Sweetie Drops is called in to stop a vampire that threatens the saftey of Equestria.
When an ancient and powerful vampire escapes his imprisonment in Tatarus, Princess Celestia calls in her most trusted champion: Special Agent Sweetie Drops... but is there more to the story? Why is Celestia so bent on having this vampire destroyed? What connections does he have with Princess Luna? What is the story behind this vampire named Roma Heart?
All Sweetie Drops knows is that, after four years of deep cover, she has a new mission.
The depths of Tartarus are home to many creatures of unimaginable evil. Only the worst of what the world can spit up are ever imprisoned there, forced to remain under the watchful eyes of their guardian, Cerberus. Tartarus is a desolate place, devoid of any hope save for that of the foolish. Very seldom does anything escape from within its stony walls, and only under the most perfect of circumstances is this possible. In truth, the number of monsters that have escaped in the past millennium can easily be counted on a griffon’s claw.
Many strive to escape, and a few may even make it to the gates, only to be crushed under the dutiful paw of their warden. Those who can will often wait for their chance of escape, believing that someday the stars will align in their favor.
Some rare individuals may strive for centuries to break though their prison’s bonds, eventually succeeding. These are the most dangerous of all the beings held in Tartarus, for they not only possess the fortitude to wait for escape, but the power to obtain such a goal as well. These villains, more often than not, pose a great threat to Equestria and her people.
Sometimes, a hero may arise to stop a threat such as this. That hero may dedicate themselves solely to stopping this monster… or perhaps they may lose themselves in their quest. Perhaps, in this quest to stop a monster, they themselves will become one. Perhaps this champion will see the error of their way… or perhaps they will not.
This is the tale of two ponies, each from very different trots of life, both of them completely opposite one another. This is the tale of these two ponies coming together in a violent clash of ideals, hooves, and blood. It is a tale of vengeance, of desperation, of fear, and of grave mistakes. It is the tale of great evil and indomitable good, and of virtue and vice.
It is the tale of a monster known as Roma Heart, and his foe, the hero known as Sweetie Drops.
-An Excerpt from Princess Luna's Sanguine Chronicle.
Bon Bon led a very simple life. She was a confectioner by trade, and one of the best in Equestria. She had a charming roommate that was also her best friend and coworker, and her shop's income alone was enough to support both of them comfortably.
Her life was good.
Until one night, that is, when she was closing up the shop.
The letter came without warning, without preface. Lyra was out with Pinkie Pie at a party and Bon Bon had just finished locking everything up downstairs, and was heading up to her room. It was there she saw it.
Lying on her bed was a simple black envelope with a white wax seal stamped with the shape of a crescent moon.
With a weary sigh, she moved over to her bed and scooped the envelope up in her hooves. She turned it over a few times, scowling down at the stationary. Deciding that she was only delaying the inevitable, she laid the envelope back down and used her hoof to pop the seal. She used the same method to pull the letter from within and unfold it.
The message was simple.
Dear Special Agent,
Your presence is requested at the castle of H.R.H. Princess Twilight Sparkle as soon as you have received this summons. No reply is needed; merely report within the hour.
-Princess Luna, Lady of the Second Light
Bon Bon felt the bile rising in her throat. She knew this might happen, someday… She was just hoping it wouldn’t. Delicately folding the letter up, she tucked it back into its envelope and grabbed an ashtray from the drawer of her nightstand, as well as a book of matches. She struck one of the matches and held up the envelope. These things were always made of a hyper-flammable paper that burned so quickly and completely that it barely left any ash.
Within seconds, the letter was gone and no evidence was left that it even existed.
Furrowing her brow, Bon Bon walked over to her closet and opened it, staring down in disgust at the locked wooden trunk in the bottom. She pressed her hoof to the large circular lock and felt the familiar tingle of the biometric magic as it scanned her entire body. When the scan finished, an audible click sounded throughout the room as the lock disengaged.
Upon opening the trunk, her face twisted in shear hatred of the contents. Packed neatly in the box was a black fedora with a grey band and a black three piece suit, as well as a pair of smoked sunglasses and a black, clip on necktie. Sitting on top of the fedora was a simple silver metro badge emblazoned with the visage of an alicorn with her wings spread out.
Bon Bon gingerly scooped up the badge and gave a soft sigh before setting it aside. She pulled the suit out of the box and laid it on her bed. She didn’t want this. But she had to do it. Scowling as she did so, she pulled the grey dress shirt off the bed a slid it on, shuddering as she felt the smooth fabric slide over her fur. She buttoned up the shirt and selected the trousers next, having a bit of trouble with them like she always had. She tucked her shirt in and slid her jacket on, noticing with slight disdain that the jacket was tighter than before. Once the jacket was buttoned, she slipped her badge inside of the coat’s inner pocket and grabbed the necktie from the trunk and fastened it to her collar. All that was left now… was her hat.
Sitting back on her haunches, she scooped the hat up in her hoofs and turned it over a few times. Even though she wasn’t wearing it yet, she could feel its Glamour enchantment, ready to be activated when the hat was donned. She didn’t want to put it on. She didn’t want to be that… thing… again.
“Bon Bon?” The voice of her housemate made Bon Bon turn so suddenly that Lyra took a step back in surprise. “I… uh, I didn’t know you were the nostalgic type…” she said quietly, a nervous smile on her face. That’s right; Lyra had seen the suit not long ago. Just after Cranky and Matilda’s wedding. She’d all but demanded it…
“It’s… I… I’ve been called in.”
The simple statement had a profound and immediate effect on Lyra, as her ears flattened, her eyes widened and her smile vanished. She lowered her head and took a step back. “Y-you’re leaving?” Bon Bon nodded. “For how long?”
