Suddenly, a group of five vamponies across the street spot the gang. One of the vamponies seems shocked at their sudden appearance, but tries not to show it.

“It’s the Slayer and her friends. Kill them!” The vampony shouts and points towards them.

As the group of vamponies begins to cross the dirt-paved road towards them, Rainbow turns her head to Fluttershy and Spike.

“Will you two be okay back here?” She inquires, concerned for their safety.

They both nod in unison.

“We’ll be fine, Dashie,” Fluttershy assures her.

“Yeah, we’ll probably just throw rocks from the safety of the back line,” Spike adds. “The flank, if you will!”

In any other situation Spike’s humor would be appreciated, but now, Rainbow just nods gravely and turns back towards the approaching vamponies. Doctor Whooves, Rainbow, and Twilight then charge at the attacking vamponies. Twilight rams one of the vamponies with her horn, catching it off balance and allowing Rainbow to stab it through the flank with a stake. The vampony turns to dust instantly, without even a cry of shock to signal his departure from existence. Spike hands Fluttershy a small, pointy rock.

“What’s this?” Fluttershy asks, giving the rock an uncertain look.

“It’s called a Vampony Annoyance Projectile 3000,” Spike replies smart-flankedly.

Fluttershy reaffirms her grip on the rock and throws it in the general direction of the action. She pegs a vampony in the eye, causing it to cry in pain and grab it’s bruised eye. Rainbow quickly dispatches the temporarily blinded vampony with a quick thrust of the stake. Another vampony lunges at Twilight, but she uses her magic to throw him across the street and impale him on a fencepost, turning the unfortunate pony to dust. Doctor Whooves is full vampony at the moment and dealing with a fangy problem of his own. The vampony tries to bite Doctor Whooves from behind, but he lifts his legs and bucks the unfortunate vampony into a tree across the street. The Doctor then picks up one of the last two vamponies and carries it into the sky. Rainbow dispatches what she believes to be the last vampony and sighs, wiping the sweat from her forehead.

“Well, that’s the batch!” Rainbow Dash concludes.

Suddenly, a vampony falls out of the sky and smashes into the ground next to her. A loud crack signalizes that the vampony’s legs have broken. Dashie looks up at Doctor Whooves in annoyance.

“Maybe you can warn me next time you’re about to drop a bombshell like that!” She growls. The fallen vampony tries to get to it’s hooves, but Dashie stabs it in the cutie mark with her trusty wooden stake. The vampony disintegrates. “You could really hurt a pony!”

The vampony that Doctor Whooves bucked into the tree stands up and takes off down the road. Spike tries to throw a rock at him, but the rock hits Rainbow in the head instead of hitting the fleeing vampony.

“Ow, Spike, watch it!” She exclaims and casts a glare at the baby dragon.

Spike grins guiltily.

“You know, I think I’ll stop throwing rocks now,” He chuckles.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” Rainbow replies, nodding.

“So what now?” Fluttershy asks.

“We go the place that the vamponies are most likely to strike,” Twilight answers.

“Sugarcube Corner,” Doctor Whooves states matter-of-factly.

As they approach the old brick building that is Sugarcube Corner, the five ponies hear a piercing screech coming from the alley next to Sugarcube Corner, followed by a female voice that screams.

“Get away from me, you brute!” Rarity’s voice shrieks.

Rainbow starts towards the sound of Rarity’s voice, but Spike stops her.

“Do you really want to save Rarity?” Spike questions her.

Rainbow shakes her head.

“No, I don’t,” She admits, but flies off towards the alley to save Rarity in spite of this.

The light green vampony starts towards Rarity’s spotless white neck as he holds her pinned to the wall of the alley, ready to feast on her blood. Rarity leans away from the vampony in fear. The wall that she is being pushed up against has the words “Rarity Sucks!” spray-painted onto it.

“No one is here to save you, pretty pony!” The vampony sneers, licking his fangs voraciously.

Suddenly, Dashie’s voice rings out from the entrance of the alleyway.

“Well, that’s not exactly true,” She begins. “You see, I’m definitely going to kill you, but I’m still not sure whether or not I’m going to save Rarity yet.”

As the vampony turns towards her voice, Rainbow Dash flies down the alley and kicks him off of Rarity. The vampony flies backwards and lands on it’s back in a pile of black trash bags, stunned. Rainbow leaps across the alley and lands on top of the vampony.

