//------------------------------// // Chapter 7 // Story: CPS Chronicles: Nightmares and Wormholes // by Largefish8 //------------------------------// MLP Fic Pt 7 'Everything has a beginning, the heroes.....and the monsters. In many cases that beginning comes from the era of the ancients when the atlanteans fought the dark ones. Unfortunately...like all things that have a beginning...they never truely end and if you know where to look...and if you are foolish...you might find something...' Extract from 'Nullspace, a history' ... 20 Minutes since the emergence of Twilight Moon... This was definitely not one of Echo Team's proudest moments. Sure, they'd had to deal with strategic types before, but nothing that involved this much screaming. It had been a simple job, move in...find the killer of Echo 4 and get some payback. What they hadn’t counted on was Target Alpha bumbling in, disabling their Psy-Sleeper network and then running interference. Then some kinda...thing had flicked their air support away like it was a fly and killed half the squad with about as much effort. And if that wasn't bad enough, there were quite a few monsters in this forest that didn't like being woke up in the middle of the night and were having their fill of human flesh. Private Mackinson came to a stop by a tree, panting and trying to ignore the fact that he was almost certainly being watched. "Fuck...fuck...this isn’t happening." he said in a shaking voice to himself. "This is supposed to be a planet of talking horses, not monsters," he said to himself. After waiting a minute to make sure nobody was following, he walked out of his hiding hole and fell head first into a crater. Several pieces of starship armor, probably from when the Skyraid had crashed were scattered around it, surrounding a metallic oval slumped up against the edge. "Well, I can at least make sure this bastard pays," said Mackinson. The orb pulsated as the merc drew his blaster, intent on spreading his annoyance around a bit. If Mackinson had been in a calmer mood, he would have had more caution. As a result, he was unprepared when a hidden nozzle sprayed a translucent liquid at him, causing him to scream in pain as it paralyzed him. 'What...what kind of defenses does this nutball have?' thought Mackinson. The pod hissed before several unknown symbols glowed on its surface. The top of it opened like a flower, a claw tipped hand visible in the smoke. Mackinson's muscles may have been paralyzed, but that didn't stop him from breaking out in a cold sweat as he watched something climb out of the pod. The thing, still shrouded in the smoke from its pod said in a dry rasping voice. "Ah...lunch." before reaching down. It was at that point that enough of the paralysis left for Mackinson to speak...but by then all he was doing was screaming... ... Present day... Matt reached into a bush and pulled out a ion pulse rifle emblazoned with Echo Teams insignia before tossing it over to a hovering pallet drone. "And another one. Man, at least those three kids aren’t here...after the plasma cannon..." he said to himself before shuddering in recollection of when they had managed to blast him through the side of the barn he currently called home. "You sure you don't want a wagon?" asked Aria sarcastically. "Oooh...a V-414 repeater cannon. These are top of the line." said Matt, happily, either not hearing or not caring what Aria said. "Yes, it's a shame you won't be using these anytime soon except to scare off some vermin," said Aria. This managed to get through to Radio Lynch and Matt said thoughtfully "True...usually I would have been attacked 12 times by now." Hmm...maybe they've finally learnt?" "The amount of activity in this area is alarmingly absent," said Aria. "Oh no...lets just go back. I just know if we go further something’s gonna happen to ruin what was basically turning out to be a peaceful week." said Matt, gloomily before yelling to the sky "ONE WEEK...IS THAT TOO MUCH?" Aria was quiet for a bit before saying, "I'm not sure whether I should agree with you or point out that one week may be too much." "Bite me, Aria." said Matt, walking around a corner. Aria, via the drone mentally counted before she heard a yell of surprise followed by a thud. "Let me guess, you have involuntarily spelunked into an unexpected geological depression of significant depth," said Aria. "No, I just fell into a hole," said Matt. Aria steered the drone around the corner to see a crater in the ground, Matt sitting in the muck. She could also see something poking out from a bush behind Matt. "Sir...I wouldn’t turn around." Matt sighed and said, "Now I'll have to," before turning around and seeing a human body that was clearly dead and unnaturally pale. He screamed and scurried away from it. Aria chuckled before she took a closer look at the body. "Hmm...I think this accounts for the last of Echo..." she commented. Matt said weakly "What the hell happened to him?" "It would appear he has been drained of all his blood," said Aria. "I can see that...great...mind leeches...manticores...and now vampires. What next? No...don’t answer that...we're going." said Matt, in a shaking voice. "I'm detecting more tech to be salvaged nearby," said Aria. "We come back for it later," said Matt, "It's not like it's gonna rot." The two turned and left as fast as they could, not noticing the eyes watching from the undergrowth. ... Despite the dangers of everfree forest, there was always a few foals who would do something silly like dare each other to explore. For example, two siblings, High Gear V and Lil’Smarty, were trying to goad each other into going deeper into Everfree Forest. Lil’Smarty, a purple earth pony filly named after her mother looked over at her brother. "Gear...this is stupid...what if we bump into a basilisk or a hydra?" she said nervously, looking around at the trees. High Gear V, smarty’s Pegasus brother who was the fourth in his family to inherit that name, said, "Everyone knows that hydras only live in swamps and bogs. And all you have to do to keep a basilisk from petrifying you is not look it in the eye." "I dunno...I think we've gone deep enough in. I don’t wanna get lost." said Lil'Smarty, nervously looking around. "I can get us out of here, easy," said High Gear V, "I'll just fly over the trees and point us back to Ponyville. Don't tell me you're turning chicken now." Lil'Smarty glared and said in a annoyed voice "I'm NOT chicken...just cause you've finally gotten the hang of flying..." "Still a lot more than you can do," said High Gear V, smugly. Lil'Smarty intensified her glare at that before turning and walking back towards the tree line. "Hey...I didn’t mean it like that." said her brother apologetically before a rustling from the bushes got their attention. "A basilisk!" Lil'Smarty squeaked in fear. "Remember, don't look at it," said High Gear V. "Basilisk?" said a hissing voice from the bushes before a shape jumped into sight. The creature's body looked like those new 'human' things. However, it was wearing all black which was stretched tight against its thin body. The only parts that weren't covered were its hands, which had clawed fingernails and its head which was bald, pale, had pointed ears, red eyes, and sharp-looking teeth. The two foals stared for a few seconds before screaming and running in the direction of Ponyville, High Gear V forgetting in terror that he could fly. However that had barely got a few feet before their pursuer shimmered into view in front of them. "Why do they always run?" it hissed. The two foals screeched to a halt before turning around and running the other way. Unfortunately the monster simply pulled the same trick, appearing in front of them. "On any other day, I'd welcome some adrenaline in my meals...but not today." it hissed, pulling out a small rod. "Now be good little snacks and hold still," said the creature. High Gear V looked at his sister before saying in a shaking voice "You...you get away...l-l-leave us alone." "Hmm...courage, not much, but more than the other," said the creature, "You'll probably have a richer taste." High Gear V said nervously "Wh...what?" he stammered before the creature lunged at him, its mouth opening un-naturally wide to reveal fangs. ... Matt was out again, looking for any other gear that Echo had dropped when he heard a scream. Matt jumped and spun around, holding one of the guns he had collected out. "What the hell?" said Matt in shock, panning the gun around. Aria said via the cargo drone. "The scream came due east near the treeline...oh...and the blaster might work better if you took the safety off." “I knew that.” Said Matt, innocently, clicking the safety. "Whatever lets you sleep, sir." said Aria smoothly before watching via the drone as Matt ran towards the scream. ... Matt ran round a tree to see a humanoid looking like it was kissing a foal on the neck...except for the blood. "HEY...UGLY!" he yelled. The creature glared up at Matt and hissed, fresh blood dripping from its fangs. Matt actually took a step back at the sight before the creature dropped the moaning pegasi foal and hissed "NSC." Matt took aim and said Try this instead.” before pulling the trigger and jumping as the plasma ion rifle sent an orb out that blasted the creature into the tree behind it with a cracking noise. "Nice gun," said Matt, impressed "This one's a keeper." Matt ran over to the foal, before spotting a purple earth pony foal cowering in terror. "Its ok...I got it..." he said, checking the Pegasus’s wound. Luckily the bite looked worse then it was. "Easy there..." he said before the earth pony screamed again. Matt looked up to see the creature getting back up. "Ah, tough guy, eh?" Matt said tauntingly, clicking the blasters setting up. The creature hissed and said, "It will take more than that to finish me." "Good to know," said Matt before firing a bigger blast. This one was more impressive, carrying the creature back into the same tree...which exploded. "I win." said Matt happily before looking down at the pegasi. "Hey, kid...can you hear me? Kid?" ... Of course, two explosions are bound to get some attention. And since it came from the direction of Everfree Forest, it drew quite a bit of concern. Especially for Twilight and her friends. The blast had also woken up the rest of the town, a few of the more panicky ones thinking it was the other humans attacking again. The view became a little darker when the local human was seen coming down the road carrying a unconscious foal and leading a terrified looking second one. "Accusations and questions later, medical support now," said Matt, "This little guy's lost some blood." Some of the more sensible ponies ran forward, helping Matt get the pegasi to the clinic. The other foal ran towards a brown pegasus and purple earth pony, screaming 'Mom...dad.' in tears. The mother, whose Cutie Mark was that of a book with glasses and a wrench on the cover, nuzzled her daughter and said, "Shh...it's alright, you're safe now." "It...it was..." said Lil'Smarty, sheer terror stopping her from stringing words together as her father, his cutie mark of a clockwork