One Pony’s Peculiar Predicament

by Zeg

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Fluttershy
Length: 17845

The lingering effects of a spell gone wrong have left Fluttershy with an unwelcome apple obsession, threatening to reveal one of her best kept secrets.

After a run in with a spell gone wrong that involved Twilight Sparkle, vampire fruit bats, a lot of staring, and then resulted in an unfortunate apple massacre, Fluttershy thought her life had returned to normal after Twilight successfully removed the spell’s effects.

That was until she started waking up in the middle of the night with the odd cravings for apples.

What started as just mild attacks of the midnight munchies soon became frequent late night excursions to the Apple family orchards, with only hazy memories and the lingering taste of apples left when Fluttershy awoke to find herself near or sometimes even in the branches of an apple tree.

Unless she can find a way to control the unwelcome urge to gorge herself on the ripe, red fruits, one of her best kept secrets is bound to be discovered.

PaulAsaran was kind enough to do a review for my story.

Published 2014-09-27 16:00:06 UTC
Last updated 2014-11-16 16:23:14 UTC

Apple Obsessions Are an Annoyance

One Pony’s Peculiar Predicament

by Zeg

Chapter I – Apple Obsessions Are an Annoyance

Sometimes, there is a short moment where one realizes they are asleep right before they wake up. Fluttershy was experiencing one of those moments, her consciousness hovering precariously between her dreams and the waking world. The dream had seemed so real, to the point that she was sure she could still feel a light breeze as it rushed over her coat.

She shivered slightly and wrapped her wings tighter around herself. The chill had done a fair job of pulling her much closer to the waking world, and she was suddenly acutely aware of just how cold her back hooves felt. She shifted her back legs a bit, hunting for the covers and hoping to slip back beneath them for even a few minutes longer. Her back legs wobbled around in the air as they failed to find the covers, or the mattress for that matter. The odd sensation only served to draw her even further from her dreams to the point that she found herself almost fully awake.

She yawned as she blinked her eyes, squinting against the sunlight that seemed a bit too bright. Another breeze passed over her and she shivered again. She quietly groaned, realizing that the window must have been left open, and that closing it would require getting up. The cold breeze and encroaching sunlight wouldn’t allow her to fall asleep again, so she extended her wings and forelegs out for a good stretch like she did before she got up every morning.

She slowly smacked her lips, noticing just a hint of the sweet taste of dried apple juice. She furrowed her brow and then quickly looked side to side, finding an upside down grove of apple trees all around her. She then looked down toward her back hooves, or rather up, as she soon realized she was dangling by her tail which was wrapped around the branch of an apple tree. Panic gripped her when she suddenly realized that she wasn’t safe at home in her bed, causing her to flail her limbs about and her tail to come loose from the branch, sending her on a very short trip to meet the ground below.

She landed flat against her back in the grass, her back legs ending up propped up against the tree trunk. The fall had done a good job of knocking the wind out of her, and it took a few seconds before she was able to draw in a deep gasp of air to recover. She laid there on her back for a short while after, staring up at the branches above her and noticing a few leaves that had been shaken loose and were floating down after her. Her eyes crossed as they followed one that decided that the bridge of her nose was a good spot to land.

After a few seconds of a not so graceful struggle with getting all of her legs to cooperate, Fluttershy managed to roll over to her side. She raised her head and quickly batted the leaf away from her nose, and then she squinted her eyes tightly closed and drew in a breath through her clenched teeth. She rubbed a spot on the back of her head just behind her ears that had started to throb a bit. “Ow,” she said in a quiet whisper just before letting out a tiny whine.

Then she noticed the shriveled apple laying on the ground next to her. She stared at it with a deep frown on her muzzle for a moment, her situation suddenly seeming to make a lot more sense. She sat upright and looked to her side as she extended her wing, finding the leathery bat-like wing that she had hoped she wouldn't find.

“No, not again,” she said as she hung her head, her ears flattening back. This was not the first time in recent weeks that she had awoken to a very similar situation. She looked about herself, finding shriveled up apples with bite marks strewn about on the ground around her. Drawing in a long, deep breath, she let it go in a quick huff before starting the unpleasant task of cleaning up the remains of her late night snack. She wrinkled her nose every time she caught a whiff of the shriveled apples as she gathered them together in a pile one by one. She eventually found one that hadn’t been completely drained dry, and she quickly drew her hoof back and shook it after it had broken the peal and sunk into the mush. “Ick,” she said as she grimaced at the goop oozing out of it.

“Fluttershy?” Fluttershy’s gaze quickly snapped to the side when she heard Applejack’s voice. For a couple seconds, she simply stood still as a statue as Applejack made her way through the apple trees toward her, but then Fluttershy quickly ducked behind the tree trunk, pressing her back up against it as she tried to hide herself from view. “What are you doin’? I know you’re over there, so why you hidin’?” The sounds of hooves moving through the grass had halted for a short moment, but then Fluttershy’s ears twitched as she picked up on the sound of her friend’s hoofsteps approaching again. Fluttershy’s eyes began to dart around wildly as she drew in rapid, panting breaths. She hugged herself tightly in her forelegs and wings, and then she clenched her eyes tightly closed as she drew in a deep breath and held it. Her ears splayed back as she furrowed her brow in concentration, and then her entire body began to shake as she tensed up. Slowly, she changed. Most of the changes were very subtle, such as her ears shrinking and flattening out a bit as the tufts of fur at the tips receded. The change in her wings was much more dramatic, as the leathery flaps seemed to pull back at the same time a full set of feathers grew in to replace them, making her appear as the pegasus that everyone knew her as. She let out a heavy breath of air when the transformation finished, the tension in her body relaxing all at once.

Applejack walked into view from the other side of the apple tree. She noticed the rotting apples piled up near Fluttershy’s hooves, and raised an eyebrow as she gave her friend a displeased look.

Fluttershy seemed to wilt under Applejack’s glance. “Um, good morning, Applejack,” she said as she huddled down behind her wings.

“Good mornin’ my flank. You think I don’t see what’s goin’ on here?” Applejack said as she gestured toward the pile of apple remains. Fluttershy shivered slightly as she looked back and forth between apples and the upset look on her friend’s face. “You’re tryin’ to cover this up for them lil varmints, aren’t you?”

“Oh...,” Fluttershy said quietly. She relaxed and opened her wings slightly, timidly pointing one hoof toward the pile of apples. “You mean this?”

Applejack tilted her head forward and raised her eyebrows slightly. “What else would I mean?”

“Um, yes. I mean no, well, I-I...,” Fluttershy said as she raised and quickly waved her forehooves in front of herself defensively.

Applejack let out a quick sigh. She took a step forward, reaching out and resting a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Shy, sugarcube, I ain’t mad at you. I know you’re just tryin’ to keep there from bein’ any trouble between us and the fruit bats, but them fruit bats have their own orchard and they know the rest are off limits. They don’t need to be sneakin’ apples, and this sure ain’t gonna fix itself if you try and hide it from me.”

Fluttershy splayed her ears back as she glanced dejectedly to the side. While her friend had the wrong idea, she was still right in a way; the problem wasn’t going to fix itself by simply hiding the mess. “Yes, you’re right,” she admitted.

Applejack nodded, smiling as she gave Fluttershy’s shoulder a pat. She then turned and began to walk away as she said, “I’m gonna march right over there and give them a piece of my mind.”

“Ah, well,” Fluttershy said as she quickly stood and trotted around to stand in Applejack’s path. She glanced down toward her forehooves, rubbing one against the other foreleg nervously for a moment. “Maybe I could give them a piece of your mind instead?” she asked with a hopeful grin.

Applejack raised an eyebrow as she sat back on her haunches. “No offense, but I’m pretty sure your idea of giving them a piece of my mind isn’t near the same as what I’m thinkin’ of tellin’ them.”

“Well, maybe not. But I just thought that since I do have a way with animals, maybe they would be more willing to listen to me.”

Applejack crossed her forelegs across her chest as she wrinkled her muzzle. “You’d be right, if I was sure that you’d actually tell them how it is.” She pointed one hoof toward Fluttershy as she added, “You tend to go pretty easy on the critters most the time.”

Fluttershy’s eyes drifted over to the rotten apples laying about nearby. “This has been happening a lot lately, hasn’t it?”

“More than a lot. I’ve been findin’ rotten apples layin’ about almost every single mornin’ this week.”

Fluttershy cringed slightly. “You’re right, it needs to stop. Okay, I promise that I’ll take care of this, so please, let me talk to them?”

Applejack hummed to herself for a few seconds as she considered the offer. “Alright, fine. I need clean this up and get to my chores anywho,” she said as she turned back toward the mess of apples.

“I could help,” Fluttershy offered as she trotted up next to Applejack.

She stopped when Applejack quickly shook her head and waved her off. “Nah, I got it. Ain’t your fault anyway, and if you go talk some sense into them flyin’ furballs, that’ll be all the help I need.”

Fluttershy felt a wave of guilt, and for a moment considered telling Applejack what had really been happening to her apples, but the anxiety of anyone—especially one of her friends—finding out the truth quickly reigned that thought back in. She was sure that simply solving this problem and returning things to normal as soon as possible was the best course of action. Fluttershy stood a little taller, looking a little more determined as she said, “You can count on me.” She then took off at a trot in the direction that lead to the orchard that had been set aside for the fruit bats.

As she made her way across the field, her trot slowed to a walk, and then even further to a slow shuffle. While she had started with her head held high, she had slowly hung her head lower and lower as her confidence in finding a way to fix the problem had waned. She couldn’t even recall leaving her home the night before, the events having escaped her much like the details of a fading dream. How was she going to stop doing something that she could barely even remember doing at all?

Fluttershy stopped under the low branches of a small apple tree, letting out a quiet sigh as she sat near it. She had only been there for a few seconds when her ears twitched and raised at a rustling sound just above her. She glanced up to find one of the vampire fruit bats hanging upside down from a branch, wrapped up in its wings as it stared back down at her.

“Oh, hello there,” she said with a warm smile. “How are you this morning?”

In response to her question, the bat yawned and let out a tired sounding squeak.

“I’m fine, thanks for asking,” Fluttershy said, but then her smile fell away. “Actually, I’m supposed to be giving you a piece of Applejack’s mind, but that wouldn’t really be fair because it’s actually my fault,” she said as she looked down to her hooves and her ears splayed back. “I just don’t know what to do. If I don’t get this under control soon, there’s going to be a huge misunderstanding, and I hate huge misunderstandings. And I sure don’t want you and your family to lose your new home because of me.”

She quickly looked back up, her ears swiveling forward as she listened to a few muffled squeaks coming from the fruit bat as it covered its head under its wings.

“Oh no, I couldn’t possibly tell them. If they all knew... well, I have no idea what they would think of me then. It’s best if I keep it to myself.”