“Sorry, pal, dinner’s over!” Rainbow quips as she turns him to dust.

Rainbow takes a deep breath and begins walking back towards Rarity, who has a look of pure astonishment on her face. She is still shaking from her recent brush with death.

“Wow…” Rarity begins, but trails off.

“If you’re going to tell me that I’m a freak, do it quick. I have a town to save!” Rainbow growls.

“No, Rainbow,” Rarity says, shaking her head. “I want to thank you for saving my life.”

Rainbow is momentarily taken aback by Rarity’s sudden gratitude. She stops in her tracks next to Rarity.

“Well, uh, you’re welcome Rarity,” Rainbow replies hesitantly, unsure of whether or not this is a setup for ridicule.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Rarity asks expectantly.

“Yes there is,” Rainbow says, nodding. “You can go home, lock your door, and not open it up for anypony. Understand?”

Rarity nods and runs off out of the alley, towards her house. As Rainbow emerges from the alley, Spike gives her an amused grin.

“Did you kick her flank?” He asks excitedly, motioning kicking an imaginary Rarity in the flank.

Dashie shakes her head, leaving Spike disappointed.

“No, but she thanked me for saving her,” Rainbow explains.

“Rarity? Thanking you? It really must be the end of the world,” Spike comments smart-flankedly.

Twilight taps a hoof on the ground impatiently.

“We don’t have time for witty banter, you two!” The stuffy unicorn tuts. “Vamponies could be feasting on your classmates as we speak.”

Rainbow smirks.

“Then let’s go crash Homecoming!” She says and throws open the rusty iron front door of Sugarcube Corner, almost catapulting it off it’s hinges.

Sugarcube Corner is practically empty, even the bartender is nowhere to be found. All of the tables have been cleared out from the main area, leaving a wide-open space for the dancing ponies. Everything seems eerily quiet, as the club is inhabited only by a lone vampony whom is sitting on a gold-painted wooden throne on the stage that takes up a good majority of the west side of the building. The Lord of the Vamponies. As Rainbow Dash and her friends enter the club, the LordPony begins slow clapping.

“Bravo Slayer,” The LordPony begins. “You’ve found me and have come to save the night just in time.”

Rainbow stops in front of the stage and turns to the Lord of the Vamponies.

“Where is everypony?” She demands.

“Who,” The LordPony asks innocently, looking up. “Them?”

Rainbow looks up to find her classmates suspended right below the ceiling by a magical blue bubble. Her suspended classmates try to speak, but their voices can’t pierce the bubble, so they all look like they are aimlessly moving their lips. Fluttershy squeaks as she sees them.

“Please, Mr. Vampony, let our classmates go,” Fluttershy pleads.

The LordPony turns his attention to Fluttershy and snickers.

“I see you’re still as polite and sweet as always, Fluttershy,” The LordPony says, as though speaking with an old friend.

Rainbow growls at the LordPony protectively.

“Don’t you dare talk to Fluttershy you brute!” She snarls.

The Lord of the Vamponies emits an amused chuckle and folds his arms on one of the arms of the throne.

“Oh, I don’t think it’s your friend you need to be worried about right now, Slayer,”

“So what, fairy dust and happy thoughts, that’s your plan for taking over Ponydale?” Dashie snorts.

The LordPony shrugs innocently.

“I just wanted to give everypony a memorable last Homecoming; is that too much to ask?” The LordPony stands up from his fake throne, which happened to be a prop from a play that was put on earlier that day. “And what Homecoming would be complete without a dance?”

He claps his hooves together. Suddenly, tacky love rock begins flowing from the various speakers around the room.

“Sorry, fugly, but I’m not much of a dancer,” She retorts.

The LordPony grins malevolently.

“Then it’s a good thing dancing isn’t what I have in mind.”

Suddenly, at least two-dozen vamponies jump out from behind the stage curtain and attack the group. Doctor Whooves turns to Rainbow Dash.

“We’ll take care of these vamponies, Rainbow, you go fight the Lord of the Vamponies!” Doctor Whooves says.

Rainbow nods and jumps over the charging vamponies towards the Lord of the Vamponies. As she lands on the stage in front of the LordPony, Rainbow tries to punch him, but he grabs her hoof with his own.

