Cheerilee ran hard, closing the distance to the stallion who had fled from Ponyville. The outskirts of the Everfree Forest were close, and the trees began to thicken.
The stallion, whoever he was, ran like he knew he was being followed. He wasn’t fast enough, though. Cheerilee smiled, knowing the chase would be over soon. She prepared her final leap.
The stallion twisted his head, seeing her attack. He fired a bolt of magic at the mare. Cheerilee’s body locked up and she tumbled past him, impacting a tree. Surprised, she struggled to get up, shaking off the effects of the spell.
“So, a vampire.” The sorcerer’s voice made freeze again, this time of her own choice.
“What do you know about me?” demanded the schoolteacher. Cheerilee knew she wasn’t that obvious.
The stallion smiled from under his hood. “With anypony else, that spell would have stopped their heart.”
“What’s your name?” growled Cheerilee. “I hate to kill anypony I’ve never been introduced to first.”
Another haughty smile. “Call me Skull, if you think it’s so important.”
Bet he has an interesting cutie mark, thought Cheerilee. “I guess you’re right. It isn’t that important.”
She charged.
▼▼
Twilight was more than a little surprised to find Rarity’s limp form sprawled in the street. A couple of curious ponies had gathered around. The purple unicorn demanded to know what had happened.
“Just got here,” said a bystander. “There was some shouting and some magic. Nopony saw what happened, exactly.”
Twilight quickly lifted Rarity, cradling her body gently in a protective magic bubble. The hospital was not very far away, and while the purple mare was reluctant to leave the club unguarded, this was more important.
A sudden, terrible thought struck Twilight as she carried her friend. What if the sorcerer had already escaped? Who else could have done this to Rarity? Hoping with all her will that a bump on the head was all that Rarity was suffering, Twilight continued on.
The emergency room was not busy at that time of night, and Rarity was admitted right away. Twilight was torn between staying with her and going for help. She eventually decided that the white unicorn was in good hooves, and left the hospital, racing back to the library. The scene that greeted her was about the last thing she expected.
A bronze earth pony with a teacup cutie mark was arguing with Spike. Princess Luna in disguise waited off to the side with a white pegasus mare who wore a fancy dress.
“I know I’ve seen her before! That’s Cheerilee’s cousin!”
“Whoa, calm down,” said the dragon. “Cheerilee hasn’t lived around her for a long time.”
“Then how come she knows—what was your name again, Cheese? There’s something going on here!”
Twilight stepped in. “Can I help you?”
The stallion swung his eyes to her. “Are you Twilight Sparkle?”
“That’s me.”
“Good, maybe now that we’ve got the Element of Magic here we can figure out what’s going on.” The stallion looked irritated.
“Tell me what’s going on,” said Twilight. Her calm voice seemed to temper his anger a little.
He sighed. “In Hoofshire, I’m neighbors with Cheerilee. She said she was coming to Ponyville for the weekend. I followed her here because I was worried about all the disappearances in town.”
“So what’s this about her cousin?” asked Twilight.
The pony nodded to the white mare. “I’m positive that’s her, even the same cutie mark. She won’t tell me where Cheerilee is.”
Twilight turned, ignoring the pegasus for the moment. “What do you think, Cheese?”
“I think he’s causing a problem,” the masquerading Princess answered cryptically.
“I’m sorry, but I have to ask you to leave,” said Twilight. Spike turned and subtly began to edge into the stallion’s personal space. The dragon wasn’t so little anymore, and it didn’t take much effort for him to appear intimidating.
“No, this can’t be right!” The stallion grew more agitated. Twilight quickly prepared a spell to stun him if she had to.
Suddenly there was a tremendous crash and something fell through the ceiling, scattering branches and splinters of wood everywhere. It was a lavender mare wearing a few tatters of black fabric. She hit the floor, chunks of the treehouse’s walls scattering.
The pony lay still, her eyes glassy. Blood began to spread out in a pool around her. Several shards of wood had penetrated her flesh, protruding grotesquely from her motionless from.
“Wha…Cheerilee?” gasped the stallion.
The pony called Cheese stepped closer, her eyes narrowing as she examined the fragments of tree that mutilated the schoolteacher’s body. “It’s a good thing she missed her heart.”
In spite of the situation, the white pegasus laughed.
Author note: And next chapter, things get serious.