//------------------------------// // Stray // Story: This is what we do // by Foxgear //------------------------------// This is what we do chapter 29 By Foxgear It was cold. Very cold and all Rainbow had for clothes were the rags she was wearing and the bonfire she stole from the local hobo. If her fingers weren’t already blue, they would be from frostbite. Times were indeed tough for Rainbow Daring Dash and Ebony. “Can’t you do something?” She chastised the snake living in her body tucking her arms around her exposed belly, her body shivering violently. Her shirt destroyed when she sprouted her wings to escape from home, and her tail left little of her pants and underwear to be useful. Usually, her transformations didn’t wreck her clothes. What was the deal now? Rainbow wigged her clawed toes sticking out of her tattered shoe. Her last change seemed much more permanent. The wind blew through her makeshift camp, rattling the half-collapsed building the hobo she scared off had been using for shelter. She should have stolen his coat but was too enticed by the fire to do so. She wrapped her tail and wings closer around her body to try and warm herself, but it didn't have much effect. “I should’ve just fucking… I don’t know gone home or break into a random house or something!” She screamed at the sky. It was already getting dark. (Stupid winter! Stupid daylight savings time making the day shorter.) “I should at least steal some winter clothes or something.” None of the options she laid out were ideal. She didn’t want to go home because her mother would be there and her house was likely under surveillance so she couldn’t risk it. She was too weak to defend herself in a real fight. Her quick and dirty first aid had just been that, quick and dirty. She hadn’t even had the time to disinfect her wounds. Breaking into a stranger’s house or even a home of a family she knew was risky. She couldn’t stay there long. Also if she lucked out and broke into a home with its residents away it would tip off the neighbors, and they’d call the police, and the police would bring the attention of Mac and the others. She could find a farmhouse or a heated barn, but that would be temporary too. She needed a place to rest for a few days. A few hours wouldn’t cut it. “Maybe I should break into Rarity’s. She has tons of clothes! Plus, folks might not overthink of me being around there. Even if it gives Mac a clue later, it’s worth the risk.” Unfurling her wings Rainbow Dash took to the sky, flying low across the darkening evening. It was getting even colder too. Flying into town Rainbow easily found Rarity’s store/apartment. It was still amazing that Rarity had a place separate from her parents. Not that her parents were around much. It made her kind of envious of the fashionista. Maybe if she had a place to escape from her mother well, that doesn’t matter now. She landed on the roof of the building. Blatantly Rainbow swung down onto Rarity’s window ceil and with a little extra strength opened the window via breaking the lock. It’s was tough slipping through the window with her wings and tail. She lost a few feathers, but she got inside, and boy was it warm in here! Shutting the window Rainbow had goosebumps from just standing in the heated room and Rarity’s bed was before her warm, cozy, and with very soft sheets. Stripping the last of her rags off she jumped into the bed and rolled into a cocoon with a content sigh, practically melting into the covers. “Oh god… I could die here.” Rainbow let out a stutter, the feeling of warmth and comfort lulling her to sleep in an instant. When Rainbow woke up an hour had passed, and when she rolled out of bed and fell to the floor, she was pleasantly pleased to find her wings and tail had finally vanished. Fighting out of the blankets Rainbow rose before Rarity’s vanity mirror admiring her natural form. “Uh… these certainly look bigger, legs look a little longer too.” She noted inspecting her body. A lot of her wounds were gone too not all of them. The minor ones had completely vanished, but the more serious ones were visibly scared over. Ebony slithered around her neck nuzzling her cheek with a light hiss. “Did you do this girl? Thanks, you helped mommy out.” She kissed the snake on the head; her stomach rumbled, painfully, enough to bring her to her knees. When was the last time she’s eaten? “Rarity’s gotta have food, right?” Rainbow quipped while holding her gut. Her body shivered as the cold draft crept through the walls of the building. She almost forgot she was still naked. Grabbing the blanket off the floor Rainbow marched over to Rarity’s closet, which was a lot messier then she’d envisioned it. She didn’t expect clothes thrown around like someone ransacked the place like was in her room. “Well,” Rainbow muttered grabbing some underwear and pants. “At least it isn’t all frills and lace.” Now dressed in light blue pants and a purple sweater. Seriously there was a lot of purples and light blue in Rarity’s selection. With a pair of long socks and a skirt for a little more warmth Rainbow made her way downstairs to raid Rarity’s kitchen. First, she ate a bowl of cereal. Then another. And then another before the box ran out. Despite that, her stomach was still growling. She fished around for some more food and found some hot pockets to eat. She ate them too, and