One Pony’s Peculiar Predicament

by Zeg

Anything For a Fillyhood Friend

In hindsight, going out in public with a brightly colored checkered blanket draped over her head and back had probably not been the best choice Fluttershy had ever made. While it had managed to hide her ears and wings from view, it also drew the attention of every single pony she passed. Others had stared at her as she scampered by, leaving her feeling uneasy and embarrassed. Her unnerved state had made it impossible for her to concentrate enough to shift her form, requiring her to remain hidden under the blanket and continuing the self perpetuating circle of stress.

Thinking back on the unpleasant experience, Fluttershy found herself wondering how she had managed to make it home without suffering a nervous breakdown, even managing to somehow recover her two bushels of apples and drag them home without incident. It had taken hiding in her home for most of the rest of the day for her to calm her frazzled nerves, and she still hadn’t managed to shift her form back to what she considered normal. She was silently sitting near her bedroom window, resting her chin upon the window ledge while peeking out through the barely open shutter at the setting sun. Her sides heaved as she let out a small sigh, and she lifted her chin from the ledge and gently pushed the shutter closed.

She stood and turned away from the window, starting a slow walk across her room before she stopped and took a long look at the vanity mirror above her dresser. She moved closer to the mirror, pushing herself up with her forehooves on the dresser and leaning in close to get a better look at herself. She touched the tip of one hoof just under her right eye, pulling her eyelid down to get a good look at just how bloodshot it was. She looked over her mirror image and the many ragged tufts of fur sticking up all over her coat. Her ears splayed back and she grimaced as she sat back and glanced down at herself. She ran her forehooves over some of the protruding tufts of fur on her barrel a few times, but they stubbornly refused to lay down. She then paused for a moment before furrowing her brow and poking at her side a few times. She squinted her eyes as an annoyed little growl escaped from her. “I’m getting fat,” she grumbled under her breath.

She made her way down the stairs to her living room, stopping at the bottom and wrinkling her nose at the sight before her. There the two bushels of apples set, one very close to her couch and already half empty, and strewn about on the floor around the couch where the remains of the missing apples. When she had finally managed to drag the apples home earlier, having a few to help sate her thirst and calm her nerves had seemed like a good idea at the time. A few then became a few more and so on as the hours went by, until the first bushel of apples was half eaten. At the rate that she was going through them, they weren’t going to last nearly as long as she had hoped.

She narrowed her eyes at the half empty bushel as she walked up to it. She felt like if it could speak to her, it would probably be telling her that having just one more would be alright, just like the one before that, and the one before that. That burning sensation in the back of her throat was starting to come back again, begging to be quenched. Fluttershy crawled up onto her couch and laid down. She eyed the bushel of apples out of the corner of her eye, frowning deeply at it. She then started to slowly reach a hoof into the basket.

Just one more before bed.

A quick knock at her door caused Fluttershy to sit bolt upright and jerk her hoof back against her chest. Her ears snapped forward while she silently stared at her doorway. The knock came a second time, and her ears splayed back. Of all the evenings to get a visitor. She wasn’t about to open that door, not in the state she was in. A third knock came, this one a bit louder and causing her to cringe. “Go away,” she quietly mumbled.

“Fluttershy, come on,” Rainbow’s voice called from outside, causing Fluttershy’s ears to perk up. “Open the door. I’ve got something I want to talk to you about.”

After a brief moment of hesitation, Fluttershy got up from her couch and made her way to the door. She undid the latching and pulled it open just enough to peer outside with one eye. She found her friend smiling back at her, and quickly glanced around to see what or who else she might find lurking just out of sight.

“It’s just me,” Rainbow said. Fluttershy stepped back, pulling the door open far enough to let Rainbow inside before hurriedly pushing it back closed and latching it. “You alright?” Rainbow asked as she looked Fluttershy up and down.

Fluttershy turned away and plodded back over toward her couch. “No, I’m fat,” she said right before tossing herself back upon it in a huff.

Rainbow stopped short a few steps behind, cocking her head to one side. “What?” she asked, quickly shaking her head.

Fluttershy let out a heavy sigh. “All I’ve been doing since I got home today is eating apples,” she said as her eyes drifted to a shriveled up apple core wedged between the armrest and the couch cushion. She gave it a disgusted look before reaching over and flicked it away with the tip of her hoof, sending it tumbling to the floor.

Rainbow pursed her lips and followed the shriveled apple with her eyes as it rolled past her. “Well, I might be able to help with that,” she said as she looked back with a confident smile.

Fluttershy’s ears perked and her eyes opened wide. “Really?” she asked as she quickly sat up, leaning over the edge of her couch.

“Yeah. You know that thing Twilight mentioned at the library earlier?” Fluttershy’s ears immediately splayed back and she leaned back against the back of the couch, but Rainbow pressed on. “Just hear me out, alright? I went back later and we talked about it some more and Twilight did more of her research thing to try and find something to help. The more we talked about it, the more it made sense that it would be best for you to try drinking a little blood. Something about reminding your body what it really needs and correcting imbalances and... stuff,” she said, waving her hoof to the side.

Fluttershy furrowed her brow deeply, glancing away off to the side as she said, “I’m not going to bite somepony. I’ve never needed to do that.”

“Well, maybe not before, but what if she’s right?” Rainbow said as moved to put herself back in Fluttershy’s sight. She hooked a hoof over the edge of the armrest, and when Fluttershy reluctantly glanced up to her she asked, “What if you do need to bite somepony now?”