The fruit bat pulled its wings back just enough to peer at Fluttershy, silently staring back at her with tiny squinted eyes.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ve been keeping it a secret for a very long time now. I just... haven’t been doing such a great job of it lately. Ever since, well, you know.” Fluttershy glanced off to the side and made a dismissive gesture with her hoof. “No, I just need to figure this out before I cause problems for everyone.” She looked up and put on a warm smile as she stood. “Well, it was nice talking to you. Tell your wife and children I said hello.” She waved a quick goodbye before turning to leave, but stopped herself after a couple steps. “Oh, um,” she said as she quickly turned back to say, “Thank you for always listening, it really does help.” She then trotted off down the path along side the orchard.

The fruit bat slowly turned its head to watch as Fluttershy left. It then looked back to its side when a second fruit bat flew up and grasped the branch to hang right next to it. The second fruit bat also glanced down the path for a moment, and then looked back at the first. The two stared at each other for a few seconds until the first finally shrugged its tiny shoulders.

Lets Start with a Simple Solution

One Pony’s Peculiar Predicament

by Zeg

Chapter II – Lets Start with a Simple Solution

While heading home, Fluttershy considered her options for finding a fix for her little apple problem. Unfortunately, the quick and easy solution of simply not eating any more probably wasn’t going to happen. The urge to feed on the ripe, red fruits had already reached a point that was obviously beyond control, but the devastation of Applejack’s orchards needed to stop, and soon. She could think of only one way to make sure she didn’t end up hanging out in one of Applejack’s apple trees again.

Buy some apples.

If she couldn’t stop the cravings, she could at the very least make sure she didn’t leave her own home when they struck. After stopping by her home just long enough to gather her saddlebags, she left to make her way to Ponyville’s open market. One could find all sorts of items to haggle over at the various waggon stalls at the open market, but Fluttershy had one particular item from one particular stall in mind. She made a beeline through Market Square toward the Sweet Apple Acres stall, arriving just as Big Macintosh was finishing up a sale with another customer. He smiled and gave her a friendly nod when he noticed her approaching.

“Mornin’, Miss Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy put on a bright smile as she stopped next to the stall. “Good Morning, Big Macintosh.”

Big Macintosh walked around to the side of his stall, leaning his shoulder lightly against it. “Can I help you with anything?”

Fluttershy’s eyes flicked toward the veritable bounty of apples that were loaded up in the wicker baskets sitting on and around the stall. “A-actually, I was looking for some apples.”

“Well, we got plenty of those,” Big Macintosh said, quickly nodding his head to the side. “How many are you needin’?”

“I think... two... maybe...,” Fluttershy said slowly, staring wide eyed at all of the apples before her.

“Just two?”

“Bushels!” Fluttershy quickly said, causing Big Macintosh to flinch. She stood there with a rigid smile on her muzzle for a few seconds before clearing her throat. “Uh, two bushels. That isn’t too much, is it?”

“Not at all. I was just a little surprised.” Big Macintosh got to work, quickly gathering together two bushel baskets full of apples and tying them together by their handles with a piece of rope. As he was finishing up, he glanced to the side at Fluttershy, slowly raising an eyebrow when he noticed her intense stare aimed at the apples. “Not that it’s any of my business but, uh, you take in some critters that like apples?”

“Huh?” Fluttershy asked, shaking her head as if she’d just come out of a daze.

“Oh, I thought maybe these were for some of the animals you’re takin’ care of.”

“Oh, um... no,” she said. She sat back and opened the flap on her saddle bag, putting both of her forehooves inside to root around for something. She finally came back up with a pouch of full of bits. “I just really like them,” she said shyly as she offered the pouch to Big Macintosh, which he accepted with a thankful nod and quickly stashed away in a small wooden chest.

“Sorry for pryin’. You gonna need some help gettin’ this back home?” he asked as he turned back to her.

“Uh,” Fluttershy said as she stared at the bushels with her mouth hanging slightly agape. She sucked in a quick breath as her mouth snapped shut, barely stopping the drool before it escaped from the corner of her mouth. “I’m sorry, what?”

Big Macintosh stared at her, his eyes slowly blinking once. “I was askin’ if you’d like some help.”

“Oh, no, I’m fine.” Fluttershy scampered over to the bushels, ducking under the handles that had been tied together until they were settled across her shoulders. She pushed herself up with her hooves, managing to slowly lift the bushels off the ground. Big Macintosh quickly reached a forehoof out to steady her when she wobbled to the side.

“You sure?” he asked as he cautiously drew his hoof back. “It really wouldn’t be a problem—”

“It’s fine. I’m fine,” Fluttershy said quickly, her whispery voice straining as she took a few slow, shaky steps away from the stall.

Big Macintosh furrowed his brow and drew his mouth up into a small thin line as he watched Fluttershy struggle with hauling the bushels away. He scrunched his muzzle sideways and let a quiet huff escape from himself before saying, “Well, alright. Just holler if you change your mind.”

Fluttershy very quickly found that two bushel baskets mounded full of Sweet Apple Acres apples was a bit more than what she was used to lifting on her own. She had only made it a few minutes down the street when she found that she had to stop for a break. She knelt and laid down just off the street, finding a soft patch of grass there to rest on, and let out a long sigh as she relaxed and wiped a foreleg across her brow.

Her eyes drifted to one of the baskets sitting at her side. She stared at the mound of apples and how the sunlight glinted off of their shiny red peels. A cool breeze blew across her, and she couldn’t help but breathe in deeply as she caught the fresh apple scent that it carried. Her eyes fluttered half closed and her body shivered as she let a low moan escape from her. She smacked her lips once, noticing just how parched her mouth already felt from her efforts to haul the apples home. She held her mouth slightly open, breathing in and out heavily as she slowly leaned in toward the bushel basket.

Fluttershy’s eyes shot wide open and her mouth clamped shut, and she shook her head furiously as she turned herself away from the apples. She had almost let it happen in broad daylight in the middle of Ponyville! Almost. Her ears splayed back as she peeked out of the corner of her eye at the apples next to her. At this rate she wasn’t going to make it home before something unfortunate happened. She glanced around herself, and then spied a small alleyway only a few steps away. She glanced up and down the street once more just to be sure, and when she didn’t see anyone else looking her way, she quickly stood to lift the bushels again and snuck between the two buildings.

She glanced over her shoulder back down the alleyway before carefully setting the bushels down and ducking out from under them. She huddled in the shadow of the buildings, setting herself in front of one of the bushels as she cautiously watched the alleyway entrance for any signs of someone following her. Once she was satisfied that she was safe, she turned her attention back to the apples, leaning forward until her muzzle was hovering just inches away from them.

She snatched one up in her forehooves, and without any further hesitation, she bit into it causing a muffled crunch to echo through the alleyway. Juice dribbled out around the corners of her mouth and down her chin as she let out a low moan. Her eyes nearly rolled back into her skull as she made a loud slurping noise and swallowed a mouth full of the most delicious apple juice she had ever tasted, at that moment at least.

Just one wasn’t enough. Once she had drained what she could from the first, she discarded the apple and quickly grabbed another, repeating the process again. She soon lost track as she went through apple after apple, not really caring how many she had managed to suck dry in a few minutes, nor did she notice when her body began to involuntarily change. Her ears widened and deepened as the tufts of fur at the tips became more bushy, and the feathers on her wings withdrew to be replaced by the leathery bat-like flaps. No, she didn’t notice or even care, until she heard a loud gasp from the alleyway entrance.

She froze, still hunched over one of the bushels, her teeth deep in an apple as the juice ran out and dripped off her chin. She hoped it had just been her imagination, that her mind was just playing a silly joke on her, but she still slowly turned her fearful eyes to look to the alleyway entrance. Her eyes went wide as her mouth fell open, the apple falling and bouncing down the alleyway until it rolled up against a cyan colored hoof.

Rainbow Dash stood at the alleyway entrance, her shocked stare matching Fluttershy’s almost perfectly. She quickly glanced side to side before carefully stepping into the alleyway. “Easy now, Fluttershy.” She remained very cautious as she got closer, stopping a few steps away and gently holding a hoof out, to which Fluttershy cringed away from slightly. “You remember me, right? I’m your friend, Rainbow Dash. I’m not going to hurt you, so just take it easy.”

Fluttershy drew her forelegs up against her chest, her panting starting to come in rapid breathes. “W-what are doing you here?”

Rainbow blinked and drew in another gasp. “Oh my gosh, you can talk!” she said, sitting herself right before Fluttershy.

“Um, well, yes,” Fluttershy said as she splayed her ears back and crouched down a bit further. “Of course I can.”

“Oh, thank goodness, you’re still you.” Rainbow reached out and put her forelegs on Fluttershy’s shoulders, causing her to flinch just slightly. “Just wait here, I have an idea,” Rainbow said as she turned away and quickly trotted down the alleyway.

Fluttershy stared blankly forward for a second, then quickly shook her head as she looked down the alleyway after her friend. “Um, what?”

Rainbow turned around and cupped a hoof next to her muzzle as she called back in a hushed voice. “Don’t go anywhere! Just stay out of sight.” She then spread her wings and quickly launched herself into the sky out of view.

Fluttershy stared down the alleyway for a moment afterward, her mouth hanging slightly open as her bottom lip quivered. “W-what?” was all she could manage to get out in a small, squeaky voice.

Rainbow landed near the center of town, coming to a trot as she looked about for something she could use. She stopped mid stride while passing by the park, her brow raising slowly as she eyed the red and white checkered blanket laid out on the grass.

Perfect.

She quickly trotted over to the blanket, which happened to have two ponies and an entire picnic spread sitting on it, but that wasn’t really important right now. She leaned down and took the edge of the blanket in her teeth, and glanced up when she happened to notice the stallion and mare staring back at her, both seeming a bit confused.

“Uh, I need to bowwow this. Fanks!” She said just as she quickly yanked on the corner and launched herself back up into the sky. The mare and stallion both let out a quick yelp as the blanket slipped out from under them and the picnic laid out upon it. Plates and containers wobbled and clattered before coming to rest on the grass, somehow all managing to stay upright as if it had all been part of some sort of magic trick.

The mare blinked and looked off in the direction that Rainbow had left in, then turn a glare back at the stallion. The stallion shook his head as he slowly lifted his forehooves and shrugged his shoulders, seeming lost for words.

Since Rainbow had left her there, Fluttershy had slowly slipped into a state of panic. The only thing keeping her even remotely calm was the apple she held clamped in her teeth as she sat there rocking back and forth on her haunches.

Her friend had seen her. That fact kept playing over and over again in her mind. And her friend was going to tell her other friends, and then others would find out who would tell others until, eventually, the entire world would think that she was some sort of apple devouring monster, but that wasn’t really true because it wasn’t what it looked like!

She hated misunderstandings.

Fluttershy let out a quiet whine, barely blinking back tears as she continued to rock herself back and forth. She wished Rainbow had given her a chance to explain at least, but now it was too late.

