Path of Kindness and Blood

by CommanderX5

Turn of Events - Spa Incident

Rays of the sun radiated warmth over Rarity’s face as she trotted through Ponyville with dignity and grace. With her eyes closed and nose proudly raised, she carried two spa coupons by her side using her levitation.

She slowly opened her eyes and noticed a few of the ponies and future customers waving their hooves at her in a greeting gesture. She gladly returned the wave and smiled, her teeth shining brightly under the sunlight.

“What’s up?” a relaxed voice caught her attention. Rarity looked up for the source and noticed a multi-colored tail emerging from behind a white cloud. “Wait, don’t tell me. You’re taking Flutters on another boring trip to the spa. Am I right, or am I right?”

Rarity restrained herself from frowning. It was her day off from work after all, a relaxing wonderful sunny day that one annoying weather manager wasn’t going to ruin. “Boring? Oh no no no, I can assure you, Rainbow Dash, the spa is anything but boring,” she said with her usual graceful tone. She quickly hid her teeth as her smile turned into a smirk. “You should, perhaps, try it sometime. A hot sauna and a mud bath would relax you after your numerous training regimens, and your hooves just beg for a good hooficure.”

Much to Rarity’s surprise, she didn’t receive the usual, ‘Nah, I’ll pass’ line after which the pegasus would fly away with admirable speed. Instead, Rainbow Dash just rolled around from her sleeping position and looked from behind the cloud.

“I’ll never understand what Fluttershy sees in you and your once-a-week spa treatments. She prefers the quiet of her home and the company of her animals rather than going out in public,” Dash said before jumping from the cloud, slowing down with a few flaps of her wings just before hitting the ground. Now standing in front of the unicorn, she continued, “how and why she became your friend is beyond me.”

Rarity giggled. “That is very simple. The poor dear is like a flower seed, hiding from others and afraid to grow. But with a bit of care and encouragement, she will grow into a beautiful flower and spread her petals.”

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow before following Rarity on her way to Fluttershy’s cottage and stated, “You just like to make her your personal model. Isn’t it, like, her third time this month?”

Rarity frowned as she sped up her pace, her head turning away from the following pegasus. “How dare you accuse me of becoming friends with Fluttershy for such a selfish and shallow reason. I mean… sure, she helps me represent my fashion lines from time to time, as long as it is only for one pony, and can stand still patiently for a few hours, but… did I say something funny?”

Dash chuckled before shaking her head. “Nah, you just take my jokes so seriously that it tends to be funny.” Her gaze hardened as she shot Rarity a serious glare, which in turn made the fashionista step to the side. “Listen, Rarity. I’ve known Fluttershy for a long time, and I know that she need friends and nice ponies to talk and spend time with. I’m grateful to you for being her friend, I really am. But...” she said, her voice suddenly hostile, “she’s taking going out in public very harshly, and I can see how she struggles to spend time with you whenever you take her places crowded with ponies. If I find out that you hurt her feelings, I’ll...”

Dash took a deep breath, her stare relaxing as she forced a smile. “Anyway, I wish you and Flutters a relaxing day, have fun. Just don’t make her stay outside for too long in this weather. She... doesn’t like the heat. See ya.”

Rarity blinked a few times in confusion as the pegasus flew away. She didn’t really know much about Dash and didn’t necessarily consider her a friend yet, but ever since she became friends with Fluttershy, that rainbow-maned pegasus was bumping into her quite often for a small talk. If I didn’t know better, I would think that Dash is Fluttershy’s overprotective older sister, Rarity thought before continuing her walk.

After finally reaching the cottage, Rarity knocked and waited for Fluttershy to open the door. With a few glances, she looked around at the fauna and flora. Ferrets and rabbits were peeking out from their dens, duck families swam through a small stream, and birds sang in serene tweets and squawks. The fashionista had to admit, while maybe this location wasn’t the most innovative and fashion-forward, it sure had its charm. A single picture taken from a distance would look like an art of nature or cover for a storybook.

