Bloodshot on the Left

by Dolphy Blue Drake

Chapter 2: Dye Vein

Ponies stared at the oddity walking down the path towards Ponyville.

At first glance, he looked like a Thestral, which was already rare enough, but a second glance would reveal that the royal blue bat-pony with a silver mane and tail and purple eyes also sported a horn.

Even stranger was his Cutie Mark: It was an image of a paintbrush dripping paint in a rainbow of colors with an eye next to it. However, the eye on the right flank looked normal, while the one on the left flank was bloodshot.

Dye Vein disregarded the stares. He was used to them. Though Grandpa Free and Grandma Night lived in a cottage hidden in the mountains, the family was free to settle wherever they wanted, and Dye’s father, Gold Vein, had moved to Canterlot to raise a family.

Gold Vein was a Thestricorn as well, so Dye Vein had known from an early age what to expect when he reached adolescence. His Thestricorn cousins who were born to normal Thestral parents learned about the family curse the hard way, since their parents thought the curse had skipped their lines entirely, when it had just skipped the parents specifically.

The sign at the side of the road said, “Welcome to Ponyville”. Dye smiled a little. He’d heard of Ponyville, but he’d never been here before. By most accounts, the life there was surprisingly exciting for a village, and the ponies were very friendly for the most part.

Dye was a painter by trade, and the hustle and bustle of Canterlot just didn’t suit his style. Not only that, but the only part of the city he could get a home in was very near a café, and he knew that being around the smell of coffee was just asking for a Cluster, so he passed up the location and left for the countryside.

Unfortunately, spring was starting. Oh Celestia, he hated spring. Fall, too. Both of them marked the start of headache season, and only summer or winter could bring them to a complete end until the next headache season (well, complete except for ones brought on by the three triggers: tobacco smoke, alcohol fumes and coffee fumes. Supposedly, actually consuming one of those substances instead of simply smelling the fumes was even worse, but none of the clan members dared to put that to the test).

After checking to make sure the oxygen tank in his right saddlebag was still securely inside, Dye took to the air and flew over Ponyville, taking in the view from above the village.

He found a cloud and set himself down on it before lighting up his horn with the silver aura of his magic and levitating his art supplies out of his left saddlebag and setting them down on the cloud next to him (he’d placed a permanent version of a cloud-walking spell on them so that he wouldn’t have to keep levitating all of them while he painted).

His compact easel was the first thing he set up, followed by a sheet to paint on. Next, he set up his paint set, levitated his brush into the green paint, and started painting.

Brushstroke after brushstroke ran across the sheet, and slowly a painting of a top-down view of Ponyville took shape on the sheet on the easel. This was his favorite way to paint. Almost nopony ever bothered him when he painted scenes from a cloud, and the best part was that he could sell his paintings to Earth Ponies and unicorns who would most likely never get a chance to see a view like this otherwise.

After about an hour, the painting was complete, and Dye Vein used his magic to roll up the sheet and bind it with a cord from his saddlebag.

He then returned all of his art supplies to the bag and levitated the newly finished painting alongside himself and dove off the cloud towards the ground below.

Right after he touched down, something pink knocked him to the ground, and he lost his telekinetic grip on the new painting, dropping it to the ground.

“Hey!” he snapped. “Watch where you’re—“

He didn’t get to finish that sentence, however.

“A new pony!” the pink thing said. After blinking a few times, he could tell that it was an Earth Pony with a frizzy mane and tail. “What’s your name? What’s your favorite color? What’s your favorite drink? Mine’s sarsaparilla!”

She kept speaking, but Dye only partially listened after that. When they said the ponies here were friendly, I didn’t think they meant this friendly! he thought.

“Lady, I’d love to answer your questions,” Dye said as he put a hoof over her mouth, “but you have to stop talking long enough for me to speak!”

Once he was satisfied that she wasn’t going to resume talking his ears off, Dye smiled and removed his hoof from over her mouth.

“First, my name’s Dye Vein,” he told her. “As for my favorite color… I’m a painter, so I work with all colors, but I do love a nice sky blue and neon orange. And my favorite drink?” He scratched his head for a second before answering. “Rosehip tea, heavy on the honey. It’s an okay treatment for my condition.”

“Condition?” the pink pony asked, tilting her head.

“Don’t ask,” Dye told her. “I don’t like to talk about it.”

“What kind of cake do you like?” the pink pony asked next.

“Well, that’s not an easy thing, actually,” the Thestricorn said, rubbing his forelegs together awkwardly. “Grandpa Free always made ice cream cake for family celebrations, and I loved it a lot. Ponies outside the Vein clan don’t even know what ice cream cake is, let alone how to make it.”

Her mane seemed to deflate and lose its frizz in response to what he said.

“Oh wait a sec,” Dye said, and he lit up his horn and levitated a book out of his right saddlebag, being extra careful to not disturb the tank in the bag.

The pink pony’s eyes widened when she saw his horn light up.

“You’re a bat-pony with a horn?” she asked.

“Yes,” Dye replied. “I am. The only Thestrals with horns are among the Vein clan. Nopony else is like that. We’re called ‘Thestricorns’.”