A loud thump caused Fluttershy to let go of her apple and yelp. She scampered back against the wall of the alley, her chest heaving heavily as she stared wide eyed down the alleyway. She relaxed slightly when she realized it was only Rainbow landing nearby. Maybe she would get her chance to explain after all, though she had no idea how she was going to go about explaining it. Before she could get much further on that thought, Rainbow quickly trotted up to her dragging a checkered blanket along with her, and then with a quick flick of her neck, she spread the blanket out over Fluttershy to cover her.

“It’s alright, I got something to help,” Rainbow said as she reached out and adjusted the blanket so it was fully covering Fluttershy from head to hoof.

Fluttershy cautiously lifted a corner with her hoof and peered out from underneath. “What’s this for?”

Rainbow quickly pushed the corner of the blanket back down. “Just stay covered and let me take care of the rest.” After that, Fluttershy felt her friend coaxing her to stand up, and felt Rainbow at her side and Rainbow’s wing over her back as she was led out of the alleway. They stopped at the edge of the street for a few seconds before Rainbow quietly said, “Come on, lets go,” and urged Fluttershy forward.

“Where are we going?” Fluttershy asked back just as quietly.

“Shh!” Rainbow continued to lead Fluttershy somewhere, though she could only guess where. She could see the dirt street beneath her hooves, and she could make out a few hushed voices around her, but otherwise had no idea what her friend was getting her into. “Move along, nothing to see,” Rainbow suddenly said, which caused Fluttershy to flinch under the blanket. Rainbow stayed close at her side, steadily leading her to wherever their destination would be. They then stopped for just a second as Rainbow loudly said, “Hey, do you want to take a picture so it’ll last longer? Beat it.” After that, Fluttershy was sure she heard a set of hooves scurrying off quickly before they set on their way again.

Finally, the scenery around her hooves changed from dirt street to a wooden platform. They stopped there for only a second, and then Fluttershy heard the sound of a doorway opening in front of them before she felt Rainbow urging her forward to step inside. As soon as they stepped through the doorway she heard it quickly close behind them and something wooden slide in place with a loud clack. “I’ll get the blinds, just give me a sec,” Rainbow said before Fluttershy heard the sounds of Rainbow’s hooves quickly cantering over a wooden floor. The sounds of what she assumed must have been blinds and shutters closing made it to her ears. Wondering where she had ended up, Fluttershy cautiously lifted the corner of the blanket, lowering her head to peek out from under it. She lifted her head and the blanket a little further when she recognized the interior of Ponyville’s library.

“What’s going on?” Fluttershy quickly looked up toward the stairs that led to the library’s loft when she heard Twilight’s voice, finding her standing at the top with a very confused look on her face.

Rainbow cantered over to another window and reached up to slam the shutters closed. “I’m closing the blinds!”

There was a short pause, and then Twilight began to descend the stairs as she asked, “Why?”

“I don’t want Fluttershy to get burned,” Rainbow explained as she looked around hunting for other windows.

“Burned?” Fluttershy asked. The question drew Rainbow’s attention to her. With a quick flap of her wings, Rainbow cleared the distance between herself and Fluttershy.

“Stay under! I’m not done yet,” Rainbow said as she quickly pulled the blanket’s corner back down.

“Rainbow, stop.” Rainbow reluctantly let go of the blanket’s edge, allowing Fluttershy to peer out from under it. “What do you mean by burned?”

“Your skin might get burned if sunlight touches it,” Rainbow said as she pointed a hoof up at an uncovered window.

Twilight descended the last few stair steps and walked up next to them. “Okay, Rainbow, what’s gotten into you?”

“Nothing! It’s what’s gotten into Fluttershy. Look!” Rainbow lifted the edge of the blanket high enough to reveal Fluttershy’s ears and wings. Fluttershy crouched down, letting out a muffled squeak before she quickly reached up and grasped the blanket to pull it down around her body so only her eyes and muzzle were visible.

Twilight let out a quick gasp. “Oh no, it’s happening again? Is this a relapse? I was sure I fixed this.” She approached Fluttershy as she carefully placed a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “Oh, hang on, Fluttershy. I’ll find a way to get you back to yourself.” Twilight leaned her head a bit closer as her horn began to glow, closing her eyes to concentrate on her spell. A similar glow covered Fluttershy as she remained there huddled under the blanket. Twilight’s brow slowly furrowed more and more as she worked at the spell, and finally after the moment passed, she let the spell lapse and opened her eyes. “Huh,” was all she said, seeming a bit confused as she sat back on her haunches.

“Huh?” both Fluttershy and Rainbow said in union right before glancing at each other.

“There’s... no lingering magic,” Twilight said, shrugging her shoulders.

Rainbow looked back and forth between Fluttershy and Twilight, a low hum coming from her before she asked, “What’s that mean?”

“It means I did remove the spell properly. But, she’s still turning into a fruit bat.” Twilight tapped a forehoof under her chin as she frowned deeply. “This doesn’t make any sense at all.” She stood and began walking toward the library’s doorway as she said, “This could be something really serious. I think we should get her to the emergency room just to be safe.”

“I-it’s not that serious!” Fluttershy squeaked. She scooched on her haunches away from her friends as she huddled down under the blanket.

“Fluttershy,” Twilight said as she approached her and knelt down next to her. She reached a hoof out and gently laid it across Fluttershy’s shoulders as she said, “You’re turning into a fruit bat and I don’t know why. We really should have somepony else look into this.”

“Um.” Fluttershy looked down at her shaking hooves. She knew that it wasn’t true, that her friends had the wrong idea, and she didn’t want there to be any misunderstandings. She slowly sat up, allowing the blanket to slide down her back to the floor. “Actually, I’m not turning into a fruit bat.”

“Well yeah, because that’s just silly,” Rainbow said as she sat down next to Fluttershy, her comment garnering a quick glare from Twilight. “You’re turning into a vampony.”

“No, and it’s not nice to say that,” Fluttershy said as her ears splayed back. She looked between her two friends that were sitting on either side of her, seeing the worried looks on their faces. She drew in a deep breath and slowly let it back out, and after a few seconds of hesitation, she managed to say, “I’ve always been able to look like this.”

Twilight and Rainbow’s looks went from worried to somewhat confused. Rainbow tilted her head to the side as she asked, “You have?”

Fluttershy closed her eyes and nodded. “I’m... half thestral.”

Friends Finding Out is Frightening

One Pony’s Peculiar Predicament

by Zeg

Chapter III – Friends Finding Out is Frightening

There it was, her secret laid bare before her friends, but they would understand, right? They weren’t strangers that would take one good look at her and immediately think she was a monster, right? She would still be Fluttershy to them, even if she was half that.

Right?

Then why weren’t they saying anything? Why were they only silently staring at her? Why did she have this horrible, sinking feeling in her chest? Did she make a mistake? Maybe she shouldn’t have told them, but now she couldn’t take it back. She wanted to take it back, more than anything.

“Uh.” Fluttershy felt her racing heart nearly jump up into her throat when Rainbow finally began to say something. Her friend tilted her head slightly to the side, squinting her eyes a bit as a confused look overtook her, and she asked, “Sorry, you’re half what?”

“A thestral,” Twilight answered. She stared a few seconds longer at Fluttershy as if she were in awe of what she was seeing right before her, then she shook her head and quickly looked to Rainbow. “They’re a type of bat pony, but the word thestral is hardly ever used anymore because of the negative connotations surrounding it.” When she noticed Fluttershy nervously fidgeting with her forehooves, she gently reached out and tried to calm her friend by placing one of her forelegs over Fluttershy’s withers. “You’re really a thestral?”

“Half,” Fluttershy said just above a whisper. “My mother is a pureblood.”

“Oh my gosh.” Rainbow looked Fluttershy up and down as if she hadn’t ever seen anything like her before. And then, suddenly, her forehooves pranced in place as an excited smile overtook her face. “My friend really is a vampony. That’s totally awesome!”

“Um, that’s sort of not the same thing...,” Fluttershy said as she leaned away from Rainbow slightly and her ears splayed back. She had expected her friends to maybe be confused, possibly even upset, but was definitely not expecting them to be excited about it.

Rainbow scooted herself a bit closer, sitting herself almost right in front of Fluttershy. “So, you really don’t burn up in the sun?” she asked, leaning in slightly.

Fluttershy was taken aback by the sudden question, but her friend seemed genuinely curious. She sat up slightly, shrugging her shoulders lightly as she said, “No.”

Rainbow sat back and considered the answer for a second. She narrowed her eyes slightly before asking, “You don’t sparkle in the sun, do you?”

Fluttershy blink-blinked at the odd question. “Why would I sparkle?”

“Right, that’d be silly,” Rainbow said as she casually waved a hoof. “Well, what about water?” she asked, but when Fluttershy only looked back at her with even more confusion she added, “Are you afraid of crossing water?”

“Um, not particularly, unless it looks like a really deep puddle.”

Rainbow lifted a hoof, scratching just behind her ear. “Oh, garlic! I bet you hate garlic,” she said with a knowing grin on her face.

Fluttershy noticed the sigh coming from Twilight beside her, and momentarily glanced to her side before answering. “Actually, I do cook with garlic from time to time.”

Rainbow furrowed her brow and lifted a hoof to lightly tap it against her muzzle while she thought. “Hmm... oh! Can you turn yourself into a cloud of bats?”

The audible clunk of Twilight hitting her own forehead with a hoof drew Fluttershy’s attention over just long enough to noticed her friend shaking her head disappointedly.

Fluttershy eyed Twilight as she cringed away slightly. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Huh....” Rainbow seemed a lot less enthusiastic than she had been when the questions had started. She idly tapped a hoof on the floor, thinking something over while her eyes glanced back and forth. Her eyes then locked onto Fluttershy as they took on a suspicious squint. “What about wooden stakes?” The question drew a sudden, shocked glance from Twilight.

Fluttershy honestly didn’t know how to even begin answering that strange question. Her mouth hung open as she strained to think of something to answer with, but all she could manage was, “W-wooden stakes?”

“Yeah, if you got stabbed through the heart with one” — Rainbow poked Fluttershy gently on her chest — “would that kill you?”

Fluttershy drew her forehooves up to cover her chest. Her mouth hung open, her voice frozen in her throat from the horror she had just heard. She shuffled backwards a step, shaking her head feverishly as she finally managed to say, “W-why would you even ask that‽ That would kill anypony!”

“Rainbow! Cut it out,” Twilight said angrily as she quickly reached up and swatted Rainbow’s hoof away. She moved to sit herself next to Fluttershy, putting a comforting wing around her while she cast a disappointed glare back at Rainbow. “I swear, I’m going to take my vampony romance novels away from you.”

“Hey!” Rainbow laid her ears back as she glanced back and forth. She clenched her teeth as she quietly growled the words, “That was a secret,” through them.

