Thwack
Thwack
Crack
The head of a wooden training dummy is sent flying across the small training area in the backyard of a wasteland house. Standing there panting softly is a slightly smaller than average sized bat pony stallion with a reddish gray coat and red mane. Sweat dripping from his chin glistens in the early morning light. Sitting off to the side is a much smaller colt, his red and yellow striped mane ruffling softly in the breeze as his darker coat a little sweaty too from the warmup they did earlier. His leathery wings twitch, eager to take his turn as he cheers.
“That was awesome dad!” The little colt shouts as he charges over and gives his dad a hug.
“Thanks Crimson,” his dad says as he ruffles his mane. “Now it’s your turn.”
“Yay!” Crimson shouts as he takes to the air, his flight is a little unsteady at first but he quickly gets a feel of the breeze and levels out.
Crimson swoops down diving into his dad’s shadow, vanishing from the world for a few moments before slipping out of the shadow of the wooden training dummy, his little hooves striking the legs of the dummy cracking the wood a little with each strike. Unlike his dad he doesn’t break the limb off of the dummy, but the damage is substantial. As he lands next to the dummy he gives his dad a big grin.
“Well done, Crimson, at this rate you’ll be a master of Fallen Caesar in no time at all.” His dad says with an approving nod.
“Red Shade, Crimson, It’s time for breakfast!” A powerful female voice calls from the house’s back door.
Both Crimson and Red Shade turn to look at the lilac pegasus mare standing there with her yellow hair done up nicely. The pair of them smile and start towards the house. As they walk Red Shade scoops up Crimson and sets him on his back letting the little colt ride on his back as he dives into the shadow of one of the bushes that dot the backyard. A moment later they popup right next to the pegasus. Red Shade gives her a kiss which gets a blegh from their son as he looks away.
“Someday you’ll find yourself getting curious about fillies, Crimson.” His mother says as she breaks the kiss.
“Nuh-uh, now way, filles have cooties.” Crimson shakes his head and hops off of his dad’s back heading to the table.
“A lot of fillies and colts feel that way at your age.” Red Shade says as he walks over to the table with his wife in tow. “Remember when I first visited the Crusader’s Sacred tree, Lilac?”
“Yeah, I remember that, the cootie suit was funny.” Lilac giggles as they join Crimson in sitting around the table.
“Maybe for you. That thing was stuffy and cumbersome.” Red Shade says back with a grumpy huff.
The exchange gets a snicker from Crimson that slowly turns into a full on laugh. His laughter makes Lilac laugh a bit harder too and soon all three of them are laughing. The laughter continues for a couple of moments before settling back down. Lilac and Crimson both dig into their respective fruit salads as Red Shade leans against Lilac and gently bites into her shoulder, taking a drink of her blood.
“Dad, why do you drink Mom’s blood?” Crimson asks, looking up from his breakfast.
Red Shade slowly pulls off of Lilac’s shoulder, cleaning the wounds with his tongue to help stop the bleeding before looking at Crimson. “There’s a couple reasons; one is that it gives me energy just like food does, and two she tastes great.”
Lilac blushes at that and baps Red Shade on the nose.
“What? It’s true.” Red Shade says as he nuzzles Lilac. “It's something I’ve lived with for all my life.”
“Can I drink blood?” Crimson asks as he runs his tongue over his little fangs.
“I don’t know. I don’t know much about bat ponies in general. I’ve told you the story about how I was kicked out of the colony. I didn’t learn the normal things about bat ponies that most of the colony learned.” He says as Lilac wraps a foreleg around his shoulders. “I do know one thing for certain, Crimson, if you decide to try it, ask first and don’t drink the blood of alicorns or other strange creatures.”
“Why not?” Crimson asks as he looks at his dad a bit concerned.
“You know how I have a kind of squeaky voice even for being a bat pony? Or how I’m a bit slower when in the sunlight?”
“Yeah?” Crimson tilts his head at that. “What does that have to do with it?”
“Those are side effects of drinking their blood. There’s a magical substance called taint that’s in their blood.” Red Shade explains with a grimace. “It’s a very dangerous thing, it can turn a pony inside out, make their coat fall out and so much worse. I got really lucky for the most part.”
“Red Shade, are you sure we should tell him?” Lilac asks as she rubs his shoulders gently.
“He needs to know at some point, and now’s as good a time as any.” Red Shade replies with a sigh. “During my journey my friends and I released a very powerful—very dangerous—creature from its prison. In my reckless arrogance I drank its blood and ever since then I’ve struggled to contain a… madness that tries to possess me.”
“I’ve never seen anything like that from you dad.” A concern frown stretches across Crimson’s face.
Red Shade smiles at that. “That’s because I’ve found ways of dealing with it, because the last thing I would ever want is for you or your mom to get hurt because of me.”
Crimson moves around the table and hugs his dad, holding him tight, nuzzling against him. Red Shade wraps a wing around Crimson and holds him close. The three of them stay like that for a little while, before Red Shade speaks up again.
“Promise me, Crimson, that you will be careful if you decide to try drinking blood.”
“I promise dad.”
They continue to stay like that for a while before going back to breakfast; even then they stay close. The rest of the day is spent together as a family, Red Shade and Lilac sharing stories with Crimson about their adventures when they were his age while Crimson listens with intense curiosity. Eventually, as night falls, Crimson falls asleep listening to the tales of the Cutie Mark Crusaders and their wild and crazy exploits.