Night Terror

by Fable Caster

Chapter 2: New Hayshire

An uneasy, quiet atmosphere hung in the room as three of the most significant ponies in all of New Hayshire stood in silent contemplation around the infirmary's bed. Upon the bed, resting after what must have been a most harrowing night, was Wintermint, her various bruises and wounds tended to and bandaged with utmost care by the town's only doctor.

It was almost dawn by the time Doctor Aspirin had worked her wonders on Wintermint and now the three of them were waiting for Minty to wake up whilst the good doctor tended to Rocky Road.

The infirmary they had was a moderately sized, two-storey country house converted into a clinic with each patient getting a modest room all to their own. Nothing modern, certainly nothing fancy, but it had served the town well for generations; four and counting, in fact.

Mayor Rubber Stamp ran a tired hoof through his black, silver-streaked mane and sighed. In all his long years as the mayor the light blue earth pony had never seen anything quite like this. What kind of creature could possibly have injured the previously so invincible Wintermint in such a manner? A question all those present hoped to get the answer to shortly.

He threw a glance at the light gray pegasus standing in full armor next to him with his helmet held underneath one wing, noting how the Captain of the town guard was trying his best to control his emotions and succeeding only mostly. The tightness of his jawline and the faint bristling of his wing feathers were dead giveaways of his barely contained fury.

Wingspan Gale had always had a bit of a temper, but he'd still always been the obvious choice as a successor to Wintermint after her retirement. To see his mentor and hero laying so weak and broken in front of him had to hurt...

The young stallion had always practically idolized Wintermint, always pushed himself hard to be noticed by the then-captain and in the end he'd been rewarded for his hard work and dedication with a well deserved promotion.

Last but most certainly not least in the room was Holly Plowshare, the current matriarch -despite her relatively young age- of the largest and most influential farmer family in the entire town. Where Ponyville had the famous Apple family, New Hayshire's backbone had always been the staunch and hardy Plowshares.

The brown-and-white-coated, bubblegum pink-maned mare was certainly living up to the Plowshare name and legacy. Even at age twenty three she was very much a pillar of the community. She'd gained a reputation as a just and righteous mare and thus it was no wonder most folks went to her for arbitration on their grievances and she was always more than happy to help settle disputes. And if, for whatever reason, the local farmers needed a spokespony to speak for all of them in town gatherings or in front of community committees, Holly was their go-to pony.

The soft creak of the door behind them made Rubber Stamp snap back to reality, all three heads turning in unison to look at the tan, bespectacled earth pony mare clad into a doctor's coat who had just entered the room.

“Aspirin, how's Rocky doing?” the mayor asked, his weariness managing to shine through despite the genuine concern and stress he was feeling.

“Like Wintermint, he's pale, bruised and has lost a lot of both blood and energy... More of the latter than the former. He also seems to have been put to sleep magically, as best as I can tell. I'm no unicorn, mind you, so magic is still a bit above me, but he didn't react to the smelling salts when I tried to rouse him from his slumber.” The doctor held a small pause during which she readjusted the tight bun of her dark green mane. “And just like Minty, he had those same weird puncture marks on his neck.”

“Tell us, doctor, what makes them so weird?” Captain Gale chipped in sternly.

Doctor Aspirin weighed her words carefully for a moment before replying, though her eyes were cast down towards the wooden floorboards rather than at any of the three local dignitaries “The two small holes are evenly spaced near the carotid artery. I... I think they are bite marks caused by long, sharp fangs, done with incredible precision.”

“What are you trying to suggest here, doctor? Did they get attacked by some kind of animal or what?” The Captain demanded, flinching then visibly when he realized he'd been raising his voice more than intended.

Once more the good doctor held a long pause, her brow knitted into a tight furrow, before lifting her gaze up to regard all three of the other ponies “An animal wouldn't have loaded them into a cart and sent them rolling downhill into the fountain, Captain. As a medical professional, I can't in good conscience even begin to guess. But unofficially, as just a laypony with a rudimentary understanding of folklore... All signs point to them having been attacked by a... a vampire.”

There was a stunned silence, six wide-open eyes staring at the doctor incredulously.

“Th-That's...” The mayor stammered “That's ridiculous. Totally absurd! Vampires don't exist outside of fiction and literature!”

“You see now why I couldn't possibly state an official, professional opinion on the matter, Rubber Stamp? Yet the evidence, circumstantial as it may be, still points towards that conclusion. Much enough, at least, that we can't dismiss it completely out of hoof.”

Captain Gale snorted and shook his head, muttering “Ridiculous...” under his breath.

