//------------------------------// // Sonic Rainboom // Story: Trials of Blood and Kindness // by CommanderX5 //------------------------------// Trials of Blood and Kindness - Chapter 4 Sonic Rainboom 9 years before Nightmare Moon’s return “Leave her alone!” yelled a rainbow-maned filly with her young, raspy voice, standing defensively in front of Fluttershy. “Ooo… what are you gonna do, Rainbow Crash?” “Keep making fun of her, and you’ll find out!” Dash responded with challenging glare. “It’s okay… y-you don’t have to–” Fluttershy said. “You think you’re such a big shot? Why don't you prove it?” the bully responded. “Umm, Rainbow...” Fluttershy whispered. “What do you have in mind?” Fluttershy sighed, her body feeble from being under the sunlight for most of the day. Never hurt, never retaliate, never lose control, she thought about the teachings from her parents before looking at her friend. As much as she was grateful to Dash for standing up for her for the past two years, she found the pegasus reckless and far too easy to provoke. Poor Dash, daring ponies like her don’t live very long. She slowly followed her friend and the two bullies to the racing wing of the school, as she looked between the clouds that served as obstacles… and the rather long distance between them and the ground with worry. Maybe I should inform a teacher about this… but Rainbow Dash will be very angry at me if I do... Fluttershy turned towards the school, her wings spread. No, I can’t let my friend take such risk without teacher’s supervision. “Go!” Fluttershy’s thoughts were interrupted by the noise of cheering fillies. She closed her tired wings and shook her head. So much for calling a teacher in time. *** This isn’t good, Fluttershy thought in panic as she watched the race. One of the bullies just a moment ago pushed Dash off the course and she was now trying to catch up with them, flying down with alarming speed. Suddenly a colorful bright spectrum of light covered the sky as everypony could do nothing but stare with amazement. Fluttershy didn’t have time to admire it as she peeked from behind the cloud she sat on, noticing a small forest in distance. She grit her teeth and closed her eyes as she jumped, her wings flapping rapidly, barely slowing down her fall. Her legs bent under the impact with the grass as she opened her eyes, breathing heavily. Not wasting a moment, Fluttershy ran into the sea of trees, its leaves blocking rays of the sun as she regained her strength with every step. After several seconds of galloping, she flew with increasing speed, fearing the worst. Please be okay, please be okay… Several tracks of unsettled dirt did little to calm her fears as Fluttershy continued flying between trees, observing the opened area until she found the pegasus filly. She walked towards the pegasus as far as the trees provided protection from sunlight and examined the situation from a distance. Dash’s face was pressed against the ground, her wings one big mess with cyan feathers littering the ground. “R-Rainbow…” she said hesitantly as her eyes flashed in weak red as some of her powers returned to her. “Rainbow Dash, please say something!” she shouted before sniffing, a strong scent of blood reaching her nose. She could hear the rapidly beating heart of her friend. Fluttershy used her power and scanned for any internal injuries as if her eyes were X-rays, not noticing any broken bones or blocked veins as blood flow was quick and uninterrupted. “H-hey… F-F-Flutters…” Dash said with weak voice as she struggled to lift her head of the ground. She coughed. “I’m… f-fine…” she added before gritting her teeth, putting on a brave face despite the pain. Fluttershy sighed and wiped sweat from her forehead as a weak smile grew across her lips. As a pureblood thestral, especially with parents who worked in medicine, she learned a lot about pony physiology. But never was she so grateful for the pliable bones that every pegasus had, a specialization that prevented them from breaking whenever a pegasus would crash into something at high speed. Fluttershy’s smile didn’t last long as she caught the scent of blood, only now noticing huge blood loss. Have my senses failed me? My powers must still be weak, she thought. Think Fluttershy, think. While pegasus bone structure would bend to absorb the shock in the event of a crash, it will not, however, help with collisions against sharp objects. It means… oh no! “Don’t move!” Fluttershy shouted. “No matter what you do, don’t