//------------------------------//
// Chapter 9 
// Story: Flame of the Fateless 
// by Cryptic Keyboard 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 9
Sunny

My party continued away from the caravan for a good few hours; no particular goal in mind. I didn't feel in the mood for continuing my quest for power so I had picked a direction and walked. I really didn't care for what I would find it just needed to be something that wouldn't kill me. Hell I would even have settled for a rapist pony, at least that wouldn't actively try to kill me. Kuroko had taken a liking to my head and was now lounging upon it while nuzzling into the fur to appreciate just how fluffy it was. Asura was weaving between the my legs with mock commentary, pretending he was some kind of racer. By now I had begun to appreciate the world around me now that a lull in the action had occurred.

While the world wasn't as beautiful as Yiang had made it out to be I still found that it was quite pretty. Trees that were fit to burst with fruits and flowers were visible as far as the eye could see and wildlife could be seen enjoying everything that nature could offer to them. I sniffed the air experimentally; hoping to find a trace of something sweet, only to be surprised to find the scent of fresh baked pastry to be the dominant smell. I followed my nose for a minute or two to try and locate this new nasal sensation. I eventually found a small gap in a bleached white wooden picket fence that lead to the sweet aroma of baking that had taken hold of my senses. I squeezed my way through the fence and knocked Kuroko off of his perch.
"What the hell toru?" Kuroko scolded. "I was enjoying myself there!"

Ignoring my fairy's protests I continued towards the mixed scents of baked goods. The only barrier between me and the source of the smells was an open window, easy enough for a wolf. While the jump itself was a simple task in itself I had not prepared myself for what I would find on the other side of the wall.
A small azure tinted Unicorn pony standing in front of an oven.
I froze when my eyes locked with the filly's; she froze in tandem with me. It was a moment of true awkwardness. As wolf met eyes with pony neither knew what to do with this new visual sensation presented to them. The sweet relief came when she whispered quietly.
"Awesome."
I whispered to Asura. "What do I do?"
"Well its up to you kid, me and Kuro can't do anything hmm."

Like the fool I am I continued to stare into her eyes as the filly started to trot back and forth excitedly at the sight of the red wolf on her windowsill.
"Mommy!" She shouted with an accent that I pegged as American. "Come look at the doggy!"
"What are you...?" asked an elder pony as she walked into the room to answer the calls of the younger. It was hardly unexpected when she looked at me and promptly screamed in terror, what with being a wolf and all. I needed to think fast or else this would get ugly, real ugly.
"Wait!" I exclaimed at both of them. "I'm not some feral wolf!"
She continued to scream and flounder around pathetically.
"I can talk, I can work, I can think, I can do magic, I'm not a normal wild wolf!"
Yet the elder continued to have a fear induced seizure on the kitchen floor; she could not have been overreacting harder if you paid her.
"Will you calm down?!" I snapped. "Think about it, had I intended to kill you wouldn't I have at least climbed through the window by now instead of talking to you?"
Even in the face of shining logic the elder pony continued to have a foaming mouthed fit on the floor, worst escape artist ever.

I cursed at her and fell back from the window no longer caring for the smells that had brought me to the crazy-pony's window. Instead I found another alleyway around the side of the house and walked on through. When I emerged from the path I could already see a small gathering of ponies around the entrance to the building I was just trying to get inside. Another mare was comforting the sobbing elder from inside (drama queen) as she spun an epic yarn worthy of a place on every shelf in the land.
"..Then he looked at me, mouth fresh with blood and eyes red like bleeding fire-rubies, and growled in the most monstrous manner. If I hadn't grabbed little Sunny she would surely have been eaten alive by that monster.
"OKAY I'M CALLING BULLSHIT ON ALL OF THAT!" I shouted at the crowd making one or two of them jump back in fright. "First of all my eyes are NOT red, second my mouth is very much free of blood and third I WAS TALKING TO YOU CIVILLY WHILE YOU HAD A SEIZURE OUT OF POINTLESS FEAR!"

There was a bloated pause, just before they all ran about flailing in fear and shrieking like banshees. Only the children, some of which planted their faces into their hooves, remained in regular standing. I almost felt like joining those who had face-hoofed(?) when I saw to just what kind of scale the women had freaked out. Some had already begun slamming their doors shut, calling to their children in genuine fear, hiding under things that had I really intended to kill them I could have easily removed and I even heard one calling for her husband. I really wanted to meet whoever had taught these mares manners because they did a pretty crappy job at it.
The filly from the kitchen, Sunny, trotted over to me with a smile; the first smile I had seen so far. She continued to wear that same goofy grin as she reached out to stroke my head, not wanting to hurt her feelings I lowered my head down so she could reach. While it was all so sudden to have such an action taken against me that it felt nice; it felt like I was being accepted for what I was. The children further away began to copy Sunny's actions and approached me. Despite taking more time than their azure friend one by one the small gaggle of about six foals were gathered around me. Some were petting me while others just stared at the wolf before them.

