//------------------------------// // Love Bites // Story: Canterlot High Magic Club // by Luminous Comet //------------------------------// Pinkie sunk against the wall next to the back door and took a long, wheezing breath. Applejack was feeling spent as well, but they couldn't stop for long. Rainbow Dash definitely already made it here, but she wasn't about to leave things to her, or anyone else. With her heart pounding from the long sprint and continued worry, she pushed through the back door and felt over her pockets "Dangit, of course now I didn't bring my flashlight." "Don't worry, I got this," Pinkie wheezed as she came in behind her. She stomped her feet and the floor around her was lit up by pink and blue LED lights from the soles of her sneakers. "Not much light, is it?" AJ noted, but pushed on, one hand on the wall. "No, but I always wanted to do that." Pinkie seemed to recover quickly, but the lack of skipping or rushing ahead was notable. "Last week, Flitter was runnin' up the stairs when she noticed me. I'm thinkin' we gotta get upstairs. But, ya might wanna stay behind me. At this point, we better assume they're the bad guys here." Pinkie hummed her agreement and stayed beside Applejack as they made their way past the craft and art rooms. The very stairs she had seen Flitter run up the week before were not far away. From there, they would just have to see for themselves. If Rainbow didn't make it obvious where to go, loud as she was. She could see the stairs in what moonlight came in through the windows beyond them, but no sooner did she spot them did someone rush out from one of the classrooms beside her, tackling her. She leaned her weight against them and set her feet firmly against the floor, managing to not be thrown down. With a grunt, she managed to grab some part of the attacker's jacket and first pulled then shoved, sending them staggering back. "And who are you s'pposed to be?" she asked sharply, looking in the direction of her attacker, who managed to blend in pretty well with the darkness, except for Pinkie's LED lights illuminating his grey pants. "It's Thunderlane and Spitfire," Pinkie said casually, "Gee, AJ, don't you know, they're on the soccer team." "I can barely see!" she protested, before processing the full statement. "And Spitfire?" Pinkie ducked aside and a gruff feminine voice grunted as the second attacker slammed into the wall where she had just been. Applejack managed to find Pinkie's arm and pushed her back, putting herself between her friend and the soccer players. "What do ya'll think ya'll're doin'?" "Right back at ya," Spitfire said after recovering, "You're not supposed to be here." Applejack couldn't make either of them out well, but now that they were both focusing on them, their eyes couldn't be missed, even in the darkness of the hallway. She raised her arms, fists closed, shifting her weight the way she had learned. "I'm just here to pick up my friend. Ya'll don't mind if I get Fluttershy and get out?" She wouldn't have caught the movement fast enough if Pinkie hadn't yelped "Right!" just before it came. She caught Thunderlane's arm with her own before his fist could reach her and struck a jab against his cheek, having aimed for his jaw but slightly misjudged. "Left!" She backed off a little, Pinkie stumbling back from her as she anticipated her movement, but making Spitfire's hit come in more shallow than intended, connecting with her shoulder but as little more than a fist bump. Capitalising on the moment, she took the same step back forward and used the short extra distance to wind up an uppercut, this time hitting exactly like she wanted. Spitfire tumbled and barely caught herself on the wall. "Ya'll didn't know I go boxin' on weekends?" =====***===== "What is wrong with you?" Sunset asked quietly, staring straight into Flash's eyes in the darkness. Her eyes only slowly got used to the light conditions, with only some dim moonlight coming from the stairway, but what she could see didn't match how she remembered him at all. "What is wrong with you!?" Lyra spat back, grabbing her shoulder and trying to twist her arm, but Sunset tightened her muscles and yanked her arm back from her. "No, seriously, what is wrong with the both of you? Why are you here, this isn't like either of you!" Lyra grabbed for her shoulder again and Flash started to pull her forward, so she ducked and slipped her arms out of the jacket, managing to slip past Lyra with a quick shove, getting a few steps away. "You're supposed to be better than me." "You could have been better," Flash said more quietly, still holding on to her jacket. "I'm trying to be! That's why I'm here! Let me help my friend!" "I