Monsters in Canterlot

It was beautiful outside today. The sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, the birds were chirping, and there was a gentle spring breeze swimming through the air. Twilight hated it. Terribly fatigued, the girl couldn't tell if she was trying to stay awake or fall asleep anymore. No matter what the case, though, she found everything around her to be a nuisance. Rays of blinding sun stung her eyes, and the wind was pushing her hair in her face. The horrid screeching of the birds were assaulting her eardrums to the point of frustration, and Twilight's mood could be described by one word: miserable. Being harassed by a child in the town square wasn't helping her at the moment, either.

"I'm telling you, Twi, I really saw them!" A young, green haired boy insisted to his companion across the small table.

"I'm sure you did, Spike," responded the clearly tired girl, annoyed by the boy's overactive imagination. Her dark, bloodshot eyes were weighed down with dark bags, contrasting her usually light peach skin. Not that anyone around would have noticed, with her entire head cradled in her arms, slumped on the table. "And do you know what I just saw? A coffee shop just across the street. Would you be a dear and go buy me a cup? Just black is fine. I've been up all night researching the new records they sent me of Starswirl. I could use something strong right about now."

The boy leaned in closer and whispered in Twilight's ear, "Twilight, listen to me! I'm not joking here! I've seen them. Actual. Vampires. With fangs!"

"Or it was just a kid with sharper than average canines. Have we forgotten about the 'leprechaun' incident already?" Twilight retorted.

"Hey, that was one time. I was a kid back then!" Spike emphasized.

"Spike, that was last week," replied Twilight.

"A week's plenty of time to grow up!" Spike sighed. "Come on Twi, hear me out, aren't we friends? Friendship is magic, remember?" countered the frustrated Spike.

Twilight's response was a flat tone of annoyance. "The only magic I need right now is caffeine, Spike."

"Wait, what are we even in Canterlot for?" Spike asked.

"Well, I'm supposed to be meeting with the royal guard to help deal with a recent crime spree in half an hour, and you're supposed to be getting me my coffee." Twilight raised her right forearm, twisting her wrist in a full rotation with her forehead still flat on the wooden table. Still not looking, she pointed a glowing finger in Spike's direction, at which he was enveloped in a larger version of the purple aura.

Spike lifted up about a foot in the air, and was slowly pushed backwards towards the coffee shop, flailing in protest. "Hey, not cool Twilight, let me down!"

Drowsiness had been creeping into her tone for ages, and it finally decided to take over. "Actually, let's make that two cups! I'm pretty… tired…" Twilight yawned and flopped her arm back on her head, dropping Spike on his rear end and beginning to snore loudly.

Spike picked himself off the ground and dusted himself off. He was standing underneath a green sheet of roofing, propped up by two wooden poles coming from a street stand. The fresh smell of roast coffee drifted through the air. "Geez, that Twilight, how's she even going to be able to drink the coffee if she's asleep?" Grumbling, Spike made his way to the counter. "Hi, can I get two large black coffees?" he asked the tall girl at the counter.

"Coming right up, kid," replied a young, laid back female voice. Throwing back her short, reddish brown locks, she poured the steaming brew into two ceramic cups. She handed them over the counter to Spike. "Here ya go."

"Thanks, how much will that be?" Spike asked, rummaging through the pockets of his green cargo shorts. "Oh man, I left my wallet back at the hotel room, Twilight's gonna kill me without her coffee," he said, continuing to pat his clothes in vain desperation.

"Hey, don't worry about it, it's on the house," the girl told him with a toothy grin. "The name's Scarlet."

Spike looked up, beaming. "Wow, really? Thanks! Is there anything I can do to pay you back?"

Scarlet turned around and started to wipe the cups with a washcloth. "Nah, It's all good."

"Come on, there must be something I can do for you. You don't get to see people as nice as you in the oh so snobbish Canterlot too often." Spike insisted.

Scarlet stopped wiping the cup, pausing to think. She glanced over her shoulder with a smile. "Well, there is one thing."

"Ask away," Spike replied.

The girl put the cup and cloth back down, looking around suspiciously for any possible eavesdroppers. The smile vanished, and she leaned in close to Spike's face. With a suddenly serious expression, she stared at Spike with her pitch black eyes. "Tell me about the vampire."

"Wait, were you spying on us or something?" Startled, Spike asked cautiously, unsure what to make of the situation until he got a reply.

"No, I was standing here all along. I just happen to have really good hearing." Scarlet answered, tapping her ear with a skinny finger. "You can relate too, can't you? You have enhanced physical features as well, dragon boy. I could sense your natural magic from a mile away. Now, you said you saw a vampire. Are you sure it wasn't a misunderstanding, like your friend said?"

Spike scowled in frustration. "I know what I saw, and I saw fangs. Not sharp teeth, not a cheap plastic toy, but real, proper fangs."

Scarlet placed a gentle hand on Spike's clenched fist. "Don't worry, I believe you. Now, tell me. Who was this vampire? What did they look like?"