gear with two lightning bolts across it, headed for Matt who was handing his son to two medical ponies from the clinic. "What happened in there?" he said to Matt, getting straight to the point. "Uh, this might be a little harder to swallow," said Matt, "You ever hear of anything called 'vampires'?" The pegasus raised an eyebrow in the classic 'you're kidding, right?' fashion. Matt conceded "Ok...might not have been a vampire...doesn’t matter really. At the moment, its deep fried." he said. "What did it do to my son?" asked the brown Pegasus, concern clear in his voice. "To be honest...I dunno. It was biting him, I think. I wasn’t taking in details. I just tried to get it off him. At least its dea-" began Matt before a shriek was heard from the forest. "-d..." finished Matt in a terrified squeak. "Are you going to go get it?" asked one pony. "Er, it'll be a lot weaker when the sun's up," said Matt, "That would be the best time to take it out." Unfortunately for Matt, the sun began to appear at that point. "Good luck." said the same pony, cheekily. Matt, to his credit didn’t break out in his usual tirade, instead just letting his head drop and muttering "I hate this planet." ... However, Matt wasn't alone when he went back into the forest. Some of the girls had tagged along to help. Pinkie Pie was looking over the ground with a magnifying class. "Now, where did that buggy get to?" she asked. "What buggy?" said Matt, confused, looking around the ex-battlezone. The blasted tree had acted as a good signpost. However there was also a silhouette in the ash on the ground, showing where something had, against all logic, walked away after being blown apart. "That mosquito's around here somewhere," said Pinkie, "I haven't found his trail yet, but I've got a couple of questions for this spider." Matt stopped for a second before his sanity retuned for what the psych-bot in the ships med-bay had called 'exposure to pinkie'. "Ok...looks like our little blood sucker got up and went this way..." said Matt, looking at the footprints in the mud. "Pinkie, I'm pretty sure this thing we're after isn't a mosquito," said Twilight. "But what else sucks blood? Couldn't have been another leech." "Its was a human...or humanoid. To be honest, it reminded me of a old movie I saw...dracula, it was called." said Matt, conversationally as the group followed the footprints. "What was it about?" asked Twilight. "Bloodsucking monster called a vampire." said Matt, remembering the movie. "Guy could only be killed by a stake through the heart or sunlight." "Did you say bloodsucking?" asked Fluttershy, stepping back nervously. "Yeah, they're the living dead," said Matt, "They rise from their graves at night to feast on the blood of the living. And if they suck all the blood out of you, you become a mindless minion or even a vampire yourself." Pinkie turned at that and looked around "Hey...where did fluttershy go?" she said cheerfully before a rustling made everyone look up to see Fluttershy clinging to a branch with a look of sheer terror on her face. "Hmm...Ok...I'm not letting fluttershy watch any of my movie collection." said Matt to himself. "What? Movies? Have you been holding out on us?" demanded Pinkie. "Wait...do you guys even have tellys?" said Matt. "Of course," said Pinkie, "That's how everyone watches us." Matt suddenly got a nervous feeling. He glanced around, as if some invisible crowd were watching him. After a minute Matt said "Man you're random...right?" adding the last part nervously before he spotted where the creature had apparently fallen down. "Looks like he keeled over here." he commented, happy to change the subject. Twilight looked over the spot and said, "You sure it didn't go anywhere else?" Matt looked around "Maybe something ate it? That'd be nice karmic justice..." he said. "But I'm not seeing that many tracks," said Twilight, "Fluttershy, you know animals well, can you help pick out which tracks came from what kind of animal?" The group looked around for any sign of what had dealt with their prey but after a few minutes, all Matt could find were a trail of hoofprints heading away. "Wierd...maybe it was a flyer?" said Matt, to himself. "They would have come back to Ponyville, wouldn't they?" said Twilight. "If it shows its face beyond the treeline, I'm blowing its head off." said Matt, simply. ... Fluttershy had 'stepped out' for the moment when Matt had started talking about the creature being a ‘flyer’. The thought of bloodsucking monsters was too much for her and she needed to find something to calm her down. Fortunately, a nest of chipmunks was enough to draw her attention. She was singing pleasantly to them when a cultured voice behind her said "Such a pleasant voice. You have a true talent." "Oh, thank you," said Fluttershy before looking around and asking, "Who said that?" The voice said "Up here, my lady." and Fluttershy looked up to see a black pegasus with a white made sitting in the tree above. "Oh, hello," said Fluttershy, "I don't think I've seen you around Ponyville. Are you new here?" "Oh...I just arrived. I’ve been...travelling for a long time." said the pegasus before bowing and saying "Vanka Nocturis at your service." "My name's Fluttershy," said Fluttershy in a quiet voice. "Such a lovely name." said Vanka with a pleasant smile. "Maybe we will meet at a later date. "Oh, but there's no real rush," started Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, where are you?" called Matt's voice. Fluttershy looked down and called, "I'm up here!" But when she turned to look back at Vanka, he was gone. The others came into view at that. "There you are. Lets go. The trails cold." said Matt, peering at the treeline. “I'll have Aria send a few drones around but I doubt we'll find the creep...who were you talking to?. "Oh, a Pegasus who's just arrived to Ponyville," said Fluttershy. Pinkie said cheerfully "Oh...a new pony? I gotta get a party ready for him." "Just how many ponies come and go through Ponyville anyways?" asked Matt. "Quite a few in the summer, coming and going from canterlot. Its on the main road to there." said Twilight. Matt said to himself "Great...an all-you-can-eat buffet if you think about it." ... Meanwhile, Vanka was sitting at the top of a large tree that gave him a clear view over most of Ponyville. "Hmm, a sizeable town with quite a bit of traffic going through it," he said, licking his lips before adding, "A virtual smorgasboard just for me." He looked down at his form and sighed. He hadn’t expected the foals blood to have an effect so quickly...nor for a NSC soldier to blunder upon him. "When I have control, that monkey reject will be the first to go." he muttered darkly. "But still, I have more time than he does," said Vanka, "And quite a lot of fresh blood to feed on." He spread his wings at that, stretching "Now...time to go meet my future subjects." ... The next evening, Matt had decided to 'stroll' through the town in case the creature from the previous night decided for another snack. "I'm telling you, Aria...it looked like damn dracula. You sure Executive Genetics never documented something like that?" "There have been some accounts of vampiric species," said Aria, "However, not all of them fit strictly into the 'vampire' description. Did you perceive any wings on this creature?" "No...my suspicions were aroused when blowing it up didn’t work." said Matt, sarcastically, a few ponies giving him funny looks at his outburst. "Hmm...while most 'vampire' aliens are known to be very hardy, very few could shrug off an ion blast," said Aria, "That is not a good sign." "I know that tone...thats the 'I know something about this but I don’t wanna tell' voice." said Matt. "Well, there has been one account of a vampiric race that would fit your description. It was considered a plague in Nullspace and was thought to have been wiped out," said Aria, "They were called revenites." "Never heard of them." said Matt promptly. Aria replied "I;m not surprised...the NSC doesn;t like them mentioned. They were a hostile race thought to date back to the ancients and are thought to be the progenitors of most of the 'supernatural' vampire sub-races found in fiction. The Combine Confederation and the NSC were responcible for their eradication..." Matt said "Then how do you..." before Aria finished "And Executive Genetics supplied the weapons." "Well, supposing you're right, how would one of them end up here? This isn't exactly Transylvania," said Matt. "The last fleeing revenite vessels were tracked to the uncharted territories before being destroyed. Most likely, an escape pod from one of their ships crashed here recently." said Aria before predicting what Matt was thinking. "I hate to say this sir...but we should consider surrendering to the Icarus. Even though I can nano-forge the weapons that will effect this revenite, you do not have the skill or experience to defeat one." "It's a vampire, I just need to find its coffin during the daytime and drive a stake through its heart, right?" said Matt. "Sir...thats just a story...a revenite can survive, albeit weakened in direct sunlight, will only get high off of garlic and will certainly survive being staked long enough to tear your head from your shoulders." said Aria, darkly. "Er, don't suppose that holy relic stuff works, does it?" asked Matt. "It didn't work for the NSC...it won't work for you...can we please stick to facts?" said Aria. "Ok, ok," said Matt, "At least it won't be too hard to spot. A Nosferatu like him will stick out like a sore thumb among the thumbless." "They are also shapeshifters...they adapt from the DNA in their meals." said Aria, causing Matt to look around nervously, Aria adding "It could be anyone." "Er, I'm open to suggestions now," said Matt. "Like I said, our best chance will be hailing the Icarus," said Aria. "What would the Icarus do?" said Matt, trying to keep calm. Aria said "Standard localised sanitization via Solarite bomb. Everything within 200 square miles would be incinerated." Matt said coldly "Ok...Icarus is out. I;m presuming this 'solarite' stuff is their kryptonyte." "In a way," said Aria, "Like I said, sunlight weakens them, but if they're exposed to enough ultraviolet rays with enough concentration, they'll burn like their namesakes. Solarite is an artificial crystal that was developed to enhance UV-based lasers to proper revenite-slaying levels." "Oh...lemme guess...the Icarus has the only lot around." said Matt darkly, only to be pleasantly surprised when Aria said "No...its quite easy to make...I could produce several with the Skyraids nano-forge." "That's good," said Matt, "How long will that take?" "It may take a few days...the purity of the crystals needs to be exact and the process for production is not easy to calibrate. I suggest you find out who the revenite is before we act." said Aria before signing off. "Ok, he'll be a new guy in town, so Pinkie will be able to point them out," said Matt. ... However, the next few days proved that this was not going to be easy after all. The first hiccup in Matts master plan was that it was tourist season for the area and many