Fluttershy turned herself away toward the other side of the couch, lowering her head and allowing her mane to cover her face as she firmly said, “No.”

Rainbow quickly trotted around to the other armrest, resting her forelegs and chin on it and putting forward her best pleading eyes act. “Fluttershy, come on. Just give it one chance. If it doesn’t work out, then you don’t ever have to do it again.”

Fluttershy only receded further under her mane. She clamped her teeth together as she defiantly growled, “I’m not going to attack somepony.”

“Of course you’re not going to attack somepony!” Rainbow said as she pushed herself up on the armrest with her forehooves. She put on a smug grin as she placed a single hoof on her chest. “You’re going to bite me.”

Fluttershy’s mouth slowly hung open as the horror of what her friend had just suggested sunk in. She finally pulled away, scooting all the way back against the opposite armrest and cringing. “No!”

“Oh, come on, what’s the problem with me?” Rainbow sat back on her haunches and leaned her elbows on the armrest, resting her chin between her forehooves. She raised an eyebrow as she asked, “My blood isn’t good enough for you?”

“I’m not going to hurt my best friend!”

Rainbow dismissively waved her hoof and blew a quick raspberry. “I think I can take a little nibble from you. Not like you’re going to put me in the hospital.”

Fluttershy shook her head furiously. “No, I’m not going to.” She leapt down from her couch, quickly cantering to her front door as she said, “You need to leave.”

As she was unbarring the door and just starting to pull it open, Rainbow stepped up beside her and quickly slammed her hoof against the door, holding it closed. Fluttershy cowered back a step, her wide eyes watching her friend closely. She knew the look that Rainbow was giving her. It was the one that Rainbow got any time she had set her mind to something.

“I’m not leaving until you bite me.”

Fluttershy crept back a few steps. “Well, I’m not biting you,” she said in a quiet, shaky voice. They silently stared at one another for a time after that, and then finally Rainbow closed her eyes and drew in a long breath before letting it all back out. When she opened her eyes again, she began to approach. Fluttershy quickly scooted backwards to keep her distance, but it wasn’t long before Rainbow picked up her pace. Fluttershy’s voice rose quickly as she cried out, “Rainbow Dash, stop it.” Unfortunately, her plea seemed to do nothing to slow her friend’s advance, and she quickly found herself turning to run as she squealed, “Get away from me!”

“Just come here!” Rainbow shouted back, hot on Fluttershy’s heels as they both rounded a table. There wasn’t much room for them to run in the cottage, so the chase quickly devolved into them just galloping about in a circle. Rainbow finally skidded to a stop on one side of the table, and the chase came to a halt as they peered at each other just over the table top. “Stop being stubborn and just bite me. It’ll make you feel better!”

Just the thought of biting her friend sent shivers down Fluttershy’s spine. She could see it in her mind, an image of herself sinking her fangs into Rainbow and draining her until she was nothing more than a shriveled up husk. And what was even more terrifying was the thought sent her heart racing, not in fear but in anticipation. There was some part of her that actually wanted it. “No! No, I’m not like that!” Fluttershy said as she squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head feverishly. Her eyes snapped back open when she heard a loud whoosh of wings unfolding and the clattering sounds of Rainbow’s hooves against the tabletop. She only had a split second to realize that Rainbow was diving at her over the table, and only managed to scramble backwards and fall on her back as Rainbow landed atop her, pinning her to the floor.

Rainbow let out a single triumphant laugh. “Gotcha,” she declared, pointing one forehoof and booping Fluttershy’s nose.

From where she was pinned on her back with Rainbow sitting on her barrel, Fluttershy could only ineffectively kick her back legs. “Get off,” she whined, squirming but finding herself to be quite stuck.

“Sure,” Rainbow said, and then she leaned down closer to Fluttershy’s face, bracing herself with one hoof on the floor next to Fluttershy’s head. “After you bite me.”

Fluttershy held Rainbow back with both of her forehooves against her friend’s chest. Her heart was beating so hard that she could hear it drumming in her ears. She felt hot, like she had been running through a desert, and her throat felt like it was on fire. She tried to look away, clenching her eyes closed and trying not to think about how close Rainbow was and how easy it would be to reach up, grab her, and sink her fangs into her friend’s neck. She had to get away before something happened. “Get off me, please,” she begged.

“Nu-uh,” Rainbow said as she reached up and brushed Fluttershy’s hooves aside. She leaned in so close that Fluttershy could feel the ends of Rainbow’s mane tickling against the side of her face. “You always hide from things that scare you even a little bit. Well, I’m not letting you hide from this one.”

Fluttershy could sense Rainbow hovering closely over her. All she had to do is reach her forelegs up, wrap her wings around her friend, and then bite. Her wings twitched at her sides in anticipation at the thought. She could see it in her mind, just an easy grab and bite, and then it would all be over.

Fluttershy cringed and shook her head. She opened her eyes, staring straight back into Rainbow’s eyes. “I said get off!” she shouted so forcefully that her entire body shook.

To her surprise, Fluttershy found herself freed. Rainbow had immediately fallen backwards and then started backpedaling across the floor until she got tangled up in the chair and table legs. Fluttershy rolled to her side and glanced back toward her friend, and as soon as their eyes meet again, Rainbow’s pupils shrunk down to tiny specs and she started flailing her limbs once again in a frantic attempt to push herself away. Fluttershy let out a loud gasp and covered her eyes while turning herself away, and Rainbow almost immediately relaxed.