“Guess we'll just hafta wait for Mrs. Wintermint to wake up and see what she has to say,” Holly added in. She shifted the toothpick she'd been idly chewing from one corner of her muzzle to the other before continuing. “On that note, doc, how long do ya reckon it'll take until they are back to health? If my memory don't fail me completely, they've got three foals waitin' back home.”

“Yes, Holly asks an excellent question, doctor. When will they be making a recovery; full or otherwise?” The mayor asked.

“In their current condition it's going to be several days, if not weeks, of complete bed rest before they'll be fully healthy.”

Wingspan shook his head, his brow, too, furrowed. “I know Wintermint and Rocky's kids are made of stuff as tough as their parents, but several days, if not weeks, alone is just too much. I think they'll need a foster home for the time being. It'll be safer, too, if there's somepony with ill intentions lurking in the woods.”

“They don't have any other relatives in town, so I guess I'll--” Rubber Stamp began, running his hoof through his frazzled mane for the umpteenth time that night.

Holly, however, interrupted him with a stern shake of her head “Nah... I'll take 'em in. Our mansion has plenty of room and my nieces and nephews would be delighted to have other youths for company. That should, hopefully, help them cope with their parents being hospitalized a bit better.”

The relief on the mayor's face was clear as day “Oh, thank you, Holly! I... I confess I was hoping you'd volunteer, but you Plowshares already do so much for our community that I didn't want to impose.”

“Just doin' our part, mayor, nothin' more, nothin' less. 'Sides I know you are absolutely hopeless with foals!” She gave a mischievous, lopsided grin at the older stallion.

“Heh... You said it, not me. Married life and foals never did seem like the right thing for me.”

“What do you mean, mayor dearest?” It was doctor Aspirin's turn to chime in. “You already are happily married... To your job!”

The light-hearted ribbing caused a chorus of soft chuckles from all four; just what they needed to lighten up the gloomy atmosphere.

“That settles it then.” Holly said with a nod. “Once it's properly light outside, we'll go and fetch the Roads' foals and let them know what has happened. No sense waking them up just yet.”

“On that note, since it appears Wintermint won't be waking up anytime soon, I'm going to have to ask you lot to vacate the premises and let my patients rest. I'll send word immediately if either one of them wakes up.” Doctor Aspirin said in a tone that brooked absolutely no arguments, starting then to usher everypony out of the room.

Having been practically pushed into the largish reception area/lobby of the clinic, mayor Rubber Stamp allowed himself another weary sigh. “Well... I suppose I'll go and try to get a bit more rest before starting the day proper. At the very least I'm going to have to fix myself a drink. A stiff one.”

“A bit early for booze, don'tcha think, mayor?” Holly jabbed at the older stallion, eliciting a dry chuckle from him.

“Under normal circumstances I'd agree with you, Holly, but if our town really is under threat by some sort of violent lunatic, supernatural or not, then I hardly count this as normal.”

“Fair 'nuff.”

The mayor turned his weary gaze to Captain Gale. “Wingspan, please make sure that some of your night watchponies do extra patrols near the Roads' homestead until dawn. Just to be sure.”

The Captain mustered up a faint, lopsided grin “One trot ahead of you, mayor. I ordered that as soon as I heard who the victims were. Winternight will be doing aerial survey in that area for as long as he can.”

Rubber Stamp nodded, letting out an approving grunt. Being the only bat-pony in town, Winternight had proven invaluable in his service as one of the night watchponies; despite his playful nature and penchant for goofing off.

The Captain then added “I'm also going to send patrols into the woods to see if they can find anything.”

“Just make sure they be careful, Gale. Whoever that pony is, they were strong enough to beat up Wintermint and remain in good enough condition afterwards to haul her and Rocky back into town,” said Holly, still idly suckling on the toothpick.

Captain Gale's features darkened and his head drooped just a tad, but he shook the darkness of his thoughts away a few heartbeats later, fixing the farmer with a look of steely determination. “I won't be taking any chances. Every patrol will be at least six ponies strong with at least two unicorns for magical support.”

“Some might see that as overkill... That's half the ponies in the town garrison per patrol. We have only ever had just enough to keep bandits away to begin with,” the mayor mumbled, clearing his throat and straightening his posture as he saw the glare Wingspan was giving him. “Ahem... But if that is your decision, Captain, then you will have my full support for it.”

“Stronger Together,” the Captain said whilst extending his hoof.

The other three ponies extended a hoof each, bumping them together in the middle of their little ring whilst repeating the Captain's words.

And with that little ceremony of reciting the town's motto their meeting was officially adjourned, everypony going their separate ways out of the infirmary to prepare for the coming day.

---

The soft glow of an oil lamp greeted Wintermint as she finally came to. Despite having slept for who knows how long she still felt weary and exhausted. A bit less so than after the attack, but only a little.

