if you promise to be careful.”

“Have you met me?” Rainbow smirked before giving the matter some thought. “Actually, don’t answer that.” She deadpanned as she started to rush back over to the front door, where Sunspot was waiting.

Lyra waved to the pair as they started to leave. “Stay safe you two!”

“Thanks for saving us!” Bon Bon added. Even if Blue Bolt was really the one that did the saving, it was the thought that counted.

“Don’t worry. Next time you see us, Ponyville will be vampire-free!” Sunspot boasted cheerfully as she gave a final wave to her friends before taking off into the night sky.

Rainbow Dash gave a similarly enthusiastic wave before unfurling her wings and shooting off to join the suited mare.

Blue Bolt was left to watch the pair departing, along with the three mares beside him and the two guards. Although he was confident that they would take care of each other, he couldn’t deny a feeling of worrisome doubt. One look at Fluttershy told him that she felt the same way.