Ch.1: Anniversaire du Soleil

Rise of the Furball Chapter 1: "Anniversaire du Soleil"

In the land of Equestria, there are many holidays, but none as important or as widely followed as the Anniversaire du Soleil. The birthday of the sun, nopony would dare fail to not celebrate the day Princess Celestia was issued forth into the world. While Celestia herself wasn’t too fond of the extra level of attention, her secret obsession for cake was indulged as bakers from all over Equestria sent their finest cakes to her, among everything else sent as a birthday present.

But this year would be a little different. In addition to the usual fanfare and secret cake gorging, entertainers from all over the country had banded together to put on a special, one-time event to be held in Canterlot for the beloved princess and family. Virtually overnight on the eve of the Anniversaire du Soleil, a carnival sprung up at the Canterlot Fairgrounds, a gigantic yellow-and-blue tent forming the centerpiece of the tarp-topped town. While the surrounding stalls functioned like a conventional marketplace, the actual show inside the biggest tent was the main draw. Word having been spread months before of the one-in-a-lifetime event, tickets had been sold out for weeks and the only way to get a seat was to try and beg a friend to give up their ticket.

Or, conversely, to have Princess Celestia herself invite the ponies closest to her and their families as guests in her private VIP box.

“Oh, this is going to so fun!” exclaimed Pinkie Pie, bouncing up and down with excitement.

“I, for one, can’t believe all this was able to be put up overnight!” said Rarity, “I mean, to erect what amounts to a large city overnight and to put on an all A-list performance without a single rehearsal? I know these ponies must be confident in their abilities, but even then a no-rehearsal show in front of the princesses!”

“I’m sure they’ve rehearsed all this almost non-stop” replied Twilight Sparkle, “just because it’s all so sudden here doesn’t mean it’s just a spur of the moment thing. Tickets for this event went on sale months ago - they must have been practicing at some location miles away from here. Maybe even in the desert area near Appleoosa?”

Rarity just rolled her eyes. “Yes, that’s the logical answer, darling, but that also takes away from the fantastical nature of all this.”

Currently, the six friends from Ponyville, plus Spike, were making their way through the fantastic carnival, seeing the sights and getting all kinds of swag. At various other places in the carnival, the families of the Mane Six were also having their own adventures. They all would meet at the entrance to the great tent around showtime, where they would join the Princesses to watch the great show. Twilight was nervous, as she usually was around her mentor, but this time she had the extra problem of wings, which even months after getting used to were still prone to open up randomly. They did so now, accidentally hitting Applejack in the face.

“Ah! Sorry, Applejack, didn’t mean to do that,” apologized Equestria’s fourth princess as she folded her wings back.
“It’s alright, Twi,” replied the orange mare, “Not everypony has to deal with managin’ somethin’ like becomin’ an Alicorn. Although from what you told us about that weird place on the other side of that mirror, gainin’ wings probably is easier than bein’ put into a completely separate body.”

“You can say that again!” grumbled Spike, walking alongside the other ponies. “I got turned into a dog. A dog! Having to pretend I couldn’t talk, ride on Twilight’s back in some kind of pouch, and generally being treated like some kind of freak when I did anything while standing on two legs…you have no idea what that was like!”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I think Applejack probably has the best idea out of all of us in terms of what it’s like to turn into a dog….” she snickered.

Applejack shot an evil look at her blue-hued counterpart. “Have Ah mentioned that you still look delicious enough to eat, Dash?” said the farmer, licking her lips hungrily. Rainbow in response seemed to have all her colors turn several shades lighter as she froze in place. Everypony else laughed, much to RD’s embarrassment.

“Not cool, Applejack,” chided Rainbow, trying to salvage her damaged pride. She was then brought into a side embrace by a laughing Applejack.

“Aw, come on Rainbow, it’s been almost a year since then, if there was any chance Ah was still a werewolf don’t ya think you or any of us would’ve noticed by now?”

“Yeah, I would have noticed before anypony else!” said Pinkie, popping out of a bucket full of little dolls made to resemble ponies in jester outfits. “I would have noticed your breath would have smelled really, really bad, like all you eat was meat and stuff!”

“Ugh, don’t remind me!” complained Princess Sparkle, looking slightly green in the face. “I still can’t believe I liked meat so much on the other side of the mirror! Seriously, how did you cope with such a thing during your, er, ‘rough patch’, so to speak, Applejack?”

“Ah really don’t know, to be honest. Probably was just the whole lycanthropy thing messin’ with mah taste buds. The worst part was how Ah could still taste the last meatburger Ah ate about two weeks after bein’ cured. It sickened me that Ah’d eaten so much dead animal and it was stuck inside mah mouth!”

“No kidding” agreed Twilight.

“Oh, er...we better be careful, I think it’s getting close to showtime. So...um, we should make our way to the big tent...if that’s okay with all of you, I mean.” said Fluttershy.

With the revelation that they might be late for the start of the show, the six ponies and one dragon took off to find the nearest entrance. It would never do to be a part of Princess Twilight’s peerage and be tardy to this event.

Within the tent was an area which could encompass a small stadium. Hundreds of ponies had already found their way inside to their seats while many more were still waiting to get their tickets punched. The upper classes complained about the lack of VIP options that would speed the process up, having to wait in line among less wealthy ‘commoner’ ponies, but the truth was that the expected audience was so great that the only VIP section that could be made was for the birthday mare herself.

“Oh, I do hope everypony will get a good view of the show!” said a worried Celestia, ever the benevolent figure to her subjects.

“Celly, I’m sure everypony can get a good view from their seat, the tickets were expensive enough to justify that much,” replied Luna, who was apparently more concerned about the security force stationed at key traffic locations than with the clowns moving among and mingling with the seated audience.

The rest of the Mane Six and their families were also comfortably seated in the Royal VIP box. Unlike how they would sit together during such events, this time they sat apart with their own respective families. The CMC, in contrast, were crowding together at the edge of the box with wide eyes, waiting for the show to start.

“Oh, yes, she’s just like Rainbow when she was young!” said Firefly to Flower Shower. While Scootaloo wasn’t directly related to one of the Mane Six, compared to her CMC counterparts being the direct younger siblings of Applejack and Rarity, Rainbow Dash had taken Scoots under her wing as a kind of sister figure and as such Celestia had insisted the parents of the orange filly come along with Rainbow’s own parents to the great performance.

“Well, that’s good to hear,” Flower replied. “Slipstream and I used to worry that, because of our general absence in her life, we couldn’t guide her as much as proper parents should and so she’d end up with the wrong kind of ponies. It was a relief to learn about her making friends and forming that little club of theirs, but even more so when Rainbow offered to be a surrogate big sister figure to Scoot. Especially since there is the other problem of my little filly still struggling to fly….”

“Hey, she’s just a late bloomer, that’s all. Even though I’m to blame for my daughter’s speed addiction with my legacy as the fastest flyer to ever come out of Cloudsdale, I was probably two years older than Scootaloo when I finally managed to lift off under my own power, so I know what she must be going through.”

“No, it’s not that,” murmured Flower, looking away as if ashamed about what she was going to say next. Leaning in to whisper into Firefly’s ear, Flower intoned, “The real reason why my poor daughter can’t do anything more than hover is-“

The blaring of trumpets and the dimming of lights signaled to the now-fully-packed audience that the show was going to begin. Flower made a we’ll-talk-later face and turned to face the stage right as a heavily clothed stallion took the stage, his defining features hidden under a large top hat and large red coat. It quickly became clear that he was the ringmaster of the Cirque du Salle, the main sponsor and organizer of the event, as he began to speak.

“Mares and Stallions, Fillies and Colts, to all ponies of all ages, I welcome you all to tonight’s special exhibition of the finest performers Equestria has to offer, all in celebration of Princess Celestia’s birthday!”

On que, a spotlight swing over to illuminate the Royal VIP box to show a deeply blushing Celestia, with the entire audience erupted into cheers and claps for their regis. The ringmaster waited for the noise to die down before continuing.

“Now, without further ado, let’s get this show on the road!”

From the get-go, the show was a spectacular marvel of what ponies could do. There were entertainers from every kind of performance giving their all to please the princess. The rodeo like spectacle, starring the great Calamity Mane and Wild Bull Hikock. The Flying Graymares, the best earth pony trapeze artists, flew through the air as if they had been born as Pegasus ponies and left the audience awestruck. The afternoon began to blend into the night (with Luna having to temporarily leave to raise the moon, secretly admitting later that she was glad to do so during the period when the comedian Wordplay said some unintentionally insulting things about how much he disliked the night), with the crowd barely being able to get a break between cheering for the pony performers, Celestia included.

However, when the last act ended and the stage cleared, there was no indication the show was over. Or, at least until the ringleader shambled onto the stage. He appeared to have great difficulty moving in his clothes all of a sudden, stumbling about in a comedic way that some ponies couldn’t help but laugh at. Everypony else was confused. What was going on? Was the ringleader suddenly drunk? Why was he acting like such a fool in front of the princess of all ponies?

However, as soon as the ringleader finally managed to get to the center of the stage and was about to say something, another pony dressed in the exact same clothes ran into the open.

“Hey! What do you think you are doing, impostor?!”

The crowd was shocked at this revelation. An impostor of the ringleader of the Cirque du Salle? Why in Equestria would anypony try to do that and manage to do it so horribly that they hadn’t even incapacitated the real ringleader? Those were the questions going through Luna’s head as she started to motion for security to handle the matter, but Celestia stopped her.

“It’s okay, Lu-Lu,” Celestia assured her sister in a hushed whisper, as to not alarm anypony else.

“What are you talking about?!” responded Luna angrily, in the same whisper volume. “He could be an assassin for all we know! A very, very bad one, admittedly, but one all the same!”

“Unless he’s here to kill us with laughter, I highly doubt that is the case.”

“l ask again, sister; what are you talking about!?”

“Look, do those two look like they actually aren’t doing something staged? It’s clearly all an act, my dear sister.” Celestia motioned to the stage, where the ringleader was arguing with his duplicate. Except the duplicate was not responding loud enough for anypony except presumably the ringleader himself to hear. Luna watched the actions closely, and had to admit both ponies were moving in a practiced manner. Extremely convincing that this wasn’t rehearsed, but to somepony trained to detect such movement to avoid actual would-be assassins, Luna knew better.

“Furthermore,” the sun princess added, “just look at Pinkie for your answer.” Following Celestia’s suggestion, Luna turned to see the pink pony. While every other pony in the VIP box had expressions mixed with shock and amusement, Pinkie’s face was downright serious, at least as serious as Pinkie got. With half-lidded eyes and a knowing grin, Luna immediately realized that whatever was going on down on the stage, Pinkie was watching intently as if waiting for something. That “something” soon occurred as the argument in front of thousands reached it’s climax.

“Okay, so you sold the turkey to the dressmaker, we’re finally clear on that mark, but for the last time I must ask you why the hay are you trying to pretend you’re me?!”

The pony seemed to whisper something to the ringleader.

“You want to ask them a question?”

The pony nodded.

“Well, what is it then? Out with it!”

Slowly, the mysterious stallion turned to face the VIP box, all eyes on him. Then, with a motion so fast that some Pegasus ponies would be jealous, he moved one hoof and appeared to rip off his clothes. But it was his ‘question’ that got everypony’s attention.

“Wa-hey hey! Who’s ready to laugh?”

The crowd erupted into a wild cheer, every single member of the audience reinvigorated from the drain of sitting through such a long performance. Gone was the mysterious fake ringleader from earlier, in his place stood a true legend of comedy. Ponyacci, the greatest clown in Equestrian history, stood before the masses. What truly made his presence special was that every single performer except him had been listed in the promotional material for this event, along with little expectation for him to have been on the ticket in the first place due to his semi-retirement some time ago due to health complications. But for him to make a surprise appearance as what had to be the last act, meant that all the stops were being pulled out and this event would truly end with a bang.

“Pinkie, I thought Ponyacci had stopped performing and had-“ started Twilight, who turned to discover her own local comedian had vanished.

“Where did she go?” asked Rarity, finally removing her fancy viewfinder to look at Twilight. The rest of the VIP box was of the same questioning opinion. While Pinkie’s tendency to randomly disappear and break conventional laws of nature at will was nothing new, it was a worry now since Ponyacci was revered by Pinkie as the avatar of comedy itself, and whatever she might do in his presence could be a national embarrassment.

“Wait, is that her?” asked Sweetie Belle, motioning to the stage. Indeed, now next to Ponyacci was a similarly dressed up mare, her true birth colors disguised by heavy makeup. But her big blue eyes and bushy mane were telltale signs of her involvement.

As it would turn out, Pinkie Pie - or as she was introduced to the crowd, “Scaramouche” - was Ponyacci’s assistant to help him with his own set of acts. Her biggest role, though, was being tied to a vertical wheel that spun clockwise. The crowd was stunned that for this next act, Ponyacci would not only be throwing knives at the spinning wheel, but be throwing them at his assistant blindfolded while doing acrobatic tricks.

The next few minutes would see the audience rapidly change from gasps to applause back to gasps as Ponyacci juggled knives while balancing on a giant bouncy ball, occasionally throwing a knife and barely missing Pinkie. For her part, Pinkie was simply smiling with confidence as what had to be razor sharp knives flew by, embedding themselves into the spinning board mere centimeters from her body. Then, while doing a one-legged hoofstand on the ball, Ponyacci threw one last knife with his tail, hitting the board right above Pinkie’s head to the point it disappeared in her mane. In response, the crowd roared with delight.

That wasn’t the end of Ponyacci’s performance, but while the rest of the crowd was enraptured by an amazing display of slight-of-hand hat tricks combined with multiple party cannons, the attention of three specific fillies was turned inward. To them, Ponyacci and Pinkie had already given them the next sure-fire idea for their cutie marks.

One Week Later…

“APPLEJACK!”

Upon hearing her name, the farm pony went in from the fields to the homestead where Granny Smith waited with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, Granny?”

“Ah know you might still be havin’ some, er, ‘issues’ what with that whole werewolf thing from a few months back, but Ah don’t remember you sayin’ you ever had a problem with silver or anythin’ made from it.”

“What are you talkin’ about, Granny?”

“Don’t you know? Ah thought you’d have some bad thing happen involvin’ silver durin that period of yours, after all isn’t silver supposed to be bad for werewolves?”

“Ah don’t see what that has to do with me, Granny.”

“Mah knives, mah silver kitchen knives! They’re missin!”

Applejack was surprised. “What, you think Ah took ‘em?”

“Well, now that Ah think about it, you probably weren’t the one who took ‘em since it was all of mah good cuttin’ knives that went missin’, not just the silver ones.”

“Granny…” flatly began Applejack, “why would Ah want to steal, or hide, your kitchen knives. Ah’ve never had a need for ‘em outside of cookin’, an’ Ah never take ‘em out of the kitchen.”

“You gotta point there, youngn’,” replied Granny, stroking her chin. “But if you didn’t take ‘em, and Ah know Big Mac wouldn’t touch ‘em, then who…?”

Applejack didn’t need an answer before she immediately ran off to the CMC’s clubhouse. She’d seen them bring in some lumber supplies left over from the remodeling of Carousel Boutique (the damage from the Cerberus attack had almost completely destroyed Rarity’s house), with a poorly drawn circle outline drawn on one big, flat piece of plywood. Apple Bloom was the only unaccounted Apple Family member who would even know where the knives had been, and a bunch of knives plus a generous amount of wood could only mean one thing. One very, very bad thing.

“Are you sure about this?” squeaked Sweetie Belle, who was slowly spinning like a sideways Frisbee.

“Come on, Sweetie Belle, it won’t be that bad!” answered Scoots, who was slowly walking on a treadmill.

“Yeah, Ah’m sure if we try knife throwin’ we’ll get our cutie marks for sure!” replied Apple Bloom, whose signature mane bow had been converted into a blindfold of sorts.

Right in front of the CMC clubhouse, the trio had constructed an extremely crude copy of the spinning wheel they’d seen Pinkie strapped to back at Ponyacci’s surprise act. Sweetie Belle, having taken the place of Pinkie, was firmly secured into the not-quite-round backing of the wheel. Scootaloo was powering the wheel on a treadmill (“borrowed” from the Apple’s cider making machine), although she needed an anchor point simply so she could push with her hind legs. Finally, Apple Bloom would be playing the role of Ponyacci, the “borrowed” knives all together in one giant box next to her.

“No, what I’m talking about is how we’re not doing this exactly like Ponyacci!” pointed out Sweetie Belle, “I mean, wasn’t he blindfolded while doing acrobatic tricks on a bouncy ball?”

“We need to build up to that with practice. That’s why Ah’m only gonna start out blindfolded, if all goes well we should be able to bring the ball in tomorrow when we’re ready.”

“Oh. Okay!” chirped the tiny unicorn.

Apple Bloom motioned for Scootaloo to give it her all, and she did. With all of her might, the Pegasus managed to make the wheel spin slightly faster (and wobblier), which did not improve Sweetie’s sudden feeling of nausea.

“Alright, here we go!” announced Apple Bloom, lowering the blindfold over her eyes and feeling around for a knife handle. She found one, proceeding to rear up in preparation of throwing the knife. However, just as she was starting the throw.…

“GIRLS! WHAT IN TARNATION ARE YOU DOING?!” screamed Applejack, barreling at top speed towards the CMC. The sudden billowing from her older sister startled the yellow filly, causing her to fumble the toss and let go far too early. The result was the knife did not fly towards the restrained Sweetie, but merely spun in the air before coming back down, not even going forward a few inches. However, as it came down, it’s razor edge came into contact with Apple Bloom and cut deep, leaving a nasty, bloody gash before it hit the ground.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” screamed the unfortunate filly, falling to her side as she clutched at the wound. She was soon surrounded by two orange ponies, the older earth and the younger Pegasus.

“Scootaloo, go get the first aid kit from the barn!” ordered Applejack, immediately tending to her younger sister’s wounds.
“Bu-but I don’t know where it would be in the barn!” a scared Scootaloo answered back.

“Half-way inside, just below the hook where Ah keep mah ropes!”

With that, the Pegasus retrieved her scooter and zoomed away. Applejack looked away from the wounded Apple just to make sure Scoots was doing what she was told, before resuming to wound tending. She wanted to yell at her sister for being this dumb, for even thinking trying something this dangerous would be easy and her cutie mark. She wanted to yell at all three of the CMC for that, but scaring them would not mend this gash.

“It’s gonna be okay, Bloomie, it’s going to be okay!” soothed Applejack, elevating the bleeding foreleg as to cut the blood flow. Apple Bloom, still blindfolded, could only nod in response, her tears clearly an indicator of the pain. It was a very bad injury, possibly requiring stitches at Ponyville General, but until a bandage of some sort was applied Applejack knew the filly could not be safely moved.

Thankfully, Scootaloo quickly returned with the first aid kit. Rapidly, AJ took the kit and pulled out wrapped bandages and scissors. The leading end of the bandages looked gnarled and nasty, it would need to be cut off. Yet, in her hurry to patch up Apple Bloom, Applejack fumbled with the scissors and managed to cut herself in the process.

“Ow!” whimpered Applejack, waving her injured limb back and forth. Unlike Apple Bloom’s gash, the minor cut on Applejack’s own foreleg was extremely minor. That being said, it did bleed a little bit, and when the straw-maned apple farmer was shaking her lower foreleg, a single, tiny drop of her blood bled from the cut and was sent flying due to the motion of the foreleg. As fate would have it, that blood droplet would fall right into the bloodiest part of Apple Bloom’s injury, where it went deep enough to be drawn into the filly’s blood stream and all the way to the heart, to be pumped elsewhere.
Nopony present noticed the blood drop exchange, it was too small and too fast an occurrence to notice. Applejack was too concerned with the bandages, and Scootaloo was too nervous about not being able to do anything to ease her friend’s pain other than taking Apple Bloom’s good foreleg hoof and soothing her. Applejack soon had the nasty bandage end cut off and the good bandage wrapped around the gash.

“Alright, we need to get her back to the house,” stated Applejack, trying to figure out how to do just that.

“Maybe we can put her into the wagon and I’ll haul her up with my scooter!” suggested Scootaloo. With little else to work with, Applejack had to agree and so Apple Bloom’s stretcher-on-wheels was hauled via Scooter-loo back to the house. Applejack was about to follow before Sweetie Belle finally spoke up.

“Um, Applejack, mind letting me down from here?” As it turned out, she’d ended up upside down on the wheel. “I’m feeling dizzy all of a sudden….”

AJ wasted no time in getting Sweetie Belle down, then bucking the entire contraption in order to break it just to ensure the CMC didn’t try that again. Taking the box of knives (with the bloody knife wrapped in bandages so it wouldn’t contaminate the other knives) with her so they wouldn’t be randomly lying around, the farmer and the unicorn took off to follow Scootaloo and her wounded passenger.

Ch.2: Over the Line

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 2 : "Over the Line"

“They were trying to WHAT?!” shouted the confused doctor.

“Uh-huh. Ah bet they got the idea from that big ‘ol performance that Princess Celestia invited us all to some weeks ago,” Applejack replied, her facial state emoting a combination of irritation and concern.

It had been chaotic when Big Mac saw Scootaloo pulling the wounded Apple Bloom with her scooter. Acting with agility that his large body implied didn’t exist, the stallion almost trampled Scootaloo as he immediately transferred his youngest sister into a larger hay cart. He was already off towards Ponyville General by the time Applejack and Sweetie caught up, and when those two plus Granny and Scootaloo reached the hospital they found the filly had been taken into the E.R. while Big Mac could do nothing but sit in the lobby and wait. For what seemed like forever, they all had waited in the lobby until a doctor finally came out and asked to see Applejack. He wanted to know what had happened, so Applejack explained what she saw and that she figured they were trying to replicate that knife throwing act from Ponyacci’s surprise finale.

“Please tell me this isn’t a regular occurrence with her.”

Applejack just rolled her eyes. “To be honest, it’s what she and her friends do all the time as they keep tryin' to force their cutie marks to appear. However, somehow they’ve always managed to escape serious bodily harm…at least, until today.” The farmer then went into full-concern mode and asked “Doc, we gotta know; how bad is it?”

Oddly, he chuckled. “You all can relax, I’m sure the amount of blood that was coming out must have given quite a scare, but it’s surprisingly not as deep as the incision would indicate.” He paused to let Apple Bloom’s friends and family take a big sigh of relief, then continued. “She’ll need some stitches, of course, but they’ll be sewn with a new organic thread that will simply dissolve off once the incision is fully healed. Judging from the state of the wound, I’d say it will heal up in a week’s time, and although there will be a scar her fur should grow back and cover it right up.”

“Well, that’s good to hear,” said a thankful Applejack, even though she was suddenly having flashbacks to the one night when Sable Loam had driven his fangs deep into her neck. She shuddered at the recalled memory.

“Are you alright, miss?” inquired the doctor.

“Wha? Oh, yeah, Ah’m fine. But what about Apple Bloom? How is she takin’ all this?”

The doctor’s tone became slightly more serious. “Unfortunately, Miss. Bloom was not as open to the idea of stitches and became rather uncooperative, so we had to get some anesthesia and put her to sleep. It was a small amount, so she’ll be back up and moving around in no time.”

At that point, two nurses wheeled out a groggy Apple Bloom in a wheelchair. Her wounded foreleg looked pretty bad, with a good little margin around the cut having had the fur cut away to make the stitching easier, but in return leaving a giant pink, fleshy rectangle visible to the world that had a red line drawn down the middle and criss-crossed by black lines.

“Hey…everypony….” said Apple Bloom, almost drunkenly. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle instantly jumped up and nearly tackled the poor filly had they not suddenly been stopped by the doctor’s telekinesis.

“There is something I do need to mention, however. Even though the wound may heal up in a week’s time, I would highly recommend that she refrain from putting pressure on it for a week after the cut disappears, in order to ensure it heals properly.”

“Wait, are you sayin’ Ah can’t walk on mah own four legs no more for some time?” a now-suddenly-awake Apple Bloom asked. “How am Ah supposed to get around the farm, or get to school, if Ah can’t even walk on mah legs?”

“Well, there is one way to circumvent that,” the doctor said soberly, though for a second, Applejack thought she caught a flash of whimsy in the healer’s eyes.

Clop clop clop CLACK!

“What on earth is that annoying noise?!” whined Diamond Tiara. “How am I supposed to enjoy this milkshake with that racket?!”

“You wanna check it out?” replied Silver Spoon.

“Sigh.... Might as well….”

Temporarily leaving their milkshakes on the table, Tiara and Spoon walked over to the side of the malt shop to investigate.
What they saw made the pink pony grin evilly.

Walking on the other side was the Apple Family and the CMC, the latter of whom DT still held extreme animosity for as their formation had ruined her cuticerena. But it was Apple Bloom that drew the filly’s eye. For whatever reason, one of her forelegs was bandaged up and rigged into some kind of apparatus with several plastic pegs sticking out of the bottom. The clacking noise was this device hitting the ground.

“What do you think happened to her?” asked Silver Spoon, trying to hide the fact she was actually concerned about the answer for she knew DT wouldn’t care if she couldn’t take advantage of it somehow.

“Who cares? I know how we can still humiliate her with it tomorrow,” replied Tiara, on the verge of cackling.

Wordlessly, the two fillies turned to finish their shakes, Diamond already coming up with plans to ruin Apple Bloom’s life.
Meanwhile, the oblivious group just kept on walking. It was starting to get late, so the Apples would escort Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle home before returning to the farm for supper. At least until they passed Sugarcube Corner, upon which a pink form burst out of the top window and crashed into the ground.

“Ohmigosh, what happened?!” inquired a concerned Pinkie, standing as if she hadn't just fallen two stories into a rock road in such a way that any other pony would have broken several bones upon impact.

“Well, you’re partially to blame, actually, Pinkie….” said Applejack.

“WHAT?!” shouted Pinkie, “How could you even think I would have anything to do that would cause physical harm to another pony? I mean, sure there was the one time when I was babysitting the Cake twins and they were driving me so crazy I wanted to shove them in the oven and make baby cupcakes but I-“

“Pinkie! You didn’t actually do anything, at least not directly. What these three were tryin’ to do was replicate that knife-throwin’ trick you and Ponyacci did back at the circus.”

“Wait, Sweetie can use magic?”

Sweetie was confused. “Uh, no, I can’t. At least, not yet I can’t. How does that have anything to do with what Ponyacci did, though? I saw him, we all saw him, throw those knives perfectly right at you!”

Pinkie remained silent as she just looked down at Sweetie as if she’d just said something crazy, like “Set phasers to hug” or somesuch. Then Pinkie realized why everypony was so confused.

“Oh, sorry! You guys wouldn’t have known, but the whole knife trick thing was an illusion. Those weren’t real knives Ponyacci was throwing, they were actually magical constructs meant to look like real knives. I think Trixie made them, if I recall correctly.”

That surprised Applejack even more. “What? Trixie Lulamoon was there? Ah would have thought somepony with her ego would have demanded a performance, but she wasn’t even on the ticket!”

“That’s because she wasn’t performing. She was the performance coordinator! Sure, she can put on a decent magic act, but that’s namely because her magic isn’t as good as Twilight’s. What she does know is how to plan out performances. Twilight herself said she recommended Trixie for the position.”

“Really? After Trixie had come to town and nearly destroyed it?”

“Yeah, how she and Twilight became friends after that episode, I don’t know, but that’s besides the point. What is the point is that the knives weren’t real nor sharp. Trixie had also enchanted them such that when Ponyacci threw them, it didn’t matter where they actually would hit, they would slightly slow down in flight such that they appeared to be expertly thrown to miss me by super-duper-tiny amounts.”

“So what you’re sayin’ is that the whole knife throwin’ thing was faked?”

“Yep! All Ponyacci did was throw the knives my way, the blindfold even had little slits in them such that he could still see through it. He’s talented, but he’d never done knife throwing before. I mean, really; actually trying to do the act legitimately? With zero experience? You’d have to be a few cookies short of a baker’s dozen to think that was a good idea!”
She was oblivious to the nervous looks exchanged between the fillies. The Apples, however, weren’t.

“Well, Ah guess some ponies will know better next time, eh?” rhetorically asked Granny, glancing down at the three blushing crusaders. “Anyway, we better get these youngins home, it’s gettin’ late.”

“Alrighty!” chirped Pinkie, bidding her friends farewell before turning and heading back into the confectionary. Just in time, too.

“AAAAAAH! Pumpkin! Pound! Get out of the oven this instant!”

It was promising to be a good day as the school bell rang. Cheerilee was busy at her desk, doing some final organization of her lesson plan. Despite the one-room nature of the school (two counting the basement), Cheerilee only taught the morning classes. Another teacher, Autumn Crisp, handled the upper level classes for the teenage ponies in the evening.

The mulberry-hued teacher sighed. While she loved being a teacher and the pay was actually higher than the national average, the catch was a lack of vacation days as she and Crisp were the only ponies with the credentials for teaching kids in town. And although she knew many of her students meant well, the constant headaches of the job were a thing she would be only too happy to take a break from.

“Good morning, Mrs. Cheerilee!” spoke a voice Cheerilee knew only too well. For whatever reason, Diamond Tiara and her PFF Silver Spoon were at school far earlier than usual. And far happier about it, too, although it was obvious Spoon’s wide grin was a little forced.

“Oh! Um…good morning, girls!” said Cheerilee, putting on a smile of her own even if that wasn’t what she felt like doing. “You’re here awfully early, aren’t you?”

“Well, we were so eager to come and learn today that we just couldn’t stay away! Especially when it’s our favorite teacher in class!”

More like the only teacher you’ve ever had, thought Cheerilee.

Thankfully, more students started to arrive and prompted DT and SS to break off the awkward conversation. Although she knew there had to be a reason for the two wealthiest kids in class wanting to be the first students in the classroom, Cheerilee couldn’t work out what the two were after. All she could do was shrug and go back to work, this time writing out the morning message on the chalkboard for all to read. Her attention was momentarily called elsewhere when she began to hear an unusual noise among the hoofsteps of incoming students. She looked over to find Apple Bloom walking in with some kind of support device on one of her forelegs.

“Oh! Apple Bloom, what happened?” inquired Cheerilee. While she, along with the majority of the town, had gotten used to the rather disproportionate results of the CMC’s antics, she couldn’t recall them having done anything that actually got them critically injured.

“Ah…accidently got cut with one of Granny’s knives.” Replied Apple Bloom, flatly. She immediately noted the stifled giggle from Public Enemy No.1; one Diamond Tiara, but didn’t feel like immediately starting trouble. The fact she was only going to be able to use one hoof today was bad enough.

“I…see. Well, I won’t ask you to go into details, but do you think you’ll be alright with that apparatus on?”

“Ah’ll be fine.” And with that, Apple Bloom moved to take her seat.

Outside of the uncomfortable beginning, the class went through without a hitch. Well, it did right up until the end when the students were packing up to go home. That was when it all went downhill. Apple Bloom was packing up her saddlebag, which wasn’t easy with only one hoof, and required help from Sweetie and Scootaloo.

“Wow, I didn’t think an injured foreleg could make even a workpony less than useless!” called out Diamond Tiara, a malicious grin on her face.

Apple Bloom just sighed. “Tiara, can you please not start this today? Ah really don’t want to-“

“Aww, what’s the matter, that busted leg take out all of your confidence?”

Scoots was next. “Wow, so now you’re picking on ponies who are injured? That’s a new low for you, especially considering how low you already were.”

The evil grin got wider. “Not as low as a flightless Pegasus such as you!”

Sweetie tried to defuse the situation. “Just ignore her girls, she’s just looking for-“

“Y’know, I wonder why you three don’t just call yourselves the ‘Cutie Mark Failures’, since you’re the only lame-os in the school who don’t have their cutie marks. In fact, I’m betting that injured foreleg was the direct result of one of your doomed attempts to get them, wasn’t it? Maybe you three should take that as a sign meaning perhaps you three don’t even HAVE special talen-“

“ENOUGH!” shouted Apple Bloom, slamming her hooves on the table. Suddenly, all eyes were on the confrontation taking place, including Cheerilee (who had been distracted by talking to Featherweight about his latest set of pictures for the Foal Free Press).

“Looks like I hit a nerve, didn’t I?” taunted Diamond Tiara.

“Ah’m willin’ to take a lot from you…” seethed the yellow filly, raising her head to look DT in the eyes, “but Ah will not tolerate somepony sayin’ me or mah friends don’t have special talents…when that somepony doesn’t have one herself!”

Tiara was not expecting this kind of resistance, but decided it wasn’t anything of concern. “How dare you say such a thing, you country hick!”

“Now girls…” said Cheerilee, trying to intervene unsuccessfully.

“Oh, Ah dare, because Ah’ve come to realize that even though you have a cutie mark, you don’t know what your special talent is!”

“I know very well what my special talent is, blank flank!”

“Then what is it? Ah’m sure everypony wants to know now…”

Diamond Tiara opened her mouth to speak, then realized Apple Bloom was right. The tiara on her flank should mean she had a special talent, but for the life of her there was no way she could actually explain what it is.

“Well, erm…my special talent is being important!” she blurted out, trying to save face. Unfortunately, it was clear nobody bought it, even Silver Spoon looked incredulously at her friend as if not believing she’d just said those words. DT continued regardless. “At the very least I’m more important than you!” she gestured to Apple Bloom, dramatically.

“Ah think your father would say otherwise,” smugly replied the bow-wearing Apple.

“What does my father have to do with this?!” stammered a shocked Tiara. This was not how she’d planned things to go. She should have been in control and Apple Bloom reduced to tears. And yet somehow, the young apple farmer instead had some sort of advantage.

At the same time, all those not involved directly in this confrontation looked nervously all around, especially Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. This wasn’t like the Apple Bloom they knew so well. Normally, she would have just stood her ground against the insults, but now that the mighty Diamond Tiara was losing ground, the cute, bow wearing filly suddenly became a lot scarier.

“Everything. You say Ah’m not as important as you? Well then, tell me how to make Zap Apple jam.”

“What does that have to do with this?!” questioned Diamond again. She didn’t understand where her former target was going, but it wasn’t looking pretty.

“Oh, of course, Ah should have known better than to expect you to remember what mah granny said back durin’ Family Appreciation Day. Especially the part how the only reason your family even got involved with sellin’ stuff is because of mah granny inventin’ Zap Apple Jam. And even today it remains one of your father’s best sellin’ products throughout the whole year!”

“So what? You’re still just a worthless blank flank toiling away on some useless farm!”

“Maybe so, but at least Ah help mah family stay afloat by workin’ the land! Even if Ah never get mah cutie mark, never know mah special talent, at least Ah’m not some bratty little wannabe princess who hasn’t worked a day in her life!”

That was it. The proverbial gauntlet had been thrown down. Apple Bloom, who had slowly walked around the desks to come face to face with her enemy, just breathed heavily and glared at Diamond. Conversely, the crowned filly had shrunk back from Apple Bloom out of complete fear. It would take months to try and regain the social standing this one argument had taken from her. But there was still one thing she could resort to using, the one thing that could save this situation.

“Maybe so, Apple Bloom, but at least my parents weren’t morons who froze themselves to death!”

The collective gasp silenced even the crickets. It also snapped Cheerilee out of the daze she’d entered when Apple Bloom started waling against Tiara.

“Now, girls, that’s enough!” she shouted, trying to regain control. But it was too late. Diamond had struck Apple Bloom’s hairtrigger.

“Don’t you dare talk about mah parents like that, you sorry little spoiled bit-“

“Ah’m awful sorry for what mah granddaughter said to yours, Mr. Rich. Ah just don’t know what got into her!”

“It’s not your fault, Mrs. Smith. My daughter probably started the whole thing and is just as guilty of what happened as Apple Bloom.”

Granny and Filthy Rich were standing outside the schoolhouse, having just finished talking to Cheerilee about the incident involving Diamond Tiara and Apple Bloom. The two fillies in question had been escorted home by other family members; Apple Bloom by Big Mac and Diamond Tiara by her mother; Champagne Dreams.

“Your daughter…Ah’ll be honest, she doesn’t seem to have any interest in bein’ nice to anypony, really, especially not mah granddaughter.”

“I fear it’s my fault, really. She’s always been my little princess, nothing will change that, either, but she’s become spoiled and believes the wealth she’s in line to inherit already makes her the most important pony in town. The fact neither my wife nor I are usually around due to business probably doesn’t help that. However, I do believe her focus on your granddaughter is mostly out of jealousy.”

Granny was surprised. “Jealousy? Correct me if Ah’m wrong but your family lives rather luxuriously compared to how we Apples don’t have many extraneous things.”

“True, but you Apples have something Diamond Tiara will never be able to have no matter how much of my money she tries to throw at her problem: Applejack.”

“Do yah mean a big sister? Ah’m pretty sure they have some kinda program for that. Rainbow signed up so she could be Scootaloo’s foster big sister.”

“No, although having a surrogate older sister probably would be good for Tiara. What she wants is to be a part of the highest echelons in society, to be famous for being famous, and have exclusive connections. I can not tell you how she will rant about how Apple Bloom doesn’t deserve to have the things she does because she’s just an apple farmer, such as a close relationship to the Royal Family.”

“Have you considered making her do chores or somethin’? Puttin’ her to work might change her opinions, even if it isn’t that much you make her do.”

“That’s an idea to try…oh, is that the time? I really need to go, my family will need me for dinner.”

“Same here. Oh, do you still want that load of Apple Jam ready next week?”

“That would be lovely, Mrs. Smith.”
And with that, the two business partners bid farewell and left for their homes, where two fillies waited and were deep in trouble.

Apple Bloom knew the only reason she wasn’t in nearly as much trouble as she should have been was because of her injury, although she was still grounded for a week. Despite having been patched up, it still hurt if pressure was put on it, which was going to make sleeping rather difficult. Just to be sure, she moved to touch it again. Yep, it still hurt…but not as much.

She raised an eyebrow at that. It was hurting something fierce just a few hours ago, but now it just felt really, really sore. Maybe the doctor was wrong about the time frame in how long it would take to heal up?

“Not like it matters…” mumbled Apple Bloom, nudging herself down into the bed covers and to sleep. She was grounded, she was injured, and she was no closer to her cutie mark. But she was alive.

But best of all, she’d still made Diamond Tiara look like a fool in front of the entire class, which had been totally worth being grounded, and still brought a smile to the young filly’s face.

On the other side of town, a very irate Diamond Tiara pouted in her room, having also been confined to quarters for seven days.

“This is all that stupid farmer’s fault! Making me look bad in front of everypony…I will not, can not accept being outdone by a blank flank! I’ll show her once and for all when I get the chance. That injury of hers will be nothing when I’m through with her.” Her oft-declared promise of revenge made, she promptly tucked herself in her double-size bed and began to dream of various ways she’d grow up as a member of the Canterlot Elite.

At the same time, deep within the confines of the Everfree Forest, where Celestia had once created a giant crater in her failed bid to end the curse of Lycanthropy, something stirred. At the bottom of the crater, where the remains of a shattered tombstone remained, the silence was interrupted. Like a whisper covered by the breath of a pony exhaling, something started to leak out of the ground. As the strange, wispy emissions from the ground continued to emerge, they also coalesced into a larger, single body. Eventually, the growing, gaseous body started to grow what looked like limbs. A pair of forelegs and hindlegs emerged, planting themselves onto the ground. A head soon emerged afterwards, the curve of its muzzle suggesting the gender of the pony shape was female. An image soon appeared on the pony’s flank – a faded picture of a sunrise between two peaks – and her eyes opened to reveal bright pink irises. Simply from the colors, one would think of a pretty, spring day.

But closer examination would reveal the true nature of this pony poltergeist. Her coat and mane clearly looked harrier and more unkempt than one would expect of a mare. Her ears looked far straighter than pony ears had any right to be. Her teeth included sharpened canines that implied a diet of meat. Finally, where her legs ended, there were not hooves but well defined paws.

The pony looked herself over, a look of surprise on her face. ”Huh, so much for ‘rest in peace’ I guess.” It said. She then noted the shattered tombstone, knowing instantly who it had been for and who had placed it. Worse still, the area around the site showed signs of a battle having taken place and hastily covered up, yet the most painful details remained. An almost invisible piece of bloodied fur colored green caught in the tree just behind the tombstone, the terrain still bearing the scars of two predators having fought tooth and claw, and the whispers of a specific individual still clinging to the wind.

Sable Loam was dead. He’d been as such for a while, now, although the pony could not be sure the exact length of time. But his absence left a hole in her non-existent heart, a pain she’d never imagined could be felt after being completely disintegrated by a really pissed off pony princess. And yet… here she was, at least in the spiritual sense if not physical. She knew not how this had come to be, her return to the physical realm, but the why was obvious. With little time to waste she darted off into the night.

Ch.3: The Wilds of Whitetail

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 3: “The Wilds of Whitetail”

Sandalwood looked at the massive mountain of paperwork lying in front of her and sighed. It was tax season again and this year Princess Luna had made some major changes to several parts of the tax code. It had been stressful enough in convincing Lotus and Aloe to allow the continuation of her aromatherapy though having the spa foot the bill for the various perfumes and scents needed. While the profit margins of Sandalwood’s aromatherapy had been as large as ever, a recent production shortage of several basic scents had driven prices up and had become somewhat hard to acquire, so hard that even with the spa proprietors agreeing to continue sponsoring the aromatherapy the number of sessions had to be reduced and Sandalwood’s salary taken in order to help pay for the materials. Sure, she could always ask her parents for money, they were practically rolling in it after the massive success her father’s debut book had been (although public endorsement from now-Princess Twilight Sparkle probably helped), but she wasn’t a filly anymore and wanted to prove she could handle these rough periods. Plus, it was Saturday, and considering how Derpy Hooves the mailmare always got Saturday and Sunday mixed up it was likely her parents wouldn’t get the letter until Monday.

Of course, right now just trying to balance everything was close to her limit, which wasn’t good since technically she only owned half of the house. The other half belonged to one Lyra Heartstrings, who while Sandalwood could get along with very well, had suspiciously been dodging any inquires towards how she made any money. Sure, she could play the harp like nobody’s business, but there really wasn’t any market for harp players in town. Canterlot on the other hand probably always could use them, but considering Lyra’s obsessions with the mythical creatures known as “humans” the elite would have her ridden out on a rail before she could even audition for a symphony.

“I’m home!” said the mint unicorn in question, her harp case slung over her back. She seemed especially cheery, more so than usual, and contrasted greatly with the glum look on Sandalwood’s face. “Is something wrong, Sandy?”

“No, no, nothing’s wrong, just trying to cope with doing the taxes while being the only working resident of this house. Oh, and because of supply issues my job has taken a hit since several of my basic aroma materials are now more expensive and harder to acquire. Meanwhile, you’re off doing whatever it is that you do that isn’t earning money-“

“You mean like having been on a job search for two months that just ended today because I got one?”

Sandalwood made like she was going to say something, then thought better of it. Lyra just laughed.

“Sandy, I told you before about this. Since it’s not exactly a stable source of income as a freelance harpist, I got a job at Ponyville Instrument Sales and Service to work on fixing string instruments, with tomorrow being my first day of work. This is my house, too, so don’t think I’m trying to put all the support work on your back.”

“Yeah…sorry for jumping to conclusions,” apologized the tan mare. “It’s just that things at the spa have been getting sort of difficult, what with the-“

“I heard,” Lyra interjected. “However, I may have a solution, if only temporary.”

Sandalwood’s eyes widened. “You mean cheaper basic scents?”

“Possibly, depending on what you need. Is it the actual smell you need, or is it some effect the scents have that is more important?”

“I’ll try to explain this in the simplest way that I can…what I need are several basic essential oils, specifically lemon and rhyming thyme oils for their antidepressant effect, some cinnamon-scent incense to provide a moderate setting base for the overall feeling, laughing grass extract lotion for situations where the customer needs help relaxing, and no-aroma vaporizer to assist in the delivery of the smells into the client’s olfactory senses. I can not tell you how hard it is to find vaporizers these days that don’t have a backing scent.”

Lyra took a few moments to try and process the jargon uttered by her flatmate. Failing, she just shook her head and smiled.
“Oh…kay! I’m just going to say I didn’t understand any of that and suggest you go talk to Zecora the next time she’s in town, or just visit her hut in the Everfree if you really need that stuff for less.”

The earth pony pondered that. “Yeah, she is a good alchemist, and if there’s anypony in town who would know of any useable substitutes for my needs it would be her. Although the idea of having to go deep into the Everfree doesn’t exactly sound safe, how Rarity and the others manage to do it all the time is beyond me.”

“Actually, Zecora put up some enchanted totem wards along the path that supposedly protect the path from any dangerous creatures, along with serving as guide marks to avoid the poison joke patches. I can go with you after dinner, if you’d like, since I can do a basic light spell to help see in the dark.”

“Thanks, Lyra. Now, help me with these taxes.”

With a heavy sigh, the unicorn had no other choice but to put her things down and walk over to Sandalwood to assist in the war against numbers.

At the same time, Cheerilee and Autumn Crisp had gathered their classes on a brisk weekend afternoon for a highly unusual event. While the Ponyville education system normally didn’t fund field trips in general, this was an exception. The rare Screaming Mynah, a bird of mythical beauty that was seen only a few times every decade, had been confirmed through various sources to be making a nest in the Whitetail Woods. So, with a rare occasion for the students to see something beyond the borders of the small town, all the kids in school had been dragged away from their weekend plans so they could hike around to stare at birds.

“This is going to be so boring!” Scootaloo grumbled. “So it doesn’t like to come around here a lot, big deal. Phoenixes are even rarer in that they don’t naturally come around here period and I don’t remember this big a deal being made about Philomena at any time Princess Celestia brings her to visit Ponyville!”

“I don’t know, maybe it could be fun!” Sweetie optimistically suggested. “Plus, we could even get our cutie marks in Obscure Bird Watching!”

Apple Bloom nickered. “Honestly, Ah’d rather prefer to have a cutie mark about cheese makin’ than bird watchin’, since at least cheese makin’ involves activity and not starin’ at birds all day.”

“At least you don’t need to wear that walking device thingy anymore, right?” squeaked the tiny unicorn Crusader. Indeed, against everypony’s expectations, it had only taken a few days for Apple Bloom’s stitch to completely heal up and grow over with fur, as if it had never happened.

“It’s a good thing Ah don’t need it anymore, too. That little clacking noise it made? Ah was probably gonna throw it out mah bedroom window it was getting’ so annoy-“

Suddenly, she perked her ears up and snapped her head around to look right at Diamond Tiara, who was behind the CMC. Although both Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara were ordered by both their families to stay as far apart as possible, with the adult chaperones of the trip (mostly the parents of attending students) aware of this, it was clear from the shock on DT’s face that Apple Bloom happened to look straight at her in the middle of some rude comment, before the brat turned away in order to save face and pretend it never happened.

“Ah swear, Ah’m gonna git that no-good pony someday…” muttered Apple Bloom.

“Er, you okay?” Scootaloo and Sweetie simultaneously asked; both could have sworn their earth pony friend had just growled.

“Wha? Yeah, Ah’m fine. But for some reason Ah thought Ah could hear Tiara tryin’ to make fun of me again.”

“Seriously, Apple Bloom, just let that go. She’s not worth the effort, even if she doesn’t seem to get off our backs about us being blank flanks,” said Scootaloo.

“Yeah!” chimed in Sweetie. “Plus, how could you have even heard her? I can’t tell what the two ponies in front of me are saying and I’m just behind them!”

“Ah…Ah don’t know, honestly. Maybe it were her voice?”

“Point” said Scootaloo. “We all could pick that voice from a crowd of millions by now.”

And so the educational nature walk continued, much to the chagrin of the students. To the credit of Cheerilee and Crisp, they did their best to make it all interesting, but it was a struggle against young minds who wanted to play hoofball more than learn about why this tree was not the same as that one, etc.

Eventually, and mercifully, the sun began to set just as the group reached the campsite. With speed that the tired assemblage of hikers wouldn’t appear capable of, a small village of tents popped up instantly in the clearing as kids went off to play hoofball or socialize, and adults could take a break from watching over the kids.

However, in one particular tent, the CMC were still getting their beds ready. The only three-pony group of the entire expedition, the trio of fillies was rather crowded, but they didn’t mind. After all, it was all for one and one for all, or at least that’s what they’d read in some book at some point during their never ending quest for their elusive cutie marks. However, for one particular filly, that did not extend to sharing the contents of her sleeping bag container.

“C’mon, Scoot, we gotta lay out your sleepin’ bag so we can figure out how to fit everythin’ in here,” Apple Bloom said, trying not to laugh as she knew exactly what was going on.

“Uh, no, I don’t need to get it out. I don’t even know why I brought it, actually, I can just sleep on the ground just fine!” the flustered filly replied. Unfortunately for Scoot, Sweetie Belle had snuck behind her and in one fell swoop undid the restraining cord on the sleeping bag holder. Instantly, the pegasus’s bag shot out into the middle of the tent due to how poorly packed it had been, and so was exposed the reason for Scootaloo’s furious blush that had appeared just as fast. Her sleeping bag, along with a matching pillow, was a light pink color with little purple hearts all over them.

“Ah have to admit, Ah wasn’t expectin’ that to come out!” snickered Apple Bloom. “Seriously, why do you even have that?!”

“It…it was something my parents got me a long time ago…before we moved to Ponyville and I decided I was going to be cool as Rainbow Dash. I accidently grabbed it instead of the Iron Mare one I meant to bring, which stinks because it’s really cool and not at all girly like this one.”

“Hey, if it will make you feel better, we can trade sleepin’ bags,” Apple Bloom suggested, gesturing to her own bag which was already set up. Unlike the massively girly style of Scootaloo’s, the young farmer’s bag was simply colored candy red on the outside, with an inside and pillow appearing a warm golden yellow.

“Yeah, or you can take mine!” chimed in Sweetie Belle, totally oblivious to the reactions of her friends upon that suggestion. The cause of the revulsion was that while Scootaloo’s bag was slightly embarrassing, Sweetie Belle had developed some kind of fanaticism with Sapphire Shores that was reflected in her choice of sleeping arrangement. The sleeping bag was covered with lithographed images of the pony pop star along with the main colors of fabric being chosen to match. In all honesty it was outlandishly garish and Scootaloo would sooner be caught dead in the bag she’d actually brought than even consider sleeping under images of Sapphire Shores.

“Er, thanks Sweetie, but I think I’ll swap with Apple Bloom.”

Deep in the Everfree, the old hollowed-out husk of a tree glowed with light. Surrounding it were various hanging bottles of different shapes and colors, while over what appeared to be a doorframe was a tribal mask of some sort. It was enough to make any pony scared, especially after having to traverse a path through the Everfree in near-darkness.

“U-uh, yeah, that’s Zecora’s hut,” Lyra stammered, horn aglow with a light spell.

“You okay, girl?” Sandalwood inquired, her back bearing her saddlebags which were full of various oils and scented materials that, hopefully, Zecora could duplicate.

“I-I’m f-f-fine! Just…j-just never been o-out here before. In the dark. Ever.”

“Uh-huh. C’mon, we’ll be okay inside.” Sandalwood trotted forward as if nothing was bothering her.

“H-how are you n-not freaking o-out?”

The earth pony rolled her eyes. “Lyra, you and I, along with a few other ponies and a minotaur, drove the first two long-distance motor vehicles in Equestria straight into an oncoming werewolf. And I don’t remember seeing you this scared when we were all in the open in front of said werewolf. Heck, that Sable Loam or whatever his name was? I’d honestly walk up to Nightmare Moon and punch her in the face sooner than have to even look at him again. Or, rather, smell him, since he clearly didn’t know the first thing about hygiene!” That got a laugh out of Lyra, which helped her relax a little. She followed Sandalwood up to the door, where Sandy knocked. “Hello, anybody home?”

“Just a minute!” said a voice from inside, and moments later a lock could be heard being undone, whereupon the door opened and there before the ponies stood the zebra alchemist they’d come to find.

“Oh, hello, please come inside. I apologize for it being a little messy in here but I normally don’t expect visitors at this hour, especially not during the middle of the weekend.” Zecora beckoned for the duo to enter, which they did. The inside of the hut looked more or less exactly what the outside implied. It was a hollowed out tree, with racks and shelves full of potions and ingredients lining most of the walls. Along the ceiling hung ropes to which were attached even more potions, which reflected rather pretty colors in the candlelight. There was a bubbling cauldron in the middle of the one-room hut as some sort of centerpiece, which set the tone for the entire residence as being mostly dedicated to Zecora’s profession. There was little in the way of personal decoration outside of what appeared to be more masks of the design aesthetic natural to Zecora’s homeland and a hammock bed tucked away in a corner.

“Very…cozy place you have here!” commented Lyra, slowly warming up to the odd yet inviting atmosphere. She then noticed the cauldron was bubbling profusely. “Hey, what kind of potion do you have brewing?”

“That’s not a potion, it’s just some soup I had going for dinner” answered the Zebra, who suddenly had a bowl in her hoof and started to ladle out some of her concoction into it. It appeared to have the consistency of bog slime, which made Lyra cringe and back up slightly.

“Oh, don’t you dare try that, Miss ‘I wanted to try a double bacon cheeseburger because I felt like it’!” chided Sandalwood, trying not to remember the horrid monstrosity that Lyra had secretly been keeping in the fridge.

Zecora wasn’t sure what to make of the sudden comparison of her traditional Zebrabwean Lentil and Herb Stew to some greasy consumable from The Meatery, since as far as she was concerned her mother’s stew recipe was still as delicious as it always had been. It sort of sounded like an insult, but at the same time it seemed more directed at the unicorn instead of the meal. “Um, am I missing something here?”

"Uh...you're not rhyming," Lyra suddenly noticed, ignoring the earth pony in turning to the zebra. "You're always rhyming. Is something wrong?"

Zecora's face flushed in embarrassment, a rare sight. "I, uh, walked into some poison joke yesterday," she admitted sheepishly. "Now I can't rhyme. I was about to make some of the antidote for myself, just before you two arrived. So what can I do for you?"

“Oh, um, yes, you see my friend Sandalwood here is an aromatherapist, but recently-“

Sandalwood motioned for Lyra to stop. “Thanks, Lyra, but I think I can explain my own problems.” Having noticed Zecora’s ears perk up slightly upon the mention of aromatherapy as her profession, the earth pony undid the clasp on her saddlebags and pulled out some of the vials within. “Anyway, due to recent issues with my supplier, several of my most important essential oils and materials have become both more expensive and harder to find. Lyra said I should come to you to see if you could provide what I need in a more efficient manner.”

Putting her spoon down, Zecora took one of the vials in Sandalwood’s hooves and opened it, smelling the small amount of fluid still inside.

"Laughing Grass extract? Unusual, but certainly not out of my expertise. I sense you need more than just that, however, so if you could explain just what you need in as much detail as possible, I can try to see what I can do for you."

The next ten minutes saw Sandalwood going through a very detailed explanation of every single oil, aroma, and other needed materials for aromatherapy in such detail it got to the point Lyra became convinced it was some other language entirely her flatmate was speaking. Zecora, on the other hand, seemed to understand every word Sandalwood said perfectly, nodding her head occasionally or raising an eyebrow to what she thought was something unexpected.

“So, yeah, that’s everything I need. I understand if a lot of that sounded too difficult, but if you can even make just one of those I will be more than willing to pay you for the supply,” panted Sandalwood, evidently having not taken enough breaths during her spoken laundry list of aromatherapy goodness.

"Quite the contrary, Miss Sandalwood. Many of those things of which you spoke of I can make for you easily, and those which are not of my skill set I probably can find an alternative I can make which will have the same effect."

“Oh!” said a surprised Sandalwood, relieved that this solution was more beneficial than she’d thought. “That’s fantastic!”

"However," continued Zecora, causing Sandalwood’s grin to fall somewhat, "In order for me to best help you in making these things, I will need more than just your word for what they do to ponies in your care. So, if it is not too much trouble, I would like to experience one of your aromatherapy sessions, time and materials permitting of course."

“Uh, yeah, that’s not too much trouble at all!” Sandalwood chirped happily, although really it was going to be a load of trouble. Lotus and Aloe are not going to be happy about the Spa footing the bill for my stuff if I’m giving out free Aromatherapy, thought the now slightly panicking aromatherapist, so here’s hoping Zecora somehow is on the V.I.P. list…

Back at Whitetail Woods, the camp had split back into the two classes of Cheerilee and Autumn Crisp. While Crisp’s class went off to study nighttime fauna, Cheerilee was taking the chance to educate her captive audience about nighttime flora. She seemed so knowledgeable about the subject that some students wondered if her cutie mark was more related to flowers in the literal sense as opposed to the metaphorical sense she constantly explained it to be.

“Ugh. I thought we came out here to see some kind of rare bird, not stare at mushrooms and moss” complained Scootaloo, deciding mushrooms and other fungi were in fact not as awesome as the bats the other class must have been seeing.

Sweetie Belle was, as always, of the more upbeat opinion. “I don’t know, the night lilies look cool with how they light up, don’t they?”

Apple Bloom, who also was normally more positively opinionated, was uncharacteristically dour in her comment; “Yeah, sure, I guess, but…ahh come on…” She appeared to be slightly drowsy, with one hoof scratching her other foreleg perpetually.

“You okay?” asked the Pegasus, attention now drawn to the needs of her friend. Sweetie Belle, in turn, walked over to her earthly counterpart, who promptly leaned on Sweetie and started scratching harder.

“Ah’m not sure…Ah’ve got this itch all over me that won’t go away, and mah head is startin’ to hurt somethin’ fierce…”

“What’s going on over here?” Cheerilee suddenly asked as she approached the trio, who had not been paying much attention to their surroundings.

“Apple Bloom says she doesn’t feel well,” Sweetie said, motioning with a little side nod of her head to her yellow counterpart. Sure enough, Apple Bloom appeared to be genuinely brought down by something, maybe an allergy to a plant here in the woods but not at Sweet Apple Acres. Plus, Cheerilee was all too familiar with the CMC’s occasional attempt to get out of school by feigning sickness, which generally involved them feigning several fatal afflictions at once, but never something that would require subtlety like a mere headache.

“Well, Apple Bloom, if you’re really feeling that bad, then you can go back to your tent. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, you should go with her as well since you’re her tent mates,” the school mare ordered.

“Yes, ma’am!” the trio said, one less enthusiastically than the others. They paid no mind to the sea of jealous looks as they got to leave early, but Apple Bloom truly didn’t appear to be feeling well. She was half-stumbling all over the place, often needing one of her friends to keep her going the right direction and not hit something. This was extremely odd, since only a few hours ago she was as energetic as anypony.

“Ugh, is it just me or did it just get hotter all of a sudden?” asked Apple Bloom in a half-daze.

“Uh, no, temperature doesn’t feel like it changed. If anything, it should be cooler since there isn’t a cloud in the sky to keep heat in as in the greenhouse effect,” Scootaloo explained.

“When did you become such an expert in weather phenomen…penomeno…things?” inquired Sweetie Belle.

“Uh, hello? Pegasus?” replied the orange filly, flaring her wings for emphasis. “I may not be able to fly, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a special affinity for the weather like everpony else who has wings. Plus, my parents do train weather teams so I tend to overhear that kind of stuff whenever they do get to be home.”

“Ohhhh…okay!”

Now having reached the tent, the trio zipped themselves inside and bunkered down. However, almost immediately Apple Bloom went over and opened the back window of the tent, giving a perfect view of the night sky. The full moon shone down into the tent, bathing the little Apple in a column of moonlight.

“Apple Bloom, can we please zip that up?” asked Scootaloo, shielding her eyes. “It’s going to make it hard to sleep for me and probably Sweetie, but most certainly…Hey! Are you even paying attention?”

But Apple Bloom did not respond. In fact, she just stared up at the full moon as if in a trance. Sweetie, having taken notice, waved her hoof in front of the yellow filly’s face but got no reaction.

“This…this could be bad…” said Sweetie, although both unicorn and Pegasus didn’t understand what was going on. At least not until the earth filly suddenly tensed up and fell to the ground on her side.

“It…it burns!” gasped Apple Bloom, clearly trying to hold back from screaming about something but beginning to writhe around in what had to be excruciating pain. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle tried to comfort their friend, but a sudden thrash of the downed filly sent Scootaloo leaping over to Sweetie Belle. What they bore witness too was a horror that no mortal eyes should have seen, made only worse by it being their friend who was suffering.

With tears in her eyes and biting down hard on her lip, Apple Bloom began to change. What had originally started out as just some resistant itch that wouldn’t go away and a bad headache had now turned into a full-on sensation that every single part of her body was at the heart of a raging wildfire. While it only lasted a minute or two, to the three fillies in the tent it lasted for ages. Mercifully, at least at first, the pain seemed to subside and Apple Bloom was able to at least sit upright on her haunches.

“A-Apple Bloom?” asked a scared Sweetie, “Are y-you alright?”

“Ah…Ah don’t kn-oh…oh no no NO NO!“ Apple Bloom shouted as her tone went from confusion to horror as she felt a weird sensation at the base of her hooves. Looking down at them, she found little fleshy nubs starting to pop out of her hooves. She didn’t need to wait for the rest of the changes to know exactly what she was becoming, but as if in response to her revelation the strange feeling suddenly erupted all over her body before her front hooves – now more or less paws at this stage – had even finished changing. When it hit her muzzle she had to clamp her eyes closed and try not to scream from whatever feeling she was going through. Unfortunately, she failed.

“MMMMMMMMMYYYYYNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Wailed the poor filly through a muzzle now slightly longer and filled with slightly sharper teeth, before collapsing on the ground again and panting heavily, tears flowing from her eyes.

Needless to say, what had just happened to Apple Bloom would forever go down in the minds of Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo as “the scariest s#!& they’d ever seen” even when compared to what would happen later as a result of Apple Bloom’s transformation. At least in the future, they would have some future knowledge of what a transformation was like.

But of more concern was the sound of approaching adults and student campers, having just heard the screaming. The two fully conscious Crusaders looked at each other, then Apple Bloom, then at each other again. They were alone, Apple Bloom had seemingly transformed into some kind of dog creature in an extremely painful manner, and there were other ponies approaching the tent rapidly. Even though they had no idea of the thing Apple Bloom had just become, it still looked like her somewhat, which in the minds of the fillies meant she must still be Apple Bloom, and as her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders it was up to Scoot and Sweetie to protect her from the adults. Except as the two kept looking between each other and the semi-conscious form of Apple Bloom, they had no idea on how they were actually going to do that.

Ch.4: Two-Eyed, One-Bowed, Farming Yellow Apple Werewolf

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 4: “Two-Eyed, One-Bowed, Farming Yellow Apple Werewolf”

As Cheerilee approached the tent where the CMC’s were supposed to have been sleeping, she could have sworn she’d heard a zipper being hurriedly closed up and some grunting, as if one of them was trying to lift something heavy.

“Girls, is everything alright in there?” she asked. Almost immediately the front door was partially unzipped and two heads popped out, one light gray and the other orange.

“Shhh! Mrs. Cheerilee, Apple Bloom’s asleep!” scolded Scootaloo in a half-whisper.

“Yeah, she conked out right when we got in the tent, she’s really tired and I’d hate to wake her up!” added Sweetie.

“Is she now?” asked the teacher suspiciously, inching closer. “Mind if I take a look inside?”

“Uh, sure, I guess?” replied Scoot, noticeably not very confident in her tone. After some force, though, Sweetie and Scootaloo got their heads out of the small zipper hole to allow their teacher to look inside. As Cheerilee did so, she saw a giant lump inside a heart-decorated sleeping bag, the occupant easily identifiable by the giant bow marking where its head was. Apparently, the CMC’s were telling the truth, much to Cheerilee’s surprise after those earlier noises.

“Is something wrong?” asked Sweetie.

“Uh..no, no, just making sure you three were okay. It’s just that we heard some screaming coming from over here and since you three were the only ponies in this area…”

The two awake Crusaders looked at each other nervously, sweat starting to appear out of trepidation. There was no possible way they could explain Apple Bloom’s pained screaming, but if Cheerilee got one look at the filly’s new form it was all over, although what would happen was beyond what the two fillies knew. It would take a miracle to get out of this one.

“MMMMMMMMYYYYYNNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”

As if their need for a miracle had been silently heard by the powers above, a loud cry that sounded strangely similar to Apple Bloom echoed from the sky. Then, as Cheerilee pulled her head out to see, the source was none other than the Screaming Mynah that was soaring overhead. Everypony in camp (save for Apple Bloom) soon stood in the open to see the majestic bird. It’s deep, near-black feathers sparkled with a natural shine that complimented the yellow crest on its head. It was not clear what had awoken the bird, but after a few minutes of it circling the camp it made a line southward and landed somewhere in the trees.

“That’s the ‘Screaming Mynah’?” asked a stunned orange dodo.

“Oh, yes! I wasn’t expecting to see one at night, they’re normally daytime birds. However, this is great, since now we know where to go tomorrow to see it up close!” said Cheerilee, half-answering Scootaloo and rather disturbingly half-squeeing in delight.

“So…um…can we go to bed now?” asked a not-so-impressed Sweetie. She knew Rarity had made some hat that looked the exact same as the Screaming Mynah (having been the figure the hat had been fitted on during sewing) so actually seeing the bird wasn’t as amazing.

“Ah, yes, sorry about disturbing you girls, back to bed you go!” replied the schoolteacher in a daze as she walked off to go talk to the other adults. After Cheerilee had left, it was silent in the CMC tent barring the rather unsettling breaths Apple Bloom was making. It was extremely subtle, but each time she inhaled and exhaled, it sounded more like Winona was in the sleeping bag as opposed to the youngest Apple.

“She’s gone, Apple Bloom,” whispered Scootaloo, not willing to elevate to normal talking voice just yet. “You feelin’ okay?”

“N-no,” the shaken filly whimpered, “but now Ah understand what Applejack was talkin’ about, how she wouldn’t want this to be forced upon anypony else.”

The mention of Applejack surprised the unchanged fillies in the tent.

“Wait, what was Applejack talking about in relation to, um…whatever happened to you?” asked Sweetie.

Apple Bloom opened her mouth, but then closed it and decided it would be better to be standing up for what she was going to say. As she got out of the bag, she couldn’t help but notice the backstep her two friends made as they got a good look at her new form. While still very equine like, the differences could not be denied. Her coat was longer and her mane, while still somewhat in its recognizable style, looked messier than Scootaloo did with bedhead with the middle of her signature bow all but swallowed up in the mess of mane. Her ears were straighter and twitched around, unlike normal pony ears. The front of her face was now noticeably different with a longer, more canine muzzle that certainly had sharper teeth meant for eating the kind of things ponies were normally squeamish about, complemented with her golden eyes that actually didn’t appear to have changed beyond them having a slight glow that may or may not have been a trick of the low light. Most telling, though, was her hooves having shifted into well-defined paws, the pointy ends of claws sticking out at the tips and on the bottom were leathery pads.

“Ah don’t know how, but…Ah’m…Ah’m a werewolf…” the traumatized Apple Bloom said, choking on the last word and about to break down into tears again.

“What?! That’s impossible! You’re just trying to pull a fast one on us, aren’t you?” accused Scootaloo, rolling her eyes at what had to be her friend’s attempt at an extreme prank.

Sweetie Belle was more considerate, taking one of Apple Bloom’s paws into her own hoof and examining it up close. “Scootaloo, I don’t think this is a joke,” the unicorn chided.

Scoot remained unconvinced. “I’m sorry, but it will take more than just something you could probably accomplish with a magic potion to convince me otherwise.”

Sweetie then took the paw in her hoof and used its claws to rake across her own sleeping bag. Sharp tips ripped through the top layer, leaving thin scars that bled cotton in the middle of the pony of pop.

“Okay, I’m convinced. I still want to know how, though. I thought werewolves were just mythical monsters made up to scare fillies at night?”

Apple Bloom shook her head. “No, they existed, once. It’s a long story, one Ah’d rather not go into now, but as far as Ah know the only ones who were left are either dead or cured.”

“Wait, you can be cured of being a werewolf? How does that work? And how do you already know so much about werewolves even though you’re saying you aren’t supposed to be one?”

“Yeah, that does seem kind of surprising, how do we know you haven’t been hiding this from us the whole time?” squeaked Sweetie.

With both her friends looking suspiciously at her, AB had no choice. “sigh…Okay, Ah can explain, but y’all have to promise me that under no circumstances are y’all to tell anypony else about what Ah am, or what Ah’m about to tell you.”

Sweetie and Scoot nodded.

“Pinkie Promise.”

They Pinkie Promised.

With another sigh, Apple Bloom began to retell her elder sister’s hairy problem. “You guys remember when we built the car and ended up sendin' it into the Everfree?”

“Yeah, the one you got in so much trouble for because we painted it red?” recalled Scootaloo, “Didn’t Applejack end up getting the rest of the Elements to go in there and…wait, are you saying the thing that nearly tore out your sister’s throat was a werewolf?!”

“Yep.” Confirmed Apple Bloom, “As far as Ah know, he was supposed to have been the last one, made immortal by that evil unicorn who conquered the Crystal Empire, whatever his name was.”

“Rarity said something about him…was it King Sombrero?” suggested Sweetie.

“Ah dunno, somethin’ like that. Anyway, the point is that mah sister ended up becomin’ a werewolf because of that attack, but it took some time for her to finally tell everypony close to her about it. But Sable Loam, at least that’s what Ah think his name was, was killed and mah sister cured of ‘Lycanthropy’ or whatever Twilight said the name of this curse was.”

“Wait, that’s impossible, Iron Will killed that guy. They even stuffed his body and paraded it around the Minotaur capital at his wedding!” Scootaloo pointed out.

“That’s the official story, in truth Iron Will beat Sable within an inch of his life, but refused to finish the job since the only way to stop bein’ a werewolf is to either die or kill the one that turned you into a werewolf in the first place. It was Princess Celestia’s idea to give Iron Will credit so he could go get married, in return for his silence of the truth. Ah was there with the rest of the girls when it happened, that’s how Ah know Sable Loam is dead. His body isn’t even in Iron Will’s possession, since Ah overheard the Princess sayin' the real body would be moved into storage at the Crystal Castle.”

“Hold on a sec,” spoke a confused Scoot, “If this Sable Loam guy and Applejack were technically the last werewolves alive and your sister was cured of the curse by killing him, then how did you end up becoming one?”

“That’s what ah wanna know. Ah’ve never been bitten by anythin’, especially by no werewolf, except…no, that couldn’t have happened, Ah refuse to believe that could have happened…”

“Could what have happened?” inquired Sweetie.

“Ah…Ah don’t want to talk about that. Ah just know it can’t have happened.” Apple Bloom’s tone was clear it was an extremely personal matter, to which the other crusaders respected and dropped the matter. Several minutes passed in complete silence before Scootaloo spoke up.

“So…what are you gonna do now?”

“Ah guess…Ah guess Ah’m just gonna have to learn to live with this until Ah can figure out how it happened, an’ if Ah can reverse it.”

Sweetie frowned. “Don’t you think you should at least tell somepony? Like Twilight, who has access to pretty much any library in Equestria and could find a cure, or even just Appleja-“

“NO!” barked Apple Bloom, her eyes momentarily glowing brighter, “Ah can’t do that. Twilight’s a princess, now, she has more important matters to handle than just a farm filly like me. And Applejack…after what this curse did to her, did to all of mah family, Ah can’t let them go through it all again.” It was clear there was more to the connection between the Apples and werewolves that she wasn’t saying, but although Sweetie and Scoot wanted to pry for more information, they had enough sense to not dig into the personal secrets of an emotionally distraught werewolf.

“Well, as long as you don’t go and bite us, we’re here for you like always!” declared Scootaloo, raising a hoof. Sweetie did the same, saying “We’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders, after all, we don’t let each other down. Even if one of us sorta turns into a monster.”

Apple Bloom looked at her friends, smiling. “ You girls are the best friends a pony could ask for.” She raised her hoof/paw up and together with her friends made a three-way hoof-bump. Then she noticed the damage she’d indirectly caused to Sweetie’s sleeping bag. “Uh…sorry ‘bout that…”

Sweetie waved it off. “No biggie. I’ll just have Rarity patch it up. Having the best fashionista in town for a big sister does have its perks, after all!”

The rest of the night in the CMC’s tent was spent with whispered voices as Scootaloo and Sweetie bombarded Apple Bloom with questions about her new form. While it was uncomfortable, it did sort of ease the troubles plaguing the newly transformed werewolf’s mind, since unlike Applejack she could be open about this to certain ponies.

Meanwhile, unknown to the rest of the entire camp, a translucent figure watched from the shadows. Her focus had been on one tent in particular, which for a short period of time had been exposed through the back window flap. She’d seen a new werewolf become born, although if the conversation in the tent had been true, she had not been born of a conventional bite. However, the mention of somepony named “Applejack” as having been a werewolf, turned by Sable himself, only to cure herself through killing him, soured the figure’s mood. Such a crime would not go unpunished, especially not when the great Sable Loam had reportedly been stuffed and paraded about like some kind of common game hen - his legacy demanded more respect than that.

But at the very least the painful conversation had yielded something worthwhile. The body of Sable Loam remained, having been sent back to the place where his rebirth had occurred. Sure, the Crystal Empire was several hundred miles away, but without a physical body that was of no concern.

“I’m coming, Sable, please wait for me,” whispered the diluted form before turning and rushing off. Nopony could see her, she was too fast for anypony to catch more than a glimpse of, and even if they did see her all they would see is a ghost, an impossibility. She herself hadn’t really believed in ghosts, but she wasn’t going to complain about a return to the physical world, since now she could operate without worry of constraints such as food or even air.

Through the Whitetail Woods she rushed, like an unending gale of wind. From there it was a quick trip through Ponyville itself, potentially risky but as there was nopony out at this hour save for some sleepy guards it was no problem at all. Next was the Everfree, which should have been easy enough to just bolt through, but without warning the ghost hit an invisible magic barrier that against all reason halted her progress.

“Gah! What the-?!” responded the spirit, recovering from the impact and taking stock of her surroundings. She was near the ruins of Castle Everfree, in one of the little housing subdivisions that once held the lower classes of the capital prior to its destruction at the hooves of Nightmare Moon. Houses lay in various states of ruin, with vines having grown all over and most structures having eroded away after a thousand years of exposure to the natural, uncontrolled forces of the Everfree.

Yet, at the end of the street where the ghost had been running, there remained one house not only standing but in a decent state of repair. The barrier she had run into seemed to be surrounding that cottage, indicating there was some magic force still at work here, although instead of the usual type of magic the barrier seemed to carry a feeling she had the faintest memory of having encountered before - around Sable Loam, no less. But that didn’t make any sense: Sable had never come back here after joining up with King Sombra; he’d even said the best thing to ever happen to this place was it getting destroyed when the Royal Sisters came to blows. But then why was this magic even here?

Without warning, a cloaked figure emerged from the house, any distinguishable features covered by the garment. But the feeling of the magic barrier suddenly grew tenfold, and the ghost suddenly felt something she hadn’t felt in years; fear. With horror, she realized the feeling was from the dark magic that allowed Sable Loam to be immortal. King Sombra’s dark magic. Yet, in her limited time of having returned from the dead, she’d learned the egotistical unicorn had been destroyed by the power of the Crystal Heart. There were no regular users of dark magic other than him alive…or so it had seemed. But this individual…it’s connection with dark magic was strong enough for her to feel, even though her origins as an Earth Pony dictated she shouldn’t have.

The dark figure turned to face the spirit, its eyes glowing an unsettling combination of purple irises with green where white should have been, with some kind of magic smoke flowing from them off to the side. Where a horn presumably would have been, a bubbling mass that in the full moon’s light could be just made out to be purple in color appeared. The ghost needed nothing more to have reason to turn tail and flee. She’d find another way around Castle Everfree, but she was sure as hell not dealing with dark magic, against which she had no offense or defense. And she still had things to do before her time on the physical plane was up.

As the dark figure watched the spirit vanish back into the Everfree, the mass of dark magic around its horn vanished, the eyes returning to a normal state of whites with red irises. The only clue to the figure’s identity being revealed in the process; a lock of mane hair that wouldn’t have been visible had it been for blood-red streaks hovering in mid air, implying the base mane color was jet black. Silently, the figure returned to its abode, leaving the grounds surrounding Castle Everfree once again devoid of any pony life, either living or undead.

The following Sunday afternoon, the weekend field trip was over and all the colts and fillies were heading home for what little weekend they had left before Monday rolled around with yet even more school. But as three certain fillies walked together back to a familiar treehouse, one of them was still dealing with a very hairy problem.

“Hey, at least you’re back to normal, right?” Scootaloo pointed out in an attempt to be helpful.

“Yeah, but Ah don’t know how long this is gonna last. When she was still a werewolf, Applejack always said she’d feel the need to morph into the other form every few nights or so to do ‘wolf things’ in the forest.”

“Like bury bones for no reason and pee on everything?” chirped Sweetie. She just got weirded out looks from her Crusader compatriots. “What? We did learn that wolves have something in their pee that marks their territory during school last month, remember?”

“Ah really do not want to think about that.” Commented Apple Bloom, realizing that being a werewolf might have even more problems than just being less equine physically.

“Well, what are the positive things you could get from being a werewolf?” interjected Scootaloo, trying to change the subject to a more optimistic tone. “I’m sure you’re going to be a lot faster when running, at least.”

“Applejack never really mentioned anythin' good about bein’ a werewolf. Somethin’ about how the benefits were outweighed by the negatives. Ah know one of her biggest problems was her need to eat meat on a daily basis.”

Both of the non-cursed Crusaders were shocked.

“She actually had to do that?!” squeaked Sweetie, “I mean, everypony knew about the mess she made at the Meatery, but having to eat other animals every single day? That’s just-ULP!” Her face having turned green faster than Rainbow Dash accelerating from a dead stop to maximum top speed, Sweetie immediately ran behind a nearby tree and purged the contents of her stomach.

“Oh, great, how are we going to explain this one?” complained Scootaloo. Apple Bloom, who had been watching Sweetie, turned to see what her Pegasus friend was seeing and paled. Coming to meet the CMC were Applejack, Rainbow, and Rarity. They didn’t appear to have seen Sweetie’s sudden vomiting, but they’d learn soon enough. And as they couldn’t tell the elders the truth since it was now connected to Apple Bloom’s hairy little secret, they had to come up with something else and fast.

In light of the situation, Apple Bloom could only say one thing;

“Buck my life.”

Ch.5: From Dawn ‘till Dusk

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 5: “From Dawn ‘till Dusk”

As the alarm clock rang, a very unsteady white hoof emerged from the bed to try and silence it. Unfortunately, the first few attempts were misses and just slammed the bedside table, and on try seven the only thing that was accomplished was knocking the alarm clock onto the floor. With a heavy sigh, Sweetie drudged herself up and out of bed to silence the bells once and for all.

Now that she was up, she lazily made her way to the bathroom to prepare for the day. While she did have an excuse to miss out of school on this morning, having cited the trip to the Whitetail Woods having somehow made her violently ill, to do so would mean she would not be able to go hang out with Scootaloo and Apple Bloom later, and with the added concern of just what the latter filly had become two nights ago, Sweetie couldn’t let the earth pony out of her sights if she could help it.

Tidied up and ready to go, Sweetie descended the steps with her saddlebags, ready for school…once she picked up breakfast. To her surprise, Rarity was already downstairs and talking with somepony the filly had never seen before. The unfamiliar unicorn mare was raspberry in color, with a mane of sky blue and light purple streaks, and eyes of a deep maroon. There was something that seemed a bit odd about the streaks, but Sweetie ignored it and chalked it up to still being somewhat sleepy. The mare’s cutie mark caught Sweetie’s eye next; it was a baby blue heart gem with three other colors of gems radiating away from it on either side.

Then the filly saw the phoenix sitting on top of a dress-form mannequin. She’d certainly seen Celestia’s pet phoenix, Philomena, before...but this one was clearly different. Instead of the usual coloration, this fiery bird, clearly a male by his mannerisms, was coated in a brilliant mix of gold and green. He was also much smaller than Philomena, possibly not having even gone through his first reincarnation cycle, but certainly well beyond having just hatched from an egg.

“Wow, I’ve never seen a Phoenix like that before!” shouted Sweetie, demonstrating her complete ignorance of the conversation in the same room. The bird was startled, jumping up from its perch on one of Rarity’s hollow helpers and rapidly flying over to perch on the horn of the raspberry unicorn, presumably the owner of the phoenix.

“Sweetie Belle!” chided Rarity, “I know I’ve told you before about how rude it is to both yell around other ponies who are talking and when you’re near easily startled pets!” She glanced over at Opal, who was hissing at the youngest unicorn from under the sewing machine table.

“Sorry…” apologized the downcast filly, before perking right back up. “Who’s your friend?”

“Oh, um, don’t mind me…” said the still-unnamed unicorn, an embarrassed blush visible even through her coat. Sweetie immediately thought of Fluttershy doing the same thing, even letting a bird perch on her horn…if she’d been a unicorn and not a Pegasus.

“Now, now, darling, it’s just my sister,” Rarity explained. “Sweetie Belle, this is Raspberry Beryl. She’s a gemologist by trade and has been absolutely invaluable to me as of late in finding the exact kind of precious gems I need.”

Raspberry blushed harder at the compliment. “It’s just what I’m good at, really, I’m just glad I can be of use.”

Sweetie, deciding to apply ‘dealing with Fluttershy’ tactics, changed the topic to animals. “Is that phoenix your pet?”

“Uh-huh. His name is Heliodor. Say hello, Heeleee.” The Phoenix cooed a hello cautiously, wary of the filly that had just scared him.

“Sweetie, don’t you have some breakfast to get?” interrupted Rarity, “I know you said you were feeling sick after the camping trip yesterday, but you look healthy enough to resume your education, and school is in thirty minutes.”

“Alright!” chirped Sweetie, trotting off to the kitchen.

There was a momentary silence before Raspberry spoke up. “So, that’s your little sister?”

“Oh yes. She can be quite a handful, but I do manage to find ways of making the most of the time she is with me.”

“With you? I don’t understand, you mean she goes to other places?”

“Well, my parents just live on the other side of town and are her legal guardians. They just leave her here with me often because I should be an influence on her life. Although at this point I have to say I’ve spent more time with her than our parents.”

Raspberry looked downcast suddenly. “I…see. At least you have a family. My mother died giving birth to me, her only child, and Dad…”

Rarity immediately detected something was amiss. “Raspberry, is something the matter? You can always talk to me about anything, anything at all.”

An explosion promptly came from the kitchen. “Sorry! Just making toast!” said the disembodied voice of Sweetie Belle.

The red unicorn’s eyes suddenly went wide as she raised her head, Heliodor taking flight as if it was a practiced maneuver. “Oh, no! I just remembered someplace I need to be! We’ll talk next time I’m delivering an order to you, but I really need to go!”

And with that Raspberry was out the door with Heliodor in tow, leaving a perplexed fashionista wondering just what the matter was, before remembering herself that Sweetie might have just destroyed her kitchen. Her recently - and expensively - remodeled kitchen.

Rarity just sighed. This was going to be a long, long day.

Sandalwood may as well have been standing on white-hot coals, she was so fidgety. Zecora had sent a message that she’d have to reschedule when she could do an aromatherapy session due to the sudden need to repair a trail protection totem. As it had so happened, Sunday would have been the perfect day for giving Zecora the aromatherapy as Lotus and Aloe hadn’t been able to be at the spa. Now it was Monday, the stock of materials Sandalwood used were lower than she’d initially thought, the spa twins were at the spa today, and the poor tan pony had just told them about what was going to happen.

“Free aromatherapy? Are you trying to pull something here?” inquired an irate Lotus. “You just told us that the price of materials as footed by this business had gone up, and now you’re essentially wasting our revenue?”

If there was one thing Sandalwood absolutely hated about her job, it was that Lotus and Aloe took a lot of convincing to see beyond their point of view.

“Honestly, with the way you’ve been acting lately, how do we know you didn’t already reduce your materials yesterday when we weren’t here?” accused Aloe, just as antagonistic as her twin.

Because that’s exactly what I wanted to do, in order to avoid this very conversation thought Sandalwood, doing her best to not show how pissed off she was getting. “Lotus, Aloe, I told you, this is for somepony who says she can help get me what I need at a lower cost, but-“

“And you didn’t run it by us first?” both twins said at once.

“I tried to, but you weren’t here yesterday, so this is me running it by you now because this is the first time I’ve seen you two since Friday!”

“I hope I’m not interrupting a deed,” said Zecora, who had appeared without warning at the service window. “But I’m here on time, as we agreed.”

“Oh, Mrs. Zecora, we weren’t expecting you!” the twins said in somewhat creepy unison. Lotus then turned back to Sandalwood. “Why didn’t you tell us you were doing the free thing for her?”

“What do you think I’ve been trying to do this entire time!?” argued Sandalwood, exasperated from the ditziness of her employers.

“Oh…well, our mistake then!” pseudo-apologized Lotus. Sandalwood just sighed before exiting the front office, knowing trying to get a real apology out of either of them would be an exercise in frustration.

“Whatever. I just want to get to making sure I still can do my job with the proper materials. Zecora, if you could come with me?”

Sandalwood led her Zebra client into a room in the back, which to the customer was meant to look like a luxury beach house porch on the coast of some tropical location such as Hoofalulu. After helping Zecora get onto the massage table, the aromatherapist quickly darted into a hidden back room where her various oils, diffusers, and other materials were stored without having to clutter up the main massage area and ruin the desired effect.

“Now, if at any point you don’t feel comfortable, just let me know, okay?”

“If you’re as good as advertised, then I’ve no worries to disguise. You seem in tune with your vocations, and I look forward to your creations.”

Relieved, Sandalwood set to work. Aromatherapy in general is really just a massage but enhanced in various ways by the scented oils and things that were supposedly worked into the skin by the practitioner’s hooves. Normally, Sandalwood offered various different types of sessions at different prices depending on what the customer wanted, the price being higher for the more things requested of Sandalwood. Of course, due to the situation at hoof, Sandalwood was giving Zecora her most expensive session, which was basically everything Aromatherapy could provide, free of charge. Ironically, while the basic thing aromatherapy was supposed to provide was stress relief through the massage itself, Sandalwood was becoming more stressed as she watched her already limited supplies dwindle, some of them even being completely used up on Zecora. If the zebra couldn’t replicate those, it was going to be big chunk of the tan pony’s salary down the drain. Ninety minutes later, Sandalwood was finished with her expensive demonstration.

“I feel as though I’ve been reborn,” said Zecora, smiling and feeling better than she had in years. “As fresh as new dew at first light of morn.”

“Great! I gave you the complete works, so I appreciate the feedback!” replied Sandalwood, happy at having another satisfied customer but also more than a little worried about the state of the real reason for having done all this.

Sensing the other pony’s desperation, Zecora just chuckled. “Worry not, I’ll provide what you require. I’d hate to see you in straits so dire.”

“Really?!” Sandalwood’s tired smile was rivaling a Pinkie Pie grin at this point.

The zebra nodded. “I’ll need small samples to test against, to ensure the closest matching scent. But all will be well, I promise you - there’s no need to be worried or blue. Besides, that countenance ill suits you.”

“You have a point there,” agreed the embarrassed aromatherapist . Inside, however, she was jumping for joy. She’d get the things she needed locally, and whatever leverage Zecora had on the twins might also prove helpful later on. Right now, however, Sandalwood was thinking about taking a much needed break from work for all of next week.

As Royal Guard Private Flash Sentry stood guard in front of a vault door deep beneath the Crystal Castle, he had to wonder why life as a guard had seemed so appealing.

Sure, it had been pretty good when he’d enlisted, but by the time he was allowed to actually be a part of the detail stationed at the castle, all the exciting stuff had already been over and all he’d really gotten to do is announce the arrival of Princess Twilight Sparkle. He’d run into her a few times, probably would have asked her out on a date had she not been, well, a newly crowned royal who was caught up trying to reclaim a crown that was stolen right under everypony’s noses. The name of the culprit; Sunset Shimmer, seemed vaguely familiar somehow, but Flash didn’t put too much stock in it. Probably some pony he’d once known as a classmate years ago. What he should have put more thought into was that drunken bet he’d made last night on challenging any other guard pony on Royal Protection Detail to a drinking contest. Especially about backing out when none other than Princess Cadence herself showed up to answer the challenge (how she’d gotten away with that he’d never figure out) and promptly humiliated him by winning. She then punished him for being so stupid by assigning him to guard some random vault in the basement, the worst assignment possible. Yet, he resolved to make up for his deficiency and would guard this door with his life.

Fate was at least kind to him in that he’d never know he’d already failed in his duty as a ghostly figure leaped through the walls into the vault when his head was turned the other way.

Too easy she thought, moving towards the one thing in the magically sealed room. It was lined on all sides with every kind of magic failsafe imaginable, but they only worked on living ponies, not ghosts. In the center of the room was the strangest thing of all, though, the thing all the traps were meant to prevent from ever leaving. The stuffed body of Sable Loam, forever frozen in a “dramatic” pose of him mid-attack, as imagined by the common pony.

The sacrilege of the once-feared werewolf angered the spirit. He shouldn’t ever have had to be brought down to this level of humiliation, especially when it was certain the majority of ponies would only come to know werewolves as having finally been killed off. The fact there was at least one more whose very existence ruined that claim brought a smile to her face, a small solace but she would take her pleasures where she could.

“Oh, Sable, what did they do to you…” she said to the pony who had stolen her heart. “It probably won’t make a difference now, since we’re both dead, but I know now trying to turn those farmers into werewolves was a terrible mistake. Except, here I am, returned from the dead, while you remain frozen in time, locked away beneath the surface, but only because they fear you. Even in death, they don’t know what might happen, they might even think you could come back to life like nothing happened.

“Heh. But they don’t know about me. As far as anypony is concerned, I’ve been dead for centuries, they apparently even thought I was you, or at least I know that stupid sun princess did when she vaporized me. However, while I don’t know who or what has brought me back, I will avenge you, my love, and if the legacy of werewolves is to end, then I will forever engrave it into history that our kind was the strongest, most feared creature on the face of this earth.”

She then reared up, deeply kissing the inanimate stallion.

“Goodbye, my love. May the next time we meet be in the afterlife, where I will forever be by your side once more.” With that, Fair Vista turned away from Sable Loam and left the vault. She didn’t know if that idiot guard saw her that time, but it was no matter to her. There was nothing in the Crystal Empire she needed, her only focus was on the town of Ponyville. Where everything had gone wrong, but could possibly still be made right.

Back at CMC Headquarters, the trio was back to the usual; trying everything imaginable to earn their cutie marks.