Relaxing the grip in his hands, Spike's expression softened as he spoke. "It was a small boy, maybe around my own age. Ten? Maybe twelve. He was wearing a brown hood. I bumped into him in an alleyway, and he hissed at me. I could see those sharp, pointy fangs of his before he left," Spike shuddered. "Gives me the creeps."

"Which alley? Where did he go?" Scarlet asked.

Spike pointed a finger to the side. "That one over there. I think he went further in. I saw him take a left and go into a small house."

"Thanks, I think I know which one. Maybe I'll just pay him a visit later tonight." Scarlet said, stepping out from behind the counter. Throwing her work apron behind her, she grabbed a large red cloak to the side.

"What, are you insane? Didn't you hear me, he's a vampire!" Spike exclaimed.

"Oh, I believe you," reassured Scarlet.

"He could be dangerous. Do you know this guy?" asked Spike.

Scarlet threw the cloak around her, throwing a crimson hood over her head. "Can't say that I do, but he's someone I've been searching for."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Spike questioned.

"It was nice talking to you. See you later, kid!" Scarlet said, walking away from Spike.

Caught between a torrent of confusion, Spike replied with the only thing he could put into a coherent phrase. "My name is Spike!" he called out. The mysterious Scarlet waved back at him without looking, and disappeared into the crowd, blending into the scurrying masses.

[hr]

Spike returned to the coffee shop near the end of the evening. His visit with Twilight to the Canterlot guard had proved to be fruitless; even the most powerful magic user in all of Equestria was just as stumped as the guards when it came to a group of missing persons that vanished without a trace. No witnesses, no signs of struggle, no spell residue, nothing. Whoever was taking these people knew what they were doing. With all of these mysterious disappearances in the past month in Canterlot, Spike couldn't help but be worried for Scarlet. She had said that she believed his story, so why was she going to go look for it? Was she simply curious? Spike sure hoped not. Twilight had once told him that 'curiosity killed the cat', and Spike was determined to not lose Scarlet the same way he had lost Mr. Whiskers.

He blinked slowly, letting his pupils dilate to two green slits. The world turned a shade brighter, letting the boy see through the absence of light. He didn't have the best night vision around compared to other dragons, but it would do in the faint glare of clouded moonlight. The town was asleep. The streets were empty, the shops abandoned. Spike walked around to the street stand, which still held onto the lingering scent of coffee from earlier on in the day. Spike ran a hand along the counter, pulling up a palm full of dust. He clapped his hands together with a small frown, shaking it off. Nobody had been here since the last time he spoke with Scarlet, and that had been just before noon. Maybe she'd been joking about looking for the vampire, Spike hoped.

Spike's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of light footsteps on the cold stone road. Panicking, Spike ducked underneath the wooden boards. He didn't want to be seen here. Spike was pretty sure he was trespassing illegally, and he really didn't want to explain to Twilight why he was brought to the hotel by a guard for breaking and entering a coffee stand. The footsteps were getting closer. The resounding thuds of boots against stone mirrored the sound of Spike's heartbeat, both growing larger and larger as the owner of the footsteps approached the stand. Just as Spike was about to make a break for it, hoping that his short, childlike legs would let him outrun a fully trained member of the royal guard, the footsteps started to dim. Their unknown owner, wandering the streets, passed by without a second thought, leaving a relieved and emotionally exhausted Spike.

Still uncertain after he could barely hear the person walking, Spike cautiously poked his eyes over the top of the counter. He was just in time to witness a crimson cloak flutter in the moonlight as the figure turned and vanished into a small street. Scarlet. Spike carefully tiptoed out from his hiding place, shutting the doors behind him with a silent click. He decided to follow after her. If she really was going to look for the vampire, then things could get dangerous. If something went wrong, his dragon fire would be able to buy the two of them enough time to run away.

Twisting around the corner, Spike caught sight of Scarlet's red cloak once more. The mysterious girl moved swiftly through Canterlot's evening streets, softening her steps in the process. She came to a stop in front of an old, run down house, creaking open the door and stepping in. After waiting a few breathless seconds, Spike glanced around and followed her example.

Inside, the building was surprisingly spacious, if not a little worn in. The old but sturdy brick masonry lined the house with reassurance, stained and rotting tapestries hanging from their walls. Blocking out all of the windows but one facing the moon, the cloths were disfigured beyond the point of recognition. An unfamiliar, putrid stench covered the room. It was darker than before, and not even Spike's dragon eyes allowed him to see the full room clearly. Scarlet stood in the light spilling through the glass, head held high.

"Isn't this a little bit unorthodox?" She called out, her clear voice bouncing off the walls and back at her outstretched arms. "You lot usually live somewhere up with the nobles, manipulating them and pulling strings so you can live out the dream life without being discovered. What happened to that pride of yours, vampire? Why stay in a dump like this?"

A small, skinny boy stepped out from underneath the shadows. He looked like he was going to faint any second; his scrawny limbs held almost no flesh at all. "You shouldn't have come here," he managed to say in a weak voice.

