//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Going Through Changes // by Riptid3 //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash had to take a moment to calm herself down. Her transformation from pony to part wolf part pony still baffled her. She was going to take quite a while to get accustomed to her newly acquired claws, sharp teeth and every single morphed body part in general. She was absolutely clueless as to what she should do, she really didn't want to fly for whatever reason, and she couldn't just barge to the hospital, the guards would probably think that she was some sort of dangerous animal and kick her into rainbow colored jelly. Definitely something she was going to want to avoid. With medical attention and any sort of public service out of the question, she turned to the five mares she trusted the most, her friends. They would surely agree to help her, the question was, which friend should she choose? The first mare that came to her mind was Twilight Sparkle, she could do magic and most probably help Rainbow Dash revert to her old self again, she was about to set foot to the library, until she got paranoid and thought of Spike waking up first and frying her before she had a chance to explain, that and the possibility of Twilight using her for one of her experiments. Although Spike pissing himself first was much more likely to happen, the very thought was enough to steer her away from the library. With Twilight eliminated from the list of possible candidates, the next mare that came across her mind was Fluttershy, her fellow pegasus. She liked animals and would definitely know what was going on and might even find a cure for her. But then again, she wasn't exactly sure if her new characteristics would also affect her diet. Fluttershy probably wouldn't like it if he friend started devouring innocent little woodland critters. Twilight and Fluttershy were now out of the running as possible host for her. She thought of Pinkie Pie, she was fun and would probably welcome her newly transformed part pony part wolf friend. Mr. and Mrs. Cake were going to be a problem though, especially with the foals in the home. They probably wouldn't think twice about giving Rainbow Dash a good whacking or two on sight. Moving on, Rarity was next on the list. She bore the Element of Generosity, surely she would have no problem letting her friend crash for a night or two. She would definitely be willing to drop her work for a day or two to help her get back on her hooves. But, there was a high chance of Rarity just fainting upon sighting her friend in this condition. The possibility of her shedding definitely would not help unless Rarity was thinking of making fur coats anytime soon. Last but not least, was Applejack. She had a barn where she could hide out in, the dense woods would also make for a great place for her to get some exercise as opposed to being cooped up in some building. The main problem was having to confront Applejack. If she couldn't inform her friend fast enough, the farm mare could easily break a leg or two. And that's WITHOUT Big Macintosh. Taking some time to re-evaluate her choices, Rainbow Dash sat on the ground and pondered. Comparing the pros and cons of all her choices. Twilight really did seem like the best choice, but being stuck in the library was not going to be an option, sure she could catch up on her reading, but she absolutely needed her exercise. Even if she didn't want to fly. Fluttershy seemed like the next best thing, she probably wouldn't try and shoo her away on sight. She also had the cottage secluded near the woods so she could get plenty of space to stretch her legs once in a while, even if the woods were supposedly filled with tentacle rape monsters. Plus, Rainbow Dash was confident that she could restrain herself from mauling the woodland critters that inhabited Fluttershy's humble abode. And then her stomach growled. "Well, better safe than sorry. Guess I'm crashin' at AJ's." She said to herself. She began walking towards the town, hoping that her assumptions were right and that the residents of Ponyville had gone to bed, allowing the newly transformed Lycan to travel to Sweet Apple Acres without attracting too much attention to herself. The last thing she needed was for Ponyville to spiral into chaos. After all, that was Discord's job. The moon illuminated the way, however, Rainbow Dash's newly acquired eyes made seeing in the dark a cakewalk. As she continued walking, only silence filled the air, her paws elicited absolutely no sound, save for the occasional tap tap of her claws tapping against the cold stone path that led to the dark, silent town of Ponyville. As she only continued to cover ground, she breathed a sigh of relief upon sighting that the town was barren of any form of activity whatsoever. True, she could have just flown over the town with her wings should there be signs of life, but she's a wuss now, so, flying definitely was not an option at the moment. As she walked through the eery streets of Ponyville, Rainbow Dash was definitely curious, exactly how else had she changed? Her senses felt sharper, but other than that, she didn't feel too different from her normal self. There was nothing to balance out the fact that she wouldn't be flying much now, maybe the claws could come in handy, but they had their fair share of pros and cons. She growled in frustration and promptly pounded the floor. The floor in response, shattered. For a few seconds, the lycan froze up, unsure of what to do. And then she ran, faster than any normal pony, stallion or mare, ever could. ... Applejack woke up, she tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes as she took a quick glance outside the window, the seemingly endless field of apple trees greeted her eyes once more. But for whatever reason, she felt, insecure, uneasy, she knew in her heart that something was wrong. Very wrong. Shoving her blanket aside, Applejack leaped out of bed and cautiously walked towards the window, gazing out at the infinite maze of apple trees that inhabited Sweet Apple Acres. