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Daemons, Vampires, and Werewolves, Oh My!4,427 words
Baked Goods and a Warm Encounter4,316 words

Baked Goods and a Warm Encounter

Fang

Ah, boy do I love running. I’d go as far as to say it was my special talent, but I think we all know that isn’t true. After all, what kind of a runner has a half moon as a cutie mark? Nope, just a pony on the run, but not a runner.

But oh well, I'm not complaining. There's no sense in complaining about a condition I've lived with for over ten years, right? That doesn't even include the scars from that time a werewolf mauled me nearly to death. Want to see 'em? Ha ha ha… er, yeah...

Anyways, my name is Fang, though you probably already heard that from Razor and Vel, my adopted family. I will admit, my family is a bit strange. Razor’s a daemon, a half-demon for any of you technical colts, Velvet’s a vampire, and I’m a werewolf. All three of our species are the most terrifying creatures in Equestrian fantasy, though they’re mostly myths to everypony else.

Heh, I guess it was just our luck that most ponies don’t believe in us, ‘cause I know none of my family would like the attention. You know, torches and pitchforks are a nice sight and all, but seeing them once is enough for me at least.

Ironically, that sight was what turned my family into a band of runners, fleeing whenever we were suspected to be who we really were. No matter where we hid, there was always someone who’d want nothing to do with us, much less affiliate themselves with us ‘killers’.

That was the very first lesson Razor and Vel taught me when they took me in ten years ago. In everypony else’s eyes, we were nothing but monsters; savages who were too dangerous to be around normal ponies.

Outcasts, the half-way point between monsters and equines.

You know, come to think of it, this was the first time that’d I’d been chased out of a town with Razor and Vel. It’d been ten years since we’d made our home in Hollow Shades, and after that amount of time, it was weird to know we no longer had a home there.

What do you think those torches I told you about were used for?

But hey, we were finally off to find a new place to live, but first, we needed to get some wolf’s-bane potions brewed from the bark of a wormwood tree. You know, so the next time I shifted to my night form, I wouldn’t attack the first pony on sight.

Heh, yup, that’s me; my family’s little brother and part-time, killer pet. Just a day in the life of a werewolf.

It took more than the whole night to reach the edge of the Everfree Forest, but we’d still made it early in the morning. Everyone in Ponyville would still be asleep in bed at this hour… hopefully…

That, or they’re a town of weirdo early-birds. I joked to myself, as I watched the rest of the sun break over the horizon. It had been only a half hour since the moon had disappeared and the sun had started to show, which had reverted me back into a semi-normal earth pony.

Just below the horizon, the sun’s rays were beginning to dawn down onto the town below. Ponyville slept peacefully, though they would be up and about soon. Heh, at least this quiet little town wouldn’t grab the pitchforks and torches at the first sight of us, but that meant we’d have to move quickly in order to not be seen. We wouldn’t want Hollow Shades catching wind of where we’d ran off to, otherwise they just might make a surprise visit for us, angry mob and all.

Putting that cheerful image out of my mind, I looked back at the entrance of the Everfree Forest. I saw Razor and Vel looking into the woods, both of them back in their ‘day forms’ since the bright day was coming. Both of them were still carrying their saddlebags, with everything we still owned laying inside their pouches. I had mine on too, but the weight wasn’t bothering me yet. Razor had his map out, looking towards the forest, as he tried to figure out how we were going to go about looking for a wormwood tree.

Razor turned to Vel and me, “It appears that the Everfree is more massive than I thought. We’ll need to split up if we’re going to find a wormwood tree by the time night falls.” He then frowned, “From what I’ve heard over the years, the Everfree is home to many magical beasts, most of which only come out at night. I’m not sure if we could handle them by ourselves, even with our night forms, so we best exercise caution.”

Razor looked to me, “Fang, you search the southern part of the forest, closest to town. Don’t stay too close to the forest’s edge, unless you want to be seen by somepony.” He turned to Vel, “Velvet, you take the middle section of the forest. From what I remember, there should be a ruined castle around that area, known as the Castle of the Two Sisters. I want you to search that area the most before moving on.”