“So, what should we do next?” asked a pumped up Scootaloo, eager and willing with the knowledge that THIS was the day she would get her cutie mark, if not all of them. In her hooves was a sheet of parchment and a pencil, for writing down ideas.

“Uh…Matchmaking?” suggested Sweetie.

“Sweetie Belle, in all honesty you can’t do that with yourself. Need I remind you of Button Mash?”

“Don’t.” sternly replied the tiny unicorn. Button Mash, one of the classmates of the CMC, had been the subject of Sweetie Belle’s affections for the longest time. Only problem was that, when they had actually tried to simply have milkshakes together, she found multiple reasons to re-evaluate her opinion of the beanie-wearing Button.

“Yep, matchmaking is off the list. Apple Bloom, you got any ideas?”

When several seconds passed without response, Scootaloo looked up from her list. “Did you hear me Apple Bloom?”

The filly in question jumped as if startled. “Wha? Oh, sorry, kinda stared off into space there.”

“Are you sure you’re alright, AB?” asked the Pegasus, writing instruments put aside, “You’ve been sort of melancholy like this all day, you’re not even eager as you usually are for trying to get your cutie mark. Is this something about the whole werewolf thing that you didn’t mention?”

The little Apple sighed. “Kinda. Ah don’t know if either of you noticed, but during the time mah sister was a werewolf, her cutie mark had been fadin’ until it was barely even visible. Gettin’ cured restored it to normal, but…what about me? Ah don’t have mah cutie mark, but Ah’m afraid that because of that Ah may not even get it at all now since Ah’m not a full pony anymore.”

“Yeah, I was sort of wondering about that.” Commented Sweetie. “But it didn’t go away completely, now did it?”

“Uh…no, Ah think it just faded to where it was almost not visible, but even that Sable Loam pony had his cutie mark, and he’d been around almost as long as both Princess Celestia and Luna.”

“Then, what if you just need to try harder for your cutie mark to appear?”

“Ah hadn’t thought of that.” Energy seemed to come back to the filly as the prospect of finding her calling suddenly became visible again.

“There’s the Apple Bloom we know!” smiled Scootaloo, who had sat back down and made to start writing things down again. “Now, back to where we were; what to do for our cutie marks?”

“Ooh! Ooh! I know!” squeaked Sweetie, “What about we try being fitness trainers?”

“Seriously?” asked Apple Bloom with her eyebrow raised. “Knowin’ our track record, we’ll be tryin’ to train Snips and Snails to be competitive ice cream eaters eventually.”

“Competitive…Ice…Cream…Eating…” mumbled Scootaloo as she wrote the idea down.

“Well, what about we try and train you, Apple Bloom?” suggested the unicorn.

“Me? Why me? Ah’d say Ah’m already pretty fit due to workin’ on the farm, an’ AJ’s a national competitor in the Equestriani Rodeo. Ah don’t see the need-“

“You’re forgetting the part where you’re a werewolf!”

Apple Bloom wasn’t following. “Yes, Ah’m aware that Ah’m a freak of nature now. Thank you fer remindin’ me of that. Ah still don’t get what-“

Sweetie shook her head back and forth. “No no no! I mean, we train you so you’re the best werewolf you can be!”

“Why would Ah want to be the best werewolf Ah can be? Ah don’t want to be a werewolf, that’s somethin’ Ah’m pretty sure Ah made clear two nights ago.”

“Do have any idea how you’re going to cure yourself?”

“…Not yet, no…”

“That’s why I’m saying we should train you to be the best you can be! It’s obvious you might be a werewolf for a while, so might as well make the best of it, right?”

“Ah guess so. Probably would help with the urges to turn into a critter at any rate.”

“I gotta say, that sounds pretty cool, actually,” Scoot chimed in. “If you get good enough, maybe you can even scare Diamond Tiara at her own bedroom window!”

“Okay, now that idea Ah can get behind!” agreed Apple Bloom, flashing an evil smile that contained teeth slightly sharper than normal pony teeth. “We’ll need to figure out how y’all are supposed to train me for somethin’ like that, though, since Ah’m tryin’ to still keep the whole werewolf thing secret.”

“Right!” agreed Scoot and Sweetie. So, with the plan settled, the three agreed to figure out a regimen on how to make an adolescent werewolf the absolute worst nightmare that ever came to life. Diamond Tiara was going to learn that karma had a name, and that name was Apple Bloom.

Later that day, after the Crusaders had adjourned and gone home for dinner, a royal carriage descended from the sky above Ponyville. Pulled by two Guard Pegasi in special armor emblazoned with a star instead of the usual sun, the chariot was taken over the town and landed right in front of Carousel Boutique.

Rarity had just served up dinner for herself and Sweetie, who was once again spending the week there thanks to their parents going off to attend some old family friend’s wedding or something, when the doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it!” said the elder unicorn as she made for the door. Opening it revealed a pretty princess on the other side. “Twilight! What a wonderful surprise! I thought you said your next time off from, er, ‘Princess Lessons’ was next week, if you’d let me known earlier I would have made more supper.”

“That’s alright, Rarity,” replied the purple alicorn. “And no, don’t offer me your dinner, either, I actually ate before coming here since I can’t stay long.”

“Oh, if that’s the case, what can I do for you, your majesty?” While it was addressing Twilight by her new status, the honorific was made more to tease the young princess, who preferred her friends not treat her as such just so they always remembered she was the same Twilight, only now with wings.

“I was wondering if you had that commission from me ready, the saddle blanket for my brother? It’s his birthday a week from tomorrow and I want to make sure I have it ready.”

“But of course! Just give me a moment; I think I must have put it in with some of my other orders upstairs.” Rarity left to find the saddle blanket, leaving Twilight and Sweetie alone in the room.

“So how’s school been?” asked Twilight, a question Sweetie knew was coming from a mile away.

“It’s been alright. We went on a field trip last weekend to see a Screaming Mynah, which was pretty interesting.”

“Really? I wasn’t aware that they were native to this area.”

“They’re not. Ms. Cheerilee said they’re only around here every couple of years or so.” Sweetie then perked up when she remembered the even cooler bird she’d encountered earlier. “But I saw something even rarer today: a green-and-yellow phoenix!”

“A what?” Twilight was skeptical at that. Such a melanistic variance in phoenix genetics would be extremely rare, plus the proud creatures normally only lived towards the more arid parts of the country, near the volcanoes the dragons migrated to every century. “Where did you see it?”

“One of Rarity’s business partners had it, she said it was her pet I think. Its name was Heli…something, I don’t remember. He like to perch on his owner’s horn, too, which I don’t think even Celestia allows Philomena to do."

Twilight tried to not show her extreme skepticism at this information. A phoenix of non-red coloration alone would warrant it, but the fact it was a unicorn’s pet and could sit on her horn… Twilight really found it too much to believe. While pony horns were naturally tough, being mostly a bone extrusion from the skull with a direct connection to the brain, to allow a bird to sit on it would not only disrupt any magic the user tried to cast but the bird’s weight itself would be pushing down on the horn. It would be as if a metal rod was attached to one’s skull and somepony was pulling the stick down while simultaneously using the neck as the hinge. At least, that’s what Celestia had said about the one time she’d let Philomena sit on her horn while trying to raise the sun. The idea a normal unicorn could do what Princess Celestia could not…it was just too outrageous.

“Ah, here it is!” said Rarity, bringing down a neatly folded saddle blanket in her telekinesis. The aura around the blanket shifted from blue to purple as it was magically handed off.

“Thanks, Rarity. Oh, just curious, but what is this about a green phoenix and it perching on its owner’s horn?”

“Oh, that, it’s just the antics of my friend Raspberry Beryl and her pet bird Heliodor.”

“Who?”

“Raspberry is my main gem finder. I know, I can do it myself, it’s not like my flank doesn’t remind me of that every day, but with my workload having increased it’s just been easier to have another pony do it for me. She’s always able to find just the gems I need, it’s just the poor thing is so timid that she’d probably be scared of Fluttershy talking to her.”

“And this…Heliodor, who I’m guessing is a green-and-gold phoenix?”

“Ah, yes, him. Very well behaved bird, although he loves attention. Honestly, between you and me, I think Raspberry got tricked into thinking he’s a phoenix. He looks the part, but he’s far too small and the way he perches on her horn…no way he’s the real deal. However, she loves him as a companion so I don’t have the heart to break it to her. Although, do phoenixes even come in green?”

“They don’t, which only fuels my suspicions it’s a smaller bird enchanted to look like a unique phoenix. As long as she doesn’t do anything bad with it, I think we can let it slide, especially if she genuinely believes he’s a phoenix.”

“Agreed. I guess it’s back to Canterlot with you, then?”

“Yep. Going to have night lessons with Princess Luna tonight, although with all this work it will be a challenge to not fall asleep!”

The two friends shared a laugh before parting ways. Minutes later, as Twilight sat in her chariot, the blanket safely stowed under her rump, her thoughts went to Sweetie talking about that green phoenix and its owner.

I wonder why whoever enchanted that bird made it green instead of red pondered the princess. Even considering how rare phoenixes are as pets, there’s no way some timid gem finder in Ponyville could get their hands on something like that unless they themselves enchanted it or had it enchanted. But I guess the question is why there is a mare going around Ponyville with a fake phoenix and offering her services as a gem pedler?

The question would go on unanswered right up to the point Twilight met with the Princess of the Night.

“Good evening, Princess Twilight,” greeted the dusky alicorn.

“Good evening, Princess Luna. Before we begin tonight, I have to ask something that may seem somewhat random.”

“Is it about my…other self?” Luna seemed to tense up at the idea this would be about Nightmare Moon.

“Not at all.”

“Then ask away, Twilight.” The tension disappeared, replaced by Luna’s relieved expression.

Twilight cleared her throat. “Princess Luna, have you ever heard of, or even seen, a green-and-gold phoenix?”

“An odd question, to be sure, but I have seen a green-and-gold phoenix.”

Twilight was surprised. “Really? When? And where?”

Luna smiled, “Believe it or not, it was one of the pets of Queen Faust, who I believe you met immediately following the death of Sable Loam. When she…left this world, her phoenix also left the castle, leaving behind a solitary egg.”

Twilight knew whose egg that was. “So you’re saying Philomena’s mother was one of these green phoenixes?”

“Indeed. That was a thousand years ago, so the idea that of what must be a few hundred of them currently today, there is at least one green-and-gold individual out there. However, I suspect the reason you are asking is because you heard a story of a pony who has a phoenix of that coloration appearing in some towns, is that right?”

Twilight would have just been bowled over by Luna’s insight, but by this point the ascended unicorn knew better. “Yeah, somepony that Rarity contracted to help get gems for her dressmaking.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. While phoenixes are known for being wild creatures who are impossible to tame, the green ones instead tend to find a companion, usually a pony, who they will stick with for the rest of their lives. When their pony companion dies, they will return to the wild and re-integrate with their kind. That is what my mother’s phoenix; Verna, did, and it is those same magical instincts that have made Philomena such a loyal pet to my sister even though she is outwardly no different from the common wild phoenixes.”

Twilight was silent at this new information. The story had gone from being far fetched to almost completely true. The horn thing was still unanswered, but now that Twilight knew the general area of where to find this phoenix and its owner, the only possible course of action would be to find them and make some new discoveries.

There would be time for that later, though.

“Thank you, Princess. May we begin now?”

“Yes, I believe we can.”

Ch.6: Peek-A-Boo!

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 6: “Peek-a-Boo!”

Mornings for Diamond Dazzle Tiara, daughter of wealthy businessman Filthy Rich and his trophy wife Champagne Dreams, used to have been so simple. The last of the family to wake up about seven sharp, the time was only that early to begin with due to school, Tiara would wake up like a princess in her four-poster, queen-size bed. A fabulous breakfast in bed would start off each day just right, followed by a quick morning shower, leading into heading downstairs where her saddlebags were pre-packed by the family’s wait staff and a trip via carriage into town where DT would hook up with her PFFFL (Pony Friend Forever for Life) Silver Spoon, where together they would go to Ponyville Elementary to rule the schoolyard and make fun of all the lesser fillies and colts. It had been a great way to do things, without anything being left behind or any need unfulfilled.

At least, that’s how it had been until Filthy Rich suddenly started to slightly drop off in the doting of his little angel and started requiring her to do things herself, in some misguided (in her opinion) attempt to make her more like the scum she had to cavort with on a daily basis. First it had been making her be solely responsible for managing her saddlebags, which she still considered far beneath her due to how tedious it was. The fact she’d always had to do her homework, as opposed to a servant hired specifically to do it for her, had always been an annoyance to the pink filly, but now that she had to bother even putting it into her bags now irritated her even more.

Then he’d made her come downstairs for breakfast instead of being able to have it in bed.

Then she had to take the shower before going down to breakfast.

Then she’d nearly blown a fuse when her special “breakfast-in-pink” plateware suddenly disappeared for no reason, which she suspected her dad to also be responsible for (which he was, but only because it was discovered said plateware were in fact priceless family heirlooms that had ended up in the wrong box during the last property insurance audit, to which he subsequently had them placed in his private home office for protection where his daughter would never see them).

But now…now she was reaching her limit. At the very least, after going from being tended to at every step from waking up to leaving the carriage, to having to do everything herself save cook the actual meal, she could have done it all in silence. But, after her latest failure in bullying Apple Bloom went so far south, it was her mother that decided to try helping the crowned filly be more down to Earth.

So, a month after being shown up by a farmer, Diamond Tiara found herself sitting in the giant family dining room for breakfast with only her mother for company. Worse, her mother was trying to actually have a conversation.

“So, sugar,” began Champagne Dreams, doing her best to be motherly in tone even though it was obvious she was severely lacking in child communication skills. “Is there anything interesting planned for today in school?”

“No, mother,” replied an unhappy Diamond Tiara, trying to enjoy what she could of the hay-and-oats chocolate pancake stack in front of her.

“Oh, well, erm…” replied Dreams, trying to think of other discussion topics.

It hadn’t even been two minutes before the filly couldn’t take it.

“Mom, why do we need to even do this?” whined Diamond Tiara. “What have I done that you and Dad are punishing me for? Everything was fine the way it was when I could still have my first meal in bed, when I could shower without an empty stomach, when I didn’t have to worry about having my school bags all ready to go the night before school! Everything was so much simpler!”

Champagne sighed. “Tiara, dear, you have to understand that even though we’re impossibly wealthy, our family cannot lose sight of what it is to be a pony on the inside. After all, that’s what the business interests that keep our accounts loaded with bits were founded on.”

“No they’re not! You and Dad hardly ever need to act like regular ponies! You’re always away on business related trips, staying in the most luxurious penthouse suites and cavorting around with the who’s who of society! Nopony gets to that kind of social status simply by being nice to everypony!” argued the irate filly.

“While that is true, most of that social elite are made up of nobles and wealthy heirs who haven’t worked a day in their lives to get where they are. That wasn’t the case for your father, who your grandfather, Horribly Rich, made work in the local stores of Barnyard Bargains here in Ponyville all the way through the corporate side of things before finally inheriting the job of CEO. And that was after making him only go through public school, like Ponyville Elementary.”

“Is that why you guys won’t let me attend a private school, where I can hang out with ponies who are actually like me instead of the normal residents of this backwater town?”

Champagne became more serious. “Diamond Tiara, I’m sure your father has made it clear how important Ponyville is to our family. We are, after all, one of its founding families, and one of the two most important alongside the Apples. It is important that you learn to be as much a part of the community as being a part of this family.” DT would have argued back, but the great grandfather clock in the room started to chime. “Oh, my bad, it seems we took too much time talking for you to finish your breakfast.”

“No, no, it’s fine, I’ll just eat it on the go!” hurriedly said the filly before taking the plate of pancakes and rushing away to the kitchen, plate-in-hoof. It would be awkward trying to eat them in the carriage, but it was a far preferable alternative to talking to her fashion-model mother about how the Rich family bloodline needs to be like the common pony in the streets. Or how the Apple Family was even allowed to be compared to the Rich family simply because of the whole “Founding Families” thing. As she dashed into the waiting carriage, plate of pancakes in her mouth now, she managed to stumble into the cabin and land face-first in said plate. Taking the moment, the waiting staff who bore witness to the event stifled their laughter, glad that karma was biting the demanding, spoiled brat right in the flank once more.

“C’mon, y’all! Time to go back in the pen!”

If there was one thing that Applejack disliked about living on Sweet Apple Acres, it was having to deal with the sheep. While the apple crop was always going to be a major part of the farm’s total revenue, it wasn’t the only thing supporting the Apple Family. Corn, wheat, and other cash crops did a fair share of supplementary revenue, but the big non-crop material sold through the farm was wool. Harvested in early spring, not long after Winter Wrap Up, the wool was processed old-fashioned style by the Apples while they waited for their crop to ripen, then stored until mid-fall where demand for wool would skyrocket due to the demand for warm clothing to fight the oncoming winter with. However, because wool only grew on sheep, and sheep were very skittish creatures despite being sentient just as much as ponies, so getting them to do anything the whole herd needed to do, such as go back into the pen after grazing, required some extra help. For Applejack, that extra help came in the form of Winona, who got them all into the pen relatively quickly.

“Hey, Applejack!” came a familiar voice, to which Applejack turned around and found Sandalwood approaching.

“Howdy, Sandalwood! Aren’t you supposed to be at work or somethin’?”

“Nah, taking some time off as my aromatherapy supplies are near total depletion and Zecora needs time to make her more affordable substitutes. Today I thought I’d come visit you on the farm, since the last time I was here there wasn’t able to really see the place.”

“Ah don’t remember you ever havin’ come to Sweet Apple Acres at all since you moved here.”

“You weren’t here. Remember the whole thing with Sable Loam and the chasing and the motor vehicles and the-“

“Oh. Right. That,” sheepishly replied the slightly blushing Applejack.

Sandalwood just shook her head. “Yeah, I thought as much. Anyway, in addition to seeing what your property is like, there is the matter of the truck.”

“The truck? What about the truck? Neither Ah nor the rest of mah family have found a use for it ever since it was put in the shed.”

“Have you at least run the engine since storing it?”

“No, don’t see a need to if it’s not bein’ used. Why?”

The tan pony frowned. “Because the truck, last I checked which admittedly was months ago, is using just a slightly improved version of the parade float engine that powered the thing the truck started out as. It has a battery, which requires to be constantly run simply to ensure it operates properly. Even before Twilight made it a permanent part of the vehicle with her spell, that’s proper internal combustion engine maintenance care since the battery runs the sparkplugs, which causes-“

Applejack just waved her hooves around in front of Sandalwood. “Alright, alright, Ah get it. You’re the mechanics expert here, not me. Frankly, when that engine was still a separate component, Ah simply just removed the battery. ‘Course, that was before the Crusaders put it into the big golden apple float that crashed into the river, which may or may not have damaged the engine and battery.”

Sandalwood, not wanting to waste time just standing around, had already begun walking away. “The engine was in good enough condition to send the ramshackle car it was installed in crashing into the Everfree, and it didn’t fail once during its rough maiden run in the truck, so I think it’s safe to say the engine just needs a little exercise.”

“Whatever you say,” replied Applejack.

Together, the two mares made their way to one of the smaller barns on the property, Winona tagging along and barking happily at the relative newcomer. Upon reaching the barn, the ponies each took a door and opened it up to expose the contents. Inside the barn sat a vehicle who Applejack shared a rather strange relation with: the Apple Truck. Originally a regular old cart with a salvaged float engine, it had been this vehicle’s demise that led to Applejack’s stint as a werewolf, and for that she was still somewhat wary around it. However, after Twilight tried to turn it into a copy of the fully working motor car built by Lyra and Sandalwood the same way she once made an apple carriage, the spell had ended up turning it into what Lyra described as a “truck” type of vehicle. Reborn, the newly christened “Apple Truck” had played a crucial part in helping take down the evil Sable Loam (namely by being the only thing that could have carried Iron Will to the battle with any kind of speed) and in turn not only restoring Applejack to her normal self but also giving closure to the mystery around the deaths of her parents. For that, the apple farmer decided to keep it around, but since out of habit all heavy load transport was done manually, the vehicle had been locked up in its barn ever since, left untouched.

Or that’s what Sandalwood had thought until she noticed what was sitting in the truck’s bed.

“Applejack, why is there a life-size cutout of Twilight Sparkle in the back of your truck?”

The mare in question was confused. “Huh? There shouldn’t be nothin’ back there…” Walking over to Sandalwood to see, the orange ex-werewolf’s confusion grew deeper as she too saw the two-dimensional pony in the back of the Apple Truck. It wasn’t even accurate to the pony it was trying to duplicate, as it depicted Twilight in her original unicorn form instead of her current alicorn state. Heck, it didn’t even look exactly like the regular unicorn Twilight either; the eyes seemed off center, the expression’s smile looked just plain creepy, and the “corkscrew” lines on her horn were far too vertically slanted to look like any real unicorn’s horn.

“Not gonna lie, that’s creepy.” commented Sandalwood.

“Ah wanna know where it came from,” replied Applejack, who proceeded to get into the truck bed to get a closer look. However, close examination revealed nothing about the origins of Cardlight Sparkle. It was if somepony had taken a perfect image of the princess prior to her ascension, altered it somewhat so it wasn’t a perfect image anymore, plastered it onto a large piece of cardboard, and then snuck it into the barn without having undone the lock simply to put it in the back of an unused truck.

“I’m more interested in why, myself,” absently mentioned Sandalwood, who had already popped open the truck’s hood to do a basic diagnostic, “is there anypony you know who could have any kind of reason to make a useless standee for the sole purpose of standing in the back of your truck?”

“Ah don’t. The lock doesn’t look touched, so Ah have to figure it’s somepony who has teleportation that could’ve done this, but even then Ah don’t know why somepony would want to leave it in a place where it wouldn’t be seen for months? As far as Ah know, the only thing Twi ever even did with this thing was turn it from useless scrap to…er, Ah guess not useless scrap once Ah actually figure out what to do with it.”

“Actually, she rode in the back with Spike and Iron Will when we went chasing after you. It’s how our now-married motivational speaker friend knew not to kill that furry bastard if you were ever to stop being a werewolf. Also, I want to take this thing out for a spin to check the battery.”

With no reason not to, Applejack just shrugged in reply. Some minutes later, the Apple Truck was rumbling its way around Sweet Apple Acres with a reluctant Applejack at the wheel. Sandalwood, aromatherapist and now driving instructor, kept on giving commands to the frazzled farmer that supposedly would put the truck through its paces. Cardlight Sparkle remained in the bed, visible in the rear view mirror and providing silent support.

“Ah swear this is the craziest thing Ah’ve ever done since tryin’ to sell surplus cotton!” shouted Applejack, clutching the wheel with a deathgrip. Somehow, the wheel was not instantly breaking under her strength.

“Toggle the headlights, and what was that about cotton?” quipped Sandy, who seemed to be paying more attention to the behavior of the truck than Applejack’s comments. The farmer remained silent, but did hit the switch for the headlights. The area immediately in front of the truck grew brighter, seemingly satisfying Sandalwood until she realized the strain of Applejack’s first driving experience might cause the hat wearing pony a hernia. “Alright, you can stop. Lightly press on the brake as you take your hoof off the accelerator.” Gradually the truck came to a stop, its engine rumbling in idle.

“That’s what mah sister and her friends wanted to build!?” a somewhat paled and sweaty Applejack gasped. To say she did not like driving was an understatement.

Sandalwood just laughed. “Yeah, I had the same reaction when Lyra and I took the car for its first test drive. I know you won’t believe me, but it goes way faster than this truck if you slam the accelerator pedal. Part of it is the weight, since the car is smaller and lighter, but its engine also has a higher operating power drain compared to the mass produced float engine you’ve got, high enough that Lyra has to use her magic to power it. So take it from me in that if you keep practicing driving, you’ll get the hang of it.”

Applejack only looked slightly relieved. “Yeah…thanks…”

“But I’m still curious about how trying to sell cotton compares to first time driving in terms of craziness.”

Rolling her eyes, Applejack chuckled. “Ah have a cousin who lives in Fillydelphia; name’s Pianosa Prairie. One year, he took half his farmland to grow cotton, ended up with about thirty five thousand pounds of it. However, that was the year cotton’s market price got so low that the cotton seeds were more expensive than cotton itself. Ah go up there after hearin’ about Prairie’s troubles and thinkin’ Ah can help, but when Ah actually get there Ah find him tryin’ to sell chocolate covered cotton!”

Sandalwood’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious? Was he that desperate?”

“Eeyup. But when your entire livelihood and property are restin’ on the sale of worthless material, Ah can’t really blame him for it.”

“So, what happened?”

Applejack made a large smile. “Ah eventually came up with the idea of using all that cotton to make fake sheep decoys, which were able to be sold to areas that were havin’ serious timberwolf invasion problems. Managed to get rid of every last pound of the stuff and still turn a profit, along with threatenin’ Pianosa to never grow cotton again.”

The tan pony was stunned. “That actually worked?”

“Yep, everythin’ turned out good for Pianosa, and whatever is good for Pianosa, is good for the Apple Family.”

Apple Bloom stalked the streets. She was a werewolf, so like it or not she was now a predator. To be a predator was to be a good predator or die. So right now she was stalking her prey. Within her mind she was a vicious creature, silently following her mark to a point where she could strike and feast upon its innards.

Everypony else saw regular, not-at-all-monstrous-looking Apple Bloom pretending to be a cat with her two noisy friends following right behind her. Some of the ponies did stare for a few moments, but all eventually just stopped bothering. It was the CMC, they were just kids, as long as nopony got hurt they weren’t really being a nuisance, so they didn’t require much attention.

To Apple Bloom, though, this was serious werewolf training. Sure, she knew other ponies were watching her, but her target wasn’t aware of her presence. Of course, choosing a bright green-and-gold phoenix that was attracting attention from all over town as a stalking target probably wasn’t the smartest idea ever. Worse, it was only around five o’clock, which meant it was snack time, and today Apple Bloom was very hungry. Her stomach loudly voiced its consent with her self-assessment.

“Alright, you can’t be doing that later,” commented Scootaloo, quickly jotting down notes on the accompanying pad.

“Well, that will be taking place after dinner. Right now, I think we should continue after snack time.” Replied Apple Bloom, standing back up and walking over to take her place in the wagon attached to Scoot’s scooter. “I don’t know about you guys, but I could go for some milkshakes!”

“I have no argument with that!” agreed Scoot, rocketing off with friends in tow towards the local malt shop. She continued to talk while in transit; “But the important question is; do you think you’re ready?”

“Ah’m pretty confident in the trainin’ you two have put me through. Besides, it’s not like Ah’m gonna have to do anythin’ extreme tonight, just runnin’ mainly. But you’re sure that the storm will take place tonight?”

“That’s what Rainbow Dash said to me earlier,” confirmed Scootaloo, “I will admit that now I’m not so sure about you doing this, but I’ll back you up if there’s no other way.”

Apple Bloom’s reply was in a dead serious tone; “She insulted mah parents. They may have died in the blizzard, but they didn’t die because they were stupid. Ah can’t let that insult stand without retribution.”

Sweetie was decidedly worried. “Apple Bloom, are you sure you’re up for this?”

“Yes, Sweetie, Ah think Ah am!” said AB a bit more forcefully than she needed to. When she realized it, her tone became more gentle. “Ah’m sorry, mah temper is somewhat worse, a side-effect of you-know-what, but Ah still shouldn’t have said that like Ah did.”

She got a comforting hug from the unicorn in return. “It’s okay, you’ll be better about it eventually. Oh, hey, we’re at the malt shop! They better have peppermint swirl this time!”

“Not if I get it first!” challenged Scootaloo, sparking a dead heat between the three fillies to get in the door first. To the surprise of both the speedy Pegasus and physically-augmented werewolf, Sweetie won.

From a distance, Raspberry Beryl watched the three fillies who had been stalking her change course and ride away to somewhere else. Had they realized she and Heliodor had been aware of them the whole time? She couldn’t be sure, but the fact all three of them had been younger sisters of element bearers worried her, especially Sweetie Belle as she was Rarity’s sister. If the filly unicorn had been doing some spying and spoke bad of Beryl to Rarity, it could cost the reddish unicorn the biggest buyer of her gems.

The yellow, bow-wearing filly, however, was slightly more worrying. If memory served, that was the filly named Apple Bloom, younger sister of the honest Applejack. But it wasn’t the lineage that was troubling Beryl. There had been a slight feeling she detected around the earth pony filly, a very familiar one. Only problem was that familiarity was through something no earth filly ever should even be mentioned in the same sentence with.

“Uh, ma’am?” asked the pear vendor. “Are you going to buy my pears or not?”

“Huh? Oh! I’m so terribly sorry, it’s just that those ponies-”

“You mean the Cutie Mark Crusaders? They’re generally harmless, so don’t worry. Heck, the yellow one? She’s the youngest of the local Apple Family branch. When I learned who she was, I was sure she was going to call in her bigger siblings to break my kneecaps as punishment for trying to sell pears in their territory!”

“W-what!?” whimpered a now-scared Raspberry, the implications of the apparent Apple Family Mafia breaking the kneecaps of ponies they didn’t like possibly meaning even worse physical punishments for those who did far worse than just sell pears in apple country.

“Oh, perdona me, I don’t mean to scare you. The Apples are actually extremely nice ponies, they even buy some of my pears when I have some for sale.”

“Ah, okay, great, that’s a relief! But the total I need to pay for the pears?”

“For quattro pears, that will be otto bits.”

“Um, come again?” asked Beryl, with a hint of panic returning in her voice, “I don’t know what otto bits are…”

To the surprise of both ponies, Heliodor suddenly sprang into action from his perch on the pear cart. He flew down to his owner’s saddlebags and pulled out exactly eight bits, which he deposited on the edge of the cart.

The pear vendor was impressed. “I must wonder where you got such a bird, miss! I do not mean to offend, but it is amusing how he knows how to count in Roaman while you apparently do not.”

Raspberry just blushed. “To be perfectly honest, Heelee usually is the one who keeps me on track from day to day!” Reaching out to her bird so he could land on her foreleg, she brought him in close to nuzzle. “I truly don’t know what I’d do without him.” Once done nuzzling, she lifted him up so that he could perch on her horn.

“For a brilliant bird such as he, his beauty pales in comparison to the companionship he clearly gives to you. As it is, I must go sell my pears elsewhere in Ponyville, so a good day to you, miss!”

The two ponies bid farewell before parting ways, the pear vendor going deeper into the town while Raspberry headed for home on the outskirts. Shopping in Ponyville had been stressful, as always, but even though it had just been a few months here, Beryl felt like this could finally be able to put down some roots instead of just wandering the country like she used to.

“I have a good feeling about this town, Heelee. Yeah, my biggest customer is an Element, but as long as we stay on her good side I think she could be our best bet for…oh, what is the matter with you this time?” The bird on her horn seemed depressed, as if having watched somepony important to him die horribly while he could do nothing to stop it. Of course, Beryl knew why. “Heelee, is this about how Pear Blossom said your inner beauty is more than your outer beauty?”

The bird nodded, to which Beryl just laughed.

“You are just so full of yourself, aren’t you? I mean, that was a compliment and you’re taking it hard because she said something was better than your appearance. But I do agree with her.”

Heliodor was shocked, his dramatic expression giving Beryl more cause to laugh.

“Oh, stop it! Your coat is still magnificent, as always you vain little firebird, but you truly are even more beautiful in how you’ve been my best friend ever since we met. After everything we’ve been through, all the towns we can’t go back to because of-“

Beryl would have continued had it not been for the sudden, panicked cries of a young colt coming into earshot.

“Help! Help! Somepony, help!”

Against better judgment, unicorn and bird rushed over to the cry of distress. What they found was, thankfully, nothing too serious. The source of the cries had been a very young colt, bearing an interesting white coat that had brown spots all over him, but didn’t seem to have anything wrong going on with him.

“Is everything alright?” asked Beryl.

“My ball! It’s stuck in that tree!” replied the colt in a partial accent that betrayed his Trottingham origins.

Looking up, the ball was soon located in a medium-sized tree nearby. It was yellow with a blue stripe running through the middle and a red star on opposite sides.

“C-could you get it down for me, please? With your magic?”

For a unicorn like Beryl, it would have been an extremely easy case of using telekinesis to move the ball. However, while Beryl had telekinesis like any other unicorn, she really did not like using it in public. Bad things tended to happen when she had to use magic in public. But she also had Heliodor.

“I could use my magic,” began Raspberry, “but I think it would be more interesting if my pet went to fetch it instead. Heelee?”

On command, the phoenix launched from Beryl’s horn into the air and within seconds had retrieved the ball without puncturing it with his talons, letting it fall to the ground near the colt.

“Thanks!” shouted the young pony, who bounced his ball towards the house across the street and into an open door, where a pony that was presumably his mother was waiting. The mother figure waved at Beryl. Beryl waved back. The mother then closed the door, leaving the unicorn and phoenix alone in the world again. However, having been able to perform a simple act of kindness brought a smile to Beryl’s muzzle, something she wished she could do more often in her life. A sudden weight on her forehead signaled Heliodor’s return to his horn roost.

“C’mon, let’s go make supper.” Together, phoenix and unicorn walked down the street back home wordlessly, needing nothing in the world but each other’s company.

While weather in Equestria was usually always clear and pleasant, there was always the need for the pegasus weather teams to generate a superstorm or two to keep the natural balance of things in line. This year, the Ponyville weather team had whipped up one of the largest in years, so Rainbow had to have a town-wide curfew that nopony was to be allowed outside during the storm due to how fierce it was. Before midnight, the storm was released, and with it came driving rains, unbelievably bright flashes of lightening, and thunder so loud it was like giant drills were piercing the heavens.

To Diamond Tiara, it was extremely poor weather to try and sleep in. Between the noise of the rain and thunder, and her normally dark room constantly being lit up every so often by the lightening, how anypony was expected to sleep in this was beyond her ability to comprehend.

Giving up on sleep, DT absent mindedly decided to wander over to the window. Maybe the rhythmic tapping of the heavy rain might actually help her doze off if she was close enough to it. At the windowsill, she placed her forelegs on the edge and proceeded to stare into the night.

“Bah. I don’t understand why Dad couldn’t have hired some unicorn to put a spell around the house that would give us an insulating shield. That sounds like so much more efficient use of the family funds instead of suing the Equestrian Labor Board to raise the minimum wage. I mean-what the?!”

She’d almost missed it. In the flash of lightning, there had clearly been a shape of some sort illuminated. Curiosity getting the better of her, DT leaned closer, but not too far. The lightning flashed again, this time confirming the shape.

Unfortunately, it was a shape resembling the outline of the one pony Tiara hated most of all.

“I swear, if this is bucking Apple Bloom trying something funny…” swore Diamond Tiara as she threw caution to the wind and got right up to the window glass, muzzle to reflective surface. Whatever was out there, they were going to learn they did not mess with a sleep-deprived Diamond Tiara.

The lightning flashed a third time, giving a brief, fully lighted look for DT at the figure separated from her only by glass. As she’d thought, it had been Apple Bloom, but this time something was horribly wrong. The yellow filly’s fur and mane were an absolute mess, both from the rain and as if she hadn’t shed her fur coat in years, but that was the least scary part. To DT’s horror, “Apple Bloom” had her two forehooves on the glass…except they weren’t hooves. Canine paws, the pads on the bottoms clearly visible and the claws touching the window glass, were stuck to the outside. But worst of all easily had to be the face. The only thing even recognizable was the pair of eyes; still golden in color but now seemingly glowing. Below that, the muzzle was undoubtedly canine in appearance, complete with a little black dog nose, but all DT could focus on was the evil grin the thing on the other side was giving her. A grin full of what appeared to be sharp teeth meant for nothing but tearing into young, supple prey like fillies and ripping flesh from bone.

But in a split second the illumination ended, casting all into blackness once again. Shocked, DT was sure she was just hallucinating, right up until the thing that was Apple Bloom but wasn’t Apple Bloom spoke in the most horrifyingly bad husky voice ever.

“Peek-a-boo, I see you!”

Diamond Tiara’s scream woke every single pony in the house. Filthy Rich was the first on the scene and didn’t even bother opening the door, choosing to just slam into it and knock it off its hinges. He’d buy another one, doors were cheap. His daughter’s life was not. The door now rendered useless as an obstruction, he found the whimpering form of his baby girl in the farthest corner of the room, in the fetal position and mumbling incoherently to herself.

“Tiara? Tiara! Are you okay?”

‘”M-m-monster! W-window!” was all she could manage between the sobs. Moving to cradle his daughter, he instructed his bodyguard to investigate. However, when the bodyguard looked, there was no shape at the window, with nothing to indicate there ever had been a shape there to begin with.

For Diamond, she would spend the rest of the night trying to pull herself ever closer into her father’s embrace, fearing that the Apple Bloom Monster would re-emerge should he leave. Eventually, she fell asleep, but was then moved to the master bedroom lest she wake up again all alone. To the rest of the ponies, it would all be chalked up to a fillyhood nightmare that couldn’t have hurt a fly. To the Cutie Mark Crusaders, who were spending the night at Scootaloo’s house, Apple Bloom’s return fifteen minutes later after DT’s scream was cause for silent celebration.

And a quarter mile away from the mansion that Apple Bloom had terrorized, Fair Vista laughed without fear of anypony hearing her. After all, now she knew the first ally she would need to draft to her cause.

Ch.7: Ancient History

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 7: “Ancient History”

The Everfree Forest. To the majority of ponies, it is a place full of monsters and hostile feeling that rarely are there ponies who would be willing to venture into it. Furthermore, because nopony knew what could be even found in the Everfree besides monsters, flowers that can change one’s physical attributes in a way that some would see as humorous, and the abandoned ruins of Castle Everfree, there was no reason to ever brave the dangers in the first place.

Which is why practically everypony in Ponyville still didn’t get how Zecora could feel comfortable living in the forest, although the zebra would argue back with something along the lines of “Why do ponies who are so scared of the forest even live near it in the first place?”

But what ponies wouldn’t understand is that Zecora had lived in dangerous environments such as the Everfree since birth. A native hailing from the wilds of Zebrabwe, she had come to Equestria in the pursuit of clues to ancient Zebra soothsayers and alchemists who wandered all over the land of ponies. Her initial forays into amateur archeology back home had led her to believe the remnants of what had been the Equestrian capital contained such things, hence she put down roots near a small settlement called Ponyville and attempted to set up shop as an alchemist herself, while in her off-time she could go off and uncover the tales of yore. It had been a rocky start, with the entire town being devoid of life every time she tried to visit, but after some misconceptions had been cleared up thanks to the help of a particular filly, Zecora was able to become a part of the town’s society and offer her services to everypony.

Currently, Zecora made her way towards the near-forgotten ruins of what had been Equestria’s seat of power. She had intentions to explore what looked like a partially-untouched chamber within the castle itself that she’d made note of in her previous visit, for the presence of some Zebra mask décor indicated it had once been an alchemy work area of the nature she was skilled in. Additionally, she was on the hunt for a specific flower known as the “Moon’s Tear”, so named for their first recorded appearance being the day after Nightmare Moon was banished, and which to Zecora’s knowledge could only be found naturally at the Everfree ruins. The flower itself carried a nectar that would be necessary to finish up the large order Sandalwood had placed for substitute aromatherapy supplies.

“Even in decay, it is beautiful,” Zecora mused in her native tongue, speaking to herself about the ruins coming into view. Indeed, although the majority of the castle was gone, lost to time either from the massive battle between night and day that had occurred within or a thousand years of erosion since, the masonry and detailing were still as magnificent from a distance as they were up close when the castle once stood as a beacon of prosperity to all ponykind. Even the surrounding settlements seemed to have some kind of imbued perfection to them, as they too appeared pleasing to the eye despite none of them being suitable for even shelter from the rain.

Except that one, Zecora noted. At the end of the street she was stepped foot onto was a house that looked like all the others. Except it had a solid roof on it. And a door. Curious, Zecora trotted her way towards the oddity, a sign of life in an otherwise dead city.

However, she didn’t get far before every single strand of fur and mane stood on end. There was a bad feeling about this place. Many years ago, when she was but a filly herself, there had been an ancient shrine not too far from her village’s western edge. Her mother forbade ever going to the shrine, but to a young filly curiosity would be worth it. Or so she thought, for she didn’t even get reasonably close before immediately turning and running non-stop all the way to curl up on her mat in fear. That shrine, she would learn, had been the site of evil, dark magic practices performed by a zebra cult long since extinguished, but the power of their magic had been embedded into the shrine’s very foundations. Despite having never gone back there, with decades between the event and now, Zecora knew the feeling she had felt then was the exact same as the one she felt now. There was a presence of dark magic here, possibly even in that house, and Zecora didn’t dare go any further lest she discover what her younger self narrowly avoided.

Having been frozen in place mid-step, she suddenly picked up the audible hoofsteps of somepony approaching. Without a sound, Zecora bolted behind cover so that the approaching individual would not see her. But curiosity got the better of her and so she peeked around the edge to try and catch a glimpse.

There, walking towards the house, was the figure. Clad in a dark black cloak, all Zecora could make out from the shape was that it was a pony of some kind, the coat possibly a blood red coloration, but the face was obscured in darkness and any contours of the pony disguised by the apparel. Suddenly, the figure’s head turned to look right in the direction of Zecora, prompting the zebra to shrink back, but not long enough for Zecora to stop watching. Poking her head around again, she saw the figure was only looking around to see if there was anypony else, seemingly oblivious to Zecora’s presence. But the biggest shock came next, as the figure’s head suddenly had a magic aura appear from within the hood. While extremely hard to make out, it was obvious the aura was a bubbly, purple-colored mass, unquestionably that of a dark magic practitioner. The door to the house became enshrouded in that same, threatening aura, possibly to let the unicorn in.

The fear of dark magic, not felt since she’d been a child, rising up now, Zecora noiselessly slinked off, all curiosity having been killed off in favor of survival. She’d have to hang out in the ruins until she was sure the figure was either asleep or had left, but even then Zecora would leave on the other side of the ruins. She’d also need to gather up as much of the Moon’s Tear plant as possible, maybe even try to grow her own, because the presence of dark magic suddenly made Castle Everfree that much more dangerous to even the one who called the Everfree Forest home.

“Okay, so school is normally not that exciting, I’ll admit,” said Scootaloo, “but didn’t today seem…extra-boring or what?” Ponyville Elementary was done for the day, so the Crusaders once again headed for their base of operations.

“Yeah, it was like everypony was on Ritalin or something!” agreed Sweetie Belle, getting confused looks from her friends. “What? Is there something on my face?”

“Er, no…” replied Apple Bloom with a raised eyebrow, “it’s just that Ah don’t know what ‘Ritalin’ is, and Ah’m pretty sure Scoot doesn’t either.” The winged filly nodded confirmation.

“Oh, well…” started Sweetie, “to be honest, I don’t know what Ritalin is either. Rarity just said I need to take it, since it apparently makes hyperactive fillies and colts all dull, boring and obedient, but then she changed her opinion when she remembered one of its side effects involves seeing multiple Pinkie Pies constantly.”

“Are you sayin’ that one time the army of Pinkie Pies that crashed the barn raisin’ last year was only because mah entire family was on that Ritalin stuff?!” said Apple Bloom, horrified, “Includin’ mahself!?”

“Nah, that was the whole deal over the mirror pool Pinkie overused to try and have as much fun with everypony as possible.”

“Oh. Well, that’s a relief. Ah already have to take those stupid vitamins at night accordin’ to Granny. They’re so big that it’s like they’re meant for somethin’ larger than a pony!”

“You have to take Sweetie Drops, too?” asked Scootaloo, “Aren’t they just the worst?”

“Yeah, Ah just don’t see how anypony is supposed to take ‘em! But then again, Ah’d rather have that pill to swallow instead of havin’ to be Diamond Tiara last night!” laughed Apple Bloom.

“Oh, yeah, her absence from school today!” remembered Sweetie with a grin, “I believed you when you said she woke the entire house up with the screaming, but being too afraid to come to school?”

“Well, mystery solved about school being boring, no Tiara to make all the drama!” chortled Scootaloo, namely at her own unintentional rhyme. “Did you see Silver trying to be twice as troublesome to make up for Diamond’s absence? I almost feel bad for her in that she really can’t do it on her own. Not feeling sorry for whatever you did to Diamond, though, Apple Bloom. She really had it coming.”

Apple Bloom just laughed again. “Ah actually didn’t do that much, the storm and mah appearance probably did most of the work. Here, when we get to the treehouse Ah’ll show both of y’all how to scare a wanna-be princess!”

Minutes later, the CMC were settled in the far corner of Sweet Apple Acres. Sweetie and Scoot were instructed by Apple Bloom to sit in front of the treehouse window facing away from the farm, while the earth filly went to be on the other side of said window.

“Alright…” prepared Apple Bloom, whispering to herself so her friends wouldn’t know of her insecurity of what she was going to do, even though at this point they already knew about it pretty well. “Ah’m not gonna whine, Ah’m not gonna yell, Ah can do this…” With a deep breath, Apple Bloom focused on turning into her wolf form.

Despite the pain she’d gone through during the first transformation, subsequent instances where she willingly transformed in front of her friends had seen the pain level decrease. Right now, as she could feel her muzzle getting longer and her hooves becoming paws, it was a pain akin to almost a rough massage.

“Mrrrrr…” moaned Apple Bloom, letting the feeling wash over her, the noise mostly coming from her throat. Re-evaluation of the pain now seemed to have it feel somewhat pleasurable. She still had to maintain absolute secrecy about her lycanthropy, but as it was she couldn’t see what had been so bad about this for Applejack, aside from having an immortal, thousand-year old werewolf wanting to make her his wife.

Then her stomach rumbled. Right. That too. She thought. As Applejack had gone to great lengths in describing, Apple Bloom had found she was developing a need to eat meat. A sickening thought, especially to a filly. However, while Applejack had been forced to rely on Fluttershy as a source, Apple Bloom had discovered a stopgap method to help control the hunger pangs, unknowingly having discovered it wasn’t the actual meat so much that she desired but the taste. She happened to have that stopgap available in the treehouse, but it could wait a little longer. The demonstration wouldn’t take long.

“Hey, Apple Bloom!” called out Scootaloo, “I thought you said this wouldn’t take much prep-AHH!”
The orange filly was cut off by the sudden appearance of a now canine-like earth pony filly, bow still in her mane, hitting her paws on the window without warning and saying “Peek-a-Boo, I see you!” The expression on her face was downright terrifying with the teeth and inequine shape, the paws having actual claws on the end of the nubs even moreso, and to anypony without nerves of steel would have been a sight worth screaming about once her husky voice registered in their eardrums.

Unless, of course, the ‘audience’ to such a sight were already well-knowing of the other pony on the other side of the window and fully aware it was just an act. Such was the case with the non-cursed CMC members who, after a brief moment of terror, started laughing. Apple Bloom couldn’t help but start laughing herself as she walked back into the treehouse interior.

“Now, Ah know that wasn’t exactly like how Ah was able to do it with Tiara, but Ah think y’all get the gist of it,” Apple Bloom drawled, the huskiness in her voice lowered to its natural werewolf level instead of the strained version she’d just used.

“I have to admit, that was pretty scary, even though we knew you were going to do it!” gasped Scootaloo in-between spurts of laughter. “Tiara would have been scared out of her mind by that, yet you said something about it being made better because of the storm?”

“Eeyup. Ah actually managed to time mah appearance with the lightning flashes, so she never really got a good look at me,” replied the werewolf, who had at this point opened a drawer in one of the few furnishings in the treehouse, pulling out a bag of dog biscuits.

Sweetie Belle noticed, her laughing immediately being toned down to just heavy breathing. “Uh, Apple Bloom? Aren’t those Winona’s?”

“Sorta.” Replied Apple Bloom, opening the bag and transferring some of the contents from the packaging to her mouth. “This is a spare bag Ah found in the kitchen, there’s still like, three fourths left in the main bag. Winona is family, probably more so to me now than Ah’d care to admit, what with this werewolf thing Ah have an’ all. No way Ah’d steal somethin’ from her outta greed.”

“Wait, are those meat flavored dog snacks?” asked Scootaloo, having stopped laughing herself and raising an eyebrow at her werewolf friend.

“Bacon, to be precise. Ah know, it’s weird, but…it’s the only way Ah know how Ah can stop wantin’ to eat real meat. Ah think it might be just the flavor that Ah need to taste, doesn’t matter if it’s fake meat flavoring either, and these are really more like crackers so Ah see no problem in eatin’ em. Gotta say Ah understand why Winona likes these so much.” Apple Bloom then took another hoofful of the doggy treats and ate them. She moved to take a third, but the bag was suddenly snatched from her paws by Sweetie.

“I think that’s enough for now,” chided the unicorn, folding the top of the bag closed. “While it probably is a good thing these are an alternative to, well, actual meat, you can’t get addicted to these or simply eat the entire bag in one sitting. You’ll simply end up needing another bag even faster, which I’m sure your family is going to notice if you keep bringing home doggy treat bags that mysteriously disappear the second they enter this treehouse.”

“Yeah,” replied Apple Bloom, who slowly shifted back to her regular self. “You got a point there.”

Scootaloo then had an idea. “Hey! Maybe we could use those treats for-“ She was cut off by a deadly glare from Apple Bloom.

“Don’t you even suggest what Ah think you were gonna say. The trainin’ thing was alright, but Ah’m not gonna allow mahself to be psychologically manipulated through the reward of treats simply ‘cause Ah’m more or less part canine now. Ah don’t need to be influenced by the reward of treats simply so Ah can be potty trained!”

“Uh, let’s change the subject, shall we?” interjected Sweeite, noting Apple Bloom was getting worked up by her rant, with a side effect of her gradually changing back into a wolf. Her teeth were already looking slightly pointier and her muzzle longer. “I mean, I’m looking at all of our flanks, and I don’t see cutie marks!”

“Yeah, we’re the CMC, we should be getting back to our mission!” exclaimed Scootaloo. Apple Bloom confidently nodded, her slow changes into wolf form beginning to revert. “I think today we should go try being bagel bakers!

With no objections, the treehouse exploded with the shouts of “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER BAGEL BAKERS, YAY!” from three excitable fillies.

Two hooves carefully maneuvered small vials of unknown substances above a flask filled with a third mystery fluid.

“Easy…easy…”

With practiced care, the left vial was precisely tilted long enough for an exact amount of its contents to flow into the flask. The right vial was soon subjected to the same for a slightly longer period. Almost immediately the flask’s contents turned from a sickeningly brown shade to a beautiful blue, the scene of blueberries wafting from inside.

“Phew, still got my touch!” sighed Sandalwood, leaning back in her chair. While she’d asked Zecora to make a lot of stuff for her aromatherapy, Sandalwood had a personal pride in that some of her materials were actually made from her own recipes. After all, while she was employed as an aromatherapist, her true talent was her skill of creating and combining scents for aromatheraputic use as well as perfumes. The process of making things with certain scents, however, was a time consuming process without the aid of industrial capital, so she resorted to mass-produced counterparts to keep her services affordable and profitable unless it was her own custom creation. Her perfumes, on the other hand, were unmatched by anything commercially available, but due to the difficulty she had making them because of the alchemy involved, she only created perfumes as gifts to friends and family. Right now she was working on what was currently her best perfume she could make; Rimefrost Blueberry , an uplifting scent perfume that never failed to make everypony around the pony wearing it be in a better mood. It was a gift for Zecora, in addition to the payment for all the materials, as a thank you for the assistance in her time of need.

Only, now she realized she needed an empty perfume bottle to put it in.

“Damn, knew I was forgetting something!” swore Sandy to nopony in particular. Lyra was off at her new job, so the house for the most part was left all to Sandalwood during these periods. While she had returned to work, Zecora had only been able to make some of the requested items, forcing Sandalwood to restrict her times and services. Thankfully, of the things Zecora had been able to make, she’d made a lot of them to ensure they did not run out anytime soon. But even with the entire house open for investigation, the tan pony already knew there wouldn’t be a suitable perfume bottle for use to be found. Maybe at the spa? She thought, surely I’ve got some empty bottles that could be washed out for reuse.

With no other choice, the pony threw on her saddle bags and walked out the door. It would have been quick and easy to use the car as transport to and from the spa, but without Lyra’s magic the vehicle was useless. Sandalwood decided it wasn’t important anyway, she’d probably been bad about her sugar intake again and must have put on some weight during her time off, thus walking would be the healthier choice.

Passing the local bagel shop, which had dark smoke fogging the lower floor and pouring from the uppermost windows, the aromatherapist made her way into the town proper. It was pretty late, the spa probably already having closed for the day, but with her staff key Sandalwood could get in no problem. Still, it was sort of unnerving to see Ponyville drawing close to evening, where the streets were beginning to empty as vendors packed up and stores changing OPEN signs to the reverse CLOSED side. Lyra probably would be home when Sandalwood returned.

I should have left a note she thought, but then again I’m only going to be gone for a few minutes.

Having arrived at the spa, she let herself in. Admittedly, when the lights were not on and not a soul could be found inside, the Ponyville Spa was actually sort of terrifying. Not on the level of Everfree Forest terrifying, but it was still in Sandy’s interest to flip the lights. Curiously, on the desk there was a letter addressed to Sandalwood, which she moved to pick up and open.

“’Dear Sandalwood,’” read the addressed, “I wasn’t sure if you were at home today, so I left this note for you where I know it would reach you eventually. A good friend of mine, Raspberry Beryl, is in dire need of some form of relaxation for stress she is visibly suffering from. What is causing the stress is beyond me, maybe it’s just her extremely timid nature, but I do feel your expertise as an aromatherapist would be most welcome to her. Please contact me at your leisure about this, since I know your offerings differ on what treatments are to be given, but although she means well Razz would never admit she needs something relaxing. However, I believe I can diagnose what she needs, hence why we should talk.

Sincerely,

Rarity.

Sandalwood frowned. She knew of Raspberry Beryl. The unicorn had only arrived in town three months ago, from where nopony knew, but in the time between then and now she became known for three things; being better at acting like Fluttershy than Fluttershy herself was, her amazing ability to find and extract high quality gems all by herself, and most notably that green-and-gold phoenix who liked to perch on her horn. In Sandalwood’s opinion, the mare needed psychological therapy, not aroma-based therapy. But, it was a request from her friend Rarity, who had nothing but the purest of intentions for anypony. She probably was going to pay for it, too.

Who knows, maybe Rarity knows something I don’t. She’s apparently the only one Raspberry even talks at length to, anyway, thought Sandalwood, who by that point had retrieved an empty perfume bottle and clicked out the lights. She’d get in touch with Rarity tomorrow to discuss the matter. Right now, however, she was more interested in bottling up that perfume and getting dinner started.

Even though she was a princess, whose time was now limited due to all the princess-in-training stuff, Twilight Sparkle was every bit the bookish intellectual she’d been since birth. So, with the night off, Twilight decided the most fun thing to do was learn about something else. Namely, what the story was with the so-called green phoenix that was appearing in Ponyville. Arrangements to meet with Raspberry Beryl, the pony allegedly taking care of the bird in question, were drafted up to be part of Twilight’s next downtime period where she could just hang out in Ponyville with her friends. But that was still some time away, so the purple princess did the best she could in the meantime. Books on phoenix biology and psychology littered her private bedroom, while Owlowiscious sat on a gold birdstand, ready to help the princess in any way he could.

“Alright, Owlie,” said Twilight, using the shorter nickname she’d created for her pet after the royal scribes threatened to quit on the grounds the owl’s full name was too hard to spell, “I need you to perch on my horn!”

“Who?” hooted Owlie, raising an eyebrow at the sudden, strange request.

“Yeah, I know it’s sort of odd, but I just need you to do it for a few seconds, alright?”

“Who” he replied, flapping his wings for lift and gliding over to Twilight, settling down on her horn with some extreme difficulty.

“Offoffoffoffoff!” cried Twilight, to which Owlie immediately left her head to take back his roost. He looked hurt, as if he’d harmed his mistress in some way. Twilight noticed and immediately walked over to comfort the bird, although still wincing in pain. “No, no, it’s nothing you did, Owlie, I should have known it wouldn’t have worked.”

“You know, I believe Celestia tried that with her pet before, while trying to raise the sun.” said a voice out of nowhere, “same results, only you weren’t trying to cast a powerful spell even though I’m sure that’s what you were going to try and do.”

“DISCORD!” shouted Twilight angrily. “Where are you?!” Her answer came when under the locked door flowed an eerie dark purple mass that looked like it would consume all that it touched. To regular ponies it would look like the fabled smooze, a magic-absorbing substance only the most powerful magic users could get rid of. To anypony who was aware of Celestia’s actions over the past year, such as Twilight, it was a reformed chaos entity being himself. Indeed, he didn’t even keep up the charade beyond the last bit of him coming under the door, for the smooze rose up into the shape of a sharply dressed unicorn. A brown coat, green eyes, two-tone gray mane and tail, and a wax-sealed scroll cutie mark completed the look, giving no indication of the true creature within.

“For the record, princess,” said the disguised dragonequis, “I was only on the other side of the door fully intending to knock because I was going to ask about something completely different. These doors aren’t exactly soundproof, you know, and if you were doing things of a much more private nature-“

“What do you mean by that?” inquired the annoyed alicorn.

“I could go into detail,” continued Discord, not missing a beat, “but this is a teen rated story and it’s not important to the plot anyway.”

“What!? I don’t understand a thing you-”

“Going back to the original discussion point; if you were doing something you didn’t want anypony to know about there would have been several layers of your magic forming a forcefield that would have prevented me from both hearing what you were doing and entering this room. As it stands, all you were doing was asking a bird to sit on your horn. Far from doing something like trying to redecorate the castle through black magic, right?”

Twilight just sighed. “Okay, Discord, you have a point about my privacy habits. That aside, how would you know about birds perching on your horn? You normally have two, yet I don’t recall ever having seen you as a statue where birds used your horns as a roost.”

“I think it would be fairly obvious that birds tended to avoid going near my frozen form, my dear Twilight. I am the embodiment of chaos on all levels, and although you may not perceive it on a more basic level, the birds certainly do. Maybe you should ask Fluttershy to explain it to you sometime.

“Still, we’re getting off track there. Back once again to the subject of birds-on-horns, Celestia surely told you of the time she tried it with Philomena, with disastrous results. What made you think you could do what she could not, with a bird who can’t negate its weight through magic?”

“I…I don’t know, really,” admitted the princess, letting her guard down some. “It’s just that there’s this phoenix I’ve been hearing about back in Ponyville-”

“-That’s green where it should be red and perches on the horn of a unicorn that cares for it like a pet?” finished Discord. Twilight shot him a look, prompting him to add, “Hey, just intuition.”

“Except I never mentioned the Phoenix was green,” countered Twilight.

At that revelation, Discord’s eyes went wide, but then he laughed. “And here I was thinking it was me who was leading you into revealing information. If you must know, Queen Faust had a green phoenix-“

“Verna, who was also Philomena’s mother,” interrupted Twilight, finding it rather enjoyable to be in reversed roles in regards to how the conversation started. “Princess Luna told me when I asked her about green phoenixes.”

“Indeed. I suspect Luna also told you about how after Queen Faust was no longer among those living on this plane of existence, Verna left the castle one day without warning, never to return to the egg she left. But what Luna couldn’t have told you was that Verna came to me on her last known trip. Before she returned to the rest of the wild phoenixes, her final duty was to convey a message Faust had left that had been addressed to me.” Discord’s tone had changed in the middle of his monologue, Twilight noted. By the end he seemed to be recollecting the last memory of a dear friend, since before only referred to Faust with her full title unlike Celestia or Luna, but his final mention of her name ignored formality.

“What was her final message to you?” inquired the princess, addressing Discord in a manner of respect, as if he was somepony she respected as highly as Celestia, instead of being cautious around as she was normally with him. He noted that with a small smile.

“As the Princess of Magic, which through some interpretations means you’re the Princess of Friendship, I believe you can respect my wish to keep the information in question privately between me and Faust, wherever she may be.”

“Of course.”

“Thank you. Now, back on the topic again, I know that Queen Faust actually let Verna sit on her horn from time to time. Something to do with their own little friendship, I guess, I never got the chance to ask as I was too busy causing glorious chaos elsewhere at the time. However, because Philomena isn’t a full blooded green phoenix, evidenced by her normal red coat, it’s possible she can’t do what Verna and this other phoenix can. I’d suggest you should go and investigate yourself, but I get the feeling you were going to do that anyway since it’s in your little hamlet of Ponyville.”

“Is it that obvious?”

“Yes, compared to how I’m going to leave this room, at least. Good night, Princess Sparkle.” The second he finished, Discord suddenly rose into the air even though his body didn’t move, not even the effects of gravity seemed to apply as he spun in the air, only to phase through the ceiling like a ghost.

Twilight just shook her head. “No wonder Pinkie Pie likes him, he’s just as random as she is, isn’t he?” she asked her pet. He hooted in agreement. “Now, since we can’t have you perch on my horn, we should probably get back to finding out what else we can about phoenixes!”

Yet, in the midst of all the research, Twilight kept Discord’s words in the back of her mind. She suspected he knew more about green phoenixes than he let on, but being Discord he wasn’t going to make it that easy. Then again, at least he’d been able to share some information freely this time that wasn’t in the form of a riddle.

Ch.8: Give the Dog a Bone

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 8: “Give the Dog a Bone”

If one were to describe Pinkie Pie, somepony would mention how she looks like cotton candy given pony form and life. They would mention her desire to make everypony in town her friend, to the point of being stalker like in her methods. They would mention her expertise as the party planning pony extraordinare in all of Ponyville. They might even mention her little known origins as a filly on a rock farm who gained her cutie mark through making her family smile for what must have been the first time in their lives.

The word serious would not appear in those descriptions. Unless they were talking about Pinkie Pie at the present moment. Her face was almost inequine in how it was devoid of even the smallest hint of a smile, her eyes catching the light in some way as to make them appear fully white and hiding her bright blue peepers. Her forelegs were resting on the table in front of her, hooves folded in such a way as to making a frontal view of her face see nothing but her white eyes and the top of her muzzle.

“All of you…” she spoke in a very uncharacteristically deep voice, causing one of her addressees to whimper, “…need to understand the importance of this meeting. What we are here to do is-“

The dark room suddenly became lit up, revealing it to be nothing more than just the back storage room of Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie Pie was sitting at the head of a table made up of a plywood sheet on top of boxes of sugar, around which sat Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy.

“Oh, sorry!” apologized Mrs. Cake, “I didn’t know you all were using this room.”

Pinkie just shrugged. “Not that big a deal, Mrs. Cake, I was probably going to turn them back on myself. The whole ‘menacing’ angle of meeting leadership isn’t my thing anyway.” She then reached over to pick up a bag of chocolate chips sitting nearby, throwing them over to Mrs. Cake.

“Thank you, dearie!” replied the portly blue pony, turning and leaving the back room.

“Anyway,” continued Pinkie, seemingly forgetting the intimidation factor she’d originally been going for, “Twilight’s coming back to Ponyville soon, so I want to make this the best ‘Welcome Back to Ponyville’ party ever!”

“But that’s what you said last time, remember?” Rainbow Dash pointed out.

“Yeah, but it’s always good to aim higher with these things. Plus, Twilight’s a princess, so there’s no excuse!”

“Don’t forget, everything needs to be perfectly aligned and proportioned, any streamers exactly perpendicular to each other at right angles, and an even amount on frosting on any cakes and baked goods,” Rarity reminded. “You all know what happened the time we tried throwing a beach themed party and she tried fixing the crab shaped cake because the right claw was bigger than the left one.”

A collective groan rung out at the mention of the crab. Rarity was never going to let anybody forget that incident. It wasn’t so much at the actual event as it was Rarity constantly bringing it up, since nopony was going to forget the day Rarity’s hidden disgust of giant crabs ended up with her fighting what had been a simple cake in the middle of town.

“Well, um…” started Fluttershy, trying to avoid thinking about what Rarity had done to the cake-turned-crustacean, “why don’t we just hold a small party, just the six of us? I don’t think Twilight would want us to make this so grandiose because she’s a princess. If anything, she’ll probably prefer us just treating her as we did before her ascension.”

“You…you mean she doesn’t like my parties?” whimpered Pinkie, hair beginning to deflate. Even though Fluttershy didn’t mean anything like that, the mere implication that Twilight took offense to what Pinkie did best was enough to start the energetic mare sliding down a hill of depression.

Applejack took immediate action. “No no no no! That’s not what Fluttsy’s sayin’, Pinkie! What she meant was maybe this time, bigger ain’t better. We all know how much you like to throw big parties, but Ah am in agreement with the idea a giant bash isn’t the way to go here. Plus, just because it’s smaller don’t mean it’s not just as special, it would be more…intimate, Ah guess?” AJ made a quick glance at Rarity to confirm the proper word choice, which the fabulous mare confirmed.

“Oh, okay, I can work with that!” chirped Pinkie, hair snapping back into its undefined natural state. “Especially since she did like the small scale party we threw for her that one time when we crashed the garden party.”

“Uh, no high society party crashing this time, either,” suggested Rarity.

“Nah, that’s not really my style. But what is my style is…” Pinkie leaned into the table, the other four mares following suit, and the smiles on their faces signified Twilight was going to have the best, small-scale party ever...or at least that's how it was originally planned to be, at any rate.

Over at school, the CMC were at the heart of a horrifying discovery that Scootaloo dug up in one of the old board games in the schoolhouse’s entertainment corner, meant for colts and fillies to play with on rainy days during recess.

“I knew this game was rigged, I just knew it!” declared Scoot, holding a card with questions listed on it.

“How? Nopony ever gets that far in the game before recess is over.” Pointed out Truffle Shuffle.

“Okay, answer this: ‘Who was the first pony to play the titular role in the original production of The Eye of Argon?’”

Murmurs sounded from the gathered crowd of young ponies, but none of them answered. Scootaloo flipped the card over.

“Limelight Limerick. Seriously, has anypony even heard of a pony by that name?” An almost unanimous ‘no’ came from the crowd. “Thought so. But, before anypony says it’s just one bad question, let me read another.

Motioning for Apple Bloom, the earth filly drew a card from the box and handed it to Scoot. “Next question; what is the answer to life, the universe, and everything?”

More negative murmurs.

“42.” Silence then reigned, as if the crowd expected Scootaloo to keep going. “No, seriously everypony, that’s what is says the answer is.” To prove it, she handed the card into the crowd, where to their surprise she was correct in that 42 was the given answer.

“Dumb game!” grumbled Sweetie Belle, walking over to kick the box lightly. Little triangle pieces shaped like pizza slices momentarily went airborne before landing back in the box. Scootaloo retrieved the card, returning it to the deck before putting the lid back on the box to seal away the unfair contents.

Just then Cheerilee hastily came in through the door, prompting everypony else to rush to their seats.

“Apologies for being late, class, the spring in my alarm clock is losing tension and woke me up at the wrong time,” explained the teacher. There had been another reason why she was running late, but the students would figure that out soon enough. “Now, I’m sure we’ve all heard about what happened to Diamond Tiara a few days ago…”

Snickers suddenly became audible. Not all of the class was laughing, most notably Silver Spoon and, oddly enough, the CMC.

“…BUT, whatever you may have heard, there is no evidence to suggest it was anything but just a bad nightmare. I’m sure you all have had experiences like that yourselves, right?” Cheerilee gave them a look that had them all shrink back slightly. “I thought so. Now, I want you to be nice to Diamond Tiara, she’s claimed to be alright enough to come back to school, and I don’t want any of you taking advantage of her.”

“Yes, Mrs. Cheerilee,” replied the class in stereotypical class monotone. Satisfied, Cheerilee walked over to the door and poked her head out. After what must have been a brief exchange of words, Cheerilee backstepped to hold the door open.

In stepped Diamond Tiara. However, to everyone’s surprise, she didn’t walk in with the attitude akin to a high society socialite, one who looked down on practically everything in Ponyville. Instead, she walked with a careful manner, slowly scanning the room as if there would be something in the dark corners that would leap out and attack her. She paused for a moment when she locked eyes with Apple Bloom, but the filly sitting at the desk did not mesh up with the thing from a few nights ago, so she resisted every urge to run from the schoolhouse screaming.

“Is everything okay?” inquired Cheerilee.

“N-n-no, I’m fine. I’ll g-go take my seat…” half replied, half whimpered Tiara, moving to take the empty desk next to Silver Spoon. The young gray mare looked with wide eyes at her friend, almost not recognizing Tiara with this new attitude. She’d have to talk with her in private later during recess to get the full story, since her attempt to visit the Rich Mansion after the incident just had maids turn her away.

Over in the CMC camp, hushed whispers were being traded.

“Wow, I knew you got her good but…wow,” whispered a stunned Sweetie.

“Yeah, I know we all said she deserved it, yet now I’m wondering if it was more than that,” Scootaloo added.

Apple Bloom said nothing. On the one hoof, she felt Diamond Tiara had deserved the whole ordeal. She’d put the CMC through so much trouble and grief over the years that the karmic backlash being delivered in one blow would appear to be a substantial amount. But on the other, she knew what it was like to be in Tiara’s horseshoes, to have that kind of fear. While the situation was different, it was Tiara’s expression that said enough. That fear she’d inflicted on the wealthy filly was as much as Apple Bloom’s fears that one night back in the Whitetail Woods, when she briefly was stripped of her identity as a pony.

For Diamond Tiara, however, who glanced up at the exact moment Apple Bloom’s compassionate eyes looked over at her, it was a different story. In those big, golden eyes, Tiara saw the monster from that night laughing maniacally at her misery. She didn’t know how the idea popped into her head, but the sinister glint in the gold meant Apple Bloom was hiding something. Was she truly just an ordinary filly, just blessed with social connections Tiara littered her Hearth’s Warming Eve wishlist with, or was there more to the story? There was only one way to find out.

Narrowing her eyes, DT looked over at Silver and whispered; “Got any plans later?”

Her heart skipping at the surefire sign DT was already back to normal, Silver eagerly shook her head from side to side.

“Good. Does your manor still have that large library in the back?”

Spoon’s shaking went from horizontal to vertical.

“Perfect. We have some reading to do later.”

Raspberry Beryl walked out the door of her home into the bright sunlight, breathing in the fresh air. On her back sat her saddlebags, full of various gems that had been organized by the pony she would be delivering them to. Heliodor then followed suit, soaring out of the door and taking perch on a nearby tree. He cooed concernedly when she locked the door with her magic.

“Oh, don’t worry; nopony’s going to see it,” Razz assured her pet. Not many ponies lived around where the unicorn and her phoenix dwelled, so there was no chance anypony would see her magic and…overreact.

Merely nodding, the young phoenix then left his perch and flew off towards the woods. One of the benefits of having a predatory bird as a pet, Raspberry had found out, was that they practically took care of themselves. Sure, she got a little queasy every time Heliodor came back with a half-eaten rodent in his beak, but she’d never had to deal with him forgetting to do his business where it wouldn’t bother anypony. Considering how often they’d had to change places of residence over the years, not to mention the troubles she had to go through on a daily basis, it was a blessing the closest thing she had to family for all these years was naturally so intelligent.

Sure enough, Heliodor came back, thankfully without a to-go meal, and took his regular perch on his owner’s horn. To his surprise, however, she shook her head slightly, indicating she did not want him there.

“Not right now, Heelee,” explained the unicorn, “your breath still smells like dead mouse.” He blushed and proceeded to simply hover alongside her while matching the pony’s speed. Truth be told, she just didn’t want him on her horn because her head was being weighed down already with thoughts of what she might possibly do today. One thing for certain was to try and stay on the good side of five specific ponies…or rather four specific ponies, and avoid the fifth one entirely. Rarity had shown signs of promise as being a strong supporter should things go the way they always had, with Rainbow Dash and Applejack possibly being on the same side if they truly were the embodiment of Loyalty and Honesty. Fluttershy…well, considering Raspberry knew the entire town compared her to the pegasus because of both their similar demeanor, she was sure that in the event they finally met things would go okay. But Pinkie Pie…there was something wrong with that pony, Raspberry knew, something far stranger than anything the gem peddler had ever gone through in her life. But whatever it was, it certainly would see through Raspberry’s lies and send everything crashing down.

I can’t let that happen thought the red mare, next to Heliodor the closest thing I even have to a friend is Rarity, and even beyond that Ponyville is the last town in Equestria where I can sell gems. If things go south again here, the only places left to me are the settlements in the dry lands. Maybe I can be an aide to the buffalo tribes in finding turquoise gems out there, but without proper hunting grounds Heliodor will die because of the lack of food, and although I know he’ll stick with me to the end I refuse to let my pain claim him as it has my mother and my childhood…

Heliodor’s cries snapped Raspberry out of her trance, finding herself having been on auto-pilot and walked a good bit of the way to her first stop. While Rarity was, among other things, Raspberry’s main outlet for selling her gems, the fashionista was far from the only pony who called upon Raspberry’s services. But those other clients usually just wanted small diamonds or other tiny precious stones, which for the dirt cheap prices Raspberry offered them they couldn’t resist having some rubies to decorate a clock or a sapphire lined frame for the family photo. Rarely did anypony want something bigger, unless they were named Rarity. While the gray unicorn was the one the majority of the gems in Raspberry’s saddlebags were being sold to, Carousel Boutique was intentionally the last stop as to allow a little time for the unicorns to converse with each other. Granted, those times usually were cut short by Raspberry for any number of reasons and Rarity was the one who usually talked the whole time anyway, but today was the day Raspberry resolved to finally take up Rarity’s offer and stay for tea. Having never actually had the chance to drink tea, Raspberry was a mixed bag of emotions about trying something new.

“What do you think tea is like, Heelee?” she asked, having just made her last stop before the Boutique.

He cawed in manner that suggested he had no idea.

“Me neither, but apparently it’s what high society ponies drink all the time, apparently their blood is partly made up from the stuff if they drink it as often as Rarity says they do.” She noted Heliodor, now perched on her horn as usual, had stiffened slightly at the mention of the word ‘blood’. “Heelee, I’m just being figurative, if anything this could be the day where I can finally confide in somepony.”

The phoenix looked hurt.

“I said somepony, last I checked the thing sitting on my head is a phoenix.”

Pleased at her elaboration, he smiled, but then as if realizing something horrible he quickly looked down at his caretaker, cooing with a concerned tone.

“And yes, your perch is a horn that does belong to a pony, even if you’re the one who has to remind her of that now and again.”

The feeling of her pet rubbing his head against hers brought a smile to her face, one she kept on wearing until she came into view of the Boutique. More specifically, being able to see Rarity waiting outside of the building with a smile that clearly indicated something was in store for Raspberry. Unfortunately, surprises were not something Raspberry liked. It was a rare thing for surprises, much like whenever she had to do magic in view of other ponies, to ever turn out well. Worst of all, as the smile slowly fell from her face in realization, she considered the possibility she still wouldn’t be able to try tea.

The private library contained within the mansion Silver Spoon called home was smaller than the collection at Golden Oaks, but several factors were at play in Diamond Tiara’s decision to not go to the latter. First, Twilight’s hoofpicked successor for the job of Ponyville Librarian; a recent graduate from Celestia’s school by the name of Wisdom Seeker, was really, really creepy and sometimes went off on so-called prophecies about the local mailmare Derpy Hooves and her involvement in some great journey or some nonsense. Everypony, Derpy included, was convinced he just had the hots for her. Diamond had made it a point to not go to the library until he eventually got replaced by somepony slightly saner. The fact he was put in that position because of the princess also was a reason to avoid Golden Oaks, since if there was something wrong with Apple Bloom, Applejack would know about it, so therefore Princess Twilight would know about it, and if DT walked into Golden Oaks with her current intentions there was no question Seeker would tell the princess, resulting in the Royal Guard standing outside the Rich residence the following morning.

Another reason is that Diamond Tiara was privy into a secret about Silver Spoon’s family. The first of their ancestors to have “Silver” in their name had been a blacksmith by the name of Silver Streak, who according to legend had founded a secret society dedicated to the eradication of all supernatural threats to the Equestrian populace; vamponies, werewolves, even the Slenderpony. The group had disbanded centuries ago, but if Silver Spoon was right some of the old research from those days had been preserved in the family archives.

“Are you sure there’s anything in those dusty writings about what’s going on with Apple Bloom?” worriedly asked the gray filly.

“I’m telling you, Silver; when I looked into those eyes, there was something dark and evil in them. As a professional in the fields of harassment and being rude to others, I think I should be able to tell when a pony’s eyes reflect a natural nature of them being jerks, like me, or if there’s darker forces at play.”

“Does your dad know about this?”

“Of course, he knows I’m going to be spending the night at your place. After my little ‘panic attack’ he thinks it would be good for my mental health or whatever if I get out of the Mansion.”

More like a therapist would be better for your mental health thought Silver, but aside from this new obsession there was nothing significantly different about her friend, so it might as well be for the best to just treat it like a fad that would soon pass.

Soon, the two fillies were in the Silver Family library, busy looking for anything Diamond thought would be useful. Of course, since the crowned pony didn’t know what she thought Apple Bloom was, anything that mentioned anything about ponies being actually monsters in disguise qualified. It was in the middle of one of Tiara’s monologues about how Apple Bloom may be an evil beast native to an area near Trottingham because of a new, secret addiction for imported Trottingham cheeses that Silver found something actually relevant.

“Hey, Tiara, you might actually have been on to something. Check this out.”

“That Apple Bloom actually does need to eat twenty pounds of Wensleydale cheese a day?” the obsessive pink pony asked as she trotted over, getting an ‘are you bucking serious’ look from her friend.

“Well, I don’t think its cheese she may be after, but something far worse. Read from here,” said the glasses wearing filly, gesturing with her hoof. Unknowingly, Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara had stumbled upon information similar to that which, almost a year earlier, Sandalwood and Lyra had uncovered within the Crystal Castle. While the fillies didn’t have a member of the Apple Family that confessed to being a werewolf, or the personal research notes of King Sombra himself, the information Silver Spoon’s ancestors had recorded during the time when werewolves fought under the banner of Nightmare Moon strongly implied the youngest Apple had contracted lycanthropy as one by one the given behavioral changes matched up to Apple Bloom’s recent mannerisms.

“Look at this, when they were scouting out suspected werewolves, they noted that the ears of their targets were generally more wolf like, straighter up to the point instead of the rounded sides on normal ponies.” Mentioned Silver Spoon, rubbing her own ears with a hoof to further convey her point. “While I can’t remember off the top of my head, Apple Bloom’s ears have been looking a bit different compared to the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”

“Enh, can’t really say until we can get a good look at her ears,” replied Diamond. “This bit about how their tempers usually were noticeably increased if the pony’s attitude was known prior to becoming a werewolf…now that sounds more like what’s been going on with her.”

“Do you think it might have been right before the trip to Whitetail Woods?”

“Can’t be. She humiliated me a few days before the weekend, although now that you mention it she was acting really strangely during the trip, so maybe it was a few days before that she somehow started being one of these…things?”

“Well, outside of whatever she did that ended up with her wearing that thing on her leg, we don’t know. Unless the injury that thing was for somehow turned her into a werewolf?”

“Gah!” shouted Diamond. “We’re never going to figure this out. Even if she isn’t a werewolf, the only way we’re going to figure this out is if we can stalk her like your old ancestors, but we don’t have the skills or the equipment!” With added frustration, she slammed her hooves against a bookcase, suddenly noting that one of the books she hit had somehow slid inward. The sounds of wheels on a track were heard as the bookcase suddenly slid back and sideways into a wall, revealing a hidden cache of dangerous looking weapons.

“Okay, I knew mom and dad were keeping secrets, but this is getting insane!” Silver Spoon yelped. “I mean, this stuff belongs in a museum! In fact, it’s probably all silver in those sharp blades, if they’re as old as they look; they’ll be worthless if they hit anything with enough force.”

Diamond Tiara looked at her friend in shock. “When did you suddenly become an expert in metals?”

Silver just raised an eyebrow in response. “What, didn’t I tell you my special talent is being a silversmith? I mean, fine metalworking has been in my family for generations, why else do you think my family is the second richest in Ponyville, second only to yours? Seriously, did you think my cutie mark was representative of narcissism or something?”

Diamond Tiara thought it prudent to not comment on what she’d thought her friend’s cutie mark had possibly meant. Especially since her flank had been blank longer than Silver Spoon’s and in consideration as to what her tiara cutie mark meant. Instead, she went back to the subject of going old school on Apple Bloom’s behind. “Well, alright miss metalurg-whatever that word is, can any of this stuff be used?”

Silver shook her head. “The fact these things are preserved as well as they are is impressive, since as far as I know my bloodline is Earth pony up to the generation before these things were forged, but even with a magic protective coat my family probably paid unicorns to put on these years ago, silver is not known for its durability as weaponry even when newly minted due to its inherent malleability. A thousand years just makes the metal less sturdy if it isn’t reformed into something new to temper the shape.”

“Then why make weapons out of it if the very thing it’s supposed to be doing is what it sucks at?!” shouted Tiara, confused as to why the wall of death instruments in front of her had just been explained as having been totally worthless as actual death instruments.

“Because silver is actually a very pure metal, anything of unnatural origin such as werewolves or vampires have very bad chemical reactions should they come into contact with it, usually the same as the burn you’d get if you put your hoof inside a large campfire.” Cooly explained Silver, “Deliver enough force behind the silver and you can do lethal damage against an enemy of impure origin very rapidly. At least, that’s what I got from those old writings”

“Huh.” Was all Tiara said in response, clearly impressed at how much Silver Spoon actually knew about this stuff. “Well, okay, so we can’t use this stuff, even if it wasn’t everything you just said, it’s all probably all too heavy to carry for us anyway.”

“Agreed.” Silver then pushed a rather obvious button on the side of a regular bookcase, exposed by the open secret door. Upon activation, the false bookshelf slid out from the wall and back into place, as if the evidence of ancient horrors had not been found behind them by complete accident. “Now, if you’re really determined to oust Apple Bloom as a werewolf, then we need to make sure she’s an actual werewolf or whatever paranormal monster you think she is before we go in with Royal Guard styled silver weapons.”

“Hey, you’re the expert here, if you have any suggestions on how I can get revenge on that stupid filly…wolf…chicken…whatever she is, I’m all ears.”

“Well, the family has a small forge in the back, I’ve used it a couple times to make some simple trinkets, and I’m thinking it’s high time I made us some nice, all-silver Best Friend bracelets!”

“I’m liking this idea!” said Diamond Tiara, grinning evilly as Silver led her out of the library.

Ch.9: Behold, Behold, the Princess Twilight Cometh

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 9: “Behold, Behold, the Princess Twilight Cometh”

Rarity was pleased at what she considered a success in helping Raspberry Beyrl “loosen up” a little, with help from Sandalwood and Fluttershy. The plan had been to put Raspberry into aromatherapy with Sandalwood doing everything within her power to help the poor mare find some way to relax around other ponies, while Heliodor would be tended to by the pegasus. Fluttershy had practically exploded with happiness at the prospect of being able to spend time caring for a phoenix without worrying about getting banished and locked in a dungeon in the place she was banished to, or the phoenix deciding to cause trouble by pretending to be in seriously poor health when in the middle of a reincarnation cycle.

Razz, who seemed both relieved and shocked towards hearing about Rarity treating her to something so out of the gem peddler’s budget, seemed to go along with the arrangements after consulting with her pet and even then only if Rarity would be there, since Heliodor would be in Fluttershy’s care during the aromatherapy. That had raised many questions in the fashionista’s mind about Razz’s insecurities; after all she was never seen around town without her pet. Thanks to Sandalwood’s skills, hoof movements, and mastery of aromatherapy, Razz soon managed to become comfortable enough with her surroundings that she ended up revealing some of her past, which answered a lot of Rarity’s unspoken questions.

The burgundy unicorn had been born on a small farm in a small town outside of Salt Lick City, a place called Lonesome Dove, and was the only horned pony in a community of earth pony farmers. Due to her mother dying in childbirth, the only family she’d had was her father and the only permanent home she’d had was the old family farm. It had been a rough life, since the soil was poor quality for growing food due to the natural gem deposits getting in the way of seeds trying to plant roots, earning it the disparaging nickname of “gem farm” and the gems were always of such low quality that even selling large numbers of them barely brought in enough revenue to feed two ponies. But from birth she’d been unlucky in her early years, since as a unicorn she was not gifted with the endurance and strength needed to work the farm and her father had always regarded her with distaste because she was his only child and not a strong stallion. It had been even worse when she was around sixteen years old, as by then her magic developed fully enough to reveal her special talent was in fact finding gems, which her father regarded as more reason to treat his child poorly for shortcomings that were by no means her fault.

A few months later the unicorn simply left Lonesome Dove with only a few bits to her name, refusing to go into detail about what had influenced her decision. Rarity suspected the relationship between her and her father had become so bad that he simply disowned her and kicked her off the farm to fend for herself. Rarity made a mental note that if she ever had kids, there would be no circumstances where she’d disown them simply because they didn’t meet predetermined expectations through no fault of their own.

But to Rarity’s surprise, Raspberry continued to be vague about her more recent history, only saying that she wandered from town to town to sell her gems, but even after a few years she’d never gone back to a town she left. She refused to be more elaborate on any of those details, only stating that she didn’t turn tricks and that it was during a trip to a new town that she encountered Heliodor. He’d still been in an egg when diamond dogs had stolen him, thinking he was a unique gem, proceeding to try and kill him when he hatched. How Raspberry managed to stop diamond dogs from killing a newborn phoenix chick she didn’t say, though Rarity had several ideas stemming from her own time as a prisoner of diamond dogs.

The vague life story of Raspberry Beryl ended when the mare merely said she’d finally ended up in Ponyville by pure chance a few months ago, claiming she just stayed at a hotel on the outskirts of town and flatly refusing Rarity’s offer of the new guest bedroom at Carousel Boutique. The conversation had then broken off to talk about Rarity’s adventures, brought on from the mention about her having been kidnaped by crystal-loving canines. Overall, while Raspberry was still clearly more comfortable when her loyal bird was by her side, as evidenced by the change in how she carried herself upon Fluttershy returning Heliodor to his mistress at the end of the aromatherapy session, the fact she’d managed to open up to Rarity and Sandalwood enough to partially talk about what sounded like a horrible childhood gave Rarity hope that Razz could overcome her insecurities and enjoy talking with other ponies at length without the oppressive shadow of her past interfering.

However, those thoughts quickly went away as Rarity, now galloping at a fair sprint, raced to an open spot in the paths within Ponyville’s center in order to meet the next pony who needed her attention. Taking a few moments to fix her appearance, she then stood poised and ready to receive her charge. Almost on cue, Royal Guard pegasi descended with the golden chariot behind them, having brought Princess Twilight and the ever faithful Spike back to the town they loved so much.

“Welcome back, your majesty!” dramatically bowed Rarity, mixing formality with friendly teasing, before adding with a wink, “And you too, Spike.”

“Well, thank you, Rarity!” replied Spike, who clearly was once again infatuated with Rarity. While she’d talked to Twilight at length about the matter, Rarity still didn’t know if Spike genuinely thought she was beautiful or if it was just the triplet of diamonds she had as a cutie mark he found appealing. While the fact Raspberry Beryl also had gems for a cutie mark that could possibly be used to explore if it was just the cutie mark of gems that Spike liked, the last thing that mare needed was a baby dragon thinking her flank looked delicious enough to eat and Rarity was not going to ruin her progress with Beyrl to answer a question about what could merely be a childhood crush.

Twilight, meanwhile, just moved to embrace her friend. “I know I visited you not too long ago, but…”

“…that wasn’t the official start of your allowed visit, was it?” interrupted Rarity with a smile. “Besides, I can’t have you all to myself, what good is it to say I’m the bearer of Generosity when I can’t even let one of my friends be able to spend time with anypony other than me?”

Twilight chuckled. “Well, since you’re the only pony here to meet me, I can only guess that the others are over at Golden Oaks, lying in wait to surprise me along with the rest of the town, just like when I first came here.”

“Actually…” replied Rarity with a more serious face, “they’re not.”

Twilight, who had been expecting some dramatic showing from Rarity to dodge the question, was taken off guard by the blunt response, the surprise accented by her wings flaring up involuntarily. “They’re not?”

Rarity shook her head sadly. “Believe it or not, everypony else had plans today for something other than that.”

“Huh?! Other than take part in a Pinkie Pie welcome back party?”

“That’s right. Including Pinkie. She’s off visiting her family on the rock farm.”

Rarity’s words weren’t adding up, Twilight instantly realized. “No, you know just as much as I do that Pinkie wouldn’t put off a party for me just because of a non-emergency family visit, she’d do everything she could to make sure that there would be a party for me even if she couldn’t be there, and for Pinkie to not be able to be anywhere at any time she chooses is a scientific impossibility!” While there was no hard science to actually prove Pinkie could instantly be anywhere she chose at any given moment, regardless of the distance between points A and B, any attempts to understand it had ended with nothing but somepony’s mane catching on fire. Usually Prince Blueblood’s for reasons even Discord would admit were beyond his understanding while he cooked marshmallows on sticks with the inferno on top of the screaming prince.

Rarity remained grim. “I’m afraid that’s the truth, your highness.”

“No, that doesn’t make any sense! The whole reason you’re the only pony I’ve seen since arriving is because everypony else is over in Golden Oaks waiting to surprise me, it’s the only logical answer!”

The lavender alicorn was soon happily proven wrong when she realized that she’d not been paying attention to where Rarity was leading her. The fact they were now in Ponyville’s main square near the fountain, where there were suspiciously large numbers of boxes piled everywhere, only came to the notice of the alicorn a split second before everypony in town jumped up from behind them or inside buildings where they’d not been visible or other hiding places Twilight hadn’t noticed because she’d been too focused on Rarity. However, hearing the entire town shout “WELCOME HOME, PRINCESS!” with a certain pink pony bouncing in with a baby blue cannon firing confetti and streamers on everything in sight, the youngest alicorn couldn’t help but shed a tear. Ponyville had missed her just as much as she had missed it.

Meanwhile, at the same time, Raspberry Beryl and Heliodor watched the spontaneous eruption of pure, concentrated party that exploded at the heart of Ponyville. The two of them were silent, taking in the sight, but any thoughts of taking part in the festivities were drowned out by their self-reminders of why they couldn’t risk it. One wrong move in the presence of Princess Twilight Sparkle would be a certain death sentence, even if the princess was still reportedly as big a bookish nerd as she’d been prior to ascension. Tearing their sight away from the celebrations, the pony and her pet turned and trotted away for home.

