Dashie the Vampony Slayer: Millennium of Darknessby PlusWonChaptersChapter 1: Heart of DarknessChapter 2: The Devil InsideChapter 3: UnhingedPrologue: Previously on Dashie the Vampony SlayerChapter 1: Heart of DarknessThe darkness. Such a frightening but beautiful element of nature. Both a necessary evil and an essential good. It is soul piercing, but somehow strangely peaceful. The darkness is where she felt comfortable, where she felt safe from the evils of the world. She couldn’t see what other ponies saw in the daytime, even before she rebelled against her sister. The night was always her home. Even the moon wasn’t so bad, despite being incredibly lonely on that godforsaken rock in the sky for the past thousand years. Nightmare Moon stands on top of the grassy hill near old Hayseed’s cabin, looking out onto the town of Ponydale. Suddenly, her knees buckle and she collapses face-first onto the ground. She lets a short cry of surprise before her mouth fills with dirt and grass. She slides a few feet down the hill before coming to a skidding stop on a flat patch of ground. Nightmare Moon flops on her side, but jumps up almost immediately. She gazes down at her legs in confusion. “What is happening? Why am I so weak?” She wonders aloud. A wave of weariness washes down upon her. She stumbles before catching herself. “So weak; so tired,” She slurs. She looks up towards Old Hayseed’s cabin and trudges up the hill towards the abandoned wooden structure. The cabin is situated right at the edge of the treeline. A plethora of shaggy trees surround the side and back of the cabin, but the front of the cabin is absent of plant life, besides the usual grass and weeds. She stumbles into the cabin, barely able to maintain her balance. As soon as she is inside the cabin, she collapses onto the creaky wooden floor. Suddenly, a burst of magic flies out of her horn and hits an old rusted teapot, melting it on contact. Another erratic burst of magic flies out of her horn and sets the table across the room on fire. However, Nightmare Moon seems unconcerned with this turn of events and continues lying on the floor, oblivious that the house around her is slowly catching on fire. All she cares about is sleep. She has been awake for a thousand years, plotting her escape and now that she has escaped, Equestria will surely be hers’. But first, sleep. Suddenly, the floor collapses under her and Nightmare Moon falls a hundred feet into the basement underneath the house that leads to the maze of tunnels running beneath Ponydale. However, she catches herself in a bubble of magic, which she wraps around her body like a blanket. Nothing will disturb her well-deserved rest. Nothing. --DtVS-- “Rainbow Dash!” Mrs. Cheerilee snaps at the sleeping cyan pegasus, cracking the ruler in her hoof on the dark-green chalkboard. Rainbow awakens with a start and jerks upright, knocking her notebook off of her desk in the process. A few of the ponies sitting around her giggle amusedly. Her light blue cheeks flush bright pink in embarrassment. “Sorry, Mrs. Cheerilee,” Rainbow says, rubbing her eyes with a hoof. “Long weekend.” Cheerilee nods in understanding. “Yes, my condolences on your untimely death,” Cheerilee says. “But at least try to pay attention post-mortem.” “Sorry, death does things to a pony,” Rainbow retorts, vaunting an arrogant smirk. Her snarky nature was still very much in tact even after her trip to the world beyond. “I would think so,” Mrs. Cheerilee gets in the last word, and then returns to teaching her class. “Now, does everypony know what a kidney stone is?” --DtVS-- As Dashie walks out of Mrs. Cheerilee’s classroom, Principle Davenport intercepts her, extending a hoof out to stop her in her tracks. Rainbow sighs in annoyance. “What do you want, Principle Grumpy?” She asks, trying her best to vocally convey that there are boundless things that she would rather be doing at the moment than talking with him. Davenport hands her a poorly designed purple flier that reads “Ponydale High’s world-famous flying team! Practices after school!” A tacky border of disembodied wings surrounds the words. As she examines the flier, Rainbow wonders in her mind which was more disturbing, the disembodied wings or the marsh green words and the clashing ugly purple background. However, the thought is gone after a moment. She looks up at Principle Davenport. “World famous flying team?” Rainbow gives him wary glare. “In what world?” Davenport almost frowns, but then decides to purposely ignore her disrespect for the time being. “You’re going to try out for the flying team, Miss Dash,” He states matter-of-factly, tapping the hideous flier with his black tipped hoof. “I am?” Rainbow asks, feigning shock. Davenport nods in agreement. “Yes, you are,” He says. “Why the sudden interest in my extra curricular activities?” Rainbow asks, suspicious. “I just think it would be good for a pony such as yourself to do something with her free time,” Davenport shrugs innocently, and then adds. “Something productive. Also, I happened to be perusing your file when I noticed that you were the best flier in Cloudsdale back in the day.” Ah, the catch. “Back in the day, maybe,” Rainbow pretends to toy with the idea in her mind. “But I’m recovering from a broken wing. That might affect my performance.” Davenport growls in annoyance, dropping all pretenses of mere suggestion. “You will try out for the flight team and you will make Ponydale proud or you will find yourself out of this school!” Davenport snarls. “Capiche?” Davenport marches off towards his office in a huff. Fluttershy and Spike casually stroll out of class and spy Davenport storming away from Dashie. They stop beside the rainbow maned pegasus. “What was that all about?” Spike asks. “Davenport’s forcing me to be on the flight team,” Rainbow reports, handing him the flight team flier. “Oh you’d be great on the flight team!” Flutershy squeaks excitedly. “I bet you’d be the best on the team.” Rainbow weighs the thought in her mind for a moment. “I’d be more than best on the team…” She trails off, but then turns to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, I think you should try out for the flight team as well.” Fluttershy shakes her head, vehemently against the idea. “Oh no, I would never be able to make the team,” Fluttershy says. “I’m not nearly strong enough of a flier.” Rainbow shakes her head and chuckles. “Nonsense. I think it would be good for your confidence,” Rainbow states. “And anyways, it’s Ponydale, Fluttershy, anypony can make the team.” --DtVS-- Rainbow Dash marches into the library during lunchtime and slaps a sheet of paper down on the table where Twilight is reading. Twilight looks up at Dashie and then down to the paper. It is an enrollment form for the flight team. “What’s this?” Twilight quizzically examines the form. “I’m joining the flight team!” Rainbow exclaims proudly. “I thought you said you didn’t want to join the flight team because they’re the worst in Equestria,” Twilight reminds her. Rainbow nods. “True, but I feel that I need an extracurricular outlet for my talents.” “You have vampony slaying,” Twilight suggests. Rainbow waves the thought off without even giving it the time of day. “Something not totally depressing and “D” wordy,” She says. “Just think of it this way, I’ll be the best flier on the team. We may even, Celestia forbid, become a somewhat respectable team.” Twilight sighs and closes her book. “You don’t have time to slay and be an all-star athlete,” She says sternly. “Why not?” Rainbow pouts. “Because being a Slayer doesn’t give you a ticket to strut around showing off your powers!” Twilight snaps. “And you should lay low for a little while. Everypony already knows that you came back from the grave, we don’t want any nosy ponies to get suspicious.” “But flying isn’t one of my Slayer powers. I was a great flier even before I was a Slayer,” Rainbow retorts. “Still,” Twilight continues, unhindered by her Slayer’s valid argument. “It’s not your job to be popular. It’s your job to save ponies!” “Well your word doesn’t matter, Twi, because Principle Davenport is going to summon hellfire on me if I don’t try out for the flight team,” She informs. “So, it’s happening whether you like it or not.” Twilight gives her a confused look. “Since when are you so gung-ho about following Davenport’s orders?” Rainbow shrugs. “A pony’s gotta start somewhere,” She says. “Can’t stay on the road to perdition forever, you know!” “This can lead to nothing but trouble,” Twilight warns sternly. Rainbow levels with her. “Everything I do leads to trouble, so I’m not too worried,” She quips and then grins, seeming to remember something amusing. “Hey, I hear a certain librarian has a date with a certain math teacher tonight.” Twilight blushes bright red. “It’s not a date, Rainbow Dash,” She denies. “It’s an amiable social outing between two co-workers.” “Date!” Rainbow coughs. Twilight flashes her an annoyed look. “It’s not-“ Suddenly, Spike bursts into the library, followed closely by Fluttershy. “I hear somepony has a date tonight!” Spike proclaims loudly as he struts into the practically empty library. Twilight groans. --DtVS-- “This is a revered tradition of pegasus athletics,” A brown pegasus stallion with a spiky dark brown mane and a waxing moon crescent moon cutie mark begins, pacing in front of all of the potentials. “So, I’d appreciate it if the unicorns and earth ponies would stop trying out for the flight team!” All of the unicorns and earth ponies in the line, most of them boys, snicker and trot off across the field in