//------------------------------// // The Beginning of Violence // Story: The Blood Feud // by CeasarTwain31 //------------------------------// Soarin slightly shifted in his bed and slowly opened his eyes, being blinded by the morning sun seeping in through the window. His eyes slowly adjusted, and he noticed the mass of color in front of his snout. He looked down, and saw Rainbow Dash, sleeping peacefully as she's cuddled up next to him. Soarin smiled and bent down to kiss her forehead. He looked over and saw the painting. It was definitely his most valuable and best work to him. Soarin then heard a yawn, and Rainbow stretched out her limbs and flipped herself over to look into Soarin's eyes. "Good morning sexy." Rainbow said before kissing Soarin's cheek. "Have fun last night?" she asked. "Best night of my life." Soarin said with a smile before kissing Rainbow back. Soarin pulled back after the kiss, stroking Rainbow's mane and gazing into her eyes. "I love you so much." Soarin said. "I love you too Soar." Rainbow said. "Wanna do something today, there's no practice for me today." Rainbow asked. Soarin's smile then faded. "Sorry, Thunderlane and Rumble want me to join them for a day out, I hope your not mad." Soarin said. Rainbow nuzzled Soarin's neck and kissed it. "It's fine, I don't mind." Rainbow said. She then remembered something important that she was going to ask yesterday, but got, "distracted". "Soarin? I have a very serious question to ask you, about us." Rainbow said as herself and Soarin sat up on the bed. "Sure, ask away." Soarin said. "would.....would you run away with me if we had to?" Rainbow asked. Soarin felt caught off guard by the question. "What?" Soarin asked, his mind feeling a little sluggish by the question. "There's this Wonderbolt named Lightning Streak, he knows about us, and he threatened to expose us if I don't leave you. And...I love you so much, and I don't want to leave you, but I'm not sure if I can leave the Wonderbolts, and I feel like I have no choice." Rainbow stuttered out, her voice breaking as she went on. Eventually, Soarin embraced her in a hug, in an attempt to calm her down. "Rainbow, I understand your scared, I am too. But I promise you, I will protect you from anypony who thinks that our relationship is wrong, and I don't care what anypony thinks. I love you, and I will stand by you, always." Soarin whispered, embracing Rainbow tighter. Rainbow looked up, teary eyed, at Soarin, who wiped the tears from her eyes and gave her a comforting smile. "But, what about the worst case scenario? What if everypony finds out, and we do have to run?" Rainbow asked. "Then, I would go with you. But, as for now, is there anypony you can trust, who will stand by you no matter what?" Soarin asked. "My friends Blaze and Fluttershy, they know about us, and my little sister Scootaloo, I'm sure I could trust her too." Rainbow explained. "Hopefully, if things get to bad, we can rely on them." Soarin said. Rainbow nodded before embracing him again. After their hug, Rainbow glanced at the clock, which read 10:30am. "When do you have to meet with Thunderlane?" Rainbow asked. Soarin glanced at the clock along with Dash and lightly gasped. "11am, I need to get ready, you know how to get back right?" Soarin asked. "Yep, I'll see you later." Rainbow said. She gave Soarin one last kiss before opening the window and flying off into the sky. Soarin then proceeded to get ready for the day ahead. Eventually, he heard a call from upstairs. "Soarin! Wake up sleepyhead, we have to go!" Soarin heard Rumble shouting from upstairs. "Coming!" Soarin shouted before throwing a sheet over Rainbow's now dry painting, and heading upstairs. Rainbow Dash flew over Ponyville, not yet planning on heading back to the Wonderbolts HQ just yet, instead, she decided go and spend the day with Fluttershy, and get a chance to ask her about her predicament, like Blaze had suggested. Rainbow eventually made it to the timid Pegasus' cottage on the outskirts of town, and knocked on her door. Fluttershy answered and her face lit up with joy. "Rainbow Dash, what a nice surprise, please come in!" Fluttershy said gleefully, hugging Dash before inviting her in. "Hey Flutters, I need to talk to you about something." Rainbow said as she followed Fluttershy into her living room, where quite a number of small animals were making themselves at home, including Fluttershy's favorite pet, Angel, who was sleeping in his small bed on the floor. "Well, I have all day, so I'll make us some tea and we can talk." Fluttershy said as she walked into her kitchen to get started on making the tea. "Thanks Flutters." Rainbow said as she took a seat on Fluttershy's couch, a little uncomfortable with all the animals around, since Dash was not well known for being the best with animals. Eventually, Fluttershy made her