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// 31 - Deal Maker 
// Story: Hazel Eyes in the Moonlight 
// by Oddling 
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As the corrupted wolf’s remains crumbled like its brethren, Jim slowly rose up onto his back legs. His ears and eyes began to scan the area, an act that his body had become accustomed with long ago out of an almost natural habit. The flicker of more green flames could still be found in a few places in town, the cries of a populace in panic steadily growing on the air. Anger quickly returned, this time tainted by an inescapable hatred. Ponies would die this day and, as Jim looked back to the shocked kids, there was nothing he could realistically do to prevent it.

Swallowing down his anger, Jim slowly approached the injured teacher. “Looks like we’re clear of them at the moment,” he said before kneeling down beside Cheerilee. “The town is under attack, but I won’t leave you all undefended. I’m keeping you safe… but I need to get an idea of how bad your leg is.”

Cheerilee shook her head weakly, her breathing strained as she tried to cope with the pain. “When that strange timber wolf was coming for us I couldn’t help but try to move away. It was terrifying to see it charging for us.” She gulped, her throat feeling dry. “Something… crunched… in my leg. I believe it’s broken.”

Jim sighed quietly and eyed her leg. There was a fair amount of blood from a cut that had started to dry on her fur, but the pool beneath her was small. She wouldn’t be suffering from blood loss, but walking was definitely out of the question.

Fluttershy moved closer to Cheerilee, evaluating the situation as well. Then an idea came to her, her ears perking up. “What if I carried you?”

Jim looked to the petite yellow mare with a lifted brow. Cheerilee eyed her as well, before chuckling sadly. “I’d only slow you down,” she replied, looking to the children around her. “The children need to be kept safe.”

“That’s enough of that,” Jim rumbled sternly. He looked to Fluttershy. “Her leg is going to give her the most trouble. If I can set her leg in a splint, how difficult would it be for you to carry her?”

Though slow to build, a look of confidence took shape in Fluttershy’s visage. “I know I may not look as strong, but if her leg gets set I’ll be able to carry her quite easily.” Her confidence took on a little bit of modesty before she added, “I, um, actually have very strong wings. And I’m also stronger than Rainbow Dash, or so she’s told me.”

Jim smirked lightly. “I could already tell. Your fur hides it better since it’s fluffier than hers is.” His expression went back to serious. “I’ll get started on getting some branches.” He then looked to the children. “Go gather the other kids. Apple Bloom, can you take a couple of your friends and find any kind of rope from the schoolhouse?”

Apple Bloom nodded in affirmation and turned to her friends. “Let’s get everypony together. Sweetie, Scootaloo, let’s grab anything we can from the arts and crafts supplies.” With acknowledging nods from the others, the fillies turned tail and went about getting things done.

Meanwhile Jim looked around again for any signs of more wolves. Nothing stood out but, with a scan of the skies for anything else the dark clouds above might be dropping, he spotted a trail of rainbow light behind a familiar light blue pegasus. He looked back to Fluttershy. “Speaking of Rainbow Dash, she’s headed this way. I’ll be right back. Holler if anything unfriendly shows up.”

With that said, Jim turned toward the nearby forest. A quick sprint and a powerful leap sent him through the air. This body… is more capable than I thought it was, he thought as the air rushed through his fur. Even after he landed the differences from his enhanced human body, as well as his prime wolf body on the second night of the full moon, hardly held a candle to what he could do now. He ran the rest of the short distance to the nearest young tree, spotting and grabbing a suitable branch.

He pulled on the tree’s limb and thought about snapping it. Instead, he looked at his claws contemplatively. If it breaks it might poke or rub one of them the wrong way…

Deciding to give his claws an overdue test, Jim used his free hand and rested his claws against the base of the branch. A firm pull through the wood was all it took to gouge through the healthy material with a nearly clean cut. It was as if his claws were the equivalent of serrated blades. Yet there was no bladed edge to them, which left Jim mildly perplexed. It was no shock that he could gouge a deep furrow into almost anything, but to practically slice through something? Just how could his claws do that so effortlessly? What laws of physics no longer applied in this world for his body?

Putting his questions to the back of his mind for later debate, Jim set the branch down and made quick work of one other. He took both and went to place them under his arm, but paused as it dawned on him that he no longer felt pain from the bite he had received. A brief glance revealed that his wound had closed up, though a scant few bits of the broken off fangs were still stuck in his skin. That was fast, he mused, even more unsure about his body.

