FlutterBlood (Chapter 1, Borne by blood)
Where do they go? The ones lost, the ones searching, but searching for what? For more, more to know, more to understand, more to see, see with different eyes, see the truth... But will they believe in what they see? How will they find their way? They are hunters... They always know their way.
Borne of blood, she awoke. She no longer knew who she is, who she was or who she will become. A loud crash echoed through the empty hallways of the disheveled building as she stood up from her the cold metal surgery table. Her past life no longer mattered, from now on she was more that a pony, but less of a pony.
The moment she stood up her vision became blurry, her eyes blinded for a few seconds as the blood rush entered her head. A sudden spike of piercing pain, she fell in agony onto the hard rock ground. Shriveling in pain as she felt like a thousands of needles were stabbing her from her head down to her hooves. A small tingling still resonated as she twitched in torment, but not a single scream left her silent mouth. Her mind reunited with her hunter senses, her instincts awoke, slowly she rose up from the ground, a warm rush of movement could be felt in her veins. Her memories and emotions felt distant, almost dark like an endless void. Her past self was like a burning candle, covered by a blanked of darkness... Slowly burning out.
Calmly she inspected her surroundings, inspecting the room she was in. The room was very dark, lit up by only a couple barricaded windows. It seamed to have been used as a hospital noticeable by all the surgery tables, book filled shelves, medical tools and pony skeletal and vein system diagrams. What stood out the most were all the liquid vials and measuring cups, those looked to have been used for chemistry but in such a place they might have been used for making medicine or blood transfusions. She continued to look around the room, noticing how much of a mess it was left in, small shards of glass shattered beneath her hooves and a thick layer of dust covered everything in sight. Stood before her was a large working table, the wood dropping splinters as of its age. The dusty surface was mostly covered by piles of paper files filled with medical information and a single leather bag. It was probably left here by the buildings owner as it looked like he left in a hurry, the pony instinctively reached out for the abandoned bag with her right wing like she usually would to pick up an object. She stared in astonishment to notice her wings had no feathers, she could not remember if she was ever able to fly, but knew for certain that her wings use to have feathers. What was left were four bony fingers emerging from her wing joints, this was fairly strange but have her much more control over bone movement and a strong grasp. After picking it up she proceeded to open the bag revealing what it held inside. The bag was small and inside fitted four glass vials of a blood like substance and two old looking note books. She took the bag as it and the items within could come in handy and it's content must hold some value.
Her instincts urged her that it was time to move, staying in one place in an unknown location was dangerous. Silently she trotted forward exiting through the room's only door, she was met by a long hallway both to the left and right, moving along the left path led her to a pair of decrepit stairs. Walking down with occasional squeaks she made it to the hospital's main guestroom where stood a strangely large double exit door, what she found strange was how quiet and abandoned the place was, not a single souls to be felt, not the slightest whisper to be herd. All of the buildings windows were boarded up with thick wooden planks and even rusty metal chains, preventing preventing a almost all light from entering the room. With a slight struggle she managed to open the massive double door, pushing the two gates aside with both of her wings.
Her eyes gradually adjusted to the light emitted by the outside world, a cold and chocking air entering her nostrils. She first glanced at the night sky, it was dark, no stars could be seen, the only light lighting up the land below was a deep blood red moon, it was unbelievably large almost taking up the entire sky, it felt alive decorated my such a vibrant, fresh shade of red. Below the spectating lunar shy was a small alley of the place she was in, the buildings were too tall for her to see what hid behind them. The architecture looked to be from the late Victorian era approximately between year 1840 and 1860, but with a consistent building style theme of arrow heads, metal bars, clock towers, and overall in a long lasting state of decay, the walls rotting, bricks crumbling apart. Once again all windows and doors barricaded with wooden planks and rust infested chains all closed up with many locks, the long road that she stood on was connected with the pavement at both sides and coated with puddles of old decaying blood, over sized rats could be seed fighting to their death for a single drink of it, despite there being enough for all of them to feast upon. The pony coughed as she inhaled a strong drift of the putrid smell, managing to sense a delicate smell of ask, the ash of burning flesh, as she was told by her hunter senses. Both sides of the road were covered by buildings leaving a clear path both left and tight, the wind came both from the right, and so she went that way carefully following the small, perhaps it was food or perhaps it was trouble.
She trotted on the left right side of the narrow path, looking around at her deserted surroundings. She thought to herself, what is this place? What was she doing in that hospital? If she was a hospital patient, why did she not have a typical white or blue hospital gown? She decided it was best to concentrate on finding someone right now, so that they might explain and answer her questions. She looked in astonishment to see a caravan laying in the middle of the road, it was turned onto its left side and had no pony pulling it. Passing the mysterious sight she kept moving without investigating, but still wondered what kind of powerful force would be needed to turn over such a vehicle. As the smell of burning muscle and sizzling blood grew stronger she knew she was getting close, at the horizon of the road ahead she could see a small group of figures standing by a dancing flame. She wanted to get closer to see what exactly was happening and who were those ponies? But the road was very narrow and had very little cover, if any at all. She decided to take the risk, if the ponies were hostile she might pass unseen or escape, but if they are friendly then she must be a fool to avoid they.