It had been a few days since Twilight Sparkle’s return, meaning the excitement that had been felt through the entire town had finally died down. Which Cheerilee appreciated, since most of her class had been taken up in the feeling and had been more unruly as usual due to the school board refusing to make the princess’s return a school holiday. Now that things were returning to normal, actually trying to teach the class was now possible again.

Additionally, while it had been extremely concerning about how the hostility between Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara had reached a head some time ago, following Tiara’s nightmare the relation between the two had become far more passive and much of the drama they had caused had become a thing of the past.

Tiara, however, had a far different opinion. For whatever reason, may it be Apple Bloom’s upstaging her or the appearance of a monster version of the same filly that one night burned into her memory, Diamond intended to get back at the filly who she blamed for all the recent trouble, and it had been fortunate Silver Spoon had been so beneficial in that regard. True, Spoon’s skill level as a silversmith had been lacking enough to make something meant to be worn comfortably, but after a few days of instruction by her father, Silver Hammer, Diamond’s friend had arrived at school carrying a pair of matching “Best Friend Forever” bracelets that were mostly made of pure silver. If there was any truth to the idea Apple Bloom was now of supernatural standing, a simple accidental moment of contact with either bracelet would yield immediate results.

“Do you think this will work?” asked Silver Spoon as she walked alongside her pink coated friend to their seats.

“Well, this is mainly to answer whether or not that annoying filly is truly a monster. Even if she isn’t, I must say these are excellently crafted.”

Spoon blushed. “Yeah, well, dad sort of helped make them, since I still can’t get a perfectly smooth interior curve on things like bracelets.”

“He doesn’t know, does he?”

“What? Oh, no, of course not. I honestly was thinking about making these even without the influence of getting back at Apple Bloom, since these are better than those stupid capes she and the other two of that group wear, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Oh, yes, definitely! So much higher in quality.”

For the rest of the day, neither Diamond or Silver mentioned the silver bands, although Tiara was annoyed at how nopony even seemed to notice her new piece of bling. At the same time, it was a relief Apple Bloom didn’t see the bracelets either, meaning she’d never see it coming. It was now recess time, nothing to stop Diamond from putting silver on Apple Bloom’s blank flank.

“Uh, Diamond?” asked Silver, walking up to the side of her friend, “it just occurred to me that if you’re right, that Apple Bloom is…that thing you think she is, and I’m right that putting silver on her will make her feel a severe burning sensation, isn’t there a chance she’ll just get angry and attack us which at best would kill us, at worst turning us into the thing she is?”

Diamond’s eyes briefly shrank in realization that Silver was right, but the need to vindicate herself and punish Apple Bloom for crimes either real or imagined overrode her logical thinking.

“Even if we do end up paying the ultimate price for this, if she is truly a monster as I suspect, it’s our duty as citizens of Ponyville to expose the beast that threatens everypony.”

Before Silver Spoon could say anything more, Diamond trotted off towards her quarry. It was only too easy to make physical contact between the bracelet and Apple Bloom’s hind leg in a way that didn’t look intentional.

“Yaaahh!” hollered Apple Bloom, stumbling away from Tiara and drawing the exposed leg back, “cold cold cold cold!”

Diamond had already continued on her way to keep up the illusion it had been an accident, but inside she was confused as to the reaction. Touching her opposite hoof to the bracelet, she did find it was somewhat cold, as was to be expected from something made of metal, but it was supposed to have burned Apple Bloom, not given her the chills. Keeping up the façade of not knowing anything about what had happened to Apple Bloom, the pink filly returned to Silver Spoon with intentions to think up some other way to prove the bow-wearing pony was a monster.

Meanwhile, over among the CMC:

“Apple Bloom, you okay?” Sweetie asked.

“Yeah, but Ah don’t know what just happened,” replied the werewolf.

“From what you were yelling about, apparently you came into contact with something cold.”

“Ah know what Ah said, but Ah don’t remember feelin’ a stingin’ sensation after touchin’ a metal pole in the middle of winter.”
Scootaloo’s expression went from curiosity to worry. “Um, you sure it isn’t a burn? The nerves that detect burning and freezing on the body are the same, but if there’s stinging then that implies the former.”

Sweetie gave Scootaloo an indignant look. “And you say I’m the dictionary?”

“Again, when your parents have to deal with weather teams that don’t provide enough cloud cover to counteract the heat from the sun or make the snow clouds too cold, you pick up on these kinds of things” nickered back the Pegasus, trotting over to look at where Apple Bloom was indicating she’d been affected. “Yep, it’s extremely minor, not even first degree, but if it’s still stinging then that’s a burn.”

“Ah don’t understand, there wasn’t anythin’ even near me when Ah suddenly felt…whatever it was on mah leg,” eeplied the confused Apple Bloom.

“Well, actually, Diamond Tiara walked right past you,” pointed out Sweetie, “and I thought I saw her brush that dumb friendship bracelet she got from Silver Spoon on your leg, but it happened so fast I can’t be sure.”

“Do you think Silver made that bracelet out of…well, silver? Back when Applejack was…well, what Ah am now, Ah remember Big Mac sayin’ somethin’ about how she should never be around the silverware that was actually silver.”

“Wait.” Interrupted Scoot, “how did Big Macintosh know that? Don’t tell me he was a were-“

“SHHHH!” shushed Apple Bloom and Sweetie.

“Oh, right, sorry,” apologized the flustered feathered member of the CMC.

“To answer the question, he wasn’t. Maybe he knew about werewolves from some other thing Ah’m not aware of, but trust me when Ah say if he had as big a problem as Ah do, the entire town would know. It’s hard enough tryin’ to keep this under wraps from mah own family as it is!” Apple Bloom’s eyes suddenly got wide as she remembered her family was about to become an even bigger problem.

“Is everything okay, Apple Bloom?” asked Scoot.

“You know how you two are the only ones who know mah…hairy secret, but mah own family doesn’t?”

The pegasus and unicorn nodded.

“And how we all agreed that anytime there was anything bein’ kept as a top-super-duper-classified-don’t-tell-anypony secret, all members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders would be let in on the secret?”

The duo nodded again.

“What happens when somepony who under that rule has to be informed of the secret…and is also part of mah family?”

The non-earth fillies expressed confusion, with Sweetie speaking up: “But you’re the youngest of the Apple Family siblings, aren’t you? I don’t remember you ever mentioning somepony in your family who was your younger sister.”

“Not mah sister, Sweetie. Mah cousin. Babs Seed is going to be on the five-fifteen Manehatten Mustang train when it makes the Ponyville stop next Saturday, and as far as Ah know this time she’s stayin’ until Hearth’s Warming!”
___________________________________________________________________________________

Raspberry Beryl sighed as she laid back on the bed in her hotel room, Heliodor following suit as he sat on the bar attached to the other, normally otherwise unused bed in the double. It wasn’t the greatest accommodations in a hotel nor was it the best hotel in Ponyville. The Traveler’s Retreat was, admittedly, well past its prime even though the clientele had never really differed much from being mostly individuals that were passing through Ponyville, being more of a bed and breakfast rest stop than a true hotel. The fact the old couple who kept the place running had never conceived of a pony staying longer than a week, much less over three months, was testament to that, but Raspberry was grateful to them for allowing her to essentially take up residence there.

She’d gotten the idea of living long-term in a hotel from a pony she’d briefly talked with years ago, shortly after being forced to fend for herself and leave Lonesome Dove. The pony; a member of a traveling acting group who was named Rough Edge, had generously paid for her to stay at the road house she’d ended up at the end of that first night. She’d taken an interest in him when she initially heard some of his troupe members call him “The Crownless King”, and although what had interested her proved to be absent upon him explaining his nickname’s reference to his usual role as the hero character in their performances, he’d been invaluable that first night in providing advice that she’d followed even up to the present for living the life of a wanderer. She wondered what would have happened had she revealed everything to him that night, if he would have helped her if she’d been totally forward about the matter instead of lying about the circumstances as to why she had to flee Lonesome Dove. She also wondered where he’d been ever since, as she’d never seen him again after that one night despite having considered him as close to a trustworthy friend that she’d ever get. Well, until Heliodor came into her life, providing comfort in a way no amount of bits could provide.

But where bits could provide comfort, she was living in excess at the Retreat as far as she cared. The rates were extremely low, probably because the owners took pity on her and didn’t charge as much even though Razz continually protested that out of guilt. Still, for having lived most of her life on the road, being able to come back to a room that had a soft bed to sleep in, a working bathroom with actual soap that made it so much easier to keep her body clean, and getting a hot meal every morning, her current living conditions were better than anything a room in Castle Canterlot could have given her. Of course, that spare bedroom at Carousel Boutique probably would have been the same, the main difference being Rarity not charging Razz a single penny to stay, and Razz would have loved to taken up the offer to move into a home that wasn’t broken prior to her taking residence in it. The only two reasons stopping her were that it wouldn’t be more than a week before Heliodor tried to devise elaborate ways to kill Rarity’s cat Opal that involved excessive amounts of fire, since it was bad enough trying to stop the two from killing each other when Razz and her pet visited Rarity’s abode, and the significantly more important reason was the horrible truth that had stalked Razz all her life from before she had even been born, the reason the most comfortable places she’d ever known were hotel rooms instead of actual houses and why she’d left so many towns in her wake.

Lost in thought, it was Heliodor’s squawking that brought Raspberry back to reality and to be aware of the knocking at the door. Getting off of the bed, she walked over to open it and found a pegasus guard from the local guard detachment on the other side.

“Miss Raspberry Beryl, I presume?”

She paled slightly. “Y-yes, that’s me.”

The guard pulled out a scroll from his saddlebag and handed it to Razz. “I was instructed to make sure this was delivered straight to you.”

“Oh, well, um…thanks?”

“You’re welcome, ma’am, and good evening.” The guard turned and made to leave the hotel. Beryl made sure he was not in the hallway before closing the door and letting her face drain of the blood. Looking at the wax seal on the rolled up parchment, she realized within seconds what it was. Taking the scroll in her telekinesis, she opened it to read the contents.

FROM THE OFFICE OF HER SERENE HIGHNESS TWILIGHT SPARKLE, GUARDIAN OF THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY, PRINCESS OF FRIENDSHIP, PROTEGE OF PRINCESS CELESTIA

It has come to her highness' attention that you currently are in possession of an avian of unusual pigmentation, namely a phoenix of green coloration. Since her highness' return to Ponyville, numerous subjects have brought to her attention via personal audiences and missives of this issue. One such audience was with Lady Rarity, a member of her highness' personal court and a personal confidante of the princess.

While we on her highness' staff believe that the intent is to arrange a personal meeting between yourself, her highness and Lady Rarity, unfortunately her highness' schedule does not permit such a timeframe in which this can be accommodated in a reasonable manner. Thus it has been decided that you are to be summoned to her highness' current seat, temporarily located at the Golden Oaks library, on this coming Saturday, promptly at quarter past five. You are also detailed to bring your pet along as well, as her highness would likely desire extensive study on such a creature.

Cordially,

Apple Cobbler
Crown Secretary for HSH Twilight Sparkle

“She…she wants to what!?” whimpered Raspberry. The one pony in all of Equestria who Raspberry wanted to stay the farthest from had literally just summoned her to come to a private meeting in the center of town. It had been bad enough simply being in the same town as the princess, but being in the same room as her? Razz knew she would have to go, since any normal pony wouldn’t hesitate to obey a summons from a princess, but as the burgundy unicorn looked worryingly at Heliodor, it would be an honor neither of them would want.

The master clock inside the Rich household chimed eleven pm as Diamond Tiara pouted in her room. She’d gotten nowhere fast with the silver bracelets plan and as she stared at the one her friend had given her, now sitting on the bedside counter next to her water, she tried to reason why her plan had failed.

“There had to have been some reaction, the thing was cold when I touched it but the way Apple Bloom reacted it was like I’d touched her with an ice cube!” muttered Tiara to herself, “Yet, at the same time, if she was a werewolf or whatever, she should have been burned when touched by silver! The test was negative on those grounds, but I still need more proof! Maybe if I can figure out how to get some wolfsbane or something planted all around the school…”

The sudden, feminine laughter, reverberating with some kind of unnatural aftertone, stopped Tiara’s self-conversation and made her fearful as the night Apple Bloom appeared at the bedroom window.

“Who…Who’s there?!” cried out Tiara, shielding herself with one of her stuffed animals. She made sure it was the big blue one that was just a giant blob with no limbs, the one that said “imaginary friends forever!” when squeezed, as she did so now.

“Somepony who has goals that currently are in line with yours, my dear,” the voice answered back.

“How do you know what I want? What do you want with me?”

“You don’t need to yell. After all, it’s not like your father or any of the employed staff here are going to believe a disembodied voice is talking to you, not after seeing her at your window. Unless you’re aiming to be put in an insane asylum.”

“Okay, fine,” Tiara said, no longer shouting but having changed to a conversational tone. “But just to prove you aren’t another figment of my imagination, I want you to show yourself so I can at least see who I’m talking to.”

“A fair request,” the voice replied, right before the shape of a mare materialized at the foot of Tiara’s bed. From what Diamond could tell, it was the translucent form of a green mare with a mane/tail coloration of yellow and sky blue, complimented with pink eyes and a cutie mark of two mountain peaks bordering a rainbow. But it was the fact the mare looked inequine exactly in the same ways like Apple Bloom had on that stormy night that spoke volumes, the parts that looked more canine than pony. This was a werewolf, although the translucence made it clear this one was just a ghost and therefore probably couldn’t harm Tiara, that being the only real reason the living filly didn’t scream out in terror. It didn’t help, however, that this ghost suspiciously looked a lot like a somewhat older Applejack, only with a mane style closer to Rainbow Dash, prompting another doll squeeze and ‘Imaginary Friends Forever!’ being echoed in the room.

“Yes, I know, I’m not exactly much better than your other hairy problem,” replied the ghost almost apologetically, “but unlike her I don’t want to harm you in any way, physically or psychologically.”

“Do you know what she is, at least?” asked Diamond, the fear slowly subsiding.

“Well, you already knew it, but she is a werewolf. How she managed to be one is beyond me as the fate of all werewolves is similar to mine, although none of them were lucky enough to rise from the grave to avenge their deaths upon the living.”

Tiara raised an eyebrow at that. “Are you saying Apple Bloom somehow killed you?”

The apparition laughed again, made slightly disconcerting by its haunting echo. “No, I’ve been dead for over a decade, and the one responsible for it is currently in a position that you would be of no help in the matter. However…” the spirit’s tone suddenly became much more serious, “the pony that I did love, the original werewolf by the name of Sable Loam, was murdered by some idiot minotaur almost a year ago.”

“Uh huh, keep going,” Diamond Tiara murmured, motioning by making a circle with her hoof and making a not-so-subtle indication she knew everything that had been said so far.

“Well, apologies for having been dead for so long, most of this information is new to me,” the ghost chided. “Anyway, apparently the older sister of this ‘Apple Bloom’ you seek to do ill will against, was involved in his death somehow, and I wish to punish her for it through bringing harm to her sister. Furthermore, Apple Bloom is making a mockery of what it means to be a werewolf, we are, or at least were, actually more dangerous and threatening than just being a scary sight on the other side of a window strong enough to withstand a hurricane.”

“Well, um, okay.” Quite frankly, Diamond Tiara was rather open to the idea that this undead werewolf ghost just happened to stumble into her room in the dead of night and was offering to help Tiara get revenge on Apple Bloom. Silver would definitely be needed to be brought into the knowledge of this ghostly assistance, but provided her paranormal exterminator heritage didn’t get in the way things might have just gotten easier. “Before I agree to anything, however, I do want to at least know your name.”

“But of course.” The undead mare’s voice carried smug undertones as she said, “Just call me Fair Vista.”

Ch.10: Achieving an Understanding

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 10: “Achieving an Understanding”

As Applejack stood on the platform, the three Crusaders jumping up and down and all around her with excitement on their faces, she mused that it had been exactly like this over a year ago when Babs Seed first came to Ponyville to visit. It had been a rough experience once the real story of what had been going on for those few weeks finally got revealed, but in the end it had all worked out. Babs had since come to visit a few times since then, but now she was moving in semi-permanently.

“Hey, Applejack?” asked Sweetie, “Why is Babs going to stay at the farm for so long this time? I don’t think Mrs. Cheerilee is going to approve of her just popping in for schooling, which I’m sure she’s not exempt from.”

“Granny and Big Mac already have talked it over with your teacher, actually, so Babs will be in your class,” answered the mare. “As for why Babs is staying so long, Ah honestly don’t recall gettin’ an answer to that mahself….”

The attention of those on the platform was suddenly drawn to the shrill cry of a steam whistle, signaling the arrival of the Manehatten Mustang. The first of what the Royal Equestrian Railway Company promoted as a new ‘streamliner’ train, the engine was equipped with external plating that made it look perfectly smooth on the outside and of a completely different world at the same time. It was also much larger, as if two regular engines had been welded together back-to-back to form its eight-wheeled base with four unpowered wheels in the front and back. Nicknamed “Greenbriers”, these state-of-the-art locomotives had not been designed for service off of mainlines, but due to Ponyville’s importance as the home of one of the Princesses, the RERC had no choice but to upgrade the line through the backwater settlement.

But as the engine slowed to a stop just beyond the edge of the opposite station end, the Crusaders didn’t pay it much mind. Instead, their focus was on the passenger cars that had drawn up to the platform. Unlike last time, however, they knew the appearance of the pony they were there to meet. Indeed, a few minutes after the train’s arrival, a brown coated filly who was slightly bigger than the average pony her age jumped down from the third coach. Her hot pink mane and tail, along with her green eyes, certainly made her stand out among the crowd, but it was the red cape she had tied around her neck with the shiny gold reverse side that confirmed her identity.

Babs Seed had returned to Ponyville.

“Babs!” shouted Apple Bloom, rushing off to tackle her slightly older cousin in a big hug.

“Hey, cuz!” greeted back the new arrival, taking the hug with a slight grunt as the impact from Apple Bloom forced some air out of Babs’ chest. She didn’t remember Apple Bloom being that strong the last time, but then again she hadn’t even seen her for months so perhaps it was just faulty memory.

“Didja have a good trip?” inquired Applejack, slowly trotting over while Scoot and Sweetie rushed off to join the filly pile.

“Uh-huh! This here streamliner is amazin’! The seats are so much cozier, the sleeper car has bunks in their own little rooms, and there’s even a snack bar at one end of the diner car!”

“Sounds like Auntie and Uncle Orange spoiled you rotten with this trip.”

The smile on Babs’s face fell a little. “Yeah, but they do that all the time, since they’re part of the Manehatten upper class ‘n all. Probably to try to make up for the fact they don’t really spend time with me if they’d have to miss one of their ‘social events’ they’re always at.” She then drew her head up a bit and made her jaw jut out as far as possible. “And when they have to drag me to one of those events, I have to talk with proper pronunciation like so and behave like all the other well-to-do fillies and colts who think we are all better than the common pony.” Her accent had changed considerably; sounding nothing like the Babs the CMC or AJ had known but instead had letter-perfect pronunciation as if she was trying to sound haughtier than the majority of Canterlot.

“Well, I do declare that to be a matter I most heartily agree-URK!” replied Applejack in her own ‘upper class’ accent. However, while she still could do the accent she’d mastered a few days before she realized her place was back on the farm and earned her cutie mark, she hadn’t used it in years and the sudden change in voice pitch was not received well by her larynx, sending her into a brief coughing fit.

“Applejack, are you okay?” squeaked Sweetie Belle.

“Yeah, Ah’m-hack-fine!” wheezed Applejack, proceeding to take a deep breath and shake the cough off. “Ah mean no offense to yer folks, Babs, they’re still Apple kin, but tryin’ to talk like that nearly killed me back when Ah was still a filly, an’ clearly it hasn’t gotten easier!” An idle thought then occurred to AJ as to what she would have sounded like if she’d tried her ‘upper class’ accent…while also having the raspier voice that she’d had back when she’d been a werewolf. She concluded it probably would have sounded weird and just given her a coughing fit all the same, but wasn’t worth going back to being a werewolf, even if there was some way to becoming one again. She’d probably mention it to Apple Bloom later and they’d get a good laugh out of it, but it would be best not to reveal she was an ex-lycanthrope to the rest of the CMC, even though their antics had indirectly led to that whole ordeal in the first place.

“So, why are you staying for so long this time?” inquired Scootaloo.

“There was some charity auction or somethin’ they’d gone to a few months back, where they won the grand prize of some super-long, all-expenses paid world cruise. There were only two tickets, an’ even though they never asked if I wanted to go, I probably wouldn’t have wanted to anyway since I’d totally die from boredom, so they decided to send me back here since I have so much fun with you guys!” replied Babs, cheering back up.

“But what about your sister?” asked Apple Bloom. “Couldn’t you have stayed with her?”

“Tangarine Tart? No, she’s apprenticin’ to Gustave le Grande as a pastry chef in Canterlot and is livin’ in an apartment she’s sharin’ with some of her friends. I’d just get in the way.”

“Well, we’ve got plenty of room for you back on the farm, Babs.” Said Applejack. “And you don’t need to worry about sharin’ the same bed as Apple Bloom, either, as we cleaned out a spare room for you to use all to yourself.” In truth, the ‘spare room’ was actually Granny Smith’s old bedroom which until recently had been used as the master bedroom. The actual master bedroom had been used as storage due to the whole family not being able to spend long periods of time in it following the deaths of Appleseed and Cornflower. But, upon having received closure on the matter of the Apple Parents, Granny had it cleaned up so it could be a proper master bedroom again and her old bedroom be turned into a guest room.

“Ah probably should mention we don’t have an extra bed for you, though, so Ah hope you don’t mind a hay mattress and newspaper blankets!” teased Apple Bloom.

“That’s okay, I’ll just sleep on my luggage!” replied Babs with a grin, before taking on an apologetic look. “Mom and Dad decided to send me with everythin’ I’d possibly need, so it’s more than just a suitcase this time.”

“And you said we wouldn’t need the truck.” said Apple Bloom, casting a smug glance to Applejack who merely just rolled her eyes.

“Need the what?” asked Babs, raising an eyebrow in confusion at what a ‘truck’ was.

“You’ll see, let’s just get your stuff off the train before it departs for Canterlot and drops off your stuff at your sister’s place!”

At the same time, a very nervous unicorn trotted in place just outside Golden Oaks Library. She’d already knocked at the door, exactly at 5:15 as instructed by the summoning letter, but there had been no answer. It was now five twenty, and Raspberry Beryl was getting more and more scared by the minute. She might end up being in trouble for not any of the many, many reasons she had to avoid talking to Twilight in the first place, but in this case for being late somehow.

Heliodor, perched on a low hanging branch and facing her, was trying his best to calm her down. It was his job to attract attention away from her, which right now she wasn’t making it easy because she really looked like she needed to use the restroom and ponies were starting to look over.

“Yes, yes, I know Heelee, but I’m already possibly in seriously deep horseshit as it is!” quietly hissed Razz. “It’s five minutes past the time I’m supposed to be inside this tree, but the door’s locked and nopony is here, but I can’t leave in case the princess shows up and I get in trouble for not obeying a summons!”

The conspiratorial grin that appeared on the bird’s face only received an angrier response from the pony. “And you know very well I’m not going to resort to vandalism to get inside! This is literally the second home of the princess, she’d be even angrier if we-“ the sudden flurry of activity from Heliodor indicated that somepony was approaching and that she needed to act calm.

Indeed, around the corner came a sight that Raspberry Beryl had never seen in her years of traveling around Equestria. It was a small, purple-and-green baby dragon walking upright on two legs, while in his right claw he was holding a basket full of things from the market. The presence of a baby dragon concerned Razz even more now, since she knew gems were the preferred treat for the reptilian species and if he had one good look at her cutie mark he’d probably ask her for some, or possibly even threaten her with his flame breath or sharp claws for some. That would certainly put her in one of two equally bad situations; the first being Heliodor would promptly kick the dragon’s ass with his flame breath and sharp talons, leaving Razz to explain why there was a horribly maimed and burned baby dragon on the library’s doorstep, or she did give him some of her gems which would…well, she’d never actually given any of her gems to a dragon of any kind, but due to the spell she used to find them it was almost certain nothing good could come from it.

“Oh, hello!” greeted the dragon upon noticing the two waiting in front of the library. “You must be waiting for Twilight to get back from flying lessons.”

“…Flying lessons?” cautiously asked Razz.

“Yeah, I know, Twilight’s extremely smart and can learn something really fast if she doesn’t know it already, but since she wasn’t born with wings it…well, it was awkward. Here, I’ll let you in, I’m sure Twi won’t mind.”

“Uh, T-thanks,” said the cringing unicorn, waiting for Heliodor to take his place on her horn before they followed the dragon into the tree.

“I apologize for not being here to let you in earlier, but Wisdom Seeker forgot to restock the fridge before he took off for his vacation. Hope you guys weren’t waiting long,” said the dragon from his place in the kitchen.

“N-no, we’ve only been here for five or so minutes,” responded Razz, barely having heard the dragon in the other room. Her attention was fixed upon the glorious sight that surrounded her as she stood in the center of the tree; Books. Rows upon rows of books. Fantasies, encyclopedias, graphic novels, history books, everything that could be explored through the written word were present within this tree. To most ponies, it would have just been seeing a typical library that was only visually different in layout from any other library in a town similar in size to Ponyville, with the Royal Archives of Canterlot and the Crystal Empire far exceeding Golden Oaks in both contained knowledge and presented beauty. But for Raspberry Beryl, they represented a dream which she’d clung to all her life, even as fate conspired to drive it ever further from her with every misstep she took.

Almost unconsciously, she began to focus her magic to take a book she’d chosen at random, but before her aura could even light up she felt two familiar bird feet squeeze her horn much harder than usual for a brief second, sending a spike of pain straight into her cerebrum and instantly stopping her magic flow.

“OW!” cried Razz. “Heelee! What was that-“

Heliodor leaned over and glared at the pony attached to his roost, raising an eyebrow. Instantly realizing she’d nearly used her magic where somepony else could have seen it, she blushed a little at how stupid her mistake could have been.

“Oh. Right. Thanks for the save, Heelee.” He cawed happily, having done his job properly once again.

“Is everything okay miss…erm…” the dragon had come out from the kitchen, probably worried about the brief cry of pain he’d heard. “I’m sorry, but Twi didn’t give me your names, since she was supposed to be back by now.”

Relieved at the chance to take her mind off of her goof, Raspberry smiled. “I’m Raspberry Beryl and my companion here is Heliodor.”

“Well, nice to meet you! I’m Spike and…hey, is your pet a phoenix?”

“I’d hope so, that’s what everypony has been telling me ever since I got back to Ponyville!” came a third voice out of nowhere. The source was soon revealed, however, as Twilight Sparkle appeared at the edge of the second floor above. Instead of golden horseshoes and other regal wear, however, she instead was clad in nothing but a sweatband on her head, complementing the fact she looked somewhat out of breath.

“Twilight! Where were you?” inquired her adoptive brother.

“I was at my flying lessons with Rainbow, remember?”

“I remember you saying you would be back by five, it’s practically half-past at this point and you’ve been keeping this pony and her pet waiting. I presume they’re the ones you’ve been so eager to meet?” Spike gestured to the unicorn in the room with the bird on her horn, the former having bowed upon seeing the princess so fast and so hard that she unintentionally launched her pet right into the floor where he now lay spread eagled a good foot or so in front of her.

“Oh my gosh!” gasped Twilight, realizing that for all the things in life she could have afforded to be late for something, this probably wasn’t one of them. She ignored the stairs, instead choosing just to flutter her way down to the ground floor. “Please, you don’t need to be so formal in here, plus I think your phoenix needs your attention.”

“Huh? Oh, no! Heelee!” exclaimed Razz as she rushed over to Heliodor. Thankfully, he wasn’t hurt, just a little annoyed at having suddenly been turned into a missile. Twilight just looked over the scene and smiled.

“So…you’re Raspberry Beryl?”

The addressed snapped her head around quickly upon hearing her name. “Y-yes! That’s me!” She then paled slightly as Twilight just chuckled, worrying that she’d done something wrong, but the princess soon explained.

“Like I said, you don’t need to be formal. To be honest if there’s one thing I hate about having become an alicorn princess it’s all this ridiculous formality. That’s why I’m so happy to be back home here in Ponyville, everypony treats me the same as they always did and not like some kind of untouchable work of art.”

Razz, however, was still unsure of the situation. “B-but the summons that I received was written so-“

Twilight just laughed again. “Yeah, sorry about that. Apple Cobbler means well, but when she insisted she write that letter instead of me just letting Spike do it as I usually do, I didn’t have much of a choice. Also, I’m sorry for having to keep you waiting, but do you mind if I take a few minutes to wash up? I’m still kind of sweaty and it would be rude not to be presentable to you.”

“Oh, no, take your time, really!” answered Raspberry, “Although…do you mind if I, um…take a look at some of the books here?”

Twilight had to raise an eyebrow at that question. “Uh…sure? You don’t need my permission; this is still technically the Ponyville Public Library after all.”

“I just wanted to be sure!” sheepishly grinned Razz. Twilight just shook her head, certain the poor pony was still flustered from having to deal with a princess acting so…unprincess-y, before flying up to the second level to start the bath, Spike already going up the stairs with a small bundle of fresh soap. Raspberry, on the other hand, waited until she could hear the bath water running before zipping over to the history book section and opening it up. Heliodor, having since recovered from being thrown face first into the floor by accident, flew up to the table to see what his mistress was reading. He honestly didn’t understand her fascination with books, they were everywhere, really, but they made her happy so he just pretended to follow along as she read out loud.

“Alright, Tiara, what do you have planned this time?” asked Silver Spoon. She’d been invited over to her best friend’s house, obviously to continue to plan how to expose Apple Bloom’s true nature, but the fact Diamond Tiara hadn’t even hinted at what the plan was this time was concerning.

“Okay, promise me you won’t freak out” said Diamond in a conspiratorial tone, letting Silver into her room before locking the door.

“We…we’re not going to do anything illegal are we?”

“No. What made you think that?”

“Well, I mean, normally you’re willing to go to some lengthy extremes sometimes, so the fact you actually are warning me ahead of time about whatever you’re going to suggest doesn’t fill me with confidence.”

“At least you’re filled with something,” commented another voice, followed by the translucent form of a green mare, strangely resembling what an alternatively colored and messier-maned Applejack would look like, walking into the room through the wall opposite the door. Silver instantly recognized the tell-tale features that marked this newcomer as a werewolf, along with the fact it was a ghost werewolf, and was only prevented from screaming her head off by Tiara quickly tacking her to the ground and muffling her muzzle with her foreleg.

“Keep it down!” hissed Tiara, “She’s the subject I need to talk to you about anyway!”

“Are you insane?!” Silver snapped back. “Are you that obsessed with proving Apple Bloom is a werewolf that you’ve actually raised the spirit of another werewolf to somehow help you with that? Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t that sort of hypocritical?!”

“To be fair, your friend had nothing to do with my reawakening, and she doesn’t have the magic capability for necromancy since she’s an Earth pony,” chuckled the ghost. “Plus, I was the one who approached her a few nights ago about helping with your problems with this ‘Apple Bloom’ character.”

Diamond let Silver Spoon go, both fillies getting back up. “So, um…yeah,” stated Tiara, “Silver Spoon, this is Fair Vista. Fair Vista, Silver Spoon.”

“A pleasure, really,” droned Silver Spoon. “But I still don’t buy the idea you happen to have simply walked up from wherever your physical body is buried and happened to come straight to us to provide assistance with this matter.”

“To be honest, I actually don’t know the means by which I have risen from the grave myself,” Vista said in a matter-of-fact tone. “But I am being honest in that our goals are, for the moment, aligned in regards to the same pony.”

Diamond then spoke up. “Believe it or not, Silver, but apparently Applejack had been a werewolf for some time, up to around when the Minotaurs were proclaiming one of their own had killed the last werewolf. In reality, it seems Applejack was the true killer, as that werewolf was the one who spread the cure onto her and the only way to cure oneself is to kill the infector.”

“So…Applejack was a werewolf, too?” inferred Silver, trying to understand where this was all leading.

Fair Vista nodded. “Yes, but she is not one any longer, although why anypony would want to throw away a gift like this is beyond me. But, more importantly, she killed the pony who I loved and for that I want revenge. Since you two are going after the youngest of her family and aren’t impared by not having an ethereal form which can’t really interact with the physical plane, and obviously I’m very knowledgeable about werewolves being one myself, I figure we should join forces so we can all get what we want.”

Silver Spoon still was suspicious about the whole affair. First off, the idea her best friend was so willing to accept the help of a werewolf poltergeist which had arrived very conveniently when it was needed most disturbed the gray filly. There was also the problem about how far this mess would end up going if simply exposing Apple Bloom wasn’t enough for either the ghost or the pink filly, the former most likely being perfectly willing to execute anypony if she had to and the latter already having demonstrated a severe lack of morality when it came to respecting anypony other than her parents or Silver Spoon. But at the same time there wasn’t really any alternative to cooperating with these arrangements, mainly because Silver Spoon didn’t dare risk her friendship with Diamond Tiara namely because she was the only pony Silver could truly consider a friend, and also because she wasn’t convinced the werewolf was being totally honest in what she said about not being able to interact with the physical world.

“Alright, I guess I’m in.”

Fair Vista grinned, exposing her disturbingly sharp teeth that had no place on a pony. ”Excellent. I’m looking forward to working with you two, should be fun.”

______________________________________________________________________________

“Now, Ah don’t mean to be rude, Babs, but Ah think you mighta packed a little too much!” groaned Applejack. It wasn’t the largest load of luggage she’d ever seen, she knew from experience that Rarity practically refused to stay overnight anywhere under normal circumstances without bringing along half her wardrobe, but for a pony like Babs who couldn’t possibly have had even a fraction of as many apparel items it was strange she’d need ten large suitcases even if she was temporarily moving in for a season or two. Plus, she wasn’t sure she could safely carry it all in the tiny apple cart she’d brought, assuming it would have been at most four bags.

“That’s what Ah said, but mom and dad still insisted I’d need several coats because of how cold it can get around here,” replied Babs.

“But Ponyville is almost exactly in the middle of Equestria, within sight of Canterlot even!” pointed out Apple Bloom, gesturing to the tiny shape of the cliffside capital just visible on the distant mountain range. “Plus, isn’t Manehatten known for its super-cold winters as well?”

“Yeah, but accordin’ to some friends of my parents the winters here are longer ‘allegedly’ because the populace never gets Winter Wrap Up done on time.”

“That’s not true!” interjected Sweetie Belle, “ever since Twilight was appointed the manager of Winter Wrap Up, Ponyville has always been on time for the start of spring!”

“Yeah, well we’re all runnin’ late for getting’ y’all back to the farm, but there’s no way Ah can fit all of this into the cart, it’s too small!”

Apple Bloom looked at the luggage, then the cart, then the luggage again, before she smiled. “Ah think Ah know how to do it…”

Thirty feet of knotted rope later, Applejack still couldn’t believe how Apple Bloom had secured all ten pieces of luggage to a degree that could be carted to the farm safely.

“Ah! Much better!” sighed the now-clean alicorn, “Now to get to business!”

She descended the familiar stairs of the library this time, wishing to give her wings a rest. Rainbow had drilled her hard in order to ensure the basics of flying were ingrained into her head, to the point both of them had lost track of time, and as a result they still felt sore. But Twilight ignored the feeling, instead anticipating what she would learn momentarily. There, sitting next to Raspberry Beryl, was an honest-to-Celestia green phoenix. The princess could hardly wait to get started.

“Spike!” she shouted, although intending to get the attention of the phoenix and its owner in addition to her assistant, “Can you put on some tea!”

“Sure thing, Twi!” answered the dragon.

Heliodor twittered slightly, alerting Raspberry that reading time was over.

“Thanks, Heelee,” she whispered to her pet before turning to Twilight. “I trust your highness is feeling better, now?”

“Please, just call me Twilight, honestly I prefer to be seen as just a regular unicorn while in town.”

“Uh, okay, your maj...Er, Twilight!” responded the other unicorn, catching herself before she did the very thing she’d been asked not to do.

The lavender alicorn smiled. “Besides, you’re the one who truthfully has more honorability than me, as nopony, not even Princess Celestia, can claim they have a pet like yours.”

“Who, Heliodor? No, no, I’m sure other ponies have pet phoenixes, too, it’s just that meeting one who is willing to stay with you like a pet is so rare.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Other ponies? Under natural circumstances, phoenixes can only be domesticated if they decide to imprint upon an individual they deem worthy of their company. As it stands, I’m only aware of three phoenixes that have ever allowed themselves to be pets: Philomena, who is the pet of Princess Celestia; Heliodor, who is your phoenix; and a phoenix who Spike rescued about a year ago.”

“Yeah, Pee Wee’s still with his family right now, but he does come to visit sometimes,” added Spike, who walked in with a tray supporting a tea kettle and two cups. Having been imprinted upon by Pee Wee in return for having saved his egg, Spike was technically the only dragon who ever had a phoenix as a pet. But, due to Spike also being a baby dragon with the maturity of a young adolescent pony, Fluttershy had advised letting Pee Wee be returned to his parents, which had been accomplished with the help of Philomena. Twilight not willing to let an unhousebroken bird that had a tendency to shoot fire inside her library had also been a factor.

However, for whatever reason the phoenix in the room suddenly looked depressed, prompting Razz to rub his back with a hoof.

“Wh-what’s wrong?” asked a shocked Twilight, simultaneously using her magic to levitate the tea kettle and fill the cups without even having really thought about doing so. “Was it something I said?

“It’s…well, Heelee never knew his parents, actually,” explained Raspberry.

“Rarity said that you mentioned to her that Helidor –that’s his name, right? – was just a hatchling when you first met him, but she didn’t mention much else. But…not know his parents?”

“Maybe his egg was stolen, kind of like what happened with Pee Wee?” suggested Spike.

Raspberry nodded. “As far as I know, Heliodor’s egg was stolen by diamond dogs, probably because his egg must have looked like a precious stone unlike any other. But he hatched inside their caves, to which the dogs obviously didn’t like and possibly considered some kind of magic trick at their expense, and proceeded to chase him around the caves trying to kill him. At least, that’s what the scene was when I got there.”

“Why were you at a diamond dog cave entrance?” inquired Twilight.

“As I’m sure many ponies have already told you, my special talent is finding gems.” Raspberry turned in her seat slightly to let the princess get a better view of her cutie mark. “I actually hadn’t known it was a diamond dog cave at the time, especially since it had been described to me as an Earth pony mine, complete with the wood supports you’d expect, so I figured it wouldn’t hurt if I just went in and took any gems that were left. You can imagine my surprise when all of a sudden I see a flying green and gold blob trying to outrun some very angry canines.

“Next thing I know, one of the lead dogs tripped and caused them all to collapse on top of one another, allowing their quarry to clumsily land on my head and cling to my horn for dear life. I wasn’t going to let the dogs get him, or me, for that matter, so I yanked out one of the wooden supports as I ran out of the cave so it would collapse and prevent the dogs from chasing us. It wasn’t until I’d run a good mile away that I finally stopped to catch my breath and realized a baby phoenix was still attached to my head, traumatized and half-dead from exhaustion.

“I was in between towns at the time, so I didn’t really have much to provide for myself, but I did what I could for him and as you can tell he fully recovered. I tried going around and seeing if I could find his parents, but I didn’t find any phoenixes at all, and since the baby phoenix had only hatched inside that cave he didn’t know where his nest was, either. He needed somepony to look after him, though, and after I’d been traveling alone for so long it was nice to have a companion, so I named him Heliodor and he’s been with me ever since.” Raspberry then leaned over to nuzzle her bird, which he returned in kind.

By that point Twilight had already whipped out a notepad and quill, furiously jotting down notes, but she’d had a question or ten readied once the story had ended. “Fascinating…I didn’t know diamond dogs would potentially steal phoenix eggs. Heliodor’s egg must really have been different from a normal phoenix egg I guess. Although he himself seems to be different from even normal phoenixes, as he can apparently sit on your horn?”

Wordlessly, Heliodor just launched himself from the table and flew a complete circle around the library before landing on Razz’s horn. The unicorn, on the other hand, had just looked right at Twilight the whole time and barely even seemed to react to the sudden landing made on her horn.

The princess was dumbstruck, the quill coming to a halt. “Doesn’t that hurt?”

“What do you mean?” asked Raspberry.

“A bird of even his size should be pushing down on your horn with enough force to be triggering pain receptors in your brain, since a pony’s horn is a natural extension of the skull and brain in order for it to conduct magic. To have something like, well, Heliodor on your horn should by all rights be weighing your head down and making you scream in agony.”

“Really? That’s never happened with Heelee, but then again he’s the only creature who has actually used my horn as a perch.”

“If it’s alright, could I have him try to sit on my horn, then?”

“I…guess?” All the confidence that had been building up in her about talking to a princess suddenly drained out of her. Twilight wanted to try having Heliodor sit on her horn…after everything she just described? She glanced up at Heliodor, prompting both unicorn and phoenix to go into a silent conversation composed purely of pantomimed gestures and expressions. Twilight recorded the entire thing in earnest. Finally, some sort of decision had been made. “Alright, Heelee says he’ll try.”

“Okay, how about just to simplify this, we put our horns up to each other so he can slowly walk onto mine. If anything happens he can just latch back onto your horn.”

“O-okay…” was all Beryl said.

Maneuvering around the table, the unicorn and alicorn lowered their horns to allow the phoenix to cross over. However, Twilight noted that Raspberry was trying very, very hard not to let their horn tips touch, which seemed odd. She soon figured out why when Heliodor, also nervous from what seemed like a needlessly complicated acrobatic maneuver, had one foot on each horn but suddenly lost his balance and in his attempt to regain it caused the horn tips to touch only briefly.

It was less than a second of contact, but Twilight instantly knew the unicorn in front of her had been hiding something far bigger than the origin of a green phoenix. Normally, when two ponies with horns put their forehead extrusions tip-to-tip, their separate magic fields will interact with each other, in most cases allowing them to combine for whatever reason. However, when Twilight felt the presence of Raspberry’s magic, there was something decidedly wrong about it. What that was, Twilight couldn’t figure out before the magic fields separated, but it felt both sickeningly similar and yet totally unfamiliar at the same time. She didn’t even pay attention to the phoenix, who by that point had given up trying to cross over and had flown off to perch on a lectern that happened to be nearby, clearly dizzy from having nearly done the splits on top of two magic fields reacting to each other. Right now she was more concerned with the unicorn across from her. “What are you hiding?” accused the princess, shifting into a readied stance should Raspberry turn out to be an enemy of the crown.

“L-look, your majesty, I can explain, please!” Raspberry, on the other hand, was now deathly afraid. The very thing she hadn’t wanted to reveal had just been revealed by complete accident, meaning if Twilight already had made that assumption she was as good as dead.

“You can explain? Alright, then tell me what’s wrong with your magic, because that’s not normal magic I felt from touching your horn!” Twilight charged up her aura, ready to lay down the hurt if necessary.

“Y-yes, j-j-just give me a s-second! D-don’t’…hurt…m-me…plea-” pleaded Razz, who evidently was now so scared she was having trouble breathing, gasping for air in between words. Twilight, against her better judgement, powered down her magic in light of this. Either she was the dumbest assassin ever, or the unicorn did have an honest explanation for why her magic felt differently.

“Raspberry, take deep breaths, okay? I’m not going to hurt you, but it would be hard for you to tell me what’s going on with your magic if you pass out from oxygen deprivation, right?” Razz just nodded, but after a little more encouragement Twilight had the mare doing calming breathing exercises in the way Princess Cadence had taught her. “Feeling better?” she asked when Razz finally had regained some of her composure.

“Y-yeah…”

“Can you tell me what’s going on?”

Raspberry took a deep breath in preparation for what she was going to say. The details would need to match up to what she told Rarity and Sandalwood during that aromatherapy session, but after years of retelling the modified version of her past there would be little deviancy, if any, from either time of having to retell the tale. Besides, it was pretty much the truth anyway. Or at least most of it.

“Please, promise me you won’t freak out, okay?” pleaded Raspberry, to which Twilight gave a stern, affirming nod. With no other choice, Raspberry closed her eyes and brought up her own aura. Her horn became encased in a light blue essence, but to Twilight’s shock it wasn’t a smooth glow. Instead it was more like a fog that bubbled around the horn, as if it was dark magic. But it looked less like the dark magic that was practically synonymous with King Sombra, instead more like a version of Sunset Shimmer’s magic when the former student of Celestia had been turned into some kind of monster on the other side of the mirror where everypony had hands. But despite Sunset’s intentions at the time, especially the whole ‘brainwashing the school’ thing, whatever magic she had been using couldn’t be considered true dark magic as it had only been a result of Sunset’s magic not being fully compatible with the Element of Magic, in a form that initially wasn’t able to properly use magic in the first place.

“What’s wrong with your-WHOA!” Twilight started to ask, but was interrupted when Heliodor swooped close to her before landing on Raspberry’s horn, which strangely didn’t lose the unnerving fog around it, but the presence of the phoenix was enough to get her to open her eyes again.

“Princess...I know what it looks like, but I swear to you it isn’t! The truth is, I actually don’t have a lot of control over my magic. Anything stronger than basic telekinesis or my gem finding spell is too much for me to handle, even just showing it off like this takes a lot of focus to keep under control, and I don’t think I need to go into detail about what can happen should I lose that control.”

Twilight was silent as she digested this new information. The idea that a unicorn’s aura could be affected by the amount of control they had over their magic was in line with what she had observed in various instances. When Trixie was under the influence of the Alicorn Amulet, her aura had turned blood red and periodically manifested as sparks coming out of her eyes, then with Sunset Shimmer it wasn’t out of the question that her magic had gone out of control from the aforementioned incident, and Twilight herself had been encased in her aura when her magic quickly exceeded her ability to handle it during her application test to Celestia’s school. But in each case, there had been an outside acting agent or catalyst; an enchanted amulet, the Element of Magic, and Rainbow Dash’s first Sonic Rainboom. But Raspberry didn’t have any of those…then Twilight recalled Rarity had also mentioned Raspberry had had a very traumatic foalhood.

Without a response from the princess, Raspberry powered down her aura and began to tell her story once more. “I’m sure Rarity’s already told you, but growing up wasn’t easy for me, being a unicorn in an entire town of Earth ponies. I don’t know much about my bloodline, other than it’s Earth pony all the way through, even my father once said my mother’s side claimed to have originated from the Crystal Empire.”

“The Crystal Empire?” repeated Twilight in surprise. “You have ancestry among the Crystal Ponies?”

“Allegedly, although it does sort of explain how my mane and tail are sort of different.” Replied Raspberry, taking a lock of her mane hair in her hoof and holding it up. Twilight walked closer, seeing that instead of a sharp difference between the colors of the mare’s hair like with most ponies, Twilight included, the sky blue and purple instead had a gradient not unlike a crystal pony’s between them, but from a distance they looked like normal colors with a hard split between them. “Popular belief has it that before Sombra made the Empire disappear, some Crystal Ponies managed to escape and vanished among the populace of the rest of Equestria. Whether it’s true that I have Crystal Pony blood in my veins or not is irrelevant, I still was born as the only unicorn in a town full of Earth ponies.”

“But…that’s impossible!” responded Twilight, “there isn’t a single settlement in all of Equestria that doesn’t have at least a few members of any given regular pony subspecies!”

Razz just shook her head sadly. “Not in Lonesome Dove. Completely one-hundred percent Earth pony population, both when it was founded and most likely right now if the town still remains. To my knowledge, I was the only non-Earth pony to ever live there, in my short time as a resident, and nopony trusted me being able to use my magic much less try to teach me how to use it. My father especially hated my magic, always forcing me to do things physically and punishing me severely whenever he caught me trying to use magic. It hurt, both because of having to do daily chores that demanded an endurance I wasn’t gifted with at birth, and because sometimes he’d try to simply break my horn off. He never succeeded, but I’m fairly certain he’s the reason why my magic aura is so different.”

Twilight had raised a hoof to her mouth in horror. Damage to a unicorn’s horn during their childhood years and encouraging them to withhold the magic they would naturally try to discharge…It would explain why Raspberry’s magic felt so wrong; it had never been given the chance to fully develop. Additionally, if her father had tried to break off her horn multiple times during her fillyhood and probably even early adolescence, the physical trauma would certainly have left permanent damage to the ability for the horn to conduct her magic.

“I…I’m sorry…” apologized the shellshocked princess, “there…how…I had no idea…”

Oddly, Raspberry smiled, if only briefly. “It’s alright, you’re honestly the first pony who has been willing to listen to me about it, every other time anypony has seen my magic they immediately think the worst and…it never ends well for me. That’s what happened when I dared use my magic again one day and discovered my special talent in finding gems, when really I’d just been trying to pick them out of the ground with my telekinesis so I could plant some seeds. Dad was furious, his wife had died in childbirth to only give him a weak unicorn filly instead of a strong Earth son, the farm he’d been stuck with couldn’t grow crops because the soil was littered with almost worthless gemstones, and to top it all off his offspring was now even more of a reminder of everything that had gone wrong in his life.

“A few months later, I overheard him muttering how he was convinced I was in fact some kind of evil creature that kept bringing misfortune to him and it was his duty to kill me. I had no choice but to flee for my life, but since nopony in Lonesome Dove was going to protect me, I was forced to jump a train with what little I was able to take with me. Ever since, I’ve been going from town to town, using my magic to find gems that I sell at low prices simply to keep myself afloat, then merely going on my way when somepony inevitably gets the wrong idea about my magic.”

Silence reigned in Golden Oaks for what seemed like forever. Twilight just looked at the unicorn in front of her, now believing that she was in fact far stronger than she looked after having gone through such a horrible upbringing. But her pet Heliodor was certainly part of that. While he was far more than a pet, Spike was sort of the same thing to Twilight as Heliodor was to Raspberry, both males were companions that both ponies had known for the majority of their lives, and most likely in times of great distress were possibly the only ones that their counterpart mares could talk to at any time openly. Maybe there was even more to this pony then what Twilight had originally been led to believe.

“Hey, Raspberry, if it’s alright, would you like to stay for dinner?”

The addressed backpedalled in shock, Heliodor squawking in surprise, but a small smile came upon her face, and Heliodor’s momentarily after in response to his mistress smiling.

“Y-yeah, sure, why not?”

Ch.11: Interludes

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 11: “Interludes”

“Oh. So that’s what you were talkin’ about when you mentioned the truck,” said an awestruck Babs, gazing upon the machine before her along with the rest of the crusaders.

“Eeyup, it sure is unique!” proudly replied Apple Bloom, grinning.

“So…why do you guys even have this thing? I remember Applejack sayin’ you three somehow built this.”

Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle all quickly traded nervous looks.

“We, uh…” started Sweetie.

“…sorta, er…” added Scootaloo.

“We got the idea from Sandalwood!” suddenly exclaimed Apple Bloom. In truth, it wasn’t that big a fib since technically the Crusaders had built the vehicle that would become the truck. Figuring Babs wouldn’t know who Sandalwood was, Apple Bloom elaborated. “You wouldn’t know her; she probably just arrived around the time you last visited so she could try to set herself up as an aromatherapist at the town spa.”

Babs seemed to find slight amusement at being informed of Sandalwood’s occupation, raising an eyebrow at her cousin. “I hope you didn’t plan on surprisin’ me with a session with her, then, ‘cause I really am not fond of that kind of thing.”

“Why not?” asked Sweetie, totally ignorant of the undertones of disgust in Babs’s voice. She got a look from the other Crusaders that were more on top of the subtle message.

“I’m not big on doin’ things that belong in spas.” The brown filly replied, eyes narrowing in anger. “My parents were convinced that because I’m a filly that I should inherently like things fillies normally do, like go spend hours in a spa or play house with dolls. They still won’t even have my room be painted a color that isn’t pink for Celestia’s sake!”

Sweetie, ever the supporter of spending hours in the spa and playing house with dolls, didn’t understand. “What’s wrong with any of that stuff?”

“Sweetie, remember what I said back on the camping trip about why I had ‘that’ sleeping bag?” interjected Scootaloo, who understood fully what Babs was talking about.

“Camping trip?”

Apple Bloom face hoofed. “Oh for…Sweetie, you know! The one where Ah accidently ripped up your sleepin’ bag because Ah was…” She luckily caught herself right before revealing the thing Babs didn’t need to know about. “Oh, you know!”

Sweetie still didn’t understand. “But you ripped my sleeping bag because of-“ She started, before realizing how the pieces went together. “Oh, right, that camping trip! Okay, I remember now, Scoot!”

Babs watched the exchange between the three with suspicious curiosity. She made a mental note to ask about what exactly happened on that camping trip, since evidently she was being intentionally left out of the loop despite being a Cutie Mark Crusader. But almost immediately something else caught her attention.

“Hey, girls, why do you have a cardboard cutout of a lavender unicorn in the back of the truck?
Apple Bloom immediately seized upon the opportunity to change the topic back to being about the machine. “You mean ‘Cardlight Sparkle’ back there?”

Scootaloo stared at Apple Bloom in shock. “Wait, you were serious that you had named it that?!”

“You got a better name?” shot back AB, smiling with a slightly smug expression when the pegasus could not suggest one.

Babs, in the meantime, had managed to get back into the truck bed to look at Cardlight Sparkle up close. “Uh, okay, this is sort of creepy. Isn’t this one of the princesses, only without her wings?”

“Yeah, it’s a cardboard cutout of Twilight Sparkle. Applejack found it in the back one day when Sandalwood came by to do some kind of maintenance check and AJ wanted to see if the engine could be put on a float. We don’t know where it came from, but it doesn’t seem to be doin’ anypony any harm so we just left it there.”

“Why would your sister want to remove the engine for a stupid float?” asked Babs, leaping back down to the ground. “Wouldn’t it make more sense just to decorate this thing as a float instead?”

Apple Bloom shrugged. “That’s what Ah said to her, but she doesn’t want us drivin’ it because we, uh, crashed it in a way that seriously inconvenienced her, and she herself doesn’t like drivin’ it, so she just wanted to take the engine out. Don’t matter, anyway, the engine is pretty snugly secured inside that thing so removin’ it is impossible.”

“But you built it,” Babs pointed out. “Doesn’t that mean you can simply un-build it to get the engine out?”

“It would be easier just to buy a new engine at that point. It’s not like the truck has a unique engine, anyway, it’s actually the same one from that golden apple float we booby-trapped.”

“You salvaged that thing? It looked totaled when it hit the river!”

“Nah, the engine was totally fine. Not to say it hasn’t given us any shortage of trouble since, though…”

Babs could only wonder at what Apple Bloom’s seemingly whimsical implications could mean, but was not given the chance to as somepony from the house shouted out “DINNER TIME!”

“Finally!” happily exclaimed Scootaloo, doing a little jump and hovering in joy. “Let’s get this thing locked up, I’m hungry!”

Apple Bloom just rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, Scoot, gotta keep your stomach full to explain why ya can’t fly.”

“Hey!”

As the sun’s last vestiges of light faded over the horizon with night taking over the sky, the streets of the Crystal Empire saw the last stragglers of day workers return to their dwellings. But as Shining Armor looked over the domain his wife ruled over, he mused that the signs of modernization were already taking hold. Even from the lofty balcony perched near the upper middle of the Crystal Castle, he could already see the bright lights coming on at the recently opened nightclub, and the growing line of ponies standing outside, even though he was a good mile away from the action.

Just then, one of the maids came through the door. “Dinner is ready, your highnesses…um…Prince Armor, where is the princess?”

Shining Armor turned to face the servant. “Cady is…busy, at the moment. Don’t worry, I’ll go fetch her, just have the table ready for us in a few minutes.”

“Right away, your highness.” The maid curtsied and left. When the door shut behind her, Shining dropped his smile and sighed before teleporting himself to his beloved’s location. In a flash of magenta he went from the bedroom to right outside the last remaining trace of King Sombra. The secret archives that held much of the “research” the king had conducted on the hapless Crystal Ponies would have normally been considered a crime against ponykind merely by existing, with additional counts for every single book that remained in it that detailed things not meant for pony eyes. However, it had been successfully argued that simply destroying the archive would be impossible for Sombra would have certainly put protective spells around it to prevent such a thing, and that because of its depths of information about dark magics it should be exploited as a knowledge base from which better countermeasures to the evil power could be developed. Such arguments were indirectly justified to those who knew of Applejack’s brief period of lycanthropy, as the records of Sombra’s creation of the werewolves had yielded the information necessary to save the apple farmer in time along with paving the way for what Shining and Cadence had been told was “closure” for the apples.

But even with the most trustworthy mages being the only ones allowed to go through the archives, for some reason Princess Cadence had been randomly disappearing during her free time only to be found among the sinister tomes. Why she was doing this was anypony’s guess, as in addition to the spells cast to prevent the destruction of the archives outright, Sombra had also cursed the room to concentrate its utter hatred for the one who would take the throne from him, which for Cadence meant really, really bad migraines if she was only just fully inside the door frame. Shining found her writhing in agony in the middle of the room, which didn’t last long as he hastily pulled her out of it.

“Cadence! What were you doing?!” he yelled at her.

“Unh…yeah, that was probably stupid of me…” she weakly grunted, although now she was out of the archives her head no longer felt like it was going to implode and strength returning to her faculties.

“Stupid? Honey, that doesn’t even begin to describe what I just saw! You know just as well as I do that it’s dangerous for you to simply be inside this doorframe, with what would happen if you went further in being pretty easy to predict!” Shining stopped his tirade, but only because the sudden adrenaline rush was wearing down and he had to catch his breath, continuing once his heart wasn’t beating so fast. “Cady, it looked like you were having a seizure, maybe you actually were for all I know, but if I hadn’t just shown up you could have died!”

“I’ve already had brushes with death at least twice, dear. I was left to starve in the caverns while Chrysalis almost married you in my place, then I almost burnt myself out trying to save this city from Sombra. It would take more than a migraine to take out an alicorn like me.”

“Not that much more, Cadence. You still haven’t fully recovered from the strain you subjected yourself to in defense of the city when Sombra cut off my magic. The fact you keep trying to overstrain yourself worries, me, whatever the reason.” He then suddenly hugged his wife tightly. “I’ve nearly lost you twice, Cady, the fact you nearly made that count go to three by repeatedly going into that room makes me worry to no end that you honestly don’t have any concept of self-preservation. Can you please promise me you’ll stop going into there?”

“I’m sorry, Shiny,” Cadence apologized, who felt stupid that he had to be the one to tell her how she was making him feel. She prided herself on her empathy, so the fact she’d been so blind to him being worried about her was a sign she wasn’t being a good wife. “You’re right, I shouldn’t have been making these trips into Sombra’s archives, but as the ruler of the Crystal Empire I have to be sure I can better handle the worst case scenario of Sombra’s return.”

“Cadence, he’s dead. He blew up! You blew him up!”

“But he’s back.”

Shining broke the embrace and looked incredulously at his wife. “Dear, you can’t be serious.”

Cadence, however, had a grim expression as she looked her husband dead in the eye. “No, I can still sense his magic out there.”

“Hon, you just spent-“

“Yes, I know, I was in the room full of dark magic, but I was only in there to try and build up my endurance to it. Without your magic I couldn’t even keep up the barrier for two days under his assault, and that was only when he was at his weakest. It’s been months since then and if he has come back then he will almost certainly be stronger and attack without warning. But I know there is a pony out there using dark magic similar to his, and as no pony has ever had the kind of powerful darkness he had at his command I don’t see how it can’t be him.”

“Then let’s contact Celestia and Luna, have them send down more guards and mages, set up stronger defenses.”

“NO!” shouted Cadence, her face absolutely livid. Shining took a step back out of pure fear, the last time he’d ever seen his wife that angry was back when she appeared just in time to prevent him from marrying Chrysalis. Cadence, realizing her action, immediately backed down. “Sorry, Shiny, but I can’t allow that, for the sake of the Crystal Ponies. Even though I’ve proven I’m the rightful heir to the Crystal Throne with how my cutie mark reacts in the presence of the Crystal Heart, if they even think for a moment that Sombra is coming back they’re going to lose confidence in me as their leader and everything is going to spiral out of control. Building up a guard presence is exactly the way to do that.”

Shining just nodded, but was glad his wife wasn’t angry at him. “Do the other princesses know?”

“I’ve already sent off letters to Celestia and Luna, I haven’t said anything to Twilight namely because Spike would get it first and with all the self-esteem issues he’s been having due to the new lifestyle Twilight has as a Princess, having him find out that he didn’t pave the way for the defeat of Sombra is only going to make it worse.”

“Good point, but Twilight needs to know somehow and if Canterlot hasn’t told her yet then we are going to need to. But right now I’m starving and I’m not letting you keep me from my dinner.”

“Oh, please, like you need dinner. Truth is you could probably lose a few pounds that somehow have appeared now that you’re out of the guard.”

“Are you saying I’m not as strong as I was back when I threw you at Sombra?” He didn’t even give his wife a chance to respond, as in one swift motion he darted under her, stood up so she was riding his back, and then was running off with her to the dining hall, both of them laughing all the way.

___________________________________________________________________________________
It was well past ten in the evening when Raspberry Beryl and Heliodor bid farewell to the princess and went back to their room at the hotel.

“They seemed like a good pair, don’t you think so, Spike?” asked Twilight as she closed the door behind her.

“Yeah, when you’re not trying to scare them to death that is,” the dragon who was cleaning up the plateware left from dinner snarked back.

“Oh, come now, Spike, you know that was just a big misunderstanding. Although now that I think about it, Raspberry might be a great research subject. While unicorns whose magic power is weakened from childhood traumas isn’t something new, there’s been very little exploration of the full effects such a thing would have on them.”

“Twilight, I think you’re forgetting that she’s a pony just as much as you, not a test subject.”

Twilight was silent for a moment as Spike’s words sunk in before letting out a nervous chuckle. “Yeah, you’re right Spike, I shouldn’t be thinking like that. I guess it’s just that ever since becoming a princess I haven’t had much time to enjoy researching things and making new discoveries like I used to, not to mention the idea of having weak magic power seems so alien to me as I’ve been around great magic users all my life.”

Having deposited the dishes, Spike walked from the kitchen over to Twilight so he wouldn’t have to yell. “But wasn’t the whole point of you inviting Raspberry over so that you could take notes on her phoenix?”

Upon being reminded of Heliodor, Twilight unconsciously launched herself up into the air and fluttered about, happy as a lark. “Ah! Yes! Such a fascinating creature! I took so many notes!” As it would have turned out, dinner would mostly consist of Twilight asking Raspberry more questions about Heliodor and what it was like to have a phoenix as a pet. Contrary to the reserved nature of his owner, Heliodor seemed the complete opposite as he basked in the adoration being given to him by a princess. Still, pages upon pages of notes had been generated by the time Twilight had actually remembered it was dinner time and finally taken a bite.

“Yeah, sort of interesting in how he’s a bird who associates with fire that’s hanging around a pony who has trouble controlling her magic.” Commented Spike, now putting away the books Raspberry had left lying around.

Twilight raised an eyebrow at her dragon’s words. “I’m not seeing your point, Spike.”

The dragon shelved the last book, then turned to his sister. “Think about it, Twi, Beryl isn’t the first unicorn we’ve run across with magic like hers.”

“It’s not dark magic, Spike.”

“That’s not what I’m saying. Of course she isn’t Sombra reincarnated, that would be stupid. But you have to have seen the similarities between her and Sunset Shimmer.”

“You mean how her magic aura looked? I did think it looked similar to what Sunset’s magic was when she was wearing the Element of Magic, but that’s getting into advanced magical theories and the conditions are completely different. Sunset was basically an evil version of me and she went power crazy in thinking an army of young adult…non-ponies could conquer Equestria, while also using excessive amounts of magic in a form not meant to use magic. Raspberry’s horn was permanently damaged during its developmental phase and she has trouble lifting a book via telekinesis. Completely different.”

“But that’s assuming her magic follows conventional magic principles. But what if it isn’t regular unicorn magic? What if it’s some new kind of magic unlike anything we’ve seen, which considering all the different kinds such as Discord’s Chaos Magic, Sombra’s Dark Magic, Chrysalis’s love-powered shapeshifting magic, Nightmare Moon’s…Nightmare Magic, my own dragon magic, and even the highest level unicorn spells even you still can’t do despite not even being a unicorn anymore. I think we need to watch her closely, Twilight, something doesn’t seem right with her.”

Utter silence ruled the bottom floor of Golden Oaks for what seemed like hours before Twilight finally recovered from being struck speechless to ask the most pressing question Spike had now put in her mind;

“Spike, when did you become such an expert at knowing different magic type classifications?”

The dragon laughed. “Oh, come on, Twi, why are you surprised at that? You’ve dragged me along on enough crazy adventures and I doing the same to you occasionally, it’s not out of the question that I’ve learned a thing or two over the years.”

Twilight trotted over to nuzzle the baby reptilian she loved like a brother. “And that, Spike, is why you are my number one assistant.”

“You mean number one royal assistant, that is,” corrected Spike, prompting both of them to laugh.

_________________________________________________________________________________
“Why do you even have that sleeping bag?” asked Babs as she took Scootaloo’s Iron Mare sleeping bag out of the red wagon attached to Scoot’s Scooter.

“Mom and dad got it for me back when they thought I was going to turn out more like Sweetie Belle instead of Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo lied.

“Hey!” shouted Sweetie Belle from the top of the treehouse ramp, only to find Scootaloo’s heart sleeping bag flying towards her. Without thinking she tried to use her magic to slow it down, but as her magic had only just finally begun to manifest as sparks there was no change in the flying object as it hit her, propelling the tiny unicorn back into the clubhouse proper.

“C’mon, Sweetie, Ah doubt Scoot meant that as an insult,” laughed Apple Bloom who was busy unrolling her sleeping bag, the one Babs would be using still tied into a giant roll in the corner closest to her. To finish celebrating Babs having returned to the CMC fold, the foursome would spend a sleepover in the CMC treehouse with the activity being a “cutie mark acquisition” planning session that would take the Crusaders all the way through to the end of the year.

“Nopony has told me why Sweetie needs to borrow Scootaloo’s sleeping bag,” said Babs, who by now had entered the treehouse and was unpacking the sleeping bag she herself was borrowing from her Apple relatives. Appearance wise it was no different from Apple Bloom’s, which had been the same one she’d taken on the school camping trip.

“My sleeping bag got ripped up, remember?” said the unicorn.

“How did that happen, exactly? You guys said that camping trip was over a month ago and if I remember correctly, isn’t your sister Rarity a seamstress? Couldn’t she just patch up a ripped bag?”

“She said she would, but only when she had a chance. She’s been dealing with a bunch of orders lately, plus all of her free time has been put towards making new Hearth’s Warming costumes for the school.”

Apple Bloom couldn’t help but chuckle. “Of course, since Sweetie is the only unicorn filly in our class, she gets to be Princess Platinum by default, and Rarity is just obsessin’ over making the costume perfect for her.”

“Hey, maybe I’ll just get my cutie mark in acting! After all, making costumes for the class play was how Rarity got her cutie mark!”

“Whoa, hold on girls!” interrupted Scootaloo, “we aren’t ready to start planning how we’re gonna get our cutie marks just yet! This isn’t a real sleep over yet!”

“It isn’t?” inquired Babs, before suddenly receiving a giant, heart-covered pillow blow to the face.

“Not until we have an all-out PILLOW FIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!”

All semblance of organization fell to the wayside as the four fillies quickly started darting all over the room, pillows and feathers (not all of them orange) flying all over the place.

Discord didn’t have much time. He was already in enough trouble with Celestia as she had to have figured out he’d been out of Castle Canterlot all day by now, and earlier in the week he’d been acting far out of his normal habit of tilting every single painting he passed exactly 3.14 degrees clockwise, among other pranks. Instead, he’d actually been spending a lot of time in the library, looking at phoenix migration patterns from a few years ago. He didn’t have an exact location nailed down, nor was he admittedly anywhere near as smart with academics as Twilight (though he’d sooner be turned back to stone than tell her), but if the rough general direction he’d come up with was right then what he was looking for should be close.

Twilight had no idea, but Discord had never placed more importance on anything in his entire life than finding the answer to whether or not the green phoenix that currently lived near Ponyville was in fact a legitimate green phoenix. He’d spent the entire day traveling from town to town in a plethora of disguises and doing his best as to not arouse suspicion, as tracking where the green phoenix had been proved a little too easy. The adventures of ‘Heliodor’ as he’d learned to be the phoenix’s name, as well as his pony counterpart ‘Raspberry Beryl” all seemed disturbingly consistent with what happened around the time they left for another settlement. Of course, he had suspected to be told of such things before even beginning his quest for answers. In fact, since he knew Raspberry Beryl and Heliodor to be in Ponyville, he would have massively preferred to just go and talk to them himself. But, being an infamous chaos spirit who had pissed off every single living thing on the planet during his brief victory over the Elements of Harmony, he knew that wasn’t going to happen. But maybe if he-

“DISCORD!"

The sudden flash of light that revealed a very irate sun princess sent Discord crashing down into the ground, shattering him into a bunch of separated parts as if he’d been a child’s toy based on an anthropomorphic potato.

“Ah, Celestia!” he calmly replied back, while his rear legs inched themselves closer to his lower torso,"I know I’ve sort of been going around Equestria all day, but I swear I’ve been a good boy and-“

“You promised me that you wouldn’t go off doing your own thing without running it by me first. The fact some part of Equestria isn’t defying the laws of physics right now is the only thing keeping me from tightening the metaphorical collar around your neck.”

“As I pledged to you that I was reformed, I have no intention to break that promise. However, my current business is of a different matter of significantly more importance and to somebody above even your station, princess.”

“I am the highest authority in the land, Discord, but if you have allied yourself with a treasonous power who would-“

“Oh for heaven’s sake- I’m carrying out something your mother asked me to do millennia ago!”

Celestia’s normally unbreakable expression of displeasure shattered upon the mentioning that Discord was following orders from Queen Faust herself. “Impossible…” was all she could manage in her shock.

Discord, in turn, laughed, but in a way that implied as if it was a response to a good natured joke and not out of any kind of malice. “I know you still can’t believe your mother and I were ever able to tolerate each other, much less be good friends, but here’s the proof all the same.” Holding his still-detached right arm in his left, he used his now super-extended arm to reach inside his vacant arm slot and pulled out an old scroll, which he held out for Celestia to take in her telekinesis. The instant recognition on her face that clearly was indicative of the familiarity she felt in the magic still in the scroll let Discord relax a bit now that he wasn’t about to spend a few hours on the moon.

“When did she give you this?”

“She wrote it shortly before her passing from this world, Verna was the one who actually delivered it to me on her final flight from Castle Everfree. You see, Celestia, you and Luna have your own little thousand-year chess games with the Elements and Star Swirl’s book and…whatever was going on with the Crystal Empire, I honestly don’t know as I personally thought Sombra wasn’t a legitimate problem back then or when he temporarily came back. Regardless, you’re not the only immortal from that time who has their own long-term plans now seeing the light of day, and while it’s her magic preventing me from sharing my knowledge of this new problem with you, I swear on Queen Faust’s name that I act only in her interest and I ask you for your trust in me on the matter, as insanely idiotic a move as that sounds.”

Celestia thought hard for a few minutes before she gave her answer. “Fine, if the Queen saw fit to place her trust in you on this matter, then I have no ground to do otherwise. Nor does Luna, Cadence, or Twilight. However, I do still want you to let me know of what you are at least doing when you have to leave the castle, starting with where you were going before I showed up.”

“Of course, your highness, and in fact that’s my destination right over there.” Replied the now fully reassembled Discord, pointing towards a large cave opening they happened to be standing in front of. “Let’s take a look inside, shall we?”

And so Celestia, against her better judgement, followed the Dragonequis into the cave. There wasn’t much in the cave, which looked like it had been abandoned for years, but several rafters looked like they’d been damaged if not outright ripped out of their places, and the opening of the cave wasn’t even out of sight before Discord snapped his fingers and something winked out from a crevice that was barely even visible only to appear in his lion paw. It was a tiny green feather, long since faded with the passage of time but still bore enough luster to easily be identifiable as having come from a phoenix.

“So, the green phoenix Twilight was so eager about…it’s the real deal?” asked Celestia.

“As real as you or me, Celestia,”Discord said gravely, “and as real as everything else that phoenix heralds.”

___________________________________________________________________________________
It was to the sound of rustling that Babs woke to. After a wild session of fierce pillow fighting and the subsequent wild planning session for Crusades to go on for cutie marks, all four fillies had been plum tired by the end of it all and conked out quickly. Or so it had seemed.

“Oh, sorry, cos’, Ah didn’t mean to disturb you.” Said Apple Bloom, who for some reason seemed exhausted, like she’d run several miles. She also appeared to be taking what looked like crackers out of a drawer.

“Did you just go out runnin’ or somethin’?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, no. Ah didn’t go runnin’. Just a bad dream, that’s all. Ah figured maybe if Ah had a small, late night snack it would help.”

“Ah. Mind if I have a midnight snack, too?”

“Uh, yeah su-yawn-rrre, just close up the bag when you’rrre done.”

Babs noticed that Apple Bloom’s “r’s” suddenly had begun to slur, sounding huskier compared to her otherwise normal accent. There was further cause for concern when Babs had gotten up and passed Apple Bloom as the latter went to her sleeping bag, for her swishing tail seemed to have a leaf or two caught in it. For somepony who had only been up at this hour and looking exhausted from a nightmare, why did she have lose foliage in her tail?

But the most damning evidence was in the snack drawer. As Babs fished out some cheese crackers, she noted the bag of dog treats stuffed in the back and mostly obscured by the other packaged food stuffs. Curiosity taking hold, she reached back and pulled it out, but only after hearing Apple Bloom’s rather loud snores.

It was a bag of Happy Puppy brand Dog Biscuits. Bacon Flavor.

And inside the oddly only half-sealed bag were bits of all too familiar yellow fur.

Her heart beginning to race, Babs looked back at the form of her sleeping cousin. Had Apple Bloom really been awake because of a nightmare, or was it in fact Babs that had possibly just walked into one?

“N-no, that’s silly!” whispered Babs to herself, hastily closing the dog biscuit bag and returning it to its hiding spot before she herself went back to sleep. But it was only a light sleep, as suddenly everything that had seemed off about this return to Ponyville started to fit into place and the stories of werewolves having actually existed, as proven by Iron Will’s execution of the last one, made more sense.

But what if that wasn’t the last werewolf thought Babs, what if the last one is my own cousin?

Ch.12: Beyond Monday

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 12: “Beyond Monday”

Cheerilee was happily trotting from her little house on the east side of town to the little red schoolhouse. Usually her happiness was just out of her normal, cheerful nature and going back to partake in her life’s calling that was teaching the young fillies and colts of Ponyville the foundation of their life’s education. Today, however, was different, as evidenced by her fortunate overtaking of the Crusaders Trio plus one.

“Good morning, girls!” greeted the teacher.

“Morning, Miss Cheerilee!” they all replied back, except the odd one out of their number, who seemed a bit shy.

“And you must be Babs, correct?”

“Yes m’am,” answered Babs. “I take it you’re my new teach?”

Cheerilee raised an eyebrow at the way Babs had addressed her. It sounded suspicious, especially considering how Babs’ name now brought back vague memories of observed behavior from last year’s summer during the harvest festival. “Uh, ‘teach’?”

“It’s slang, Miss Cheerilee. Babs is from Manehatten.” Interjected Apple Bloom.

“Yeah, it’s what everypony calls the instructors back home. I didn’t mean to insult you, Miss. Cheerilee,” apologized Babs.

The educator was placated by the brown filly’s apology. “It’s alright, Babs, I’m sure we’ll get along just fine. Now, I believe you’re supposed to give me some papers about where you left off on your studies at your previous school so I can set you up to be on track with the rest of your new classmates?”

“Uh-huh!” the filly answered, reaching over to take out some various official looking documents from her saddlebag and handed them over to Cheerilee. The teacher quickly skimmed them, noting that Bab’s previous teacher, a Mr. Chalk Stick, had written comments about how she was somewhat of a poor performer in academics and had trouble socially with others prior to an extended summer stay with a relative, after which she had become a much better student. Going off of the grade markings, it was no surprise she fell right within the average that was held by the other three fillies in front of her.

“Alright, everything seems to be in order,” said Cheerilee, putting the papers in her own saddlebag to review in-depth later, “right now I think we all should be on our way to the schoolhouse so you can meet the rest of your new class, Babs!”The addressed filly eagerly nodded, and together the five ponies headed towards the local institution of learning.

It was already ten in the morning when Raspberry Beryl woke to the sound of a happily tweeting phoenix.

“Well, good *yawn* morning Hellee!” said the unicorn, stretching and rolling herself out of the bed to begin her daily regimen. Ever since moving into the Traveler’s Retreat she had come to appreciate being able to go out to interact with other ponies without a musky odor reeking from her coat. Most ponies were skeptical of her in general, since she couldn’t say her gem business was stable enough to provide a more permanent housing like most ponies. Smelling like a homeless vagrant was not a way to make herself more appealing as somepony to talk too.

“CAW!” replied a perky Heliodor, whose morning wash routine was limited to just incidental preening. He usually preferred to wash himself more fully in the evening before sleep, especially when Raspberry helped him get the spots on his back he couldn’t reach.

“Do we have any more deliveries of gems to make today?”

Heliodor flapped over to where the saddlebag had been laid the previous night. Prior to waiting for the princess at Golden Oaks, they had made some deliveries around down and picked up new ones. As Razz sang a slightly off-tune melody, Heliodor opened up a larger bag that stayed in the room at all times and pulled out various pouches full of gems. He would even have gone so far as to open the bags and sort out the orders himself, but he couldn’t read the various notes given from clients so he left that to Raspberry. In truth, she was perfectly literate herself and could manipulate a pen telekinetically to write notes, but due to her magic aura’s appearance she simply used the excuse that having separate notes from her clients helped he keep the deliveries organized.

A few minutes later the refreshed unicorn emerged from the bathroom and after a quick nuzzle of thank you to her bird, she set to work in dividing up her materials. She had enough, but only barely, so she’d need to go get some more soon to refill her stock. Of course, her method of finding gems relied on her leaving Ponyville for a time to be closer to her source, so she’d need to pick up some more supplies. She didn’t like it, but because of her magic’s limitations it was the only way to stockpile enough gems of all kinds without having to make even more trips back and forth.

The rumbling in her stomach told her there was something even more pressing, to which Heliodor’s tweets agreed.

“Breakfast time it is, then,” laughed Raspberry.

The sudden increase in volume of the phoenix signaled to Cashmere and Ascot that their longest staying resident was finally coming down for breakfast.

“I’ll get the roasted almonds.” Said Ascot, opening his wings and gliding over to the kitchen to fetch the favored meal of the phoenix. Cashmere, meanwhile, merely picked up a plate and began to fill it with a large portion of food from the food bar.

“Morning, Cashmere and Ascot!” greeted the cheerful Beryl as she descended down the stairs and over to the dining area. Sitting down, the earth pony mare quickly put down the overloaded food plate in front of her. “Oh, wow, this is a lot, I really don’t think-“

“Eat as much as you want, dear,“ Cashmere said, cutting off Razz’ statement with a smile. “You always try to eat as little as you can, but I know you have a big appetite and you’ve always insisted on eating as little as you can to try and not be a burden to us, so all you’re doing is cheating yourself out of a decent meal. So, please, eat all you want, even if it’s just to humor an old mare like me.”

Mornings at the Traveler’s Retreat were very much like a small restaurant. The building was originally a large private house but after some years of remodeling it was capable of serving about fifty guests at once for breakfast. However, rarely was it ever at even half capacity, which the proprietors Cashmere and Ascot, a slightly elderly mixed pony couple, didn’t mind too much as their operating costs were low as a result. They didn’t mind the revenue being also relatively minimal, as they could have retired years ago from the profits they’d made back during the Retreat’s heyday. Really, the only reason they kept the old bed and breakfast running was merely to provide a low-cost alternative for ponies and non-ponies alike. The Retreat was as simple as a rest stop could get; for a flat fee per night for a double bedroom, guests got a lightly furnished yet comfortable and clean place to stay the night, complete with an equally furnished working bathroom, then in the morning a complimentary continental breakfast was provided in the dining area for guests before they checked out and were on their way. It wasn’t like more modern hotels which had pools, full room service, and special higher rate rooms like penthouses or ones with guest capacity beyond two, but for most ponies who even in the present were traveling from town to town with a limited, non-solid income source, the Retreat was everything they could possibly want at the end of a long day.

Of course, the majorities of those customers only were just passing through or had short-term business in Ponyville, on average most guests rarely stayed more than a week at most. The one exception in all the years the Retreat had been running was, of course, Raspberry Beryl and her very unique pet, the latter of whom chirped happily when Ascot brought his favorite food in from the kitchen. Normally, the couple wouldn’t let guests bring highly magical pets in as the potential damage they could do would rack up massive damage bills which the insurance would need to pay for, but after a few select incidents the insurance premium had gotten so high that they just couldn’t risk it. But as the still-hovering Ascot suddenly had to land when his right wing cramped up, both he and his beloved Cashmere were reminded of the reason why Heliodor was the exception.

A few minutes later, Raspberry took her now empty plate and put it on the soiled plateware tray to be washed up for tomorrow, Heliodor doing the same with his empty bowl. Then after he landed on her horn, the duo walked over to the main reception desk where Ascot currently was on duty to receive any newcomers.

“Did you enjoy breakfast?” the pegasus asked.

“Oh, yes! It was delicious, as always Mr. Ascot!” confirmed Raspberry, Heliodor doing the same by simply nodding vigorously.

“That’s good to hear. Anyway, I guess it’s about that time again when you need to go on leave?”

“Yeah, if it’s not too much trouble I’ll just check out again. I don’t know when I’ll be back, though, so feel free to let out the room I’ve been using.”

“Actually, about that…”said Cashmere, walking up behind her husband to join him at the desk, “Raspberry, Scotty and I have been discussing it, but we are just curious; how long do you plan to keep on doing this, paying the nightly rate for a mere hotel room with an included breakfast, then simply checking out for a brief period of time, before coming back to rent out one of our rooms for a few weeks all over again?”

“Well, I, um…” Raspberry muttered as she blushed, “...to be honest I don’t think I’ll be able to look into a more stable residential option for a long time, but if it’s a problem for you then I can-“

She didn’t get the chance to finish before Ascot burst out laughing. “Razz, my dear! You really need to stop acting like you’re such a burden, if anything you’ve been our best resident of all time. But this constant checking in-and-out and the fact you refuse to pay anything less than the per-night fee seems highly inefficient for your financial situation.”

Cashmere took over for her husband, “That’s why we’ve decided to offer you something…a little different. While Scotty and I do pride ourselves in keeping this old joint afloat with clean rooms, they’re far from being as cozy as an apartment and since you like staying here so much, we think you do deserve better.”

Raspberry was confused. “But all you have are regular double rooms, right?”

The elderly earth pony mare chuckled. “For guests who don’t plan on staying nearly as long as you have, honey. However, we do have a private guest room back in the main part of the living quarters that we never use, so if you’re willing we can simply rent that out to you for a longer period of time so you can reside here in a fair bit higher degree of comfort and not have to constantly check in and out when you need to go replenish your gem stocks.”

The unicorn was taken aback. “R-really? I appreciate it, really, I do! Except… that would just make other ponies think I’ve got better standing than them, which in turn wouldn’t be good for your business.”

Unexpectedly, the warm smile Cashmere wore didn’t falter. “Then what if we just hired you on as a helper?”

“You…you want to hire me?”

“Why not? Every time you ‘check out’ of a room, it’s almost always cleaner than it was when we gave it to you, both Scotty and I think you’re an absolute joy to have around, and you can keep doing your business of selling gems in town so having a side job here at the place you live means you’ll earn your keep and get a little extra boost in your average income. And don’t worry about our finances, dear, we’ve still got enough of an income going into our accounts from the usual crowd, but you’ve helped us in so many ways that we’ve decided it’s time we helped you out a little.

“That…that’s so kind of you…” Raspberry was truly at a loss for words. A better living situation and an additional source of income simply by doing things she was only too happy to do for two ponies who had opened their home to her? Fortune truly seemed to be looking up for her now, the tears welling up in her eyes only stopped when a small brown pegasus filly tapped at her leg.

“Excuse me, miss, but is that a real phoenix?” the blonde filly asked, her green eyes wide with wonder.

“Cinnamon Star!” boomed a much older mare’s voice, who quickly came up to the growing assembly of ponies before Razz could even get a word out. “I’m sorry if my daughter is bothering you, ma’am, she hasn’t taken her eyes off your pet ever since you brought him into the dining area.”

“Oh, it’s quite alright!” the unicorn answered back with a smile, “I just hope Heliodor here hasn’t been too much of a distraction, since it looks like you’re checking out.” Indeed, a large pegasus stallion was approaching while hauling some large luggage with him.

“Oh, it’s not your fault, Cinnamon is just as curious as fillies her age all are, and after all we were her age too, once, right?” The mare failed to catch the slight wince made by the unicorn at the implication her years as a filly ever had that kind of luxury as she turned to address her offspring. “Come along, now, Cinnamon, just be patient for a little while as daddy and I check us out, then we’ll be on our way to Cloudsdale to visit grandma.”

“But…but I wanna play with the phoenix!” Cinnamon whined.

“Actually, if it would help…” began Raspberry, “I can take your daughter outside so she can play with my pet while you and your husband finish checking out. Would that work?” The approving nods from Cashmere and Ascot boosted Razz’s confidence.

“Why, yes, if you could that would be very sweet of you,” replied the mother, while Cinnamon merely needed a nod before racing out the front door and past her father. Heliodor followed suit, eager to have a new playmate, and Raspberry soon behind.

“Does she work here?” the father asked as he finally approached the reception desk, evidently worried about his daughter playing with a potentially dangerous magical bird and its handler.

A knowing glance between Ascot and Cashmere was exchanged before Ascot said with a grin; “Today is her first day, as a matter of fact.”

Recess at Ponyville Elementary saw battle lines being drawn as Diamond Tiara moved to confront her former ally.

“Gee, I guess if you’re here at school, then maybe hanging around the Cutie Mark Crybabies has softened you up!” taunted Tiara.

“Aren’t you highly original, considerin’ I’m the one who called the Crusaders ‘crybabies’ in the first place, and frankly I don’t see any cryin’ goin’ on anyway so if that was supposed to be an insult then you suck at them, clearly.” Retorted Babs.

“You were on my side, the right side, once Babs, I don’t know why you decided to double-cross and go over to loserville but don’t think you can move onto my turf and expect me to be all nice.”

“Oh, please, you think you’re hot just 'cause your parents have a lot of money, but you’re not. I’m somepony who comes from a high society family, I’ve seen mean ponies, both in school and out, back home in Manehatten, and you don’t even begin to qualify as rankin’ among them!”

Diamond gritted her teeth, for once again she was being bested by a member of that damnable Apple Family. At least this time it was by somepony who actually had wealth and social standing, things the pink pony respected, but that didn’t really make it any less humiliating. Although once again Tiara did have a trick up her metaphorical sleeve, one that wouldn’t be as much of a double-edged sword as insulting Apple Bloom’s lack of parents.

Keeping her angry face, she walked over to Babs. “Oh yeah? Well then, let me tell you something.” Babs held her ground, which was what Tiara wanted as she but her muzzle next to the brown filly’s ear and whispered; “Not everything is as you think it is, Babs. I may be unable to pose much of a threat to you, but at least I’m not the one living in the same house as a monster or two.”

Babs’s narrowed eyes went wide, pupils shrinking, as the words registered in her brain. Quickly regaining composure, she turned to look her once-friend in the eyes and whispered back “What do you mean by that exactly?”

Tiara smiled at how her words had found their mark, the change in eye state had been only for a moment but she’d seen it. “I’m sure you heard how your older cousin Applejack and her friends helped that Iron Will guy defeat the ‘last known werewolf’ or whatever, right?”

“Uh-huh…”

Diamond leaned in so that the tip of her muzzle almost touched Babs’, grinning evilly. “Let’s just say Apple Bloom is the current holder of that title.” Without further argument, the spoiled filly then turned and trotted away to rendezvous with Silver Spoon, the exchange of hostilities over and the schoolyard returning to a less tense state.

“What was that all about?” asked Scootaloo, who along with Sweetie and Apple Bloom now moved to Babs’s side.

Babs just shrugged. “I dunno, maybe it was just some sort of intimidation kind of thing?”

Suddenly, Apple Bloom stiffened. “Hold that thought, Ah gotta go use the little filly’s room!” The bow-wearing pony then took off at a sprint back to the schoolhouse to do her business.

The second Apple Bloom was out of view, Sweetie and Scoot suddenly found themselves drawn into a huddle by Babs. “Girls, I know it sounds crazy, but Tiara might have just tried givin’ us a warnin’ about Apple Bloom.”

“Say what now?” asked Scoot, incredulously.

“The stuff she was whisperin’ to me, it was about that werewolf business Applejack was involved with. Tiara was implyin’ that somehow Apple Bloom is a werewolf, too, because she’s ‘the last’ of them or somethin’.”

“That’s silly!” laughed Sweetie, although Babs thought there was a slight hesitation in the unicorn’s reaction.

“I actually think she might be on to somethin’.”

Scootaloo gave Babs her best ‘you can’t be serious’ look. “Really? You’re going to believe something Diamond Tiara said that was meant to scare us? How would she even know Apple Bloom is a werewolf? I don’t know if she told you after last weekend’s sleep over in the treehouse, but she really kicked Diamond Tiara’s flank in an argument a while ago, and tensions between those two have been higher than ever.”

“I don’t know, Scootaloo, but I honestly would not believe her if it wasn’t the fact I already suspected my cousin of bein’ a werewolf already.”

“Why? You’ve only been in Ponyville for two days!” pointed out Sweetie.

“Two-and-a-half, technically, includin’ nights, and it was the night of our sleepover that I started wonderin’ about Apple Bloom. She woke me up in the middle of the night by accident while goin’ through that snack drawer, sayin’ to me that it was a bad nightmare that had woken her up earlier and why she looked so exhausted and not because she had gone for a midnight run. But then she started slurrin’ her R’s after a big yawn, she had leaves stuck in her tail which would be impossible for somepony to have if they hadn’t left the treehouse, and there was a half-open bag of bacon flavor dog treats in the back of the snack drawer!”

“Uh, the dog biscuits are for Winona.” Said Sweetie.