Her ears quickly perked up at the sound of opening door as it slowly revealed part of a yellow pegasus with a long pink mane.

“H-hello?” Fluttershy asked as she peeked from behind the door, before opening it slightly further. “Oh, hello Rarity,” she added with a cheerful smile, and gestured with her foreleg to enter inside. “Would you like some tea?”

“Oh, yes. Your tea is simply divine,” Rarity said before handing the pegasus mare her spa tickets. “However we must refrain from staying too long. I already planned a relaxing day with many places for us to visit, and those spa coupons are for specific hours. I hope you understand.”

Fluttershy nodded, not showing even a slight amount of disappointment. “Of course not, I wouldn’t want to keep the spa ponies waiting. Make yourself comfortable.”

Rarity nodded and sat on a pillow in front of small table in the middle of the room. “But of course.”

“Thank you for the coupon, Rarity, it’s so very nice of you,” Fluttershy said as one of her bird friends carefully took the coupon from her wing and placed it inside a saddlebag that laid next to the entrance, filled and ready in advance.

“You are quite welcome,” Rarity responded as her friend went into the kitchen to prepare the tea. While waiting, she took off her saddlebag and levitated it next to Fluttershy’s as she examined the room. She quickly noticed a few mice eating a piece of cheese next to a mouse hole, two birds nuzzling each other next to a birdhouse, and a small bunny who glared daggers at her from his basket filled with pillows. Around the fireplace was a sofa and some small tables. Rarity noticed that most of the room was filled with small birdhouses and tiny stairs for Fluttershy's animal friends. Her attention went back to the table that was placed on a carpet with two pillows next to it, something that the pegasus organized for Rarity ever since they became friends.

“Here you go,” Fluttershy said calmly as she placed two teacups onto the table with her wings.

Rarity carefully levitated the cup and took small elegant slips. She looked at the ceiling while taking additional one, doing her best to recognize the taste. “Jasmine?”

“Correct,” Fluttershy said before drinking it as well. After releasing a satisfied breath, she went on, “plus a few herbs that grow in the Everfree Forest.”

“Really?” Rarity asked, slightly taken aback. Reassuming her graceful posture, she said, “No wonder your tea is so special, nopony would dare go to that terrifying place to gather ingredients.” She looked at Fluttershy with worry. “Why are you going so often to that dreadful forest, darling? Aren’t you afraid of all the monsters?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “Not really. They may seem scary at first, but once you get to know them better, they turn out to be really cute and sweet.” The fashionista blinked several times in confusion. “Why are you looking at me like that, Rarity?”

The fashionista chuckled. “I just find it hard to believe that a pony who... how can I put it… can be so easy startled could go to such place. I still remember how one stallion approached you to ask for directions, and you immediately jumped into a bush.”

Both mares took more slips from the teacups, emptying them before Fluttershy went to the kitchen for refills.

Rarity looked at the floor for a moment, her expression more serious with every passing second. She slowly raised her head the moment Fluttershy returned with full teacups. “Fluttershy. We have been friends for a year and a half now, but I cannot shake the feeling that you are concealing something from me.”

The pegasus took a step back, the teacups sliding from her wing before she caught it with her hooves. She smiled awkwardly and replied, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Fluttershy took a few quick breaths. “I’m not hiding anything from you. What gave you that idea?” She curled back slightly.

Despite seeing distress on her friend, Rarity pressed the issue. “Yes, you do, darling. I believe that after so long, you can trust me enough to answer a few of my questions. Surely, I deserve to know.”

Fluttershy gulped and looked to the side, her voice barely audible. “I… I can’t… this isn’t a good idea.”

Rarity titled her head to the side. “But why? Surely you can at least tell me something about your parents.”

“Rarity, please, this secr… parents?” Fluttershy paused.

“Yes. It has been one year, and I have never met your parents. You never mentioned them in a discussion before,” Rarity said before raising her foreleg, her tone much more firm and serious. “I also live on my own away from my parents, and I understand that it must be tough for you, but you’ve already had the pleasure of meeting mine. Would you be so kind as to tell me something about yours? Please?”