“I don’t know… It could be weeks, could be months, could even be years,” she explained solemnly. “Please understand, Lyra, that I don’t have a choice in this matter. If I did, I would choose to stay with you without a moment’s hesitation.” Bon Bon trotted forward and put a hoof to her best friend’s chin, lifting her face up. “But, no matter what, I will come back for you.”
“You promise?”
“With all my heart, Lyra.”
~~~B><B~~~
The halls of Friendship Castle were deathly quiet, save for the distinct sound of pacing hooves echoing throughout the crystalline castle. The origin of this sound was the castle’s resident royalty, Princess Twilight Sparkle, as she trotted back and forth in front of her three fellow princesses. All four of them were gathered in the Friendship Council room, awaiting a fifth party.
“You’re sure me and my friends can’t handle this?”
“I am positive, Twilight. This is not a problem that friendship and love can solve.”
“But friendship always prevail–”
“My sister is correct, Twilight Sparkle. Painful as it is to admit, she is correct.”
“B-but…”
“Twilight, when Celestia and Luna say a problem is too big for you, you should listen.”
The debate was cut short the door swung open and a very familiar earth pony mare trotted through into the room. She was clad in a black business suit with grey shirt and a matching fedora. She had a pair of sunglasses over her eyes, despite the fact that it was clearly night time. All this complemented the deep scowl on her lips as though the expression and suit were tailored alongside each other as a set.
“That’s who you called in?!” Twilight exclaimed, her wings flaring out as she leapt off of the map table and floated down next to the new arrival. “Bon Bon’s a candy maker, not a warrior! Wait… why is your coat grey?” she asked, leaning down to inspect the mare’s altered color scheme. Her coat was dull grey and her mane had become black as night.
“Special Agent Sweetie Drops, reporting for duty, Your Highnesses!” She called, causing Twilight to jump back in surprise. “And it’s a simple Glamour spell, Princess.”
“Special Agent, I am sorry to have dragged you away from you current assignment,” Celestia said somberly, noting that the agent’s scowl softened for a moment before coming back full force. “But I fear Equestria is, once again, in dire need of your help.”
Princess Luna turned to look at her sister, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. “Again?” she asked. “Are you saying that this mare has saved the country in the past? Where is her medal? Her sash? Was there not even a laurel granted for her feat? I see no awards for her val–”
“She did not recieve a medal, Luna,” Celestia said sternly, silencing her younger sister. “She received no reward, save for a pat on the withers and a letter thanking her for her service to the crown.”
“It’s all I needed, Your Majesty,” Sweetie Drops said calmly. Despite her even tone and statuesque façade, her eyes were darting around between the Princesses, gleaning what little knowledge she could from their expressions.
Princess Celestia had bags under her eyes. She hadn’t slept last night and probably wasn’t going to sleep tonight, either. Her mane was a bit duller than usual and her coat a slightly matted. Crooked crown… The princess licked her lips, which were dry and cracked.
Princess Luna’s eyes were bloodshot and crusty, indicating she’d been crying, further implied by her tone of voice. Here ears were flat and her face drooped, as did her shoulders and her head.
Princess Cadance looked confused, much like her sister-in-law. Though she managed to maintain a clam exterior, her wide, darting eyes and tapping forehoof betrayed her worry.
Sweetie Drops reached her conclusion and gave an inward sigh. It was bad. This problem not only had Princess Celestia worried or concerned, it had her rattled. It was something personal for Princess Luna and that in itself was a problem. That meant whatever she was facing was at least a millennium old, which likely meant it was very powerful. Princess Twilight had learned of the situation, and was clearly panicked. Her sister-in-law was concerned, but not panicked.
“Sweetie Drops is the one responsible for originally capturing the bugbear, as well as finding its creator and executing him. She is solely creditable for preventing a werewolf outbreak in Manehattan and resolving countless other monster-related situations throughout her twenty years of service, excluding her current deep cover in Ponyville,” Princess Celestia explained hurriedly. Everypony’s gaze slowly turned from her to the agent standing before them.
“S-Special Agent,” Princes Cadance said quietly, pausing briefly to clear her throat. “How… old are you?”
“Thirty-nine, Your Highness.”
“And your deep cover has lasted…”
“Four years, Your Highness.”
“That’s enough questions, Cadance. All you need to know about Sweetie Drops has already been told to you.” Princess Celestia turned her attention the agent. “Sweetie Drops, the pony you face is far greater than even you may be able to handle. You have slain several vampires in your time, but this…” She stopped to take a particularly deep breath, closing her eyes and lowering her head. “This vampire is one of the originals. Far more powerful than those you have faced before. He has been locked away in Tartarus for nearly five hundred years, and I never thought I’d see the day he would escape.”
“With all due respect, if Tirek could escape while being as weak as he was, I’m sure this vampire is no different, Your Majesty.”
“You mistake my meaning, Agent,” Princess Celestia said evenly. “Tirek was stripped of his power and hurled to the depths of Tartarus, free to roam its expanses. This vampire was locked within a meter thick compressive thaumatium shell and suspended from the ceiling of a cavern by percussive thaumatium chains.” Her eyes narrowed as she scowled down at Sweetie Drops. “He should have been unable to escape. He ha–”
“He has a name, Celestia!” Princess Luna screamed, standing up in the throne she occupied. “It is a name he has chosen for himself! Are you so afraid of him that you must refer to him by such vague terms and descriptions?! Is he truly worse than anything you have faced before?!”
