Weakness of the Flesh

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14

Chapter 1

Welcome to the fifth story in the Vampire Cheerilee Series. Thank you for reading.

The wind shifted a little, carrying with it dead autumn leaves. This close to the Everfree Forest, the trees had begun to drop their foliage naturally.

Princess Luna looked around, staring at the faces of the ponies who waited with her. Their expressions were grim, and it hurt Luna to see how much they had suffered. Some of their friends and family members had been killed. Slaughtered, really.

The Princess wore a duster that rippled in the cool wind. The tan color didn’t complement her natural midnight blue, but the long coat made her somewhat less recognizable as royalty. Luna’s heart went out to the survivors of the massacre, and she didn’t need the media getting involved with her unexpected trip to Hoofshire.

The group of them had been quiet for several minutes. There was nothing to talk about. The Princess had promised an end to the killing. She didn’t explain how exactly, but after the trauma of death, the townsponies just wanted it to stop.

A faint cry drifted through the trees. The assembled crowd of mourners jumped, staring into the forest fearfully. There was a crack and the sound of a falling tree. A few shouts from two different voices were heard. Seconds later, an unnatural scream of pain echoed out of the woods. Surely no pony could make such a terrible noise. The screeching continued for a few seconds before it was abruptly cut off.

Luna nodded. “It’s done.”

“Beg your pardon Princess, but what just happened?” asked a stallion.

“You don’t need to worry about it,” Luna told him. “Just know that the monster has been taken care of.”

One by one, the crowd departed. They seemed confused and sad, and it hurt the Princess to see the emotion on their faces. The bright side was that nothing like this would ever happen again.

After the last of the assembled crowd had gone, a mare stepped from the trees. There was a little mud on her hooves. More disturbing was the blood on her lavender coat and in her pink striped mane.

“You’re a mess, Cheerilee,” observed the Princess.

The earth pony averted her green eyes. “I was doing my best not to hurt her.”

Luna nodded. “That will be all for now.”

Cheerilee nodded in return and walked away. Princess Luna hoped she wouldn’t have trouble finding a way to clean up. As the gore-splattered pony departed, Luna looked to the forest. A captured thing waited there.

The blue pony walked forward into the trees. A few hundred paces brought her to a small clearing where a cage the size of a jail cell had been placed. The metal bars were reinforced with magic, and spells protected the lock.

Within the confine was a teenaged pegasus mare. Her coat was white, but had been stained with dirt, blood, and all manner of other things. The same matted her blonde mane and tail. On the pony’s hip was the image of a gold wedding ring.

The mare didn’t move as Luna approached. She couldn’t. All four of her legs and both her wings were broken, splaying from her body at awkward angles. It looked like Cheerilee hadn’t been taking any chances.

That didn’t stop the pegasus from baring her teeth to snarl at the Princess. It was part growl and part scream, and all feral.

“Golden Ring?” asked Luna. “Do you remember your name?”

There may have been a little bit of recognition in the pony’s eyes, but she didn’t close her mouth. The wickedly sharp fangs on display gave Luna pause. A few dead residents of Hoofshire had been bad enough. There was no way to tell how many ponies the vampire had killed during the more than a decade that she’d been on the loose.

There was a spark of intelligence in Golden Ring’s blue eyes. She was a pony, not an animal. Luna debated her options. She couldn’t force somepony to behave. She couldn’t make them act civilized.

The Princess bowed her head, pointing her horn at the crazed mare. Summoning her magic, Luna cast a spell of remembrance. It would do nothing more than remind the pegasus of her past. Hopefully, that would be enough.

▼▼

Cheerilee had long practice in evading detection. Despite her disheveled appearance, she remained unnoticed by the residents of Hoofshire. Of course, sticking to roofs and dark alleys helped with that.

It was a good thing the mare wasn’t distracted on her way home. There was a lot on her mind. The young pegasus, Golden Ring, was somepony she had met before. It had been more than a decade ago, during a time Cheerilee didn’t like to remember.

It had come as a shock to learn that Golden was still alive—or at least as alive as a vampire could be. In Fillydelphia, she’d been caught in the crossfire during a showdown between three vampires. The young mare had died a very convincing death. It had taken years to make the connection between a string of dead ponies and the schoolteacher’s former student.

Cheerilee had been working with Princess Luna for almost twenty years and had developed a relationship that went beyond business, despite the fact that their line of work often consisted of Luna choosing targets and Cheerilee destroying them.

Twenty years was more than enough time for Cheerilee to learn how to kill. She still felt bad about it, honestly, but that emotion had slowly been on the decline. She never took life without purpose, but it was getting easier and easier to do. That scared her a little.

Despite that, the mare recognized the need for her talent. If death and destruction was in her nature now, she might as well be using it for the benefit of Equestria. That was why she had been confused when Luna told her to capture Golden, rather than kill. Still, Cheerilee trusted the Princess, and did as ordered.

Cheerilee had taken some creative routes to restraining her. The white pegasus would recover, though. Vampires healed quickly.

Cheerilee ducked through the open window of her house. She’d been moving around every few years to keep her identity secret. Hoofshire was only a little larger than Ponyville, and it was nice to work at a smaller school for a change. She still wasn’t sure she liked her position as Superintendent, however. It pulled her out of the classroom and into an administrative role. Luna had suggested it, though, so she went along with it.

The lavender mare went down the hallway to the bathroom, not turning on the lights. She washed the blood and dirt off her coat and headed for bed. There was school the next day.

▼▼

Morning sunlight filtered through the trees. The soiled white mare snapped awake. Through the night, her bones had knit, and she felt no pain. She was still in a cage, however.

Golden sprang up and slammed against the bars, desperately trying to break free. They held solidly, not even trembling under her strikes. There was no way to escape.

The young mare fell back, staring fearfully around her prison. Somepony had draped a bit of tan cloth, like a coat, on top of the cage to provide some shade. While sunlight wouldn’t burn a vampire in small doses, it was an instinctive reaction for Golden to avoid it. She was restrained, but somepony didn’t want her dead.

Thinking about what had happened the previous night didn’t dredge up any memories. Maybe if she thought a little further back…

Golden sat up straight in sudden realization. Since when had she been thinking? When was the last time she’d had an emotion that wasn’t related to sleeping or nourishment? Racking her brain, the young pegasus thought as far back as she could manage. Didn’t she used to go to high school?

Slowly, as the day wore on, Golden remembered more and more. Most of it was unpleasant. Visions of blood and lots of it flowed through her mind. Reliving the past decade in the span of a few hours was horrendous. Just when the mare thought she might have been desensitized, she would discover something else that she’d done to bring forth fresh terror.

By the late afternoon, the pony had collapsed into the fetal position, her head buried in her hooves in an attempt to hide from the barrage of memories. She sobbed quietly, even though she was physically unable to cry.

Somepony cleared their throat. Golden got up in a flash, wings spread and legs crouching defensively. Her fangs had been bared in a snarl, seemingly all by themselves.

A lavender earth pony stood outside the cage. Her mane was streaked with shades of pink, and her green eyes held a look of concern. Golden couldn’t believe she hadn’t heard the mare approach.

“How do you feel?”

It had been so long since Golden had heard words spoken to her conversationally that it took her several seconds to remember how to speak.

“Hungry.”

The mare nodded. “That’s to be expected. My name is Cheerilee. Yours is Golden Ring, right?”

“How do you know that?” asked the pegasus. Her grasp on her own name was somewhat shaky.

“We’ve met before,” explained Cheerilee.

Golden thought for a moment. Had it been the previous night? Her memories of that were still clouded.

“I’m going to let you out,” said the earth pony, producing a key. She fit it into the lock that secured the cage. Golden took a few cautious steps towards her.

The lavender mare seemed completely unafraid of the monster just on the other side of the bars. Golden could hear her steady heartbeat and breathing. As the key turned, the pegasus tensed, ready to spring.

Cheerilee opened the door. Golden sprang forward, her wings giving extra thrust. Mouth open wide, she clamped her jaws on the other pony’s throat, teeth tearing into flesh.

Ripping away a chunk of muscle and tissue, the white mare turned to look back at her victim. To her astonishment, the earth pony still stood, glaring at her. She seemed to be unaffected by a section of her neck being torn away.

“What you’ve got in your mouth,” said Cheerilee, her exposed vocal cords twitching. “Spit it out.”

Golden did, but only to free up her fangs for another charge, leaping at the other mare. Cheerilee seemed to easily sidestep the attack, her hoof chopping downwards on the center of Golden’s back. Bones crunched, and the pegasus fell to the ground screaming in pain.

Cheerilee twisted the younger mare’s head to look her in the eyes. She pinched Golden’s throat to quiet her cries.

“I understand that you’re scared and confused right now. Let me clear something up for you, then.” The lavender mare spoke quietly, but an undertone of force ran through her words. “I’m going to teach you how to be a civilized pony again. I’m sure it’s not going to be easy for either of us, but I’m going to give you my best effort. All I ask is that you do the same.”

Golden slowly rocked her head up and down to show that she understood, staring with fascination as muscle and sinew wove itself back into position to heal Cheerilee’s throat. The earth pony drew back, freeing the white mare. It took several minutes before the pegasus was able to shakily get up.

Golden spoke slowly, still getting accustomed to her little-used voice. “You’re a vampire.”

“That’s right,” confirmed Cheerilee.

Golden raised a hoof, placing it to her own chest. No heartbeat thudded within her ribs.

The other mare saw the question in her eyes. “Take it slow. I have a lot to teach you.”

Casting her eyes at the ground, the pegasus nodded. Cheerilee put a comforting hoof around her shoulders. “Come on. Let’s find you some blood.”

▼▼

The Hoofshire library was quiet in the early morning. A bronze-colored earth pony scoured a pile of old books, intent on information that had been buried for a long time. He paused to make a few notes, and returned to the books.

Teacup was fresh out of a job. No, more like fresh out of an existence. The china shop where he had worked for years was closed now. Mr. Crock, the owner, had been killed by the monster in the woods. Princess Luna had promised that the beast had been taken care of. Tea didn’t doubt her…much. With no job to occupy him, however, he was free to spend his time in the library searching for answers.

Perhaps it was his personal connection to a killing that had kept Tea going. He was the unfortunate pony who found Mr. Crock’s lifeless body. The stallion’s neck had nearly been chewed in two.

There were several kinds of dangerous animals that could have done it, but what creature would cause the Princess to personally oversee its removal? Tea figured it had to be something special, and so he had been slowly picking the library clean for reference materials related to predators.

It was unfortunately driving him mad trying to believe any of it. Some of these things couldn’t exist. They were just scary stories! And yet, strange as it sounded, the most unbelievable solution actually made the most sense. Tea just couldn’t wrap his mind around the idea of a vampire stalking the residents of Hoofshire.

The stallion left the library in the afternoon, walking past the closed china shop. It was there he’d learned to make all kinds of pottery and china. He had no idea where else he could find employment. Maybe washing dishes and glasses at a restaurant?

The forest called to him, strangely. Perhaps it was morbid curiosity. Maybe he just wanted to be alone. Tea left town, passing the spot where Princess Luna had stood the previous night. He walked aimlessly for a few minutes, catching sight of something ahead.

It was an iron cage, standing the middle of the forest. It didn’t look old, and Tea wondered how it could have possibly gotten there. Standing in the crowd with the Princess, he remembered the freakish cries that had come from the forest. Was this the place where they had originated? Cautiously, he crept forward.

The area was littered with hoof prints. There were some scuffs, as if a struggle had taken place. Tea saw nothing to indicate that any other creatures had been there.

What did this mean? Was the monster actually a pony? As if to drive home that realization, there was a sudden cry of fear and pain that echoed through the trees.

Tea froze for an instant. The injured creature—it might have been a bird—was not exactly close. The stallion backed away, quickly and quietly retracing his steps back towards town.

▼▼

In a shallow depression in the soil, a pony dug with his hooves. He'd been carefully scraping away earth for hours. A few locals gave him curious looks when the area around his workspace had been cordoned off, but most had lost interest shortly after the history-oriented equinologist began his work.

There was a scraping noise, and the pony paused. Carefully removing dirt, he uncovered a very old plank of word. Its rough surface had been carved with words. The digger leaned forward and brushed away caked soil, straining to read the letters. Dead Pony-ville

Glancing up from his hole, the stallion looked at a sign displaying the town's name that hung from a nearby building. It was similar, hauntingly so. Ponyville

Chapter 2

The pegasus devoured the crow she had caught. Cheerilee watched as black feathers flew and bones crunched between the young mare’s teeth. It was very messy.

The schoolteacher figured she might have to teach Golden some “table manners” as it were. It was much easier to pretend to be a normal pony when you didn’t have blood all over your face.

