Fluttershy hummed a happy tune as she navigated the dimly lit halls of the maze, her Thestral ears twitching as they picked up the slight shifts in sound in the air around her. A strange sense of calmness filled her as her red eyes examined the lightly cracked stone walls of her surroundings. It was as if this was the kind of place she was meant to be, that this environment was homey in a way that only made sense on an instinctual level. She knew that it was because of her new instincts that she felt this way, but by this point she had long sense made peace with the new quirks her body came with. After all, it was thanks to those very same quirks that she could move so freely through the maze. Her sharp ears could give her a near perfect blueprint of her surroundings while her nose picked out a wide variety of scents to give her a better idea of what her surroundings held that her hearing couldn't. Added to that was her night vision and how her eyes seemed to be able to zoom in and out on things well beyond what her human eyes were capable of.
Of course, a large part of how she was able to accept herself was thanks to her girlfriend. She let out a small giggle when she thought about that particularly crazy part of her life. Never did she think she would ever get a girlfriend, let alone have that girlfriend be a pony version of herself from another world. Even now, she couldn't wrap her head around just how insane her life had become, but at the same time she wouldn't have it any other way. She loved her friends and was more than willing to jump into the flames of hell if it meant keeping them safe. Just the thought of seeing any of them hurt or worse made her blood boil as her inner Thestral raged against her restraints.
She sighed as she silently thanked Vinyl for letting her spar with her. According to Equestrian Fluttershy, Star Eater Thestrals were the combat elite of the old Lunar Military. It was largely due to their higher ferocity and larger magical storehouses compared to conventional Thestrals. This gave them faster bodies and made them more focused hunters when the need arose. Outside of combat, this also made them great hunters of both monsters and ponies that got lost in dangerous places. Thanks to Fluttershy's unique circumstances, she was constantly at war with a collection of new abilities and instincts that most Star Eaters grew to understand and tame as they grew. In a lot of ways, it was like going through puberty all over again. Needless to say, Fluttershy was not happy to have to go through something like that again. It was only thanks to the combined efforts of Forgiveness and Vinyl that she was able to get a grip of her new self in any productive way.
It was with a small blush that she remembered how her first sparring match with the DJ went and the near disaster that befell them as a result.
***
Two girls stood resolute, both of them holding a stance unique to their individual fighting styles. Vinyl held her arms up in a traditional boxing style while Fluttershy stood in a manner similar to a praying mantis. The boxing ring they rented for the day from the local gym was surrounded by people, each of them watching with bated breath as the two girls continued to walk in a wide circle. Neither girl was eager to jump into the fray, both of them well aware of the other girl's individual abilities. Vinyl took great pride in the skills she spent the last four years perfecting in the boxing ring. More often than not, she would deck her opponents with one or two well placed punches, earning her the nickname "Lullaby" from some of her normal opponents. Fluttershy was not one of her usual opponents. The girl's style seemed to have a heavy emphasis on evasion and attack deflection and only striking when the time was right. A simple philosophy to go by, but what made it so devastating was how those few strikes Fluttershy delivered could be.
Fluttershy knew that Vinyl was a strong fighter. Her attacks had plenty of speed and power behind them and if it wasn't for her Thestral instincts backing up her mother's training she would've knocked her out in a matter of seconds. As such, she let those instincts guide her forms as she alternated fluidly between attacking and deflecting each time they came to blows. This also made them a little more hesitant to initiate the first strike when those moments ended.
Seeing an apparent opening, Vinyl charged in and threw a quick right jab. Fluttershy responded with an equally fast backhand to redirect Vinyl's attack before countering with a finger strike aimed at that same arm's shoulder. Vinyl sidestepped out of the way at the last second before following up with a left hook. Fluttershy ducked under it and landed a quick finger strike on Vinyl's left shoulder. The DJ cursed lightly under her breath as her left arm went limp, most of the feeling being sucked out of it as she locked eyes with her opponent. Vinyl's grin widened as she wasted no time throwing another lightning quick jab. Fluttershy prepared to redirect it again, only for her hand to come up short when Vinyl halted her punch, pulled back, and shifted into an uppercut that connected with the girl's chin all in the blink of an eye. The pain and shock stunned her as her head snapped upward and she stumbled back only to get the air knocked out of her by a blow to her gut before she could recover. If it wasn't for the padded boxing gloves on Vinyl's hands, the two blows would've brought Fluttershy to her knees, but that didn't make the incoming barrage of punches any more pleasant.