ponies had come to visit ponyville from Cloudsdayle and Canterlot which brought the situation straight to problem 2...there were more new ponies then townsfolk. "This is like trying to find a needle in a haystack," said Matt to Applejack as she was checking on the apple blossoms. "Y'know...Maybe that critter didn;t come back. Plenty of nasty varmints livin in Everfree." said Applejack. The 6 of them had been a little worried for how much effort Matt had pushed into finding the creature during the last few days, even refusing sleep to patrol the towns outskirts at night. "From what I hear, this is the type of monster that would eat other monsters," said Matt. "Y'all need to rest, Matt before you make a mistake. Ah've done the same in the past and you won’t believe what ah caused." said Applejack, remembering back to when she had tried to bring in the apple harvest solo. Applejack sighed and said "Y'all ain’t gonna be much good against it if you can’t stand up." "I am not that flimsy," said Matt. A snapping noise from the nearby bushes caused Matt to jump and pull out one of the new solarite weapons Aria had finished, firing a needle thin yellow beam that sliced the bush down, revealing a shellshocked fox. Matt didn’t turn back to Applejack before saying "It might be a vampire fox." "I'm pretty sure any blood he may be after is chicken blood," said Applejack, "And I think you need to lie down before some other innocent critter could get hurt." The fox had already headed off for the forest at an impressive speed. Matt sighed "Yeah...yeah. I don’t wanna be like private badris...poor guy. We told him to take a few hours..." "Private who?" asked Applejack. "You don't wanna know," said Matt. ... Matt leaned against a tree in the park, sipping on some hot coffee and despite Applejacks recommendations, still keeping one eye open. Finally, he got up and turned to leave, he nearly tripped over a white-maned black pegasus. The pegasi yelled in shock and fell over. Matt was already up. "Crap...sorry, man. You alright? Wow...you're lucky...no scaldi-" he said only for the pegasi to glare and say "You idiot." "Hey, I said I was sorry," said Matt. "Idiotic human...do you make a habit of walking around blind?" said the pegasi coldly. "Well excuse me," said Matt, "Maybe you should be the one watching where you're walking." The pegasi seemed to remember something then before saying in a warmer voice "I suppose accidents happen...would you happen to know the way to Madam Fluttershy's house? We met in the forest a few days ago." "Did you?" asked Matt before thinking back, "She said your name was...Vanya, right?" "Vanka...I am visiting from the north." said the pegasi, seemingly amused by something. "Yeah, we're getting visitors from everywhere these days," said Matt. "Well...it was a pleasure to meet you, Mr Lynch. Maybe we will meet again." said Vanka. Matt nodded "Yeah. Fluttershy’s is that way...near the forest. Look for the tree house with the chickens outside." "Thank you," said Vanka before walking away. Matt walked on, muttering "Wierd guy...wait...I never told him my name and my tags in splitt...oh no." said Matt to himself. ... Meanwhile, Fluttershy was watering her little garden. It wasn't that much, just some flowers. But the bees and butterflies sure seemed to like it. She had just finished when she heard a hoofstep behind her and turned to see the pegasus she had met in the forest a few nights ago, Vanka. "Miss Fluttershy...a pleasure to see you again." he said with a smile. "Oh, Vanka," said Fluttershy, "Er, I didn't know you would be coming." "I said I would visit you if I was in your little village and so here I am. Your human friend told me the way. I literally bumped into him." said Vanka. "Oh, Matt. He can be a bit...clumsy at times, but he's really sweet," said Fluttershy. "Hmm...I suppose such a lovely pegasi such as you could be wrong." said Vanka, smoothly. "Wait? What?" asked Fluttershy, her emotions twisting two ways in response to Vanka's remark. Vanka said, "Well...you're his friend...and I have only been here a few days. I hardly know anyone here." his eyes glowing very faintly. "Yes, you do need to take time to really get to know someone," said Fluttershy. "Well...may I be frank, Miss Fluttershy? I have travelled...to many places in my life but it’s rare that I meet such a kind jewel." Vanka said, seeming sheepish in his speech. "Oh, I'm sure you've met kinder jewels, uh, I mean, ponies," said Fluttershy, her cheeks turning almost as pink as her mane. "Oh no...in my...career choice, kindness was a rarity." said Vanka. "Oh, that's too bad," said Fluttershy, "But I'm sure you'll find a lot more kindness here in Ponyville." "I'm sure I will. Tell me...surely it gets lonely here." said Vanka. "Not at all," said Fluttershy, "I have so many animals to take care of here. And Angel is particularly helpful." "Angel? Where?" said Vanka, sounding terrified. "Oh, he's probably taking a nap right now," said Fluttershy, "He usually sleeps after lunchtime." "Erm...I beg your pardon?" said Vanka, confused. Fluttershy said happily "Angels my pet bunny. He helps me look after the other animals." Vanka coughed embarrassed "Yes...er....I have...a....bunny......phobia." "You're afraid of bunnies?" asked Fluttershy. "I had a rather nasty experience with a rabbit when I was a colt," said Vanka. Fluttershy seemed confused "That’s strange...they're usually so docile" she said, turning to help a chipmunk so missing Vanka mouthing 'She fell for that?' Just then, a familiar voice called out, "DIE, YOU UNDEAD BOTTOMFEEDING BLOODSUCKER!" This was followed by a small barrage of energy blasts. Fluttershy leapt back with shriek as Vanka was forced to do an impromptu tapdance to avoid the energy blasts before being sent flying by a kick from a ballistic mercenary. "HAH...THOUGHT YOU COULD PULL THE WOOL OVER MY EYES, EH?" Matt yelled, advancing on the seemingly dazed Vanka. Fluttershy said "Matt?" in a small terrified voice. "Ah, good, I caught him before he could get his nasty little fangs into you," said Matt, "Now stand back, this could get messy." Vanka said in faked but convincng terror "What the hell? What are you doing, you mad thing?" trying to back away. "Oh, drop the act, vampire boy." said Matt. "Matt, wait a minute," said Fluttershy, "Aren't you being too rash? Maybe you're confused about this." "Not a chance...I'm not letting fang boy out my sight." said Matt, getting a yellow crystal out and loading it into his blaster. "One solarite enema coming up." he said. "Matt, I really must insist that you stop acting so violent," said Fluttershy. "Ok...after I atomize vampy over here." said Matt, aiming. Vanka said in a terrified whimper "Please, Miss Fluttershy...I don't know what he’s talking about." Then Fluttershy became much more serious. "Matt, stand down," she said. Matt scoffed and said, "And what should-" before making eye contact with her. Many years later, when asked exactly what it felt like to be given what the equestrians had nicknamed 'the stare' Matt never really gave a clear answer but at that moment there was something about the ferocity of Fluttershy's glare that went straight down to the little metaphorical button on Matt’s spine marked 'primal terror' and jumped up and down on it, causing his blaster to fall to the grass. "Matt, I don't know what crazy notion makes you think that Vanka could be the vampire," said Fluttershy, "But you're going to stop attacking him right now and apologize." Matt’s brain, to its surprise found itself obeying, turning reluctantly and making Matt mutter "Sorry I tried to vaporize you." Vanka appeared to be similarly shocked about this as he only said, "Er...fine, just don't do it again." Matt glared, picking up his blaster and walking out. Fluttershy headed into her house, allowing Vanka to flash a 'unique' smile at Matt. Matt's eye widened and he would have gone into 'blast-blast killy' mode, but somehow, he felt like he shouldn't be here right now. So he just glared back at Vanka before walking away. It hadn’t been Vanka's cheeky grin...it had been the two fangs that had gotten his attention. Surely once he told the others of this, he’d have some help... ... It was 2 days later... Matts plan hadn’t gone...well...as planned. "Come on, guys," said Matt, "Vanka's the vampire, I know it. Is it really that hard to believe?" "When did you last get some sleep, Matt?" said Twilight, looking concerned at the dark fatigue rings around Matt’s eyes. "Not since that kid got bit...why? I'm fine...my med nanites can keep me going for at least another week." he said. "Matt, it isn't healthy to stay awake so long," said Twilight, "Your body needs to rest." "Not to mention what's left of your mind," said Rainbow Dash. "What about the sudden neck scarf thing in town? Ten credits says each of those ponies has a little mark under their neckwear that consists of 2 little puncture marks." said Matt, his eye twitching a bit. "Scarves are the latest fashion trend," said Rarity, "A bit odd for this time of year, but who am I to question the customers?" Matt glared "Fine..." he said before looking out into the street and pouncing on the nearest pony before pulling her scarf off and saying triumphantly "SEE?" "Uh, there ain't nothing there," said Applejack. Matt glanced at the pony to see her neck was unblemished and her expression was very irked. "Oops, my bad," said Matt before wrapping the scarf back around her neck. The pony glared before walking off. Matt however said stubbornly "Coincidence." "Are you going to yank off every pony's scarf until you find something?" asked Rainbow Dash. Matts left eye twitched and he said "Great idea..." "Really, Matt, you're starting to act most uncivilized," said Rarity, "And the local opinion about you is low enough as it is." "So...we wait till someone has less blood then a banana.” said Matt stubbornly. "You said that this thing can't drain a pony's blood in one go," said Twilight, "It would take it a few days for it to drain a pony dry, right?" "Yes...but I'd prefer not to give it time to do that." said Matt darkly "But still, there would be some ponies who would be showing signs of blood loss. And once the victims become clear, you'd able to trace them back to the source," said Twilight, "Just running around and yanking scarves isn't going to help. You need to approach this logically." Matt sighed "Fine...I’m gonna be keeping a very close eye on the clinic." he said reluctantly. "You can have your robot things take care of that," said Rainbow Dash, "You need to lie down before you crash." "I'm perfectly fine...both of you stop complaining." said Matt, looking a little cross-eyed at Rainbow. "Maybe what you need is a lullaby," said Pinkie, "Just a little song to help you get to sleep." "I'm perfectly capable of falling as-" began Matt before falling face down and starting to snore. … Meanwhile, Vanka has become somewhat of a regular visitor for Fluttershy. He was often popping up around lunchtime and sharing a meal with her. Although, for some reason, he doesn't seem to eat as much. "Miss fluttershy. I have to say you are