The night was coming quickly, only an hour before the sun set behind the Receding Mountains. Time was shifting fast even as Twilight began to make a checklist of what the group had to do. 1. Roundup the rest of the group, 2. Goto Zecora’s and find wolfsbane and 3. Hope that they live through the night together.
She looked to her pink friend “Alright Pinkie, you will have to rally the other ponies, after you tell them to meet here, you run directly to Zecora’s and ask for some wolfsbane.”
Pinkie replied with a simple nod of determination and sped out the door. Twilight turned back to Rainbow and Spike “we have to find you somewhere to be safe, for yourself and everypony else.”
Spike replied with a quick and simple answer “What about in the basement?”
***
The orange rays of the setting sun reflected in through the window of the Boutiques. Rarity concentrated hard on her sewing, making sure all the seams were perfect. She stuck her tongue out as she concentrated. It was a beautiful dress, a blood red gown with dark maroon details on the trims. It was a great piece to add to her collection. “Almost done…” she said to herself.
As Pinkie ran through the door, ransacking the place, rarity lost her concentration and pushed the gown too far forward into the machine. Her eyes were in shock, the red gown was ruined. “Rarity, Twilight needs you urgently at the library now! “She yelled not knowing of the art she just destroyed.
Rarity bore an antagonizing face, crunching her teeth in hostility. She swallowed all the anger and put on a unnaturally big smile. “Pinkie darling, please be more careful when-”
“Sorry Rarity but no time for talking!”
Before Rarity could answer, Pinkie was already out the door and running into the distance.
“Well, I would never be so discourteous.”
She collapsed as she stared at the ruined gown. “She could have at least apologised.”
***
Applejack was bucking away at the solid apple trees shaking all the fruit free. Same as her brother, pulling a wagon full of delicious apples. She stopped from her work schedule, when something caught her ear. She could hear galloping, and it was getting louder. “What in tarnation is that?“ She questioned.
From over the hill she could see a pink cloud followed quickly by a trail of dust. With Pinkie in such a rush, it could mean one of two things, she was tracking someone or something important is happening. Both of which weren’t exactly what she had in mind today.
Pinkie decelerated quickly causing wind and dust all over Applejack. When the dirt cleared, the orange pony’s hair was blown backwards and her hat was missing. “Twilight needs to see you now at the library!”
“Bu-“Applejack tried to question her but she left as quick as she arrived, running to her last destination before Zecoras.
“What is that pony on about, Twilight must really need me if Pinkie was that urgent.”
***
As per normal, Fluttershy was tending to her gardens and her critters humming a catchy toon.
All the birds would respond in kind with a friendly whistle back when she finished. “Fluttershy!” Pinkie yelled as she closed the distance.
The Pegasus replied with a sudden stop in motion, frozen completely still. In seconds when Pinkie arrived, all the creatures were scattered. “Rainbow Dash needs your help now, go to the library!” She yelled as she sped past.
She replied with silence, frozen in fear. By the time Pinkie was gone she unfroze. She was breathing sporadically; it took a while to think about Pinkies order. “Rainbow Dash needs help?” she thought.
She suddenly realised, “Rainbow Dash need help!”
This must be about the mysterious pony she met in Everfree. She wasted no time in running to town.
***
It was quite the distance to run for Fluttershy, she want much like an athlete like Dash. She was taking deep breaths, trying to pace herself to her destination. She looked around, the Ponyville Park was beautiful in the spring, the birds singing and the lush green grass was magnificent as usual. Her mind began to wander ‘The groundskeeper must work very hard to keep this park in good shape.’
Her thought were suddenly disrupted as she bumped in to someone. Shaking her head from the slight confusion. Looking up, she saw a looming character towering over her. He was a stallion who wore a cloak with hood. It was terrifying for her. She squealed as she did, the pony only replied with a dreaded stare, “Please watch what you’re doing!”
The Pegasus clambered to her hooves, looking down at them she apologized "I’m sorry for running into you…”
The stallion didn’t seem moved by the apology, he just replied with a question. “You haven’t seen a pink pony gallop past here, have you?”
Fluttershy looked at him Oh-um-“She couldn’t think straight, the sudden question confused her at first. “Well-“his intimidating look made it hard to answer.