Fluttershy crossed her arms over her face and chest to weather the storm of punches. At the same time Vinyl continued to press her advantage, all the while she could feel her other arm start to obey her commands. Fluttershy knew that she needed to launch a counter attack, but Vinyl's barrage was difficult to read without risking another powerful direct hit. An irritated hiss slipped past her lips as her frustration mounted, her Thestral instincts steadily growing restless under the continued assault. Slowly, she felt a heat fill her veins, the flow moving with the beat of her heart like a second set of blood flowing through her body. Little by little, the heat continued to grow until it felt like a raging inferno was running through her veins. A fierce high-pitched screech filled the room as the cornered teen delivered a lighting fast dual palm strike to Vinyl's chest, knocking her back five steps. Fluttershy quickly closed the gap, the shadow of her bangs hiding all but her nearly glowing teal eyes as she closed in on the DJ. Vinyl's eyes widened as a flurry of finger strikes flew towards her, each of them moving almost too fast for her to track as she bobbed and weaved around them. A soft hiss greeted her as the shy girl's strikes doubled in speed, her opponent's rage washing over her like a burning tide. Pure terror showed on Vinyl's face as dozens of light stings riddled her arms and left thigh before all feeling left them. With only one leg keeping her up, Vinyl could only watch with growing horror as her opponent grabbed her by the collar of her tank top and dragged her towards her. Acting on pure instinct, Fluttershy opened her mouth and bit into Vinyl's neck. The feel of her friend's pounding pulse on her lips snapped her out of her trance, leaving the two girls frozen as they tried to make some sense of the situation. When Fluttershy finally managed to do so, she let out a soft "Meep!" and darted to the other end of the ring. Vinyl let out started yelp as she fell bonelessly onto her side in the middle of the ring, her eyes wide and skin paler than usual as she stared panting at the gym ceiling.
Fluttershy stared at her in wide-eyed dread as she processed what she had done, what she had almost done to her friend. She knew that this was a bad idea. She knew that she was going to hurt her friend if she went along with this.
"V-Vinyl," she stammered, her legs shaking as she took two steps towards her. "I-I-I'm sor-"
"Hey Flutters, think you can help me out here?" Vinyl chuckled, flashing a smile at the trembling girl. "Can't really move all that much right now, ya know?"
Fluttershy blinked in shock for a moment, then nodded meekly as she kneeled down to where her friend laid. With a few quick pokes and prods, Fluttershy managed to give back enough control to the girl's limbs for her to drag herself to her feet. Vinyl still smiled as she flexed her fingers, seemingly testing them before she looked at her sparring partner. Her smile wilted when she saw how shaken-up the girl was and how nervous their audience looked.
Fluttershy's thoughts were a wild tempest of guilt as she let what she did sink in. While it was only for a moment, she still lost control of herself and nearly bit her friend's throat off. Her whole body started to tremble as that knowledge settled into her like a lead weight. Images of a bed bound Pinkie and a nearly broken Sunset flashed in her head like a twisted slideshow, her breathing spiking as her guilt mounted. She was suddenly brought back to earth when an arm draped itself across her shoulders and pulled her into a stiff half-hug.
"Geez Flutters," Vinyl beamed, her arm gently tightening around the girl. "At least buy me dinner first, kay?"
Fluttershy blinked owlishly at her, then hid behind her bangs as the DJ's words brought a raging blush to her face.
"Let's save it for the showers," she chuckled as she practically dragged the poor girl out of the ring.
A few seconds later they were sharing a bench in the surprisingly empty gym locker room. Vinyl took a long pull from her water bottle while Fluttershy sat staring at hers.
"You okay?" Vinyl asked, nudging the other girl with a light punch in the shoulder.
She shook her head slowly, eyes still locked onto her bottle. Vinyl sighed then stared at her own drink as she tried to think of something to say.
"I'm sorry," Fluttershy whispered, her lips trembling as tears started to build in her eyes.
"No big deal," Vinyl shrugged. "Not the first girl to try to bite me."
"Wh-What?" Fluttershy balked, half formed tears running down her cheeks as she stared at her friend.
"Long story," she chuckled, waving away her friend's shock. "Now, what happened back there? Was that a Thestral thing or something?"
Fluttershy nodded then looked back down at her water bottle.
"Forgiveness has been helping me keep it under control in our magic lessons, but sometimes my instincts become too much for me to handle."
Vinyl nodded, her lips pulled into a thoughtful frown as she stared at her own drink.