“He is a monster, Luna!” Celestia shouted back. “The one you once called your son is not the same stallion he was when you gave him li–”
Princess Luna’s eyes flashed white as she stomped on the edge of her throne, crushing the armrest. “His name is Roma Heart!” she screamed, her voice shaking the very walls of the room. “Has he not even the right to be called such?!”
“He erased an entire bloodline from the face of the planet!” Princess Celestia countered, rising to tower over her sister. “He deserves to DIE!” Her voice had grown to volumes far surpassing her sister’s, causing every surface in the room to vibrate.
Princess Luna’s eyes widened and she fell silent. After a moment, she sat back down and stared at the map in front of her. “You need not remind me of his crimes, Sister,” she whispered, putting a hoof on the table.
“I am sorry, Luna…” Princess Celestia replied softly, before turning back to Sweetie Drops. “Special Agent, you are to rendezvous with the local guards at the gates of Tartarus. They are ready to conduct an investigation upon your arrival.”
“How will I be traveling, Your Majesty?”
“The same way you traveled in the past,” she replied. “Your old airship has been prepped and is ready for liftoff. It’s on the castle’s balcony. You depart immediately.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
~~~B><B~~~
Minutes later, Sweetie Drops was approaching what was quite possible the most unsafely designed vehicle in Equestrian history, The Peregrine. The balloon was small and filled to near bursting with helium, while the cockpit looked to be two rowboats stacked together with four large propeller engines sticking off the back. The design was simplistic, but it worked well.
And it was fast. There was no airship in recorded history faster than The Peregrine. It could easily make a round trip to and from Manehattan in just a single day without needing to refuel.
As Sweetie Drops climbed through the craft’s small entrance, she was greeted by various glowing gauges and dials. This allowed a small smile to cross her lips. She’d actually missed the deathtrap of a vehicle. A shadow was cast over the control panel as Princess Celestia stood beside the craft, looking inside. “Some upgrades were made during your current assignment. It’s a bit more efficient and the balloon should hold up better than it used to.”
“Good to know, Your Majesty,” she replied simply, flipping a switch under the control panel and closing the hatch. The propeller engines roared to life as she strapped herself in, and the craft lurched upwards as the ballast was emptied. She took a deep breath and pushed gently forward on the throttle. “Here we go…” The machine tilted forward and she was greeted with an aerial view of most of Ponyville. Her sweet shop was part of that view.
As she soared away from the castle, she caught sight of Lyra standing on the roof of the shop, staring up at the ship. Lyra gave a wave, which was promptly returned by Sweetie Drops, even if she couldn’t see it.
Tearing her eyes away from her roommate, she increased the throttle slightly, sending the craft away from her home at a speed rivaling some pegasi. With a sigh, she pulled a small photograph out of her suit’s inner pocket. It was magically produced, a literal transference of Princess Luna’s memories onto paper. The image showed a stallion with a center parted, jaw length, scarlet mane and a starch white coat, as well as blood red eyes. He was smiling, revealing a mouth full of sharp, pointed teeth. Her eyes narrowed and she put the photo back into her pocket.
There was no time to waste if this… pony… was on the loose.
~~~B><B~~~
His tattered cloak waved behind him as he trudged headlong through the chilling desert winds, his face battered by the harsh sands the air carried. His eyes were squinted and focused on what lie through the sandy winds: a tomb. The entrance was simple, a narrow passage carved out of the side of a mountain. The tomb was ancient, but it was one he knew well.
It was surrounded by tents and strange lanterns.
As he broke into a slightly faster gait, kicking up sand as he did, a scowl broke out under the collar of his cloak and his brow furrowed.
Who would dare…?
A talon resting on his shoulder prompted him to slow his pace and stop. He looked to his left to see his companion giving him a worried look.
“Roma, don’t,” she said just loudly enough to be heard. “I don’t like when you get angry.”
With a sigh, he pulled down his collar and gave her a kind smile. “Wait here, Avianna. I will go and speak with them.”
“Only to speak?” she asked cautiously, eyeing his smile with no small amount of trepidation.
“That is their choice,” he answered simply as he started off towards the camp.
The Peregrine soared over Anugypt at a breakneck speed, keeping low and sending sand flying up in the airship’s wake. Sweetie Drops hated Anugypt. Always had, always would. It was too hot, and the sand always got in her mouth. Thankfully, she was in a high speed, airtight airship.
With air conditioning. Sweet, cool air conditioning.
It wasn’t too long before the sands of Anugypt shifted into the cracked surface of the Anugyptian Badlands. Not to be confused with the Equestrian Badlands. They were vastly different from one another.
Sweetie Drops pulled back on the throttle as she caught sight of her destination. Her ship had a unique feature, due to its lightweight nature. It accelerated much faster than the standard airship, but this also meant that it all but lurched to a stop as she passed into the neutral realm that housed the gates of Tartarus, once guarded by Anubis himself.
Within a few minutes of crossing into the territory, she was already coming within visual range of the gates of Tartarus. Massive, black gates of iron loomed over the land, casting a gargantuan shadow over the cracked, dry ground.
Slowing her ship to approach speeds, she spotted several unicorns with glowing horns directing her towards a large red circle. She followed their directions and came to hover just over the marker. Three hooks latched onto each side of The Peregrine and pulled her down to the ground so she could disembark. As she opened the hatch, the harsh, red glow of the area assaulted her eyes, causing her to squint. Sweetie Drops climbed out of her ship and leapt a dozen hooves to the ground, landing with a grunt.
One of the guards, all of whom were clad in Anugyptian uniforms, trotted up to her and pointed a spear at her. “Identify yourself, Mare!” he shouted as several more guards joined him.