Rainbow laid there slumped against the side of one of the chairs, gasping for breath as if she had just finished running a marathon. She finally managed to pull herself up so she was at least sitting upright. “Whoa,” she said through and exhausted sounding breath as she rested one forehoof across her chest.

Fluttershy suddenly scrambled to her hooves, the sounds of stifled sobs escaping from her while she took off for the stairway. She heard Rainbow calling out to her as she scampered up the stairs to her room, and once she was there she could hear the sounds of hoofsteps following her. She glanced around quickly through the darkened and tear blurred surroundings for somewhere to run. She noticed the window, and quickly galloped to it. After pulling the shutters back and pushing the window glass open, she quickly crawled through it to escape, but just as she was pulling her back legs over the window ledge her front hooves slipped out from under her on the grass roof of her cottage. She flailed her wings in a desperate attempt to keep herself from falling, but it was too late. She ended up rolling down the side of her roof and fell into the shrubs below.

While the shrubs had broken the fall somewhat, the landing hadn’t been soft by any means. Fluttershy gasped, drawing in a deep breath of air to replace the wind that had been knocked out of her. She could feel the branches she was laying on jabbing at her side like a hundred little needles. She let out a painful and pitiful sounding moan as she slowly sat up. She could feel the little jagged branches tugging at parts of her mane that had gotten tangled in them.

A quick whoosh and a thump followed a shadow that hit the ground just in front of her. Fluttershy glanced forward, finding Rainbow quickly trotting up to her. “Oh my gosh. Fluttershy? Hey, a-are you hurt?” She sat herself in front of Fluttershy, and quickly began to help untangle Fluttershy’s mane from the mess of branches. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. That was completely my bad. You’re not hurt bad, are you?”

Rainbow stepped back as Fluttershy took a couple careful steps out of the shrubs and sat down. She glanced down at her side, noticing bits of branches still tangled in her mane and some dirty smudges on her coat, but at least she didn’t see or feel any serious injuries. She glanced to the side out of the corner of her eye, finding Rainbow hovering close by with a worried look on her face. “I-I’m okay,” she said in a shaky whisper, followed by a quick sniffle.

Rainbow let out a relieved sigh. She sat down beside Fluttershy and put her forelegs around her, hugging her tightly. Fluttershy blinked her eyes a few times, her vision still somewhat blurred with tears. She was just starting to feel the tension in her body relax when Rainbow quietly said, “That really scared me.”

Fluttershy felt a burning pain stab at her heart, and the tears came back full force. She sniffed a few times, trying to hold back the sobs, but it was no use. Her emotions broke free as she began to cry on her friend’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it,” she said through a high pitch whine.

Rainbow leaned back, holding Fluttershy by her shoulders. “Wha...,” she said, a confused look on her face while she watched her friend break down into a sobbing mess before her. Then her ears suddenly splayed back. “Oh, no, I didn’t mean that I was afraid of you. I was afraid you got hurt.”

“But... but I saw how you looked at me,” Fluttershy said between her sobs. She glanced up at Rainbow as a pained look overtook her face. “Like I was a ma... ma... monsterrr.” She slumped forward, burying her muzzle against Rainbow’s chest while she let out a long sad wail.

Rainbow gritted her teeth and glanced around as if she might find someone or something that might help her comfort her friend. She drew in a deep breath before letting go a long sigh, and then reached one foreleg up and gently patted Fluttershy on the back. “I kinda deserved it,” Rainbow admitted. A choked sob interrupted Fluttershy’s crying, and she pulled back slightly and glanced up at Rainbow, sniffing and rubbing at her nose. “Yeah, you caught me off guard, but now that I think of it, I was... kinda being a jerk,” she said with a weak laugh as she shrugged her shoulders. Fluttershy stared up at her for a few seconds longer before drawing in a shuddering breath of air. “Hey, listen. This was all my fault. I’m serious.”

Fluttershy reached a forehoof up and dabbed it just under her eyes. “But, you looked so frightened.”

“Well, that stare of yours kinda packs a punch,” Rainbow said through a nervous laugh while scratching at the back of her neck with one forehoof. Fluttershy cringed slightly and her bottom lip quivered while she let out a quiet little whine. “That’s not a bad thing!” Rainbow quickly said.

Fluttershy took in one more deep, shuddering breath and let it all out, trying her best to calm herself. “I hate being like this. I don’t know what to do any more.”

While they had been sitting there, the last dim lights of the day’s sunlight had vanished beyond the horizon, giving way to the night’s moonlight. It seemed like they sat there in the silence of the evening for quite a while with only a quiet sniffle breaking the silence around them every so often. Finally, Rainbow lowered her gaze so she could look directly into Fluttershy's eyes. “We can still try it. It might help.” Fluttershy leaned back, glancing away and withdrawing her forelegs to hold them folded tight against her chest. “Look, I won’t force you, but I really think you should try it. Twilight thought it would help you, and if there’s anything I can do to help you then I want to do it.”

Fluttershy glanced back out of the corner of her eye when she felt Rainbow lightly touching her shoulder. “Anything? Even letting me bite you?” she asked just above a whisper.