"What kind of things trigger them?" she asked.
Fluttershy nervously bit her lip then said, "W-Well, it used to be when I got really angry or when someone threatened any of you, but now its if I feel cornered or if I'm in a dark place."
Vinyl hummed in thought at that for a few seconds before she leveled a small smile at her and said, "Guess we'll need to do a few more of these matches then."
"W-What?" Fluttershy stammered, staring wide-eyed at the girl.
"If shits about to get as bad as Laughter says it will then we're gonna need to be at our best. To get there, I'm gonna need to up my game and you need to get those instincts under wraps. Best way to do that is for us to get into the ring a few times."
"B-But I might-" Fluttershy started only to get cut off as Vinyl put a hand on her shoulder.
"You won't," she smiled. "You pulled yourself back, right?"
"Y-Yes," she stammered. "But I almost-"
"You didn't," Vinyl said, her smile softening. "You've got this."
"I-I don't know," Fluttershy sighed. "I don't want to hurt my friends."
Vinyl nodded, then gave her an impish grin as she said, "Tell ya what. If we do this, I'll help you spice up your love life."
"Huh?" Fluttershy gawked, face turning a fine shade of pink.
"Well, I know you and your double did the due recently, but I bet it was pretty tame, right?"
Fluttershy looked away silently, but her growing blush said more than any word possibly could. Vinyl's smile grew at that.
"Bet you've got a pet name for her too, don't ya?"
Fluttershy nodded stiffly as she tried to look at anything other than Vinyl.
"Well, what is it 'Flutterbat'?"
Fluttershy fidgeted a little in her seat for a few minutes, her face turning redder than a tomato by the second.
"B-B-Butterfly," she stammered.
Vinyl stared at her for a few seconds, then gasped as she clutched her chest and fell back across the what was left of the bench they shared.
"G-Goddamn it Flutters! All that sugars is lethal!"
Fluttershy let out a small squeak as she pulled in on herself, her hair hiding all but her red ears from the grinning DJ. Vinyl chuckled as she playfully pulled the girl into a one-armed hug.
"Well, I think I know of a few things you can do to get your little 'Butterfly's' heart fluttering."
"L-L-Like what?" she stammered, her poor brain short circuiting from her embarrassment.
"Well," she smiled wickedly, pulling out her phone and tapping on the screen a few times. "I bet if you got her over here and you were wearing this, she'd go totally nuts!"
As she said that, she brought the phone into Fluttershy's line of sight. The girl's eyes widened as her blush spread down to her neck. She gulped audibly as she struggled to form a coherent thought, but the barrage of naughty thoughts flooding her brain shut that down in a matter of seconds.
Vinyl's smile grew more wicked as she whispered something that completely shut the girl down.
"Or maybe you could talk her into wearing it."
The whirlwind of embarrassment became too much for the poor girl and she let out a pitiful whine before she flopped bonelessly across the bench. A loud cackling was the last thing she heard before she passed out from the strain. The next time they sparred, she vowed that she was going to get back at her for this. Big time.
***
She sighed helplessly at the memory before a chuckle came out of her when she took note of how Vinyl treated her recently. While she didn't like the teasing all that much, she loved how easy it was to talk to the girl. On top of that, she always seemed to be full of this wild energy that spread to everyone around her. It wasn't the same kind of craziness that surrounded Pinkie, but it was just as passionate at its core. It was enough to get even a shy girl like her to stand up and take charge when things looked hopeless.
"M-Maybe we can spend some time together when this is over," she whispered to herself, a small smile gracing her lips.
A deep growl in the distance made her freeze when she came to a fork, her ears twitching as she tried to track its source. Her smile melted into a frown as she eyed one path in particular. Her fingers and jaw clenched as her instincts warned her of the danger ahead, but instead of telling her to flee, they told her to brace herself. A soft growl rumbled in her throat as she took the dangerous path, her gait strong and defiant as she marched towards danger of her own volition. Each step filled her with primal fury as the cold chill of negative energy washed over her like cold oil. This spiked when she rounded a corner into a long hallway that lead to a slightly brighter room.
She lightly brushed her hand across her eyes, the red orbs changing back to their normal shade of teal as she continued her march. It was time to fight and for this she didn't need her night vision to see her prey. When she crossed the threshold, she found herself in a massive arena lit by larger and brighter versions of the same flowers that filled the halls. At its heart stood her opponent, a beast that brought a small smile to her face in consideration of her circumstances.
