Angel of Justice: Blood Moon

As the moon climbed higher into the starry night sky of Equestria, the crickets and owls and other nocturnal animals created a peaceful ambiance on the streets of Clopford.

Outside the local guard station, an older stallion and a younger stallion walked down the steps clad in their full guard attire. The older pony had a slight scar running down his cheek, though he seemed cheerier than most guards despite this. The younger guard unsurprisingly seemed to be the less experienced out of the two. He didn’t carry himself with the confidence of a royal guard yet, and he seemed to cling to the older gentleman like he was his example of what to do right.

“So, uh… what are we doing, sir?” The younger stallion asked curiously. “Aren’t we supposed to be off duty right now?”

The older stallion chuckled to himself for a moment before turning to his companion. “How many times have I told you, kid? Ease up… call me Rusty.” He stopped walking and looked around the town and the night sky around him. “As for what we’re doing…”

As the clopping of many hooves came from behind them, the older pony paused and turned to see another small group of guards moving past, nodding to him in a friendly manner as they did.

“Where’s the fire…?” The younger guard asked, a bit concerned.

“Ah, don’t worry about it. They’re just heading outside of town to check on some reports of noises. Some folks around town heard some animals or something or other. That’s actually part of why I asked you out here.”

“It is?”

Rusty looked down at his companion, seeing a well of hesitation, anxiousness, and a desire to do better behind his eyes that reminded him of when he first became a guard. “An old friend of mine is one of the folks that got spooked. I figured that I would help those guys out and swing by to check on him and his family and ask them about what they know, and I also figured that this would be a good opportunity to get you some experience under your belt.”

“Animal noises, huh?” The younger pony asked rhetorically before adopting a more concerned expression. “Wait… You don’t think it’s some weird monster thing, do you? I would have thought the princess would have sent that team of monster hunters for something like that.”

“Relax, kid, they’re just some reports of noises. The princess is just being safe and havin’ us check it out to make sure. It’s probably just some raccoons or something anyway.” The older stallion assured.

The young guard did as he was told and relaxed a bit. “Ok… if you say so.”

The pair walked through the admittedly small town at a leisurely pace, with Rusty occupying time by retelling tall tales to his inexperienced companion about his time as a rookie.

Eventually, they reached the edge of town. A cobblestone path led out toward the countryside, passing by a fenced-in house before going on a ways and disappearing into a grassy expanse.

Rusty looked toward the house, a single-storey abode with a garden out back and a cellar door around the side. The lights were on inside, indicating at least somepony was still awake.

"I take it your friend lives out here?" The younger guard asked astutely.

Rusty nodded. "Yep… He and his family grow their own produce and sell the excess in town. They’re good folks… and I think they deserve to sleep peacefully at night without worryin' about no wild animals or timberwolves."

The young guard was taken aback by just how stoic his superior was being. Normally, nothing could get Rusty to slip out of his easy-going attitude, but right now he seemed determined to make sure that an innocent family felt safe in their own home, and that was something the younger stallion could respect.

"So, what's the play here?" The rookie asked.

“Eh, nothing too serious. We’re just here to check in and ask them about what they know. After that, we’ll do a quick sweep outside of town and call it a night.” Rusty explained, to which his companion nodded before the both of them started toward the house.

Through a gate and up a path to the door, the pair paused for a moment before Rusty knocked firmly on the wooden frame.

A slight noise came from inside, followed by nothing. A solid moment or two went by, and a passing thought of knocking again crossed the older stallion’s mind, until a hurried trotting came closer and a beige earth pony with green hair answered the door.

Rusty smiled at the beige stallion. “Green Pines! How’ve you been?” He greeted warmly.

Green Pines smiled as well, though his seemed much smaller by comparison. “Hey, Rusty… heh. What brings you here so late?” He questioned, glancing back inside before stepping out slightly and keeping a hoof on the door.

“I heard Sugar got pretty spooked last night by some noises. Thought I might bring young blood here to check up on you guys.” Rusty explained, briefly gesturing to his younger companion. The rookie offered a friendly and professional nod to the farmer.

Mr. Pines leaned his weight onto his back legs and smiled uncomfortably. “Aww… I wish you would’ve come sooner. I don’t want you to inconvenience yourself on my account. It’s really late… you should just head on home and forget about it. I’m sure Sugar just heard some wild dogs anyway.” He said, starting to make his way back inside.