wish I could, Sunset." There was a genuine sadness to his tone as he dropped her jacket and stepped back in front of the stairs while Lyra continued to glare at her. "But that's not what Flitter said to do." She could feel the tension in her shoulders. She didn't want to fight either of them, but she also couldn't stop here with Fluttershy in danger somewhere. And even if she did fight, she didn't know how she would fare against Flash, let alone against both of them. A door slammed open in the hallway across. With a loud, dramatic wheeze, Rarity stepped into the room, pointing her phone in front of her as a flashlight. "Ugh, finally... my feet are killing me. That's all my calories accounted for this week." Flash and Lyra both looked behind them to Rarity, distarcting them for just a moment. Sunset pushed forward and grabbed Flash by his jacket. She yanked him down while pulling her knee up at the same time, slamming it into the pit of his stomach. He double over with a gasp and dropped to his knees. "Can't explain, we gotta go!" she shouted to Rarity, who groaned and started jogging to the stairs. Lyra tried to step in the way, but with a dismissive hand motion, Rarity created a large hexagon that slowly but forcefully pushed her out of the way and trapped her against the wall. "Sorry, you deserved better!" Sunset shouted behind her as she ran up the stairs, Rarity struggling up behind her. "Why are we fighting your ex?" she managed to ask at the top of the stairs. "I honestly have no idea." Sunset didn't have to look for long now. Light spilled out of a pair of glass doors further down the hall. "They're in the library, come on." Rarity took a deep breath but kept following despite her obvious exhaustion. With her behind her, Sunset moved up to the library doors. A quick glance inside gave her a surprisingly clear overview. Fluttershy was slumped in one of the armchairs of the lower sitting area. Cloudchaser was stood over her, a hand on her cheek and leaning on the armrest. Sunset pushed the door open and hurried in, lightin a flame in her hand, just as Rainbow came tumbling down the stairs from the dome. =***= She had tripped over the slightly raised frame of the roof door and Flitter had shoved herself into her back. She rolled to try and reduce the impact, but the vampire was after her immediately, pushing her to the curved stairs leading to the lower portion of the library. Rainbow heard the door open at the same time as she saw the steps coming towards her. She tucked her head in and managed to land on her shoulder. As she flipped over herself, her toes caught a step a few down and she managed to grab the rail with one hand, catching herself mid-fall. "Rainbow!" Sunset called to her from below. "No! Get out!" Cloudchaser screamed at both of them. "Just stop!" Flitter begged from above. "Will anybody just tell me what's going on!?" Rarity half-shrieked. Her head was pounding with anger, but she remembered why she was here. She quickly looked down, spotting Fluttershy, Chaser standing next to her. Without thinking much, she vaulted over the rail and set her feet against the side of the stairs, pushing herself off for her spectral wings to carry her forward. She caught Cloudchaser by the shoulders, trying to topple her to the ground, but the skinny girl set her feet against the floor and managed to hold against the force of the leap, instead throwing Rainbow to the ground once her momentum was spent. The air left her lungs all at once and she gasped, pain throbbing through her chest. She needed a moment to recover and push herself up, seeing in a blur how Sunset ran up and grabbed Chaser's arm, holding her back from striking down at her, though she was visibly struggling to do so. Rainbow pushed herself up but a pair of arms wrapped around from under her shoulders. "I'm sorry it came to this!" Flitter shouted near her ear, "But we really don't want to fight!" "Then maybe explain your welcome committee!" Sunset spat back, finally managing to pull Chaser back enough to shove her away from Rainbow. Her fists were clenched, but both of them stood still, tensely waiting for the situation to develop. "I'll explain anything you want! Chaser, please stop fighting!" Rainbow Dash grit her teeth and strained against the vampire's grip. Her strength was the real deal, she couldn't just wriggle out, so she took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. Cloudchaser looked between them and her sister. Only now did Dash notice the elongated nails as they retracted to their normal length. "Then start with what you did to the others," Sunset demanded, her voice and posture still tense, but giving her focus to Flitter now. Flitter