Both Vel and I nodded. Razor then turned towards the forest, “I’ll take the northern section. Whether you find a tree or not, we’ll meet back here before sunset. Remember exactly where the tree is, so we can proceed to brew Fang’s potions tomorrow morning.”

The unicorn was about to walk into the forest, but he stopped to glance back at me, “And Fang?”

“Yeah?”

Razor sighed, “Please, don’t get distracted like you always do.”

I scoffed in mock offense, “What? I’d never do that!” I chuckled as nodded to Razor, “Alright, alright, I won’t. But you know how it is, being part dog gives you their attention span too.”

Razor rolled his eyes, while Vel giggled, before the two of them took off into the forest in their separate ways, leaving me by my own lonesome.

I sighed as I glanced towards the direction of the forest I was supposed to search. Sure, I liked exploring and all, but I was kind of getting sick of forests. Not to mention-

My stomach growled at that moment. I groaned as I felt the rumbling monster with a hoof, “Ugh, I never got breakfast this morning.” I sighed, “Man, it wouldn’t kill Razor to stop for a meal before we started.”

I looked glumly at my saddlebags, which painfully reminded me that I didn’t even grab a bit of food from our house back in Hollow Shades. Heck, the only edible thing in there was one of the wolf’s-bane potions Vel had thought to bring; my supply for tonight’s transformation.

Sighing, I trudged towards the forest, “Oh well, better get going. Hope I can find some tiny rabbit or something edible while I sear-“

That’s when my nose caught whiff of something. No normal pony would've smelled it, because it was so faint. But just in case you've forgotten, I ain't no normal pony, even when I look like it. From just the scent, I could tell whatever was giving off the aroma was warm, baked with sugar, and slightly hinted with strawberries, which meant either somebody was roasting strawberries on a skillet, or… somepony was baking a cake.

I turned my head towards the scent’s trail, noticing that it was coming from Ponyville below. But before I could react, more scents just like the first one assailed my nose, each one coming from a different variety of cake, muffins, and even cupcakes. All of them seemed to be coming from one place alone, so that meant…

I felt my mouth drool, “Ooh, they have a bakery! And from the smell of it, they’re opening up shop…” Ah, man. How I love bakeries! Razor and Velvet can vouch for me when I say I love sweets just as much as my werewolf side loves meat, which is saying something, since bacon is probably one of my most favorite foods in the world.

But if I could smell that bakery, with all its sweets and goodies, all the way outside of town, that meant either I was standing right next to it, or it was a hell of a lot better than the bakery in Hollow Shades, and I flippin’ loved that place!

The thought made my stomach growl earnestly, as if it were actually prodding me to go to the bakery, and I almost immediately took off from where I stood to indulge on the sweet delights that awaited me. But I wouldn’t budge a muscle, not while I was still sane.

I still held my ground, not even moving a single hoof forwards. Going into a town was dangerous enough as it was, even when I wasn’t a full werewolf. In fact, I was just as bad as an actual werewolf during the days when the full moon drew close.

There’ve been times when I’d strolled through Hollow Shades in broad daylight, and still had the thoughts of a werewolf go through my head. I once saw a tiny little filly playing alone in the grass, right in the middle of the day. She was completely ignorant of me back then, but my mouth had started to water, as if I were considering the little foal as food. I had to run away from that filly, before my wolf nature started to plan out the easiest way to dispatch the foal and devour her.

I cringed as I looked down at the town from my hilltop, stomach growling and mouth drooling for something to eat from the scents still filling my nose. “Should I really risk it?” I wondered.

I knew Razor would be angry with me if he ever found out I went into town alone, but… it was still early in the morning, and there weren’t many ponies who would wake up at this time of day.

But still, the scent of delicious, moist cakes were like hooks in my nostrils, pulling me towards the scent. I winced, before taking another step forward, “Ah, screw it. I can’t focus on an empty stomach, and I’ll be back before anybody else sees me, not even Razor.”