glee. Non-pegasus boys trying out for the flight team was a venerated tradition for the ponies at Ponydale High. It was and is practically a rite of passage for ironic hipster ponies. But as of late, the flight coaches have been cracking down on the tricksters, opting for varying levels of detention and verbal abuse. Papermoon frowns and turns to the serious candidates. “Alright, now we have them out of the way, we can begin the serious tryouts,” Papermoon says. “I’m warning everypony though, flight team isn’t for the faint of heart.” He stops in front of Fluttershy and stands intimidatingly above her. Fluttershy cowers, but Rainbow bumps her with her hoof. Fluttershy tries to stand up tall in the face of Papermoon. Papermoon continues staring down at her for a second, and then moves on to another potential. The pony in question is Scott Foalgrim. Papermoon finds Scott’s wings quite suspicious and tries to wiggle them, but the ceramic wings break and fall onto the yellowing grass, revealing that Scott is only an earth pony. Papermoon snarls at him viciously. “Scott Foalgrim, I should’ve known! I’ve had it just about up to my mane with you jokester ponies who think that flight team is something to make fun of!” Papermoon fumes. “Do you think flight team is a joke, Mr. Foalgrim?” He shouts. Papermoon glares darkly at Scott. He cowers under the coach’s brutal gaze. “No, sir,” Scott replies, shaking his head vigorously. Papermoon growls at him once more and points towards the trail leading away from the field. “Go!” He commands. Scott gallops off quickly, as to not incur more of the coach’s wrath. As he flees, he turns his head and stares at Fluttershy for a moment, but then turns and continues his escape. “Any other jokesters?” Papermoon asks. “This is your last chance before the detention stage.” One last earth pony that is wearing a pair of foam wings sulks off of the field. Papermoon snorts haughtily and turns back to the Potentials. “So,” He begins. “Tryouts.” Chapter 2: The Devil InsideRainbow and Fluttershy fly through Ponydale Hills Cemetery and look down at the gravestones, which all have candles on top of them. Pony tradition dictates that the candles on the gravestones be lit at night, so that the ghosts of dead ponies can find their way back to their graves before dawn. The graveyard is silent, save for the flickering of lit-candles and the gentle beat of pegasus wings against the air. Fluttershy breaks the silence. “I’m pretty sure you made the team, Dashie,” Fluttershy starts. “You pretty much beat every test that Coach Papermoon threw at you. I did terrible. I didn’t even beat Bridget, that pegasus with underdeveloped wings.” Rainbow smiles encouragingly at her visually disillusioned friend. She dips down a bit to avoid an overhanging branch before addressing Fluttershy. “I’m sorry I made you try out for the team, Fluttershy,” She apologizes. “I just thought it would be good for your self-esteem.” Fluttershy nods in understanding. She beats her wings harder to keep up with Dashie’s smooth, but powerful flying. “It’s okay Dashie, I know you meant well,” Fluttershy says. “I’m just not very good at flying.” Rainbow nudges Fluttershy playfully, throwing her flight pattern off slightly. Fluttershy makes a mental note that Dashie is completely oblivious that she is struggling to keep up with her, but stays silent on the issue. “What about that Scott Foalgrim pony?” Rainbow asks. Fluttershy gives her a confused look. “What about him?” Dashie sighs and rolls her eyes. “Oh come on,” She says. “You mean you didn’t see him checking you out at the tryouts?” Fluttershy shakes her head. “I’m sure he wasn’t,” Fluttershy bows her head. “I mean, there isn’t much to look at.” Rainbow Dash narrows her eyes at the blushing pegasus. “Don’t be so modest, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash says, shaking her head. She looks around, casually searching for any of the undead. “Doesn’t seem to be many fangies about tonight.” Fluttershy nods in agreement as she does her own check for vamponies. “I think you scared them off after you killed the Lord of the Vamponies,” Fluttershy observes. Spike looks up at the two pegasi from the ground and frowns at them. “I hate to interrupt the wingding going on up there, but are you two just going to ignore me all night?” He grumbles, slightly offended at being ignored. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash look down at the baby dragon, who has been running to keep up with his flying friends. They slow to a stop as Spike bends over to catch his breath. “Oh, sorry Spike!” Fluttershy says, slightly embarrassed. “We just got caught up in our conversation. We didn’t mean to ignore you.” “And who still uses wingding?” Rainbow asks critically. Spike looks up at the cyan pegasus and shrugs. “It seemed like the appropriate word for the moment,” He says. “And I have something to say about this Scott Foalgrim pony. From what I’ve heard of him, he’s nothing but trouble. I don’t approve.” Spike folds his arms with a sense of finality. “You think so?” Fluttershy asks and concerned look grows on her face. Rainbow shakes her head. “Don’t listen to him, Fluttershy,” She begins. “You should decide for yourself-” Suddenly, she spies Doctor Whooves walking among the headstones and trails off. Fluttershy sees him as well and quickly turns to Spike. “Come on Spike, let’s go patrol the other side of the cemetery,” Fluttershy suggests. “Why, we just patrolled over there?” Spike asks, oblivious of the situation at hand. Fluttershy flies down to ground level and begins pushing Spike away from the approaching Doctor. Spike digs his heels into the ground and growls at Fluttershy. “What are you doing?” “Come on Spike!” Fluttershy insists. Spike finally connects the dots and lets out a short revelatory gasp. He thumps his spine-laced tail on the ground. “Oh yeah, patrolling!” Spike realizes, nodding. “Patrolling is a good idea. I think that’s what we should do right now. Let’s go to elsewhere!” Fluttershy and Spike flee, leaving Doctor Whooves and Rainbow Dash alone in the candle-lit graveyard. Rainbow lowers herself to the ground and her hooves land softly on the leaf-covered grass, crunching some of the dead leaves. Doctor Whooves trots slowly towards her. “It’s nice to see you again, Rainbow,” Doctor Whooves says, bowing his head slightly as he does so as a sign of greeting. Rainbow nods in agreement as she steps toward the only undead being in the cemetery. “Good to see you too,” Rainbow replies, and then adds. “Doctor Mysterious.” Doctor Whooves chuckles a little, but still manages to keep his signature awkward non-movement. Rainbow Dash notices this, but makes an attempt to ignore his social awkwardness. “How have you been? Since you died I mean,” He asks softly, as though trying not to wake the dead. Rainbow shrugs nonchalantly. “Life as usual, but without the usual part,” She says. “There have been a lot less vamponies around since Homecoming.” Doctor Whooves nods in agreement. “You’re right. Most of them are gone,” He agrees. “But I’m not sure that’s exactly a good thing.” Dashie trots over to a gravestone and leans up on it. Doctor Whooves follows her with his eyes. “See there you go with the Doctor Mysterious act again,” Rainbow rebukes him playfully. “Would you like to share with the class?” “I’m not sure yet, but I feel that something strange is on the horizon,” Doctor Whooves says. “Something strange will be on the horizon the day you stop being cryptic,” Rainbow retorts. The undead pegasus stays silent, almost as though stumped to think of a response. He nods after a moment in acknowledgment of her comment. Suddenly, he folds out his wings and turns from her. Rainbow starts towards him. “Wait, where are you going?” Doctor Whooves stops and turns his head back towards her. “I have lurking to do,” He replies. Rainbow frowns. She crosses her front hooves, dragging her hoof on the ground intentionally as she does so. “Well, couldn’t you lurk around here? You wouldn’t want to leave a poor defenseless mare alone by herself in a cemetery at night, would you?” She looks at him with manipulatively pleading eyes and bats them at him. Doctor Whooves smirks at her. “You are something different, Slayer,” He chuckles. “Is that a good or bad different,” Rainbow flirts. Her flirtation sails completely over Doctor Whooves’ head like a poorly kicked soccer ball. “I wouldn’t say it’s good or bad,” He replies emotionlessly. Rainbow realizes that her attempts at flirtation are foiled. She frowns deeply. “You don’t get out much do you, Doctor?” She says curtly. “Not in the way you mean,” He replies. Rainbow nods. “I didn’t think so,” She says. --DtVS-- Twilight and Mr. Macintosh are sitting at a small, two-pony table that is fancifully decorated with a red silk tablecloth and a dimmed candle. The rest of the restaurant is equally fancy. There are mini-chandeliers above each table, however, the restaurant is oddly dim, mostly to preserve an atmosphere of romance. Twilight smiles and starts the conversation. “So, Big Macintosh, you grew up on an apple farm?” She begins. Big Macintosh nods. “Eeyup,” He affirms. “Sweet Apple Acres.” “You know, I’ve read all about apple farms, but I’ve never actually been to one. What’s it like?” Twilight asks, leaning forward to seem fully engrossed in the burly stallion’s answer. “Ewell, it’s hard work,” He explains. “It’s not jus’ apples, it’s worryin’ ‘bout critters eatin’ our apples before we can pick ‘em. One time, we had to ward off a swarm ‘a parasprites. Ate a quarter ‘a our harvest.” Twilight gasps