She had halfway expected the younger mare to attack her when she opened the cage. Cheerilee had never before dealt with a vampire that had gone feral, but had it been up to her, she would have killed Golden and saved a lot of trouble. Even to Cheerilee that sounded harsh, but the pegasus had murdered a lot of ponies. It was a mystery why Princess Luna wanted her spared. Cheerilee didn’t question the royal pony’s orders, however.

Golden finished picking at the dead bird. She turned to Cheerilee, her face smeared with blood. The schoolteacher grimaced and said, “Here, let me help.”

She carefully wiped the blood off as best she could, but the younger mare was still a mess. Living in the wilderness for so long had not been kind to her.

“Come with me,” said Cheerilee. “I have a shower at my house.”

“Where is that?” asked Golden.

She doesn’t even know where she is, thought the lavender mare. “Hoofshire. It’s not far.”

They walked back through the woods, stopping at the cage. Golden cautiously gave it a wide berth. Cheerilee retrieved the tan duster and helped the pegasus put it on. It more than covered her, hiding her grimy body.

The two of them left the woods and entered town. Cheerilee kept her eyes locked on Golden, making sure nothing would happen. The young mare seemed nervous. The schoolteacher had a good idea why. It had been a long time since Cheerilee had been a new vampire, but the restless fear of being discovered never truly went away.

The lavender pony unlocked the door and ushered her companion into the house. Golden looked around curiously. It had been more than a decade since she’d been indoors.

“The shower is down the hall,” directed Cheerilee. “I’ll get you a heavy-duty scrub brush.”

“Thank you,” said Golden, her voice quiet.

In Cheerilee’s opinion, it would have been easier to set the pegasus on fire and let her regrow her coat and feathers instead of trying to wash away the accumulated stains. She wasn’t insensitive enough to even joke about it, however. Golden had to be handled very carefully in order to make her return to society as effective as possible.

Cheerilee collected Luna’s coat from where Golden had shed it. She heard the water turn on. There was a thudding noise and a much louder screech of frustration.

Opening the bathroom door, Cheerilee found the young mare beating her hooves on the window. The pane of glass vibrated quietly but didn’t break, a faint glow of magic appearing at each blow.

“The house is enchanted,” explained the schoolteacher. “You can’t get out without permission.”

Golden collapsed to the floor, burying her head in her forelegs. “I…p-panicked,” she whispered. “It’s too much.”

Cheerilee knelt beside her. “Calm down. It also works the other way. Nopony can get in, either. You’re safe here. Nothing is going to hurt you.”

“I’m-I’m not worried about being hurt,” sobbed Golden. “So many things I’ve done…”

Cheerilee had never murdered ponies for nourishment. She had never lost her mind to bloodlust and lived like an animal. That didn’t mean she hadn’t seen her share of bloodshed, though. While she didn’t know what memories Golden might be reliving, she could imagine.

“Let’s get you cleaned up and then we’ll talk.” Cheerilee helped the other mare to stand and get into the shower. The water washed the bloody tears away from Golden’s eyes. It was the only way a vampire could cry.

Cheerilee left the room. Golden stood as still as a statue under the deluge of water for several minutes. She began to slowly scrub herself, carefully removing the clumps of muddy soil from her mane and tail.

The shower let the mare take her mind off the memories that had been assaulting her thoughts since she woke up in the forest. Golden tipped her head back to wash her neck and chest. Water dribbled into her nose. It felt strange, but suffocation wasn’t a concern for her.

The pegasus frowned, thinking about Cheerilee. Other than her speed and strength, the other mare didn’t seem like a vampire at all. She had twitches, she breathed, and it even sounded like she had a heartbeat.

Golden continued cleaning herself. Unfortunately, the only filth that washed off was on the outside of her body.

▼▼

Princess Luna was up early. It was barely six o'clock. In the evening, that is. She glanced at the setting sun, looking over the top of the reading glasses that were perched on her nose. She may have been an immortal Princess of the Night, but that didn’t save her from eye strain. It didn’t help that her sister kept making jokes about the half-moon shape of the lenses.

Speaking of Celestia, the older of the two Princesses came into the room. “You’re working hard, Luna.”

The blue mare glanced at the documents and books spread across her desk. “I’m trying to track down something that I think might be relevant to what I’m currently working on.”

Celestia examined the title of one of the tomes. It was a history of Royal Guard activities from more than a century ago. She didn’t ask what her sister was working on. Luna handled some of the more unsavory aspects of Equestria, things that Celestia often didn’t want to know.

“Tell me if I can help you with the history,” the older pony said. Luna had only been back from the moon for a couple of decades and still had catching up to do. The Moon Princess nodded and bid her sister goodnight.

Luna returned to her research. Something wasn’t adding up, and it annoyed her. This was not the type of thing she would usually contact Cheerilee about, but it concerned Ponyville. As a native of the town, the schoolteacher might have some insight.

Sliding open her desk drawer, Luna took out a small mirror. It served as an inconspicuous way to communicate. With a small spark of magic, the clear reflection of Luna’s office dissolved into an image of a completely different room. The Princess saw Cheerilee’s face instead of her own.

“Cheerilee, I have a few questions to ask you. Please tell me what you know about the founding of Ponyville.”

The lavender mare frowned. “Granny Smith of the Apple family once gave a presentation in my classroom about that. She said it had been founded based around orchards that were planted on land chartered to them by Princess Celestia.”

“Did any of that sound strange or implausible to you?” asked Luna.

Cheerilee thought for a moment. “No. Should it?”

“The location where Ponyville now stands started out as a hastily-constructed Royal Guard outpost,” explained Luna. “They were deployed there to take care of a powerful sorcerer who had been using the undead to do his bidding.”

“Necromancy?” gasped Cheerilee. “Why haven’t I heard this before?”

“The records were buried lest somepony try it again. The land was granted to the Apple family because they could be trusted to keep the secret.” Luna sighed. “It’s a very good thing that Granny Smith’s memory in the last years of her life wasn’t what it used to be.”

Changing subjects, the Princess said, "I may have to send you to Ponyville to look into things. That’s a last resort.”

Cheerilee nodded. She may have been gone for a long time, but there were still a lot of ponies who would recognize her and wonder why she hadn’t aged.

Luna discussed a few details with Cheerilee about other jobs that needed to be done. The schoolteacher promised to start them as soon as possible. As the conversation came to a close, the mare said, “Oh, one last thing, Princess. I have your coat here. It’s a little…messy.”

“I don’t need it back,” said Luna. It hadn’t looked good on her anyway.

The two of them said goodbye and the Princess went back to reading her history book.

▼▼

Teacup was just coming back inside from partaking in his one vice. Cigarettes were still a strange novelty in Equestria. Only one store in town sold them, but he’d still managed to become addicted in an attempt to look cool. The stallion grumbled as he thought about how much it was costing him – money from his dwindling bank account.

While he’d been outside smoking, his neighbor Cheerilee had led a pony concealed an oversized duster into her house. Tea didn’t know much about the lavender mare. She held some sort of administrative position at the school.

He thought for a moment about her on a more personal level. The mare seemed nice enough and looked like she might be about his age. It had been a long time since he’d had a special somepony. Tea frowned. Cheerilee might not be single, though. There was no way to tell who had been under that coat.

The stallion sighed and sat down to dinner. His meals had been rather meager since he’d realized that his money was limited. Now if he could just quit smoking.

A while passed and Tea was thinking about cleaning up his dishes. With nothing else to do, he’d been sitting idle at the table and quietly dying for another cigarette. An blood-curdling scream cut the air, causing him to sit bolt upright in surprise.

Tea went over to the window and looked out. The noise had come from the direction of Cheerilee’s house, but no lights were on there. Curious and somewhat worried, he sat back down.

▼▼

Golden came out of the shower expecting to have a conversation with Cheerilee. Instead, the older mare was getting ready to leave.

“I’m going on a quick trip into the Everfree Forest,” explained Cheerilee. “There’s a dangerous manticore that needs to be taken care of.”

The pegasus was disappointed, but said nothing. Cheerilee said she wouldn’t be away for very long and went out the door.

Golden lay down on the floor. After getting used to sleeping outside, the carpet felt wonderful. She sighed in frustration as more memories began to surface.

I wonder how I became a vampire… Almost as if summoned, faint scenes of the event began to drift through her mind.

There was a classmate of hers back in Fillydelphia, an awkward social outcast. She’d known that he liked her. One day, he met her after school and was acting strangely. When she tried to leave, he’d opened his mouth wide, showing off terrifying fangs. As he bit her, Golden thought she was dead. It had come as a surprise to wake up later, throat intact and feeling a terrible hunger.

The mare suddenly sat up straight. She remembered the school better. She remembered the mare who had taught her classes. The schoolteacher must have had something to do with turning her into…this.

Golden slammed into the front door as hard as she could, but it didn’t budge, not even rattling in its frame. She screamed in frustration and anger, a little pain from the failed blow creeping in.

The doorknob didn’t work and she couldn’t break the door down or go through any of the windows. Golden stalked through the house—her prison—frantically searching for a way out.

When Cheerilee returned, she was shocked to discover that most of her furniture was broken and tossed around the house. She found Golden in the living room, a splintered table leg protruding from her chest.

The schoolteacher stared at the limp mare. After a few seconds, she said, “It’s a good thing you missed your heart. What were you doing, anyway?”

Golden glared at her. “Looking for a way out.”

Chapter 3

Cheerilee stepped out of her house, closing the door. The morning sun made her squint. She spotted her neighbor Teacup and said hello.

The stallion took the foul-smelling cigarette from his mouth. “Good morning, Cheerilee.”

“How’s the job search going?” the mare asked.

Tea hung his head. “Not very well.”

“I can suggest your name to the art department,” said Cheerilee. “Maybe they can use your expertise for clay modeling class.”

The bronze-colored pony brightened. “Really? That would be great.”

Cheerilee gave him a smile and headed towards school. Tea was not a bad pony. She didn’t know him that well, but he seemed to be a good neighbor.

The lavender mare’s job at the Hoofshire School was not too difficult. Princess Luna had prepared false credentials good enough to get Cheerilee a job as school superintendant. Essentially, it was her duty to oversee the principals and school board for elementary, middle, and high schools.

Having been a teacher, Cheerilee never had a high opinion of administrators. Now that she was one, the mare felt that her prejudice was warranted. She had few tasks to complete during the day, and no homework to grade at night.

There were no meetings scheduled, so the day passed uneventfully. In her downtime, which was often, Cheerilee had been reading. Her subject matter varied quite a bit. She’d probably digested more anatomy books than most doctors. Other topics included narcotics, explosives, and magic.

Today, however, Cheerilee opened a book on trauma psychology that she’d picked up from the library. While the subjects didn’t include helping unstable vampires, she hoped there was something she could learn.

It had not been pretty to discover Golden when Cheerilee had returned the night before. Her house was not well-furnished, and that helped when she got rid of everything that the young mare might use to make another attempt on her own life.

Cheerilee’s initial mind-set towards the pegasus had been rather frosty, but strangely enough she no longer wanted the white mare dead. It was odd how the two of them seemed to have swapped feelings.

The mare continued to read, hoping to learn something valuable before she had to go home and face her unwilling apprentice.

▼▼

Golden lay staring at the ceiling. She’d already scoured the house for something Cheerilee might have missed. The pegasus had even tried to tear into the walls, but the protective spell even applied to interior structures.

Cheerilee had explained exactly what had happened in Fillydelphia all those years ago. The schoolteacher had been after another vampire that was attacking citizens. Along the way, the murderer had turned one of her students. Cheerilee had killed them both, but not before Golden had been bitten.

If Cheerilee had been a little quicker, a little more perceptive, none of this would have happened to the young pegasus. She’d become a bloodthirsty fiend who couldn’t control herself. The white mare hated what she was and what she’d done. She hated Cheerilee for letting it happen.

Perhaps worst of all, Golden was slowly beginning to lose the will to resist. The schoolteacher had taken away the weapons she could use to harm herself. When she’d tried to fight, Cheerilee had pinned her easily, making it look almost effortless.

And so the young mare lay, unmoving and uncaring. It felt like there was nothing she could do to control her own life anymore.

As the afternoon shadows began to slide across the walls, the door opened. Golden didn’t look up. She recognized the now-familiar sounds of Cheerilee. The lavender mare stepped into the room, eyeing the supine pegasus on the floor.

“Have you been lying there the whole time?” asked the schoolteacher.

“No. I just thought you might like to see me assuming the position for more suffering.” Golden was still remembering how to use sarcasm, but thought she did a decent job.