Dye levitated the book over to the pink pony.

“Anyway,” he said, “this is a copy of Grandpa Free’s Book of Frozen Confections. Don’t show it to anypony, okay? Grandpa’ll tan my hide if he finds out I taught another pony his secret recipes.”

The pink pony’s mane regained its frizz when she saw the picture of an ice cream cake on the cover.

“He’ll turn you tan?” she said. “That’s silly! How could a blue pony turn tan?”

“It’s an expression from where he came from,” Dye said, glad he could avoid giving away that Grandpa used to be human (humans made leather from cows, and there was a process involving that leather called “tanning” that Grandpa never elaborated on, but Dye was pretty sure that Grandpa’s old career in science somehow covered that process).

“Anyway,” he said, changing the subject back to the book, “the cake on the cover isn’t my favorite.” Dye used his magic to flip through the book to the section on ice cream cakes and turned to a cookies and cream cake recipe. “This is my favorite cake,” he told her as he pointed at the picture. “Grandpa made it for my tenth birthday, and I’ve always wanted to have one again.”

“Okie Dokie Lokie!” the pink pony said as she took the book and somehow hid it in her mane. “By the way, I’m Pinkie Pie! The party’ll be tonight at Sugar Cube Corner!”

“Party?” Dye echoed, tilting his head.

“Yep!” Pinkie replied, smiling brightly. “Your ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party!”

“A party for me?” Dye said.

“Yep!” Pinkie said.

“Well, that’s certainly different,” Dye muttered.

“Bye! See you tonight!” Pinkie said before bouncing away towards what Dye guessed was the building she mentioned.

Dye shook his head and smiled a little as he used his magic to pick up the rolled up painting and dust it off.

Dye whistled to himself as he trotted through the town to take in the sights up close. The boutique took him by surprise while he had been painting, as did the library. He hadn’t expected a (relatively) small village to have a fashion store of its own, nor had he ever seen a library made out of a tree before.

He visited the boutique first, just to see what kind of attire was available.

The interior threw him for another loop. The styles on display were very similar to the ones at the boutiques in Canterlot, but they seemed… better somehow. He couldn’t put his hoof on how he could tell, though.

As he was inspecting a blue suit coat, he heard somepony approach him, so he turned around to face them.

“If you like that one, I could modify it for you,” the white unicorn mare said.

“Oh, no need for that,” Dye said, blushing slightly. “I’m just browsing for the moment.” He pointed to the Cutie Mark on his right flank. “I’m a painter by trade, and I thought I might need some outfits for models at some later time.”

“I see,” the mare said. “Well, if you ever need an outfit, darling, I’ll be happy to make you one.”

Dye took her hoof and kissed it, making her blush.

“My name’s Dye Vein, Miss…”

“Oh! My name is Rarity,” the mare said as Dye let go.

“Well, Miss Rarity, I look forward to conducting business with you in the future,” Dye replied. “From one artist to another, I can tell you put your whole heart into your work. It’s quite magnificent.”

He turned to leave, and opened the door with his magic before turning back to look at Rarity and adding, “as for an outfit for myself, I might just request one at some later time. I like my suits to have a little something for my wings, though. It’s just a personal preference.”

With that, Dye went out the door, spread his wings, and took to the air to fly in the direction of the library. Rarity stared after him in shock for a few seconds before shaking her head to clear it and returned to her work.

Dye stopped at the library next, flying around it a few times to get a good look at its exterior before touching down in front of the door and knocking.

“Pinkie, I told you—“ the purple Alicorn who answered the door cut off when she realized that the pony at the door wasn’t who she thought it was.

“Sorry, I thought you were somepony else,” the mare said, blushing in embarrassment. “Anyway, how can I help you?”

“I just moved here this morning,” Dye explained. “This library caught my interest, so I wanted to check it out. Maybe even read up a bit on the town’s history.”

“Please, come in,” she replied, motioning for him to come inside. Dye did so, and he could feel her eyes lock onto his wings, and then dart back to his horn.

Dye turned to look at her and took in her astonished expression.

“What, you’ve never seen a pony with wings and a horn before?” he chuckled. “Don’t you have a mirror?”

Unfortunately, Dye’s wisecrack seemed to go right over the mare’s head, because she continued to stare.

“Wait a minute…” Dye said, his own eyes widening as something dawned on him. “Aren’t you Princess Twilight Sparkle?”

The mare nodded, still staring at him in shock.

“I… I didn’t know Thestrals could become Alicorns,” Twilight finally whispered.

“Ah, about that,” Dye said, shifting uncomfortably. “I was born like this, as was my father. My grandfather’s a Thestricorn, too, but how that happened is something my family usually doesn’t talk about.”

“I see,” Twilight said, looking Dye up and down.

“Anyway, my name’s Dye Vein,” Dye said with a bow. “Professional painter extraordinaire. I’m pleased to make your acquaintance, Your Highness. ”

“Oh, there’s no need to be so formal, Mr. Vein,” Twilight told him as he stood back up.