in horror. “Parasprites? Those are nasty little creatures,” She agrees. “Back when I lived in Canterlot, Princess Celestia sent me-” She stops herself from revealing her connection to the Princess just in time. “I mean, sent some ponies to deal with an infestation in Fillydelphia.” “That’s right,” Bic Macintosh says. “You’re a Canterlot pony, ain’t you?” Twilight nods. “What brings a fancy unicorn from Canterlot to a middle-of-nowhere town like Ponydale?” Big Macintosh asks. Twilight fumbles for an excuse. “I guess it was the air.” Big Macintosh nods. “I can see that,” He responds. “Don’t like the city air. Too stuffy.” Twilight sighs, thankful that Big Macintosh bought her excuse, while also feeling a little guilty for lying to him. She opens her menu. “Oh,” She exclaims in surprise. “They have hay-wrapped shrimp here.” “One of my favorites,” Big Macintosh responds. Everything is going well so far, Twilight thinks to herself. I mean, it’ll probably go well right up until the moment he finds out that I’m the Watcher of a Vampony Slayer. Dear Celestia, what have I gotten myself into? --DtVS-- Princess Luna wakes up on the floor of a damp, torch-lit tunnel. Her head is blisteringly sore. She grabs it instinctively in a feeble attempt at making the pain go away. Her attempts fail, as expected. However, as she examines her hoof, she finds speckles of dried blood, most likely from her head. “Wh-where are we?” Luna wonders out loud. “This doesn’t look like the moon at all.” Suddenly, a hideous cackle echoes from farther down the dark tunnel. Luna looks around in scared confusion. She turns around in either direction to search for the source of the voice. “Hello? Is anypony there?” the dark blue alicorn asks as she steps forward. Suddenly, a dark voice responds her question; it’s voice rumbling down the tunnel like the echo of a pickaxe striking rock. “Ah, you’ve finally awoken, fair Princess,” the voice says, strangely taunting. “Wh-who are you?” Luna stutters. “You don’t recognize me?” the voice bellows back, with a hint of disappointment. “What a pity.” Suddenly, a mirror with a dark blue rim appears before the bewildered alicorn. Luna is taken aback for a moment, but then steps in front of it to find a black, helmet clad alicorn staring back at her. Luna stumbles back in shock, almost tripping over a jagged rock sticking up from the cave floor. “Nightmare Moon?” She gasps. In the mirror, Nightmare Moon grins in a mixture of malice and amusement. The black alicorn rears on her hind hooves and claps at the Princess. “So, you do remember me,” She states, and then stops clapping. “We remember that you’re a monster!” Luna spits. Nightmare Moon laughs at her naivety. “Oh, dear Princess, there is still so little about me that you understand,” Nightmare Moon says. “We understand all that we need to know,” Luna retorts. “We understand that you are a thing of evil, and we don’t want you inside of us anymore!” Nightmare Moon snarls at the defiant princess and smashes her front hooves on the ground threateningly. “Well you’re stuck with me!” Nightmare Moon growls. “I am the devil inside of you, the evil you will never escape. I’ve controlled you for over a thousand years, don’t think that’s going to change any time soon.” Chapter 3: UnhingedAs Fluttershy, Spike, and Rainbow walk down the hallway to first period the next morning, Fluttershy turns to Rainbow and looks at her with excited eyes. “How’d it go with Doctor Whooves last night?” She asks with a not-so-subtle hint of expectancy. Rainbow shakes her head and mimes a ship sinking. Fluttershy frowns in disappointment. They pass, but fail to notice a prank that a few of the seniors had pulled the previous night where they had pulled out one of the two bolts holding the locker doors on place, causing all of the lockers on one row to hang crookedly. It caused quite a few chuckles from some, but annoyance from others, especially those whose lockers had been targeted. Principle Davenport was in the latter camp. “Oh, I’m sorry Rainbow,” Fluttershy comforts her friend. Rainbow waves the sentiment off as she brushes past a short unicorn pony named Tiny who, at the moment, walking in the complete opposite direction of his first class, intent on skipping it at all costs. “It’s okay,” She sighs in defeat. “I guess that’s what I get for liking a stallion without a soul.” “You just need to take charge,” Fluttershy offers. “Give him a piece of your mind. I mean, in the telling him how you feel way, not the yelling at him way.” Rainbow laughs heartily at the irony of Fluttershy telling her to be more confident. “Since when did you become Miss Take-Charge?” the Slayer asks. “Oh, no, I’m not Miss Take-Charge. I’m still levels of self-confidence away from-” Fluttershy begins, but falters as a green earth pony with a scraggly light brown mane approaches Fluttershy: Scott Foalgrim. Fluttershy’s face goes bright red, like the nose of sick pony that has blown her nose raw. Rainbow Dash tries desperately to contain an amused smirk. “Hey, didn’t I see you at the flight team tryouts yesterday?” Scott asks, feigning forgetfulness. Fluttershy nods shyly and looks away, trying to hide her blushing. “Yeah, but I didn’t make the team,” Fluttershy admits. Scott shrugs. “It’s okay, I didn’t make the team either,” He comments playfully. “W-well m-most of your competitors had r-real wings,” Fluttershy stammers jokingly and then chuckles timidly, unsure that he would find her comment funny. However, Scott tilts his head back slightly and laughs as well. Spike shouts back at Fluttershy, completely oblivious to the situation, as per usual. “Come on, Fluttershy,” He calls to her. “You’re going to be late for class!” Rainbow Dash flashes him a glare of annoyance and slaps him over the side of the head. Spike yelps, mostly in shock, and rubs his round green spines. “Ouch, what was that for?” Spike complains. Fluttershy looks over towards her friends and hesitates for a moment. “I…should probably get going,” Fluttershy concludes and then gallops off towards Rainbow and Spike. Scott tilts his head in confusion and then heads off towards his first period, deciding not to linger in his confusion any longer. “Nice one, Spike,” Dashie comments sarcastically. “I can’t help it that I’m socially oblivious,” Spike shrugs, “It’s a serious medical condition.” Dashie and Fluttershy laugh merrily. --DtVS-- As Rainbow Dash sits at her desk in Mrs. Cheerilee’s class, she is not paying a bit of attention to her teacher, instead opting to draw a picture of the mysterious hooded pony that brought her back to life in her notebook. This pony has perplexed her ever since that night. How was that pony able to revive her? What sort of power must it have and where did it get such power? Her mind is filled with questions that she has no answers to. Maybe she’ll ask Doctor Whooves to investigate this mysterious unicorn later, but for the moment, infinite scenarios float around in her mind. Her mind devised scenarios of the pony being some sort of mythical god, or being some sort of Ultra Watcher, whatever that was. However, her scenarios are suddenly interrupted as she looks up and realizes that she is the only pony left in class. Daydreaming does pass the time, doesn’t it, Dash? Rainbow Dash thought to herself. She stood up, grabbed her backpack and trotted out of the room, all the while wondering why Spike and Fluttershy hadn’t woken her up. The hallway is empty. It must be class, Dashie thinks as she peers down the ghostly row of lockers. However, one locker at the end of the hallway is open and one of its hinges is loose, causing the door of the locker to twitch slowly. Rainbow stares suspiciously at the unhinged locker door for a moment, and then slowly makes her way over to it. As she finally reaches it after her eternal walk down the hall, she cranes her head to peek inside, staying a safe distance away. She doesn’t quite know what she’s afraid of, but considering what else she’s found in the school lockers over the past few weeks, nothing would surprise her. A small, round pendant. This is what Rainbow Dash found in the open locker. In fact, it was the only thing she found in the locker. She stuck her hoof in the locker and grabbed the loose pendant. It was smooth and pearly white with small, round blemishes covering the surface. She flipped the pendant over to find the same thing on the other side. Rainbow looked up from the pendant and let out an audible yelp of surprise. Inside the locker the walls had suddenly become covered with white lettered phrases. The Moon Is Falling. Beware the Dark Side of the Moon. Evil Moon Rise. The Night Guide Cries Blood. The cyan pegasus peers intently into the graffitied locker. A feeling of dread crashes over her, yet she can’t look away from the cryptic messages. Suddenly, the locker door slams shut. Rainbow Dash scampered back a few steps, running flank first into another pony’s side. She whips around, praying to everything that is pure and righteous that it wasn’t Principle Davenport that she bumped into. It wasn’t, it was the coach of the Ponydale High Flight Team, Coach Papermoon. The gruff pony eyes Rainbow Dash warily, but then realizes who she is and softens his face to a slightly less frightening level. “Ah, Dash, my new superstar. Ready for practice after school?” Papermoon growls at her, although Dashie is beginning to suspect that this is his natural voice. Rainbow nods her head vigorously, just in case it wasn’t and he was actually somewhat annoyed with her. “Good,” He says simply, and then looks at the clock on the closest