“Some secret,” Twilight said as she rolled her eyes. She looked to her side to Fluttershy, giving her friend a reassuring smile and a gentle squeeze with her wing before turning her eyes back to Rainbow. “You’ve got the wrong idea, not that there aren’t tons of other bad rumors about thestrals. Some of the more prolific rumors say they’re cursed pegasi or that seeing one will bring you bad luck, but that’s just silly nonsense. Thestrals are just an uncommon offshoot of the pegasi pony subspecies that have very pronounced physical traits that resemble certain species of bats. They’re not cursed, not unlucky, and definitely not vampiric. Those are all just old made up myths from centuries ago.” As Twilight finished up her short lecture, Rainbow glanced down to the floor with a disappointed look on her face.

Fluttershy’s eyes darted between her two friends. “Um, that’s not,” she meekly said, her words trailing off into a mumble.

“Not what?” Twilight asked as her ears perked up.

Fluttershy took in a shaky breath. “That’s not all entirely true,” she said quietly.

There was a pause, and her friends exchanged an unsure glance before Twilight asked, “What part?”

“A few of us actually are vampiric. But, only a very few,” Fluttershy said, rushing her words toward the end. She went back to staring down at the floor as she fidgeted with her hooves, quietly mumbling, “It’s not something we really talk about.”

Rainbow let out a single, triumphant laugh. “See, I knew it. She a vampony.”

“I had no idea,” Twilight said as she looked to her side at Fluttershy. “Though, I suppose I can understand you not telling us.”

“Oh, no, I don’t have vampirism,” Fluttershy said quickly, raising and waving her forehooves defensively. “I couldn’t possibly bite another pony. That’s just” — a strong shiver ran through her body — “no, ew. I couldn’t do that.”

“Wait, so... you don’t have vampirism?” Twilight asked, looking quite confused.

Fluttershy shook her head, and took in a deep breath to calm herself. “No, I didn’t get that from my mother, thank goodness.”

“So your mom is a vampony?” Rainbow asked. She caught the disapproving glare that Twilight shot at her, and shrugged her shoulders as she said, “What? I’m just asking.”

Fluttershy silently nodded.

“Hm, but you didn’t inherit her vampirism?” Twilight asked, to which Fluttershy shook her head. “That’s really fascinating. Now I’m curious. Have you always been able to change your outward appearance like this?” she asked as she pulled her wing back and looked Fluttershy over.

Fluttershy sat a little higher, feeling relieved that her friends seemed more curious about her heritage than afraid of it. “Well, most of us know how to do that. Most other ponies don’t really like us because of the rumors. But, like you said, we’re closely related to pegasi, so we’re taught how to make ourselves look like a pegasus when we’re young.”

Twilight silently mouthed the word ‘wow’. “That’s polymorphic magic, fairly high level stuff, and usually only unicorns learn spells like that.”

“Well, we can’t use it on anypony but ourselves.”

“I see,” Twilight said with a quick nod. “Without a horn to direct the spell you can only use your innate magic to change how you look and not others.”

Fluttershy smiled and nodded. “It takes a lot of concentration, but it isn’t that hard to do once you know how.”

“Yeah, alright,” Rainbow said as she made a quick ‘timeout’ motion with her forehooves. “I’m sure this is all really cool somehow, but I brought Fluttershy here so you could help her out, not study her.”

“Well,” Twilight said, sounding unsure as she looked to Fluttershy for a second before looking back. “If she’s always been like this, then she doesn’t really need my help.”

“A-actually....” Fluttershy chewed at her bottom lip, taking a moment to work up the courage to reveal her embarrassing problem. “There is one thing that has been kinda weird ever since the fruit bat thing. I’ve had these really strong cravings for apples. Just this morning I woke up in Applejack’s orchard again, hanging from one of the tree branches. I don’t remember flying out there, but I guess I ate a bunch of her apples last night.” She crouched down, her ears splaying back. “Please don’t tell her. I don’t want her to be mad at me.”

“I’m pretty sure the spell is completely gone,” Twilight said. She let out a low hum. “I wonder, is there any possibility that something else could be causing it?”

Fluttershy sat back upright, shaking her head. “I don’t think so. It started just a few days later, and I’ve never experienced anything like this before. I just can’t help it when I see them, and even thinking about them is starting to make me want one so badly. They’re just so red, and... round, and... juicy.” An uneasy shiver ran through her body, and she involuntarily licked at her lips.

Rainbow reached forward and said, “Whoa, easy there,” while gently patting Fluttershy on the shoulder. Fluttershy took in a few deep breaths to calm herself, nodding to Rainbow once the moment had passed.

Twilight stood, making her way around her friends and toward the nearby bookshelves as she said, “Let me look up something.”

Fluttershy and Rainbow patiently waited nearby while Twilight busily searched the shelves for a book. After a moment of waiting had passed, Rainbow spoke up. “So,” she began, waiting until Fluttershy looked toward her. “You’ve really never bitten anypony?”

“No, never,” Fluttershy said, quickly shaking her head.

“Really? Why not?” Rainbow asked while shrugging her shoulders.

“Because, I don’t want to, and I don’t really need to?” Judging by the look on Rainbow’s face, her answer hadn’t come across as convincing. “Attacking some innocent pony to drink their blood doesn’t sound very nice.”

Rainbow shrugged her shoulders. “Eh, I guess that’s a good enough reason. And you said your mom is a....”

“Yes, she has vampirism.”

“Right, vampirism. So I guess that means she bites other ponies?”

Fluttershy paused for a moment, furrowing her brow. “I don’t know how she... takes care of it.” She realized that, despite growing up knowing about her mother’s condition, she had never seen nor been told how her mother kept it in check. The details had never been brought up since they weren’t something that she needed to know about.

Rainbow seemed to recede deep into her own thoughts for a moment as she sat back on her haunches and crossed her forelegs across her chest. She stared off at the empty space ahead of herself for some time, and then finally wrinkled her nose as she shook her head. “Nah, I can’t really picture your mom descending on helpless victims in the middle of the night. That just doesn’t seem to work.” She turned her attention back to Fluttershy, moving on to her next question. “So, you didn’t get any super vampony powers from your mom at all?”

“W-well,” Fluttershy said quietly. Her ears splayed back as she let out a light sigh. “I guess I did get one thing, though I really don’t like using it unless I just really have to.”

“Really? Can you show me?” Rainbow said, her eyes lighting up with excitement as she inched closer.

Fluttershy cringed away from her. “No, that wouldn’t be a good idea. And besides, you’ve already seen it.”

Rainbow sat back looking quite confused, her eyes darting back and forth a few times before she asked, “I have?”

Fluttershy nodded. “When I look into another’s eyes, I can make them feel uneasy or even afraid.”

Though it seemed to take a few seconds, Rainbow’s eyes grew wider once realization dawned on her. “Your stare is a vampony thing? That makes it even more awesome than it already was!” Fluttershy cringed again as a rigid, forced smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, feeling unsure about Rainbow’s description of her ability.

At that moment, Twilight approached with horn aglow and an open book hovering just before her nose, drawing Rainbow’s attention toward her. “Figure anything out?” Rainbow asked her.

Fluttershy silently thanked Twilight for the momentary distraction. Even among her friends, being the center of attention for extended periods of time proved to be unnerving, and the topics thus far had made it doubly so.

“I have a theory,” Twilight said as her eyes quickly scanned across the text. She glanced up over the top of the book to her friends. “The spell I used does its work by acting on the instincts of the target, modifying the instinctual desires. In the case of the vampire fruit bats, I adjusted their natural instinct for liking apples, trying to make them uninterested instead. But, then there was an unintended spell feedback glitch through Fluttershy’s stare and, well, we know what happened then,” Twilight said through a sheepish smile. “I’d thought it strange that a spell designed to adjust instinctual behavior ended up causing physical changes, but now I know that isn’t what actually happened. Given what this spell is intended to do, I think that it may have actually awoken a dormant instinct within you, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy blinked, and then furrowed her brow. “But, why would I have an instinct to bite apples?”

“I’m assuming you don’t. But, if your mother is vampiric, there is a chance that an unexpressed vampiric trait lies dormant within you. So, I believe that the spell brought that trait out, but somehow confused it.”

While Twilight had been speaking, Rainbow had snuck around to her side to take a peek at the book. She’d made quite a few faces, all of which conveyed that she really had no idea what she was looking at. She finally shook her head and asked, “Alright, so, what’s the fix?”

“That’s just it, I don’t think there is one, at least not a simple one.” Twilight closed the book with her magic and tucked it under her wing. “It usually isn’t a good idea to try and cover up the side effects of one spell with another spell. Things can get really complicated really quickly if there are more unintended side effects, and it can end up causing a lot more harm than good.”

“So I-I’m stuck like this?” Fluttershy said, a sudden panic rising in her voice. She held one hoof over her chest as it began to heave under her rapidly increasing breaths. “But it’s getting worse and worse. I can’t even think about apples without drooling on myself, and I keep changing without meaning to because of it.” She ducked down and folded her wings around herself, creating a leathery cocoon that she was barely peeking out of. Her voice came out quiet and muffled as she said, “I really don’t want everypony to see me like this.”

Twilight sat herself beside Fluttershy, extending one of her wings to rest it lightly across Fluttershy’s back. “While I don’t think we should try to use magic to fix this, there might be something else that could help.” Fluttershy was coaxed out from under her wings by Twilight’s words. If there was any possible way to fix this, she wanted to hear it. “I’m pretty sure your natural instinct should have been to drink blood, not apple juice. The spell probably just confused that instinct because of the fruit bats, and since your body doesn’t really need apple juice, it isn’t calming your cravings when you drink it.” Fluttershy remained attentive, hanging on every word as her friend spoke. Her ears splayed back slightly when she saw Twilight’s sudden reluctance to continue. After a brief moment of hesitation, Twilight finally said, “I think you’ll need to try giving your body what it really wants.”

Fluttershy cringed away, staring back at her friend in wide eyed shock. “No! No no, I can’t do that,” she said as she feverishly shook her head. “I can’t go out and... and... attack somepony. I just can’t!”

Twilight reached out to her, taking Fluttershy’s forehooves with her own in an effort to calm her friend. “It’s okay. I wasn’t recommending that you attack anyone.”

“Well, what am I supposed to do?” Fluttershy asked, a troubled look overtaking her face. “Do I just walk up to somepony at random and say ‘Hello, I’m Fluttershy. Can I bite you, please?’” She furrowed her brow deeply at the thought. “I really don’t think that would work.”

Rainbow barely stifled a snicker nearby, lifting a hoof to her muzzle to hide her smirk. She cleared her throat and then asked, “Have you tried?” failing to keep an amused chuckle from coming out at the same time. Fluttershy only half glared, half pouted in response.

“It’s just an idea,” Twilight said, giving Fluttershy’s hooves a reassuring pat. “We don’t have to try it if you’re really against it, but maybe we could find a volunteer or something to make it easier.”