yet her hunger did not cease. “Fuck what’s wrong with me?” Rainbow grumbled holding her stomach. Roaming around the kitchen she looked for something, anything else to eat when she came upon Rarity’s ice cream stash. “Well, better then nothing I guess.” Sitting at the table with a spoon and a half-eaten bucket of marshmallow ice cream, a cliché choice for Rarity, her nickname in the locker rooms was marshmallow for clearly visible reasons. Rainbow lacklusterly picked at the frozen food. She liked ice cream just fine, but eating frozen food in a cold house wasn’t very appealing. She could turn up the heat and even turn on the lights and have the run of the place, but she was too worried about the attention that would draw. Rarity’s shop was in the business district where many Mac’s informants tend to hang out. She was getting away with her squatting right now because the living quarters of Rarity’s shop were in the back. As long as she didn’t go into the store or Sweetie Belle’s room, the chances of someone spotting her were slim to none. Still, she couldn’t stay here forever. Rarity was sure to come back, and that would lead to trouble. She needed to find a more permeant place to hide out. Someplace she could indeed be safe. She hadn’t had that before, she had been under the radar living at home and squatting here and there. But she never had a permeant base to say. She had just started moving into that abandoned building before someone dropped it on her head and stole the alicorn amulet she worked so hard to get! “The school won’t work. It’s closed right now because of the fight I had with Fury so there wouldn’t be any students or teachers, but that would only temporary. Constructions crews will be coming soon to rebuild the school again. I could go to Maddie’s lab, that would be a good place to huddle down in, but it would be on the list of places Mac would search, and the town has too many eyes.” What if she moved outside of town? Hell, who said she had to stay in town? She had wings; she could fly as far as camp Everfree or even further! Sure, Mac would still probably hunt her, but once she was hundred, two hundred, a thousand miles away? What could he do? Mac’s rooted in Canterlot, to his farm, and had a child on the way. He wouldn’t go all lone ranger to chase after her and with the portal destroyed the Equestrians wouldn’t be a threat either. She could leave. Leave and let Pinkie and Fluttershy deal with Mac or get defeated by him. “Yeah, I could do that…” Really, she could, but that would be running away, and she didn’t like the idea or running away. It went against everything she believed. Ebony rose her head hissing at her. “Yeah, it would be the smart thing to do, but still… I don’t like it.” Ebony hissed again, the black snake nuzzling Rainbow cheek hissing in a pleading manner. “I know your scared girl, I am too, but I can’t run away. The portal is gone for now, but once it’s rebuilt the patrollers will be after us.” Ebony nodded, agreeing with her theory, the black snake slithered and flew over to the fridge pulling a photo from the door and flew back to the table. With her tail Ebony pointed to Fluttershy. “Team up with Fluttershy?” Ebony nodded. “I guess I wouldn’t mind teaming up with Fluttershy, but not Pinkie! I’m pretty sure she was the one that stole the amulet from us!” Rainbow leaned back in her chair. “Now where to find Fluttershy? The animal shelter would be the first place to look I guess.” Grabbing a heavy coat and stocking cap on her way-out Rainbow slipped into the back alleyway behind Rarity’s shop. She’d check out the animal shelter first. At a steady trot, she carefully made her way across town sticking to the back alleys and side streets. She didn’t want to leave a trail for Mac to follow later. Rounding the corner by the canning plant Rainbow caught sight of the animal shelter and the police line in front of it. A car door slammed down the street, and she quickly ducked back into the alley as Mac and Aria walk right past her. “Fuck.” Mac pulled up to the police line parking his pick up at the end of the block. He was coming to more and more crime scenes recently. Hopefully, the police don’t become too familiar with him, he still wanted to maintain a low profile which seemed to be getting harder to do by the day. They climbed out of the pick-up, him, Aria and Ferocious. Aria helped the red detective stand as he took the makeshift cane from the back of the pick-up. Both him and Aria were dressed in generic blue clothes, looking vaguely like police themselves. To top off their disguise, Ferocious gave them some ball caps with forensics written on them. It was a little over the top for them. They’ll be posing as forensic students accompanying Ferocious. All he and Aria had to do was keep quiet. Ferocious took the lead flashing his badge at the officers standing by the line. A crowd had gathered despite the cold. They slipped in relatively quickly and followed Ferocious’s lead into the taped off animal shelter. The first notable thing when they entered was the stink. It smelt like god a damn barn in here! Mac looked down at his plastic-wrapped boots; animal droppings covered the entire floor. He was used to the smell of animal shit, but the air was stagnant in here. Nobody bothered to open a fricken window to keep the air moving. There was