way back to the living room with a tray containing a teapot and two cups. Rainbow wasn't the biggest fan of tea, but she always had it when Fluttershy offered because it made her so happy. Fluttershy placed the tea on the table and poured two cups and gave one to Rainbow Dash. "So, is this gonna be about Soarin? Because if it is, I want you to tell. me. Everything!" Fluttershy said excitedly. Rainbow chuckled slightly at Fluttershy's enthusiasm. "Everything's been going great between us Flutters. It's everything else going on that's really worrying me." Rainbow explained, her smile fading. Fluttershy placed a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder, giving her a reassuring look. "I'm listening." Fluttershy said in her quiet, soothing tone. "Lightning Streak knows about me and Soarin. He threatened me if I don't break up with him, but I just love Soarin so much, and Soarin gave me the best gift I ever received, and I don't want to loose him. But I also don't want to leave the Wonderbolts, but I know as long as this feud exists, me and Soarin won't be free." Rainbow said, getting more and more distraught as she went on. Fluttershy, kept patting Rainbow on the back to comfort her. Eventually Rainbow looked up at Fluttershy with pleading eyes. "Rainbow, I know you've been loyal to the Wonderbolts for a while now, and you deserve to be in such a great stunt troupe, but now you have a special somepony, and the way you talk about him, he loves you as much as you love him, and if you two get found out, all I can say is, tell both the Wonderbolts and the Shadowbolts that your in love and nothing they say or do will change your minds." Fluttershy explained in her soothing tone. "And what if they try to tear us apart?" Rainbow asked. "Then....get out, if they try to hurt you for your love, then they can go clop themselves." Fluttershy said, unusually bitterly. Rainbow gasped after hearing Fluttershy say something so vulgar. "I'm sorry for my language, but it's what I think you should do if they try." Fluttershy said, her tone back to normal. "Well, they haven't completely found out yet, Blaze is going to talk to Lightning Streak, hopefully she can get him to calm down a bit." Rainbow said before taking a sip of tea. "Wow, that's really brave of her. Also, what was this gift you were talking about?" Fluttershy asked "Oh, Soarin painted a picture of me, and it's amazing, in fact, it's the most beautiful painting I've ever seen." Rainbow said, her eyes glazing over as she thought back to the painting. "I wish I could see it." Fluttershy said. "Maybe someday, me and Soarin can show it to you. I know I want Scootaloo to see it." Rainbow said, taking another sip of tea. "Thanks for the advice Fluttershy." Rainbow said with a smile. "Anytime Dashie. Also, while your here, I was wondering if you could help me with some tidying up." Fluttershy said, motioning to the mess that some of the animals made. Rainbow downed the rest of the tea in her cup, wiped her muzzle with a hoof and nodded. "Sure, it's the least I could do for your help." The pencil moved along the page as Soarin sketched. He studied the paper carefully, with occasional glances to the fountain in front of him as he sketched. The sketch was of the fountain in the Ponyville park, along with Rainbow Dash added in. Soarin glanced up from the sketchbook and saw Thunderlane and Rumble roughhousing in the field with Blossomforth cheering Thunderlane on. Soarin smiled at the sight. For him, Thunderlane and Rumble were a great example of brothers, they loved eachother very much, but they would tease and fight from time to time. Soarin looked back and smiled at the sketch he made. It was as good as his usual sketches, and he considered for a moment turning this one into another painting, when a voice shattered both his concentration, and his day. "She's looking good, even when drawn by a douche." Soarin turned around and saw Fire Streak standing behind the bench he was sitting on. "What do you want?" Soarin asked angrily. "I want to know if you've done like I asked. Did you leave my Dash alone." Fire Streak asked, this time not hungover. "Go blow yourself!" Soarin shouted before turning to go and join Thunderlane and the others. Suddenly, Soarin was shoved down from behind, and he slammed his snout into the ground. He quickly turned and saw Fire Streak with rage in his eyes. "Hey!" Thunderlane shouted as he rushed over and stood in front of Fire Streak. "Did you just hurt him, Blunderbolt?" Thunderlane asked, using his usual Wonderbolt insult. "Heh, your friend there is sniffing some tail that's mine." Fire Streak said smugly. Thunderlane turned to Soarin, who gave him an approving look to beat Fire Streak up as Rumble and Blossomforth. "Hey, he can get any tail he wants, since he knows how to be a good freakin stallion you