Her head down she tried to stay low, slowly sneak closer and avoid making any sound, breathing was the slightest sound she was willing to let out. She stood still when close enough to the three tall figures standing still, staring at the pair of raging flames. She let out a slow gasp of air as she looked at the almost unrecognizable ponies, all three of them were stallions, but their skin looked pore pail and colorless than normal ponies. Their limbs were contorted and elongated, their eyes bone white with only their pupils showing minimal diluted color. Their coats had little hair due to the many scars inflicted upon their skin. Two of them were very skinny with a bony posture and long beards while one stood out with his large muscle mass. All three looked to be wearing slightly cheap but smart looking clothing, the typical jacket, long strait trousers, black leather shews, tops hats and leather coats or classic blazers, the kind of clothing a typical town inhabitant would wear in the late Victorian era. They were all armed with what looked to be blade like weapons, for whatever reason they were armed, it was certainly not a good one. What got her attention next were the bright flames emitting from in front of the three figures, she was horrified to see what looked to be two figures tied to large wooden logs, being consumed my the scorching fire. But they looked almost nothing like ponies, those creatures were a lot bigger even compared to the ponies standing around them. Their bones were a lot thicker, elongated pony like skulls filled with some knife sharp teeth but with some herbivore features, their disfigured legs ending with massive hooves but their front legs had split to create a pair of clawed hands growing from the joints of their front legs which did indeed have hooves. This sight was utterly horrifying, but not a single shiver went down her spine.
For a moment she stood there like a statue fixated on her discovery, debating over facing or avoiding the only ponies that she found. Before she decided on her next move she spotted a slight movement from within the three ponies. It was a dog, the dog was extremely battle scared with barely any fur and ghostly white skin, a long trail of fresh thick blood trailed from it's teeth filled mouth as it walked along the road. This dog did not look friendly at all, and it was sniffing. Frightened of being detected she moved back towards the direction she came from, approaching them was too much of a dangerous risk. The cold night wind suddenly changed direction... The dog's head immediately fixated in her direction, his endless white eyes met hers with raging anger, the dog's loud barking echoed through the silent night, alerting the three tall ponies. They turned to face her, pure hate swept across their pale faces, murder in their eyes as one of them shouted.
"Kill the monster!" in a gurgled tone.
She ran like her pure existence depended on it, the saliva in her mouth tasted of blood. Fearsome growling erupted from the dogs jaws as he gradually got close to her. She ran faster, the urge to survive powering her every muscle, her hunter instincts preventing her exhausted body from falling to the ground. The bloodthirsty dog leaped from the ground with a loud bark, it landed onto her back, it's big yellow teeth dug right into the back of her neck. They both fell onto the ground with a lot of force, the dog let go of her crackling neck as it was staggered on impact. With a almost paralyzing pain pulsating through her spine she attempted crawling away from the beast. The dog was fast to regain its stamina, the dog pounced at her again, biting into the soft muscle of her leg, she tried kicking the dog off, but to no avail as the dog was already in too much rage to feel any pain. She could barely hold back the dogs attacks with her wings as it growled in endless anger. The three slender ponies were getting closer, their hateful shouts becoming louder within seconds.
A sudden roar of gunshot pierced her ears, the dogs crimson blood splattering onto her light yellow coat, the dogs crooked corpse collapsed onto the cobble road. Organs spilled from a massive hole in the hounds chest, a pool of blood consuming the area around it. The street fell silent, the three enemy ponies looked towards a small alley to their right. A slow sound of trotting hooves was the only thing that could be herd, as a mysterious figure approached from within the shadows. A strong magenta purple aura emanating from her horn, holding a large blunderbuss with her magic, two twinkling sharp blades held in her wings, she must be an alicorn, the blades let out a sizzling spark as she scraped both metals against each other. Her coat of hair was purple and she wore a pointy, black, witch like hat with a frightening bird like plague doctor mask completely hiding her face. Her clothing was fully equipped with many small to medium vials of blood, an silent silver bell, and a thick night black cloak made up of crow feathers covering whatever else she might be hiding. One of the three angry ponies, with a long old beard and a rusty chain used by magic looked towards the masked figure, and let out a screeching scream. A sharp clank was herd as the rusty chain attack was blocked by the alicorn's blade, the old unicorn hissed in disapproval. The alicorn had already reloaded her blunderbuss, aimed in a flash and blew the unicorn's head open as he was still hissing, hi's skull erupting with a shower of blood and a wave of splattered brain. At this sight the second pony of the group, the most muscle built one ran towards the alicorn with a large hammer in hand, but hi's battle cry was silenced by a shiver of pain as the alicorn dodged his attack and precisely slashed a large cut into hi's front left leg, causing the muscular earth pony to fall onto the ground, letting go of hi's giant hammer. The alicorn just kept walking foreword, not looking back the masked pony threw a flaming molotov behind her, setting the fallen enemy on fire, his screams of agony slowly faded as he took his last carbon filled breath. The third pony was a pegasus, he looked to be the group leader, he was a lot smarter, thinking carefully of his next move as the alicorn came closer. Alicorns have very powerful magic and are not the kind of ponies to be messed with, he knew that very well. The alicorn shot her blunderbuss, but the bullet was deflected by the pegasuse's scythe. The pegasus swung hi's weapon barely missing the alicorn as she dodged the attack like a venomous snake. The pegasus then reversed one of hi's attacks, hitting the alicorn hard with the wooden end of hi's scythe, the the masked figure tumbled onto the ground, stunned by the strong hit she dropped her blunderbuss which rolled out of her reach. A slight smile crept upon the pegasuse's mouth, the only emotion he has shown throughout the fight. The wounded pony wanted to help the hopeless alicorn, but could not get up with the strong injuries inflicted by the dog. She could only luck as the tall pegasus raised the scythe above hi's head, about to end the alicorn's life. The alicorn closed her eyes, but she wasn't giving up... She was concentrating. Her horn sparked bright purple, the bright glow covered her entire body. With a flash she disappeared, suddenly appearing right behind the enemy, she scrapped the blades together, with no mercy one by another she stabbed both of her weapons deep into the confused pegasuse's back. He let out a scream of pain as hi's blood painted the alicorn's feathered coat rose red.