probably mold in here. “I always imagined this is how Fluttershy lived,” Aria softly commented her hand over her face as they shuffled into the back room which smelt even worse if that possible. Both of them gagged and one of the real forensic techs approached them and gave them masks. “One hell of a first crime scene huh, guys?” He laughed. “Gotta say I’ve seen some shit, but this is a shit cake ya know?” “Yeah,” Mac replied adjusting his mask and lowering his hat to cover his face more. He looked for Ferocious, who was across the room talking to Stryker with the sheriff. The Tech had gone back to his work of collecting evidence, leaving him and Aria to snoop around. They quietly step toward the back of the cages, out of sight of the others and he offered his hand to Aria. She took it, and her eyes flashed green with second sight. “How’s it look?” “As if a dark magic gas bomb went off this place is rolling with it. We should probably be wearing hazmat suits, if not just for the sink alone. Always knew the animal freak would shack up in a place like this.” There was no question Fluttershy had been based here and for a while. Shame they never took the time seriously come and check this place out. That just corresponded with Fluttershy’s nature. Out of off all of the infected girls, she was the one with the lowest profile. “I see a lot of dark magic over there. A very concentrated amount.” Aria pointed to the storage room. Carefully they opened the door, and the stench inside was even worse! “Ugh… it smells like blood and shit in there!” The Tech looked up form his work as they shut the door. “You two might want to stay out of there. We found the owner inside with rats chewing on her legs. She’s been held in there for more than a week.” “Was she dead? Fucking smells like it.” Aria coughed stepping back from the door. The Tech sighed, looking haggard “Not yet. She’s lucky to be alive. When they took her out to the ambulance… well, she didn’t seem all there and not from years of smoking weed. The poor woman is probably scarred for life. Makes you wonder what kind of monsters are out there, I’ll tell ya. Oh, Miss, you better tie your hair up or something, don’t want your DNA found at a crime scene like this.” Aria thrashed her head around, her hair still done up in its usual pigtails. Wordlessly she took off her cap and pulled her hair bands out, her hair falling straight past her butt. Next, she took it up and molded it around tying it again into a tight bun and put her cap back on. “Thanks, wouldn’t want to testify in court.” She flashed the Tech a smile. The Tech laughed and waved as he picked up whatever he was looking at and left the backroom. Mac kicked at the floor tiles. More animal shit covered the floor here than the front. There were several layers in fact. The animals must have been locked in here for a while. Now the question was, where were they? And where was Fluttershy? “Keep up the good work,” The sheriff said as he passed. He and Aria looked over to Stryker and Ferocious, they were the only ones left in the building. Stryker walked over and shut the door to the front. “The first round of forensics is done. I’m having the guys outside quarantine the area. You find anything useful with those eyes of yours?” “Nothing much, just bunch of dark magic gathered where a lot of pain and suffering where the owner was found. It didn’t seem to be part of a ritual.” Aria said sounding a bit meeker than usual. Mac leaned down, finding the siren’s cheeks flush red. Aria noticed him and turned away from both him and Stryker clearing her throat. “Other than that obvious… wait what’s that!” She asked pointing to the operating room. “There’s more dark magic seeping out of there then the other room!” “Right, about that.” Stryker produced a key from his pocket and walked towards the door. “The sheriff was called by a couple who after seeing the front called it in. When he and another deputy arrived, they went in further and found the owner, TreeHugger, tied up. They also found this. Better brace yourselves.” Stryker opened the door. A swath of polluted air swooshed out from behind the sealed doors. Mac and Aria coughed up a storm nearly throwing up their lunch as their paper masks did little to guard against the toxic odor. Now if only they had something for their eyes. “What the hell is that!” Mac shouted reaching for weapons he didn’t have. Under the operating light laid some manner of beast he’d never laid eyes on before. On either side of the mirror. The dead creature or maybe pile of flesh was canine in shape with snakes for tails, bark adorning spots of its tissue with several other animal parts all mixed together liked they been sent through the blender. “I’ve never seen anything like it either. Ugly little bastard. Hate to see the mother.” Ferocious said pulling a pack of smokes from his pocket. “Warn a man next time when you’re going to show something like that, Stryker.” Stryker swiped a cigarette from Ferocious’s pack, both of them lighting up. (So much for preserving the crime scene,) thought Mac. “Fuck you,” Stryker cursed puffing out a cloud of smoke. “You didn’t have to try and explain this one to the normies. Called it a psycho’s art project... Hey, you finding something girl?” Aria stood up from poking around the operating table, crossing her arms as she took