You had no idea where to look for Mom or Devil’s Food Cupcake, but Raven Luster just wanted to go home, and reasoned that it would better to regroup with rescue tools, anyway. So once again she flew above the treetops, and once she spotted the lights from a nearby town, she slowly started to lead you and Naturally Unique towards them.
Perhaps it was because your attention was divided between looking up at her and not tripping over roots in the dark, but you missed running into a bank of smoke until you were in the middle of it. The smell of burning wood filled your nose, and made your eyes water. You shut your eyes to keep the smoke out. It didn't feel hot nearby, so you knew you weren't in immediate danger of being burnt, but it was logical to assume that wouldn’t last. You coughed and lowered yourself down to think a moment, calling out:
“RL! NU! Wait a moment!”
When you opened your eyes, your friends, the forest and smoke were gone. Instead you were in front of a small, familiar school building on a bright fall morning. You were disoriented and rightly so, until the school bell chimed. You remembered that bell sound, it chimed when there was a break at your old school as a filly.
You hid behind a bush when the school door flew open and tiny fillies and colts ran outside to play. The schoolyard had a Sandbox, slide, and swing set, plus a merry-go-round that filled up fast. But what caught your eye was a group of fillies lingering beside the building. They were all looking at a small pink fiilly with a purple and green mane who still didn’t have her Cutie Mark -you.
You blinked and you were inside the younger version of yourself, and all your memories of the future slipped away until you thought that you were in the present. Filly-you moved forward and spoke, repeating the same things you said way back on your very first day of school.
“I'll be the rose princess Breezie, and you can be her sisters-”
“-no,” One filly cut you off.
“I want to be the rose princess Breezie,” another argued.
“But I thought of the game!” You yelled.
“Well then, you can't play with us!” The first filly declared.
This was the first time some pony hadn't gone along with the game you made up. Now as a mare, we know we can't always expect ponies to behave the way we want- but at that age, that rejection combined with that lesson was traumatizing.
No pony would play with you afterwards in that recess, telling you, “Not you, Daisy.” When school got out you cried all the way home, running so you could be comforted by-
Your house was empty. No furniture to cry on, or plush toys to cuddle with. You went room to room, but it was the same all over. While not having anything in your home was distressing, there was something you wanted more than all that that wasn't there.
A growl rumbled through your head, and an image of a tiny coyote pup next to a larger one appeared like a nostalgic memory. It wasn't your memory - you're a unicorn, after all- but it did remind you who you were looking for- Mom.
Remembering her, all your memories came back. Back then, mom had cheered us up and became our Playmate when nopony else would. Cheesy as it was, Mom was our first friend. When you blinked again, you were back in the woods, and back to being a fully-grown Mare.
You could see Mom in front of you then, struggling to breathe in a coil of smoke that somehow suspended her in mid-air, holding her in place so she couldn’t fly away. You rushed forward to help, but stopped short when the smoke moved together into a long mass, forming a snake-like head with fire orange eyes.
“Another monster?” NU groaned as she stepped into sight besides you.
“If I fly over there, I might get caught like your Mom,” RL added, landing next to her.
“You don’t happen to know any fighting spells?” you asked NU.
“Nope.”
“Me neither. But maybe if we distract it, RL can get Mom to safety.”
“Any ideas how?”
“My Mom doesn’t have the time for us to think of one. I’m just gonna be as flashy as I can be!”
You raced towards the monster, casting a light spell around your horn, pushing at your energy to making it bigger and bigger- hopefully threatening looking.
“LET HER GO!” you yelled at it. The smoke snake hissed, holding mom closer, more defensively. You whinnied in frustration- you weren’t intimidating enough to make it flee, and if it decided to attack you weren’t sure you could even defend well enough to survive.
You focused on the aura, trying to avoid letting your worry about Mom break your concentration enough to disrupt the spell, when the elephant-sized Periwinkle Aura over your horn was joined by yellow as NU added her magic to yours.
“What if we made it look like something?” NU suggested.
“But what could we make our magic look like that would scare a snake made of smoke?”
The monster suddenly lengthened into the air, swaying back and forth like a Cobra about to strike. In that moment you were reminded of a story mom read you back as a filly about a creature that battled snakes.
“NU! Make it into a Mongoose!”