a...unique individual." he said this night. "Really? How so?" asked Fluttershy. "Well...It is rare that I find a person so capable of enforcing her will so easily." said Vanka. "Oh, it's not really a conscious thing," said Fluttershy, "I can't really control it. It just happens when I need it to happen." "Exactly. I know the sort of tricks that go in touch with such an ability." said Vanka. "What do you mean?" asked Fluttershy. Fluttershy looked up confused and looked right into the red eyes of Vanka. "Thats right...just close those beautiful eyes of yours...it won’t hurt as much then.” Fluttershy suddenly started feeling very woozy. She briefly had the idea that Vanka was opening his mouth wide to reveal a pair of sharp fangs before everything went black. ... Fluttershy shot upright in her bed with a yelp. "Oh...it was just a nightmare." she said to herself. Then she blinked and looked around. "Funny, I don't remember going to bed," she said. She got up dizzily and staggered over to her bedroom mirror before yelping again when she saw two small marks on her neck "Oh dear, where did those come from?" she asked, trying to think back to anything that could have caused them. However, nothing sprang to mind...in fact the whole previous night was a strange blur. However, she didn't feel any pain from the marks. All she felt was rather thirsty… ... Matt however had finally and reluctantly had his rest and was headed to fluttershys to apologize for nearly vaporising someone. As he approached her house, he noticed something a little off. Normally, there would be some animals hereabout, most often some visiting birds. However, there was no living being in sight. "Hello? Fluttershy?" called Matt, looking around the tree house. He heard some movement coming from the henhouse. "Fluttershy, are you there?" he called as he walked over to it. Matt peered in to see the hens trying with moderate success to pile on each other in an attempt to stay as far away as possible. Matt shrugged "Its not even like I eat chicken nuggets." he muttered. Matt then walked over to the tool shed and opened the door. "Anybody here?" he asked. There certainly was something in there: virtually every small animal under Fluttershy's care, looking like they're desperately hiding from something. "What the smegs going on?" said Matt to himself. As he looked back at Fluttershy's house, he noticed something white at one of the windows. It looked like Angel, who was waving his front paws out the window desperately. Matt could spot a cry for help. albeit one from an unusual source and ran round to the front door. "Fluttershy, open up before I get drastic," called Matt. Matt waited for a reply before muttering "I am so gonna get into trouble for this." before aiming a kick. However, the door was a lot sturdier than it looked. And clearly Matt didn't have much experience with this, judging by the way he was then hopping around and clutching his injured foot. Matt glared at the door and took a few steps back. For all he knew, something nasty could be waiting inside. "Ok...one....two......THREE!" he said before charging at it. However, his charge didn't go exactly as planned. It wasn't that the door was too hard for him to bust, quite the opposite. It's just that someone inside had opened it just before Matt could come into contact with it. "Oh sh-" Matt managed before his momentum brought his head into a meeting with a ceiling beam and caused him to backflip onto his back He heard Fluttershy's voice say, "Matt, are you ok?" but the spinning stars were getting in the way of his vision. "Oh...what do you think? Something spooked your animals...I thought you were in trouble..." groaned Matt. "I'm fine, but I am worried about them," said Fluttershy, "I've never seen them act this way before." "Urgh..." groaned Matt as a reply before shaking his head to clear his vision. The first thing he noticed was that the inside looked...darker than before. "Erm...fluttershy? Whats with the curtains closed? Its not like its raining." he said, heading for one of the closed curtains. "The curtains are closed?" asked Fluttershy, "That's strange, it seems bright enough to me." "You must have insanely good eyes." said Matt, before banging his knee. "Ow...thats it...you may have good eyes...I don;t." he said before opening the curtains. The sudden increase in light didn't seem much to Matt, but it made Fluttershy wince and turn her head away. "Wow...sorry. Maybe you strained your eyes?" said Matt before walking over. "Lemme take a peek." he said "I'm fine," said Fluttershy, "I'm just not used to the morning light yet." "Ok..." said Matt, looking around before saying "Thought saw your bunny friend. He seemed worried." "Oh, Angel gets worried about a lot of things," said Fluttershy, "He was just probably trying to tell me that I need to take care of the animals. I just don't understand why most of the animals are acting so scared. I thought they were comfortable here." Matt looked around before spotting a wolf in the corner. "He's fine." he said, a little nervously cause the look the wolf was giving him was the sort of look Matt gave dinner. “Yes, he seems quite at home," said Fluttershy, happily "Which is odd because I don't even recall having any wolves before, let alone him." "Can you tell him to stop eyeing me up as breakfast?" said Matt, backing up a little from the wolf. "Uh, I know you're new here, but we don't eat friends here," said Fluttershy to the wolf, "And Matt is a friend." The wolf made a huff that seemed a little disappointed to Matt before getting up and trotting out of the room. "Ok...this takes the wierd award previously held by the pink elephants." said Matt, calming a little. "Well, the wolf's not the only one in here," said Fluttershy, "We have a few bats and owls that are staying around. And the rats and insects and spiders have been behaving well too. I'm not sure what to make of it." Matt had been looking around for any possible connections when he glanced at Fluttershy's eyes and noticed they partially red. "Uh...beats me, I don't know animals like you do," said Matt. Inside Matts brain, a little tick box was checked. 'Ok...its not what I'm thinking it is...maybe she has conjunctivitis? At least she doesn’t have-' Matt thought. "Anyways, care for some apples?" asked Fluttershy, holding up one, "Applejack brought me some yesterday." She opened her mouth wide, revealing some slightly sharper teeth then you tended to find in a herbivore, before biting down on the apple. She chewed for a bit and said, "Odd, it seems...dryer than I would have thought." Matt however had gone pale. "Erm...I'm ok, thanks." he said in a surprisingly calm voice, given then all his mental warning bells had gone off at once. "I can't stay. I forgot to lock up and I do not want the crusaders getting in again." he said, grinning desperately. "Well, stop on by whenever you want," said Fluttershy. "I...I will, thanks...erm...Bye." said Matt before turning to run and bashing into the same rafter that had floored him. Matt rubbed his face and muttered, "Why couldn't they be as tall as actual horses?" He looked at his hand to see a little red. "Oh...damn nose...bleed." he said, stopping as one final alarm klaxon drowned out all the rest. "Matt, are you alright?" asked Fluttershy. "Fine, fine, nothing to worry about," said Matt quickly. Fluttershy said "Wait...you're bleeding..." before getting a distant expression. "Erm...no I'm not...erm...its katchup." said Matt, pathetically before getting up "Oh...look at the time...erm...SEEYOULATER!" he said, rushing the last part and running out. Fluttershy blinked and shook her head. "What was that about?" she asked, not sure whether the question should be directed towards Matt's behavior or her own. ... Twilight and Spike had been spending the day tidying the library, as well as reading the only vampire story they could find, by some pony called Buck stoker. Twilight had just finished when Matt burst in, out of breath. "Vuh...vuh." he said breathless. "What is it, Matt?" asked Spike, "Vole? Violin? Voltage?" "Vuh...vuh...vaaa...vaahahahaha." said Matt, starting to giggle a little as certain parts of his brain entered panic mode. "Vulture? Vulpine? Vanity?" asked Spike. "Vampire." Managed Matt before slumping face down. "Huh, I wasn't anywhere close," said Spike. Matt suddenly shot up and picked spike up "Fluttershys a vampire." he rasped, a manic look on his face. Twilight snorted before laughing a bit. "Fluttershy? She's the least vampire-like person I know," said Twilight. Matt spotted the vampire book before saying "Ok...check list...one...aversion to sunlight." "Fluttershy loves sunshine," said Twilight. "All her curtains were closed and she didn;t like it when I opened them. Number two: Red eyes. They were very red...and following on to number 3: Control of certain animals and fear responce in all others." said Matt, calmly "Fear response?" asked Twilight, "Animals love Fluttershy. Unless you count the animals at the Canterlot Royal Gardens." "Either her chickens practice acrobatics or they were trying to get as far away as possible...even her little bunny friend looked worried." said Matt before saying "And finally...the last two...tell me...do you guys usually have sharp teeth...and get mesmerized by nosebleeds?" Twilight stared at Matt and said, "Matt, I know you mean well and you're trying to help out with the community, but I'm afraid that's a bit too much. It's nothing personal, but I think I need to see the evidence myself before I can accept anything like that." "Very well...this way please." said Matt, confidently before turning and hitting the door frame. Luckily he chose to swear in splitter... ... The two of them were soon at Fluttershy's, which had the same eerie stillness about it. "Exhibit A: a definite lack of happy animal friends scampering about," said Matt. Twilight looked around "It does seem a bit quiet." she said unsure. Matt walked up to the door and knocked "Fluttershy...you in there?" he called. "Matt? You're back already?" asked Fluttershy's voice. "Yeah...I brought twilight along....that ok?" said Matt. "Of course, do come in," said Fluttershy. Matt opened the door and said "After you, twilight." before following her in. Not much changed since Matt's brief departure, except the curtains were closed again and the wolf was back. Also, several bats were hanging from a rafter. Matt looked around "Fluttershy? You in here?" he said, a little smugly that he was finally gonna get proved right. "Just a minute," called Fluttershy. A few seconds later, she walked out of the kitchen, clutching a lit candlestick with her teeth and balancing a tray of sliced apples on her back. Matt looked at Twilight "Told you so." he said. "Told her what?" asked Fluttershy after she put the candlestick down on the table. "Tell me, fluttershy. Have you inspected your fan…teeth today?" said Matt. "Well, I did notice something odd," said Fluttershy, "I think I may have chipped a few teeth. I had better see Zecora about that." Matt and Twilight both nodded slowly as the aforementioned new pointy additions to Fluttershys