The alicorn slowly walked towards the wounded pony, weakened by such a powerful teleportation spell.
"Thank you" softly whispered to the alicorn, as she slowly bled out from the massive neck wound and her shattered neck.
The alicorn did not speak, just came closer and inspected what the wounded pony had inside her leather bag. From inside the alicorn took out one of the blood vials.
"Drink this" the alicorn instructed.
She did not have much choice, whatever this was going to do to her was certainly better than bleeding out in this place. And so she drank the vial's content, the piercing pain from before came back, the feeling of needles swept through her body like a swarm of bloodthirsty bees. A strong stab of pain struck her head, and the pain was over. Her wounds immediately filled up with flesh to the point where they were no longer there, the bleeding was gone, she felt full of energy, no longer tired, it was like food and a long rest, but also healed her entire body.
"There is no time to waste Flutterblood, we must hurry" the masked pony commanded.
"How would you know my name, and who are you?" asked Flutterblood with a puzzled expression.
"Your cutie mark looks to be three butterflies and you are a pony borne by the elder blood, a hunter. And so I will call you Flutterblood" the alicorn answered rapidly.
"But who are you?" Flutterblood repeated.
"My name is Stargazer, I'm a hunter like you and was sent here by the Celestialplain to find you, but we must go now, before more of beast hunters come" Stargazer answered.
Flutterblood did not argue and followed her new friend. The two ponies traveled down the narrow city paths, hiding within the cover of shadows to avoid any unwanted detection from their enemies. Flutterblood now could see a old crumbling castle in the distance, half of it had already fallen to the ground, it's days of glory looked to have passed a long time ago.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Stargazer whispered.
"Yes, it most looks glorious" Flutterblood lied.
The ponies had reached their destination, a massive metal gate stood before them, it was very rusty and looked to be rotting right before their eyes, but still kept it's gold plated patterns engraved in detail throughout all those years. Both ponies slowly traversed the large gates and stepped into the royal territory of the castle.
"Keep it calm, your safe here Flutterblood, the castle grounds hide no dangers" Stargazer said in a friendly voice.
Flutterblood just smiled gently and glanced at Stargazer, the dark hollow eyes of her mask hid any face expressions from Flutterblood.
Both ponies trotted along the crumbling rubble, avoiding any delicate infrastructures, the castle was in very bad condition at the enterance but the interior of it was a lot more stable. The castles walls were covered in paintings, they showed the deep history of it's rulers, all the royal blood members of the kingdom, from the deepest roots of the family tree to the high ends of its leaves. Flutterblood did not recognize the alicorns she saw, but new deep within the importance of those rulers and what they have done and sacrificed for this kingdom to still stand to this day. The paintings became a lot more familiar as she walked along the corridor, but the last five paintings were ripped to shreds, preventing Flutterblood from recognizing any vital facial features. The two ponies eventually reached a large door, marked with a picture of a golden sun. Stargazer looked at FlutterBlood once again, Flutterblood noticed a small glimpse of Stargazers hair escape from beneath the mask, the hair was a dark shade of blue with a few strands of amethyst purple and a touch of pink.
"You must see her alone, that is what the Celestial plain wants" Stargazer said.
Flutterblood was unsure of what she should do, she gradually grabbed the door handle and was about to enter. Stargazer took of the plague doctors mask, revealing a friendly smile and her diluted purple eyes.
"I know your scared we all are, but keep strong. You have many questions that will be answered, but not now, first you must speak to the Princess, she is waiting for you."