“Oh, nonsense. It’s no trouble, really. I wouldn’t be able to call myself a gentlepony if I let a girl like Sugar Sunshine and her kid go on living in fear. Besides… I pulled this one along with me for something, so we might as well take a look around.” Rusty nudged his companion playfully, eliciting him to rub his foreleg. “Mind if we come in?”

The beige pony rubbed his neck for a moment before smiling and nodding. “Of course not.” He said quietly, backing up and gesturing to welcome the guards into his home.

Stepping inside, Rusty seemed right at home, while the rookie took a look around to familiarise himself with the interior of the humble abode. A living room of decent enough size and warmth was around them with a hallway embedded into the front wall, and a kitchen opening up to their right. Pictures of the green-haired stallion, a pink mare with curly yellow hair, and a beautiful foal in their forelegs littered the walls.

While the rookie was briefly examining the photos and internalizing a few goofy smiles from seeing the adorable-looking child, Rusty turned to his friend curiously.

“I never would have thought you would ever get married back in the day… let alone have a kid.” He said jestingly. “How have the missus and the little tike been doing anyway? I’m sure they’d love to see uncle Rusty.”

Green Pines trailed his eyes to the floor briefly. “Uh… they’ve been a little under the weather recently. Some bug must have just crept up on us. I’m lucky I haven’t caught it yet.”

“Sorry to hear that.” Rusty frowned. “Well… how about the kid here goes and checks out the cellar for us while I ask you a few questions.”

“By myself?” The younger guard asked a bit hesitantly.

“I’m confident you can handle yourself,” Rusty said a bit flatly. “Cellar’s through there. Just poke around a bit and make sure no raccoons are nesting down there.” He pointed to the kitchen.

The rookie nodded and walked over to the kitchen door, only to be blocked by the beige pony quickly trotting into his path, much to his confusion.

“N-no, don’t go down there.” Green Pines stated adamantly.

By now, both guards were offering the farm pony strange looks. The rookie looked back to Rusty as if to ask what was up with his apparent lifelong friend. Rusty looked back at him with equal confusion before looking to the beige stallion with a raised eyebrow.

“Uh… ok. Why? I thought that was where you heard the noises?”

Realizing how strange he looked, Pines darted his eyes between the pair briefly before opening his mouth to speak, only to have nothing come out but a prolonged noise of muddled thought. “Uhh… I uh… I just don’t want you disturbing Sugar. She’s down there labeling cans of food for the winter.”

Rusty skewed his expression a bit. “I thought she wasn't feeling well?”

“She isn’t… but… you know her,” Green Pines chuckled awkwardly, “she doesn’t feel right unless she’s doing something productive. It would probably be for the best if you just leave her be.”

Rusty thought for a moment before sighing. “Well… I don’t want to stay where I’m not needed.”

The beige pony let his shoulders relax a bit.

“But… I also wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight if we didn’t at least check out back.” Rusty added, turning to his younger partner again. “Could you head back there and check around the fence for any signs of breaks or claw marks? Door’s through the laundry room if’n I remember rightly.” He pointed through the kitchen again.

“Yes sir.” The rookie nodded before heading past Green Pines and into the kitchen.

The beige pony watched the younger guard heading into the other room with a veiled sense of concern. He heard Rusty walking up to him and resting a hoof on his shoulder, eliciting him to turn around and look at his friend.

“Real sorry about Sugar and the little one. Be sure to give ‘em my regards and get well’s and all that.” Rusty said with genuine sympathy.

“Yeah… I’ll be sure to do that.” Mr. Pines nodded flatly.

“Now, how about you tell me about them noises?” Rusty asked curiously while fetching a notepad and a feather quill from a pouch around his hips.

Meanwhile, the young guard was diligently making his way through the house toward the back door he was meant to find. Through a tiled kitchen and a small connecting hallway, he quickly found a small laundry room complete with a washing machine and dryer, with a door up ahead that had a small window set into it that led outside.

Moving through the laundry room, he paused and looked to his left, only to find another door. This one was more aged looking than the other door, and it seemed to be the cellar door that he had been told about judging from the cold draft coming from under the seam.