several steps back from the creature. “I don’t know what you call this exactly, but it’s probably a custom chimera.” “Chimeras are a snake, goat, and lion mixed together,” Mac stated looking the creature over again. “It’s got the snake tail, but not much else.” “Chimeras are creatures made of three or more of different creatures. The cat, snake, goat combo is just one of the favorites. Safe to say this one was probably a failure, but I don’t think it takes much brain power to figure out what happened to the other animals.” Aria picked at the bark skin. “Looks like she mixed in Timber Wolves too.” It only took a moment for them to process just what Fluttershy could do with such creatures and just how many she could make with an overstocked animal shelter. Mac, Stryker and Ferocious let out a collective, “Fuck.” Rainbow observed Mac and Aria exiting the Animal Shelter flanked by two familiar tall guys, carefully she sunk deeper into the alley and made a full sprint in the opposite direction. She didn’t know where she was going now or where she could find Fluttershy. Rainbow stopped to catch her breath, her stomach tightening in pain, she was still starving. “Fuck. Well so much for teaming up with Fluttershy, should have known Animal Shelter would be the first place they’d look for her.” On the bright side, Fluttershy was still out there, so the shy girl had bugged out before the police and Mac arrived. Rainbow fell back against a wall and sunk to the ground. “Damn scaredy shy is better at this villain stuff them I am.” She froze at her own words. Since when did she want to be a villain? “What am I… ouch…agh…aha…” Her head began to hurt like someone was pressing their finger into her brain. “Ebony? Are you doing that? Ugh… stop it! I said stop it! That hurts!” Ebony coiled around her neck squeezing it tight, her tail dug into the back of Rainbow neck. Violently Ebony hissed digging deeper into Rainbow’s neck. “I’m sorry! I’m not wavering! I’m committed to our…ugh…your…no my…what am I doing? Why am I doing this?” Her head was pounding like a drum! Everything was confusing and crossways, she couldn’t think straight! What was she supposed to be doing? What did she want to do? “Revenge, ”A low raspy voice whispered. “You want revenge for what they did to us! They shoved us into the darkness! Left us to rot! Three sisters have already been taken down, and the others took out before they even had the chance to hatch! These injustices must be rectified! We must take down Mac and his companions and bend the people of this town to our will, and once we do, we will go after the ones that defeated us and cast us aside to die in darkness! Mother and the Equestrians!” Rainbow’s head was swirling, her eyes dull and lifeless as her body fell limp to the ground. “Yes… revenge, power, mother… I remember now.” Ebony uncoiled her body from Rainbow’s neck and slithered back down into her sweeter for warmth. Rainbow stood up rubbing her throat. “Damn what a fucking night. Ok, what’s the next place Fluttershy would be? Her house? No, too obvious. The zoo? No, Fluttershy would free the animals. She’d want a place with lots of… space.” Rainbow jumped to her feet. A wild grin on her face as she figured out where Fluttershy was hiding. A wide-open place with enough room for lots of animals, the Canterlot Wildlife reserve. That was where she had to be which was outside of town, five miles outside of town to be exact. “Shit.” She looked across the street to an empty car, just sitting there. The wind blew making her shutter even with the new warm clothes, and she was still hungry. Super sprinting out to the animal reserve wasn’t possible, plus there wouldn’t be any shelter out there. A car could provide that, and there were gas stations to take food from along the way. Rainbow gripped her hand tight. “It’s worth it.” It was defiantly worth it, Rainbow sighed in content as she snarked down her second box of stolen Hershey bars while the car heater ran. “So worth it.” She said again laying back in the driver’s seat, her belly almost budging. She hadn’t been this full in a while. There’d but trouble later when the owner reported their car missing. She’d have to ditch it away from the reserve, but right now this was bliss. It was almost like being at the spa with Rarity. Not that she did that often or had a membership. Alas, she could not stay here forever. She was tempted just to stay here until the car ran out of gas, but it was getting dark, and she might need a warm place to stay if she doesn’t find Fluttershy right away. So, with a heavy heart Rainbow Dash shut off the car, the hot air quickly dissipating as the cold almost instantly began to set in again. Bundling up in her coat she got out of the vehicle shivering as she faced the thirty-degree air. “Should have stolen more than one set of clothes. Rarity wouldn’t miss them.” Rainbow grumbled stepping out into the woods. She parked in the remotest parking lot she could find around the wildlife reserve. Considering the parking lot was a piece of cut grass with a rotting wooden fence around it, it was about as remote as it could get. Still, she’d have to find a different place to hide the car later. “Ebony, can you mark this spot so we can find it later?” From under her coat, the black snake hissed. Rainbow took that as a yes and walked deeper into the