wall to them. “What are you doing out of class?” Rainbow’s eyes widen, reminiscent of a small woodland creature in the path of a herd of stampeding buffalo. She remains paralyzed with a minor case of stage fright for second longer and then snaps out of it. “Uh, visit to the little pony’s room,” Dashie smiles encouragingly, trying to make the lie seem more innocent. “Darn those pesky bodily functions.” “Okay,” Papermoon accepts grudgingly. “Just get back to class. I don’t want my new star flier kicked off the team because of poor grades.” Papermoon kicks off the ground and flies down the hall only a few feet off the ground, as if he’s flying just for the sake of flying. Rainbow Dash waits until Papermoon is out of sight and makes her way back to the mysterious locker. She opens it, but finds neither pendant nor cryptic messages. She examines the locker further, but it reveals none of its secrets, so she closes it, foiled. Then, she sulks off to the class that she was supposed to have arrived at half-an-hour ago, hoping Fluttershy has already arrived. --DtVS-- “Intriguing,” Twilight paces in deep thought as Rainbow Dash is telling her about the locker incident. “It seems like you were experiencing some sort of waking Slayer dream.” “You mean those dreams that I have whenever bad things are about to happen?” Rainbow asks, but her mind is in another place. She hasn’t seen Spike or Fluttershy since Mrs. Cheerilee’s class and she wonders whether they’re okay and why they haven’t contacted her. Twilight nods curtly. “Yes, your prophetic Slayer dreams. It looks like you had one of those, except you were awake,” Twilight explains to the cyan pony. “Okay…” Rainbow Dash nods dumbly. “And what sort of sense does that make? Because in little filly’s school, I was taught that dreams happen when one is asleep, not walking down a hallway in the middle of the day.” “Yes, it is quite peculiar. I will have to hit the books to research this,” Twilight admits. “You know, if you keep hitting those books, one day they’re going to call social services on your flank,” Dashie smirks, amused at her own witticism. Twilight sighs heavily and rolls her eyes. “Don’t roll your eyes at me, young filly,” Rainbow Dash continues, a wide smirk still plastered to her face. “By the way, have you seen Fluttershy or Spike around lately?” Twilight shakes her head as she heads behind her desk to retrieve a newer looking book than the ones Rainbow is used to seeing her handle. “No, sorry.” Rainbow Dash crinkles her nose in annoyance. Where were those two? --DtVS-- After a whole day without seeing Fluttershy and Spike, Rainbow Dash is worried sick about them. A thousand or so thoughts race through her mind about what may have happened to them. Some of them valid concerns, like they both got lost or decided to ditch school, and some completely and utterly ridiculous, like a sun-resistant vampony kidnapping them and sacrificing them to some demi-god who needs the blood of a pegasus pony and a baby dragon to rise from the depths of hell. She debated skipping flight practice to go looking for them, but Twilight was oddly against the notion, assuring her that she would go looking for them instead. As she flew onto the field, she looks to her left to find two familiar faces on the bleacher, holding up a rough, hand-crafted sign that reads “GO DASHIE!!! YOU’RE THE BES”. “Fluttershy! Spike!” She cries and zooms at them, landing on the row below them. Spike nods proudly. “Yep, that’s us.” “Where have you been all day?” Dashie demands. “We decided to skip class to make a banner showing out support of your new athletic outlet,” Fluttershy explains. “Do you like it? You do like it, don’t you?” Rainbow examines the long yellow banner with the sparkley letters written on it. “I’m “the bes”?” She asks critically. Fluttershy shrugs innocently. “We ran out of room on the sign. It was supposed to say “best!”,” She explains softly. “I love it! Bes be damned!” She thinks for a moment. “Hey, why didn’t you wake me up in class?” “Well we wanted to surprise you,” Fluttershy says. Spike nods. “And we thought it was funny that you slept through the end-of-period bell,” Spike admits with a small chuckle. Rainbow and Fluttershy laugh as well. “DASH!” Papermoon’s voice barks from across the field. “You can socialize after practice! Get your flank over here!” Rainbow Dash looks back towards the coach’s voice. “See you after practice.” She jumps into the air and takes off towards the other end of the field where the rest of the pegasi are waiting. She lands at the end of the line of flight team pegasi, most of which don’t look nearly as in shape as Rainbow Dash. Papermoon paces in front of the line like a general about to give battle orders. “This is no mere practice, ponies. This is war. Bloody, brutal war. There is no mercy; there are no rules, except for the ESAA mandated ones. These are the rules, soldiers, you fall behind, you may as well drop out of the sky. Win at all costs, except for cheating or you’ll be disqualified,” Papermoon growls. “Understood?” --DtVS-- “Understood?” Rainbow Dash demands as she paces in front of Fluttershy and Spike in Ponydale Hills Cemetery, light from one of the tombstone candles casting a yellow pall over her face. Spike and Fluttershy nod. “You’re become a regular protégé to Sergeant Papermoon,” Spike quips. Rainbow Dash’s brow furls in mock annoyance. “15 more laps around the cemetery for your backtalk, soldier,” She teases. Over the next two or three hours, the three patrol the cemetery, looking for fanged denizens of the dead, but with no luck. Finally, the three friends decide to call it quits for the night and head their separate ways for the night. On her way home, a strange tingling shot through Rainbow Dash’s mane and the strange feeling that she was being watched came over her. She whips around. “Who’s there?” She demanded. Suddenly, a brown, winged pegasus pony with an hourglass on his flank shoots out of the trees and lands on the road in front of her. He bows his head a little. “I’m sorry if I startled you,” Doctor Whooves says apologetically. “Ah, Doctor Night, I should’ve known you were sneaking around here somewhere,” Dashie snorts. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m past the age where I need a chaperone to make sure I get home in one piece.” “Twilight told me about your prophetic daydream,” Doctor Whooves says, ignoring her snark. “It’s another sign of what’s to come.” “And what might that be?” “I have a theory, but I sincerely doubt it. It’s almost impossible…” Doctor Whooves responds cautiously, as if contemplating telling her. “The Mare in the Moon.” Rainbow’s jaw almost drops off her face. “Like the fairytale of the evil pony who was banished to the moon?” She asks. “Yes, that is impossible and also the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.” Doctor Whooves nods in agreement. “I agree, but I’ve seen much more ridiculous stories turn out to be true. Twilight is investigating the possibility, however, just in case it’s true.” “Any excuse to crack a book with that one,” Rainbow comments. She could have sworn that she almost saw Doctor Whooves crack a smile, but if he did, it was only a flash. He cleared his throat. “I should go,” the undead peagsus announces. As he turns to fly off, Rainbow summons up all of her confidence and whispers under her breath. “Take charge, Dash, take charge.” “Wait!” She says loudly, causing Doctor Whooves to stop in his tracks and turn back towards her. “Yes?” Doctor Whooves asks in confusion. Rainbow Dash trots over to him confidently and kisses him straight on the lips. Doctor Whooves is taken aback, but doesn’t try to pull away. A few moments, Rainbow breaks lip contact with him. Doctor Whooves looks thoroughly confused. “What was that?” He asks, puzzled and turning a severely dangerous shade of red embarrassment. “That was take-charge Dash,” She announces, proud of herself. “I can see that,” He responds. “Now you can leave,” Rainbow Dash says, grinning. But Doctor Whooves does no such thing. Instead, he leans in and kisses her. A rush of thrill passes through Rainbow Dash and she kisses him back. They continue kissing for a while, the moon the only thing providing light for them. Prologue: Previously on Dashie the Vampony SlayerPreviously on Dashie the Vampony Slayer: Rainbow Dash moved away from Cloudsdale to a small town called Ponydale in order to escape her destiny as a vampony Slayer. When she arrived in Ponydale, she met two new friends: a shy pegasus named Fluttershy and her best friend, a baby dragon named Spike. However, she also met her new Watcher, a stuffy unicorn named Twilight Sparkle, who told her that Ponydale High is located above a mystical point of evil energy called a Hellfoal. Then, Rainbow found out that a powerful vampony called the Lord of the Vamponies was planning to break free from his eternal prison and destroy Ponydale. As she struggled between school and the constant threat of the Lord of the Vamponies, Rainbow began to crack under the pressure. Soon, the night when the Lord of the Vamponies was prophesied to rise came, and he rose up to take over Ponydale. However, Rainbow and her friends faced him and his army of vamponies at Sugarcube Corner and defeated them. Finally, a powerful alicorn named Nightmare Moon arrived in Ponydale, bent on taking over all of Equestria. A Special Message from the Author: I do not own any of the characters in either My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, this is written purely for fandom entertainment purposes and will never be used for profit uses. I copy-pasted that from the last story, so you better appreciate it!