Flutterblood smiled back and proceeded to open the door, she was met with a long set of rounded rock stairs. Step by step she gradually made her way up, she noticed as the higher up she went rotating up the stairs around the rock pillar the temperature got drastically colder with every step she took. As she got closer to the top, the wall on the right side of the stairs had been destroyed causing Flutterblood to face the freezing cold winds of those heights and a terrifying view of the entire kingdom. She kept close to the left side, keeping safe and as far away from the drop as possible. She made it to the top of the castle tower, as small stairway extended from it, it was the last step she had to take. The view from here was never ending the kingdom was beautiful in its own way, the clock tower emerging from the rooftops below, the gigantic chimneys and walls decorating the landscape and filling the air with clouds of smoke. She did not waste more time and trotted up the tallest castle tower. The ice cold wind gently brushed through her light pink hair, making it wave to her left. In front of her stood Celestialplain a phantom white alicorn. The Celestial plain was completely surrounded by piles of burnt out candles, stood next to her was a very large empty bird cage, inside it was only a pile of gray ask and a single large bird skull was placed on top of it. Behind the celestial plain was a single, giant, colorful, decorative window which showed the kingdom but with a glorious bright sun above it, casting vibrant colors upon the buildings below it. Celestialplain's legs were very thin and contrasted in a slender posture with her incredible height, her featherless wings were the longest ones Flutteblood has ever seen, even without their feathers they were spread in their full glory, like the tail of a peacock. The alicorn's horn was longer than any sword Flutterblood has ever lied eyes upon and with such size it must hold magical powers so strong that only a pony of true royal blood can hold them. She stood in a tall strait posture, light sheets of silver armor were plated with gold lining detail and perfectly fitted to fit her chest and hooves. The middle of her chest plate held a royal gem, a mineral so rear only a royal could be honored to obtain it, it's glory reflecting the magnificence of it's owner. A very similar gem was placed upon the princesses crown, which was also made from the finest silver and plated with the highest qualities of gold, all to the royal standards. Despite this what stood out the most about the appearance of Celestialplain must have been the thick iron mask she had covering her entire face, the mask had thin line cuts in it to let the princess see and breath, but was astonishingly strange for the princess to hide her beauty this way. Next she noticed the calm waves of the alicorn's hair drifting through the air, Celestialplain did not have much hair but the bit of it that she obtained was outstanding, the diluted shades of pink, blue, and pink all together looked like beams of pure sunlight reflected off the eyes of those that have the privilege to see their glory... She was truly the only sun within the plain darkness of this world.
"Flutterblood my child, I could feel your pain, I felt your hope, but now I feel your fear, why is that?" Celestialplain asked softly, her words like the ones of a loving mother.
"I'm not scared your majesty, I'm just lost" responded Flutterblood.
"Those words hurt me my dear, a lie can be sometimes be worse than death you see, i know that very well. What you have just said is a lie, I am the unknown to you little pony, you do not understand my power, you do not know my weakness, the unknown is our greatest fear... But do not fear me, I mean you no harm, I'm just warning you about the truth of this world" Celestialplain stated.
Flutterblood was scared, but didn't want her fear to be noticed.
"Please come closer my daughter, I need to feel your warm blood, closer." said Celestialplain gently.
Flutterblood did not fear the princess's command and came foreword. Celestialplain reached out with her long bony wing and delicately stroked Flutterblood's right cheek, Flutterblood did not flinch.
"I feel the elder blood within your veins, you have been poisoned by what shall keep you alive, it will make you stronger as long as you can control that strength. Many have fallen before you, the elder blood has turned them into beasts, you must hold the duty they held and not fall under it's wait." Celestialplain paused for a moment.
"This land has fallen to a power stronger than us, a power we could not understand, the unknown that we have trusted. A ponies oldest and strongest fear is the fear of the unknown, fear of the elder blood. We were not ready for the power it gave us and were fools to do the deeds we now have to pay for. My sister was right..." A single tear dropped from the slit in Celestialplain's mask.
"She did not take the elder blood and so the great ones revealed to her the truth, what it was we do not know and we could never understand as she is now greater than us. She left the everlasting crimson moon upon our sky as a punishment for my foolishness, she left us rotting in this forsaken land while she travels beyond our existence." Another tear drop escaped the princess's mask.
"Without the sun I am dying, and without a princess this kingdom will die with me, you must help us Flutterblood. You must find the elements of harmony so that we can banish the curse put upon this kingdom, it cannot end this way." Celestial plain looked up from her feet and glanced in the direction of Flutterblood.
"I will do all I can to save this kingdom your highness" Flutterblood knelled.
She slowly rose back up and turned back towards where she came from.
"And you shall not fail" Whispered Celrstialplain as Flutterblood left the tower.
Author's Note
Thank you if you managed to read all of this, I'm working really hard on my project of Flutteblood. I've written a draft of this story before, but now I'm finally writing the full thing in full detail here on fimfiction because I feel a lot more people will read it and enjoy it on this website. All the art in my story is drawn by me and if you would like to see it than It's all on my DeviantArt: ImTheCASUAL
FlutterBlood (Chapter 2, Hunters only fall)
She traversed the door that lay upon the bottom step, a delightful smell infiltrating her nostrils.
"Come Flutterblood, dinner has been served" Stargazer called from a nearby room.