Her blurry eyes scanned the surroundings, taking in the cozy wood paneling of the walls and the small oil painting of a bowl of fruit hanging directly opposite of the bed she was resting in. To her left was a nightstand with the aforementioned oil lamp and a water pitcher and a window with its curtains drawn shut tight. A simple chair, probably for visitors, was neatly placed into one corner next to the door. The small wooden chest, meant for the patient's personal belongings, placed into the other corner completed the décor.

“The infirmary?” She thought to herself, shifting her eyes towards the headboard of the bed and, yes indeed, she spotted the drawstring attached to a bell dangling within easy reach.

Taking a deep breath she tried to focus her magic into her horn to grasp the string, but her horn merely let out a feeble little spark before the magic sputtered out.

She squeezed her eyes shut and forced the rising tides of cold horror and despair back down. Not having her magic left her feeling so very... Vulnerable, weak and useless; like a fundamental part of what made her, well, her was missing.

Wintermint swallowed hard and, with some struggle, managed to crane her neck enough to grasp the string with her teeth to give it a pull. Somewhere in the reception area a bell rang cheerily as a result.

Just to be sure she pulled the string a second time and then relinquished her hold of it, allowing her head to flop back on the fluffy pillow.

It didn't take long for the door to creak open and a dark red unicorn stallion in an orderly's jacket entered the room.

Wintermint gave the familiar pony a tired smile, her voice hoarse as she spoke. “Hey, Bedside. Good to see you. How's the town's best nurse doing?”

Bedside Manner gave the mare a smile of his own as he trotted over to her bed. “Glad to see you awake, Wintermint. And it's easy to be the best when you're the only nurse in town!”

Wintermint managed a chuckle in response, her smile melting away as she asked “What about Rocky? Is he all right?”

Bedside nodded “Banged up, but he'll be fine. A broken rib and a concussion plus a whole bushel of bruises, but nothing the good doctor couldn't fix.” He held a small pause before continuing. “Do you need anything, ma'am, before I go notify the doctor you've awoken? She wanted to know as soon as you woke up.”

Feeling absolutely parched, Wintermint nodded and croaked out “Water, please.”

Bedside nodded once more and his horn lit up with a soft silvery white glow that matched his mane perfectly. Using his magic he opened a drawer on the nightstand and pulled out a lidded cup with a straw, popped open the lid and filled it with water from the pitcher. After sealing the container once more he levitated it over to Wintermint whilst propping her up into a more upright position.

“Small sips now,” he gently instructed as he brought the straw to Wintermint's lips.

The water wasn't exactly cold, but it was refreshingly cool nonetheless, like liquid bliss flowing down her throat with every little gulp. It took a bit of time, but she ended up draining the whole mug in one go, a satisfied sigh leaving her muzzle when she was done.

“Thank you, Bedside. You're a real gem.”

The nurse stallion let out a soft chuckle as he levitated the cup onto the nightstand. “Just doing my job, ma'am. I will now let the doctor know you're awake.”

With that said he briskly trotted out of the room, closing the door with magic as he went. This caused an involuntary pang of sadness in Wintermint as it reminded her of her own sorry state.

She tried a couple more times to simply light up her horn with magic, the simplest of simple tricks that every unicorn foal learned almost from the get-go, but to no avail. Once again, after focusing so hard she thought she'd pop a blood vessel in her head, the best she could do was conjure up a couple of faint little sparks and she was left panting and gasping like she'd just ran a race.

Wintermint couldn't help but worry. What if that monster had taken her magic away for good? What if she'd never recover from her weakened state? What, then, would become of her children..? Who would take care of them if Rocky, too, shared a fate similar to hers? The gloomy thoughts swirled in her head like dark, roiling fog. She wanted to cry, but found that she had no tears to shed, left with nothing but the burning in her eyes and an ever tightening knot in the pit of her stomach.

She had no idea how much time had passed when the door next opened and doctor Aspirin led Rubber Stamp, Captain Gale and Holly into the room. Their arrival was a welcome distraction as it allowed her to focus on something other than her worries. Their relieved smiles leveled at her even managed to coax a small smile of her own out of her.

“Quite the welcoming committee I'm getting,” Wintermint said, trying to sound positive.

The mayor adjusted the red-and-white striped tie he had around his neck before speaking. “We were all very worried, Wintermint, so of course we'd all want to come and see you. We--”

Gale interrupted the mayor in a tone that surprised even himself in how demanding it was. “We need to know what happened to you, ma'am.” Catching himself he felt a faint heat rising to his cheeks as he added, in a more sheepish tone, “Err... That is, if you're ready to speak about it, ma'am.”

Wintermint nodded. “I will, but before that... Doctor? Is Rocky going to be all right? Will... Will I be all right?”