Chapter 1: Heart of DarknessThe darkness. Such a frightening but beautiful element of nature. Both a necessary evil and an essential good. It is soul piercing, but somehow strangely peaceful. The darkness is where she felt comfortable, where she felt safe from the evils of the world. She couldn’t see what other ponies saw in the daytime, even before she rebelled against her sister. The night was always her home. Even the moon wasn’t so bad, despite being incredibly lonely on that godforsaken rock in the sky for the past thousand years. Nightmare Moon stands on top of the grassy hill near old Hayseed’s cabin, looking out onto the town of Ponydale. Suddenly, her knees buckle and she collapses face-first onto the ground. She lets a short cry of surprise before her mouth fills with dirt and grass. She slides a few feet down the hill before coming to a skidding stop on a flat patch of ground. Nightmare Moon flops on her side, but jumps up almost immediately. She gazes down at her legs in confusion. “What is happening? Why am I so weak?” She wonders aloud. A wave of weariness washes down upon her. She stumbles before catching herself. “So weak; so tired,” She slurs. She looks up towards Old Hayseed’s cabin and trudges up the hill towards the abandoned wooden structure. The cabin is situated right at the edge of the treeline. A plethora of shaggy trees surround the side and back of the cabin, but the front of the cabin is absent of plant life, besides the usual grass and weeds. She stumbles into the cabin, barely able to maintain her balance. As soon as she is inside the cabin, she collapses onto the creaky wooden floor. Suddenly, a burst of magic flies out of her horn and hits an old rusted teapot, melting it on contact. Another erratic burst of magic flies out of her horn and sets the table across the room on fire. However, Nightmare Moon seems unconcerned with this turn of events and continues lying on the floor, oblivious that the house around her is slowly catching on fire. All she cares about is sleep. She has been awake for a thousand years, plotting her escape and now that she has escaped, Equestria will surely be hers’. But first, sleep. Suddenly, the floor collapses under her and Nightmare Moon falls a hundred feet into the basement underneath the house that leads to the maze of tunnels running beneath Ponydale. However, she catches herself in a bubble of magic, which she wraps around her body like a blanket. Nothing will disturb her well-deserved rest. Nothing. --DtVS-- “Rainbow Dash!” Mrs. Cheerilee snaps at the sleeping cyan pegasus, cracking the ruler in her hoof on the dark-green chalkboard. Rainbow awakens with a start and jerks upright, knocking her notebook off of her desk in the process. A few of the ponies sitting around her giggle amusedly. Her light blue cheeks flush bright pink in embarrassment. “Sorry, Mrs. Cheerilee,” Rainbow says, rubbing her eyes with a hoof. “Long weekend.” Cheerilee nods in understanding. “Yes, my condolences on your untimely death,” Cheerilee says. “But at least try to pay attention post-mortem.” “Sorry, death does things to a pony,” Rainbow retorts, vaunting an arrogant smirk. Her snarky nature was still very much in tact even after her trip to the world beyond. “I would think so,” Mrs. Cheerilee gets in the last word, and then returns to teaching her class. “Now, does everypony know what a kidney stone is?” --DtVS-- As Dashie walks out of Mrs. Cheerilee’s classroom, Principle Davenport intercepts her, extending a hoof out to stop her in her tracks. Rainbow sighs in annoyance. “What do you want, Principle Grumpy?” She asks, trying her best to vocally convey that there are boundless things that she would rather be doing at the moment than talking with him. Davenport hands her a poorly designed purple flier that reads “Ponydale High’s world-famous flying team! Practices after school!” A tacky border of disembodied wings surrounds the words. As she examines the flier, Rainbow wonders in her mind which was more disturbing, the disembodied wings or the marsh green words and the clashing ugly purple background. However, the thought is gone after a moment. She looks up at Principle Davenport. “World famous flying team?” Rainbow gives him wary glare. “In what world?” Davenport almost frowns, but then decides to purposely ignore her disrespect for the time being. “You’re going to try out for the flying team, Miss Dash,” He states matter-of-factly, tapping the hideous flier with his black tipped hoof. “I am?” Rainbow asks, feigning shock. Davenport nods in agreement. “Yes, you are,” He says. “Why the sudden interest in my extra curricular activities?” Rainbow asks, suspicious. “I just think it would be good for a pony such as yourself to do something with her free time,” Davenport shrugs innocently, and then adds. “Something productive. Also, I happened to be perusing your file when I noticed that you were the best flier in Cloudsdale back in the day.” Ah, the catch. “Back in the day, maybe,” Rainbow pretends to toy with the idea in her mind. “But I’m recovering from a broken wing. That might affect my performance.” Davenport growls in annoyance, dropping all pretenses of mere suggestion. “You will try out for the flight team and you will make Ponydale proud or you will find yourself out of this school!” Davenport snarls. “Capiche?” Davenport marches off towards his office in a huff. Fluttershy and Spike casually stroll out of class and spy Davenport storming away from Dashie. They stop beside the rainbow maned pegasus. “What was that all about?” Spike asks. “Davenport’s forcing me to be on the flight team,” Rainbow reports, handing him the flight team flier. “Oh you’d be great on the flight team!” Flutershy squeaks excitedly. “I bet you’d be the best on the team.” Rainbow weighs the thought in her mind for a moment. “I’d be more than best on the team…” She trails off, but then turns to Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, I think you should try out for the flight team as well.” Fluttershy shakes her head, vehemently against the idea. “Oh no, I would never be able to make the team,” Fluttershy says. “I’m not nearly strong enough of a flier.” Rainbow shakes her head and chuckles. “Nonsense. I think it would be good for your confidence,” Rainbow states. “And anyways, it’s Ponydale, Fluttershy, anypony can make the team.” --DtVS-- Rainbow Dash marches into the library during lunchtime and slaps a sheet of paper down on the table where Twilight is reading. Twilight looks up at Dashie and then down to the paper. It is an enrollment form for the flight team. “What’s this?” Twilight quizzically examines the form. “I’m joining the flight team!” Rainbow exclaims proudly. “I thought you said you didn’t want to join the flight team because they’re the worst in Equestria,” Twilight reminds her. Rainbow nods. “True, but I feel that I need an extracurricular outlet for my talents.” “You have vampony slaying,” Twilight suggests. Rainbow waves the thought off without even giving it the time of day. “Something not totally depressing and “D” wordy,” She says. “Just think of it this way, I’ll be the best flier on the team. We may even, Celestia forbid, become a somewhat respectable team.” Twilight sighs and closes her book. “You don’t have time to slay and be an all-star athlete,” She says sternly. “Why not?” Rainbow pouts. “Because being a Slayer doesn’t give you a ticket to strut around showing off your powers!” Twilight snaps. “And you should lay low for a little while. Everypony already knows that you came back from the grave, we don’t want any nosy ponies to get suspicious.” “But flying isn’t one of my Slayer powers. I was a great flier even before I was a Slayer,” Rainbow retorts. “Still,” Twilight continues, unhindered by her Slayer’s valid argument. “It’s not your job to be popular. It’s your job to save ponies!” “Well your word doesn’t matter, Twi, because Principle Davenport is going to summon hellfire on me if I don’t try out for the flight team,” She informs. “So, it’s happening whether you like it or not.” Twilight gives her a confused look. “Since when are you so gung-ho about following Davenport’s orders?” Rainbow shrugs. “A pony’s gotta start somewhere,” She says. “Can’t stay on the road to perdition forever, you know!” “This can lead to nothing but trouble,” Twilight warns sternly. Rainbow levels with her. “Everything I do leads to trouble, so I’m not too worried,” She quips and then grins, seeming to remember something amusing. “Hey, I hear a certain librarian has a date with a certain math teacher tonight.” Twilight blushes bright red. “It’s not a date, Rainbow Dash,” She denies. “It’s an amiable social outing between two co-workers.” “Date!” Rainbow coughs. Twilight flashes her an annoyed look. “It’s not-“ Suddenly, Spike bursts into the library, followed closely by Fluttershy. “I hear somepony has a date tonight!” Spike proclaims loudly as he struts into the practically empty library. Twilight groans. --DtVS-- “This is a revered tradition of pegasus athletics,” A brown pegasus stallion with a spiky dark brown mane and a waxing moon crescent moon cutie mark begins, pacing in front of all of the potentials. “So, I’d appreciate it if the unicorns and earth ponies would stop trying out for the flight team!” All of the unicorns and earth ponies in the line, most of them boys, snicker and trot off across the field in glee. Non-pegasus boys trying out for the flight team was a venerated tradition for the ponies at