“Special Agent Sweetie Drops of the R.M.H.L. in Canterlot,” she announced, pulling her badge out of her jacket. “I’m here by order of Princess Celestia herself.”
“Stand down!” a stallion called from behind the guards. As the crowd parted to let him through, Sweetie Drops’ eyes widened. “Sorry for the harsh welcome, Drops. They’re a bit on edge. None of us have ever seen a breakout like this.”
Standing before her was a tall, heavily muscled earth pony stallion with a grey coat and an orange mane that had faded with age. Across his right eye was a large black eye patch, one that did little to cover the burn scars around it. Pulling herself back in order, Drops nodded to her former comrade and turned to the gates. “Trail Blazer. What do you mean, ‘a breakout like this’?”
Blazer sighed and raised his hoof in the air. “I thinks it’s best you see for yourself. Open her up, colts!”
The guards around them immediately galloped over the gates and began turning two massive cranks at the base of each side. The sound of chains rolling along pulleys sounded across the landscape, forcing Blazer to sit and cover his ears. Drops simply stared ahead of her and waited for them to finish the time consuming process of opening Hell itself.
Once they finished, she trotted forward and scowled. Curiously, Tartarus’s guard dog did not greet them. “Where is Cerberus?” she demanded, turning on her former fellow hunter. “He should be here, ready to slaughter us for opening the gates.”
Blazer scowled and trotted past her through the gates. He stopped briefly, gesturing for her to follow him, which she did. He led her out onto a bridge-like structure, staying close to the edge. When he stopped, he turned and pointed over the edge of the walkway, down into the abyss. “Take a look down there, Drops. Tell me what you see.”
Sweetie Drops did as she was told, leaning over the side of the walkway, staring down into the darkness. A gasp nearly escaped her as she saw Cerberus’s corpse skewered onto a massive stalagmite, straight through his chest. “What… What happened to him, Blazer?” she asked, keeping an edge to her voice. “How did he get down there?”
“We believe the escapee tricked him into running over the edge. Cerberus wasn’t the brightest pup in the litter,” he explained, narrowing his eyes. “We were just about tired of waiting for you to show up.”
“Why were you waiting?” Drops asked as she stepped away from the edge.
“We were ordered to,” he answered simply. “Official R.M.H.L. business and all that. So what’s next?”
“I need to see his holding area. I want to know just how he was able to escape,” Sweetie Drops explained as they headed back towards the gates. “I’ll need a team of jumpers ready to head down there.”
“Whoa, hold up, Drops! You’re actually thinking of going down there?” Blazer asked, stepping back. “That’s… That’s insane! Even for you!”
“Come if you want, don’t if you don’t,” she said sourly as she crossed through the gates. Blazer followed her, giving a sharp whistle to the nearby guards.
“Alright, Stallions! This mare here outranks me by tenfold! She’s going to select a few of you for a special mission, and you’re going to go if she calls you out.”
“I’m going to need ten able-bodied and strong willed stallions to accompany me into the depths. I need to find a certain cage that held a certain prisoner, who may or may not be a threat to the country.” Sweetie Drops looked around for a moment, picking out ten stallions that looked strong enough to break rocks. “You ten,” she said, pointing to each of her selections, “are coming with me. Pack your kits.”
~~~B><B~~~
“Hey, Crop, who is that guy?” Falcon asked, pointing towards the edge of camp, where an elderly stallion was trotting into the campsite. “He’s not one of ours, is he?”
“No, Drake. He’s not,” Leather Crop replied, eyeing the stallion cautiously as she drew the crossbow from her flank. He wore a hood, so his face was hidden, but a mangy white beard hung out of it. She could easily tell he was old, though. His skin hung off of him in bags, and his legs looked like they were nothing but skin and bones. As he drew close, he pushed his hood back with a hoof and offered them a warm smile. His mane matched his beard in both color and state, hanging from his scalp in shaggy, tangled clumps.
“Please, stow thy weapon, Miss,” he said in a raspy voice. “I merely seek shelter for myself and my companion. Might we use this tomb you guard for the night?”
“Absolutely not,” Drake shouted, drawing a crossbow of his own. “Turn around and leave the camp, and we won’t shoot you.”
“Very well,” the stallion conceded, turning away. “I’ll not force my presence on thee.”
~~~B><B~~~
As Roma turned away from what were clearly raiders of some kind, Avianna watched in horror as the griffon and the earth pony behind him raised their crossbows, and fired a bolt each into the back of Roma’s skull. Her companion promptly fell to the ground, blood pooling around his head and soaking into the sand.
She looked back to the raiders, her face twisting in anger as they reloaded their weapons. Her talons dug into the sand as she prepared to take off, but the raiders weren’t pointing their crossbows at her. They were still staring at Roma’s corpse. A quick glance told her why. Roma was standing back up, flexing his neck back and forth. Any will Avianna had held to fight evaporated the moment Roma reached behind his head and pushed the crossbow bolts through his forehead, then pulled them out through the front. How… how was he alive?
“Avianna!” Roma called, scowling at her. “Cover thine eyes and ears, child! I would rather you not witness I am about to do!”
Avianna’s eyes widened, but she obeyed and shut her eyes tight, then covered her ears with her claws. She knew what was about to happen. She didn’t want it to happen. It shouldn’t happen! But… they shot him, so… they deserved it, right?
“…Right…” she whispered to herself. “It’s their fault… always their fault. Not his, never his…”
~~~B><B~~~
The trip to the cliff that Cerberus was on was a long one. It took several hours of repelling down a sheer rock face to reach even that far. And yet, they had to go deeper.