Taking no more than a passing glance, the guard returned to his appointed task. He walked over to the outside door and rested a hoof on the handle to open it before a creak interrupted him. The wooden squeak made the hairs on his tail bristle slightly, causing him to turn his head and look, only to find the cellar door slightly ajar.

The stallion lingered for a moment before taking his hoof off of the handle and turning around. He could see a faint view of a dark stairwell through the crack in the door, along with what must have been a silhouette of a pony obscured in darkness.

“Hello…?” The guard called softly. “Ma’am…? I’m uh… I’m an officer of the royal guard. I’m here with Rusty.” He explained hesitantly, still half-convinced that what he was looking at was just a trick of the eyes and the door slid open in a slight draft.

The silhouette drew closer, confirming the guard’s suspicions that someone was there, though any shape or color of fur or mane still couldn’t be determined.

“We’re here to check out those noises you’ve been hearing. I heard you’ve been feeling sick lately, and uh… I’m real sorry about that. We’ll be out of your mane just as soon as I go and check your fence for… huh?” He narrowed his eyes curiously as the figure drew even closer.

The door creaked open more, and the guard leaned his head closer for a moment before reeling back and widening his eyes in surprise.
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“So you didn’t hear the noises yourself?” Rusty asked curiously, scribbling away on his notepad and looking up at Green Pines, who was sitting on a couch.

The farmer glanced toward the kitchen for a moment, letting his stare linger a bit before turning back to Rusty. “No… Sugar was the only one up that late, and by the time she woke me up, the noises had stopped.”

“Mmhmm… and it sounded like barking?”

“That’s what she told me. She said it sounded weird though.” Pines replied.

“Weird?” Rusty blinked.

Green Pines paused. “Yeah. She said it was like… it didn’t sound like a dog or a wolf.”

Just then, a noise came from the kitchen. Both ponies turned to look toward it, only to reel slightly as a louder thump sounded out. Mr. Pines stood up, while Rusty dropped his notepad and took a few steps toward the kitchen.

“Kid… is that you? You hit your shin on a chair or something?” He asked with a bit of mild concern.

Nothing but silence greeted him.

Rusty was more than a little disconcerted by how quiet it was. He inched forward again, nearly at the threshold, and craned his neck to peer around the corner.

“Uh… Rusty, maybe you should just head on home and meet up with your friend later?” Green Pines suggested nervously.

Rusty turned his head and raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about? I’m not just leaving without the-”

*Thump*

Rusty jumped back as a large shape went flying past him and crashing onto the floor, nearly striking him. He widened his eyes as he saw that the shape was, in fact, a stallion clad in royal guard armor with blood spilling from a rather nasty-looking neck wound.

“Kid…?!”

Green Pines Stepped forward slightly as Rusty went to check on his injured companion. The older guard knelt down and put a hoof to his friend’s neck, only to reel back slightly with a shocked expression of horror.

“I’m sorry, Rusty.” He said with a regretful frown. “I really wish you would have gotten here sooner.”

“What are you… wh…” Rusty stammered, absolutely at a loss for words. He paused and turned his head, only to see another pony walking through the kitchen at a casual stroll.

The pony in question seemed to be a familiar-looking pink mare with curly yellow hair, only she seemed a lot paler than she looked in the many photos strewn around, and she had a red glint in her eyes that almost made them scarlet in color.

“Sugar...?” Green Pines called in a high-pitched whimper, a stunned and horrified look now on his face.

The pink mare stopped walking as she entered the room. It was at this point that both ponies noticed that her mouth was covered in blood, nearly to the point of dripping. She licked her muzzle and stared at the pair like a hungry animal.

“Now, now, Green Pines... didn’t I tell you about inviting strangers over for dinner?” Another stallion’s voice came from the hallway off to the side.

Everyone looked over as slow hoofsteps started approaching from down the hall. Out of the darkness, two red orbs softly illuminated the intense stare of a brown pony with silver hair. Much to Rusty’s surprise, the pony was actually an alicorn stallion.

“Who the…” Rusty stammered, stepping forward protectively to be a bit closer to the beige stallion. “What in the name of the princess is going on here?!” He demanded, reaching for the sword at his side.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The alicorn said in a coldly casual voice, barely paying any heed to the guard’s threatening stance.

