//------------------------------//
// Flushed Out 
// Story: Equestria's Dark Shadow 
// by InTheStands 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 5: Flushed Out


It had been almost two days since the vampire had broken into the hospital. Since then, vampire sightings at night have skyrocketed, leaving Ponyville paranoid and fearful, and in the case of some ponies, angered at the apparent inaction.
Twilight and her friends had come up with a plan to try and find the creature and attempt to return it to wherever it may have come from. But they had guessed correctly that the former half of the plan would be the most difficult. They would be the last ones the vampire would want to see, after all. To accomplish this, Rainbow Dash would set time aside to scout the area, flying high enough to avoid detection. At the same time, Fluttershy would send out various animals to search the woods for suspicious activity.
On the first day, a group of birds had witnessed the vampire kill several timberwolves. Today, the birds watched as it left a cave to wander, keeping out of the sunlight that poked through the treetops.
They had found where it lived.
"How deep in the forest?" Fluttershy asked one of the feathery beings. A series of chirps was the answer, which she quickly deciphered. "And...how many Timberwolves?" Another series of chirps. "Oh my..."
"What is it?" Rainbow Dash asked, sitting at an outdoor table belonging to one of Ponyville's restaurants. With them were the other four ponies, along with Spike. Fluttershy turned to her friends.
"They...saw it kill five Timberwolves...in less than a minute. They saw it drain one of them, but they flew away before it did anything to the others."
"Well...good thing is, there aren't many caves in the Everfree Forest," Twilight reasoned. "And as long as we're careful, maybe we can finally get at it. But just in case...Spike, did you send the letter?"
"When did I ever not send anything you write to the princesses?" The dragon responded.
"Letter for what?" Dash asked. "I thought you already wrote to Celestia."
"Yes, but that was to warn them. This is something else entirely. And hopefully we won't have to hear about it again, if we do this right."
"I don't believe it," Applejack shook her head. "Never in my life would I be expecting to be hunting down an honest-to-goodness vampire."
They continued to plan their course of action. Unbeknownst to them, however, they weren't the only ones drawing plans.
"D'you hear that?" A tan earth stallion nudged his pegasus companion. They were sitting at another table, one just close enough to listen in on the conversation. "I told you it was a vampire. And it sounds like they found it!"
"Okay," The dark yellow pegasus male nodded. "But what are YOU gonna do about it?"
"It's not just what I'm going to do," The earth pony pointed at himself. "It's what me, you, and as many ponies as we can get are going to do to help them stop this bloodsucker once and for all! Now listen...go round up your neighbors tonight. Meet me and mine at the hardware store..."