“We’ll rest here for a bit, and then we go further!” Sweetie Drops called to her stallions. They all nodded and sat down, most heaving a sigh of relief. It was pathetic. She understood why they weren’t as enduring as she was, but it still annoyed her to have to expend time for them to recuperate. However, she was a bit more charitable in this instance, since there was something she needed to check out.
The sound of hooves approaching drew her attention to her right. “Hey, Drops…” he started quietly, as if her were afraid of her.
“What is it, Blazer?”
“This monster you’re after… what is it?” he asked, scratching the back of his head. He wouldn’t meet her eyes. She knew why, too. “Is it going to be like…?”
“The Bugbear?”
He flinched and lowered his head. “Yeah.”
Sweetie Drops sighed and trotted around him. “No,” she said solemnly. “No, this one is probably going to be much worse.” Before he could respond, she said, “I’m going to investigate Cerberus’s corpse, see if I can find any clues.”
“I’ll come with you!” Blazer said quickly, trotting after her.
“Just don’t touch anything,” she ordered sharply as they came closer to the massive body. He had a knack for ruining evidence. She felt the blood stick to her hooves as she stepped into the splatter zone. She would have preferred being air dropped onto the corpse, but there weren’t any pegasus or unicorn guards on her team.
“So, uh…” Blazer cleared his throat and pointedly looked away from the ground. “Have you… been in touch with the others?”
“Yes.”
“How are they?”
“That’s classified,” she said a bit too quickly, tightening her scowl. She came up to one of Cerberus’s heads and stepped up in front of one of its mouths. It was parted slightly, barely enough for her to fit between the teeth unscathed. That also meant that the teeth were almost at the perfect distance to uses as a ladder of sorts.
“Is it really, Drops?” Blazer asked sourly his lips pressing together in a scowl. “Or are you keeping secrets again? You were always bad about that.”
Sweetie Drops sighed and began pushing the mouth closed. Once it was where she wanted, she turned and scowled at Trail Blazer. “Look… There’s a reason they won’t talk to you,” she said harshly. “It’s a reason I share. The only reason I’m even doing it now is because my mission requires it. To be quite frank, we all–”
“I know you hate me!” he barked, his frown intensifying. “After what happened, you think I’d expect any less?! You think I don’t regret it?!” They were both silent for several minutes as they stared each other down with varying degrees of contempt. He raised a hoof and brushed it across his burns. “I… I look in the mirror everyday and I…”
“Stop, Blazer,” Sweetie Drops said coolly, stepping up to him. “I know you regret it.” Her calm look of distaste twisted into one of intense hate as her brow furrowed and her frown intensified. “I only regret that you didn’t die with her.” She immediately turned away and put her front hooves on the first teeth, but something made her pause.
“What? You got more to add?”
Sweetie Drops growled in frustration, before looking over her shoulder. “Daring Do and Shadow Spades are both successful writers, both under pseudonyms. It’s part of their cover. Daring spends her days adventuring and exploring ancient ruins. Shadow is a detective in Detrot. Marigold… Marigold took her own life six years ago. Happy?”
“…At least two of us can lead decent lives,” Trail Blazer whispered somberly, turning his head down.
“Three. My cover involves running a candy shop with my best friend.”
Blazer let out a dry chuckle, before moving closer to her. “Meanwhile, I’m stuck out here in this damn sauna for Celestia knows how long… That just doesn’t seem fair.”
As Sweetie Drops began climbing the teeth, she also chuckled. “Was that sarcasm or do you honestly think you deserve better?”
“No, no… It was sarcasm. I earned my fate, fair and square,” he said with a sigh as his former comrade finished her climb and disappeared over the edge of the beast’s snout. “You see anything?”
“Well, I’m not even sure what I–” She stopped dead in her tracks when she laid eyes on Cerberus’s temple. It would have been difficult to see from the ground, but his head was partially caved in. Not quite enough to kill him, but enough to damage the brain substantially. A glance at the other two heads revealed the same about them. “Yeah, I found something.” She quickly trotted over and looked into the center of the crater, and found that the opening from the wound was actually quite small, about the size of a… regular… hoof. Cerberus hadn’t been tricked into falling over the edge. He’d been forced off by something incredibly powerful. Punched off, to be precise.
Once she had climbed back down, she gave Blazer a stern look, before turning towards the jumpers. “Alright, fillies, up and at it!” she barked at them. She received a number of groans, but they all complied and got to their hooves. “We’re headed deeper into Tartarus!”
Behind her, Blazer sighed and muttered under his breath, “I guess you went crazy after all…”
~~~B><B~~~
Avianna carefully made her way into the tomb, her head low and her wings tensed. She purposely avoided turning her gaze to the two withered corpses in the corner, and instead followed Roma’s scent further down the corridor. The sun did not reach this far into the tomb, but she could still see just fine, thanks to her enhanced eyes.
A soft wheezing reached her ears as Roma’s scent grew stronger and stronger, and became accompanied by the stench of burnt flesh. Before long, she entered into a passage that was caked in dust, and the smell of burnt meat was even more pungent there. She was drawing closer. “Roma,” she called, earning no response. Fear gripped her as she thought about how he might not have… “Roma, are you here?!” she hollered, earning a grunt in response.
“I am here, my child. Do not worry.”
A soft sigh of relief escaped her beak as she padded further into the passage. A scowl soon found its way to her face though. “That was too close, Roma. You almost… I almost lost you.”
“I made it, did I not?”
That’s not th–” Avianna stopped and grumbled under breath for a moment, before she looked over at the burnt face of her companion. “What happened to the ponies in the tents?”
“They fled.”
“You did not–”
“They did not attack me. I had no reason to.”
“Alright. Once the moon rises, we should set out again.”