Fluttershy’s eyes drifted side to side for a few seconds as she thought over the prospect of actually sucking some other pony’s blood. She cringed and gritted her teeth when a shiver ran up her spine. “No. I-I think I need to go,” she said as she pulled away from Twilight. She quickly swept up the checkered blanket behind her, wrapping it up over her head and around her body like a hooded cowl as she made her way to the library door. “Now that I know what’s happening, I’ll find some other way to control this. I just need to think it through.” She unbarred the door and pushed it open, and only briefly turned aside to say, “Thanks for trying,” before she hurriedly rushed out the door and pulled it closed behind her.

Rainbow and Twilight both stared silently at the door, and then slowly looked to each other.

“Well, that was... sudden,” Rainbow said.

Twilight let out a short sigh and turned to walk back to the book shelves. “I really was trying to help. I didn’t mean to scare her off.” She took the book out from under her wing, floating it up to return it to the shelf she had pulled it from.

Rainbow stared thoughtfully toward the doorway for a few seconds longer, then looked back to Twilight asking, “You really think she needs to bite somepony to get over this apple thing?”

“It was a guess more than anything. I really don’t have anything to go off of,” Twilight said as she glanced over the titles of the other books on the shelf. “Until just a few minutes ago, I thought vampirism was mostly just something that you read about in fiction.”

Anything For a Fillyhood Friend

One Pony’s Peculiar Predicament

by Zeg

Chapter IV – Anything For a Fillyhood Friend

In hindsight, going out in public with a brightly colored checkered blanket draped over her head and back had probably not been the best choice Fluttershy had ever made. While it had managed to hide her ears and wings from view, it also drew the attention of every single pony she passed. Others had stared at her as she scampered by, leaving her feeling uneasy and embarrassed. Her unnerved state had made it impossible for her to concentrate enough to shift her form, requiring her to remain hidden under the blanket and continuing the self perpetuating circle of stress.

Thinking back on the unpleasant experience, Fluttershy found herself wondering how she had managed to make it home without suffering a nervous breakdown, even managing to somehow recover her two bushels of apples and drag them home without incident. It had taken hiding in her home for most of the rest of the day for her to calm her frazzled nerves, and she still hadn’t managed to shift her form back to what she considered normal. She was silently sitting near her bedroom window, resting her chin upon the window ledge while peeking out through the barely open shutter at the setting sun. Her sides heaved as she let out a small sigh, and she lifted her chin from the ledge and gently pushed the shutter closed.

She stood and turned away from the window, starting a slow walk across her room before she stopped and took a long look at the vanity mirror above her dresser. She moved closer to the mirror, pushing herself up with her forehooves on the dresser and leaning in close to get a better look at herself. She touched the tip of one hoof just under her right eye, pulling her eyelid down to get a good look at just how bloodshot it was. She looked over her mirror image and the many ragged tufts of fur sticking up all over her coat. Her ears splayed back and she grimaced as she sat back and glanced down at herself. She ran her forehooves over some of the protruding tufts of fur on her barrel a few times, but they stubbornly refused to lay down. She then paused for a moment before furrowing her brow and poking at her side a few times. She squinted her eyes as an annoyed little growl escaped from her. “I’m getting fat,” she grumbled under her breath.

She made her way down the stairs to her living room, stopping at the bottom and wrinkling her nose at the sight before her. There the two bushels of apples set, one very close to her couch and already half empty, and strewn about on the floor around the couch where the remains of the missing apples. When she had finally managed to drag the apples home earlier, having a few to help sate her thirst and calm her nerves had seemed like a good idea at the time. A few then became a few more and so on as the hours went by, until the first bushel of apples was half eaten. At the rate that she was going through them, they weren’t going to last nearly as long as she had hoped.

She narrowed her eyes at the half empty bushel as she walked up to it. She felt like if it could speak to her, it would probably be telling her that having just one more would be alright, just like the one before that, and the one before that. That burning sensation in the back of her throat was starting to come back again, begging to be quenched. Fluttershy crawled up onto her couch and laid down. She eyed the bushel of apples out of the corner of her eye, frowning deeply at it. She then started to slowly reach a hoof into the basket.

Just one more before bed.

A quick knock at her door caused Fluttershy to sit bolt upright and jerk her hoof back against her chest. Her ears snapped forward while she silently stared at her doorway. The knock came a second time, and her ears splayed back. Of all the evenings to get a visitor. She wasn’t about to open that door, not in the state she was in. A third knock came, this one a bit louder and causing her to cringe. “Go away,” she quietly mumbled.

“Fluttershy, come on,” Rainbow’s voice called from outside, causing Fluttershy’s ears to perk up. “Open the door. I’ve got something I want to talk to you about.”

After a brief moment of hesitation, Fluttershy got up from her couch and made her way to the door. She undid the latching and pulled it open just enough to peer outside with one eye. She found her friend smiling back at her, and quickly glanced around to see what or who else she might find lurking just out of sight.

“It’s just me,” Rainbow said. Fluttershy stepped back, pulling the door open far enough to let Rainbow inside before hurriedly pushing it back closed and latching it. “You alright?” Rainbow asked as she looked Fluttershy up and down.

Fluttershy turned away and plodded back over toward her couch. “No, I’m fat,” she said right before tossing herself back upon it in a huff.

Rainbow stopped short a few steps behind, cocking her head to one side. “What?” she asked, quickly shaking her head.

Fluttershy let out a heavy sigh. “All I’ve been doing since I got home today is eating apples,” she said as her eyes drifted to a shriveled up apple core wedged between the armrest and the couch cushion. She gave it a disgusted look before reaching over and flicked it away with the tip of her hoof, sending it tumbling to the floor.

Rainbow pursed her lips and followed the shriveled apple with her eyes as it rolled past her. “Well, I might be able to help with that,” she said as she looked back with a confident smile.

Fluttershy’s ears perked and her eyes opened wide. “Really?” she asked as she quickly sat up, leaning over the edge of her couch.

“Yeah. You know that thing Twilight mentioned at the library earlier?” Fluttershy’s ears immediately splayed back and she leaned back against the back of the couch, but Rainbow pressed on. “Just hear me out, alright? I went back later and we talked about it some more and Twilight did more of her research thing to try and find something to help. The more we talked about it, the more it made sense that it would be best for you to try drinking a little blood. Something about reminding your body what it really needs and correcting imbalances and... stuff,” she said, waving her hoof to the side.

Fluttershy furrowed her brow deeply, glancing away off to the side as she said, “I’m not going to bite somepony. I’ve never needed to do that.”

“Well, maybe not before, but what if she’s right?” Rainbow said as moved to put herself back in Fluttershy’s sight. She hooked a hoof over the edge of the armrest, and when Fluttershy reluctantly glanced up to her she asked, “What if you do need to bite somepony now?”

Fluttershy turned herself away toward the other side of the couch, lowering her head and allowing her mane to cover her face as she firmly said, “No.”

Rainbow quickly trotted around to the other armrest, resting her forelegs and chin on it and putting forward her best pleading eyes act. “Fluttershy, come on. Just give it one chance. If it doesn’t work out, then you don’t ever have to do it again.”

Fluttershy only receded further under her mane. She clamped her teeth together as she defiantly growled, “I’m not going to attack somepony.”

“Of course you’re not going to attack somepony!” Rainbow said as she pushed herself up on the armrest with her forehooves. She put on a smug grin as she placed a single hoof on her chest. “You’re going to bite me.”

Fluttershy’s mouth slowly hung open as the horror of what her friend had just suggested sunk in. She finally pulled away, scooting all the way back against the opposite armrest and cringing. “No!”

“Oh, come on, what’s the problem with me?” Rainbow sat back on her haunches and leaned her elbows on the armrest, resting her chin between her forehooves. She raised an eyebrow as she asked, “My blood isn’t good enough for you?”

“I’m not going to hurt my best friend!”

Rainbow dismissively waved her hoof and blew a quick raspberry. “I think I can take a little nibble from you. Not like you’re going to put me in the hospital.”

Fluttershy shook her head furiously. “No, I’m not going to.” She leapt down from her couch, quickly cantering to her front door as she said, “You need to leave.”

As she was unbarring the door and just starting to pull it open, Rainbow stepped up beside her and quickly slammed her hoof against the door, holding it closed. Fluttershy cowered back a step, her wide eyes watching her friend closely. She knew the look that Rainbow was giving her. It was the one that Rainbow got any time she had set her mind to something.

“I’m not leaving until you bite me.”

Fluttershy crept back a few steps. “Well, I’m not biting you,” she said in a quiet, shaky voice. They silently stared at one another for a time after that, and then finally Rainbow closed her eyes and drew in a long breath before letting it all back out. When she opened her eyes again, she began to approach. Fluttershy quickly scooted backwards to keep her distance, but it wasn’t long before Rainbow picked up her pace. Fluttershy’s voice rose quickly as she cried out, “Rainbow Dash, stop it.” Unfortunately, her plea seemed to do nothing to slow her friend’s advance, and she quickly found herself turning to run as she squealed, “Get away from me!”

“Just come here!” Rainbow shouted back, hot on Fluttershy’s heels as they both rounded a table. There wasn’t much room for them to run in the cottage, so the chase quickly devolved into them just galloping about in a circle. Rainbow finally skidded to a stop on one side of the table, and the chase came to a halt as they peered at each other just over the table top. “Stop being stubborn and just bite me. It’ll make you feel better!”

Just the thought of biting her friend sent shivers down Fluttershy’s spine. She could see it in her mind, an image of herself sinking her fangs into Rainbow and draining her until she was nothing more than a shriveled up husk. And what was even more terrifying was the thought sent her heart racing, not in fear but in anticipation. There was some part of her that actually wanted it. “No! No, I’m not like that!” Fluttershy said as she squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head feverishly. Her eyes snapped back open when she heard a loud whoosh of wings unfolding and the clattering sounds of Rainbow’s hooves against the tabletop. She only had a split second to realize that Rainbow was diving at her over the table, and only managed to scramble backwards and fall on her back as Rainbow landed atop her, pinning her to the floor.

Rainbow let out a single triumphant laugh. “Gotcha,” she declared, pointing one forehoof and booping Fluttershy’s nose.

From where she was pinned on her back with Rainbow sitting on her barrel, Fluttershy could only ineffectively kick her back legs. “Get off,” she whined, squirming but finding herself to be quite stuck.

“Sure,” Rainbow said, and then she leaned down closer to Fluttershy’s face, bracing herself with one hoof on the floor next to Fluttershy’s head. “After you bite me.”

Fluttershy held Rainbow back with both of her forehooves against her friend’s chest. Her heart was beating so hard that she could hear it drumming in her ears. She felt hot, like she had been running through a desert, and her throat felt like it was on fire. She tried to look away, clenching her eyes closed and trying not to think about how close Rainbow was and how easy it would be to reach up, grab her, and sink her fangs into her friend’s neck. She had to get away before something happened. “Get off me, please,” she begged.