“Then why were they hidden in the back of the snack drawer, where I found the bag half-open, and there were long strands of fur of the same color as Apple Bloom’s coat?”

“Watcha talkin’ about?” said Apple Bloom, having returned from the restroom.

“Babs thinks you’re a werewolf because of something you did the night of the sleepover and Diamond Tiara’s scare tactics.” Said Sweetie.

“W-what?” exclaimed Apple Bloom, taking a step back, then faced Babs. “What in Equestria makes you think Ah’m a werewolf?” Babs went over a quick summary of the ‘evidence’, but Apple Bloom just laughed. “Jeez, Babs, you just had to ask about all that yesterday. It was the middle of the night and we were both tired, the ‘leaves’ you saw in mah tail were just hair clips Ah use to keep its shape at night, mah speech was gettin’ slurred because Ah was tired, and mah fur in the dog biscuits bag probably was left over from the last time Ah opened it to give some treats to Winona. It bein’ half-open just means Ah didn’t check if Ah closed it fully.”

“Yeah, plus if Apple Bloom was a lycan...er...lycanthreeope, don’t you think we’d know about it?” said Scootaloo, “after all it would be kind of hard to hide something as big as that from the rest of us Crusaders!” The foursome shared a laugh with Babs apologizing for the misconception, but deep down Babs wasn’t truly convinced. She’d need to observe Apple Bloom a bit more just to be sure.

“Raspberry, darling! I’m so glad you could join me for lunch!” happily greeted Rarity as Raspberry appeared in the doorway of The Bannered Mare.

“Oh, it’s no trouble. I’m going to have to leave town for a few days anyway as my gem inventory is almost completely dried up after all of today’s deliveries, so I might as well live a bit more luxuriously before going back into the wilds,” replied the dark red unicorn, her phoenix nestled comfortably in an empty saddlebag pocket instead of his usual horn perch.

“But Raspberry, if you want to live in the lap of luxury, my guest room at the Boutique is still available!” the alabaster fashionista reminded her gem distributor, while the waiter led the pair of unicorns to a table.

“Actually, Cashmere and Ascot offered me their guest room for rent and a part time job in helping run the Retreat so I can have a little extra income,” Razz sheepishly replied, afraid of offending her best customer.

Rarity, however, was anything but offended. “Why, that’s fantastic! I’ll be honest in that I’ve always worried about your financial situation, how you can sell so many precious stones for your prices has always been…suspect. I feel dreadful for even thinking you would be so underhoofed as to sell forgeries, since you are by far one of the nicest ponies in the kingdom as far as I’m concerned, much less the fact I don’t even know how you could make fake gems in the first place, so while it is very selfish of me to say so I am glad for my sake you are finally in more stable living conditions.”

The two unicorns spent the next half hour or so idly chatting about all kinds of things, Raspberry in particular being the most open she’d ever been with Rarity as her self-confidence had never been higher. Everything had been going Raspberry’s way today, to the point it was the best day of her life. At least right up until Rarity mentioned she needed to place a special gem order.

“I know you usually specialize in the smaller sizes of gemstones, but if there is any way you can find a large diamond for me I’d be ever so grateful.”

Raspberry had been taking a bite out of her Hayball Sandwich when Rarity had dropped the bomb. “Wh-cough-what?” gagged the unicorn as the bite she’d taken went down the wrong way, finally going down after a hasty swig of water. “Sorry, you kind of took me by surprise there! But, er, how big are we talking?” Heliodor, who had largely ignored the small talk going on in favor of devouring the plate of French fries served to him, suddenly seemed to take interest as well.

“Well, it needs to be about…” started Rarity, the fork in her hoof idly spinning the eggplant Parmesan in front of her into a spiraled mess. “Actually, let me show you.” The diamond shaped clasp on her saddlebags opened up as a blue aura encased crown floated out of it and landed in front of Raspberry. “I’ve been working on Sweetie Belle’s Princess Platinum costume for the Hearth’s Warming Eve pageant the school is putting on. It’s all but outright guaranteed Sweetie will get the part, since she’s the only female unicorn in her class and since I once performed the role in Canterlot two years ago it’s a given she’ll whine and cry until Cheerilee gives her the part anyway. But she also wanted the costume to be ready for Nightmare Night, with me wearing my own costume for the same role so we can be a pair of pretty princesses.” The artificially accented unicorn couldn’t help but giggle at how cute they would look before continuing. “However, I wanted to try a different design for Sweetie’s costume, and the major stumbling block has been trying to find a centerpiece for her crown. I was going to go find a suitable diamond myself and not trouble you with this, but this past weekend I had half the town ask for me to repair or fabricate Nightmare Night costumes and I simply cannot make time to find the gem I need to finish that tiara.”

Raspberry took the tiara in her hoof and looked it over. The ‘crown’ wasn’t so much an actual headpiece as it was just a piece of metal framework, but due to its construction the gem inset placement at the center of the crown had to be finished before any fabric would be able to get added. As for the diamond, it wouldn’t need to be giant but the size Rarity seemed to be implying was the desired property of what she needed was still well beyond what Raspberry normally sold. It would be difficult and potentially risky to acquire such a gem for Rarity.

“Okay, I’ll see what I can do.” Answered Raspberry, storing the crown in her saddlebag, “I’ll maybe need a few days to find it, but since you’re my best customer I think I can fill this ‘special order’ as it were.”

“Oh, thank you! Thank you!” thanked Rarity, before regaining her composure, “Um, so yes, if you could fill that order that would be fantastic. Of course, I’ve got some ‘regular order’ requests for you, too, if you don’t mind.”

Raspberry just shook her head before turning to look at Heelee. “Guess we’ll be camping out for gems a bit longer than we thought, eh?” In turn, the bird merely smiled and raised an eyebrow, a look Razz knew to mean something along the lines of ‘bring it on’.

Ch.13: Grounded Flight

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 13: “Grounded Flight”

Apple Bloom was in one heck of a pickle. In just slightly over a month and a half, she’d gone from her regular old self as a farm filly living a normal life (with some exceptions thanks to her sister being the Element of Honesty) to living something close to a double life thanks to having been cursed with lycanthropy by means she still didn’t understand. It was bad enough that she kept having to risk discovery once a week to go on midnight runs, her secret being exposed if anypony in the house heard her leave the house, or if they came to check on her while she was out, but not running would just drive her crazy with all that pent up energy she wouldn’t be able to expel. It probably helped that she had plenty of experience sneaking out at night for Crusader related reasons. But even when she had her body under control, it was still hard to make it through the average school day. Her improved hearing sometimes gave her slight migraines due to her eardrums being able to listen to much higher frequencies, she occasionally had the urge to just stick her tongue out and pant during class, and then to top it all off she now had to deal with possibly two others who were possibly privy to her secret and could bring disaster on top of her head.

In retrospect, it had been completely stupid to use her new form to scare the crap out of Diamond Tiara, regardless of how much she’d deserved it. After hearing that Diamond Tiara was still of the opinion that she was an actual werewolf, the sudden cold ‘burn’ she’d gotten from DT’s silver friendship bracelet from a little while back was making more sense and while DT didn’t have the resources to harm Apple Bloom severely, she could make her life hell.

But more worrisome was Babs. She hadn’t even been in Ponyville a full day before she was on track to figuring out what Apple Bloom had been hiding. Frankly, it was pure luck Apple Bloom had decided to shift back after her run before going for the dog treats, or Babs would have known the truth right away. Diamond Tiara may have been more of a vindictive little brat with all intentions to ruin Apple Bloom, but at least she lived in another house. Babs practically was now bunking in the room next to Apple Bloom and even though was truly a nice pony wouldn’t hesitate to tell the rest of the Apples what her cousin had become. In fairness, Babs most likely would do so out of fear instead of any ill intent towards Apple Bloom, but the end result would be the same; disastrous.

Finally, the school bell rang for the final time, letting loose the small horde of fillies and colts back into the world. Babs ended up needing to use the little fillies room this time, leaving Apple Bloom free to confide in her friends.

“What am Ah gonna do?!” moaned Apple Bloom. “She can’t ever learn what Ah am, if she finds out then the rest of mah family will find out and Ah can’t let that happen!”

“You need to calm down, first of all,” reasoned Scootaloo. “As long as you can keep your wild side under control for a while, Babs will probably forget about the whole thing.”

“Easier said than done: You’re not the one shoving dog treats in your mouth like candy,” glumly replied Apple Bloom.

“Well, why don’t you just tell Babs the truth?” suggested Sweetie. “I mean, that’s probably what we should have done in the first place. Yeah, she’s your family, no denying that, but the whole ‘Bad Seed’ thing we all went through the first time she visited was because nopony actually communicated with each other.”

“Because tellin’ her would mean havin’ to explain the whole family history with werewolves, includin’ Applejack’s bit, and Ah can’t do that. AJ would blow a fuse if she knew Ah’d already told you about what really went down in the Everfree that night.” Further discussion on the subject was cut as Babs returned, prompting the foursome to walk off from school talking about how they would try to get their cutie marks, all the while the two Apple Family cousins wary of each other.

“There, that should do it!” a relieved farm mare exclaimed as the last crossbeam went into place. The heavy rainstorm that had taken place a little over two weeks ago hadn’t directly caused any major damage to the property on Sweet Apple Acres, but since then the crossbeams on some sections of the fence marking the edge of the farm had started to show advanced signs of rotting. Thus, most of the day had been spent hauling around a cart full of replacement beams and swapping them in. It hadn’t been hard physical labor in so far as it had been maddeningly repetitive, but it was a nice change of pace from continuously bucking the seemingly infinite number of apple trees spread across her family’s land.

Taking a moment to rest before hauling the bad fence beams to the barn to be turned into firewood, Applejack looked out across the land and took in the sights. Most ponies who lived in the main part of town and other cities would just see an endless expanse of unending work, ranging from actual crop harvesting to providing for the livestock and of course the constant trouble of keeping the buildings standing. She too had once only seen the farm that way, years ago, although she had also been a mere filly who didn’t know much about the world. Applejack could not recall how much influence her desire to see the urban side of pony society had actually been in her motivations to leave the farm, at least in comparison to having to deal with the sudden deaths of her parents. Maybe she’d left the farm more out of a need to get away from it all, to remove herself from the life that had caused her pain she didn’t fully understand at the time.

But none of that mattered in the long run, since as she’d realized upon seeing that magical rainbow (a.k.a. Rainbow Dash) streak across the sky right to Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres was where she belonged. Her parents had only been out that fateful night because they needed to meet their crop harvesting quota in order to feed their family. Even after they’d healed up from the attacks, most likely having already fully become werewolves at that point, AJ remembered they spent quite a few nights working on the fields, past the time when she and her siblings were put to bed, all to keep the family sustained. Their extra production from werewolf-enhanced endurance hadn’t brought in that much extra income, but it had been enough to keep the parentless Apples afloat long enough for other parts of the Apple Family to move in temporarily and prevent the farm from going under, right up until Big Mac and herself could manage the farm without help.

And speakin’ of ponies who need help…thought Applejack, having caught in the corner of her vision the familiar afterimage of a particular pegasus approaching from the right. But then she saw the other afterimage of a pegasus she was familiar with following close behind.

The pegasus in front also had noticed the second one, moving to zig zag as to avoid getting tackled. The second pegasus, however, made no move to close the gap between it and the first one, only changing its flightpath slightly when its target made any significant changes of direction itself. The second pegasus suddenly shot past the first one when the latter turned right towards Applejack, flying in front and making to block what must have been perceived as an attempt to crash right into the grounded Earth pony. However, the now-blocked pegasus simply slowed to a stop in front of Applejack’s guardian, with both ponies proceeding to argue for a short while but became more conversational when the defending pony proved to be more aggressive than the pony who had been flying towards Applejack. Surprisingly, they came to some kind of agreement, whereupon both pegasus ponies resumed flying towards Applejack.

“What was that all about?” asked Applejack, wary of what could be going on considering who she was in the presence of.

“Dust says she needs to talk to you about something,” said Rainbow, evidently still not trusting of her former wingpony, “although I doubt it’s about what she’s owed you for over a year.”

“I know, I know,” hastily replied Lightning Dust, although instead of her normal standoffish nature she currently seemed anxious. Admittedly, the last time she’d been in Ponyville was during something akin to a mid-life crisis, having been tricked by Sable Loam into challenging Applejack to a race she couldn’t possibly have won, and then trying to beat up Applejack only in turn to have been maimed by the enraged werewolf. She’d then spent time recovering in Ponyville General, but the second her wing had healed up to the point she could fly she skipped town in the middle of the night.

“Let me guess, you’re here to challenge me to another race?” mocked Applejack. While the race had revealed Applejack’s secret to Lightning Dust, the pegasus couldn’t blackmail Applejack with the truth since she was no longer a werewolf.

“Please, this is important!” pleaded the aquamarine mare. “Look, I know I was in the wrong for the whole thing with the race and the fighting and all, Celestia knows what I was thinking at the time, and while it’s far overdue and you have absolutely every right to ignore what I say, I honestly, deeply and truly, am sorry for everything.”

Applejack said nothing, studying the out of character hotshot mare in front of her. Admittedly, compared to the complete mess LD had been a year ago, she was looking far better. Her coat, mane, and tail looked well kept, wings weren’t in need of preening, her breath didn’t smell like stale liquor, really the only sign anything was still wrong was the rings under her eyes. While they weren’t nearly as bad as they had been, they still were evidence that she wasn’t sleeping well. However, at the same time the look in LD’s eyes couldn’t mean anything else other than her being completely honest with her apology.

“To be honest, Ah kinda forgot about that whole thing, ‘cause Ah was goin’ through some rough stuff mahself, as you probably found out.”

“Yeah…” Lightning looked away from Applejack, which immediately tipped the Earth pony off there was something more too why Dust was here, something involving Applejack’s lycanthropy.

Rainbow noticed as well. “Hey, if it’s about the fact you explicitly told Iron Will about Applejack being a werewolf after I explicitly told you not to tell anypony, that was a year ago and in the end things only ended as positively as they had because he'd known the truth, so I don’t have any reason to still be mad at you. Even though I did expect you to have at least apologized a long time ago.”

“Yeah…” replied Dust again, “I don’t expect either of you, or anypony else for that matter, to respect my reasons for taking this long, but the truth is that I couldn’t bring myself to talk to any of you face-to-face until now. The whole business back at Wonderbolt Academy? Yes, I was a total pain in the rear and I deserved to get kicked out, but even then I still had more respect for myself in some way or another because my focus was more on making me look better than anypony else. But when I challenged you to a race, Applejack, I ended up wanting to actually hurt somepony, and for nothing more than bragging rights that truly meant nothing to me! I couldn’t even look at myself in the mirror after I got out of the hospital, so how would I expect ponies like you two, who I’ve wronged multiple times, to even listen to an apology from a pony who had even less respect for herself then you did?”

Rainbow, much to her surprise as much as Dust’s and Applejack’s, found herself compelled to wrap a wing around the other pegasus. “Well, you look much better than you were before, Dust, and you’ll find no ill will from anypony around here if you truly have turned over a new leaf.” Shockingly, Dust just shook her head sadly and used her own wings to move off Rainbow’s.

“Like I can believe that, too bad karma decided that’s not going to happen for me.”

It was then Applejack remembered Lightning Dust was living in Baltimare. “LD…are you stayin' in a local hotel or somethin’? Baltimare is a mite far to fly in a single day, even just one way, but you don’t have any luggage or anythin’”

“Yeah, now that you mention it…” added Dash, scratching her head with a hoof.

“I’m staying at the Traveler’s Retreat," answered Dust, "money is tight for me right now because Baltimare’s government is having some kind of financial shutdown and, while most of the weather team got furloughed, I was outright replaced by somepony who doesn’t get drunk and pick fights with ‘timberwolves’, if you know what I mean. Since then I’ve been managing a living by working through a temp agency, but I can’t even do that anymore because…well…because of my condition.”

“Condition?” simultaneously asked AJ and RD.

“Here, look at my teeth,” said Lightning, promptly opening her jaw to show her pearly whites. Immediately, Applejack noted the four fang-like incisors, causing her heart to sink in recognition of LD’s ‘condition’.

Rainbow, meanwhile, just turned pale and barely found enough of her voice to say “Y-you’re…”

Dust closed her mouth. “Yeah, can’t say I don’t deserve it, after all I’ve done. And no, I haven’t bitten anypony else, or frankly actually really changed all that much besides what you just saw, which I myself found a week ago. I immediately came to Ponyville since if anypony would be able to tell me if I was becoming what you and that…whoever it was Iron Will paraded around the corpse of… had been, it would be you. Then, yesterday, I somehow found myself at that meat restaurant here in town. With some kind of meat sandwich in front of me.”

“And you not only ate it, but you liked it, even though it was meat,” finished Applejack, shuddering at the resurfacing memory of the day right before she had first turned, “ Ah did the same thing, although the immediate result of that probably was a lot worse in comparison.”

“Like? I loved it!” emphasized Lightning Dust, now apparently on the verge of crying, “It was then I knew I was becoming a werewolf like you, since I’d never gone near meat in my life before then.”

Rainbow immediately moved in front of Applejack, once again becoming her bodyguard. “So is that why you’re here? For revenge on Applejack for making you a werewolf?”

Lightning quickly shook her head, “No, nothing of the sort! Honestly, I think it was that other guy, the one who goaded me into that race challenge in the first place, who you guys said was a werewolf. I still don’t remember what happened after that drinking contest since I blacked out at some point, for all I know he could have bitten me then and I’m only now showing the signs.”

She then bolted over to grasp Applejack with her forelegs, knocking Rainbow out of the way. “Please, Applejack, you’ve somehow managed to keep living like a normal pony despite having this curse, you gotta help me!”

“Ah…Ah’m sorry, Dust, but….” Applejack gulped; this wasn’t going to be easy. “Ah’m not a werewolf no more. Haven’t been for about a year now.”

“You…you managed to cure yourself?! How?!”

“Well, Ah, um…had to kill Sable Loam. Apparently the only way to cure yourself of lycan-whatever it is, you gotta kill the werewolf who turned you.”

Lightning said nothing as her deathgrip loosened, letting Applejack go. The look on her face, Rainbow noted, was a more morose version of her expression when she’d been kicked out of the Wonderbolt Training Program.“So…so basically I’m completely and totally bucked?”she whimpered.

“No, you’re not,”Rainbow insisted, as if having an epiphany, “Back when AJ was still a wolf, some of our friends had gone up to the Crystal Empire-“

“What does that have to do with this?” interrupted Lightning.

Rainbow shot Dust a dirty look for having interrupted, “Because King…uh, what was his name…King Sofa was the one who created the werewolf curse, so be quiet and listen. Where was I? Oh, right. Apparently King Salvo had recorded a bunch of research about werewolves in the castle, which our friends found, which mentioned that the dark magic powering the curse is basically able to be transferred into another pony through a deep bite which comes into contact with the victim’s blood. However, pegasus ponies like us have thinner blood since we usually live in thinner parts of the upper atmosphere, so that could be slowing the curse as shown by you only recently showing any of the effects.”

“H-how do you know all that?” asked a slackjawed Applejack.

Lightning raised an eyebrow at the orange pony. “She’s a weather manager, if somepony gets hurt on her watch she needs to know basic medical information like that. Seriously, she may be hardheaded but she’s not stupid.” She then turned back to Rainbow. “But that still doesn’t answer why I’m possibly still not condemned to being a flying wolf monster.”

“No, it doesn’t.” answered Rainbow, “But it means Princess Egghead most likely will know what to do. Follow me!” With that, Rainbow dashed into the air, Lightning not far behind, both pegasus ponies heading in the direction of Golden Oaks.

Applejack watched the two fly off into town, then just sighed while sadly shaking her head. “Nopony deserves to suffer from bein’ a werewolf,” she said to herself, “no matter what they’ve done.”

Raspberry Beryl bid farewell to Cashmere and Ascot for the time being, then left through the main door into the night before her. Heliodor was already waiting, using his own magic to become a small beacon of light to guide the way. Traveling by night would be dangerous once the duo were out of Ponyville’s limits, since they were going right into the Everfree as it was the most direct route to their destination. But between Heliodor’s natural weaponry as a bird of prey and Raspberry’s experience in having had to spend many nights in the past alone in dangerous conditions, they were more than up to the task. It was also for the best if nopony was around to stop them and ask just where they were going, since Raspberry wanted to keep her source of gems a secret lest other gem hunters deprive her of the means of her employment, and at night there was nopony except a lone guard or two Raspberry could easily avoid.

With Heliodor now perched like a sentient lamp on the unicorn’s horn, they were like a glowing spirit moving through the silent town. Razz couldn’t help but find it weird how the town could be so full of life during the day, yet at night the town was basically dead save for a few nighttime activities scattered all over the settlement. With her ever-faithful pet lighting up the night, the unicorn couldn’t help but feel like it was an apt reflection of her journey through life. She, a lost light, navigating through a sea of homes that, while on the inside would be cozy and friendly, were barred from anybody on the outside coming in and their dark states unwelcoming. Almost as if in desperation, she quickly turned to look in the direction of the Traveler’s Retreat.

In contrast to the town, the Retreat was lit up, a beacon in its own right that symbolized the thing Raspberry had always been looking for both metaphorically and literally. It was a place where she could go and feel at home, where she would feel wanted by ponies who didn’t care who she was. In fact, she knew it was dangerous for her to have even accepted becoming a more permanent resident of the Retreat, because if the truth ever got out it would destroy what Cashmere and Ascot had spent years building up.

But it won’t happen, mentally swore Raspberry, who in her renewed determination turned away from the warm light and surged forward into the darkness. I’ve already told Princess Twilight more about the truth than anypony has ever known outside of Lonesome Dove, maybe if I can truly feel like I’ve gained her trust then she will be able to help me finally face the past.

In her thoughts, she almost missed the darting shape of two fillies with what looked like bags. Curious, she moved to follow them while Heliodor, instantly picking up on what his mistress was doing, extinguished his light to hide them among the darkness. After navigating a few twists and turns without the fillies noticing, Raspberry could see they were somehow going around collecting all the cats from around town in their bags.

“Why are they collecting everypony’s cats…or rather how are they luring the cats out?” rhetorically asked Raspberry of her pet. He in turn bent down and made a shrugging motion to indicate he didn’t know either.

Then, suddenly, a ghostly figure emerged through a solid wall right in front of the fillies. The gray one seemed a bit jumpy, as if she wasn’t totally expecting it, while the pink filly with the tiara seemed impatient. But the ghost…Raspberry couldn’t help but slowly back away in fear at the apparition. It was if Applejack had not only become ethereal, but changed her color scheme and cutie mark…and become a werewolf. There was a faint aura of darkness around the ghost, similar to what Raspberry had felt around Apple Bloom, and the implications of which were not good for Raspberry. She quickly turned and fled, Heliodor having already taken flight behind a building as to not be spotted until he was well away from Raspberry as to divert attention from any prying eyes.

“Who was that?” asked Fair Vista, motioning with her head towards where moments ago Raspberry Beryl had been watching them.

Diamond looked in the indicated place, seeing nothing. “Who?”

“Unicorn mare, raspberry colored coat, two tone mane of sky blue and purple.”

Silver Spoon just shook her head. “Oh, that’s Raspberry Beryl, don’t worry about her. She’s always skittish around everypony, chances are she’ll probably just think she was hallucinating this. Nopony would believe she saw a werewolf ghost and the two richest fillies going around kidnapping all the cats in town, especially considering where they’re all going.”

Vista, however, wasn’t so easily dismissive of having been observed. “Why was she out this late?”

Tiara snorted impatiently. “She’s going off to go visit her ‘secret source’ of gems. She’s a gem monger by trade, but instead of big stones she just sells cheap gem shards that most ponies around here use for light decoration on their own crafted goods. Really the only thing interesting about her is that she has a green phoenix for a pet.”

That caught Vista’s attention. “A green phoenix, you say?”

“Yeah, everypony thinks he’s just a fake and whoever sold the bird to Raspberry duped her pretty hard, but nopony has the heart to tell her the truth.”

“Hmm. Well, it is a sort of kindness, in a way, letting her live her ignorance in bliss. As it is, she doesn’t seem to pose any threat to us as you said, Silver, so let’s hurry up with these cats.”

At the same time, a visibly shaken Lightning Dust was checking out of the Traveler’s Retreat.

“Ms. Dust, are you quite alright?” asked the worried Cashmere.

“Y-yes, I’m fine, perfectly fine!” unconvincingly answered the pegasus as she moved to try and sign the checkout book with the quill in her shaking hoof. A sky blue one moved and lowered Dust’s forelimb, taking the pen and signing the book instead.

“Everything is going to be fine, Dust,” calmly reassured Rainbow, who currently wore a saddlebag full of Lightning Dust’s worldly possessions. It was depressingly light considering it contained everything Lightning Dust owned.

“I don’t mean to be rude,” interjected Ascot, “but if she’s going to be like that all night, she shouldn’t be out at night. Who knows what might happen.”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Ascot. Dust here, she…she’s been diagnosed with a rare disease, super rare. Don’t worry, it’s not contagious, Princess Twilight herself diagnosed it due to it being magical in origin so you have a royal guarantee it’s not contagious. However, the princess also wants Dust to be moved to a more private location, away from the public, so I’m taking her to my cloud house for observation and basic living necessities.”

“Oh, that’s a relief,” commented Cashmere. “I’m sure she’ll be in good hooves with you, Ms. Dash.”

In truth, while technically Lightning Dust did have a magical-based disease that wasn’t contagious in the normal sense, the proprietors of the Retreat did not need to know she was in fact living on limited time as Twilight had told Dust it was still up in the air whether or not she could be cured simply by raw magic intervention. She’d also been told that as it was extremely unlikely she had the same blood mutagen Applejack had, it was almost a guarantee that the unlucky pegasus would eventually devolve into a wild wolf with no memory of her life as a pony. There was still a chance at salvation, with Twilight doing a somewhat poor job of hiding her glee at being able to research a live specimen of pony who was gradually falling victim to a centuries old curse, but Lightning had to remain around Ponyville for observation reasons along with making sure things didn’t go out of hand. Fearing Dust might go feral the same way she’d, ironically, made Applejack lose control during that one brawl and end up maiming more ponies who would become werewolves as well, Rainbow put herself at risk by offering her own spare bedroom.

“Dash…” said Dust, both pegasi having left the hotel and taken wing up to Rainbow’s private estate.

“What, Dust?’ answered Loyalty incarnate.

“Why are you doing this?”

“You mean me letting you crash at my pad?”

“Yeah. And don’t say because it’s to get me out of public view. I know it’s more than that.”

“And you know what it is, too.” Rainbow looked over at Dust, who had started tearing up again, evidently having not expected this much hospitality from Rainbow. “Back at the academy, we were made partners, with you being the leader. We didn’t part ways on good terms, not then and not after your ‘timberwolf’ incident. But anypony can see you’ve tried to improve, with life having dealt you a pretty crappy hand of cards, and since Spitfire made me the leader, I can’t let my wingpony down.”

“B-but I’m not even a wingpony. I’m a-“

“Do not finish that sentence,” ordered Rainbow Dash, swooping over and taking Dust’s face into her own hooves, “and don’t say you don’t deserve a second chance. Everypony does. Even if you are probably going to end up being the same pain in the rear I knew back at the academy.”

For the first time that day, Dust finally found a reason to flash a smile, a mischievous one at that. “Only if you’re the insufferable jerk that I knew at the same time.”

“You’re out of line, cadet!” playfully retorted Rainbow, glad to see Dust finding something to laugh about.

“We’ll see who’s out of line when I prove I’m faster than you!” Dust challenged, taking off before Rainbow could even respond.

“Oh, it’s on now, furball!” shouted Rainbow in acceptance of the challenge, shooting off in chase of her old rival once again.

The next morning, Apple Bloom was fast asleep in her room, snoring as usual, but then she smelled something unusual.

“Mrrrr…” she lightly growled in her sleep, “cats…Ah smell…cats…”

Indeed, for whatever reason she was dreaming of there being cats close enough to her that she could smell them. A while ago she didn’t mind one way or another about the creatures, but thanks to her current state of being part supernatural canine she had grown increasingly irate at felines for some reason. The fact the smell was only getting stronger made her angry, to which she bared her teeth that had already partially shifted to become sharper.

Then she woke up from being so angry and opened her eyes, turning anger into total shock. Somehow, her room had suddenly become packed from floor to ceiling with the entire cat populace of Ponyville. And every single one of them immediately realized the yellow, red haired werewolf was trapped in the same room.

Outside the Apple Family homestead, Winona looked up at the windows to Apple Bloom’s room, having been drawn from the extremely loud cacophony of feline meowing and whining, and now trying to use a non-sapient animal form of pantomiming to communicate with Opal, who was trapped in that room and pressed against the window glass. Unfortunately, in trying to move her limbs around, she accidentally released the window latch on the inside, causing the window to burst open from the pressure of pussycats. Winona barely managed to avoid getting caught up in the waterfall of cats pouring out of the upper story window.

Ch.14: The Trine of Terror

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 14: “The Trine of Terror”

“Apple Bloom…” started Applejack for what felt like the hundredth time.

“Ah’m telling you, Ah don’t know how mah room got full of cats!” answered Apple Bloom.

“Well, somepony knows how, and Ah intend to find out!” declared Applejack bitterly. The previous night hadn’t been one that she could sleep easily through. The sudden appearance of Lightning Dust and the fact she was starting to turn into a werewolf had been on the farm pony’s mind all night, her conscience refusing to let go of the idea that she herself was the reason for Dust’s condition. It had been the only time she’d ever truly lost control of herself during her time as a werewolf, the actual memories of the brief incident only coming back to her slowly. But even well over a year later, the full course of events remained unknown to her and it was entirely possible that she may have bitten Dust during the fighting. As far as Applejack knew, there was no actual way to identify if Dust had been bitten by her or Sable, but she couldn’t be honest to herself without admitting feeling some guilt over the incident’s final outcome, even if it had been mostly Dust’s fault.

So, when she finally had managed to get to an unrestful slumber, with every intention to take a rare day of sleeping in, only to be awakened a few short hours by a loud racket from Apple Bloom’s room, she had been pretty angry. Then she was in shock as the house itself suddenly began to shudder violently at the same time a large pile of cats seemingly poured out of one of Apple Bloom’s windows and in front of the homestead. Right now, all the cat owners of Ponyville had journeyed to Sweet Apple Acres in search of answers to why their felines had been stolen in the middle of the night and for the felines themselves.

“You can count me in on that hunt!” huffed Rarity, appearing from the side of the still twitching pile of cats like a bloated whale. “A lady should not have to be forced to resort to this kind of business to find her cat. Still…don’t worry, Opal, momma’s coming!” She then promptly dived back into the giant furball of furballs in search of her cat.

“I still don’t get how somepony managed to get all those cats in the house!” Babs commented, walking up to join her cousins.

“Eeyup” replied Big Mac, passing the trio with a cart. The giant pile of cats in front of the Apple homestead was making entering and leaving the house through the front door very awkward, so it was decided to load them into some apple carts and truck them down to Ponyville, both to reduce the pile’s size and to speed up returning the pets to their owners. It was the trouble with the whole cat pile that had Apple Bloom and Babs Seed stay at the farm to help clean up the mess, while all the other fillies in town went to school regularly. However, it was a free day off neither filly wanted, and while Apple Bloom was still fighting the urge to wolf-out and go chase all the cats, she still had enough self-control to suppress the inclination. Or so she thought.

“Hey, Apple Bloom, you okay?” asked Babs worriedly as the two fillies loaded cat after cat individually onto the cart. “Your eyes are goin’ back and forth kinda all shifty like, as if you’re on edge about somethin’.”

“Ah, uh, Ah’m fine,” replied Apple Bloom.

“You sure?”

“Babs, Ah woke up to find mah room was packed full of cats and nopony knows how. Of course Ah’m on edge. Especially ‘cause…well, that’s not important, but all you need to know is that Ah’m perfectly A-OK.”

Especially ‘cause…what? Thought Babs, eying AB suspiciously as she loaded more cats into the cart. She didn’t notice her hooves reaching for a conspicuously un-catlike curly tail, which she proceeded to tug on.

“YE-OOOOOOOOOWWWWWW!” wailed a distinctly faked accent as Rarity’s head burst from the ground, one eye twitching in pain.

“This is gonna be a long day…” moaned Apple Bloom, facehoofing while Rarity turned angrily to face the embarrassed Babs.

Within her private chambers, Celestia worriedly paged through several different records that few ponies other than the princesses knew existed. Discord’s words from a few days ago about that phoenix being some kind of prophesied harbinger of bad tidings still echoed in her head, louder than ever when she’d received two letters from the two princesses based away from the capital.

The letter from Cadance had been concerning enough. The idea that there was a pony just as powerful in dark magic as Sombra boggled Celestia’s mind. While in theory any unicorn could use dark magic, the rate at which dark magic burned through a pony’s magic well was so high that only unusually powerful magic users could effectively maintain dark magic over any considerable length of time. Then, in regards to dark magic being highly uncontrollable by its very nature, the pony would need to have great ability in controlling magic either through skill and/or talent to actually direct a dark magic spell to do what was desired by the caster.

Unicorns who possessed both the magic well capacity and the potential for mastering extremely high level spells were secretly registered by crown officials and kept under surveillance. Celestia’s own school, while actually mainly created to help train young unicorns with their powers such that should the time come they can help defend Equestria, served as a means of watching over the children of unusual ability and to ensure they didn’t even try to go down the path of darkness. All unicorns who were of school age were required by law to be evaluated by a local mage when they showed any kind of sufficient control over their magic, with any candidate who came within a set range of the estimated minimum magic power needed to have any dark magic ability automatically getting a scholarship from the princess herself to the school…and their name on the registry. In addition, all records of pony births were required to be submitted by all towns to Canterlot for archival record keeping.

Which is why Twilight’s latest letter just made Celestia even more concerned. Apparently, Raspberry Beryl came from a town called Lonesome Dove, but due to an abusive father she’d received horn damage and had trouble casting even basic telekinesis. Logically, Twilight summarized in her letter that while she’d felt Beryl’s aura as being different from the usual, it was not dark magic. If everything was alright, there was nothing out of the ordinary with what Twilight had said, even though it saddened Celestia to hear of a father abusing his foal.

But then she reread the letter and noted Twilight had been told by Beryl the town of Lonesome Dove was a pure earth pony settlement right up until Raspberry was born. A pony settlement made up of entirely one subspecies of pony was not unheard of, since only pegasus ponies could live in cloud cities for obvious reasons, but even so it was odd that a unicorn was born to two earth ponies without any further explanation given by Beryl.

It became even stranger when the records for Lonesome Dove weren’t all that consistent. Sure enough, on the list of newborns there was a “Raspberry Beryl” listed, but due to the town not having unicorns, there should have been a request sent for an evaluator to travel to Lonesome Dove when Raspberry had become old enough to attend school. Except there was no record of such a request ever having been made by Lonesome Dove, or of a royal evaluator having gone to the town anyway.

There was suddenly a knock at the door. “Come in,” said Celestia, not looking to see who it was as she already knew the identity of the new arrival.

“Celly, I thought I was supposed to be the book-loving recluse and you the public face of the monarchy?” asked Luna, walking up to her sister’s side, “and the one who is supposed to be overseeing court right now?”

“I canceled court for today. That one pony, what’s his name…Count Custard or something, was probably going to try to talk out in favor for a two percent reduction of the taxes the wealthy must pay, and I really just cannot deal with the stupidity.”

“Celly, you’ve dealt with idiots like that for centuries on your own, surely-“

“I didn’t deal with them at the same time a potential national crisis was potentially forming up.”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “What are you talking about? We aren’t anything close to hostile with any of our neighboring countries. I mean, even the griffons don’t want to wage war against us right now, and you know how much they would love to get their hands on the mining colonies near the shared border.”

Celestia leaned back on her haunches, closing her eyes and putting her hooves on her temples. “Remember what I told you about what Discord was doing that whole day he was out of Canterlot?”

“Wasn’t mother involved with that somehow?”

“Yes, that one. As far as anypony knows, Discord has an interest in that green phoenix who currently accompanies a unicorn mare named ‘Raspberry Beryl’. Her story, as relayed from Twilight, checks out up until there is apparently a grave violation of a royal edict.” Celestia continued to relay her findings to her younger, darker sister, along with letting her see Twilight’s letter where the story of Raspberry Beryl had been recorded.

“So…you’re saying something’s wrong here, because nopony associated with the crown ever went to evaluate this ‘Raspberry Beryl’ when she was of age?” asked Luna, glancing above the top of the letter which she held in her hooves.

“Correct. You know why, what with me having to explain the reason half a zillion times back when you first returned and your own experience with the consequences of not having that policy.”

Luna briefly shuddered. Even as a filly, Luna was the second most powerful magic user in the country, possibly world, but unlike Celestia she hadn’t put in as much time or effort to master her magic controlling skills. Then she tried overthrowing Celestia with dark magic, only the dark magic put her under its own control, resulting in the monster named Nightmare Moon.

“This is a mistake that could have been costly for Equestria; a unicorn whose only record of existence buried in the one place nopony would have thought to look. If this had been an intentional plan, it’s actually quite brilliant, really, the diamond hidden among the…um, just insert a word that works in reference to earth ponies that doesn’t make me sound like one of those upper class snobs.” Celestia couldn’t help but sheepishly grin at having tripped over her own words.

Luna smirked back in response, but quickly resumed a nonchalant expression as she reread part of the letter. “Celly, did you ever consider that maybe it was intentionally overlooked to have somepony come out to evaluate this unicorn?”

Celestia whipped her head around to face her sister for the first time in the conversation. “Are you suggesting somepony denied the will of the crown?”

Luna looked incredulously at Celestia in return. “Did..did you just say what I think you just said?”

Celestia rolled her eyes and nickered in annoyance. “Yes, I did, and no, Lu-Lu, I’m not suddenly turning into some egotistical tyrant bitch like some of my enemies want everypony to believe. But for somepony or someponies to undermine authority like this, which goes from the local town government all the way to us, that could be a problem. Yes, practically all the ponies in Equestria love their alicorn rulers, practically throwing themselves at us to bestow their worship. But we are not omnipresent, we’re merely ponies who are gifted with powers well beyond-“

She was silenced by Luna’s gentle hoof being placed on her muzzle, the night princess bearing a smile on her own muzzle. “Celly, we already fought the Civil War centuries ago, and the only time we’ve ever had to exert more authority than a look of displeasure was when you briefly fought Chrysalis.”

“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?” groaned Celestia. Getting her plot handed to her by the queen of the changelings at the wedding, along with having been fooled about the fact her niece had been replaced by Chrysalis for about a week, was the most humiliating event she’d been subject to for the past fifty years, even accounting for the fact Chrysalis had been supercharged by Shining's love.

Luna smiled. “I foolishly tried to overthrow you, got turned into a monster, plunged our country into civil war, and then tried to do it again after my thousand years on the moon. You also give me no end of trouble because my duties include visiting ponies in their dreams. Allow me this one thing to hold over your head as you have so many over mine.

But that’s getting off track. The truth is, if this story is to believed, Raspberry’s father didn’t want her learning magic. Why would somepony like that want his child evaluated for her magic ability when he wanted her to have none?”

“You bring up a good point, Lu-Lu” agreed Celestia. “But we will need to send somepony to investigate Lonesome Dove. Undermining royal authority simply because of one’s position on how to raise a foal is something that cannot go unanswered.”

“I hope you don’t stick him on my moon,” requested Luna, jokingly, “I like my moon the way it is right now.”

“With the several life size plush dolls of Big Mac I put up there?”

“Yes, with the-wait, what?!”

That night, DT and SS secretly met up out the schoolhouse, the later having no idea what the former had in her packs.

“Hmm, so it would appear the ‘room full of cats’ idea didn’t quite work,” Said Fair Vista, emerging from behind the schoolhouse. The moonlight illuminated her form such that she appeared to be a tinted glass sculpture. One that could kill you with its claws or teeth.

“I’ll admit, after all the stress and trouble we went through to get all those cats in there, the fact nothing actually happened is disappointing,” Silver confessed.

“We shoulda thrown her stupid dog in there, too,” commented Diamond. “That would have riled them up!”

Vista shot DT a nasty look. “And completely undermined the whole point of stealing every cat in town. I know I’d have torn apart every last cat if I’d been in that filly’s place, as accustomed as I am to the non-pony urges that come with being a werewolf I do enjoy being violent to felines.”

The pink filly rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. You’re a dog. We’re not.”

“So…what now?” asked Silver, reluctantly. She still had some bandages from the previous night, which had her get scratched by a few angry cats in trying to capture them. Thankfully, her parents had bought the excuse she’d been helping clean up the cats at Sweet Apple Acres, but she wasn’t too keen on trying that stunt again.

“This time, we’re going to try one of my ideas,” Tiara said confidently, putting her saddle bags down and opening them to reveal they were full of all kinds of vials. Silver and Vista quickly glanced at each other to make sure they weren’t the only one who didn’t know what the point of this was, then back at Tiara who opened up one of the vials. Instantly the smell of raw garlic poured out. “I did a little more research and I found out that werewolves actually hate garlic!”

“Uh…” started Fair Vista, her knowledge base on what werewolves like and don’t like being impossible to doubt, but then she thought better of it and then did her best to keep a straight face while the raw stench of garlic assaulted her undead senses. “I actually can’t tell you, when I was alive Sable and I didn’t really bother with spices and things for our meals, the raw taste was enough for us.”

“That’s…pleasant...” grimaced Silver, clearly trying not to go green in the face from the overwhelming smell and the sudden R-rated film playing in her head, “Tiara…where did you get all this?”

“Oh, you know…the local aromatherapist,” cheerfully replied the wealthy brat.

EARLIER THAT DAY…

“WHO THE BUCK STOLE ALL MY GARLIC SCENT OILS?!” screamed Sandalwood, her voice echoing from inside the spa to cover about a fourth of Ponyville.

“The wealthiest filly in the town and you still steal what you need?” laughed Vista. “My, you are more like me than I gave you credit for. Still, what do you plan to do with all this garlic?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” asked Tiara. “We’ll drown the schoolhouse in this stuff, make it unbearable for Apple Bloom to set hoof in it!”

Vista looked like she was going to say more, but then snapped her neck towards the forest as if she’d heard something. “My attention is currently needed elsewhere, but I’ll check in with you two again tomorrow night.” Without another word the ghost werewolf shot off into the night. She made sure she was at least a good kilometer away before she dared stop running and start laughing.

“AHAHAHAHAHA! Garlic! Oh, Sable, what morons that twit and her friend are if they think garlic has any effect on werewolves! AHAHAHA! I have got to be there when this backfires!

“That was one of the shortest days of school I’ve ever had,” said Scootaloo, the four crusaders hiking back to Sweet Apple Acres for lunch.

“Yeah, do you think it was the garlic smell?” suggested Sweetie.

“Ah’m sure it was the smell. Seriously, it wasn’t botherin’ any of y’all as much as me?” asked Apple Bloom.

“I could tell it was the most powerful garlic smell I’ve ever encountered, which is sayin’ a lot since I know what Manehatten pizza has heavy applications of!” commented Babs. “Poor Ms. Cheerilee, I don’t think she is familiar with the power of garlic aroma. Those spasms she went into the moment she came into the schoolhouse? Definitely somepony who has a natural distaste of garlic.”

Indeed, while all the fillies and colts who were students at the schoolhouse had reacted poorly to the sudden presence of garlic, the teacher seemed to have a considerably serious allergic reaction. Acting quickly, the students hurriedly dragged their schoolmarm back into the ungarlicy open air of the outside and Scootaloo shot off on her scooter to get medical attention. School was determined canceled for the rest of the day by order of Dr. Stable

“Like…maybe she’s a vampire?” Sweetie was dead serious about the question. “Everypony knows vampires don’t like garlic!”

“Vampires don’t exist, Sweetie,” answered Scootaloo. “Rainbow Dash says so.”

“What about werewolves? Does Rainbow think they exist?” Babs had intentionally been quick about the question, paying more attention to Apple Bloom’s sudden flinching instead of Scootaloo confirming Dash did think werewolves existed.

“Well, whatever the reason,” interjected Apple Bloom, hoping to steer the conversation away from werewolves, “Ah doubt we’ll be havin’ any more school until that garlic scent can be removed, for Ms. Cheerilee’s sake. And you know what that means for the Crusaders?”

“CUTIE MARK SEARCHING!” replied Sweetie, Scoot, and Babs in unison.

At the same time in Castle Canterlot, Discord was busy catching up with his quota of hallway paintings turned exactly 3.14 degrees clockwise when he suddenly had a peculiar feeling.

“Oh! My Chaos Sense is tingling!” squeed Discord, rushing off to go find a mirror with which he could use to remotely watch the events unfold. It wasn’t the same as actually being at the scene, but seeing as how he couldn’t just leave the castle again without Celestia’s permission and there was no way she’d let him go for something this small, it was good enough for now.

“Ow…ow…ow…”

“Sorry, but I have to be sure there are real fangs, Dust.”

It wasn’t commonly known that Golden Oaks library actually had a basement. It was even less commonly known that Twilight had turned it into her own personal laboratory during the three years she was a resident there. Right now, Dust was wishing she hadn’t learned of what lay beneath as she really felt uncomfortable. Well, okay, she was already uncomfortable on a daily basis since she still felt guilty of Rainbow having to be saddled with opening her home to the same pony who nearly killed her friends. Slowly becoming a werewolf also was very uncomfortable. But here? It was like she was a lab rat with a mad scientist alicorn ready to rip into her at any second.

“Dust, are you okay?” asked Twilight, putting down the sterile stick she’d been using to tap against the pegasus’s fangs.

“Yeah, I’m perfectly fine. Y’know, besides the whole holy-shit-I-am-turning-into-a-monster part.”

“I mean, with all this, I’m getting the impression you’re not exactly comfortable with being in my old lab.”

Gee, no shit princess, thought Lighting Dust, the last time I was here in this town I spent a month in a hospital practically tied to a bed because I was stupid enough to fight a werewolf, and now here I am turning into a werewolf while you’re probably going to start experimenting on me soon.

The words that came out of her mouth, though, were different. “To be perfectly honest, if that pink friend of yours-“

“Pinkie Pie?”

“Uh, yeah, her. You know what I would be if she came in here, dressed in some macabre outfit made of cutie marks carved off of other ponies, with an unclean bloody knife, and raving about how she’s gonna turn me into a cupcake? I would be totally unsurprised. That sums up my feelings about being here right now.”

“I…see…” was all Twilight could answer back with. Awkward silence followed for a few minutes until Lightning broke it.

“I know I’m probably going to regret asking this, but…I gotta know; how much longer do I have?”

“Well…” said Twilight, stumbling with her words in trying to determine the best way to explain what she knew, “this is pure conjecture, so I’m not a hundred percent sure, but it’s possible you have well over a year before you actually experience turning into a full werewolf for the first time, and then after that I honestly can’t tell you the time-frame between then and when your mental state…”

“Hold on, what are you saying?” inquired Dust, now having taken much more interest in the discussion, “There are two stages to this lycanthropy thing? As in a step before I end up not having a clue of who I am and running around like some freak canine with wings?”

“Um…yes?” replied Twilight, as if confused by the question. “Werewolves have the ability to go from pony to some kind of pony-wolf hybrid form, the problem you have is that once you actually become a full blooded werewolf, the curse will slowly-

“Yeah, the dumbing-down thing, that’s what I was afraid of. But since you keep saying I haven’t undergone some kind of ‘transformation’ it sounds like I have a lot more to expect?”

Twilight levitated over a pad of notes. “Back when Applejack was a werewolf, she told me a lot about the process of becoming one. Namely, there was a lead-up of minor, physical changes she remembered experiencing. Much like the ones you’ve demonstrated, only…”

“She took longer to develop them.”

“A month, give or take a week, after Sable Loam attacked her. She wasn’t sure when the first full transformation was, only that it felt ‘like her whole body was on fire and itchy at the same time’ or something to that nature.”

“Well, can’t say I’ve had anything like that, as I told practically everypony in your little circle of friends the only changes are my teeth and the need to eat meat.”

“Oh, actually…” Twilight’s eyes brightened up at the mention of meat, “…could you describe what your hunger is like for meat?

Lightning could only roll her eyes and sigh, absent mindedly scratching some random itch on her back with a hindleg. This constant questioning by the princess…I’m sure that burning sensation of that first transformation probably is more pleasant than this…

The next day…

“Ah, yes, it was vampires who don’t like garlic!” laughed Fair Vista, who was uncharacteristically present in Ponyville during the daytime. She was barely visible, nothing more than a faint outline in the light of the sun.

“Okay, okay, I get your point!” angrily replied Diamond Tiara. Silver Spoon didn’t say anything, although she noted DT had been referring to only herself even though she seemed to mean both her and Silver. “You made it last night, anyway, so why did you want us to come up here?”

“Simple” nonchalantly replied the spirit, who gestured towards the giant water tower nearby that had been constructed in place of the old water tower which Twilight had sacrificed to calm a rampaging ursa minor. “We - and by that I mean you two – will flood her out into the open.”

The rich fillies gaped, only Silver finding the words. “You want us to flood the town?!”

Vista shrugged. “You’d need much, much more water than what’s in that tower, but if you bust the valve when Apple Bloom is within the scope of the flood, she’ll be trapped within the flow as she can’t cross running water.”

“Wait, are you sure about that?” incredulously asked Diamond Tiara, “Because if you were running around for centuries in the woods, you had to have had to cross a running stream or a brook or something that was running water before you died.”

“I don’t know what it is, but Sable never wanted to take a chance. So we merely lept over anything. We werewolves are great jumpers, you know.”

“And what’s to stop Apple Bloom from doing the same?”

“She’s still a youngling, she can’t jump nearly as far as I could when I was alive. Plus, she won’t dare transform into her new proper form in public, so it’s a non-issue.”

“Well…alright, then, let’s go wait for the Cutie Mark Losers.”

Silver was aghast. “Wait, you actually think flooding part of Ponyville is a good idea?!”

Diamond raised an eyebrow at her PFF. “Yeah, it’s not like anypony is going to get hurt, it’s just water. Except of course Apple Bloom. You don’t have to come help, though, it’s perfectly alright if you’re a chicken who can’t live up to her family history.” DT just cackled as she trotted off with the faint outline of the ghost werewolf, leaving Silver behind.

“N-now hold on just a second!” retorted Silver, rushing to join the duo. Her heart really wasn’t in it, though, that much she could not deny. This is wrong she thought, I know DT wanted to expose Apple Bloom, but hanging around this ghost…I have to wonder who the real danger is…

Ch.15: The Humbling River

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 15: "The Humbling River"

“This feels really weird!” said Babs.

“I agree, anypony else feeling really uncomfortable?” added Scootaloo.

“How can this feel so…so…wrong? You getting the same impression, Apple Bloom?” asked Sweetie.

“Eeyup,” agreed Apple Bloom.

The four crusaders were currently seated in front of the malt shop in central Ponyville. With both the schoolhouse being disinfected for any last trace of garlic smells and Cheerilee in the hospital for at least the rest of the week (she’d suffered a heart attack that had somehow been triggered by the excessive garlic smell, nopony knew why yet), the schoolfoals and fillies were allowed to roam free across the town.

For the Crusaders, they immediately went to their second favorite treat shop and proceeded to get bored out of their minds with nothing to do. The concept of not having to spend the morning in a one-room educational facility on a weekday that wasn’t a holiday was a foreign concept to them.

“ARRRGGHH!” groaned Sweetie. “I’m so bored! Surely there’s something we can do to try and get our cutie marks with these days off from school!”

“Hey!” piped up Babs, “Why don’t we try bein’ Cutie Mark Crusaders Bagel Bake-“

“NO!” shouted the other three fillies in unison. The sudden shock of being cut off caused Babs to reel back in shock, sending her off her stool.

“I guess you three already tried that and it didn’t work?” the brown filly replied as she got herself back up on her seat.

“Like you wouldn’t believe” answered Scootaloo, implying that it was best that the matter stop being discussed.

Babs took a sip from her milkshake, already putting the next topic of discussion to mind. “Well, on the subject of things I can’t believe, I’m still surprised Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon still have it out for you girls.” She was answered with collective groan.

“You think those two were ever gonna change?” dryly replied Apple Bloom, drinking her own milkshake.

“Well, the whole werewolf thing, y’know?”

The yellow cousin put her milkshake’s tumbler back on the table with a little too much force. “Babs, Ah swear if you’re startin’ up with that nonsense again…”

Babs leaned back and quickly waved her hooves as if trying to ward something off. “No! No no no no! It’s not my stance on the werewolf thing, it’s hers. I mean, why does she think you’re a werewolf? Diamond is the poster child of bein' a rich brat, I should know since it’s what my parents kept tryin' to mold me into, but she wouldn’t spend any more time around you than absolutely necessary.”

Scootaloo couldn’t help but chuckle. “Alright, who wants to explain that one?”

Sweetie Belle shrugged, “I’ll do it.” She then looked at Babs with a look in her eyes that just screamed this is going to be a doozy.

Babs gulped, “This is gonna suck, isn’t it?”

“Well, in terms of stupidity; yes. The whole reason Diamond Tiara has some vendetta against Apple Bloom with the whole ‘she’s a werewolf’ thing is that a good while back, she had a nightmare where she claimed there was a monster at her window.”

“And that monster just happened to look like a werewolf version of Apple Bloom?”

Sweetie nodded as she partook in her milkshake. “Scared her for a few days to the point she couldn’t come to school and the first day she did come back it was like she was a frightened puppy.”

“Yeah, then she got some idea about going after Apple Bloom because she actually ‘was’ a werewolf and everything became as it was when you arrived,” nickered Scootaloo, who would have drank some of her own milkshake had she already not finished it.

“You think Diamond and Silver might be behind what’s been goin’ on, lately?” suggested Babs, sipping up the last of her shake.

Apple Bloom shook her head. “Impossible. Ah don’t see how they coulda gotten every cat in ponyville into mah room without wakin’ somepony up. The garlic thing, too, for that matter.”

“But who else would even want to do stuff like that?”

None of the crusaders could give Babs a straight answer, so eventually their discussion turned to other minor topics, which continued as the last of the milkshakes were finished and the quartet got up and began making their way to Sweet Apple Acres.

“Hey…” started Babs, “that’s a pretty big water tower. I don’t remember it bein’ there last time I was here.”

“Yeah, they just put it up,” answered Scoot. “Twilight ended up destroying the old one a few years back to stop an ursa, so they made a new one that holds even more water to accommodate the fact Ponyville has been growing over the years.”

“Huh.” Babs looked up at the giant, silver tank suspended in the air. It was built a fair distance away from the town, but when seen from the main road it looked like it was among the other cottages and buildings in that direction. The Manehatten native had to admit; the ponies over there sure were brave in dealing with the leaking water tower.

Wait. Leaking water tower?

Babs was going to ask if that was normal, but she was suddenly shoved to the side by Scootaloo. Apple Bloom did the same with Sweetie, one half of the Crusaders reacting faster than the others.

“We gotta get to high ground!” shouted Scootaloo, the first to have realized just where all that water was going. Luckily, a nearby shopkeep had heard her and, upon realizing what was going on, beckoned the Crusaders into the shop. He managed to get the door barred off right as the runaway water surged into town along the main roads.

“Thanks, Mr. Crunch!” the three Ponyville-native Crusaders said in unison. Babs, however, was trying to figure out how the water outside wasn’t getting into the building. Scoot noted her state.

“Ponyville is situated at a low point in the river. All the houses are magically charmed so they’re flood-proof.” Babs was going to make a point about why Scootaloo could possibly have known that, but then remembered her parents were weather ponies so she probably just picked it up from them.

Toffee Crunch, however, was more concerned with how the disaster outside had come to be. “Any of you see what happened?”

“Yeah!” squeaked Sweetie. “The water tower burst while we were looking at it!”

Any further discussion was silenced as everypony suddenly heard a very loud but unidentifiable noise. Toffee, however, feared the worst. “Oh dear, I hope that wasn’t the water tower’s hole breaking even further from the pressure.”

“Can we go to the roof and check?” asked Apple Bloom.

“I don’t see why not.” Shrugged Toffee.

And so the four fillies and one stallion headed to the roof. From their vantage point, they could see that the middle of Ponyville had become a giant series of rapids. The wreckage of several vendor carts could be seen floating down, the water tower itself now unquestionably having started leaking from over pressurization as half of the visible face was now releasing the unusual river into the town. Thankfully, there wasn’t anypony caught in the flow, they’d all made it to safety in time.

Then Apple Bloom caught sight of Silver Spoon’s glasses coming down the stream, sans Silver Spoon. One of the lenses was cracked, but it was a moot point as the accessory was promptly smashed into a lamppost, reducing it to useless scrap and shards of glass.

What the… was all she could say in her head before noticing Silver Spoon herself coming down. She was flailing around, clearly having trouble keeping herself even afloat without her glasses.

“Oh, no!” lamented Toffee, “that poor filly!”

Apple Bloom said nothing, instead tensing to jump. Scoot and Sweetie instantly noticed.

“Don’t do it, Apple Bloom!” said Sweetie.

“Don’t be a fool with your life!” cautioned Scootaloo.

But it was all for naught.

“AH’M A-COMIN’ FOR YA, SILVER!” screamed the Apple as she leapt into the river going through town.

“Wha-?! Is she crazy?!” exclaimed Toffee.

“No, she’s my cousin.” Replied Babs, who could do nothing but watch as Apple Bloom was swiftly carried downstream. However, in the filly’s attempts to get control of her direction, the water spun her such that Babs got a momentary clear sight of her profile. A sight that sent chills down her spine and confirmed her worst fears.

Silver had never before been so scared in her life. Even though she’d been in far riskier situations, never before had she actually been in a situation where she was actually going to die. The raging water flow carted her rapidly through the streets of ponyville, the concepts of what was up and down lost as she tumbled through the semi-transparent fluid.

“HEEEEEELLLLLPPPPPPP!” she wailed, wasting a precious chance to get air as she barely had any notice when her head would break above the surface. Her glasses had been washed away when she’d been caught in the secondary burst from the water tank, but even if she’d had them they weren’t meant to be used when submerged in water as they weren’t swimming goggles. Silver wished she had some goggles on her, as trying to open her eyes usually just hurt because of the water. Mercifully, she managed to grab onto a streetlamp with a hoof and held her grip long enough to get her other foreleg around to anchor herself. It was hard, as the water still kept gushing forward, but it gave her a chance to catch her breath and open her eyes.

“Silver Spoon! Hold on! Ah’m comin’ for ya!”

She wished she hadn’t. Smack dab in the middle of the sudden river in Ponyville central was Apple Bloom. Why she was in the rushing water coming straight at her, Silver couldn’t tell and her poor eyesight being worthless at a range beyond how far she could stretch her hooves wasn’t helping. However, when Apple Bloom was close enough, Silver realized with horror that the strange black dot on Apple Bloom’s muzzle was actually a dog nose. It was true, she actually was a werewolf! And no doubt she was taking the chance to deal with one of her tormentors once and for all!

“No! S-stay away! Don’t get-AAAAAHHH!” hollered back the distraught gray filly, her tears which betrayed the fear she was feeling lost in the raging waters. But her momentary change of focus caused her grip on the lamppost to fail and she was sent careening off back down the road. She was sure she was going to die now, either from drowning as most of her energy had been burned up trying to fight the current, or from Apple Bloom tearing out her throat. She didn’t care which one actually scared her more, either way her life was going to end and she really didn’t want it to.

She had already begun to start blacking out, choking on the water she was taking in as opposed to oxygen as her lungs became desperate, when she felt the spine-tingling touch of what felt like canine paws on her person.

Oh no, this is it!” thought Silver, tensing up in preparation for the end.

Only…the end didn’t come. She heard Apple Bloom say things, her accent much more husky than usual, but aside from the unusual feeling of oversized dog paws and the other filly’s longer coat of fur, there wasn’t a point where Silver felt the powerful jaws of her captor close around her neck. Instead, she was…keeping her afloat?

“BREATHE!” screamed Apple Bloom. Silver, finding her head staying up above the water now that she had help, obeyed and was gradually starting to relax…or would have if it wasn’t for the fact Apple Bloom was still a werewolf. The poor-sighted filly could only imagine the horrible reasons why the werewolf would want to keep her alive, but was interrupted by Apple Bloom following up her early exclamation with “BRACE FOR IMPACT!”

The force from the thud was felt by both fillies, Apple Bloom having positioned herself to take the brunt of the blow but due to being very physically fit thanks to both lycanthropy and her usual farm chores, neither filly was seriously hurt. Now, they both had their backs to a building wall in an alley just off the main road, held fast by the flow of water. However, the water was finally beginning to recede, causing the two fillies to slowly slide down until their hooves were on solid (if rather muddy) ground.

“Ya alright, Silver?” asked Apple Bloom. The addressed turned to the werewolf, finding she’d already shifted back to her regular form. After all she’d been told about Apple Bloom’s mannerisms while a werewolf, the formerly bespectacled pony had trouble comprehending or voicing this change in reality.

“Y-yes, but I d-don’t…aren’t you gonna…” was all she could get out.

“Is it because you’re such a pain in the plot along with Diamond Tiara to me and mah friends, ya can’t understand why Ah saved ya?” The youngest Apple just shook her head…then shook herself dry like a dog. “Ah can’t stand either of you two normally, but not enough to simply stand by and let you drown all ‘cause you’re normally a complete jerk to the Crusaders.”

“But…but…what about the…” Silver then leaned in on wobbly legs, still recovering from a brush near death, “the whole werewolf thing?”

Apple Bloom just nickered in annoyance. “For the last time, Ah am not a werewolf! Ah shoulda known Diamond was still on about that nonsense, but even if Ah was a werewolf, do you think Ah would have bothered to save you?”

Silver Spoon didn’t immediately reply. Instead, she took a deep breath and focused her eyes on Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom was denying it, but Silver knew the pony before her was a werewolf. One that had just risked exposing her secret, the exact action the whole “busting the water tower” plan had intended to force out of her, to saving the life of a pony she by all rights probably wouldn’t have minded letting die. Silver knew Apple Bloom had gone ‘wolf form’ in the water, she knew she’d felt that padded paw holding her close to the werewolf’s body, but Apple Bloom hadn’t killed her. The nearsighted pony took another deep breath before looking Apple Bloom right in the eyes when she gave her answer:

“Yes.”

Apple Bloom only smiled, it was all she had time for as the crowd of ponies approaching would allow. Silver, on the other hand, suddenly felt the exhaustion of her near-death experience come rushing back as the adrenaline quickly wore off, and could do nothing to stop herself from passing out on the spot.

Raspberry Beryl and Heliodor did not expect to find Ponyville in worse shape than it had been when they’d left it.

“The main thoroughfare…it’s all muddy now…” whispered Beryl in near-shock as she surveyed the damage. Apparently, several hours before she’d returned from her journey into the woods for more gems, the water tower had succumbed to the pressure of water inside it and had burst, flooding the town. While the standard anti-flooding protective spells on the homes had ensured the worst kind of damage; ruined homes and shops that would displace a large portion of the town’s populace, had not happened, many street vendors would need to acquire new carts for their wares. For those who could even salvage what was left of their property, the sheer amount of water had turned the middle of Ponyville into a virtual swamp.

“Caio, Ms. Rasperry!” called out a familiar voice that Raspberry immediately identified as that of Pear Blossom. Turning to face the voice, Raspberry was horrified to see the fruit vendor’s cart had been smashed into a lamppost like so many other things caught in the flooding. Not a single pear had survived intact, the cart itself not looking much better.

“Oh, no! I’m so sorry, Blossom, all that revenue you could have gotten…all washed away with nothing but a broken cart to show for it.”

To the unicorn’s surprise, the pear seller was still rather upbeat. “Ah, you do not need to feel sorry for me, I am still in one piece and that is really all I can ask for. While it is true that I have lost some income, I still have many pears back at my pear farm that were untouched by this event and as for my cart, I can still take it back and salvage what I can.”

“But everything above the wheelbase is gone“

“Again, it is no big deal. Mi caro, Knotwood, is a carpenter, so I don’t think he’ll charge his wife for the money that keeps more than pears on his dinner plate!” Blossom gave sly wink to the younger mare.

“Wow, that’s really fortunate!” said a relieved Raspberry, “I’d hate to lose the ability to buy your pears, nopony grows them to taste quite like yours!”

“Grazie, although it is not me who is the most fortunate. Apparently, one young filly got caught up in the water and would have drowned had it not been for Apple Bloom bravely helping her stay afloat.”

“Really? That’s incredible!” The mention of Apple Bloom suddenly reminded the unicorn of the biggest reason she’d been so hasty to return to Ponyville, if only indirectly by association to Sweetie Belle. “Hey, listen, I’d love to help you get this back home, but I need to make some deliveries on the other side of town.”

“Then by all means, go and earn your living! I should be back in a few days to sell you all the pears you could ever eat! Cioa, bella!”

The two laughed and bid their farewells before Raspberry went off towards Rarity’s house.

“Guess we won’t be having pears tonight, Heelee,” Raspberry apologized to her pet.

He grumbled, as he had been looking forward to having pears.

“Hey, maybe Ascot and Cashmere have some pears back at the Traveler’s Retreat?”

He cawed happily, looking forward to having pears.

“Rarityyyyyyy…” whined Sweetie Belle, “you told me my costume would be ready! Nightmare Night is next week!”

Rarity sighed for what felt like the fifth time in the last 30 seconds. “Exactly. Nightmare Night is in a week so I think I have a right to point out the deadline isn’t here yet.” Suddenly, somepony knocked on the door. “Coming!”

Rarity found just the pony she’d been hoping for on the other side.

“I hope this isn’t a bad time,” said Raspberry. “I can come back later if need be.”

“Oh, nonononono!” squealed Rarity, practically dragging the hapless mare into the boutique. “I can always make time for you, darling! Especially when you can help me deal with a problem that requires your services.”

“My…my what?”

Rarity motioned with her head to Sweetie Belle, whose attention was drawn elsewhere and hadn’t noticed the unicorn and her phoenix come in.

“Ah, okay!” said a relieved Raspberry, getting the point. She removed her saddlebags and reached into them with a hoof, pulling out the same crown frame Rarity had given her not too long ago. The difference this time, however, was that the formerly empty mounting point at the center now was occupied by a stunningly beautiful diamond. Almost a pale icy blue, the perfectly cut gem shined in the light and was certainly something that looked like it belonged to a real princess as opposed to a fake one.

“It’s…it’s perfect!” exclaimed Rarity, prompting Sweetie Belle to investigate what was going on.

“Oh, I didn’t know Ms. Beryl and her pet were…wow! Is that my crown?” Rarity nodded, levitating the crown from Raspberry’s hoof and placing it on Sweetie’s head. It was a perfect fit.

“And now you see why your costume wasn’t ready,” giggled Rarity, before giving her attention back to Raspberry. “But I think I can speak for both my sister and I when I say you couldn’t have found a better gem for that crown, so let’s talk payment for it, shall we?”

“Oh, yes, that…well…” Raspberry nervously kicked the floor, trying to come up with a price. “What about a hundred bits?”

“A hundred bits?!” shouted Rarity, her jaw hanging in shock.

Raspberry shrunk back, startled by the sudden reaction. Heliodor was as well, moving a wing to shield himself if need be.

“I-if that’s too high then I can reduce-“ started the frightened gem seller, but stopped when Rarity merely facehoofed, Razz fearing the worst.

Rarity, however, just sighed in exasperation, then for whatever reason laughed softly. “Oh, Raspberry, darling, you need to stop selling yourself short. I’ve worked with gems ever since I got my cutie mark, so much that if I didn’t want to be a fashionista anymore I could probably go into evaluating the value of gems. That diamond my sister is cavorting around with on her head? That is far more valuable than a measly one hundred bits.”

“Well, um, yeah, of course, I knew that!” said Raspberry, “But you’re my best customer and probably one of my closest friends I’ve ever had, so consider it a discount.”

“I’m afraid I will have to politely refuse such a discount,” declared Rarity with the air of somepony with excessive amounts of class, “I will pay you a minimum of three hundred bits for that diamond, and not a single bit less!”

“Gee, thanks Rarity…” half said, half whispered an extremely modest Raspberry.

“Furthermore, that is separate from all the other gems I’m sure you’ve brought to me, which we can discuss a bit later. But for now, I insist that we retire to my lounge and have a chat over tea. I simply must know more about you, darling!”

Raspberry then froze in silent horror, requiring Heliodor to lightly squeeze her horn to bring her back into focus. She needed to come up with something more about her past she could feel safe revealing, as while it was quickly becoming evident Rarity could be a trusted confidant, actually telling somepony the truth for once required more nerve than Raspberry currently had the ability to muster.

“A-are you sure this is going to work?” asked Fluttershy nervously.

“Relax, this is Twilight we’re talking about!” confidently exclaimed Rainbow, just as much for both her sake and Lightning Dust’s as it was for Fluttershy. While living with Lightning Dust hadn’t been nearly as bad as the blue pegasus had initially feared (and that was before factoring in the fact she was becoming a werewolf), there still was the problem of having to feed her. As everypony had learned with Applejack, the biggest problem with a werewolf hiding their lycanthropy was the need to subtly consume meat. Since it had worked out with AJ going to Fluttershy’s place for her protein supplements, Rainbow and Twilight had decided to let Fluttershy in on Dust’s fate. Due to Fluttershy’s cottage also being relatively remote from Ponyville, it made the perfect place to try the first of Twilight’s ‘experiments’ as in the event something went wrong the aftermath could be contained.

“Indeed, there’s not much to worry about in the first place,” said Twilight, paging through some notes she’d brought to consult. “All I’m doing is trying to examine the extent to which the curse is magically bound to her bloodstream. From there I can calculate what needs to be done to extract a sample, from which a counteragent spell can be made and-“

“In a language we can understand, please,” droned Dust, more annoyed than nervous from her place in the middle of the room.

Spike then entered, hauling another box of notes. “Basically, she’s putting you under a metaphorical microscope to examine your bloodstream. Only instead of an actual device, she’s using her magic.”

“I’m impressed, you can actually translate nerdspeak!” said Dust, her tone implying it was an indirect insult and getting her a reprimanding look from Rainbow. “Uh, sorry, that came out wrong…”

Rainbow just shook her head and then gave Twilight a “what can you do?” look. Twilight barely even registered the indirect insult and Rainbow’s actions, instead having levitated some more notes. A few minutes later, the various items levitated by the alicorn flew behind her, leaving nothing in-between her and Lightning Dust.

“Alright, I’m ready to begin. Are you, Dust?”

The pegasus merely shrugged. “As I’ll ever be.”

“Good. Beginning magical examination in three…two…one…” the aura around Twilight’s horn, already present from the magic in use to levitate her notes, went up a notch in luminosity as it created a duplicate aura around the werewolf-to-be. For the next few minutes, everypony was silent as Twilight peered into a level of physical reality only accessible by trained unicorn doctors. However, it also left her oblivious to the world around her.

-ight!

Was somepony calling her name?

TWILIGHT!

The alicorn opened her eyes to find Spike frantically trying to get her attention.

“Kill the magic! Kill it!”

“Why, I’m so…” started Twilight, not exactly willing to stop so soon after starting, but suddenly was at a loss for words when she realized just what it was she’d accomplished, immediately stopping her magic flow.

As the notes all fell around her, she looked on in horror at the scene in front of her. Lightning had collapsed on the floor and seemed to be suffering from the early stages of heat exhaustion. Rainbow was on her haunches in front of her temporary roommate, her hooves holding Dust’s. Fluttershy was conspicuously absent.

“What did you do?!” snarled Rainbow at Twilight, “This isn’t any kind of safe examination I know of!”

“I…I don’t understand! There shouldn’t have been any adverse reaction to that spell, it’s a common tool used in hospitals all over Equestria!”

“To be fair, Twilight, you’re not exactly trained in the medical sciences like the staff in a hospital, even if you are more skilled in magic in general!”

“S-so….itchy…” whined Dust, her tightly clamped eyelids doing nothing to prevent the tears coming out from the pain. But it was the itchiness that immediately made all ponies present very, very nervous.

“What have I done…” whispered Twilight, the full ramifications of what had happened only now becoming evident.

“Out of my way!” said Fluttershy, rushing into the room with some weird kind of padded stick and similarly padded coverings on her forelegs. She motioned for Rainbow to move, allowing the animal caretaker to take her place. “Dust, look at me. Open your eyes to look at me, please.”

The suffering pegasus did so, her eyes already starting to become red from the crying. Fluttershy then lifted the stick. “I know you’re in pain” said the yellow mare, not even blinking to ensure total eye contact, “that’s why I have this. Bite into it as much as you have to. It’s not going to lessen the pain, but it will help make it more tolerable.”

Lightning gave a quick nod, opening her mouth long enough for Fluttershy to put in the stick. The moment she pulled away the jaws clamped shut like a spring-loaded vice, Dust’s fangs sinking deep into the padding.

“The stress stick is something I use to help animals go through internal pains and pose a risk of biting others, namely me.” Said Fluttershy, answering the question she knew had been forming in the minds of everypony else. “Trust me, when you have to help a bear give birth, you learn these things.”

Any further discussion was cut off by Dust letting out an unnaturally loud scream, startling Twilight and Spike enough that they backed away. Not Fluttershy, however, who took one of Dust’s hooves in her own, a padded one, while using a wing to toss the padded covering’s twin over to Rainbow. She wasted no time in putting it on and taking Dust’s other forehoof into her own as well.

The presence and dedication of the other two pegasus ponies, even in recognition of the sheer amount of danger they put themselves in, touched Dust, who began to get a very in-depth experience as to what Applejack must have felt like when she first transformed. As for the non-werewolves in the room, the involuntary convulsions and unnatural alterations going on with Dust’s body, along with the constant screaming, horrified them as they too knew this is what Applejack had gone through thanks to Sable Loam.

Dust didn’t know how long it had been between her collapsing from having spontaneously felt really hot and when the last pains of transformation had ended, but right now all she really felt like doing was laying on the floor and crying for the loss of her status as a pure pony.

“Dust…?” cautiously asked Rainbow.

“Don’t you bucking dare ask *sniff* if I’m alright…” snapped Dust, the rest of her retort cut by the shock of hearing her voice also having become much huskier.

“I’m not stupid, Dust, I clearly saw what just happened. I’m just making sure that you’re still you.”

“You mean if I’m still the*sniff* self-serving, egotistical bitch who is crashing *sniff* on your couch? The jury’s still out on that right now, but I’d suggest *sniff*not renting that out until the jury gets back unless you want to learn what it’s like to be forcefully changed into a different species.”

Rainbow smiled. “Oh, good, your sense of humor made it through your transformation. So we have that.”

“Celestiadamnit, Dash…” said Dust, unable to resist giggling at the inside joke. It came out as a throaty *hur hur hur* but retained enough of her natural voice that it wasn’t totally horrifying.

Fluttershy gave Rainbow and approving nod, for it was important to keep Dust in good spirits in light of what just happened. “Hey, Lightning? Are you by chance hungry?”

Dust stopped laughing and her eyes went wide. She was pretty hungry now that she thought about it. “It feels like I could eat an entire manticore right now, honestly.”

“Well…” started Fluttershy, playfully, “I’m fresh out of those, but I do have some meatburgers I could cook up instead.”

“That’d be great.”

Without another word, Fluttershy got up and went over to the kitchen. Twilight, meanwhile, slowly walked up to Dust, who herself was shakily getting up on all four of her new paws.

“Listen, Dust, I’m so sorry for this…”

“Sorry for what?”

Twilight’s face immediately turned to that of confusion. “I just triggered your first transformation, it’s because of me you’re a full werewolf now... aren’t you mad at me?”

Dust shook her head. “Nah. We all knew this was going to happen to me eventually, all you did was try to help fix it. Nopony could have known how the curse would have reacted to what you did, plus it’s probably for the best to have gotten this whole ‘transformation pains’ thing out of the way as soon as possible, too.”

“Well, it’s relief to hear you don’t blame me for this.”

“You’re a princess, you think I could get away with trying anything against you?” laughed Dust. “That said, I really feel like stretching my limbs after Fluttershy is done with those burgers.” As she was talking, Dust had unfurled her wings, which actually didn’t appear to have changed at all. “Huh, these babies are still authentic, hopefully they can still keep me afloat like this.”

“Yeah, we’re…gonna need to talk about that.” Said Dash.

“What are you talking about? Asked Dust, turning her head slightly to the side in confusion.

“You’re a show off, Dust. I know, I’m one myself, that’s the main reason we hit it off so well back at the Academy. Now, that means you’re going to want to do low-flying stunts since it gets the adrenaline pumping and is in full view of everypony on the ground.”

“What’s the problem with that?”

“How do you think the town is going to react when it looks like a werewolf has gained the ability to attack from the sky and is divebombing towards random ponies in the middle of Ponyville?”

“…point.”

“Moo…MOO!” called out what was totally-a-cow-and-not-Sweetie Belle.

Somepony moved within the Apple Family household, disappearing from an upstairs window to the downstairs, where a door was opened. Reluctantly, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo made their way inside, with Babs closing the door behind them.

“Where’s Apple Bloom?” asked Scootaloo in a hushed whisper, as to not wake the sleeping Apples.

“Not in her room, which is exactly as I suspected.” Sneered Babs, prompting the unicorn and the pegasus to trade uneasy glances with each other.

“What do you mean she isn’t in her room?”

“Come.” Babs motioned for the duo to go upstairs, making sure to keep the noise down. Sure enough, after leading them into Apple Bloom’s room, the main occupant was conspicuously missing from the bed.

“Maybe she’s in the restroom or something?” suggested Sweetie.

“Then explain this.” Babs then walked over and brought out a bag hidden from under the bed. It was an empty Happy Puppy dog biscuit package. “She is a werewolf, I knew it!”

“But…don’t you think she’d tell us about something like that?” pointed out Scoot, “I mean, we’re her best friends, we tell each other everything! Not to mention she was with us the night Diamond had the nightmare about her being a werewolf, too!”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out…” said Babs, moving over to the closet where she took out what looked like a lasso rope. “Apple Bloom said she kept this to try practicing her lasso skills.”

“But we tried lasso tossing for cutie marks, it didn’t work.” Pointed out Scootaloo.

“It’s not Applejack’s special talent, either, but you’ve seen her skills with it. Maybe Apple Bloom just wants to try being like her big sister? Regardless, we need it more than her now, anyway.”

“Wh-what are we gonna do?” nervously asked Sweetie.

“We’re going to ambush her by hiding behind this door, so when she comes into the room, we’ll use the rope to tie her up and make it so she has to tell us what’s really going on.”

“Uh…” started Sweetie Belle, “if she is a werewolf, doesn’t that sort of put us at risk of being bit-“

“Quickly, hide!” interrupted Babs, pushing the other Crusaders behind the door. The only sound was that of the front door being opened and closed. Then what sounded like padded feet going up the stairs, except halfway through it turned into regular hoof clopping. The tension was thick enough to cut with a silver knife as the sound of hooves went right up to being right behind the door.

“Sorry, Babs…” said Apple Bloom. Babs was shocked that Apple Bloom had somehow known she’d been there the whole time, but even moreso when suddenly Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle jumped her and soon had her tied up. Apple Bloom moved to close the door and then looked right at her cousin, but with sad eyes instead of the angry eyes Babs was expecting.

“Wh-what’s going-“ exclaimed Babs, only to be shushed by the Crusaders and was forced to maintain a hushed whisper. “*sigh* Okay, what’s the big idea here?”

“Do you promise not to scream?” asked the yellow filly, the pleading nature of the request evident in her eyes. Babs merely nodded. With no recourse, Apple Bloom shifted yet again into her wolf form.

Babs gasped, but was surprised to see she was the only one to do so. “Waitaminute…Scoot, Sweetie, you two knew about this? Apple Bloom, why did you tell them and not me?!”

“Ah didn’t tell them, they were there when…when Ah first turned into this. They’ve known the entire time and been helpin’ me try to hide it.”

“But why didn’t I get informed about this?! Why the lies?! I thought I was a Crusader just like you three!”

“And you are, Babs, but it was my call not to tell you because…well, because you’re family and Ah couldn’t risk you tellin’ Big Mac or Granny or, above all else, Applejack.”

Babs had to wonder why her older cousin was singled out. “Why Applejack, of all ponies?”

“You know that whole werewolf business that went down a year ago?”

“Yeah?”

“It started because Applejack was a werewolf, the one that got killed was the same one who had turned her. It was a really rough time for her, especially since as we all found out later that…well, let’s just say if she found out Ah somehow have come the thing she hated bein’, Ah don’t know what would happen, and Ah’m scared as can be of what that would be.”

“I understand, but again; why didn’t you let me know about this?!”

Scootaloo then realized what was really going on. “Babs, are…are you angrier about the fact you were kept in the dark about Apple Bloom being a werewolf, then Apple Bloom actually being werewolf?”

“Yeah! I thought you guys thought I was trustworthy, aren't the Crusaders supposed to be some kind of secret society or somethin'? Keepin' secrets from everypony but ourselves is kind of the point, isn’t it?”

Silence again, then Apple Bloom spoke up. “As Ah said, Ah was the one who wanted to keep you in the dark about all this, but…Ah thought you would be afraid of me. Afraid of this monster that Ah am now.” Feeling it was safe enough, Apple Bloom walked up to the still-tied up Babs and raised a paw.

Babs didn’t quite know what to expect, other than it not being Apple Bloom simply touching the lasso knot and causing the binding ropes to fall off easily, freeing the trapped filly. But Babs' attention was still on Apple Bloom, who despite the more canine like features was clearly still the same pony.

“Are you kidding? I think it’s kinda cool having a werewolf for a cousin! Plus, you’re not actively hurtin' other ponies. I mean, you risked exposin' this secret all to save somepony’s life, especially since that pony is apparently tryin' to prove you are a werewolf.”

“So you did see mah wolf muzzle when Ah was spinnin’ around. Ah didn’t believe when Scoot and Sweetie told me you had, but…moot point now, Ah guess. Ah’m sorry for wantin’ to keep this from you, as a Crusader and your cousin, Ah shoulda been more open about this to you.”

Babs merely moved to embrace her transformed kin. “It’s alright, Apple Bloom, just…let’s promise not to have any more secrets like this again, deal?”

“Deal!”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo said nothing, allowing the cousins to rebuild their bond.

“Awww…” said Sweetie, taking in the touching moment.

Scootaloo just nickered in annoyance, feeling it was a little too hammy a resolution. Desperate to get free of the adorable moment, she realized something else that the Crusaders needed to address. ‘Hey, girls, Nightmare Night is next week! We still need costumes! And no, Apple Bloom, being yourself as a wolf won’t cut it!”

Ch.16: Nightmare Night!

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 16: “Nightmare Night!”

During the time when Queen Faust worked to turn the uneasy peace between the three pony subspecies into one single, unified population, she had encouraged the Earth ponies to restart an ancient tradition of holding a harvest festival at the end of fall. Having been largely forgotten by ponies during the period when Wendigoes created an unending blizzard that destroyed all crop production, Faust insisted on the resurrected tradition to be expanded and include unicorns and pegasi. In time, it assisted in her goal of a unified Equestria as one of the major examples of promoting harmony between ponies, and would continue even after she passed the throne to her daughters.

Then, shortly before the harvest festival was to be celebrated all over Equestria, Luna’s jealousy and insecurities were allowed to manifest in her rage against Celestia, resulting in the birth of Nightmare Moon. By the time even the farthest reaches of the country had heard of Luna’s attempted coup d’état, the festival was largely forgotten as everypony was scared that the princess-turned-monster would come after them, if not one of her monstrous minions such as werewolves or the vampiric batponies. The following year, well after Celestia had tearfully banished her own sister to a thousand years on the moon and the New Lunar Republic crushed under her subsequent rage, the lone alicorn insisted that the harvest festivals resume. However, as the reign of terror caused by Nightmare Moon was still fresh in the minds of the populace, rumors circulated of her return, and so to avoid mass panic Celestia was forced to change the harvest festival into a yearly event dedicated to everything scary and what goes bump in the night. While it hurt Celestia to have effectively villainize her sister, the newly created Nightmare Night was a success in every respect and helped turn the terrors of old into mere folklore and simple young reader level scary story material. Much to the sun princess’s relief, Luna was amused at the idea of a holiday dedicated to her, at least after making a major scene in Ponyville unannounced for her first public appearance following her restoration. As for all the other creatures of the night who were Nightmare Night icons, they had disappeared over the years or become more docile over the years, such as the batponies no longer needing to drink blood thanks to genetic drift.

Or at least that was what Silver Spoon had wanted to believe. But after months of being dragged along by Diamond Tiara and that ghost werewolf on some scheme to expose Apple Bloom as one of those monsters of yore, with the pretense of needing such activity having been thrown in her face, the young silversmith had never been more scared, even on previous Nightmare Nights.

“…and so that’s the plan, got it?” asked Diamond, who was dressed up as a miniature éclair.

“Yeah…” half-heartedly answered the gray filly, whose own costume, that of a slice of French Cream Pie, had yet to be put on.

She and Diamond were in Silver’s room, as while Silver had survived falling into the river she hadn’t totally escaped unharmed. As it turned out, she’d broken her left foreleg at some point during the smashing against things in the water, not feeling it until she’d already been brought to Ponyville General. Now she was forced to wear the foreleg brace if she wanted to get anywhere, much like how Apple Bloom had needed to wear one although she only had some kind of severe cut, not a broken leg.

“Great. Now, get your costume on,” continued Diamond, oblivious to the unsure undertones in her companion’s voice or her own volume when she muttered, “This would have been so much easier if you hadn’t stupidly broken your leg!”

“What was that?” said Silver, turning to fully look at Diamond.

“Uh, just muttering to myself how we’re gonna get Apple Bloom tonight!” lied Tiara. Silver had a fairly good idea what had really been said, but between the lingering effects of the pain medication she’d been prescribed and her unwillingness to argue with her only friend, Silver just didn’t feel like making a point of it. At the very least, all she had to do was be the lookout tonight since she couldn’t really do anything else thanks to her busted leg.

“Silver, Diamond, it’s time to go!” called up Silver’s mom.

“Coming, mom!” replied Silver. “Okay, can you help me get into this thing, Tiara?”

Diamond nickered. “If I have too…”

“Y-you want me to come along?” cautiously asked Raspberry, currently manning the desk at the Traveler’s Retreat.

“But of course, darling!” replied Rarity, dressed up in her old Princess Platinum costume from the one time she played the role in the Canterlot Hearth’s Warming Eve pageant. It wasn’t exactly the same; the cloak had been mostly ruined by mildew and masonry residue, a result of its storage bin having been damaged due to having been in a box that suffered flood damage when Spike had 'helped' Applejack 'help' Rarity in fixing the not actually broken water pipes, then forgotten in the wake of Ceberus having laid siege to Carousel Boutique a year ago. What had been salvageable was incorporated into a new cloak, visually the exact same but slightly thicker as to keep Rarity warm in the event this Nightmare Night was chillier than usual.

“But I don’t have a costume.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?! I make clothes for Celestia’s sake, plus after that last gem delivery a week ago I would have happily made you a new costume from the ground up!”

“I-I’m sorry…”

Rarity just shook her head. “Raspberry, Raspberry, Raspberry…what am I going to do with you?”

“Leave me here?” Raspberry then gave a squee-grade grin.

Rarity just looked unamused. Her horn then lit up, encapsulating the hapless non-costumed mare. “I will not stand by and let somepony like you sit out Nightmare Night. Come, surely I can make something out of what I left lying around at home.”

Unwillingly being forced to hover as Rarity turned to leave, Raspberry flailed her limbs wildly, trying to break free without using her magic. Rarity couldn’t know that fact, not yet. So, instead, Raspberry cried for help.

“What’s going on?” came Cashmere, walking in from the kitchen in the house area of the Retreat. “Miss Rarity, what are you doing to Razz?”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” apologized Rarity, still leaving Raspberry hovering in the air, “but she doesn’t have a Nightmare Night costume, so I’m going to take her to be fitted and then she will help chaperone the Crusaders for candy.”

“I, uh, what?” was all Beryl could say.

“Oh, don’t tell me you’ve never experienced Nightmare Night, ever!” dramatically exclaimed Rarity, much to Raspberry’s mild annoyance.

“Didn’t have the time, usually I tried to schedule one of my gem trips around the end of the harvest season. I never saw the point, you know what my fillyhood was like and I’ve never wanted to make a costume because money is always tight.”

“Well, I think Miss Rarity will see to it that this year is different, won’t you?” asked Cashmere. “And Razz, dear, you can take the rest of the night off. Nopony comes to the Retreat this late on Nightmare Night anyway, so Ascot and I can handle it. We’re old coots as it is, so we tend to just stay inside and pass out candy to any fillies and colts who come around. But you’re young - you should have the chance to experience a fun night like this!”

By that point, Heliodor had come in and, upon seeing his usual perch was now unstable and hovering in the air, chose a nearby table.

“Oh, and I’ll make a costume for little Heelee, too!” squealed Rarity.

Heliodor, however, had a sinking feeling in his gut as a reaction, giving Raspberry a ‘what the hell is she going to do to me?’ look.

“A fashion makeover, to both of us.” Said Raspberry, equally as uneasy as her pet. Rarity then suddenly took the chance to bolt out of the Retreat, the hapless unicorn in her aura taken along for the ride. Heliodor merely facewinged before taking off to follow. He dreaded what the alabaster fashionista was going to do to them.

He soon got his answer when Rarity almost literally tossed his mistress into the Boutique. He quickly rushed to her side, even though he knew she wasn’t hurt, but the sudden loud click of the door lock made him pale.

“R-Rarity?” whimpered Raspberry, now unsure of what was going on.

“You two. Will. Be…” She then turned around, her eyes and muzzle distorted with a crazed look, “FABULOUS!”

The various tools around the workfloor became ignited with her aura as were pieces of fabric, all of them spinning in one large circle. Raspberry and Heliodor clutched each other, screaming in terror, as the ensemble descended upon them like a ravenous beast.

Lightning Dust anxiously moved about the inside of Rainbow Dash’s home. It was bad enough that she was cooped up inside a building of some kind, her wolf side was practically screaming in her head to be let loose. Normally she was able to sneak out to the Everfree during such nights, thankfully rare as they were, but as agreed she needed to tell Rainbow she was doing so.