The doctor took Wintermint's hoof into her own and gave it a reassuring pat. “I'm positive that with enough rest you'll be up and about in due time. Same with Rocky, though his ribs will need several weeks to heal, but heal they will.”

“Thank you...” Wintermint stifled back an involuntary sob of, mostly, relief. She then swept her gaze slowly from one pony to another before focusing on Captain Gale. “We were attacked. It all started when we saw this mare in a cloak and a hat running down the forest road...”

She recounted the main points of her encounter with Night Terror to the best of her ability: the meeting, the banter, the decidedly one-sided fight... The others clearly had a hard time believing what she was saying judging by the nervous, incredulous glances they were giving each other. All except Holly, whose face remained a mask of stoic granite all throughout.

When she came to the point where the pale stallion had delivered his ultimatum to her she had to take a long, long pause.

By the end of it her tears had once more found her as she cast a mournful look at the four ponies standing by her bedside. “I'm so, so, so very sorry, everypony...”

Holly shook her head. “Nah... You've got nothin' to apologize for, Minty.”

“Yes I do!” She shouted. “I... By Celestia, the things he threatened to do to my foals... I-I had no choice...”

“What are you saying?” Rubber Stamp asked tentatively.

“I told him everything... He knows everything about the town, the garrison, our defenses, l-layout, the most important po-ponies in town... E-Everything.” Wintermint sucked in a quivering breath before screwing her eyes shut. “I sol-sold out the town on a silver platter to that monster and betrayed you all for the safety of m-my family...”

“That's a load of horseapples, Minty,” Holly said in a surprisingly calm tone despite the dire nature of the news. “That sick bastard put you into an impossible situation and you know it. Heck, I'da done the same dang thing in your horseshoes! But now that we know that he knows, we can prepare and adjust things accordingly, so don't you DARE go an' blame yourself for lookin' after the safety of your foals first and foremost.”

The others nodded and murmured in agreement. Holly was right, as usual. They were a close-knit community made of good, tough country stock. They could take on anything; come hell or high water.

“Besides, with any luck, my patrols will find, beat and apprehend that miscreant before you know it. They've been at it all day, but I'm sure they'll find something soon enough. And don't you worry, I made sure the patrols are sizable so they have the advantage of numbers against a lone madpony,” Captain Gale said with all the bold confidence so stereotypical of military pegasi.

Wintermint shook her head slowly. “Didn't you hear me, Wingspan? He took me out in one blow. My magic was nothing compared to his... I was as a foal against a Chimera...”

Suddenly her eyes widened in shock as something the Captain had said struck her mind. “Wait... all day, you say?” Concern was creeping into her voice with every word, her heart hammering in her chest as panic seeped into her very core. “What time is it? How long was I unconscious?”

“The sun has just set. You've been asleep all day,” Doctor Aspirin replied.

With panic and adrenaline fueling her, Wintermint managed to lurch out of the bed enough to grab Gale by his chest with a hoof, eliciting a loud protest from the good doctor and a surprised grunt from the pegasus. “The patrols... You said they’re still out there?”

“Y-Yeah... Sergeant Stalwart Heart's group is still combing through the woods, though they should be returning shortly,” the Captain stammered a bit, taken completely by surprise at the frantic desperation in Wintermint's eyes.

“Call. Them. Back! They are in mortal peril... Night Terror is no mere lunatic. He is dangerous and he wields… He wields dark sorcery the like of which I've never seen before! For pony's sake, he even used to be one of Nightmare Moon's Nightmare Guards... A thousand years ago! He's... He's an actual bucking vampire, Gale!”

“Wh-What..?” Was all the pegasus managed.

“That's quite enough, Minty!” Doctor Aspirin said sternly as she forced the sage green mare back into her bed. “You need to calm down and not strain yourself. You've lost a considerable amount of both blood and energy and the last thing you want is to cause some kind of complication with all that thrashing about. Think of your foals, for goodness' sake!”

Aspirin then wheeled about and pointed a firm hoof towards the door. “This concludes the visiting hours for today. Out, all of you!”

The mayor was about to argue, but Holly planted a hoof gently on his withers and shook her head silently. The old stallion let out a defeated sigh, nodded and walked out of the room, followed swiftly by Captain Gale and, finally, Holly who shut the door firmly behind herself.

---

The sun had already dipped below the horizon, filling the forest with long and dark shadows, whilst Sergeant Stalwart Heart and his five companions were making their way back into town.

Stalwart and the other unicorn in the outfit, the fresh-faced rookie named Bright Star, had their horns lit whilst two of the others carried lanterns in their mouths.

One of the guards groaned. “We spent all day and evening combing through the woods looking for one pony. We'd have better luck finding a needle in a haystack!”

