He's a Vampire

by Gormless Wheaton

Overdose

---

The sunlight made quick work of the ghouls below us, leaving behind a pile of dusty, exhausted, injured, and irritated changelings. I however had more pressing things on my mind.

"Peter, stop!" Twilight giggled, waving my mist away with a hoof as I tried to get her attention. I swirled around her again and then flowed to the floor below us. Fortunately, it was shielded from the sun so I was able to change shape.

"Twilight! Candy dipped down a storm drain-looking thing," I yelled.

"What?" She replied as she and the changeling hopped down to my level. "But all the water flows to the shore. There shouldn't be any storm drains." I furrowed my brow.

"Follow me, I'll show you," she nodded and I turned back to mist, leading her down to the street, around the changelings who cast weak threats her way, and to the thin hole in the street. She leaned close and examined it for a moment.

"Water's flowing out of this, not in.." She hummed and grimaced. "Smells kind of bad, too."

"Wastewater?" My changeling offered at which Twilight gasped.

"Has to be!" She studied the street closely for a moment, specifically a small crease where the sidewalk met the road. "Look at the way the stone is set, there's absolutely a channel here for it!"

"Bit unsanitary," I thought. Twilight tapped her chin as she contemplated this before adopting a distant stare.

"Peter, get us back to Dusty."

---

We stared down the hatch Dusty had opened in the corner of the apartment.

"Every apartment has these?" Twilight asked.

"The low-income ones, yeah," Dusty explained with a grumpy blush. "And they all use the same pipes to those water holes in the street like you asked. They get flushed with rain water once a week to let all the icky stuff out." Twilight whipped around to look at her.

"And the water outlets are all connected?" Dusty blinked and shuffled her hooves.

"Yeah? I think so." I held my hands on my head and turned to our team who were giving us both an expectant, critical stare.

"He's in the sewers and has access to every apartment in the fucking city."

"Including this one," Twilight added as she slammed the hatch door shut. Dusty held her hoof up to her mouth with a squeak, while Cozy and Sunbeam quickly drew their cutie-fixes. Calaeno, who was on her feet despite still being injured studied the hatch.

"What's the plan?" She finally asked. I paced the floor, trying to scan for Candy with my Evil Eye to no avail when my attention fell on Hasty and the other wounded. He was awake and weakly looked up at me with a smile.

"We need to evacuate the building, first off," I declared.

"Same goes for the city," Twilight added, she stepped to the center of the room next to me. "And I think the easiest way to do that is to use Hop's speaker machine." She nudged me and pointed at my three mesmerized pirates.

"Where can we find that?" I asked. One of the dogs held up his paw.

"He keeps it in his home. Needs to be hooked up first."

"Do any of you know how to do that?" Calaeno asked and the dog nodded. Capper grimaced and stood up, leaning on the wall for support.

"Great, but now how're we going to get anyone to listen? Pretty sure the townies only do what Hop told 'em to, y'know?" A contemplative silence followed until Twilight stamped a hoof and pointed at my changeling.

"We have Hop right here!" She declared. The changeling blinked and looked around before jolting and changing into what I presumed was Hop's form.

"Bingo!" Calaeno cheered. "And while we're at it, let's have those losers in the fleet at the shore take a hike." Twilight tapped her chin in thought and slowly nodded.

"Alright, you two are coming with me. Peter, you help get everypony out of here, then get Sunbeam and Cozy to us," she pointed to the changeling and the diamond dog.

"Why us?" Cozy asked before kicking my leg. "Gimme my knife back." I held up my hands and slowly returned it to her. She cooed and cradled it before slipping it into her coat.

"Because I get the feeling once Candy realizes we're evacuating the city, he's going to return to his initial target," Twilight held a hoof to her chest. "Me. It'll be the perfect chance to finally pin him down and slay him."

"Hey!" Cozy squealed as her knife was taken from her coat by Blueblood's magic. He held up a hoof before she could attack him and gave the blade a few experimental swings before sending it into an almost hypnotic whirlwind around him at speeds I couldn't even follow before stopping it stiffly straight in front of him. The entire performance created an echoing warble that ended in a dull pang which I felt as well as heard.

"Jesus," I winced.

"Whoa," Cozy squeaked.

"Do it again," Quilt huffed. Blueblood slowly inspected the knife and hummed.

"Very light. I'd like to offer my assistance if Ms. Cozy will lend me this weapon," he said giving the knife a twirl. Twilight blinked and stammered before nodding and turning back to the changeling.

"Alright, let's go over what you need to say."