creep." Thunderlane said, stepping closer to Fire Streak. Fire Streak then glanced to Blossomforth and grinned. "Oh, I'm the creep? You're piece of tail looks damaged, are you sure she's even old enough?" Fire Streak asked, referring to Blossom. *Punch* Fire Streak's head snapped to the side after Thunderlane punched him. He fell to the ground and clutched his eye, which was starting to swell and turn purple. "Go, now, before I punch the other eye too." Thunderlane said threateningly as he stood over him. Fire Streak quickly scrambled to his hooves and leaped into the air to fly away. "My Brother will hear about this!" Fire Streak shouted before flying away. Thunderlane turned to Soarin, a little confused. "You okay Soar?" Thunderlane asked concerned. "Yeah, thanks. That guy's been giving me shit ever since the party. I think I danced with the mare he was after at the party." Soarin explained. "Yeah? Well, if he brings back his older brother to defend him and kiss his boo-boos, he can answer to us." Thunderlane said confidently. "Alright, now lets go get something to eat, it looks like the sun's going down soon." Blossomforth suggested. "Oh, Yes, let's go to sugarcube corner!" Rumble said excitedly. The group then began to walk from the park back into town. Rainbow Dash finished sweeping the floor of Fluttershy's cottage as Fluttershy finished feeding the animals outside. Rainbow looked out the window and saw the sun beginning to set once again. Fluttershy entered the room as Rainbow dumped the sweepings into the trash. "Thanks again Rainbow, I fell a little behind on cleaning this week." Fluttershy said. "It's fine Fluttershy, what are friends for?" Rainbow said happily. Fluttershy and Rainbow were about to just chill for the rest of the evening, when a loud knock sounded at the front door. Fluttershy quickly got up and opened it. "Hey Fluttershy, is Rainbow here?" a frantic voice said as she barged into the cottage. Rainbow looked and saw Blaze enter the room with Fluttershy right behind her. Blaze's eye was purple and swelled. "Blaze? What happened?" Rainbow asked as she stood up and walked over to check on her hurt eye. "I was talking to Lightning Streak, and I thought I was getting through to him about you and Soarin, but then Fire Streak came in with a black eye, and he told Lightning that Soarin and Thunderlane did it. He then got angry and when I tried to stop him, he hit me. Then I came to find you as soon as I could. I don't know where he went or what he's going to do, but I know it's not good." Blaze explained as Fluttershy got a damp rag to hold over Blaze's eye. Rainbow's heart nearly stopped. Lightning had snapped, and now Soarin was in danger, and she had to do something. "I'm going to find Soarin, I need to do something before Lightning does anything drastic." Rainbow said as she ran and threw open the door. "Be careful Rainbow, please." Blaze called out as Rainbow flew off away from Fluttershy's cottage. "Nice call Rumble, that was great." Soarin said as he and the other left Sugarcube Corner after their treat. The sun had almost set now, and the amount of ponies out in the streets had decreased, leaving the streets of ponyville mostly empty. As the group walked home, Thunderlane bumped Soarin's side. "So, have you seen that mare anywhere after the party?" Thunderlane asked with a wink. Soarin blushed slightly. "Yeah, but we haven't really hung out much." Soarin lied. Thunderlane chuckled. "Oh, you're such a bad liar." Thunderlane said. Soarin gulped. "How...wha...how did you....?" Soarin tried to ask. "Come on Soarin, did you really think I wouldn't notice how you were sneaking off in the past week. Don't worry, I won't tell anypony." Thunderlane said with a smirk. "Thanks Thunder, but yeah, sorry for lying. She's amazing." Soarin said. "I'll bet she is, have you gotten any yet?" Thunderlane asked suggestively. Soarin blushed harder. "Thunder! Not here!" Soarin said quietly. Thunderlane chuckled before moving back over to Blossomforth's side. The group kept walking until a Pegasus landed in front of them, blocking their way. "There you are." Lightning said, his voice raspy, and full of rage. Thunderlane stepped forward, in front of the group defiantly. "You're Fire Streak's brother right? Well, just so you know, I'm not sorry and your brother had it coming." Thunderlane said angrily. "I'm not here for you Thunder, I'm here for you!" Lightning Shouted, pointing his hoof at Soarin. Soarin stepped net to Thunder. "What do you mean Lightning?" Soarin asked. Lightning then took off his blue Wonderbolt jacket, and threw it to the ground. "I'm here to stop you from poisoning Rainbow Dash's mind further with your Shadowbolt lies!" Lightning shouted. Soarin audibly gulped, and Thunder turned his head to Soarin, giving him a confused look. "What do you mean Lightning?" Thunder