//------------------------------// // The Painting // Story: The Blood Feud // by CeasarTwain31 //------------------------------// The next morning, Soarin woke up much earlier than he usually would. Normally, he would sleep in, but today, he was on a mission. He quietly snuck out of the mansion through his window, and headed into town. As he flew, he glanced at the small list he made of the supplies he needed for another painting, mostly colors and a few different sized brushes he needed. This painting needed to be perfect, it was going to be perfect, for her. Soarin landed in the Ponyville Market, which was quiet, being this early in the morning, with many of the shops just opening up for the day. Soarin began to browse through several stalls, looking for one that sold art supplies. As he walked, he was suddenly called by a voice from the other side of the Market. He turned and saw a pony, slumped down next to a stall, waving him over with a hoof. He was pale, with a mane like fire. And he held a half empty bottle of liquor by his side. Soarin walked over carefully, a little unsettled by this pony, who Soarin recognized. "Hey.....I....I...know you, your that....Fruckin guy from the...party" the pony said, clearly hungover. "Uh, do I know you?" Soarin asked. The pony wiped his muzzle with a hoof and stood up, stumbling as he did so. "I'm Fire Streak......Wonderbolt and single stallion lookin for love." Fire Streak said with a frown. Soarin took a step back. "What do you want with me, I'm busy." Soarin said, trying to avoid conflict so early in the morning. "I know that was you at the....party, with Dashie." Fire Streak said angrily. "So?" Soarin said defensively. "You stole her from me, she was mine." Fire Streak shouted, throwing his bottle to the ground. Soarin took another step back before turning around. "I don't have time for this, so long." Soarin said quickly as he walked away, not wanting to escalate things further. "You stay away from her Skies! Don't test me Motherfucker!" Fire Streak shouted, getting attention from some of the open stalls. Soarin quickly moved around a corner, away from the unstable pony. Soarin began to worry, if any other Wonderbolts knew about him and Dash, things could get ugly, fast. Luckily, Soarin's thoughts turned good again as he spotted the art supply stall. The morning had also reached the Wonderbolt mansion, and as the sun came up, the Wonderbolts all left their rooms and gathered in the dining room for breakfast. Rainbow Dash reluctantly woke up along with Blaze, and the two made their way to the dining room, grabbed their breakfast, and sat down next to eachother. As they ate, Dash saw Lightning Streak sitting at another table, his stare still making her uneasy. "Don't look at him, just ignore him, and I'll deal with him later." Blaze whispered. Rainbow smiled and continued eating. Then, another pony sat down across from Blaze and Rainbow at the table. The two looked up and saw Spitfire, giving Dash an angry look. "Good morning Spits, what's going on today?" Blaze asked, slightly annoyed by her cousin's sudden appearance. "Good morning girls. Dash, we're training the team for a show in Canterlot in a few weeks, I really hope your planning on attending the entire practice for once." Spitfire said, clearly agitated. Rainbow rolled her eyes, she'd been making excuses to skip practice to be with Soarin, but Spitfire was starting to get agitated with Rainbow's truancy. "Uh, just get somepony else to be in the show, I did the Fillydelphia show last month, let somepony else perform in this one." Rainbow argued, taking another bite of the apple with her breakfast. "You're on thin ice Dash! Are you a Wonderbolt or not?" Spitfire shouted, slamming her hoof on the table. Blaze then stood up in front of her cousin. "Look Spitfire, if Dash doesn't want to perform in this show, she doesn't have to, didn't you choose not to fly in the Blatimare show last year?" Blaze said, adding smugness to the end, knowing fully well that Spitfire opted out of that show for the purpose of being lazy. Spitfire was about to rebut, but Rainbow spoke. "It's okay Blaze, I'll attend practice today, it's only fair, since I've already missed so much." Rainbow said. Spitfire grinned. "Good, see you guys at practice." Spitfire said as she stood up and walked away. "You didn't have to do that Dash. What about Soar?" Blaze asked quietly. "I can just meet him after practice, it'll be fine." Dash said reassuringly. Soarin ruffled through his saddlebag full of the art supplies he purchased as he approached the Shadowbolt mansion. He was about to enter the house, when a voice called his attention. "Whatcha got their boy?" Night Stalker asked as he sat up from one of the chairs on the porch. "Oh, I just grabbed some stuff from the market this morning, nothing big." Soarin said as nonchalantly as possible. "What kind of stuff?" Night