The pegasus on the other side of the table sighed in relief, but her peace of mind quickly vanished as she looked down at the floor. Her depressed smile laid hidden behind her mane. “I… I’d rather not.“

“Please,” Rarity said again, her voice filled with curiosity.

“They…” Fluttershy started, taking a deep breath. “They were very kind... My dad worked in a hospital while mom... was a dentist,” she said slowly, her voice hesitant while tears slowly formed in her eyes. “They always taught me… to be nice and help others… never retaliate if they are being mean or bully me.”

Rarity nodded with a cheerful smile. “See, was it that hard? They seem to be really good ponies with as kind a heart as yours,” Rarity said, before giving Fluttershy a questioning look. “Still, you keep saying ‘were’ instead of ‘are’... why?” Suddenly Rarity’s face became pale, her eyes widened and she felt dryness in her mouth. “They are…”

“No longer here,” Fluttershy added, sadness prevalent in both her expression and tone.

Rarity stared at her friend speechlessly. Was this the reason why Fluttershy moved from Cloudsdale, sealing herself in a cottage away from civilisation near a small town and avoiding everypony? Was this the reason why Dash was so overprotective? Rarity chuckled as she pointed at the watch on the wall. “Why, look what time is it! We must hurry to not miss our appointment at the spa.”

Fluttershy put on a fake smile before gathering her saddlebag and a hat that Rarity made for her as present a long time ago to replace the umbrella she usually used.

As usual, both mares were walking through the street towards the spa, passing buildings and ponies while Rainbow Dash ensured that the sun wasn’t a bother. While normally Fluttershy didn’t feel too comfortable when in public, this time she was more nervous than usual.

Step by step, the disguised thestral constantly looked behind her back, her ears perked up, receiving every little sound. Unable to ignore Fluttershy’s behaviour as her being her usual shy and scared self, Rarity asked, “Is something the matter, darling? You seem distressed.”

Fluttershy looked behind herself one more time and next back at Rarity. “I can’t shake the feeling… that somepony is following us.”

Rarity looked behind while scanning the area, noticing the same colorful houses she passed so often and very few ponies walking by, not paying them any mind. It was still early in the morning and streets were nearly empty, surely she would notice if somepony was following them. “I don’t see anything out of ordinary. You really need to learn how to relax. That is what the spa is for, after all.”

The thestral wasn’t convinced as she half closed her eyes, sharpening her stare as she focused on a small cart filled with vegetables. It didn’t take long before something blinked before her eyes, as if a shadow moved from the cart towards the alley. Some small leaves started floating despite the lack of wind. After pointing at the alley, Rarity rolled her eyes.

“I really think you are overreacting. It was just the wind.”

Fluttershy turned her head towards the spa that was getting closer with every step while her ears were straightened. No matter how much she tried, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was being watched.

Rarity stopped in front of the door and turned around, her attention focused on her friend who was carefully scanning the area once again. “Come on, darling, we’re going to be late.”

A mysterious figure, wearing a dark robe covering him from top to bottom while hiding most of his face from the world, peaked from behind a building, observing the entrance to the spa with full interest. Much to his satisfaction, the pegasus lowered her guard and entered the spa hesitantly. Smiling, he placed his hooves on the ground as a dark aura surrounded them, small stones near them started to shake and next bounce on the ground. A little trail of dark magic and cracking ground made its way towards the spa as quiet cold chuckle followed.

“The usual,” Rarity said as two spa earth ponies nodded, quickly putting their saddlebags and hats into a locker-room. Most of the time, Fluttershy barely looked from behind her mane or raised her voice whenever encountering other ponies, no matter how kind they were. But not today.

“Please follow me, Fluttershy,” Rarity said encouragingly with a gesture of her hoof before one of spa ponies would decide to pull her in.