hesitantly loosened her grip. Rainbow yanked her way out but strode over to Fluttershy to check on her instead of picking up the fight again. Rarity was already at her side, one hand on her cheek and the other lightly holding her wrist. Fluttershy looked pale, even more so than usual, like the colour had started to drain from her face. With her head tilted to the side, the two closely-set puncture wounds in her neck were clearly visible. Blood had dried around the wound, but looked much fresher on her lips. =***= "They're... charmed," Flitter said nervously, hesitantly making eye contact with Sunset, "But they're fine. I mean... they'll be okay." Sunset tried to push aside the agitation to start making sense of things. But the conclusions she arrived at didn't make it easy to stay calm. "So you bit them, too!?" She was still shouting, despite her best attempt not to. "We have to!" Cloudchaser spat back, similarly failing to hold back, "We don't get to be noble about it, we need blood!" "We're just scared!" Flitter raised her hands, raising her voice to be heard but quickly lowering it again to bring the agitation down. "We... got enough from them that they listen to us. When we ask them to do things. And we're just scared of someone finding us when we're alone." "So what about her!?" Rainbow interrupted. She was crouching down next to the chair Fluttershy was seated in, still unconscious. Flitter's eyes went to Cloudchaser and Sunset followed the gaze. Cloudchaser avoided both of their looks. "I... made a mistake," she said just above a whisper, her voice cracking, "I didn't mean to hurt her, honest." Sunset's eyes darted back to the other sister. "Flitter, what is happening?" she urged. She had to start twice, her breath hitching the first time she tried to answer. And when she finally did, her tone was heavy with guilt. "My sister got a little... possessive. Fluttershy is okay, I promise, she'll just... go through some changes." The room fell into heavy silence. After two long seconds, Rainbow Dash got up and knocked over a stack of books on a low table with a kick and a frustrated yell. Sunset felt her jaw clench but for the first time all day, she had no idea what to do next. The door was pushed open and the remaining two members of their group entered. Applejack's hat had moved to Pinkie's head and she had a notable bruise on her jaw, but otherwise just seemed tense. Pinkie jumped past her into the room, tried to read the situation, before spotting Fluttershy. She visibly went from confusion, to excitement, to the realisation that it wasn't quite a happy ending. "I'm sorry," Cloudchaser murmured again, clenching a hand on her own arm and fighting tears. No one answered and Sunset knew at least two people in the room who were still contemplating a violent response. "If all that was just a mistake," she said tensely, "then why enchant stuff around school? Doesn't that just draw more attention to you?" "What?" Flitter's eyes widened. "You're the ones coming in flying and holding fire! I thought that was you!" Rarity finally looked up from Fluttershy, though she didn't let go of her hand. "But, weren't you one of the ones handling the props for the play?" "I took stock of them, but Trixie was the one who brought them in." Sunset could have sworn she heard a mechanical click somewhere in her head. "Trixie." Everyone looked to her, as they seemed to suddenly share the same realisation. "Her tricks were gettin' weirdly good lately," Applejack said slowly. "If she made that cape herself, she would have used a sewing machine," Rarity continued. "Trixie... was cleaning the soccer balls for detention on Friday!" Rainbow suddenly called out. "Which means she was in the gym storeroom," Sunset concluded. "And she was totally at the drinking fountain, almost everyone was!" Pinkie added. Rainbow Dash looked down at Fluttershy and watched her shift, as she seemed to drift from unconsciousness to rest. "AJ, you and me should take her home," she said firmly. "The rest of you, go and get Trixie." "Dashie?" Rarity carefully touched her shoulder. "Are you sure?" "We said it has to stop, right? But I'm not leaving her side right now. You'll be fine, it's just Trixie." She started to awkwardly try and pick up Fluttershy, who had a few inches on her, before Applejack stepped up and did it instead. "What about them?" Pinkie asked, pointing directly at the sisters. "We're not done yet," Sunset said firmly, "You two will send Flash and the others home. And we'll talk about this tomorrow." Flitter had stepped up to Cloudchaser and pulled her into a hug, having her rest her head on her shoulder. She just nodded quietly, making no attempt to argue.