Blackbird

One of the newest settlements of southern Equestria has gone silent.

The small town of Blackwing was founded as celebration to the defeat of Nightmare Moon and the Return of Princess Luna. It started as an Earth Pony town with few Unicorns and only a rare sight of Pegasi. It takes hours to reach Blackwing, and is isolated from the rest of Equestria by the thick woods that surround it.

Reports of strange looking ponies have filled the place of the original residents. Ponies with long ears and sharp teeth, hunting in the night. A call for investigation is at hand.

Will you stop the hunt?

Or fall prey to the Vampire Ponies?



He was waiting.

The train station was fairly new, considering, and he waited in a nearby room. It was dark enough that he couldn't be seen by normal eyes, and it was small enough that not many would want to come inside for the punishment of cramps.

He had left the note, or rather notes, everywhere he could. Directions of where to find him, and instructions that said that nobody should open the door when the sun was out.

He hopped that someone would come soon, he and the others couldn't hold out that long...

And in the darkness, Gritt Artist waited with a thirst that was yet and could never be quenched.

With sack on back, and scroll levitating, Spell Tome had been trotting the well feared path to Blackwing with massive curiosity. That, and she needed a little fuel for a good story to write. She had been suffering massive writer's block for the past month, and she thought that going to a spooky place full of strange ponies would smash through aforementioned block.

She had been extremely winded after that hour long walk to the settlement. After a while down the path, she began to notice odd notes being placed around. She followed them to an ominous train station. An idea sprang to her head.

"Ooh, I can use these notes for an adventurous and scared character!"

She started collecting some of the notes and put them in her backpack. After collecting, she took a breather at the train station and sipped the water she kept in the canteen she conveniently purchased two days before she heard about this place

He heard someone.

They were nearby.

Gritt moved the darkness, pressing himself against the wall and struggling to hear. Foolish foolish, they should be quiet! Were the instructions not enough? Didn't they realize that Blackwing was crawling with-

Gritt knocked his hoof against the wall.

As Spell Tome was taking her drink, he heard a hoof knocking on the wall of the train station. She jumped up and created a light with her horn. Slowly moving towards the station, she tried calling out to whatever made the noise.

"Hello? Who's in there? I wanna ask you a couple things regarding..."

Mid-sentence, she tripped and landed face first onto the floor. She got up to see that her nose was bleeding. She hoped that whatever was lurking in the station didn't hear that. Or see it. It was fairly embarrassing...

Blood. The ache of hungry fills him, but he shakes himself of the need, for now. He stepped forward, as close as he could without giving himself away. It wasn't as if this pony, he thought it was a pony, could see him. Then again... He could hardly see three inches in front of his own muzzle.

"You bloody idiot!" He hissed, "You want all of Blackwing on your flank? Keep down and keep quiet!"

Spell Tome jumped at the sudden voice commanding her to stay silent and get down. She did as the voice said and laid down on the floor and kept her mouth shut. She snickered at the fact the voice called her a "bloody idiot," given the fact her nose was bleeding.

She sat there, for what felt like a good long few minutes. She was getting bored and wanted to get back on all fours and start investigating and feeding her curiosity until it's interest cholesterol was at dangerous levels

Gritt whispered, "I need you to follow me, and what ever you do, don't scream."

He made his way towards the exit, and opened the door, letting moonlight hit him. It was enough to make a silhouette of him, but even the most blind of ponies would tell that something was off.

"I don't have all night."

Spell Tome got up off the floor and followed the voice to the exit. The fact he said don't scream implied that there will be many opportunities to scream. As the door opened, the voice came much closer to being an actual pony. Although he looked somewhat off. Longer ears, sharper teeth than normal. Maybe most ponies who lived around here were like that. She thought they looked really cool.

"I like your ears, mister."

Gritt raised an eyebrow, "You're a strange one, you are. Now hurry up."

In the fullness of the moonlight, Gritt was shone. Or what he had become. Longer ears with small tuffs of fur, the suggestion of fangs that crept over his lips. His man and tail were matted, his colors now dingy and small blotches of gray and dark were forming as if he were a pain horse. His eyes were shining like a predator. His horn, though already unusual in length, had curved and formed an ivory color on its tip.

He stood impatient.

Spell Tome chuckled a little bit at the odd comment. It's not the first time she's ever heard that. But most times they were much more cruel. And sometimes were directed at her from her. She pushed that last thought aside and stayed close by to the stallion who was leading her.

"You look rather fascinating, sir. What's your name?"

"Gritt, now move your tail we're burning moonlight!"

Gritt took off from the train station, and on to the edges of town. He turned his head to her, and expected her to follow. His tail flicked with agitation.