Fluttershy followed very slowly with her ears still on guard. Her anxiety growing with every step. After taking a deep breath, she spoke, “Rarity, did you feel something?” Noticing that her friend looked back at her with confusion, she poked the floor and added, “Something is wrong. Can you feel the floor quaking by your hooves?”

Rarity looked at her hooves for a moment before shaking her head. “Not really. You need to learn how to relax. It is not healthy to be tense all the time, darling,” she said as the glass door to the sauna closed behind her.

Fluttershy flinched as fumes in the form of a deep fog streamed into the room. She slowly sat and released her breath as a warm smile grew across her face. “I’m not tense… all the time.”

“Well, you are whenever you are outside of your cottage. I can understand that you feel nervous around others, but you never have this problem when with your animal friends.” Rarity chuckled and added, “I knew one or two ponies who would never dare to come close to a bear, and yet you are not afraid to check his teeth and throat.”

“Harry isn’t scary at all. He’s a real sweetheart when you get to know him and he loves my massages.”

“I don’t doubt that,” Rarity responded before rubbing her chin in contemplation. “What I’m trying to say is, some ponies are afraid of spiders and snakes while you get along with them just fine. You seem to avoid ponies just as much. Shutting yourself away from others will just make everything worse.”

As the silence lasted for several seconds, Rarity sighed before pointing out, “And what about your friend, Dash? You are not afraid of her.”

“She was my friend since we were fillies. We attended the same classes, and she protected me from bullies.”

Rarity giggled at this new development. “Oh, a childhood friend. She must be like an overprotective older sister to you.”

“...”

“Such a pity that Dash is not a stallion. Surely a special somepony would help you open to others and find joy in life.”

Fluttershy blushed. “S-special somepony? I don’t… I mean…” she squealed.

“I am just teasing, darling. Take small steps and you will get there one day. However, there is something I don’t understand. May I ask you a question?”

“Of course,” Fluttershy responded.

“Let’s assume, hypothetically that is,” she started, “that you fall in love with a stallion.” She moved slightly towards her friend, whose blush wasn’t visible among the steam. “What kind of features would you like to see in a special somepony? What kind of character would be the stallion of your dream?”

“Special somepony… of my dreams…” Fluttershy responded as her ears flattened. She looked around in the fog as she thought of how to answer, when suddenly her ears and wings perked up as the floor started to tremble.

Rarity felt the trembling under her hooves growing in strength as she lost her balance, now lying on her side. She heard a weak thump, followed by Fluttershy’s yelp. “Do not panic Fluttershy, it is just a little quake... nothing to be worried about.” The trembling became stronger and stronger. “It will be over soon,” Rarity added before her body started to bounce from place to place, quickly slamming against a wall. With her head landing against a seat, she said with fear in her voice, “Okay, now is the time to panic!”

Rarity quickly stood up on her hooves as the fog in the room became extremely dense, the result of a broken underground pipe which protruded from a new hole in the floor, sending water onto the hot coals. “Fluttershy, where are you?” she asked while struggling to walk on the cracking floor when a loud noise of shattering glass reached her ears.

“Over here!” Fluttershy’s voice reached Rarity before she felt two hooves pulling her by a foreleg. Rarity yelped as she trotted on her other three legs, only to stop two seconds later as a very loud crash and the scream of her friend caught her off guard. The two hooves that just moments ago pulled her towards the exit now released her foreleg. Despite barely seeing anything in the stream, touching the ceiling fragment in front of her told her enough.

“Fluttershy!” she screamed, trying to dig into the rubble blindly, but her efforts were stopped the moment the crumbling ceiling buried them alive. The sudden pain didn’t last long as everything turned dark.

This isn’t good, Fluttershy thought as she spread her wings and flew up slightly. Her ears captured hundreds of cracking noises as she sensed the floor, walls and ceiling tearing themselves apart. Whatever this earthquake was, natural or artificial, it was indeed powerful. Despite the fog, she quickly sensed Rarity’s presence, who started to walk shakily towards a wall.

Not wasting a second, Fluttershy tensed her muscles as she slammed herself against the door, shattering the glass, allowing quick access to the other room.