---

The entire second story of Hop's dwelling was a mess, with holes blasted through the walls and the exterior walkway completely collapsed. The police and criminals Twilight had met earlier had all fled after her threat, the former group visibly barricaded inside the town hall while the latter were nowhere in sight.

"They must've skipped town once I told them Hop was dead," Twilight mused as she carried her companions to the building.

"Hop's dead?!" The dog cried. "Who's paying us then?!" Twilight rolled her eyes as they touched down in the hallway.

"Right now, you're working for Peter, remember?"

"Oh yeah!" With that out of the way, they crept up to the door and peeked inside. The giant suite was in worse shape than the outside. All the golden ornaments were shattered or melted, the bar was leaking all over the floor, and the cloud bed appeared to have evaporated into a thin haze that filled the room. The holes in the wall and ceiling let in plenty of light revealing large piles of ash all over the place.

Chrysalis was nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Hop's speaker?" Twilight demanded as they moved inside. The dog led her to a closet at the base of the stairs, inside of which was a white box with a bundle of wires and a handheld ovoid device on a metal stick. The dog hefted up the whole assembly and tramped his way upstairs to the porch.

Or at least he would have had the porch not collapsed. As it was, the three of them stood at the threshold of a steep drop outside.

"Of course," Twilight grumbled, scanning the exterior of the building through the wide door. She spotted some severed wires hanging loosely. "Are those the connectors?" The dog looked over and hummed.

"I think so? They're usually in a metal box.." Twilight nodded in response and grabbed them in her magic. She closed her eyes as she held them.

"Alright.. Minotaur engineering, easy. I can do that," her eyes visibly darted around under her eyelids and she nodded again before opening them. "Show me how you usually connect it." Working together, Twilight delicately removed a few pieces from the speaker's wires and managed to twist them all together, causing a horrible squeal to echo across the whole city.

"That's a good sign, I think," the dog declared. His voice was heard over the whole city. The three shared a look and Twilight handed the speaker to the changeling, who took a breath and changed into Hop.

---

Once we had everyone outside, I did a second sweep of the alley to make damn good and certain there weren't any access points to the sewer system. Satisfied, I turned to the group.

"You three ready?" I asked Cozy and the other two, who nodded anxiously. Blueblood gave the knife a few more test swings before responding.

"More than ready, Master," he finally said, giving me a wry smile. I sat down next to Hasty and gently petted him.

"We're almost through, so try to hold it together," I said as he hummed in response. We all winced when a squeal echoed through the whole city.

"I think that's a good sign," the voice of the dog I'd sent with Twilight followed.

"Almost showtime," Calaeno declared. I snapped to my feet and pulled Cozy, Sunbeam, and Blueblood next to me as we waited and listened. Then, 'Hop' spoke.

"Change of plans folks! That scheming Chrysalis has sabotaged us! Gonna need every last one of you to get outside into the open air, then head for the airship port! She's pumping poison through the sewer, and I'd bet my last bit it's slipping its way up the pipes," I bent down and wrapped my arms around my team in preparation. "As for the captains flying uselessly out at the shoreline, get your rears in gear! I want you back at the port five minutes ago and ready to move on the lab! You know which one. That's where she's holed up. And to our loyal protectors in the police force, I recommend you get moving as well! She's got the mayor. Commodore Hop, signing off!" The squeal rang out again followed by a pop.

"Ah! It's on fire!" Twilight screamed. I nodded as the feed cut with a harsh crackle.

"Alright, let's-"

"ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!" We all jolted and looked up to see an absolutely livid, pink mare with a yellow mane and squeaky voice stomping out into the street. "The outrageous taxes are one thing! I can live with the bad housing! Heck, some stupid squabble between his pirates and another crew leveling half a block I can rationalize!" She stamped her hooves and blew steam from her nostrils.

"But now he's messing with my TOILET?!" She ground her teeth and snarled.

"You said it!" A diamond dog came out brandishing a club. "We put up with Hop too long!"

"And after all our spying for him, he dares betray the queen?!" A unicorn stallion added before turning into a changeling.

"Ungrateful son of a so-and-so!" The pink mare replied with a firm nod. More and more angry locals came out, forming an ever growing mob.

"Let's burn his house down!" Someone shouted, to the cheers of the mob.

"And the town hall!" More cheers.

"And let's give Shang-hay to the queen!" More cheers.

"Come on!" The pink mare squealed from her perch atop a diamond dog's shoulders. The mob roared and stampeded their way to Hop's house presumably.

"Huh," Calaeno meekly said.

"We should go," Sunbeam declared firmly. I nodded and warped to Twilight, who was stomping out a fire on the edge of what must've once been a porch. The changeling and diamond dog, meanwhile, were working together to smash a sparking machine to pieces.