With a justification in mind, I let my resistance go and allowed my nose to guide me through town to the bakery I smelled. Although, along the way, I couldn’t help but wonder if this one bakery was worth the risk.

_______________________________

Well, let’s just say that my hopes were met with great satisfaction when I reached the source of the delicious smells. After trotting through about a third of the small town, I came face to face with one of the most amazing buildings I’ve ever seen in my whole life.

My jaw dropped and my tongue rolled out of my mouth, drooling at the sight of it. The bakery was, in fact, a giant gingerbread house, with decorative frosting and candy all over it. My nose told me that none of it was real, but still, I just couldn’t believe my eyes. It was like something that had come out of a sugar-coated dream.

I spotted a sign hanging from the building’s roof beams, which read:

Sugarcube Corner

Alright, if the smell of their food didn’t already do it, the mere appearance of this bakery would’ve me sold me over to buying their stuff. Speaking of which, I still needed to actually buy something to eat. Good thing I thought to bring my own bits with me from back home.

I walked up to Sugarcube Corner’s door and let myself in.

The inside of the shop was just as rural as the rest of the town; random bits of pink everywhere, alongside the usual wooden interior of a house. A few tables stood around the shop, as well as a few booths, and the serving counter where the cash register laid.

I walked up to the counter, noticing that nopony was there. But thankfully there happened to be a bell on the counter, so I rang it.

I swear, as soon as my hoof hit the bell and the little thing went ‘ding!’, a blur of pink shot right in front of my face behind the counter.

I stumbled back a bit from shock, because honestly, who wouldn’t? Being part wolf made it even worse, as my predatory instincts thought the pink blur to be some kind of threat to flee from, since I wasn’t sure how to protect myself from it. But I wasn’t willing to leave until I got some kind of food.

By the time I managed to get my heart rate back down to normal levels, I realized that the pink blur had actually been another pony, who had apparently ran straight from the back room to the front counter in under a second. No wonder my wolf instincts told me to run, ‘cause that’s just ridiculously fast!

She was a pink earth pony mare, and when I say pink, I mean really pink. Her fur was a bright, solid pink, and her mane was a solid mess of tangles, extremely poofy, and yes, pink also. She had light blue eyes, and her cutie mark was a trio of yellow and blue balloons. My nose also told me she smelled of flour and sugar, just like a nice sugar cookie.

She smiled at me with a huge grin, practically shouting, “Hiya! Welcome to Sugarcube Corner! I’m Pinkie Pie! What can I getcha’?” Yikes, she talked fast!

Huh, her name was Pinkie Pie. Gee, I wonder how her parents ever came up with that name. Oh, well, I can’t be one to talk. I named myself after my teeth, which I never really cared for anyways; just ask my dentist.

Although… even though I knew I was going to order something for the go, I found that I couldn’t keep my eyes off Pinkie’s face. Her features were both smooth and curvy, like that of a filly between her teenage years and full adulthood. Her big eyes seemed just as bright as her smile, and her lashes just complimented those sky blue irises. She looked… cute… really cute.

“Oh, I’ve never seen you around here before!” Pinkie’s grin widened so much that it threatened to crack her face right open, “I love meeting new ponies, ‘cause then I can have so many more friends. Plus everyone needs a friend, right? I mean, who wouldn’t want one, ‘cause that would be really lonely! I’m not lonely, are you lonely?” The whole while she spoke, her whole body wouldn’t stop moving, as if she were on a sugar high.

I blinked in response as my mind caught up with her fast speech pattern, “Uh… no, I’m not…”

Pinkie smiled, as if she weren’t already doing that anyways, “Hi, my name is Pinkie Pie, and I love parties! What’s yours?”

“Um… I’m Fang.” I raised an eyebrow at her, “And you kind of already told me your name before.”

Pinkie paused for a very brief moment, “Oh, right. I did, didn’t I?” She giggled, “Well, you can never say your name too many times right? See, look how fast I can say my name!” The pink pony suddenly began bouncing at an impossible speed, in rhythmic count with her name, “PinkiePiePinkiePiePinkiePiePinkiePiePinkiePiePinkiePie! Say, do you want something to eat?”