“Sure,” Rainbow said with a quick smile. She sat back and shrugged her shoulders as she said, “I mean, it isn’t like it’s going to turn me into your zombie love slave, right?”

Fluttershy squinted her eyes and furrowed her brow. “...Where do you get these strange ideas?”

Rainbow let out a quick, nervous laugh and then cleared her throat before simply saying, “Nevermind.”

Fluttershy glanced down at the ground in front her herself. She let herself consider the idea. After all, two of her friends seemed to think it would work, and if it truly did put her odd cravings to rest, she could finally put the entire horrible mess behind her. However, the idea still didn’t set well with her. She would basically be injuring one of her friends. “I don’t want you to end up hating me.”

“Why would I?” Rainbow sat back on her haunches and crossed her forelegs across her chest. “Fluttershy, how long have we been friends?”

Fluttershy blink-blinked at the sudden question. When she saw Rainbow expectantly waiting for the answer, she glanced off to the side and timidly answered, “Since flightschool.”

“Right, and a little bite isn’t going to change that. Now, come on, right here.” Rainbow reached up at patted at a spot on the left side of her neck, tilting her head slightly to the side to expose it.

Fluttershy’s eyes slowly widened while she stared at Rainbow’s neck, her mind racing all the while. She found herself wondering if she should actually go through with it. There was no doubt that a part of her wanted to, a part of herself that she was still very unsure of. A part of herself that she was very afraid might really hurt her friend. A quick shiver ran through her body, and she let out a nervous whine.

Rainbow reached out, laying one forehoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Take your time. No rush.”

Fluttershy took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm her racing heart, but they did very little to help. She could hear her own pulse drumming in her ears again, and feel the burning sensation at the back of her throat just like before. She wanted something to make those horrible feelings vanish, and she knew she was looking right at that something as she stared at the side of Rainbow’s neck. She leaned in closer, timidly laying one of her forehooves over her friend’s shoulder. She watched her breaths blow back the fur on Rainbow’s coat with every exhale. She swallowed heavily and squeezed her eyes closed for a moment.

When she opened them again and glanced to the side, she saw Rainbow give her a quick smile and a wink. Something about her friend’s ever confident demeanor seemed to put her at ease, at least a bit. A brief, small smile appeared on Fluttershy’s muzzle before she turned her attention back to Rainbow’s exposed neck. She leaned forward, touching her muzzle Rainbow’s neck. She felt her front teeth brushing against Rainbow’s soft fur as she slowly opened her mouth. For a few seconds, she hesitated, frozen in place and even holding her breath while she tried to work up the courage for that final step. And then, she closed her eyes and bit down. Her fangs easily pierced through the skin on Rainbow’s neck and sunk in.

Fluttershy felt Rainbow’s body tense up the very second that she had bitten her, and had heard the muffled grunt that had slipped out before Rainbow managed to cover her mouth with her hoof. More tears began to build up along the edge of Fluttershy’s eyelids, and she let out a small whine and sniffle.

“Shh,” Rainbow said quietly. She leaned her head over so it was resting against Fluttershy’s, and gently ran one of her hooves up and down Fluttershy’s back. “It’s okay, everything is going to be okay.”

Fluttershy relaxed after hearing the soothing words. She slowly withdrew her fangs and then pressed her lips against the seeping wound. She flicked the tip of her tongue against the wound a few times and tasted the metallic bitterness of the fluid as she felt the trickle of blood seeping from the wound filling her mouth. She swallowed the first gulp of blood, and the burning feeling in her throat seemed to recede almost immediately. The bitter taste of her friend’s blood wasn’t something that she would normally consider to be to her liking, but there was something oddly soothing about drinking it. She ended up wrapping both of her forelegs and her wings around Rainbow, hugging her close while she suckled away at the side of Rainbow’s neck for many minutes there after. How long exactly she wasn’t really sure, as she ended up losing herself in the moment. It wasn’t until she accidentally made a loud noise that sounded a lot like a wet kiss that she stopped and her eyes popped open.

She could feel Rainbow’s body moving against her’s when Rainbow began to chuckle. “Heh, you’re going to leave one heck of a hickey.”

Fluttershy lifted her head from the side of Rainbow’s neck, sitting back and releasing her friend from the embrace. She shyly looked away, smacks her lips a few times and swallowing what blood was left in her mouth.

Rainbow silently stared back for a few seconds before a small grin crept up her muzzle. “Get enough?” she asked, perking one eyebrow.

“Um, I think so,” Fluttershy said quietly with a quick nod.

Rainbow leaned a little closer to Fluttershy’s face, squinting her eyes. “I think you’ve still got some of me on your bottom lip,” she said, pointing her forehoof right before Fluttershy’s muzzle.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened, and then she quickly ducked down, hiding her mouth behind her hoof. She quickly sucked in her bottom lip, tasting a small bit of blood as she tried to lick it clean. She then slowly sat back up and lowered her hoof, her ears splaying back as she asked, “Did I get it?”

Rainbow squinted her eyes again as she eyed Fluttershy’s muzzle, then leaned back and nodded. “Yeah, looks like you got all of me off your mouth.”