The mothers eventually snapped out of their fear-induced short-sightedness to see what their children were doing. While some only increased their efforts to sway their young from my side; others followed the example set by the fillies and colts (yeah I know horse terms, deal with it!)
"Asura?" I asked. "Aren't you worried one of them might get a hold of you or Kuroko?"
"No need to fret boy." Asura said. "Me and Kuro are all but invisible and intangible to every being except you and Yiang, provided we don't use any magic that is, hmm."
"Well at least I don't have to worry then, you two fly off and do some sightseeing; I have a few parents to deal with."
"Try not to murder anypony Lycan toru."
With that the blips of light soared away from my fur leaving me to explain things one my own. So that is what I intended to do. With the crowd of young ponies still close I started to stroll towards the same place I had just been shooed away from. The door was now double-bolted to prevent any kind of entry from any normal creature. Not wanting to dampen the mood further by opening the door using magic I scratched lightly at the woodwork.
No answer.
I scratched away once more; hoping to garner a response of some sorts from the moronic pony within.

After a full five minutes of nothing I gave up, why bother trying to convince these fools any more?

The young ones were still swarming around me in their little pack; it was a little irritating to be honest. So I put on the best smile my body allowed and started to step through them. The excited hooves clacked along behind me for a good while before they lost interest, so one by one the individual sounds of hooves on cobblestone faded until only one last steady beat  remained. I ignored it expecting the last remaining foal to walk away soon enough. They never left me.
I walked for a good ten minutes; with those who saw me diving for cover in their homes while screaming and shouting insults in clockwork repetitive rhythm. Such hatred in a world that I was told would be kind? Yiang was gonna keep on fucking me over wasn't she?
But that last foal remained.

I was close enough to the outskirts of the settlement when the foal spoke. "Are you okay mister?" 
I growled. "Aren't you going to run like everypony else?" 
"Why would I do that? Your not a meanie monster like mommy said, you're fluffy!"
I blinked for a second and turned my head to look at the foal, it was the one called Sunny. "You think I'm not a monster because I'm..... Fluffy?"
"Well that and most monsters don't talk like you do." She beamed.
"How would you know that kid?" I asked.
"Well I've met monsters before and they never ever ever talked, and the Diamond Dogs just tend to screech a whole lot about gems and other incoherent stuff that never makes sense even if you do piece it together. So to be able to talk to a talkative non-pony is nice; hardly monstrous like the others would say."
What she said made me stop in place. I continued to stare into that familiar azure coat.
"But I'm a wolf, a big bad killer! Grrrr!" I said in a sarcastic manner.
"So what? Why judge a creature for what the life canvas decided to paint them as?" She stated sweetly.

Oh my god.
I looked the child over once more.
"How old are you?" I asked.
"Eight years and three months." Sunny beamed
Really!? Eight years old and already speaking more sense than some three times her age. What the young one had just said to me was perplexing in its nature yet ever so simple to understand. It was the basic topic of avoiding racism and hatred. Yet why is it that when put into practice no society seems capable of sustaining it?
I had a very fuzzy memory of my life back in Ireland. My father, for what I can remember of him, was homophobic. That kind of put me in an awkward position; if you get my drift. The old bastard would flat out refuse the company of homosexuals, the irony of course being that the moron had several magazines with lesbians performing sexual acts. 
Kind of sucks that I could only remember the bad parts of my previous life. He wasn't (or is the isn't because of the whole alternate reality thing?) all that bad I know it. However when I attempt to recall something joyous about my life before becoming a wolf I simply blank. I can remember the worst.
My father's homophobia.
My mother's occasional alcohol fuelled rages.
The people who would hate things about others that deserved no hate.

But not the smiles of those who loved me or the feeling of the Irish breeze on my face.
I couldn't even remember where I had lived and died.
Or my own god-damn name, why can't I remember my name!?

Sunny trotted alongside me once more and stared up at me with those big bright eyes, she was brimming with a joy that I just hadn't felt from anybody else in this world thus far. Just what the hell was going on in this topsy turvy universe that a race that seemed to be built to emit joy had become so withdrawn and afraid of new encounters. 
Just what the hell was waiting for me in this land they called Equestria?
Well the only way to find out was to explore I guess, after all that's kind of all I can do right now. 
I turned to face the direction I had just come from. "Well like it or not Sunny I'm afraid you're gonna have to go home now." I said as nicely as I could.
The filly looked saddened at this notion. "Why?" 
"I'm not staying in town for very long, I have to go elsewhere."
"Whys that mister?" She asked with a excited glint in her eyes.
I smiled. "I'm looking for something, don't know what and I don't know where. But when I find it I'll know; that kind of thing y'know."
"Okay then." Sunny jumped in front of me. "But you've gotta promise to come back sometime!"

I looked at the filly before me. She was an azure bolt of endless joy in an otherwise hostile and lonely world. She was innocence condensed into equine form. She has the kind of face that you just couldn't say no to; it was gloriously bright. She was exactly what her name implied. 
Sunny.

"All right then Kid." I said. "I promise. The name's Lycan."
"I'm Sunny, it was nice meeting you mister Lycan." She giggled one last time before galloping back the way we had come.

I couldn't help but chuckle cynically to myself as she ran away in such a joyful manner. 
I could be dead by tomorrow and nobody would know or care all that much. So making such a childish promise should have been beyond me. But like I said before, Sunny had to kind of face you just couldn't say no to. 
So I had gone ahead and told her that we would meet again.

As pessimistic as I was I had to admit, part of me was waiting for the time I would get to enjoy another sunny day.