The issue at hoof was that Rainbow Dash had disappeared. Dust had been taking a nap on the couch when Rainbow had last come home, so all she remembered was the blue Pegasus saying something about getting ready for Nightmare night. But that had been fifteen minutes ago, before all sound from the upstairs stopped. Investigation found the master bedroom to be in a state of total chaos (which, despite every logical reason to believe so, was normally extremely clean and tidy in contrast to the way RD treated everything on the ground).

“R-rainbow?” cautiously called out Dust. Dash’s disappearance had spooked her badly, with every odd noise making her fur stand on end. She’d even allowed her fangs to be put out simply to help reassure herself that whatever she might face, she wasn’t totally defenseless.

Suddenly, the entire house went pitch black.

“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!” screamed Dust. In her panic she accidentally fell on her back, her four legs pointed up into the nothingness. Frozen with fear, she paled as something in a horribly strained tone, as if perpetually choking, started to whisper things in tongues she didn’t understand. Then they became things she did understand such as

“Nightmare Niiiiiiiiiiiight…What a friiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight…give me somethiiiiiiiiing…”

The hyperventilating only increased as the voice became louder. Then, suddenly, from the top of her view game two giant, glowing eyes, attached to a nightmarish Shadowbolt that was the source of the strange voice and shouted;

“SWEET TO BITE!”

Acting on pure instinct, Dust didn’t even have time to process her actions before she immediately shifted to full wolf form, righted herself, and then dashed under the nearest thing she could see. It then occurred to her that she could see better in the dark when she was a wolf. The lights then came on, the shadowbolt having restored the lighting spell in the lamp fixtures, revealing it to be only Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, man!” laughed Rainbow, keeling over and clutching her chest, laughing all the way down. “Your face…Oh, Celestia, your face! I didn’t think I was that good!”

Dust’s first thought was to immediately attack Rainbow and bite down on her neck so hard it would crush the windpipe. She bared her teeth in anger, but she willed herself back in control, although doing so made her realize how easily she’d lost control from something as simple as a prank. That scared her much more than Rainbow had, prompting her to start tearing up.

Rainbow immediately realized her prank had gone too far, although considering how fearless Dust usually was, the idea a rather simple scare tactic had reduced her to tears made no sense. “Aw, geez, I’m sorry, Dust…” apologized Rainbow, removing the headpiece and goggles so her six-color mane fell free. “You should have told me that you’re not one for scares. After everything we did back at the academy-“

“That was a different me!” Lightning snapped back, her physical state somewhere halfway between pony and wolf as she slowly forced herself back to normal. “Back then I wasn’t a werewolf, I wasn’t so insecure about myself because sometimes I don’t know what is real or not since I’m now something that all my life was said to be a myth!” She started to choke, big fat tears starting to come down. “D-don’t get the wrong id-idea, Dash, it was a good prank and if I was half the mare I used to be I w-would have done th-the same…but…but my gut reaction when you revealed it was you…I just h-had to stop myself from killing you simply out of fear!”

Rainbow involuntarily took a half-step back at that revelation, but then continued forward and took her troubled flatmate into an embrace.

“But you didn’t, Dust. I’m sorry I put you in this position, if I’d even had the slightest hint a scare like that would have set you off I wouldn’t have dared to do that.”

“I-its okay, Dash. It’s Nightmare N-Night, after all. Best night of the y-year for pranks.”

“More like prank, since that was the only one I’d planned.” Dust broke the embrace, her eyes red from the tears but giving Rainbow a hard enough ‘what are you talking about’ look that the blue Pegasus had to give a sheepish grin as she responded. “I promised Scootaloo that I’d chaperone her and her friends around, since I’m her adoptive big sister. No time for pranks, even though I honestly would love to do what I did that one year all over again.”

“Wh-what did you do?”

Seeing the opportunity to cheer up the cursed mare, Rainbow got up and retrieved her Shadowbolt mask, donning it once again before going into excruciating detail about how she pushed a cloud around and fired thunderbolts at unsuspecting ponies…and her own shocking surprise.

“Wait, Princess Luna used your own prank against you?!” chortled Dust, who was of a much better mood.

“Yeah, it was embarrassing, luckily only Twilight and Spike were there to see it since they’d been my targets.” Admitted Dash, whose blush could be seen through the mask. “But, times change, so I’m playing it low key this year and hanging out with the girls on the ground.”

“As a Shadowbolt once again?”

“Nah, I only brought this thing out so I could prank you with it. I’ve got a different, less threatening one already prepped for me back upstairs. As for you…”

Dust shrugged. “I figured I would just spend a night in the Everfree again, I gotta go wolf form soon and it’s not going to do me any good cooped up in your house or in public.”

Dash nodded in agreement. “Yeah, that makes sense. But you could stick around that clearing where the Nightmare Moon statue is. Normally it’s safe, but just in case it would be nice if you patrolled the area to keep it clear from any monsters. Some occasional growls while the kids and chaperones are doing the candy ritual thing would help set the mood, too.”

Dust then gave a conspiratorial grin, her fangs once again showing, “does that mean I can take some of the candy when nobody’s looking?”

Dash rolled her eyes. “Like a werewolf needs any more reason to be hyperactive,” She chuckled.

“I’m so ready for CANDY!” exclaimed Scootaloo, who to nopony’s surprise was wearing an Iron Mare costume.

“Yeah, it kind of stinks that our cutie marks won’t be for candy collecting,” said Sweetie, dressed in her own “pretty princess” outfit. Visually, it looked similar to the one Rarity was wearing although the elder unicorn was busy subjecting Raspberry and Heliodor to the Carousel Boutique Horror Show, the main difference being Sweetie’s crown was a more traditional closed-top headpiece. At its highest point sat the magnificent diamond centerpiece with smaller gems of various colors dotting the rest of the crown.

“Or candy eatin’!” added Babs, who had decided to dress up as a changeling of all things. Clad in a form-fitting catsuit with holes cut at random in the leggings to simulate the signature appearance of the changelings, a saddle carapace and wing attachments made of cardboard were tied around her middle, and a cheap pair of plastic vampire fangs completed the look.

“Or dressin’ up in costumes!” agreed Apple Bloom. She was dressed up in a rather simple costume: Carmine Sancaballo. She wore a blood-red trenchcoat and a large red fedora, similar to those worn by the world famous thief who was a semi-regular antagonist in the Daring Do books. She then playfully mimicked the character by reaching for the diamond sitting upon Sweetie’s head.

“Stop right there, Sancaballo!” announced Daring Do, who swooped down and “tackled” her enemy away from the prize. Rainbow then swooped around and put Apple Bloom back on the ground. “Great costume, by the way, you even have the hoof boots and everything!”

“Would ya believe those were mine a long time ago?” said Applejack, who was wearing of all things a Wonderbolt costume. She even had fake plastic wings the same shade of orange as her coat, although they were cast in the folded position as having them in an open pose would be problematic for a pony who normally didn’t have wings. “They’re mah old rain galoshes, but Granny preserved ‘em for Apple Bloom so well that they seem to fit the part.”

“Speaking of preserved, look who’s coming,” said Rainbow, motioning to an approaching figure. Amazingly, it was Fluttershy of all ponies, wearing her old Private Pansy costume. Rainbow had to voice what everypony was thinking; “Fluttershy, don’t you usually hide at home during Nightmare Night?”

“Y-yes, normally I would, but…” replied the armored mare, “I figured it would be alright this time, just hanging around with you girls.”

“Whoopee! This is going to be the best Nightmare Night EVER!” exclaimed Pinkie, her costume of choice being a giant Gummy suit, with Gummy himself (attached to her mane by way of clamped jaws) dressed in a mini-Pinkie suit

“It’s going to be an interesting one for sure!” said Twilight, who somehow managed to glide in and land without tripping, with Spike on her back clutching on for dear life. All the other ponies gathered gave a quick ground stamping applause for the alicorn.

“A little higher on the approach next time, but otherwise that was good!” approved Rainbow Dash, “although…you do still need to work on choosing costumes other ponies actually would know.”

Twilight nickered in annoyance. “I’m Wysteria the Wise! Please tell me somepony here knows who she is!”

Silence.

“Apprentice to Star Swirl the Bearded? First Archmagus under the newly formed Equestrian Crown under Queen Faust?”

More silence.

“Hey, at least it’s better than that Coperneighcus costume you drafted up,” commented Spike, who was wearing a giant phoenix outfit. “That thing made you look like a beet.”

Twilight sighed. “I told you, Spike, that idea went down the tubes when I couldn’t work in a way to accommodate these.” She partially unfolded her wings to prove her point. “If there was some way I could keep these from springing up involuntarily, then I could still go around as a unicorn. But, since this is the night meant for scaring and my control over my new appendages isn’t perfect, this costume is better for me. After all, you even said as such earlier…Spike, are you listening?”

The dragon didn’t hear anything, as his full attention was on the diamond in Sweetie’s crown. Sure, the little gems around it looked like sweet little candies, but the centerpiece was one of the most delicious looking gems he’d ever seen in his life. The fountain of drool coming from his mouth was evidence of such. It was only when he was aware that everypony was looking at him with concern that he snapped out of his trance.

“Oh, uh, sorry, trying to avoid getting sick on candy again, but I’m so hungry and that diamond…”

Sweetie Belle shook her head to dissuade the dragon. “I wouldn’t recommend even thinking about it, Spike. Rarity had this diamond special ordered from Raspberry Beryl, who said this is the largest diamond she ever sold.”

“Speaking of whom…” began Apple Bloom, gesturing with her head towards more approaching figures. This time, it was Rarity in her original costume escorting Raspberry and Heliodor.

The gathered ponies looked on as Rarity arrived with her companions, sporting her improvised on-the-spot costumes. Raspberry Beryl, done up in a slightly filly, slightly country style pleated dress, with a medium red cloak over it all. Her mane was done up in two long pigtails that seemed sort of the same as how Granny Smith looked in the old pictures of her as a filly.

Heliodor was a grumpy phoenix wearing a midget-sized dragon costume. He hated it. Then he hated it more when he realized it was colored like Spike.

“Well, um…” snickered Pinkie, “guess we have a pair of paired opposites!”

“Indeed.” Said Rarity. “Admittedly, I did intentionally make Heliodor’s costume similar to Spike, but only because they are similar in their relations to their pony partners.”

“Wait, Raspberry, you think of Heliodor as a younger brother?” questioned Twilight before shooting a disapproving look at Rarity for putting words in the other unicorn’s mouth.

“No, not really, although the idea they’re dressed up as each other is cute,” replied the cloaked mare, “but I see Heelee as just a close friend and companion. That said, I wasn’t originally planning on being out tonight until Rarity dragged me out of the Retreat, so I don’t know what’s going on tonight.”

“What do you mean you don’t know what’s going on?” asked Pinkie, before doing an exaggerated gasp, “Oh, don’t tell me you’ve never celebrated Nightmare Night before!”

“Never had the chance, nor interest, nor even enough money for a costume in the event I had the other two.”

“Well, then!” exclaimed Rainbow, hovering over and draping a foreleg around the unicorn, “You’re with the right group of ponies to do it with!”

To say Raspberry was nervous was an understatement. She’d gone from happily manning the desk back at the hotel, to now having been stuffed into a costume (which was admittedly quite nice, especially the cloak) and spending the night with the six most dangerous ponies possible. And their younger counterparts, including Apple Bloom who still gave off an unsettling aura of…something, Raspberry didn’t know what it was any more than she did last time, but it wasn’t good.

But…she thought, daring a smile while pretending to follow what the discussion at hoof was about, perhaps I’m just getting worried about nothing. If I can prove to the six elements I’m a good pony who doesn’t want to hurt anypony, then that could be the ticket to me finally breaking free of my cursed life. Bolstered by the thought this was the end of all her troubles, Raspberry eagerly agreed to help chaperone the Crusaders while they collected candy. There were mentions of some candy-giving ritual to some statue of Nightmare Moon, but every instance of that reminded Raspberry that the secrets she kept were far scarier than any inert statue.

Diamond hurriedly placed the last of the bait on the path before darting to safety. If anypony learned she’d purposefully not been with the group being led by Zecora for the candy-giving ritual (which was stupid, everypony knew Nightmare Moon didn’t really exist anymore now that Princess Luna wasn’t being confused for her anymore), it would be a world of trouble coming her way. But with Silver Spoon having stayed behind in Ponyville as the cover, claiming Diamond was busy using the little filly’s room, Diamond only needed to get back before anypony realized the truth and she was home free.

And Apple Bloom? Well…

“Now you’re going to get yours!” whispered Tiara. While she wouldn’t be there to see what happened to the monster in Apple Bloom’s skin, just knowing the task would be accomplished was enough at this point. Then, as if giving a signal to an unseen watcher, she motioned with her hoof, and then took off into the forest. She didn’t need to fear any of the creatures, her friend from the other side had ensured none of those beasts would cross her path tonight.

As it was, she made good time and was back in Ponyville before anybody noticed, meeting up with Silver Spoon and where she’d put her stored costume.

“Finally!” exclaimed Silver, “you were kind of pushing it for time there!”

“Oh, give it a rest, I got it done, didn’t I?” chided Diamond, moving to put the éclair back on. Silver then stopped her.

“Diamond…what happened in the Everfree?”

“What are you talking about? I set the trap, so you-know-who will deal with the rest!”

“Then what’s the blue stuff on your hooves? And more importantly…where’s your cutie mark?”

Panic registered in Tiara’s brain as she immediately looked down at her hooves. They were spotted with blue pollen. Then, slowly, she turned to look at her flank.

It was blank.

All thoughts of her glorious revenge on Apple Bloom were immediately replaced by a shrill scream of Diamond Tiara having become the very thing she loved to mock. It was only the first of multiple scares the town would endure that night.

Ch.17: What a Fright!

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 17: “What a Fright!”

“W-what are we doin’, exactly?” stammered Babs. She wouldn’t ever admit it, her pride as a Manehatten mare demanded as such, but she was legitimately scared.

“Don’t you do Nightmare Night in the city?” asked Sweetie.

“Well, yeah, what town doesn’t? I’m sure every pony town has young fillies and colts do this ritual thing where we offer candy for Nightmare Moon to eat instead of us. Only in Manehatten it’s done in Strawberry Fields, or rather during Nightmare Night when it’s known as ‘Spookscary Fields’, with one of the art sculptures made to look like Nightmare Moon through illusion magic. And you can still see the lights of the skyscrapers above the treeline during the event, too.”

“Aw, come on!” replied Scootaloo, “it’s not that bad. The path is protected by magical wards and is still pretty close to Ponyville, so we’re safe. Plus, it is Nightmare Night, being scared is part of the fun!”

“Don’t forget, Babs…” added Apple Bloom, “Ah’d say the most dangerous thing isn’t in the woods.” For the briefest of seconds, she grinned at Babs with teeth far too sharp to belong in a typical filly’s mouth.

“Y-yeah, I guess…” was all Babs could say, although oddly enough, the fact Apple Bloom had jokingly reminded Babs of her “other form” helped the non-local filly relax a little, since she knew if something bad happened Apple Bloom wouldn’t hesitate to protect her kin.

“Miss Zecora,” piped up a young colt, most of his coat covered by his ninja costume but his inconstant Trottingham accent betraying his identity, “is Princess Luna going to be coming this year?”

"Dear Pip, sadly she must stay in Canterlot - she cannot play," answered the shamaness, who looked fearsome in her costume, that of a traditional Zebrababwean tribal warrior. "I'm sure however, she misses you, and knows quite well you miss her too. But just because Luna is not here does not mean there's naught to fear. This night is dark and filled with spooks and at a glance, they'll still want to play and prance!"

It seemed like the young colt had more to say, but another part of the group exclaimed the statue was within sight. Zecora quickly gathered her charges around, with a few other older ponies serving to help keep the kids in line. Mainly, the Princess and her friends, except Raspberry in place of Pinkie for undisclosed reasons.

“So, wait, they sacrifice candy to the statue?” inquired Raspberry, who was the only pony of the entire group who was new to the holiday.

Rarity nodded. “Yes, it’s silly, but Zecora is a natural at making the kids really frightened, Pinkie isn’t even allowed back here during this because of what happened that one time with Princess Luna.”

“But, isn’t Nightmare Moon-“

“Yes, they’re technically the same, but after her restoration – and yes, I know she was restored, I was there you know – she chose to make her first public re-appearance during Nightmare Night in the middle of the candy offering ritual. From what I know it…got messy.”

Raspberry was surprised, “You mean you weren’t here for that Nightmare Night?”

“I actually fell ill with the choke around that time, so I was bedridden during the event. I didn’t even have the strength to make a costume so I could hand out treats, my cousin Sky Skimmer had to be my caretaker as she was the only pony readily available who had had the choke before and so would be immune to catching it again. It’s a shame she was stuck tending to me, though, and not being able to come see Zecora’s show.”

Raspberry would have asked further had it not been for the sudden onset of a green mist covering everything in sight, leaving Rarity the only thing visible.

“Wha-what the…” started the red unicorn, only to be frozen in shock as the ghostly form of Nightmare Moon lept out from the mist as if to swallow her whole. She took several steps back out of surprise and fear, her magic only held at bay by Heliodor (who had remained strangely quiet during the whole thing) lightly gripping her horn harder. Taking the hint, she immediately realized that ‘Nightmare Moon’ was only a projection around Zecora, a magical puppet, about a second before the zebra dropped the disguise to give a knowing wink to the unicorn pair, then brought the puppet back up to go scare the young ponies. Raspberry had to admit, Zecora was really good at scaring ponies, even though the full effect had been lost thanks to the fact she knew a thing or two about illusion spells.

“As you can see, she puts on quite the show!” laughed Rarity, good naturedly.

Suddenly, a low, guttural growl came from around the clearing, prompting the older ponies to immediately tighten the circle around the group.

“Wh-what was that?!” whimpered Fluttershy.

“Ah don’t like the sound of that…” replied Applejack, taking a stance Applebloom noted was slightly similar to that of a wolf getting ready to pounce. She shrunk back slightly, one of the few subconscious traces of Applejack’s lycanthropy reminding her of what had permanence with her own condition as a werewolf.

However, despite her initial expression of determination like everypony else, Rainbow caught something shine for the briefest of a moment from behind the statue, where nopony was looking. Lightning Dust, in her wolf form, gave a sly wink to Rainbow before taking a few pieces of candy from in front of the statue and silently bounding away into the depths of the Everfree.

“I don’t know what you all are doing, but I didn’t hear anything!” mock-chided Rainbow. She immediately caught the glare from Twilight, to which she simply mouthed Lightning Dust. The placated alicorn was surprised to learn who it had been, but with a smile and a wink she played along.

“Yeah, it might just have been all your little pony minds imagining things.”

“B-but that had to have been a timberwolf!” exclaimed one of the fillies, with several others acting in agreement.

“What did you hear, Apple Bloom?” asked Sweetie, but in a way such that the non-Crusader ponies wouldn’t hear.

“It was definitely a wolf, but not one Ah’ve ever heard of,” the filly carefully answered.

Then a second howl sounded out, this time one Rainbow indicated to Twilight she didn’t know the source of.

“Quickly, everypony, to Ponyville we must away!” shouted Zecora, immediately getting Twilight’s pantomimed message, ”To escape the wrath of Nightmare Moon without delay!”

In the ensuing chaos that was a herd of scared little ponies (who thought this was all staged and not an actual situation where they were in danger), barely held together by the older ponies, it wasn’t easy keeping track of everypony. Indeed, once they got back to Ponyville, Spike immediately pointed out a certain Daring Do villain who was consciously absent from the otherwise all-present group.

“W-where’s Apple Bloom!?” cried out Applejack, fearing the worst and practically ready to jump back into the Everfree if need be.

“We don’t know!” responded Babs for the rest of the Crusaders, “she was with us last we checked!”

“Hey, wait a second…” realized Fluttershy, “wasn’t Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon supposed to be part of the group?”

The sudden sound of Diamond Tiara screaming not too far away gave everypony a fright.

“Zecora, Applejack, Rainbow, with me!” ordered Twilight, “everypony else, you stay right here!” The princess having taken charge, she and the three others of her group galloped off to investigate.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” whined Scootaloo.

Damn, these biscuits are really good, thought Lightning, who had stumbled upon several such confections just lying around in the Everfree. She’d tried to shadow the group after that unknown, second howl scared them off, but she couldn’t keep up without blowing her cover. Then she found the first treat. Having dropped the candy so she wouldn’t be hindered by them when running, she was in the mood to eat something and she eagerly popped the thing in her mouth. It was some kind of meat flavored dog biscuit, and it was delicious.

Then she found another one.

And another.

Turns out somepony had left them lying around all over the place. As Lightning practically gorged herself on them, it never occurred to her why somepony would have done that in a place like the Everfree, she was only thinking about how delicious they were.

Seriously need to remember to ask Dash to pick me up a few dozen bags of these ,said Dust in a whisper to herself as she reached for yet another treat. But her hoof stopped right above it as she heard something else moving through the woods. Darting for cover behind a large tree trunk, Dust carefully peeked her head around to see who else was there.

To her surprise, it was Apple Bloom. She looked lost, presumably having been shoved away from the main group. She was heading in the right direction of town, though, so Lightning decided to shadow her to keep off any dangers until the filly was clear of danger.

Then Apple Bloom saw one of the dog biscuits. She picked it up, sniffed it…and then ate it. Lightning was dumbfounded. Did Apple Bloom really just eat a meat flavored dog treat? The answer came quickly enough as Apple Bloom eagerly hopped over to another treat and ate it as well. What was going on here?

Unfortunately, as Lightning moved closer, she made the amateur’s mistake of unknowingly stepping on a branch. The resulting snap echoed through the forest like the retort from a large bore cannon. Apple Bloom’s head snapped in the direction of the noise, looking right into Dust’s eyes. Fortunately for the green werewolf, her natural orange eyes were the only thing Apple Bloom could see, the rest of her too shrouded in darkness to be identified. Even so, Lightning subconsciously moved back to hide her cutie mark behind the tree as she took pride in it, the fact lycanthropy was taking away that part of her identity being no small part of embarrassment.

But none of that mattered, as Lighting would have willingly revealed her dark secret to Apple Bloom if it meant keeping her safe. Which was something she’d done the opposite of as Apple Bloom immediately took off in the opposite direction. At the very least, it was in the direction of Ponyville, so everything was going to be alright.

“What were you two doing in the Everfree?!” demanded Rainbow. The scream had come from Diamond alright, whereupon it was quickly discovered she’d done something in the Everfree as evidenced by the Poison Joke pollen on her hooves, the otherwise inexplicable absence of her cutie mark, and her hysterics over losing her cutie mark. She couldn’t be brought down from her hysterics, so Zecora took her to Ponyville General. But Silver was still around, her face clearly nervous and indicative she knew the truth.

“I..I…” she stammered. If she told the truth, it would be the end of everything between her and Diamond. The end of the one friendship she had. Trying to make any new friends was out of the question since she knew everpony only saw her in a bad light, the same as Diamond. She’d be all alone, but after everything she’d been through with Diamond…

“Wait, stop!” suddenly cried Rarity.

As Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, and Silver looked, the three crusaders were charging towards Silver, with Rarity, Fluttershy, and Raspberry quickly giving chase. They were not fast enough, however, to stop Babs from tackling the crippled Silver.

“Where’s my cuz!?” she demanded, giving SS a death glare while holding up Silver with her hooves, Scootaloo and Sweetie looking disdainfully at the gray bully from either side.

“B-but how-“ sputtered Silver.

“’Cuz Diamond Tiara thinks my cuz is a werewolf and I can see it in your face you think so, too, which is givin’ me a pretty good idea as to what happened!” she seethed. Silver no longer cared about werewolves at that point: the Manehatten native, who was slightly older and much larger than Silver, was a much more clear and present danger. The cast on her leg was bad enough; she didn’t need to lose another pair of glasses thanks to Tiara’s machinations.

“Diamond made me promise…” whined the bespectacled filly.

“Did you Pinkie Promise?” said Pinkie, suddenly appearing from the sky above, the means of how this was done unclear as Silver could only see a small part of Pinkie’s neck from the top of her vision.

“N-no…”

“Oh, then you probably should tell us what’s going on!” Pinkie’s tone was unsettlingly cheerful as she bounced over in line with her friends. Rarity also lit her horn, separating Silver from Babs’s ever-increasing death grip of anger.

“This better not have anythin’ to do with that dumb idea mah sister is a monster, since that’s what Ah’ve been hearin’ has been goin’ round thanks to Rich’s filly.” Angrily stated Applejack. Silver noticed the momentary reactions from the crusaders, more so Scoot and Sweetie than Babs, but it was enough to confirm to her that they’d known Apple Bloom’s secret.

Taking a deep breath, mainly to try to stop from crying, Silver was at a loss as to what to say right up until Babs stepped forward. “I think I can get her to talk, cousin Applejack.”

AJ’s eyes narrowed at the perceived implications, the other ponies sans Raspberry readying their wings or magic or what-have-they to stop the expected fight if need be.

Babs just rolled her eyes. “It’s not going to end up like that! Just let me have a quick, private moment with Silver here, me along with Scootaloo and Sweetie, and we’ll get this sorted out.”

A curt, but impatient nod from Applejack got the other ponies to stand down, with Babs hauling Silver behind a corner, Scoot and Sweetie following. The moment they were out of hearing range, Babs pinned Silver with her back to the wall. “What did you do?”

The fear was evident in Silver’s eyes, the gray filly knew that much, but surprisingly she could see that behind the anger in the eyes of the Crusaders, they too had fear. Concern, worry, trepidation, all those kinds of emotions which indicated they cared about Apple Bloom despite the truth. And much more than Diamond Tiara, who had been single-minded in her approach to getting Apple Bloom into trouble. Only then did Silver realize the entire scope of the plan still wasn’t evident to her, which couldn’t mean anything good for anypony.

“Please, I’ll talk! Just…just answer one or two things for me, okay?” begged Silver, the tears starting to come out.

Scoot tapped Babs, indicating the larger filly should let her victim go. Babs did so, reluctantly, but at least eased off so Silver wouldn’t land on her bad leg too hard.

“Th-thanks…”gasped Silver. She knew she was fast approaching the point of no return, but without Diamond being around, the strength to defy the spoiled brat was slightly easier for Silver to muster up. “I just need to know…is it true? Is Apple Bloom a werewolf?”

Several tense moments of silence followed, after which to Silver’s surprise Babs spoke up again. “Yes.”

“A-and did she do that thing that one night?”

“Yeah, she did,” Sweetie confirmed. “She didn’t mean any real harm from it, though, and she felt really bad about what happened afterwards. It wasn’t supposed to make Diamond hate her, or us, more than usual.”

Then Scoot jumped in. “But she’s not a mindless monster. She’s still the same pony, even if she isn’t exactly totally a pony anymore. Heck, she doesn’t want to be a werewolf, but there’s no cure, so she’s stuck having to keep it a secret.”

“The Crusaders were the only ones who knew. Even then because I’m family to her, it took time for me to be let in on the secret,” Babs added, with a shrug.

Silver took her time formulating a response. She knew that with every second she wasted, it was a second used up in delaying any rescue attempts for Apple Bloom. But for all that Silver desperately valued her friendship with Diamond Tiara, if it could even be called friendship at that point, it was clear that in order to maintain that relationship, Silver would play accomplice to whatever horrors Apple Bloom might have been going through that second, having kept the much stronger friendships Apple Bloom had from being able to help her in this time of greatest need.

“Okay, I’ll explain to everypony what’s happened,” Silver Finally agreed, “but promise me one thing, okay?”

“What?” grunted Babs.

“Please…don’t hate me after this.”

“And why not?” challenged Scootaloo, “after all you and Diamond have done to us? After whatever you’re keeping everypony away from except Apple Bloom?”

“You need to understand…Diamond is the closest thing I’ve ever had to a true friend, but after this…after I say what I’m going to say…I’m burning the bridges between her and I. There’s going to be nopony left who will want to associate with me after I betray her aside from my parents. I don’t want to be alone, but…I can’t stand by Tiara any longer. So please, after all is said and done, don’t hate me. I have enough regrets as it is.”

“Silver…” began Sweetie, “what you’re doing is right. And if there’s anything I’ve learned from my sister being an Element Bearer, it’s that friendship can be found wherever you look. You just need to try. But right now we need to know where Apple Bloom is and what exactly you and Tiara did before it’s too late!”

“Right!” With newfound vigor having come from the most unexpected of places, Silver walked out from behind the corner wall. Followed by the crusaders, she walked with a confidence she hadn’t felt in years. She could only hope her change of heart was in time.

Apple Bloom stood there, frozen in place, as she looked on in horror at the thing before her. It was a ghostly apparition of some green mare, two-tone mane and hair of sky blue and yellow, but the conveyed feeling of spring was overwhelmed by the unnatural aspects brought on by the spirit being a werewolf. The cutie mark, which was of two hills framing something that couldn’t be seen from a distance due to the fading, was unsettlingly at odds with how it seemed to be calm and peaceful, compared to the gaze of the glowing pink eyes at the head of the beast.

Worst of all, however, was the fact the thing in front of Apple Bloom vaguely looked like Applejack. Which could only mean one thing.

“Y-y-you’re…” stuttered Apple Bloom, slowly taking a step back, “…you’re F-fair Vi-vista…”

“At least you know of me, that saves me the trouble of introducing myself,” replied the undead werewolf, casually stepping forward to maintain the same distance between her and the filly at all times, “That actually is quite a relief, since you probably have a good idea of how hard it would to explain it in terms your little head would understand.”

“B-but how? You’re d-dead!”

Vista rolled her eyes. “I noticed.”

Apple Bloom’s progress backwards was halted by her hindleg hitting the base roots of a large tree directly behind her. While she wasn’t totally cornered, trying to dart off to either side would just leave her open to whatever the ghost was here to do. “W-whatdy’a want from me?”

“It’s actually quite simple, really,” Vista said, flipping her mane to the other side of her neck with a swift head snap, “Your sister, Applejack, killed Sable Loam on top of my grave. I don’t know how or why I have come back, nor how you managed to be blessed with lycanthropy unless Applejack bit you as well, though I highly doubt it, but all things happen for a purpose.”

“Ah’m not exactly seein’ your point…”

“Oh for…do I really have to spell it out for you?!”

“Yes.” Apple Bloom couldn’t help but smile as the undead werewolf facehoofed in irritation at how stubborn she was being.

“I’m dead, you’re not, and we’re both werewolves.” Vista growled, her patience having worn thin, “obviously, you’re supposed to be my new body.”

“Wait, what?!” shouted Apple Bloom, shocked at the not-really-that-clear conclusion Vista seemed to have come to.

“Well, I know enough about my state that I can’t last like this forever, so I need a host body. As it stands, you’re the only werewolf left alive, so I don’t exactly have a choice, do I?”

In a split second, Vista then lunged at the frozen Apple Bloom, the ghost then realizing she didn’t really know how the whole possession thing was supposed to work. That problem quickly became irrelevant when an aquamarine blur shot out in a perpendicular direction and shoved Apple Bloom out of the way. All Vista hit was the displaced red hat the filly had been wearing, before slamming face first into the tree in front of her. Contrary to expectations, Fair Vista had discovered that she could solidify her form temporarily to interact with the physical world, limited to only a few seconds but better than nothing. That said, she probably shouldn’t have made herself subject to the mortal realm’s forces when going after Apple Bloom, for just as she could affect the world in those few seconds, it could affect her. Painfully.

Off to the side, Apple Bloom was even more horrified. Her rescuer had been another werewolf. Except this one was actually alive. She’d been lucky enough to avoid possession, but that had been luck, which might really have been bad luck as this new werewolf was a Pegasus, which meant she was even faster than anything Apple Bloom could expect. Then she recognized the colors of the werewolf, they were the same as the one pegasus who had ended up trying to pick a fight with Applejack and lost.

“L-Lightning Dust?” uttered Apple Bloom, unable to manage anything louder than a whisper.

“I’ll explain later!” said Dust, not wanting to waste any more time. Flaring her wings, she quickly hovered up and effortlessly righted the filly. “Just run! Go! Get out of here!” Whoever that ghost pony/werewolf thing was, it was already recovering from the impact and Dust wasn’t going to let it have a second chance at Apple Bloom.

“But what about you?” asked Apple Bloom, worried about what her rescuer intended to do.

“Don’t worry about me, just GO!” half-screamed, half-barked Dust, her amber eyes aglow in the moonlight. Apple Bloom didn’t need to hear anything else, she just took off running without really knowing where she was going. Anyplace and anything would be better to deal with than her undead ancestor trying to steal her body.

Dust made sure Apple Bloom was safely away from the immediate area before turning her attention to the ghost, now recovered. “I don’t know who the hay you are, but I’m not going to let you turn her into the same kind of freak I am!”

Vista expressed surprise, and then strangely laughed. “You couldn’t tell? Or even hear that part of our conversation? I don’t need to give her the gift of lycanthropy, she already has it!”

“What?!” replied Dust, not quite able to grasp the idea Apple Bloom also was a werewolf. Then it hit her; Apple Bloom was eating the dog treats for the same reason Dust had. She liked the taste of meat.

That was also the time Vista chose to solidify again and rushed headlong into Dust, body-checking the pegasus into another tree and causing her head to snap back, hitting the trunk hard enough to knock her out cold.

“You’re a disgrace to our kind, bitch!” growled Vista, “but, fortunately for both of us, you are a far better choice as a host then that filly, and I must admit I’ve always wondered what it’s like to have wings.” Try as she might, however, she couldn’t seem to possess the winged werewolf.

Vista couldn’t understand why, she’d felt like she could easily have possessed Apple Bloom, but this pegasus she was unfamiliar with wasn’t giving off the same feeling. Maybe it had something to do with physical compatibility? Being an earth pony ghost, maybe the only kind of pony she could possess was other earth ponies?

“Either way…” muttered Vista, walking over to sniff the hat. The scent of its owner was still ripe, and easily trackable no matter where the filly went. “…the hunt begins again!”

“Castle Everfree?!” half-shouted the gathered ponies in reaction to what Silver was saying.

“That’s what Tiara told me, that she was going to put out a trail of do-uh, I mean, delicious treats and candies and such in a path that would lure her away from the group and on a path leading towards the ruins.”

“But that’s impossible!” argued Rainbow, “we’ve been there dozens of times for so many different reasons, there’s no way Diamond could have secretly placed a trail all the way from the Nightmare Night trail to the ruins, even without leaving the candy the time she’d need to make a round trip simply is too much!”

“Well, maybe she only did it part way, I only remember something about how ‘the ghost’ would meet her halfway.”

“The ‘ghost’? Seriously?” said Scootaloo, incredulously, “you’re not talking about what I think you’re talking about, are you? Everypony knows that-“

“That the story is completely made up?” snapped Silver, turning to face Scoots, “Yeah, I know that everypony knows that, so did Tiara. Everypony also knows Nightmare Moon doesn’t exist anymore now that Princess Luna is back, still doesn’t mean we don’t go to that stupid statue in the middle of the woods at night to give tribute! The whole thing is a sham, doesn’t meant we don’t still get scared of it!”

“You have a point, Silver,” said Rarity, “but what is this ‘ghost’ you speak of? Surely it’s not the one about the-“

“No, it’s not that ghost, Apple Bloom wouldn’t randomly follow some spirit deeper into the Everfree. As dumb as Tiara says the Crusaders are-“ she winced at the imagined glares the three present Crusaders were giving her, although in reality they weren’t doing such a thing – “she gives Apple Bloom that much credit for smarts.”

“Then what ghost are you talking about?” demanded Applejack, “mah sister is in danger because of you and Tiara, and while Ah appreciate you wantin’ to fix this mess Ah’d like to get to the point so we can get to the savin’ part!”

Silver took a deep breath, expecting everypony to look at her stupidly for what she was about to say. “Diamond somehow ended up in contact with some ghost – a real one- of somepony named Fair Vista. Claimed she was a werewolf or something.” The immediate increase in the tension within the assembled ponies told Silver that what she said hadn’t been stupid, only that the situation was even far worse than she’d expected.

“W-who did you say the ghost was?” stammered Applejack, having paled to the point she looked like the wonderbolt Surprise in coloration.

“Fair Vista, I-“ Silver repeated, but was suddenly grabbed by Applejack who brought her muzzle close to Silver’s.

“You’re sayin’ the ghost of somepony named Fair Vista, who claims to be a werewolf, was workin’ with Diamond Tiara, and Apple Bloom is right now in the Everfree with that monster!?”

“Y-yes?” whined Silver.

Applejack immediately dropped Silver, her emerald eyes wide but pupils almost pin-point tiny in fear. “I-impossible…”

The reactions of the other ponies was just as shocked. Except Raspberry, who after a consulting look with Heliodor still didn’t know what was going on. “I…take it this Fair Vista is a pretty bad pony?”

Applejack suddenly shot a look loaded with anger and hatred right at Raspberry, “That haridelle is the reason mah parents died! She and that bastard Sable Loam!” She immediately apologized to Raspberry for the outburst when the unicorn was evidently close to tears. It was another unicorn, however, whose reaction to the revelation would change everything.

“Wait…didn’t Apple Bloom say something about Sable Loam back at the tent when she…y’know?” whispered Sweetie to the other Crusaders. Silver seemed to gravitate over to the little grouping, but was stopped by Sweetie. “What do you think you’re doing? Haven’t you done enough?”

“Hey, give me a break, I could have told them Apple Bloom was a werewolf too, but she saved my life after the water tower thing, so I’m trying to help her out as much as I can, which I’m guessing also means letting you girls know what I know.”

“Like what?” asked Babs.

“Fair Vista liked to talk, hype herself up. Diamond ate it all up, I didn’t but in truth I was just a goon in the equation. Tiara and Vista were the ones running the show. But I did listen to her. She mentioned something about how she and somepony named Sable Loam had been the last ‘true’ werewolves or something, and that she was going to make Applejack pay for killing her lover.”

“Her lover?!” said the Crusaders in hushed unison.

“Yeah, I didn’t think things would get this bad, so I didn’t really pay much attention to what she was saying, but this whole thing…she wants revenge on Applejack through Apple Bloom somehow.”

“WHAT?!” squealed Sweetie, her face twisted in rage and attracting the attention of everypony, “You’re saying that right now Apple Bloom is possibly in the clutches of some undead pony monster thing because of some convoluted revenge plot?! One that you helped execute?!”

Silver couldn’t even look the other fillies in the eye, drooping her head down in shame. “Yes.”

“AAARRGHH!!”

Rarity, trying to calm her sister down, moved forward, “Now, now, Sweetie, I’m sure everything will be-“

“No, it’s not!” snapped back Sweetie, turning on her sister in blind rage, “Yes, it’s Silver and Tiara’s fault for setting this thing up, but we’re Apple Bloom’s friends and we failed to even keep track of her when she actually needed us the most! I…just…AAAAAHHH!” Sweetie was out of control, so much that she couldn’t stop herself from reaching up to remove her crown and throwing it down on the ground with as much force as she could muster.

The impact was enough to break off the large diamond in the middle, sending it careening off in a direction different to the now-not-quite-round headpiece it once adorned. It shortly thereafter came to a stop in front of Spike.

Everything from that point on happened so fast that barely anypony knew what was going on. Spike, having starved himself all night, couldn’t resist something as delicious looking as that diamond, impulsively snatched it up in one fell swoop to deliver it in his mouth. He could only give an apologetic look in response to the disapproving looks everypony, especially Twilight, was giving him, but when his teeth made the first fracture into the diamond, his expression quickly turned from embarrassed to panicked.

Twilight immediately grabbed the dragon in her magic and began to perform the Haymlich maneuver. After a few thrusts, the remains of the diamond were launched out of his mouth and right in the direction of the fillies, unintentionally. At first, they landed well short of Silver, the closest to Spike at the time, but then they suddenly lost their bright clarity, the beautiful pearly-white clarity fading into the illustrious shine of black obsidian. Nopony could even think about how to describe the change in color, though, they all took a large number of steps back as the shards suddenly grew into somewhat sizable crystal formations, large enough to tower over even Twilight, before they just abruptly stopped.

“Wh-what?!” shrieked Silver, who had accidently tripped and fell on her back, having had to crawl backwards to avoid the growths. “Are..are those dark crystals?!”

“B-but that…” started Rarity, “that was an authentic, pure diamond, not a forgery! Wasn’t it, Raspberry?”

Only, when everypony turned to look at where Raspberry had been, she and Heliodor had vanished. On the ground were the tell-tale signs of an emergency teleport spell, along with a small number of droplets of something on the ground. Rarity realized that the droplets were what were left of teardrops. But she could not be sure if they had been Raspberry Beryl's, at least not the one she and the others had come to know so well, as Raspberry’s magic couldn’t have handled the raw power necessary for emergency teleportation.

Unless, like the diamond, Raspberry Beryl had only been what others would see, and what was really behind the external facade was something not meant for normal ponies to ever know.

Ch.18: Give Her Something Sweet to Bite!

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 18: “Give Her Something Sweet to Bite!”

This was turning out to be one crummy night for Apple Bloom. Here she was on the scariest night of the year, running for her life from her evil great great great great great great great grandmother who was trying to possess her, Lightning Dust probably had heard enough to deduce Bloomie was a werewolf herself, her Carmine Sancaballo costume was both hatless and slowing her down, she had no idea where she was running, and worst of all she hadn’t had a single piece of candy so far.

“This Nightmare Night sucks!” she declared, running as hard as she could through the Everfree. Fortunately, there was at least a path through the forest she’d encountered that appeared well traveled, so that was what she was following. She hoped it would lead her to town or to Zecora’s; the former being someplace the ghost of Fair Vista couldn’t get her while the latter was at least a place to hide until search parties found her. Granted, the latter strategy only worked in the event Zecora’s totems actually kept out ghosts as she claimed they did.

Suddenly, the red trenchcoat caught on a thick briar, Apple Bloom’s momentum propelling her into a sideways spin while simultaneously flinging her out of the covering. Coming to a stop a few yards away, her precious lead time was eroding as she stumbled around in a daze. She managed to shake it off, but when she looked up her eyes locked onto the full moon.

Her mind having gone numb for some reason, she barely registered herself quickly removing the boots as they were the last things covering her body. With them off and discarded to the side, there was nothing to stop her from revealing her wild side and calling out to the moon.

“AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

That’s when her eyes went wide, for as she slowly regained control of herself, she realized that her howl might as well have caused the moon to shoot a spotlight that tracked her, as Fair Vista would easily be able to ascertain Apple Bloom’s location from the sound.

“Oh, me and mah big, stupid werewolf mouth!” she complained while turning tail and continuing down the path. At the very least she was going considerably faster now she was a creature of the night itself, but unless she came across someplace safe, Vista would eventually catch up to her.

She did not expect, upon cresting a small hill in front of her, for there to be a sudden drop off that gave a magnificent view. An old, rickety rope bridge crossed an otherwise endless chasm, and on the other side of that bridge lay the ruins of Castle Everfree and what remained of the former Equestriani capital.

There wasn’t much time for Apple Bloom to admire the view, however, as she suddenly felt the presence of something. She couldn’t define what it was with the presence that made her fur stand up on end, maybe it was Fair Vista, but at the same time it was different.

Either way, Apple Bloom knew her only chance at escape lay within the ancient keep, so she charged headlong over the old bridge, praying that there was some safety in what had been the cradle of Nightmare Moon herself.

Apple Bloom’s howl was heard all the way to Ponyville, where not a single soul escaped a brief shudder. Slightly closer to the castle ruins was the small group of friends from Ponyville, and they too did not take hearing the howl well as they charged forth on their rescue mission.

“W-was that…?” stammered Fluttershy.

“It wasn’t Dust, I know that much…” answered Dash, before realizing not everypony present was in on that pleasant little secret, either.

“Did you just say ‘Dust’?” inquired Rarity, pressing her attack as the normally outspoken Rainbow seemed to be getting anxious about something, “As in Lightning Dust? The same Lightning Dust who came to town looking like five hundred miles of bad road and brazenly challenged Applejack to a race because of you-know-who?”

“Y-yes…” was all the wonderbolt-hopeful could manage, knowing full well what was going to happen now.

“And, going off of you saying it wasn’t Dust who let out that howl, which implies she does howl now for some reason, am I correct in assuming that she’s a-“

“Yes, she’s a werewolf, like Ah was,” summarized Applejack, though her primary focus was on ending Fair Vista and through her, the nightmare Sable Loam seemed intent on subjecting her to even after his death.

“Then why didn’t we know about it?!” argued Pinkie, not happy that her friends had been keeping secrets from her again.

“Because that’s what she wanted, Pinkie,” explained Dash. “Initially, it was just Applejack, but I ended up privy to the information when I intercepted her in the air, thinking she was going to cause more trouble.”

“And they brought her to me because, honestly, if there was anypony who would know what to do, it was me,” added Twilight. “Unfortunately, all I could do was just observe and try to find a cure, but I only ended up making it worse somewhat by…well, I actually don’t want to talk about it.”

“Actually, I think she’s happier for it, Twilight,” Fluttershy added. “The old system we came up for Applejack back when she was a werewolf is working just fine for her, mainly just me making meatburgers to keep her hunger pangs at bay, but-”

“Now hold on a second!” exclaimed Rarity. “I can understand why this information was withheld from Pinkie and I, but even then we’ve seen what happens to us when we keep secrets from each other.”

“This is not the time for that, Rarity!” chided Rainbow, “I think rescuing Apple Bloom takes precedence over something as trivial as a little secret!”

“A little secret?! You’re telling me that there being another werewolf, a known troublemaker we’ve all had prior encounters with and now potentially could attack us all with ease, is a little secret?!”

“Considering I’ve been letting her crash on my couch for the past few weeks, I think I can safely say ‘yes’ to that.”

Apple Bloom felt her luck couldn’t get any worse. She’d reached the outskirts of the ruins, but to her dismay they were in such a bad state that they offered no real opportunities to hide from the monster who had suddenly appeared right behind Apple Bloom.

“I hope you do realize the harder you make this, the more fun it is for me…” taunted Fair Vista, emerging from the shadows and almost disappearing when she came into the presence of the moon light. “Like I said, you can’t hope to outrun me anyway; I’m dead! The physical constraints of flesh and bone no longer apply to me, so in the end you never had a ghost of a chance!” She laughed at the pun. Apple Bloom just groaned and rolled her eyes.

However, as Apple Bloom did so, for a split second she thought she saw a momentary flash of fire. Green fire. Either tonight was going to get even worse because changelings had gotten involved, or maybe there was the possibility of escape after all.

“You can’t chase what you can’t see!” yelled back the filly as she dashed away into the maze of ruins. Fair Vista did have to give the little shit some credit, this was the kind of thing that the best werewolves had been known for. The attitude still needed major fixing, though.

That didn’t matter, though, as suddenly a green bird made its presence known to her by laying down a carpet of emerald fire. Even though it couldn’t physically harm her, she still instinctively dived for cover, cursing herself for being that silly as she glared at the bird. The green phoenix let out a fearsome cry as it banked into a loose curve and began to circle her position, readying another wave of fire.

Where have I seen you before? wondered Vista as she tried to get back on track of catching Apple Bloom. She’d seen the bird before, she just couldn’t place it. The energy shield she bumped into, however, she remembered all too well.

As was the cloaked pony waiting just on the other side. The horn, lit up with dark magic, the glowing blood-red eyes, and that cloak covering most of the discernable features, it was the same mysterious pony from before. Vista once again found herself in fear of this unknown pony, but she reasoned that Apple Bloom couldn’t have come this way either because of the same fear.

But when Vista immediately turned and ran towards the center of the old capital to hunt her prey, she chanced a look back and found the cloaked pony was now actively following her. To say the pressure on Vista’s mind had just gone up was an understatement, especially when the perusing pony fired some kind of magic beam at Vista. She narrowly dodged it, not looking back to see what kind of damage it did, her mind deadest on self-preservation.

“Ah!” exclaimed Apple Bloom, as she felt something grasp her hind leg and drag her into one of the few fully enclosed structures left at the ruins. To her surprise, she found her “captor” was none other than Raspberry Beryl.

“M-Miss Raspberry?!” exclaimed Apple Bloom, stunned, before Raspberry quickly put a hoof over her muzzle, making a “shhh” noise. The filly nodded, prompting Beryl to remove her hoof. It then occurred to Apple Bloom that she was still in wolf form, but Razz hadn’t freaked out.

“Surprised?” said Raspberry in a whisper, as if she knew what Apple Bloom was thinking. “I…I’ve had my suspicions for some time about you. The aura you gave off when I first came close to you gave me some inclination, but this…” She was interrupted by the young mare immediately drawing herself to Raspberry in a tight hug. “There, there, the others are coming but…I’ll protect you.”

“But h-how? You can’t defend against ghosts!”

A beam of light suddenly shot in through an opening in the weathered wall, nearly making contact with the duo.

“I don’t think the ghost is of concern right now,” said Raspberry, as at that moment Fair Vista raced in front of what was left of the structure’s main doorway, clearly oblivious to her prey being close by. The reason for that also made itself clear, with the cloaked pony and its raging dark magic aura following the apparition a few moments later. Then Heliodor swooped in the doorway and tweeted something, but Apple Bloom didn’t understand. Razz did, though. “Heelee says there’s a safer spot a few blocks to the west, we should move.”

“Alright. But you’re sure mah sister and her friends are comin’?”

“Yeah…” answered Razz, her tone indicating to Apple Bloom that the unicorn wasn’t exactly enthusiastic of reuniting with that group anytime soon, “I’m certain they are”.

“Lightning! LIGHTNING!”

Dust groggily woke up, her head hurting like nopony’s business. Cracking her eyes open, she saw Rainbow standing over her with worry, the five other ponies she was known to hang out with standing around although Applejack was clearly extremely antsy. It still wasn’t enough to make Dust not make an obvious joke.

“What, are ya gonna kiss me now, Dashie?”

“Oh for…” groaned Rainbow, “at least that proved you’re fine.”

“Yes, if you can consider being a werewolf a ‘fine’ predicament,” commented Rarity.

Applejack snapped back, “Rares, were ya like this the whole time Ah was a lycanthrope?”

“Well, no, but-“

“But nothin’! She’s been havin’ a harder time then Ah was back then, though to be honest Ah’d have to say she’s been dealin’ with it a lot better than Ah was, too.”

“…You’re right, Applejack,” Rarity conceded. “Saying that was disrespectful to both you and Lightning Dust. I do apologize.”

“Focus, girls!” said Twilight, before turning to Lightning. “What happened?”

“I’m sure Rainbow already told you about me trying to help out with the whole ‘ritual’ thing, right?”

“Um…” mumbled the blue flyer, her face blanching somewhat.

“She told me, or at least let me know it was you that first time,” replied the alicorn, giving the rest of her friends an ‘I’ll explain later’ look, “But we need to know what happened, which I’m guessing has to do with that second howl we heard”

“Yeah, that,” answered Dust. “When the group started running from that second howl, I tried to shadow you guys so that whatever it was, I could at the very least try to keep it from attacking the kids. Didn’t get the chance, since I couldn’t keep up without giving my presence away, but I kept on going anyway. I eventually found Apple Bloom wandering on her own, probably because she accidently got pushed to the side in the madness and was disoriented.”

“Yeah, then what happened?”

“I followed her for a while, she was heading in the right direction to town fortunately so I thought it best to not make myself known to her at the time.” Dust had forgotten the whole bit about the random dog treats lying around that both she and Apple Bloom had eaten, as had the six from Ponyville forgotten Silver saying something about how Apple Bloom was to be lured by ‘treats’ left along a trail. “But then all of a sudden this ghost showed up. I know it’s stupid sounding but-“

“Fair Vista…” said Applejack, her whole body slightly trembling.

“Wait, you know her?”

“Remember Sable Loam? The werewolf who had turned me? The whole reason he’d gone for me was so Ah would be his replacement mate, originally it was Twilight but-“

“What?!” exclaimed Twilight, her wings flaring up in reaction and Spike, not strong enough to prevent it, was launched into the air only to be caught on the return fall by Rainbow, “He told you this all the way back then and only now do you mention it?!”

“Ah didn’t think you needed to know! He only wanted you at all since making you the mother of his new werewolf pack or whatever would have been as close to a direct attack on Celestia as possible, since she killed Fair Vista by mistake.”

“Let me guess,” said Dust, “he changed his mind and went for you because he found you attractive? I did notice the ghost sort of looked like a green, hatless version of you.”

“Yeah, turned out that bitch is actually some ancestor of mine, back eight generations on mah mom’s side accordin’ to Granny, it’s her immunity to the later stages of lycanthropy that probably kept me sane in the end.”

“Yeah, thanks for reminding me,” scowled Lightning.

“Uh, sorry, Ah’ll make it up to you later, but right now we need to get Apple Bloom! Do you know where she went?”

“Well, I remember they talked for a bit, then Vista lept at Apple Bloom as if to attack, but I managed to shove Apple Bloom out of the way in time. I told her to run the hell away, then…then Vista said something to me that caused my guard to be let down just enough for her to rush me into that tree. I must have hit my head pretty hard, since the next thing I know Rainbow’s trying to-“

“-resist beating you up within an inch of your life?” finished the pegasus in question. “We’re done joking around here, Dust, we need to get to Apple Bloom before Vista does!”

“Oh, right! Sorry! Um…I didn’t actually see which way Apple Bloom went, but…” Getting up, Lighting walked over to the discarded hat still lying on the ground. “…her scent is still strong, give me a second and-“

Another howl sounded out, this time it’s location unmistakable to both the werewolf and the ex-werewolf.

“They’re at the ruins!” shouted Applejack, subsequently noticing the odd looks everypony was giving her, “look, Ah howled there mahself a few times back when Ah was a werewolf, it’s a great spot to do it.”

“More importantly, we know where to go!” said Lightning, flaring her wings.

“Oh, no!” Rainbow flew in front of her former ex-wingpony, “You’re in no condition to go, especially not alone!”

“What are you talking about? I only hit my head, normally that’s not a problem anyway since I’m thick-skulled naturally and the princess told me werewolves have a faster healing rate, right?”

“Um, that’s correct…” sheepishly replied Twilight.

“See? The princess said I’m good to go. Plus, if that ghost can physically harm me, think about what she can do to the rest of you. She bites me? I just get a bloody wound that heals up somewhat faster than normal. She bits one of you? Well, you get the wound, and then you turn into what I am, and I think Applejack is in agreement with me that being a werewolf sucks.”

“Darn tootin’!”

Rainbow facehoofed. “Okay, I get it; the best counter to a werewolf is a werewolf, but…but damn it Dust, we’re practically wingponies again, except much more than we ever were back at the academy. I can’t let you rush headlong into danger, especially not when you just described how that didn’t work out for you.”

“Rainbow…” Dust put a paw on Dash’s shoulder, “you guys will be coming, anyway, but it’s better that I take a few blows such that Apple Bloom is safe, instead of all of us going as a group only to find her dead. Or worse.”

All the rest of the group other than Dash and Dust expressed their agreement.

“Besides!” Lightning boosted herself into the air, “that ghost clearly needs some help to rest in peace. Permanently.” With that, she shot off into the sky and towards the castle ruins.

“Well come on, then!” shouted Rainbow, “We can’t keep her waiting when she gets there!”

“Keep who waiting, Apple Bloom or Dustie?” chirped Pinkie, who didn’t seem to have paid any attention to the majority of the just finished discussion.

“Both of ‘em!” answered Applejack, who immediately surged forward with great speed towards Castle Everfree, her friends following suit. They could only hope it was not too late.

The situation at Castle Everfree had quickly deteriorated, which Fair Vista didn’t like. Here she was, trying to chase down that little shit Apple Bloom so she could have a physical body and, hopefully, carry out Sable Loam’s desires to resurrect the werewolves. Now the filly was accompanied by that spineless gem seller, Burpleberry Viral or something. The only way anypony from town could have possibly have known where to go was if one of the two fillies Vista had been working with, Diamond Tiara or Silver Spoon, had fessed up. Vista figured the latter, she hadn’t seemed totally trustworthy from the start and was only kept in check by Tiara’s boisterous nature. If anything had happened to Tiara, which was unfortunately likely considering the chain of failures in the town, Silver would have grown a conscience and told everypony. Probably would have kept Apple Bloom’s lycanthropy a secret too, in the hopes maybe karma would be nice to her about the matter. Vista intended to prove otherwise when she got the chance.

However, none of that answered why it was the useless gem merchant who had come to the rescue and not, say, Applejack or one of the former element bearers, especially that loathsome newly crowned princess, Twilight Sparkle. Even though the green phoenix above her kept on with its intent to try and roast her to a crisp (which, while she could feel the heat, obviously didn’t affect her when she wasn’t phased in with reality).

And more worrisome than that was that damnable mysterious pony in the cloak, who seemed just as tireless as she was. Maybe it was the dark magic, but as Vista narrowly dodged another blast of dark magic, there wasn’t really time to wonder about that kind of thing. Not until Apple Bloom was hers.

“Just leave me alone!” cried Apple Bloom, leaping through the remains of a wall while the mulberry unicorn accompanying her nearly tripped over herself in vaulting over it.

“Stop trying to avoid your destiny, your body will be mine!” screamed the ghost, who was getting real sick and tired of being in the middle of the chase and the only losing party. Especially when she was being outdone by a pony who nearly defecated the first time she’d seen Vista. That wouldn’t fly with the werewolf, who grinned evilly as the plan of attack to take out said unicorn suddenly came into mind. As her quarry rounded a bend, Vista suddenly bolted to the side and disappeared through a wall.

“Do…do you think we lost her?” gasped Apple Bloom, who felt like she’d been running nonstop for hours to the point even her supernatural endurance was reaching its limits.

“I can…only…hope!” wheezed Raspberry, who had somehow managed to last running almost just as long as Apple Bloom even though unicorns were the least athletic of the three pony subspecies.

Heliodor circled above, his cawing letting Raspberry know he’d lost sight of the ghost. At the same time, the cloaked pony seemed to take a position behind a nearby wall, as if perpetually ready to attack.

“Who’s that?” asked the filly lycanthrope, instinctively moving closer to Raspberry. Whether it was to be protected by, or defend, the unicorn wasn’t quite clear to her.

“She’s…she’s a friend of mine,” carefully answered Raspberry. “I’ve known her for a while. Doesn’t talk much, but she’s taken a few blows for me in the past to help me out of a jam.”

“Really? Why hasn’t she come to town? Pinkie’s gonna be real upset if she finds out and can’t throw a party for her.”

“It’s…difficult to explain. She only shows up when there’s danger, since it tends to follow her anyway. Normally she likes to be alone, other ponies don’t really…understand who she is. They fear her, because they misunderstand.”

“Like how everypony but me was afraid of Zecora way back when?”

“I…wasn’t there for that.”

“Oh, right, erm…okay, when your friend shows up, do ponies run into their homes like there’s a flood comin’?”

Raspberry took surprisingly long to answer, sounding downcast when she did.

“Worse.”

“Oh.” Was all Apple Bloom could say. Silence followed for a few minutes until the werewolf chose to break it, “Does…does your friend have a name?”

“Yes, but she prefers to be called something other than her real name.”

“What is it?”

“It’s…” Razz took a deep breath, wondering if Apple Bloom would understand what she was about to say, “Her name is-“

“DEATH!”

In an instant, Vista virtually flew out of the wall behind Raspberry and, choosing that moment to phase into the physical world, clamped her jaws tightly around the unicorn’s throat. She let go a good minute later, but as far as she could tell the unicorn’s injuries were fatal as the blood poured from the punctured jugular, the body twitching in its death throes. There was no chance she’d get immediate medical attention, so the only two possible outcomes were actual death, or she’d begin her transformation into a werewolf.

Curiously, the unknown pony, whose name Razz had almost revealed, didn’t instantly throw burning orbs of dark magic at the ghost. Instead, it just…vanished. As if its entire existence suddenly was wiped from reality, the form inside the cloak disappeared, leaving the covering to slowly drift to the ground atop a pile of black diamond pebbles. Neither werewolf noticed, however, as they were too busy with each other.

“Y-you killed her!” wailed Apple Bloom, her mind wanting to start running away but her legs frozen in fear.

“Nopony’s going to miss her, except maybe that dumb phoenix,” said Vista, the taste of blood having reignited her murderous side; the fact said phoenix was noticeably not within her vision completely ignored. “Don’t worry, she still has a chance at getting better…as one of us. Or she’ll actually die, which isn’t a big loss.”

“H-how can you be a pony and say such things?!”

“You’ll learn, in time, but ponies are weak things. They worship false goddesses who they blindly follow without knowing why, they have lost the way. But we’re going to fix that. Well, actually, just me, but you’ll be helping on the physical front.”

“N-No! Never!”

“Oh, but it’s just begun!”

Vista immediately shot forward, giving no time for Apple Bloom to react. However, phasing into reality only proved detrimental once again as a wall of dark crystal burst from the ground between the werewolves. For Apple Bloom, it was almost déjà vu in being saved from one evil by another, but almost immediately three more dark crystal walls formed around her, forming an enclosed cell from which she couldn’t escape.

Vista was furious, it had to be the work of the mysterious pony, but when she saw the cloak crumpled on the ground she had no time to realize the facts before being broadsided by a blast of raw dark power.

“You know, ‘death’ wasn’t exactly what I was going to say…” said Raspberry, who, to the horror of the quickly recovering Vista, was slowly getting to her feet, the blood that had been spilled forming dark crystals on the ground. “…although I will admit in your case it’s an acceptable answer.”

“Well, what were you going to say?” taunted Vista, although her heart wasn’t in it.

Now fully erect, with her green phoenix swooping low out of nowhere to perch on Apple Bloom’s prison, Raspberry’s head snapped upwards. Gone was the timid gem seller Vista had seen before, for now it was Raspberry’s horn that was raging with the dark, bubbling mass of forbidden powers, her eyes overflowing with green-and-purple mist. While Fair Vista herself had made a quick recovery all those years ago when she allowed Sable to turn her, the ghostly lycanthrope somehow knew that this unicorn had escaped a fatal wounding to her jugular...without having contracted lycanthropy herself. Now Vista was truly scared, for she realized she'd underestimated this unicorn more than she'd ever underestimated anypony before.

Then, with a voice sounding more akin to Nightmare Moon or some other evil power, Raspberry Beryl answered the werewolf who had tried to kill her:

“Truth.”

Ch.19: Shattered Illusion

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 19: “Shattered Illusion”

The sounds of battle raged outside the crystal walls forming Apple Bloom’s prison. The poor filly, trapped within, didn’t know what to make of the situation. Fair Vista had managed to deal a fatal blow to Raspberry Beryl, condemning the unicorn to either becoming a werewolf herself or outright death, but Apple Bloom didn’t know which had been the gem seller’s fate as almost immediately after she had been confined to this small space. The only clue to which condemnation was chosen for Razz was Heliodor, the phoenix oddly doing nothing but perching atop one of the walls and facing away from Apple Bloom.

“He…Heliodor?” called up the frightened lycanthrope, unsure of what was going through the bird’s mind. He in turn seemed to be surprised at being called for, proceeding to turn and look below at the entrapped Apple. “Is Miss Raspberry…is she gonna be alright?”

Almost disturbingly, the phoenix smiled and nodded his head to affirm his mistress was alright. Apple Bloom couldn’t help but wonder if the fiery avian even understood what he was implying with his answer, but both werewolf and phoenix got a nasty surprise when Fair Vista was sent slamming right into the wall Heliodor was perched atop.

“UNGH!” grunted the ghost, sliding down from her place on the wall and onto the ground. She tried to get back into a stance as fast as she could, but almost immediately a coil of black energy wrapped around her transparent hoof like a snake, dragging her back as it recoiled right towards the mulberry unicorn who had become the thing of Nightmare Moon’s Nightmares. A secondary beam of magic launched from her horn into the ground, another wall of dark crystal bursting up and right in the path of Fair Vista. This time, the impact was even rougher, the tractor beam letting go just before Vista’s body shattered the new wall, the shards making their points known as they did the impossible and cut into her ethereal body.

“Wha…” gasped Fair Vista, “What the hell are you?!”

“Haven’t you figured it out yet?” said Raspberry, taking careful steps closer to her enemy, “it should be fairly obvious.”

“Y-you’re… an alicorn?!”

“Oh for…Seriously?!” screamed Razz, letting loose a burst of energy right at the downed ghost. Fair Vista barely had time to get out of the way before the magic made contact, a single, razor-tipped crystal erupting from the ground. “I’m not exactly fond of this, but I at least would like some respect in it being called what it actually is! Which, in case you actually are that stupid, is dark magic. I don’t know who decided it was ‘alicorn magic’ but it pisses me off in so many ways that you wouldn’t believe!”

“But the only way you can even cast dark magic, if you’re not gifted with the power of an alicorn, is…” Vista’s eyes grew wide at the realization of the only other possibility.

“Now you understand what I am. This great power? It’s no gift. It’s a motherbucking curse. It’s driven me from every opportunity I’ve had to live a regular life, because of exactly what you probably just realized. But, if I can use my ability to rid the world of your foul taint, then no matter what happens at least I’ll have the knowledge I was a better pony than him.”

Despite the fact her coloration was already pretty washed out by virtue of being a ghost, Vista still managed to turn an even paler shade at the confirmation of what she feared. Of course, it was obvious, the only possible explanation for how this pony could not only wield power even the mighty alicorns feared, but also be able to harm her despite the fact she wasn’t really on the physical plane of existence. The undead werewolf could feel the sensation of fear rising within, as there was no question about it now. This was the same pony behind the barrier on that night of Apple Boom’s first change so long ago. Only this time, it was proven that dealing bloody, fatal attacks to the unicorn did nothing but piss her off.

“You should have fled, Vista, instead of trying to take me out of the picture or I guess try to make me into a freak like you. It doesn’t work that way, not for me at least, and it certainly isn’t going to work for you as the fact you’re technically already dead means nothing to me. I haven’t even begun to use my magic in any meaningful way, I haven’t in a long, long time, but you’re rapidly becoming a reason for me wanting to change that.”

“N-no…stay back!” For the first time in forever, Vista truly found herself in a bad situation to the point she was retreating. A ghost, who by all rights shouldn’t be able to be forced into submission by any mortal being by physical means, was unable to overcome a pony who spent more time whimpering in a corner! To say Fair Vista’s mind was protesting this reality was an understatement.

“You’ve lost - that much was true the second you decided to go after Apple Bloom, but you’re welcome to keep trying to fight me until I inevitably scatter what’s left of your very essence into the winds. Running is also an option, but know that if you do run, and you don’t go back to whatever place in hell you came from but instead trouble anypony with your dumb werewolf business, I will hunt you down, I will drag you out of hell myself if need be, and I. Will. End. You. Got that?”

Fair Vista was sure she would have pissed herself, if not worse, had she still had bodily organs. As it was, she immediately put distance between her and the scariest pony alive, the faster the better as she didn’t know the true extent of the unicorn’s abilities. For all she could say, Fair Vista may have just gotten herself into a situation where she‘d be constantly on the run for the rest of her life.

Raspberry, on the other hand, merely glowered for a good few minutes until she could no longer sense any trace of the ghost. With a heavy sigh, she dropped her true aura, the mist disappearing from her eyes and horn, restoring her appearance to that of the gem merchant. The gem merchant who had sold Rarity a large, dark crystal which had somehow ruined everything.

“Why must it be this way…” said Razz in a hushed tone to herself, lamenting the loss of what might have been her last shot at true happiness. The waterworks almost started again had it not been for Heliodor’s cries, bringing the unicorn’s attention to the remaining crystal formations which kept Apple Bloom held within. The implication of what she’d done only then fully hit Raspberry like a ton of bricks.

Apple Bloom was a liability. There was no way Razz could spin a story such that the mysterious pony who had been wearing her red cloak had done all this dark magic. Not when it was the only way to explain how she’d survived having her jugular torn out, which had hurt like nopony would believe, but because of her association with dark magic, Raspberry was actually very, very hard to kill through conventional means. Sure, killing the filly would solve the problem outright, the blame could easily be pinned on that Fair Vista and the remaining traces of Raspberry’s dark magic could be pinned on a supposed phantom pony, the dark diamond forgery included. The fact it would remove the problem of lycanthropy altogether (or so she thought) was a bonus.

But I’m not going to stoop to that level…would I? wondered Raspberry. It was no guarantee that killing Apple Bloom would be a way to shift all the blame. Applejack was the Element of Honesty and even having sacrificed the actual element to the Tree of Harmony could most likely tell Raspberry had been lying. After all, Raspberry’s lie about her magic’s weakness was no good, not after an emergency teleportation. She also wouldn’t be able to sell her gems, as while she made sure that they visually were the exact same as any real precious stone, the truth was that they were still dark crystals and she’d need to stop using magic permanently. That option was totally out, as she’d only done that once before, as a filly, back when she was still under the abusive rule of her father, and in the end her backed up magic had been what had set her on this damned path in life in the first place.

Above all else, however, Raspberry knew it was simply a question of killing an innocent filly. One who also suffered a curse from the evils of dark magic, although somewhat in a different manner. As she looked up at Heliodor, Raspberry was unsure of which choice to make, for both would saddle upon her a permanent hardship she’d be forced to live with until her death. Ultimately, however, there was only one choice to make.

“I’m sorry, Helidor, but this is the only way…” said the unicorn, quickly turning and firing a bolt of magic into the prison. The phoenix didn’t understand as he lifted off just in time, the walls crumbling underneath, but when he realized what had just happened it was clear his mistress had just paid a heavy price.

“Lyra!” chided Sandalwood, “For Celestia’s sake take that thing off already!”

With a barely audible sigh, Lyra complied and took the large shell-like head, revealing a mint colored unicorn’s noggin sticking out of what looked like a large, tailless monkey from the neck down. “You do realize this makes the costume look wrong if my head doesn’t match my body, right?”

“That’s why I suggested my idea for the human costumes, you’re the one who made a giant oversized suit.” Contrary to her flatmate, Sandalwood’s costume was composed of her wearing some kind of hooded sweater with a zipper along with a pair of blue denim pants, her lower hooves covered by a pair of boots but her forehooves were uncovered. In comparison, Lyra had constructed some sort of oversized mascot she was inside of that had working “hands” based off of minotaurs and a giant domed head with a flat face save for a slanted extrusion that was its ‘nose’, for according to her research, humans didn’t have muzzles, their noses and mouths instead being completely separate.

“Humans?” asked Silver, unsure of why she’d been left in the care of the two ponies in all of Ponyville who were certified psychos. Lyra was about to go into one of her canned speeches on how “the ignorance of ponies in regards to the significance of the presence of the human creature in Equestriani history” was terrible, but was silenced by Sandalwood raising a hoof.

“Not now, Lyra, we’ve got bigger problems at hoof.” Sandy then turned to look right at Silver, who was the only one present who was totally out of her costume, the pie laying at an angle a few feet from the door. “Look, Silver Spoon, this whole ‘werewolf’ business…everything you told the others is true, right?”

Silver nodded. “Uh-huh.”

“Oh-kay, um…how much do you know about werewolves?”

“Why do you want to…oh, you were there when that thing with Iron Will went down, weren’t you?”

Lyra rolled her eyes. “Yes, everybody remembers the Apples, the six friends, and Iron Will, but they couldn’t exactly have gotten there without us driving them in the Apple Truck and our Car. But more importantly, we know more than you do about werewolves, that’s for certain.”

“So Applejack was a werewolf?”

Sandalwood and Lyra blanched momentarily, the tan pony managing to recover her voice first. “Who…who told you-“

Silver took her turn to look exasperated. “Fair Vista. She sort of gave a summary of the event to me and Diamond from what she was able to piece together. Something about her significant other; Sable Loam, both she and him being immortal or something, and then the Apples somehow being responsible for her death, then later Applejack specifically for her involvement in how Sable Loam died.”

Sandalwood raised an eyebrow. “I know you’ve been saying her name a lot, but I don’t recall somepony named ‘Fair Vista’ having ever been involved with this.”

“Really? ‘Cause I do.” said Lyra, “Remember that photograph Celestia found in Sable Loam’s bag after Applejack nailed him through that gravestone? Apparently it was of Fair Vista from some point way back when. The princess also said that she knew she’d killed a werewolf ten years ago at the time, but she was mistaken in that it wasn’t Sable she killed. It was Vista.”

“Oh, yeah, and then Applejack mentioned that gravestone, according to what Sable had told her, was put there by him for…” Sandalwood’s eyes went wide, “…the same ghost Twilight and co. are going after.”

“I don’t know how Diamond got involved with this ‘Fair Vista’ ghost werewolf pony thing,” lied Silver, “other than she’s just had that burning need to expose Apple Bloom as a werewolf herself or something.”

“Oh Princesses Above, Applejack as a werewolf was bad enough. Apple Bloom would be a total nightmare!”

Silver frowned. “Oh, please, it wouldn’t be as bad as having to help Diamond and that ghost in their hairbrained attempts to flush out Apple Bloom. First it was the cats, then it was the garlic stuff in the schoolhouse-“

“Wait…” interrupted Sandalwood, “garlic stuff? Like, garlic scented stuff? From the spa?”

“Yeah, real nasty stuff too, but she had like gallons of the stuff and we poured it all over the place.”

“YOU DID WHAT WITH MY STOLEN SCENTS?!” shouted Sandalwood. Silver then realized that maybe letting that slip might not have been a good idea.

As Apple Bloom opened her eyes, she saw the dark crystal walls had fallen away from her, such that the space she’d been confined to was free of any black shards. What was left of the walls continued to degrade into nothing, as if it was sand being blown by a stiff breeze. Raspberry Beryl stood not too far away, her head turned away from Apple Bloom. Heliodor perched silently on a part of the ruins, having nothing to say.

“M-Miss Beryl?” stammered Apple Bloom. While she hadn’t seen the fight, she’d easily heard it, and so was aware of everything Raspberry had said about her dark magic.

“You’re safe, now, Apple Bloom.” Replied the unicorn, opening her eyes but not turning to face the filly, “Fair Vista won’t trouble you again, or anypony else if she knows what’s good for her.”

“But…all this dark magic…was it really you?”

Razz didn’t immediately respond, instead opting to choose her next words carefully, for they would determine Apple Bloom’s further impression of her now that she knew enough about her. “You heard everything that ghost and I said, much less the fact that by all that is good and right in the world I should be dead or have been afflicted with lycanthropy, but I’m not as you can see. Please tell me the truth…are you scared of me?”

“That depends. Are you the same Raspberry Beryl who Ah know from Ponyville?”

“Huh? You mean like, personality wise? Then yes, I’m the same pony on the inside, I always have been!”

“Then mah own answer is that Ah am scared of you a little. But, Ah’ve had experience with dealin’ with ponies who everypony fears. Some time back, everypony was scared of Zecora, but they didn’t understand her. To this day she credits me as bein’ the reason she’s been able to become a part of town as if she’d been a pony all along.”

“I met Zecora…nice pony. But the ponies back in town only feared her because they didn’t know what she was. With me…everypony will know. Princess Twilight felt my aura, then after what Spike did…”

“What did Spike do?” inquired Apple Bloom.

“He…” started Razz, nervously, before she found a reason to smile. Never before had she found anypony who could possibly even understand her. Except…here was a filly, subject to her own dark curse, not even fully pony anymore, but was brave enough to listen to the pony who threw around dark crystals like snowballs. If there was anypony, anypony at all, who could help her finally fight the stigma of her curse. “Here, come with me, I’ll explain.”

“Uh, okay?”

Motioning with a quick gesture of her head, Raspberry began to lead Apple Bloom to someplace in the ruins. The young Apple didn’t know what to expect, but as had been the case with Zecora, she had a gut feeling that Raspberry wasn’t a bad pony.

“So…” started Apple Bloom, but was quickly hushed by Razz.

“Please, I know you have a lot of questions, but I’d rather get to our destination first before I can answer them.”

It was a short trek, the destination being one of the few full-standing homes within the ruins. Apple Bloom instinctively came to a halt even though Beryl and Helidor kept going to the entrance of the abode.

“Huh? Apple Bloom, it’s just in-oh, right, the barrier. One sec.”

The werewolf could only look on in morbid curiosity as Raspberry nonchalantly channeled dark powers through her horn, bolts of almost invisible light shooting out and making contact on something that Apple Bloom had only known was there by instinct. All around Beryl, a dome faded into visibility only for it to break apart, similar to how Shining Armor’s forcefield had been broken by Changelings back during the Royal Wedding incident, until there was nothing left and no sign it had been there at all.

“You can come over, now, Apple Bloom. That was the only defense I’d put up, it was a strong barrier that would keep out most pests and anypony who got near it, like you, would feel a gut inclination to move away. Unless you’re a ghost, in which case you just smack into a wall.”

“Ah guess that’s what happened with Fair Vista?”

“Twice, actually, although I didn’t know it was her the first time. She ran off before I could get a good look at her, but seeing as how there aren’t any other pony poltergeists haunting around here…”

Apple Bloom giggled, before being struck into silence as she entered the doorway. While externally there was no suggestion it was anything other than just another ruin, internally was a different story. It was nothing less than gorgeous crystals, the full spectrum represented in a tasteful balance such that it was one big, glistening rainbow. Such a setting, from the luxuriously inviting queen-sized bed carved from a deep blue sapphire stock, to the rather homey looking kitchenette made up of various shades of warm colors and would have been a great place to start the day for anypony. While her knowledge of the world was rather limited beyond Ponyville and a small portion of Canterlot, there was no doubt in Apple Bloom’s mind that what she was gazing upon was the stuff of legends. Great rulers could spend the entire treasury of their government and still not achieve something this beautiful.

“Quite a sight, isn’t it?” asked Beryl, who was laying on a bright emerald sofa, “the majority of comforts that can’t be created with crystal, like bedding or these pillows, I bought in Ponyville. Everything else was made entirely by me and me alone. Well, okay, I had some help from Mr. Gumpy Bird over there.” While Heliodor, perched upon a custom birdstand that was accented to perfectly compliment his plumage of green and gold, proceeded to make a big do over being shortchanged in credit, it was clear most of the work had been done by Beryl. The degree of craftponyship was too fine for any phoenix to accomplish. “Unfortunately, most ponies would condemn all of this, because it’s actually nothing but a mere illusion.”

“Illusion?” asked Apple Bloom, confused. She couldn’t believe such a place, which was so welcoming and calming that the filly hadn’t noticed herself shift unconsciously back to her regular pony self, could have been fake.

“All the crystal here…they’re all dark crystals. I weave the colors into them when I form them into their shapes with my magic, so the end result looks like the same thing that would be unearthed from the ground. Even up close, since despite what you’d think of dark magic being the only way to form them, on the physical level they form the exact same as regular precious stones.”

“So, you can make forgeries of gems?” Apple Bloom wasn’t quite seeing the point…until she remembered what it was that Beryl did for a living. “Wait…are you sayin’ all those gems you sell in town…they’re fake?!”

“Every last one, including the thousands of crystals over the course of my life,” sadly confirmed Beryl. “I know it’s wrong, that I’m selling forgeries, but I only ever sold them on account of the beauty and being relatively low cost compared to the real deal. Perhaps it’s shallow of me to think this, but just like how ponies only see me as an evil presence because of my dark magic, I exploit them in how they only see the beauty of my wares and assume it’s the real deal. The gems I sold never had any lingering traces of my magic, they were perfectly safe, or at least I thought they were. Then Sweetie Belle broke off that giant diamond Rarity had ordered for that damn crown, which Spike ate and, through however dragons can eat those things, broke my enchantments and managed to pump more magic into them.”

“Well, that’s interesting to know,” came the husky voice of Lightning Dust, much to the shock of Apple Bloom, Heliodor, and Raspberry. The older werewolf, still in her wolven form, walked slowly into the house. “Nice place, a bit tacky for me in all honesty, but more importantly I’m here to stop whatever evil you’re planning to do with Apple Bloom. I don’t know where that damn ghost bitch went, but-“

“Ah don’t know what you’re talkin’ about, Dust,” said Apple Bloom, “but while Ah thank you for the help earlier and wantin’ to rescue me again, Ah’m not in danger anymore.”

LD was taken aback. “You’re joking…right? I mean, I heard everything she just said. Dark magic, countless instances of selling forgeries, clearly you’re not being serious about not being in danger or she’s got you under some kinda mind control spell.”

“Oh, Ah’m serious alright…” growled Apple Bloom, immediately assuming wolf form, “…Ah’m as serious as a heart attack!” When about a minute passed with the two older ponies and the phoenix just giving strange looks at the filly, Apple Bloom just facehoofed/pawed, “come on, Ah head AJ say it once and then say somethin’ about not usin’ that phrase around Granny, so Ah’ve been tryin’ to find a good time to say it and that just seemed like a good moment.

“Uh, for the record…” piped up Razz, nervously, “if she was under my control, which she’s not, I wouldn’t have made her say something that corny.”

However, Dust wasn’t paying attention to Raspberry’s words, she was too busy gawking at the fact Apple Bloom actually was a werewolf. “B-but I’m supposed to be the only one still alive, unless…”

“No, mah sis didn’t bite me when she was a werewolf, Ah don’t know how Ah’ve become the same thing she’d been turned into thanks to Sable Loam, all that business was supposed to have been settled last year. She never told anypony on the farm about you, though.”

Lightning shrugged, “I’ve only been around town for a couple of weeks, trying to keep a low profile since most ponies probably still remember the crap I started the last time I came to town. I’m just glad Rainbow’s letting me crash at her place instead of me needing to hide at-“

“The Traveler’s Retreat!” interrupted Razz, recognition in her eyes, “You were in the process of moving out of one of the rooms that one night a while back.”

“Wait, how would you know that exactly?” growled Dust, baring her teeth.

“Because the Retreat is where I normally live,” answered the unicorn, a tinge of regret in her tone as she avoided eye contact with the two wolves, instead opting to survey her crystal coven, “as nice as this place is, a life in this kind of luxury isn’t what I want. I only come out here to make the gems I sold in town.” She gestured to a partially obscured back room where, through the doorway, part of what looked like a makeshift blast furnace and a worktable, both made of dark crystal, visible to the werewolves. “I never thought anything would come of it, but I’d stayed there so long that Ascot and Cashmere, bless them, opened their home and hearts to me and gave me both their private guest room and even a job; an actual stable job. But of course it was foolish to me to think it would last.”

“Is it because of the dark magic thing?” asked Apple Bloom, “I’m sure if you just used regular magic-“

“But that’s just it!” snapped Razz, turning to face the filly directly, but her mannerisms were of desperation instead of anger, “I want to be able to use regular magic, all I’ve ever wanted to be was just a regular old unicorn! It’s just that I am incapable of doing anything with magic that doesn’t use dark magic, because…because dark magic is my special talent!”

“But your cutie mark doesn’t say that,” pointed out Dust, using a foreleg to gesture to the baby blue heart gem with the three-color gem spread around it.

“It’s not my real cutie mark.” Answered the unicorn, on the verge of tears, having finally been able to open up about her troubles. “Just like how I make fake gems by weaving in illusion spells when I create them, my magic is powerful enough to make it seem different. In truth, my cutie mark-“ She stopped mid-sentence when the noise of an approaching crowd of ponies began to grow from the outside. “They’re here…” she whimpered, her horn charging up an emergency teleport spell such that she could make an escape.

“What are you doing?!” demanded Apple Bloom, having figured out what Raspberry was going to do, “Why are you running?”

“Because if they catch me, I’m going to be put to trial and most certainly executed for dark sorcery!” answered a tearful Razz. Heliodor nodded to the filly, confirming his opinion was the same as his companion’s before fluttering over to land on her back. “If not for my magic constantly breaking one of the highest laws of Equestria, then certainly because my magic nearly killed one of the closest ponies to Princess Twilight! It’s the only-“

Razz did not expect Lighting to move like, well, lightning. In one swift motion, she’d launched from a standstill and swatted at the unicorn’s horn, causing the spell to be canceled.

“No, it’s not the only way. Sure, you have dark magic violations too numerous to count, but if it truly is the only kind of magic you can perform, then you had to do what you did to survive, right?”

“Y-yeah…”

“And all you’ve done with your magic, as far as I can tell, is make little cheap rocks that look pretty. Oh, and save the life of the younger sister of an Element of Harmony. Considering that I once nearly killed five of them because I was too self-absorbed for my own good, I think I’m in a position to say I’ve done way worse than you.”

“Besides,” added Apple Bloom, “you said nopony ever listened to you before about any of this. Well, you have two ponies who have, now, and if what you said about Spike was true, then you didn’t do anything wrong or even be responsible for that.”

“Th…that’s true…” sniffed Razz, looking up at the pegasus and earth ponies before her.

“Caw, caw!” cawed Heliodor, placing himself next to his mistress such that he could rub his head against her cheeks.

“You’re right Heelee, maybe it is time to stop running…but…but will you two really stand up for me?”

“Ah don’t know about Dust, but you saved mah life, and Ah know you’re a good pony just as much as anypony else. Something as silly as law won’t stop me from bein’ on your side.”

“Besides, now that I think about it…” added Dust, hoof/pawstroking her chin, “if you are skilled with dark magic, like King whats-hisname-“

“Sober?” suggested Apple Bloom.

“Uh, yeah, King Sober, then maybe you can help me out, since I’m still kind of on the clock with this werewolf thing and you might be the only one who can stop it.”

By this point, the noise of ponies on the outside implied maybe only a minute or two until they arrived. “Dust, can…can you not mention the fact Ah’m a werewolf?” asked Apple Bloom, shifting back to her regular form.

“Why?” inquired back Dust, also assuming regular form.

“Because if Ah can reveal mah little ‘hairy problem’ at a better time, it would help support your point and in turn help Razz.”

“Oh, I get you. Alright.”

Any further conversation was cut off by the arrival of the mane six. They were all a mixed bag of emotions, namely various states of irritation, but Twilight was clearly doing her best not to explode. It would be very unprincess like of her. It was Applejack, however, who acted first.

“Bloomie!” she exclaimed, dashing forward and tackling the filly in a big hug, “Ah was so worried.”

“Ah’m fine, AJ, Ah had some good protectors who came to my aid.”

“I’d say more than that, Lightning also led us straight to Raspberry Beryl, too!” added Rainbow, who soared in and took a position behind the mulberry unicorn.

“Actually, Rainbow…” interrupted Dust, “I wasn’t exactly all that helpful. The ghost had already been driven off by the time I got here. If anypony deserves praise for saving Apple Bloom, it’s Raspberry.”

“No offense, Dust,” said Twilight, striding into the room at last, “but this unicorn…she can’t be trusted. Not after what she did to Spike, and certainly not after the discovery she’s been involved with dark magic practices.”

“But if what she says is true, then she didn’t have anything to do with that! It was an accident!” argued Apple Bloom. From there, things quickly devolved into a multi-sided group argument and eventually became too much for the distraught pony caught in the middle.

“ENOUGH!” shouted Razz, all voices silenced and eyes looking at her. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, a glance at Heliodor whose nodding gave her strength, Beryl looked at the alicorn in front of her to say what needed to be said. “There is a lot that I will need to explain, this much I know. It’s true that I am guilty of practicing dark magic and of selling forgeries of precious gems, but if I was every bit of the pony you think I am just because I am a dark magic user but not an alicorn, then do you think I would have stayed here and allowed you and your friends to corner me in this place? That I would have chosen to save the life of a young filly over vanishing into the forest to escape capture, and then remained here because she told me that she believes that even after all this, the princesses would take mercy on me?”

“She’s tellin’ the truth, Twi,” said Applejack. “Ah know, Ah know, the whole ‘no dark magic’ thing and all, but considerin’ how you’ve saved Equestria twice because you used dark magic yourself, plus the fact it’s pretty obvious she’s the only reason mah sister was saved from Fair Vista’s ghost, there’s more goin’ on with Raspberry here than she’s let on. It’s only fair we give her a fair chance.”

“But, Applejack…”

“I am in agreement with her, too.” Said Rarity, who hadn’t said anything before due to being enraptured by the beautiful crystal work around her. “No pony with an evil heart would choose to hide in a place this lovely. Plus, I simply refuse to believe the Raspberry Beryl I knew, the timid gem monger who was such a joy to have around, was nothing but a fabricated persona.”

“I’m sorry, girls!” exclaimed Twilight, “but even as a Princess, I can’t override the founding laws of Equestria! I have to have her arrested and she must stand trial!”

“I am aware of that,” said Razz, “but if Apple Bloom is willing to believe in me, then I’m willing to believe in her, and so I submit myself for arrest, Princess, but on four conditions.”

“And what would those be?” warily asked Twilight.

“While I don’t doubt your intentions, I want you to promise me that no matter what happens, I am given a fair trial, for I know having the stigma of being a dark magic user will put a bias against me. I want you to promise me that while I am incarcerated, Heliodor is given the utmost care and treatment, but most of all is unharmed and not subject to the charges laid upon me. He is the closest thing I’ve ever had to family for most of my life.

“I also don’t want any of this to trouble Ascot and Cashmere, or the Traveler’s Retreat. They never knew about my dark magic during my time there, whatever I may be convicted of they are not associated with, my only regret being that they may never want to see my face again after this.

“Finally…I want Apple Bloom and Lightning Dust to be at my trial.”

The ponies still dressed in halloween costumes all displayed shock at that request. “Why them?” asked Fluttershy.

“Because they were willing to listen, when nopony else would. They were the ones who told me to stop running and give myself up such that I may be tried. I’ve…always been afraid of crowds, of attention. The reason is obvious, but in all other cases there’s never been any friendly faces among the crowds. They told me they’d be willing to stand by me, to support me, and even if they can’t testify in my favor, two friendly faces that I can look to among the crowd would mean so much to me.”

Twilight looked hard into Raspberry’s eyes. Ever since the revelation she’d been tricked by Sable Loam with his disguise as the crystal pony ‘Intellectual Pursuit’, she’d taught herself to look for any telltale signs that would indicate dishonesty. But, try as she might, it was clear Raspberry was honest in her words as Applejack had already confirmed. Usually, from what Twilight knew, lawbreakers who surrendered to the Crown kept their requests to be frivolous luxuries like a golden-plated toilet or four-poster beds. Raspberry had only asked for the guarantee of a truly fair trial, moral support from two ponies, and for three other individuals to not be associated with her crimes. In fact, they weren’t really even conditions, they were pleas that were more in the interest in protecting others than the one requesting them. No pony who had even a shred of evil intention within their hearts would do such a thing.