move!” Dash looked to the side in confusion, her mouth sealed but eyes screamed in pain. “W-why?” she forced a word as her forelegs pushed against the ground. “No!” Fluttershy shouted as Dash screamed, revealing a hole in her chest that was stuck against a sharp rock, covered in blood. With nothing to block the wound, the bleeding became rapid and uncontrollable. Fluttershy’s heart tried to escape her chest as she looked at the school in the clouds. The ponies who moments ago raced against Dash were almost at the finish line, but by the time they would alert the teacher that something was wrong, it would be too late. In an instant, Fluttershy’s wings turned batlike while her ears grew in size, two sharp fangs rising in her little mouth. Without a second to waste, she dashed towards Rainbow and grabbed her friend before flying back to the line of trees, away from the weakening rays of the sun. She carefully placed Dash on her back against soft grass and focused on hole in the chest. Sweat started to cover the batwinged filly as she concentrated her power on the blood covered rock. The red liquid heard her call and started levitating back into Dash’s chest, who looked at this sight with fear and confusion. Any dirt and contamination swiftly separated itself from the blood that returned into Dash’s veins before the young vampony started to lick the wound. The sudden silence replaced the painful screams as Fluttershy breathed heavily, smiling at her work. Even if she was nearly a hundred years old, she was still trapped in a filly’s body and being exposed to the sun for most of the day had worsened her condition. The fatigue from using her powers whilst spending time under the sun caused her to collapse. She fell forward onto the other filly, her head pressing against Rainbows chest. Panting, Fluttershy looked up into the magenta eyes that were cast upon her. Both fillies stared at each other for several seconds as none of them said a word before Fluttershy closed her eyes. She felt so powerless, unable to escape the grave she dug herself in. In desperation to save her friend, she exposed her true nature. Her secret was out and it wouldn’t be long before Dash told everypony about her true form, about a monster with sharp fangs who can command blood at will. She would no doubt need to change her name and color before starting over in another school. I can still play innocent and accuse Dash of lying, surely no pony would believe her that I’m a blood sucking monste- “Wooow,” a long noise of amazement left Dash’s mouth as Fluttershy opened her eyes. “H-how did you do that?” “Huh?” The vampony raised her head from Dash’s chest as she sat, though barely maintaining balance. Rainbow Dash stood to her hooves and grabbed Fluttershy between her forelegs, her smile and eyes wide. “That was amazing! I never thought you were so cool Fluttershy!” “You’re not… afraid?” asked the vampony. She was immediately brought into a tight embrace. “You kidding? You just saved my life,” Dash added with excitement before releasing her friend. She pointed at the ears and next grabbed the wing as she admired from many angles. “I’ve never seen anything like that, but it looks awesome. Are you some sort of super pegasus or batpony?” Fluttershy was speechless, when suddenly her ears twitched, capturing the sound of ponies flying through the forest. She looked around in panic before closing her eyes as her forehead crinkled. “Is everything okay, Fluttershy?” Dash asked, but didn’t receive any response as the vampony concentrated. Fluttershy’s ears and wings slowly returned to normal, while fangs reverted into normal teeth. Dash observed the spectacle with growing confusion as she noticed three red bats as cutie mark that slowly vanished in front of her very eyes. Fluttershy released a deep tired sigh before collapsing as Dash caught her. “You okay, Flutters?” “Don’t tell anypony, please,” she said as her face pressed against Dash’s chest for support. “What, but why? You just saved me. Think of how popular you would be in class!” “Please…” she added before retreating behind the nearest tree. “You!” the loud voice of an angered teacher echoed through the forest. From behind the bush emerged a tall bronze stallion with a whistle both on his neck and as cutie mark. The two pegasi, who minutes ago participated in the race, now stood by his side. The coach looked at Dash and stomped. “Rainbow Dash, I should’ve known!” He looked at two colts by his side. “Luckily there are