Cheerilee was unamused, but asked, “How did you know I was coming?”

“I can hear you,” murmured Golden. “You aren’t very quiet.”

In response, Cheerilee went completely silent. The sudden lack of sound made the white pony sit up in surprise. The lavender mare stood motionless as if made of stone, no breathing, no heartbeat.

“How…?” It was almost as jarring to Golden to observe Cheerilee going full vampire as it was to be casually overpowered in a fight by the average-looking schoolteacher.

Cheerilee took a breath, the gentle lub dub from within her chest restarting. “Let me teach you.”

Golden nodded slowly. The other mare pointed a hoof at her chest. “It’s about muscle control. Your body doesn’t need oxygen, so it doesn’t need to circulate blood. If you want your heart to work, you have to do it yourself.”

It was difficult to find the correct muscles. With Golden’s permission, Cheerilee did some chest compressions on her to help identify what needed to move. The young mare eventually got it.

“But why do I need to do this?” asked the pegasus. “Nopony besides another vampire is going to hear it.”

“Having a pulse makes the rest of your body move more naturally,” explained Cheerilee. “Even if nopony notices that, they’re still going to think there’s something slightly strange about you. Everypony is more perceptive than they think. It’s a good thing most of them don’t trust their instincts, or things would be a lot harder for us.”

“I don’t know a lot about blending in,” admitted Golden. “No practice.”

“I have a few ideas about that,” said Cheerilee. “We’ll talk about them later. Are you hungry?”

Golden admitted she was. Cheerilee let her out of the house and the two of them turned towards the forest. The white mare wondered what was on the menu this time, unpleasant memories of meals past surfacing. However, those scenes were tempered now. The pegasus felt her heartbeat as she walked. It was a feeling she hadn’t had in more than a decade, and it seemed to signal that she was no longer a mindless killer.

▼▼

The club was noisy and crowded. It was perhaps the last thing one would expect to find in a country place like Ponyville, but the famous DJ-PON3 had to retire somewhere. When the mare of (loud) music had stopped touring, she’d settled in the small town.

Amid the pounding beat, strobe lights, and moving bodies, two stallions found enough room and quiet to have a conversation. The older one was carrying something in a small bag.

“All right, what do you have for me?” asked the other pony, a unicorn. He wore a fancy jacket and seemed to be paying more attention to the music than to his associate.

The digger, an earth pony, opened his bag to display a soiled wooden sign. Dead Pony-ville The unicorn glanced at it and nodded. “That’s what I was looking for.”

“Do you mind telling me why you care?” asked the earth pony, honestly curious. The young stallion didn’t look like somepony who really appreciated history.

“Why don’t we go get your payment and we’ll talk about it?” suggested the other. The two of them walked out of the club and headed down the street. The older pony thought the arrangement was somewhat odd, but shrugged it off. He wanted to get paid.

When they reached a part of the street that was suitably dark enough, the unicorn beckoned his companion into an alley. Confused, the earth pony stepped forward. A magical grip locked itself around his neck, the ethereal glow illuminating the cruel grin on the unicorn’s face as he broke the other pony’s spine.

The limp body flopped to the ground, but then slowly got up with a few sparks of magic, its head lolling on a ruined neck. The unicorn started away, the dead pony slowly following.

Chapter 4

“A bear?” asked Golden, incredulously.

“What would you rather eat?” asked Cheerilee. “Something that already has a lot of predators trying to kill it?”

“I guess that makes sense.” The younger mare stared at the creature through a thicket of trees. “I don’t know, it feels wrong. He isn’t attacking us.”

The bear quietly grazed in a blueberry patch at the bottom of the hill where the two ponies lay in wait. His sharp teeth and claws were not seeing any action.

“At the same time, we need to eat,” Cheerilee reminded. “It’s unfortunate, but it has to be done. The only consolation is to make your dinner’s death as painless as possible.”

Golden nodded. Now that she had regained some sense of herself, killing a simple animal because she was hungry seemed barbaric. Only a few days ago, it certainly wouldn’t have. Slowly, she spread her wings and glided down the slope towards the bear.

Cheerilee watched, shaking her head. Killing something wasn’t to be taken lightly, but once the decision was made to do it, there was no room for lack of enthusiasm. The younger mare was probably going to pay for her reluctance.

As Golden drew near, the bear raised his head. She bared her teeth, but the animal was already moving. A giant clawed paw slapped her out of the air.

The white pony landed wrong and heard something crack. She still jumped to her feet and squared off with her quarry. The bear roared at her, fully on the defensive. Catching him in a surprise attack would have been much easier.

The pegasus charged. The bear met her halfway, claws raking her body. Snapping her teeth, Golden tore open one of the bear’s front legs. She followed up by digging her hooves into his belly and propelling herself towards his throat.

The bear threw her off, angry at being wounded. Golden shot into the air, circling quickly and diving at her target. The bear turned defensively, blocking the effectiveness of her attack and receiving only a mild bite to the nape of his neck.

Furious at her inability to penetrate the creature’s defenses, Golden threw herself forward once more, biting, beating with her hooves, thrashing, and snarling. She may have taken as many injuries as she inflicted.

There was a sudden crack and the bear went limp. Cheerilee dropped the animal’s neck from her grasp. The dead bear fell on top of Golden. She struggled to get out, shaking with rage. How dare a simple creature put up such a fight. The pegasus’ anger melted away, however, at the sight of Cheerilee’s stern face.

“What did you do wrong?” asked the schoolteacher.

“I lost the element of surprise,” admitted Golden.

Cheerilee nodded. “You can’t let your feelings get the best of you. If you messed up the initial attack, it would have been better to calmly figure out another way, not dash in wildly. You have to always be thinking. You aren’t an animal.”

Golden ducked her head. It seemed like she still had a lot to learn. “Why are you doing this for me? Surely you don’t adopt every vampire you meet?”

“You’re getting a second chance,” said Cheerilee, sounding like she’d rehearsed it. “I hope you make the most of it.”

Truthfully, Golden had a good point. The schoolteacher still couldn’t fathom why Princess Luna wanted her spared.

Starting back towards Hoofshire later that evening, the white mare seemed to be considering something. The night had now fully come, and the quarter moon provided more than enough light for the two vampires to navigate by.

Golden glanced up at it, reminded of who controlled the moon. “Do you work for Princess Luna?”

“Yes.” Cheerilee hadn’t made direct reference to the Night Princess, but there had been enough clues for Golden to figure it out.

“How did you get that job?” asked the younger mare.

“By becoming a vampire. I was lost and looking for a purpose, and she offered me something to do,” explained Cheerilee.

“I thought you taught school,” said Golden, confused.

“That’s my special talent as a pony,” confirmed Cheerilee. “As a vampire, I discovered that I was good at other things.”

“Killing.” The pegasus couldn’t imagine what else there could be.

Cheerilee frowned. “Well…yes. Somepony needs to do it. Princess Luna usually lets me decide what’s best for the situation.”

“That’s terrible,” said Golden. Was it? Cheerilee wondered. Having been on the job for so long, had she gotten used to death?

Shifting the subject, the schoolteacher asked, “So what’s your special talent?”

Golden brightened, glancing back at the cutie mark on her hip. “I’m good at making jewelry. Well, I guess I haven’t practiced for a long time, but I know that I like to do it.”

Cheerilee nodded. The local jeweler might be persuaded to take on the young mare, but that would be later, after Golden was stable enough to go out in public.

The two of them continued walking.

▼▼

Tea returned home late that evening. It had been another fruitless day of job hunting. He checked his cigarettes, finding only one remaining. I swear, I’m not going to buy another pack. He stepped outside to have what he hoped would be his last smoke.

Cheerilee and a young pegasus mare appeared and went inside the schoolteacher’s house. Perhaps that was who she had with her the other day, Tea thought. In another few minutes, he dropped his butt on the ground and kicked dirt over it, turning to go inside.

In the morning, the stallion awoke. He felt like he needed a smoke, but was determined to tough it out. It was the weekend, however. Not as many distractions to take his mind off the addiction. There were fewer businesses that were open. He would have to wait until Monday to resume his search for employment.

As it turned out, he didn’t have to. A hoof tapped on his door. Tea answered it to find his lavender neighbor standing there.

“Good morning. I tried to find you yesterday, but you weren’t home. You can have an assistant position at the school. I’m afraid it isn’t much, but hopefully it helps.” Cheerilee smiled.

“That’s great news!” Tea gushed. “How can I repay you?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Cheerilee turned to go.

“No, really. I want to make it up to you.” Tea stepped out his door, looking at the mare.

She waved a hoof. “Oh, I’ve been busy with my cousin visiting me. I have a lot on my hooves at the moment. Just do a good job, that’s all I ask.”

Tea smiled and thanked her again. For a little while, it made him forget his craving for nicotine.

Cheerilee left for somewhere that afternoon. Tea took the opportunity to go over to her house and pull weeds. After all, she did say she was really busy with other things.

A couple of times, the stallion thought he saw somepony looking at him through the windows, but they must have been very quick, because he saw nothing whenever he glanced up. Perhaps Cheerilee’s cousin was shy. The white pegasus had been a good-looking mare, but probably too young for him. At least she could tell Cheerilee that Tea had done something nice in exchange for getting him a job.

▼▼

Luna yawned and looked out the window at the glow on the horizon that signaled the sunrise. As she put the moon away for the day, the Princess sat down at her desk to read the messages that had come in during the night. A very disturbing one from Ponyville caught her eye.

As Luna read, her brow furrowed. She had a network set up around Equestria to gather information. Most of the ponies in it did not know who exactly they were working for, but the Princess had made sure they were all dedicated. While they weren’t quite able to see into the minds of Equestria’s enemies, the intelligence gathered could still be very valuable when compiled.

A stallion, a rather average equinologist with a focus on history, had gone missing. He had simply vanished without a trace or a reason.

The Princess sighed. This was not the first unexplained disappearance in Ponyville. So far the local authorities had not grown suspicious. Neither had the Elements of Harmony, who still resided in the town.

Luna looked out the window as dawn began to break, contemplating her next move. Something had to be done, and soon.

Chapter 5

“Princess, I have something to ask you.” Cheerilee stared into the magic mirror. A few days had passed, and she’d given Golden permission to leave the house. A few minutes of fresh air wouldn’t hurt. Also, this was a conversation the young pony didn’t need to hear.

“What’s that?” asked Luna.

“Why is Golden Ring important to you? Why am I trying to be her friend?” There it was. The question Cheerilee had wanted answered since first capturing the pegasus.

Luna looked contemplative. “Cheerilee, you’re very good at your job. Sometimes I think even a little obsessive. By giving you somepony to take care of, I hope you’ll slow down a little and realize there’s more to life than just efficient work.”

“What do you mean?” Cheerilee had an idea where this was going, but wanted to make sure her suspicions were correct.

“I’ve watched you over the years,” said Luna. “I’m concerned that you might be starting to suppress your conscience a little too much.”

“I don’t know what…”

“Cheerilee, you took this job because you thought it was the best thing to do, not because I ordered you to. I don’t want you to ignore your feelings just to get the assignment finished.”

The schoolteacher reflected on some of the things she’d done. The point where killing became justified seemed to be getting closer lately. She’d also noticed her sense of remorse beginning to slip away.

“I guess you’re right.” Cheerilee looked away from the mirror. She would pump blood into her face to create the illusion of blushing in shame, which is how she felt, but the Princess would not be impressed.

“As for Golden,” said Luna, “I plan to offer her the same employment as you. It’s her choice, of course. Let me know when you think she’s ready to make the decision.”

Cheerilee promised she would keep the Princess informed. Putting down the mirror, she went outside to look for Golden.

▼▼

The white pegasus stood on a street corner watching the weekend crowd. They paid the mare no mind. It felt like everypony should be staring at her and giving the vampire a wide berth. It was strange how strange it wasn’t.

A stallion she had seen before walked by, glanced at her and stopped in his tracks. “Hey, are you Cheerilee’s cousin?”

“Er…yes.” It seemed like the only reasonable answer. Golden braced herself as the pony came walking over. He was smiling, but she felt cautious about letting anypony get so close.

“My name’s Teacup. I live next door.” He extended a hoof. Gingerly, Golden returned the gesture. The simple contact relaxed her a little. Okay, I can handle this.

The mare smiled. It was forced, but it may have been the first time she’d used the expression in the last decade. “I’m Golden Ring. Cheerilee let me stay for a while.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you. Have a good day.” The stallion walked away.

Emboldened by the experience, Golden stepped off the curb feeling a little more confident than before. There was some kind of market set up nearby, and she headed that way. Ponies of all kinds interacted as they bought and sold wares, or simply talked and spent time together.