“Raspberry Beryl, as instructed by my position as a Princess of Equestria, I accept your surrender and you will be incarcerated until the time as such for you to be tried,” began Twilight, letter-perfect in her declaration of authority, “however, due to the severity of your crimes by your own admission, your trial will be directly judged by Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence, and myself, as opposed to a normal judgment by jury.” Twilight noted how Raspberry’s heart plummeting was evident in the rapid increase of her breathing and nervous twitching, to which the princess gave a comforting smile and put a hoof on the other unicorn’s shoulder. “Personally, I think you stand a better shot if it’s just the Princesses doing the judging. Your conditions, which by themselves are good evidence of your character, have my guarantee that they will be followed. I will do all in my power as Princess to ensure the safety of those close to you, that there will be no bias against you in a fair trial, and as for the two ponies you wish to be there…” Twilight glanced at Apple Bloom, then Lightning Dust, before resuming her gaze at Razz, “…I doubt that even as a Princess I could stop them from attending no matter how hard I tried.”

“Thank you, Princess,” said Raspberry, a small smile coming to her lips. She knew that the trial would still be a grueling experience, that no matter what Twilight could do the three older princesses would still be biased against her due to all the dark magic charges. And without Heliodor, who she hadn’t asked to be with her when she stood trial as she knew no pets were allowed on the stand, she would be going at it alone. But even if she had to be truly alone for the first time in her life in what seemed like forever, she could finally be open about the truth.

Well, almost the whole truth. If she could get away with only her dark magic being known, that was fine by her. But her true cutie mark…nopony could know, for its implications were far worse than even what her dark magic implied.

Ch.20: The Evil Within Us All - Part 1

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 20: “The Evil Within Us All - Part 1”

As the train chugged its way up the mountain, Raspberry Beryl was dead silent, her unfocused gaze looking out the window. There was nothing she really could do, as despite her promises to be taken into custody peacefully, both Princess Celestia and Luna had insisted on a heavy guard detachment for the sole purposes of escorting her, by train, to Canterlot’s dungeons. It wasn’t like Razz was going to protest, the princesses had plenty of experience dealing with magic users of the darker persuasion and as they didn’t know Raspberry’s maximum limits they were going to err on the side of caution.

The fact she had to wear the shackles and heavy chains even on the train, though, was a bit much. What she going to do, take out an entire train full of elite guards with some kind of special art, such as the “Hundred Hoof Crack Punch” or manage to use dark magic to do the pegasus-only “Hurricane Kick”?

“So…” suddenly said the pegasus guard sitting across from Razz. The unicorn had been surprised to learn that only the guards directly tied to guarding the castle were required to wear the spell that made then uniformly all white-and-blue stallions, or in the case of unicorn guards gray-and-white stallions. But, thanks to the overkill need for security, the more offensive reserve guard had been brought in. This particular pegasus had a goldenrod coat, with a yellow and white mane and tail. Her cutie mark looked similar to Celestia's, but there were more rays were straighter than those of the Princess. “I have to admit, when we were told we were taking on a unicorn with unknown abilities in dark magic, I was expecting, well…”

“Sombra? I tend to get that a lot. At least, when ponies eventually found out the truth.”

“That you’re a pony who should have been thrown in the dungeon and the key buried and forgotten?” snapped the pegasus guard sitting across from the two mares. Even though the train was loaded down with guards, the coach Raspberry was actually in only had two guards with her, all the other guards opting to not be in the same enclosed space as the pony who, as far as they knew, could squeeze their brains like a raisin with her mere thoughts.

“Don’t be such a stick in the mud, Candlewick, you’re only even in here because you’re trying to impress the new recruit.” Chided the nicer of the two guard pegasi, “Considering your sister, being in the same room as somepony almost as scary as her would be enough to send you right to your bunk with your little Smarty Pants doll.”

“What are you…she didn’t” said the mortified stallion.

“She did,” smirked Sun, “I must say, I didn’t think anypony would want the ‘Princess Sugarlicious’ version, but then again I didn’t know you had a thing for dolls.”

“Oh, so that’s what everypony is talking about when they mention Smarty Pants?” asked Beryl.

“Uh, yeah. I don’t know how even you couldn’t have had one, I mean, every filly wants one for Hearth’s Warming at some point and even the cheap five-bit ones with only the rotating neck and brushable mane/tails are easy enough to get. Surely you had one back when-”

“No.” The guards, both mare and stallion, were stunned at the simple, flat answer from the convict. “I’ve never had a Smarty Pants doll. Or any toys, really. But what do you care? I’m a dark magic user, I’m so clearly dangerous that there is no question about how I’m a complete monster. It’s not like you care that I never knew my mother or my father was abusive or that the only living thing who has ever cared for me was a phoenix who I’ve practically raised from being a chick.” Golden Sun and Candlewick were silent, as Raspberry had figured. “I’m just wasting my breath, I guess, pent up frustration and all after all these years. Even if you guards did care about me, you can’t do anything to help since that would put yourselves in danger of being fired or worse, so…” Razz sighed, “…how long until we get there?”

“Er, fifteen minutes,” said Candlewick.

“Fifteen minutes too long, if you ask me.” Razz merely sighed again and slumped against the window, her horn making noise when its tip bumped the window pane. In the distance she could see the outline of the Equestriani capital. Home of the Alicorns. Where bad things went to die. Was she a bad pony? Had she always been doomed to this, even though all her life she’d tried to be above it?

“Hey,” came the voice of Golden Sun. When Razz looked up, she saw a yellow hoof outstretched with an opened granola bar. “It’s not regulation, but you do look sort of hungry and I just remembered I had this spare ration.”

“Thanks,” replied Razz, taking the granola into her hooves and biting into the first thing she’d had to eat since the beginning of Nightmare Night the day before. It was sort of bland tasting, but at the same time it wasn’t, possibly because of the kindness of another pony, something Razz had always cherished.

At the same time, it was recess time at Ponyville Elementary. All the colts and fillies knew about why Apple Bloom was missing was that she had been summoned to Canterlot by Princess Twilight, who had needed to return to the capital in light of the affairs with Raspberry Beryl. Diamond Tiara, despite her scare of no cutie mark thanks to the Poison Joke, had been easily returned to normal through the help of Zecora, though the same could not be said of her relationship with Silver Spoon when she discovered what had happened.

“You idiot, everything is ruined because of you!” shouted Diamond at Silver, “Why did you tell them?!”

“Because it was the right thing to do!” the young silversmith argued back, “You’ve treated me like dirt ever since you met that stupid ghost, to which I’ve constantly paid the price for, and Apple Bloom in contrast has been proving you wrong time and time again without even knowing it!”

“What, so you’re on her side now? I thought you were my friend, Silver!”

“And I thought I was yours, Diamond!”

“What are you talking about? I’m the best friend you have! I’m the only friend you have!”

Silver’s mouth trembled as Diamond reminded her of the obvious, of why she’d even gone this far. But the final line in the proverbial sand had been drawn, the line Silver would not cross. “No, you’re not anymore, if you ever were my friend to begin with!”

Tiara gasped, as if she’d been grievously insulted. “You take that back!”

“No!” Silver was done with Tiara, that much was going to be made clear here and now. “If there’s anything I’ve learned over the past few months with all this nonsense, it’s that this ‘friendship’ has been decidedly one-sided in your favor! You’ve used me, exploited me, I don’t even know all the words to express what I’ve been to you, just that ‘friend’ was never one of them! We’re through!”

And with that, Silver turned her back on the scandalized Tiara and trotted off to the other side of the schoolyard, never acknowledging the sea of eyes that had noticed the argument and watched the two most egotistical ponies separate. Tiara was furious. Nopony talked to her like that. But she had to keep up appearances, which meant she couldn’t hurl obscenities at her former friend. So, instead, she just looked away and went to go play by herself, mentally filing Silver into the ‘enemy’ list in her head.

Silver, on the other hand, had made it to the far side of the schoolhouse before she couldn’t go any farther. She slumped to the ground, back on the schoolhouse wall, and began to cry. It had been the right thing to do, but now there was nopony who liked her anymore. At the very least, when she’d been with Tiara, the pink pony’s influence kept Silver in the clear. But now there was no protection from the horrors she rightfully deserved, all the bad things she’d done to other ponies. She figured the first round was already going to begin, as three distinct fillies approached.

“I know what I asked of you last night, but if you really want to make fun of me, call me names, or whatever you want, go ahead. I deserve it.”

“No. We gave our word, Silver,” said Scootaloo, “and we’re going to stick to it. Our honor as Crusaders demands that much.”

“Plus, it’s because of you that Apple Bloom is alright!” squeaked Sweetie Belle, “well, as alright as she can be, since she’s really a you-know-what.”

“At least she still has ponies who don’t hate her,” sniffed Silver.

“That’s not true,” said Babs, walking up to the bespectacled filly and offering her hoof. “Take it from a pony who was in a similar position as you the last time I came to town, there’s always going to be a helpin' hoof when you need one, a friend who can stand by your side.”

Silver smiled as she took Babs’s hoof, who helped her get back up on all fours. “You…you really mean it?”
“More than that!” answered Scootaloo, “Since you just cut ties with Diamond, I figure you’ve got the rest of the day open. Why not come with us to the clubhouse?”

The schoolhouse bell then rang, with the rest of the fillies being drawn back to the building. But, for Silver, maybe things were looking up after all. “Sure. I don’t have much to lose, now do I?”

Heliodor was, in a word, unhappy.

He did not understand why he was left in a cage which was behind some door, in front of which stood two very bored guards. Sure, they’d brought him water and food, but he hadn’t been in need of sustenance of the edible kind. He didn’t even want attention, which Raspberry would have said was very unlike him.

Of course, that was the problem; Raspberry wasn’t there. Even though he was a bird, he was a phoenix, a very rare kind at that with him being a green phoenix. Possibly one of the smartest kinds of avians in the world, they had incredible memory and could have possibly learned speech if evolution had given them vocal cords. But had Heliodor been able to talk, he would have cried out for his mistress, for as much of a capable bird of prey that he was, Raspberry Beryl was what defined the world to him. She had been the one who had saved him from certain death as a mere chick, as he recalled how in the sea of chaos in which he’d been born it was her who was the reason he had ever seen the sun. She had been his protector, his caretaker during those frightful first weeks, helping him regain the courage to fly and be free as he needed to be.

But at the same time, he’d seen how she needed protecting, too, for while he didn’t understand why it was clear other ponies didn’t like her for some reason, they wanted to hurt her like those things in the caves had. But she didn’t have any kind of overseeing figure to defend her, like she had been for him, and so he’d resolved to be that figure. And even though she’d assured him that everything would be alright, he wanted nothing more than to take his perch on her horn, to physically touch her and have every reassurance she was alright.

He jumped when the door was suddenly opened, though he knew instantly it wasn’t the pony who needed him as much as he needed her. The guards were also, strangely, not at their posts, but no more could be determined as the pony who came into the room hit him with a sleeping spell, causing the poor phoenix to slump to the bottom of his cage.

“This is no place for a bird of you beauty, now is it?” said the unicorn, taking a large cloth they’d brought and draping it over the cage, before including it in their telekinesis, “nor is that place next to a filthy unicorn who wishes to use the dark arts for her own gain. You’ll be happier under my care, though, since at least in my possession you’ll be exactly what you were always meant to be.”

Nopony heard the low, sinister chuckles of the thief as the door was shut, the crime unseen.

“Hey, wake up!”

Razz groggily opened her eyes, rubbing the sleep from them with her right hoof. It hadn’t been an easy night, of course then again the entirety of yesterday had been the third worst day of her life. Having been marched like a prisoner of war, though more out of the fact it had been hard to walk in the leg irons and to the credit of Golden Sun, the guard mare had asked her platoon leader; Shoeshine, to remove the irons on the ground it was unequine. He refused, of course, and so as the crowd of thousands watched, a lone unicorn was marched from the train station under heavy guard all the way to the dungeons. It was almost comical how the actual ‘dungeon cell’ was far better than Raspberry could have hoped. A simple cot with an uncomfortably stiff mattress and a down pillow missing most of the down, a window overlooking the canyon just next to the mountainside capital, and even an enclosed bathroom (that was actually pretty clean) so inmates could do their business in peace (there were of course spells cast such that if inmates tried to use the privacy of the bathroom to manufacture contraband shivs or the like the guards would know). But, since as far as Raspberry had hopes was defined as a bed of old, nasty hay in the darkest depths of the castle dungeons and the toilet was the complex “piss in the corner opposite the bed” lifestyle, she could have practically lived in prison, for she’d had far worse conditions while “free” in the past.

Except now she didn’t have Heliodor, who she was constantly worried about, and the two guards posted to guard her cell were not as friendly as Golden Sun or, after working him around to it, Candlewick. Instead, Raspberry now had his sister; Spinnaker, who had outright told Raspberry not to try to tell any lies (meaning nothing the poor unicorn said would be regarded as actual fact), and another pegasus guard named Tiger Lily who seemed really angry all the time. It was the latter who was commanding Razz to wake up.

“Yeah, today’s the big day for you!” said Spinnaker, snickering.

“W-why, more paperwork for you to fill out in booking me?” countered Razz as she got up from the bunk. “Look, can I at least wash up first?”

Tiger Lily glared at the prisoner “No, now-“

“-Or do you want to take me, a prisoner who looks like crap and probably doesn’t smell to good, in front of the entire ruling body of Equestria? I’m sure that would look good in your performance review that-“

“Then make it quick!” shouted the angered pegasus. While Razz did try to be expedient in washing up, she wasn’t too hurried as she’d met ponies like Tiger before, ponies who would complain that one took too long to do something, no matter how fast it actually had been done.

“You’re taking too long!” predictably complained Tiger as Razz presented her cleaned-up self at the bars of her cell, “Hopefully you’re not going to drag your hooves now, either!”

“Can it, Tiger!” interjected Spinnaker, who put the leg irons back on Raspberry, “You’re giving her ideas.”

“Look, can we just get there already?” whined Razz, “I’m sure the actual trial is going to give me less of a headache than hearing you two complain about each other.”

“We’ll see about that” smiled Tiger wickedly, “don’t you know who’s running the prosecution?”

“How should I know, nopony’s told me anything since I was put down here. For all I know Queen Chrysalis is the one trying to give me the death penalty.”

“Heh, you wish, since I’d bet the Changeling monarch would just want you dead,” said Spinnaker, “But Prince Blueblood? He pulled some big strings to be able to get the credit for winning your trial, which means he’s going to make it one heck of a show. And to be honest?” Spinnaker’s bratty tone suddenly changed to one carrying a seldom shown compassionate side,” I…do actually feel kind of sorry for you because of that. The guard’s been circulating rumors about how you saved a filly’s life, I may be a bitch sometimes but even I know the Princesses are overreacting to this, and Blueblood shouldn’t even be involved.”

“Yeah, but at least there’s a good side,” added Tiger, who also changed her tone to being more friendly. “Apparently Princess Twilight pulled some strings of her own, so your public defender is Prince Shining Armor. It’s going to be ugly with Blueblood trying to rip you a new one, but at least you have the old guard captain and current prince consort on your side for this.”

“Oh joy…” moaned Raspberry, who as usual hated being the center of attention, especially when opposite sides leveled heavy artillery specifically to catch her in the crossfire. “At the very least, could you tell me if my pet phoenix is alright? He’s probably worried sick about me, just as much as I’m worried sick about him.”

Tiger and Spinnaker exchanged brief, nervous glances. Neither of them was going to tell the pony who used dark magic with ease what had happened.

“He got moved, so we actually don’t know,” hastily fibbed Tiger. “Shining Armor might, though, since he’s royalty and Princess Twilight wanted that phoenix protected.”

“Oh, okay, thanks. I’ll ask him, then,” said Razz.

Tiger would for the next few hours fear for her life when Shining told Razz that somepony had stolen the bird and the trail led back to her. Makes me almost wish I’d been with the Weatherpony protesters the day I enlisted she thought.

“Guess I should have listened to you, huh, Cady?” joked Shining, struggling with the crest on his dress uniform. “It’s not Sombra, but-“

“You had every right, Shiny” replied the love avatar, her magic joining his to orient the ornament correctly before she strode over to peck him on the cheek. “After all, I had been stupid at the time with having put myself in that room full of dark magic.”

“Yeah, but this? It’s got to be some kind of cosmic irony. All the trouble we put into protecting the Crystal Empire from the personification of dark magic, only to now have my sister practically beg me to play defense for somepony just as powerful as Sombra.”

“Just because I said I sensed her power was like that, Shiny, doesn’t mean she actually is as powerful as him.”

“Cady, the guard recovered the crystals that had formed in Ponyville in the aftermath of what happened to Spike, which no doubt Blueblood will use as evidence. I was able to see them, though, and the fact is they are honest-to-your-aunt the same kind of crystal formations Sombra was making sprout all over the Empire.”

Cadence balked, “Surely you’re not serious!”

Shining shook his head “I’m afraid so, there have been numerous cases of rogue unicorns trying to use that forbidden art between the return of the empire and now, but not one of them has anything in the after-action reports mentioning dark magic on the scale above abnormally powerful elemental spells. Really, I’m just relieved this Raspberry Beryl surrendered on peaceful terms after that mess in Ponyville.”

“Oh, now you’ve given me ideas,” replied the alicorn in a sultry voice, slowly walking up to her husband with an exaggerated gait. “Let’s see what you define as ‘peaceful terms’ later tonight…”

“You make that sound like a bad thing…” responded Shining in his own suggestive tone, his lips suddenly finding themselves touching hers. It almost certainly would have gone further than that had there not been a sudden knock at the door. Quickly breaking the kiss, Cadence looking away from the door to hide her blush, Shining quickly recomposed himself and responded, “Come in.”

There was what sounded like mumbling outside, before the door opened and Tiger Lily entered. “It’s almost time, your majesties, Spinnaker and I have brought the prisoner as requested although-“

“Yes, yes, it’s the lawyer thing that I shouldn’t be here for. I’m probably needed in the hall, anyway. See you soon, hon.” Cadence gave Shining one last kiss on the lips before she made for the hall that the trial would be held in. Once she was gone, Spinnaker brought in the nervous Raspberry.

“I should warn you, and apologies in advance…” Tiger suddenly whispered into Shining’s ear, “We sort of told her you had her bird moved to a secret location.”

“You what?!” answered Shining, quietly enough that Raspberry, who was listening to something Spinnaker was telling her, wouldn’t hear.

“You’re her defense lawyer, we figured you’d know how to break the news to her better! Plus, she’s really torn up about having been separated from her pet, and if she’s supposedly as powerful as Sombra, then those wards put on her horn to keep her magic bottled up aren’t reliable enough for either Spinny and I to risk our lives on. Plus, your special talent is protection magic, you’re better suited for dealing with her when angry than two pegasus guards.”

“Let’s just hope for your sake that my sister was right and this pony is as about as violent as Fluttershy.”

Tiger nodded, then saluted. Spinnaker followed suit, before the two exited the room. While it would just be Shining and Raspberry inside, with the two pegasus guards on point just outside, Shining was still a capable fighter. After all, he’d been a Guard Captain, and they didn’t let ponies move up the ranks simply by kissing the plots of superiors.

“So, you’re the one all this trouble is about. Raspberry Beryl, right?”

Raspberry nodded but said nothing.

“Okay, Miss. Beryl, I’m assuming that you know what the purpose of this meeting is?”

“D-defense council?” she stammered, clearly uncomfortable being in the presence of Shining Armor. While he was far from the muscle-clad hulks of stallions like Ponyville’s own Snowflake, anypony could see that the prince consort didn’t skimp out on keeping himself in shape even though he was no longer part of the guard. Just by the subtle curvature of the muscles in his forelegs, Raspberry figured he could snap her spine in half if he wanted. So she was shocked when his horn lit up and the leg irons spontaneously fell off.

“You seemed uncomfortable in those. It’s also harder for ponies to sit in them, I remember this one time when we had this new recruit; Divine Wind, who was a real prick and thought it would be funny if his commanding officer, who happened to be me at the time, woke up in leg irons. I never did figure out how he acquired them. Then again, I don’t think he ever figured out how that morning they ended up locked on his legs instead of mine.”

Beryl’s mouth made an O shape. “Did you know he was going to do it beforehand?”

“Nope. But back when Twily was just a filly, she and the babysitter; Cadence, liked to pull that prank on me all the time, though not with actual leg irons, so I ended up developing a keen sense of when somepony’s trying to bind me up while sleeping. And picking the locks was easy, I’d gotten really good at it just to impress the old Orcs & Oubliettes group back in high school.”

“No!” laughed Raspberry, as naive as she was about pony culture in general, she’d heard about what was commonly called O&O. She’d even once sold a bunch of small, sequin-sized gems to a group who wanted to use them to paint up miniatures for the game, though she didn’t know much about the game itself. Just that it was hard to picture Shining Armor, the spitting image of what all athletic ponies wanted to be, doing something like O&O.

“Hey, Caddy thought it was cute, and I can’t argue with that seeing as how we’re happily married!” chucked Shining, motioning for the freed Razz to take a seat. While normally what Shining was doing was frowned upon by conventional law ponies, this was an abnormal situation and by telling a little story had succeeded in improving Raspberry’s mood as intended. The result was her being very cooperative in everything she had to be as such while Shining explained what was going to happen.

Right until she asked about her bird, to which Shining had to tell her the truth, as while the instantaneous look on her face was that of a pony whose entire outlook on life had been crushed in the most horrifying way possible, Shining could only reason it was better she find out now than during the actual trial. For while Shining merely told Raspberry that Heliodor had mysteriously vanished overnight and the investigation ongoing, Blueblood was going to ride Heliodor’s absence on a cart of scathing accusations leveled right at Raspberry. But it was small solace, as Shining knew it was going to be insanely difficult to justify a defense when he, the one who had been needed to help his wife protect the Crystal Empire, was now defending the most evil kind of magic known to pony kind.

The trial of Raspberry Beryl was imminent, the Grand Hall was packed to capacity, the only ponies missing being the princesses. The prosecution and defense teams were in place, Raspberry looking like an absolute wreck and Shining being completely expressionless to hide his own worries, while Blueblood looked like a predatory bird about to divebomb a particularly helpless meal-to-be. The five non-alicorn element bearers, being treated as if they were truly of royal blood, had been given one of the two private boxes close to the floor where all the action would take place. For Apple Bloom and Lightning Dust, however, they were not granted the same privileges and so were stuck towards the back of the crowd.

“Ah don’t like this,” said Apple Bloom, “Ah don’t like it one bit!”

“Neither do I,” agreed Lightning Dust, “but we don’t have any power to change it, do we?”

“Quiet!” said the guard assigned to watch over them, “it’s about to begin.”

Indeed, guards stationed all over were beginning to tell the crowd the same, evidenced by the gradual onset of silence. The room was dead still as the princesses entered from the far right side in order from shortest to tallest, taking the second box seat. More importantly, Twilight was seated as close to her friends as possible such that if the need arose they could use the Elements of Harmony to stop any threat…at least that was the given story as to how they had the Elements still. The real Elements had been returned to the Tree of Harmony deep within the Everfree Fest, but in order to prevent public outcry over the loss of Equestria’s most powerful defense it was secretly decided to create duplicates that looked like the real deal. They would be in truth totally useless in the event a major disaster actually happened, but the hope was the suggestion of Equestria’s six most powerful artifacts being present would be enough to prevent such problems from occurring.

Once the Princesses were all seated, the Hon. Judge Powdered Wig came in from the left side and took his seat at the highest point in the room.

Clearing his throat, he addressed the princesses. While he was the highest authority in the Equestriani Legal System, he still had to answer to the Princesses themselves who were there to ensure the trial went smoothly, especially considering the nature of the offenses on what he’d describe as a very long list. “Princesses Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Twilight, the court is now prepared and yours to oversee.”

“Very well, then,” said Celestia, “Let the trial commence!”

The trial was going, in a word; horribly. While Blueblood found he would have quite the opponent in Shining on the legal battleground, not having known the position of Guard Captain required extensive legal study for the possibility of needing to be an acting judge on the front lines, the fact remained there really wasn’t much of a defense he could put up. As suspected, the pompous prince was riding on the fact Heliodor had mysteriously vanished from the evidence room where he’d been kept, which turned into accusations of him having never existed in the first place but instead having just been an illusion used to distract ponies who had been buying her gems such that they wouldn’t notice the “obvious flaws” that exposed their true, evil nature. The fact one such disguised gem nearly killed the adopted sibling of one of the princesses became his overall argument that Raspberry was a monster who hid behind a veil of innocence and that she should be put to the death.

By the time recess had been called, Shining had managed to nullify much of Blueblood’s wild accusations, but it wasn’t looking good for overturning the very clear consensus Razz had tried to assassinate Spike. Worse, Razz seemed to have lapsed into some kind of depressed coma, the insults from Blueblood having cut her deep but none deeper than the claim her phoenix had never existed.

“Somebody needs to talk to the poor dear!” confided Rarity. The Ponyville friends had formed their own little emergency group meeting in private, possible only because Twilight could mass-teleport the group with ease away from the crowds. “It goes without saying that I’m no stranger to over the top theatrics when I get down and out, but it’s no exaggeration that even the worst of my episodes are nothing compared to that hopeless expression she had while being escorted out of the room.”

“I can’t do anything, I’m afraid,” said Twi apologetically, “She wanted a fair trial and I agreed to it, but part of that is prisoners like her are not allowed to talk to anypony other than their legal consultants during a court recess. And Shiny, as much as he always knows how to cheer me up, probably isn’t able to do the same for Raspberry. Unless a miracle happens, like Heliodor turns up, it’s pretty evident Blueblood is going to win.”

“It ain’t right!” said Applejack, “the whole ‘she tried to kill Spike’ bit is nothin’ but a bunch of hooey, Ah’ll admit Ah don’t really know much about her but she saved mah sister’s life from what we think was mah dead ancestor or somethin’ pretendin’ to be Fair Vista.”

“I’m really worried about Heliodor, along with Raspberry, obviously, but I don’t have much hope we’ll find him in time.” Confessed Fluttershy, “phoenixes in captivity of any kind are extremely rare, and as far as anypony knows Heliodor’s the only one with a green and gold mix instead of red. Whoever wanted him must have wanted him because he was unique, since trying to sell him would be impossible, but who would risk breaking into the castle to steal a bird?”

While the six conversed worriedly, none of them noticed the stained glass window behind them. Or, more specifically, the small figure listening into their conversation. He was not happy to hear that the phoenix had gone missing.

“As much as I love chaos…” mumbled Discord, moving out of the window by means invisible to other ponies before reforming inside a broom closet, taking on his unicorn disguise, “I don’t think I want to know how badly this is going to end if something is not done.” With absolutely zero interest in being stealthy about suddenly appearing in the hallway, he threw the door open wide.

“OW!” came two voices, one of a tomboy and the other with a distinct country accent.

“Oh, um, sorry?” apologized the fake unicorn, his embarrassed smile turning into an ‘o’ of discovery as he realized he’d slammed a door right into the muzzles of the specific two ponies he’d needed to find. “Actually, this is quite fortunate, I was just about to try and find both of you as a matter of fact.”

“You coulda been a bit less clumsy with the introduction,” said Apple Bloom, hoof rubbing her slightly bruised muzzle, “plus, Ah have to admit Ah woulda expected somethin’ a little more extravagant from you, Disc-“

“Shhh!” Discord quickly covered Apple Bloom’s mouth, “I don’t know how you figured out-“

“Mwahwplephwack mwould mwe,” answered the filly .

“Whatever, point I’m trying to make is that a lot of ponies don’t know that and it’s in my best interest that they don’t, and I’m not pretending to not be me because we don’t have much time.”

“Wait, so you’re…” asked Lightning, skeptically, “I thought you were-“

Discord facehooved. “Yes, yes, I don’t look like the fancy windows, especially the 8th version of some of those windows, they took out my most defining features. Regardless, I just found out the trial isn’t going so well for your friend because her phoenix is missing, correct?”

“Yeah…” replied Apple Bloom, downtrodden at the idea.

“Look, I know it’s hard to believe this, but I might be able to help.” Discord then produced the green phoenix feather that had been recovered from the abandoned Diamond Dog mine some weeks back, “I would try and find him myself, but I can’t ask Tia to let me go out of the castle again and considering my old reputation most ponies would think I’d stolen him simply so I’d look better if I returned him. Which, while is a good idea I actually do admit, would break the promise I made to a dear friend centuries ago.”

“How did you-?” asked Dust, while Apple Bloom took the feather.

“I found it lying in the western foyer, no idea how it hadn’t been noticed since birds aren’t really allowed in the castle save for Philomena, and last I checked she’s red where Heliodor is green. But you two need to go! Find some of the guards who Twilight has searching for any suggestion as to the bird’s fate, the feather should lead you back to where it came from!”

The sound of two of those very guards echoed around a corner, the cue for Discord to simply vanish with a snap of his tail, leaving two very confused werewolves holding a feather for Golden Sun and Candlewick to find.

“Hey, where did you two get that?” asked Sun.

“Western foyer,” answered Dust, “we’ve been trying to find some guards since then but I guess they’re all on the other side of the castle or on jury duty.”

“Then it’s a good thing we found you!” exclaimed Candlewick, “come with us, one of the unicorn guards should be able to cast a tracking charm to lead us right to where its owner is!”

“Let’s just hope he’s still in Canterlot!” said Apple Bloom, both she and Lightning Dust galloping after the two guards in a race against time. Being the only non-flyer in the quartet, it would be very rough for her to follow them over long distances.

Ch.21: The Evil Within Us All - Part 2

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 21: "The Evil Within Us All - Part 2"

All Raspberry Beryl knew was she was going to die. Alone. She’d been a fool to believe the words of a little filly, that she could trust anypony. Absentmindedly, the soul-crushed unicorn glanced over at the youngest princess in the group, the words on the floor meaningless to her as she gazed intently, if rather unfocused, at the Princess of magic. Twilight noticed and tried to convey how sorry she was in her expression, but really it was just more lies as far as Razz was concerned. Twilight had failed to keep at least two of her promises. Heliodor was out there, somewhere, the uncertainty of his condition making Razz sick to her stomach, and even though Apple Bloom and Lightning Dust had promised to give their support, Razz had noticed the two had not returned after the court recess.

Then, she barely recognized the judge speaking for more than a few sentences, which probably meant this was it. Even though she knew it was coming, she just crossed her forelegs on the table and rested her head on them, hiding the tears.

But before the judge could level the sentence, which despite Shining’s best efforts (usually involving him dramatically slamming the table with his hooves and shouting 'OBJECTION!' at the top of his lungs) was almost certainly going to be the death penalty, the back doors burst open.

“Wait!” cried out Candlewick, who then oddly hurried away from the doorframe, only to return a moment later with Golden Sun, between them was supported a birdcage. A birdcage with one very, very sick looking creature that was a bird in the vaguest sense of the word, the only suggestion of its identity being the faded green and gold plumage lying on the bottom of the cage.

“H-heelee?!” cried out Raspberry, horrified. Her interest in life possibly having been restored, she barely resisted the urge to rip the cage to shreds with a mere thought and reclaim her bird. At least until the cage had been brought to the center of the floor. She then proceeded to use her magic to rip the cage apart and reclaimed her bird.

“W-where did this come from?!” demanded Blueblood, who suspiciously seemed more angry than surprised. “And I don’t believe I recall anypony saying to bring a birdcage into the middle of a trial, especially when it’s practically over!”

“Actually,” smirked Shining, “I think that’s my sister’s doing.”

“Indeed” said Twilight, though no humor was in her voice, “I had the guards looking for any trace of where Heliodor might have been taken, then in the event he was found word was to be brought back of the discovery, if not the phoenix himself. Evidently, wherever he was, it was…seriously detrimental to his health.”

“Um…” mumbled Fluttershy nervously, prompting everypony to look to her, “I’d say it’s a little more than that…” From the moment the phoenix had been brought in, Fluttershy’s attention had been on him and him only, the desire to respect the crown because that now included her friend Twilight being the only thing having stopped her from ripping the bird cage apart and giving its captive to Razz. But although she’d had quite the experience with phoenixes in their sickly-state right before the fiery rebirth they were famous for, Heliodor looked considerably worse than Philomena had back then. In comparison, Philomena had also been rather energetic at this point right up to becoming a pile of ash, and that was just to have some light-hearted fun at the expense of everypony worrying about her. Heliodor had finally returned to his mistress, but he was clearly struggling to lift even a featherless wing.

“It’s going to be okay, Heelee, it’s going to be okay!” said Razz, trying to convince herself just as much as him of possible hope as she cradled her pet in her forelegs. Even though it clearly pained him, he managed to crack a small smile as his wing touched her cheek, before promptly combusting into nothing but a pile of ash that fell through her hooves. The only other creature in the world that had ever cared for her, who had done everything in his power at all times to ensure she was safe, was happy, had been reduced to something she couldn’t even bury properly. And while she knew of phoenixes having a life-death cycle, Heelee had still been a year off from when he should have gone through his first cycle. No…this…this had been a death on account of a broken heart. He’d failed to be there for her when she needed him most and had only found his way back into her embrace just in time for death to claim him. He wasn’t coming back.

She didn’t try to stop it. No point now. She wailed hard, the tears coming hot and heavy, as she let the last of her lifelong friend drift away. But then she also realized that there was something else in the pile of ash. As the last bits of the former phoenix sifted through to the ground, she was left holding what looked like a hastily consumed bit of a monogrammed handkerchief, possibly Heliodor trying to tell her who had been responsible. He’d succeeded, as the piece within Razz’s possession bore what looked like a coat of arms. The same coat of arms that was on the cufflinks of the pony who for the past few hours had been insulting every last aspect of her life, now revealed to have gone even further.

“Oh, for crying out loud!” complained Blueblood, “it’s just a dumb bird.”

“Just a dumb bird?” she replied, her head slowly turning to glare at the one responsible for murdering Heliodor, “Just a dumb bird?!”

“Uh, Miss Raspberry…?” said Shining, cautiously, “please, let us handle this, you don’t-“

“Oh, but I do.” seethed the unicorn, instantly setting everypony else on edge, even the alicons, “Clearly, it was wrong of me to think that anything close to actual justice was going to come of this, even if a princess promised me that would be the case.” She instinctively knew that by this point the guards behind her were going to jump her, so right as they were about to tackle her she cast one of the most powerful spells she had on hoof.

Instantaneously, a pulse of dark energy irradiated from her horn and spread out to fill the entire room. Nopony moved – they couldn’t. It was as if she had just frozen them all in ice, without the ice. Even the alicorns hadn’t had time to cast a counterspell, while the effect wouldn’t last nearly as long on them they were still critically vulnerable. Blueblood, appropriately, had been frozen with a look that, had the action not been prevented by the spell, clearly indicated there was now bodily waste fluid backed up in him.

Most shocking of all, however, was what seemed to have happened with Razz. Her mane and tail, normally sky blue and lilac, was dotted with darker spots, the spot around her cutie mark having color shifted from raspberry red to a much darker shade of mulberry, her cutie mark seemingly going with the color shading and looking far less bright than before.

“All I’ve wanted in life was, well, an actual life,” said Razz, her unblinking gaze right into Blueblood’s eyes having never broken contact. “The thing that almost universally is guaranteed to every colt and filly, where they have loving parents who shower them with affection and raise them, where they go to school with their friends and learn their places in life when that life-changing moment occurs and they get their cutie marks. Then they grow up into adults, to start their own families and find happiness there with even more friends and live productive, cheerful lives.”

Still looking at Blueblood, Razz slowly got up, the rage building in her voice as she kept talking while taking her time to get close to the target of all her pent up anguish. “I didn’t get to be that lucky; instead I got stuck with a father who hated my guts because I was a physically weak unicorn who he’d been forced to take in place of my mother, who had died by birthing me. I got the lifestyle where I had to run from home when I was scarcely in my teens because everypony in town thought I was a monster and couldn’t find a stable place to live. In all honesty, the only reason I only put up with the hell that is my life was because of ‘a dumb bird’ who would love me for who I am when nopony else wanted to. But thanks to you; a wealthy royal who decided you deserved ‘a dumb bird’ and so stole from a pony who has lived in near poverty her whole life, Heelee is dead. And I am going to make you understand just how much that upsets me.”

One particularly strong blast of dark magic later, Blueblood found himself rocketing backwards into a wall, his path marked by the gradual release of his fear-induced self-relieving. But any relief to be found from regaining bodily control was instantly countered by the discovery his horn would not conduct magic, for there were now black crystalline growths all over it. He only knew of one other time this had happened to anypony; to Shining Armor as a matter of fact, except the cause of his horn growths had been from one particularly infamous individual. Which could only mean one thing, a fear that was confirmed when he looked down from his ruined horn to the one he’d been trying to destroy just minutes ago and only then did he begin to understand the gravity of what horrors he’d unleashed.

Approaching Blueblood once again, Razz seemed to not notice the changes in her body. Her mane and tail were gradually shifting from its regular coloration to that of a jet black, highlighted by bright red streaks. Her coat changed as if from a falling shadow, assuming the same, much more subdued shade of red as that around her cutie mark, which itself had changed fully. Now the six gems around the border were all as black as the crystals on his horn, the blue heart gem now having turned to the same shade of raspberry the mare’s coat had been previously. But it was her head that scared him the most. While the sudden change to her teeth had now given her two very dangerous looking fangs, and her irises were now a blazing blood red, it was her horn that spoke volumes. It was the same shade as her new coat, as expected, but it had no ridges carved into its flawlessly smooth surface, instead it had a very scary curvature to it suggesting a much more… invasive …functionality and around the tip it blended from the dark red into what looked like a splotch of dried blood.

“I may be Raspberry Beryl,” the thing that had once been that unicorn said, “but it is the blood of King Sombra which runs in my veins, his magic I call my own, and whose curse I bear. Make no mistake, however, because it will be my wrath, my anguish, and my horn that will claim vengeance for Heliodor.” She then grabbed Blueblood in her magic by the neck, lifting him off the ground just enough that his hindlegs were hanging uselessly in the air. “But before we get to that fun part, you’re going to tell me the justification for the biggest mistake of your life.”

“Wh-what do you want?!” pleaded Blueblood, his forehooves grasping at his neck instinctively to try and remove the force choking him even though he knew it wasn’t going to work.

“Why did you take him?!” demanded Raspberry, or more accurately screamed in his face, while the tears flowed freely down her face, “What was so important about him that you stole him like a common thief in the middle of the night, that you somehow treated him so horribly that even his nature as a phoenix couldn’t have kept him alive, since we both know if he was perfectly okay he would have resurrected by now!”

“I…I don’t know what happened! Yes, I took the bird, something of that *gasp* beauty shouldn’t belong to scum like you! But all I did was put him in *gasp* my parlor! You think I would seriously go *gasp* to such lengths as to kill something as unique and valuable as that phoenix, for any possible reason?!”

“I don’t think, I just proved it. This entire time you were lobbying for my death because I used dark magic, well what better way for that to have been proven than my reaction to the only creature I could ever trust dying in my hooves, the one responsible for it conveniently being five feet away from me? But at the same time, while I may be the monster people can see on the outside, you’re an even worse monster on the inside!”

“Y-you wouldn’t dare!”

“Why? I don’t have anything to lose thanks to you! All I’ve got left now is the need to avenge Heliodor, and there’s nothing that’s gonna stop-“

“DON’T DO IT!” rang out Apple Bloom’s voice. The yellow filly stood, the inherent moral strength of her Apple bloodline evident in her stance, in the doorframe at the end of the courtroom.

“A-Apple Bloom?” stammered Razz, surprised at the appearance of a pony she’d been convinced was guilty of abandoning her. Her focus diverted, she dropped her chokehold on Blueblood. The prince landed in a puddle of his own fear, the fact he had more fear in the mental sense stopping him from immediately trying to run lest the crazed clone of King Sombra decided to make his death quick.

“Razz, Ah don’t know what exactly happened here, Ah’d have thought the fact we found Heelee in Blueblood’s house would-“ she then saw the random pile of ash in the middle of the courtroom, the kerchief corner lying in its center, “that totally happened, didn’t it?”

“Yes, but only because of this prick over here!” She wheeled around and fired a burst of magic at Blueblood, who had unwisely tried to make a run on the hopes he could make it through the doors. His hoof was a mere inch from them before he was frozen in mid-air, though this time completely encased in dark crystal save his muzzle, making him fear just how much worse she was going to be towards him by the end of this trial gone horribly wrong. “And no, Apple Bloom, even though Heelee was a phoenix, he was too ill for his magic to reincarnate him. He hadn’t even gone through a proper one yet…” Raspberry sniffed, all the things Heliodor should have been able to do by birthright as a phoenix now forever denied, “all I have left is this damn affinity for dark magic!”

“No, you’re wrong!” Apple Bloom proceeded to walk through the sea of magically frozen ponies as if the hall was empty save for her, the emotionally overwrought unicorn, and what was left of Heliodor. “Ah understand you’re feelin’ like there’s nopony in the world who is on your side, but you’ve been livin’ that way for so long that when you finally find ponies who do care, who do want to help, you shut them out!”

“B-but…”

“But nothin’. Ah told you that you could trust Twi and friends, can’t you see they did their best to help support you? Or what about those two old ponies at the Traveler’s Retreat, the ones Rarity said you said were like the parents you never had? Or what about me and Dust?”

“B-but you and Dust promised me you would be here, but after the court recess-“

“We found a lead to where Heliodor was, only reason she and Ah weren’t back at the same time as Heelee was because Lightnin’ was waitin’ for me to finish usin’ the little fillies room. Buddy system and all that, y’know?”

Razz couldn’t find words to express how she was feeling. She was still beyond outraged at the fact Blueblood had been the main reason for Heliodor’s death, but at the same time she felt so stupid for having been blind to everything such that it required a filly to point out how she hadn’t been betrayed. Hell, even walking onto the scene of everypony, including the four most powerful ponies in the country, frozen in time and the responsible unicorn having turned much more evil (or as Razz had jokingly referred to herself in private on one occasion long ago, ‘more mary sue like’) and about to actually murder another pony outright, Apple Bloom had kept her faith in a pony she by all rights should have run screaming from back on Nightmare Night.

“Now, Ah did hear some of the stuff you were spoutin’, mainly the bit about how you have ‘the blood, the horn, and the curse of King Stupid-“

“King Sombra” corrected Razz, stifling a laugh at the filly’s mistake.

“That’s what ah said: King Sombero, but that’s not important. It’s powerful magic, in the wrong hooves there is every reason to be scared of it. But your hooves aren’t the wrong ones, not when you are a good pony at heart.”

“Uh, have you looked around you? I immobilized everypony in here without even trying.”

“So? Twilight wasn’t even an alicorn when she made all of Ponyville go crazy for that old Smarty Pants doll Big Mac keeps locked in the chest under his bed, which was so bad that Princess Celestia had to come and fix everything.”

“I…I understand what you’re saying, Apple Bloom, but…but just look at me! I’m the direct descendant of one of Equestria’s greatest enemies, I can do everything he did so much that my special talent of dark magic mastery prevents me from doing any other kind of magic! Who-“

Razz did not expect the sudden weight of Apple Bloom having launched herself at the unicorn, latching on with a big hug. “But you’re not him. King Sober was an evil pony, he never used his magic for anything good for anypony. You’re better than that; Ah’m only alive because your magic was the only kind that could have kept…well, you know, her away. And all you did with your magic normally was make gems. Who cared if they were fake, you sold them because they were pretty, which made ponies happy. Well, okay, except Spike, but really Ah think he has a problem and woulda choked the exact same way if you gave him a pile of real diamonds because he would have eaten them all at once.”

Silence reigned as Apple Bloom just hugged Raspberry tigher and tighter, as if that would somehow work. Amazingly it did, as the dark unicorn found the young filly's attempt at choking her somehow calming. Naturally, that calm was quickly broken.

“Okay, what the buck happened in here?!” shouted Lightning Dust, who had appeared at the back door…with Philomena of all creatures. “Jeez, we leave you alone for maybe an hour Razz, and you try to outdo everypony who has wanted nothing more than to torture that plothole Blueblood? Like, seriously, I’m pretty sure you didn’t need to do this to everypony, although…”

Apple Bloom laughed. “Dash is totally gonna kill you for even considerin’ that, y’know.”

Lightning shrugged. “Her loss, then, though a handlebar mustache really would look good on her.”

Razz didn’t hear a word of the mustache discussion, her focus instead on Philomena. The red phoenix had immediately raced to the pile of ash that had once been Heliodor, a look of remorse on her face.

“Heelee never met one of his own kind,” said Razz, moving to the remains of her own phoenix and laid down to look at the still living avian on an eye-to-eye level, “Though from what I’ve heard about you, Philomena, he would have liked you.”

The phoenix seemed to consider Raspberry’s words for a moment, before taking wing. Razz wasn’t sure what was going on until Philomena banked around and promptly bathed the remains of Heliodor in bright crimson fire. Apple Bloom and Lightning Dust could only look on in horror at what probably was going to set off Raspberry again, since abusing Heliodor was evidently reaching a level above redundancy…until the ash began to move.

Stirred by the constant fire of the phoenix circling above, the ashen remains began to coalesce back into one large pile, before in an instant launching upwards into a spinning cloud of gray. After a few moments, the cloud compressed down into a singular point of mass before, in a brilliant explosion, the reborn Heliodor spread his wings and let out a mighty cry. His rebirth, however, had not given him back much energy, as he struggled to even flap his wings hard enough to hover. That quickly became a non issue, though, as a familiar and comforting black aura encircled him.

“HEELEE!” shouted Razz, tears once again starting to flow but now of sheer joy. Sitting back on her haunches, she brought her old friend down to stand on an uplifted leg where she could nuzzle him. “You have absolutely, positively no idea how glad I am to have you back!” He nuzzled back with a happy cry of his own with his own tears of happiness, their reunion being permanent instead of a fleeting few minutes.

“Well, I think we can all say we’re of the same mind, Raspberry Beryl” said the calm voice of Celestia, who had actually broken free of Razz’s petrification spell a while back but had wisely chosen to not interfere with what Apple Bloom was accomplishing, “especially since, while there remains much to be discussed in regards to you, your little outburst probably has taught us all more about the situation then anything we would have learned from this trial.”

“P-princess Celestia, please, I understand if you wish to heavily punish me,” said Razz, “but only do it on the grounds of what I did here, not on the sins of my ancestor whose legacy I carry on unwillingly.”

“Oh, no need to be so melodramatic about it,” laughed Celestia, who proceeded to cast a counterspell to un-petrify all the other ponies, though Blueblood remained encased in dark crystal, “If you truly were Sombra’s descendant in every way, you wouldn’t have spent so much time intimidating Blueblood and instead would have killed me and Luna right away, something he was never able to accomplish despite that being the main reason he took over the Crystal Empire in the first place.”

“To be fair, Aunt Celestia,” said Cadence, who had been alone exactly one millisecond after being un-petrified before Shining instantly appeared at her side to support her, “there were a lot of ponies who wanted to kill you two back then.”

“True, but Sombra had one of the better reasons. Nopony remembers, of course, but he actually was of royal blood and in line for the throne.”

“Wait a sec,” said Apple Bloom, now by Applejack’s side, “are ya sayin’ Razz-”

“I am, Apple Bloom,” Celestia promptly interrupted before turning with a warm smile to the confused Raspberry, “if Raspberry Beryl is truly the descendant of Sombra, then she is of royal standing.”

Applejack stumbled to her room. After the mess that had been the trial, Applejack cursed the fact she seemed to have a really bad reaction to being petrified by dark magic. Sure, Razz had been off her rocker at the time and profusely apologized for it, Applejack herself comforting the shell-shocked unicorn by confessing to her secretly about her time as a werewolf. Razz had given an unusually strange look upon learning of Applejack’s previous lycanthropy, but agreed to keep the apple farmer’s secret and was happy to have somepony to come talk to about dark magic stuff if she needed to. Still didn’t do anything about the massive headache that came as a result of being unpetrified, though, which Twilight theorized was more of a reaction between Celestia’s magic and Razz’s magic within Applejack, who despite being cured of lycanthropy would always be a little more susceptible to dark magic thanks to her blood’s immunity to the worst effects dark magic would bring.

The biggest headache was yet to come, however, and Applejack really didn’t want to think about it as she undid her mane and tail hair ties before stepping into the shower. The revelation that Raspberry Beryl was a true blooded descendant of none other than King Something-or-Rather, which explained why the unicorn was so good at dark magic, meant she was in fact important enough in the royal standing to be considered a pretender to the throne. Which, basically, meant all the nobility titles and other stuff King Snu-Snu had held were now by blood right the property of Raspberry. More importantly, the trial was thrown out of court thanks to Blueblood having violated a staggering number of regulations in having taken Heliodor from the evidence chambers, so Celestia decided to flaunt her ability as Princess to do whatever she wanted and now, tomorrow, Razz’s fate would be decided over a nice luncheon.

But it had been a long stretch of time in-between being unpetrified and actually being allowed to leave the courtroom, as for whatever reason the Royal Guard wouldn’t let anypony leave until they had debriefed everypony who had been in the room. It had even almost delayed Luna from doing her main duty of raising the moon at night, to which she only managed to do by breaking out the classic Royal Canterlot Voice to hurry things up. Having had to deal with a massive headache the entire time, Applejack took leave of her friends to go get a long night’s sleep in the hopes that the headache would be gone in the morning.

Thankfully, it was gone before she’d even fallen asleep, which she was thankful for. At least until the itching started. The fact she was so itchy surprised Applejack, normally the times she spent the night at Castle Canterlot were extremely pleasant with the softest sheets and pillows a pony could ask for.

“Rainbow Dash…” grumbled AJ, who she had to come to blame for this. Obviously the pegasus had put itching powder in her bed as a prank. The farmer would need to figure out a way to get back at the flyer, somehow, probably with Dust’s help.

But then the covers starting making her feel way too warm. To Applejack’s knowledge, there was nothing Rainbow could have done to her bed to make it both super-itchy AND too thick, at least not without having a deathwish by angering the entire cleaning staff of the castle. But Rainbow wasn’t that daring. Plus, now that Applejack thought about it, there hadn’t really been any point Rainbow could have put together any kind of prank, the pegasus had been with her the entire day.

And then the answer stuck Applejack. She was super-itchy all over AND feeling unusually warm. And it wasn’t so much an ‘itchy’ feeling at this point as it was actual pain. It was all Applejack could do to grit her teeth and brace for what she feared the most, because there had been one specific time when this had happened before. When she had been launched into what had become a living nightmare. But she knew that, as the all-too familiar feelings coursed through her body, as her resilience failed to prevent herself from letting loose the signature cry of the night, there was no denying it.

Bronze Shield had been wrong.

Ch.22: Of Apples and Raspberries

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 22: "Of Apples and Raspberries"

If Raspberry was asked what one of the worst things about being the most proficient dark magic user in Equestria was, she would immediately say her horn. While obviously the fact her horn was a dead-ringer for one of the most well-known features of her infamous predecessor, causing most ponies who saw its true form to run away in fear, the problems went deeper than that. Namely, she had to deal with the fact Sombra had manipulated the magic within him to shape his horn into a weapon, as both its curvature and razor-sharp tip were custom-made such that he could both impale and gore anypony he so desired. She, as his descendant, had inherited the more feral features of Sombra such as the fangs along with his blasted horn, but because she wasn’t a vicious tyrant with total disregard for others, her freakish forehead extension was extremely difficult to manage when she had to drop her disguise spell, which forced her horn to physically act like a regular unicorn’s. The only problem was her disguise spell couldn’t be set to be passive, needing her to be conscious while it was active, so she had to sleep in her unnaturally changed form.

She often mused that if pillows were sentient, they would fear her as the bloodiest murderer of pillows of all time. Unfortunately, on her usual income, burning through pillows rapidly was quite an expensive drain on her available funds, so having to sleep in odd positions often was the only way to ensure she could sleep on pillows at all. The fact there was a spell, a really easy one, that could protect pillows from being destroyed by accidental impalement, pissed her off to no end because for all her power as the bastard heir of King Sombra, she was useless at any kind of magic that were not of the dark persuasion.

Thus, it had taken her a long time to fall asleep in a way that was even remotely comfortable and posed no threat to destroying the most expensive bedding she’d ever been in contact with. So, it was understandable she was in a rather sour mood when some loud noise – she couldn’t really identify what it had been thanks to the magical soundproofing in the bedroom – had partially woken her up, and then slightly even more sour when she’d just fallen back to sleep only to be rudely re-awakened by a loud banging at the door.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” she hollered, groggily attempting to get out of the bed only to fall off it instead. It was probably one of the guards stationed outside her room, since technically she was still under judgment for more Equestriani law violations than the top three criminals in the country combined, going to ask if she’d known what that noise had been even though certainly other guards – probably batponies from the night guard fold- would surely have covered half the castle by now. It was her intention to make that fact clear to the poor sod on the other side of the door as punishment for interrupting her sleep.

So, when she threw the door open and found a ragged looking Twilight Sparkle on the other end, all pretense of giving some poor guard absolute hell disappeared. “O-oh, Princess Twilight! I had no idea it was you!”

“It’s fine, normally I wouldn’t bother anypony this late at night, and I’m sorry if I woke you up in any kind of bad manner,” apologized Twilight, who evidently was no happier to be awake at that hour than Razz, “but this is sort of a sudden problem.”

“No, no, I’m happy to do anything you need from me, your highness. Although, to be honest, I’m not sure what kind of problem you need me for that any other regular unicorn couldn’t handle, especially you since you’re the Element of Magic. No offense, of course.”

“None taken, but this isn’t something that regular magic can solve. I fear it may not even be something that can be solved. Not by me, anyway, I already tried to merely find a solution and I just made it worse.”

Razz paled. “Oh, no, don’t tell me that asshole who stole Heliodor still has the anti-magic hex I put on his horn! I mean, yes, I was going to kill him, but surely you understand that I wouldn’t burn more magic energy to permanently decorate his horn. If the crystal chunks haven’t fallen off by now-“

“Half of Canterlot would be singing your praises if you’d let that pompous nitwit live the rest of his days like that, to be honest! But, no, it’s much more serious and we’re kind of wasting time just standing here, so if you’d please follow me.”

“If it’s alright, I’d like Heelee to come with us.” As if on command, the phoenix suddenly appeared as he swooped down and took his perch on Raspberry’s horn. Twilight noted how Heliodor’s feet positioned themselves and that Razz’s horn, clearly being more oriented for digging into an enemy’s chest than Twilight’s own horn, probably was able to do what had seemed impossible by virtue of her horn simply being different. Investigation would need to be carried out later.

“Well, considering you nearly killed the entire ruling class of Canterlot when you temporarily lost him, there isn’t much of a choice, is there?” nervously chuckled the princess as she led Raspberry and her pet to see if she could shed some light on the one thing nopony wanted to return.

“Oh, I do hope this isn’t one of your pranks, Pinkie, a lady does need her beauty sleep!” complained Rarity, her face still slightly damp from Pinkie’s dragging her to the bathroom and splashing enough water on her countenance to fill an ocean.

“This isn’t a laughing matter, Rarity!” countered Pinkie, her hair noticeably a tad less curly and bouncy than usual, “And I’d like to think I’m good at knowing what matter is laughing and what laughing matter isn’t!”

“Oh, yes, pardon me for being so skeptical. After all, it’s not like that other time you and Rainbow teamed up to making me think it was raining lobsters with a raincloud and you throwing plastic lobsters at my window in the middle of the night!”

“You have to *snicker* admit that was pretty good, Rares.” Came the voice of Rainbow Dash, the pony attached to the voice appearing from an adjacent hallway with Fluttershy in a Rarity-colored robe alongside her, the humor in the blue pegasus instantly dying with her next line; “But trust me this isn’t a prank, unless Twi is trying to pull something on all of us.”

Rarity was shocked, turning to Pinkie for answers, “Why didn’t you tell me Twilight sent you? And why didn’t she get me personally like the rest of you?”

“She, uh, didn’t get me, either, Rarity.” Answered Fluttershy, “Rainbow said it was faster this way and, well, no offense, but Pinkie would have gotten you up faster than Twilight ever could have.”

“Oh…well, my apologies, Pinkie.”

With Pinkie and Rainbow leading the way, Rarity and Fluttershy followed their friends with concern. If what Twilight had told the two pranksters of their little group was as serious as to make Pinkie not even giggle at anything, then it couldn’t have been good. Especially not when their destination was revealed to be Applejack’s room. Or, at least right outside Applejack’s room, there was a small regiment occupying the area right in front of the door with an unusual mix of both day and night guards, bat ponies and regular pegasus ponies normally not even being awake during the same time periods, much less assigned to the same job.

“Oh, hey, girls,” half-yawned a tired Apple Bloom, sitting on her haunches and leaning on a slightly less sleepy Lightning Dust. “You know where Applejack went? All this commotion is ’cause nopony knows where she is, just that she’s not answerin’ the door.”

“To the contrary, Apple Bloom,” said Twilight, who came in from the other side of the hallway with Raspberry in tow, “I know Applejack is in there. The fact she isn’t answering that door is what concerns me.”

“Y-your majesty!” exclaimed one of the guards, “Princess Celestia ordered that the prisoner-“

“Miss Beryl is a guest, soldier, the business involving her will be handled by the crown and after the unfair treatment she received earlier it would be wise to not give her reason to go off on anypony. Furthermore, while my fellow princess has requested that if Miss Beryl is to leave her room at any time, she is to be accompanied by at least two guards, these are extraordinary circumstances and so I am temporarily suspending her orders.”

“Understood, your highness.”

“That still doesn’t explain why Raspberry needs to be here, Princess,” said Rainbow, “In fact, how do we know something’s the matter with Applejack? She is something of a heavy-“

Lightning Dust put a hoof on her fellow pegasus, stopping her. “Because I’m the one who got the princess involved here, but the reason I know something is wrong…well, most of you already know the ‘why’ of it.”

“What?!” exclaimed Apple Bloom, “You don’t mean she’s-“

“Yep. ‘Fraid so. Didn’t any of you hear that noise from earlier?

Everypony blanched. The guards didn’t know what the cyan pegasus was talking about and felt like they should, the ponies from Ponyville afraid of what had become of Applejack, Raspberry afraid of what this meant for her, and Heliodor only because Raspberry had blanched.

Twilight, needing to be the leader as due her role as princess, was the first to get her voice back. “So, now that we’ve established why Applejack may not be answering the door, who will go in?”

To everypony’s surprise, Raspberry merely shook her head to regain composure before answering; “I’d say it’s probably for the best if I go in there.”

“No!” exclaimed Fluttershy. “You don’t know what we know-“

“Applejack told me earlier, after my little, um, ‘incident’ at the trial.”

“Oh, well, um, it’s probably still not a good idea to-“

Raspberry nickered in annoyance, “Look, while I appreciate the concern, if this is at all involved with what we all seem to think it is then I’m the pony for the job. It may not be obvious, but I had my throat torn out by an angry ghost a few nights ago and the only reason I’m not dead is because I’m the closest thing to a resurrected King Sombra currently alive. So, just give me a few minutes and-“

She intentionally cut herself off as she teleported into the room without warning. Heliodor, caught off guard by the sudden disappearance of his roost, flapped madly for a brief second before landing on the ground next to Fluttershy, who was his favorite of the ponies from Ponyville. This went unseen by Razz, who found herself on the other side of the door and in a completely pitch black room.

“Wh-who’s there?!” came the unusually husky but still identifiable accent of the orange farm pony.

“Applejack, it’s me, Raspberry Beryl. Why aren’t you answering the door?”

“B-because Ah can’t…can’t let anypony see me right now! Personal business and all!”

“Come on, whatever it is, you probably look better than me. I mean, I’m an evil-looking red-and-black unicorn with a horn meant for stabbing things. No, wait, I’m all of that and my mane is a total mess. Though I probably do still look better than Rarity when she isn’t wearing a solid half-inch of makeup on her face, come to think of it.” That got a stifled chuckle from Applejack, which initially was a good sign to Raspberry, prompting her to walk slowly to the source of AJ’s voice, “It’s going to be alright, but everypony is worried sick about you and-“

“DON’T COME NEAR ME!” barked Applejack angrily, “Please, for both our sakes, Ah…Ah don’t want to hurt you!”

“I’m afraid if you don’t want me to see you, Applejack, you’re going to have to make me stop walking clos-“

Applejack sprang from her spot in the corner to pounce on Raspberry, desperately hoping the unicorn would sense it in time but not see the horror concealed within the shadows. She got within a foot of Raspberry before she found herself grind to a halt in mid-air, floating with what felt like magic keeping her up. The room then instantly became bathed in light as Raspberry’s horn lit up like a Hearth’s Warming Tree, revealing what Applejack had been hiding.

“Oh,” was all Raspberry could make out.

“Y-yeah, now do you understand why Ah’ve been tryin’ to hide in here? Ah can’t let anypony see me like this! Me bein’ a werewolf…that was supposed to have been licked last year!”

“As you told me earlier, Applejack. But, clearly, whatever ‘cured’ you was wrong, and if there’s anything I’ve learned over the past few days, it’s no good hiding something like a monstrous appearance such as ours from those who really want to help. Now, I’m going to let in your friends and your sister, and we’re going to get to the bottom of why your lycanthropy is back, okay?”

“O-okay.”

“Good.”

Celestia woke from her trance to discover somepony was knocking at her door.

“Come in,” she hastily replied before getting back to work. No point in hiding it now. Especially when at the sound of the door closing she turned to see Discord assuming his true shape from his unicorn disguise.

“You know, it’s very unbecoming of one who is the princess of the sun to be doing late night business like this, summoning one such as I to a private chat and…late night reading?”

“Don’t play coy, Discord,” chided Celestia, turning to face the small mountain range of documents littering her bedroom’s floor, “I know it was you who gave Lightning Dust and Apple Bloom the feather and told them to lie about where they found it.”

“Are you accusing me of having stolen the phoenix? Why, I never!” The chimera pretended to be greatly offended with dramatic over-exaggeration of arm movements, “Even after I told you my motivations were purely in the interest of your mother, you treat me like filth!”

“But in stealing the phoenix long enough such that he temporarily died at just the right time to flush out Raspberry’s true form sounds like something you’d do. After all, you managed to spin the millennia-late sprouting of those plunder seeds that kidnapped me and Luna into giving Twilight an important ‘friendship’ lesson, did you not?”

“Oh, please, I know you’re like your mother enough such that you got a slight kick out of watching the entire country go to pieces because their beloved ruling pair vanished for a couple of hours. You thought the whole thing Twilight caused with the doll was a riot, remember?”

“I beg to differ, I had no such-“

Discord raised an eyebrow. “You were laughing hysterically in the royal gardens right before you went to deal with it, which if you recall I’d been left in following my second imprisonment in stone. Like I said a while back, I wasn’t deaf to the world while stoned.”

Celestia just shook her head. “Oh, fine, I admit it was somewhat nice to see a little chaos happen because everypony looks to me and Luna as goddesses. Though on the bright side, it did help reassure Luna of her standing with the public, she’s still sort of touchy on how the public perceives her.”

“See? Everything worked out in the end, all thanks to a little unintended chaos!” Discord chuckled, “But, getting back to the business at hand, I suspect the impromptu sea of parchment in front of you has something to do with recent events? Also, just to clear the matter up, I truly had nothing to do with Blueblood stealing the phoenix, if anything it went against what is dictating my actions as per your mother’s requests.”

The alicorn nodded, acknowledging the latter topic and continuing the discussion on the former subject; “Yes, as you probably know by now, Raspberry Beryl isn’t in the census records. Her birth was submitted like any other foal, but it’s the only reference to her within any official documents. It’s as if there was something – or somepony – was trying to hide her. Heliodor, too, for that matter, as any inquiries for registration for him as a pet came back negative.”

Discord smirked “You’re looking too hard, your highness, and so are overlooking the obvious.”

“What are you talking about?”

The dragonequis shrugged, “Think about it. This mare is scared of what other ponies think when they see her real body. It’s almost certain she skipped town because somepony learned the truth, that’s the impression I get as to why she never really settled down; so that when she inevitably needed to leave she could cut all ties easily. No point in registering anything, it would just make it harder to cover her tracks.”

“True…” conceded Celestia, “but as I discussed with Luna a little while ago, there’s still no explanation as to why a magic evaluator never was sent down to check her magic when it started to manifest.”

“Well, first off, she says dark magic is the only kind she can use, so obviously nopony wants to be responsible for raising a unicorn who at that young an age was skilled in the stuff Sombra loved, and second, I’d suggest looking at that a bit more closely.” Discord gestured to one particular sheet; a faded news article that had been attached to one of the many papers now scattered on the floor.

Celestia lifted it up with her magic to look at it up close, but when she realized what Discord had noticed about the document, her blood ran cold.

Back at Applejack’s room, the guard outside remained at their posts, though they didn’t know what was going on, for when Raspberry had opened the door she insisted only the princess and her personal entourage were allowed in. The reaction of said entourage to Applejack’s lycanthropy was mixed, though everypony tried to make the best of it.

“AJ, look at me, AJ, come on…” pleaded Twilight, who was trying to make direct eye contact with Applejack and not getting anywhere.

“Ah…Ah can’t! How am Ah supposed to look y’all in the face when Ah can’t even bear to look at mah own in the mirror no more?”

“Oh, please, we went through this before, darling,” said Rarity, “everything turned out fine then, and honestly you still look better than me in the morning after I wake up and tidied myself up.”

“You mean like that one time on the train where you kept demanding we be quiet and you appeared with pickles on your eyes?” snarked Rainbow, trying to lighten the mood.

“The pickle slices were for preserving my beauty, Rainbow, you should try it some time.”

“Can’t. Lightning would probably lick them off my face when not trying to doodle a handlebar mustache on me.”

“Oh, come on!” whined Lightning, “I don’t like pickles, anyway. Though if you used ham slices-“

“GAH!” barked Applejack, pulling the sides of her hat down over her ears with her paws while taking care not to puncture her father’s headpiece, “Ah don’t wanna eat meat again, it took me forever to get the taste out of mah mouth, that terrible, awful taste!”

“Oh, right, the whole…yeah…” Dust grimaced apologetically, “Sorry, Applejack, didn’t mean to…um…”

“Well, if need be, I could always, er…” interjected Fluttershy, trying to get off the awkward topic,” well, that thing I was doing before when Applejack hadn’t fought Sable Loam, I could still do it.”

“But what about an alternative? Like, I don’t know… bones maybe? Oh! What about a bone-shaped cake?” Piped up Pinkie, naturally upbeat in the worst of situations, “No, that wouldn’t work, dogs like burying bones, not eating them. But why do dogs like burying bones? They never go back to get them.”

“Actually, Pinkie,” started Twilight, nerd mode engaged, “since dogs are descended from wolves, it an instinctual artifact of their biology of when they would bury unfinished food for later. Since over time the need for that was eliminated for dogs, they only like to bury them.”

“And since werewolves aren’t really connected to dogs biologically…” finished Fluttershy, “there’s no reason to assume bones are an actual alternative.”

“What Ah’d like to know is if there’s an actual alternative to bein’ a werewolf!” complained Applejack, somewhat oblivious to the discussion at hoof, “Ah mean, wasn’t it in that book of yours, Twi, where that one stallion said killin’ the werewolf who bit you was how you cured this damn curse?”

“Wait, what? Asked Raspberry, skeptically, “While I admittedly don’t know the first thing about how the whole lycanthropy thing works, if it’s a curse from dark magic…simply killing the one who spread it isn’t going to remove it.”

“And that’s why I wanted you here, Razz!” declared Twilight, a bit of self-satisfaction in her voice, “But if that wasn’t the cure for lycanthropy, then what did Sable Loam’s death accomplish?”

The dark unicorn could only give a sheepish grin, “Well, er, any number of things, I can’t say right off the top of my head a definitive answer since I haven’t ever examined a lycanthropy spell, nor was I there for whatever happened when this Sable Loam was killed, though I’m guessing he was the werewolf who bit you, Applejack?”

“And Lightnin’ Dust. Possibly.” Added AJ, “We’re not sure how she got it, really.”

“Then if we’re going to get anywhere, somepony needs to tell me what exactly happened when the ‘cure’ was achieved.”

And so the ponies recounted the time Applejack was a werewolf, from the beginning when Applejack was first attacked in the salvaging of the car, her weird behavior that led up to her first transformation, the Cerberus incident, Applejack’s mysterious summoning by Sable Loam, the chase with the car and the truck, Applejack’s weird glowing after dealing the fatal blow, and how they’d all temporarily been transported to another plane of existence where even the spirits of Queen Faust and the Apple Parents had been sure lycanthropy had been extinguished. Then it was explained how Lightning Dust noticed her first, small changes months after he tussle with Applejack, Twilight’s ill-advised attempt to diagnose the problem herself landing Dust into full werewolf status, and how the only rational explanation for the delay being how pegasus ponies have thinner blood compared to unicorns and earth ponies. Raspberry took it all in, trying to work out the exact underlying events, which wasn’t easy as while she knew the ins and outs of dark magic like back of her hoof, she hadn’t been one to really exercise that knowledge in regular practice.

But she eventually came to some conclusion, which made her heave a heavy sigh. “Okay, I think I can explain why the ‘cure’ didn’t work, but none of you are going to like it.” The eager, inquisitive looks on all present ponies indicated she should go on, which she did, “First off, I’m guessing my infamous ancestor made it such that the lycanthropy curse was something of a parasitic type curse nature, one that feeds off the internal magic well inside all ponies. Since non-unicorns have mostly passive magic conducted through their blood, the curse probably was refined to best work on earth ponies as for the experiments up in the Crystal Empire, that’s mostly what Sombra had to work with, and so it’s not as effective in the short term on pegasus ponies with their thinner blood, like Lightning.

“But what about unicorns?” asked Apple Bloom, “Ah mean, Fair Vista tore out your throat an-”

*THUMP* went Rarity as she immediately passed out from the gruesome mental imagery. Everypony glanced over quickly, saw she was fine, and then focused back on Apple Bloom.

“Yes, well, ahem, she did that weird ‘now she isn’t a ghost-now-she-is-now-she’s-not’ kinda thing and made your throat bleed all over the place, all the while sayin’ you were either gonna die or become a werewolf yourself.”

Raspberry chuckled, “Well, the latter wasn’t going to happen, based on what you all have told me, lycanthropy can only be transferred from the infected to the victim if there is contact between moisture from one to the other, usually exactly as the legends say in saliva from the werewolf being in contact with the blood of the victim via a bite to a vital point like the jugular. Since Fair Vista was a ghost, she therefore didn’t have the bodily parts needed to generate the saliva to do the act in the first place.”

“But don’t that mean you should be dead?” pointed out Applejack.

“If I was anything like a normal unicorn, then yes, I should have died then and there. But, as a side effect of the dark magic within me, I naturally can recover from fatal wounds very rapidly. I don’t know if I could simply re-attach a limb if it was cut off, though I never want to be in such a position, but while things like having my throat torn out really bucking hurt when I am wounded, most fatal injuries are no worse to me than if you made a large cut on my foreleg with a knife, they’d heal up in practically no time at all.

“But enough about how I’m suddenly some stupid Mary Sue right down to the stereotypical color scheme, I’m a terrible example of what happens to unicorns if they get bitten. With regular unicorns, the bottom line is that while they too are about as slow to show any signs of lycanthropy as pegasus ponies, if the werewolf bites down long enough to prolong the connection, it doesn’t matter what kind of pony is the victim, they’re going to turn almost immediately.”

“But that still doesn’t explain what happened to Applejack, in either case,” said Lightning.

Raspberry took a deep breath, “yeah, I know, consider everything I just said a primer for how lycanthropy works. Reason being that, if Sable was basically a super prototype werewolf, his strain of the curse would be more potent than the regular, though after a thousand years where he was the only survivor, it’s probably the only strain left in existence. Regardless, with his version of the curse, it’s got a secondary parasitic that creates a connection between the original werewolf and every single other pony he’s turned into a werewolf, giving him some control over them.”

“Like that howling thing he did on Applejack’s final night as a werewolf, “ rationalized Rainbow, “or, at least when she stopped being one for some time”

“Exactly. Killing him –and I do feel the need to stress this, but it didn’t need to be Applejack who killed him, whatever that Bronze Shield said was wrong since there’s no aspect of dark magic that works that way – severed the connection, and if it had only been a single strand curse connecting him and Applejack, that would have cured her. But because it’s a two-strand curse, it only weakened it by half to the point Applejack appeared cured but was a passive carrier. Her blood mutagen that gives her immunity to the magic well drainage also helped keep the curse down, but it’s always been there.”

“But then…how did Ah turn back into a werewolf?” asked Applejack.

Raspberry’s brow furrowed, “that’s where I’m drawing a blank, since the only way for the curse to become active again is to be exposed for a moderate amount of time to dark magic. Not any old dark magic, mind you, but the same general wavelength as the one who originally cast the spell, so you’d need to be exposed to magic similar to King Somb-“ The realization hit her hard. “Oh…oh, no…”

“Wait, isn’t your magic similar to King Sue?” inquired Pinkie, “And there was the whole freezing everypony thing you did with your magic, which Applejack reacted really weird towards? And then-“ Pinkie shut up when Twilight shot her an angry look, but the reason for Applejack’s return to lycanthropy was clear enough.

“Are you tellin’ me you’re the one who made me into this again?!” raged Applejack, her self-control quickly fading as she stood up, “The one pony in the entire world who is the bastard child of that damn king…and all because you did it accidently?!”

Any attempt by Applejack to once again attack Raspberry was stopped by Twilight holding the werewolf down with her magic. “No, stop it, Applejack! Hurting Raspberry won’t solve anything!”

“Ah know it won’t!” shouted the enraged werewolf, “But Ah’ m gonna make her understand what it’s like to be me and Lightnin’, that this isn’t somethin’ Ah can just brush under the table!”

“Ah don’t think we have a choice!” suddenly retorted Apple Bloom, who trotted over to position herself in-between the now horrified-at-what-she’d-accidentally-done Raspberry and the enraged apple farmer, “If what Ah remember from the whole affair is true, Sable was pretty darn close to King Sofa, and in that book Sandalwood and Lyra found about werewolves, it mentioned how King Somber actually was scared of what he’d made Sable Loam into! Don’t you think he’d have made it so no werewolf who got the chance to bite him would be able to infect him? Our blood carries a mutabot or somethin’ that makes us immune to whatever it is Lightnin’ has, so it’s probable you couldn’t make Raspberry a werewolf since she shares King Shamalayan’s blood!”

All of Applejack’s rage vanished in having to be verbally berated by her younger sister, leaving the room quiet. But then a burning question posed itself in her head. “Apple Bloom…what do you mean by ‘our blood’?”

The filly sighed. “Look, if what Raspberry says is true, then you were a werewolf the whole time you were ‘cured’, and you did more harm as a werewolf accidently than you ever have done as a full werewolf then or now!”

“What are you talkin’ about, Apple Bloom? It’s not like Ah went around bitin’ other ponies…oh, no, don’t tell me ah did anythin’ like what Ah think you’re about to say.”

“No, Applejack, you didn’t do nothin’. Least not intentionally and Ah don’t blame you for this…“ Apple Bloom, who up until that point had been avoiding direct eye contact with her big sister, then made it a point to look Applejack dead in the eye, “But it’s the only way to explain what Ah’ve been hidin’ from everypony.” She did not even blink as she joined her sister in wolf form.

Silence once again, this time it was both out of shock and of the somewhat awkward feeling in the air.

“So, I’m guessing you’re not going to let me throw a ‘werewolf sister’ party?” asked Pinkie to Twilight.

“Uh, no, as much as a party would help lighten the mood, Pinkie” replied the alicorn, “I think we need answers from Razz and Apple Bloom more than anything right now.”

Ch.23: Reflections

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 23: “Reflections”

Spike the Dragon was bored. Several days ago, his hunger had made him instinctively eat a diamond broken off of Sweetie Belle’s crown that had turned out to be a disguised dark crystal, the act of consumption causing it to try grow again inside his throat. Had Twilight not acted as fast as she had and caused him to eject the blockage, it would have rapidly increased in size and punctured through his throat despite it being naturally thicker to accommodate his usual diet of precious gems and magic mail-sending fire. However, despite not having died from an inverse cricothyrotomy, the force required to launch the still-growing dark crystal shards from his throat had done considerable harm to his throat lining and so when he’d been declared stabilized, Twilight had gotten him rushed to Canterlot for the best medical care in the country. There, he’d been looked at by Princess Celestia’s and Luna’s own personal doctors, with great pains to even bring in one of the few dragons in the world who was recognized as a doctor under Equestriani law to ensure that Spike would not be failed where his adopted species couldn’t help him.

But, even though all the commotion in the end would mean he’d make a full recovery, the worst part was him needing to remain bedridden for a few days for his body to naturally regenerate the lining in his throat. And there was absolutely nothing to do while bedridden except read, which due to having lived in libraries for most of his life, he usually did in his regular free time. So instead he instead tended to just resort to his imagined fantasies about Rarity.

“Mr. Spike,” interrupted the nurse currently on watch, “you have a visitor.”

“Oh?” he croaked, sitting up with some strain as the muscles in his neck flexed the still healing areas inside his digestive tract. While Twilight and the others visited frequently, they were allowed to just walk in to say hi when checking up on him. He didn’t know anybody else who would want to come see him otherwise. He was even more confused when indeed, Twilight first came around the corner.

“Hey, Spike!” she greeted, cheerily, “How are you holding up?”

“Better than last time you checked on me, Twi” he rasped, before coughing. Once done, he asked; “Though I thought you-”

“Spike, don’t talk too much, you’re still healing” began Twilight, “Plus, you really have two visitors.” She then looked at somepony (or someponies as she implied there were two) who were not seen behind the wall and beckoned for them to approach.

He first noticed the look of revulsion, then the cringing of the orderly on duty as she noticed the ‘visitors’, making him worry what was in store. There was some truth to the foreshadowing, as his visitors turned out to be none other than Raspberry Beryl and Heliodor. Well, he was sure of the latter, the former was implied by his roosting on the horn of who he believed to be Razz, but she did not look the same. Her colors were darker, especially her cutie mark which reminded him of the reason he’d been hospitalized in the first place. Her horn also seemed different, seemed wrong, for it was grooveless and curved upwards with a strange blending from the middle to the top. In fact, she looked far more demonic than the pony who he’d first met waiting outside Golden Oaks back in Ponyville. Looked more like…King Sombra.

At least, that’s what she looked like on the outside, but her expression radiated something far different. Strangely, it was…fear. Fear of him? Of Twilight? Maybe both, as she looked for reassurance from the alicorn. The princess gave it, though the fear did not leave the unicorn’s face as she approached Spike’s bed.

“A-are you…?” nervously asked Spike, unsure of what was going on.

“Yes, Spike, it’s me. I’m Raspberry.” Replied the unicorn. The phoenix cawed as if confirming her identity. “This is…this is how I look in reality. The horn, the cutie mark…this is the true me. So, please, with that in mind…I’m sorry.”

Spike raised an eyebrow. “You’re…sorry?”

“Yes, it’s my fault that you’re here, my magic that nearly killed you, so…I know you hate me, and I can’t fault you for that, nothing can make up for what I did. But please, I just want to know you know that I’m sorry for that, and-“

“Razz, chill, it’s cool.”

“Yes, but-wait, y-you’re not mad?”

Spike shrugged. “Shit happens-“

“SPIKE!” chastised Twilight.

“Oh, come on, Twi, I nearly died, I think I get a free pass for swearing. Plus, considering the number of times you got me into near-death situations and been torn up about-*ACK*”

“Please, don’t strain your throat, Spike”

“I’m *cough* fine enough. Anyway Razz here deserves some forgiveness, too. She wasn’t the one who made me eat the diamond, that was my own fault.”

“But…” mumbled Raspberry, “it still hurt you…”

“But nothing, you didn’t actively make Sweetie break her crown, which gave me the chance to eat the -*hack*- thing. It’s not your fault any of this happened.”

Raspberry smiled. “Thank you, Spike, after everything that’s happened because of that, my conscience can rest easy now that I know you don’t hold me responsible.”

“Yeah, no problem. Though…do you mind explaining what the deal is with your horn? It sorta looks like King Sombra’s, which does raise quite a few questions I’d like answered.”

Twilight laughed, though with a tinge of regret in light of what those answers would reveal to Spike, who was still unaware the trial had even happened. “It’s a long story, number one assistant.”

“Ohhhh…” moaned Rarity, blinking uneasily as consciousness returned to her, “wha…what happened?”

“You passed out,” Lightning said, nonchalantly.

“But it was the middle of the night, last I remember, did I really sleep for that long?!” exclaimed Rarity, who proceeded to hurry to the mirror and check her mane for any undue creases. There wouldn’t have been any, since Rarity’s magically-enhanced hairspray ensured her mane would keep whatever shape she desired it to be no matter how many times she dramatically fell backwards in a dead faint, but old habits didn’t go easily.

“Well, sorta,” explained Rainbow. “The first time you passed out, which was last night, was in reaction to Apple Bloom going into detail about…” Rainbow had to be careful, lest she make the same mistake Apple Bloom had and cause Rarity to faint yet again, “…well, remember how Applejack was turned into a werewolf that one night in the forest?”

“Uh, yeah, we were looking for that…whatever the Crusaders built, right?”

“Yeah, basically the same thing happened to Raspberry when she was trying to save Apple Bloom from Fair Vista’s ghost, except she didn’t die from…the injury and didn’t contract werewolf-ism.”

“I think you mean ‘lycanthropy’, Rainbow,” Fluttershy corrected.

Rarity just rolled her eyes. “Well, can’t be helped, I suppose, the graphic mental imagery was far from pleasant…hold on, you said the first time, you’re saying I fainted again between then and now?”

“Yeah!” exclaimed Pinkie, “you actually woke up about three hours ago in Applejack’s room, then after we brought you back up to speed by mentioning Applejack had somehow spread her curse to Apple Bloom, who is now I guess a werepuppy because she’s still a filly, you said something like ‘how dreadful!’ and passed out again, so we moved you back to your room!”

Rarity had stopped fumbling around with her mane, too busy staring at Pinkie with a raised eyebrow of skepticism. When the fashionista finally realized Pinkie had actually stopped talking, she shook her head to stop gazing into empty space. “Well, um…thanks for moving me back here, but is that really what happened? Apple Bloom is a werewolf-

“PUPPY!” insisted Pinkie.

“Um, Pinkie?” piped up Fluttershy, “the proper term here would be werecub, not puppy.”

“But if Apple Bloom had a choice, she’d choose puppy over cub.”

Rarity just sighed and facehoofed before amending her statement, “-er, werepuppy, in addition to Applejack’s condition relapsing to her having the curse again?”

Fluttershy nodded, “I’m afraid so.”

“B-but how?!” stammered the stunned unicorn. “She killed that brute in the forest, there’s no possible-“ she stopped herself when she realized she had unintentionally gone muzzle-to-muzzle with the timid animal caregiver to the point of backing the pegasus into a corner, “I’m sorry, Fluttershy, you know how worked up I can get.”

“Ain’t that the truth!” snarked Rainbow, to which Pinkie giggled alongside.

Fluttershy shot both of them a disapproving look before turning her attention back to Rarity. “It’s alright.”

“Thank you,” said Rarity, “Now, please do continue, darling.”

“Right. After you passed out, we explained to Raspberry everything anypony could recall about Applejack’s previous time as a werewolf.”

“I was meaning to ask why Twilight had brought her along, the poor mare had been through enough just hours before at that mockery of a just trial.”

“Well, if you remember, lycanthropy was a creation of Sombra’s dark magic, so Twilight correctly figured if anypony would understand why Applejack had reverted, it was Razz for obvious reasons. However…”

“However, what, Fluttershy?”

“Well, um…”

“Tell me.”

“It’s sort of hard to explain…”

“Tell me.”

“Are you sure? Considering merely telling you Apple Bloom was a lycanthrope didn’t end well-“

“TellmetellmeTELLME!”

“Oh for-!” nickered Rainbow, “Look, Rarity, Razz basically said Applejack had never been cured in the first place!”

Silence, then: “You’re joking, surely this is some bad joke on your part,” pleaded Rarity.

Pinkie shook her head, her composure in that rare state where not even the faintest hint of a smile was on her muzzle. “We don’t know if she’s right or not, but since she’s knowledgeable about a kind of magic even Twilight admits she can’t truly understand, we have no choice to believe her.”

“But that just throws more suspicion into this! I mean, I refuse to believe Raspberry would lie, she’s clearly the same pony who sold me gems and seemed downright mortified when she learned what happened to Spike because of pure circumstance – speaking of whom, has anypony checked in on him today?”

“Twilight’s there right now, as a matter of fact,” Fluttershy answered, her bashfulness in light of Rarity’s assertiveness fading somewhat. “Along with Razz and Heliodor, since the fact it was her magic that harmed Spike, so she’s there to apologize.”

“I hope he can forgive her, since it truly wasn’t her fault. Really, it’s mine in a morbid way, she wouldn’t have made that diamond for me if I hadn’t begged her for it. But, nothing we can do about it now.”

“Yeah,” agreed Rainbow, “plus, that luncheon with the princesses is today, the one where we’re going to discuss what to do about Raspberry being both a powerful dark magic user and allegedly the blood heir of King Sombra."

“Ah, right, the luncheon!” Rarity blurted. “I’ll need to look my best! We’ll all need to look our best! Especially Razz, the poor dear will probably need some fashion help with styling her mane, and don’t even get me started about Appleja-wait, if we’re here and Twilight’s with Razz and Heelee visiting Spike…where are the other three of our group?”

“Still in Applejack’s room,” answered Pinkie, “and trust me, you do not want to go in there!”

“Ah’m tellin’ you, sis, Ah’m sorry for keepin’ it a secret from the family for so long!” Apple Bloom moaned, hints of tears in her eyes.

“Don’t matter,” snapped back the orange mare, “the point is we coulda done somethin’ about this ages ago, only if you’d told us! At the very least, it woulda given me an indication about me never havin’ been cured in the first place…”

“To be fair, what would that have accomplished anyway?” asked Lightning, “It’s still not clear how she contracted lycanthropy, we still haven’t figured out how I got it either, for that matter!”

“Last Ah checked, that was between you and Ah fightin’ when you were losin’ that dumb race or Sable Loam takin' a bite outta your throat while you were sleepin’ off a hangover!” Applejack’s tone was slowly increasing in what could only be retrained aggression, evidenced by her canines starting to change into fangs and her eyes subtly shifting ever so slightly to a yellow-green coloration.

“Hey, you think it’s any easier for me? YOU have some dumb-ass immunity to the curse that prevents you from becoming no better than some feral animal!” retorted Dust, she too starting to bear fangs and her pupils becoming a lighter hue of orange. At the rate things were going, the two werewolves were going to relive the fight they’d had before, only this time both were quickly becoming inequine predators filled with bloodlust.

Thus, it fell upon the werepuppy to stop the inevitable. “Seriously?! Are you two really gonna throw down here?!”

“Well, that’s what she wants!” answered Dust and AJ simultaneously, both now having dropped any subtlety and assumed their canine complexions. Any actual fighting was prevented, however, by Apple Bloom forcing herself in-between them after having to change forms herself.

“No, this isn’t what either of you want! Look at yourselves, Ah know both of you don’t want to throw away who you are as ponies, but this is exactly what is gonna to happen if you two don’t stop!”

“Stay outta this, Bloomie, you don’t understand-“

“Ah don’t understand?!” screamed the cursed filly, her razor-sharp teeth barred in the direction of her sister, “Ah think Ah actually do understand, AJ, just 'cause Ah’m a filly don’t mean Ah don’t have the same problems you do!”

Lightning Dust cocked an eyebrow when she realized just what that implied, even if Apple Bloom didn’t realize it. “Uh, no, Apple Bloom, trust me, you don’t have the same problems, at least not all of them.”

“And how is that?!”

“Oh, Celestia…” gasped Applejack, “Don’t tell me you had that happen while you were-“

Lightning laughed “Oh, yeah, I didn’t dare mention it to you back when I dragged my sorry plot to your farm that day, but one of the contributing reasons for why I got booted from my job in Baltimare was my supervisor getting convinced I’d somehow angered every dog in the city. Naturally, I got really crabby about it, both because of…you know, and because I didn’t understand what was going on. When you told me about your own fun with that, though…”

Apple Bloom growled impatiently, “Okay, so maybe Ah don’t have the exact same number and kind of problems as you two, but Ah think Ah’ve got the majority! This curse makes me wanna run around at night, mah hearin’ is so good that Ah keep gettin’ headaches from everypony talkin’ in school, and Ah have a cravin’ for meat somethin’ bad!”

Applejack couldn’t argue back to that immediately, the realization that she’d been regarding Apple Bloom’s points as irrelevant setting in and that in a way, the shared issues were even more of a problem for the little Apple as while Applejack had worked around the meat issue through the help of friends, there was no possible way Apple Bloom could have been eating like a carnivore without somepony knowing. “Apple Bloom…have you actually eaten meat?”

“No, thankfully,” denied the filly, much to Applejack’s relief, “Ah think it’s not so much the actual thing as it is just the taste. ‘Course, Ah kept on worryin’ you’d find a doggie treat bag in a way that pointed to me eatin’ em.”

Applejack facehoofed. “Y’know, Ah was wonderin’ why Winona was burnin’ through those treats so fast. Though, admittedly, while Ah’m not happy about you stealin’ em, Ah’d much prefer that over you havin’ to consume the real deal.” She shuddered, even as a werewolf, Applejack had to work hard not to throw up whenever she ate meat.

“Yeah, Ah’m sorry ‘bout that, sis, but…the reason Ah wanted to keep this a secret from you is, well…after what you went through back then, the worryin’ about how other ponies saw you, the troubles with Sable Loam and Iron Will, and then how that all tied back to Ma and Pa…the family’s been troubled far too much with this werewolf nonsense, 'specially you of all ponies, and Ah didn’t want to put the family through all of that again.”

Applejack moved forward and embraced her sister, “Oh, Bloomie…Ah’m sorry for bein’ mad at you earlier,” she then looked up at the non-Apple werewolf in the room, “and you too, Dust.”

“Enh, no sweat,” replied the pegasus, returning to regular form. “I remember I didn’t take it too well when I figured out what was going on with me, but for somepony like you to have to go through lycanthropy a second time? If it was me, I probably would have done something really bad by now simply by being so uncontrollably distraught, so in comparison you have amazing self-control right now.”

“Yeah…” sighed Applejack with a smile, happy that the situation ended without anypony being hurt. Just then, there was a knocking at the door.

“Hey, Dust! AJ! Apple Bloom!” came the voice of Rainbow, “You girls getting ready? It’s almost lunch time!”

“Your highness, I must object to this!” pleaded Captain Stonewall, “I don’t know what the princess was thinking when she had this set up, but –“

“Permission to speak freely, Captain,” replied Shining Armor, fiddling with his dress shirt and regalia in preparation for the luncheon.

