Bloodshot

Is a crumpled up piece of paper considered trash?  What about a stray rubber band?  Surely a used pantyhose sock wouldn’t be seen as garbage, right?  Well…perhaps it depends on the mind of the observer.

       Various mundane objects such as these peppered Fluttershy’s home when she arrived there later that evening.  Worry often plagued her mind when she thought about them, considering the possibility that Silver Spirit will think of her as a slob.  But…those items were not exactly trash.

Trash is an easy explanation.  Trash can be defined as an object or idea of unimportance that is no longer of any use to its owner.  Said object or idea is often scrapped, or thrown away so that its owner may not be inconvenienced by its presence.

       That is exactly why the clutter scattered around Fluttershy’s house wasn’t trash.  They were items that still held importance to her.  Or, rather, for her animals.  Many of the small critters living in her cottage got substantial use out of the stray objects that Fluttershy left behind for them.  For instance, her bunny friends liked to chew on crumpled up bits of paper to wear in their teeth when food was not readily accessible.  Most of her mice, along with some of her birds, got use out of pantyhose socks by storing bits of food or by crawling inside to sleep more comfortably.  And, quite comically, her otters and squirrels got endless hours of fun out of a simple rubber band when other toy items were being used.

…

       So…did she really need to throw these items away?  Silver Spirit wouldn’t mind, would he?  It’s not like he’ll walk inside, see a cluttered mess, and immediately walk back out, right?  That’d be ridiculous!

       …It could happen, though.  And that’s why Fluttershy could currently be seen in her cottage, bending over to pick up the designated items for removal.  She had already decided against classifying the items as trash, though, so she wasn’t actually throwing them away.  If Silver Spirit didn’t know the items were in her cottage, why should she be required to dispose of them completely?  She could merely…stuff them under her bed or something.

       When some of her critter friends saw her walking up the stairs with their favorite items on her back, they began to follow her in confusion.  Once Fluttershy heard scurrying behind her, she turned around to look at her furry companions.

       “Oh my, I’m so sorry, my little ones.  But I’m afraid Mama’s going to have to take these away for a while.  Mama has a very special guest coming tomorrow, and she wants this place to look spiffy for his delight.  You understand, right?”

       After a few seconds of indefinite silence, and a small amount of protest, the minor group of animals gave in with a slow nod.  Now clear to carry on her chore, Fluttershy continued to ascend the stairs with the items on her back.

       Rainbow Dash grumbled as she tossed her ball back and forth between her hooves.  Twilight stood close beside her, pacing the floor.  Upstairs in the library, the two friends were surrounded by books.

       “Do you really think it was necessary to drop a bomb on Fluttershy like that?”  She scolded.

       Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.  “C’mon, Twilight, it was a joke.  No big deal.”

       “You should already know that Fluttershy takes things very seriously!  She could be at her cottage right now dosing up on birth control pills or something.”  Twilight countered.

       Rainbow Dash dropped her ball, and doubled over laughing.  She gripped her abdomen, cackling like a maniac.  Cracks in her voice were frequent and apparent as the forceful giggling pressed the air out of her lungs.  Twilight’s face tensed up, and she stomped a hoof on the ground.

       “What is wrong with you?  Don’t you know the trouble you could be causing?”

       Rainbow Dash relaxed herself a little bit, and wiped a tear from her eye.  “Oh, Twilight…lighten up!  I know she isn’t going to do anything like that.  That’s absurd!”

…

       Twilight shook her head, and sighed.  “Rainbow Dash, I wish you would be a little more sensitive.  I don’t think any of us would’ve expected a shy mare like Fluttershy to land a date, and now that she has, it isn’t right for you to be messing it up for her!”

       Rainbow Dash stopped laughing completely, and sat up straight.  She looked up, and gave Twilight an assuring stare.