Fluttershy felt her ear tips and cheeks heating up, and her ears laid back slightly when Rainbow chuckled lightly at her reaction to the comment. She drew in a long breath and let it out in a quick huff before she jabbed the tip of her hoof at Rainbow’s side, then they both shared a little laugh. Fluttershy’s eyes wandered to Rainbow’s neck again, and then she drew in a shocked gasp. “Oh, goodness, you’re still bleeding,” she said as she timidly held a hoof up near her friend’s neck. The wound had continued to seep blood, causing a dark trail to trickle down onto Rainbow’s chest and down her left leg.

Rainbow furrowed her brow as she glanced down at herself. “Whoa. Yeah, that’s kinda making a mess,” she said as she lifted her foreleg and looked at the dark trail the blood had left on it.

“It’s my saliva. It has anticoagulants in it,” Fluttershy said as she leaned in closer to look at the wound. She noticed Rainbow giving her a quizzical look, and explained a bit further by saying, “My spit makes you bleed more.”

“Oh. Well yeah, that makes sense. Guess I should get home and get cleaned up.” Rainbow stood up and began to unfold her wings, but then stumbled a step to the side before catching herself. Her eyes went wide and blinked a few times before she slowly glanced around and slowly said, “...Whoa?”

Fluttershy quickly braced Rainbow with her forehooves. “Oh my gosh, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m good, maybe just a little light headed.” Rainbow sat back down, rubbing the side of her head while she blinked her eyes. “I think I stood up a little too fast.”

Fluttershy stood beside Rainbow and swept one of her wings over her friend’s back. “Come back inside, we need to bandage this now.”

Rainbow stood again, carefully this time. “I have bandages at home,” she said as she began to try to pull away.

“Rainbow,” Fluttershy quickly said as she tightened her wing over Rainbow’s back. “I am not letting you fly like this.” Normally, Fluttershy would let her friend do whatever she wanted. Normally. But this night had been anything but normal. If Rainbow was too dizzy to even stand upright, how would she be able to fly, or rather, land without hurting herself?

Rainbow seemed a bit shocked for a few seconds, but then her expression softened as she smiled back. “Alright,” she said. Fluttershy smiled back to her, and then began to walk forward while hugging Rainbow close to her side with her wing to guide her forward. “I think I can still walk on my own.”

“Hush.”

Rainbow let out a small chuckle. “Yes, ma’am.”

Fluttershy walked Rainbow all the way to the table centered in front of the couch before letting her go. “Just rest here,” she said before quickly trotting away to her kitchen. She pulled out a single glass from one of the cabinets, and an orange and white carton from inside her refrigerator. She balanced on her back hooves, flapping her wings a couple times to balance herself while she held the carton and poured the orange contents into the glass. After returning the carton to the refrigerator, she carefully took the glass in her forehooves and glided back into the living room. There, she found Rainbow still standing next to the table where she had been left earlier. Fluttershy landed next to the table and set the glass down, then turned her attention to Rainbow. “Sit,” she said in a quiet, but firm voice.

Rainbow smirked and rolled her eyes before she sat down. She nodded her head to the glass and asked, “So, what’s that for?”

“It’s some orange juice, for you,” Fluttershy said as she trotted around Rainbow.

“Orange juice?” Rainbow took up the glass in her forehooves, sniffing at it once before taking a sip.

“It should help with the light headedness.” Fluttershy stopped and knelt down near the shelving that was built into the side of the stairway. There she gathered up a towel, draping it over her withers, and then grabbed the handles of the first-aid chest that was sitting on the bottom most shelf near the floor. She flapped her wings to lift herself up off the floor and carried the supplies back over to where she set them down next to the table. After dropping them off, she quickly trotted to her kitchen once more where she found a bowl and filled it with warm water, and then carefully brought it back to set it on the table.

After folding the towel over her right hoof, she dabbed it in the bowl of water and then sat herself in front of Rainbow. “Let me see your leg first,” she said as she held her left hoof out. Rainbow lifted her foreleg and laid it upon Fluttershy’s hoof, who then quickly went to work at scrubbing the dried blood away. She rewetted the towel a few times while working on cleaning Rainbow’s leg, working her way up to Rainbow’s chest and shoulder area, and then eventually reaching Rainbow’s neck. She leaned in and took a closer look at the wound. “Looks like it’s mostly stopped. That’s good,” she said as she dabbed the towel gently at the side of Rainbow’s neck.

Once the remainder of the dried blood had been cleaned up, she set the towel aside and opened the first-aid chest, reaching in with both her wings and her forehooves. The single claw at the top of her wings acted like a thumb of sorts, allowing her to grasp things like the top of the brown bottle that she lift out to set on the table. She also brought out a roll of gauze, a small square of bandaging, and a cotton ball.

Rainbow sat silently, sipping at her orange juice while she watched Fluttershy manipulate things with her forehooves and wings. Fluttershy twisted the cap off of the brown bottle, and then held the bottle in her forehooves and tipped it against the cotton ball that she had pinched under her right wing’s claw. She set the bottle back down, and then leaned in and brought the cotton ball closer to Rainbow’s neck. “This might sting a little,” she said quietly, and then she dabbed the cotton ball gently on the wound. Rainbow winced slightly when it touched. “Sorry,” Fluttershy said in a whisper.

“Eh, this is nothing. You remember that time that I wrecked in one of your trees? Now that hurt.”

Fluttershy smiled slightly while she worked at dabbing the cotton ball at the wound. “I do remember that. You showed up at my door all scraped up and limping that morning.”

“Yep, and you patched me up.”

“You should have gone to a doctor.”