It had a hulking humanoid form with a thick coat of black fur coving it from top to bottom with white swirling patters moving through it. Its legs, tail, and head were like that of a great wolf, red eyes glowing as they glared hatefully at her. Fluttershy stood tall as she slowly made her way further into the room, her face void of emotion as she locked eyes with the beast.
"Who dares enter my domain?" the beast growled, his voice a strange mix of a bark and human language.
"Fluttershy," the girl said curtly, her steps halting nine feet away from the beast. "What is your name?"
"Roethan," he growled, falling to all fours and crouching down in a threatening manner.
"Well, Roethan," she frowned. "I have one thing to say to you."
"And that is?" he growled.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, then assumed her stance.
https://youtu.be/_HUTkclChpE
The werewolf roared as he charged towards her, fangs and claws bared as he closed in on her. Fluttershy's eyes narrowed as she picked her target. In a blur of motion, Roethan swiped a claw at her only to miss as she stabbed her left fingers into his chest. A hint of regret hit her as she made peace with the fact that she used one of the seven lethal techniques in her arsenal. While she knew she had no choice in the matter, it didn't make the act any less painful for the girl. Guilt switched places with shock as, instead of falling, Roethan took another swipe at her. An enormous wave of pain shot through her as she flew ten feet away from the seed, a pained squeak coming out of her as she hit the ground. Gritting her fangs through the pain, she staggered to her feet only to stare in wide-eyed horror at her left arm. Blood leaked from several points where bone broke through skin, the limb hanging limp at an unnatural angle at her elbow. She didn't get to study her wound for long before the seed steamrolled towards her. An angry snarl flew past her lips as she quickly took to the air at the last second, the sudden shift into the air jostling her arm and forcing a pained hiss out of her. Now that she was outside her enemy's reach, she gave her arm a more detailed look over. She grimaced, then channeled some of her magic into her nails. With a quick jab, her now teal glowing claws sunk into her flesh for a second before she pulled them free. Her damaged limb slowly started to glow the same color as the bone snapped back together, the glow fading little by little as it returned to its previous pristine condition. She smiled as she flexed her left arm, everything moving as it should before she gave her ground-bound enemy her full attention.
Good, the spell worked, she thought, sighing mentally. Now, how did he survive? That attack should've stopped his heart.
It was then that she noticed that the swirls around Roethan's chest were no longer silver. Instead, the swirling patterns were a bright glowing red. She frowned at that as she focused on the flow of her magic. While she didn't know what the change of color meant, she knew that it was somehow blocking her strikes.
It's time to use it, she thought, her eyes shifting back into the blood red slit pupils of her Equestrian tribe. It's time to hunt.
A teal glow formed around her nails a she glared down at Roethan, her Thestral instincts raging free from their constraints. Then, with a high-pitched cry, she dived towards the werewolf. Roethan roared as he took a swipe at her only to hit empty air. He blinked, then let out a pitched bark as over a dozen sharp stings came across his chest. He tried to sink his fangs into her only for her to disappear again. A furious pained snarl came out of him when another flurry of stinging blows struck his back. He turned to swipe at her only for her to disappear yet again, all the while, his silver markings continued to turn red. His rage grew with the shift, his attacks becoming more wild as the little game of tag continued. Fluttershy started to feel a little sorry for the creature as she landed several quick strikes to his leg before a heavy clawed hand forced her to move.
This quickly changed when she was suddenly backhanded across the face by the seed, his speed taking a massive sudden increase. A startled squeak came out of her as she crashed into a wall, the impact putting stars into her eyes before a clawed hand around her throat brought her back to reality. She bared her fangs as her opponent did the same to her, pure hate radiating in his glowing red eyes. Her eyes and mouth flew wide open as a great fist slammed into her gut, a faint squeak making it past her mouth before the blow was repeated. Her vision started to fade as the blows continued to come, the pain numbing with each titanic blow. She was faintly aware when a set of fangs closed in around her right hand before a new pain shot through her only for it to be repeated with her left one. A second later, she felt herself get flung through the air before hitting the ground face first. She could feel his lumbering steps through the ground as she laid there, her body still and blood pooling from her hands as she faded in and out of consciousness. The beast loomed over her, the seed's lips pulled back to reveal glistening blood-soaked fangs.
It was then, as the seed reached down to finish off his prey that a single thought entered Fluttershy's mind. It was simple, yet powerful on a primal level. Four simple words that gave her the strength she needed to pull herself back from the brink.
I want to live.