“Fluttershy, where are you?”

“Over here!” she replied, quickly flying towards Rarity as she captured her foreleg. With quick flaps of her wings, she pulled the unicorn through the fog. When suddenly something pressed her to the floor with great force.

Pain. Such a simple word representing something that every living creature tried to avoid. Something that Fluttershy now experienced in massive amounts. Outside of the bone crushing weight above her head, she could feel something stuck in her foreleg and blood rapidly escaping from it.

Her vision was covered and she barely felt space to move a muscle.

“Rarity!” Fluttershy said as she gritted her teeth, struggling against the weight. There was no time for self pity when an innocent pony’s life was in grave danger. The weight on her back started to move slowly as she gained distance from the ground, inch by inch, her legs raising while her mouth refused to scream. With one solid action, Fluttershy pushed the rubble of off her back, only for rays of the sun to assault her eyes.

She covered her face with both her mane and undamaged foreleg before a few clouds blocked the light.

“Fluttershy!” Dash yelled as she landed in front of her, dust from the rubble spreading around her hooves. Rainbow Dash’s eyes quickly widened and her facial expression turned pale in an instant.

Fluttershy looked around and examined the situation as the steam from under the rubble started to spread, quickly noticing that she now stood on ceiling fragments of the spa, the building nearly leveled to the ground. She could see a large crack going through the road with the spa in the middle while jagged stones shot upward in many points. Luckily, the homes on both sides of the road were not affected too much as the epicenter of the earthquake had to be near the spa. That’s odd. Either I have the worst luck in the world, or something unnatural caused this earthquake, Fluttershy thought before noticing pale expression on her friend who pointed at her foreleg.

Fluttershy looked in the pointed direction, only to gasp upon seeing her own knee impaled by a broken pipe, half of it covered in blood. She quickly closed her mouth and looked at the sharp object with determination. I have no time for this. She raised her head and commanded firmly, “Dash, pull it out,” before gritting her teeth. Her mind prepared for the pain to come.

“B-but…”

“Hurry!”

Dash did as she was told, only to hear a noise of splattering blood and the pipe slamming against the rubble. Her body shivered as a chilling cold ran through her spine.

Fluttershy refused to scream as her feathery wings suddenly transformed into batlike ones, her ears grew in size and two sharp teeth became much longer and sharper. Pupils became draconic and her cutie mark changed from butterflies to bats. Her eyes quickly flashed in a strong red as blood that covered the rubble and pipe started to gather together, slowly levitating towards Fluttershy’s knee in one thin stream. The bone regrew, the wound closed, and her fur regenerated. Whatever bruises she had disappeared too.

With wounds recovered, Fluttershy started sniffing.

Rainbow Dash asked, “Where’s Rarity and the spa ponies?”

Catching the scent of blood from several different sources, Fluttershy pointed her hoof at specific points in the rubble. “I smell two ponies over there and I can hear their hearts beating. Can you dig them out?”

Dash saluted, “On it!” before flying around in circle, creating a small tornado that sucked away dust, steam and small rubble like a vacuum. After gaining more visibility, she landed and started digging with her hooves.

With Dash busy, Fluttershy flew towards the blood scent she knew far too well, her hooves digging in like a drill until a violet mane captured her eye. With one solid kick, the ceiling fragment, the size of four ponies, flew to the side, exposing a nearly crushed body covered in a mixture of dust, rubble, and blood.

Fluttershy’s legs trembled. It was one thing to see her own wounds that could heal quickly, or to see blood on ponies she never met or knew, but the view of a friend in such a state was heartbreaking. Her heart started to beat rapidly and tears slowly formed in her eyes. Not wasting a moment, she licked the wounds, her saliva closing them in an instant while her ears were monitoring Rarity’s heartbeat. If there was anything that prevented Fluttershy from bursting into a stream of tears, it were slight signs of life her senses detected and the fact that Rarity couldn’t experience pain in her current unconscious state

The heart beat slowed down as Fluttershy detected a huge amount of internal injuries, many broken bones and congested veins, unable to transport blood where necessary. While thestral saliva had extremely strong healing effects, it could only work on external injuries. There was only one option left to save Rarity.

