Jealousy
Written by: Duchess Donut
Fluttershy was Ponyville's worst flier, everypony knew that. If she was lucky, she could manage to flap her wings once or twice, but nothing more. As for Rainbow Dash, she tore through the limitless expanse of sky like a hot knife through butter. And Fluttershy was jealous.
Dashie danced with the wind, embracing it like an old friend. She swirled and dove through the air, a beautiful rainbow following her wherever she flew.
It must be nice to fly like that.
Day after day, Fluttershy would boil with her jealousy.
Day after day, she would retreat to her cottage tucked away in the forest, shrouded in secrets and silence.
"Come over? Today? Oh gosh Fluttershy, I don't know. I still need to do my daily exercises!"
Rainbow Dash adverted her gaze the ground to avoid the hurt in Fluttershy's eyes.
"Oh...okay Dashie. If you, um, change your mind, I'll be there all day. Okay?" she grinned hugely at her friend and slowly followed the winding path back to her cottage.
After a few hoof-steps, Rainbow trotted after the shy pony.
"Hey, I guess I can miss practice for a day. Besides, I'll still be Ponyville's best flier, even if I skip exercises for a year!"
"Oh, that's wonderful! Let's go, I should not keep my guest waiting outside!" Fluttershy grabbed Rainbow Dash by her fore-hoof and raced back to her cottage deep within the woods.
Inside the cottage, Rainbow followed closely behind Fluttershy, examining her surroundings. Everything seemed normal: Fluttershy's various animals bouncing around, everything neat and tidy...and yet, Rainbow Dash felt a feeling of uncertainty linger in the air.
"Hey, uh, Dashie? Would you...er...like some soup? I made it myself, you know!" Fluttershy peeked around the corner and presented her homemade soup to Rainbow Dash, looking quite pleased with herself.
"Oh, um, sure! Thanks, Fluttershy!" the rainbow pony galloped over and accepted the meal, having heard ponies rave about Fluttershy's soup. Taking a large sip, it wasn't long before she downed the entire bowl of hot liquid.
"I made it especially for you, Dashie!" Fluttershy smiled sweetly, flicking her long, pale pink locks behind her, "do you, um, like it?"
Rainbow's eyelids began to droop, her mind became groggy. "Yeah, yeah it was great Fluttershy! For some reason, I feel really tired. Long day, I guess!"
"Are you sure it wasn't the soup?" Fluttershy sneered, her expression dark and menacing. Then Rainbow Dash fell into a deep, unconscious sleep.
Rainbow Dash regained conscience, her sight blurry and disoriented. Fluttershy was standing in her line of vision, her eyes wild and crazed.
"You're awake! Finally! I thought I'd killed you! Thank goodness you're still alive!" Fluttershy laughed, an unusual, maniac laugh. A laugh that caused Dashie's skin to prick.
Rainbow Dash's eyes darted around, observing where she was. They appeared to be in Sugarcube Corner, and everypony was gone. Well, everypony except Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.
"I thought you'd like it here," Fluttershy cooed, bending down to whisper in her friend's ear, "I thought we'd have a few sweet moments together, while we still can. Well, you, anyway."
Rainbow Dash grew sick with fear. She tried to speak, but she felt something lodged in her throat. Something moving and writhing, wanting to be free as much as she did.
"Speak, Dashie! Express your appreciation! I thought you'd like it here!" Fluttershy grew outraged, her pupils narrowing, her teeth barring.
Rainbow Dash opened her jaws as wide as she could. Hundreds of slimy, squirming maggots burst from her mouth and burrowed through the skin in her neck in a desperate attempt for air.
Rainbow screamed hysterically, blood pouring from the gaping holes in her throat and mouth, carrying the bulging bugs away in the crimson muck.
"You like my pets? They wanted to meet you, get close and personal. You know what I mean?" Fluttershy giggled, her pupils dilating even more.
Rainbow Dash fought back tears as the last of the insects found their way off the pegasus' body, blood and mucus oozing from her trachea.
"This," Rainbow Dash gagged up hunks of rotting dead maggots and vomit, "isn't normal, Fluttershy. Why are you doing this?"
"I want to be Ponyville's best flier. I want to be somepony, not just cute little Fluttershy, the zookeeper!" Fluttershy's anger erupted, her sentences coming out in screams.
"F-F-Fluttershy, y-you're an excellent flier! Y-You're o-outstanding!" Rainbow Dash started hyperventilating, her lungs growing weary with the amount of pressure on them.
Fluttershy shot a glare at her friend, her lips curling into a wicked smile.
"No I'm not," she cooed gently, coolly, mysteriously, "but you know who is, right? We've been friends for quite a long time, Dashie. I think I've come to find out what makes you tick, squirm or squeal. I know you like the back of my hoof."
Dashie watched nervously as Fluttershy advanced to the back of the room. The pale-yellow pony pulled a giant metal box off the counter, stroking it with her hoof.