“Bleh,” Rainbow said, sticking out her tongue. “I trust you more.” She happened to glance down at Fluttershy when she didn’t get any response, and must have noticed her downhearted look. “Hey, don’t be bothered by this. It’s just a tiny little bite.”

“I just don’t like seeing you hurt.” Fluttershy let out a small sigh. “Especially since I’m the one who did it.”

“This is no big deal.”

“It is to me,” Fluttershy said quickly, glancing up at her. She soon turned her attention back to her task, putting the cotton ball aside and gathering up the gauze and bandage. She gently placed the square patch of bandaging over the wound and held the end of the gauze roll to Rainbow’s neck with her hoof, and then began to unroll it and pass it around Rainbow’s neck using her wings.

“Those are pretty nifty,” Rainbow said as she watched Fluttershy bring the gauze roll around and pass it between her wing claws.

Fluttershy paused for a couple seconds, glancing up at Rainbow and then realizing what she had been talking about. “Oh. Well, I guess they can be useful,” she said as she continued to pass the gauze around and behind Rainbow’s neck once more.

“You kidding? Wish I could do that with my wings.”

Fluttershy finished unrolling the gauze and held it against Rainbow’s neck while she reached one wing back into the first-aid chest. She found a small metal gauze clip and pressed it against the loose end of the gauze to hold it in place. “I just wish they weren’t so ugly.”

“Whoa whoa, back up. What did you just say?” Rainbow said. Fluttershy cringed away slightly when Rainbow crossed her forehooves and gave her a disappointed look. “Shy, come on. There isn’t a single thing about you that can be described as ugly.”

“There is when I look like this,” Fluttershy said, shrugging her shoulders and lifting her wings slightly.

“No way,” Rainbow said, shaking her head. “Personally, I think it’s awesome. I mean think about it, you’ve got the best Nightmare Night costume anypony could possibly ask for.” Fluttershy’s ears splayed back and she cringed, gritting her teeth. “That’s a compliment!” Rainbow said, tossing her forelegs in the air.

Fluttershy let out an exhausted sounding sigh. “Well, thanks for saying so, but I think you’re one of the few who would think that I’m not ugly like this.”

“Says the pony who got a modeling job.”

“Oh, don’t remind me,” Fluttershy said as she clenched her eyes closed and shook her head. A shiver shook her body before she glanced back to Rainbow. “And besides, I didn’t look like this back then.”

Rainbow stared back at Fluttershy silently for a few seconds. Her mouth worked its way into a sideways frown, and then she rolled her eyes before she stood and began to walk over to the bookshelf under the stairway.

“Rainbow, you should rest,” Fluttershy said as she quickly followed her.

“I’m fine. Now where is it,” Rainbow said as she glanced over the spines of the books. She let out a quiet growl when she evidently hadn’t found what she was looking for there, and then turned away and began to walk over to the other bookshelf that was built into the nearby wall.

Fluttershy followed closely beside Rainbow. “What are you looking for?”

Rainbow stood on her back legs and braced herself with one forehoof against the back of the nearby chair while her other hoof traced from left to right pointing at the books as her eyes scanned them. One finally caught her eye, a thick one with a completely solid green cover except for the two pink stripes that ran closely parallel near the bottom edge. “Aha!” she declared as she snatched the book from the shelf, hugging it against her chest. She flapped her wings a few times to glide back over to the couch where she landed. “Thought you could hide it from me, didn’t you?” she said as she glanced back at Fluttershy, raising one eyebrow.

Fluttershy tilted her head to get a better look at the book that Rainbow had brought down, recognizing it as her photograph scrap book. “Oh, don’t bring that out.”

“Too late!” Rainbow flopped down and stretched out on the couch. She propped the scrap book up against the armrest and pulled it open and then quickly flipped through the pages, her eyes darting back and forth as she hunted for something specific. “Lets see... ah, here it is,” she said as she stopped on a page and prodded it with her hoof. Fluttershy timidly approached, leaning in to look at the photo that Rainbow had found.

It was a class photo from years ago. Fluttershy saw many faces of young colts and fillies that she hadn’t seen in nearly as long.

“See?” Rainbow said as she tapped the tip of her hoof against the picture, pointing Fluttershy out from amongst the group. In the photo, her younger self stood slightly taller than the rest of the foals and had a much more slender look than she had even today. “Even back in flightschool, you looked better than everyone,” Rainbow said, and then she leaned in and squinted at the photograph, tilting her head sideways. “Wow, was I really that stocky?” she quietly commented. She then quickly glanced to the side when she heard Fluttershy quietly giggling to herself. “Hey,” she said as a smile slowly spread across her muzzle. She reached over and playfully prodded Fluttershy’s shoulder with her hoof. “Just what are you laughing at?”

Fluttershy tried her best to look innocent, all the while chewing nervously at her bottom lip.

“Alright then,” Rainbow said as she scooted over on the couch to make room. She patted her hoof on the couch cushion at her side. “Come here. I bet if we look hard enough, we can find an embarrassing picture of you in here somewhere.”

Fluttershy silently accepted the invitation, making herself comfortable on the couch next to her friend. They spent the next few hours turning through the pages of her scrap book as they talked and shared stories of years gone by, many of which were about times that they had shared with each other.

“Hey, Fluttershy. You awake?”