Fluttershy took a step back and shook her head. She swore to her parents that she would never do that, to never use the ancient power of pureblood to turn a pony, nor any other living creature, into a thestral.

Rarity’s breathing and heart beat became slower and slower with every second as the pureblood could not just see, but feel her friend passing away. Every bit of blood that flowed slower and slower, delivering less and less oxygen to the brain, the pressure in many veins blocking its path. She could sense it.

“T-there’s still hope!” Fluttershy said as she grabbed Rarity’s crumbling body into her embrace, sinking two sharp teeth into her neck. She could feel her own blood injecting into the target, flowing through it with one single objective. Please, heal quickly, Fluttershy thought as she pushed herself away from her friend’s neck, quickly licking the wound.

The plan was simple. If she sucked the blood she injected back in time before it could spread and start the transformation, she could save Rarity without turning her. Her teeth aimed at the neck while her eyes scanned the body. She could sense the running blood, blocked areas opening, and fractured bones slowly mending.

Faster.

More seconds that seemed like minutes passed as the blood started to spread across the body, stabilizing Rarity’s condition. Without a moment to waste, Fluttershy bit her friend’s neck while her eyes flashed, her mind focusing on separating her own blood from Rarity’s… fruitlessly. Fluttershy’s eyes opened widely and watered as she kept calling for her blood to return to her, but with no avail.

After taking out her fangs and licking the wound, she gently placed her friend on the rubble while teardrops fell onto Rarity’s cheek. Despite all her power that saved her friend’s life, it was powerless to undo her transformation.

“Fluttershy!”

In an instant, two earth ponies were placed next to Rarity, their breath slow and bleeding wounds all over their bodies. Fluttershy shook her head as her glare hardened. With a swift move, she pierced her own foreleg with her teeth as her eyes flashed in red. A small stream of blood escaped her body and rushed to the spa ponies like tiny lasso, taking out wood, metal and glass fragments stuck in the wounds. The blood returned to her body once the job was done as Fluttershy licked some of the clean bruises. She left a few smaller injuries as it would be very suspicious that a pony would get out of such an accident unharmed.

“Are they going to be okay?” Dash asked with a firm tone while looking between her friend and the ponies lying on the ground, but Fluttershy could easily catch uncertainty and fear in her voice.

Noticing the nod, Dash beamed before hovering in mid air, her forelegs crossed. “Great job Flutters. Just like in flight camp,” Dash said before smirking. “I really don’t get why anypony would be afraid of you. It’s so lame that you must hide how awesome you really are. Just think how much heroic stuff you could do with those powers.”

Fluttershy lowered her head as she grabbed Rarity between with her forelegs, her ears shooting upward as noises of incoming ponies captured her attention. “Dash, they can’t see Rarity!”

“What, why?” she asked, landing in front of her thestral friend.

“I had to turn her… I didn’t want to do this, Dash, but I couldn’t let her die,” Fluttershy said with panic as she took a few hyperactive breaths. ”If they find her before the transformation is complete, they may find out that she is a thestral, or worse, they will assume she is dead and bury her. I can’t let Rarity hide from her family for centuries!” Fluttershy concentrated on transforming back, her ears and wings quickly turned back to her pegasus guise.

The steam surrounding the area started to vanish, spreading in all directions without Fluttershy’s influence. Dash nodded and grabbed both her friend and Rarity before dashing into the air, ignoring confused stares.

“Rainbow Dash?” somepony asked.

“It was Rainbow Dash, I’m sure,” another one said.

The curious crowd quickly ran onto the rubble and started to dig while a few ran towards spa sisters who lay unconscious in the middle of the dilapidated street, their bodies covered in a few bruises and small wounds, but nothing serious.

“They’re alive,” the female pegasus said as she checked the pulses of the unconscious ponies. “Rainbow Dash saved their lives!”