“My friend Pinkie Pie ran this way, she um-“
Do you know where she was going?”
She didn’t know what to say, this was a strange character who she was talking to, who was he? She really didn’t know where Pinkie was going. Thinking back, she did remember seeing her charge into Everfree Forest. Taking a deep breath she said "I don’t know where she is, I’m sorry.”
As usual, the stranger walked away with no further questions. He wandered along the path on his way to somewhere. Fluttershy worried again as she picked up the pace towards town. ‘This situation is looking bad.’ She thought to herself.
***
Night descended upon Ponyville like a blanket of darkness. The sound of whistling crickets filled the almost silent air. The serene landscape was calming; it all seemed so safe and tranquil. While all the other ponies prepared for sleep, there were other plans for the ones inside the local library. “Is this really necessary?” Rainbow questioned, gesturing to the chains around her legs.
Spike nodded “We don’t want a marewolf running around Ponyville, They are a highly infectious creature! One scratch or bite can turn others into more!”
“Spikes right Rainbow. If you change tonight, there’s no telling what trouble you might cause.” Twilight reinforced Spikes answer as she checked the chains.
A knock came from upstairs, on the main floor. “That must be everypony else.” The unicorn said.
She ran upstairs to the front door, eager to help her friends in. She opened the door to the sight of her three pony friends. Rarity was quick to respond, “Now Twilight, you mind telling us why you called us here at this ghastly time of night?”
“It’s quite important guys, it’s about Rainbow Dash.”
The three entered the building with questions in their minds. “Now what wrong this time?” Applejack asks in a sarcastic tone.
“Now Applejack, Twilight wouldn’t call us here now if it wasn’t incredibly important, right Twilight?” Fluttershy answered.
Twilight replied with a simple nod, from what the others saw her expression she didn’t seem very happy. “You should come down stairs.”
As they descended down the stairs, they were greeted by Rainbow Dash, her legs chained to the floor like some kind of wild beast. This sight was appalling in their eyes. All the ponies answered with a shocked line.
“What in tarnation!?”
“By Celestia! “
“Oh my!”
“Now Rainbow, why are you pinned down by these horrible chains?” Rarity asked.
Twilight was quick to answer, “We have been led to believe that Rainbow has contracted some sort of strange curse.”
Applejack and Rarity tilted their heads in curiosity while Fluttershy waited for the news that she knew she was about to hear. “Rainbow was cursed by a mysterious mare and she may turn into a marewolf.”
All the mares opened their eyes with shock. “Now what in the hay is that supposed to mean?” Applejack asks with confusion.
Spike jumped in seemingly out of nowhere “A marewolf is a dangerous creature, a creature that was once a pony but has succumbed to a sea of rage which changes into a horrific beast!”
A lightning strike queued outside the small window which frightened everyone. “Why that sounds horrible…Rainbow, are you alright?” Fluttershy approached her slowly.
“I’m fine but I have a strange unnerving feeling running through me.”
As the other ponies all approached her trying to comfort her, Twilight looked to the time, it was eight. ‘Pinkie should have been back by now?’
Even as her friends surrounded her trying to offer what comfort they could, Rainbow was uneasy. The strange vision kept clawing at her brain, like it was trying to crawl out from her skull. Her breathing intensified, the sweat poured from her body, her heart rate increased drastically. Twilight looked to the window, the moon was in full view of her, the soft moon rays filled the room. The room fell silent as all attention was on Rainbow Dash. Her body began to writhe and twitch. Her body seemed to be going through a metamorphosis.
She began to scream in pain, she collapsed and moved violently. Everypony else sat there mesmerised by the scene infront of them. They felt inclined to help her but how could you stop something so fierce. Then the changes started to come through, her hooves began changing, her rainbow mane lost its colour to a dark haze as did her coat. Her screams were chocked out as her vocal cords ruptured and changed. Over time her noises began to become growls. Her teeth seemed to elongate, same with her face. It slowly became a long snout, much like a wolfs. In the mess, her wings seemed to disappear as well. Her hooves became paws with claws, sharp claws which dug into the wood as she came around to her completed change.
An entirely new beast lay on the floor where Rainbow Dash stood. They could only make out was her long, distinct mane. She was panting heavily, her body still trembling from the recent change. “What do we do now!?” Rarity yelled.