Ponydale High. It was and is practically a rite of passage for ironic hipster ponies. But as of late, the flight coaches have been cracking down on the tricksters, opting for varying levels of detention and verbal abuse. Papermoon frowns and turns to the serious candidates. “Alright, now we have them out of the way, we can begin the serious tryouts,” Papermoon says. “I’m warning everypony though, flight team isn’t for the faint of heart.” He stops in front of Fluttershy and stands intimidatingly above her. Fluttershy cowers, but Rainbow bumps her with her hoof. Fluttershy tries to stand up tall in the face of Papermoon. Papermoon continues staring down at her for a second, and then moves on to another potential. The pony in question is Scott Foalgrim. Papermoon finds Scott’s wings quite suspicious and tries to wiggle them, but the ceramic wings break and fall onto the yellowing grass, revealing that Scott is only an earth pony. Papermoon snarls at him viciously. “Scott Foalgrim, I should’ve known! I’ve had it just about up to my mane with you jokester ponies who think that flight team is something to make fun of!” Papermoon fumes. “Do you think flight team is a joke, Mr. Foalgrim?” He shouts. Papermoon glares darkly at Scott. He cowers under the coach’s brutal gaze. “No, sir,” Scott replies, shaking his head vigorously. Papermoon growls at him once more and points towards the trail leading away from the field. “Go!” He commands. Scott gallops off quickly, as to not incur more of the coach’s wrath. As he flees, he turns his head and stares at Fluttershy for a moment, but then turns and continues his escape. “Any other jokesters?” Papermoon asks. “This is your last chance before the detention stage.” One last earth pony that is wearing a pair of foam wings sulks off of the field. Papermoon snorts haughtily and turns back to the Potentials. “So,” He begins. “Tryouts.”
Chapter 2: The Devil InsideRainbow and Fluttershy fly through Ponydale Hills Cemetery and look down at the gravestones, which all have candles on top of them. Pony tradition dictates that the candles on the gravestones be lit at night, so that the ghosts of dead ponies can find their way back to their graves before dawn. The graveyard is silent, save for the flickering of lit-candles and the gentle beat of pegasus wings against the air. Fluttershy breaks the silence. “I’m pretty sure you made the team, Dashie,” Fluttershy starts. “You pretty much beat every test that Coach Papermoon threw at you. I did terrible. I didn’t even beat Bridget, that pegasus with underdeveloped wings.” Rainbow smiles encouragingly at her visually disillusioned friend. She dips down a bit to avoid an overhanging branch before addressing Fluttershy. “I’m sorry I made you try out for the team, Fluttershy,” She apologizes. “I just thought it would be good for your self-esteem.” Fluttershy nods in understanding. She beats her wings harder to keep up with Dashie’s smooth, but powerful flying. “It’s okay Dashie, I know you meant well,” Fluttershy says. “I’m just not very good at flying.” Rainbow nudges Fluttershy playfully, throwing her flight pattern off slightly. Fluttershy makes a mental note that Dashie is completely oblivious that she is struggling to keep up with her, but stays silent on the issue. “What about that Scott Foalgrim pony?” Rainbow asks. Fluttershy gives her a confused look. “What about him?” Dashie sighs and rolls her eyes. “Oh come on,” She says. “You mean you didn’t see him checking you out at the tryouts?” Fluttershy shakes her head. “I’m sure he wasn’t,” Fluttershy bows her head. “I mean, there isn’t much to look at.” Rainbow Dash narrows her eyes at the blushing pegasus. “Don’t be so modest, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash says, shaking her head. She looks around, casually searching for any of the undead. “Doesn’t seem to be many fangies about tonight.” Fluttershy nods in agreement as she does her own check for vamponies. “I think you scared them off after you killed the Lord of the Vamponies,” Fluttershy observes. Spike looks up at the two pegasi from the ground and frowns at them. “I hate to interrupt the wingding going on up there, but are you two just going to ignore me all night?” He grumbles, slightly offended at being ignored. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash look down at the baby dragon, who has been running to keep up with his flying friends. They slow to a stop as Spike bends over to catch his breath. “Oh, sorry Spike!” Fluttershy says, slightly embarrassed. “We just got caught up in our conversation. We didn’t mean to ignore you.” “And who still uses wingding?” Rainbow asks critically. Spike looks up at the cyan pegasus and shrugs. “It seemed like the appropriate word for the moment,” He says. “And I have something to say about this Scott Foalgrim pony. From what I’ve heard of him, he’s nothing but trouble. I don’t approve.” Spike folds his arms with a sense of finality. “You think so?” Fluttershy asks and concerned look grows on her face. Rainbow shakes her head. “Don’t listen to him, Fluttershy,” She begins. “You should decide for yourself-” Suddenly, she spies Doctor Whooves walking among the headstones and trails off. Fluttershy sees him as well and quickly turns to Spike. “Come on Spike, let’s go patrol the other side of the cemetery,” Fluttershy suggests. “Why, we just patrolled over there?” Spike asks, oblivious of the situation at hand. Fluttershy flies down to ground level and begins pushing Spike away from the approaching Doctor. Spike digs his heels into the ground and growls at Fluttershy. “What are you doing?” “Come on Spike!” Fluttershy insists. Spike finally connects the dots and lets out a short revelatory gasp. He thumps his spine-laced tail on the ground. “Oh yeah, patrolling!” Spike realizes, nodding. “Patrolling is a good idea. I think that’s what we should do right now. Let’s go to elsewhere!” Fluttershy and Spike flee, leaving Doctor Whooves and Rainbow Dash alone in the candle-lit graveyard. Rainbow lowers herself to the ground and her hooves land softly on the leaf-covered grass, crunching some of the dead leaves. Doctor Whooves trots slowly towards her. “It’s nice to see you again, Rainbow,” Doctor Whooves says, bowing his head slightly as he does so as a sign of greeting. Rainbow nods in agreement as she steps toward the only undead being in the cemetery. “Good to see you too,” Rainbow replies, and then adds. “Doctor Mysterious.” Doctor Whooves chuckles a little, but still manages to keep his signature awkward non-movement. Rainbow Dash notices this, but makes an attempt to ignore his social awkwardness. “How have you been? Since you died I mean,” He asks softly, as though trying not to wake the dead. Rainbow shrugs nonchalantly. “Life as usual, but without the usual part,” She says. “There have been a lot less vamponies around since Homecoming.” Doctor Whooves nods in agreement. “You’re right. Most of them are gone,” He agrees. “But I’m not sure that’s exactly a good thing.” Dashie trots over to a gravestone and leans up on it. Doctor Whooves follows her with his eyes. “See there you go with the Doctor Mysterious act again,” Rainbow rebukes him playfully. “Would you like to share with the class?” “I’m not sure yet, but I feel that something strange is on the horizon,” Doctor Whooves says. “Something strange will be on the horizon the day you stop being cryptic,” Rainbow retorts. The undead pegasus stays silent, almost as though stumped to think of a response. He nods after a moment in acknowledgment of her comment. Suddenly, he folds out his wings and turns from her. Rainbow starts towards him. “Wait, where are you going?” Doctor Whooves stops and turns his head back towards her. “I have lurking to do,” He replies. Rainbow frowns. She crosses her front hooves, dragging her hoof on the ground intentionally as she does so. “Well, couldn’t you lurk around here? You wouldn’t want to leave a poor defenseless mare alone by herself in a cemetery at night, would you?” She looks at him with manipulatively pleading eyes and bats them at him. Doctor Whooves smirks at her. “You are something different, Slayer,” He chuckles. “Is that a good or bad different,” Rainbow flirts. Her flirtation sails completely over Doctor Whooves’ head like a poorly kicked soccer ball. “I wouldn’t say it’s good or bad,” He replies emotionlessly. Rainbow realizes that her attempts at flirtation are foiled. She frowns deeply. “You don’t get out much do you, Doctor?” She says curtly. “Not in the way you mean,” He replies. Rainbow nods. “I didn’t think so,” She says. --DtVS-- Twilight and Mr. Macintosh are sitting at a small, two-pony table that is fancifully decorated with a red silk tablecloth and a dimmed candle. The rest of the restaurant is equally fancy. There are mini-chandeliers above each table, however, the restaurant is oddly dim, mostly to preserve an atmosphere of romance. Twilight smiles and starts the conversation. “So, Big Macintosh, you grew up on an apple farm?” She begins. Big Macintosh nods. “Eeyup,” He affirms. “Sweet Apple Acres.” “You know, I’ve read all about apple farms, but I’ve never actually been to one. What’s it like?” Twilight asks, leaning forward to seem fully engrossed in the burly stallion’s answer. “Ewell, it’s hard work,” He explains. “It’s not jus’ apples, it’s worryin’ ‘bout critters eatin’ our apples before we can pick ‘em. One time, we had to ward off a swarm ‘a parasprites. Ate a quarter ‘a our harvest.” Twilight gasps in horror. “Parasprites? Those are nasty little creatures,” She agrees. “Back when I lived in