“It seems you want to dance after all,” The LordPony muses.

“I’m light on my feet,” Rainbow warns. “I hope you can keep up.”

“It’s not me I’m worried about, Slayer!” The LordPony sneers.

Then, he pivots on his hooves and throws Rainbow Dash through the stage curtain and into the wall backstage. Rainbow crumples to the floor, but jumps up almost immediately to find the LordPony already backstage. Rainbow looks around to find various props backstage: costumes, fake and real swords, pipes, crowns, and even awkward shaped saddles. Earlier that day, the stageponies had put on a performance of The Winged Crusader, the popular tale of a Pegasus knight who slew a manticore. The LordPony rushes at Rainbow, but she jumps to the side and dodges him. She turns to face the LordPony. A vampony tries to sneak up from behind Rainbow, but she bucks him through the stage curtain and into the main area of Sugarcube Corner. At the exact same time, the LordPony grabs a pipe from the prop box and hits Rainbow with it, knocking her sideways onto her back. He trots over to her and places both front hooves on her chest.

“You know what I like most about hollow bones?” The LordPony muses, and then steps hard on Rainbow’s right wing, snapping it in three places. “They break easily!”

Rainbow screams in pain. The LordPony smiles like a little filly getting his cutie mark and rears up to smash Rainbow’s remaining unbroken wing. However, she punches him in the stomach and slides out from under him. Rainbow jumps to her feet, but then begins stumbling from side to side, her broken wing affecting her sense of balance. The snapped wing is bended awkwardly at her side. The LordPony snorts in amusement and grabs a long, sharp sword from one of the prop racks, careful not to grab one of the fake plastic swords. He then charges the disoriented pegasus, sword brandished in the air.

Suddenly, Twilight charges through the curtain and rams into the Lord of the Vamponies, impaling him through the side with her horn and throwing him into the wall. The impact stuns the LordPony and he drops his sword. Twilight pulls her now bloody horn out of the LordPony’s side.

“Rainbow-“ She begins, but is cut off as the LordPony head butts her. Twilight stumbles back a few steps.

Then, the LordPony rears on her and throws her against the wall. All of a sudden, a stake flies into his flank, where his cutie mark would be if he had one. The LordPony drops Twilight and pulls the stake out of his flank. He turns to Rainbow Dash and flashes her an annoyed glare.

“You didn’t really think that would work, did you?” The LordPony growls as he snaps the stake between his hooves. He drops the broken pieces of wood onto the floor.

“No, but I got your attention, didn’t I?” Rainbow says, shaking her head. Twilight sneaks away while the Lord of the Vamponies is preoccupied with Rainbow.

Dashie picks up a sword from the props rack that is encrusted with fake rubies. The LordPony picks up his own fallen sword and rushes Rainbow. Dashie takes defensive stance and raises her sword as the LordPony slashes at her. Their swords lock for a moment, sending small sparks falling to the ground. The LordPony breaks contact and attacks again, but Rainbow parries the blow and counters with a wide, sloppy swing. The LordPony dodges the blow easily. He spits the sword out of his mouth and catches it with his front hoof.

“Sloppy swordsmanship, Slayer,” The LordPony taunts. “One would think you’ve never handled a blade before.”

Rainbow spits out her sword as well, but lets it fall to the ground with a clang instead of catching it.

“I don’t need it either way!” She retorts. “No weapons; no wings; no problem.”

The LordPony grabs his sword in his mouth and charges Rainbow once more. She rolls to the side and bucks him into one of the prop boxes. It takes the LordPony a moment to recover and make his way out of the maze of costumes and various props, but when he finally emerges, Rainbow is nowhere to be found. He surveys the backstage area thoroughly in search of the AWOL pegasus.

“Where are you, little Slayer?” The LordPony crows slowly.

Rainbow hangs silently from the wooden rafters, waiting for the right moment to pounce. Finally, after a few moments, the LordPony walks right underneath her.

“Up here!” Rainbow exclaims as she drops from the rafters onto the LordPony’s head.

The LordPony’s neck snaps from the force of Rainbow’s hind hooves smashing it into the floor. They crash into the floor with such force that the wood splinters under their momentum. The LordPony’s body goes limp and Rainbow jumps off of his body triumphantly.

