I walked alone to the alley where, not 30 minutes ago, I had discovered Princess Luna, covered in blood. A group of muffled hoofsteps made me stop and turn around. I could feel heat radiating from behind me, as well as the delectable scent of sustenance. As I casually glanced towards my flank, I saw the colts from the hospital, trying to hide behind an abandoned cart, left to rot in the middle of a street.
"P-please d-don't hurt-t us," whimpered a pale yellow colt with a light green mane. He bore a tree on his quarters, and an unusually small pair of wings sprouted from his back, fluttering in the light breeze that blew through Manehatten's streets.
"Y-yeah, we d-don't-t want-t t-trouble, miss," said another, this time a cyan earth pony with a light grey mane. Upon his flank was a golden seashell. He shivered in the cold night air, but I couldn't feel the chill. "P-please." I narrowed my eyes at them. There were five of them in total, and four, including the two who had spoken, were cowering in fear, crouching to avoid being in my line of sight. It didn't matter of course. I had a feeling that, if I wanted to, I could easily smash the cart and drink them dry. But I didn't.
One of the five stood boldly in front of me, chest puffed out. The colt was large for how old he appeared to be, and the only unicorn in the group. He had a long black mane streaked with a small line of red, and brushed straight. His horn was roughly ten inches long, and came to a sharp point that could very likely cut a normal pony's flesh. His coat was a dark shade of grey. He didn't have a cutie mark, which I found odd. The strangest things about him were his tail and eyes. One eye was red and one was black, the likes of which I had never seen before. His tail, however, was highly unusual, if not an extreme rarity. It was long and snake-like, but it wasn't made entirely of hair. Most of it was flesh and bone. Only the last six inches or so had tail hair, which was fanned out. It was somewhat like a griffin's tail, actually.
He looked me straight in the eye, and I could see a ferocious determination blazing within. Of what, I wasn't sure. But he would do his very best to accomplish his goals, whether they were a date for prom or king of the world. A whimper echoed around the street as the four terrified colts shrank away once more.
"What do you want?" I asked him, my voice barely a whisper. I tried to be diplomatic. I really did. The only response I got was a growl. I rolled my eyes and fired up a shield spell. I hardly used any magic at all, when before the change it used to deplete me, and even then my shield was very flimsy. It once got shattered by a balloon.
"Nice." He whistled appreciatively. "But I can do better." My magic, which had been blue, was now a bright red. I sighed internally, adding it to Melody's List of Stuff Affected by Vampirism. His magic was black as the night, only somewhat transparent. He formed a complete bubble around the pair of us, trapping himself in with a vampire who could also use magic. Not the wisest choice.
I snickered, and suddenly, I burst out in guffaws that could be heard throughout the street. He stared at me, his head cocked in a questioning manner. He clearly did not expect this.
"Why are you laughing?" he yelled, furious. I was rolling on the ground now, tears streaming from my eyes. I shuddered with cries of hilarity. I myself did not know why I was laughing so hysterically, but I was beginning to get a stitch in my side. I stopped when I saw his horn charging up. I rolled away as he fired a bolt of magic at me, and I got up.
"I'll ask again before I attack-- what do you want?" I nearly shouted, trying to sound fierce. One of the ponies behind the cart had a tear glistening in his eye.
"I want you to tell me what you are, why you are what you are, and I want to destroy you." He was snarling at me, horn charging up again for another attack.
"Why do you want to destroy me if you don't know what I am?" I said, stalling for time.
"I know what you are, but they don't know your kind exist." He gestured to the scared colts behind the cart. "And I want to kill you because of what your species did to me, and my family."
"Wouldn't it be one or two ponies that did something to your family, not all of us collectively?" I asked, trying to reason with him to use logic. The burn in my throat was increasing by the second, and I was going to lose it soon. The moon was almost in the middle of the sky now, and I knew I had to hurry this up. If I was caught in the sunlight, it wouldn't be pretty.
"You're all the same." That one hit home.
"If we're all the same you'd be dead by now," I growled back. "I'm not a ruthless killer."
"Oh yeah? Then how about those three ponies in the park that were found dead this morning, no blood?" He took a step forward. "Are you trying to tell me that wasn't you handiwork?"
"Only one, and that would be a fate kinder than what happened to me."
"That I'd agree with."
And so we began out deadly dance, and only one of us would come out alive. I had a feeling it wouldn't be him.