Spell Tome took the rapid movement, odd expression, and tail flicking as a sign that they should hurry up. She quickly ran over to him, but on her way tripped on a tree root that had been sticking out on the ground. She made to him, but did a few painful rolls on the way. She took a moment to regain her knowledge of location and purpose and sauntered on with this so called "Gritt."

Gritt gave the mare a strange look.

He looked at the seemingly ghost town. Housing and stores, abandoned but no desolation. The Buildings were perfectly intact, the windows weren't broken and nothing looked moved. It was as if the residences had simply walked away.

It may not have frightened a normal pony.

But it made Gritt anxious.

"We're headed over to a hotel nearby. Me mates are there," he whispered.

Spell Tome looked at the abandoned buildings in awe. She quickly took out her papers and started jotting down notes of what she could potentially create from this setting. Overhearing Gritt's speech, it sounded rather strange to her. She also took notes on the way he spoke. Ponies love exotic things. And having never to rarely hearing a pony speak like that, it seemed rather unique to put something like that in her writing.

She followed him to to tavern almost mindlessly. Half of the trip for her was spent either doodling or taking notes on what she's seen so far and how she could potentially make a good story about it.

Gritt had to keep looking behind himself to check on the mare. She seemed to be deaf to the world with her constant writing and doodling.

He couldn't blame her too much, he had practically asked for anyone. He just hoped it was enough.

He made his way up the stairs.

Spell Tome put her pen and papers away to properly follow Gritt up the stairs. She had already fallen twice and busted her nose. She wasn't looking for any more damage.

"So... Gritt. Who are these 'mates' of yours?"

"Me friends," he said as he continued down the second floor hall, "We got caught here, we were on our way to do a gig."

He reached the second set of stairs, and stopped, "Something... happened. It caused this." He gestured to his current appearance. "I'll explain more when we get to me mates."

Gritt began to climb.

Spell Tome's interest was growing like a ravenous blob. She quickly took out her notes and wrote more on what he said. Gritt had very odd grammar, and Spell was dying to point it out. But she thought that it was related to his accent and didn't want to offend him. She followed him up the stairs, still bleeding from her nose. Hopefully his friends can help with that.

The second floor was just as abandoned and dark. The candles long since cold, and only the moonlight of the windows in the rooms lite the way, from under the doors. Its a wonder that Gritt knew where he was going.

He went to one of the last rooms, moonlight did not show under the door of this one.

He banged his hoof on the door, "Hymn! Its me."

Spell Tome's ears shot up once she heard the banging and yelling. She had no clue who this "Hymn" pony was. She stood behind Gritt and waited patiently for the door to open. The scenery was rather unsettling. It seemed like something you'd vision when reading an old time horror novel, or when hearing a ghost story. She was starting to get nervous and began to shake and quiver.

The door cracked for a moment, then opened.

"About bloody time." A pony stepped out of the doorway. Much like Gritt's condition, a ragged mane and tail with a messy coat, sharp long ears and peeking fangs, he had fewer dark colors spots on him than Gritt did. But that wasn't the special part.

He was a Pegasus, and his wings looked like they had been losing feathers.

"Who's the Filly?" asked Hymn Hummer.

Spell Tome tilted her head a little bit. This stallion had the same accent as Gritt. What scared her was that he was a pegasus with feathers missing. They seemed like they were falling off. He also looked very similar to Gritt, in terms of the odd mane, ears and teeth.

"I'm Spell Tome. Gritt brought me here from the train station. Um, could one of you help me with my nose?"

Spell held her nose, but that didn't stop the blood from pouring onto her hoof. Her yellow coat seemed like it was dark red at this point. At least on her left hoof. While waiting for an answer, she jotted down more notes on the "rotting feathers" feature.

Hymn looked at the nose, at first looked confused and then looked indignant. He turned on Gritt, "You let her walk around with that? Why didn't you clean it first?"

Gritt's head was turned in a direction that Spell Tome wouldn't see. Whatever Hymn saw, it was enough of a reason to convince Hymn that Gritt couldn't have done anything. Hymn's face was that of realization and worry, but he said nothing about Gritt.

"Come along, I'll get you cleaned up." Hymn turned back inside the very dark room. Gritt waited, his head down, for the mare to go inside.

Spell Tome went into the dark room for help with her nose. After they were in the room, she gently spoke to him, almost a whisper.

"Gritt said that something happened here. What was that..?"

"Well," Hymn began as he walked, "We were going to do a gig here... I'll explain later. Your nose needs work, and you haven't been introduced to everyone yet."

The darkness wasn't as dark as it seemed in the hallway. Some candles were light, but it seemed as if the fire was absorbing all light instead of pushing away all dark. There were flickers of movement in the room, the pegasus and the mare weren't the only ones inside...