Stalker asked. "Art supplies, I'm gonna start another painting." Soarin explained, slightly regretting just blurting out the answer so carelessly. "Oh, how nice. Maybe we'll have another one of your works decorating the halls." Night Stalker said as he sat back down on the porch bench. "Heh, yeah, maybe." Soarin said awkwardly before quickly heading inside and going downstairs to his room. Soarin began to unload his haul from the market and began to set up the canvas and his paints. He then flipped to the sketch in his notebook and placed it on the table next to the canvas so he could easily see it. "Time to make a masterpiece." Soarin said to himself. He took a deep breath, before dipping one of the larger brushes into the green, and beginning the painting. "Great job today Dash, it's nice to see you've still got skills after missing so much practice." Misty Fly complemented as herself and the rest of the female Wonderbolts cleaned up in the locker room. "Thanks Misty. Although, I'm pretty sure I'll always be as great, no matter how little I practice." Rainbow said slightly cockily. Blaze chuckled at Rainbow's confidence. Rainbow and Blaze eventually finished cleaning up and left the locker room. Rainbow was about to head out to her and Soarin's spot, when she was stopped by Lightning Streak. Rainbow felt like her head was going to explode, all she wanted was for Lightning to leave her alone. "Have you considered what I've asked you?" Lightning asked threateningly. Rainbow furrowed her brow and was about to tell Lightning to blow himself, when Blaze spoke up from down the hall. "Hey Lightning? Can I talk to you for a sec?" Blaze asked as sensually as possible. Lightning looked around for a second, almost completely forgetting about Dash. "Really?" Lightning asked excitedly as he walked around Dash and over to Blaze. Rainbow took the chance to sneak out the door, snickering to herself at Blaze's ability to act. Rainbow knew that she now owed Blaze something for being a good friend. As soon as Rainbow made it out the door, she took off to the field. Practice ran later than usual that day, so the sun was now setting, making the countryside look as amazing as it usually did around this time. Soarin sat in the field, waiting for Dash. He held a bouquet of flowers that he bought in the Market that morning for her. His face and hooves were also still covered in dry paint. He had worked practically all day on the painting, it was pretty much finished, it just needed to dry. Soarin smiled as he saw Rainbow fly over the trees and land on the other side of the field. She slowly walked over to him. "Hey, sorry I'm late, I had to go to practice today to please Spitfire." Rainbow said apologetically. Soarin gave her the bouquet of flowers and kissed her cheek. "It's fine, I was also here a bit later than usual too, I've been working on something for you." Soarin said. Rainbow's interest peaked. "Ooooh, where is it?" Rainbow asked excitedly. "Follow me, and be careful, we're going to my home." Soarin said before he and Rainbow took off. They flew close together until they reached the outskirts of the Shadowbolt mansion grounds. They landed by the treeline closest to Soarin's bedroom window. Soarin glanced around the yard, and luckily, didn't see any Shadowbolts around, so he led Rainbow as quickly as they could to the window and quickly climbed into Soarin's room, and shut the window behind them. Once Soarin and Rainbow were in the room, Rainbow spotted what Soarin was talking about, and gasped. There, sitting on the desk, was a completed painting of the sketch that Soarin had taken of her last night. It was one of the most beautiful things that Dash had ever seen. The way the colors all blended together and hopped off the canvas made Rainbow start to tear up. "I spent all day on this, do..do you like it?" Soarin asked with a smile upon seeing Rainbow's reaction to the painting. Rainbow, almost as soon as she heard Soarin's question, answered it by throwing her forehooves around him, and kissing him. The kiss started simple, but began to increase in intensity, eventually leading to them falling onto Soarin's bed. "I'll take that as a yes." Soarin chuckled as he and Rainbow stopped kissing for air. "It's the most awesome painting I've ever seen." Rainbow said as she stared at it. Soarin smiled as he began to kiss her cheek and neck as she laid on him. She then turned back to him so she could kiss him. After another period making out, Rainbow pulled back and looked into Soarin's eyes. "I...I think I'm ready." Rainbow said with a tinge of lust in her voice. Soarin's eyes widened in excitement, arousal, and shock. "Are...are you sure?" Soarin asked carefully. Rainbow grinned. "Does this answer your question?" Rainbow asked before slamming her lips back onto his. Soarin let himself melt into the kiss, and readied himself for the night of his life.