Shaking his head in annoyance, Jim pushed off yet another thought for later and made haste back to Cheerilee. For now all he needed to know he had learned in his fight. He was faster, stronger, and could eliminate other wolves quickly. He would figure out the finer details when the opportunity came, but only after he had brought the ponies to safety.

As Jim ran back, he noticed Rainbow had landed beside Fluttershy and Cheerilee. The two pegasi were in an animated discussion, most likely about what had transpired on their respective ends. Growing closer, Jim found his eyes lingering on the constantly moving cyan wings. They were full of taut power, yet flexible enough to move like a hand. It was an interesting display. Or it would have been normally, but Jim’s gaze was fixated on them as a weakness to exploit. He wondered just how she would fare with them removed… as darkness slowly crept in along the edges of his vision.

Suddenly Jim’s foot hit something and the ground came rushing to meet his face. His mind snapped back to reality and his body reacted automatically, barely allowing him to alter his fall into a rough stumble onto his hands and knees.

“Whoa! Are you alright?” came Rainbow’s immediate response and she darted over to Jim.

Fluttershy and Cheerilee looked on as well, both considerably surprised.

Jim, for his part, just shook his head and blinked a few times before he nodded. “Yeah… yeah, I’m fine. Maybe just a little off without the adrenaline rush from before,” he supplied. What was I… he wondered, confused and unsure as to why his mind had turned so... hollow, opportunistic. A disturbingly gentle pressure in his head, one that reminded him of his last encounter with a certain Spark, began to make itself known. Jim’s eyes hardened and his hand rose to his head. He dared the pressure to try to increase as he gripped his skull, claws drawing blood and ready to plunge deeper. There was no way he’d let himself be controlled again. Not by that slimy unicorn. Nor anything else. Ever. Again.

His inner standoff was suddenly silenced when he found Rainbow’s face just inches from his snout. Her eyes were filled with genuine concern. “Come on, don’t try to act tough. I… I see that look in your eye. Are you really alright, big guy?”

For a moment, Jim turned his gaze away from the cyan pony, fully intent on avoiding revealing his sinister intent toward her only means of escaping him. But two things nudged him to act otherwise. He slowly removed his claws from his scalp, an oddly cool, numb clarity seeping throughout his mind as if his deadly appendages had cut through the haze within him. His blood-tipped claws gently sought out the seemingly alien warmth of Rainbow’s hoof that had meaningfully found its place on his shoulder. With a clearer head and the want to respond to whatever feeling Rainbow Dash’s touch inspired, Jim looked into her eyes.

“Something… or someone… might have just tried to get inside my head to make me harm you.” He paused, taking a short steadying breath as he felt Rainbow’s foreleg twitch in his hand. “I think I’m fine now, but it’s difficult to tell for sure,” he continued and looked to the plumes of smoke in town. “The last time I felt that buzzing pressure in my mind was because of an unpleasant unicorn in Canterlot. He tried to make me kill Luna. But this time the feeling was different, if only in how it… moved inside me. This whole situation reeks of the feeling he gave me and I’m just so angry at what’s happening right now. My life has been filled with needless and unavoidable slaughter, all because of my inability to fight my curse, and seeing these wolves doing it before my eyes hits me deep. They tarnish the image of what wolves were meant to stand for… of what I… of what I should have tried harder to be.”

Rainbow followed his gaze to town, realization slowly bleeding into her expression. Sure she was angry too, having wanted to dive into the fray and do to the wolves what she had once done to the old barn on Applejack’s farm. Though what it meant for Jim she could only imagine, but hearing the emotion in his voice, and feeling the squeeze of his hand on her leg gave her some idea. She turned back to him to offer what comfort she could, but was halted by the gentle touch of Jim’s finger on her nose.

Jim silently shook his head. Standing and grabbing the branches for the splint, he murmured “It’s fine. There are more important things we should be focusing on right now,” before making his way to Cheerilee.

Fluttershy quietly watched as Jim and Rainbow Dash walked over. It was written all over her cyan friend’s body that something had happened to Jim. A fact made clearly evident by how closely Rainbow walked with the werewolf and the look in her eyes; one she only ever showed when something didn’t sit right with her and she wanted to think up some way solve it.

Jim quickly took notice of the look of worry on Fluttershy’s face. He knew she wanted answers, but he couldn’t give them just yet. He kneeled down gently as soon as he arrived next to Cheerilee, setting the branches down beside her. “I’m sorry I startled you. You must have hurt your leg again because of my stumble,” he said sympathetically to the wincing teacher.

Mustering a slight grin, Cheerilee nodded slowly. “Yes. It’s a little embarrassing to admit… but I’m a little jumpy at the moment.”