Flutterblood followed the strong scent, which led her to a large dining room. This place was very well lit compared to the rest of the decrepit castle. Once again colorful stained glass windows decorated the stone walls, from the ceiling hung a glistening chandelier, it's shape was simple but obscure, a long metal rod with a large crystal cluster at the end of it with two more metal rods protruding from it, this time both bent at a estimated 110 degree angle. Truly unique? Her attention then turned to the main object of the room, an enormous table, the size of a royal feast, but completely covered my empty plates and dry cups. At the end of it sat Stargazer with an inviting smile on her face.
"Come on, what are you waiting for?" Asked the purple alicorn rhetorically.
Flutterblood realized she was frozen still all throughout her short inspection, she came foreword towards her dear new friend. Stargazer was sat on one of the six colored chairs that stood out from the rest, only the two belonging to the pair had plates served with some boiled vegetables. Flutterblood sat down and looked down onto her meal, the plants looked slightly old and the vegetables unfit to eat, but the boiling must have gotten rid of any harmful parasites.
"No worries my friend, as a hunter you can eat almost anything and deal no harm to your body, it will just go right through." Stargazer laughed.
Flutterblood fell silent for a moment.
"Does this mean we are dead?" She questioned.
"No, not at all." Stargazer giggled slightly and took a large bite from a very soft copper brown apple.
"Out bodies are much stronger now you see, we are not vampires and we are not the living dead. We are simply hunters, one step closer to the great ones, far more evolved than the usual ponies, but there is a small catch. Those who cannot control the power they are given turn into beasts, the elder blood is not a power to me messed with, but back then we did not know the risk. You will see its doing soon, but right now enjoy your meal." The alicorn stated in a reassuring tone.
Flutterblood leaned over and ate a piece of the decayed vegetables.
"It might not taste good but trust me this might be the last time you taste proper food, so treasure every bite. There is no more left out there, and what can be scavenged we should keep for the ones without the elder blood" added Stargazer.
"Please explain, what is the elder blood?" asked FlutterBlood.
"Oh, as Celestialplain not told you? Never mind. It is what makes us hunters, the blood of the great ones found deep beneath ground in the elder catacombs, the pony race has harvested his substance and used it as medicine. Groundbreaking phenomenon you see, it made us evolve drastically making us much stronger, drinking it can heal any illness, make you immune to it, the elder blood replaces food and can heal any wound almost instantly. It strains your mind to it's full potential, giving you the hunter senses and making you a borne killing machine, for survival of course." Stargazer explained as she took her last bite of the small meal.
"Stargazer gave me my purpose, and so when do we start?" Flutterblood said trying to sound positive.
"That's the spirit, now follow me!" Stargazer burst out in enthusiasm, she hopped out of her chair and quickly galloped out of the room.
Flutterblood had almost finished her disappointing meal, but left in behind as she rushed to follow her guide. Following the noise of galloping hooves she entered another room of the maze like castle. Entering she was met with a fairly beautiful sight, the room looked to be a barbers workplace. It was filled with clothing designs, mostly the stile of what Stargazer whore with the long coats, hoods, arrow like hats, and pouches the typical so called hunter gear, but crafted and sown with magnificent designs. Some were colorful some were dull, all looked very detailed and made perfectly with mastered precision. Every set of gear was unique, some light and fast, some heavy and strong, all served a purpose and had practical advantages, still keeping a similar leather material with hints of distinctive unique color and pattern sown into straps of soft glamorous velvet. Stargazer stood next to another figure, the new pony was a unicorn her body was as white as a polished pearl and her very long hair a silky dark purple, styled in perfection first going down after a cone and twisting round like a spiral at its end. The unicorns eyes as blue as the long forgotten blue sky, long black eyelashes and a cutie mark depicting three sapphire blue diamonds, she only wore a worn out crafting apron, but obviously had a good clothes collection for herself somewhere within this room. Both figures turned to face Flutterblood.
"Flutterblood, this is Craftsmare. The pony who stands behind the gear that protects all hunters from their opponents" said Stargazer looking at the phantom white unicorn and then back at Flutterblood.
"I see you found the last element Stargazer? Well done, its good to see her safe... Good luck getting to the rest." Craftsmare said to the purple alicorn following up with a slight whisper.
"Craftsmare is will prepare your hunter gear as we progress to fit you with the right weapons." Stargazer said to Flutterblood.
"You will fit right in to what I've prepared for you Flutter, it will serve you well." Craftsmare reassured her customer.
"Thank you" Flutterblood replied as she left the room with Stargazer, pieces of cloth and strands of thread levitating towards the unicorn getting right into her work.
"Now she will have something to do, that wraith of a unicorn is a fearless fighter, but will do anything to stay here and craft clothing. Doesn't like getting her hair dirty." Stargazer smirked.
"What weapons do hunters use?" Asked Flutterblood.
"Well there is a lot of hunters, and a lot of weapons. I for example use a long ranged blunderbuss and two blades, the unique shape of them both provides a lot of helpful tricks to use in combat, which you have already seen in action. Craftsmare uses four flintlock pistols, to aim four weapons at once is a skill only a precise unicorn can master with practice, also they keep any blood from getting too close to her clothes, that's my speculation." Stargazer said.