“Nu-uh,” Rainbow said as she reached up and brushed Fluttershy’s hooves aside. She leaned in so close that Fluttershy could feel the ends of Rainbow’s mane tickling against the side of her face. “You always hide from things that scare you even a little bit. Well, I’m not letting you hide from this one.”

Fluttershy could sense Rainbow hovering closely over her. All she had to do is reach her forelegs up, wrap her wings around her friend, and then bite. Her wings twitched at her sides in anticipation at the thought. She could see it in her mind, just an easy grab and bite, and then it would all be over.

Fluttershy cringed and shook her head. She opened her eyes, staring straight back into Rainbow’s eyes. “I said get off!” she shouted so forcefully that her entire body shook.

To her surprise, Fluttershy found herself freed. Rainbow had immediately fallen backwards and then started backpedaling across the floor until she got tangled up in the chair and table legs. Fluttershy rolled to her side and glanced back toward her friend, and as soon as their eyes meet again, Rainbow’s pupils shrunk down to tiny specs and she started flailing her limbs once again in a frantic attempt to push herself away. Fluttershy let out a loud gasp and covered her eyes while turning herself away, and Rainbow almost immediately relaxed.

Rainbow laid there slumped against the side of one of the chairs, gasping for breath as if she had just finished running a marathon. She finally managed to pull herself up so she was at least sitting upright. “Whoa,” she said through and exhausted sounding breath as she rested one forehoof across her chest.

Fluttershy suddenly scrambled to her hooves, the sounds of stifled sobs escaping from her while she took off for the stairway. She heard Rainbow calling out to her as she scampered up the stairs to her room, and once she was there she could hear the sounds of hoofsteps following her. She glanced around quickly through the darkened and tear blurred surroundings for somewhere to run. She noticed the window, and quickly galloped to it. After pulling the shutters back and pushing the window glass open, she quickly crawled through it to escape, but just as she was pulling her back legs over the window ledge her front hooves slipped out from under her on the grass roof of her cottage. She flailed her wings in a desperate attempt to keep herself from falling, but it was too late. She ended up rolling down the side of her roof and fell into the shrubs below.

While the shrubs had broken the fall somewhat, the landing hadn’t been soft by any means. Fluttershy gasped, drawing in a deep breath of air to replace the wind that had been knocked out of her. She could feel the branches she was laying on jabbing at her side like a hundred little needles. She let out a painful and pitiful sounding moan as she slowly sat up. She could feel the little jagged branches tugging at parts of her mane that had gotten tangled in them.

A quick whoosh and a thump followed a shadow that hit the ground just in front of her. Fluttershy glanced forward, finding Rainbow quickly trotting up to her. “Oh my gosh. Fluttershy? Hey, a-are you hurt?” She sat herself in front of Fluttershy, and quickly began to help untangle Fluttershy’s mane from the mess of branches. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. That was completely my bad. You’re not hurt bad, are you?”

Rainbow stepped back as Fluttershy took a couple careful steps out of the shrubs and sat down. She glanced down at her side, noticing bits of branches still tangled in her mane and some dirty smudges on her coat, but at least she didn’t see or feel any serious injuries. She glanced to the side out of the corner of her eye, finding Rainbow hovering close by with a worried look on her face. “I-I’m okay,” she said in a shaky whisper, followed by a quick sniffle.

Rainbow let out a relieved sigh. She sat down beside Fluttershy and put her forelegs around her, hugging her tightly. Fluttershy blinked her eyes a few times, her vision still somewhat blurred with tears. She was just starting to feel the tension in her body relax when Rainbow quietly said, “That really scared me.”

Fluttershy felt a burning pain stab at her heart, and the tears came back full force. She sniffed a few times, trying to hold back the sobs, but it was no use. Her emotions broke free as she began to cry on her friend’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it,” she said through a high pitch whine.

Rainbow leaned back, holding Fluttershy by her shoulders. “Wha...,” she said, a confused look on her face while she watched her friend break down into a sobbing mess before her. Then her ears suddenly splayed back. “Oh, no, I didn’t mean that I was afraid of you. I was afraid you got hurt.”

“But... but I saw how you looked at me,” Fluttershy said between her sobs. She glanced up at Rainbow as a pained look overtook her face. “Like I was a ma... ma... monsterrr.” She slumped forward, burying her muzzle against Rainbow’s chest while she let out a long sad wail.

Rainbow gritted her teeth and glanced around as if she might find someone or something that might help her comfort her friend. She drew in a deep breath before letting go a long sigh, and then reached one foreleg up and gently patted Fluttershy on the back. “I kinda deserved it,” Rainbow admitted. A choked sob interrupted Fluttershy’s crying, and she pulled back slightly and glanced up at Rainbow, sniffing and rubbing at her nose. “Yeah, you caught me off guard, but now that I think of it, I was... kinda being a jerk,” she said with a weak laugh as she shrugged her shoulders. Fluttershy stared up at her for a few seconds longer before drawing in a shuddering breath of air. “Hey, listen. This was all my fault. I’m serious.”

Fluttershy reached a forehoof up and dabbed it just under her eyes. “But, you looked so frightened.”

“Well, that stare of yours kinda packs a punch,” Rainbow said through a nervous laugh while scratching at the back of her neck with one forehoof. Fluttershy cringed slightly and her bottom lip quivered while she let out a quiet little whine. “That’s not a bad thing!” Rainbow quickly said.

Fluttershy took in one more deep, shuddering breath and let it all out, trying her best to calm herself. “I hate being like this. I don’t know what to do any more.”

While they had been sitting there, the last dim lights of the day’s sunlight had vanished beyond the horizon, giving way to the night’s moonlight. It seemed like they sat there in the silence of the evening for quite a while with only a quiet sniffle breaking the silence around them every so often. Finally, Rainbow lowered her gaze so she could look directly into Fluttershy's eyes. “We can still try it. It might help.” Fluttershy leaned back, glancing away and withdrawing her forelegs to hold them folded tight against her chest. “Look, I won’t force you, but I really think you should try it. Twilight thought it would help you, and if there’s anything I can do to help you then I want to do it.”

Fluttershy glanced back out of the corner of her eye when she felt Rainbow lightly touching her shoulder. “Anything? Even letting me bite you?” she asked just above a whisper.

“Sure,” Rainbow said with a quick smile. She sat back and shrugged her shoulders as she said, “I mean, it isn’t like it’s going to turn me into your zombie love slave, right?”

Fluttershy squinted her eyes and furrowed her brow. “...Where do you get these strange ideas?”

Rainbow let out a quick, nervous laugh and then cleared her throat before simply saying, “Nevermind.”

Fluttershy glanced down at the ground in front her herself. She let herself consider the idea. After all, two of her friends seemed to think it would work, and if it truly did put her odd cravings to rest, she could finally put the entire horrible mess behind her. However, the idea still didn’t set well with her. She would basically be injuring one of her friends. “I don’t want you to end up hating me.”

“Why would I?” Rainbow sat back on her haunches and crossed her forelegs across her chest. “Fluttershy, how long have we been friends?”

Fluttershy blink-blinked at the sudden question. When she saw Rainbow expectantly waiting for the answer, she glanced off to the side and timidly answered, “Since flightschool.”

“Right, and a little bite isn’t going to change that. Now, come on, right here.” Rainbow reached up at patted at a spot on the left side of her neck, tilting her head slightly to the side to expose it.

Fluttershy’s eyes slowly widened while she stared at Rainbow’s neck, her mind racing all the while. She found herself wondering if she should actually go through with it. There was no doubt that a part of her wanted to, a part of herself that she was still very unsure of. A part of herself that she was very afraid might really hurt her friend. A quick shiver ran through her body, and she let out a nervous whine.

Rainbow reached out, laying one forehoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder. “Take your time. No rush.”

Fluttershy took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm her racing heart, but they did very little to help. She could hear her own pulse drumming in her ears again, and feel the burning sensation at the back of her throat just like before. She wanted something to make those horrible feelings vanish, and she knew she was looking right at that something as she stared at the side of Rainbow’s neck. She leaned in closer, timidly laying one of her forehooves over her friend’s shoulder. She watched her breaths blow back the fur on Rainbow’s coat with every exhale. She swallowed heavily and squeezed her eyes closed for a moment.

When she opened them again and glanced to the side, she saw Rainbow give her a quick smile and a wink. Something about her friend’s ever confident demeanor seemed to put her at ease, at least a bit. A brief, small smile appeared on Fluttershy’s muzzle before she turned her attention back to Rainbow’s exposed neck. She leaned forward, touching her muzzle Rainbow’s neck. She felt her front teeth brushing against Rainbow’s soft fur as she slowly opened her mouth. For a few seconds, she hesitated, frozen in place and even holding her breath while she tried to work up the courage for that final step. And then, she closed her eyes and bit down. Her fangs easily pierced through the skin on Rainbow’s neck and sunk in.

Fluttershy felt Rainbow’s body tense up the very second that she had bitten her, and had heard the muffled grunt that had slipped out before Rainbow managed to cover her mouth with her hoof. More tears began to build up along the edge of Fluttershy’s eyelids, and she let out a small whine and sniffle.

“Shh,” Rainbow said quietly. She leaned her head over so it was resting against Fluttershy’s, and gently ran one of her hooves up and down Fluttershy’s back. “It’s okay, everything is going to be okay.”

Fluttershy relaxed after hearing the soothing words. She slowly withdrew her fangs and then pressed her lips against the seeping wound. She flicked the tip of her tongue against the wound a few times and tasted the metallic bitterness of the fluid as she felt the trickle of blood seeping from the wound filling her mouth. She swallowed the first gulp of blood, and the burning feeling in her throat seemed to recede almost immediately. The bitter taste of her friend’s blood wasn’t something that she would normally consider to be to her liking, but there was something oddly soothing about drinking it. She ended up wrapping both of her forelegs and her wings around Rainbow, hugging her close while she suckled away at the side of Rainbow’s neck for many minutes there after. How long exactly she wasn’t really sure, as she ended up losing herself in the moment. It wasn’t until she accidentally made a loud noise that sounded a lot like a wet kiss that she stopped and her eyes popped open.

She could feel Rainbow’s body moving against her’s when Rainbow began to chuckle. “Heh, you’re going to leave one heck of a hickey.”

Fluttershy lifted her head from the side of Rainbow’s neck, sitting back and releasing her friend from the embrace. She shyly looked away, smacks her lips a few times and swallowing what blood was left in her mouth.

Rainbow silently stared back for a few seconds before a small grin crept up her muzzle. “Get enough?” she asked, perking one eyebrow.

“Um, I think so,” Fluttershy said quietly with a quick nod.