students smart enough to tell me when a troublemaker like you is showing off in front of the class, without my supervision.” He looked at Dash’s features in search for any sort of damage, quickly noticing messy wings and bruises on her face. “Your reckless performances end here and now.” Dash looked at the two smirking ponies who showed her their tongues when the teacher wasn’t looking. “You liars!” she said before looking at the coach’s angered face and pointed her foreleg accusingly at both colts. “That’s not how it happened! They are lying!” “I won’t hear any more of your excuses, Dash. Your streak of pranks and troublemaking speaks for itself. I will have to inform your parents about this incident. Hopefully staying for an extra hour after school for a week or two will teach you some discipline. Be glad you aren’t badly injured.” Dash frowned and crossed her forelegs. Meanwhile the stallion's angered glare softened upon noticing another figure, a young curled pegasus peeking from behind a tree. “Fluttershy?” “Y-yes…” The coach gestured with his foreleg for the filly to come closer while both bullies looked at her in confusion. “What are you doing here?” he asked with mix of confusion and worry. “I told you to never leave the school ground without your parents or my company. Did you fly here on your own?” Fluttershy was silent for a moment as she looked at Dash and next back to the teacher. She started, “I ummm…” and tapped her hooves together before continuing, “After Dash crashed during the race… I flew down to the forest to give her first aid… I was worried that she was hurt.” “Race?” the teacher said as he knelt to filly’s face level while looking at her for any signs of injury. “Care to explain.” Fluttershy took a step back and nodded, ignoring the two hostile glares she received from both colts. Dash noticed it and said, “Flutters, you don’t have to. I get into trouble all the time, I'll be fine.” One glare from the teacher silenced her quickly. Fluttershy ignored her friend’s words and pointed at two angered colts. “I was being teased by Hoops and Dumb-Bell about my flying. Dash wanted to protect me.” She sighed. “They started provoking each other, and Dumb-Bell suggested a race. I was really scared when Hoops pushed Dash off-course.” The colt growled at her, but was silenced by intimidating glare the coach gave him. “When Rainbow Dash crashed into the ground, I panicked…” The stallion sighed, his voice more disappointed than angry. “I would have expected better from you, Fluttershy. You could have injured yourself. Why didn’t you inform me when the accident happened… or even before the race even began? Fluttershy looked to the side in silence, but the teacher’s next words took her aback. “Furthermore, how can I be sure you’re not lying so that your friend won’t be punished?” “Yea. She’s blaming us so Rainbow Crash wouldn’t get in trouble,” Dumb-Bell added as he once again shoot Fluttershy an angered glare, a clear message that he will bully her even harder if she won’t back down now. Fluttershy raised her head and looked teacher in the eyes without blinking. “I’m telling the truth, and I’m really sorry for not telling you about the race.” She bit her lips and lied, “ I was worried that Dash and others would get angry at me if I did.” The stallion stood back on his hooves before placing both Dash and Fluttershy on his back. “I believe you, but I’m still disappointed. I will need to tell your parents about your reckless behaviour for your own good. A pity considering your clear record.” He looked at two bullies with a sharp glare as they curled and laughed awkwardly. “And you both will be staying after school for the next two weeks! Not only for not informing me about this race you organized, but also for bullying Fluttershy. Your parents will be informed as well.” Both colts frowned as Dash said from the teacher’s back, “Serves you right!” “Rainbow Dash, while I understand that you tried to protect your friend, you still agreed to this race. While your punishment won’t be too severe, I will still have a talk with your parents.” He flew back to the school grounds while Dumb-Bell and Hoops followed. “I think I’ll invite all of your parents together to discuss this issue.” Noticing Dash’s worried stare, Fluttershy smiled back at her. While she expected the amount of bullying and harsh words to increase for the next years, she didn’t regret her decision. And now she even had a friend who knew her secret and was okay with it.