The two ponies entered their destination, this room was a blacksmith's territory. The clanks and bangs of metal were echoing through the large empty space as the tall muscular earth pony smashed a heavy iron hammer onto the sizzling hot metal, sparks erupting from the iron and evaporating as they touched the cold water below. He dipped the glowing orange blade into the water creating a cloak of roaring steam to erupt, hiding his figure from view. Suddenly the stallions wrinkled face protruded from the wall of steam startling the two ponies.
"And who have we got here?" The blacksmith asked in a deep raspy voice.
"This is Flutterblood, the sixth element of this kingdom. Flutterblood this is the Smithstallion, the stallion behind all the master crafted weapons you will come across." Introduced Stargazer with pride.
"Nonsense, what I make is to the equivalent of a rusty spoon compared to what was made before the elder blood was found, but I'm all that is left so now you appreciate my fine work." Smithstallion responded.
"Well I certainly don't think so. So master blacksmith, we have an important order for a new hunter. So what would you like Flutterblood?" said Stargazer.
"I don't have a preference, but two blades would serve the job right." Flutterblood answered hesitantly.
"The old Smithstallion has it all planned, the unique blade design has been perfected for a while and will be reassembled now that you have arrived, I would never leave a customer with a simple pair of blades. Those will be perfect for your strong wings and I'l be sure to give them a little twist, just for you sixth element." Smithstallion said as a slight friendly smile broke the wrinkles of hi's emotionless face.
Flutterblood thanked him and was on her way, following Stargazer out of the room.
"So what do we do while my gear is assembled?" Flutterblood asked.
"As always there is no time to loose, I'm taking you outside. Only this way you can become more aware of the place you are in." Said Stargazer as she led Flutterblood out of the castle gates.
"We must take the blood of Pinkamena, only a small specimen. We need to keep a bit of it, she is an element of harmony and has not taken any elder blood. Better get some of it now before she gets into trouble, or worse becomes a beast somehow." Added stargazer.
"Is she an ally?" Flutterblood asked, questioning as to should she trust the newly introduced pony.
"Pinkamena? Yes she is a friend of mine, she may seam very strange, almost threatening at times, but she means no harm. You see, she has not taken the elder blood. This means she remember everything, she remembers what this kingdom use to be, the friends she use to have, the life we all use to have. That is all gone now and we do not worry as we all do not remember, but Pinkamena remembers it all far too well. This has driven her into a state of insanity we do not understand, but she is still an element and our friend, and so we need her." Stargazer said with a slight sadness creeping into her voice as she spoke.
The two ponies walked along the empty road, a bare yellow figure, her pink tail dragging along the ground and a dark crow feathered cloaked alicorn right by her side, traveling through a long forsaken city. This port of the town was calm, not a single trace of the beast hunters could be found.
"Our destination has been reached Flutterblood." Stargazer notified as the two ponies stood in at the foot of a decrepit house.
This certain house looked not much different to the ones surrounding it. Just the usual creaking of old splintering wood and shuffling of the rat infested walls. Stargazer approached the wooden door, it's surface was wrapped in barbed wire so she knocked at it with the pommel of her blade.
"Pinkamena, it's me Stargazer with Flutterblood the sixth element." Stargazer said, loud enough for the one inside to hear, but in a whispered tone not to alert any unwanted guests.
One by one loud clanks were herd as four locks swiped open from the other side, the door then slowly creaked open, squeaking like a dying rat.
"We will now come in" Stargazer informed before entering and motioning Flutterblood to follow.
The two ponies walked down the hall, a straight staircase on their left and closed rooms on the left, they crept up the rotting wooden stairs. A small drop of a liquid fell on her nose, a smell of clotting blood swept her senses. She looked up, the ceiling was very dark as the only light came from the top of the stairs, long tendrils of barbed wire shined by reflecting the little light emitted. Wrapped in the razor grasp of the shredding wire hung large portions of meat most unidentifiable, but some was full bodies of rats and birds. She then noticed the buckets placed beneath all the hanging corpses collecting all the dripping blood as she almost walked into one of them. They reached the stairs end, and walked into the room, following Pinkamena's lead.
The room's ceiling was not much different to the one leading up to it, once again a collection of abominations was displayed hanging from barbed wire attached to the ceilings supporting wooden structure, a carpet of buckets covering almost every square inch of the room's surface. At the end of the room lay a medium sized medical table, on it an already well dissected pony's torso. Right next to it a large system of tubes and flasks all connected together into a circuit of constant blood flow, probably made to mix certain blood types and prepare it for the right transfusions, but Pinkamena was no where to be found. The two guests crept closer to the table, looking at the piles of blood stained articles describing the anatomy of every organ and going in great detail into the vein system, describing the blood flow of every single vein and the pressure of every single artery. The heart of the dissected organism on the table looked to be still beating, pulsating with life, her concentration fixated on the subject before her.