“Well, if you say so, Your—“ he coughed. “I mean, Twilight. And while we’re dropping the formalities, please, call me Dye. Mr. Vein is my grandfather.”

“Well then, Dye,” Twilight said. “Did you have a particular book in mind?”

“Not exactly,” Dye said, his eyes darting around to take in the sight of all the books. “A book on how to build a cloudhouse might be nice, though. I paint most of my scenes while sitting on clouds anyway, so living in a place where I could do that whenever I want doesn’t seem like a bad idea.”

Twilight motioned for Dye to wait where he was, and she started searching through the shelves of books for a book that matched his request.

Dye took in the view of the interior of the library while he waited for Twilight to return. He was starting to get the itch to paint again, but he forced himself to ignore it for the moment. This was Twilight’s home, and he knew better than to paint anypony or their property without their permission first.

After a few minutes, Twilight returned with a book entitled Cloud Construction 101, and levitated it over to Dye, who took it in his own magical grip and put it in his right saddlebag.

“Thank you,” he said, nodding. “I’ll return it as soon as I’ve finished, I promise.”

Twilight smiled when he said that, and Dye bid her farewell and left.

Dye started to look for another place to visit, but then he changed his mind and took to the air. He landed on a cloud, took the borrowed book out of his bag and started reading up on how to construct a cloudhouse.

---

By the time the sun started to set, Dye had managed to construct a simple shack out of clouds. It was only temporary, but it would give him a place to sleep until he had the whole house complete.

The house in question was still in its beginning stages, seeing as he favored somewhat larger houses than the ones common to Ponyville because he grew up with seven siblings and had lived in a house meant for such a large family. He’d given it a porch and a front yard, but the walls he’d managed to construct were only a foot and a half tall at the moment.

Sighing, Dye dove off of his new property towards the ground below, touching down in front of the building he had earlier confirmed to be Sugar Cube Corner.

The lights were off, and Dye shook his head. He knew they were going to try to surprise him. His family had tried this for his seventh birthday, and he’d been caught completely off-guard. This time, however, he decided to do something completely different than what these ponies probably expected.

He lit up his horn, cast an invisibility spell on himself and his saddlebags and chuckled. He was going to turn their surprise on its head and be the one to do the surprising, instead.

Walking as quietly as he could, Dye slipped into the building without a sound and looked around. His night vision allowed him to see all the ponies who thought they were hiding. There were quite a few of them. Dye smiled, used his magic to force the lights on and watched the ponies’ confusion as they tried to figure out who turned the lights on.

Smirking, Dye cancelled the invisibility spell and shouted, “surprise! I’m already here!”

The ponies stared at him in shock, and then a cyan Pegasus mare with a rainbow mane and tail flew up to him and said, “That was awesome! You even got the drop on Pinkie!”

“Thanks,” Dye said. “I’ve always wanted to do that.” He shot Pinkie a wink, and she smiled.

When the ponies saw Pinkie smile, everypony relaxed, and the party got underway. Dye took a slice of the cake right away to see if Pinkie had managed to replicate the recipe perfectly.

She had. It tasted exactly like Grandpa Free’s cookies and cream ice cream cake was supposed to taste. Grandpa had said that ice cream cake was a human creation, and ponies had never thought of it themselves. However, Pinkie had just proven that even somepony without a drop of ex-human blood in them could do just as well as Grandpa did.

Dye savored the flavor that he hadn’t tasted since he was ten years old, letting the upper layer of cookies and cream ice cream blend with the lower layer of fudge ice cream in his mouth. It had been a long time since he’d tasted it, and it was as good as he remembered.

He looked in Pinkie’s direction and nodded his approval. She broke into a huge grin in response.

After two hours of games and socializing, Dye found that he was getting thirsty, so he sampled some of the cider that had been brought by the family that managed the nearby apple orchard. He didn’t notice it right away, but after a few gulps, he realized that there was something wrong with it: the cider burned.

Panicking, Dye stopped drinking the cider, dashed outside and spat the cider that was still in his mouth into the grass. Some of the ponies noticed his sudden reaction to the cider and watched him with concern on their faces.

Dye trotted up to the orange farm pony who had earlier introduced herself as Applejack and asked, “that wasn’t normal cider, was it?”

“Depends on whatcha mean by ‘normal’, Sugercube,” she replied, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

“I mean,” Dye said, the panic very evident in his voice, “was that cider spiked?”

“Wait, yer sayin’ ya can’t hold yer liquor?” Applejack asked.

“That’s not what I meant,” Dye said, shaking his head. “It’s just very important that I don’t consume alcohol. So please tell me: was that hard cider?”

The farm pony’s eyes widened in shock.

“Ah’m sorry, Sugarcube,” she said, hanging her head. “That there is hard cider. Ah didn’t know—“

Dye bolted for the door, his eyes wide with panic.

“No, no, no, no, no, no…” the ponies heard him say as he dashed by. They all exchanged confused glances, and Pinkie’s mane went flat and straight as she looked at the ground sadly.

Comments

[ParadoxPony]

Not to shaby my dear pony.

[Dolphy Blue Drake]

3932582 Why, thank you!