§§§


Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy used their wings to float above the trees of the forest. Through the leaves and branches, and despite the moon's dim light, they followed their other four friends as they treaded along the ground.
"It should be just to the east," Fluttershy called out to them. Making the necessary turn, the continued their journey, keeping a sharp lookout.
Suddenly, Applejack called out to the two pegasi. "Looks like we found something! Get down here!"
Instantly, they touched down through a gap in the branches, turning to see what the other four found: One of the few caves in the forest.
"So...uh..." Spike spoke up. "Who's going in first?"
"We ALL go in," Twilight answered."if it's in here, we'll need every one of us to subdue it."
"Subdue it? As in fight it," Dash gave a look that mixed deadpan with utter disbelief. "You want to fight a vampire. Are you listening to yourself, Twilight?!"
"I don't WANT to fight it," Twilight stated. "In fact, I'd rather have nothing to do with it. But I know I have to undo whatever mistake I made, and at the very least send it back where it came from. The sooner we do that, the better. Now," She cleared her throat. "Follow me."
Trying their best to calm themselves down - Fluttershy was starting to feel her breath shortening - they gently stepped into the mouth of the cave.
Inside, they found only darkness. Spike reached into the bag Twilight carried on her side, pulling out a flashlight. Quickly turning it on, he waved the beam of light around the rocky shelter. Then they gasped.
"Holy..." Dash whispered.
Five timberwolves, dead, lined up side by side on the cave floor. Tiny pools of blood could be seen emanating from their necks. Fluttershy bit down on one hoof, trying not to whimper.
Moving the flashlight, Spike noticed that something was reflecting. Focusing the beam, they found the stolen blood packs - almost half of which were empty.
"It would seem it's not a complete brute," Rarity tried to soothe the group. "At the very least, it's organized."
"Yeah..." Dash began. "But wait until it gets thirsty. OR when it finds out you're trying to kill it."
As soon as she said this, the seven of them jumped and exclaimed; They heard a sharp crack, a sound that meant something hit a rock.
And the noise sounded awfully close to them.
Spike panicked, flashing the beam of light around the cave. They could feel their fear rising, but tried their best to retain it.
Twilight turned to the two pegasi in the group. "Rainbow, Fluttershy, check the cave mouth! Make sure nopony's there!"
The two quickly obeyed, turning slowly towards the opening of the cave.
Then they screamed at the top of their lungs as something lifted them up by their necks.
The other five spun around to see what happened, with Spike shining the flashlight in their direction. They froze, mouths open in horror.
Standing in front of them, with Rainbow Dash in one hand and Fluttershy in the other, was the vampire, in the same clothes as it was in when they first saw it (cane included, the walking aid hanging from its arm).
And, as expected, it was NOT happy.
"Take one step closer," The creature warned, its voice confirming it was male, "And I shall see to it that mine is the last face either of your bounty hunter companions gaze upon."
"...Bounty hunters?" Twilight asked. "What made you-"
"Your feigned innocence is wasted upon me, foul creature!" The vampire sneered as the two pegasi continued to struggle their way out of his grip. "I have long ago deduced my reason of being in this otherworldly realm: You have been hired to capture me! All for the coin of a wretched witch!"
"You have it all wrong!" Twilight shook her head. The vampire began to back away, nearing the outside.
"And I dare say YOU have it wrong. Your quest and your toil has been for nothing! Angelique Bouchard is no more - I saw to that. How do you feel, then? Angry? Humiliated? Defeated?"
They were silent for a second, until Pinkie Pie called out, "Confused!"
At this, the being furrowed his brow. Twilight spoke up once more.
"Whoever this 'Angelique' is, we never met ANYPONY who told us to hunt for you. For goodness' sake, we don't even know your name! If you have one, I mean." Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, meanwhile, had given up on escaping, and instead watched the look of deep thought on their captor's face. Twilight sat down, looking up at the bipedal being. "All we want is to get you back to wherever you came from. No hunting. No killing. Just getting you back home."
The vampire thought for a moment more, then, without dropping the pegasi, he began to step back into the cave.
The ponies and the dragon felt relief for the first time after three days.
Then, as they heard voices from the outside, and as the vampire turned to her them better, the relief was quickly drained out of them.
"They flew over here!"
"A cave?"
"That's gotta be where it is! Come ON!"
"Horseapples," Applejack whispered in fear. "How'd they find us?"
Rarity quickly reasoned, "They must have followed Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash."
"Followed?" The vampire turned back to them. They grew terrified once more as they saw the anger in his eyes. "You LED them here?!"
"No, NO!" Twilight raised her forelegs in defense. "We were supposed to be the only ones!"
"The only ones to destroy me?! To gain my trust only to dash it against the stones?!" He bared his fangs and raised the pegasi higher in the air. "Then I'm afraid your plans have taken a wrong turn." The other five of them feared for the worst as he opened his mouth, The cyan and yellow pegasi starting to tremble and silently cry.
Suddenly, at the last minute, he threw the two of them into the nearest tree with a force large enough to tilt it back as the two ponies made contact with the bark. He turned to flash the others one last glare before he immediately sped off, leaving a blur in his wake.
The five beings who were still standing quickly ran to the two pegasi on the ground. Twilight began to whimper to herself. "No, no no no, this can't be happening..."
"Ngh..." Rainbow Dash groaned, trying to sit up. "Where...is he?"
"He got away," Applejack answered her. "But we're gonna look for him, don't you worry."
"Look!"
They quickly looked up to see the surprisingly large mob of ponies from the village, all carrying a light source or some sharp object. In front of them stood a tan male earth pony. "It attacked them!" he said. "It's got to be nearby!"
"I thought I saw something running over there!" A female voice announced. The angry mob then moved away, with several unseen ponies screaming death threats to the vampire. The five ponies and one dragon merely sat there, dumbfounded.
"It's like something wants EVERYTHING to go wrong tonight," Pinkie Pie grew forlorn. "And we never got to know his name."
Twilight sighed, turning to the group. "Maybe we still can know it, if we hurry. Applejack, check to make sure Rainbow and Fluttershy are alright. If they are, then we all spread out by threes - Spike and I'll count as one. And Spike - get out the letter."
"ANOTHER one?" They all asked.
"The first one was a warning," The purple unicorn explained. "The second was telling them to watch for another letter if things get out of hoof." She waited until Spike pulled out the ready-to-deliver parchment from her saddlebag. "And this is that other letter."
"Firing away," The dragon said as he engulfed the letter in a green blaze, letting it disappear into the night air.
Rarity and Pinkie quickly helped Fluttershy up. Rainbow Dash, having had her fair share of collisions in her lifetime, managed to stand on her own accord. The team looked out into the woods, listening to the dimming noise of the angry mob.
"So..." Rainbow Dash spoke aloud, "Are we standing here, or are we rescuing a vampire from a rampaging group of townsponies?"