       “Okay, Twilight, listen.  If you’re so sure that there’s a problem, maybe I should just show you.  Let’s go visit Fluttershy, and you’ll see that there’s nothing wrong.”  The pegasus suggested.

       “But she was just here earlier today!  It would seem obsessive to go and visit her again after she already came to see us.”  Twilight responded.

…

       Rainbow Dash was completely silent.  She still sat on Twilight’s bed for a few seconds, staring up at Twilight.  Standing up slowly, she walked over to the skeptical alicorn.  An amused smirk appeared on her face.

       “You worry too much.”

       Then, with a flick of her tail, the athlete turned around, and walked downstairs toward the front door.  Twilight stood dazed for a few moments, then began to run after her.

       “Hey, wait!”

       As soon as Fluttershy finished her deed, she trudged downstairs, and flopped on her couch.  Celestia’s sun was beginning to set, which meant that it would be time to hit the hay soon.  Tomorrow was going to be a big day.

       Before she could stop herself, the anxious pegasus began to let her mind wander.

“What is Silver Spirit thinking about right now?  Maybe he’s sitting on his couch right now, thinking about me just as I’m thinking about him.  Or…maybe he’s cooking dinner for himself!  I bet he’s a wonderful cook.  We might be able to swap recipes one day.

But perhaps he’s tending for one of his pets!  I’d imagine a pony like him would have lots of pets.  What was his cutie mark again?  A dog biscuit?  It was something animal-related; I know that.

Or, at this time of evening, he could be taking a shower.  Mmm…that would be nice.  Showers always feel good.  I bet a shower with him would be…”

…

       Fluttershy suddenly snapped out of her hypnotism, blinking a few times to clear the haze.  She wrinkled her nose as she felt something wet and slimy running down her chin.

       Oh…it was her tongue.  Well…this was embarrassing.  Turns out she had less control than she thought she had.

       Fluttershy began to get physically uncomfortable from thinking about Silver Spirit.  While lying on the couch, she started to have a hard time maintaining a neat, non-suggestive posture.  She sighed, and shuffled to stand herself up.

       Perhaps if she went to actually take a shower, she could calm herself down enough to get to bed.  Maybe, she could even relieve her needs from thinking about her date so much.  This was…rather unlike her.

…

       As she started on her way to the bathroom, the mare stopped when she heard a noise from the stairs.  Her heart skipped a beat, and she turned around slowly to survey the source of the sound.

       Her eyes locked onto the twisting staircase just in time to see a chipmunk scurry down with the pantyhose sock in its mouth.  Fluttershy gasped, and tapped her hoof on the ground firmly.

       “Mr. Whiskers!  Mama thought she told you all to leave that stuff alone!  She doesn’t want the house to be a mess for tomorrow’s guest!”  She scolded.

       The chipmunk, apparently by the name of “Mr. Whiskers”, stopped suddenly to stare at Fluttershy.  Fluttershy stared back down on him with a stern look on her face.  Neither one of them backed down.

       “Now come on, Mr. Whiskers.  You really don’t want Mama to use The Stare, do you?  The Stare is only for critters who misbehave, and you’re not someone who misbehaves, are you?”  Fluttershy added.

       Mr. Whiskers sat down, scratched his neck with his back paw, and smiled.  He looked up at Fluttershy with the sock still hanging out of his mouth.

…

       “Oh, you know I didn’t want to have to do this, but you’re leaving me with no choice.  I need you to give me back that sock!”  Fluttershy exclaimed.  She leaned forward, opened her eyes wide, and gave Mr. Whiskers the coldest Stare that she could muster.

       Mr. Whiskers began to cringe under the forceful mastery of Fluttershy’s dreaded Stare.  His smile faded as adrenaline began to run through his tiny, furry body.

       Fluttershy showed no signs of letting up her torment.  She put extra pressure into her right eye, causing it to bulge slightly out of its socket for an additionally intimidating effect.  Bending her front legs, she leaned closer to allow The Stare to dig deeper into Mr. Whiskers’ conscience.

