The Spectrum Of Blood

Twilight sat alone in the quiet evening, rearranging the library books he way they were supposed to go. It was the quiet moments like this that she missed Spike, but knew he would be back sooner than she would believe. Spike’s only gone for a month longer, and then he’ll be back here, ready to help! Twilight assured herself. She had hoped Rarity wouldn’t let Spike go with her on her fashion exhibition in Canterlot, but to both her and Spike’s surprise, she had agreed. This left Twilight and Owlowiscious to do all the manual labor Spike usually did.

However, Twilight kept thinking about Rainbow rather than her chores. Rainbow had seemed very off when she had asked for the book. And not just because she had asked for a book either- it was the aura she gave off. Rainbow seemed lifeless and dark, as if she were cursed. Twilight couldn’t figure it out; even her years of research couldn’t place a definite reason for Rainbow’s actions. She flipped through countless books, looking for a disease that could have corrupted her so. All the diseases she found were irrational or imaginary, like Mad Cow Disease or Lycanthropy.

Twilight sighed. Maybe one of the others would know what happened; I’ll ask them in the morning. She finished her work and went to bed and got some well-deserved rest.

Rainbow, however, was not getting her deserved rest.

At that moment, Rainbow was pacing around her bedroom, thinking upon her actions. In the heat of desire, she had justified murder. She was becoming a vampony, and she didn’t like it. She was torn in a war existing only within her mind- good and evil locked in constant conflict. And the latter was winning at the moment.

Rainbow couldn’t bear it- she needed to clear her head. She set off for Ponyville, flying towards no particular location. She just needed to get away. Rainbow flew laps around the town, still trying to force her mind into its previous state. Think of the Wonderbolts, Rainbow thought, think of how you can still join them and live the dream. That moment, it hit Rainbow: she couldn’t be a Wonderbolt. Even if she went rogue from the clan, and left scot free, she couldn’t join them. She couldn’t eat with them, she couldn’t live with them, she couldn’t do anything with them. She could hurt them, or expose herself. Her life had been ruined, and she had an eternity to feel the loss.

Rainbow’s rage grew, and as it did she went faster. She stayed in a form where she couldn’t do a Rainboom, as she didn’t want to wake all of Ponyville. She grew more and more infuriated, and her speed paralleled it. Suddenly, her speed and the way she felt changed. She seemed to be in a dark tunnel, like the light couldn’t keep up with her. She lapped Ponyville in three seconds, a full five seconds faster than her old record. She slowed to a stop, and the light caught up to her. She felt great- she had gone faster than she had ever gone before, and by quite a bit. Bon-Bon did this at the train station when she attacked me, Rainbow remembered. I should ask her how to do it under normal circumstances. Rainbow flew towards her home, however the effort she exerted doing that trick caused her to collapse upon sitting on her couch.

Twilight awoke the next morning to the sun in her face. She was tired, but she knew she had things to do today, and wanted to get them done early. She started off by looking at the checklist she had prepared earlier that week to see her plans. It was mostly studying, but she had already read the material, so she had almost no plans today. She decided to enjoy herself and have some fun.

Then Twilight remembered that she had made plans- she had to ask her friends about Rainbow. Applejack and Rarity were out of the question- they were both in Canterlot, improving their respective businesses. That leaves just Fluttershy and Pinkie. Twilight thought. I’ll start with Fluttershy; she’s been friends with Rainbow forever. She walked towards Fluttershy’s cottage, but was surprised to see that Fluttershy had already left.

What was with everyone lately? Twilight thought. Everyone is acting differently; was there something I missed?

Rainbow woke up to a soft knock. She groggily stood up and approached her door to answer. She opened the door to find Fluttershy standing there, smiling at her.

“Well, well, well.” Fluttershy said. “I heard somepony went on a date last night.” Fluttershy gave Rainbow a mischievous grin.

“Yeah, not one of my best ideas.” Rainbow said sheepishly.

“Well, it worked well enough.” Fluttershy responded. “You’re given a week to complete assignments as a new recruit, so you have a few days to relax. Let’s go do something. I mean, if you’d like to.”

Rainbow was happy to hear she was on break. She didn’t want to have to hunt and work at the same time quite yet, and she went back to work tomorrow.

“Sure, why not?” Rainbow said happily. “I’ve got no plans for today.”

“Perfect.” Fluttershy said, a smile of relief breaking on her face. “I kind of already made plans, so it would have been awkward without you.”

“What plans?” Rainbow asked.

“I figured that you would be curious about being a vampony,” Fluttershy explained, “so I figured we could help you adjust.”

“’We?’” Rainbow asked confusedly.

“Bon-Bon and I.” Fluttershy explained. “Come on- Bon-Bon’s waiting at her house for us.”

Fluttershy walked out of the house and Rainbow followed behind her. Rainbow wasn’t happy about having to spend time with Bon-Bon, but she would get over it. She looked down at the other ponies milling around on the ground, going about their normal days. She was surprised that she recognized several from the cave under town hall. So they’ve been here all along? Rainbow asked herself. They’ve been right under my nose this whole time, and I’ve never figured it out?