I shook myself out of bewilderment as I realized she had asked me a question, “Uh, what?”

“Well, you’re here to order something, right?” Pinkie asked, “It’s breakfast time and I just finished baking a huge batch of muffins! They’re really yummy, and brought right out of the oven!”

At the mention of food, my stomach growled again. Unfortunately, Pinkie heard it too.

“Oh, wow! You must be starving if your tummy sounds like that!” She giggled.

I smiled sheepishly, “Um, yeah, kind of. I just came into town a few minutes ago. I never ate breakfast this morning.” Or dinner last night I silently added. I chuckled a bit, “Yeah, I could go for a muffin.”

“Okie Dokie! That’ll be two bits!” I hoofed the bits over to her, and she replied, “Go ahead and take a seat. I’ll bring your muffin out to you in a jiffy!” With that she zoomed back into the backroom in the blink of an eye.

I stood there for a good few seconds, frowning in confusion, “Well… that was… uh, something.” Although, the more I thought about what Pinkie had done in the past few seconds, my frown started to slip away as I actually started to smile, “Actually, in hindsight, she’s pretty funny.”

Well, what do you know about that? She’s both cute and funny, both of which you hardly find in Hollow Shades.

Chuckling a bit, I made my way over to a table and waited for my muffin to come.

Of course, it didn’t take long for Pinkie to return to my table, bringing along a tray with her. On it was a muffin, but it also came with… a cupcake?

I quirked an eyebrow at Pinkie, “Wait, hold on a sec. I didn’t order a cupcake…”

Pinkie only smiled wider, “Oh, don’t worry about it. I’ve never seen you in town before, which means you’ve probably never been in Ponyville before, ‘cause I know just about everyone who lives and visits here. So, I decided to give you a super-yummy-Welcome-to-Ponyville-party-cupcake!”

I blinked, “A what now?”

“See watch!” Pinkie tapped the side of the cupcake with a hoof, and instantly a shot of confetti burst out of the top of the treat, and then a tiny flag extended out of it, saying ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ on it.

Talk about one bizarre cupcake, but that’s what made me burst out laughing at it, “Oh my Celestia, that is the coolest thing I’ve seen!”

Pinkie giggled with me, “I know, right? I mean, come on, putting a confetti flag cannon inside a cupcake is a genius idea! All you gotta worry about is to not eat the whole thing with the cannon inside, otherwise you’d be sneezing confetti all week, but that was still fun when I tried it the first time!”

The first time? She’s sneezed confetti before? Oh well.

I chuckled, “Well, thanks Pinkie. That was awesome!”

Pinkie giggled bashfully, “Ah, naw. Don’t mention it!” She started to turn away from the table, “I’ve got to check the ovens again, so I’ll see ya later, Fang!” She then bounced away from the table towards the back room, “Hope you enjoy your cupcake, new friend!”

I laughed quietly as Pinkie disappeared into the back of the bakery, leaving me to my breakfast. I turned back to my muffin and party cupcake, both of which were covered in confetti and streamers now. Well, all I had to do was brush off the paper and the two would still be edible. Plus, I got free dessert with breakfast! How cool is that?

Deciding to eat dessert before breakfast, I blew the confetti of the cupcake and took the first bite out of the top of it, though making sure to not eat the tiny flag sticking out of the top.

Once the frosting and cake hit my tongue, I felt my eyes roll back into my skull as the sweetness of it overpowered my tongue in the best way possible. Oh, the moist, sugary treat, hot and fresh from the oven, felt like a choir of angels in my mouth. Just from the first bite, I felt like I could die happy, because I had just found the Ark of the Covenant (from Daring Do and the Lost Ark; One of the best books ever in my opinion).

Yeah, it was official. Sugarcube Corner’s cupcakes trumped the ones from Hollow Shades at 10 to 1 in the giant gingerbread house's favor.