Fluttershy’s right ear flicked at the sound of someone whispering in it. She scrunched up her muzzle and squeezed her eyelids closed a bit more tightly for a few seconds, and then was overtaken by a yawn. She slowly lifted her head up from where she had been resting it on her forelegs, blinking her squinted eyes rapidly. She then looked to her side, finding a sleepy eyed Rainbow Dash laying beside her on the couch looking back at her.

“Oh,” Fluttershy said as she pushed herself to sit up. She lifted one hoof to rub at her eyes. “I must have dozed off.”

Rainbow stretched her forelegs out before her and arched her neck slightly, moving her head back and forth a few times before relaxing again. “We both did. It’s morning,” she said as she quickly nodded her head to the nearby window. The dim light of the new day’s dawn was already filtering in.

“Already?” Fluttershy let out another short yawn and shook her head, trying to get rid of the rest of the drowsiness.

“Yeah, but more importantly than that, get a load of you.” Rainbow reached up and quickly poked at one of Fluttershy’s wings, which to her surprise, was covered with feathers.

Fluttershy drew in a quick gasp. Feeling suddenly much more awake, she leapt down from the couch and spread her wings out at her sides, looking to her right and left at the full spread of yellow feathers. She sat back and ran her forehooves over her ears, and then quickly ran her tongue across her much flatter feeling teeth. “I’m me again!”

“What do you mean?” Rainbow said through a chuckle as she stepped down from the couch. She stretched her forelegs and back legs out in a cat-like manner and rocked her head back and forth one last time to work out the last of the kinks in her muscles. “You were always you,” she said, her voice sounding slightly strained while she stretched.

“Well, you know,” Fluttershy said, timidly tapping her forehooves together. Then her eyes found the half empty bushel basket of apples sitting beside the couch. Her ears quickly laid back and she said, “I wonder if the apple thing has gone away.”

Rainbow glanced over to the basket, then back to Fluttershy as she shrugged her shoulders. “Only one way to find out for sure.”

Fluttershy drew in a deep breath, letting it all go in a quick huff before putting on a determined look and nodding her head once. She approached the basket, looking down on the shining red apples within. She lifted one hoof, hesitating just for a moment before reaching in and lifting one of the apples up and before her muzzle. She furrowed her brow as she stared at it, almost as if daring it to try and entice her. Leaning her muzzle in just slightly closer to it, she closed her eyes and quickly took a sniff.

Rainbow sat next to the couch, leaning one foreleg against. She tilted her head, watching Fluttershy closely. “Well?”

Fluttershy slowly opened one eye, staring back at the apple. There it was, still sitting on her hoof right before her muzzle. And yet, it didn’t look any more enticing than it had when she had picked it up. “I... I don’t want it,” she said quietly. A happy smile crept onto her muzzle as she turned her hoof and dropped the apple back into the basket. “I don’t want it!”

“Awesome!” Rainbow stood and started to approach Fluttershy, but then she suddenly halted, the smile on her face quickly vanishing. “Wait, does this mean you crave my blood now instead?” she asked, her eyes widening slightly.

“U-um.” Fluttershy cringed away slightly. She hadn’t considered that possibility, that she may have only traded one addiction for another.

Rainbow lifted one hoof to her mouth, squinting her eyes suspiciously at Fluttershy, and let out a long drawn out hum. “Better find out for sure.” She lifted one wing as she turned aside. With a very serious look on her face, she simply said, “Sniff me.”

Fluttershy’s voice failed her for a few seconds while her mouth simply open and closed. She finally shook her head as she scooted back a few paces, her voice cracking as she said, “W-what?”

“Come on, sniff me,” Rainbow said as she gave her wing a couple flaps.

“I’m not sniffing you!” Fluttershy said, quickly shaking her head and covering her nose with her forehooves.

“I don’t stink.” Rainbow glanced over to her wing and then leaned her head in and took a quick sniff, shrugging her shoulder at the results before looking back to Fluttershy. “We need to make sure you’re not going to go batty every time you catch a whiff of me, alright?”

Losing control of her transformation when near her best friend would be a rather embarrassing problem, and one she would want to avoid. “Um... well, okay,” Fluttershy said as she resigned herself to the idea and timidly stepped forward. She glanced one last time to Rainbow’s eyes, seeing the dead serious look on her friend’s face, and then leaned her head in closer under her friend’s out stretched wing. Her ears laid back as she brought her muzzle close to Rainbow’s side, and then she closed her eyes as she drew in a deep breath.

Fluttershy’s ears perked at a snickering sound. Her brow furrowed at the out of place noise, and she leaned her head back and looked up at Rainbow with a confused look. She caught her friend holding a hoof over her mouth, her body shaking from the barely contained laughter. A small, closed mouth growl came from Fluttershy’s throat as she narrowed her eyes. “Rainbow, stop teasing me!” she demanded as she stamped a hoof.

Rainbow fell back leaning against the couch and let out a round of giggles, holding her forehooves folded over her chest. “Y-you actually sniffed me!” she said between gasps for breath as she pointed a hoof.

Fluttershy sighed deeply. “I can’t believe you tricked me like that. You’re so mean sometimes.”

“Sorry, sorry!” Rainbow said as she worked to get her giggles under control. She sat upright and cleared her throat. “You know me, I just couldn’t pass that up. No harm done, right?”