“They never look up, do they?” Rainbow muses to herself.

However, the LordPony struggles to his hooves and snaps his broken neck back into place. He rolls his head around, making sure all of his neck muscles still work.

“I have to admit, Slayer, that was pretty clever,” the LordPony says. “I’m going to miss you after I kill you and drink every last drop of your blood.”

The Lord of the Vamponies tackles Rainbow through the stage curtain, however, this time, the rings holding the curtain up give way and it comes down on top of the battling ponies. Almost immediately, everypony in Sugarcube Corner turns towards the curtained struggle. Rainbow and the LordPony thrash around underneath the stage curtain, but then the LordPony emerges from within the curtain. He fumbles around until he finds Dashie’s head and hold the curtain over it, trying to suffocate her.

“Rainbow!” Twilight exclaims as she tries to fight her way through the mass of vamponies towards Rainbow Dash and the LordPony, but the vamponies keep Twilight and the rest of the gang from reaching them in time.

Rainbow flails furiously under the LordPony’s iron grip, but to no avail. Finally, after a few excruciatingly suspenseful moments, she stops struggling. The LordPony drops the curtain and Rainbow, letting them both fall to the floor. He grins victoriously and turns to the Slayer’s counterparts.

“Hear, hear, everypony. The Slayer is dead!” The LordPony begins. “Your Slayer is dead, but I admire your bravery and spirit. I’m a gracious lord, so even though you’ve killed quite a few of my minions, I’ll make sure my minions kill you all quickly. Starting with the yellow one!”

“Sorry to rain on your reign of terror, Lord Blank Flank,” Rainbow says from behind him. “But nopony bucks with Fluttershy!”

The LordPony rears around in disbelief to find Rainbow Dash standing in front of him with a large sword in her hooves, very much alive. Rainbow slashes the sword across his neckline. The Lord of the Vamponies’ head flies off his body and fall to the floor with a sickly thud. His head and body dissolve into dust and a skeleton.

“Actually, I’m not sorry,” Rainbow quips.

The triumphant Slayer turns towards the LordPony’s minions and stands on her hind hooves, trying to become as large and intimidating as possible. She growls at the vamponies in the audience.

“You see him,” Rainbow points to the skeleton and dust pile that was once the Lord of the Vamponies. “I killed him. Any vampony still in Ponydale at the end of this hour will be tracked down and killed by me and my friends. Understood? Clock is ticking!”

The vamponies scramble out of Sugarcube Corner like wildebeests fleeing from a fire. After about a minute, Rainbow looks around to see if any vamponies are still around, but the only vampony in sight is Doctor Whooves.

“Anypony still here?”

Suddenly, she feels a sharp pain in her chest. Dashie looks down to find a bloody, broken stake sticking out of her underside. A pink coated, green maned vampony rests her head on Rainbow’s shoulder.

“I am!” Daisy replies, twisting the stake she had thrust into Rainbow’s back and pulling it out quickly.

Rainbow Dash gasps and falls to the ground. Doctor Whooves roars in rage and zooms towards Daisy, tackling her into a table backstage. He breaks the leg of the table and jams it into her cutie mark. Daisy barely has time to gasp in shock before she turns to golden colored dust.

Meanwhile, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Spike rush to Rainbow’s side. A pool of blood is growing around her underside, staining the polished wood floor of the stage. The ponies in the magical bubble above their heads look down in shock and confusion at the scene. Twilight kneels down next to her Slayer and cradles her head in her hooves. Rainbow looks up at her Watcher.

“Twi-?” She asks weakly.

Twilight shushes her, placing a hoof on her mouth.

“Conserve your strength,” She insists.

Rainbow Dash shakes her head in weak defiance.

“Not going to happen, Twi,” She coughs.

Twilight almost smiles, but resists the urge. Fluttershy and Spike are too shocked to speak. They stand over her mutely, scared for their best friend’s life.

“I’m sorry I lied to you. I’m sorry I didn’t trust you,” Twilight apologizes.

“It’s okay. Anyway, I don’t think it matters anymore,” Rainbow manages a shaky smile.

Twilight shakes her head.

“Don’t you dare talk like that! I’m your Watcher; I won’t let you die in my arms!”

Rainbow Dash attempts another smile, but fails.

“You-“

Then, her heart stops beating.