Stonewall, who was appropriately named for his temperament and not letting almost anything bring down his steadfast military stance, instantly became the much more friendly and slightly nervous pony he was behind it all. “O-of course, Capt-I mean, Prince Armor, the guard regulations don’t really apply to you now that you’re of a higher station.”

“Trust me, Stony,” said the ex-captain, doing his best to reassure his former subordinate by using an old nickname, “you think the paperwork as a guard captain is bad? At least there you have rules that must be followed and ponies tend not to question your authority. But as Prince Regent? Not only do I have to rule an entire annex to Equestria that, honestly, is as old fashioned as you can get though to be fair it was missing for a millennium, and the whole Crystal Empire was doubting my legitimacy to being the beloved of ‘the Crystal Princess’ or so they sometimes refer to Cady as.”

“While I understand, your high-“

“Seriously, enough with the formalities!” chuckled the prince, “While it is commendable that you’re maintaining professionalism here, I’m no different than I was back when I was your boss. Do I need to order you to drop formality?”

Stonewall cringed in embarrassment. “N-no, I get it, Shiny.”

Shining just shook his head in amusement, “As good a soldier as you are, Stony, I still can’t figure out how you managed to get past the recruiter’s scrutiny. But that’s not important, what is important, though, is that with my own experience in regards to Ms. Beryl leads me to think she is not a threat despite her ‘outburst’ at the trial.”

“But what she did there is exactly what I’m concerned about! I had the guards set up every imaginable defense against a powerful dark magic user running wild in that courtroom, every single one of them useless against her when she snapped and went for Blueblood.“

Shining raised an eyebrow and turned his head to look directly at his successor, “But are you sure they were designed for that kind of dark magic? While I have no doubt the guards you posted in there were trained to deal with the usual worst case scenario of a dark magic ‘master’ running ramshod with unnaturally strong fireball spells or trying to raise the dead, they wouldn’t stand a chance against somepony on Sombra’s level.”

“Neither did the princesses, which considering Celestia and Luna took down Sombra years ago, means this pony who Celestia has invited to lunch is more powerful than the very pony she claimed to have inherited her power from!”

Suddenly came the voice of Princess Cadence: “Which is why the fact she as a pony could be a good thing to have on Equestria’s side.”

“Cady!” blushed Shining, jokingly, “I thought we agreed you’d knock before coming into the walk-in-closet!”

“That’s only when you’re going to wear pants, dear,” countered the alicorn, “and since I’m positive you haven’t owned any in years after outgrowing your ‘Lucky Grandmaster’ pants from highschool, I don’t think I’m in trouble for breaking rules, am I?”

“Lucky Grandmaster?” asked Stony, confused.

“Okay, for the record, I didn’t ‘outgrow’ them," contested Shining, "Twilight decided to try making a bow out of the pantlegs back when she was still getting the hang of basic levitation, which she did but managed to make the knot so tight that the pants were completely unwearble. And yes, before you go into that tirade from high school again, they were my lucky pants, since all of my best sessions of playing Ogres & Oubliettes were when I was wearing those pants.”

“Still can’t believe I fell in love with such a nerd.” Joked Cadence, walking over to kiss her husband on the cheek. “But there will be time for mourning the loss of your nerd pants later, right now we have a luncheon to attend. And yes, captain,” her attention turned to the active guard in the closet, “I do trust my aunt in this. If Raspberry’s intentions were to take out the royalty and claim Equestria for her own much as Sombra wished to, she would have not wasted time with a weakling like Blueblood instead of taking out all four princesses, the only ponies who can really go up against her power provided there was time to prepare. That’s why she overpowered the countermeasures yesterday, there was no implication she was capable of a locomotus morte spell that could affect that many ponies regardless of their own magical ability.

“Plus…” continued the princess of love, her tone becoming more somber, “the luncheon probably will be beneficial for everypony, especially Raspberry. The emotions she’s had bottled up for so long…I honestly think those are more dangerous than the worst dark magic spells she could throw at anypony, since while power is one thing to have, as long as it’s used responsibly it can be rendered harmless. But when insanity or desperation by any reason is given control…well, I think it goes without saying that had Apple Bloom not stopped her in time, Raspberry would have made an example of Blueblood in a manner far worse than anything Sombra had ever done to anypony.”

“Are you okay, Raspberry?” asked Twilight, having escorted the dark unicorn and her pet from the infirmary where Spike still needed to rest all the way to the grand doors blocking the way into the Royal Banquet Hall where the luncheon was to be held. Only before they arrived there, Rarity had intercepted them and dragged the duo to her own chambers.

“Are you crazy, Twilight, darling?” questioned back Rarity, “Of course she’s not alright, she is in no condition to attend a private luncheon with royalty!”

Raspberry could only whimper slightly as she continued to suffer under the designs of the fashionista, who had practically kidnapped her the second upon returning to the castle proper with intentions to make her look “proper”, right down to the diamond-marked pony having partially converted a portion of her room into a stylist salon complete with spinning chair. “Miss Rarity, please, you don’t have to-“

“Oh, but I must! Consider this making up for how much I still owe you for all those gems you got me.”

Raspberry’s dark red coat immediately assumed a shade close to that of her “normal pony” disguise, though more out of shock than magic. “B-but you don’t owe me anything for those! Heck, I still feel bad for never telling you the truth about them before and charging you for knock-offs!”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Raspberry! While true, the things you sold me were not the real deal, they were small and trivial enough that I only really ever used them for trimmings on my outfits. Admittedly, most designers would use glass ones for the same purpose, but the glass ones don’t have the look and feel of real precious stones, so I’m paying for the quality of the imitation I guess. Since I doubt dragons would try to eat pony dresses, nopony will probably ever know the difference unless outright told.”

“R-really? You truly think that? But even then, I don’t deserve your generosity, almost everything about me that you knew back in Ponyville was a lie, a cruel deception.”

“Oh? So you don’t have any employment history at the Traveler’s Retreat? You manipulated Cashmere and Ascot into opening their residence to you out of the kindness of their hearts? That you never were the pony who has been roaming the world all her life, the shy and secluded unicorn who only sold cheap gem fakes purely to survive? The pony who, even after her secret was revealed by almost complete accident in the worst way possible, was willing to throw away her own freedom to protect a filly from a threat even we, the Elements of Harmony, failed to stop?”

“What?! N-no! That still doesn’t change-“

“Razz…” interrupted Twilight, “just listen to Rarity, hear what she has to say.”

“Yes, please do what your princess asks of you,” added Rarity, taking Razz’s head into her hooves and making it look right at hers. “Now, answer me with a 'yes’ or a ‘no’, okay?”

“O-okay…” answered Raspberry.

“Close enough. Anyway, the point I’m trying to make is that you’ve convinced yourself that Raspberry Beryl, the one I knew, the one everypony knew, is only as deep as the disguise you use, the one hiding how fate forced your body to become twisted in the image of a fowl and corrupted noble. That isn’t true. While for all I know, this is in fact a lie and you’re just as evil as Sombra, but being part of the most important group of ponies in all of Equestria has taught me many things like how to see a pony for who they truly are where it matters, and with you that is the inside.” She jabbed the air just in front of Raspberry’s chest for emphasis. “If it means anything to you, the way ponies see me is with a fair degree of artificiality, too.”

“What!?” exclaimed Raspberry and Twilight simultaneously, the former shocked at the alabaster unicorn even claiming such a thing, while Twilight caught the deeper undertones heavily enough to flare her wings, “Are you saying there’s more to it than just the fake eyelashes?”

In light of having made such a statement, Rarity stood steadfast and sure of herself. “Yes, the pony you see me as isn’t quite the pony I was born as. It’s not nearly as elaborate as your secrets, Razz, but…” Rarity looked around as if suspicious of other listeners, “both of you have to promise that what I’m about to tell you never leaves this room, got it?”

Razz, Twilight, and Heliodor at Razz’s insistence all instinctively Pinkie Promised.

“Alright, in truth, the way I normally talk, like this? It’s not my natural accent, it took years to get right though thankfully mother and father think it’s cute and don’t tell anypony about it. My real voice…” her accent suddenly dropped an octave in addition to everything about proper pronunciation of words Rarity usually strived for,“…well, y’all c’n git why Ah can’t go ‘round soundin’ like dis, can’t ya? Nopony would take me seriously as a fashionista while soundin’ as somepony who don’t really need be concerned wit' high society.”

Rarity took the dumbfounded, gaping jaws of the not-fake-accented unicorn, alicon, and phoenix as a sign of understanding and so cleared her throat, the pitch and pronunciation immediately going back to that of the socialite the outside world saw her as.

“*ahem* It’s not something I show off, obviously, but for you, Razz, you put confidence in us as good ponies, so you deserve confidence to be put in you as well. Sure, your horn is quite unsightly to be honest-“

“I think Heelee is the only one who actually likes it, I sure as hell don’t”

“- but other than that, all you do is change your colors. In fact, I’d go so far as to say your ‘disguise’ is in fact more evocative of you, since the stigma of dark magic doesn’t suit a pony like you who is truly good at heart.”

“Thanks, Rarity, that…means a lot.” said Razz, blushing slightly “but I don’t want to go back to my false colors just yet-“

“NO!” declared Rarity as if on impulse, “don’t call it that, instead let’s say they are your…’preferred’ colors?”

Heliodor cooed in approval, to which Razz smiled, “Alright then, my ‘preferred colors’, but all the same I can’t go back to them just yet. Until my fate is decided on by whatever happens in the luncheon, I want to show I recognize what I am, to not hide how ugly I am on the outside, if only to prove to everypony I am truly no different than them.”

“Oh, I think ‘ugly’ doesn’t suit you, it never did to begin with but especially not now,” said Rarity, gesturing to the mirror. Razz realized she hadn’t seen what Rarity had done to her mane, but as she turned in the salon chair to see it, the horrors that had been perceived were instead the complete opposite. Normally her mane was simply a more jagged curve, vaguely similar to Rarity’s in a way, but now her mane was perfectly smooth, her bangs having been draped over such that her hair now completely covered the junction between her elongated horn and her skull, making it seem to actually fit in with her appearance than the unnatural mutation it was. From her forehead, her mane continued down the right side and hung off her head without looking unbalanced. For the first time in her life, Raspberry Beryl looked at herself in a mirror for what she really looked like, and did not fear everything that her colors, horn, and outright appearance heavily implied. She actually looked pretty. She actually looked like a regular pony.

But even more so, Razz realized Rarity was right, too. She’d always been a pretty pony, but had let herself be defined by a pony by whom she barely even shared a bloodline with. She’d let herself be defined by her father, who had tried to mold her into something she was never destined to be. But now was her chance; to truly define herself as her own pony not only in the eyes of the princesses, but more importantly herself.

Let's just hope the princesses will see things that way, too thought Razz, but a glance over to a smiling Heliodor was all she needed for a smile to grace her muzzle. Maybe everything would turn out okay in the end after all.

Ch.24: The Fresh Princess of Nowhere

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 24: “The Fresh Princess of Nowhere”

For some, the royal banquet hall was far and away the largest room built solely for the purpose of food consumption they’d ever been in, though normally the hall was reserved for state dinners with foreign dignitaries and was used mostly for hosting extremely large parties like the Grand Galloping Gala, not a solitary group of thirteen ponies and a phoenix. For others, it was a smorgasbord of food unlike anything they’d ever seen before, the idea that the image-sensitive higher socialites actually needed all this food went against how the majority of them desired attractively curvy, sexy frames for their bodies while at the same time often attempting to copy the long legged look of the alicorns.

But for two specific ponies, they were of viewpoints that none of the others could see through. Seated at opposite ends of the table, Raspberry Beryl and Princess Celestia were directly in front of each other. The princess, forever keeping her calming, motherly smile to mask her true emotions, was well practiced in the art of watching somepony else without making it obvious. Most of the time she wasn’t even looking directly at Razz, instead her attention seemingly directed at either side of the table, depending on who was speaking. But not once was her primary focus off of Raspberry. The whole idea of having the luncheon, against the advice of every single pony who served as advisor to her whether or not she’d actually given them the post, was to put Raspberry Beryl into a more…casual situation. The trial had been an outright disaster thanks to Blueblood, but nonetheless valuable clues to the truth about the unicorn at the other end of the table had been revealed. Not of her power, since that had been clearly demonstrated enough, but of her true character. For whatever reason, Celestia found it rather easy to draw parallels between Raspberry Beryl and Twilight Sparkle, for both had their shyness and could still be naive about things, but the determination and courage they had to stand up for what they thought was right…the similarities could not be denied.

Yet, at the same time, Celestia couldn’t quite judge Raspberry’s nature. Twilight may have been reserved most of the time, but the sun princess had always been able to read her protégé like the proverbial -and rather appropriate- book; Raspberry, however, was in comparison the proverbial black box. In this social setting, she seemed willing enough to engage in small conversation with the other ponies, but she was continuously on edge it seemed, never venturing to start a new topic of discussion, never talking out of turn. Of all the ponies, she seemed to be eating the slowest of them all, even her pet phoenix was devouring pears at a faster clip, Celestia wasn’t even sure Raspberry had even made any indication she wanted second helpings. This was a pony that was clearly uncomfortable, but whether it was her own decision to not assume her less scary disguise to hide the tell-tale traits marking her as Sombra’s descendant, the nervousness of having to face judgement from Celestia directly, or that she actually made Fluttershy look as social as Pinkie Pie in comparison.

And then there was the fact Celestia was, for the first time in centuries, unsure of how to actually handle this situation. If Raspberry Beryl truly was the descendant of King Sombra, then she was the first pony of true royal blood inside Castle Canterlot and in terms of succession was enough to make her next in line should all four alicorns become unable to rule, maybe even enough to be more of a princess than Twilight. But of more concern was the massive amount of deja-vu Celestia couldn’t shake off. Sombra had been one of the first real threats to her rulership, having challenged her at a luncheon very similar to the one she was in right now, in Castle Everfree’s royal banquet hall. She’d managed to hold her ground at the time, if only barely, but the experience of having to be at the end of his hostility had been enough to break her into tears once she was in the safety of her private chambers. Now, she had inadvertently set things up such that it was happening all over again. Everything Sombra had become now sat across from her, even thousands of years later and dodging her influence by who knows what reasons, and though back then Sombra wasn’t anywhere close to being reserved in personality, he’d been just as difficult to read. This time, however, the most important ponies in her life were now all gathered in one place, and she would gladly lay down her life for any one of them. She could only hope that this terrible, terrible mistake of hers wouldn’t yield the catastrophic results.

“Princess Celestia…” Raspberry stated evenly, “it’s kinda creepy how you’ve been staring at me with that fake smile for the past few minutes.”

“Huh? I, what, um?” Celestia couldn’t believe how off her game she was being: first the most important ponies she could possibly have gotten together at once now in possible danger, and now she’d let herself be caught in her intentions to watch Raspberry who seemed to have known the smile wasn’t genuine.

“It’s alright, I knew what you were going to do the second we sat down across from each other, and admittedly I was doing the same thing you were doing.”

“You were staring off into space like an idiot?” joked Celestia, though she wished her smile was more convincing.

“No, trying to get a feel for who you are and what you think of me. It was easy since it would appear our feelings toward each other are mutual.”

“Whpapht’s gvohin’ oahn, nhohownh?” garbled Apple Bloom, her face full of food. Everypony else had gone dead silent as they realized what was about to go down.

“The business of which we’re here in the first place, of course.” Answered Razz, “which is answering the question of what to do with somepony like me.”

“Now, darling,” interrupted Rarity, “while that is what we’re here for, that’s being too generalized. After all, isn’t the whole point of this luncheon so we all can understand what’s going on in a slightly more intimate yet casual manner?”

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Rarity, but I’m afraid it’s not going to work until the proverbial white elephant in the room has been dealt with.”

“Elephant?!” squealed Pinkie Pie, rapidly looking all over the place, “Where?!”

“My apologies, since I didn’t mean it as an insult, but…” the dark unicorn looked Celestia dead in the eyes, “Your highness, you’re scared of me, or rather my powers, aren’t you?”

"I wouldn't call it fear, exactly. More accurate to say that I have...concerns...about your abilities."

“Please, your majesty, I would prefer it if you were honest. If what you want to be happening here is for me to be as open as possible, then everypony here needs to do the same.”

Celestia let out a massive sigh she didn’t know she’d been keeping. “Alright, if you must know, what you have shown to be just a mere taste of the raw dark magic you have at your hooftips, I do feel the need to be just as cautious around you as I had been around Sombra himself before he took over the Crystal Empire, or with Luna when I was too blind to see what led to Nightmare Moon’s birth.”

A collective gasp sounded off from the ponies on the sides, with Luna’s being emphasized above the others due to how Celestia was being rather too open in the situation at hoof. “Sister! Surely you’re not serious!”

Celestia looked over sadly at her sister. “I am, Luna, as much as it pains me to admit it,” before she turned back to Raspberry. “I might as well explain why, since you’ll probably want to know that as well.”

“I already do,” Raspberry replied somberly, much to Celestia’s shock. “I can’t say I’m surprised, either. What Sombra did with dark magic was unforgivable, though not like he cared about it since it seemed all he cared about was power. Since you mentioned that I am of royal lineage if his cursed blood runs in my veins, then it’s perfectly reasonable that you would see me as a threat not only to your position as the main leadership figure of the country, but of the protection of everypony in it.”

“More than just that.” Celestia had since dropped the fake smile, her muzzle now bearing a hard line of non-emotional bearing. “You must understand, it is only because the ponies of this country have faith in me and my fellow princesses that there are not riots in the streets, though there are still those calling for your blood to be spilled. Of course, the same can be said for why I was not of the same opinion, because of the faith I have placed in Twilight and her friends from Ponyville. They lobbied on your behalf, but I still find it hard to believe you when-“

Razz suddenly groaned, exasperated at something. “Why does that damn news article keep showing up at the worst times?!”

Celestia raised an eyebrow inquisitively, “News article?”

“Yes, because if there’s anything I’ve learned about what follows me around no matter how hard I try, it’s that damn obituary.” She then rested her hooves on the table and rested her head on them, continuing despite being muffled, “you might as well let everypony know of yet another heinous crime I’ve committed.”

“Well, if you insist…” replied the tallest alicorn, wondering what the real story was going to be as she winked into her presence the piece of paper Discord had found that morning. Wordlessly, she motioned for the article to be passed around, with each successive reader expressing complete shock and/or horror at what it described.

“This…this can’t be true!” exclaimed Rarity, the last pony to see the article. “Razz, darling, did…did you actually murder him?!”

With bleary eyes, Raspberry lifted her head to look at Rarity, her face evident of the fear being felt of how this latest development would change things. “Of the ponies who were there, I would be the only one to say it wasn’t murder. But I know that, no matter how you look at it, I did commit patricide.”

“I-is…is that why…” Rarity was struggling to get the words from her brain to her mouth as she began to realize the intentional omissions from Raspberry’s earlier personal recollections, “Your father didn’t kick you out…you ran because you killed him?!”

There was no immediate answer, just everypony looking at Raspberry while the red-and-black unicorn merely looked down at the table at her mostly eaten plate of food. Heliodor had since moved from the provided bird-stand and was now trying to comfort his mistress.

“Y’know what Ah think?” suddenly spoke up Applejack, who of all the ponies there had suffered the most from murder being why her parents were not among the living, and her voice carried a decade of remorse and anger.

“No, sis!” pleaded Apple Bloom, “She saved mah life and stopped Fair Vista from ruinin’ who knows how many other pony lives by usin’ me to make ‘em into werewolves!”

“What?!” exclaimed Celestia, Luna, Shining, and Cadence all at once. They had been informed of Lightning Dust’s lycanthropy, hence why she was even in attendance due to needing constant surveillance in case she suddenly started to go feral, but everything else was new information to them.

“Land sakes, no, Apple Bloom!” answered an alarmed AJ, “Ah mean, yes, Ah’m still not happy about the fact she accidentally turned me back into a werewo-“ she then noticed the three princesses and one prince all having become several shades paler than normal in reaction to that bit of news, causing her to cringe in embarrassment, “Ah really should not have said that out loud…”

“No, but it will have to wait,” said Twilight, taking charge of the situation, “There obviously is a lot going on here that involves Raspberry, but if what you were about to say is what I think you were about to say, AJ, then before this mess gets even more complicated, we should hear Raspberry’s side of the story.”

“But how do we know she’s even telling the truth?” accused Rainbow. “No offense, Beryl, but you haven’t been exactly honest about anything as far as I know.”

“Well, um, I think that’s why it’s a good thing she has Heliodor, then…” said Fluttershy, her voice barely audible from how low she’d sunk below the table. “After Philomena’s prank, I did more research about phoenixes, and learned about the fabled green ones as well as the usual red variety. It was sort of confusing, since Philomena is red but she seemed more like a green-“

“Philomena’s mother, Verna, was in fact a green phoenix,” said Celestia, her composure coming back gradually. “But you are correct in that the fact Heliodor is green does improve things, as green phoenixes are allegedly destined to pair up with a pony they deem has a pure heart. Only…”

“Ponies with pure hearts don’t ‘murder’ their dads, do they?” skeptically asked Raspberry, now finally sitting back upright as she rubbed a hoof on the back of her bird’s head.

“Thank goodness none of this came up in the trial, Blueblood would have gone wild with it,” commented Shining, realizing how lucky that passed over bit of information had not been used.

“Yes, but I think what needs to be done is clear,” added Rarity, turning to look reassuringly at Raspberry. “As Applejack was going to say in all likelihood, much of what has occurred would have been avoided had Raspberry told us the whole story – the whole, real story, that is – and we ponies being willing to listen.”

“I believe so, too, Rarity,” nodded Celestia, “So, Raspberry, it’s time for you to come clean, too. Just who are you?”

“Who am I?” rhetorically asked Raspberry, lifting her foreleg to let Heliodor take his perch on her horn, “I am Raspberry Beryl, the inheritor of Sombra’s curse, and the only pony unlucky enough to have been born in Lonesome Dove and not be an earth pony.”

Twenty five years ago…

Torchwood stood on his porch, facing away from his homestead. It hadn’t been easy, coming to Lonesome Dove was risky no matter how anypony looked at it, but his wife, Glass Ruby, had been supportive of the decision. So, here they were, on a parcel of land that he would soon plow and plant seeds, from which crops would grow. They would prosper here, maybe even become an important family as the settlement was relatively new, a potential for him to be the patriarch of a new family lineage on the same level as the Apple Family who seventy-five years ago had founded the town of Ponyville.

And he smiled, knowing that soon he would have a strong son who would, given time, grow into a fine young stallion who would help the farm prosper and eventually take over the farm when his father’s body failed him. Yes he thought this will be a bright, new begin-

A loud wail erupted from the house, then a silence that was only interrupted by the cry of a newborn. But…something felt wrong. Very wrong. His heart sinking, Torchwood raced into the house to find all his dreams crushed in an instant.

There, in the bedroom of the small farmhouse, were three ponies waiting for him on the bed. His wife, who looked like she hadn’t slept in years, was still breathing heavily in the aftermath of labor. Paying no attention to the midwife or the bundle held in her forelegs, Torchwood raced to the side of his wife.

“It’s over!” semi-wailed the exhausted mare, “Oh, thank Celestia it’s over!”

“But what about you, my love?” asked Torch, “Are you alright?”

“I’ll live” answered Ruby, letting out a chuckle, “if only for the sake of you and our child, I’ll recover.”

“You’ll be the best mother any colt could have, my sweet gem.”

“Um…” interrupted the midwife, “it’s a filly.”

“I-I beg your pardon?” quickly asked Torch, not understanding the idea that the baby wasn’t the colt he’d been expecting. Granted, nopony, not even the doctor, had been able to reliably predict the gender, but with the hoping and the praying and the dreaming he’d done, Torch had been sure it was going to be a boy.

Yet, as the midwife brought the newborn to meet its parents, what lay inside the bundle was most certainly not the earth pony colt he’d been expecting. Instead, it was a unicorn filly, a lock of sky blue and lilac hair for her mane that stopped an inch before where her horn jutted out of her skull, her coat a rich raspberry hue and her eyes a warm maroon.

“Oh, she’s beautiful!” cooed Ruby, weakly spreading her forelegs to take the infant into them. “I don’t think we could have asked for a better child, don’t you, Torchie?”

“Uh, yeah, heh heh, of course not!” lied the stallion through a false grin, though he knew his wife would believe him. In truth, he was crushed. He had wanted –no, demanded – a colt of earth pony lineage. Furthermore, it didn’t make any sense as to how a pony of unicorn lineage could be the product of two earth ponies whose entire bloodlines were pure and untainted by the other pony types as far back as recorded history could remember.

“Pardon me for asking, but…” the midwife sheepishly commented, “I do find it curious that a unicorn would be born to two earth ponies.”

“Are you implying my wife was unfaithful?” snapped Torch, letting some of his anger at being denied the son he rightfully deserved, though he had to admit that was a possible explanation. He hoped it wasn’t though, because he loved Ruby dearly and he expected the same of her.

“No, Torchie, you’re the only colt I would ever want to be with” assuaged the new mother as she cradled the baby. “But I may know the reason for why our bundle of joy will have the gift of magic and not that of strength.”

“Why?” asked Torchwood and the midwife simultaneously.

Ruby just smiled, before recalling an old family legend. “My family’s bloodline goes back all the way to the Crystal Empire, believe it or not.”

“Impossible, that place never existed!” nickered Torch.

“Oh, but it’s true. Remember how I said the blending of the colors in my mane was a special trick with how I combed it? It’s actually completely natural, the only proof of the Crystal Pony blood in me. And looking at our filly, it seems she has it too.”

“But…but I thought the Crystal Ponies were for the most part all Earth ponies?”

“They were, but therein lies the dark truth. You see, when King Sombra was defeated and his last act was to curse the Crystal Empire, making it vanish entirely, some of his unwilling slaves managed to escape and disappear within the main population of Equestria. But before that, some of those slaves had been relegated to his own kind of personal harem. Obviously, the shame those poor mares had in being the personal sex toys of that bastard king would mean they wouldn’t ever mention him, but it was never known if one of them carried his offspring when they fled.”

“That’s…that’s horrible!” gasped the midwife.

“Indeed, but there’s no need to worry. True or not, that was a thousand years ago, and this innocent babe has nothing to do with Sombra.”

“So, what are we going to call it-er, I mean, her?” asked Torch.

“I know just the name; Raspberry Beryl.”

In present day, Raspberry Beryl sighed unhappily. “I can’t say for sure if that’s really what happened when I was born, but from what I could glean from my father’s rantings it’s the best I can theorize.”

“But…didn’t you say your mom died when you were born?” pointed out Twilight.

Raspberry nodded solemnly, “I did tell you that, but beyond bestowing my name upon me, my mother may as well have died the second the cord connecting her to me was cut. She…grew extremely ill the next day, her immune system weakened from the strain of childbirth, and despite everypony’s best efforts she died before I was even a week old.”

“I…I’m sorry…” said Cadence, already tearing up a little. “No pony should grow up without knowing their mother’s embrace.”

“While I do wish I could have known my mother, have a memory of her beyond the one photograph she’d had done and hanging in the dining room and her gravestone under one of the few trees on the far side of what was supposed to have been the farm. Only…I must be honest, I don’t think I ever really knew the pony my father had been, as while his expectations had been delayed when I was given to him instead of the son he felt owed, they’d been crushed when mom died. He’d loved her, dearly, and to lose her not only deprived him of any means to get the son he wanted, but of possibly the only pony who he truly had cared for in Lonesome Dove, the one pony who he felt deserved the fruits of his dreams more than he. To have all that taken away from him so quickly, with only me left to be nothing but a constant source of demands with no promise of being of any use to achieving the glories he wanted…I just don’t think his mentality could handle all of it.”

“Did…did he neglect you?” asked Pinkie, who had grown up in what seemed to be similar circumstances and considered her father to have been a very tough parent, too. However, unlike Raspberry, Pinkie’s father hadn’t shown any distaste for her or her sisters; Marble and Limestone, because he’d wanted a son instead.

“Worse.”

“Oh.” Collectively said all the other ponies. What was implied needed no elaboration.

“Now, hold on a second,” said Shining, “you claim to be the descendant of King Sombra, right?”

“With all due respect, your highness, that’s probably one of the stupidest questions somepony has ever asked me. I mean, after all the black crystals popping up around me, the fact I’ve got a stalagmite growing out of my forehead for a horn, and then the fact my bloodline is earth as far back as anypony cares to know aside from the most evil unicorn in history forcing himself into it, I’m kind of stumped in how else I can make myself look even more like Sombra unless I start going CRYSTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALS in a horribly strangled voice.”

“I think what my brother means, Razz,”Twilight clarified, “is that while your appearance and actions are unique for ponies who have used dark magic, the truth is conventional magic studies can’t confirm that those are truly signs that you are of Sombra’s bloodline or if they’re just the result of long-term dark magic usage.”

“To be fair, Twi,” interjected Applejack, “considerin’ you yourself admitted she knows more about dark magic than anypony here, much less in all of Equestria, if she’s sure she’s got Sombra’s powers then Ah don’t really see how we can’t trust her there. Plus, if she wasn’t part of Sombra’s kin, then how do you explain the mass-petrificatin’ thing she did, or how by her own admission she…well, you were there, Twi, when she explained what happened this mornin’ only could’ve happened ‘cause her magic is like his.”

“I don’t know what happened this morning that involved her magic and you girls, but I think I can help support her claims since I’ve been sensing magic similar to Sombra’s for some time, now, as I told my fellow princesses via the letters I sent a few weeks ago.”

“Wait, you knew the truth about me this whole time?!” a scandalized Razz exclaimed.

“Well, yes and no, Raspberry,” said Luna. “Thanks to Cadence, we’ve known of somepony or something out in the world whose magic was of the same type as Sombra’s, she of all of us would know since she had to keep that shield going during his brief resurrection, except we didn’t know who. Obviously, that who is you, so we have an answer to that question instead of having to go on a changeling hunt.”

“Yeah, that would have ended badly,” sighed Raspberry, “though certainly not as bad as when I got my cutie mark…”

Fifteen years ago…

“This better be some kind of joke, Beryl, even though I would have expected your sense of humor to be better than…than that!” threatened Torchwood. In the decade since his wife’s death, having been stuck with no child save for a whiny unicorn brat who only recently had finally been of any use on the farm, he’d turned to drink and now was almost never seen without a half-empty bottle of liquor somewhere close by.

“B-but father…it really is my cutie mark!” answered Raspberry. For a filly who had grown up under the cruel hoof of her father, denied basic education as she was forced to work the fields to make up for having replaced the son that never was, and was publicly treated as something to be embarrassed of, this was supposed to have been the best day of her life. “I told you, I can use my magic to help the farm! I can-“

“You can do nothing right!” screamed Torchwood, getting to his feet from the worn-out chair he was sitting in, “You take my wife away from me and any chance of having a son, much less a child worth anything in having, have the worst working ethic of any pony who ever lived, and now you don’t even have the decency to get a cutie mark that doesn’t serve to mock me of my failures?!” Indeed, to his horror, Raspberry Beryl’s cutie mark was of brightly colored gems, apparently linked to her magic as she was levitating a few gems in a purplish black aura.

Raspberry backed up slowly, knowing what was coming, and so didn’t try to dodge the glass bottle smashing into her face, as prior experience had taught her that no matter what, she never got out of these situations without the bottle carving itself deep into some part of her body. This time, the bottle scored the side of her face, painfully scratching the surface of her eye. “AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!” she screamed, falling to the floor and hooves clutching at her bleeding eye, doing little to stop the flow.

“That’ll teach you…huh?” said Torchwood, now angry that half a bottle of good sorrow juice had gone to waste, but for the first time in a long while was something other than perpetually disappointed in his offspring. The blood that had spilled from her wounds only stayed blood for a few seconds upon contact with the floor, before darkening and hardening into what seemed to be black crystal, then subsequently dissolving into nothing. The implications of what that could mean forced Torchwood to pause, gazing upon the thing that was the only piece of his wife left to him, as it looked back at him, her wounded eye having already healed up as if the broken bottle had not hurt her in the first place. But most damning was the gems she had been levitating right before he had struck her; in her magic grip they had been bright and shiny, but when left alone their true nature was revealed and their dark cores visible for the world to see.

“Did…did you make those gems?” half-asked, half whispered Torch.

“wh-wha?”

“DID YOU MAKE THOSE GEMS WITH YOUR MAGIC?!”

Raspberry didn’t understand, “Y-yes! I m-mean no! I used my magic to make them, but th-they could still be sold to help fund the f-farm, can’t they?”

Torchwood was silent, the bottle handle falling from his hoof to shatter on the floor. Then, in the most controlled tone of voice Raspberry ever heard from him, he spoke, “I should have known, you unicorns are all really demons…”

“We’re what?”

No response, but as if in a trance Torchwood moved to grab Raspberry by the horn, dragging her as they went to the tool shed. “I’ve been blind to the truth, so much trouble could have been avoided if I’d just paid attention!”

“Wh-what’s going on?!” wailed Razz, scared of what might happen. “D-don’t try to break my horn off again, daddy! I’m sorry! Please!”

“No, you’re not sorry, which is why there will be no mistakes…” his hoof reached for the old saw he’d used to build all of the farm’s structures. “I will correct at least one of your mistakes, at least…”

Tears now flowing freely as she was held down on the ground with her head locked by her father’s strong foreleg, she realized too late what was going on when the first tooth of the saw was felt at the base of her horn, where it connected to her skull. Then, her father pushed the saw forward-

“GAH!” gasped Raspberry, suddenly convulsing violently and shooting her head back with wide eyes, throwing Heliodor clean off her horn. It would have been comical had she not also started crying and hyperventilating.

“Raspberry, darling! Are you alright?” inquired Rarity, having rushed out of her seat to be at the other unicorn’s side. The suddenness of the dark unicorn’s behavior had everypony else on edge too, some having gotten to their feet to help if need be.

“Y-yes, I’m fine, thank you f-for your concerns, all of you…” said Raspberry, in-between sniffing. “It’s just that of all the things my father did…making the day I got my cutie mark into the worst day of my life is something I can never forgive him for doing, not when he took away my magic so painfully and traumatically…not when he ruined what was the happiest moment I’d ever had on that bucking farm.”

“I know this may sound horribly inappropriate,” cautiously started Rainbow, “but, like, you’ve mentioned that weird regenerative ability of yours where you basically can’t die, much less sustain severe injury for more than a few minutes, so I have to ask if your horn regenerated after it…well, when your father basically destroyed it.”

“No, as far as I know it’s the only part of my body I can’t regenerate near-instantly. I don’t know what my father did with my original horn, for all I know he told somebody in-town to drop it in a canyon or something. I guess you could say I was ‘lucky’ in that he hadn’t cut deep enough into my skull to kill me that way, but I was left with a plateau of bone that was nothing more than a slight ridge on my forehead. He made me wear a bandanna over it, to hide what was left of my horn and to make me look like an earth pony like him. Truth be told, I probably wouldn’t even be alive today if it wasn’t for the constant, backbreaking labor he forced me to do, since I was still somehow growing at the time and so my physical condition was well above average for a unicorn mare my age at the time.

Only…I learned a few weeks later that just because my horn had been ruined didn’t mean I couldn’t use magic anymore. See, I was alone in the fields while my father was sleeping off another hangover, when for whatever reason the sky exploded into a rainbow. It must have been seen from all across Equestria.”

“That was probably me doing my first sonic Rainboom, which caused many things to happen that day.” boasted Rainbow, “uh, unless what you’re about to say was another bad thing, in which case it wasn’t me doing my first Sonic Rainboom.”

Fluttershy uncharacteristically hit Rainbow hard enough in the side for the blue pegasus to realize she had actually been hit by her yellow counterpart. “Rainbow,” the shy one said, “take responsibility for it, since it was for my sake that you were even in that race at all.”

Raspberry, contrary to expectations, laughed slightly. “It’s alright, Fluttershy, especially since that rainbow is how I learned my magic hadn’t really left me. On the field, alone, I remember marveling at its beauty and wanting to share the experience with somepony else. Except the only pony I actually really knew was my dad, who I obviously wasn’t going to bother with, and so I really wished for somepony to be with me. Next thing I know my forehead starts shooting out magic and forms into a perfect copy of me.”

“Like that fake double trick you did back at the Everfree Ruins?” realized Apple Bloom.

“Uh-huh, I can even demonstrated it, if your majesties would allow me to, of course.” With a nod from the four princesses, Raspberry closed her eyes and lit up her horn. The bubbling mass of purple was joined when she reopened them to release misty trails of purple, her eyes having turned green and red. “For the record, my mastery of dark magic is such that I can actually control this whole eye effect thing, it actually strains my eyes a little anyway so unless I need my full concentration on something else I normally just leave it off.” She then turned to the wall and fired a beam of magic at it. The beam stopped midway, pitching down 90 degrees and slamming into the ground. Then, like a mold being filled by water, a perfect cut-and-paste copy of Raspberry Beryl formed from the ground up.

“And you can do that without your horn?” absentmindedly said Twilight, gaping at the ease with which Raspberry performed what was essentially a difficult self-duplication spell.

“I could fifteen years ago, with a horn it’s even easier, though, since it doesn’t take more than few seconds for me now. Anyway, this is my dark magic duplicate who I named ‘Truth’.”

“You named it? Does that mean it’s like a sentient familiar?” asked Luna, a disapproving frown on her muzzle.

“What? Nah, dark magic can do lots of things, but it can’t create life. No, Truth here is basically a full-size puppet that I can give basic orders to.” To demonstrate, Raspberry flicked her head as if giving a command, and Truth wordlessly began to trot in a circle around the table a few times before coming to a stop in the exact place she had been created. “When I learned I could do this without my horn, life did start improving for me a little. From that point on, Truth acted in my stead to take the blows from my dad, only I made it so her wounds wouldn’t instantly heal as they do for me, so he never caught onto the deception and I wasn’t subject to his regular physical abuse anymore. I practiced making my fake gems, partly in the hope of somehow being able to change my fortunes in life, though mostly it really was the only thing I could truly do.

“ Working on that plot of land wasn’t easy, since there was so much buried diamond there, but of the most worthless variety. What little that could grow that we didn’t need to support ourselves was sold in town by dad along with the mined diamonds, though he blew most of it on booze anyway. When the diamonds started to run low, there simply wasn’t much to do. So I practiced magic, though my feelings of anger towards my father grew. He denied me every step of the way in terms of having a chance towards being a regular pony by keeping me cooped up on his farm, by trying to mold me into something he could say was his without being embarrassed about it. Unfortunately, he ended up informing the town about it all during his many drunken stupors, which a few years later came to a head…

Nine Years Ago…

It had been one of those long days when Torchwood had gone to town to sell what little his sad imitation of a farm had produced in excess of bare necessities. Having been nothing but cause for shame and embarrassment, he still forbade Raspberry Beryl from coming to town, recently having made it clear she was not to leave the house to even work on the farm while he was away.

When he’d returned, he reeked of booze and just went straight to his lonely bed, not even berating his daughter for being a useless bitch as he usually did. Raspberry was thankful for a small mercy, since those continued to be rare. But, after eating her self-prepared dinner of carrots and oats, she quickly washed up before heading to bed herself, waiting for the next dreary day to come with its challenges she needed to overcome just to survive. For fifteen years that had been her life, the last six having been especially bad as she had to wear an annoying bandana around what had been the only real thing separating her from the other ponies in the first place. Before she tucked herself in, she removed the bandana and looked in the dusty, cracked mirror at the stump on her forehead.

“Someday, Raspberry, you’ll have a life worth living,” she mumbled, turning to sleep once more.

It would not be a long sleep, as maybe only an hour had passed before she heard a large crowd of ponies approaching the premises.

“Burn the demon! Burn the demon!” they cried, leading Raspberry to realize her father must have gone on about how he was cursed with a unicorn child that had used “dark magic” or something. From what she knew, this year had been especially bad for the community, caught in the grip of a devastating drought. Without a dedicated pegasus weather team to relieve the pressure, the massive reduction in crop production as a whole was leaving the town angry and hungry. With horror, she realized that everypony blamed her for the trouble, possibly her father as well for causing it by sawing off her horn six years prior. But she didn’t have time to even think about trying to convince the townsfolk otherwise, not when the crowd started throwing torches at the house. The house timbers, dried out from the lack of rain, instantly caught fire and soon the blaze was wrapping around the house.

Raspberry instinctively made to gather what she needed before fleeing the burning house. Which, sadly, was only a small pouch of bits she’d managed to accumulate over the years from what little her father brought back. Using the bandana normally required to hide her horn’s stump, she fashioned a small pouch hanging on the end of a stick, before having to leave her room when parts of the roof started to fall in. However, she only made it to the dining room before she was tackled by her father.

“Trying to leave, are you?!” he snarled, a combination of sleep deprivation, drunkenness mixed with the still lingering effects of his last hangover, and general insanity etched onto his face.

“The house is on fire, you idiot!” she screamed back, fighting to get free, “We need to get out of here!”

“I’m the master of the house, I’m the one calling the shots of what we do!” He then effortlessly picked up his daughter and threw her against a wall. Ignoring the house burning around him and the angry crowd outside, he watched like a taskmaster who took disturbingly sadistic pleasure in making his charges feel pain. His sadistic grin, however, faded as he saw a change pass over his daughter while she got back to her hooves.

“Not anymore…” she grunted, her self-restraint finally broken as the floodgates of her anger flew open, letting fifteen years of emotion flow freely. “For years you’ve kept me locked up on this piece of shit farm, constantly deriding me as the cause for all of your failures, for all of your broken dreams. But now…now I’m putting an end to it!” She then threw her head back and gave a cry that was inequine to the point the crowd outside stopped chanting in fear that the ‘demon’ was going to go after them now.

“Wh-what the buck are you?!” choked out Torchwood, fear quickly bringing sobriety back to him for the first time in years. Somehow, despite having removed her horn and ensured its disposal, it was obvious the dark magic within her was still readily available and at her hooftips, if not more than ever now. The effect it had on her was a kind of metamorphosis, her colors all shifted to dark hues of red and black, two razor-sharp fangs making themselves known as they gleamed in the light of the fire raging around them, but most disturbingly of all was the stump of a horn pushing its way through her skull, forming a new and much more sinister looking horn as it was encased in the signature, dark bubbly mass that was a dark magic aura.

“Your daughter!” coldly declared Raspberry, completely subsumed by her rage. Then, without realizing it, Razz charged her father with her horn lowered, headbutting him into the wall and impaling him on her horn through the heart. With an unearthly scream she poured magic into her horn, matched by the eye-bulging reactions on Torchwood’s face before they finally rolled up and his last breath escaped through his lips.

With a grunt, Raspberry dragged her father’s corpse along the wall and threw it against another one, removing him from her horn, though now his blood stained the tip of her horn. Also of note was that something else came out of Torchwood; his heart had been crystallized into being a heart-shaped black crystal similar to the Raspberry colored one on the unicorn’s flank.

“Wha…what?” gasped Raspberry, the gravity of the act she had just committed knocking sense back into her. As she looked at the reflection of herself in what had been her father’s heart, she saw the monster she had become. “Oh, Celestia, what have I done?” She had hated her father, that much had been true, but she never would have wanted to harm him, to even lay a hoof on him would have been to put her on his level. But now…now she’d committed patricide (though at the time she didn’t know there was a term for that beyond “murder”) and had sinned so greatly she had become some kind of freak.

The rising sound of the angry mob outside the still-burning house, however, made it clear that if she still had any inclination to live, she needed to flee Lonesome Dove. Quickly grabbing her satchel of bits, she paused only briefly in front of the picture of her mother; too big for her to take with her wherever she went she noted tragically. Thus, she made sure to ingrain the only image of the parent who had really loved her, for she would never have fond memories of her father. Then she disappeared through the back door as the only world she’d ever known crumbled behind her in fire.

Silence once again filled the hall, the task of breaking the somber mood not being one anypony would want.

“My father may have been a terrible parent, but if there’s anything good about what he did, it’s that he taught me to be a good pony. Even before I truly figured out my relation to King Sombra, the biggest monster I knew was my dad, and I knew I didn’t want to be anything like him. The fact I killed him in blind rage nine years ago…I feel like the only way I can ever forgive myself for that, even if it takes me my whole life, is to be as good a pony as I can possibly be. Obviously, it’s difficult with my handicap of dark magic being the only kind of magic I can use, but as easy as it would be to harm other ponies for me to keep on going, I will not go to that level, the one my dad lived on and made my life hell in the process.”

The other ponies nodded in acknowledgement, but there wasn’t really anything more to be said. At least, not until Celestia spoke up. “Raspberry Beryl, thank you for being this open for our benefit, I have just one more question for you, personally.”

“Yes, your majesty?”

Celestia took a deep breath before saying her final question. “Raspberry…if I pardoned you right now, on the spot, and let you go do whatever you wanted to do without worry about getting in trouble about your dark magic…problem…what would you do?”

“I would go straight back to Ponyville, beg Ascot and Cashmere to forgive me for not telling them about my secret, and if they are merciful I would keep living life the way I had been right before Nightmare Night. Living and working at the Traveler’s Retreat, the only difference is I’d try to find a way to prevent what happened with Spike from ever happening again, and if not I’d stop selling them altogether as they are no longer my means of supporting myself and Helee anymore.”

“But if you don’t need to sell them to survive, then why sell them at all?”

“Because…well, because then I could enjoy selling them more for what they really would be instead of fakes. I could even give them away if I wanted, as long as they made other ponies happy. That way I could do something good with my special talent.”

Celestia nodded, but said nothing for a long few minutes. Then, with no outward emotion, she reassumed that fake, motherly smile as she gave her reply. “I see. Thank you, Raspberry, that will be all for you. However, before I am willing to let you go, I believe you’re a key part as to explaining this whole werewolf business.”

Raspberry paled, not exactly keen to explain her role in the “werewolf business” at all.

Later, Celestia mulled over her choice, alone in her chambers. For all that she knew, Raspberry Beryl was just as good a pony as any other, better than some, even. She at least knew the answers to why Raspberry was absent from the census records when she was a filly. Her father had purposely tried to hide her after all. But not because of trying to hide a potential perfect assassin and usurp control of the country; instead he’d tried to hide her from the world simply because he did not want the world to know his one child was not what he’d wanted. A purely selfish reason, destroying one of the happiest times in any young pony’s life, because he had felt self-entitled. Celestia could not in good conscience condemn such a pony to a terrible fate when the majority of the aristocracy was full of ponies who deserved to be jailed more than her.

But at the same time…she could not let a pony whose self-professed special talent and heritage were those of King Sombra. Who had still killed another pony, her own father even, without immediate remorse. Who had committed the greatest chain of forgery dealings in history, even if it was only for personal survival. And who had unintentionally caused Applejack to revert back to being a werewolf after a year of everypony believing she truly had been cured. While that instance had been under extremely unique circumstances, the fact merely being touched by dark magic had caused Applejack to revert, and the potential threat Raspberry posed to the country should she lose control again was a horror words could not convey.

Raspberry Beryl, for all intents and purposes, was just as powerful and just as dangerous as Sombra, and her judgement would have to factor that in. At the same time, Raspberry was the opposite of her predecessor, a truly good pony at heart, and so in order to remain being seen as a fair ruler, Celestia would need to take that into consideration as well.

It had taken her hours, but she finally settled on a decision. Equestriani courts would forever condemn it as controversial, but in light of the “werewolf business” that would never see the light of day in public if all went well, and how fate had wronged Raspberry Beryl for twenty five years, it was the only choice that would satisfy all sides. The only choice that could save Equestria should Fair Vista manage to set into motion Sable Loam’s plan to create a new werewolf army.

Which, though Celestia with a wry smile, would only happen with the help of the very power that created the werewolf problem a thousand years ago.

Ch.25: Divine Judgement

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 25: "Divine Judgement"

“Apple Bloom…” groaned Applejack.

“Yeah, sis?” replied the filly.

“We’ve established that the whole ‘you not tellin’ us about bein’ a werewolf’ thing is behind us, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. Now stop sniffin’ mah behind!”

Blushing, the young Apple backed away from her sister’s plot. “Sorry.”

Applejack just shook her head. “Please don’t tell me you sniff the behinds of other ponies in public.”

“Wouldn’t her teacher, whatshername, have mentioned something like that?” suggested Lightning Dust, before reaching into a bag of Happy Puppy dog biscuits and popping a few into her mouth, “Damn, these things are really good.”

“You’re referrin’ to Cheerilee, Ah'm guessin', and Ah wouldn’t eat too many of those, Dusty,” warned Applejack as she confiscated the bag, “this’ll be the only bag we’ll get until we get back to Ponyville.”

“Ah doubt it’ll last that long, Applejack,” pointed out Apple Bloom, “Ah went through a bag once a week initially, Ah was goin’ through twice as much by Nightmare Night.”

“Great, we gotta ration ‘em now?” rhetorically asked Applejack, taking a biscuit into her own muzzle, “Winona’s not gonna like it…”

“Better than eating actual meat, you do have to admit that” snarked the pegasus.

“True.”

“Ah’m just worried about what’s gonna happen to Razz,” mumbled Apple Bloom, “None of this woulda happened had Ah not gotten separated from the group.”

“What are you so worried about, sugarcube?” Applejack replied, trotting over to where Apple Bloom had sat down in the corner of the bedroom. It had been decided at the luncheon yesterday that for the time being, it probably would be better for the werewolves to all share a room to sleep in, since while even Raspberry didn’t know how close werewolves got to true pack animals, it was generally agreed that erring on the side of caution in that regard couldn’t hurt anything. As long as nopony tried marking their side of the room, lest the sleeping rage monster that was the Castle Canterlot cleaning staff be unleashed. “None of what’s happened was your fault.”

“B-but…” sniffled Apple Bloom, the water works starting up, “if Ah’d told you Ah was a werewolf, Ah never woulda-“

“Apple Bloom, I know what you’re going to say,” cut off Lightning Dust. “But in truth, if you had told Applejack and the others about your lycanthropy, then the events on Nightmare Night would have been different. Possibly with worse end results. Nothing would have changed that would have made the situation better; Fair Vista would still be after you, Raspberry would still be hiding in her own shell instead of ending a cycle of pain and suffering she kept subjecting herself to, and who knows what else. What’s done is done, so all things considered the fact nothing close to the worst case scenario came to be, we should be thankful there may be light at the end of the tunnel.”

Apple Bloom sighed. “Yeah, you’re right, Lightnin’. But Ah still won’t feel right until this whole matter is over. Celestia called the other princesses in for discussion hours ago and there’s still no sign of them comin’ out so she can lay judgement.”

“Ah’m worried too, Bloomie,” soothed AJ as she lay a foreleg over the back of Apple Bloom’s neck. “Ah never did get the chance to really apologize for my behavior towards her when she said it might’ve been her fault Ah’m a werewolf again. It wasn’t her fault, really, nopony knew, and if she was right then Ah’d just been livin’ an illusion of havin’ been turned back to normal.”

Just then, there were a brief set of knocks at the door, followed by Fluttershy entering. “It’s time, girls, the princesses are going to end this once and for all.”

For the third time in as many days, Raspberry Beryl was being judged by the same four royals, this third and hopefully final time being more of an address to the country about her than anything, as news had spread of her stunt in the courtroom. On the one hoof, it felt like the trial all over again, except with the highest possible power of judgement about to hammer down the path of fate she was to follow, and no defense team provided by Twilight this time.

And yet, it was still better, as the reassuring grip of Heliodor’s talons on her horn – her fake, “regular” horn, as she’d decided to don her ‘preferred’ colors and form for the day in lieu of the form she had been altered into over the years as per the advice of Rarity – made a world of difference. She could feel the eyes of a nation, among them the ponies from Ponyville who she’d befriended even as they were hurt in her presence. She wondered if they were the only sets of eyes not sitting on a throne before her that wished for her well being. All the others…well, she couldn’t give less of a damn. If they had a problem with her, they’d need to get through Heliodor and a firestorm of emerald blazes first.

“Everypony, please, settle down,” Luna calmly requested, the crowd of ponies instantly falling silent at her simple command, “As you all know, it’s been an…interesting series of events here in Canterlot thanks to the special nature of Miss Raspberry Beryl and her ever loyal pet, the phoenix Heliodor.”

Ever the attention lover, Helee feigned humility in the slight praise given to him by the princess of the night.

“Obviously, due to her claims that she is descended from the False King Sombra,” said Cadence, taking her turn to speak, “she is the last of what history has called the Crystal Imperial bloodline, a discredited branch of the old Equestriani royal family long thought extinct due to the former belief that Sombra produced no heirs to his name.”

Cadence then turned and nodded to the pony who she had once foalsat, now a fellow princess. Twilight gave a nod of her own in acknowledgement before she continued the speech. “But simply being of royal blood, no matter how far removed it has become from its source, does not excuse a pony’s actions. The laws that are a part of Equestria since its founding thousands of years ago are the true highest power, even we alicons are not above them, for it is not birthrights or privilege that those laws are to be judged by. No, this country, Our Equestria, was founded on the beliefs of Harmony: of honesty, of laughter, of kindness, of generosity, of loyalty, and magic, which together form the friendships that have bound us all together. The past days and events that will define their memory serve as a reminder of that, for initially the pony who sits before us; Raspberry Beryl, was brought here to be judged on the severity of her crimes. As we have learned, however, we can not judge a pony like her on those grounds alone, not when it was shown to us that her ‘crimes’ are in fact just a reflection of who she is on the inside.”

Once Twilight was finished, Celesta left a moment of silence for the words to register in all of the audience’s minds, before clearing her throat and made to finish this business once and for all.

“Raspberry Beryl, you were brought to Canterlot, of your own accord, I will note, to receive judgment and trial on grounds of having committed the greatest number of offenses against Equestria itself in its recorded history. These acts all sharing one common factor: dark magic.

"According to you, as well as been verified by several other trustworthy sources, the magic that you possess is no ordinary dark magic, but of a much more powerful nature that was inherited by your ancestor, King Sombra, and your special talent is having a mastery of the dark arts on his level as well which surpasses all others who wish to use the corruptive side of magic for their own ends. It is on those grounds that it does not matter whether you are innocent or guilty of conspiring and defying the authority of the Equestriani crowns, you are a very clear and present danger to every pony and every settlement in the country with the powers you hold.

“B-but your majest-!” cried out a shocked Raspberry, but a single raised hoof from Twilight silenced her.

“Please, let her majesty finish,” appealed the youngest princess, the slightest touch of a smile appearing at the sides of her muzzle.

“Thank you, Princess Twilight,” continued Celestia, resuming her place in her speech. “Surely, Raspberry Beryl, you must understand that it is not just your raw power and skill that makes you a threat alone, but the reputation that comes with those powers. A thousand years ago, Sombra used those same powers to turn the Crystal Empire into a nightmarish wasteland, enslaving innocent ponies, and other unmentionable horrors purely with the intentions of his new domain being a mere stepping stone to conquering all of Equestria. He almost prevailed again not too long ago had it not been for a special group of ponies and a certain assistant.” As she mentioned Spike in passing, she glanced over at the stained glass mural that commemorated the victory of Spike the Dragon over Sombra.

Spike was the one who saved the Crystal Heart?!” thought Raspberry, eyes shrinking as the gravity of her actions a few days ago finished sinking in, I don’t remember ever hearing about him even being there, but now that everypony more or less thinks I’m Sombra reincarnate and the biggest reason I’m here was how that diamond nearly killed him…

“Yes, the same assistant who is a beloved member of the royal family,” said the sun princess, not losing a beat but noticing Razz’s reaction, “the one who happened to befall a terrible injury by the same magic he helped defeat. Ponies will interpret that as you having the same ambitions as Sombra himself, which will generate panic and disorder should you be let free and unpunished, much less my hoof being forced purely because the act of dark magic practice is forbidden in Equestria outside of extraordinary circumstances. Furthermore, the actions at your trial must be interpreted as an attack on the highest degree of treason, which in of itself would be enough to sentence you to immediate execution.”

“Y-yes, your highness…” acknowledged Raspberry, her head drooping in acceptance of the fate she hadn’t escaped after all.

“But,” added Celestia, getting a shocked reaction from all those in front of her, Razz and Heliodor chief among them, “it is extraordinary circumstances that have guided you through life, my little pony, and even more extraordinary that you should bear the powers and features of King Sombra, yet within your heart and mind are untouched. You have struggled for years not only because of your lineage, of the sins committed centuries before your time, but because you chose not to use those powers to gain power and follow the path of evil like Sombra. You desire not what your blood demands is yours as part of royalty, but what is a given birthright to all ponies.

“You have also gained the trust of some of the most important ponies in the country, chief among them Princess Twilight, who you hurt through no fault of your own when Spike ate your handiwork. You were there to protect Apple Bloom, sister to Applejack, from an unforeseen evil that the Elements themselves couldn’t prevent. And above all else, when you had the entire ruling body of Equestria at your mercy, you cared more about vengeance for the companion who has been your only family for so long, rather than surpassing King Sombra in accomplishing the one thing he never could. But that is unfair, admittedly, because that suggests that is how you compare yourself to the pony who defined so much of you before he was even defeated the first time, when everything that you do, the desires and goals that drive your actions and decisions, are so that comparing him to you would show you are nothing like him.

“As I said before, your crimes against Equestria itself and the royal family are on the level of the highest treason imaginable, so in that regard the punishment must be equal in repercussions. However…” Celestia suddenly smiled – a genuine, if small, smile - which was the scariest thing Raspberry Beryl and Heliodor had ever seen. Was the princess actually happy about leveling something as bad as a death sentence?

Luna was of the same opinion. “Have you gone mad, sister?!” she whispered discretely to her counterpart, “Raspberry Beryl has done nothing wrong where her unfortunate birth didn’t come into play! My time as Nightmare Moon has my offenses to Equestria be far worse with a single attack on a settlement, whereas the worst she’s done is kill her father in self-defense!”

“There is a difference, dear sister,” responded Celestia, “just watch.”

If it’s not death, thought Raspberry, quaking in her seated place in front of the same ponies who had condemned Sombra to afate worse than death, and then later condemned to actual death, then what will they do to me? Cast me into a shadowy form, locked in the ice?

“Raspberry Beryl, while normally a pony who has intentionally committed such acts as you have would be put to death, your unique situation suggests a much preferable fate would be to serve the Equestriani Crown for the rest of your life, so that is what your punishment will be.”

“In hard labor?!” blurted out the unicorn, scared she would be forced into a situation where she couldn’t properly care for Heliodor.

Celestia laughed, which for a moment put everypony on edge for the same reason Raspberry had been earlier, but it quickly became clear there was more going on than initially thought. “Of course not! You may have been born on a farm but you are not an earth pony. You are, however, a unicorn with mastery over one of the most dangerous kinds of magic known to exist. Dark magic has always posed a threat to Equestria by those who would wish to see it fall or be their own domain, but all ponies who explore the dark arts fall under its corruptive influence and so it is impossible to truly understand it such that better defenses against it can be created. Sombra’s short-lived return a while back was a rude awakening to the fact our defenses against dark magic are no better now than they were a thousand years back. Combined with the various ways his influence has continued to affect Equestria ever since his first defeat, the need for improving those defenses has never been greater. An impossible task as even we alicorns require great amounts of our power and concentration to use it, with all unicorns who try to examine it either dying in the attempt or turning against the crown, which defeats the point.

“But you, Raspberry...you’re the exception, the one pony who has ever had the raw power of dark magic, straight from Sombra himself, along with the skills to fully utilize that magic…yet your heart and mind are as pure as can be. Nopony who is as truly good as you ever deserves a life sentence to anything, but even I cannot overrule the doctrines that Equestria is founded on, though I can exploit how vague the statement ‘service to the crown’ can be when interpreted.”

Raspberry’s eyes started to grow wide and misty. She was not going to die. “I-if it’s going to be my sentence to help keep this country safe, that my magic can be used for good, then I will happily accept my sentence. Just…just don’t put me in a dungeon cell or separate me from Heliodor, I don’t want to go through that again!”

“That wasn’t even possible regardless of your opinion, Raspberry,” answered Cadence. “Your magic is of such a powerful nature that there are few ponies who could contain any trouble you could cause. It would be seen as foolhardy to leave you in a stone cell with only guards keeping an eye on you, since even the most powerful guards would be but toy soldiers against your might.”

“Fortunately,” continued Twilight, “as it so happens, all the ponies who would be able to properly act as handlers live in the same place. It’s a small little village, maybe you’ve heard of it?”

Raspberry’s eyes grew even larger and brighter. “Y-your majesties are letting m-me go back to Ponyville?”

Luna nodded for her fellow royals. “Indeed. We have discussed it at length and have determined the best means of any supervision for you would be from ponies that you feel comfortable around and everypony in Equestria can rely on to keep you on the straight and narrow. But, above all else, we would be no better than your father by denying you the life you deserve. You found happiness in Ponyville, a place that you feel is where you belong after so many years of drifting aimlessly. Who are we to take that from you?”

“I…I…” stuttered Raspberry, having sprung back up onto all four hooves but all attempts to speak resulting in choking. Heliodor furiously fluttered about either side of her head, trying his best to wipe up the first tears rolling down her cheeks while not placing himself in the line of sight between his mistress and the four alicorns. He eventually gave up with a tired sigh and retired to sit on Raspberry’s back. She hadn’t even noticed him as she finally choked out a vital question; “Th-there has t-to be a c-catch…*snif* always a c-c-catch…”

“Unfortunately, there are one or two,” confirmed Celestia, wishing there was some way she could have said that without killing the light of hope in Raspberry’s eyes, but it would be alright in the end. “Due to the dangers posed by your dark crystal gems should they be eaten by a dragon like Spike, unlikely as that may be, or if they react to some other magic breaking them open and allowing them to grow uncontrollably, you are forbidden from selling or distributing anything made from black crystal in any form unless further safety precautions can be devised for that line of work. Additionally, you are forbidden to leave Ponyville without being accompanied by one of the ponies who will carry the title of warden, and in the event there is anything involving dark magic requiring the involvement of the crown, you will be summoned for duty as an expert as is laid out in your sentencing.”

Silence. Raspberry stood there, trembling, expecting Celestia to mention something else. The whopper, the deal-breaker, something that would prove this was all more bullshit that fate was throwing at her to make life even more miserable. But there was nothing. Celestia just sat there on her throne, just like the other three princesses, looking at Raspberry with an indiscernible expression. She couldn’t take it. “That…that’s it?!”

“Raspberry, is something wrong?” inquired Twilight, concern on her face.

“Of course there is!” screamed Raspberry, the tears starting to flow freely, “You expect me to believe that after everything that’s happened here, the worst you’re going to do is basically order me to use my dark magic in ways that will help other ponies?! And that I can also just go back to Ponyville, to the Retreat, and just live life like I’ve always wanted?!”

“Um…y-yes?” replied Celestia, now wondering if at any point, something had been said wrong that had triggered Raspberry’s temper. The eldest princess started prepping a defensive spell should this moment, which should have been a relief all around since it took a lot of loophole finding to manage her punishment on Raspberry, degrade into another episode akin to the trial.

“NO! I…I CAN’T!” blurted Razz, evidently more confused than actually angry, “That’s not how life works! Not for me! Everything good that’s come my way, other than Heliodor, always ends up falling through, always ends up-“

*SMACK*

In her hysterics, Raspberry had failed to notice Rarity get up from her place, stride confidently over to the self-destructing unicorn, and then bitchslap her clean across her face. “For heaven’s sake, darling, pull yourself together!” The rest of the Ponyville crew had gotten up and now stood around Raspberry, who still was recovering from Rarity being most unladylike.

“This ain’t a trick, Razz,” said Apple Bloom, walking up and putting her hoof on Raspberry’s. “Ah told you to trust in ‘em, that everythin’ would work out.”

“Indeed, it will be a shame that I won’t be able to use your services to help decorate my products anymore, but we’re still friends and that’s what counts the most, no?”

“Plus, you can’t always look at life like a cup and say it’s half empty,” Lightning Dust interjected. “I mean, the fact that little problem of mine still hadn’t been fixed kind of puts a damper on things, but other than that, being in Ponyville has made me happier than I’ve been in years, no small part on Rainbow and friends giving me a second chance after nearly killing them all. But you? You never even had a first chance, but now you do.”

“Hey, would throwing a party help cheer you up?” suggested Pinkie, to the surprise of absolutely nopony, “We’d have to wait until we got back home, but a nice, big party should help you fit right in!”

“Ah also think you should remember how much we need you, Razz,” admitted Applejack, “the only reason Apple Bloom is still with us is because you stopped you-know-who. If that were-bitch comes back, you’re the only one who can really stop her.”

Rainbow laughed. “Yeah, that actually reminds me, you’ll need to show us some of your sweet moves! Apple Bloom was saying the beat down you were giving on that ghost sounded like an epic fight but since you put her in that crystal prison for her own safety she didn’t know what you were actually doing. Unfortunately for you, I do want to know.”

“And don’t worry about the other ponies in town, they’ll warm up to you again,” said Fluttershy. “I mean, you’ll probably want to just stick with the form you’re in, since your real horn would scare the children and small animals, but maybe using your dark magic for mundane things that wouldn’t hurt anypony, like levitating fruit into a bag or something, would prove you’re just as much a regular pony as the rest of us. Your aura is just unique.”

Raspberry looked at each of the ponies gathered around her one by one. Every single one of them had a reason for hating her guts, but…they didn’t. They’d instead listened to her story, understood her plight, and in the end had done what Apple Bloom had promised.

“T-thank you…all of you!” cried Raspberry, throwing caution to the wind and taking Pinkie Pie into a rib-crushing hug. Behind them, in the crowd of general public ponies who were bearing witness to all this, a low rumble began to be heard. Gradually, it became louder, and louder, until the entire hall echoed with the sound of thunderous, hoofstomping applause for the mercy shown by the princesses. But to Raspberry, it was the sound of congratulations, of victory over her long and troubled life. Everything had turned out for the best…well, almost.

There were still two ponies whose judgement was still to be passed, in their own castle back in Ponyville. And though they were mere specks in importance compared to Celestia’s decision, their opinion mattered far more to the dark unicorn.

Later, after Luna had raised the moon, and long after the Ponyville crew was allowed to return home, Celestia looked out from her private balcony. She could see for many miles from this vantage point, but as usual her attention was focused on the same place she often gazed toward. Over a hundred years ago, when she had told the Apples they could start a farm there to live on instead of being a nomadic wagon train, she’d known a town would spring up soon enough. Granted, she hadn’t known about the zap apples, those had come as a surprise, but if the magical fruit hadn’t been in play the town would have still sprung up as a center of community regardless. She hadn’t planned on that town being where the six ponies who would bear the restored Elements would converge on that fateful night for the first time, though originally Twilight hadn’t been the one who Celestia had thought would be the “spark” that would restore Luna from her tortured state as Nightmare Moon.

“Compared to Sunset Shimmer,” came an all too familiar voice, “Twilight was the better choice.”

“I do wish you would develop a habit of not intruding on the privacy of other ponies in their rooms, Discord,” sighed Celestia.

“That would imply I was even in the castle to begin with, my dear,” chuckled Discord, who promptly levitated up from below the balcony and oriented such that he was upside down. “Though I will admit I am genuinely worried for your health. After all that business with Raspberry Beryl and her turning out to be the complete opposite of the resurrected nightmare you initially thought she was, you really should get some shut-eye.”

“Since when have you cared for my health?” inquired Celestia with a raised eyebrow. “Even if you managed to spin the whole ‘Luna and I were captured and imprisoned by your failed scheme from a thousand years ago’ event to be favorable to you in the end, it still doesn’t change the fact you let it happen in the first place.”

“True, I did allow my plunder seeds to abduct you, but beyond the initial panic were either of you in any real danger at any point?”

“Well…no, we were kept in pretty cramped conditions under all those vines but we weren’t explicitly hurt.”

“Exactly. Believe it or not, as much as I serve to be the counter-agent to everything you desire for the country, I’m not stupid. There must always be a balance.”

“I would hardly call what you did to this world twice, before and after you were first imprisoned in stone, anything remotely resembling ‘balance.’”

“Yes, well, I admit, those things do make me sound hypocritical, but…”

“Don’t you dare say the ends justify the means here.”

“Of course not, that cliché is old and boring anyway. No, the reason I screwed up the balance of everything those two times was because I had let myself go out of control. Yes, yes, I know! It sounds strange coming from somebody whose entire point of existing it the opposite of ‘control’ but bear with me. The first time I took over Equestria, it was supposed to be a test.”

“A test?”

“Yes, a test to see what you and Luna would do in the face of a country-wide crisis. Unfortunately, due to your mother leaving this world several years before, I lost the only gauge of how much chaos was too much. You see, as an agent of chaos, it’s my job to cause it, as your mother’s job was to bring order and peace. That’s why we got along so well, you see, because we had respect for the importance of the other’s purpose. But while I was comparatively much more powerful with the ability to alter the world with nothing but a snap of my fingers-“

“Fingers?” asked Celestia, curious. “What are those?”

“Oh, right, those don’t exist here, uh, just forget I said that. Anyway, with a mere snap, I can do whatever I want, whenever I want. But Faust, she had a much better understanding of things, of the why behind things happening or existing. She perceived how to best use our powers in tandem to keep this reality in check with itself, for the benefit of all living things.”

“You really needed Queen Faust to tell you when things got excessive? I’d think making ponies becoming shallow imitations of themselves is well beyond what would be considered ‘excessive.’”

“Yes,” admitted Discord, which Celestia realized was a true, honest admission of fault. This creature, who would try to spin anything such that it looked like he had been in the right all along, was honestly saying he’d screwed up somewhere. “We were such a team, Faust and I, sort of a ‘brains and brawn’ dynamic. She was the brains, telling me what needed to be done and where, and I happily did it, but never did she treat me as anything less than an equal. Considering every single other thing alive at the time saw me as an evil being, she really was the only anchor I had to sanity.”

“So when the time came to ‘test’ Luna and I, you sort of lost it and went overboard out of grief?”

“Not out of grief, but out of a need. You won’t believe me, but it was part of Faust’s final request as well as the prophecy I told you of earlier. But now that Raspberry Beryl is back on her intended path, it’s safe for you to know everything now.”

“So, you’re going to let me read that scroll you’ve been dangling in front of me like a carrot?”

“Sort of, the reason I won’t share it with you now is because Luna needs to be here. You are both the only things of Faust that remain in this world, you both deserve to know your mother’s final words. Along with what our favorite little ponies may be facing in the near future.”

It had been a rough week for Raspberry Beryl. One week ago, she’d willingly surrendered to the crown after choosing to save Apple Bloom from Fair Vista over a clean escape. She’d spent several days as a prisoner on trial, though admittedly only two of those nights had been absolute hell thanks to well-justified separation anxiety. Now she was legally in service to the crown ‘for life’ in the vaguest sense of indentured servitude imaginable, but her gamble in befriending the most dangerous ponies in the country (to her) had paid off.

“You ready?” asked Twilight.

“As I’ll ever be,” replied Raspberry. Heliodor perched on her back, not where he would rather be but in order to keep a low profile he wouldn’t be able to perch on her horn as usual.

“If the worst should happen, darling,” said Rarity, “you can always stay at my place, but I think I can speak for all of us when I say I know everything is going to be alright.”

“Thanks, I really mean it. You all pulled through for me back in Canterlot, so if you all think this is going to work out, then I believe so, too.” With a quick smile and deep breath, Raspberry departed the group of friends who had become almost a surrogate family to her, a sisterhood of sorts. But as she walked up the familiar old steps and opened the door, the little bell attached to it letting out a cheerful ring, she hoped she could count two other ponies among the family she had found in Ponyville.

“One second, just need to put these keys back!” came the easily recognized voice of Cashmere from behind the front desk, followed by a near-silent ‘clink’ of a keyring hitting its hook. “There we go! Apologies, but welcome to the Traveler’s Retr-“ as Cashmere turned around, delivering a stock greeting, she stopped-mid sentence as realization of just who had entered hit her. “Ra…Raspberry?”

“Yes, Mrs. Cashmere, it’s me. I’m home, but only if you want me.”

“Bu-bu-but…why wouldn’t you be wanted?”

“I’m sure you already know, but I was convicted of high treason after what I did at the trial about me using dark magic near exclu-“ She was caught off guard as the elderly mare made a surprisingly athletic tackle and took the unicorn into a big hug.

“Have you been worried about what Ascot and I would think of you after hearing about all of that?” asked the innkeeper, her eyes misty.

“Why wouldn’t I? You two did so much for me, opening your home, letting me live and work here, only for me to turn out to be a pony on the run and all the lies I fed you.”

“You poor thing! Didn’t Rarity tell you? She sent letters almost daily to us about what was going on, you wouldn’t believe how worried we were that you would be taken from us all on account of some dusty old laws and fate being cruel to you. We feared the worst when we didn’t get a letter today, but now you’re here again, oh blessed Celestia you’re home!”

“You…you’re not angry at me? For the lies or the dark magic or the-“

“Why would we be angry?” came a new voice, this time from Ascot, who had emerged from the door leading into the large dining room after hearing the conversation. “From the letters, we know what you have told us was mostly true, anyway, what you hid from us was not for reasons of ill-intent, but of shame of who you were. You wanted to protect us from the things of your past. Nopony can fault you for that. And anypony with a brain can figure out the thing with Spike was an accident and not some premeditated assassination or whatever. Hell, if it wasn’t for your magic, not only would that young Apple not be around today, neither would I!”

“Wait, what?” said Twilight, who had suddenly appeared behind Raspberry, startling the group. “My apologies for intruding, but we were getting worried when Raspberry didn’t come out to let us know if everything is good or not between you two and her, so I just wanted to make sure. But Razz, why didn’t you mention having saved Mr. Ascot back in Canterlot?”

“It…it was nothing, really,” Razz said meekly, blushing all the while. “I just did what any good-hearted pony would have done.”

“Modest as usual, good to see you haven’t changed a bit, Raspberry!” laughed Ascot, who moved alongside the redder unicorn to drape his good wing over her in an embrace. “But really, what she did that night, she and that rascal of a bird she keeps as company, nopony else could have done it.”

“N-no, really Mr. Ascot, I didn’t do that much, honest!” Raspberry blushed harder while Heliodor just rolled his eyes, knowing what was to come.

“Well, it sounds like a story worth hearing, Mr. Ascot. Would you mind?” asked Twilight eagerly.

“Sure, sure, bring in the rest of the girls, too! We’ll whip up something for you all to eat, it must have been a long train ride. But Raspberry…what she did for us that night, what she’s done since…damn it all if we don’t think of her as like a daughter.”

In the clamor that was to follow in preparing the dining room for the story, everypony took note of the great, big, silly smile on Raspberry’s face. The smile that indicated the biggest hole in her life, the void left from the only parent she’d ever had having never loved her, had finally at long last been filled. Deep down, Raspberry knew her place in the world as a master of dark magic aligned with the forces of harmony would be difficult, but even an army of a thousand Fair Vistas couldn’t stop her now. Not when Raspberry finally had found her place in the world. A place where she was wanted, where her magic could be used for more good than just making small shiny gems just to make a living, where there were ponies who knew what she was and loved her regardless, where she finally had something to hold her down such that she would willingly defend it against anything fate threw at her now.

A place…called home.

Ch.26: Saving Grace

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 26: “Saving Grace”

Coco Pommel sighed, looking out the window of the hotel room that she was supposedly going to have all to herself. The view was decent enough, a high vantage point looking out on the forests bordering Baltimare, but otherwise it only reminded her that this was only a temporary change from her usual stomping grounds of Manehattan.

“Coco! Where’s that decaffeinated coffee I sent you for?!”

Another sigh before the under-appreciated mare answered. “On the table in front of the fireplace, right where you told me to put it.” No answer, though that was expected. Suri Polomare had dragged Coco all the way across Equestria simply so she could “visit” a friend who was in the dressmaking business. And by “visit” it was really implied to be “steal any half-decent rejected designs to be incorporated in Suri’s next line” in all likelihood. Fashion Week was coming up in a few months and Suri had, as usual, slacked off in actually designing anything so now she was rushing to throw something together simply to stack her portfolio. It was for those reasons Coco never shared any of her ideas with Suri, the more professional of the ill-fitting pair would just claim they were hers and Coco “stole” them, resulting in a pay cut.

But, Suri was also more wise about how the world worked, and with how cutthroat the fashion industry was it had been fortunate she’d even let Coco be her assistant. It was pure luck, however, that Suri really didn’t care that much about Coco’s personal history, because if she ever learned about how deep Coco was connected to the Changeling invasion of-

Something in the corner of her eye caught the wandering focus of the mare, breaking her train of thought. A new one began, however, when what looked like a ghost pony was darting in and out of the thicket, away from Coco’s point of view.

“COCO!” shouted Suri all of a sudden, followed by the feeling of an empty cup of coffee hitting the back of Coco’s head. The surprise attack caught her off guard, balance suddenly being lost as she tumbled onto her side. The cup harmlessly hit the carpeted floor, being made of an unbreakable material. “I don’t pay you to stare off into space, do I?”

“Uh, n-no, no you don’t! My bad, Miss Suri!” quickly apologized Coco, already back on her hooves with one holding the coffee cup.

“I’d say, you look pale. Well, pale-er than usual, anyway, like you just saw a ghost.”

“I, er, thought I did, but it was probably just my imagination!”

“Your imagination will be the end of you at this rate. But not while I still have use for you. Come, come, we have work to do. And get me another cup of coffee!”

“Y-yes! Right away!” With one quick glance back at the window, Coco chided herself for being stupid. Ghost pony, as if! She thought while she left the room to get the fifth cup of decaf coffee for her employer, I must be going mad under Suri’s payroll, hopefully I’ll find something better at Fashion Week.

“Well, ‘Tia?” asked Luna, impatiently. “You said I needed to be here due to something involving mother?”

“Yes, well…”grumbled Celestia, “that was before Discord decided he needed to go use the restroom.”

“Typical, but then again it’s Discord, not exactly unexpected.”

“Yes, but I do hope he knows better than to try and make all the royal paintings out of alignment again.” Snickered Celestia.

“Oh, I shan’t be doing that anytime soon,” said Discord, who surprisingly just walked through the door instead of some needlessly elaborate method of going through a wall. “After what Meadow Glade did to me when she caught me trying to replace the bleach reserves with milk, I have to wonder if she wasn’t originally some kind of pony terrorist who was trained since birth to try and overthrow governments!”

“The royal cleaning staff happens to be one of the last lines of defense should the worst case scenario happen and an enemy force gets inside the castle,” explained Celestia with a sly smile, “because nopony will suspect the lowly cleaning maid to know how to snap an enemy’s neck with just their tail.”

“Wait, wasn’t that my idea, back before the whole Nightmare Moon thing?” pointed out Luna.

“I never said it wasn’t, Lu-Lu. It’s still relatively recent that the cleaning staff require basic knowledge of at least two different kinds of martial arts namely because that’s how long it took for me to lobby for more control over the screening process.”

“Yeah, a stone prison was merciful compared to army of trained killers you have mopping the floors. I guess your mother was right in asking me to withhold this scroll until you were ready,” commented Discord.

“Thou hast done what?!” bellowed Luna, her temper flaring to the point shades of Nightmare Moon may or may not have flashed through Celestia’s mind. “Present thine possession to us immediately!”

“Hey, easy your majesty, Faust told me to hold onto it until I felt you were ready, and now I do.” Discord snapped his talons and instantly a scroll appeared in his grasp. Celestia instantly recognized it as the scroll she’d been allowed to ‘feel’ with her magic, but not read, back at the abandoned mine shaft where Raspberry Beryl met her BFF Heliodor seven years ago.

“And pray tell what reason thou hath for deeming us unworthy prior to this day?” snorted Luna, snatching the scroll from Discord’s palm with one swing of her foreleg.

“Well, until a few years ago you two were still in a war of succession, were you not?”

“We will have you know that-“ argued Luna, before catching herself. After a moment of thought, she resumed her initial demeanor before resorting to the RCV. “Apologies, you’re right, Celestia and I weren’t getting along as well as we should have, for both the sake of our mother and our country.”

“That’s behind us, now,” said Celestia, “but currently I am wondering what is the business with Raspberry Beryl. We did meet mother following the defeat of Sable Loam, if only briefly and by complete chance, but at no point did she mention some kind of prophecy about a green phoenix.”

“You met her?” Discord asked, surprised, “Ah, I will need to ask how she was doing at a later time. Right now, it is of the utmost importance that you two read your mother’s note and be up to speed.”

With a nod, the royal sisters took the scroll in their magic auras in unison and unrolled it, unsure of what they would find.

“So…good!” gasped Lightning Dust in-between face-fulls stuffed with food.

“Hey, mind saving some for the rest of us?” nickered Dash

“Oh, don’t worry, there’s plenty of food to go around,” cheerily said Cashmere, “and if not I’ll just go make more. I’m guessing you’re pretty hungry, aren’t you?”

Lightning could only nod eagerly as she started to resemble a winged hamster more than a pegasus pony.

“Yeah, thanks for hosting us for dinner, Mr. Ascot and Mrs. Cashmere!” thanked Fluttershy, whose plate was loaded with more food than the timid mare could possibly eat, though mostly out of Cashmere’s insistence that the ponies help themselves to the smorgasbord of food that had seemingly been spontaneously produced as a result of Raspberry returning home.

“Oh, but we simply couldn’t do anything less!” exclaimed Ascot, “after all, it’s not everyday this old inn plays host to a princess and her entourage at the same time somebody as special as Raspberry is allowed to be with us again!”

“Actually,” spoke up Twilight, “there’s two princesses being served here, tonight.” She gave a wink to Raspberry, only the recipient could only cringe with embarrassment.

“What? There’s another princess coming? Which one? I mean, no offense, but Cadence is quite a bit taller than our usual clientele and then for both Celestia and Luna…well, I don’t think our ceilings are high enough!”

“Oh, dear,” said Rarity, “I do believe I forgot to mention that part of the events from Canterlot in my letters.”

“You kinda forgot to tell me you were sending the letters,” grumbled Raspberry, trading a look with Heliodor as they didn’t know what was coming.

“Will somepony please explain who’s coming to dinner?” asked Cashmere.

“Raspberry’s the other princess!” happily exclaimed Pinkie. “Since she’s part of Sombra’s bloodline, and Sombra’s bloodline is old Equestriani royalty, she’s a princess!”

“Is that true?” eagerly asked Cashmere, “You’re a princess?”

The shocked look on Raspberry’s face told all. “Uh, hold on, I get that I’m of royal blood, if only for the worst reasons imaginable, but that doesn’t make me a-“

“Actually, yes it does,” said Twilight, smiling with a touch of embarrassment. “I was supposed to tell you earlier, but as you have a very direct connection to the royal bloodline, you are in fact a princess of the realm. Your investiture is to be planned over the course of the next week and held in the Crystal Empire.”

Raspberry looked at Twilight as if the purple alicorn had grown a second horn. “You’re kidding. Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“Nope.”

“You’re saying that you and the other princesses thought it would be a good idea to take the pony who nearly demolished the ruling body of Equestria by complete accident, and make her somepony on your level in the Crystal Empire? Uh, have you forgotten whose blood runs in my veins and why me, having been constantly reminded today of how I’m basically as much a danger as Sombra, getting crowned a legit princess in the place that he screwed over for decades before he made it vanish for a thousand years might not be a smart idea? I mean, do you really think the crystal ponies will accept that?”

“Ah don’t see why not,” commented Applejack. “For all you say King Subaru’s blood runs in your veins, it’s not the only thing you got. After all, didn’t you say the only reason that even happened is ‘cause he got involved with your ancestors who were crystal ponies? You’re one of them, too, even if your blood isn’t exactly of pure origins.”

“Besides,” added Twilight, “you’re only going to be a princess in pretense.”

Raspberry still wasn’t swayed in her skepticism, “I still don’t see the need.”

“You can blame your blood on that. Because you’re the only known remaining member of the Crystal Imperial family, it is your inherited place in the royal family. And yes, you have to be named a princess, because not doing so will have the other countries see that as a sign of disrespect or weakness on part of the actual ruling princesses. You can guess the myriad of ways they’ll try to exploit that.”

“You mean boring us to death?” said Rainbow, pantomiming a fake yawn, “Not that it’s not interesting or anything about hearing why Equestria’s next princess is going to be the pony who got closer to taking over Equestria than Sombra-

“By complete accident,” interjected Rarity, giving a sly wink to her former source of gems.

“Uh, yeah, point is we’re going to be dragged into it anyway later, so I’d rather we talk about something else while we’re still in Ponyville.”

“Yeah, wasn’t there somethin’ about a story we were supposed to hear?” said Apple Bloom, who was eager to leave all the business involving royalty behind.

“Yes, Mr. Ascot was going to tell us about how Raspberry saved him, right?” asked Fluttershy, who had probably paid more attention to Heliodor than the actual discussion being held.

“Honestly, I didn’t do that much!” whined Raspberry, though her tone implied she knew otherwise.

“I’d say not lettin’ me get turned into timberwolf chow is worth more recognition than just ‘not that much’!” reasoned Ascot, who absentmindedly rubbed a hoof over what looked like the scarred remains of a serious wound. “Especially not when it was a pack of twenty or so of the bastards tryin’ to eat me.”

“She what?!” exclaimed all the ponies who didn’t work at the Retreat, turning to look wide-eyed at Raspberry.

The mulberry unicorn sighed, figuring she might as well let it pass. “It was really more like fifteen.”

“Ah, now she comes around at last,” chuckled Cashmere. “I guess that’s your cue for starting, dear.”

“I believe so, too.” Replied the older pegasus, taking his seat alongside Cashmere at the far end of the table, next to Raspberry. “Now, picture this; several months ago, on a dark and stormy night-“

*THUNK* went Raspberry, face having made contact with the table. “Of all the ways to start it, you go with that one…” she lamented, muffled by the table, “like I wasn’t already being treated like some kind of higher power.”

“Ah, let me have some liberties!” laughed Ascot, “but regardless, you all get the idea. It was that big storm from a while back; thunder crashing everywhere, rain coming down as if Cloudsdale’s plumbing had broken lose, one of the worst storms in years! But, obviously, the storm wouldn’t be the most memorable thing from that night…

“Ascot!” called out Cashmere, “Ascot! Get back inside, the storm’s too fierce!”

“I can handle it!” called back the pegasus. The supercell that had formed over the Everfree Forest was now making its way over Ponyville, wreaking havoc on all that stood before it. The weather team had done their best to weaken it, but despite succeeding in splitting the thunderhead in two such that half of the storm would be caught above the Everfree until it was safe to let loose, it was only the lesser half. The stronger half was hell bent on destroying Ponyville and while it wouldn’t succeed, it would cause the insurance companies no end of trouble afterwards.

But in the middle of the storm, the old hanging sign of the Traveler’s Retreat, a relic from earlier times, had been buffeted hard enough for one of its two hooks to fail, leaving the other one perilously in the wake of the storm.

While the loss of the sign normally would have been not that big a deal, this sign was special. It was a part of the Retreat, it’s mounting having been the moment Ascot and Cashmere had opened for business, and had served as a welcoming beacon to all those who needed a place to rest and were of little money.

Thus, it was paramount that the sign be saved. As reattachment during the storm was out of the question, Ascot was determined to retrieve the sign before it blew away into the night and bring it inside.

“Honey, please, come back!” cried out Cashmere, “the sign isn’t worth risking your life! We can get it replaced!”

“Not this specific one! Too many memories!” answered the pegasus, having reached the sign post. “See? Halfway done already! Now, just gotta…get…this…undon-“

As Ascot managed to get a grip on the sign, an extra powerful gust of wind blew upon the earth. The strengthened air current was too much for the pegasus, maybe if he’d been younger he could have held on, but he was almost old enough for people to start assuming he was a grandpa and he simply wasn’t capable. The gale roared into him, making his hoof on the sign’s post lose its grip just as the sign’s one remaining connection snapped. Acting as some kind of kite, the sign took the hapless pegasus clutching onto it for dear life as together they were whisked away into the black oblivion.

“NOOOOO! ASCOT!” screamed Cashmere, having just watched her husband be stolen into the night. She would have raced after him and probably been one of the few ponies killed in the storm, but some of the Retreat’s patrons managed to pull her back into the safety of the Retreat’s interior before locking the door behind them. Cashmere knew that her guests had done the right thing, but it didn’t stop her uncontrollable sobbing in mourning the loss of something vastly more important than the sign of a small bed and breakfast.

“Wow, Ah’m sorry to hear about the sign,” remarked Apple Bloom, “but honestly the new sign looks like it fits just as well as the old one.”

“Huh? The ‘new’ sign? What are you…oh!” Cashmere started laughing, “That’s not a replacement, the sign out there is the same one the crazy old coot I love nearly died trying to save!”

“Well, I did save it, didn’t I?” replied Ascot.

“At the cost of what little flight endurance you have left, what with that nasty scar you got in return. But at least that will help keep you thinking clearly should another storm come.”

“Hey, I can still fly, thank you!” grumbled the pegasus, “but I would like to think the storm brought us something more than a good story, dear…”

Ascot didn’t know how long he’d been out, all he could remember was managing to throw the sign towards the ground when he thought he’d seen the outline of the Everfree Forest’s edge. Then an updraft carried him upwards and away from anything close to a landmark, before he suddenly slammed into what had probably been a tree. He knew Cashmere was going to be furious at him, that risking his life had been stupid considering, but chances were things would end up alright. If he was lucky, he’d landed near the hut of the zebra alchemist Zecora, where he could wait out the storm. A dingy cave would also do if need be.

But as he quickly found out, even with the thick forest to act as a breakwind to the storm, the pouring rain and what gusts dodged the trees made it difficult for him to move. It was also so dark he could barely see in front of him, having to take care not to step into any patches of poison joke or hit trees. Fortunately, he came across a well-worn path soon enough. The origins of the path didn’t seem to be logical, as ponies didn’t come into the forest beyond the one time on Nightmare Night to visit the statue or to visit Zecora on other days, but both the statue and Zecora’s hut were relatively close to the edge and a stone’s throw away from Ponyville proper practically. The path he was on now appeared to have been used regularly in the past, but was abandoned maybe a few months ago and the first signs of reclamation by the forest beginning to emerge.

“Hopefully this path will lead somewhere…” grunted Ascot, struggling to resist the fury of the storm. For maybe another half hour, the only noise he heard was the whistling of the gale, the pitter-patter of rain, and the crack of thunder. But he soldiered on regardless, knowing he had to get somewhere safe to get through the night.