Fluttershy stared back silently at Rainbow for a few seconds, her tail flicking back and forth in agitation. She finally sat back and crossed her forelegs across her chest as she asked, “And what would you have done if I actually did have cravings for your blood?”

“Eh, well....” Rainbow shrugged her shoulders before she stood and walked over to Fluttershy. “I guess I would have let you bite me again.” She sat down in front of Fluttershy, reaching out with one hoof and resting it on her shoulder. “Seriously though, if you do ever end up getting blood cravings or whatever you wanna call them, just come find me. I really don’t mind.”

“R-really? Well, o-okay.” Fluttershy hadn’t expected Rainbow to be so willing to suffer more dizzy spells from blood loss, but then her friend had been known to put others before herself on more than one occasion. However, she still wasn’t sure if the selfless gesture completely made up for the teasing. “That was still kinda mean though,” Fluttershy said as she glanced off to the side, rubbing one of her forehooves over the other leg.

“Tell you what,” Rainbow said as she walked around and sat beside Fluttershy. She leaned in against Fluttershy’s side and tossed her wing over Fluttershy’s back. “I’ll make it up to you. We’ll head over to the cafe and get some haybrowns. What do you say?”

Fluttershy couldn’t help the small smile that crept onto her muzzle. “That does sound kind of good,” she said. The thought of having a real breakfast that didn’t involve sucking on apples actually sounded like one of the best ideas she had heard in recent times.

Fluttershy lifted her hoof, absently brushing it through her mane to pull it aside, and then noticed something that caught against her foreleg. She glanced down and noticed the twig caught in her mane, and then looked down at her barrel at the dark smudges on her fur and quickly remembered the tumble she had taken the night before. “Oh, um, I think I need a quick bath first,” she said sheepishly as she pulled away from Rainbow.

“Alright,” Rainbow said as she trotted back over to the couch. She leapt up upon it, turning about and lying down with her forehooves dangling off the edge. “I’ll just hang out here until you’re ready, but don’t keep me waiting too long. I don’t know about you, but I’m super hungry.”

One much needed shower and brushing later, Fluttershy found herself feeling presentable to the outside world. She laid down the mane brush on her dresser and ran her forehooves through her still slightly damp mane. The bath had been a bit rushed, but it would do. At least there wasn’t any leaves or twigs tangled in her hair now. She took one last good look at herself in the mirror, smiling back at her reflection, and then turned away to make her way quickly down the stairs to the living room.

Rainbow wasted no time leaping up from the couch and trotting over to the doorway upon noticing that Fluttershy had returned. She opened the front door and stepped outside first, stretching her wings wide at her sides as she stepped out into the bright morning sunlight and drew in a deep breath of the crisp, fall-like air.

Fluttershy stepped outside and pulled her front door closed behind them. She tilted her head slightly to the side as she glanced over at where Rainbow was waiting beside the path. There was something that seemed suddenly different about her friend. She quickly figured it out when Rainbow turned her head and looked away down the path toward Ponyville, exposing the bruise on the side of her neck. Fluttershy’s ears splayed back and she asked, “Why aren’t you wearing your bandage?”

Rainbow looked back and shrugged her shoulders. “Eh, I don’t need it,” she said casually as she took off down the path.

Fluttershy quickly secured her cottage door and then trotted down the path after her friend to catch up and walk beside her. “But, what if somepony asks about it?” she asked in a whispery voice.

“I’ll just tell them it’s a hickey,” Rainbow said.

Fluttershy stopped in her tracks, cowering back slightly. “Oh, please don’t do that.”

Rainbow stopped and turned around, looking somewhat confused. “What? I didn’t say I’d tell them who gave it to me.” Then, a sly grin slowly crept over Rainbow’s muzzle, and she lowered her voice and added, “unless you want me to,” following it up with a quick waggle from her eyebrows.

Fluttershy sat there slack jawed, staring back at her friend in stunned silence for a moment. Then she noticed Rainbow struggling to keep a straight face. Fluttershy pursed her lips and squinted her eyes as she slowly growled, “Oh, you!” She trotted up to Rainbow, extending her wings and swatting at Rainbow with them a few times.

“I was kidding! Uncle, uncle!” Rainbow said through her chuckles as she ducked and shielded herself with her own wings.

Fluttershy let out a heavy huff of air and shook her head as she folded her wings back to her sides. She peered at Rainbow, trying to keep a straight face but found it impossible to do so when Rainbow peaked out from under her wings with a big, cheesy grin on her face.

Rainbow stood up straight and trotted over beside Fluttershy, laying one wing across Fluttershy’s shoulders. She pointed a hoof forward and gave Fluttershy a gentle squeeze with her wing as she said, “Come on. Lets go get those haybrowns!” and then released Fluttershy from the hug and took off down the path again.

They silently continued on the path side by side for a while longer as they headed into Ponyville until Rainbow let out a quiet hum that drew Fluttershy’s attention. “You know, you totally gotta go vampony for Nightmare Night. It’d be perfect.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Fluttershy said, splaying her ears back as she glanced off to the side. Walking around in public in her other form was something that she had always avoided her entire life. She felt nervous just thinking about it, the very idea making her feel helplessly exposed. She glanced back, finding Rainbow grinning back at her from ear to ear, waiting to hear her response. But this time, it wasn’t at all like one of the teasing smirks that Rainbow had been wearing earlier. This was something that looked more hopeful.

Fluttershy smiled back.

“I’ll think about it.”