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, for her at least. The farm pony still felt on edge however. "Hiya AJ!" Rainbow Dash said as she popped out from nowhere and into Applejack's face. "GAH!" Applejack yelled out as she stumbled backwards and onto her back. "Keep it down! Your gonna wake the whole house up." "I oughta be tellin' ya' that! Not tah' other way 'round!" Applejack hissed Rainbow Dash climbed into the room and sat before the earth pony. As Applejack tried to glare at Rainbow Dash, she noticed that there were significant changes to her pegasus friend. She still kept her rainbow mane and her cyan blue coat of fur, but her canines just barely stuck out of her mouth into plain view, her ears looked much more wolf-like, and she had a new black, wet canine nose on the tip of her muzzle, her now messy and unkept coat of fur accompanied by her newly acquired paws and claws. Her eyes looked almost the same save for the fact that her pupil was now much smaller than it normally was. "Rainbow... wut in tarnation happened tah' ya'...? Y'all look like ah' pony crossbred with one o' 'dem wolves." Applejack said "I dunno. I got bitten by some animal and I go to take nap and I end up like this." Rainbow Dash said, gesturing at her body. “And how are y’all so calm about dis’ ere’ mess?” “I dunno.” "Whut do ya' expect me tah' do 'bout it?" "Hide me in your barn until I can get things sorted out?" "Why mah' barn?" "It's large...?" "Taht' tain't no reason fer' yah to just barge into mah' room in the middle o' the night! And how'd ya' even climb up 'dem walls anyways?" "I didn't climb, I ran up the wall." "You... ran up the wall?" "Yeah..." Rainbow Dash answered as she stared distantly at her warped hooves. "Apparently I'm stronger like this... can't fly though... Oh! And I may or may not have accidentally broken part of Ponyville's road." finished the blue pony-wolf hybrid. "*Sigh*. Of all tah' thang's ya' coulda' dun' with taht' yer' might, you chose tah' broke a piece of Ponyville's roads? And whattya mean y'all can't fly? Ya' got 'yer wings don't ya'?" "It was an accident! And I dunno, I just really don't wanna fly for some reason." "So, now not only are ya' strong, but yer' a wimp too?" "Do you wanna help out a friend or make fun?" "Make fun." "*Growl*" "Fine. I s'pose I could give tah' Apple family a lil' heads up first." "Thanks, I owe ya' one." "Don't mention it." "So, do I go now or...?" "Nah, too much noise, might wake up tah' house. I s'pose ya' could bunk with me for tonight." "I'm okay with that." As Applejack climbed into bed, Rainbow Dash hopped onto it, she walked in a small circle like any dog would before curling up and immediately falling asleep. She still felt rather uneasy knowing that her friend now had super strength and unimaginable speed, not to mention the addition of claws and a set of sharp teeth. But regardless, she fell asleep all the same. ... Applejack woke up, as any pony would after sleeping for an indefinite period of time. She looked around the room and immediately locked onto the cyan blue canine-like pony that was curled up on her bed. She had almost forgotten about Rainbow Dash, now she was going to have to figure out how to smuggle her out of the house. She leaned forward and lightly shook her friend in an attempt to wake her up. The lycan responded with an ear twitch, a yawn that exposed her sharp teeth, and a inaudible mumble. "Ah'm gonna be outside, when ya' hear me holler, just leap out the window, alright?" "Blargspoar." Was Rainbow Dash's muffled response. "Ah'mma rekon that's a yes." Applejack leaped out of bed and into the shower to wash up, after that would follow breakfast with the family. Rainbow's drowsiness concerned Applejack, she wasn't even sure if her friend even heard her. Twenty minutes later... Applejack stood outside her bedroom window. She had made sure that Big Mac was all the way on the other side of the fields so that he was out of earshot, Applebloom had most presumably gone to school, Granny Smith would presumably be in the barn where she would most probably be unable to hear Applejack. "RAINBOW!" Applejack yelled She heard a thud and a thump before seeing her friend stumble out of her window and fall onto the ground, landing on her back as a cloud of dust puffed up. Applejack stifled a laugh upon seeing her friend make impact with the ground. "Ow." Rainbow Dash said "So you plannin’ on being one o’ dem’ Wonderbolts huh?" "Wonderbolts usually don't get startled out of their sleep." Rainbow Dash grumbled. The lycan got up and brushed herself off, seemingly shaking off the pain that came with falling off a second story building and onto her back. "So, what do I do now?" she asked "Granny Smith’s in tah’ barn, so ah’ suggest runnin’ ‘round for a bit ‘till I holler, but for now, some rules if yer' gonna stay 'ere. One, no markin' your teratory on ma' trees." "Sounds easy enough." "No scarin Applebloom or the other crusader's fer' that matter." "Is that all?" "Don't ya' worry, there's more." As Applejack continued to ramble off the rest of the rules, most of which covered marking territory and mauling creatures of anysort, she was completely unaware that Rainbow Dash had strayed her attention away from her and instead, had been walking towards the nearby apple trees. "Last but not least, no startlin' the cattle or the- Rainbow! What 'ah just tell y'ah about marking on ma' trees!!!!"