As she drew closer, her senses reached out to the crowd of ponies. Pulses beating, unprotected throats, the smell of tender flesh…

No! They weren’t food! Golden shook herself, but not half as hard as Cheerilee. The lavender mare seemed to appear out of nowhere and dragged her backwards.

“What are you doing?” hissed the schoolteacher.

“Nothing.”

“You weren’t supposed to go far, and now I find you down here sizing up ponies like they’re snacks.” Cheerilee was now in front of the white pegasus, her face only inches away.

“Is there a problem?” asked a nearby vendor. He was probably too far away to hear the whispering, but it was obvious that one of mares was angry with the other.

Cheerilee’s face shifted immediately and she turned to present a smile. “We were just arguing over the price to offer for some of those delicious-looking peaches you’re selling. I think they’re worth what you’re asking.”

The schoolteacher shoved some bits at the vendor and took a bag full of fruit. She quickly pulled Golden away down the street. When they were out of sight, she tossed the produce in a garbage can.

“What did you do that for?” demanded Golden. “They smelled great.”

“Your nose will get you in trouble,” Cheerilee told her. “First stalking ponies at the market and now this. Didn’t you wonder why there was nothing in my pantry? Vampires can’t eat normal food.”

Golden’s face fell. After a moment, she said, “I’m sorry.”

Cheerilee’s irritation had now faded completely. She gave the younger mare a friendly pat on the shoulder. “Just keep your wits about you at all times. You have to stay in control.”

“I’m afraid I’ll let myself go,” said Golden. “It’s really hard to resist.”

“Do you best,” advised Cheerilee. “It’s all any of us can do.”

▼▼

Tea’s good mood over getting a job had carried him through the weekend and into his new job. He thought perhaps his attitude had affected Cheerilee’s cousin. He had encountered the mare on his way home from the school. She seemed a little more friendly after he talked to her.

When Tea got home, he found a thank you note from Cheerilee. He smiled. They made great neighbors, but he wondered again if perhaps the two of them could build an even closer relationship.

With nothing to spend the afternoon on, the stallion decided to go for a walk. The forest was safe now, right? Despite Princess Luna’s proclamation, he wasn’t entirely sure he trusted that. Still, nopony had died since her visit to town.

Tea entered the woods. The sun was still pretty high in the sky, and he promised himself he would start for home well before dark. There was something he wanted to see first.

After trekking back and forth for a while, the stallion was unable to locate the cage he’d seen before. He thought he had the area right, but it seemed to have disappeared.

Frustrated, Tea expanded his search circle wider. He was making another loop through the woods when he spotted a couple of predatory birds circling over the threes.

A sudden cold feeling gripped him. It was exactly the same sight that had drawn him to Mr. Crock’s mutilated body. Tea felt the urge to run, but held back. If there had been another killing, it needed to be reported right away. And besides, the carrion birds would have taken a while to find the scene. The monster should be gone by now…right?

Creeping as quietly as he could, Tea headed in that direction. He poked his nose out of a bush situated at the top of a hill. Down below lay a bloody bear carcass.

The pony sighed with relief. Only a dead bear. Wait, what in the world could kill a bear? Gulping, he cautiously approached.

A heavy stench had not yet set in, so the body wasn’t older than a day or so. It was badly mauled, particularly around the neck. Tea looked at the tracks on the ground, his eyes going wide.

▼▼

“Hey Twilight, you got a letter from Princess Luna!”

A purple unicorn looked up from the book she was reading. “You don’t have to shout, Spike, just bring it here.”

A purple and green dragon appeared, ducking his head a little to get through the door that lead to the Ponyville library’s back room. He presented Twilight, the librarian, with a scroll.

The unicorn quickly read the letter. “This doesn’t sound good.”

“What is it?” asked Spike. He’d been Twilight’s assistant for quite a while and was usually privy to her communications from the Princesses. The dragon craned his lanky neck and peered over her shoulder.

The unicorn showed him the letter. “Princess Luna says she’s worried that there might be a powerful sorcerer lurking in town. We should be on the lookout for anything suspicious.”

Spike gasped in surprise as he read. “Not just a sorcerer, but a necromancer? Is this a job for the Elements of Harmony?”

“It might be. Right now, we need to find him and make sure.” She gave Spike the letter back. “Make copies and forward them to the girls.”

The dragon left the room, quick to begin his task. Zombies in comic books were one thing. Possibly having them in your town was quite another.

Chapter 6

The china shop sat dark and deserted. A bronze-colored earth pony carefully stepped up to the back door, unlocking it with a key.

Tea stepped inside, shifting his eyes around. There was no reason to suspect anypony would be there, but he was nervous. After seeing what he had, the stallion had every right to be.

It was crazy, really, the idea that a vampire might be on the loose. On the other hoof, it would explain all the dead ponies. It would explain hoofprints surrounding grisly scenes. Now that Tea thought about it, he hadn’t remembered any tracks besides those around Mr. Crock’s body.

The stallion examined the pottery tools in the back room. There were several sharp metal blades that were used for cutting and working the clay. He collected a few of them, packing the tools into his saddlebags.

Tea turned, searching for a loose floorboard he knew to be there. The pony moved a pottery wheel and put his hooves on the floor, finding what he was looking for. Beneath the board was a little over ten thousands bits in cash.

Mr. Crock had trusted him with the money. The estate of the late shop owner hadn’t yet been settled among his many children and grandchildren. Tea had no claim to the pile of bits.

The stallion put the board back, concealing the money once more. His conscience didn’t bother him too much for only taking a few sharp tools for self-defense.

Tea locked the door and cautiously made his way home. He didn’t sleep well.

▼▼

Golden lay on the floor the next day, quietly passing time. She’d discovered an ability to fall into a sleep-like state at will. The problem with that, however, was that mare was not without dreams. In fact, the worst of them were not her memories, anymore, but things she might do.

Not being able to control herself was terrifying. Golden didn’t think she would have hurt anypony in the market if Cheerilee hadn’t pulled her away, but what if she had? She envied the older mare’s restraint. Did it take years of practice to learn how to say no to blood?

The Golden’s ears pricked up as the front door opened. She got up, but realized the vital sounds coming from the other room weren’t Cheerilee’s.

A glasses-wearing earth pony with a yellow coat and red mane poked her head into the room. “Hello, I was looking for Cheerilee. My name’s Cheese, by the way.”

“Um, I’m Golden Ring. Cheerilee probably won’t be back for a while.” Golden remembered how the teacher’s schedule with school usually worked.

“I can wait.” Cheese walked in. Her cutie mark was a wheel of Gouda. She looked around, noting the lack of furniture. The mare settled to the floor and opened a book she’d carried with her.

Golden wondered how she could have gotten through the door. Didn’t Cheerilee say it should keep ponies out as well as keeping her in? Whoever this intruder was, she seemed confident, not like she’d walked into a house with a vampire.

The pegasus stealthily crept closer. Absorbed in her book, Cheese didn’t seem to notice. Golden paused, licking her lips. The visitor smelled wonderful.

▼▼

Cheerilee sat at her desk. She had no book today, and couldn’t have read it anyway. There was too much on her mind.

Was she really losing her sense of good and bad? That’s what the Princess seemed to imply. Cheerilee wanted to fix herself, but it was not so easy to just make a vow to change. Where had she gone wrong?

The schoolteacher sighed. Almost as dreadful, she was losing her focus by letting other things creep in. She’d stopped to talk to Teacup that morning. He’d asked her on a date…and she’d said yes.

Cheerilee hadn’t had a special somepony in more than twenty years. There was a reason for that. Letting a stallion into her life could easily jeopardize her secrets. Why had she agreed to Tea’s proposal?

It seemed easy to say nopony’s perfect and go on, but that would also be wrong. Cheerilee couldn’t really afford to make mistakes in her line of work. So why was it so bucking difficult to say no?

At the end of the school day, the mare walked home. She hoped Tea wouldn’t see her. Their date was scheduled for Friday night. Cheerilee knew she would have to tell him that it wasn’t going to work.

The schoolteacher opened her front door, stopping in her tracks. Golden was pinned flat to the ceiling by a blue aura of magic. In the center of the floor, Princess Luna closed a book she had been reading. She stood up, removing her glasses.

“Princess, this is unexpected.” Cheerilee glanced at the restrained pegasus. “What happened?”

Luna wore an irritated look. “She tried to eat me.”

Now that Cheerilee was present, the Princess let the young mare down. Golden took a few steps backwards. “I’m so sorry!”

“First the market, and now this?” demanded Cheerilee.

The white mare seemed to shrink into herself. The schoolteacher opened her mouth, but Luna cut her off. “I’m disappointed with you, too.”

Cheerilee’s eyes went wide. The princess leaned forward. “You know the difference between right and wrong. If Golden doesn’t, you have to help her.”

The lavender mare nodded fervently. She'd never seen Princess Luna angry before, and while the royal pony wasn't now, doing something she disapproved of felt terrible. Cheerilee respected her too much not to be shamed.

Luna turned to the other pony, her look softening. “Golden, I know this must be very hard on you. You’ve got a whole new existence to create. What do you want to do?”

“I…don’t know,” murmured the pegasus.

Luna gave Cheerilee a glance that said, help her out. To Golden, she said, “I want you to think about it.”

The Princess changed back into her disguise. “Do you have anything to say before I go?”

Cheerilee thought, Well, I have a date with the cute stallion next door. No, actually not anymore. Next time I see him, I’m canceling. She said, “No, Princess.”

Luna paused for a moment, and then went out the door. Cheerilee momentarily thought that the Princess might know about Tea, but that was unthinkable—he had only asked her that morning.

After the door closed, Cheerilee looked at her student. She was reluctant to speak, but knew it had to be done. “I’m sorry I haven’t been working hard enough for you.”

Golden looked at the floor. “I think it should be me saying that.”

Cheerilee couldn’t believe it had taken a direct visit from the Princess to get them both to recognize there might be a problem. She said, “Everypony has their weak moments.”

The white mare seemed to decide something for herself. She looked Cheerilee in the eye. “I don’t want to be who I am right now. I want to do everything I can to get past this.”

I know what you mean, kid. Cheerilee nodded. “I have something to show you.”

Chapter 7

A bright pink earth pony sat at a table near the back of the club. There was a fedora pulled low over her frizzy mane. She looked around slowly and carefully, pausing to take a sip from the glass in front of her.

“Ah don’t know what good that disguise does, Pinkie,” said an orange mare sitting beside her. “Everypony in town already knows who you are.”

Pinkie straightened up and smiled at her friend. “I know, Applejack, I just found the perfect excuse to wear my detective hat.”

The other pony rolled her eyes. She’d known Pinkie for how many years now? It had been something like two decades since Twilight had come to town and pulled their little group of six together. In all that time, Pinkie had never changed.

Applejack herself had gotten a little older, but she had to admit that she was still pretty much the same mare. Sure, she was married and a mother now, but her duties as the Element of Honesty had never wavered. That’s why she and Pinkie were sitting there. If there was an evil magic user in the building that evening, it was their job to find him.

Outside, Twilight waited with Rainbow Dash. The purple unicorn had occupied herself with a book to pass the time, but the multicolored pegasus beside her had grown bored quickly. Still, if Pinkie and Applejack managed to locate the pony the six of them were after, they had to be ready.

Nearby waited Rarity. The white unicorn idly worked with a file. It would be dreadful to get into a fight and ruin her hooficure, but she wanted to be prepared anyway. Fluttershy was beside her, her yellow wings nervously tucked tight to her sides.

The four of them had been outside for quite a while, but eventually Pinkie and Applejack exited. The orange pony pointed a hoof at the back of a departing stallion. “He seemed pretty suspicious.”

“My Pinkie Sense was doing some totally strange things around him!” added Pinkie, an unusual jolt striking her body.

Twilight squinted into the distance. “That’s an earth pony."

“He could be the sorcerer we're looking for, but in disguise,” pointed out Rarity.

The other unicorn nodded. “True. All right everypony, let's follow him.”

The six mares gathered close as Twilight cast an invisibility spell over them. Keeping quiet, they followed the pony out of town.

Rarity rolled her eyes. “Of course he heads for the Everfree Forest. Just once I’d like to face a villain that knows how to live.”

As they cautiously followed the stallion into the woods, the darkness of night intensified. Twilight thought about casting a night vision spell. She could have performed the complicated magic without dropping the invisibility, but decided it wasn’t worth the distraction. It was a fortunate decision, as the six of them stopped dead at movement in front of them.

A pony crossed their path. His movements were shuffling, and there seemed to be something wrong with his neck. The horrifying thing, however, were his eyes. They looked like those of a dead thing.

