Red Juice
Angel Bunny was attempting to find sleep in the quiet night of Ponyville. The room was dark and rather chilly. Shivering, he pulled the blanket in closer, attempting to hold in any warmth that he could possibly retain. His little basket could only do so much when it came to shielding him from the cold.
Still, that was the least of his worries. Fluttershy had been acting strange recently. Most of the time, she had been her normal self—shy, quiet, kind. But every now and then, he’d see her give him the strangest look. It was one that he’d never seen her make before, and he couldn’t put his paw on it. It unnerved him. When Angel would giver her a quizzical look, Fluttershy would snap out of it and give him a nervous smile. This was also strange.
The first few times, the rabbit simply shrugged it off. After all, had he been turned into a vampire-like creature, he’d feel a bit off for the next couple of days. However, it had been months since then, and Fluttershy’s unusual behaviour was persisting. It just wasn’t right. Something was wrong with her...Angel just didn’t know what that something was.
Still, Angel shrugged off his worries. Nothing bad had happened since, right? That had to mean the Fluttershy was fine. With that thought, the rabbit shelved his concerns away and drifted away to sleep.
It was asleep. The foolish thing was asleep. She giggled, a soft yet chilling sound. Her glowing crimson eyes could see the hot blood coursing through his veins...she could almost taste it! Still, he was not ripe yet...she knew that it was best tomorrow, when the light in the sky was full.
Slinking away, she licked her lips. There was other food about. This feast could wait.
The following morning the sun was bright in the sky as Angel hopped along towards the park where he and Fluttershy normally met their friends for a pony-pet play date. As they reached the group, Fluttershy trotted off to the other ponies. Angel on the other hand hopped over to his fellow pets. He expected them to be excited and prancing about, but instead they were having hushed conversations. Curious, Angel spoke up.
“Hey, what’s the big idea?” He pouted. “You guys know it’s not nice to have conversations behind other pet’s backs.”
Winona walked over, a nervous cloud about her. “Sorry there, Angel. It’s just...some strange stuff’s been happening.”
“Oh, so the vampire fruit bats are still giving you trouble?”
The dog yipped. “No...it’s worse than that. It’s got nothing to do with the farm, either.”
“Aye, it’s been rather eerie at the library as well.around the whole town.” Owlowiscious agreed. “Especially during nighttime.”
Opalescence purred uneasily, grooming herself. “I can attest to that as well. Things at the boutique have been...strange.”
Angel was confused. “Alright...so what?”
Tank shook his head slowly. “You don’t get it, eh?” The bunny shook his head. He turned towards Owlowiscious. “Go on, tell him what you saw at the library.”
The bird cleared his throat. “Very well. You see, it was but a fortnight ago when Fluttershy came to visit the library. She seemed uneasy, and she insisted on talking with Twilight in private. Thus, they retreated to her personal study.
“I was unnerved by how much fright I could see in the pegasus’s eyes, and decided to investigate. This is what I saw.”
“Fluttershy, I don’t know what to think of this. This shouldn’t have happened!”
Fluttershy could only whimper. “B-but you can fix it, right?” She opened her mouth, revealing two long silver fangs, glinting in the daylight.
“I honestly don’t know.” Twilight said, leaning forward to get a better look. “These fangs should have disappeared along with your other bat-like features.”
“I know, I know, but for some reason it hasn’t, and it scares me!” Fluttershy cried, beginning to tear up. “What if I become something even worse, and even start to hurt ponies?” Fear laced her normally peacefully kind eyes.
“Fluttershy, you and I both know that there’s no such thing as vampires.” The unicorn chuckled. “Besides, how long have you had these fangs?”
“Um, about three months…”
Twilight pressed forward. “And in that time, has anypony turned up dead?”
“No…”
A purple hoof came to rest on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Then you’re fine. You haven’t hurt anypony, and you never will. Those fangs are probably just a side effect.” She gave her friend a reassuring smile, one that Fluttershy didn’t return.