"Hey! Did it sound okay?" Twilight greeted with a hopeful smile.

"Yep. And everyone heard, I think," I replied.

"Everyone? Great! Now we can-"

"There's an angry mob on its way here," Cozy said. Twilight blanched and looked between us.

"Wh?" She peeped. There was a commotion just outside at that moment. We looked over the edge and saw the police mustering out front.

"Tally, get your squad to the lab! The rest of you are with me! Let's find out what's going on up there," The force split and a little less than half began flying up to our position.

"Uh oh," Twilight peeped before warping everyone out to a shaded alley below. She whirled around to face us. "What do you mean an angry mob?!"

"It seems the locals have finally had enough of Hop's behavior," Blueblood explained. "They're on their way here to burn down his house and the town hall."

"They also might be surrendering to Chrysalis," I added. Twilight stared in disbelief at us before shaking her head.

"Problems for later. For now, at least they're outside and mobile, so the chances of Candy turning anypony are smaller," she looked back at the town hall. "Though we should probably let all the prisoners out first. Can you track Candy with your Evil Eye?" She looked up at me and hummed when I shook my head.

"I haven't been able to get a bead on him this whole time." She narrowed her eyes and tapped her chin before exclaiming.

"Chrysalis mentioned him going by Franklin, so maybe that's his real name?" I pursed my lips and cast my Evil Eye out, looking for Franklin instead of Candy. And I got a hit.

"Oh, shit."

"What?" Cozy asked.

"Let the prisoners out, then get to Calaeno and the rest," was all I offered before teleporting between Frank and our friends, as he was creeping towards them from above. "Fuck you!" I roared and threw my arms at him, dragging the wind across and hurling his fog to the street.

"Whoa!" Calaeno yelled, an exclamation the rest parroted once they noticed his presence. I grabbed the air and swept my arms up, creating a spin which I then worked to suck up more and more of his fog until I had a whirlwind booming and roaring in the middle of the street.

"Got you bitch!" I cackled as I clutched the air and rolled my tornado up to keep his fog form completely encased. He yelled something back, but it was silenced by the roar of the wind.

"Peter!" Quilt squealed as the tornado was starting to drag everyone but me towards it.

"Hang on!" I slowed the wind, but Candy immediately started boiling and hissing upwards. I thrust my arms down and flattened him against the ground. I thrashed the wind back and forth to try and sweep him up again, but he was starting to break free. Then he changed back to his human form and hurled himself into the alley across from us, rolling on the ground to put out the beginnings of a fire on his body.

I grabbed him with magic and started pulling him towards the sunlight, which he fought with all his might. He dug his fingers into the brickwork of one of the buildings and drove his feet into the ground, casting a desperate, hate-filled glare my way.

"C'mon! Get him!" Calaeno cheered. I growled, put my hands forward, and pulled again, making only a little progress. Cracks were forming under my feet as the team cheered me on. I leaned back, held up mostly by the invisible chains tied between my arms and his whole body. Little by little, he slid forward, leaving trenches and groves in the masonry. Then he smiled and my Evil Eye twitched.

He let go of the wall and let himself get thrown towards us, turning into fog and then hurtling towards us as I fell flat on my ass with a gasp. I swept one arm out, sending a pillar of wind at him, which he split around and continued his speedy approach unabated. Hearing Quilt scream, I dragged the wind back at us and swept everyone out of the alley into the street, including myself, just as he crashed down where we had been.

There were some cries of discomfort at the sudden and rough treatment, but I barely heard them over my own cry of pain as the sun hit me. I panicked and teleported to the first thing my Eye latched on to, which was Candy. I rolled out the fire that was building on me amid his fog form before lying on my back and looking up at him, panting and wincing. He swirled around me, forming a skull to leer down at me.

"How's it feel knowing you can't keep me off them forever?"

"'Forever' wasn't in the equation. Just long enough," I huffed.

"Long enough for what?" Instead of answering, I swept my arms over and rolled, blasting him with wind again and sending him out into the street once more. I shot up and started working the wind around him into another whirl. As we resumed our struggle, I checked with my Evil Eye and smiled.

"Long enough for this," Twilight appeared above him at that moment, and threw her own magic alongside mine, allowing me to let the spell go. As she did, Cozy and Blueblood came running, while Sunbeam circled overhead. The two vampire slayers brandished their cutie-fixes at him, one from above and the other from below, which earned a hissing wail from the fog. They moved in tandem to corral him closer and closer to the ground, and Twilight worked the wind to keep him there, forming an ever-shrinking dome of air around him. Unlike my spell, she had enough control to keep it from sucking anyone else in.