asked. "Oh, you don't know? Your friend there is screwing around with a Wonderbolt." Lightning said, hoping that Thunderlane would get mad. Thunderlane turned back to Lightning before taking off his won Shadowbolts jacket and giving it to Rumble. "Thunder? What are you doing?" Blossomforth asked, rushing to his side. "Blossom, please, just stand aside, I need to beat this one too." Thunderlane said, turning back to Lightning. "You...Your not mad Thunder?" Soarin asked. Thunderlane turned back to Soarin. "I'm furious Soarin, but also proud, and I'll kick this guys ass for you." Thunderlane said before turning back to Lightning, who was even more furious. "You..Your just going to let him get away with this, he fucked your enemy, lied to you about it, and now he's affecting other ponies." Lightning argued. Thunderlane laughed. "I know, it's brilliant!" Thunderlane said. Lightning gritted his teeth and quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out his switchblade. "I'm not here for you Thunder! I'm here for him!" Lightning shouted before darting toward Soarin. Soarin quickly shut his eyes and braced himself for impact, but instead of it coming from in front, it came from the side, and he was pushed to the ground. Soarin opened his eyes and looked over to where he was standing, and he gasped. He saw Lightning Streak, standing in front of Thunderlane, with his switchblade buried in Thunder's gut. Lightning had a devilish grin on his face as he pulled the blade out and stabbed Thunder again, and again, and again. After stabbing Thunder several time, Lightning pulled the blade out, and blood began to pour onto the ground. Lightning stepped back and Thunderlane fell backwards onto the ground with a grunt. "THUNDERLANE!" Soarin shouted as he ran over to Thunder. He was swiftly joined by Blossomforth and Rumble, who also tried to hold his wounds. Blossomforth sat with Thunderlane's head in her lap as she began to cry. "Help!" Blossomforth cried out. Rainbow Dash started to get increasingly worried about Soarin as she frantically searched for him over Ponyville, eventually, one sound finally drew her attention. "Help!" Rainbow heard somepony crying from down below. She looked, and she saw Soarin along with Rumble and Blossomforth huddled around Thunderlane on the ground, and Lightning Streak stood just feet away. Rainbow quickly dove down to where they were. Rainbow landed near the group around Thunderlane and the three looked up at her. Soarin was surprised but happy to see her, Rumble growled and Blossomforth just kept focusing on Thunderlane. "Rainbow Dash, nice of you to show up and finally see these shittybolts for who they are, nothing but filthy degenerates who spend their days doing nothing but getting stoned and fucking up ponies lives." Lightning said. Rainbow frowned at him and said nothing as she rushed to help Soarin. She knelt down next to Soarin and watched the panic in his face. Thunderlane opened his eyes a slit and smiled at the ponies around him. Blossom clutched his head and continued sobbing. "Well...looks like I got what was coming to me." Thunderlane croaked out. Soarin applied more pressure, even making Rumble use Thunder's jacket to try to stop the bleeding. Thunder coughed up blood before speaking again. "You must be Rainbow Dash." Thunder said. Rainbow nodded and Thunder smiled at Soarin. "You lucky dog, you treat her right, you hear me." Thunder said. Rumble frowned at his brothers words. "But Thunder, she's a Wonderbolt!" Rumble said angrily. "I don't give a shit anymore Rumble!" Thunderlane said before he devolved into a fit of coughing and blood. Soarin nodded at Thunder's request. "You take care of him too Dash." Thunderlane said before looking up to Blossomforth. "You be safe Blossom, I love you." Thunder said. Blossom leaned down and kissed him, her sobbing becoming louder. "And take care of Rumble Soarin." Thunder croaked. Rumble then buried his face into Thunder's neck and started to cry. "I will Thunder, I promise." Soarin whispered. Thunderlane smiled, before he slowly closed his eyes and his chest stopped moving, and he let out one last gasp. Silence. Silence followed, everything was drowned out as Soarin looked down at the body of his best friend, he looked down at his hooves, covered in Thunderlane's blood. He looked at Dash, who gave him an apologetic look before hugging him. And finally, Soarin turned and looked at Lightning Streak, who was still standing there, with a look of pure hatred and rage in his eyes. Soarin then felt something inside him snap and all his anger that festered in him ignited in a blazing fire. He quickly grabbed Thunderlane's jacket and pulled out Thunder's switchblade and stood up to face Lightning. Soarin knew what he had to do, what he needed to do. Lightning just killed Thunderlane, and he must pay...