dentistry came into view. Matt muttered "Final test" before saying "Hey...come on outside...its a great day." "Uh, no thanks," said Fluttershy, "I have a bit of a migraine and the bright light will only make it worse." "I got some medicine at my place that'll help. Come on." said Matt cheerfully, walking forward only for the wolf to growl. "Now, now," said Fluttershy to the wolf, "Matt means well, don't be upset." Then she turned back to Matt and said, "I appreciate the offer, but I just don't feel like being in the sun today. Besides, I have a few little things I've been meaning to work on." Matt looked at Twilight before saying "Ok..." "Fluttershy, have you been feeling exhausted lately?" asked Twilight, "You know, feeling...drained of energy?" Fluttershy nodded "A little...I don’t understand it...and everything tastes dry." "Hey Fluttershy, you've got a little smudge on you," said Matt. "What? Where?" asked Fluttershy, looking at her shoulders. "Right...HERE!" said Matt before pulling Fluttershy's mane back and exposing two small puncture wounds on her neck. Three things happened then. The first was fluttershy screaming in surprise. The second and third were that the wolf and bats all lunging at Matt. "Uh oh," said Matt before he was tackled backwards. "Ah! Nice doggy, nice doggy! Get off me you stupid flying rats!" yelled Matt as he tried to push the wolf off him.. Twilight quickly used some levitation to pull the bats away from matt but the wolf was already about to make a snack of the poor merc. Fluttershy stared before whimpering in fright for the wolf to stop. The wolf growled before reluctantly skulking away. Fortunately, the animals were called off before Matt could be serious hurt, asides from a few bite and scratch marks. "Ok...what the hell?" said Matt in a shaking voice. "Ok, Matt, you've more than proven your point," said Twilight. "What point? What's going on?" asked Fluttershy. "Fluttershy? I'm afraid mr vampy bit you." said matt, not one for sugarcoating things. "What?" asked Fluttershy in shock. Matt nodded "You have fangs." before showing a reflection. "But, but, but, ponies don't have fangs," said Fluttershy. "Then who bit her? Fluttershy wouldn't let that monster into her house." said Twilight, concern in her voice. Matt shrugged "Ten creds that its that Vanka guy. I tell you, I don;t trust him." "But...Vanka's just a gentleman," said Fluttershy, "He wouldn't do such a thing." "Most monsters are gentleman...right up till they aren't." said Matt. "But...but...but..." started Fluttershy before this all proved to be too much for her and she fell over in a dead faint. "Nothing worse then waking up as the wrong species." said Matt, adding "Take it from me...I know." "Matt, we have to do something," said Twilight, "We can't just leave her like this." "Right, she ought to be ok on her bed," said Matt, "Just glad she hasn't traded up to a coffin yet." Matt carefully carried the peagasus up to her bed and put her down, pulling the cover over her. "Ok...from what I read on this vampire thing...we're fine until she gets a taste of someones blood. If we vaporise the guy who bit her before then, she'll be fine." said Matt, confidently. "Are you sure it will work?" asked Twilight. "Sure, it works in all the vampire books," said Matt. "Er, are those books actual guides for dealing with vampires or just stories someone wrote?" asked Twilight. "Well...the NSC claims they fought vampire aliens...but they sealed all the records. Exo Gene supplied the guns to fight em so aria was able to make some for me." said Matt, before saying "We gotta tell the others." ... The other ponies were called to Matt's where they were given the low-down about the current situation. "So thats more or less it. Somehow Fluttershys been bitten by this...what was it again?" said Matt, turning to a hologram of Aria that he had insisted set up. Aria said calmly "I believe the species original designation was Revenite." "And you're saying this 'Revenite' is turning Fluttershy into one too?" asked Rainbow Dash. "Yes...the species itself augmented their ruling caste with biomechanical glands that allowed them to inject one of two biological viruses. The first required constant concentration on their part, allowing them to control the actions of those bitten. Unfortunately Miss fluttershy seems to have been infected by the other one...usually used to create the hybrids that most modern vampires are descended from." said Aria before noticing the blank stares from everyone. "Oh for trons sake. Yes...she is turning into a revenite hybrid." she said. "Oh, who would have thought poor Fluttershy would be turned into a vampire?" said Rarity. "Yeah, I'd have pegged you as the most likely vampire candidate," said Pinkie, "Fluttershy seems more like the werewolf type to me." The group stared for a minute before chalking it down as pinkie being pinkie and allowing Aria to continue. "Unfortunately revenites also have the unfortunate ability to....well...who has heard of the saying 'you are what you eat.'?" "Oh, I hear that phrase all the time," said Pinkie, "Especially when I've been eating a lot of sweets, but I don't think I'm getting sugary." "It applies to revenites. Their DNA is constantly unstable, meaning that they assume the species of those they feed on. It probably accounts for how it has been able to operate for so long without detection." said Aria. "So what do they look like when they're themselves?" asked Applejack. There was a bit of sneakiness in Aria's tone as she said, "Allow me to show you." Matt leaned over too, curious to see what he was up against and so jumped with everyone else when some kind of anthromorphic bat thing appeared and lunged at the group, freezing mid pounce. "This is a revenite caught on helmet cam during the battle of Travindas III." said Aria. "Wow, now THAT is scary," said Rainbow Dash, distantly. "That was only a civilian...the revenites are not tolerant of any outsiders...and they have been documented to survive fully automatic plasma fire. While solarite crystals and concentrated UV blasts are effective...I doubt you would want to use a sunlight spell of that magnitude...as it would need to be powerful enough to incinerate 5 square miles." said Aria, calmly. Matt gulped at that "Lets put that on the backburner. You made some solerite weapons for me. I could take this guy," he said. "Still, I would not waste any ammo," said Aria, "Not only is there considerable collateral damage that could result from a misfire, there's a limited amount of solerite to use." "Well...what else can we do? Wait till fluttershy wants a midnight snack?" said Matt, drawing his blaster. "Finding this Vanka's lair would be the most sensible approach," said Aria, "I highly doubt you'd be stealthy enough to catch him in his sleep, but cornering him may be the key to victory." "I am perfectly capable of catching one fang pony." said Matt confidently. "It is far more than a 'fang pony'," said Aria, "Consider how active it has been, it is probably close to regaining its full power. Not to mention that it may be a matter of time before it has Miss Fluttershy under its thrall." "Crap." said Matt, gloomily. Rainbow dash said concerned "And what do we do if Fluttershy does fall under its power?" Aria said coldly "I don;t think you wish that information." "Then there's no time to lose," said Applejack, "We need to find where that creep nests." “We can't leave fluttershy alone. What if creepazoid goes back to finish her initiation?" said Rainbow Dash, annoyed at the situation. "Right, someone has to stand watch over her," said Twilight. Everyone turned to look at Matt who despite everything turned to look behind him before turning back. "Oh no...I'm the only one with the anti-vamp guns." he said, adding mentally 'and a trigger finger.' "Well, someone has to watch over Fluttershy," said Twilight, "Who can fend off those wolves and bats or possibly Fluttershy if she tries to escape." Rainbow Dash said confidently "I can deal with a few bats." "I'm sure you could, but wolves are tougher," said Twilight. "I'll be fine, Twi. I can handle a wolf. They can't fly." said Rainbow Dash, her confidence clearly back. "You have to keep her indoors, remember?" said Twilight, "As in keep next to her." Rainbow Dash nodded as Matt added "And whatever you do...DON;T let that creep near her." "Of course, we need to find this uncouth being," said Rarity, "Now, let's see, if I were a blood-draining creature of the night, and thank goodness I'm not, where would I stay if I were not out hunting?" "Well...I'd be somewhere comfy...close to where I eat. Is there any inns or hotels in town?" said Matt thoughtfully "A couple," said Pinkie Pie, "I go to them a couple of times to deliver some cakes for parties." "We start with them then...check for any night owls that checked in recently..." said Matt, checking the solarite crystal in his blaster. "Are we sure we want to confront him there?" asked Twilight, "There could be too many innocent ponies there and they could end up in danger." "So we wait till its night and he's at full strength and hungry too?" said Matt. "Well, maybe we can force him out of the hotel," said Applejack, "You know like makin' a gopher leave its hole." "Hmm...I suppose if we made it a little unsuitable...brighten the place up." said Matt thoughtfully. "Ooh, like open a tanning salon?" asked Rarity. "Tan? We're covered in hair," said Applejack, "That don't make a lick of sense." "We could order up some sunshine...you control the smegging weather. You can’t schedule some extra sun?" said Matt, a little annoyed. "I do clouds and winds," said Rainbow Dash, "Sunshine's something else entirely. I just clear the skies, Princess Celestia's the only one with power over sunlight." "So? Just lose the clouds for a day." said Matt before sighing and saying "Lets just go vaporise this creep." "Let's try to think this out all the way," said Twilight, "First of all, we need to find out which hotel he's at." "How do we do that? Walk up and ask if they have any vampires staying?" said Matt, sarcastically. "Would he have any reason to use another name if only a small amount of people even know about vampires?" asked Twilight. "Why not start with ponies who turned up after the kid was attacked?" suggested Matt. "Ok, but nobody jumps in until we're all sure where Vanka is," said Twilight. "Ah...so we agree its that guy." said Matt, happy for once. "It seems most likely," said Twilight, "After all, he's a new pony in town, he has been visiting Fluttershy often, and he's rarely seen during the daytime. I just wish there was a definite proof, like if he doesn't have a reflection." "Fluttershy had one...I don’t think all the vampire stuff applies to these guys." said Matt before saying "We know his name...lets just ask." "Alright, let's go and round up that varmint," said Applejack. ... Meanwhile, Vanka wasn't at his hotel, instead choosing to finish Fluttershys 'conversion'. He floated up near a cloud, checking the house given that the door had been locked. "Come on...how to...who's that?" he said spotting a cyan pony at the balcony