Then Blueblood stepped up and gave a few test stabs at the dome, before driving the knife in with his magic and sending it hacking and slashing all around.

It was a strange thing to see, but with Twilight keeping his full mass locked down, and Cozy and Sunbeam warding him towards Blueblood, the knife was actually shredding his fog down, and amidst the howls and screams that we could actually hear over the wind, I saw his fog form shrinking and shrinking.

Then he turned human again, started to smoke under the sun, ripped a chunk of rock from the road, and hurled it at Twilight right as Blueblood cleaved his arm off. She tumbled out of the way, ruining the spell and he launched himself back to the alley.

Where I teleported and wrapped my arms around him. He howled and wept and thrashed in my grip as I slammed us both to the ground.

"NO! NO!"

"STAKE HIM!" I yelled. Cozy was already in position and punched one of her stakes into his stomach, followed immediately by Blueblood who slid next to us and swept the knife with surgical precision across his throat. The whine of the knife was the only sound for a moment, until Candy's head slowly rolled off me, and his body went limp.

I pushed him off me and stood up. His ghost was curled up and gnawing at his fist muttering and whimpering. Though I was the only one who could see him, the others could hear him once they got closer.

"Is he.. is he alright?" Twilight asked, studying the body. I cracked my neck and lit a ball of fire in my hand.

"Probably not, but can't say I care anymore."

---

"Hey hey hey! Lookit that! You called it. Your friends took me down! How's it feel? The bad guy gets got! Fuck me forever!"

The fire roared around him as it consumed his paralyzed body. He felt nothing except the link between him and Pinkie begin to grow fuzzy.

"Not like I asked for this! Not like anyone ever asked what I wanted! I was just doing the best with what I had! You mighta thought you were giving me a choice, but it's the same bullshit dad used to throw my way."

His vision was engulfed by the fire and he felt himself growing drowsy.

"You only cared because I was hurting people. Because I was doing bad things. Cause that makes you feel better by comparison. Better than ME. But you're not. You-"

"Franky? What's going on, what's this weirdy warbly feeling? Are you okay?"

..

"Sorry, Franky, I was in a salty circle 'cause you were being really loud. But then this weird loopy WOOSH feeling happened and I thought you got hurt, so I hopped out of it. Are you okay? You didn't hurt Twilight did you?" The fire popped and her voice grew distant.

..

"No, she's fine. Sorry, Sweetheart. Sorry."

---

His ghost went still and then disappeared as the fire swallowed his body completely. Quilt and Calaeno had made their way over while I burned him, visibly disturbed by the angry muttering we all heard.

"That's.. Was that normal?" Calaeno murmured. Cozy hopped next to her and nudged her.

"Nah, the last one laughed about it, right Sunbeam?" Sunbeam laughed and nodded. The fire roared and I cut the spell.

"Speaking of last time, step back," I held my arms out as the fire went black and then raced into me. Quilt held her stomach and collapsed.

"What the squawk?!" Calaeno yelled as she stumbled back.

"Amazing," Twilight quietly declared.

"Spooky," Cozy tilted her head as the tail end of the darkness vanished. I clenched and unclenched my fists and then sighed as a frigid chill danced up and down my skin. I blinked and looked down at Quilt who was nursing her stomach.

"Hey, you alright?"

"Yeah, I just-" Everything went grey.

"What?" I looked around, and everyone was frozen. Before I could move, a chill raced up my spine again.

"Child."

A deep, bassy drone filled my ears. The grey light around me darkened and the noise grew louder.

"Child."

I slowly looked back and saw a black abyss swallowing up the city and getting closer. As it approached, a white bony claw appeared at its base and drew the darkness back like a sheet, revealing a pair of white lights and a second identical claw that reached out for me.

"Child."

The claw gently clutched my jaw and pulled the entire mass closer, until the lights loomed over me, revealing the silhouette of a faintly equine face.

"Come to me."

The first claw let the darkness fall over me, and then slowly came to rest between the lights and my face before pointing to my left.

"Come to me."

It tightened its grip and forced me to look. The darkness slowly peeled back and I saw a lonely mountain racing towards us. At its base was a black door with ornate red engravings all over it. The droning was unbearable.

"Set me free."

"Peter?" And then it was over. I blinked and uneasily turned to look down at Quilt, who was tugging at my leg. "You okay?" I considered what I had just seen, and the fact that whatever it was spoke with my own voice.

Then I shook my head and collapsed.

---

Comments

[Bossypants]

Dammmnnnn alright…

[Destiny Chaser]

Glad Frank apologized to Pinkie before the end, a last glimmer of light left in him after all.