Her eyes flew open and without a second thought, she channeled some of her magic into fangs and ran one through her tongue. In an instant, a surge of energy ran through her, springing her wings open just in time to pull her into the air and away from Roethan's clutches. The werewolf snarled before he jumped towards her, the beast quickly closing in on her from were she hovered twenty feet in the air. The girl let out a screeching cry as she she flew towards him, her hands glowing as the damage dealt to them healed right before his eyes. The two beings met mid way, claws slamming into each other as they fell back to earth with the ferocity of savage beasts. Fluttershy quickly noticed that the seed was moving a lot faster than he was a minute ago and his blows were a lot stronger. Another thing she noticed was that all of his markings were now completely red. Mentally kicking herself for not noticing sooner, she doubled her efforts to end this bout.
Both of them moved in a constant pair of blurs, neither of them willing to relent in their desire to end their opponent. Blood both black and red stained the field as the two traded glancing blows with each other. Fluttershy pushed herself harder, refusing to back down even as she felt a claw graze her cheek. She had too much to live for to let herself fall here. Her girlfriend. Her friends. Her family. All of them were counting on her to make it through this and come home safely and she was not going to let them down.
A fierce screech filled the arena as she channeled a large chunk of her magic into he right hand, the appendage shining a bright teal before she stabbed its nails into the seed's neck. The werewolf froze, gasping wetly as he stared down at her before she jerked her hand free. Wet coughs forced their way past his maw as he fell to his knees, shock replacing his rage as the glow in his eyes and marks started to fade. The fury in Fluttershy's eyes melted away, a deep sadness taking its place as she stared down at her opponent. She let out a small sigh and made her way towards the arena's exit as the seed choked on his own blood. A ferocious snarl made her stop, the exit a mere two feet away as she looked over her shoulder at Roethan.
The seed stared at her with burning eyes as he held up a black crystal in his right hand.
"No!" he roared. "Not yet! I won't die yet! I won't die until your blood soaks the ground! DO YOU HEAR ME?! I WON'T DIE LIKE THIS!"
With that, he rammed the crystal into his chest. Roethan roared as as the crystal's power surged into him, his body making loud ripping noises as it changed. His body grew from its impressive six feet to a hulking ten, his muscles swelling to inhuman levels to match his new hight. Bone like spikes jutted out of the seed's back while his fangs grew past his lower jaw by a full foot. His marks shined to a nearly blinding degree as he let out a furious howl that shook the ground. The new beast snarled viciously at the teen that dared to keep her back turned towards him. In a blink, he was upon her, claw raised and ready to strike the teen down from where she stood.
"DIE!" he roared as he brought his claw down.
At the last second, his body froze, massive claw an inch away from taking the girl's head off of her shoulders. Confused, he tried to press his attack, but his arm refused to move. Not just his arm, but his whole body was frozen, only his eyes obeying his commands as he glared down at the girl. Fluttershy turned to face the seed, the shadow of her bangs hiding her eyes as she stared down at her hands.
"My magic is strange," she mused. "By channeling it into my hands or fangs, I can use it to heal or give an adrenaline spike by injecting it into someone. I can also paralyze them by having it attack their nervous system from the inside out."
She looked up at the seed with an expression that made him rear back the fraction of an inch his body allowed him. The girl didn't look at him with rage or disgust like he expected. It was one that he had never seen before, but on some level appreciated; compassion.
He felt a strange sense of peace as she placed a hand on his shoulder, the rage that burned in his heart dimming as she locked eyes with him.
"With these kind of abilities," she continued. "I could do horrible things to people, but I don't want to do that. Even now, I don't want to be that kind of monster. You are so full of rage. Of pain. I want to help you so much, but the only thing I can do is..."
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around the stunned seed, surprise overwhelming his rage as he yielded to the girl's kindness.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, magic gathering in her fangs.
A light pair of stings brought a pained yelp out of the seed before all feeling started to fade out of his body. For the first time in his life, the burning rage inside him gave way to a cooling calm. A weariness he never knew existed washed over him, his form slowly crumbling away into black dust as his heartbeat slowed. Peace filled his heart as it stopped, his eyes closing for one last time as his form disintegrated in Fluttershy's arms.
"Thank you," he said before he turned completely into dust.
Fluttershy fell her knees, tears running down her face as she stared down into her hands, the last particles of Roethan rolling off of them onto the ground beneath her.
"Y-You're welcome," she sniffled, a sad smile marring her features as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Now rest."