"What were you doing back there?!" Twilight demanded, throwing her hands up in the air. "She almost killed you! And she had every right to!"
Spike rolled his eyes. "Relax Twilight. It was just some stupid dare. It's no big deal. She was just probably trying to scare us."
"No big deal?! Spike, I've been feeling like someone's been watching me for the past few months! A threat like that is not something to take lightly!" The young woman ran a hand through her hair. "You're grounded."
"What?! You can't ground me, I'm seventeen!" He barked angrily.
"Watch me," Twilight glared at him. "You're grounded. For two weeks. No friends over, no going to your friends houses, hell, you're lucky I'm letting you keep your X-box and tv!"
"You're out of your mind, Twilight! You're letting your stupid paranoia get the best of you!" Spike yelled, stomping up the stairs.
Twilight pinched the bridge of her nose. Great. Just what she needed. An angry teenager. Sighing, she turned on her computer and went into the kitchen to brew some coffee.
This was going to be a long night.
About six hours, and three pots of coffee later, Twilight found herself staring at her computer screen in a complete and utter funk. Writer's block was an author's worst enemy. And right now she was battling Achilles.
Deciding it was probably best to take a break, she pushed her office chair out from under her desk with her feet and stood up. She looked outside to see the sun hadn't quite set yet, and contemplated going for a walk to clear her mind.
Throwing on a hoodie and an old pair of sweats, she made her way out into the twilight. There was a small park by their house, that was surrounded by dense woods. Twilight had always been there during the early hours of the day, but never close to night.
She walked towards the clearing, taking cool, deep, breaths. There was a can of mace in her pocket so if anything happened, she was prepared.
Only the paved paths were lit with lamps, the reflection glistening off the small lake in the middle of the park. Behind the lamps was the dense woods. Growing darker and more sinister with each passing minute. Twilight figured she'd take a stroll around the lake once, and then hurry on home, but something about the woods called to her.
She knew better than to blindly walk into them, especially with what Pinkie told her earlier, but there was something.....endearing about it. As if it were inviting her in so it could share it's secrets.
Looking both ways once, the twenty something year old strode right into a clear path, one that had trees that were as tall as a phone pole, arching over so that the branches and leaves blanketed the pathway and blocked out the night sky.
A chill ran down her back and goosebumps produced themselves, her mind screaming for her to turn back now, to run. But she didn't. She couldn't. Something was keeping her grounded here, and even if she could flee, she wouldn't know where to go because of the thick overhang.
Just then, a rustle in the fallen leaves. She wasn't alone. Hugging herself close, Twilight cursed herself for ever listening to anything but her conscience.
The trees were starting to become less opaque, and now little trinkets of moonlight shown through. Letting out a sigh of relief, Twilight continued walking.
Another rustle. This time closer.
Twilight stopped in her tracks, frozen with fear.
A shadow flashed across her line of sight, and she backed up reflexively. "Who are you?!" She shouted, the can of mace in her hand. "What do you want from me?! Why did you call me here?!"
She was met with nothing but the sounds of the crickets and birds chirping away. Her head whipped around, and she continuously backed out, the can of mace in front of her.
She bumped into something hard, and came face to face with a snarling wolf. No, this was no wolf, this was a beast. It barked at her, and knocked her on her back. She hid the grown hard as the beast straddled her. As a split second decision, the young author scrapped a twig along the wolf's foreleg. When it howled in pain, she ran, the can of mace long forgotten.
Twilight had no idea where she was going, nor did she seem to care. She just wanted to get the hell out of there and never return. She reached the edge of the woods, and sprinted out into the light of the lamps. Her constant looking back caused her to bump into something else, but this time she knew it was human.
Her head snapped up for her to be face to face with her neighbor, the rainbow haired woman from eariler. She quickly collected herself.
"Watch where you're going!" She snarled, pushing past the darker haired girl. She was wearing a tank top and running shorts, an unusual choice of clothing since it was late October, and the night temperatures usually dropped to below forty.
There was a scratch on her arm, and she appeared to be bleeding. Her breathing was ragged too. Could it be? Twilight shook her head. No. That's impossible. The wolf couldn't have made it out of the woods before she did. And werewolves didn't exist.
"What are you doing out here this late anyway? Don't you know that woods is filled with dangerous animals?" The taller woman barked.
"W-Well, I-I felt something call to me. Like, like it was inviting me to join it in there. I don't know what it was, but it seduced me to waltz in there without a care in the world." Twilight responded, running her hand through her tussled hair. She'd have to wash it as soon as she got home, seeing how it had leaves caked into it.