"So there you are," said Scarlet, walking up and crouching in front of the child. She craned her neck left and right, inspecting the boy in front of her. "You're just a child. And you don't look so healthy either, by the looks of it. What are you doing in a place like this, and what were you thinking, showing your fangs to some kid in the streets? Someone's bound to notice when you pull something like that. You're just lucky it was me who found you."

"Oh, I'd say that luck had nothing to do with it," Came a deep, masculine voice from behind the child. Scarlet and Spike snapped their eyes to the source of the sound, with the child remaining still. The man was wearing a tattered gray suit and a smug, madman's grin. His short silver hair was polluted with patches of brown gunk and grime. He held a crazy glint in his eyes, as though something were off about him. Worse than that, however, was the rows of jagged teeth that he was showing.

Scarlet stood back up, pushing the child behind her. "Who are you?" she asked, betraying no emotion in her voice.

"I believe this will answer your question," said the man. With that, he gave an unearthly howl. His body began to undergo a horrendous transformation. His back arched violently and his skin sprouted matted fur. There was a painful cracking noise as his bones elongated, making the man double in size and popping out as claws in his fingertips. His breath grew ragged, and his eyes gleamed golden. Standing where a man was only seconds ago, was a dark beast and a puddle of drool.

Scarlet bit her lip. "Werewolves. I thought something was up the moment I came to town," she said. "You're behind the recent disappearances too, aren't you? This place stinks of death. Yeah, this makes much more sense. An old, run down ruin like this really suits mutts like you a whole lot better."

The monster made a deep gurgling noise, separated by sharp grunts. Spike shuddered when he realized it was laughing. "The child was bait. We took him from the streets, and used him to lure you in here. And now, you will die."

Scarlet cocked a brow. "We? I only see one of you here. Two, if you count the child, but he's horribly malnourished and I doubt he'd be snapping at my throat even if he wasn't. So that begs the question, where are the rest of you?"

The wolf gave a series of short, sharp barks. At the signal, four more lycans stepped into the room, varying slightly in both size and colour. All of them, however, had one thing in common. They held the same look in their glazed golden eyes - pure, unrefined, unshackled, bloodlust.

Spike was drenched in a puddle of his own sweat. Scarlet and that child were about to get mauled to death, before his very eyes. He had to help. "Hang on, Scarlet, I'll save you!" Rushing forwards with adrenaline boosting his muscles, the young dragon spewed a green blaze from his mouth. Scorching the ground in front of him, the sparks sent the werewolves reeling back a couple of steps, snarling at him. "Back! Back, you monsters!" With each word he shouted, he spat another fireball, horribly unaware that he had overlooked one crucial detail in the room.

Without warning, a bulky hand hoisted Spike into the air by the back of his collar. The other hand was clenched into a fist, which punched him squarely in the chest and knocked all the wind out of him. "What should we do with him, boss?" the sixth wolf asked, looking to the first as Spike sputtered for air.

"Throw him in with the others. We'll let them die together." The alpha male sneered, his lackeys mocking Spike along with him. The wolf holding Spike chucked him forwards, where he tumbled on the floor before splaying out next to the child, still struggling to catch his breath.

Scarlet rolled her eyes. "My hero." Great. Not only was Spike about to be brutally murdered by werewolves, but yet another person had joined the Spike's an idiot club.

The six lycans formed a ring around the trio, surrounding and closing in on them. "A cranky Twilight, vampires in Canterlot, and now this… And I can't call for Twilight, she won't even wake up! Ugh, it's really not my day today," said Spike.

Scarlet, who had been hiding her face all this time, pulled down her hood to reveal an amused expression. "Really? Because it's been going just fine for me."

Spike and the child were trembling on the floor, frightened half to death by the growls of the creatures who were about to finish the job. "No offense, Scarlet, but I hardly think it's the time for cracking jokes," he commented.

Scarlet whipped her hair out of her eyes, giving a toothy smirk. "What makes you think I'm joking?" she replied confidently.

"Uh, Scarlet?" Spike called out. What in the world was that girl doing? She was walking towards the wolves. "Scarlet!"

"Oh, shut up for a bit, kid. Just watch and learn. The party's only just begun." Scarlet twisted her right wrist, and a silver circle of runes appeared on the floor surrounding Spike and the child. "Try to stay inside the circle, unless you're interested in losing an arm or a leg." The wolves behind Scarlet tried to claw at the two scrawny children, but howled in pain as they were shocked by the circle's magic. They pulled their paws back, crackling with white electric feedback. Angry, they decided to abandoned the small prey and turned their attention to the girl who had cast the spell.

Scarlet faced the alpha male. Eyes held shut, she violently shot them open, her now dilated pupils ringed with bright silver. She opened her mouth in a snarl, hissing sharply through pointed fangs. She regained her near innocent smile, save for the fact that she was running a pointed tongue over her new gleaming fangs. "Now then, where were we?"

Spike didn't understand what was going on for three long seconds. "Scarlet's a vampire too?!"