Her ear suddenly moved. Flutterblood jumped backwards, knocking over a few buckets but keeping her balance. Stargazer turned looking at the terrified pegasus, as she drew her two blades. Flutterblood just stared at the scalpel that had fell from the dark void of the tall ceiling. From the cover of darkness smoothly popped out a ponies head, her extremely long straight pink hair dangled almost touching the ground, almost glowing bluish green eyes and a wide smile plastered across her face.
"Sorryyy, didn't mean to scare you, it just slipped." Pinkamena reassured the frightened ponies.
"What were you doing on the ceiling?" Flutterblood asked, slightly annoyed.
"I don't know, it's fun. Just giving you a little welcome surprise." Pinkamena responded with a grin.
Pinkamena let go of the ceilings wooden support structure and fell to the ground with a small crash. She shook off a few spider webs from her perfectly straight mane all hairs smoothly flowing downwards like a pink waterfall. Her ears were pierced with all kinds of earrings, all made up of a single solid dull bone like material, a necklace hung down from her neck a small crocodile or alligator scull dangling at the end of it. Her back legs were wrapped in cloth straps, probably for protection as a lighter replacement of shoes, similar cloth straps also tied at the beginning of her tail to keep the long mass of long hair tidy and prevent it from reaching the ground. Her body did not have much scars, if she took the elder blood the scars and wounds would be healed, but for a pony that never took the poison of life she had very little scars, probably meaning she avoided most battle. The only scars visible were two small cuts upon her front left leg, and in-numerous cuts dealt to her cutie mark, making it almost unrecognizable.
"It's good to see you once again Pinkamena" Stargazer broke the silence.
A sudden mood switch seamed to have occurred within Pinkamena, she no longer looked as happy as just moments ago.
"Let me guess, you only came here for the blood." That was no question, Pinkamena stated the quote in a matter of fact kind of way.
"Twilight, you use to love books remember? What about Rarity? Fluttershy? What happened to all your animals? You use to love them so, so much." Piknamena rambled underneath her voice.
"Pinkamena, forget about it." Stargazer demanded in a slightly agitated voice.
"Remember Applejack and Rainbow? They were our friends." Pinkamena continued rambling.
"Pinkamena, stop!" Stargazer shouted, ordering the pink pony to silence.
"Tell me... Where are they now?" Pinkamena added in a whisper before giggling, a tear falling from her cheek and onto the wooden tiles.
Flutterblood looked over to Stargazer, the alicorn looked enraged, but had nothing do say, as she kept her tears in.
"What if I decided to join them." Pinkamena said as she picked up a syringe filled with a crimson substance.
"Wouldn't want to fail your deer princess, would you? Pinkamena taunted.
Stargazer's horn lit up the room with an amethyst purple glow. The syringe in Pinkamena's mouth emanated with the pinkish purple aura as Stargazer attempted to levitate it out of Pinkamena's grasp with her magic.
"Hunters ate not beasts!" Screamed Stargazer in a roar of anger.
Flutterblood tackled the pink pony onto the ground spilling many buckets around them. Pinkamena let go of the syringe, but now was attempting to free herself from Flutterblood's grasp squirming wildly in the spilled blood.
"But all hunters fall! They can only fall! It's only a matter of time and we will all be like Rainbow and Applejack. The elements will not bring them back!" Pinkamena shouted in absolute rage.
"Pinkie, forget about it!" Flutterblood raised her voice.
The room fell absolutely silent.
"You called me... Pinkie." Pinkamena muttered calmly and stopped all struggle.
"You may take my element... And be gone" Pinkamena muttered.
"Fluttershy, I want to believe it will be like it use to... But it's so hard. Pinkamena's eyes released multiple tears.
Stargazer came up to the two mares and gently pierced the pink pony with an empty syringe marked "element of laughter" and filled the small vial with her blood.
"Pinkie, we can make it better, but we need your help." Flutterblood calmly said to the pink pony as she helped Pinkamena up from the ground.
Flutterblood smiled at Pinkamena as they made eye contact, but the pink mare did not smile back. Pinkamena looked down to the ground, stared at the previous syringe filled with elder blood.
"Hunters only fall." Pinkamena said as she crushed the syringe with her hoof.
"Fear the elder blood, and keep safe pinkie, when this is all over we will come back for you. I promise." Flutterblood said.
"And I shall wait." Pinkie replied, a small friendly smile appearing on her face.
The two ponies left Pinkamenas house, the third element of harmony has been preserved.
"Flutterblood?" asked Stargazer while levitating another empty syringe towards her.
Flutterblood nodded in approval, four elements safely in vials, ready to be given to the Celestialplain.
The two ponies made their way to the royal castle, entering back through the gates.
"Well, those were your first glimpses of what this world has become, not the nicest, but not the worst." Stargazer said calmly.
"This is the only world I know Stargazer, but I will fight for what is better for the ones that still remember what it use to be." Flutterblood responded as they both came into the castles main corridor.
"Oh gosh, Flutterblood! You are covered in blood. Thank Celestialplain as I can smell its not yours." Shouted Craftsmare as she inspected Flutterblood with a worried look on her face.