       It was doing its job, too.  The Stare slowly became too much for the poor little chipmunk.  However, much to Fluttershy’s surprise, instead of giving in to The Stare’s paralyzing effects, Mr. Whiskers bolted away to avoid having to endure it for another second.

…

       Fluttershy blinked a couple of times to allow her eyes to re-moisturize, and gasped in shock.

       “Mr. Whiskers, no!  I don’t want to have to try and find that sock any more than I have to!”

       Fluttershy watched in horror as her rebellious chipmunk ran for the foyer, and jumped out the open window with the sock in his mouth.  A small rustling noise came from outside as his paws made contact with the bushes in her garden.

       Petrified, Fluttershy bolted to the front door with all of her might.  She threw it open, and scanned her front yard frantically for her escaping animal friend.

How does one define panic?  Well, sure, that’s another simple one.  Panic is a feeling that can be described as uncontrollable fear, worry, or anxiety that often causes wildly unthinking behavior.  Panic in large numbers can sometimes result in the death of someone caught under a stampede of victims.  Is panic usually caused by escaping animal friends?

       Sure it is.  Adrenaline began to pump through Fluttershy’s veins, much like it did with Mr. Whiskers when he was being administered The Stare.  Her breathing sped up, and became audible in the form of shallow gasps.  Her eyes were wide with worry and disposition.

…

       Off in the corner of her eye, Fluttershy caught a brief glimpse of her critter companion scurrying in the direction of the Everfree Forest.  Her heart skipped another beat, and she dashed off after the venturing creature.

       “No, Mr. Whiskers, please!  Don’t go into the Everfree Forest!  It’s not safe in there!”  She pleaded.

       With the chipmunk far ahead of her, Fluttershy disappeared through the brush of the forest in the blink of an eye.

       “Do you think we’d be disturbing her by just…barging into her house like this?”  Twilight asked uncertainly.

       Rainbow Dash chuckled calmly.  “Relax, Twilight.  This is Fluttershy we’re barging in on.  Would she really mind?”

       “I don’t think it’s that she won’t mind.  I think her problem is minding, but not showing it.  Does that make sense?”

       “Not really.  Hey; there’s her cottage!”

…

       Rainbow Dash shifted her weight, and eagerly soared down towards their destination.  Twilight sighed, and reluctantly did the same.  Shortly after Rainbow Dash’s clear-cut landing, Twilight plummeted into the dirt face-first.

       “You alright there, sister?”  Rainbow Dash asked.

       Twilight grumbled, and spit out a mud pie.  “Peachy…”

       “Great!  Then let’s go get a good look at our favorite pegasus!  Well…besides me, of course.”

       Leaving Twilight to struggle in the soil, Rainbow Dash trotted up to Fluttershy’s front door with a swing in her step.  Raising a hoof carelessly, she knocked on the door with a sort-of funky rhythm.

       Twilight shook herself after standing up to rid her fur of any clingy dirt particles.  She trudged over to Rainbow Dash, who was tapping her hoof on the pathway aimlessly.  No one was answering the door.

       “Do you suppose she’s in the bathroom or something?”  Twilight asked.

       Rainbow Dash shook her head.  “Nah, that usually isn’t like her.  She uses the restroom less than any other pony I’ve ever known.”

       Twilight raised an eyebrow.  “And…how do you know this?”

       Rainbow Dash’s face flushed bright red.  “Um…she told me.”

       “Sure.  That definitely sounds like something that friends would normally tell each other.”

…

       Seconds eventually turned into minutes, and the front door still remained quiet.  Rainbow Dash tried knocking on it again, but got no response.

       “Hmm.  I guess she isn’t home.  Well, whatever.  It doesn’t matter.”  Rainbow Dash shrugged.

       “Uh, yes it does!  She could be anywhere by now!  Quick; what’s Fluttershy’s favorite pharmacy?”  Twilight demanded.