Rainbow leaned a little closer to Fluttershy’s face, squinting her eyes. “I think you’ve still got some of me on your bottom lip,” she said, pointing her forehoof right before Fluttershy’s muzzle.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened, and then she quickly ducked down, hiding her mouth behind her hoof. She quickly sucked in her bottom lip, tasting a small bit of blood as she tried to lick it clean. She then slowly sat back up and lowered her hoof, her ears splaying back as she asked, “Did I get it?”

Rainbow squinted her eyes again as she eyed Fluttershy’s muzzle, then leaned back and nodded. “Yeah, looks like you got all of me off your mouth.”

Fluttershy felt her ear tips and cheeks heating up, and her ears laid back slightly when Rainbow chuckled lightly at her reaction to the comment. She drew in a long breath and let it out in a quick huff before she jabbed the tip of her hoof at Rainbow’s side, then they both shared a little laugh. Fluttershy’s eyes wandered to Rainbow’s neck again, and then she drew in a shocked gasp. “Oh, goodness, you’re still bleeding,” she said as she timidly held a hoof up near her friend’s neck. The wound had continued to seep blood, causing a dark trail to trickle down onto Rainbow’s chest and down her left leg.

Rainbow furrowed her brow as she glanced down at herself. “Whoa. Yeah, that’s kinda making a mess,” she said as she lifted her foreleg and looked at the dark trail the blood had left on it.

“It’s my saliva. It has anticoagulants in it,” Fluttershy said as she leaned in closer to look at the wound. She noticed Rainbow giving her a quizzical look, and explained a bit further by saying, “My spit makes you bleed more.”

“Oh. Well yeah, that makes sense. Guess I should get home and get cleaned up.” Rainbow stood up and began to unfold her wings, but then stumbled a step to the side before catching herself. Her eyes went wide and blinked a few times before she slowly glanced around and slowly said, “...Whoa?”

Fluttershy quickly braced Rainbow with her forehooves. “Oh my gosh, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m good, maybe just a little light headed.” Rainbow sat back down, rubbing the side of her head while she blinked her eyes. “I think I stood up a little too fast.”

Fluttershy stood beside Rainbow and swept one of her wings over her friend’s back. “Come back inside, we need to bandage this now.”

Rainbow stood again, carefully this time. “I have bandages at home,” she said as she began to try to pull away.

“Rainbow,” Fluttershy quickly said as she tightened her wing over Rainbow’s back. “I am not letting you fly like this.” Normally, Fluttershy would let her friend do whatever she wanted. Normally. But this night had been anything but normal. If Rainbow was too dizzy to even stand upright, how would she be able to fly, or rather, land without hurting herself?

Rainbow seemed a bit shocked for a few seconds, but then her expression softened as she smiled back. “Alright,” she said. Fluttershy smiled back to her, and then began to walk forward while hugging Rainbow close to her side with her wing to guide her forward. “I think I can still walk on my own.”

“Hush.”

Rainbow let out a small chuckle. “Yes, ma’am.”

Fluttershy walked Rainbow all the way to the table centered in front of the couch before letting her go. “Just rest here,” she said before quickly trotting away to her kitchen. She pulled out a single glass from one of the cabinets, and an orange and white carton from inside her refrigerator. She balanced on her back hooves, flapping her wings a couple times to balance herself while she held the carton and poured the orange contents into the glass. After returning the carton to the refrigerator, she carefully took the glass in her forehooves and glided back into the living room. There, she found Rainbow still standing next to the table where she had been left earlier. Fluttershy landed next to the table and set the glass down, then turned her attention to Rainbow. “Sit,” she said in a quiet, but firm voice.

Rainbow smirked and rolled her eyes before she sat down. She nodded her head to the glass and asked, “So, what’s that for?”

“It’s some orange juice, for you,” Fluttershy said as she trotted around Rainbow.

“Orange juice?” Rainbow took up the glass in her forehooves, sniffing at it once before taking a sip.

“It should help with the light headedness.” Fluttershy stopped and knelt down near the shelving that was built into the side of the stairway. There she gathered up a towel, draping it over her withers, and then grabbed the handles of the first-aid chest that was sitting on the bottom most shelf near the floor. She flapped her wings to lift herself up off the floor and carried the supplies back over to where she set them down next to the table. After dropping them off, she quickly trotted to her kitchen once more where she found a bowl and filled it with warm water, and then carefully brought it back to set it on the table.

After folding the towel over her right hoof, she dabbed it in the bowl of water and then sat herself in front of Rainbow. “Let me see your leg first,” she said as she held her left hoof out. Rainbow lifted her foreleg and laid it upon Fluttershy’s hoof, who then quickly went to work at scrubbing the dried blood away. She rewetted the towel a few times while working on cleaning Rainbow’s leg, working her way up to Rainbow’s chest and shoulder area, and then eventually reaching Rainbow’s neck. She leaned in and took a closer look at the wound. “Looks like it’s mostly stopped. That’s good,” she said as she dabbed the towel gently at the side of Rainbow’s neck.

Once the remainder of the dried blood had been cleaned up, she set the towel aside and opened the first-aid chest, reaching in with both her wings and her forehooves. The single claw at the top of her wings acted like a thumb of sorts, allowing her to grasp things like the top of the brown bottle that she lift out to set on the table. She also brought out a roll of gauze, a small square of bandaging, and a cotton ball.

Rainbow sat silently, sipping at her orange juice while she watched Fluttershy manipulate things with her forehooves and wings. Fluttershy twisted the cap off of the brown bottle, and then held the bottle in her forehooves and tipped it against the cotton ball that she had pinched under her right wing’s claw. She set the bottle back down, and then leaned in and brought the cotton ball closer to Rainbow’s neck. “This might sting a little,” she said quietly, and then she dabbed the cotton ball gently on the wound. Rainbow winced slightly when it touched. “Sorry,” Fluttershy said in a whisper.

“Eh, this is nothing. You remember that time that I wrecked in one of your trees? Now that hurt.”

Fluttershy smiled slightly while she worked at dabbing the cotton ball at the wound. “I do remember that. You showed up at my door all scraped up and limping that morning.”

“Yep, and you patched me up.”

“You should have gone to a doctor.”

“Bleh,” Rainbow said, sticking out her tongue. “I trust you more.” She happened to glance down at Fluttershy when she didn’t get any response, and must have noticed her downhearted look. “Hey, don’t be bothered by this. It’s just a tiny little bite.”

“I just don’t like seeing you hurt.” Fluttershy let out a small sigh. “Especially since I’m the one who did it.”

“This is no big deal.”

“It is to me,” Fluttershy said quickly, glancing up at her. She soon turned her attention back to her task, putting the cotton ball aside and gathering up the gauze and bandage. She gently placed the square patch of bandaging over the wound and held the end of the gauze roll to Rainbow’s neck with her hoof, and then began to unroll it and pass it around Rainbow’s neck using her wings.

“Those are pretty nifty,” Rainbow said as she watched Fluttershy bring the gauze roll around and pass it between her wing claws.

Fluttershy paused for a couple seconds, glancing up at Rainbow and then realizing what she had been talking about. “Oh. Well, I guess they can be useful,” she said as she continued to pass the gauze around and behind Rainbow’s neck once more.

“You kidding? Wish I could do that with my wings.”

Fluttershy finished unrolling the gauze and held it against Rainbow’s neck while she reached one wing back into the first-aid chest. She found a small metal gauze clip and pressed it against the loose end of the gauze to hold it in place. “I just wish they weren’t so ugly.”

“Whoa whoa, back up. What did you just say?” Rainbow said. Fluttershy cringed away slightly when Rainbow crossed her forehooves and gave her a disappointed look. “Shy, come on. There isn’t a single thing about you that can be described as ugly.”

“There is when I look like this,” Fluttershy said, shrugging her shoulders and lifting her wings slightly.

“No way,” Rainbow said, shaking her head. “Personally, I think it’s awesome. I mean think about it, you’ve got the best Nightmare Night costume anypony could possibly ask for.” Fluttershy’s ears splayed back and she cringed, gritting her teeth. “That’s a compliment!” Rainbow said, tossing her forelegs in the air.

Fluttershy let out an exhausted sounding sigh. “Well, thanks for saying so, but I think you’re one of the few who would think that I’m not ugly like this.”

“Says the pony who got a modeling job.”

“Oh, don’t remind me,” Fluttershy said as she clenched her eyes closed and shook her head. A shiver shook her body before she glanced back to Rainbow. “And besides, I didn’t look like this back then.”

Rainbow stared back at Fluttershy silently for a few seconds. Her mouth worked its way into a sideways frown, and then she rolled her eyes before she stood and began to walk over to the bookshelf under the stairway.

“Rainbow, you should rest,” Fluttershy said as she quickly followed her.

“I’m fine. Now where is it,” Rainbow said as she glanced over the spines of the books. She let out a quiet growl when she evidently hadn’t found what she was looking for there, and then turned away and began to walk over to the other bookshelf that was built into the nearby wall.

Fluttershy followed closely beside Rainbow. “What are you looking for?”

Rainbow stood on her back legs and braced herself with one forehoof against the back of the nearby chair while her other hoof traced from left to right pointing at the books as her eyes scanned them. One finally caught her eye, a thick one with a completely solid green cover except for the two pink stripes that ran closely parallel near the bottom edge. “Aha!” she declared as she snatched the book from the shelf, hugging it against her chest. She flapped her wings a few times to glide back over to the couch where she landed. “Thought you could hide it from me, didn’t you?” she said as she glanced back at Fluttershy, raising one eyebrow.

Fluttershy tilted her head to get a better look at the book that Rainbow had brought down, recognizing it as her photograph scrap book. “Oh, don’t bring that out.”

“Too late!” Rainbow flopped down and stretched out on the couch. She propped the scrap book up against the armrest and pulled it open and then quickly flipped through the pages, her eyes darting back and forth as she hunted for something specific. “Lets see... ah, here it is,” she said as she stopped on a page and prodded it with her hoof. Fluttershy timidly approached, leaning in to look at the photo that Rainbow had found.

It was a class photo from years ago. Fluttershy saw many faces of young colts and fillies that she hadn’t seen in nearly as long.

“See?” Rainbow said as she tapped the tip of her hoof against the picture, pointing Fluttershy out from amongst the group. In the photo, her younger self stood slightly taller than the rest of the foals and had a much more slender look than she had even today. “Even back in flightschool, you looked better than everyone,” Rainbow said, and then she leaned in and squinted at the photograph, tilting her head sideways. “Wow, was I really that stocky?” she quietly commented. She then quickly glanced to the side when she heard Fluttershy quietly giggling to herself. “Hey,” she said as a smile slowly spread across her muzzle. She reached over and playfully prodded Fluttershy’s shoulder with her hoof. “Just what are you laughing at?”

Fluttershy tried her best to look innocent, all the while chewing nervously at her bottom lip.

“Alright then,” Rainbow said as she scooted over on the couch to make room. She patted her hoof on the couch cushion at her side. “Come here. I bet if we look hard enough, we can find an embarrassing picture of you in here somewhere.”