"Stargazer! How dare you put her into such a state on her first trip out of the royal grounds." Complained Craftsmare, furious at Stargazer.
"It's fine, she helped out a load. If not her we would have another beast on our back, or another hunter to fight... Till she falls." Stargazer answered, with her voice turning to a whisper at her last sentence.
"Flutter, you must take a bath immediately. I will not allow you to ware your gear till you wash all of this off of you." Demanded Craftsmare.
"It's hunter gear it's going to get bloody anyway." Stargazer protested.
"Not on my watch" Craftsmare followed up, and guided Flutterblood to the bathroom.
Craftsmare and Stargazer waited for her in the dining room, the hunter gear was ready and the weapons have been assembled. Flutterblood entered the room, the pegasus looked better than ever, much needed refreshment after the last couple days of agonizing work.
"Flutterblood, you look fantastic. So what do you think of your gear?" Asked Craftsmare in enthusiasm.
Flutterblood did not even glimpse at the magnificent craft displayed upon the table as she already rushed towards the two blades Stargazer was holding.
"Unfortunately Smithstallion is too busy to present those himself, but here are the two saw cleavers he had made for you" Stargazer stated.
Flutterblood held the two fairly heavy blades, one in each bony featherless wing. Both blades looked exactly the same, a very long curved handle slightly longer than the blade. At the end of it a round, toothed, gear, cog mechanism to which was attached a curved blade that went around and down the outside of the handle. The handle was wrapped in some tattered cloth straps and had a long metal lever like trigger. The blade was slightly thick which added to the wait of the weapon but also could also give it some strong cutting power, it's outer edge had jagged teeth like cuts in it the typical ripping shape common in a saw, while the inner edge was a slightly sharpened blade edge ending with a slight spike that would perfectly dig into flesh, only to be ripped right out. Flutterblood was slightly confused as to how the inner edge of such a blade would be used if it is surrounding the handle, out of reach from the opponent.
"Hold the lever." Stargazer instructed.
Flutterblood held the blades levers, when pressing them down a click was herd as in an instant the mechanisms rotated and the blades rotated away from the handle making a more original sword like shape, this was a very helpful function as an opponent would not expect such a close range weapon to be simply and effectively turned into a double sided long blade.
"It's certainly a master piece, but how will I know how to use it right?" Flutterblood asked.
"Combat is in your instincts my friend, leave it all to your hunter instinct." Stargazer replied happily.
"Please could you try the armor now?" Craftsmare demanded in exited.
Flutterblood nodded in agreement and with the unicorns help put on her hunter gear set. It fitted perfectly, a very long blackish brown leather coat, thick leather layered gauntlets. The finest details like thick elbow layers and a nice silver chain dangling from her left pocket, a strong leather belt fastened across her chest that could hold numerous blood vials and molotovs. Underneath the coat was a small tether jacket held tight by four belts that could be used for minimal storage, a nicely placed scruffy scarf wrapped round her beck and under that a black cloth to hide the her mouth. Attached to her inner jacket were two loose leather strip to harness her two saw cleavers when they are not being used. On top of all the typical pure black hunter hat, a traditional arrow shape with the two wing like ends ripped and jagged to give it that rogue look.
"It's well crafted, stealthy, and practical. Thank you Craftsmare." Flutterblood responded.
"Anything for you my dear." Craftsmare smiled.
"Alright better be going, your a hunter so you don't need no sleep and I think you had a good rest in a warm bath tub so..." Stargazer was interrupted.
"The water here, its cold." Flutterblood muttered.
"Oh, yes, right. So as I was saying, we should head out. Our next destination is the rotting apple acres farm." Stargazer continued.
"Is the place dangerous?" Flutterblood questioned with little to no hesitation.
"Yes, yes it is my dear." Replied Craftsmare in a worried voice.
"We have not herd from the Apple family in months... or maybe years. Anything could have happened, we are expecting the worst." Stargazer said in a voice not as confident as she would usually sound.
"There is only one way to find out, judging from the name, is Applejack the pony we are looking for?" Flutterblood responded following up with a well thought out question.
"Yes, she is the fifth element of harmony. We must go." Stargazer responded sadly.
"I will come searching with the royal guards if you two do not return in a day." Craftsmare stated in a reassuring tone.
The two hunters were on their way, the path was not much of a struggle. Much blood has not been spilled, but a lot of enemies had been avoided, a danger far stronger was awaiting them and no blood vials must be wasted. Their destination has been reached, they both stood as the strong smell of decaying fruit penetrated their nostrils. Flutterblood covered her mouth and nose with the black cloth to numb the revolting smell, and off they went into the deep rotting forest.
Author's Note
Thank you to anyone that has read all the way to the end of chapter 2 of FlutterBlood. It takes me a long time to write each chapter as I put a lot of thought into the FlutterBlood universe and I'm constantly drawing the characters I create in the story on my DeviantArt. Overall I'm having a lot of fun writing this story and making it what it is. To all that support me and my work, thank you. -ImTheCASUAL