       “Just be quiet, egghead!  Why do I have to keep saying this?  There’s nothing wrong with Fluttershy!”

       “There’s no need to be so harsh, Rainbow.  Remember what Fluttershy said earlier today?  She was going to be at home getting things together for her date tomorrow.  So how can you explain the fact that she’s not here?”

       “She could’ve easily left for town to get some air freshener or something.  She lives with about a hundred animals, you know.”

…

       “Well…I suppose that makes sense…”  Twilight muttered.

       “You see?  I’m always right!  Now maybe we should just stay here and wait for her to get back.”  Rainbow Dash suggested in response.

       Twilight put a hoof on her forehead.  “No; you know what?  I think you made your point.  This is a waste of our time.  It’s getting late, and I’m getting a bit dizzy from all of this pointless chaos.”

       Rainbow Dash scoffed.  “I figured you’d come around sooner or later.  Come on, let’s go.”

       The duo spread their wings and took off into the sky, leaving the missing pegasus’s abandoned cottage behind them.

        “M…Mr. Whiskers!  Come back here right now!  Mama’s getting very worried!”  Fluttershy called.

       Owls’ hoots and tree rustles crept into Fluttershy’s eardrums, causing her to flinch.  She looked timidly around the forest, trying to see if anything was approaching her.  Small whimpers escaped her mouth.

       Tiny bits of moonlight streamed through the canopy of the forest, giving the terrified pegasus a minimal amount of light to work with.  Fireflies were the only things besides the moon that were illuminating the darkness.

       More tree rustles sounded behind her.  Loud ones.  Fluttershy turned behind her in a quick motion, shivering wildly.

       “Mr. Whiskers…?”

…

       Complete silence ensued.  As soon as Fluttershy stuttered the name of her chipmunk, everything in the forest went quiet.  The cricket sounds stopped, as well as the owl sounds.  All of the light from the fireflies died out in a sudden blink.  Even the tree rustling stopped, as the wind seemed to have halted completely.

       “H…Hello?  Is someone th…there?  Have they seen my chipmunk?”

       There was no response.  Over a steady period of time, Fluttershy’s own nervous heartbeat became audible to her.  She shifted her hooves around in the grass in a trivial attempt to create some noise.

       “I need to find my chipmunk!”  She wailed.

…

       A large shadow breezed past her in a swift and menacing motion.  Fluttershy locked up her legs, and froze in place.

       “H…H…Hello…?”  She squealed softly.

       The bushes in front of her rustled.  Slowly, the rustling got closer and closer, until it was right at the edge of the brush.  Fluttershy closed her eyes, and prepared for the worst.

       Suddenly, though, Mr. Whiskers himself popped through the bushes, still carrying Fluttershy’s pantyhose sock.  Fluttershy peeked one of her eyes open, and gasped with delight when she saw her chipmunk.

       “Mr. Whiskers!”  She exclaimed.

…

       “Hey!”  A male voice yelled.

       Fluttershy squealed loudly in surprise, breaking down on her front knees.  Quivering, she looked up on the woody horizon to see a dark figure approaching her.

       When the shadows subsided, a very familiar male earth pony was seen standing over Fluttershy with a bemused look on his face.

       Fluttershy’s fearful face was immediately penetrated by a relieved smile.  “Silver Spirit!  You came for me!”

       Using her hind legs, Fluttershy launched off the ground and tackled her rescuer.  She wrapped her front hooves around him, and hugged him tightly.

…

       Silver Spirit did not even smile.  “That’s my chipmunk.”

       Fluttershy’s smile disappeared.  She leaned back a little bit, and stared into Silver Spirit’s eyes.

       “Oh no, you have it all wrong.  Mr. Whiskers is my chipmunk.  See?  He even has my pantyhose sock in his mouth.”  She explained, smile returning to her face.