“Ah think Ah saw him once before,” whispered Applejack. “He was passin’ through town a while back.”

Twilight nodded grimly. “We need to tell the Princess about this.”

▼▼

Golden hit the ground hard, but was back up in an instant. She flew at Cheerilee who lazily sidestepped and knocked the pegasus out of the air.

“Better, but still not fast enough,” advised the schoolteacher as Golden picked herself up again.

“I still can’t believe you wanted me to fight you,” muttered the white mare.

“Well, I did say no teeth. It’s only practice.” Cheerilee shrugged. While she was distracted, Golden attacked again, this time landing a hoof strike to the side of the other mare’s face. The earth pony shrugged it off like it didn’t hurt and wrapped her hooves around Golden’s neck, slamming her to the ground once more.

“Are you learning anything?” asked Cheerilee.

“I guess, but how did you teach yourself to do this?” Golden stood, waiting for her teacher to answer before attacking again.

“Trial and error,” said the lavender pony. “Mostly I just had to learn how to put mind over matter. Once you believe you can do something, it gets easier.”

Well if it’s that easy…I believe I have the ability to hold myself back from attacking innocent ponies. The pegasus was still cynical, however. Cheerilee still didn’t trust her, but she had a good reason. Golden didn’t trust herself, either.

Cheerilee closed her eyes, yawning. The white mare reacted instantly, realizing at the last moment she had been baited. Vampires didn’t need to breathe, and therefore no need to yawn. The schoolteacher’s ears twitched as she caught the flutter of feathers that signaled another attack. Without looking, she smacked Golden across the face so hard the pegasus flew in a completely different direction.

Dazed, the white mare picked herself up from the base of the tree she had slammed into. Cheerilee opened her eyes and smiled. “Have you worked up an appetite yet?”

“Absolutely.” Golden felt the bones in her neck realigning themselves after being knocked around.

“Let’s do something about that.” Cheerilee headed off to another part of the forest.

“More animal control?” asked the pegasus, catching up. Cheerilee had brought the younger mare along on one of her milder missions earlier in the week.

The schoolteacher nodded. “Right, except this time it’s a cockatrice.”

“How are we supposed to fight something we can’t look at?” asked Golden worriedly.

Cheerilee closed her eyes and kept walking, navigating between trees by the echoes of her steps. The white pegasus shook her head in wonder. She still had a lot to learn.

With a little time to herself while they walked, Cheerilee thought about her neighbor Tea. Friday was tomorrow, and she still hadn’t told him she couldn’t go on a date with him. To be fair, she hadn’t happened to see him, but that wasn’t much of an excuse.

The cockatrice was not a difficult foe to slay. Other than turning a pony who stared at it into stone, it was not very dangerous. From a safe distance, Cheerilee watched Golden try her luck. She looked like a foal trying to blindly swat a piñata, but did eventually dispose of the creature.

When the two of them returned home later, Cheerilee found a message from Princess Luna waiting for her. The letter was enchanted to be secure, and in fact nopony but her could read it. To Golden, it appeared as blank paper.

The schoolteacher opened the envelope, her eyebrows climbing as she read the letter. “This looks serious. I have to do some traveling this weekend.”

“You can’t leave me here alone,” pointed out Golden.

Cheerilee nodded. “You’re right.”

▼▼

Tea walked back to his house after school. It was Friday afternoon, but that didn’t make him happy. Cheerilee had come to his front door that morning and canceled their date. The stallion wanted to blame her for waiting so long, but she looked so sorry he couldn’t hold it against her.

Her reasons for canceling were somewhat confusing. Tea wasn’t sure what weekend business she might have in Ponyville, but hopefully she would be back soon.

The stallion checked his postbox, pulling out some mail and a newpaper. He carried it inside, the headline of the paper catching his eye. Dangerous to Visit Ponyville?

Hurriedly reading further, Tea discovered that several ponies passing through the town had been reported missing. It was a worryingly high number, almost all of them visitors.

Tea grabbed his bag of tools and took off for the train station. Before leaving town, he bought a pack of cigarettes, lighting one up to calm his nerves.

Chapter 8

The private compartment aboard the train was quiet. Golden looked around appreciatively. “Where did you get the money for this?”

Cheerilee shrugged. “Not paying for food for twenty years.”

The two of them were on their way to Ponyville. Golden should be able to control herself as long as Cheerilee was around, and the schoolteacher saw no reason that the younger mare should ever leave her sight while in town.

“We have a lot of time,” said the pegasus. “Can I ask you some questions?”

“I know you must have quite a few,” said Cheerilee. “There really isn’t a whole lot of information about vampirism. Princess Luna keeps a journal about all she’s learned about it. It’s three pages long.”

“I was hoping for something a little more personal.” Golden looked as if she wasn’t sure she should be asking.

Cheerilee wasn’t sure she wanted to answer, but nodded her consent. The younger mare asked, “How did it happen for you?”

The schoolteacher had been expecting the question ever since she met Golden. She had rehearsed her answer. “Have you ever heard of Prince Blueblood?”

Golden nodded. “Didn’t he die during the Changeling attack?”

“He was killed, yes, but the circumstances were masked by the invasion. Blueblood was a vampire. One of the ponies he turned came after him for revenge, thinking that killing him would cause his victims to turn back.”

“Is that how it works?” asked Golden.

Cheerilee paused. “It’s hard to say. It worked…sort of. I didn’t turn back.”

The white mare’s eyes were wide. “How did you get bitten?”

“I was a snack before Blueblood’s killer went to face him,” Cheerilee growled. “A few minutes later, when Blueblood was dead, I was still a vampire but every other pony wasn’t.”

Golden thought for a moment. “I didn’t turn back, either.”

Cheerilee knew. She had killed both vampires in the chain above the young pegasus. A thought came to her. The time that had passed between Golden being bitten and her maker being killed had been less than a day. Perhaps vampirism had to take some time to set in before a pony could be turned back. That theory certainly explained a lot.

“After that, I went to work for Princess Luna,” said Cheerilee, skipping the time she’d spent feeling incredibly conflicted about being both a vampire and a schoolteacher. It was a rough point in her memories, and she didn’t think Golden wanted to know about it. The younger mare had enough of that on her own.

“I don’t know if I want to do what you do,” said Golden.

Well, Cheerilee supposed that covert missions weren’t for everypony. “We won’t force you.”

Golden smiled her thanks. The two of them sat in silence for several minutes as the train rolled on. Cheerilee picked up a small bag she had brought with her and opened it, rifling through the contents. A bit of silky black material poked out the top. Golden asked, “What’s that?”

“It’s a dress. It makes up part of the disguise I brought.” Cheerilee pulled out an ID card with her picture and the name Lilac on it.

“It’s not much of a disguise,” commented the white mare.

Cheerilee brushed her mane into a different position and carefully inserted magenta-colored contact lenses. She tilted her head as she looked at Golden. In a tone of voice that sounded younger and more carefree than her usual, she asked, “So…what do you think?”

It was not a huge visual change, but Cheerilee had had time to get the nuances right. Humoring her, Golden asked, “So why do you call yourself Lilac?”

“One of those crazy things,” said the lavender mare, rolling her eyes. “My sister is named Daisy. She is the one who has lilacs for a cutie mark.”

“You’ve really practiced this,” observed Golden. “That’s a story silly enough it’s probably true.”

Cheerilee nodded, switching back to her usual demeanor. “If you want somepony else to believe something, you have to make it believable. That means creating a whole story to go along with each name.”

“Why do you need all this?” asked Golden.

“It wouldn’t be good to be recognized, particularly since I used to live in Ponyville.” Cheerilee began to put on the dress and some tasteful jewelry in preparation for the train’s arrival. She fixed her mane properly, and by the time they arrived at the station her outfit was complete.

“I feel underdressed,” remarked the other mare.

“We can fix that,” Cheerilee told her, in character of Lilac. “I know a good boutique.”

▼▼

The door that led to Princess Luna’s office was not locked, and the maid opened it. She didn’t expect to find a yellow earth pony sleeping facedown on the Princess’ desk.

Awakened by the door opening, the royal pony sat up, shedding her disguise. “Sorry about that, Detergent. I forgot to change back when I got back to the castle today.”

“No problem, Princess. I can come back later, if you like.” The cleaner bowed.

“Please.” Luna nodded to the departing worker, who had to step aside as Princess Celestia came into the room.

“Cavorting around Equestria again?” asked the older sister. “I’m surprised you have time.”

“Considering the lives of ponies are at stake, I’m willing to work it into my schedule.” Luna paused, shuffling some papers that had become wrinkled from her face lying on them. “Thank you for allowing me to contact the Elements of Harmony.”

“If the problem is as serious as you describe, I think you’ll need all the help you can get,” observed Celestia.

Luna smiled. “I think I could have found a way to handle it without resorting to that, but it’s nice to have a backup plan.”

Her sister arched an eyebrow. “Since when have the Elements of Harmony been a backup plan? Surely you weren’t thinking about taking care of it yourself.”

The midnight blue pony shrugged. “I’m not saying it would be fun, but when was the last time you had the chance to really unleash some magic?”

Celestia frowned. “That’s irresponsible, Luna. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should.”

“I understand.” The younger Princess got up. “Very well, I promise not to be involved in direct action.”

“Where are you going?” asked Celestia as her sister headed for the door.

“Ponyville,” answered Luna. “I have a feeling that the situation there is about to change. I wish I knew if it was for the worse or better.”

▼▼

“I’m sorry dear, what did you say your name was?” asked Rarity.

“Lilac.”

“You look a lot like somepony I used to know.” The unicorn returned to her work, quickly fashioning a tasteful outfit for her other customer.

The lavender mare in the black dress shrugged. “I get mistaken like that a lot. My sister thinks maybe I try to imitate too many celebrities.”

Rarity made a noncommittal noise, concentrating on the blue fabric in front of her. It nicely matched the white pegasus’ eyes. The mare had requested something fashionable that wouldn’t hinder her movement.

“I think a simple gold necklace would look good with this,” said the customer.

“Just what I was thinking,” agreed Rarity. “You have an eye for this, Ms. Ore.”

“Please, call me Auric.” The pegasus smiled and indicated the golden ring on her hip. “A special talent related to valuable metals smelting naturally lends itself to a hobby of jewelry accessorizing.”

“Makes sense.” Rarity finished the last few stitches. “I think that’s everything. You look great.”

The bill was paid and the two customers departed. Rarity figured they were probably heading for the club. Hopefully Auric Ore wasn’t as young as she looked. She guessed the mare was perhaps seventeen or eighteen. The other one, Lilac, could have been anywhere from twenty-one to twenty-five. It was hard to tell with the way she’d styled her mane, and perhaps that was on purpose.

Rarity sighed, hoping the two of them had a good time. She would be on duty with the Elements of Harmony that night.

▼▼

Tea lit a cigarette as he stepped off the train. Equestria had been quick to pass nuisance laws shortly after smoking was introduced to govern where a pony could puff. The stallion hadn’t been allowed to smoke since boarding.

He’d been to Ponyville once or twice before. There was not much in town for visitors except DJ-PON3’s club. Not having a plan to find Cheerilee, Tea walked down Main Street and hoped.

Maybe the hotel would have some record. Tea thought perhaps he could double his chances of finding something by also searching for Cheerilee’s cousin Golden. He didn’t know if the other mare would be with her, but there wasn’t much else to go on.

Tea glanced up at the moon. In another day or two it would be three-quarters full. The clear country air seemed to make it even brighter. At least if he was going to spend all night looking for Cheerilee, it would be nice to have some light to see by.

The stallion sighed. Cheerilee was definitely at risk. She fit the same profile as the ponies who had disappeared. He thought coming to Ponyville after her might be overreacting, but only a little.

Tea debated lighting another cigarette to pass the time, but held off. No telling when he might be able to get more.

Chapter 9

The loud music negated any advantage Golden’s sensitive hearing might have had. It was difficult to pick out individual noises from the crowd when the bass was thumping so hard.

“This is really what your job is like?” she asked Cheerilee.

The older mare laughed. “No, not all the time. In fact, not usually.”

“So we’re just going to sit here and look for somepony who seems suspicious?” Golden frowned. “That seems like it leaves a lot of room for error.”

“Figuring a problem out requires a lot more than just using your senses,” Cheerilee told her. “You have to take what you know and use it to come to a conclusion. Here, let’s play a game. Point somepony out and I’ll tell you about them.”

Golden nodded towards a dressed-up mare who lounged nearby, watching ponies move to the music on the dance floor.

“I remember that she came here alone,” said Cheerilee. “I don’t see her looking around trying to spot somepony she knows from across the room, so she isn’t expecting company. She doesn’t seem sad or depressed. Based on a few other factors, unfortunately including smell, I think she’s just looking for casual sex.”