Meanwhile, Green Pines was staring at his wife in horror as a set of fangs glistened in her mouth. She didn’t have an ounce of the loving pony he once knew in her eyes, having been replaced with stone-cold murderous hunger.

“You said you wouldn’t hurt her!” The green-haired stallion shouted shrilly at the alicorn.

“And you said that you wouldn’t let anyone in here to disturb us.” The alicorn retorted, shooting a slight glare of annoyance at the farmer before shifting his attention back to the guard and smirking, allowing fangs of his own to poke out. “Although, this may work in our favor… My friends have been getting a little peckish as of late.”

Almost on cue with the alicorn’s words, a feral-sounding growl came from the darkened hallway behind him. Much to the horror of the two ponies watching, three different sets of glowing red eyes emerged, belonging to three equine figures. However, as the figures skulked into the light, Rusty and Mr. Pines realized that these were not ponies, at least not anymore.

Their fur was patchy and their skin was showing through, wrinkled and emaciated and clinging to their bones, which seemed to have stretched slightly. Their eyes were sunken, almost hollow pits, with only a beady glowing pupil in the center to even give the impression that they could see. Their mouths were full of fangs like the alicorn and the pink mare, but there were many more than two, and they were much more gnarled and vicious looking.

One of the creatures, what must have formerly been a pegasus with matted yellow fur and frail, torn wings, moved away from the pack and approached the living room. It kept its bloodthirsty gaze fixed on Rusty as it snarled and growled at him, creating noises that he never imagined an equine could make, before it reared up to lunge out and pounce him.

The yellow beast and even the other two stopped in their tracks as the alicorn lifted a foreleg up and blocked them with it. He glanced back at them like a parent silencing their children in public before he turned back toward the guard.

“You work for Princess Celestia, don’t you?” He questioned with a pleased inflection in his voice.

Rusty stepped closer to the door, not even facing away from the monstrous ponies for a moment. He shifted the sword in his mouth to face the alicorn and the beasts behind him, as well as the pink mare off to the side.

“I don’t know who you are or what you want, but I know one thing for darn sure. You won’t be getting anything useful out of me.” Rusty threatened, ready to strike down the first one that moved funny.

“Oh, I’m quite sure you will be of use.” The alicorn stated flatly. He stuck out his hoof as if to beckon the guard, causing him and the farm pony off to the side to tense up and jump respectively.

Much to both of their confusion, the brown stallion revealed what seemed to be a deep-looking slit on his wrist. A hint of red movement could be seen just on the inside of the cut, and before anyone could even think of how to react, a sound like liquid splashing rang out as a stream of blood shot out of his wrist and wrapped around Rusty’s neck in a blur.

Rusty barely let out a strained yelp of surprise before the stream tightened around his neck like a rope. He dropped his sword and clutched a hoof at it, only to find that it was somehow just as solid as it felt.

“Rusty!” The farmer squeaked from his position by the couch, too petrified and shocked to move. He reached a hoof out to his friend, only to watch as the alicorn flicked his own hoof back and pulled the full-grown stallion across the room and behind him like he was a hoofball.

The veteran guard yelled briefly as he sailed behind the alicorn and bounced to a stop with a mighty clang from his armor. No sooner did he touch the ground was he set upon by the three feral beasts waiting patiently for their master to throw them a bone.

Green Pines reeled back and sank low to the ground, using the couch as support as he stared at the mouth of the hallway and listened to a mixture of his friend’s screams, some feral barks, and a wet ripping sound. A few streaks of blood sprayed out into the living room, staining the carpet and even hitting the walls as the guard’s screams faded, replaced by a series of chewing and slurping noises.

By now, the farm pony was a whimpering mess on the floor. He was silently praying for this to be a bad dream, or for one of the princesses to come save him and his family, but no such thing happened.

The alicorn glanced behind him at the bloody feeding session going on, smirking as he did, before turning to the pink mare. He nodded toward the beige stallion pointedly, to which the mare started walking toward her loving husband.

Green Pines fell back even further onto the floor and tried crawling away, only to be met with a wall. He pressed his back against it and kept his eyes glued on his wife, who was looking at him with an oddly calm expression like nothing was even wrong. It was like she was simply consoling him for acting so strange. She stepped over the body of the younger guard and slowly made her way over to the corner.