       Silver Spirit did not say anything.  He kept his eyes focused in Fluttershy’s face, but they were not exactly trained…on her face.  His pupils were separated, almost like he was staring through her into the distance.

       Fluttershy’s smile disappeared again.  She ran her hoof in front of his face.  “Silver…are you alright?”

…

       As Fluttershy’s hoof ran over Silver Spirit’s face, his eyes suddenly disappeared altogether.  Fluttershy suddenly screamed in horror, and began to squirm out of his grasp.

       She fell to the ground, and tried to wriggle away from him as far as possible.  She stared up disgustedly at his empty eye sockets.

       “Holy Sweet Celestia!!!  You’re not Silver Spirit!”

“No, I don’t think I am.  Brilliant deduction there, Flutter-face.”  The imposter responded.  His voice was no longer disguised as Silver Spirit’s.  Instead, it was a deep, ghostly-sounding echo.  Multiple voices seemed to occupy the same tone, causing a wave of vocal information to flow through his tongue.

       “W…What are you?  A Changeling?  What’ve you done with Silver Spirit?”  Fluttershy stuttered.

       The being shook its head.  “Oh no, I’m much more powerful than a Changeling.  By the time I’m done here, you’ll be wishing you bumped into a Changeling.”

       Despite the immeasurable fear that Fluttershy was feeling, she did not back down.  “W…Where is Silver Spirit?!  Answer me!”

       The being laughed, and began to approach Fluttershy slowly.  “Don’t worry.  Your petty little date is just fine.  I bet he won’t be soon enough, though.”

       Fluttershy shivered.  Her teeth began to chatter.  “P…please…do anything to me……  Just don’t do anything to him!”

       Her pleading only caused the being to scoff.  “Of course I’m not going to do anything to him.  I don’t really need to do anything to…Silver Spirit.  You’ll destroy him in time.”

…

       Fluttershy gasped.  “I’d never harm Silver Spirit!  I…I love him!”

“Don’t lie to yourself, pony.  You only first met him today.  But it doesn’t matter.  You’ll tear through him without even realizing it.”

       Tears began to stream down Fluttershy’s face.  “H…How do you know all this…?”

“I’m immortal.  I’ve been waiting and watching your pathetic homeland since your petty Princess was just an infant.  You hide nothing from me.”

       Fluttershy ran out of things to say.  She grabbed her chipmunk, climbed off of the ground, and began to run in a desperate attempt to escape.  The being leaned its forehead downwards in the fleeing pegasus’s direction, and focused a ghostly beam of energy from its empty eyes.

       The beam struck Fluttershy, and she collapsed to the ground.  Her chipmunk flew out of her grasp, and slid on the ground a few feet.  Frightened, the critter fled back into the bushes.

…

       Fluttershy tried to get back up, but found herself too weak to do so.  Her vision became extremely foggy.  The injured mare groaned sickly while squirming aimlessly on the ground.

       Staring up through her impaired senses, Fluttershy could barely make out the being’s figure appearing over her.  It looked down at her, and smiled evilly.

“Your time is up.  You will be doomed to slow and empty destruction, and your loved ones will follow.  Speak the name, spread the disease.  That is your fate.”

       Fluttershy moaned quietly.  “Nooo……pleeeaaase…..”

…

       The being focused another beam of energy at Fluttershy.  Its eyes began to glow, and a slow stream of light flowed out of the sockets.  It focused on Fluttershy’s forehead, and began to brighten exponentially.  Fluttershy felt a tingling numbness fill her body.

       Several minutes later, when the beam subsided, Fluttershy’s weakness was immeasurable.  The being’s form suddenly changed in a quick flash, replacing Silver Spirit’s appearance.  Now, to Fluttershy’s astonishment, the being looked just like her.  It looked down at her, and laughed.

“Your soul is now a debt to me.  You have been Bloodshot.”

       Fluttershy's weakness overwhelmed her.  Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she blacked out.