Fluttershy silently accepted the invitation, making herself comfortable on the couch next to her friend. They spent the next few hours turning through the pages of her scrap book as they talked and shared stories of years gone by, many of which were about times that they had shared with each other.

“Hey, Fluttershy. You awake?”

Fluttershy’s right ear flicked at the sound of someone whispering in it. She scrunched up her muzzle and squeezed her eyelids closed a bit more tightly for a few seconds, and then was overtaken by a yawn. She slowly lifted her head up from where she had been resting it on her forelegs, blinking her squinted eyes rapidly. She then looked to her side, finding a sleepy eyed Rainbow Dash laying beside her on the couch looking back at her.

“Oh,” Fluttershy said as she pushed herself to sit up. She lifted one hoof to rub at her eyes. “I must have dozed off.”

Rainbow stretched her forelegs out before her and arched her neck slightly, moving her head back and forth a few times before relaxing again. “We both did. It’s morning,” she said as she quickly nodded her head to the nearby window. The dim light of the new day’s dawn was already filtering in.

“Already?” Fluttershy let out another short yawn and shook her head, trying to get rid of the rest of the drowsiness.

“Yeah, but more importantly than that, get a load of you.” Rainbow reached up and quickly poked at one of Fluttershy’s wings, which to her surprise, was covered with feathers.

Fluttershy drew in a quick gasp. Feeling suddenly much more awake, she leapt down from the couch and spread her wings out at her sides, looking to her right and left at the full spread of yellow feathers. She sat back and ran her forehooves over her ears, and then quickly ran her tongue across her much flatter feeling teeth. “I’m me again!”

“What do you mean?” Rainbow said through a chuckle as she stepped down from the couch. She stretched her forelegs and back legs out in a cat-like manner and rocked her head back and forth one last time to work out the last of the kinks in her muscles. “You were always you,” she said, her voice sounding slightly strained while she stretched.

“Well, you know,” Fluttershy said, timidly tapping her forehooves together. Then her eyes found the half empty bushel basket of apples sitting beside the couch. Her ears quickly laid back and she said, “I wonder if the apple thing has gone away.”

Rainbow glanced over to the basket, then back to Fluttershy as she shrugged her shoulders. “Only one way to find out for sure.”

Fluttershy drew in a deep breath, letting it all go in a quick huff before putting on a determined look and nodding her head once. She approached the basket, looking down on the shining red apples within. She lifted one hoof, hesitating just for a moment before reaching in and lifting one of the apples up and before her muzzle. She furrowed her brow as she stared at it, almost as if daring it to try and entice her. Leaning her muzzle in just slightly closer to it, she closed her eyes and quickly took a sniff.

Rainbow sat next to the couch, leaning one foreleg against. She tilted her head, watching Fluttershy closely. “Well?”

Fluttershy slowly opened one eye, staring back at the apple. There it was, still sitting on her hoof right before her muzzle. And yet, it didn’t look any more enticing than it had when she had picked it up. “I... I don’t want it,” she said quietly. A happy smile crept onto her muzzle as she turned her hoof and dropped the apple back into the basket. “I don’t want it!”

“Awesome!” Rainbow stood and started to approach Fluttershy, but then she suddenly halted, the smile on her face quickly vanishing. “Wait, does this mean you crave my blood now instead?” she asked, her eyes widening slightly.

“U-um.” Fluttershy cringed away slightly. She hadn’t considered that possibility, that she may have only traded one addiction for another.

Rainbow lifted one hoof to her mouth, squinting her eyes suspiciously at Fluttershy, and let out a long drawn out hum. “Better find out for sure.” She lifted one wing as she turned aside. With a very serious look on her face, she simply said, “Sniff me.”

Fluttershy’s voice failed her for a few seconds while her mouth simply open and closed. She finally shook her head as she scooted back a few paces, her voice cracking as she said, “W-what?”

“Come on, sniff me,” Rainbow said as she gave her wing a couple flaps.

“I’m not sniffing you!” Fluttershy said, quickly shaking her head and covering her nose with her forehooves.

“I don’t stink.” Rainbow glanced over to her wing and then leaned her head in and took a quick sniff, shrugging her shoulder at the results before looking back to Fluttershy. “We need to make sure you’re not going to go batty every time you catch a whiff of me, alright?”

Losing control of her transformation when near her best friend would be a rather embarrassing problem, and one she would want to avoid. “Um... well, okay,” Fluttershy said as she resigned herself to the idea and timidly stepped forward. She glanced one last time to Rainbow’s eyes, seeing the dead serious look on her friend’s face, and then leaned her head in closer under her friend’s out stretched wing. Her ears laid back as she brought her muzzle close to Rainbow’s side, and then she closed her eyes as she drew in a deep breath.

Fluttershy’s ears perked at a snickering sound. Her brow furrowed at the out of place noise, and she leaned her head back and looked up at Rainbow with a confused look. She caught her friend holding a hoof over her mouth, her body shaking from the barely contained laughter. A small, closed mouth growl came from Fluttershy’s throat as she narrowed her eyes. “Rainbow, stop teasing me!” she demanded as she stamped a hoof.

Rainbow fell back leaning against the couch and let out a round of giggles, holding her forehooves folded over her chest. “Y-you actually sniffed me!” she said between gasps for breath as she pointed a hoof.

Fluttershy sighed deeply. “I can’t believe you tricked me like that. You’re so mean sometimes.”

“Sorry, sorry!” Rainbow said as she worked to get her giggles under control. She sat upright and cleared her throat. “You know me, I just couldn’t pass that up. No harm done, right?”

Fluttershy stared back silently at Rainbow for a few seconds, her tail flicking back and forth in agitation. She finally sat back and crossed her forelegs across her chest as she asked, “And what would you have done if I actually did have cravings for your blood?”

“Eh, well....” Rainbow shrugged her shoulders before she stood and walked over to Fluttershy. “I guess I would have let you bite me again.” She sat down in front of Fluttershy, reaching out with one hoof and resting it on her shoulder. “Seriously though, if you do ever end up getting blood cravings or whatever you wanna call them, just come find me. I really don’t mind.”

“R-really? Well, o-okay.” Fluttershy hadn’t expected Rainbow to be so willing to suffer more dizzy spells from blood loss, but then her friend had been known to put others before herself on more than one occasion. However, she still wasn’t sure if the selfless gesture completely made up for the teasing. “That was still kinda mean though,” Fluttershy said as she glanced off to the side, rubbing one of her forehooves over the other leg.

“Tell you what,” Rainbow said as she walked around and sat beside Fluttershy. She leaned in against Fluttershy’s side and tossed her wing over Fluttershy’s back. “I’ll make it up to you. We’ll head over to the cafe and get some haybrowns. What do you say?”

Fluttershy couldn’t help the small smile that crept onto her muzzle. “That does sound kind of good,” she said. The thought of having a real breakfast that didn’t involve sucking on apples actually sounded like one of the best ideas she had heard in recent times.

Fluttershy lifted her hoof, absently brushing it through her mane to pull it aside, and then noticed something that caught against her foreleg. She glanced down and noticed the twig caught in her mane, and then looked down at her barrel at the dark smudges on her fur and quickly remembered the tumble she had taken the night before. “Oh, um, I think I need a quick bath first,” she said sheepishly as she pulled away from Rainbow.

“Alright,” Rainbow said as she trotted back over to the couch. She leapt up upon it, turning about and lying down with her forehooves dangling off the edge. “I’ll just hang out here until you’re ready, but don’t keep me waiting too long. I don’t know about you, but I’m super hungry.”

One much needed shower and brushing later, Fluttershy found herself feeling presentable to the outside world. She laid down the mane brush on her dresser and ran her forehooves through her still slightly damp mane. The bath had been a bit rushed, but it would do. At least there wasn’t any leaves or twigs tangled in her hair now. She took one last good look at herself in the mirror, smiling back at her reflection, and then turned away to make her way quickly down the stairs to the living room.

Rainbow wasted no time leaping up from the couch and trotting over to the doorway upon noticing that Fluttershy had returned. She opened the front door and stepped outside first, stretching her wings wide at her sides as she stepped out into the bright morning sunlight and drew in a deep breath of the crisp, fall-like air.

Fluttershy stepped outside and pulled her front door closed behind them. She tilted her head slightly to the side as she glanced over at where Rainbow was waiting beside the path. There was something that seemed suddenly different about her friend. She quickly figured it out when Rainbow turned her head and looked away down the path toward Ponyville, exposing the bruise on the side of her neck. Fluttershy’s ears splayed back and she asked, “Why aren’t you wearing your bandage?”

Rainbow looked back and shrugged her shoulders. “Eh, I don’t need it,” she said casually as she took off down the path.

Fluttershy quickly secured her cottage door and then trotted down the path after her friend to catch up and walk beside her. “But, what if somepony asks about it?” she asked in a whispery voice.

“I’ll just tell them it’s a hickey,” Rainbow said.

Fluttershy stopped in her tracks, cowering back slightly. “Oh, please don’t do that.”

Rainbow stopped and turned around, looking somewhat confused. “What? I didn’t say I’d tell them who gave it to me.” Then, a sly grin slowly crept over Rainbow’s muzzle, and she lowered her voice and added, “unless you want me to,” following it up with a quick waggle from her eyebrows.

Fluttershy sat there slack jawed, staring back at her friend in stunned silence for a moment. Then she noticed Rainbow struggling to keep a straight face. Fluttershy pursed her lips and squinted her eyes as she slowly growled, “Oh, you!” She trotted up to Rainbow, extending her wings and swatting at Rainbow with them a few times.

“I was kidding! Uncle, uncle!” Rainbow said through her chuckles as she ducked and shielded herself with her own wings.

Fluttershy let out a heavy huff of air and shook her head as she folded her wings back to her sides. She peered at Rainbow, trying to keep a straight face but found it impossible to do so when Rainbow peaked out from under her wings with a big, cheesy grin on her face.

Rainbow stood up straight and trotted over beside Fluttershy, laying one wing across Fluttershy’s shoulders. She pointed a hoof forward and gave Fluttershy a gentle squeeze with her wing as she said, “Come on. Lets go get those haybrowns!” and then released Fluttershy from the hug and took off down the path again.

They silently continued on the path side by side for a while longer as they headed into Ponyville until Rainbow let out a quiet hum that drew Fluttershy’s attention. “You know, you totally gotta go vampony for Nightmare Night. It’d be perfect.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Fluttershy said, splaying her ears back as she glanced off to the side. Walking around in public in her other form was something that she had always avoided her entire life. She felt nervous just thinking about it, the very idea making her feel helplessly exposed. She glanced back, finding Rainbow grinning back at her from ear to ear, waiting to hear her response. But this time, it wasn’t at all like one of the teasing smirks that Rainbow had been wearing earlier. This was something that looked more hopeful.

Fluttershy smiled back.

“I’ll think about it.”