Canterlot, Princess Celestia sent me-” She stops herself from revealing her connection to the Princess just in time. “I mean, sent some ponies to deal with an infestation in Fillydelphia.” “That’s right,” Bic Macintosh says. “You’re a Canterlot pony, ain’t you?” Twilight nods. “What brings a fancy unicorn from Canterlot to a middle-of-nowhere town like Ponydale?” Big Macintosh asks. Twilight fumbles for an excuse. “I guess it was the air.” Big Macintosh nods. “I can see that,” He responds. “Don’t like the city air. Too stuffy.” Twilight sighs, thankful that Big Macintosh bought her excuse, while also feeling a little guilty for lying to him. She opens her menu. “Oh,” She exclaims in surprise. “They have hay-wrapped shrimp here.” “One of my favorites,” Big Macintosh responds. Everything is going well so far, Twilight thinks to herself. I mean, it’ll probably go well right up until the moment he finds out that I’m the Watcher of a Vampony Slayer. Dear Celestia, what have I gotten myself into? --DtVS-- Princess Luna wakes up on the floor of a damp, torch-lit tunnel. Her head is blisteringly sore. She grabs it instinctively in a feeble attempt at making the pain go away. Her attempts fail, as expected. However, as she examines her hoof, she finds speckles of dried blood, most likely from her head. “Wh-where are we?” Luna wonders out loud. “This doesn’t look like the moon at all.” Suddenly, a hideous cackle echoes from farther down the dark tunnel. Luna looks around in scared confusion. She turns around in either direction to search for the source of the voice. “Hello? Is anypony there?” the dark blue alicorn asks as she steps forward. Suddenly, a dark voice responds her question; it’s voice rumbling down the tunnel like the echo of a pickaxe striking rock. “Ah, you’ve finally awoken, fair Princess,” the voice says, strangely taunting. “Wh-who are you?” Luna stutters. “You don’t recognize me?” the voice bellows back, with a hint of disappointment. “What a pity.” Suddenly, a mirror with a dark blue rim appears before the bewildered alicorn. Luna is taken aback for a moment, but then steps in front of it to find a black, helmet clad alicorn staring back at her. Luna stumbles back in shock, almost tripping over a jagged rock sticking up from the cave floor. “Nightmare Moon?” She gasps. In the mirror, Nightmare Moon grins in a mixture of malice and amusement. The black alicorn rears on her hind hooves and claps at the Princess. “So, you do remember me,” She states, and then stops clapping. “We remember that you’re a monster!” Luna spits. Nightmare Moon laughs at her naivety. “Oh, dear Princess, there is still so little about me that you understand,” Nightmare Moon says. “We understand all that we need to know,” Luna retorts. “We understand that you are a thing of evil, and we don’t want you inside of us anymore!” Nightmare Moon snarls at the defiant princess and smashes her front hooves on the ground threateningly. “Well you’re stuck with me!” Nightmare Moon growls. “I am the devil inside of you, the evil you will never escape. I’ve controlled you for over a thousand years, don’t think that’s going to change any time soon.”
Chapter 3: UnhingedAs Fluttershy, Spike, and Rainbow walk down the hallway to first period the next morning, Fluttershy turns to Rainbow and looks at her with excited eyes. “How’d it go with Doctor Whooves last night?” She asks with a not-so-subtle hint of expectancy. Rainbow shakes her head and mimes a ship sinking. Fluttershy frowns in disappointment. They pass, but fail to notice a prank that a few of the seniors had pulled the previous night where they had pulled out one of the two bolts holding the locker doors on place, causing all of the lockers on one row to hang crookedly. It caused quite a few chuckles from some, but annoyance from others, especially those whose lockers had been targeted. Principle Davenport was in the latter camp. “Oh, I’m sorry Rainbow,” Fluttershy comforts her friend. Rainbow waves the sentiment off as she brushes past a short unicorn pony named Tiny who, at the moment, walking in the complete opposite direction of his first class, intent on skipping it at all costs. “It’s okay,” She sighs in defeat. “I guess that’s what I get for liking a stallion without a soul.” “You just need to take charge,” Fluttershy offers. “Give him a piece of your mind. I mean, in the telling him how you feel way, not the yelling at him way.” Rainbow laughs heartily at the irony of Fluttershy telling her to be more confident. “Since when did you become Miss Take-Charge?” the Slayer asks. “Oh, no, I’m not Miss Take-Charge. I’m still levels of self-confidence away from-” Fluttershy begins, but falters as a green earth pony with a scraggly light brown mane approaches Fluttershy: Scott Foalgrim. Fluttershy’s face goes bright red, like the nose of sick pony that has blown her nose raw. Rainbow Dash tries desperately to contain an amused smirk. “Hey, didn’t I see you at the flight team tryouts yesterday?” Scott asks, feigning forgetfulness. Fluttershy nods shyly and looks away, trying to hide her blushing. “Yeah, but I didn’t make the team,” Fluttershy admits. Scott shrugs. “It’s okay, I didn’t make the team either,” He comments playfully. “W-well m-most of your competitors had r-real wings,” Fluttershy stammers jokingly and then chuckles timidly, unsure that he would find her comment funny. However, Scott tilts his head back slightly and laughs as well. Spike shouts back at Fluttershy, completely oblivious to the situation, as per usual. “Come on, Fluttershy,” He calls to her. “You’re going to be late for class!” Rainbow Dash flashes him a glare of annoyance and slaps him over the side of the head. Spike yelps, mostly in shock, and rubs his round green spines. “Ouch, what was that for?” Spike complains. Fluttershy looks over towards her friends and hesitates for a moment. “I…should probably get going,” Fluttershy concludes and then gallops off towards Rainbow and Spike. Scott tilts his head in confusion and then heads off towards his first period, deciding not to linger in his confusion any longer. “Nice one, Spike,” Dashie comments sarcastically. “I can’t help it that I’m socially oblivious,” Spike shrugs, “It’s a serious medical condition.” Dashie and Fluttershy laugh merrily. --DtVS-- As Rainbow Dash sits at her desk in Mrs. Cheerilee’s class, she is not paying a bit of attention to her teacher, instead opting to draw a picture of the mysterious hooded pony that brought her back to life in her notebook. This pony has perplexed her ever since that night. How was that pony able to revive her? What sort of power must it have and where did it get such power? Her mind is filled with questions that she has no answers to. Maybe she’ll ask Doctor Whooves to investigate this mysterious unicorn later, but for the moment, infinite scenarios float around in her mind. Her mind devised scenarios of the pony being some sort of mythical god, or being some sort of Ultra Watcher, whatever that was. However, her scenarios are suddenly interrupted as she looks up and realizes that she is the only pony left in class. Daydreaming does pass the time, doesn’t it, Dash? Rainbow Dash thought to herself. She stood up, grabbed her backpack and trotted out of the room, all the while wondering why Spike and Fluttershy hadn’t woken her up. The hallway is empty. It must be class, Dashie thinks as she peers down the ghostly row of lockers. However, one locker at the end of the hallway is open and one of its hinges is loose, causing the door of the locker to twitch slowly. Rainbow stares suspiciously at the unhinged locker door for a moment, and then slowly makes her way over to it. As she finally reaches it after her eternal walk down the hall, she cranes her head to peek inside, staying a safe distance away. She doesn’t quite know what she’s afraid of, but considering what else she’s found in the school lockers over the past few weeks, nothing would surprise her. A small, round pendant. This is what Rainbow Dash found in the open locker. In fact, it was the only thing she found in the locker. She stuck her hoof in the locker and grabbed the loose pendant. It was smooth and pearly white with small, round blemishes covering the surface. She flipped the pendant over to find the same thing on the other side. Rainbow looked up from the pendant and let out an audible yelp of surprise. Inside the locker the walls had suddenly become covered with white lettered phrases. The Moon Is Falling. Beware the Dark Side of the Moon. Evil Moon Rise. The Night Guide Cries Blood. The cyan pegasus peers intently into the graffitied locker. A feeling of dread crashes over her, yet she can’t look away from the cryptic messages. Suddenly, the locker door slams shut. Rainbow Dash scampered back a few steps, running flank first into another pony’s side. She whips around, praying to everything that is pure and righteous that it wasn’t Principle Davenport that she bumped into. It wasn’t, it was the coach of the Ponydale High Flight Team, Coach Papermoon. The gruff pony eyes Rainbow Dash warily, but then realizes who she is and softens his face to a slightly less frightening level. “Ah, Dash, my new superstar. Ready for practice after school?” Papermoon growls at her, although Dashie is beginning to suspect that this is his natural voice. Rainbow nods her head vigorously, just in case it wasn’t and he was actually somewhat annoyed with her. “Good,” He says simply, and then looks at the clock on the closest wall to them. “What are you doing out of class?” Rainbow’s eyes widen, reminiscent of a small