“We’re stealthier than you might think.” Fluttershy said.

“Oh yeah,” Rainbow said awkwardly, “thought reading.”

Fluttershy smiled to herself and turned sharply down and to the right. Rainbow followed close behind. They landed in front of a simple house not unlike those found all over Ponyville. Fluttershy knocked on the door and Bon-Bon answered the door.

“Hell…oh.” Bon-Bon had started off happily, but her mood changed upon seeing Rainbow. “It’s so… great that you could come over today.”

They all sat around Bon-Bon’s table. Bon-Bon pulled out several wine glasses and set them on the table. She then walked to the fridge and pulled out a red bottle and poured the contents into the glasses. Rainbow saw, not surprisingly, that it was blood in the glasses. Bon-Bon pushed the glasses to Rainbow and Fluttershy. Rainbow had to hold herself back from chugging the entire glass at once, but she wanted to appear normal to the others.

“So.” Bon-Bon said. “How are you two today?”

“We’re both alright,” Fluttershy said, “But you’re going to have to sit near Rainbow for today, all that swearing in your head isn't going to prevent that.”

Bon-Bon sat down embarrassed.

“So Rainbow,” Fluttershy began, “Any questions you have? About yourself? About us?”

“A few.” Rainbow said. “First- you said before it was Bon-Bon’s job that I was supposed to be killed. Why was I supposed to be killed?”

“Sorry about that.” Fluttershy said. “I wanted that act to be canceled, but there was nothing I could do. The reason why you needed to be killed was because you learned too much. Think about this- if you had seen me on a hunt and followed me back to the clan, what would have happened? If you led authorities our way, we would be eliminated. We couldn’t let that happen, so a few of the higher ranking members added you to the list of criminals. I tried to get your name removed, but I was outvoted.” Fluttershy took a sip of blood. “Make sense?”

“Yes, thank you.” Rainbow said. “Second question- Bon-Bon, you said you were going to the Lunar Guard. Why?”

“Vamponies are faster and more efficient than other ponies.” Bon-Bon said. “This makes us excellent hunters and guards. Luna takes us in as a personal guard, and we get paid handsomely to do so. Celestia has no idea.”

“Oh no!” Fluttershy said. “I forgot to feed Angel- I’ll be right back.” Fluttershy opened the door and seemed to teleport away.

“Has she always been this... loud?” Rainbow asked.

“Don’t let the whole ‘shy’ thing fool you.” Bon-Bon said. “She can get evil if need be. She’s only awkward normally because she’s trying to avoid getting too emotional around normal ponies. She gets bloodthirsty when she gets too happy, or sad, or angry, or…”

“Got it.” Rainbow interrupted. “But I wanted to ask you something- is there another reason you hate me? Other than making you lose your job, of course.”

Bon-Bon took a long sip out of her glass, and then set it on the table. “I’ve always been jealous of your fame.” She said. “Everywhere I go I can just say ‘Rainbow Dash,’ and everyone knows who I’m talking about, and they talk about your amazing feats. But no one ever remembers the sweets maker who has done nothing.”

“I’m sure there are others out there who notice you.” Rainbow said reassuringly. “I’m sure someone out there is looking out for you. Even if their talking to others, they look in the background and say ‘look, its Bon-Bon! Bon-Bon is the best pony ever!’”

Bon-Bon smiled. “You know, you’re not a complete egotistical jerk.” She said happily. “Maybe we can be friends.”

“Aww, how sweet.” Fluttershy said as she walked back in through the door. “Friendship really is magic.”

Rainbow and Bon-Bon both facehoofed.

Twilight entered Sugar Cube Corner a few minutes after she left Fluttershy’s cottage. She had come as quickly as possible, because she was really beginning to worry. Rainbow’s reading, Fluttershy left her cottage early in the morning, is there anything else I missed?

Twilight looked at Mrs. Cake. “Hello,” She said, “can I speak to Pinkie please?”

“She’s in the kitchen- go right ahead.” Mrs. Cake said nonchalantly.

Twilight walked into the kitchen and saw Pinkie working on some cupcakes. Pinkie looked up from her work and gave Twilight a big smile.

“Hiya!” Pinkie said. “Have you seen Rainbow’s new coltfriend? He’s kinda cute.”

A coltfriend! Twilight thought, feeling quite relieved. This explains everything! He must be one of the weapon smiths from around town for Rainbow to be suddenly interested in assassination. “No, who is it?” She asked.

“I think I heard him say he was Bottle Mixer.” Pinkie said.

Twilight suddenly felt cold. She remembered she had seen that name on the paper sitting on Fluttershy’s porch. The cover article had said ‘Local Poison Brewer, Bottle Mixer, Found Dead’. That means either Rainbow recently became an assassin, or a police pony. “Hey Pinkie,” Twilight said, trying not to raise alarm. “Would you mind keeping an eye on Rainbow? She’s never had a coltfriend before, and I don’t want her getting hurt or anything. You’re the best at stealth, so you should be the one looking out.”

“Okie doke lokie!” Pinkie said. “I’ll keep an eye out for her. But you shouldn’t worry.”

“I mean, what’s the worst she could do?”