Golden’s eyes went wide. “Um, wow.”

“You asked.” Cheerilee shrugged. “Anyway, we need to be looking for a few things to spot our sorcerer. Probably a stallion, but don’t rule anypony out just yet. He’s most likely alone and not dancing.”

“That’s it?” Golden looked worried.

Cheerilee reassured her. “Just make sure you investigate anypony that seems strange. Maybe things will be easier than you think. If somepony smells like death, odds are he’s our necromancer.”

The two of them sat back to watch. Golden took a sip from the glass in front of her. Cheerilee had dropped a tablet of something into it to change the color, concealing the fact that it was just water. It was the little things that completed their disguise.

The white mare used the lessons Cheerilee had taught her, trying to find a logical choice for a suspect among the crowd. It took quite a while, but she managed to narrow her choice to one, indicating him to the mare beside her.

“Grey pegasus stallion over there,” said Golden. “I haven’t seen him talk to anypony since he showed up, and he looks a little…predatory. I didn’t want to consider him though, because he isn’t a unicorn.”

“If he can manipulate the dead, I’d say it’s also possible that he can shapeshift.” Cheerilee nodded. “I’ve been watching him too, and I agree with your choice.”

“What do we do?” asked Golden. “Should we go over there?”

“Unless we need to force things to move more quickly, it’s better to observe. Let them think they’re in control up until the point that they suddenly aren’t.” Cheerilee sat back and took a sip of her colored water.

It took quite a while longer before their target began to move. He headed for the door without a word to anypony. Golden followed Cheerilee’s lead and started after him.

Outside, the bright moon shone on the street. Cheerilee nodded towards the sidestreet where the stallion had disappeared to. The buildings were closer together and the narrower thoroughfare was in heavy shadow.

A white unicorn appeared at the corner, bracketing the stallion between her and the vampires behind him. “Stop right there!”

Rarity, the dressmaker? thought Golden. The fashionable mare fired a blast of magic at the stallion, stripping away his disguise to reveal a cloaked unicorn beneath.

The sorcerer seemed momentarily surprised, but answered the attack with one of his own, slamming the white unicorn against a brick wall to get her out of his way as he ran. There was no way to know if suspected the two vampires, or if he was merely being cautious by fleeing the scene as quickly as possible.

Cheerilee paused by the unconscious Rarity. A little blood trickled from the back of her head. “She’ll live, but she needs help.”

Golden stared at the unicorn. Cheerilee snapped her out of it, pushing her shoulder. “I need you to go to the Ponyville Library and find a mare named Twilight Sparkle. Tell her that her friend Rarity is hurt. Try not to talk about yourself too much, but you can tell Twilight if you absolutely have to. She’s somepony you can trust.”

“I don’t know if I can do this,” said Golden, glancing at Rarity’s injury again.

“Get moving!” ordered Cheerilee, shoving the pegasus in the direction of the library. “I’m going after him!”

The schoolteacher turned and ran in the direction the stallion had gone. Golden forced herself to keep moving, temporarily suspending her breathing to avoid the smell of blood that followed her.

The white mare hoped Twilight wouldn’t be alone and vulnerable. She didn’t want temptation there, either. The list of ponies Golden could trust was already very short. She wasn’t even on it.

▼▼

Princess Luna had checked into the Ponyville Hotel hours before and was now out for a walk. The moon seemed to be doing fine, not needing a subtle adjustment, so she was able to keep her Cheese ponysona intact.

The Princess decided to stop by the library and see if Twilight was still awake. At her knock, the door opened and a dragon stuck his head out. “Oh, what a surprise. Come in.”

Luna stepped through the door, shedding her disguise. “It’s good to see you again, Spike. Is Twilight around?”

“No Princess, she was on her way to relieve Rarity. They set up a rotation to watch the club.” Spike shrugged.

Luna was about to speak, when there came a sudden hurried knocking on the front door. The Princess stepped into another room and closed the door while Spike went to answer.

The dragon swung the door open, revealing a young pegasus. She seemed surprised at the sight of him, but said, “I’m looking for Twilight Sparkle. I was told she was here.”

“Sorry, not right now,” said Spike. “Can I help you?”

“It’s really important that I talk to her,” insisted the pony.

“Well…I guess you can wait here for a couple of hours. There are plenty of books to keep you busy.” The library was officially closed for the day, but Spike saw no reason why the mare couldn’t come in. Her business sounded important. He paused for a moment, wondering about Princess Luna, but it should be all right; she could pass herself off as Cheese.

The white pegasus came in, looking around nervously. “I don’t think it can wait. There’s somepony who needs help.”

“Who is it?” asked Spike. “Where?”

The pony was just about to speak when there was another knock on the door. The dragon rolled his eyes. “Again?”

He pulled the door handle, peering at a bronze-colored earth pony.

“Sorry if it’s late,” said the newcomer. “I saw the lights were on and thought I’d come see about a few resarch books. Something about mythical creatures, if you have it.”

Spike stepped back, motioning the visitor in. The stallion looked past him, surprised. “Golden Ring?”

Chapter 10

Cheerilee ran hard, closing the distance to the stallion who had fled from Ponyville. The outskirts of the Everfree Forest were close, and the trees began to thicken.

The stallion, whoever he was, ran like he knew he was being followed. He wasn’t fast enough, though. Cheerilee smiled, knowing the chase would be over soon. She prepared her final leap.

The stallion twisted his head, seeing her attack. He fired a bolt of magic at the mare. Cheerilee’s body locked up and she tumbled past him, impacting a tree. Surprised, she struggled to get up, shaking off the effects of the spell.

“So, a vampire.” The sorcerer’s voice made freeze again, this time of her own choice.

“What do you know about me?” demanded the schoolteacher. Cheerilee knew she wasn’t that obvious.

The stallion smiled from under his hood. “With anypony else, that spell would have stopped their heart.”

“What’s your name?” growled Cheerilee. “I hate to kill anypony I’ve never been introduced to first.”

Another haughty smile. “Call me Skull, if you think it’s so important.”

Bet he has an interesting cutie mark, thought Cheerilee. “I guess you’re right. It isn’t that important.”

She charged.

▼▼

Twilight was more than a little surprised to find Rarity’s limp form sprawled in the street. A couple of curious ponies had gathered around. The purple unicorn demanded to know what had happened.

“Just got here,” said a bystander. “There was some shouting and some magic. Nopony saw what happened, exactly.”

Twilight quickly lifted Rarity, cradling her body gently in a protective magic bubble. The hospital was not very far away, and while the purple mare was reluctant to leave the club unguarded, this was more important.

A sudden, terrible thought struck Twilight as she carried her friend. What if the sorcerer had already escaped? Who else could have done this to Rarity? Hoping with all her will that a bump on the head was all that Rarity was suffering, Twilight continued on.

The emergency room was not busy at that time of night, and Rarity was admitted right away. Twilight was torn between staying with her and going for help. She eventually decided that the white unicorn was in good hooves, and left the hospital, racing back to the library. The scene that greeted her was about the last thing she expected.

A bronze earth pony with a teacup cutie mark was arguing with Spike. Princess Luna in disguise waited off to the side with a white pegasus mare who wore a fancy dress.

“I know I’ve seen her before! That’s Cheerilee’s cousin!”

“Whoa, calm down,” said the dragon. “Cheerilee hasn’t lived around her for a long time.”

“Then how come she knows—what was your name again, Cheese? There’s something going on here!”

Twilight stepped in. “Can I help you?”

The stallion swung his eyes to her. “Are you Twilight Sparkle?”

“That’s me.”

“Good, maybe now that we’ve got the Element of Magic here we can figure out what’s going on.” The stallion looked irritated.

“Tell me what’s going on,” said Twilight. Her calm voice seemed to temper his anger a little.

He sighed. “In Hoofshire, I’m neighbors with Cheerilee. She said she was coming to Ponyville for the weekend. I followed her here because I was worried about all the disappearances in town.”

“So what’s this about her cousin?” asked Twilight.

The pony nodded to the white mare. “I’m positive that’s her, even the same cutie mark. She won’t tell me where Cheerilee is.”

Twilight turned, ignoring the pegasus for the moment. “What do you think, Cheese?”

“I think he’s causing a problem,” the masquerading Princess answered cryptically.

“I’m sorry, but I have to ask you to leave,” said Twilight. Spike turned and subtly began to edge into the stallion’s personal space. The dragon wasn’t so little anymore, and it didn’t take much effort for him to appear intimidating.

“No, this can’t be right!” The stallion grew more agitated. Twilight quickly prepared a spell to stun him if she had to.

Suddenly there was a tremendous crash and something fell through the ceiling, scattering branches and splinters of wood everywhere. It was a lavender mare wearing a few tatters of black fabric. She hit the floor, chunks of the treehouse’s walls scattering.

The pony lay still, her eyes glassy. Blood began to spread out in a pool around her. Several shards of wood had penetrated her flesh, protruding grotesquely from her motionless from.

“Wha…Cheerilee?” gasped the stallion.

The pony called Cheese stepped closer, her eyes narrowing as she examined the fragments of tree that mutilated the schoolteacher’s body. “It’s a good thing she missed her heart.”

In spite of the situation, the white pegasus laughed.

Author note: And next chapter, things get serious.

Chapter 11

Cheerilee opened her eyes. A circle of faces stared down at her—seven mares, one stallion, and a dragon. She recognized them all.

The schoolteacher tried to sit up. So many wood splinters were speared into her body that they cracked against each other and she fell back in pain. “Can anypony help?”

Twilight carefully began removing the shards with magic, doing her best not to hurt Cheerilee. Not that it mattered, she would heal, but it was the principle of the thing.

“That…that is the strangest thing I’ve ever seen,” muttered Tea.

Applejack threw him a look. “We’ve known her longer. Think how we feel.”

“It’s freaky,” agreed Rainbow Dash.

Fluttershy carefully avoided looking at the blood, and even Pinkie had fallen silent. Golden ring and Cheese both stood back and said nothing. Spike had taken the initiative to make refreshments for everypony.

“Sorry to drag you into this,” said Cheerilee, looking at Tea. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

“I heard about all the disappearances around here and I was worried about you,” the stallion answered.

It was touching that Tea cared so much about her. It was too bad that the Princess would probably have to do a memory spell on him or something. Cheerilee looked around, wincing as another splinter came out. She asked, “Where’s Rarity?”

“She was attacked,” said Twilight. “She’s at the hospital right now.”

Cheerilee nodded, knowing how Rarity had been injured. It was still a question about whether she would be all right. The schoolteacher looked around the circle. “So…I suppose all of you have a lot of questions.”

“Well, our friend Cheese explained a lot of it,” said Pinkie. “So really, I have just one question. When I throw you a grand Welcome Back to Ponyville party, what kind of stuff should I prepare for food?”

Silence hung in the air for a moment. Cheerilee said, “Just do what you want. I’m sure everypony else will enjoy it.”

Pinkie squealed with excitement and pulled Fluttershy into a little dance that culminated with the pink pony dragging the other out the door. Rainbow Dash and Applejack watched the two of them leave before quietly making their own exits.

“It’s getting late,” observed Twilight, looking at Tea. “Why don’t you go find somewhere to sleep for the night?”

Cheerilee would have suggested the library couch, but she knew it had seen plenty of use and Twilight was probably tired of uninvited guests sleeping on it. Tea glanced around one last time, avoiding looking at the blood, and left the library.

The Princess dropped her disguise and cast a spell over the windows to keep anypony from looking in. “This evening could have gone better. We’ve got one injured Element of Harmony, a previously uninvolved civilian knows about our secret project, and there’s somepony out there that thinks it’s funny to throw vampires through library roofs.”

Had Luna’s tone been different, it might have been funny. Twilight paused from her work on Cheerilee. “What are we going to do, Princess?”

“We need a plan,” said Luna.

Twilight got up, grabbing a paper and quill. “Let me help you.”

The royal pony wavered for a moment. “I think I need to do this alone. It’s going to be dangerous.”

“That’s exactly why I want to help!” agued Twilight.

“Go look after Rarity,” Luna said. She spread her wings and disappeared through the hole in the roof.

“Stay here,” said Twilight to the two remaining ponies. “I’ll be back as soon as I make sure Rarity is fine.” She went out the door.

Cheerilee sat up. It felt like Twilight might not have completed her extraction work. Golden asked, “What happens now?”

The schoolteacher forced a laugh, hurting a little from the slivers of wood still buried under her skin. “I wish I knew. Nothing like this has ever happened since I started working for the Princess. It’s going to be interesting, to say the least.”