Quickly, the magic between you turned brown. A four-legged creature stretched over the both of you with a long torso, rounded ears, furry tail, and long snout. The giant Mongoose hiding your forms hissed as the snake, twitching its tail and whiskers, crouching to pounce. As you flung the energy at the snake, the mongoose leapt, white teeth flashing as it seemed to attack.
Like a gust of wind, the smoke was blown away as the snake fled. Mom fell from the sky, and was quickly caught by RL and lowered gently to the ground. You ran over to her to help as she coughed, and she eyed you worriedly.
“Are you alright?” she asked between coughs.
“Am I alright? You were the one almost suffocated by smoke!”
“But you were turned into a werewolf-like monster!” Mom explained.
“What!?”
“Yeah it was back when the sheriff was leading us to town. You shifted, growled at us and ran off into the woods. Pixie was very upset.”
“Why didn't you guys mention that before?” You gasped at your friends.
“You were in such a hurry to help everypony we thought it could wait”, NU said, and RL nodded in agreement. Exasperated, you wondered if it didn't have anything to do with that strange growly voice you heard earlier. That voice was quiet now, but you were very suspicious.
“So you all got separated while looking for me?”
“Not exact-” Mom started to say, but she stopped quickly to pull you downwards.
A crackle and a hiss reached your ears, heat and red light flashed above you. You turned your head to look for the source of danger, and saw a black mare with fire for its mane and tail. It was a Night Mare- another monster you'd only seen in books before- and it looked strangely familiar.
“Devily?” You asked the being. It raced toward you, and you didn't think it wanted a hug. “Devil's Food Cupcake?” you tried again as you dodged the mare’s charge. RL flew up into a tree, and NU you tried to hide behind another, but your mom stayed close by.
“Is it really her?” Mom asked you.
“She usually doesn't have fire for a mane and tail, but her eyes are Devily's”.
You met your Devily’s eyes- which beheld you with hostility- but somehow she didn't seem to recognize you. You had seen Devily mad before. The two of you both have tempers, and often bicker with each other. But as much as she would jokingly take her anger out on inanimate objects and play at making threats, you know she'd never lay a hoof on you- because her smile was always genuinely happy.
Which is what shocked you the most as the Night Mare in front of you kicked, bucked and stomped at you in a feral manner. To make the situation even worse, even if you blocked or dodged her blows, embers snapped off the mare, and smoked as they landed on the forest around you. Mom helped you stamp on as many embers as she could, but if the two of you couldn't find a better solution, a forest fire would start.
Devil's Food Cupcake stomped her hooves on the ground like a bull, and she charged forward- this time not towards you, but NU. In sheer panic, you leapt on to the Night Mare in order to stall her, and instantly felt the heat of the fire on her mane burn you like a hot pan. You winced in pain and when you opened your eyes, the world had changed again.
You found yourself in a familiar park at midday, staring at two teenage fillies on a bench cheerfully chatting about the newest mane-ga you'd been reading. Devil's Food Cupcake was wearing an oversized black hoodie, already looking like a petite mare. It seemed back then like she never had an awkward teenage phase. You, on the other hoof, had been plump and acne-ridden, with hair that would frizz out of control with a slight gust of wind, and a tee you wore to blend in rather than look good.
You felt the memory pull at you to join it, and tried to resist- but it wasn't long before existed inside your younger self like before.
“And then he has to dress up like a maid to sneak in the palace!” you said with a giggle.
“And then what happened? Devily asked, her broad smile and eye contact making you want to continue.
“His Dragon partner didn't recognize him!” You replied with a laugh. You were about to tell her more, but the town clock chimed once, reminding you of the time. You leapt up to your hooves.
“One already?” I got to hurry home or I'll miss my lesson!”
“But I want to know what happens next!”
“I'll lend you the books later. See ya!” You turned to leave, but Devil's Food Cupcake stood on your tail.
“You're going to tell me now!” she insisted.
“Get off!” You yelled, pushing her away.
“Fine. I bet that story is dumb anyway, she replied, shoving you back. Your temper flared, and you prodded her sharply with your hoof. She slapped you, and soon enough you were bucking and biting and hitting each other like wild animals.
But it suddenly stopped when you felt yourself being held from behind, separated from your opponent. You stared for a moment at the bedraggled earth pony that your hooves still felt like pounding, and saw that she too was being held back - by NU! NU hadn't been with you that day. In fact, you remembered that you and Devil's Food Cupcake hadn't really fought at all that day.