The rainbow haired woman's eyebrows rose, but then fell as she spoke again. "If you know what's best for you, you'll stay far away from those woods, you hear me?!" She warned before stalking off.
"Wait!" Twilight called after her, running to catch up, but stopping a few yards behind her when she saw the younger woman's body tense. "At least tell me your name. We've been neighbors for three months now and I've barely seen you and then the whole thing with my brother today and-"
"It's Rainbow Dash." She cut her off.
"What?!" Twilight asked, confused.
Rainbow swiveled around on her heel and faced her. "You wanted to know what my name was and I just told you. It's Rainbow Dash." She promptly turned back around and began her walk down the path back to the main street.
Twilight watched her as she went, her tan skin seeming to blend into the moonlight. She felt something swirl in the pit of her stomach, but she wasn't sure if it was because the adrenaline rush she just had, or the uneasy feeling that woman gave her.
"Rainbow Dash, huh? Yeah I know her." Pinkie said, sipping at her white hot chocolate.
Twilight had came to the Witch's Brew the next day because she was honestly too afraid to stay home without Spike there. (Not that Rainbow would have been home anyway seeing how she's usually gone until early in the morning, which makes the events that had transpired yesterday even more bizarre.)
"We went to high school together. She's a real piece of work." Pinkie commented, sticking her tongue out as the hot beverage in her hand burnt it. "She's got a lot of anger issues. Usually hung out by herself. Why'd you ask about her?"
"I ran into her yesterday. Literally. Well, that's the second time, since the first time I was pulling her off of my brother." Twilight sighed.
Pinkie raised a questioning brow, her cup paused half way to her lips as her mouth gaped.
Twilight realized her poor choice of words. "No, no! Not like that! She was fighting with him in her backyard. Apparently he was trying to be Mr. Cool Guy with his friends and took on a dare to walk into her backyard, not knowing she was home."
Pinkie put her cup down. "Oh...okay. So he's on punishment now?" She asked.
Twilight nodded. "He's a little angry, but he'll get over it. Honestly he's not the one I'm worried about." She said, looking down and rubbing her arms.
Pinkie's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean?"
She knew she was going to get it once she told her, but Twilight decided she had to tell Pinkie the whole story. "I was having a serious case of writer's block, so I went out to the park by my house. When I had gotten there, I decided that I was just going to take a walk around the lake and then head back because it was getting dark but..."
"But....?" Pinkie encouraged.
"I walked in front of this weird path that lead into the woods. At first I thought it was nothing, but then I felt it calling to me. Like it wanted me to meet someone." Twilight confessed, rubbing the side of her cup for warmth. "So I did. I went inside."
Pinkie's eyes bulged. "Are you loco in your coco?! Do you know just how lucky you are that the only thing you ran into was Rainbow Dash?!"
Twilight chuckled sheepishly. "Actually...."
Pinkie gave her a confused look. "Actually what?"
Twilight looked both ways around the cafe and leaned in before she spoke. "I saw something akin to a wolf. More like a beast, rather. I got away by wounding it, but when I ran into Rainbow, she had the same wound on her arm."
Pinkie's eyes were saucers. "You don't think-"
The author snorted. "Of course not. Werewolves don't exist. I'm sure it was just of pure coincidence." Though Twilight didn't seem too sure about that herself. "Anyway, even if she is, which she's not, she now knows not to mess with me." She folded her arms confidently.
Pinkie fought back a laugh. "Uh-huh." She said in between a snort.
Twilight raised a brow. "What, you don't think I can take her on all on my own?" She challenged.
Pinkie held back another giggle. "No, no. It's just, you're not exactly the strong type, Twilight. And she's like, really strong. She used to lift weights in school."
Twilight's eyebrows shot up. "Oh. Well. You're right about that then. I don't stand a chance." She took a sip of her coffee and sighed. "So how do you think I should go about this?"
Pinkie shrugged. "Hell if I know. You might not wanna ask her directly if she's a murderous shape shifter, though. Those kinds of accusations upset some people."
Twilight smiled wryly. "Dually noted, Pinkie." She responded, getting up. I'm gonna go down to the library and see what I can find on lycans and the like."
Pinkie gave her a small wave. "Alright, tell me if you find anything!" She called after her.
Twilight stepped out into the late October air and made her walk down the street. As she did, she couldn't help but feel a chill run down her back.