▼▼

Princess Luna banked into a turn, careful to keep her silhouette out of line with the moon. She had made a circle over Ponyville to check the perimeter and headed for the Everfree Forest.

The Princess beat her wings hard to gain speed, but was careful to keep the noise of her passage quiet. Her dark blue coat blended into the night sky. Twilight had informed her about what they had found in the forest. Luna kept a close watch, trying to pick out anything that looked strange. She measured the distance from the forest to the library with her eyes. It had taken powerful magic to throw Cheerilee that far.

The Princess skimmed low over the trees, making herself a harder target. It did not pay to take chances, especially in such a serious situation. She spotted the first pony not far into the woods. He looked…well, dead. As Luna flew on, more appeared. She had no idea how many there might be, but there were certainly dozens.

The indigo mare turned, lining up for another pass over the area. More and more figures moved among the trees. She worriedly upped her estimate to possibly a hundred or more, and delicately extended her senses, trying to pick up the magic that controlled them.

The first bolt of energy nearly decapitated her, slicing through the air past the mare's face. If Luna wasn’t moving so fast, it might have hit her. Jerked from her reconnaissance, the Princess took evasive action, quickly turning away.

Alert now, Luna avoided another jet of magic from the ground. It had come from roughly the same place as before. She concentrated, shifting her vision to another spectrum, one of the benefits of being the Princess of the Night. A warm body among the trees stood out from the dead ponies that shambled about.

Luna smiled grimly, preparing for the next attack. As it flashed out of the trees heading skywards, she magicked a hemispherical force field below her. The powerful spell reflected off the shield, sending it straight back the way it had come. An explosion shook the ground and several trees fell.

The force of the spell against her shield had knocked Luna upwards. She used the momentum to keep climbing, clearing the area.

▼▼

At the hospital, Rarity was finally awake. Princess Luna had stopped by and visited Twilight, leaving before the white unicorn was allowed to have visitors.

Rarity took the news that Twilight presented her with quite well. “So let me get this straight, vampire Cheerilee came crashing through a hole in your roof while her sidekick and a random stallion from Hoofshire were visiting. On top of that, Princess Luna thinks we’re about to be under some kind of attack from an undead army and is gathering all the fighting forces she can muster to start a preemptive assault tonight.”

“That’s it,” said Twilight.

The mare in the hospital bed frowned. “The doctors said I had a mild concussion and a fractured leg from being slammed into a wall, but other than that I'm unharmed. Otherwise, I would think my hallucinating mind was making this disaster up.”

“It’s pretty scary,” said Twilight. “The Element Bearers have to go out there, though. We won’t be a whole team because you need your rest, but we’ll be able to help somehow.”

There was a knock on the door and Spike stuck his head in. “Twilight, are you about ready to go?”

The purple mare got up. “I sure am. Spike, I want you to stay here with Rarity.”

The dragon and the white mare looked at each other. Rarity spoke. “Twilight, I think as much as we would both like to spend time together, Spike could do some good if he was with you.”

Spike nodded. “I guess she’s right, but I do want to stay with you, Rarity. It’s a shame you have to let your leg heal or you could come with us.”

“Just take care of her, okay?” said Twilight. She left.

Spike plopped down in a chair that groaned under his weight. He was about twice the size of most ponies, and in a few more years probably would not be able to fit indoors anymore. He said, “This sucks.”

“Watch your language.” Rarity smiled. “However, I feel the same way.”

Neither of them spoke for a moment until Spike looked up with a gleam in his eye. “I could carry you.”

“That sounds rather undignified,” said Rarity. She considered it. “However, nopony would dare comment because I have a dragon with me.”

The two of them shared a grin and Spike scooped the pony up from the bed, placing her on his shoulders. Rarity shouted a charge and they dashed off to catch up with Twilight.

Author note: I'm going to play with the story tags to fit what I have in mind a little better. The next chapter will be really long, considering we have something like ten good guys to keep track of. Oh, and remember that part about how Pinkie danced with Fluttershy out the door. It will be important for something I write a couple of months from now.

Chapter 12

Twilight paced in front of her troops. She was nervous, but tried to keep it off her face. Applejack and Rainbow were warming up with practice kicks and bucks. Pinkie was preparing her party cannon and passing out cupcakes. Rarity, atop Spike, groomed her mane back into place after lying in the hospital bed. Fluttershy looked meek.

The two vampires stood a little apart from the group. Technically, they were still under Princess Luna’s authority, but it was important to coordinate with the pair. Twilight knew some of the others were finding it hard to trust them, but she recognized their capabilities and felt that being under orders of the Princess was good enough for her.

“All right girls, let’s get going,” said Twilight. “Does everypony have their Element?”

It seemed perverse to carry the Elements of Harmony into conflict like they were some kind of armor, but it was unfortunately necessary. Twilight’s battle plan had been laid out carefully. Cheerilee and Golden Ring, supported by Princess Luna, would go ahead and take care of things while the Element Bearers defended the town. The backup plan, which would hopefully prove unneeded, would be evacuation.

Twilight swallowed hard as the group approached the edge of Ponyville. She’d made good plans and led her force effectively, but a hoard of undead ponies would give even the bravest pause.

Cheerilee nodded to the librarian and the two vampires separated from the group, walking towards the forest. Golden asked, “What’s the plan?”

“Take them out,” said Cheerilee.

“All of them?”

“If we have to.”

“Sounds simple.” Golden looked back. “Are we going to let Tea keep following us?”

“No. I saw him hanging outside the library earlier. Let’s at least let him make it to the trees so we won’t embarrass him so soon.”

They entered the forest and stopped for a few minutes to let the stallion catch up. He stepped into the trees, looking nervous. “I want to help you.”

“I appreciate it,” Cheerilee told him sincerely, “but you’re out of place here. Your talent is making china and china accessories. You’ve got a good job now. Go home. I promise that if I ever come back to Hoofshire, we’ll talk.”

Cheerilee snagged his pack of cigarettes. “Mind if borrow this?”

Tea shrugged and lit a smoke for her. He gave her a last, sad look before turning away and walking towards the train station.

“You know, you don’t have to be here either,” said Cheerilee to her student. “You never agreed to be a part of this spectacle.”

“After all you and Princess Luna have done for me, I feel like I owe you something,” said Golden. “I can’t think of any other way to repay you.”

Cheerilee shrugged. “Just learn something from this, that’s all I ask.”

“Princess Luna is supposed to be supporting us, right?” asked Golden. The words were no sooner out of her mouth than the moon went completely black.

“That’s her version of support,” said Cheerilee grinning in the darkness. Her keen eyes saw Golden staring in wonder at the empty sky. Their opponents may have been undead ponies controlled by magic, but they still had limited night vision.

The lavender mare puffed some smoke and replaced the cigarette in her mouth. “Let’s go.”

▼▼

Princess Luna was at very high altitude. The long, dark duster she wore flapped in the wind behind her. She’d enchanted it to aid her invisibility spell, which would free up more of her magic for other things. Combined with the inky sky and the black coat, she was certain that nopony knew she was there.

It was a shame that Ponyville’s defenses had degraded to just the Elements of Harmony. Granted, they were very effective, but it would have been nice to have something else. When Luna asked about it, Twilight had shrugged and indicated a pile of rusty, weed covered junk beside the library. Luna remembered a time when there was actually somepony around who knew how to use it.

No matter. Luna would just have to make effective use of the tools she had available. Right now, that was two vampires. Well, and a bundle of things she carried with her.

The Princess took a mental inventory. She had several spellbooks that could help defuse the complicated and multilayered magic the necromancer had woven over his undead army. There were a few good titles in there. Oh, and some explosives.

Luna peered down through the gloom, engaging her alternate vision. Dim grey shapes moved among the trees. The only way to distinguish Cheerilee and Golden from them were the small magical locaters Luna had created. By energizing small crystals that she had asked the two of them to carry, the Princess was able to “see” their positions as bright glimmers among the trees.

She had promised Celestia not to be involved in direct action, and she wasn’t. If push came to shove, however, Luna wasn’t about to deny any help she could give.

On the ground, Cheerilee and Golden were beginning to mix it up with individual hostiles. They didn’t have much problem, but a large mass of the undead ponies were coming their way.

▼▼

Cheerilee spit out the pony she’d been shaking like a rag doll. The old, dead blood in its veins tasted terrible. Neck nearly severed, her target flopped on the ground, unable to keep functioning. It seemed that the magic fueling the dead ponies kept them moving through injuries that were physically impossible to survive. The trick was damaging them enough to keep them down efficiently without spending too much time on any one enemy.

Golden seemed to be getting the hang of it, establishing some kind of rhythm. A few of the undead ponies were pegasi, and the white mare seemed to have volunteered to take care of them.

Cheerilee spotted a group of about a dozen ponies rushing towards them as fast as their undead coordination would allow. Something like a bolt of lightning flashed out of the sky and struck them all down, driving a deep crater into the ground with an ear-shattering explosion.

“Is that what I think it is? Who I think it is?” asked Golden.

“Do you know any other pony that could have done it?” said Cheerilee, glancing skyward.

Golden grabbed the other mare and pulled her into the cover of the crater as a jet of magic whizzed by.

“Thanks,” murmured Cheerilee, spitting out a mouthful of dirt she’d collected by landing face first.

“Where did that come from?” asked Golden, popping her head up for a brief glance around. “Was it the sorcerer?”

“Doubt it,” said Cheerilee. “A lot of his army is still out there. He isn’t desperate yet.”

More bolts of magic were fired at the two of them, this time from different directions. The schoolteacher gritted her teeth. Great. Zombie unicorns.

A burst of rapid-fire spells slammed into the ground, stopping the incoming magic for a moment. Cheerilee jumped out of the crater, silently thanking Luna for the cover. Golden followed the lavender mare as fast as she could. The two of them dodged between trees, heading deeper into the woods.

▼▼

Twilight held steady despite her fear. There was a lot of magic being thrown around. As a unicorn whose special talent actually was magic, she had a good feel for the amount of power going into those spells and what they could do. Every time Princess Luna released another burst of destructive energy, Twilight’s heart sank a little further. The undead army wasn’t eliminated yet?

The purple mare and her friends watched in silent awe as the one-pony lightning show continued. Against the black sky, the effect was truly spectacular.

The six ponies and one dragon had their attention drawn from the sky by a wobbly figure stumbling out of the treeline. It was clearly a pony who had escaped the initial assault.

“Um, who’s going to take care of this?” asked Spike. The seven of them looked at each other in silence.

“You have the party cannon, Pinkie,” said Rainbow.

“But that’s only for parties!” the pink pony replied.

“You used it on Changelings,” commented Rarity.

“Don’t you have a whole bunch of sharp things like needles and scissors?” Rainbow asked the white unicorn.

“I think I should be responsible,” said Twilight.

“But Twi,” responded Applejack, “you don’t have to do this alone.”

“You’re always claiming to be the strongest, AJ,” Rainbow pointed out.

The orange pony looked pointedly at the pegasus. “An’ you’re the fastest, Rainbow.”

The conversation was interrupted by Spike spitting a ball of fire at the undead pony as he shambled very near their group. The stallion erupted in flames and fell to the ground.

“S-sorry,” stuttered the dragon.

Rarity patted his neck. “There, there, it had to be done.”

“We could have used the Elements of Harmony,” said Rainbow.

“It’s not just a one-size-fits-all magic charm,” explained Twilight. “You should know this, we’ve been the Element Bearers for twenty-something years now. For one single magic-enchanted thrall, using the Elements would unfortunately be a huge waste of energy.”

“Thrall?” asked Applejack.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “One single magic-enchanted zombie. I’ve been trying to avoid saying that word.”

Just then, branches rustled and several dozen more shuffling enemies stepped out of the forest.

“The cannon, Pinkie,” said Applejack.

“But…but…I don’t want to tarnish its image with something like this!” argued the party mare.

“It’s like a big teamwork party,” said Rainbow. “We’re working together to save the town.”

Pinkie nodded and her smile returned. She lined up her cannon and shouted, “All right you undead sillies! Let’s party!”

The cannon thundered and several opponents went down. The defenders of Ponyville rushed forward into battle.

Right after leaving the hospital, Rarity had asked Spike to stop at her boutique and had quickly sewn up a quiver to sling over her back and hold various objects she’d taken from the shop. From her place atop the dragon’s back, she plucked out two knitting pins with magic and drove them through the eye sockets of two separate zombies. It put them down but not out, and Spike finished the job with fire.

Fluttershy and Pinkie distracted other undead ponies while Applejack and Rainbow struck at them. The farmer may have been approaching middle age, but her kicks were just as powerful as ever. The colorful flier still had plenty of speed and could put plenty of force behind her attacks.