Another one nudged his complaining companion, a roguish smirk on his face. “Well of course we didn't find him. The damned coward is too scared to face Equestria's Finest! I bet he heard us coming, turned tail and fled and is currently halfway to Saddle Arabia!”

The one-eyed Sergeant fixed the two loudmouths with his trademark withering glare. “No whinnying, or whining for that matter, in formation. You make enough racket to wake the dead, so is it any wonder we can't find anyone you mo-rons!”

The two offenders stiffened up and one even threw up a hasty salute amidst hurried exclaims of “Yes, sergeant!” and “Sorry, sergeant!”

Once the sergeant turned his eyepatched visage away from them, the two guards exchanged a quick glance and sighed, very very quietly, in relief.

The next ten minutes or so passed by in relative silence with only the clop and crunch of hooves on packed dirt filling the air. The further they went, the deeper the frown on the sergeant's face grew. It was far, far too quiet, after all...

Before Stalwart Heart could give voice to his concerns, however, the almost eerie silence was broken by the sound of someone humming coming from the dark woods somewhere to the advancing formation's left. It was a slow, soft tune, oddly familiar yet completely foreign at the same time to almost everypony in the group.

Five heads turned towards the direction the sound was coming from and the small column came to a halt almost immediately. The sergeant, however, kept his head on a swivel and scanned the treeline in the other directions, fully suspecting the humming to be nothing more than a distraction.

Sure enough the direction from which the hummed melody was coming from seemed to change abruptly which had the already nervous patrol nearly tripping over each other as they turned towards the new source of the singing.

“Whoever it is, they're trying to mess with our heads! Form a circle, spears out!” The sergeant barked as he fluidly unsheathed his sword with a practiced flick of magic, weaving the blade in a lazy figure eight in front of him to test his telekinetic grip on it.

Before the others had a chance to react, something thwipped past Stalwart Heart's head and the two lanterns went out accompanied by the sound of shattering glass. The lantern bearers snorted and reared in surprise as they dropped the now suddenly darkened sources of light.

Private Bright Star could feel beads of sweat rolling down his brow as he clutched his spear. He dutifully followed the sergeant's orders to form a circle, placing himself on the opposite side of it now that their lanterns had been knocked out and the two of them were providing the only illumination. Silently he cursed the overcast skies, lamenting the fact they had no pegasi in the group who could fly up to punch some holes in the clouds to let some much-needed moonlight into the gloomy woods.

The humming stopped abruptly and Bright Star became suddenly very aware of the frantic beating of his heart. Instinctively he raised a hoof to his chestplate, pressing the amulet he always wore underneath more tightly to his chest as he offered a silent prayer to Celestia for protection.

“Steady... Steady now...” He heard the sergeant saying in that gruff but confident way of his.

Several tense heartbeats passed, ten nervous and one determined eye scanning the shadows for any signs of movement. A bush rustled, followed by something being thrown into the middle of their formation.

The spherical object exploded with a loud bang and a cloud of acrid lavender smoke billowed forth. The guardsponies started coughing almost immediately, trying to waft the noxious fumes away from their stinging eyes.

Hearing the sounds of his troops trying to scatter away from the cloud, the sergeant barked a single order “Hold the line, dammit!” He fought down a cough, snarled and then added, “Whoever is behind this is trying to break our formation, so you mo-rons won't give them that pleasure! We are the motherbucking Guard and we hold! The! Bucking! LINE!”

The other guards' replies were drowned out by more loud bangs and puffs of smoke as two more smoke bombs exploded in their midst. By then the noxious cloud was so thick that even the sergeant had to relent rather than choke, ordering the troops to move out and regroup further down the road.

Bright Star was more than happy to leap out of the acrid cloud, shaking his head and rubbing his watering eyes whilst coughing up a storm. As soon as the world came back into focus he started to look around, spotting one of his companions, the loudmouth who had roused the sergeant's ire earlier, coughing and sputtering not far away on the edge of the roiling smoke cloud.

He tried to call out to his fellow guardspony, but as soon as he had opened his mouth he saw walls of impenetrable umbra closing all around them, leaving him standing in absolute pitch darkness that even the light on his horn couldn't penetrate.

Bright Star had to do a double take on that last point. His horn was definitely glowing and he could just barely make out his own outline in its light, but beyond that the alabaster unicorn could see absolutely nothing.

“What kind of magic is this..?” He found himself thinking frantically.

The other guards had started to call out to each other and to the sergeant for advice and the whole chaotic situation seemed to be turning into a six-way game of Marcolt Polo.

There was a loud, sudden crash of something heavy colliding bodily with a fully armored stallion, followed by a surprised scream for help that almost immediately transformed into a strangled, gurgling scream before being silenced.

“What was that? What's going on?” Someone else yelled.