woodland creature in the path of a herd of stampeding buffalo. She remains paralyzed with a minor case of stage fright for second longer and then snaps out of it. “Uh, visit to the little pony’s room,” Dashie smiles encouragingly, trying to make the lie seem more innocent. “Darn those pesky bodily functions.” “Okay,” Papermoon accepts grudgingly. “Just get back to class. I don’t want my new star flier kicked off the team because of poor grades.” Papermoon kicks off the ground and flies down the hall only a few feet off the ground, as if he’s flying just for the sake of flying. Rainbow Dash waits until Papermoon is out of sight and makes her way back to the mysterious locker. She opens it, but finds neither pendant nor cryptic messages. She examines the locker further, but it reveals none of its secrets, so she closes it, foiled. Then, she sulks off to the class that she was supposed to have arrived at half-an-hour ago, hoping Fluttershy has already arrived. --DtVS-- “Intriguing,” Twilight paces in deep thought as Rainbow Dash is telling her about the locker incident. “It seems like you were experiencing some sort of waking Slayer dream.” “You mean those dreams that I have whenever bad things are about to happen?” Rainbow asks, but her mind is in another place. She hasn’t seen Spike or Fluttershy since Mrs. Cheerilee’s class and she wonders whether they’re okay and why they haven’t contacted her. Twilight nods curtly. “Yes, your prophetic Slayer dreams. It looks like you had one of those, except you were awake,” Twilight explains to the cyan pony. “Okay…” Rainbow Dash nods dumbly. “And what sort of sense does that make? Because in little filly’s school, I was taught that dreams happen when one is asleep, not walking down a hallway in the middle of the day.” “Yes, it is quite peculiar. I will have to hit the books to research this,” Twilight admits. “You know, if you keep hitting those books, one day they’re going to call social services on your flank,” Dashie smirks, amused at her own witticism. Twilight sighs heavily and rolls her eyes. “Don’t roll your eyes at me, young filly,” Rainbow Dash continues, a wide smirk still plastered to her face. “By the way, have you seen Fluttershy or Spike around lately?” Twilight shakes her head as she heads behind her desk to retrieve a newer looking book than the ones Rainbow is used to seeing her handle. “No, sorry.” Rainbow Dash crinkles her nose in annoyance. Where were those two? --DtVS-- After a whole day without seeing Fluttershy and Spike, Rainbow Dash is worried sick about them. A thousand or so thoughts race through her mind about what may have happened to them. Some of them valid concerns, like they both got lost or decided to ditch school, and some completely and utterly ridiculous, like a sun-resistant vampony kidnapping them and sacrificing them to some demi-god who needs the blood of a pegasus pony and a baby dragon to rise from the depths of hell. She debated skipping flight practice to go looking for them, but Twilight was oddly against the notion, assuring her that she would go looking for them instead. As she flew onto the field, she looks to her left to find two familiar faces on the bleacher, holding up a rough, hand-crafted sign that reads “GO DASHIE!!! YOU’RE THE BES”. “Fluttershy! Spike!” She cries and zooms at them, landing on the row below them. Spike nods proudly. “Yep, that’s us.” “Where have you been all day?” Dashie demands. “We decided to skip class to make a banner showing out support of your new athletic outlet,” Fluttershy explains. “Do you like it? You do like it, don’t you?” Rainbow examines the long yellow banner with the sparkley letters written on it. “I’m “the bes”?” She asks critically. Fluttershy shrugs innocently. “We ran out of room on the sign. It was supposed to say “best!”,” She explains softly. “I love it! Bes be damned!” She thinks for a moment. “Hey, why didn’t you wake me up in class?” “Well we wanted to surprise you,” Fluttershy says. Spike nods. “And we thought it was funny that you slept through the end-of-period bell,” Spike admits with a small chuckle. Rainbow and Fluttershy laugh as well. “DASH!” Papermoon’s voice barks from across the field. “You can socialize after practice! Get your flank over here!” Rainbow Dash looks back towards the coach’s voice. “See you after practice.” She jumps into the air and takes off towards the other end of the field where the rest of the pegasi are waiting. She lands at the end of the line of flight team pegasi, most of which don’t look nearly as in shape as Rainbow Dash. Papermoon paces in front of the line like a general about to give battle orders. “This is no mere practice, ponies. This is war. Bloody, brutal war. There is no mercy; there are no rules, except for the ESAA mandated ones. These are the rules, soldiers, you fall behind, you may as well drop out of the sky. Win at all costs, except for cheating or you’ll be disqualified,” Papermoon growls. “Understood?” --DtVS-- “Understood?” Rainbow Dash demands as she paces in front of Fluttershy and Spike in Ponydale Hills Cemetery, light from one of the tombstone candles casting a yellow pall over her face. Spike and Fluttershy nod. “You’re become a regular protégé to Sergeant Papermoon,” Spike quips. Rainbow Dash’s brow furls in mock annoyance. “15 more laps around the cemetery for your backtalk, soldier,” She teases. Over the next two or three hours, the three patrol the cemetery, looking for fanged denizens of the dead, but with no luck. Finally, the three friends decide to call it quits for the night and head their separate ways for the night. On her way home, a strange tingling shot through Rainbow Dash’s mane and the strange feeling that she was being watched came over her. She whips around. “Who’s there?” She demanded. Suddenly, a brown, winged pegasus pony with an hourglass on his flank shoots out of the trees and lands on the road in front of her. He bows his head a little. “I’m sorry if I startled you,” Doctor Whooves says apologetically. “Ah, Doctor Night, I should’ve known you were sneaking around here somewhere,” Dashie snorts. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m past the age where I need a chaperone to make sure I get home in one piece.” “Twilight told me about your prophetic daydream,” Doctor Whooves says, ignoring her snark. “It’s another sign of what’s to come.” “And what might that be?” “I have a theory, but I sincerely doubt it. It’s almost impossible…” Doctor Whooves responds cautiously, as if contemplating telling her. “The Mare in the Moon.” Rainbow’s jaw almost drops off her face. “Like the fairytale of the evil pony who was banished to the moon?” She asks. “Yes, that is impossible and also the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.” Doctor Whooves nods in agreement. “I agree, but I’ve seen much more ridiculous stories turn out to be true. Twilight is investigating the possibility, however, just in case it’s true.” “Any excuse to crack a book with that one,” Rainbow comments. She could have sworn that she almost saw Doctor Whooves crack a smile, but if he did, it was only a flash. He cleared his throat. “I should go,” the undead peagsus announces. As he turns to fly off, Rainbow summons up all of her confidence and whispers under her breath. “Take charge, Dash, take charge.” “Wait!” She says loudly, causing Doctor Whooves to stop in his tracks and turn back towards her. “Yes?” Doctor Whooves asks in confusion. Rainbow Dash trots over to him confidently and kisses him straight on the lips. Doctor Whooves is taken aback, but doesn’t try to pull away. A few moments, Rainbow breaks lip contact with him. Doctor Whooves looks thoroughly confused. “What was that?” He asks, puzzled and turning a severely dangerous shade of red embarrassment. “That was take-charge Dash,” She announces, proud of herself. “I can see that,” He responds. “Now you can leave,” Rainbow Dash says, grinning. But Doctor Whooves does no such thing. Instead, he leans in and kisses her. A rush of thrill passes through Rainbow Dash and she kisses him back. They continue kissing for a while, the moon the only thing providing light for them.
Prologue: Previously on Dashie the Vampony SlayerPreviously on Dashie the Vampony Slayer: Rainbow Dash moved away from Cloudsdale to a small town called Ponydale in order to escape her destiny as a vampony Slayer. When she arrived in Ponydale, she met two new friends: a shy pegasus named Fluttershy and her best friend, a baby dragon named Spike. However, she also met her new Watcher, a stuffy unicorn named Twilight Sparkle, who told her that Ponydale High is located above a mystical point of evil energy called a Hellfoal. Then, Rainbow found out that a powerful vampony called the Lord of the Vamponies was planning to break free from his eternal prison and destroy Ponydale. As she struggled between school and the constant threat of the Lord of the Vamponies, Rainbow began to crack under the pressure. Soon, the night when the Lord of the Vamponies was prophesied to rise came, and he rose up to take over Ponydale. However, Rainbow and her friends faced him and his army of vamponies at Sugarcube Corner and defeated them. Finally, a powerful alicorn named Nightmare Moon arrived in Ponydale, bent on taking over all of Equestria. A Special Message from the Author: I do not own any of the characters in either My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, this is written purely for fandom entertainment purposes and will never be used for profit uses. I copy-pasted that from the last story, so you better appreciate it!