I was going to have to thank Pinkie for the free cupcake, because it was just as delicious as it had smelled… although, now that I think about it, why did she give it to me? I know she’d said it was to welcome me to town, but I mean, why had she really given it to me?

It probably wasn’t because she’d been put up to it, because I couldn’t smell anyone else in the back room. The upstairs portion of the shop smelled of other ponies, probably living up there, and it reeked of… blech! Baby diapers. Disgusting!

No, there wasn’t anyone who could’ve put Pinkie up to giving me free stuff, so that wasn’t why. I seriously doubted it was because she thought I looked good, cause I had patches of fur ruffled up in random places, leftover from last night’s shift.

Then what was it? Honestly, back in Hollow Shades, you could expect that no one would give you stuff for free, not even the tiniest of crumbs. Heck, no one would even care about your name, unless you had information concerning werewolves or vampires. No, Hollow Shades had never been very friendly or nice, but it’d still been my home for the past ten years so I can’t blame ‘em willingly.

But here, in Sugarcube Corner, with Pinkie Pie… she’d done the complete opposite. She’d wanted to know my name, she’d made me laugh, and she’d given me a Welcome-to-Ponyville cupcake with my breakfast, something she’d made herself. Pinkie had been… nice. She’d actually been nice to me.

Her words echoed through my head, Hope you enjoy your cupcake, new friend!

I stared at the half eaten cupcake in my hoof, lost in thought, “New friend? We only met two minutes ago and you think of me as a friend?”

I frowned. I never really had any friends, besides Razor and Vel, but they were family so they didn’t count. Looking back, I never tried to make any friends when I was a kid, not since I was turned into a werewolf. Partly that was because Razor had told me not to, to keep our secret more secure by not letting anybody get close to me. But it was also partly because…

I did have friends once, back when I was still normal… but once the transformations happened… my friends… they…

I shook myself out of my thoughts, before those memories could resurface again. I couldn’t afford to break down in tears here, or else that would’ve attracted more attention towards me. But still…

Looking back at my cupcake, I wondered, Could I really have another friend again, someone besides my family? Would I really be able to keep them safe from me?

A bell ringed in the bakery, making me jump slightly as I was jerked from my thoughts. I turned my eyes towards the front counter, where I found another pony ordering something from Pinkie.

I silently cursed to myself. I’d been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn’t even noticed them come in. I was going to have to leave soon, before they got a good look at me…

I sighed, before shoving the last of the party cupcake down into my muzzle, excluding the confetti cannon inside. Honestly, there was no way I could have another friend, not even Pinkie Pie. I was a werewolf. I was an Outcast. There was no way I could even have a friend in this town if I wanted to, because we were leaving after we had stockpiled enough potions for me.

But a pony’s laughter twitched in my ears, and I glanced to the side to see the customer pony from before giggling up a storm with Pinkie, probably from her crazy antics. Even from here, I couldn’t help but smile when I looked at Pinkie. She was just so… alive. Man, what would’ve given to stay here in town and remain as friends with her…

As soon as the thought came, a tiny light bulb flickered to life in my head. Within seconds, I got an idea, one that I thought could actually work, one that could change my life for the better, even.

Smiling, I grabbed my breakfast muffin in my mouth, got up from my table, and ran to the exit. But as I raced out the door, I heard Pinkie shout, “Oh, have a nice day, Fang! See ya later!”

Sugarcube Corner was long gone behind me by the time Pinkie’s mouth uttered that last word, but my ears still easily picked it up. Grinning to myself, I steered towards the Everfree Forest, silently replying, Yeah, I’ll see you later, Pinkie; even if it’s the last thing I do. All I had to do was figure out how to convince Razor and Vel.

That was going to be the hard part, but I knew I was going to be able to convince them to stay here. I was going to convince them to make our new home here in Ponyville, because we needed a new place to live, and I needed a friend.

Author's Note:

Now we are beginning to see a bit more of an explanation for that information dump in the first chapter. If you've thought of something you disagree with this whole story, feel free to comment it. Trust me when I say, I know what I'm doing with this.

Thanks for reading,
-Shadowflame

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