“It's a magically conjured darkness, no normal light will pierce it. Bright Star! Help me dispel thi-- Urf!” The sergeant was cut off suddenly, causing even more pandemonium among the blinded ranks.

Whilst Bright Star tried his best to calm his mind and focus on channeling more and more light into his horn -light magic was, after all, his specialty as his name suggested- all around him he could hear the sounds of his companions being attacked one after another. Curses, screams and the trampling of hooves filled the air only to be abruptly silenced one by one.

“Oh Goddess! It got me, it got me! Heeeeel-grlgh!”

“Show yourself you bucking coward! Aaaaaargh!”

Silence fell. Absolute, total, complete silence. It was as if even the wind itself was holding its breath in anticipation for what was to happen next.

Bright Star felt his spell fizzle, his mind too frantic to focus. He clutched his spear to his chest like a scared foal would a safety blanket. He had never expected to have to fight a foe like this... Heck, the worst he'd expected to face were ponies who had enjoyed too much hard cider and maybe, maybe the odd few bandit rabble. Not this. Not anything remotely like this...

A twig snapped behind him, his ears perking up from where they had previously lain flat against his helmet. He whirled about and thrust wildly with his spear, shouting what he hoped would be a ferocious battlecry, but alas his voice cracked and came out more as a frightened squeak.

His thrust met only empty air, but before he could recover something or somepony stomped onto the shaft of his spear, knocking it out of his grasp. The walls of inky darkness fell away, revealing to Bright Star a pale, armored stallion standing right in front of him with a fanged smile adorning his helmetless head.

Unlike the standard Guard armor that he and the others wore, or even the ones worn by princess Luna's Night Guard, the stranger's armor had more plating to it to cover more vital areas and those parts which weren't covered in plate were protected with a mesh linked chain made of some dark gray metal. Naturally such a suit would've taken a lot more time, effort and material to make which was part of the reason the Guard wore such stripped-down versions usually; they were simply easier to make and maintain.

“Boo,” Night Terror deadpanned, causing Bright Star to shriek in fear and fall flat on his back in his haste to scramble away.

The alabaster unicorn fired off a hasty bolt of magic which struck the other stallion square in the chest. Rather than being knocked back, the intricate runic scripture etched onto his armor flared momentarily in balefire green light around the point of impact and his spell simply dissipated, leaving him completely unfazed and unharmed. Bright Star felt the bottom of his stomach falling away as he realized his spell had had no effect.

“Impressed?” The fanged pony asked in an amused tone, giving the alabaster unicorn a wide, wicked grin. “Runes of Spell Dissipation. Plenty enough all over the suit to make me virtually immune to, well, weak magic such as yours.”

Night Terror's grin melted away into a stern look. “E for effort. Here's your reward!” And with that said he conjured up a lash of his own dark magic. The black-and-green tendril of ruinous energy whipped into Bright Star with enough force to send him flying through the air.

The wind was knocked out of his lungs as he landed. Spots of light danced in his eyes as he tried to refocus his swimming vision. It was then that he noticed the carnage all around him. The roadside was littered with the bodies of his fellow guardsponies, each one laying haphazardly on the ground or leaning against a tree and they all had a stain of crimson on their neck where they had most likely been bitten.

Were they truly facing a vampire? The Captain had been, at best, vague about it, stating it was a rumor and nothing more, yet the evidence he was presently confronted with was frighteningly compelling...

The clop of armored hooves heading his way made Bright Star shift his focus back on the vampire. Night Terror was approaching him casually with an amused half-smile on his lips, eyes firmly locked with his prey's.

“If you lot are the best that New Hayshire has to offer, then consuming the town for all it's worth won't even be a challenge...” He was about to say something more, but then his eyes fell away from Bright Star's and onto his chest. The vampire's pupils contracted and he let out a hiss like an angry cat, fangs bared as he recoiled away from the other stallion.

Bright Star was confused for a moment until he brought a hoof to his chest and felt the familiar shape of the amulet. In all the jostling it must've slipped out from underneath his armor. The amulet itself was made of solid gold and shaped like a burning sun -a perfect replica of princess Celestia's cutie mark- surrounded by a wreath of feathered wings.

It was a family heirloom from the times when ponies had revered the princess more akin to a goddess. Whilst actual religious worship of the sun princess had diminished over the years, some ponies carried the sun amulets as good luck charms or out of sheer habit. Yet others to that very day still assigned a deeper, more spiritual meaning to them, but those ponies were getting fairly rare.

“Of course... Vampires hate holy symbols and what would be more hated than a symbol of the sun itself!” Bright Star thought to himself, feeling a sudden surge of hope welling within his chest.