"You hate to loose. You play to win. Life is just a big race, isn't it? You always need to be 20% cooler at everything." Fluttershy trotted next to her victim's side and pinned her with one strong hind-hoof, "but you can't compete with an injury, right?"
Fluttershy revved up the machine. A long chain emerged, roaring and hungry for blood.
Rainbow Dash shrieked, blood spraying out of her throat and staining her blue belly. "F-Fluttershy! What the heck is wrong with you?"
Fluttershy laughed psychotically and stretched out Rainbow's left wing. Effortlessly, she dug through the light feathers that coated the delicate wing. Chunks of bleeding muscle flew into the air with a wet, warm sound. Blood squirted everywhere, soaking Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash's faces.
"Gosh Dashie," Fluttershy yelled over the bellow of the chainsaw, "you sure have a lot of blood in you! Have you ever heard that bathing in a young pony's blood can rejuvenate your youth? Maybe I'll try that soon!"
Rainbow Dash sobbed as the tool ripped into her flesh, tearing out every last nerve, every last vein.
"H-h-here's t-t-t-the b-b-b-b-b-bone! S-sorry if t-things g-g-g-get a l-little b-b-b-bumpy!" Fluttershy applied more pressure to the chainsaw, the blade cutting through the bone.
Rainbow Dash clenched her teeth tightly, tears weaving their way silently down her blood-soaked face.
"H-hey D-D-Dashie, I c-can't s-s-s-seem t-to c-c-c-cut through t-the bone. M-mind if I t-t-t-try I d-d-different m-method?" Fluttershy sounded as if she was on a bumpy roller coaster, though her excitement was the chainsaw in her hooves.
Switching off the tool, Fluttershy handled the destroyed wing in her teeth, spitting out excess pieces of muscle tissue and bone.
"Okay Dashie, I don't quite know how to do this, but bear with me, alright? 1...2...3!"
With a jerk, Fluttershy ripped the wing from the muscle, harshly shattering the bone into several scattered shards. The force tore the hide off Rainbow Dash's body from her wing down to her flank, exposing the bleeding, pulsing muscle.
Rainbow Dash no longer screamed, her hyperventilation and bleeding throat offered no way for words. As Fluttershy snapped off the right wing, the amount of blood and pressure on Rainbow's lungs was too much. With a loud pop, her lungs exploded inside her, causing her body to convulse and shower blood over everything in the Sugarcube Corner kitchen. The ovens were dripping blood, the measuring cups, the pots and pans...not one thing was salvaged from the shower of scarlet liquid.
"I feared that would happen," Fluttershy chortled, grabbing an oxygen mask and tying it around her friend's slippery, bloody head. "I know that won't keep you around too long, but we'd better exchange some last goodbyes, am I right?"
Rainbow Dash writhed around in her "death-bed", swimming in her bath of maggots, urine, excrement and blood. The reek caused her to vomit, the substance leaking out of her throat and filling up her oxygen mask, causing her to inhale and swallow it once again.
"Dashie! Quit that rude behavior! We're supposed to be exchanging a heartfelt moment, remember?" Fluttershy cleared her throat and began in her sweet, sing-song voice.
"Dear Dashie," she poked her hoof into her friend's side, muscles and assorted organs falling out of her body, "that's you! Anyway, we've known each other for quite some time now, and If there's one thing about you that I absolutely despised, it was that you would never, ever share with me. But look at you now! You've given me your precious wings! Now, I think it's only fair I do something nice for you. How about we heat you up? You're looking a little chilly, Dashie."
Fluttershy lifted her hind-hoof off of her mangled friend and released her oxygen mask. Dashie only groaned in response.
"Better get you ready to be "heated up."" Fluttershy smirked as she grabbed a pitcher of salt off the counter. Screwing off the cap, she turned Dashie onto her side, exposing the bloody, destroyed and torn-up muscle. With much enthusiasm, Fluttershy dumped the entire container of salt, rubbing it in with her bare-hooves, making sure to fill each rip and tear. Dashie convulsed, urine pouring out of her bladder. The muscles fizzed and bubbled, creating new wounds and releasing more blood and pus.
"I think that's quite enough, don't you Dashie?" Fluttershy hoisted Rainbow Dash onto her back and, with little effort, shoved the pegasus pony into the burning oven.
Surprisingly, Rainbow Dash let out a cry, aside from her destroyed lungs. It was gurgled, choked off by blood and phlegm, but a cry nonetheless. She saw hooves helplessly batter the oven door in an attempt to flee, leaving bloody prints on the screen. Then she was gone, licked up by tongues of hungry flames.
Fluttershy climbed through the sky, embracing the wind like an old friend. She tore through the limitless expanse of sky like a hot knife through butter. She swirled and dove through the air, her sky-blue wings flapping in the breeze.
It is nice to fly like this.
And yet, every time she flew, she heard the distant cry of Rainbow Dash. It was gurgled, choked off by blood and phlegm, but a cry nonetheless. She saw visions of her own blood lust. Though she had what she wanted, she couldn't help but want more.
Nopony would know.
Nopony would ever live to tell.