“Agreed. In the meantime, we should sleep. I shall take first watch.”
“You heal fastest when you sleep. I’ll take the first watch.”
“I… Very well…”
~~~B><B~~~
Sweetie drops stared down at the pile of chains and twisted metal before her. It was true that percussive thaumatium was weak to impact, but this much? The object in front of her looked like it was some kind of pod. A capsule, meant to house something. Or somepony. It certainly should not have been this mangled from a dozen meter drop.
“Drops… what is this thing you’re after?” Trail Blazer asked, giving the destroyed containment vessel the same expression she wore.
“That’s…” she almost responded with her well rehearsed ‘that’s classified,’ but stopped. Nothing said it had to be classified. “It’s an Original.”
Trail Blazer huffed beside her. “I see. You gonna call the others out of cover, or are you handling this one yourself?”
“Just me. I’ll catch up to it before it gains too much power, and then I’ll kill it.”
“That’s what you said about that Descendant in Coltstantinople.” Of course. Blazer loved pointing out her failures. But she’d learned. She was better now. She didn’t make those kinds of mistakes anymore.
“I was young,” was her blunt reply.
“That sweet mare selling the fruit was, too.”
Sweetie Drops didn’t respond. Instead, she moved forward to inspect the edge of the capsule, where it had seemingly split. What she found answered a few questions.
The fracture seem wasn’t actually a fracture, it was an actual edge, and there were loops placed every three hooves or so. If she had to guess, those were meant for locks. Big ones. Further investigating the scene revealed that they were, in fact. The locks were easily the size of a pony’s head, and none of them had keyholes. Whatever was in this shell was not supposed to get out. Ever.
And yet, the thaumatium prison was open, and the prisoner was nowhere to be seen.
“Oi, Drops!” Trail Blazer called from across the chamber. “There’s twelve chain loops, but I’m only seeing ten chains.”
“I don’t care about the chains, Blazer,” she snapped, scowling at him. “I’m looking for things that might tell me where he was planning to go.”
A scream sounded from one of the guards behind her, prompting her to turn and fall into a combat stance. Standing there with a bleeding, but very much so alive pony in its mouth, was a massive chimera. She’d dealt with the creatures before. They weren’t to be trusted. Their perceived threat was ranked alongside wild manticores, but Drops knew better. They were intelligent. They could speak, scheme, and that made them a serious threat to ponies everywhere. They mostly kept to themselves, though, and that was fortunate. They were fairly difficult to kill, after all. The snake on its tail spoke first. “You are looking for that vampire, aren’t you?” it hissed, nodding towards the shell behind her.
“We-e-e-e can tell you where he we-e-ent,” the goat portion added quickly. As it spoke, the other guards were already circling it, pointing their spears at the beast.
The tiger spit the guard out, spattering blood on the ground. “But only for a price.”
“Now hold on,” Blazer started, “We ain’t ab–”
“Can it blazer,” Drops spat, thoroughly ending his rant before it started. She turned back to the chimera, narrowing her eyes. “Name your price, monster.”
“Ssssuch hhharsssh wordssss…”
“We-ee-ee might not want to te-e-ell you now…”
“Name your price,” Drops commanded, taking a step forward.
“The pony thinks it can challenge us…” the tiger said haughtily, sneering down at the mare. “We are not amu–”
“Twelve.”
“What?”
Drops replaced her scowl with a well rehearsed smirk. “I’ve killed twelve chimeras in my service to the crown. Eight of those were artificially created; four of them were your kind.”
“You bluff!” the goat said, stomping a paw on the floor. “You a-a-are just a pony!”
“No,” Blazer chimed in, trotting calmly over to the guard. “She’s telling the truth. That mare is a trained and seasoned monster hunter. She’s taken down creatures the likes of which you’d only see down here in Tartarus.” He paused and seemed to begin inspecting the soldier’s wounds, even though he and Drops both knew the poor stallion wasn’t going to make it. “Hell, she put some of them down here.”
“L-ah-ah-ah-ies!”
“Ttthhey try to fool ussss!”
“Silence, you idiots!” the tiger roared. Its sisters immediately obeyed. “I need to think.”
Drops widened her smirk a bit. “I see it this way: you give me the information I want, and I’ll give you something in return. Or you could always try to take us out, and then you’d have meals for days. But in that scenario, you could easily die. I mean, my guards have spears. All it takes is three well placed thrusts, and you’re down. Do you want to take that chance?”
“Sssheee knowsss about our heartssss…” the snake whispered, hovering between the goat and the tiger.
“Sis, we-ee-ee need to be wise…”
“Agreed. We will… take the wounded pony in exchange for information,” the chimera said carefully, taking a step towards the pony.
“Intel first,” Drops demanded, jumping over between the beast and the guard. “Also, I need to collect his tags. Verify that he’s dead.” When the creature nodded, she trotted over and knelt down next to the soldier for several minutes, looking for his tags. The stallion had already stopped breathing.
“Mmm… We heard him speaking to that griffon. He said something about heading for Foalexandria…”
“Oi, Drops… that ain’t too far away,” Trail Blazer pointed out. “It’s easily a seven day walk, at the most.”
“Meaning about ten nights,” she replied. “Remember, Originals can’t be in the sun.”
“Right, right.”
“Do you have what you need, pony?” the tiger asked, stepping up beside Sweetie Drops.
“Yep, he’s all yours,” she replied casually, stepping away.
~~~B><B~~~
Some time later, the remainder of the guard team was making its way up the side of a cliff, heading back to the surface. Many of the stallions were tired, but they continued on.
“Hey, drops… why’d you give that fellow to the chimera?” Trail blazer asked quietly.