trees. Right now, she was on a game trail or well-stepped path made by hunters. Being a city girl, she honestly couldn’t tell the difference. Applejack could have. Applejack could have looked at two similar looking piles of animal poop and understand the difference between them. (Maybe I should have listened to AJ’s ramblings when we were hiking at camp.) So, what was her plan here? Should she start yelling for Fluttershy? The wildlife reserve was well over a hundred acres in size. (I’m full now, I should be able to use super sprint, yay life hacks!) With a smirk, Rainbow dashed full speed ahead and tripped over a tree root. Dusting herself off she tried again and got a branch to the face! Third times the charm and she winged her shoulder on a tree. “Holy crap that hurt!” She screamed into the darkness. What little moonlight there was wasn’t enough for her see anything at super speed. “I guess I’m hoofing it.” Only now that she looked around, she lost sight of the trail. “Huh, shit… I think the car is… whoa!” The ground suddenly gave out beneath her foot, and she fell backward down a ravine. Rainbow’s world was upside down, all around and barf-inducing as she tumbled down the dirt hill and splashed into the river below. Well, not so much a river as more a creek. The water was barely two inches deep, but it was also cold! Her clothes were soaked down to her underwear, and she was shivering up a storm. She tried to stand, but her left leg gave out from beneath her sending her back into the water. Teeth grinding, anger flaring and frustrated beyond belief with her life at the moment. Rainbow Dash let out a loud wailing scream of frustration while simultaneously balled her eyes out as she grabbed her twisted ankle and cursed up a storm that would make sailors blush. “Fucking shit fuck, god damn motherfucking shit fuck FUCK FUCK SHIT STUPID GOD DAMN SHIT FUCK!” Rainbow’s breathing slowed her anger cooling, but not dissipating as she tried to focus on more important things. Such as getting out of this cold water. First, she hopped up on her right leg, her balance wobblily until she found a tree root coming out of the side of the hill to grab onto. Next, to looked up at the slope she fell from, she couldn’t see the top, how far did she fall? No way she was climbing up that. “Fuck it, I’m flying back to the car.” Calling on her magic, she felt her wings appear on her back, and she levitated off the ground her feet out of the creek finally. She began to ascend when something rustled a nearby bush. She whipped her head in the direction of the sound and saw several sets of glowing yellow eyes. “Yeah… I’m not dealing with this tonight.” She flew up fast, the things in the bushes sprinted out and jumped! And jumped high! High enough to snag her foot in their jaws! “Aww FUCK!” Was her response as the creatures dragged her back into the water again! Angerly she punched at the shadowed beasts, her fist hitting flesh, rock, and bark she had no idea what she was hitting! “Screw this!” Gathering lightning in her hand Rainbow caught a glimpse of the beasts in the crackling blue light. They were like timber wolves, but not, they had flesh, but they also had rocks and bark on their bodies. Also, they weren’t wolves, but mountain lions! So Timber Lions? Not important because they were chewing on her leg! “Take this you bastards!” She plunged her electrified hand into the water, arcs of lightning hopped on the surface of the water, lighting up the stream and shocking the beasts. The smell of cooking flesh and burning wood reached her nostrils as the beasts smoked and screamed before falling over dead. “Yeah… take that…” Rainbow said weakly falling back into the stream. Her eye flutter as blood poured from her leg, the water carrying it downstream. Ebony rose from Rainbow’s coat shivering and frail as she wrapped her tail around Rainbow and pulled her to shore. A twig snapped, and the black snake whirled around hissing defensively as it guarded her host. From the darkness a green snake emerged, it hissed and flaunted its lighter green feathered wings, and Ebony replied by flaunting her red feathered wings. More of the beasts appeared around the green snake, their bodies emitting light bright enough for Ebony to see she's surrounded. Finally, a taller figure walked from the back of the pack, their hair falling to their feet their body covered entirely by some sort of heavy cloak. Only when the figure knelt did Ebony see they were wrapped in the fur of a bear and from under the cover a yellow-skinned hand emerged. “Another stray to take in. Come with me little one, I’ll take care of you.” Ebony leaned away from the outstretched hand hugging her body close to Rainbow’s. The figure removed their hood, more hair spilling out as the kind-hearted fanged smile of Fluttershy beamed down upon the black snake. “It’s ok, I don’t hurt the weak.” Ebony snapped and hissed, gesturing to Rainbow. Fluttershy softly smiled standing up to tower over the little snake. Waving her hand Fluttershy summoned vines crafting a stretcher beneath Rainbow. Four of the beasts took the injured girl upon their back and began carrying her away. Fluttershy threw her bearskin robe over the freezing girl. Taking the lead as she led them into the woods. “As I said, I don’t hurt the weak. Now come along, I’m taking you two home with me.”