he'd been eyeing. He thought for a minute and recalled that this was one of the friends Fluttershy 'hanged out with'. "Hmm...she may be trouble," he said to himself, "Best to get rid of the obstacle." With that he flew down silently before aligning behind the cyan pegasus as she turned to go back inside. After a second he cleared his throat. The cyan pony jumped and turned around. "What are you doing here?" she demanded. "I could ask the same thing," said Vanka smoothly. "You're that vanka creep. I know exactly what you are." said the pony cockily. Vanka raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh...do you?" he said. "Yeah, and if you think you're getting your fangs in Fluttershy again, you've got another thing coming," said the pony. "I don’t need to bite her again. Good grief...don’t they teach anything?" said Vanka, trotting into the room "Aha, so you’re the creep who bit fluttershy.” said Rainbow Dash, accusingly. "Guilty as charged, Madamoselle." said Vanka, giving a sarcastic bow. "You are so gonna get it when Matt shows up," said Rainbow Dash, "You're gonna regret ever coming here." "That idiot? I have killed thousands of his kind. They breed like blak'ni. I have nothing to fear from him just as you're hardly a threat either." said Vanka, a little angrily. "Oh, you bet I'm a treat," said Rainbow Dash, "How's about I buck you into next week?" "Oh, why do you things always try the macho approach. Please...take your best shot." said Vanka, smirking. "With pleasure," said Rainbow Dash as she started winding up for a fierce kick. Vanka didn’t even move until just as Rainbow's kick was about to meet, he seemed to blur, vanish and reappear to the side. "Is that all you have?" he said with a smirk. "Hey!" snapped Rainbow before trying to kick him again. Again, Vanka blurred and reappeared out of range. "Are you even trying?" taunted Vanka. Rainbow growled with frustration before charging at the vampire pony. This time, Vanka responded with a kick of his own, sending Rainbow Dash sprawling into the corner of the room. "Check and mate, madam." said Vanka to the unconscious pegasus before getting an idea. "Well, as long as the cat's coming out of the bag, might as well sever any ties," said Vanka. ... A few minutes later, Fluttershy was up again. She still felt a bit shaken about being told she's becoming a vampire thrall, hoping there may have been some mistake. She opened her eyes properly to see Vanka's face looking at her, a fearful look on his face. "Vanka? What are you doing here?" asked Fluttershy. "Getting you away from your so-called friends." said Vanka, pointing to an unconscious Rainbow dash, a crude wooden spike next to her. "If I hadn’t arrived when I did...Oh, I am sorry this happened to you." "What...what is Rainbow Dash doing with that wooden stake?" asked Fluttershy. "She was about to use it on you, my dear." said Vanka "Use it on me?" asked Fluttershy. "Is that so hard to believe? People always fear what they do not understand." said Vanka, helping his view along with a simple lacing of psychic energy. "But...Rainbow Dash wouldn't want to hurt me," said Fluttershy, "She...would want to help me, right?" "That has plenty of meanings...like ending suffering." said Vanka, a little coldly. Fluttershy gasped and said, "She wouldn't?" "Oh, but she would," said Vanka, "That stake virtually has your name on it." Vanka smirked inwardly as he watched Fluttershy stare in horror at the stake. "You will be safer with me. I have been working on a way to leave." he said. Unfortunately this was a complete lie, Vanka having already come up with a plan that would land him his own personal kingdom...but once this pony tasted a fresh kill, all that troublesome morality would go with it. "Leave? As in, run away and never return?" asked Fluttershy. "Would you prefer to die?" said Vanka. "No.." said Fluttershy, "It's just...I've lived here so long, made so many friends..." "The same ones trying to kill you." said Vanka in a 'matter-of-fact voice. Fluttershy looked hesitant and said, "Maybe I could try to reason with them..." "I have lived a long time...they won’t listen. Come, I have one more thing to gather. Wait for me near the forest. I won’t be long, my dear." said Vanka. "Well...ok, I'll wait, I need to think some things out," said Fluttershy. "Very well. Remember...stay hidden till I find you." said Vanka before spreading his wings and flying out the window. Fluttershy looked at Rainbow Dash and the stake before flying out too with tear filled eyes. ... Matt and the rest of the ponies were headed towards the second of the two inns in Ponyville, the Green leafed Inn. For some reason, the town seem quieter today. There wasn't anyone in the streets nor at the windows. "Hey...does anyone get the feeling that we're in the right place?" said Matt, looking around. "Odd, we're the only ones who know Vanka's a vampire, right?" asked Twilight. "Yeah...this is not good. Lets get in there, shoot Vanka and celebrate." said Matt, sure that he spotted someone duck out of sight in an alley. "Let's not be too hasty," said Rarity, "I mean, if we have the wrong place, this could be disastrous." "Oh, you're in the right place." said a voice. Matt span and fired at a shape that blurred across the top of the street. "Hold it, partner," said Applejack, "You don't wanna hurt somepony." Matt panned the blaster around. "Hey...pointy. Whats wrong? Afraid of a fair fight?" he yelled out. Vanka's voice replied "Of course not...but I wouldn’t want that nasty little solarite pistol to burn a hole through me." "Well...that's the idea, so come out and take your blasting like a man, or stallion, or whatever," said Matt. "Oh very well." said Vanka, landing behind the group before he said "However...if I was you...I would be wondering why your gunfire hasn;t caused a commotion." gesturing around them. "Let me guess, you mass-hypnotized the town to be your personal 'all-you-can-drain' banquet for you and Fluttershy," said Matt. "Not exactly...but they should be sufficient to trample you into jam." said Vanka. Matt noticed now quite alot of eyes staring from the darkness surrounding the group. "Oh, you gotta be kidding. Zombies now?" said Matt, annoyed before sending a blast at Vanka which surprisingly winged him. "Ha, not as fast as you think, eh?" said Matt confidently. Vanka just smirked before saying "Kill them all please." to the thralls. "Guys, stick close together," said Twilight before concentrating hard. Matt spotted what was about to happen and remembered the last time it had. "Hey...he, wait a minute. Last time you almost cooked-" he began before the group vanished in a flash of purple light. ... The group reappeared outside sweet apple acres, Matt blackened with soot and gently smoking. "durble popcorn." gibbered Matt before spinning and falling down. "Now this is a real pickle," said Applejack, "How're we supposed to stop Vanka if everyone in town's been brain-scrambled?" Matt shook his head "I think Aria said that virus needs concentration. So the 'kill the vamp' plan probably still works. Ow, I hate teleporting." he said, moaning the last part. "Aria...I don’t care if the Icarus might spot us...use the skyraids scanners. I wanna find that Vanka jerk." ... Meanwhile, Vanka was hurrying to the place where he was to meet up with Fluttershy. His side still hurt from where Matt had shot him, but if it worked out as he planned, it'll be worth it. Fluttershy was hiding near the treeline when Vanka landed, purposely messing up the landing for extra theatrics. As he planned, Fluttershy ran out with a shocked look. "Its not as bad as it looks." he said, sounding as pained as possible. "Mr Lynch and your friends took a shot at me the minute I came into their sights." said Vanka, bitterly. "No, they wouldn't have," said Fluttershy, not wanting to believe it. Vanka sighed "They fired at me...with a solarite weapon no less. If they had hit me in the right place, I would be dust. They will do the same to you." he said. "Me? They wouldn't shoot me, would they?" asked Fluttershy. "Well, they were going to give you a stake to the heart, weren't they?" said Vanka. Fluttershys head fell and Vanka spotted a few tears hitting the ground. He sighed inwardly and said "Come, my dear. Let us leave this place." "Where can we go?" asked Fluttershy half-heartedly. "I know a few places...and I even found a ship to take us there..." said Vanka, before his eyes glowed and his voie echoed as he said "Now forget about those others." Now…it was worth noting that while a Revenite's sense of hearing was very refined, there are somethings that could escape its notice, namely things that do not produce a heartbeat. Which is why the spiderdrone was able to observe the two without being detected. ... Matt and the others had been forced to play the waiting game as they waited for a hit. Matt could see the others were all worried...espetally when a bruised Rainbow Dash had limped in a few minutes previously and told of her own encounter. "Like I said, the Revenite is not to be taken lightly," said Aria, "The situation is starting to spiral out of control." "We can NOT call in the Icarus and thats final...I can take a guess at standard procedure for a revenite." said Matt, harshly. Aria paused before saying, "A sanitization strike to eliminate the Revenite and any possible infected. No, I don't think you would prefer that." Matt looked over at the others who were not listening, instead talking to Rainbow. "Ok...tell me you have something." he said quietly. On cue his wrist comp beeped with an incoming video feed. Matt looked down at the info before grinning "Gotcha, creep." he said, looking at the feed showing the retreating backs of Vanka and Fluttershy. "Oh great," muttered Matt, "Girls, we have a problem." ... The group headed through the forest, relying on the signal from the spiderdrone on Vanka;s trail. "He's heading along the trail I;ve been clearing of Echo teams lost gear." said Matt, curious "Where could that be leading them?" asked Rarity. "All I can think is the old basecamp. I never found it...too many hungry nasties." said Matt, shining a light that caught the tail of a basilisk headed away through the undergrowth. "What would he want there?" asked Pinkie. "Well...we only saw one gunship transport when Echo came to town. Standard ops is to have two...one for backup." said Matt, thoughtfully before something occurred. "Oh boy." "You mean they're leaving the planet?" asked Twilight. "No...those ships are short range...but it will have plenty of firepower. I don’t think Vanka wants to leave. I think he wants to set up home...and to do that...he has to evict the current owners." said Matt, his voice getting colder as he realised himself. "But, wouldn't he want someone to feed off of when he's finished?" asked Pinkie. "He'll have an entire planet to pick from." said Matt, checking ahead. "We're almost there...there's the drone." he said, pointing. The spiderdrone was hopping up and down to get the group's attention. Matt and the group ran over, Matt saying "Whats his problem?" he said before a spotlight blinded the