Drops scowled up ahead of her. “I didn’t.” Suddenly, a muffled explosion sounded down below, followed by a distinctly caprine voice screaming in pain. That scream became gurgled and slowly dissipated. “Thirteen,” she muttered softly, narrowing her eyes. “I don’t negotiate with monsters that shouldn’t even exist.”
“I… see.” Trail blazer didn’t bother explaining that true chimeras were born naturally, and that they were, in fact, meant to exist.
~~~B><B~~~
Avianna pulled her scarf up over her beak, shielding the lower half of her face from the sand. She needn’t worry about her eyes, as she now sported a pair of spiffy sand goggles. Her companion seemed indifferent to the sand. He didn’t block his eyes, or turn his head away. He merely walked headlong into it, only bothering to cover his mouth.
Her eyes fell to the saddle bags he now carried over his back. They jingled with every step he took. She still wasn’t certain she was comfortable with the way Roma just strode into the lowest chambers of that tomb, heedless of the traps within.
“Was it really okay to take that gold?” she asked, padding a little quicker to keep pace with Roma. “I mean, you once said that we should respect the dead, didn’t you?”
“And we should respect the fallen, be they friend or foe,” he replied, his voice straining with his old age. “But the owner of that tomb gave me express permission to borrow from its contents if I needed.”
“I… I see. What will we do with it?”
“We will sell it, and use the money for supplies.”
Avianna scowled at him. He was always so confident. It got on her nerves sometimes. “You assume someone will buy it.”
“Gold will always be valuable.”
“Of cour–” She stopped as something came into view. Looming on the horizon was a massive silhouette, comprised of enormous towers that seemed to split the very sky. “What the flap is that?!”
"Foalexandria, it would seem, has grown since my exile began.”
Once more, The Peregrine soared across the skies of Anugypt at top speeds. She was running out of time. The sun was starting to come up… she would never be able to find the vampire if the sun was up.
Her thoughts flashed back to the tomb she’d stopped at, and the corpses she’d found inside. That monster had murdered those two guards without a second thought. The researchers she’d met were lucky to have escaped with their lives. It infuriated her. With every creature it drained, the vampire would grow stronger and harder to stop.
And more ponies would die.
She couldn’t let that happen.
B><B
Avianna stared at his sleeping body, watching his belly rise and fall with every labored breath. He was so old… and yet, he was traveling with her. She wasn’t sure how long a mile was, but she’d heard the word tossed around a few times in Tartarus. It was supposed to be really long, she knew that much at least. Roma had once said that Foalexandria was fifty miles away from Tartarus… so…
“I should do something nice for him…” she muttered, turning her gaze to the window. They’d had to strip the beds and hang the sheets as additional curtains so the sun wouldn’t filter in.
Why would anyone curse a pony to burn in the sun like that? It was truly awful. While she agreed with Roma, that the night was far prettier than daytime, she understood that it was a hard life, living only in the dark, only coming out of your hole for short periods of time before you had to retreat. It was a struggle just to live, and that was no way to live at all.
That, she understood well.
Roma stirred, raising his head and looking away from Avianna. Once he’d finished his long, cat-like yawn, he turned and smiled at her. “Good afternoon, my child.”
“I’m not a child anymore, Roma,” she countered. Still, she was happy that he called her that. It meant that he cared.
“You will always be a child to me.”
Avianna offered up a fake pout, barely able to hide her smile as it threatened to overtake her beak.
Her smile was short-lived. As per his typical fashion, Roma was one to cut straight to the matter at claw. “Is dusk nearing?” he asked, nodding towards the red tones the white curtains were taking on.
Avianna stepped over to the curtains and peeked around the edge. The light still hurt her eyes, but that was only a product of living in caves her whole life. “The sun is at the dge of the, um…”
“Sky?”
“Mm. The sun is at the edge of the sky.” Another small smile crossed her beak. “It’s kind of pretty. I like how it turns everything red.”
“Then we should set out again soon,” Roma said with finality. Turning away from the window, Avianna laid her eyes on the set jaw and a furrowed brow she’d come to expect from him as of late. “I’m sure she’s already sent out her dogs to find me.”
She tenderly scratched her left shoulder and looked at the floor. “Is the princess really that bad?” she asked quietly. She did not look up; even as she heard his heavy hooves hit the floor and walk cautiously towards her. “Surely… she would not still be in power if she were so cruel?”
Roma was mostly silent for a while, producing only the steady wheeze that accompanied his labored breathing. It was as the sun began to disappear over the horizon that he finally answered her. “…No,” he muttered, “I have never claimed that Celestia is cruel. She is merely strict… uncompromising in her judgment, if you will.”
“That doesn’t sound like a good way to lead your people…”
“It isn’t. Come, we must depart.”
“Mm-hmm…”
B><B
Sweetie Drops burst into the police department and flashed her badge to the officer that tried to stop her. “Commissioner, now,” she barked, casting a vicious glare at the uniform-clad mare.
“Right away, Ma’am!” she said as she frantically ran towards office in the back.
“She’s a what?!” came a startled scream from said office. “Tell her I’ll be right out!”
B><B
“Hurry. You spent too long at that vender, Avianna. We need to catch the next train out of the city.”
“You still haven’t explained what a train is!”
“It’s like a carriage, but bigger! No more talking; just keep your legs moving, my child!”
“Roma what is going on?!” Avianna screamed, but he didn’t answer; his face was still set in his signature look of mixed anger and determination. “Why did that picture freak you out so much?!”