The beige pony yelped and loosely struggled as the pink mare sat down and put her forelegs around his waist. She stared into his eyes with a sort of sympathetic understanding.

“Sssh… it’s ok, honey. It’ll be over before you know it.” She assured softly, bringing her hooves up to his face and bringing him a little closer.

Green Pines looked up from the floor, tears freely streaming down his face now as he quietly looked around at the horror that had befallen his family. “Where’s Maple?” He asked in a broken voice as he looked to his wife.

The pink mare smiled at her husband fondly, using her hoof to wipe away some of his tears. If it weren’t for the blood on her muzzle and the red gleam in her eyes, he might have found this comforting, up until she jerked forward and sank her fangs into his neck.
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A few minutes went by as the alicorn watched his minions feeding. As the pink mare finished her meal, she looked over to see her new master unnaturally drawing the pool of blood from the young guard up and into his three wounds.

She looked down to her bloodstained hooves and the motionless body of her love, frowning slightly as she did. “I… feel like I should feel bad about this… but I don’t.” She spoke aloud, a bit of confusion and regret in her voice.

The alicorn finished his own meal, producing a pleased groan as the last of the pool of crimson fluid seeped into his neck wound. He briefly rubbed the length of the gash before turning to the pink mare.

“Don’t worry… you’ll get used to it.” He said, approaching her and resting a hoof on her shoulder.

The mare still seemed a bit conflicted, but nodded at her master regardless. She stole a glance over to the hallway, only to hear the sounds of the three feral ponies still feasting away on the older guard.

“Why am I not like them?” She asked.

The alicorn glanced back at the pack of ponies huddled over the bloody corpse, scowling to himself at the mess they were making.

“When I gave them my blood… they were nothing but empty shells. You still had some of your own blood in you.” He explained.

Looking down at her chest and resting a hoof against her heart, the mare seemed puzzled and mildly intrigued by the result. She then looked over to the body of her husband, frowning again as she glanced at the many pictures scattered around.

“Do you think you could make him like me?” She requested timidly.

The brown pony looked at her silently for a moment before trailing his eyes over to the corpse in the corner. “Would it please you?”

She nodded hesitantly.

“Very well…” He smiled softly, getting up and walking closer to the body. “I suppose our numbers could use some bolstering for what’s to come.” He stated, lifting a hoof and letting some blood trickle out. The thin stream dangled nearly to the floor before it curved and started flowing into the beige stallion’s neck wound. The body twitched slightly as the stream entered it before falling still again.

“He should awaken shortly. Do try to help him along… I grow tired of explaining.” The alicorn said to the mare before walking over to the window.

The pink mare smiled in disbelief. “Thank you so much… master?” She said hesitantly, seemingly unsure of how she should address her newfound sovereign.

“Call me Prince…” The alicorn said flatly while staring out the window into the distance. “It is my rightful title.” He added in a colder tone.

The pink mare looked out to where he was staring, only to see the city of Canterlot in the distance.

“Of course… my Prince.” She nodded.

Suddenly, the three feral beasts stopped feeding and quietly stepped into the living room. They gathered behind the pink mare and stared at the alicorn intently. He turned around and looked at them as if he had been expecting this reaction.

“Go around the building and block off all the entrances. We leave as soon as our new… friends, wake up.” He glanced down to the bodies of the guards and the farmer. “We don’t want anyone to find our little mess here until at least tomorrow night.”

The three creatures didn’t respond, but they all broke off and hurried into the kitchen, presumably to do as they were told.

The pink mare watched the trio of monstrosities leave, still a bit disgusted and creeped out by their appearance. She turned to see the alicorn still staring intently at the far-off mountain city.

“Prince… if you don’t mind me asking, where are we going?” She asked, though she had an idea of the answer already. What she didn’t know was the purpose of their trip.

The alicorn turned to her and smirked proudly. “We’re going to Canterlot. We should be able to get there before dawn. I know of a place where we can hide until tomorrow night.”

“But why bother hiding? Why don’t we just do what you came to do tonight?” She asked curiously.

He smirked a bit before settling into an intense expression. “It must be tomorrow night. I have a point to make… and a wrong to right.”