Jim returned the nod. Then, as if conveniently timed in order to prevent Fluttershy from finding her voice to ask Jim anything, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo came galloping over with a variety of ribbons and twine in hoof. Apple Bloom even had a few long measuring sticks balanced on her back. Not far behind them were the remaining children of the class, some trailing slightly behind with uncertain looks about them.

Still, seeing them all nearby was more than enough to ease a portion of Jim’s worries. He even managed a light chuckle at how considerate Apple Bloom, Sweetie and Scoots had been in their selection of materials to bring. “Good job, kids. Just set everything beside me,” he instructed before looking to the rest of the kids. “I want all of you to stick close. I’d also appreciate it if you all could keep your eyes open for any more trouble. I’m going to help your teacher with her injured leg, but if you spot any more of those charred wolves I want you to call out to me. I’m going to keep all of you safe the best I can… but I’ll need your help to do that. Can I count on all of you?”

Jim’s request of the fillies and colts was, at first, met with hesitation. But as each of the kids took in the situation, seeing Jim’s resolve in his eyes and the reassuring nods from the adults, as well as Cheerilee’s smile for them despite her pain, hesitation became determination. One after another they nodded up to Jim, each nod building a swell of pride within his chest. “That’s the spirit. Now spread out in groups of three and work together to watch every direction. I’ll have Cheerilee patched up in no time and we’ll all get to safety after.”

With more affirming nods the children grouped up and spread out to fulfill their new mission. Meanwhile Jim moved closer to Cheerilee, lightly placing a hand on her shoulder. “Alright, now I need you to lay down. I’ll help so you don’t hurt your leg.”

Cheerilee nodded tiredly, grimacing at the idea of having to move at all. As she felt Jim’s hands move around her though, she felt a sense of relief. Despite his size and ferocity in battle, the school teacher could feel his strength move her down with such tender consideration that there was no room to doubt his intentions to help her.

Once Cheerilee could fully lay on her side, Jim picked up the ribbon that Sweetie Belle had brought over. He gave it a brief evaluation, noting that it was made of a lightly flexible cloth and was sufficiently wide for what he intended. He would have to praise the three fillies for bringing more than what he had expected. With a light hum of approval he looked back to Cheerilee.

“This might smart a little, but once I get the injured spot wrapped with this it should help relieve some pain,” Jim informed, pulling a long strand of ribbon from the spool.

Cheerilee simply grunted as she did her best to not move her leg.

Jim reached for her leg, but paused just before as he thought of something. He instead reached over and took hold of one of the branches he had brought over. With one swift movement he placed the end of the branch in his mouth and bit down, severing a portion off. He took the piece from his mouth and moved it in front of Cheerilee’s face. As she looked to the piece of wood Jim explained, “Just in case it hurts more than I expect it to. Biting too hard can crack a molar… and trust me that it’d be much worse than your leg if that happens. Bite down on this instead.”

Cheerilee hesitated for a moment, steeling herself for what might be happening once she had the wood between her teeth. A few long breaths later and she took the impromptu bit in her jaws, ready for the next step.

Jim nodded to her and looked to Fluttershy. “Can you help keep her leg elevated while I wrap it, Fluttershy?”

Fluttershy nodded quietly, quickly stepping in beside Cheerilee. Jim watched her get into position and once she was ready he spared a brief scan around to check on the kids and the surroundings. With the children all watching the perimeter and no immediate threats in sight, he looked back to Fluttershy. “Alright, I’ll lift her leg. Once it’s up I need you to hold it steady, one hoof under her hock and the other right here,” he explained, pointing to the midpoint between Cheerilee’s hoof and the cut from what had broken her leg.

“O-Of course,” Fluttershy answered, quickly realizing why he was being specific. “That will keep her leg stable and reduce most of the weight on the break.”

“Exactly,” Jim replied. “Looks like you’re familiar with this sort of thing. Good.” He turned his attention to the aforementioned limb. “Ready or not, here we go, Cheerilee.”

Using deft yet gentle movements, Jim slid his fingers around Cheerilee’s leg and lifted. Her reaction was almost immediate. Were it not for Jim’s grip on Cheerilee’s leg just above her hock, the jerk and muffled cry of pain might have caused more damage. “Bare with it, Cheerilee. There’s no helping the pain, but you need to relax. Pain is temporary.” Jim said, his tone soothing yet firm. “Try focusing on the bit in your mouth. Let your body feel the pain but express it through your bite rather than your leg for just a little bit. This’ll be over soon.”