What had really happened back then was that you had not wanted to disappoint your friend who had seemed so excited by the story you were sharing. And so for the first time ever you ended up cutting class purely by enjoying a conversation. It later upset you that you had missed that class, but it's an experience you wouldn't give up.
Remembering the true events made the illusionary park fade, and brought you back to the present day. Both Naturally Unique and Raven Luster held onto the Night Mare, and judging by the hooves around your waist, it was your mother that had grabbed you. The fight had not been imagined though, as you felt cuts and sore all over your body. But what was unusual was that your head was growing hotter and hotter.
“Mom, is my head on fire?” You asked, sounding calmer than you really were. Mom sighed in relief, and let you go.
“Yes. You were behaving just like Devily is as a Night Mare.” You turned to look at Mom, and flinched at the sight of tiny burns, and flames on her that you couldn’t seem to extinguish with your hooves.
“How can we fix this? It looks like being a Night Mare might be contagious,” you asked worriedly. Your friends didn’t seem to have an answer, but the flames only seemed to grow as you waited. Devily’s struggles only seemed to infect NU and RL too, but you couldn't risk letting her go, possibly starting a forest fire and hurting more ponies.
Then a voice that hadn’t been in your mind a while spoke up:
“Let me help,” the growly voice said.
“No! You're going to turn me into some kind of werewolf, you argued.”
“Were-coyote is closer. And what other choice do you have?”
“I... Want full control of my body,” you insisted.
“75% to 25%,” the coyote voice argued.
“50/50,” you bargained.
“The effects won't last as long with two minds controlling the same body…”
“Take it or leave it.”
“Fine. Deal.”
You felt your fur lengthen, your hooves split into paws, and your tail thickened. Your snout lengthened, and your tongue brushed over sharpened pointy teeth. And the smells that weren’t as clear as a pony were back! Ash, blood, and burnt fur were among the strongest, but you could faintly smell something in the near distance that gave you an idea. But the coyote scoffed at your idea and made you move elsewhere.
It leapt forward, snapping at Devily with your teeth, but you drew away last second. Whinnying a battle cry, the Night Mare nearly bucked out of NU’s grip. The coyote snorted in frustration your head, then leapt forward and headbutted the Night Mare, miraculously knocking it out.
Throwing Devily over your shoulder, you barked at your friends:
“Follow me while you still have your senses!”
Not taking any time to wait, you burst through bushes and trees, only hearing the rest of the mares following after a moment's hesitation. Your path likely seemed random to them, but yours nose smelled exactly where you wanted to go.
Which is why when a lake appeared in front of you, you dove in without hesitation. NU, RL, and Mom hesitated at the Lake Bank, but as you rose out of water without a flame on your body, they joined you and Devily, the flames licking their body extinguished. Devil's Food Cupcake awoke, thankfully back to herself, sputtering water and looking like she wanted to murder somepony. Paddling in the lake, she gasped:
“What in in Tartarus is going on?” She scrambled out of the water, looking at her surroundings and the other soaked mare who joined her on the shore, and met eyes with you.
“Daisy’s a werewolf again?”
“A werecoyote,” you corrected. The coyote within you barked in laughter as you climbed out of the lake after them, proceeding to shake your body like most wet canines do. When the shaking stopped, you were a pony again. Although you didn't hear the voice, somehow you knew it wasn't gone for good.
The forest was still burning, so from above Mom and Raven searched for fires. They led you and Naturally Unique them that you put out with magically levitated water. Devil's Food Cupcake followed behind and stamped out any remaining embers. Oddly, no other monsters appeared that night, and before you knew it, it was light enough for everypony to make out your way home- the sun was back!
Now that I’ve written this all out, I’m going to do something I almost never do and go to bed at Noon. Remember, it wasn’t a dream.
Sincerely,
Daisy Daedal
PS- check out this morning's paper for more proof! I’ve included it below:
Dear Princess Luna,
Forgive me for bothering you, but I’ve sent you a copy of my journal in the hopes that you might help me and my neighbors. Since your return to Equestria, it seems the monster population has risen in the woods at night, and while I know that you are not the “Nightmare Moon” that threatened eternal night, I’ve heard that you can walk in dreams, and many of the monsters seem to attack minds to make ponies defenseless. I was hoping that you might possibly know some mind magic that something could make our nights in San Franciscolt safe again.
It is my dearest hope that the life of myself and my loved ones can return to normal as soon as possible. Please, Princess, save us!
Sincerely your loyal subject,
Daisy Daedal of San Franciscolt