Twilight was performing a new spell she’d just learned. It was a weaker, modified version of the breathtaking magic Princess Luna was using. Her horn lit up, pointing into the air above her target. The purple pony jerked her head down, crushing the zombie flat as if a ton of bricks had just landed on it.

In the back of Twilight’s mind, a small voice suggested that they would all need serious emotional counseling after this was over.

▼▼

Golden paused, following Cheerilee’s lead. They’d dealt with a few more scattered members of the undead, but the Princess had mostly taken care of the densely clustered enemies. The white mare glanced up once more, spotting another quickly-descending spell that smacked into the ground somewhere nearby.

It was not enough to distract her from the extreme downside to the battle. Ponies were dying. To be fair, they were already dead, but it seemed terrible that citizens of Equestria should be mowed down like faceless mannequins. The pegasus knew that there was nothing that could be done—and in fact some of the undead they’d encountered were quite decomposed—but it still felt wrong. All the more reason to get this finished quickly.

Cheerilee advanced again and Golden followed. They broke out of the trees into a small open space, facing the entrance to a cave. The air was charged with so much magic that even the two non-unicorns could feel it.

Princess Luna came plummeting out of the air, slamming to the ground so hard her hooves buried themselves several inches into the topsoil. She carefully stepped out of the ruts, advancing towards the entrance of the cave.

“We need to get these spells unraveled,” said the Princess. She slipped on her reading glasses and took out a very old book. It had been found buried deep in the restricted section in the Canterlot Archive. As soon as Luna was done with the book, that’s where it would be returned to. Texts on necromancy were to be handled with care.

The wind picked up a little, blowing Luna’s duster around and dispersing some steam that rose in a corona around her head. She’d been radiating so much magic through her horn that it practically glowed with heat.

The Princess had just dropped her eyes to the book when spells began flying from the mouth of the cave. She ducked and jumped out of the way. Cheerilee and Golden were hit and knocked off their hooves. Luna straightened up, casting a shielding spell large enough to protect the three of them.

Echoing laughter issued from the blackness inside the cavern. Luna gritted her teeth, glaring back in challenge. Cheerilee got up and walked forward with hesitant steps. She looked in to be in pain from the sorcerer’s spell.

“Princess, let us handle this,” gasped the schoolteacher. Golden stepped up, shaken and barely standing.

Luna looked at the two of them. “Neither of you are qualified to handle something like this. I know you’re both very capable, but this is a pony that specializes in manipulating death.”

“You have to be tired after doing so much already,” Cheerilee pointed out.

Luna shook her head. “I’m going to go in there.”

“Let us come with,” pleaded Golden.

The Princess looked at the two vampires. Their spirits were willing, but much more necromantic magic would render their flesh unable to comply. Luna shook her head. “No, my little ponies, I want you to stay here.”

From her pack, the Princess took out the demolitions she had carried with her. “Ten minutes, Cheerilee. After that, I want you to destroy the entrance to the cave, no matter what.”

The schoolteacher nodded gravely, glancing at the fuse on the bundle of explosives. She lit another cigarette with the burning stub of her previous one. Luna had been planning the sealing of the cave as a backup contingency, and that required something to light the fuse with.

The Princess nodded to Cheerilee and Golden before turning away and entering the cave. A few minutes passed. The lavender mare continued chain-smoking nervously, lighting up another cigarette. Both vampires turned as the sound of running steps reached their ears.

Six mares and one dragon showed up. Twilight seemed to be following her horn. "The Princess must be in that cave!"

Cheerilee got in her way. "Princess Luna wanted to go in there alone. I'm supposed to blow up the mouth of the cavern in a few more minutes, regardless of whether she comes out by then."

"She needs our help," argued Twilight. The schoolteacher didn't move. The purple unicorn stared her down. "Get out of our way."

Cheerilee hesitated one more second, and then stepped aside. Twilight and the others ran into the cave.

Chapter 13

The hard deadline Princess Luna had set quickened her pace. She was not rushing, wary of traps, but it was still important to end this as soon as possible. It was unfortunate that she didn’t know how deep the cave might be, but based on the sorcerer’s previous habits he would probably show himself sooner rather than later.

Hearing a patter of sounds behind her, Luna risked a glance back. A soft glow showed along the dark tunnel, gradually resolving itself into Twilight Sparkle. The unicorn was leading her friends with a light from her horn illuminating the cave.

“What are you doing here?” shouted Luna, forgetting her goal for a moment.

Twilight came to a sudden halt, not expecting the Princess’ anger. “We came to help, with the Elements of Harmony!”

Luna hesitated. She’d descended into the cave alone for a reason. Nopony else stood a reasonable chance against a sorcerer who was powerful and vicious enough to command an army of undead. At the same time, the Elements of Harmony were the greatest force for good that Equestria had.

The Princess of the Moon turned, her coat rippling. “Come along, but stay behind me.”

The group continued forward, even more quickly now. Any element of surprise Luna might have been able obtain by herself was now gone. Around a corner up ahead, something moved.

Luna charged, lighting up her horn with energy. She galloped ahead, the low ceiling preventing her from flying even faster. As soon as somepony showed themselves, the Princess fired a bolt of magic.

The target tumbled like a ragdoll, ending up in a heap. Luna pulled up short, staring at what she had done. The dead pony had been so for a while.

All of them suddenly heard the clattering hooves of somepony running very fast in the opposite direction. Luna’s lips twisted into a snarl. “Coward.”

▼▼

“How much time do we have left?” asked Golden.

From her position under the white pegasus, Cheerilee turned her head to read a timepiece Princess Luna had left with the explosives. “Three minutes.”

“I think that’s just long enough to finish,” said the younger pony.

“Not if you don’t hurry,” chuckled Cheerilee. She winced. “Hey, a little more gently.”

“I can be quick or I can be gentle. Just let me take care of this.” Golden lowered her head to nuzzle Cheerilee’s chest again. The lavender mare lay back, gritting her teeth. She gasped as Golden moved.

“There,” said the pegasus. “How was that?”

“Is that it?” asked Cheerilee.

The pegasus spit out a sliver of wood. “Almost.”

“I understand that Twilight was a little distracted, but it wasn’t very nice of her to leave the rest of these splinters in me when I came in through the library roof,” Cheerilee grumped.

Golden dug another shard out from under the other mare’s skin. “That might be the last of them. Some were pretty large.”

Cheerilee got up, rubbing the healing wounds in her chest where she’d been carrying pieces of Twilight’s home. From inside the cave, there came the sound of running hooves. They sounded large and heavy, not like a mare.

The lavender pony stiffened. “I think we might have a problem. Get ready.”

The first time Cheerilee had encountered Skull, it had ended in a sound defeat. If he was leaving the cave because he had managed to kill a Princess, a dragon, and the six Elements of Harmony, she wasn’t sure if blowing up the entrance with him inside would effectively trap the sorcerer. Besides, getting the timing for something like that correct while the stallion was running towards her would be difficult. Well, that was too bad. The schoolteacher planted her hooves, staring into the darkness at the mouth of the caverns.

Skull, when he appeared, dropped his head and built magic in his horn for an attack on the mare in front of him. Cheerilee clenched her jaw and set her mind. If she was truly the last thing in the sorcerer’s way, then she would stand up to him with everything she had.

The spell hit Cheerilee much like a train would have, if the train tried to scrape her flesh from her bones in addition to crushing her. It was the most painful thing she’d ever experienced and the schoolteacher shrieked in pain as her hooves slid backwards with the force.

It was a good thing Cheerilee didn't need to breathe, because moving any muscle on her body would hurt. She forced her head up, staring with fire in her eyes at the onrushing unicorn.

The realization that the lavender mare was still standing surprised Skull so much he never expected Golden to drop out of the sky and stab him with one of the jagged pieces of wood she’d pulled from her teacher. The two of them ended up in a writhing, bloody pile.

The older vampire stumbled over, legs nearly non-functioning. Skull’s eyes went wide with panic and he tried to throw off the pegasus holding him down. Cheerilee scented the blood from his wound, and after being on the receiving end of the necromancer’s magic, it smelled great.

“I really shouldn’t take so much pleasure in this,” Cheerilee said, sizing up the stallion’s throat as a target for her fangs. “We all have our weaknesses, I suppose.”

When Princess Luna and her contingent arrived shortly thereafter, Skull was quite dead. And messily decapitated.

Twilight stepped away before she lost the contents of her stomach. The rest of her friends took similar precautions. Spike retched, gagging as if he got a fireball stuck in his throat.

Luna shook her head and forced an unsteady smile. “Cheerilee, usually I like you to clean up after yourself, but I think I’ll lend some help this time.”

Chapter 14

Luna glanced at the dead sorcerer, still displeased with all the trouble he had caused. The forest surrounding Ponyville would need to be swept for bodies and cleansed of his memory. She performed a spell, and the stallion’s body lit up with quick-burning blue flames. In seconds, all that was left was a bare skeleton.

With a flick of her horn, the pile of bones flew into the cave, rattling off the stone walls. Luna nodded to Cheerilee, and the lavender mare picked up her cigarette from where she had dropped it. After taking a deep inhale to make the ash glow cherry red, she lit the fuse on the explosives.

Tossing the butt away, Cheerilee joined the others as they turned back towards Ponyville. Perhaps thirty seconds passed before the thundering detonation came. The entrance to the cavern came down in a pile of rocks, hiding the fact that there had ever been something at the location.

The Princess sighed. It was over and she had accomplished what she wanted to. Why wasn’t she happy, then? Was she supposed to be? It had been mostly anger driving her forward. That was what had caused her to incinerate the dead necromancer and bury the remains under a pile of rocks, although Luna told herself that it was because she was making sure he wouldn’t come back. Truthfully, she’d let herself go and lost a little self-control. I suppose everypony sometimes does things they aren’t proud of. Even Princesses.

Twilight saw the look on Princess Luna’s face and guessed that she was wrestling with something in her mind. Could the Elements of Harmony have done the job more easily or with a better end? The purple unicorn didn’t know. At best, what would they have been left with? A sorcerer who was sorry for creating an army out of dead ponies? Perhaps killing Skull really was the best solution, although it was very troubling that it might be true.

Golden glanced at the rest of the group. The high she felt from success was beginning to fade. The battle was won, but it hadn’t been easy or painless. While it wasn’t what Cheerilee did every single day, the white pegasus couldn’t help but wonder how the schoolteacher managed to put up with her job.

Beside her, the lavender pony walked slowly, shaking off the last of Skull’s magic attack. She thought of the future, about what would happen next. Golden had made great progress, but she wasn’t ready to take care of herself yet. Perhaps once she learned a little more self-control they could send her back to high school. Cheerilee smiled a little to herself. It might take a while to get to that point, but they would get there.

“I’ve been wondering,” said Spike, “The last time there was a necromancer around, the Royal Guard was sent to stop him. Ponyville was established in the area as a cover up. What are we going to do this time?”

Princess Luna shrugged. “We’ll handle things as they come. Hopefully some curious ponies like our friend Teacup don’t stumble on anything.”

Cheerilee nodded, catching the subtle reprimand. She deserved it, though. In a moment of weakness she’d made a few bad decisions. She would cooperate however Luna wanted to handle Tea. Hopefully that would be a simple memory spell. Surely she wasn’t thinking about…no, that was silly. Tea was a good pony, but Cheerilee couldn’t see him as a coworker.

Luna glanced at everypony else. She had gotten them involved, so it was up to her to make sure they were all right. If she made mistakes, the only thing she could do was correct them as well as possible. After all, everypony was weak sometimes. It was the support of friends that kept them going.

▼▼

Tea sat alone in his house, the sharp tools he’d taken from the china shop laid out in front of him. He’d had no chance to use them in self-defense or in defending any other pony.

The revelation that he’d been living next door to two vampires had set him on edge, and Tea didn’t know what to do with himself anymore. He could go on with his life…but he would still be living next door to vampires. Granted, Cheerilee was nice, but he didn’t know how he would treat her in the future. He felt like an idiot for trying to get closer to her.

The stallion packed up his tools and set out for the china shop. He unlocked the door and stepped into the back room only to stop short, staring at the loose floorboard where the mountain of bits was hidden.

Tea stood for several seconds, mind working. He knelt and pulled up the board. After a moment’s hesitation, he began scooping the money into his saddlebags.

After picking the space clean, Tea exited the shop and locked the door. He looked longingly towards the General Store where cigarettes were sold. It was just his addiction speaking to him and with some effort he could ignore the weakness and focus on more important things. Instead of giving in, Tea turned the other direction. He walked to the train station, buying the first ticket he could.