Though her eyes were clenched and she couldn’t voice a proper response through the pain, the squeak of the wood being bitten harder was all Jim needed to hear. He gently finished lifting her leg and Fluttershy wasted little time getting her hooves in position. With the leg being held for him, Jim could finally get to wrapping the injury. Swift and skilled movements of his fingers made short work of the task, and by the time he had finished wrapping Cheerilee’s leg the teacher’s pain had lessened considerably.

Wasting no time, Jim continued his procedure and made up the rest of the splint using the branches and twine. With the added benefit from the wrapping making the twine less likely to dig into Cheerilee’s skin, Jim managed to put together quite an admirable splint for her. The mare in question, finally feeling low enough levels of pain to function, slowly lifted her head and spit the stick out of her mouth.

Jim spared a glance, noting the deep indents from Cheerilee’s bite. “Just a few more ties and we’ll be ready to get moving,” he said as he resumed the second to last knot.

Cheerilee nodded slightly. “Oh… that’s a relief,” she answered tiredly.

Jim took hold of the next strands of twine, ready to tie them together, when a thrum of magic filled the air above the town. Rainbow Dash, jumping from her observation spot nearby, leapt into the air. Jim followed suit and swiftly stood. The weight of the air grew stronger as the hum of magic increased. A moment later and beams of golden light pierced through the dark clouds above, creating a few dozen pillars scattered across the span of the town. The largest of the pillars appeared roughly around where Jim assumed Twilight’s castle stood.

“Awe YEAH! The princesses sent us some help!” Rainbow cried triumphantly.

Jim’s worries of another threat bled away as he spotted a few pegasi clad in golden armor take to the skies above the town. Looks like they were teleported in to fight back the enemy, he thought before dropping back down to finish with Cheerilee’s splint. “Now that there’s some help things should be easier. But it’s going to be chaos in town until they get defensive positions established,” Jim said and tied the last knot.

Using his size to his advantage, Jim stepped over Cheerilee and lifted her, keeping her injured leg in mind. Fluttershy swiftly moved in and spread her wings, allowing Jim to place the teacher gently upon her back. Once Cheerilee was in place and Jim confirmed that the burden was not too great for Fluttershy, he called out to the children.

“Alright, we’re ready to head to safety. Gather around,” he ordered. The children complied and quickly gathered around Jim and the adults. Jim looked to Cheerilee, his gaze lightly apologetic, but firm nonetheless. Turning back to the kids he continued, “Before we go I am going to be clear with you all. I’m sure you all know this is a bad situation… but I don’t know if you’re aware of what is waiting for you along the way. A lot of those dark wolves landed all over town. It’s taken time for help to come… and I don’t know how versed in combat the town’s ponies are.”

As Jim spoke, the looks on the faces before him steadily changed. Confusion, worry, fear, dread, shock, and much more looked back at the werewolf. “I will not tell you that everything will be alright. I will not lie to you and say you have nothing to worry about,” he said and then kneeled down in front of the kids, his ears folding back.

“What I can say is that you will see some horrible things,” he continued, his tone becoming soothing, empathetic. “I am sorry for that, and I know there is nothing I can do or say to make this any easier. I know I don’t look it, but even now it hurts me to see others lose their life when they never deserved it. You may see friends, or family… dead, as we go to safety. It’s going to hurt. It’ll hurt so, so much. But I also know that it won’t hurt like that forever.”

Reaching forward, Jim gently lifted the chin of a crying filly, the one who had started the confrontation in the classroom, Archer. “The pain of loss is powerful. It’s why I wanted to tell you all about this before I took you into a place of death and pain.” He pulled his hand away gently and looked to the other children. “Remember what I said in the classroom? How monsters are made?”

The children all nodded and for the first time they saw Jim’s eyes fill, if only for a short moment, with deep hurt. “When I was very young… I was forced to watch my mother be murdered right in front of me. I had been beaten and was powerless to stop it. I’ve lived with that memory. I know what some of you might have to go through. I hope, to whatever powers are watching over this world, that you all are spared from it. But trust me when I say that losing a loved one to monsters like those wolves can make you into one yourself. I became what I am because of the one that killed my mother.”

Gasps of different volumes cut Jim off momentarily. He smiled sadly to all of the children present, especially to the ones who stepped closer to nuzzle him. “It’s alright, I’ve had time to heal that scar. The past can’t be changed. Instead you must learn the lessons it leaves for us,” he said, soothing the little ones beside him with gentle pats. “I swear to all of you, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe. If we come across any others I will share that protection with them. But I want you all to promise me something first.”