group, along with a jet like roaring. A slightly rusted echo gunship transport hovered into view, the cargo bay jammed open. "Uh, I think we found him," said Applejack. The gunship slowly hovered over the group before starting to move in the direction of Canterlots distant lights. Matt looked at his wrist comp before activating an old device from it. "Please still work." he muttered before firing the grapple at the open cargo hatch Fortunately, the grappling hook managed to wrap itself around one of the pistons that opened and closed the door. Matt grinned "Yes." before common sense reappeared, reminding him that he wasn’t even close to heavy enough to slow it down. "Oh smeg it." Matt muttered gloomily as the grapple wire got tighter. "Oh dear, Matt, hold on," cried Rarity before biting his belt as the others ran forward to help. However, even her weight was nowhere near to be enough to keep it down. As the ship lifted off, so did Matt and Rarity, too fast for the others to do anything but watch. So it was that the gunship headed off on its voyage with a dual scream trailing behind it. After a minute Matt managed to trigger the grapples reel to pull them in before he just grabbed the floor inside the ship. “We never ever mention this...again." Matt said distantly "Agreed," said Rarity, "Incidentally, you may want to consider getting a new belt. The one you're wearing has a rather bad stench to it." "It was the only one I had with me when I crashed." said Matt, getting up before looking around and spotting several worrying things. "Plasma warheads. This thing musta been carrying the teams munitions." he said, looking at the blue flame symbol that was the warning for weaponized plasma. "Which I assume would be sufficient to pulverize Canterlot," said Rarity. "No...but it could demolish say...a palace. If this guys continuing the personality he's seen...he'll want plenty of survivors to rule over." said Matt, adding icily "Shock and awe wins lots of battles." before he attached a stick device to one of the warheads. "Shame it'll blow up before we get there." "What are you doing?" asked Rarity. "Setting a few surprises. Don;t worry...we'll be long gone when they explode." said Matt before saying "Now lets go shoot vanka in the face." ... The ship was strangely deserted as they headed through the corridors towards the cockpit. "Strange...you think mr pointy would be all over us." muttered Matt, peering round a corner. "He wouldn't have more servants with him, would he?" asked Rarity. "I doubt it. We'd have met them by now." said Matt, before hitting the control on the door into the control room. The room beyond was deserted apart from a familier yellow pegasus laying in the middle of the floor. "Fluttershy." called Rarity, galloping over to her while Matt ran over to the controls. "Huh, he set the autopilot to do the whole attack," said Matt, "What else could he be doing in here if he's not directing the ship?" Matt looked at the course, a circle around canterlots central area obviously showing the radius of the warheads. Matt looked at the controls before messing with them so that the course altered to go over the river in the nearby ravine instead. "Can’t have him changing back so..." muttered Matt before stepping back and firing into the panel. "Ok, all that's left is blasting that creep's head off and getting Sleeping Beauty there out of here," said Matt. Rarity was trying to wake Fluttershy up as Matt ran up to her. "Anything? I'd like to be gone before Mr pointy finds us." he said. Just then, Fluttershy started to stir. "Ah, Fluttershy," said Rarity, "I'm so relieved to see you're alright. Now, we must hurry and find a way off this-" Suddenly, Fluttershy kicked out and knocked Rarity away. Fluttershy, red eyes almost glowing said nastily "Oh...Rarity, come to end my suffering like rainbow did?" showing off the now obvious fang canines. "What? Fluttershy, I'm here to help you," said Rarity. Fluttershy sneered "Just like how Rainbow tried to help me? With a stake? Vanka told me how you attacked him." Matt yelled "Of course we did...he brainwashed half the town and tried to have them kill us." "And can't you see what he's turning you into?" asked Rarity, "I mean, those fangs and red eyes are completely unflattering." Fluttershy glared "Is that all? You'd kill me because of an accident?" Matt said in an annoyed tone "He did this to you on purpose...how thirsty are you feeling?" "Quite thirsty, actually," said Fluttershy, her tone turning nasty, "I think it's time to quench it." She bared her fangs before lunging at Matt. Matt jumped back at the same time that Rarity Managed to grab Fluttershy;s tail with a telekinesis spell. Matt was already reaching for his blaster. "Fluttershy...get a grip. You aren’t a killer." he said desperately before Vanka's voice said “True...but I am." before a blur shot past Matt, spinning him to the floor with a 'crack' noise. "I'm not surprised that you found your way in here," said Vanka's voice, "You are probably the most persistent being I've ever encountered." Matt got up unsteadily as Fluttershy tried to reach Rarity instead and said cockily "We at CPS deliver quality." Vanka's voice sneered "And you even brought my dear some food. So considerate." "I don't know what kind of rubbish you've been filling her head with," said Matt, "But you're sorely mistaken if you think you can make Fluttershy turn on one of her closest friends." Vanka laughed "Then you really need to use your eyes. She seems to be trying quite hard to snack on her unicorn friend." he said nastily. Matt glared, finally getting an idea of where Vanka was "Oh shut up." he said, shooting one of the light switches and causing the control room to be flooded with light. The light exposed Vanka was hovering near a far corner of the room. He was hissing and covering his eyes from the light. Fluttershy also hissed, but she didn't recoil as much as Vanka. Matt aimed a hail of blasts at Vanka, who was forced to shield himself with his wings before flying out of the control room. "I;m gonna go after Vanka...make fluttershy comfortable." he said before running out in pursuit. Fluttershy shook her head and opened her eyes, which were less red than before. "Oh...I feel strange," she said. Rarity kept her distance, a little frightened after Fluttershy's 'episode'. "Fluttershy, darling? Are you alright?" she said cautiously. "I think so," said Fluttershy, "I just remember Vanka saying you had hurt him, I felt sad about feeling betrayed. After that, just a big red blur of anger." "Fluttershy. He attacked us. He's controlling all our friends in Ponyville." said Rarity, walking a little closer when it was clear Fluttershy wasn’t going to go mad again. "But why would he do that?" asked Fluttershy. "He's the same monster that attacked High Gears son...Aria called him a revenite." said Rarity before the sound of gunfire echoed from the cargo bay. "He did this to me on purpose? He said it was an accident." Said Fluttershy in a saddened voice. Rarity nodded, hoping the gunfire indicated that the beast, Vanka was gone before a device on the wall squealed. ... Matt yelled in shock as Vanka threw him into a pile of equipment. "You fool. You really thought you could beat me by turning the lights on?" roared Vanka, not noticing Matt had hit a device on the wall behind him. "My race has conquered hundreds of worlds far more threatening and hostile than this simple one. You're the only real challenge this place has to offer. Even enthralling that skittish pony was too effortless. And once you're out of the way, this planet will fall to my power and the Revenite Empire shall rise again." Matt groaned "What is it with megalomaniacs and gloating?" he said weakly. Vanka snorted and said evilly "I have a feeling these 'princesses' I;ve heard so much about might be a problem...which is why I snacked on that town. From what I hear, they're too soft to even defend themselves from their subjects. Once they're gone...the rest will be easy." "I don't know," said Matt, "I think these ponies have stronger wills than you think." "Hah...the only person I saw was Fluttershy. Her stares worthy of a revenite. The others wouldn’t have spotted me if I had paraded in front of them in my primary form." laughed Vanka, harshly. "I'm telling you, mate, you're rattling a hornet's nest," said Matt, "And, boy, are you going to get stung." "You mean like this?" said Vanka before suddenly lashing forward. Before Matt could respond, he had landed on the other side of the room, out colder than a frozen flounder. Vanka looked down at him before grabbing his trouser leg and started dragging him easily back towards the control center. 'At least you'll be a good meal for Miss fluttershy.' he thought. ... Vanka tossed Matt into the control center before trotting in. "I brought you a meal, my dear...that is if you are still hungry after that unicorn." he said, pleased with himself. "Actually, she didn't want to spoil her appetite," said Rarity. Vanka turned to glare at Rarity before looking around. "Hmm...where did she go?" he muttered to himself, confident that one unicorn was no problem for him. "Oh, trust me, she won't be long," said Rarity, "I wouldn't miss this for the grandest fashion show in Equestria." "What are you blabbering about?" said Vanka, now more then a little confused. In his mind this situation was a little off script now. The computer chimed at that "Approaching Target zone...stand by." "Ah, the fireworks should be starting any moment now," said Vanka. In a way, he was right, but they weren't exactly the fireworks he had wanted. A yellow blur shot past him, its hooves connecting with the back of his head and knocking him on his front. "Gah...what in the four moons?" he yelled, looking around for his attacker, before a second hit made him spin like a whirlwind. He span to a stop on the far side of the room, his vision filled with stars and sparks. "Ok....ow." he said. Rarity had calmly trotted over to Matt and said to herself, "Let's see, I'm sure there was a simple wake-up spell Twilight showed me. I would hate for Matt to miss out on this. How did it go?" Her horn glowed as she tried out the spell she had in mind and Matt's eyes shot open and he gibbered a bit. The spell itself was made to emulate the effect of coffee, Twilight using it to keep awake on all-nighter studying. The effect on the already highly strung human was for him to shoot upright fast enough that his feet left the ground for a full second. "Nnuuurrgh...what...the...hell?" said Matt, trying to keep his voice slow enough to be understandable. "Oh, Vanka is about to get his comeuppance," said Rarity, "Thought you would like to watch." Matt grinned "Of course, my dear. Its a shame we haven’t got popcorn." he said happily, watching as another blur knocked Vanka on his ass for a third time before slowing to become a red eyed and clearly furious Fluttershy. "You know your motivation." said Matt. Vanka's eyes were finally starting to stop spinning when Fluttershy yelled, "HOW DARE YOU?!" Vanka managed to focus his eyes to meet a full on, revenite augmented stare. He