He yanked the amulet off his neck, snapping the cord that had been holding it and clambered onto his hooves, presenting the symbol of the sun in front of him towards Night Terror whilst shouting with all the conviction he could muster. “Back! Get back you fiend! Back to the shadows that spawned you! The power of Celestia compels you!”

With every step that he took, Night Terror was driven back, hissing and trying not to look at the golden symbol, almost as if the light reflecting off it's surface was burning and blinding him.

Finally, with one last look that screamed bloody murder, Night Terror snarled and dove into one of the bushes, the sound of galloping hooves soon fading into the distance.

Bright Star let out a quivering breath that he hadn't even realized he was holding. His ears were perked and alert, listening to any sounds that might betray the monster's return, but he heard nothing. Nothing but the chill wind gently rustling through the trees.

He lowered his gaze to look at the golden amulet on his hoof, a smile curling onto his muzzle as he clutched it against his chest and closed his eyes. “Thanks, grandma, you were right when you said this thing would keep me sa--”

The blast of magic coming from his left took him completely by surprise, a strained yelp the only sound he managed to let out as he was hurled through the air once more. He landed poorly and ended up skidding along the thankfully soft forest floor, his head spinning and his ears ringing from the force of the impact.

With dawning horror he realized he'd lost his grasp on the amulet! Even worse, the vampire was sauntering towards him from the shadows with a thoroughly displeased scowl on his gaunt features...

Frantically Bright Star scanned his surroundings for any glimmers of gold, feeling a slight bit of elation as he saw the familiar shape glinting not too far away. Forcing his aching body to comply he made a dive for the precious heirloom, but in his injured state he ended up misjudging the distance and landing just out of reach of the amulet.

He scrabbled and crawled as fast as he could towards it on his belly, but just as his hoof was about to make contact with it a coruscating beam of magic, fired from Night Terror's mouth, slammed into the ground where the holy symbol of Celestia lay.

A few seconds later the vampire snapped his jaws shut and the beam was cut off, revealing nary more than molten slag where the amulet had once been.

“Ahhh... Much better!” Night Terror exclaimed, allowing a small smile to curl onto his pallid features as he swept a stray lock of black mane back behind his ear.

Trembling like a maple leaf in wind, Bright Star turned to look directly at the vampire that now was looming terrifyingly close to his prone form, the unicorn's voice cracking as he very quietly uttered “Oh buck me...”

This elicited a hearty, downright jovial laughter from Night Terror. “Handsome though you might be, I'm going to pass on that offer, thank you very much.”

Flustered, Bright Star could only open and close his mouth like a goldfish on dry land, unable to form anything more coherent than stuttered half words.

The vampire suddenly ceased his laughter and turned to look to the side, his brow creasing in a deep frown as he muttered, “That wasn't too weird, right? Just a simple little joke. I mean he practically walked into that one, so it would be downright criminal not to seize the opportunity... Right?”

Focus!

Night Terror turned to look directly at Bright Star once more, a pleasant, if fanged, smile on his face that chilled the prone unicorn to the very core. “Sorry about that. Now then! Where were we?”

Bright Star found his wits enough to try and scramble away, crawling along the ground whilst kicking wildly with his back legs for purchase. The only thought hammering in his mind was to escape, to run away from the horrible creature before it could finish the job. He didn't get very far before a magical grip on one of his hind legs snatched him back, dragging him screaming along the ground.

“Don't make me break it...” Night Terror's tone was dark and left no doubt he'd make good on that threat too. For emphasis he gave the unicorn's entire leg a painful squeeze with a little flex of his magical prowess, only relenting once his hapless victim was screaming in agony.

“P-Please...” Bright Star pleaded, turning onto his side on the ground to look at his assailant with tears of pain and fear in his eyes. “I-I don't want to die!”

Night Terror let out a disappointed sigh and shook his head. “What a coward... Oh how the Guard's standards have fallen in the past millennium. It would be funny if it wasn't so damn pathetic! You signed your life away to be the Tyrant's plaything the second you scribbled your name on that dotted line, rookie. Or what? Did mommy and daddy get you in through connections in hopes of getting their pwecious widdle colt a fancy uniform so they could brag about it to their self-important highborn friends?”

The mixture of shock and surprise on Bright Star's face told Night Terror he'd struck a chord.

The unicorn hung his head in shame. “I... I never wanted this career, but t-t-they insisted. F-Family tradition and all and they said I was so good with magic back in school...”

Night Terror stomped the ground with a steelclad hoof, interrupting the rookie guard's speech. “I'm not here to listen to the whole miserable sob story of your life... If you haven't grown enough of a spine to say no to your parents and make your own damn way in this world, well, tough crap. The only reason I'm not currently gums-deep in your jugular is because I had fun watching you squirm, but the novelty of that is running thin. Rapidly.”