All eyes looked up to him once again, some being wiped of their tears. “You all must promise to do exactly as I say from this moment until I get you to safety. I am strong enough to keep you safe, but only so long as you don’t put yourselves in danger. I want you to promise to listen to me. Promise not to cry, not to scream, not to run. Move as I tell you to. Work together to keep each other safe, keep each other strong.”

Jim slowly stood to his full height, his eyes passing over each kid. “Fulfill that promise and I will make you two. I will do everything in my power to keep you safe, or die trying, and I will be there afterward to help you avoid becoming like me.”

The yellow unicorn colt from before stepped forward, “What do you mean… like you?” Snails asked.

Jim looked to the young male, that sad smile returning to his visage once more. “The loss of my mother led me to pursue a life of revenge, tainted with a narrow-minded desire to force change that I thought would be better for others; to stop those like the one who killed my mother and get rid of them. My reasoning might have been more than enough to make me seem like a hero in a comic book, but the reality was that I only became a villain in the eyes of others. The same could happen to any of you, should those monsters find someone precious to you. With that said, I offer my second promise. Nothing good will come from following the same path that I’ve walked. Only more pain… and even greater loss. So I will help you find a different path, should you suffer through what I have.”

Jim turned toward Ponyville proper and walked a few paces. He came to a stop and turned back to the group. “If you can make the promise and wish to live, then line up in front of me. I want three rows.” With his offer open Jim stood tall and crossed his arms, his hazel gaze hardening.

Not all of the children moved forward at first. It was more of a slow trickle, with Scootaloo being the first. She was quickly followed by Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon followed behind next, with more and more finding the will to step forward after.

Rainbow Dash glided down to hover beside Jim, a look of uncertainty about her. “Don’t you think you’re being a little… harsh?” she asked him quietly.

Jim looked to her, his gaze softening just a little. “I’m doing this for a reason, Rainbow. You can’t sugarcoat dead bodies. And I’m not willing to let them dwell on things. They need something to focus on together. Without a singular objective they’ll be divided and those dark wolves will pick them apart.”

“You’re making this seem like a military operation or something.”

“Whether you want to believe it or not, this is war. Your town has been attacked. Ponies have been killed… I’ve heard their screams,” Jim replied, his fist balling. “But you’re mistaken about how I’m handling this. Failure to follow orders in an army is severely punished. If they don’t follow me then I’ll just have to accept it and save those I can. I’m not all-powerful, just a werewolf and we work in packs. We follow the alpha. If you think you can do a better job getting all of these kids to safety then be my guest, but you’ll have to prove to all of them that you can actually do it. And that’s after you convince me. I’ve accepted responsibility for all of them. I will lead them to safety. As the current alpha I’ll do my part, but what’s truly important is the pack. A pack is nothing if its members don’t work together.”

Rainbow crossed her hooves and leaned back as she hovered, a faint grin trying to creep across her muzzle. “You realize we’re ponies right? We do herds.”

Jim allowed a small grin of his own to show. “Herds or packs, it’s roughly the same idea. Though it wouldn’t hurt for you to learn a thing or two from a predator.” His grin faded as he looked past Rainbow, a stray beam of magic shooting up into the sky from town. Jim watched as pegasi in the air darted around in small clusters, their movements giving the impression of urgency and struggle. “Looks like those wolves are giving your reinforcements trouble. Can you do a quick flyover to get an idea of the fight, Rainbow? And check if Twilight’s castle is secure enough to protect these kids?”

Rainbow nodded and bolted into the sky, a rainbow trail left in her wake. Jim watched her for a few long seconds before he scanned the town and surroundings. He caught a glimpse of two wolves as they jumped on top of a roof in the distance, but their focus was on something below them before they jumped back down. Jim’s blood started to boil again and he clenched his teeth in silent anger.

With a slow sigh to vent even a fraction of his displeasure, Jim turned back toward the children. To his surprise, every kid stood in one of three lines in front of him. Even though a few were fighting back tears, the brave faces they put on encouraged Jim. Accepting their lives beneath his protection, Jim smiled kindly. “Thank you, all of you. We’ll get through this. And we’ll do it together.”

Jim stood, his smile vanishing behind fierce determination. “Those dark wolves are fighting in town and are giving the ponies who came to help a hard fight. Rainbow Dash will be back soon with a better idea of how bad things are, but until then… we’re going to practice a formation.” Jim paused and a confident grin slipped across his maw. “Let’s teach you how to hunt the hunters.”