shot back into the wall fast enough to dent it. "Wh-whats the problem, my dear?" he said, nervously. "Everything you told me was a lie!" shouted Fluttershy, "You've tricked me, manipulated me, tried to turn me against my friends, tried to turn me into the same disgusting creature you are, you're no better than a mind leech. No, you're worse than that!" "Whats a mind leech?" said Vanka, a little confused before the stare made him shut up. "You're gonna turn me back and you're going to leave and never come back." said Fluttershy harshly. Matt called out "Hey...I wanna shoot him." "Er, I'm afraid that only my...expiration would undo the changes done to you," said Vanka, the power of the stare forcing the truth out of him. "I can arrange that," said Matt cheerfully. Vanka gulped as Matt got up, readying his blaster. "Stand aside please, fluttershy. I’d like a clear shot." "Really, Matt, this crude execution?" asked Rarity, "This is quite uncouth." "We don't have to be that harsh," said Fluttershy. "He;s a psychotic rabid bloodsucking alien scumbag." said Matt in defence before clicking his blaster. The computer broke up the arguement when it said "Implementing course correction." and the floor tipped to the left by 45 degrees. Vanka leapt forward as soon as Fluttershy's eye contact was lost, straight at Rarity. "At least I get lunch." he snarled before screaming as a crackling blade came through his shoulder from behind. Matt stood behind, his ion blade in hand before using the blade as leverage to send Vanka flying into the wall with a clunk. "Time to go." he said urgently, looking at his watch. "Er, shouldn't we land?" asked Rarity. "No time for that," said Matt, "Definitely no time." Fluttershy was about to ask what was upsetting Matt so much when another lurch threw them all down, coinciding with a deafening explosion. "Danger: Explosion in munitions storage. Engines at 12%. Eject at once." said the computer calmly. Matt was first up, emptying a clip into the exterior door till it opened and looked out to see the ravines river getting closer. "I'd say 'ladies first', but I think in this case it would be redundant," said Matt before picking up Rarity and heaving her out the door before following himself. Fluttershy flew out with a whimper a minute later, the dropship falling away. She flew down to where two sets of ripples were in the river and was in time for Rarity and Matt to surface, "I cannot believe you did that." shrieked Rarity before another explosion made the three look up. ... Vanka got up unsteadily and looked around the damaged bridge. "No...nononono." he said to himself, trying to limp over to the open hatch before looking out to see the wall of the ravine looming large. ... Matt winced as the dropship scraped along the side of the ravine before its fuel tank exploded, blasting the ship to scrap. "Lets go." he said to himself before swimming for the shore. ... When the group got back to Ponyville, everypony were back to normal, although heavily confused and quite dizzy. However, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Twilight, and Pinkie were all waiting for them. "You're all ok. Everypony fell over for a second when we heard that ship explode." said Twilight as they ran up. "Vanka's toast...at least everyone back to normal." said Matt, sounding tired "Erm...excuse me." said Fluttershy, quietly. "Yes, what is it, dear?" asked Rarity. "Er, I don't feel quite myself yet," said Fluttershy. It was true that her eyes were still reddish and her fangs were still there. "No, no way..." said Matt in an incredulous tone, "Not even he could survive-" Suddenly, the air was rendered by the most piercing shriek Matt had ever heard...and it was coming from the ravine. "Oh, you've GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!" yelled Matt at the night sky. "That is IT! I am gonna go get the nastiest, most destructive gun I have and shove it right up his-" said Matt, interrupted when Twilight said urgently "I’m going to go and write to the princess. I think we need her help." "Right, an' I think we need ta get everypony else out of the way," said Applejack. Twilight looked to where Matt was stamping off towards his house, obviously intent on fulfilling his threat. "I think you're right." she said. ... Matt slammed the door open and walked over to the ammo crate he kept his guns in before kicking the lid off. "That little creeps DEAD!" he muttered, tossing a pulse grenade launcher aside. "Sir, might I offer some advice before you inadvertedly demolish the town as you take down this Revenite?" asked Aria. "What would that be, Aria? I literally blew up the ship he was inside and he;s STILL coming." said Matt, hysterically, before pulling out a nasty looking rifle that looked like it had a claw on the end. "That's because it wasn't a solarite explosion," said Aria, "Of course, if it was, you wouldn't be here to talk about it. Anyways, the solarite ammunition is your best chance of taking this thing down." "What am I supposed to do? Shove it down his gob?" said Matt, his eye twitching. Aria was about to reply when all the lights cut off. "Oh, now what?" moaned Matt. Then he heard something hissing in the dark. "Uh oh," said Matt. "Youuu over evolved chimp. How DaRe yOu inTerFEre?" said a distorted voice from the shadows. "Ok, where are my night-vision goggles? Or a flashlight?" asked Matt to himself hastily. “You wON't neeD thEM when I TEAR YOUR EYES OUT!" said the voice before a blur shot out and hit Matt hard enough to send him through the wooden wall into the next room. "Ouch," muttered Matt, "Ok, Matt, just keep your wits about you. You're being stalked by a vampiric alien monster in the dark who means to eviscerate you. This is no time to panic." "I can SmELL yOU." hissed the voice, saying "YoU DARE to think you could STop mE? ME...VANKA NOCTURNIS...MASTER OF 5O WORLDS!” "50 defunct or nonexistent worlds by this point, right?" said Matt, his mounting fear forcing him to use his smart mouth as a defense mechanism. "Such a SMaRT Mouth...lets see how SMaRt YOU are without a VOiCE box." said Vanka before the batlike creature from Aria's file, albeit covered in nasty burns leapt at him and backhanded him across the room. "I can take a hit, or two, or five," said Matt as he got back onto his feet. "Cute...you think you can win." taunted Vanka, having vanished again. Matt pressed a button on his wrist comp at that and the devices flare launcher fired a shot that flooded the room. Matt covered his eyes before uncovering them to see Vanka on the ceiling. "GOTCHA!" he yelled, drawing the solarite blaster he had and firing. However, Vanka wasn't as stunned as Matt had thought and was able to lash out and smack the blaster out of Matt's hands. Matt watched in gloom as the gun smashed from the force, the glowing solarite crystal rolling across the floor. The rest of his thoughts left at high speed as Vanka grabbed him and threw him in the same direction. Matt managed to grab the crystal before what felt like a vice squeezed his windpipe shut and he was lifted into the air. "YOu pAthTIc moRtAl fOOl," hissed Vanka in his distorted voice "YoU maY haVe DEstrOyed mY guNShiP, buT thAT WiLl onLy dELay ThE inEVItaBLe. THIs wORld wIlL fALL tO Me, BuT yoU woN'T liVE tO sEe IT!" Matt made a rasping noise at that. Vanka loosened his grip on Matts neck a little to say "WhAT wAs THat, MoNKey?" before Matt shoved a gem into his mouth that made Vanka drop Matt, trying desperately to pull the now burning solarite gem out. "I said If you're gonna kill me, just do it!" rasped Matt before noticing that Vanka appeared to be smoking. "You know, in retrospect, I should have stabbed it into his heart," said Matt, before deciding he should watch behind something sturdy. He walked towards the sofa a little before noticing that Vanka was glowing "Ok, further away!" he said urgently, limping for the door. He made it halfway down the path before a whomph lifted him off his feet and sent him a extra 10 feet to land with a crack on his arm. Matt lifted his head to see that the front of the barn was now missing. "Ok.....so instead of turning to dust they EXPLODE?" moaned Matt. "Congratulations, sir, you've managed to kill a Revenite single-handedly," said Aria. Matt looked down to see a drone staring at him. "You arrive...now? I hate you." he moaned before adding "Do we have any medical nanites left?" Just then, the six ponies who Matt has gotten to know so well ran up to Matt. "Matt, we heard the explosion," said Twilight, "What happened?" "He defeated Vanka," said Fluttershy, "Look, I'm back to normal." The others saw that Fluttershy had indeed gotten her own eye color back and was fangless. Matt said from ground level "Thats nice. Turns out vampires explode." he said before adding "You think they'd mention that." before passing out. ... Matt picked up a piece of singed wood and tossed it aside to reveal the stairs down to the basement where the jumpgate was still stabilizing after Pinkamena's hijacking of it the week before. "So...at least thats still intact." he muttered gloomily. The pegasi had been fast enough to put the fire out but not before the barn had been gutted. He himself had come out of his final fight with Vanka with more withstandable injuries. Ok, so he had a couple of bruises and his arm was in a sling, but he's had much worse. "Oh well...at least the ships livable now...or I can sleep in the combat SUV." said Matt to himself gloomily before hearing several dozen hoofsteps. He ran back out to see several dozen equestrians, wearing builders gear heading towards the ruin. "Oi...what the hell?" Matt began as they started moving some of the wreckage before he spotted the brown pegasus from the night Vanka had turned up. "Hey, aren't you...that one colt's dad?" asked Matt. "High Gear the fourth. I don't think we properly met that night. I run Mequestria Industries over in Fillydelphia." said the pegasi with a warm smile. “I owe you one for saving my kids life and last night I hear from a Miss Sparkle how your home had a little..." he stopped to look at the barn "...lets just call it an accident and I saw a chance to repay the debt." Matt glanced at the construction ponies working on the barn and said, "Well...while rebuilding's on the subject, think we can go over a bit of remodeling?" High Gear smirked "Let me guess...bigger rooms?" he said amused. "For a start," said Matt, "And also, there's the issue about proper furniture..." ... Ok...this was an interesting couple of weeks. First I meet Pinkies darker side and she locks the jumpgate online and then smegging vampires? At least its deep fried now. It also looks like the towns starting to warm a little to me. Not to mention I have cosier accommodations. Aria says I shouldn't get too comfortable since I am planning on leaving. But given the probable weeks it'll take to get off this world, I see no problem in padding my pad a bit. Shame that we're outta medical nanites till Aria can cook up a new batch however a badly sprained arm is a nice excuse to do what I’ve always wanted to do till I started as a merc...absolutely nothing...