Bright Star cast a tentative look once more at the still forms of his companions. “H-How much do you even need to consume? How much can you consume in one night?” The question left him before he had a chance to really think better of it and he winced immediately afterwards as he turned, shakily, to look at the vampire once more.

That got an amused snort out of the pale stallion. “I only need enough to make one adult pony feel woozy for a day or two. Anything I consume beyond that is just to make me stronger and stronger. The more I gorge on, the more powerful I get!”

When the injured unicorn said nothing, Night Terror plopped down onto his haunches in front of Bright Star with a heavy thud and the soft clink of mail armor. He crossed his forelimbs and tapped his chin thoughtfully with one hoof whilst sucking on his teeth, a deep, thinking frown creasing his brow. “You know a weakness of mine, so I can't just let you go because you'd tell everypony and their dog back in the village... And let's face it, nopony likes a tattletale.”

Bright Star swallowed audibly, but kept silent. Better to let the monster have his monologue and then, afterwards, he could beg for his life.

“I'd rather not kill you. Unicorns are, after all, my favorite meal and from what dear Wintermint told me there aren't too many in New Hayshire to begin with.” He held a pause, his frown deepening “But even if I drain you like I've done with the rest of your group here, you'll still be in good enough shape to spill my secrets.”

“Y-You could always take me as a prisoner? I wouldn't be of any bother, I swear,” Bright Star offered with a nervous half smile of his own.

Night Terror shook his head and chuckled. “Not a chance, little morsel. I have neither the time nor the patience to look after a hostage. Killing you here and now would be infinitely more merciful than letting you slowly starve at some dank, dark corner of my lair, because I know I couldn't be bothered to scrounge up food and water to keep your sorry flank alive.”

The sinking feeling in Bright Star's stomach intensified exponentially as the small smirk on the vampire's face died and his expression hardened like granite. Night Terror rose back onto his hooves and circled behind the unicorn, a flicker of magic pinning the guardspony firmly to the ground.

“Looks like I'm going to have to end you after all, but don't you worry none. You get to go to a place where mommy and daddy can't boss you around. And hey, they'll now get to say their son died a hero in service of the oh-so-precious crown. What an honor!”

Bright Star tried in vain to thrash and struggle, panic welling inside him. He tried to speak, to plead and beg for his life, but the same magic that kept him pinned was also keeping his muzzle firmly shut.

He felt the vampire's breath on his neck, a stark contrast of warmth against the autumn night's chill. “Hush now. The pain will last but a moment and then there'll be no more tears... Good night, little pony. The Everdream awaits.”

A bestial snarl cut through the night. Bright Star let out a muffled cry and then... Silence.

---

Silent as a passing shadow, a bat-pony dropped to hang upside down by his tail on a branch nearby to the scene of the rather one-sided battle. He surveyed the area, holding a long, thin silver whistle between his lips. Ever so cautiously, he closed his eyes and blew into the whistle, but no sound came out.

Well, no sound any ordinary pony could hear at least, but to a bat-pony with such finely tuned ears as Winternight had, the dogwhistle allowed him to survey the darkness through echolocation without much of a risk of anypony hearing him; quite nifty when one wanted to be covert about their presence.

He had already blown into the whistle twice whilst still fully hidden before he'd decided to drop into view, true, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to be careful. Or so the dark gray little bat reasoned to himself.

Satisfied that the monster truly was gone, Winternight uncoiled his shockingly bright red tail from the branch and flapped his way to the ground next to the pile of unconscious guardsponies. The vampire had dragged the whole lot of them into one pile with his magic before sauntering off into the night whilst humming some kind of tune.

He licked his dry lips, trepidation filling him as he approached the pile of what he presumed to be corpses. Cautiously he leaned his ear against the barrel of the nearest guard and, for a moment, thought his own heart skipped a beat as he picked up not only the other pony's weak heartbeat but the sound of shallow breathing.

A quick check confirmed it: five of the six were, in fact, alive! Some just barely, but nonetheless. Suddenly Winternight was glad that the monster had decided to dump all the bodies into a big old pile. Sharing body heat would help them survive better in the chilly night whilst waiting for help to arrive.

Winternight cast the pony pile a nervous glance. Would they really be okay whilst he went to get help from the town? He decided they'd have to be, because he didn't have what it took to help all of them in their current state. Sure, if there was just one then maybe he'd just barely be able to fly them over to New Hayshire, but all five survivors and the dead unicorn? Not a snowball’s chance in Tartarus.

“Hang in there, fellas. I'll... I'll be right back with help, okay?” He said in a soft, squeaky voice before spreading his leathery wings and taking off with all the speed he could muster.

Author's Note:

Comments are, as always, very much appreciated. We authors thrive on them, after all