“O-okay Twilight…” With that, she headed towards the door to exit the library.
“And that was it.”
Angel scratched his head. “That’s it? I mean, I noticed she still had fangs, but if that’s what you’re worried about—”
Winona barked. “No, that ain’t it. Owlowiscious’s got more to tell.”
“Aye. After hearing that tale, I flew back to my perch before Twilight came out. When she did, however, she seemed troubled.” The owl glanced over to the group of ponies, who were having a picnic. “She wanted me to fly over to city hall to see if any deaths were reported in the past three months.”
“And…?” Angel asked, curiosity now piqued.
“None.” Owlowiscious said softly. Angel let out a sigh of relief. Then—
“At least, not any pony deaths.”
The rabbit immediately felt a chill run down his spine. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Tank spoke up. “It means that there’s been others dying around here.”
“That tells me nothing!”
“Oh, for pony’s sake!” Opal cried out. “Must everything be a riddle to you, Angel? It means that there’s been animals dying out there!”
Angel fell silent.
“Yes, animals, found completely drained of blood.” Opal continued, now pacing back in forth. “Three for the past three months. And do you know when they were found?”
The bunny tried to respond, but his voice had abandoned him.
“Shortly after the full moon. Every time.” The cat hissed. “It can’t be pure coincidence. We animals can sense when things are amiss, and I know you can feel it too. Something isn’t right, Angel.”
Finally, his voice came back to him. “So what you’re saying is...is…”
Gummy suddenly spoke. “We’re saying that we think Fluttershy’s behind all of the killings.” Angel jumped; he had forgotten that the toothless alligator was even there. He turned to rebuke him, but Gummy raised a claw. “Now, don’t think we’re crazy just yet, Angel. Think about it. You’ve felt things are not normal since the vampire fruit bat incident.”
Angel looked back, not wanting to believe him...but he as he sifted through his memories, he noticed that at night, things were unusually spooky at the cottage. He often thought he saw shadows moving, but the bunny had pushed that away as his imagination.
“Haven’t you noticed Fluttershy’s been behaving rather strangely?”
He had noticed that. In fact, he’d more than noticed it; it had been bothering him incessantly for a long time. As the facts came together, the picture just seemed to get clearer and clearer. But there was just no way that Fluttershy could hurt, let alone kill another creature!
“And hasn’t Fluttershy—”
“NO! Stop it, stop it, all of you!” Angel said, stomping his foot down. “You’re all just paranoid, that’s it! There’s no way Fluttershy could do any of those things! I mean, look at her!” He pointed over to the picnic, where the pink haired pegasus was offering some jam to a group of ants. “See? She wouldn’t hurt a fly!”
Winona tried to speak. “Now, listen here Angel. We didn’t mean to upset—”
“What, upset me?!” Angel interrupted, furious. “Because let me tell you, you did just that.” He hopped over to Fluttershy, and pulled on her mane, signaling to his owner that he wanted to return home. “If you guys want me, I’ll be at home!” With that, he climbed onto Fluttershy’s back, and the two departed.
Owlowiscious sighed. “Poor thing. He lives with her, and tonight is a full moon.”
Nighttime creeped in, and Angel curled up in his basket once more. His anger had still not subsided. How could his friends even think that about Fluttershy?! It made no sense. And yet…
The very idea still bothered him. The thought of Fluttershy killing innocent creatures...no. Not possible. Putting his anger aside, he let sleep take him, not knowing that there were a pair of glowing red eyes watching him.
Below those eyes, a silver glint rose into a smile, revealing two shining fangs. The thing stepped out into the light, revealing none other than the mare herself: Fluttershy.
The fanged pony giggled. “It was rather kind of you to not believe your friends, Angel. Perhaps Mama should give you a nice little kiss as a reward…” With that, she pounced, causing the floorboards to creak.
Angel opened his eyes at the sudden noise, and the last thing he saw where a pair of silver fangs.