Ever since they’d been stopped by that pony in the blue uniform earlier that night and they’d seen that picture of the pretty stallion with the red hair, Roma had become increasingly upset. Everything he did, he did so with haste and impatience. If she didn’t know him any better, she would swear that her companion was… actually scared. She felt as though she were betraying him for even entertaining the thought.
“Closing in on the suspect!”
“Confirm ID: white coat, white mane, white beard, griffon companion.”
“Do not engage! I repeat: Do not engage! You are to wait for the agent!”
“Copy that, sticking to the plan.”
Avianna’s heart sank to her stomach. She didn’t understand most of what the ponies were saying, but she knew what ‘engage’ meant. “Rooommaaa… I can hear ponies talking about us… They don’t sound happy.”
“Then I suppose I don’t have time to keep myself restrained…” Roma hissed. He looked over his shoulder with a fire in his eye that Avianna had never seen before. It was fierce and hot, and the red tinge in his iris seemed to glow, casting shadows over his cheeks. “I need you to keep up with me. Do you understand?”
“No! What’s happening?!”
Roma’s scowl deepened and every ounce of blood in Avianna’s body ran cold when he replied. “The dogs have found us.”
“They have?!” she shouted, drawing the attention of several passersby. “What do we do?”
“I told you Avianna! RUN!” He shouted. Suddenly, Roma took off galloping, and definitely not at the pace an old stallion should move at. He moved as if he were somepony in their prime. Avianna quickly shook her head and started off after him. Though she struggled to even keep pace with him at first, she quickly caught up and stayed on his tail as best as anyone could hope. As he ducked and weaved through the crowd, one thought stayed at the front of her mind: how?
How could anyone his age… a tenth his age move like he was?! It was impossible! But, she realized… Roma’s entire existence was technically impossible. He was immortal… and that, in and of itself, defied reason. Why should his age betray his physical aptitude? The illogicality of it simply dictated that it shouldn’t. Therefore–
“Avianna!”
She snapped back to reality, shaking her head as she did so. She hadn’t realized she was dazing again. Losing herself in thought as she tended to. “What is it?” she asked, receiving an over-the-shoulder glare.
“They’re hot on our tails. We’re ducking into an alleyway ahead.”
Avianna chanced a look behind her. True to what he’d said, there were six ponies in blue uniforms chasing after them. One of them was actually the stallion that had showed them the picture earlier. She looked back towards Roma, who was veering to the right. She followed his lead, slipping into the alley he had mentioned. She’d never been in one before… It was cold and dark, and it reminded her of the caves they’d occupied in Tartarus. She didn’t like that.
But then she saw it. The alley ended with a very tall wall, one that no pony would be able to scale. No normal pony, she reminded herself silently. Roma was currently breaking down all preconceived notions she’d had of him, and there was no way of telling what he was going to do next. For all she knew, he very well could jump clean over the wall.
But he didn’t. Instead, he looked back over his shoulder and nodded at the wall. It was a signal she knew well. It meant to lift him up and fly him over the wall.
Avianna spread her wings and lifted off, grabbing Roma by the shoulders as she did. In just a moment, she’d carried him over the wall, and they were, once more, running down a street. As they ducked and weaved through the pedestrians around them, she kept casting quick glances over her shoulder, checking to see if the uniformed ponies were still chasing. Of course, they were. At points, it even seemed like they were gaining on them, only to lose any progress they’d made.
It made Avianna wonder how accustomed Roma was to doing this. She really knew next to nothing about his past, save that he was very old, and that he’d had a falling out with Princess Celestia. Beyond that, he was an enigma to her.
Maybe that was best.
Faster and faster they ran, trying to outpace the uniformed ponies. It wasn’t working. Avianna’s legs were starting to burn, too. Were Roma’s? It never seemed like it. He didn’t slow down for anything or anyone. He just kept running and running.
Eventually, they came to an open area that was filled with ponies. They were either milling about, or walking away from a strange gap in the pavement. As they drew near to that strange gap, a chain of large metal boxes filled with ponies slid into it. They kept running.
Roma barreled through everyone that stood in his way, knocking them aside like some sort of mad ram. Once they were close enough, Roma suddenly leapt at the lead box, smashing through some sort of clear material. Avianna followed suit, slipping through the jagged hole he’d made. There was a pony in the box with them. Roma shouted something at him, but Avianna didn’t catch what he’d said. She was too distracted by the thought of the ponies in blue catching them.
The pony said something into a box on the wall, and screams sounded from behind her. Avianna looked back to see that everyone was getting out of the boxes behind them. What was Roma planning? She didn’t have to wait long to find out.
The pony left the box, leaving the two of them alone. Avianna turned her attention back to Roma. He was looking at the panel in front of him. Avianna had never seen anything like it. After a few seconds of looking around, he seemed to make a decision and put his hoof against a strange, T-shaped object and pushed forward on it. The box started moving, presumably as a result of his action.
She decided to speak up again. “Are we safe now?” she asked cautiously. She had no idea if they actually were, but it seemed reasonable to assume that the ponies wouldn’t be able to catch them now that they had… a train? It had to be a train.
Roma let loose a labored sigh. He was breathing heavily, just like she was. The run must have been really hard on him… “I think we are,” he muttered as he stepped over to the side of the train box. “They will be hard-pressed to catch us in this.”
B><B
Sweetie Drops growled as she ran back towards the police station to fetch her airship. This was unacceptable. It was such a simple oversight. It would have been so easy to have the train stopped a mile away from the city. But no, she hadn’t accounted for that, and the vampire was now making its way towards the next city.
But that was okay. She’d jumped a few trains in her career, and this one would be no different. She was losing valuable time running, but she would make that time up.
Before too much longer, she was back in the air, heading out of the city. The hunt was back on, and she would catch her prey.