Just then, a new sound was heard. A low, guttural growl.

“Wh-who’s there?” asked the pony to whatever was in the darkness. His answer was not verbal, rather it was when he turned around that he saw a pair of glowing green eyes, framed by what looked like wood. “T-T-Timberwolf!” he cried, turning back around and now racing at the fastest clip he could muster, the wooden beast behind him immediately giving chase with more joining in the hunt. Now it truly was a game of life or death, only Ascot knew he had to get to town now. A cave would only make him the next meal of the brutes for sure.

But good fortune would come in a strange way. He did not reach the edge of the forest. Rather, in his galloping stride, his hoof landed on a stray twig that slipped under him. His balance lost, Ascot found himself rolling like a ball off the trail and then violently down a hill, hitting more branches and trees and other obstructions. By the time he got to the bottom, he was dazed and in need of a bath, yet he would soon have bigger problems still.

“AARRRRRGGHH!” he whinnied, feeling the pain as a particularly agile timberwolf had managed to catch up and had sunk it’s splintered jaw into the base of his left wing’s mantle, then twisting it slightly and causing the injured muscle to sprain. Ascot managed to time a kick with his hindlegs such that it got the wolf off of him, but the damage was done. His advancing age was making itself known to him as there was no way he was going to make it anywhere out of this crater, not after having pushed himself to the absolute limit with having fought the storm. The mind-numbing pain from his bleeding wound also ensured his doom even if he had the strength to fly in the storm, as did the growing number of timberwolves encircling him. These wolves weren’t entirely stupid, they knew to just wait for him to fall unconscious before tearing him limb from limb, a time rapidly approaching.

Yet, as his legs gave out, his body crashing to the ground as he struggled to stay awake, he noted something peculiar. At the bottom of the crater was what looked like the worn, shattered remnants of what had been a tomb stone. One such chunk was close enough that even with the poor conditions, he could just make out the scratches of the letters ‘-IR VIS-‘ in what had to have been the center. A shame it will now be mine, too thought Ascot as he felt death draw near, and that I’m never going to see my Cash-

All hell broke loose when for no discernable reason, one of the timberwolves become enshrouded in green fire. The shock helping keep him awake a little longer, Ascot couldn’t figure out how a timberwolf could spontaneously combust in magic fire in the middle of pouring rain.

And then he saw the shining green bird, raising hell as it shot fire all over the place and lighting up the night. But moreover, he saw the silhouette of another pony. His strength reserves exhausted beyond any reason, he couldn’t even cry out as the pony with the bright red eyes, enshrouded by the cloak it wore, tried to rush to his aid only for seven or so wolves to ambush the newcomer. But before he finally passed out, he saw the bird shoot fire at the pony, hurting the wolves but doing no more than merely burning off the cloak on what was unmistakably a young unicorn mare, one Ascot had never seen. His last thought was of concern for the stranger.

“Y’know, I don’t recall ever getting an explanation for how you managed that trick,” mused Cashmere as she looked at the cringing Raspberry. “Of course, now that we know of your dark magic, it’s easy to see why you always dodged the question.”

“I must agree”, commented Rarity, ”it sounds impossible for somepony claiming a handicap of weak magic to be able to fight off an entire pack of timberwolves, much less in those kinds of conditions which any regular unicorn couldn’t have survived.”

“Yeah, a ‘regular’ unicorn,” said Raspberry, glumly.

Rarity immediately realized the damage. “Oh, darling, I didn’t mean it like that! You’re-”

Raspberry merely smiled. “Yeah, I know, but after years of being treated as a monster, ‘regular’ is still a word I don’t associate with my physical being.”

“No, Razz, my dear,” said Cashmere, “you’re not a monster, but you’re also more than just a regular unicorn. You’re a miracle.”

The following morning, search parties had been sent out to see if they could locate the lost pegasus, but in her heart, Cashmere feared the worst. It only became even more tragic when by the afternoon, all the search teams came up empty except for one, which had brought back the sign of all things, reportedly found just before the edge of the Everfree. Cashmere had to be held back from beating the snot out of the group, though nothing could stop her screaming about why they couldn’t have found her husband instead of the dumb sign.

Nothing except the ringing of the front bell and an unfamiliar voice calling out ; ”E-excuse me, is this the Traveler’s Retreat?”

Her actions forced, Cashmere could do nothing but put on a fake expression and try to act like everything was fine. She held it for all of five seconds upon seeing what had come through the door.

There, standing as if it was truly the most natural thing in the world, was a strange sight. In the middle of it all was a mulberry unicorn, mane of cornflower and lilac which framed dark red eyes, both coat and mane looking like an absolute mess with leaves and a twig or two still in her tail. On her horn was perched a green –green! – phoenix, accented with gold and for whatever reason looked like he was coming down with a bad cold.

But draped over the unicorn’s back was Ascot. He too looked to be in terrible condition, the remains of what looked like a burned garment having been hastily used as a tourniquet on a bloody wound on his left wing’s mantle, but his breathing was loud enough that there was no question; he was alive.

“Oh…oh my Celestia…” was all Cashmere could manage as she hurried over to make sure her husband was alive. “As…Ascot, are…are you alright?”

“Yeah, not in the best condition, but I’m-“

*SMACK*

Raspberry didn’t make any reaction, merely closing her eyes and hoping the moment, an unintentional reminder of her traumatic youth at the hooves of an unloving father, would pass soon enough. Ascot, for his part, was stunned as his cheek throbbed red at the mark left by his wife smacking him.

“Do you know what you put me through?!” she cried, before dragging him off the back of the unicorn and hugging him as if letting go would only get him lost again. “Don’t you ever do something that stupid to me! I can’t lose you, Ascot, not after all this time!”

“I know, love,” apologized the stallion, “I think I’ve used up my karma for surviving certain death, what with this pony having saved me.” His eyes went wide when he realized he’d forgotten something. “I’m sorry, but I don’t believe I caught your name.”

“Me? Oh, I’m Raspberry Beryl. My pet phoenix here is Heliodor.”

“Miss Beryl, I can’t thank you enough for bringing me my husband back. If…if there’s anything at all we can do to repay you, just let us know!”

Just then Heliodor sneezed.

“Well, actually,” started Raspberry, “I am in need of a place to stay. I’m not from around here, you see, because I’m a gem peddler and I travel from town to town. So-“

“Give me five minutes and I’ll have a room ready for you, though I must ask if you could please keep your pet under control.”

“Wha? Oh, no, Helee only has a cold, he was a major help in saving Mr. Ascot last night even though a bird of fire like him doesn’t do well in the rain, he’s very well behaved, I assure you!”

“Normally we don’t allow magical pets like phoenixes, due to insurance, but…I think we can make an exception here.”

“That blasted bird incinerated my third best pillow case the next day.” Complained Cashmere, good naturedly, “but to his credit, it wasn’t intentional since he was sick, and thankfully he hasn’t burned the entire place down.”

Heliodor tweeted angrily, but all that caused was a few laughs around the table.

“But there you have it, girls,” said Ascot, “that’s how Raspberry and Helee saved my life.”

“That’s still a nasty scar, though.” Pointed out Fluttershy.

“Bah, compared to what would have happened, I honestly would have been happy even if I’d had to lose the whole wing, sure this wound still makes it difficult for me to fly under my own power and no way I’m going to visit Cloudsdale on it without help, but I can’t say I had plans of moving back to the clouds when I married Cashmere and opened a groundside bed and breakfast.”

“That still doesn’t stop you from straining it to the point of risking tearing it back open, you know…” chastised Cashmere, before noticing something was amiss elsewhere at the table. “Applejack, dear, is something the matter?”

“That’s what Ah’m tryin’ to figure out,” replied the farmpony. “Rewindin’ the story a bit, did Ah hear you correctly in that you were able to read part of what had been on that tombstone?”

“Yes.” Answered Ascot, “in fact I’m sure of it. The whole setting was strange, that’s what has probably kept it in my memory much more vividly then…well, whatever it was I was trying to say!”

Cashmere and Ascot noted that all the ponies at the table were now interested in that trivial detail as tension could be felt in slight amounts here and there. “This tombstone fragment…what were the letters on it?”

“Well, let’s see…I know there was a space, and the first word had the letters “I” and “R” at the end, then the space, and the second word had V-I-S before the edge. I have to figure somepony was buried there a long time ago, maybe a century or so. Certainly seemed like a picturesque place to lay one to rest had the weather not been so nasty.”

“And the wolves, so many damn timberwolves,” added Raspberry, “I might as well confess that half the reason my intervention even worked was that the timberwolves realized they couldn’t really hurt me. And then when I dropped the disguise, that really got them running!”

“Disguise?” inquired Ascot and Cashmere simultaneously.

“Oh, yeah, that…” said Raspberry, a blush coming forth and her ears drooping. “Uh, are you sure you really want to see that? I mean, I’m not going to ever not look like this around the retreat, it defeats the point of working at a bed and breakfast when you scare off all the clientele.”

“I believe you should, dear,” mused Rarity. “you still have problems coming to terms in accepting that side of yourself, but aside from a few details you aren’t as hideous as your ancestor.”

“Plus, didn’t you say you are in that form anyway when you sleep?” added Rainbow, “it might be a good idea to let your employers know what they might find in your bed so they don’t…overreact.”

“Indeed, I agree that would be for the best,” affirmed Cashmere. “I nearly had a heart attack when Ascot went missing, so if I mistake you for something else, Razz, it might truly be the end of me.”

“Well, alright” acquiesced the red unicorn, “but don’t scream, OK? Don’t want to wake the guests, after all.” With the confidence gained in doing this in front of only the ponies she trusted the most, Raspberry let the dark side take over. Normally, she couldn’t stand keeping her eyes open unless she needed to use the unnerving effect of her red eyes shifting to a blood red color, as she had on Blueblood, but here she felt the need to maintain eye contact with Ascot and Cashmere. If they were going to go so far as claim Raspberry as an adoptive daughter, then this was going to be possibly the most important event of the day, even more than being pardoned by the highest powers in Equestria for her dark magic use. She needed Ascot and Cashmere to accept this was her real form.

Aside from a sudden gasp from Cashmere, who had lunged slightly into Ascot’s embrace, the room was silent, Raspberry and the others already aware of the truth waiting for the old couple’s response. Raspberry in particular knew they were trying to come up with words to express what they were feeling, the transformation having been momentary and signaled to end when Razz had felt her fangs come into contact with the bottom of her mouth.

“Th-this…is your real form?” stammered Cashmere, clearly trying to equate the pony before her with the one who had selflessly saved her husband.

“What, Rarity didn’t include this in the letters, either?” snarked Raspberry, a quick glance in Rarity’s direction revealing the embarrassed look on the fashionista’s face. “But, yes, this is me.”

“I’m not seeing the problem, here,” bluntly said Ascot, noticing the raised eyebrows being given to him by everypony. “What? I’m serious, if it was Nightmare Night then everypony would think it’s a great costume, but even so it’s still obviously the same pony we all know as Raspberry Beryl.”

“Yeah, it’s still me!” confirmed Raspberry with a small grin, “my usual colors are what I would really look like without the, um…”

“Corruption?” piped up Apple Bloom, trying to be helpful.

“Not quite the word I wanted, since it’s only my appearance and horn that are really affected. Oh, the teeth, too, I guess. But still, as everypony helped me see, my ‘disguise’ isn’t so much that as it is just me showing who I am beneath the dark colors and the crystal.”

“Well, I, er…” stumbled Cashmere in her words, “it’s a bit more extreme than I thought, admittedly.”

“Oh…” Raspberry’s grin dropped as did her head and ears, ashamed of how she looked once again.

“Now wait a minute!” snapped the earth pony, getting up from her seat and walking over to the younger unicorn. “Don’t take what I said as if I am disapproving of you, Raspberry, it’s just…strange to see somepony Ascot and I have come to cherish as family turn out to look so different. It will take some getting used to, no getting around that, but then again it’s not like I honestly cared about that back when I was younger and was swooning over a pony my parents considered a freak.”

“So I have six limbs, big deal!” laughed Ascot, “the way her parents acted, well, I’m sure it was similar to how most ponies normally regard you, Raspberry.”

“With cries of anger and pitchforks and torches?” sarcastically answered the unicorn, now in a hug with her motherly figure.

“Actually, there was this one time…”

The rest of the night was spent having the ponies listen to Ascot and Cashmere recount the wilder days of their youth, two young rebels against a society who decided an earthy filly with a knack for making things comfortable couldn’t love a pegasus who just really liked wearing ascots. It was embellished as all hell, but still entertaining. And Raspberry was happiest of all, for she had indeed finally found a family who loved her. Nothing could ruin this moment.

“I’m gonna ruin that bitch!” seethed Fair Vista as she ran through the forest. It had been a few days since the ill-fated attempt to possess Apple Bloom had gone so horribly wrong. And it was all because of that dark magic using unicorn. Vista still couldn’t wrap her head around how easily her plot had been handed to her by a spineless wimp. Granted, her unexplained ability to not die had something to do with it, but mostly the dark magic.

Without assistance, Fair Vista knew it was only a matter of time before somepony reported something that would have the unicorn and the phoenix back on her trail, this time looking to end her for good. She already was unsure of how much time she had left on this plane of existence, certainly shortened as she still didn’t feel right even this long after being slammed into dark crystal all over the place. She needed to get a hoof-hold on reality before she could resume anything else.

Fortunately, she’d been able to get to Baltimare with little trouble. She thought she’d seen some other pansy-looking pony notice her a few hours ago, but it was nothing. Ghosts didn’t exist, after all, at least not to those who weren’t aware of the supernatural world around them. Or the secret the ghost sought.

“Ah, here it is!” said the spirit as she found the opening that led underground. For whatever reason, the one she’d tried to locate in Ponyville’s surroundings had proven unreachable as the entrance had been sealed off by a rock named Tom (how she knew it had a name she neither could rationalize or even care enough about to investigate), but the Baltimare detour was wide open.

Soon, she was grinning evilly as the reflective surface of the pool shone back to her. The Mirror Pool would serve her needs nicely.

“It’s just a setback that needs to be dealt with, Sable dear,” whispered Vista, “but I’ll make our plans succeed. I just need to get more…physical with our enemies.”

Ch.27: Daughters of Darkness

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 27: “Daughters of Darkness”

“Ah you sure about this?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Twi said it was for the best, her and Razz, so Ah gotta believe them,” replied Applejack, no eager about the matter than her younger sister. “But…yeah, Ah’m no good at lyin’, how Ah managed to keep it down last time for so long is beyond me, but even though Ah was ‘cured’ Ah just know Big Mac’s been keepin’ an eye on me just to be sure.”

“Just keep your cool, Ah guess?” Apple Bloom’s voice didn’t carry confidence.

As it was, both Apples were sitting on the edge of the farm, having had to go on a late night run following leaving the impromptu celebration at the Traveler’s Retreat. They were in their wolf forms, having decided it would be for the best to stick to the trees to remain out of sight until they could get back on the main path in their regular forms. But first, they had to make sure nopony was around. Especially not the two ponies who stood to be hurt the most.

“Even if they have to find out about it tonight, at least the most they’ll lose is a decent night’s sleep.” Applejack motioned for Apple Bloom to follow, as they did so they shifted back to their normal pony forms. The only noise they heard was the clip-clopping of their hooves as they approached the familiar homestead. Thankfully, the sound of loud snoring indicated Granny was asleep, but that still left Big Mac unaccounted for.

“Oh, please be asleep, big brother,” whispered Apple Bloom, first to go into the house. This was her home, she’d lived here all her life, even seen it when the only light was coming out of the windows from the moon. But now, something felt out of place, like it didn’t belong. It was her.

“You feel it too, huh?” Applejack’s voice came from behind, a slight undertone of sorrow in it. “Ah felt it back then, too, worst feelin’ ever.”

“Even more than when…when you changed?”

“Worse than both times. Combined, even. You get used to the change, to becomin’ somethin’ other than a pony. But the feelin’ that this isn’t where you belong? It don’t go away. Not until you truly come to terms with yourself, as it was with me back when Ah told everypony after Cerberus attacked Rarity’s house. Only Ah doubt it’s as bad for you as it was for me, since you had confidantes.”

“Wh-what are you talkin’-”

Applejack looked back at her sister and smiled. “You think Ah believed somethin’ like becomin’ a werewolf could happen to you and somehow both Sweetie and Scootaloo would be kept in the dark? Ah reckon’ they knew from the beginnin’, didn’t they?”

“Yeah,” confessed Apple Bloom, “they actually were with me when it happened.”

“Look, don’t be ashamed that you trusted them more about this than me or the rest of the family,” comforted Applejack, “Ah mean, you shoulda told us from the beginnin’, but you had your reasons of wantin’ to keep the family out of it, to spare us more pain, so you turned to the most trustworthy ponies you knew. But now that we all know, it’s time to tell Granny and Big Mac. They need to know.”

“Tomorrow, of course.” Said Apple Bloom, indirectly reminding Applejack the Apples were asleep.

“Yeah, tomorrow. But now…Ah think we need some rest.” Replied Applejack with a wink and a smile. With a final hug, the two sisters parted ways at the top of the stairs to go to their respective rooms. Only, after Apple Bloom fully closed her door…

“Cuz!” came the hushed cry of one Babs Apple, taking her cousin into a big hug.

“Hey, Babs! Glad to see somepony’s awake to welcome me back.”

“You kiddin’? Ah haven’t seen you in days, not since Nightmare Night! Is it true that Raspberry Beryl is in fact a dark magic user? That she’s descended from King Subu himself? That-“

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down, Babs! Look, Ah’m tired, but as much as Ah’ve got stories to tell, Ah’m sure you got news to fill me in about what the Crusaders were doin’ in the absence of the most important member.”

“Actually, there’s somethin’ you gotta know about what we decided, but…” Babs put on an evil smirk, “you’ll have to wait until tomorrow, since you won’t tell me now!”

“Great, now, can Ah go back to mah bed now?”

“Uh, this is my room. Your door is right next to mine, remember?”

“Oh, right.” Apple Bloom blushed as she backpedaled out of Babs’ room to go back to her own.

The next morning…

“I trust you slept well?” asked Twilight, a knowing smile on her face.

“You have no idea,” replied Raspberry. “The fact I could sleep like a normal pony for the first time in my life without my damn horn impaling the pillows thanks to you enchanting them…it was heavenly to put it mildly.”

“I’m glad to hear it!” laughed the alicorn. “Though I must admit, I do still find it amusing that for all the power Sombra had, he doesn’t seem to have been able to cast a protection charm on mere pillows to sleep well.”

“I personally think he slept on rocks, honestly.”

“Well he was all about those crystals.”

“Yessss, my crystal pilllowwwwwsssszzzz!” mocked Raspberry in her strangled impersonation of Sombra, complete with cock-eyed expression. Both unicorn and alicorn laughed heartily.

“It’s good to see you in such high spirits, at least,” noted Twilight. “The last time you were here at Ponyville Station, well, you were understandably glum.”

“What are you talking about? Sure, I’d been separated from Heelee and was probably going to be put to death for my magic handicap, but otherwise I was just dandy!” Raspberry sarcastically replied. “In all seriousness, I wasn’t sure I was ever going to be back here. Or see Heelee again, for that matter.” As if that had been a summons, the flash of green from the sky was seen for only a moment before the brilliant bird divebombed to a lower altitude, then soared with wide wings around the station, attracting the attention of all the ponies who were waiting for their trains.

“Showoff,” grumbled Twilight good naturedly. She was still getting the hang of her wings, flying was no longer a problem but anything more complicated than a banked turn was still beyond her grasp. But soon there was something else to focus on. “Oh, hey, it’s here!”

A high-pitched whistle, sounding far deeper than a normal train whistle, sounded in the distance. All the ponies who heard it lost interest in the phoenix and looked down the tracks to see the source of the mysterious sound. Heliodor himself landed atop his mistress’s horn in curiosity. Soon, the magical machine came into view on the horizon. It was unlike anything many of the ponies there had seen; a completely crystal train. The engine billowed pink smoke from its smokestack, it’s plow-like design the head of a small set of train cars that, together, looked more like a wheeled snake than the common trains or even a streamliner like the Grienbrier that passed through once or twice a week. Unmistakable was the sound of the brakes, which unfortunately didn’t sound quite as nice with the loud screeching.

Nonetheless, the train noisily came to a halt with a set of doors right in front of Twilight and Raspberry. They opened, revealing two occupants; Princess Cadence and Prince Consort Shining Armor.

“Wow, this is the new private royal train?” asked Twilight, impressed.

“Yep!” confirmed Shining, “this is actually it’s first maiden run since finishing testing. Obviously the brakes…need work.”

“But it is unbelievably comfortable!” added Cadence, who briefly stuck the forward part of her body to wave to the ponies on the platform before signaling the conductor to depart. “The usual roughness isn’t found on here, something to do with a new suspension chassis or whatever, Shiny can probably go into more detail about it.”

“Can he explain why-oooh!” said Raspberry, cut off by the sudden lurching of the train car as the engine pulled its coaches away from the station. Once she regained balance, she continued; “Uh, explain why there isn’t any accommodations for Helee in here?”

“Oh, um…” Shining realized that, somehow, the instructions for furnishing the interior of the royal crystal train had not included something as simple as a bird stand. He couldn’t ask Raspberry to simply keep her pet on her horn, certainly even though her horn was capable of the otherwise impossible due to it’s true form, it was an awkward position to have to handle for several hours straight.

“Don’t worry if you forgot, not many ponies have birds for pets, either, though I thought you had one, Twilight?”

“You mean Owlie?” replied the purple alicorn, “he’s still in Canterlot, though now that Princess Celestia said I need to stay in Ponyville to watch over you, we’ll be picking him up along the way to the Crystal Empire. Both him and Spike.”

“Oh, he’s good to go now?” asked Raspberry, lifting her foreleg for Heliodor to transfer to.

“Yeah, his throat is all healed up. It will be good to have my number one assistant back!”

“That’s great!”

“Hey, uh Raspberry?” cautiously asked Cadence, having noticed why Razz had moved Heliodor. “What are you doing?

“Making a bird stand, of course,” replied the unicorn as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Then she remembered how she was going to manage that. “Oh, sorry for not warning you beforehand, your majesties.”

“You can conjure up a bird stand?”

“Well, sorta. I was just going to make one with my magic, provided that’s okay with you.”

“Actually, I think we’d all like a demonstration of your creative magic…provided you don’t turn it on us, of course!”

“Now, I wouldn’t be a very good guest if that was the case, now would it? But please, stand back, a craftspony needs her space.”

The two alicorns and stallion backed up to give the requisite space, Heliodor opting to depart is foreleg roost for the ground. Gently smiling, Raspberry turned to face the other end of the coach, the dark bubbling aura intensifying around her horn. With a deep breath, she seemed to take a moment of concentration before opening her eyes and letting the magic flow.

Initially, the spontaneous eruption of dark crystal was unnerving as the giant monolith of black appeared violently. But for only a second as it reached a set height, whereupon it stopped growing. With little twitches of her head as if using her horn to direct a concert, her horn in place of a conductor’s stick, she broke off multiple pieces of the large creation. Twilight, Shining, and Cadence watched in awe as the shards were suddenly refined in mid-air into jeweler's tools and started to chip away at the dark crystal. Large chunks were carved off, but dissolved into nothing as they fell from the sculpture, not even leaving dust.

Additionally, more beams of magic shot from her horn, but these circled around like gathering clouds, descending upon the work in progress like a fog. Upon contact, the black crystals shifted in coloration, the dark hues changing from pitch black to an almost clear turquoise that matched the walls of the coach perfectly, no sign of the shadows hidden by illusion. The now almost completed birdstand had lost a lot of weight, the last giant chunk falling off, but instead of dissolving, this chunk seemed to become a project in of itself, quickly becoming a well crafted little rack that the now rainbow-colored set of tools fit into. With one final twist of the neck, the bird stand levitated from the ground as if proof it wasn’t attached to the train car floor, with the set of tools made as part of the project racked and…let hanging in the air with its dark aura even as the bird stand was settled. Heliodor tweeted happily as he ascended his new throne.

“Um…there isn’t really anywhere I can put this,” said Raspberry, trying to find the best place to put the tools, “I’m not much of an interior designer.”

“Oh, let me take it-“ replied Cadence, but was stopped by Shining.

“Cady, no, you’re still weak around dark magic.”

“Huh? What are you-“ asked Razz, before remembering Sombra’s brief reign of terror. “Oh…I understand.” Her head and ears drooped.

“Shiny!” angrily chastised the pink pony, “I know you’re looking out for me, but it’s a bit hypocritical for her defense lawyer to be accusing her of the very thing you were defending her on, isn’t it?”

“No, he’s right, I’ve heard how you had to go up against Sombra’s magic, it’s best not to risk-“

Cadence, with a huff, lit up her own magic and instantly the dark aura around the tools was joined by a bright blue. “I may be highly emotive, but that’s how I know your magic won’t hurt me even if it’s descended from Sombra. While I know little of dark magic, I know it has ties to emotion in its own way, namely the hatred and greed that fills most ponies who are driven to seeking the dark arts, to which Sombra himself is no exception. I felt it in his magic back when the empire was under siege, his pure, raw hatred being what primarily was his greatest weapon against me. Of course, your magic isn’t fueled by rage and anger, it’s just…different.”

“Thanks, Princess Cadence,” acknowledged Razz, her mood improved as she let her magic drop.

“Now, these are just beautiful!” gushed Cadence as she took each tool in her magic in turn. “I know they’re sculpting tools but…ah! This is the perfect spot!” Reassembled in the rack, the tools were placed in a perfectly sized spot on one of the bolted down seats. “You truly have a level of skill with your magic few ponies your age have.”

“Cady, you’re not going to suggest what I think you’re going to suggest, are you?” moaned Shining.

“Suggest what?” inquired Twilight.

“Shiny, we can’t let something like Sombra’s own sanctuary be wasted because of our own ignorance,” Cadence said firmly, a hardness coming into her eyes. “And with the next best thing to Sombra literally dropped into our-“

“Excuse me?!” exclaimed Raspberry.

Cadence realized her mistake, taking a deep breath of calming. “Apologies, you are to be a princess as much as Twilight and myself, or Shiny as a Prince, to refer to you as anything less is beyond irreproachable and disrespectful. It’s no excuse, but if you couldn’t tell this has been a hotly debated topic between my husband and I.”

“Well, I’d like to know what it is, since I can only guess it involves my magic.”

“Indeed. Your ‘punishment’ as it were was to be the go-to expert in situations involving dark magic on a level even the highest level unicorn mages do not dare try to understand. As it stands, there is such a problem in the Crystal Castle.”

“Back when Applejack was initially a werewolf, we sent Sandalwood and Lyra to do some research in the Crystal Empire,” explained Twilight, “only when they arrived did Cadence reveal that inside the Castle was Sombra’s own personal library, where he recorded the most ghastly things. They were able to find some stuff about Applejack’s condition, just in time too I might add.”

“But part of that involved removing a book from the room,” continued Shining, “and ever since the protective spell Sombra put on it has been getting stronger it seems. Originally we had some specially certified mages working on cataloguing what they could, but now nopony can really go in there without at worst getting a crippling headache, and as for Cady herself…”

“It’s best we don’t get into that,” cut off the love princess.

“Ah, I see,” said Raspberry, getting an understanding for the intentions at hoof. “It stands to reason that only a pony Sombra would recognize as worthy of his secrets, such as an heir, would be able to enter that room at this point. Hence, you want me to basically be a librarian?”

“More than that, really. The truth is, even the mages who were able to do anything in the room to read info, nopony really knew what the hell they were looking at. Sandalwood and Lyra were going through the old experiments, which while no less terrible, were at least legible. But right now the mages are actually scared to go any further even if they have the endurance to last in the room, since it is, well, dark magic and all.”

“You mentioned Sandalwood and Lyra got the info about werewolves from this inner library?” asked Raspberry, her focus intent on that detail.

“Yes, it’s regrettable that a place that is as bright and happy as the Crystal Empire will forever bear the horrific history of what Sombra did,” answered Cadence. “And it’s worse still that the ponies of today must revisit that terror through his writings in order to stop the ones that survived the ravages of time. But considering that there are now three ponies who are werewolves along with this unknown threat that is Fair Vista, we must call upon the ancient texts again. And as much as I hate doing this to you the day after you were let free, but-“

“No, I understand,” cut off Raspberry. “It’s my task to go through his works to help better defend Equestria. Furthermore, I can’t help but feel guilty for having been the reason for Applejack becoming a werewolf again, so I would insist I be allowed to do this even if you didn’t because I may be the only hope they have of being restored. For real this time.”

“Thank you, Raspberry.” Twilight smiled in appreciation. “Now, we’ve still got a long ride to the Empire, so let’s talk about something a bit better. Such as getting the foundations for this coronation under way!”

That afternoon…

“Both of you are jokin’, right?” asked Granny, incredulously. “Ah hope you are, even though normally you aren’t crackin’ jokes in that poor of a taste.”

“Eeyup.” added Big Mac, just as concerned.

“Ah wish we were, folks,” answered Applejack. “But the truth is that whatever happened down at Fair Vista’s grave? It didn’t fully cure me. From what the girls and Ah figure-“

“Look, we don’t care how it happened, Applejack,” interrupted Granny. “If both of you are werewolves, might as well get the shock value over with and show us your other selves.”

A quick exchange of looks between the Apple sisters and a shared sigh, then with grimaces on their faces they shifted. The atmosphere was almost anticlimactic in how Granny and Big Mac reacted.

“How long?” asked Mac in a sigh.

“Depends on which one of us, actually,” said Applejack. “For me, it turns out Ah was only partially cured, lycanthropy never left mah blood.”

“And several months for me,” added Apple Bloom, “nopony’s sure how Ah got it.”

Granny just shook her head in disbelief. “Ah have to assume the fact whatever happened in the Everfree had somethin’ to do with this.”

“Yeah, pretty much, though you’re not gonna like the full story.”

“Ah don’t like it now. What in Equestria could possibly make it worse?”

“Because of who attacked Apple Bloom,” groaned Applejack. “Accordin’ to Apple Bloom and Lightnin’ Dust, it seems the ghost of Fair Vista is dead set on finishin’ what Sable Loam started.”

“But…but how?” stammered Big Mac.

“Nopony knows. Not even Raspberry, who despite havin’ the same kinda magic that was used to create this damn curse in the first place, is capable of raisin’ the spirits of the dead.”

“Whoa, wait, so she actually was guilty of usin’ dark magic and sellin’ fake crystals?” inquired Babs, having just returned from the bathroom. She immediately noticed the glares Granny and Big Mac shot at her. “Wh-what? Somethin’ the matter?”

“You didn’t seem surprised to see your two cousins lookin’ like wolves when you came in,” pointed out Granny. “Only reason that would be true is if you already knew both of ‘em were cursed.”

“She kinda figured it out on her own,” admitted Apple Bloom, “though Ah didn’t initially want her to know, bein’ family an’ all.”

“But you told the others, didn’t you? Apple Bloom, you know how serious a matter this is, but keepin’ it from your own family but tellin’ your friends-“

“Granny!” interrupted Applejack. “Ah’ve already given her a speech like what Ah figure you’re gonna say, but to be fair she didn’t tell us ‘cause she wanted to spare us the pain after what happened with me. Granted, it’s no better than what Ah did when Ah became a werewolf, but-“ Something clicked in Applejack’s head. “Wait a sec…Bloomie, you were responsible for what got Diamond Tiara in such a state followin’ that one storm, weren’t you?”

“Yes…” Apple Bloom’s head sunk low, any lower and it would have to burrow through the floor.

“And Ah’m bettin’ that while you know it was wrong now, you understand how that’s landed us in the situation we’re in currently. Land sakes, Ah’m bettin’ Silver Spoon knows it’s true, too, all things considered.”

“She does, but she’s on our side,” said Babs.

“Ah doubt that, Babs. After what she did with Diamond that got Apple Bloom alone with that monster-“

“No, that was all Tiara’s doin’,” corrected the brown filly, “after Apple Bloom saved Silver from the freak flood, her leg was broken. If you remember, Silver said she was just providin’ cover for Tiara ‘bein’ in the little fillies room’ while in reality that pink pest was layin’ a trail of dog treats to lead Apple Bloom to Fair Vista without anypony knowin’.”

“Yeah, Ah forgot Tiara and Vista had been workin’ together,” confessed Applejack. “Still don’t make Silver trustworthy for bein’ in on the secret, though.”

“Actually, ever since she split ties with Tiara, Silver’s been hangin’ out with the Crusaders and said she won’t tell anypony else about what’s goin’ on.”

“But does anypony know that Applejack’s a werewolf?” cautiously asked Mac.

“Ah don’t think so,” replied Apple Bloom. “Ah only ever told the Crusaders that she was a werewolf – yes, Ah know that was bad but at the time Ah kinda just turned into one myself and was panicking – and there’s no way anypony we don’t know was made aware she’s a werewolf again.”

“Yeah, it’s mainly just the same ponies as before, only instead of Sandalwood and Lyra it’s Raspberry Beryl and Lightnin’ Dust.”

“Lightnin’?” asked Granny, “Wasn’t she that one pony who came to town drunk and made a scene by challengin’ you to a race or somethin’?”

“Yeah, turns out she got turned into a werewolf, too.” Groaned Applejack.

“Ah think we never got the full story, at last that’s what Ah think is bein’ implied here,” said Big Mac, a frown upon his muzzle. “And Ah think that needs to change.”

“There’s a lot that needs to be explained,” sighed Applejack.

“Tiara, are you okay in there?” boomed the voice of Filthy Rich behind the door.

“Yes, Dad, I’m fine! Just doing some…intensive study!” called back Diamond.

“You’ve been doing a lot of it, recently, it’s got your mother and I concerned. Are you alright?”

“Perfectly fine! It’s just that I’ve decided to apply myself more to my studies! My grades have been slacking somewhat and I don’t find that acceptable!”

“Alright, then, though it’s good to hear you’re putting all your worth into your education. But at the very least come out for some air now and then, alright?”

“Sure thing, Dad!”

Tiara waited a few minutes until the sound of her father’s hoofsteps were no longer heard. After having been severely punished for having tried to pull an incredibly mean prank (or so he’d been told, obviously the Princess and her cohorts were covering up Fair Vista’s involvement and the truth that werewolves were among the citizens of Ponyville) and then Silver publicly denouncing her by severing their friendship, the odds of Tiara ever exposing the truth had dropped sharply. Even more so following the disaster, as Fair Vista had truly vanished and there was no way to contact her.

“But I don’t need her, I don’t need anypony!” seethed Diamond as she put the final touches on her plan. Her ‘studies’ had involved extensive study of fields she normally considered the domain of unpopular nerds. Desperate times called for desperate measures, however, and without anything else better to occupy her time, she was forced to resort to the formerly unthinkable.

Now, on the large sheet of paper in front of her, in multiple colors of crayon, was the ultimate plan to expose the wolf among the sheep, or rather the bad apple among the ripe ponies. This was all or nothing, but this time, this time Diamond was absolutely sure she’d made all the necessary provisions to ensure Apple Bloom would be exposed for what she was. Silver would come crawling back, begging for Diamond to take her back as a friend, and history books would forever proclaim her name as the pony who accomplished what a Princess alicorn could not. And even if a princess alicorn could do this, they wouldn’t do it anywhere close to as adorably as Diamond Tiara.

Ch.28: Paranormal Poltergeist Presents Perfectly Perplexing Problem

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 28: “Paranormal Poltergeist Presents Perfectly Perplexing Problem”

Apple Bloom was aghast at what she saw.

Ponyville, destroyed. All the buildings were wrecked, most of the windows broken, doors busted in, signs hanging precariously on weak hinges. The overcast atmosphere was probably the nicest thing she saw, even though it colored the sky gray and made everything even more depressing.

But, more eerily, the town was abandoned. Not a soul to be found. No bodies – thank Celestia – but it was as if the entire population sans Apple Bloom had just…vanished.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” came the ethereal voice of one who should have been dead.

Apple Bloom’s fur stood on end, her head slowly turning to see the source, though she need not have done so as she already knew it was Fair Vista. Indeed, her corrupted ancestor was there, coming into view out of nothing, but at the same time, something was wrong. Her colors were fuller, there was sound with her steps, her eyes glowed even more menacingly. Then Apple Bloom realized it: Fair Vista had somehow stopped being a ghost.

And then to add to the horror, Applejack and Lightning Dust emerged similarly, except…they weren’t themselves. They had wild looks in their eyes, of feral bloodlust, both looking more like wolves than ponies.

Then more ponies came forward as wolves. Apple Bloom unconsciously started moving back slowly, a backwards step every time a face she knew from town emerged to reveal their mutation.

“Go ahead,” taunted Fair Vista, “run!”

The filly needed no more convincing. Assuming her wolf form, she darted off. There was no set destination in mind, though ironically the Everfree was probably a safer place than Ponyville, for once. But that was only if she could get there, an impossible task as at every crossroad she was cut off by more and more of Ponyville’s altered populace. Soon, she was herded into a dead end, with all of the town now against her, slowly proceeding forth. Fair Vista at the front, her eyes growing brighter still as her face became darker in shadow.

“Gotcha.”

Apple Bloom shot up in bed, screaming her head off.

“NONONONONONONONONONONO!”

She quickly realized it had all been a dream, that none of it had been real…at least until Applejack smashed through the door and got down to the ground like a wolf, snarling at any possible opposition.

“AAAAAH!” screamed Apple Bloom, again, moving as far back as she could without topping over the edge, her forelegs raised to block Applejack from seeing her face.

Applejack, realizing what had happened, stood back up and turned to her sister, concern on her face. “Apple Bloom, it’s me, Applejack! Everythin’s alright!”

“No, no it’s not!” cried the filly, “Y-you’re not yourself!”

The orange mare had to give a deadpan look to a statement like that. “We’ve been through this twice, do Ah really need to spell it out to you that just ‘cause Ah’m a werewolf-“

“But are you still a pony, too!?” accused the younger sister, though she did lower her guard a bit, enough for Applejack to see the tears in her golden eyes.

“Is that what happened in that nightmare of yours?” calmly replied the older one, walking up slowly to the bed. “That Ah became somethin’ like…like Sable Loam or Fair Vista?”

“W-worse…it was like you were…well, it was your body, but not your personality. Like that night when Sable howled to summon you or whatever…only, instead of simply runin’ off, you went wild and were no better than a timberwolf. The same with Lightnin’ Dust.”

“She was, uh, ‘not herself’ in this dream of yours, too?” asked Applejack, now concerned about this dream. While as far as she knew, her genetics had a defense against her mind going to the point she would end up like her unfortunate father and lose all sense of self. Lighting Dust, however, did not.

“It wasn’t just her, it was the entire town!” exclaimed Apple Bloom, having fully let her guard down now that she was sure Applejack wasn’t a mindless attack dog. “Everypony was a werewolf, only they were all under Fair Vista’s orderin’. Ah saw Ponyville in ruins, too…”

“And it was all in a dream, which is how it’s gonna stay, you understand?” Applejack reached out to put a paw on Apple Bloom’s shoulders, but halfway through thought better of it and shifted back to regular pony form, before placing the more familiar hoof instead. “Nopony, ‘specially not Fair Vista, is gonna come in and destroy the town while turnin’ everypony into wolf slaves or whatever. The girls and Ah…we may not have the Elements of Harmony, but we don’t need ‘em. Twi’s a princess, for cryin’ out loud, and then we also have Raspberry Beryl, who certainly cares about Ponyville and everypony in it just as much as any of us do, you understand?”

“Y-yeah…thanks, Sis.”

“Now, you best better go back to sleep and try to dream of somethin’ less full of flea-bitten fantasies, you hear? Tomorrow’s Monday, so you’re goin’ back to school.”

“Can Ah eat mah homework?” joked Apple Bloom, flashing her werewolf teeth.

“No. You don’t need that much fiber.”

“Aww…”

“I’m starting to have second thoughts about getting out of the death penalty,” complained Raspberry. She was probably going to kill something (in dark crystal effigy, of course, she didn’t want to actually take a life if she could help it) in the next few minutes.

“Aw, come on” teased Cadence, “at least you’ve got the royal hairdresser to style your mane. The last time I had mine done up for a special occasion, Rarity volunteered for the job.”

“And?”

“It was…not good, initially, I will admit.”

“No offense to Lady Rarity,” piped up the hairdresser; Frizzy Coif, “but the fact she managed to make the Traditional Crystal Empire Hairdress on her second try was pure luck. I remain of the opinion that some unruly pony was trying to undermine the chances of the Crystal Empire getting the Equestria Games by making me sick when I was needed most, and that your majesty should have held off seeing the representative until I was able to resume my station.”

“It won’t happen again, Friz,” apologized the alicorn.

“Speaking of resuming one’s station,” said Raspberry, changing the topic, “whatever happened to that thing you wanted to show me?”

“You mean Sombra’s personal records?”

“Princess Cadence!” interrupted Frizzy, her face clearly expressing shock, “You are not seriously sending in another princess into that damnable hellhole, are you?”

“Wait, another princess?” That had Raspberry concerned. Was there somepony like her, gifted with dark magic, that possibly-

“By ‘another’ I refer to Cadence herself.”

“Oh.” Raspberry sighed internally, of course she was the only one like her, nopony else was unfortunate enough to have had a similar troubled childhood.

“Raspberry is different, Frizzy,” explained Cadence. “Sombra’s little sanctuary inside the castle is of course protected by his dark magic, which so far nopony has been able to get any kind of understand of long enough to write it down before succumbing to the corruptive influence of the dark arts.”

“And you would willingly send in somepony of your own bloodline in there, to suffer as you have forced yourself to time and time again?”

“Is there something I wasn’t told?” asked Raspberry, not being happy about being out of the loop. A quick glance at Heliodor, who was being lovingly tended to by two crystal pegasi, had the bird shrug as his answer. He knew nothing of the matter, himself.

Coif sighed. “In the past, her majesty had a disturbing tendency to go against the advice of her most important advisors, including both myself and Prince Armor, by spending time inside that cursed chamber and subjecting herself to unimaginable pain.”

“Oh, yeah, that.” Raspberry shrugged slightly. “She already told me about that.”

Frizz was aghast. “Y-you think it’s not that serious a matter?! Every second she spent in there could have corrupted her a little bit more until she became the reincarnation of that foul beast Sombra!” She then wheeled onto Cadence, who was clearly trying not to laugh. “And why are you laughing? Do I amuse you by being worried about the health and welfare of my regent?”

“No, no! You’ve got it all wrong, Friz! Your have a very valid point, but it’s just that…that…” Cadence couldn’t stop herself from collapsing to the floor in laughter.

“Mrs. Coif…” began Raspberry, unamused at the time at the salon was taking even longer, “you know I’m the one that all the commotion up in Canterlot two days ago was about, right?”

“Uh…yes?” replied the stylist, not sure where the discussion was going.

“Do you know why I was on trial.”

“Well, of course, everypony knows that your trial was because you use dark mag-“ the pieces clicked in Coif’s head. “Oh.”

In response, Raspberry lightened up a little with a soft smile. “The fact I’m a princess, or soon-to-be at any rate, just means I am for all intents and purposes the only pony close enough to Sombra that I can get in that room safely.”

“Ah. So that’s why her majesty is…behaving much unlike her station,” grumbled Coif, glancing over at the still laughing Cadence.

“If it makes any difference, Mrs. Coif, she’s not been corrupted or anything by the dark magic left in that study, I can tell that pretty easily. Which considering I haven’t even been near this alleged ‘damned hellhole’ is pretty indicative that Princess Cadence is fine.”

“Y-yes, like I said, I’m fine!” chortled Cadence, having finally regained balance on four legs. “But I’m sure it will be of interest to you, Razz, that I do intend to take you there once we’re done with all this prep for your coronation.”

“Finally!” exclaimed Raspberry happily, “something not stationary to look forward to!”

Back in Ponyville, school had just let out and the fillies and colts were back in town, mingling with the older ponies and generally being kids. Except for one. She’d rushed away from school as fast as possible, needing every last second to get her plan ready and for her to be in position.

That’s it, Apple Bloom thought Diamond, watching from her vantage point on the roof adjacent from where the trap was primed. Nopony could see her, especially not those on the street, but there was enough of a crack in the rakes on the lip at the top where she could survey the ground below. Come on, get closer, I’ve got a treat for you…

As expected, she was with the other two loser ponies she had as friends, the useless unicorn and the pathetic pegasus. There was also her cousin; Babs Seed, who had once been cool but had changed sides and was now no better than the rest of them. But wait, there was a fifth filly with them…no, it couldn’t be…

“Silver Spoon?” whispered Diamond to herself in disbelief. The two had gone their separate ways over the whole debacle on Nightmare Night, but Tiara knew deep down that Silver had enough self respect that she wouldn’t hang out with the Crusaders. But after rubbing her eyes, Diamond couldn’t deny that her former PFF now walked among her former enemies. How could she do that? How could she viciously betray what had been between her and Tiara? The pink filly was furious, it was clear now that the argument on the schoolyard had been the work of Apple Bloom. “First she shows me up at school, then scares me half to death in the middle of the night at my own home, then is allowed to go hang out in Canterlot with royalty, and now successfully stole my best friend?!” Diamond was seething at this point. “I’m going to make her pay for running my life, right here, right now!”

Right as the CMC + traitor were near it, Diamond pulled the string. She’d carefully threaded it such that a system of pulleys ensured nopony would trigger it by accident yet she could be a safe distance away. Instantly a small, plastic red cup that would have been just a regular piece of discarded garbage was yanked by an unseen force into a crevice and out of sight. In it’s place…

“Oh, hey, look!” said Apple Bloom to her friends. “Somebody left a doggie biscuit lyin’ around!” She moved to approach it, but was immediately stopped by Silver who had stuck her foreleg out.

“Apple Bloom, don’t,” she warned.

“Why not? We ponies eat flowers and hay and other things right off the ground, why can’t Ah-“

“Wouldn’t you have noticed the biscuit before now? Take a closer look.”

“She’s right, Apple Bloom,” agreed Sweetie.

Apple Bloom did as she was told, finding that indeed there was more than met the eye. There was a super-thin fishing line wrapped around the body of the dog treat, the line barely visible in the noon-day sun. The string led from the biscuit through a wall just behind the treat, but for what purpose she knew not what. It was safe to assume Diamond Tiara was somehow involved, though.

“Best to let that sleeping dog lie,” suggested Scootaloo.

“Agreed.” Apple Bloom turned away from the biscuit, her friends in tow.

Diamond Tiara was agast. Silver, what did you do?! thought the filly as she watched her former friend defeat all her hard work. No doubt that she was brainwashed or something, since she was actively helping the freak now, and after all the trouble Apple Bloom had put her through, too!

While Diamond was trying to make sense of the situation, she failed to notice Apple Bloom saying hi to her sister Applejack, who was coming down the opposite way with Lightning Dust. Only when she heard Dust mention something about a biscuit did she realize her trap was about to spring on the wrong targets. It would catch an Apple, alright, but not the one who was currently a werewolf. She wanted to say something to stop the inevitable, but when she finally worked up the nerve to say something it was too late. Lightning Dust had pulled the biscuit, only realizing just then it was merely bait.

The wall through which the fishing line was threaded opened up like a trap door, causing an avalanche of dogs to spill onto the hapless werewolves. Needless to say both of them were having uncomfortable flashbacks to when they’d been chased all over a town during that time of the month, but fortunately they weren’t expecting it anytime soon so they were in the clear for now. Still didn’t make it any less traumatizing to have been somehow ambushed by dogs randomly.

But for Diamond, her problems were only just beginning as she barely had run away five feet before Lightning Dust shot out from the dogpile and into the sky, looking rapidly every which way for a possible perpetrator. Diamond’s pink coat betrayed her as she had no need to be on the very roof that happened to be overlooking the incident site.

When Applejack managed to dig her way out of the pile, she looked up to find Lightning hovering above and holding a very uncooperative Diamond Tiara.

“Oh you have got to be kiddin’…” complained Applejack.

“Yeah, can’t wait to tell Mr. Rich about this one,” agreed Lightning Dust. “I guess somepony decided they needed to get in more trouble.”

Off a slight way, the Crusaders bore witness to the trap being sprung on the wrong pony and the revelation of the culprit.

“Now how did Tiara manage that?” wondered aloud Sweetie.

“Certainly not going around at night to kidnap them, like what we did with the cats,” said Silver.

“So that was you!” accused Apple Bloom, though Silver’s humble expression took the bite out of it.

“Yeah, but that was also before, back when I had been convinced by Tiara and that ghost that you were a real threat to this town, not the other way around.”

Scoot smiled. “So, you’re fully with us, now?”

“Not as a Crusader, I can’t be since I have this,” Silver rocked her flanks a bit, highlighting the mark of desinty upon them. “But after everything, you girls have been the nicest of anypony to me after what happened on Nightmare Night. On top of that, I don’t think I can ever repay Apple Bloom for saving my life after the water tower burst, so…yeah, I’m fully with you.”

One by one the Crusaders traded knowing looks, their expressions implying a scheme forming in their heads.

“Silver, come with us,” said Babs, taking her gray counterpart’s foreleg in hers, “I think it’s time we addressed something.”

“For a door that holds what my ancestor intended to be mine,” said Raspberry, “I was admittedly expecting…something less mundane.”

“Yeah,” agreed Cadence, “it is sort of disappointing.”

“Of course, you could say that about Sombra himself, too, considering how short his ‘resurrection’ was.”

Both ponies laughed at the joke. They stood in front of a regular wooden door, which aside from being located far off from the main thoroughfares of the castle interior, was literally just nothing special. No obscene images or cult like runes carved into its surface, no leaking auras of evil coming from it. All there was in the doorframe was several planks of wood held together with more wood crossbeams and a few nails.

“The funny thing is that this door is actually extremely valuable along with being sacrilegious.” Explained Cadence. “These timbers were grown from seedlings whose seeds came from the Tree of Harmony.”

“The tree of what now?” questioned Raspberry, both she and Heliodor raising eyebrows at the unfamiliar name.

Cadence laughed softly. “The Tree of Harmony. Real original name, I know. But, more importantly, its wood only grows in special places. Most ponies don’t even know of the main tree, which the Elements both came from and were returned to, but to use any lumber from anything that comes from that tree…risks destroying the fragile balance of harmony the tree provides.”

“So, basically this door is really a ‘buck you’ to everything Princess Celestia talks about?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Raspberry merely nodded, then took a deep breath. “Alright, Helee, you ready?”

The loyal phoenix nodded, puffing out his chest in a sign of bravery.

“At least one of us is. Well, no sense in sticking around here.” Without letting herself have the chance to think about it, Raspberry opened the door with her magic and walked into the cursed room. She was immediately beset by a magic force, definitely dark in its nature, but at the same time she could feel it…approve of her presence. Slightly less so for Heliodor, probably only letting him in because he was her pet. But, the magic went away, leaving pony and bird unharmed inside a chamber filled with old tomes. There was no dust or signs of age, as to be expected in a room protected by powerful magic spells. Many places had gaps where books should have been, as before the room had turned super-hostile the mages of the Royal Guard wasted no time in removing all the dangerous materials they could identify. But they’d only been able to remove a small fraction, for much of the library appeared untouched.

“You’re not spasming, either of you, so that’s…good?” hopefully called out Cadence, who obviously was still outside the room.

“Yeah, as we thought I’m fine in here,” answered back Razz. Her attention was quickly taken to a book that had been left out; How I Did It, by King Reginald Sombra. “Hello, what’s this…”

Cadence, who could easily see what Raspberry was doing, tried to be a helpful as possible. “I think that’s the book Sandalwood and Lyra consulted back when they were here. The pages might be folded on the relevant sections!”

Indeed they were, as Razz noted. While Heliodor had flown off to do some exploring, Raspberry quickly opened the book to the dog-eared pages. The contents she found were…disturbing, to say the least, but at the same time Raspberry could glean information from the runes and symbols in the book among the normally legible writing, icons that made no sense unless one understood dark magic. Maybe not even then unless they were truly gifted at the dark arts like Sombra and herself.

But most importantly of all, she understood them on a level that, if given time, she might be able to come up with a counterspell. A legit cure for lycanthropy. She smiled, knowing she could undo the damage she’d done to Applejack, save Apple Bloom and Lighting Dust as well, then if given the chance finally destroy Fair Vista by removing whatever power she’d gotten tied to in order to resurrect her ghost.

It’s ironic she thought, that the light of hope comes from a room shrouded in the darkest of evil.

Silver desperately did her best to maintain balance as her entire world was rocked by a musical earthquake.

“Scoot!” chided Apple Bloom.

“Oh, right, sorry,” blushed Scootaloo, who had been repeatedly told to not make the treehouse rumble whenever she played the initiation drums.

“Don’t worry,” said Babs to Silver, “she did that when they accepted me into the CMC, too.”

“Great…” replied Silver, cringing.

“Ahem!” interrupted Sweetie Belle. “If I may…We, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, elect Silver Spoon to join us as a sister, friend, confidante, alley, boss-om buddy, gal pal, compadre, chum of chums...wait a sec, this is the old version of the initiation speech!”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “I told you, the new one is in the drawer in the podium.”

“Ah, yes, of course.” Sweetie blushed in embarrassment slightly as she tossed the rather lengthy sheet of parchment away in favor a significantly smaller one. “Starting over, shall we? Okay…We, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, elect Silver Spoon to join us in our group and our journey to discover our cutie marks.”

“Um…” Silver rocked side to side on her legs in uneasiness, since for some reason it seemed the Crusaders kept forgetting she did have a cutie mark.

“However,” continued Sweetie, oblivious to Silver’s discomfort, “due to her having attained her cutie mark, we bring her into our group in the special role of ‘Cutie Mark Consultant’ such that she may help us on our own discoveries.”

Consultant, huh? thought Silver, I could get used to that title…

“And so, it is with that special consideration that we swear her in as a member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

“Congratulations!” said Apple Bloom, throwing a fabric bundle into the air. The bundle unfurled at the apex of its path, releasing confetti into the air. But, as it fell onto Silver, who took the cloth off to examine it closely, she saw it was an exact copy of the capes the other four Crusaders were wearing, the blue patch and all. She looked up at her newfound friends, wide eyed and a blush coming to her face, wondering how she could have overlooked the ponies who were true friends when she was so desperately clinging to the false one with Diamond Tiara.

“So, how does it feel to be a true blue Crusader?” asked Babs, who had once been against the Crusaders with Silver a long time ago.

“It…it feels good,” replied Silver. “It feels…right.”

Diamond Tiara sat in a huff. Her latest plan had been possibly the greatest unqualified disaster yet, even more so than Nightmare Night. There at least, she’d had the benefit of the most important ponies in town trying to cover up the truth, but now she’d outright embarrassed them in public when Silver had betrayed her yet again.

To make matters even more worse still, she didn’t have another chance coming to expose Apple Bloom now. What with having been grounded until further notice and her rights to demanding anything in her father’s stores curtailed as well, she had no resources and no ability to try again.

And then to top it all off, the power went out suddenly. It was almost midnight, so without power the room was pitch black. Not even a nightlight to help provide a path should a late night bathroom trip be necessary.

“AAAARRGGHHHH!” shouted Tiara, furious at this latest problem. “What good are electric bills if they don’t keep the power going?!”

“Power is a luxury, one I’ve never really needed, myself,” came an all too familiar voice from where the door was. Somehow, Fair Vista had returned, managing to open and close the door without a single sound.

“Oh, great, it’s you,” groaned Tiara. “What do you want?”

“I saw your latest little escapade in the town today. From a distance, of course.” Vista sauntered closer, to which Tiara noted was with much more presence in her step than before. In fact, everything she did was with more presence than before. “Ah, yes, by the way, I figured out how to stop being dead. Quite novel, really.”

“You what?!” Tiara was shocked. How does one manage to become undead without the usual connotations?

“I’ll have to tell you later, but right now we have more problematic matters to discuss.”

“You mean like your failure?” Tiara immediately reeled back when Vista clamped her all-too-real jaws at her.

“I did not fail because of a lack of skill,” snarled Vista, “I handled matters to the best of my ability. However, you were incorrect about that gem seller.”

“The one on trial?” Diamond was skeptical about that. “What does she have to do with this? Sure, she was on charges of dark magic use, but that was because she-“

“Where do you think she went after the thing with the dragon? Oh yes, I learned about what happened, the entire damn country knows about it. One doesn’t nearly accidentally kill the adopted brother of Twilight Sparkle without national coverage. But she somehow knew to come to the castle ruins and tricked me multiple times, enough to save that little twerp.”

“How?”

Vista facepawed. “Dark magic, you dolt! Somehow, her magic was able to harm me even though I was ethereal. I had to run, lest she manage to kill me a second time and I have too much to do before I leave this plane of existence again.”

“Okay, that makes more sense, I guess, but it still doesn’t explain how-“

“Again, I’ll tell you later. But right now we’re on the clock. It’s lucky that Raspberry Beryl is forced to be in the Crystal Empire for a little while due to her need to be recognized as a princess of the realm or something. It gives us time to deal with the werewolf problems before she returns for good.”

“Wait, problems? As in plural?”

“Yes, there are other werewolves in this town ,too.”

“WHAT?!” Tiara was shocked. More werewolves was not a good thing, especially since Vista wouldn’t have a reason to lie about that.

“Indeed, something needs to be done. But I’ll need your help.”

“Bah, not much I can do for you. I’m grounded and I can’t get any resources for you to use, Silver’s betrayed us by going over to the Crusaders, and most of the town thinks I’m crazy now. Do you think I’m crazy?”

“Me? Oh, no, you’re not crazy at all! Frankly, you’re the only one who understands what needs to be done. But while you can’t provide the material help that I need, there is another way you can help.”

Tiara’s eyes glinted as she dared to don a small, evil smile. “Do tell.”

Ch.29: Cracks in the Foundation

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 29; “Cracks in the Foundation”

Raspberry Beryl was, unsurprisingly, nervous. It seemed to be one of her default states these days, though after the roller coaster that had been her life within the past week or two she couldn’t be blamed for it. But this time, simply trying to divert attention from herself such that she could fade back into obscurity was no longer an option. After all, no matter how hard she tried to live a normal life, everypony would know of her station. She was the last of an old royal bloodline, one close enough to the original royal lineage that she had a claim to the title of Princess more than anypony of royal blood but not graced with both wings and horn.

Instead, she was the bearer of the strongest dark magic in the country, maybe even the world, because of how depraved her ancestor had been, and having been handicapped by her father such that her heritage was the only way she could use magic at all, she knew there were ponies who would never trust her and would protest the fact she was joining a group as hallowed as the Equestriani princesses, and the only one without the ability to fly.

“Razz, my dear, are you quite alright?” came the voice of Rarity, soon followed by the alabaster unicorn appearing at the side of the princess-to-be. The day before, the remaining elements from Ponyville were brought to the Crystal Empire due to their importance in both the affairs of Princess Twilight Sparkle and the role they had played in stopping Sombra’s brief return.

“Other than trying to understand why any of this is happening, I’m just perfect!”

Rarity shook her head, “Honestly, Raspberry, you’re living the dream every little filly wants to achieve, that every pony can be a princess. It’s going to look weird with you giving that speech while shaking as if you’re freezing. Plus, Twilight wasn’t too keen on the idea either, but she’s taken to being a princess like a duck to water.”

“Twilight also earned her princesshood,” reminded Raspberry. “I’ve done nothing like her to deserve being known as one of that title, not to mention the reasons why I am going to be getting it anyway are far from being of personal achievement.”

“While true, I would like to point out that purely on the basis of who you are, you deserve being a part of royalty far more than some bore like Prince Blueblood who is always claiming to be the thirty-something-times removed nephew of Celestia. You’ve saved lives and in respect to your power it’s enough to trump even the combined might of four alicorns simultaneously.”

“But that just means I’m being made a princess on the grounds of ‘might makes right’, doesn’t it?”

“Sort of, I’ll give you that, but it also will make ponies listen to you as who would dare disrespect a princess? So much trouble could have been avoided if you had been able to speak your piece, now as a princess you’ll be able to, and ponies who still doubt you are a good pony will see their perceptions of you are wrong, dark magic or no. Not to mention, you have a phoenix for a pet, of such rarity – no pun intended, of course – that even Celestia cannot claim to have.”

Heliodor, who had been silently observing and having ended up staring off into space, suddenly twitched to life at the indirect reference to his person.

“I…I guess you’re right, Rarity,” said Rasbperry. “Maybe I just need to stop looking at things like a half-empty cup.”

“Oh, don’t be silly, dear, the cup’s not half-empty any more.” Rarity them motioned for Raspberry to follow her out of the room, Heliodor promptly following by perching on his usual place on Razz’s horn. “It’s half full, with the amount of good fortune filling it only going to increase for you from here on out. Now come, the others are waiting for you to accept your title, your highness.”

As the sun shone down upon the gathered ponies, the long lost Crystal Imperial line of royalty saw itself be restored to its rightful place as a recognized branch of Equestriani high blood. While the means of how this had come to be were regrettable, Celestia was pleased to see the crystal ponies, whose memories still held the terrors of being under Sombra’s hoof, be generally quite open to the idea of recognizing another dark magic using royal to be of a station where they would be ruled by that individual. Of course, the confidence extruded by the alicorns and the elements who were present in regards to Raspberry probably helped, as did the eagerness with which the phoenix-brandishing unicorn presented herself with towards ponies who had suffered under her predecessor.

Celestia had to smile at that. Even though Sombra had been powerful, one of his greatest shortcomings was a total lack of charisma. The sun princess herself wouldn’t admit it, but even she had once been nervous to speak in front of the citizens of her country. Granted, Queen Faust had been there to give a guiding hoof to both her daughters in public oratory experience, invaluable when the elder alicorn was forced to abdicate to her teenage daughters.

But why did mom hide the truth from us about what she readily let Discord know? Wondered the matriarch, the only visual cue externally to her troubled mindset being her silent smile faltering a micron lower than usual for a split second. While she wondered her mother’s intentional omission of this fact, the most haunting words of the scroll held by Discord echoed in Celestia’s head:

Bhtugunl rgunl nyfrsnl bjapenl vfjnl rivyjnl bfgznl batfgenl

Vfunl rtnplynl vyyjnl riraghnyyljnl haqbjnl vfunl batjenl

Nfjnl lfgnypenl bbqoynl vyyjnl vaqsnl bynprfnl vajnl nqrwnl versnl

Naqjnl rycunl rgunl vkfnl riragcenl njnl rfheerpgvbaenl bfgznl verqnl

Rajunl rgunl nfgynl ryrzragjnl vaqfsnl vajnl njnl bjagnl bfgznl nvagdhnl

Njnl bnysnl beaonl bsjnl hercnl nexarffqnl, hgonl rrsenl bzsenl vfunl nvaggnl

Nyyjnl vfjnl bfgynl vsjnl lfgnypenl bhyqfunl bfrynl vgfjnl vtugsnl

Besnl rgunl ngucnl bsjnl rfgvalqnl vqrfunl vgfrysjnl bzsenl vtugfnl

Hgonl vsjnl rgunl rpraqnagfqnl bsjnl rgunl vzvynefnl rivyjnl rznvaenl vajnl vtugynl

Rlgunl napnl bcfgnl rgunl rgheaenl bsjnl rgunl reebefgnl bsjnl vtuganl

Naqjnl raqjnl Bzoenfnl’fnl hefrpnl bgnl rgfnl rirelguvatjnl vtugenl

Hgonl bgnl bcfgnl vtabenaprjnl bzsenl rycvatunl vagragvbafjnl bfgznl rnaznl

Vgjnl vfjnl nbfpunl bjunl hfgznl rrxfnl rgunl bbqoynl bsjnl rratenl.

Discord had said his role in the prophecy had already been filled, though it left his role in the lead up to Raspberry’s trial more questionable than ever. Celestia cared not to dwell on that any more, it was the past, with the future lying in jeopardy. Raspberry, for as much trouble she’d endured for being just who she was, was going to be tested as hard as Twilight had been back when the Crystal Empire had returned from its thousand-year absence. Except then, Twilight had only succeeded because she had strong friendships to fall back on, especially that of Spike, that had been instrumental to stalling Sombra long enough to defeat him. But Raspberry was only just starting to develop her deep friendship with those same ponies and while her magic was as strong as Twilight’s, this was an entirely new situation that Celestia had not dealt with. After all, as far as Celestia knew, one of the few legends that she had not had to personally handle involved the living dead in any fashion, so what she could possibly be walking right into couldn’t even be classified as something Celestia could handle as had been the case with Sombra.

And yet, if she truly is of Sombra’s blood, thought Celestia, hopefully she inherited the few good qualities that beast once had. King Sombra may have been an evil bastard, but on the grounds of ruling qualities, his determination to overcome all challenges and sheer force of will to achieve the impossible would have made him a great ruler. Had he not gone crazy with crystals and stuff, of course. So here’s hoping Razz will succeed where Sombra failed to live up to his own potential.

“They liked me…they really, really liked me!” gushed Raspberry, overcome with happiness as the cheers of the Crystal Ponies still rung in her ears. Heliodor, mirroring the joy of his lifelong companion, was cawing happily and taking advantage of the high vaulted ceilings within the Crystal Castle to soar high and let out bursts of harmless emerald fire as he pleased.

“Well, why wouldn’t they? “ asked Applejack. “Ah’d say they’d got every right to be happy you’re on the side of friendship and harmony and…whatever else it is you said.”

“Yeah, I gotta say it was awesome and all, but it kinda got cheesy with the middle bit,” added Rainbow, hovering in the air as usual.

“Give her a break, everypony,” chided Twilight good-naturedly. “Even after everything, it’s still something to go out there and speak to that many ponies in accepting the title of princess.”

“Yeah, I don’t think I could ever speak in front of that many ponies, at least not without you guys right with me,” confessed Fluttershy to the surprise of absolutely nopony.

The camaraderie was instantly ended when the doors to the hall were violently thrown open, with Shining rushing in while flanked by a pair of guardsponies on either side.

“Ladies, we have a situation,” said the prince, having entered serious soldier mode.

“W-why? What happened?” asked Rarity. “Did something occur in Ponyville?”

“Yes. The local guard garrison just reported that one of the fillies the Crown had them keep an eye on: a miss Diamond Tiara, has just been listed as missing only a few hours ago by her parents. Considering what she knows about this whole werewolf debacle, I don’t doubt our mutual friend Fair Vista has something to do with all this.”

“What foul bastard would take such an innocent child like my Diamond?!” wailed Champagne Dreams, her face buried into the crook of Filthy Rich’s neck. “I can’t even fathom why anypony would even want to hurt my baby!”

The Royal Guard interviewing the parents of Diamond Tiara stopped scribbling and looked at the pair with a raised eyebrow, though when Mr. Rich gave back a look of ‘please ignore my wife, I know damn well why somepony would want to take my daughter’ the unicorn just went back to scribbling.

“Often, the ones who committed these kind of crimes are individuals who are personal friends with the victim and/or their families. Is there anybody the Rich family knows personally that has also dropped off the radar?”

Mr. Rich just shook his head. “No. The only pony my daughter really talked to, Silver Spoon, recently broke off their friendship due to some kind of conflicting interests, and she was grounded after continuing to pursue some foolhardy crusade to prove some other filly she doesn’t like that much was a werewolf.”

The guard raised an eyebrow again in skepticism. “I’m sorry, did you just say ‘werewolf’?”

“Yeah, I know, it’s dumb as Tartarus, but my daughter is ten years old. I do regret letting her have as much command over resources as she did, probably should have done that anyway to be a better parent, yet I’m sure my daughter’s disappearance has nothing to do with those blasted wolf-ponies of legend.”

Just then, the sound of the mansion’s main doors opening was heard. Mr. Rich didn’t know it, but two of those ‘blasted wolf-ponies’ had just walked in the door along with two princesses and their entourage.

“We came as soon as we heard!” said Twilight, immediately establishing her presence as princess, pausing only briefly to allow all the guards in the mansion to bow in respect.

“P-princess Twilight!” sputtered Champagne, “this is an unexpected honor - we usually thought that such minor issues weren't under the aegis of our princess.”

“While I don’t like to say any pony’s life being considered beneath my concern, your daughter is somepony of relative importance to current affairs.”

“Current affairs?” asked Mr. Rich, “This doesn’t have anything to do with that giant, ill-meaning prank my daughter tried to pull back on Nightmare Night, does it?”

“It may, I’m afraid. We didn’t mention it at the time, but we have come to believe that Diamond Tiara may have been working with somepony who desires to see the Apple Family harmed in…unusual ways.”

“Are you suggesting my daughter was kidnapped by some felon she may or may not have-“ angrily accused Champagne, before noticing two of the ponies who had come in with the princesses were acting strangely. Applejack and some light cerulean pegasus with a two-tone orange mane were…sniffing? “What are you two doing?”

“Yeah, it’s like you both have a cold or something,” intoned Rainbow, trying to subtly inform the two werewolves their condition was starting to show in their behavior.

“What, you guys don’t smell that?” asked Lightning, oblivious to whatever Rainbow had been trying to say. “Granted, it’s faint, but you don’t need to be a dog or something to know the scent of mud.”

“Especially if there’s somethin’ else in that mud that wasn’t exactly mud,” added Applejack. Almost immediately, everypony in the room became aware of the very out-of-place smell of the wilds within the almost immaculately clean room.

“Ms. Dreams, when was the last time the maids cleaned the house?” asked Rarity, trying not to gag.

“Last night, before the occupants of our mansion were bedded for the evening. Richie insisted that the servants not carry out their duties after the discovery of our daughter having been whisked away during the night. Though I think you’d best leave the crime scene investigation to the experts.”

“Like me?” smirked Raspberry, her horn suddenly lighting up in her dark aura…with Heliodor still on it. Seeing the bird nonchalantly stand on a pyre set ablaze with a magic normally associated with agony and torture caused all ponies not familiar with the true nature of Raspberry’s magic to reel back.

“Wh-what are you doing to that poor bird?!” shrieked Champagne, the ghastliness overcoming the mare and thus making her fall dramatically into the forelegs of Mr. Rich.

“Showoff,” nickered Rarity.

Mr. Rich didn’t notice the comment by the gray unicorn, instead looking apologetically at Raspberry. “You aren’t really hurting that bird…are you?”

“Who, Heele?” asked Raspberry, glancing up at her pet, then laughed softly. “Nah, he’s been doing that for years.” Her tone suddenly turned much more serious. “However, in addition to the…’outside elements’ we’ve just become aware about, if what I suspect is true then there may be some other unsavory things left behind from our suspect.”

Filthy Rich turned pale, losing strength and his not-exactly-unconscious wife suddenly found herself plummeting a short distance to the ground. He didn’t notice, his mind elsewhere as he wondered just what his daughter had been up to. “Don’t tell me Tiara got mixed up with one of those dark magic using anarchist scum-“ He was cut off by the majority of the ponies suddenly giving him death glares, Raspberry and more frightening Heliodor included, factors that he considered as he tugged on his shirt collar and corrected himself. “I, uh, mean those dark magic users who are totally unlike you, Miss Beryl! Heh heh…”

Raspberry just rolled her eyes before giving Twilight a nod. The purple alicorn acknowledged, her attention in turn being put towards the guard who up to that point had been irrelevant in the ongoing discussion. “Corporal, the matter that I fear needs to be discussed with Mr. Rich and his wife is of a private and highly confidential nature, so if you don’t mind…”

“Of course, your highness.” replied the guard, before promptly leaving through the door. At the same time, Raspberry had motioned to Applejack and Dust, who were now following behind the bird-wearing unicorn though they knew not why. They soon got their answer, though.

“That’s impossible!” whispered Applejack to the other two ponies, out of earshot of the rest of the group, who had proceeded to inform Mr. Rich about the real events of the past Nightmare Night.

“What’s impossible?” subsequently asked Spike out of nowhere.

“Whoa, what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be over with Twilight?” asked Lightning, having forgotten Spike had come in with the group.

“Got bored, so I came over here to help you guys. Even though I don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Finding pieces of the Everfree, that’s what,” answered Raspberry, levitating up a leaf that was half-coated in mud yet hidden behind an end table. “Especially ones with traces of dark magic, which doesn’t bode well.”

“Now how in tarnation could Fair Vista tread this kinda stuff in here? She’s a ghost!” reasoned Applejack.

“Unless she somehow found a way to undie.” Raspberry’s features hardened as she knew what needed to be done. She turned to towards Twilight, finding the alicorn looking somewhat awkward at having just told Filthy Rich his daughter had basically been talking with ghost werewolves. “Twi, as bad as this situation is, we’re going to need to resort to your specialty.”

“Um, you sure?” sheepishly replied Twilight, remembering the last time she tried tampering with dark magic and werewolves at the same time.

“Oh, don’t worry, it’s not your magic you’ll need. It’s your love of books.”

“So you’re sure you don’t know what the deal is with how Diamond Tiara is missin’?” asked Apple Bloom for what had to have been the hundredth time.

“No, I don’t, and please stop asking!” replied Sandalwood, none too happy to be back in the position she was in. While it was nice to have paid leave from the spa for a little while, courtesy of royal intervention on part of Twilight Sparkle, Sandy would have vastly preferred regular work as opposed to having to be brought into the secret that werewolves still existed.

Wait, no, I think it might be the part where Applejack then revealed she was still a werewolf, thought Sandalwood. Now here she was, laying on her back and tuning up the Apple Truck, under royal orders, getting it tuned up so it could be used in the event more werewolf hunting was needed. Figures Lyra got to stay back at the flat and work on the car, though she did admittedly build most of it before she brought me on to the project.

“But are you sure this thing can outrun a werewolf? I mean, it probably won’t outrun Apple Bloom.” Said Silver, worryingly.

Oh, yeah and that fun little bit, too mentally facehoofed Sandalwood, like the last thing I needed was to find out Applejack’s sister was a werewolf, too! At the rate things were going, soon spa customers would only be able to get aromatherapy treatments on Nightmare Night, with their host; werewolf Sandalwood! I’d never be able to live it down.

“Also, what’s with the Twilight standee in the truck bed?” added Silver, finally noticing Cardlight Sparkle.

“Nopony knows, really,” said Sweetie. “It apparently just showed up in the back one day.”

“It’s also rather useless, since Twilight got wings and is slightly bigger, too,” added Scootaloo.

“So? You got wings, too, don’t mean you can fly,” commented Silver, though the sudden feeling of the larger Babs Seed bearing down on her through sheer presence brought her back into reality. “Oh, please, I’m sorry! After hanging around Diamond for so long it sort of became habit to make comments like those, I’ve been trying to break it, really.”

“Nah, it’s cool,” said Scootaloo, shrugging. “Besides, I can at least do this.” The orange pegasus proceeded to jump into the air and, with great strain, maintain a height of five feet off the ground for a few seconds by working her wings extra hard.

“Hey, that’s better than the last time, ain’t it?” said Babs.

“Yeah, if I keep it up I might even be able to last a whole minute!” beamed Scootaloo, before she turned to Sandalwood. “Hey, DJ, you know when Applejack’s coming back?”

Sandalwood pulled herself out from under the truck, confusion etched on her face. “DJ? Who the heck is DJ?”

Scoot laughed. “Oh, sorry, don’t know what I was thinking, for some reason you struck me as a ‘DJ’.”

“Do I look like Vinyl Scratch?”

“Well, you do have the mane for it,” snickered Sweetie. Sandalwood glanced up to see her mane somehow sticking up like the famous DJ P0N3 ‘do.

“Yeah, well, I’m still not letting you help so you can get your ‘car repair cutie marks’ if that’s why your four are still hanging around.”

“Why not?” asked Apple Bloom.

“Technically, when you built this thing originally, it kinda ended up setting off the events that led to you being a werewolf, didn’t it?”

“Mah sister did not turn me into a werewolf!” growled Apple Bloom, her fangs growing slightly. “At least…it might have been from her indirectly, we’re still not sure, but she didn’t willingly turn me if that’s what you’re sayin!”

“Uh, Cuz?” interjected Babs, placing a hoof on her cousin’s shoulder to calm her down, “I think she means more of the ‘this thing ended up crashin’ into the Everfree’ kind of deal, y’know?”

“Oh, right. Sorry,” apologized Apple Bloom, teeth returning to normal.

Sandalwood just shook her head, both in response to the simple mindedness of the filly and also to get her mane back to usual. “All things considered, this truck is good to go, I just hope it can help with what’s going on.”

“So do I.” said Raspberry Beryl, who had appeared – noticeably without Heliodor – at the opening of the barn.

“Hey, where’s your bird?” asked Sweetie, remembering the first thing she’d noticed about the dark unicorn way back when.

“Heliodor’s off doing his ‘business’ if you know what I mean. He’s considerate that way, he won’t…you know, on other ponies or their property unless he really, really dislikes them.”

“I heard what went down at Canterlot, so I’m guessing Blueblood would be one of those ponies?” joked Sandalwood.

“Nah, Blueblood is reserved for me if he ever crosses my path again,” answered Razz, adding a purposefully fake evil cackle.

“You kinda sounded like Diamond Tiara, there, no offense,” commented Silver, before realizing Raspberry shouldn’t even have been there. “Wait, I thought you and Princess Twilight were supposed to be doing studying on stuff at Golden Oaks?”

“We’re technically on break. Well, I am, at least. Twilight had ‘flying lessons’ with Rainbow Dash scheduled, and you know how she is about her schedules.”

“And don’t we!” simultaneously said the fillies and Sandalwood all in unison.

Raspberry just smirked. “Looks like I’m going to have a very interesting time, living in Ponyville. But I better explain why I’m here.”

“Let me guess,” interrupted Sandalwood, “you want a ride in the truck.”

“If that’s okay,” bashfully confessed Raspberry with a slight blush.

Sandalwood just rolled her eyes. “Alright, hop in. And yes, you Crusaders can hang out in the truck bed with Cardlight, just don’t fall out.”

Twilight would normally have been learning the first stages of advanced flight styles under Rainbow’s wing. That was the original plan for today. Instead, she was getting to learn how to be an emergency weather pony.

“Are you sure this is okay?” hollered Twilight, struggling to keep up with her rainbow hued friend.

“We’ll be fine as long as we don’t get any closer from here!” replied Rainbow. The lack of brashness in her voice worried Twilight. Normally, it would have been near impossible to get Rainbow to resist the temptation to fly through a thundercloud. But this…Rainbow was in super serious mode, she was not confident that this was a safe thunderstorm that was forming above the Everfree.

Several Ponyville weather pegasi were already on the scene, maintaining their distance. Twilight easily recognized several of them as having been Wonderbolt Candidates back when Rainbow had been accepted there.

“Boss!” called out one pony who was easily identified as Cloudchaser, “this thing isn’t natural!”

“Well of course it isn’t, it’s an Everfree storm!”

“No, this one…it’s different!” added Thunderlane. “We can normally manipulate Everfree storms, it doesn’t stop ‘em but like that last one we can break it up to reduce the force on the town.”

“So what’s different about this one?”

“Whatever is causing this…it’s not the Everfree! Or a pegasus! The stormclouds are being held together with something other than water moisture! Even Bulk Biceps can’t break the clouds!” The three pegasus ponies and alicorn turned to see a muscular white pegasus with Scootaloo-size wings delivering an absolute flurry of punches and kicks to a small cloud bank that formed part of the slowly growing thunderhead. The cloud bank absorbed it all like a sponge. Thunderlane then turned back to Rainbow. “From what we can see, it’s like a hurricane is building up, though we don’t know over what as all visibility to the ground from up here is cut off. It’s probably going to hit Ponyville in a few days, tops.”

Rainbow then turned to Twilight, worry in her eyes. “Twi…do you think this might have anything to do with…you know who?” she whispered, not wanting the other weatherponies to know about matters that would lead to RD revealing she had a werewolf for a flatmate, especially the one the majority of the local weatherponies would just love to tear the head off of. “We may need Raspberry’s expertise, since if pegasus ponies like me and the others can’t do squat against clouds like these, we’re going to need some powerful magic that bends the rules of nature.”

“I’ll have to see what she knows.” Replied Twi. “I’m honestly at a loss to explain this, only that I have a need to study it further.”

“Never change, Twilight Sparkle,” chuckled Rainbow, happy to have something to laugh at while patting her friend on the back, “never change.”

The night was still for Silver Spoon. It wasn’t thundering outside, thankfully, but she could feel it in the tips of her fur; a storm was coming.

“Diamond…what have you gotten yourself into?” asked Silver into the nothingness outside her bedroom window, hoping her former friend could somehow hear. “I know you weren’t kidnapped, but if you’ve decided to be driven hard enough to go with Fair Vista simply for petty revenge on a prank…it’s madness.”

“Nah, it’s not madness, I’ll tell you that much” suddenly came the voice of Diamond Tiara. Silver swore her heart leapt high enough to launch her whole body five feet into the air before coming back down to land on the bed. In the dim light, all Silver could see was a shadowy outline, but there was no mistaking that headpiece.

“Diamond, what the hell have you been up to?!” demanded Silver, not afraid of using “big pony” words and getting in trouble for it. This was serious.

“Preparations, my dear Silver,” cooly replied Tiara, her form getting closer to the bed.

“Pr-preparations for what, exactly?” Silver was growing concerned. Tiara was obviously keeping herself out of any kind of light for a reason, along with somehow broken into the Silver Mansion without the private bodyguards noticing a thing. Slowly backing up on her bed, she felt her foreleg go a bit wide to the right and make contact with her half of the silver “PFF” bracelet. Subtly, she rolled it into the palm of her hoof and behind her back. She was of the Silver lineage, she was a descendant of those brave ponies who sought to rid the world of monsters like werewolves, and if she was gonna go down because of werewolves then she damn well was going to take one or two down with her.

“Oh, I was hoping to keep it a surprise.” Now Diamond’s tone started to get a little whimsical, as if she was drunk…or delusional…or under somepony else’s control.

“Y-you’re not Diamond Tiara, are you!?” screamed Silver, her response forced as she found herself backed into a corner.

“Don’t be silly, Silver! Of course I’m still Diamond Tiara…” a pink foreleg reached out to turn the bedside lamp on, only there was no hoof on the switch when the light came on. “…I’m just learning to understand my enemy better.”

Ch.30: Safety in Numbers

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 30: “Safety in Numbers”

The mad ringing of bells woke Raspberry up from her slumber. Embarrassingly, she found that for once she’d actually been drooling if the soaked part of her pillow just below her mouth was any indication. Best not let Cashmere know about that, thought the unicorn while re-arranging the pillows so the stain could evaporate away while out of sight. More importantly, Raspberry had to wonder why she was even drooling in the first place, even as a newborn she knew that drooling tended not to be something she did in her sleep.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” came the groggy yell from Ascot, the recognition of his voice snapping Razz back to reality…along with a quick facehoof. She should have been more worried about that customer at the desk, the one whose ringing woke her up, than her nighttime activities. While Ascot would have no problem dealing with the early morning arrival, it would have been better for Raspberry to have taken it in her opinion. She was still sort of used to short periods of sleep with rude interruptions. But, oddly, she then heard Ascot call for her.

Heliodor, who had also been woken up by this point, cooed in confusion as to what was going on.

“Probably more royal nonsense,” groaned Raspberry, making sure her visible form was the one without the forehead stalagmite of evil. A quick nod of approval to her reflection being the desired one, she quickly made her way out the door. “I’ll be right back, Heelee, this shouldn’t take long.”

With a *click* the room returned to silence. The phoenix blinked a few times, shrugged, and then dipped his head to go back to sleep. Except the ascension to dreamland was suddenly cut short by the bedroom door quickly being flung open with a much-more awake Raspberry standing in the lit hallway.

“Scratch that, Heliodor. We might be up all night.”

It was maybe three in the morning, but when the guards finally allowed in the distraught couple: Silver Hammer and his wife Gallery Rose to see the princess. When it was mentioned Silver Spoon had now gone missing under the same circumstances Diamond Tiara had, Twilight immediately had Spike send a letter to Canterlot for Captain Stonewall of the Royal Guard to be awake and ready for further orders. If this latest incident was the work of Fair Vista yet again, the entire town was in grave danger and guardsponies would need to be at the ready for deployment should she deem it necessary. As it was right now, she’d hurried over to the Traveler’s Retreat to pick up Raspberry.

Twilight had also intended to get Applejack or Apple Bloom, given they would be able to pick up the scent of another werewolf as they couldn’t assume the same level of sloppiness as at the Rich Mansion, but had encountered Lightning Dust on the way. Deciding to not bother the Apples – they didn’t need more trouble from Fair Vista as much as they needed a good night’s sleep – Twilight decided to bring Lighting along instead.

“I don’t even think we need to guess who the culprit was this time,” sighed Twilight to her companions.

“Then why am I here?” asked Lightning in a huff. “If you are already sure it was-“

“Doesn’t hurt to be totally sure. Besides, you were already up, so no point in waking up ponies who need their sleep. Plus, the guard is already suspicious of things in the Everfree after what Raspberry found at the Rich Mansion. They see you running around in bad enough lighting to think you’re a wolf?” The alicorn quickly brought up a foreleg and pantomimed cutting off her head from the base of her neck.

“Yeah, you got a point.”

“Unless of course you try to kill her,” said Raspberry, an evil gleam in her eye. “Then they’ll try to kill you but then once you tell them of your tragic backstory, how you’re just misunderstood, they’ll find a way to just enslave you to their service as a princess.” She finished with a wide grin, though it quickly faded upon seeing the confused looks on Twilight and Dust.

“Was…was that supposed to be a joke or something?” the werewolf asked with trepidation, unsure of what to expect from the unicorn with the phoenix on her head.

“Yeah, I’ll admit it was sort of in bad taste, but c’mon! I actually had to live through all that, now that I’m a princess don’t I have a right to at least joke about how my life up to now was so terrible that if it was in a book, there wouldn’t be a single publisher who would take it based on the grounds it was too ridiculous?”

Neither Twi or Dust quite knew how to respond, though mercifully a distraction soon presented itself. “Hey, we’re here!” pointed out Twilight. Indeed, they had arrived at the Silver mansion. True to its name, it was as if it was carved from a single, abnormally huge ingot of silver, though in reality it was externally a mix of fine stone and marble, polished to a mirror-like shine. “Huh, can’t say they have homes this nice back in Canterlot.”

“Weight restrictions, probably,” snarked Lightning, taking the lead of the group. “After all, I can’t imagine Canterlot being able to support a large number of solid houses like this, a castle-based settlement perched precariously on the edge of the tallest mountain in the country can’t risk too much bloating. But then again, most cities can’t be like Cloudsdale or the upper part of Los Pagasas.”

“What are you implying?” asked Raspberry, eyebrow raised with Heliodor mimicking the action. “That whatever pegasus town you were born isn’t as limited as Canterlot in terms of expansion or something?”

“Who do you think I am, Rainbow Dash? I wasn’t born in a cloud city, to be precise my hometown is actually Detrot.”

“Oh…sorry.” Raspberry felt slightly ashamed at her accusation. She’d been to Detrot a few years ago, certainly nowhere near as unwelcoming to her as Lonesome Dove but also not the greatest place to grow up if one was a pegasus.

“Don’t worry about it, your highness.” Dust cracked a grin at the annoyed look Raspberry shot her way. “Besides, we got bigger problems at hoof.”

While Twilight had been off getting Dust and Raspberry, the guards had escorted Mr. Silver and Mrs. Rose back to their home, which was now in the process of being locked down much like its counterpart the Rich Mansion. It quickly became evident that while the state of the mansions were the same, the parents clearly were not. While Mr. Rich had clearly been worried about his daughter much more than his wife, with Silver Spoon’s parents the mother was as worried as Mr. Rich but the father seemed to be downright livid about the matter.

“How could this happen!?” he snarled at nopony in particular, “It’s a disgrace!”

“Dear, please,” begged Mrs. Rose, “there was nothing anypony could have done by the time there was any indication something was wrong.”

“I still can’t accept this, not when it was our daughter!”

“Mr. Hammer, you aren’t accusing the guards of being incapable of filling their position, are you?” asked Twilight, unsure of just what the distraught stallion was going on about. At the same time, she shot a quick nod to Raspberry and Dust, who proceeded to go inside the mansion itself.

“No, no, the guards are doing just fine. Really, I can’t fault them for this.”

“Then, please, what are you so angry about?”

“Because…because as a father I failed my daughter!” the anger started to turn into tears. “I used to be a Royal Guard myself, 315th Engineering Corps, when I was younger. I wasn’t expected to do any fighting but I still got pretty good at hoof-to-hoof before I needed to take over the family business of silversmithing. Had I been there to stop whoever took my daughter in time, I would have-“

“Mr. Hammer, I assure you, there is truly nothing you could have done,” Twilight said sternly. She knew it wasn’t what Silver Hammer or his wife had wanted to hear from her.

“How…how can you say such a thing?!” Gallery Rose looked like she could have slapped Twilight right then and there had the princess not replied fast enough.

“Because you daughter was probably taken by something – not somepony, something – that is unlike anything you’ve ever seen or were trained to fight, Mr. Hammer.”

“Oh, don’t tell me this has something to do with that stupid werewolf business that Silver Spoon’s friend was going on about!” Twilight blanched slightly at the fact the stallion knew more than he probably should have. “I refuse to believe that some paranormal piece of fiction has made off with my daughter, or that even if that is the case that I wouldn’t have been able to stop her, no matter what you say princess!” He backed off upon realizing he’d overstepped his station. “Uh, sorry, no offense.”

“It’s alright, Mr. Hammer, I’m well aware of how…unusual the idea may seem, and that you’re currently under a lot of emotional stress, but I will ensure that I put everything in my power to use in finding your daughter and return her safely to you.”

“Thank you, Princess Twilight.”

The princess of magic let a small smile grace her muzzle before she caught in the corner of her eye the form of Heliodor trying to catch her attention. No doubt Raspberry and Lightning had already found something she needed to see. “You are most welcome. Now, if you’ll excuse me, my compatriots need me.” Having seen Twilight acknowledge him, Heliodor promptly took flight, expecting the princess to follow suit. She did, with some awkwardness as she really wasn’t in the shape for an early morning flight, but the distance was short she soon discovered. An opened window on the other side of the mansion was her destination, upon landing inside she found Lightning and Razz waiting. “Alright, girls, what did Fair Vista leave behind this time?”

“Uh, yeah, about that…” nervously said Lightning, “whatever happened here wasn’t her doing.”

Twilight was stunned, then annoyed. “This isn’t the time for jokes, either of you, there are now two fillies missing and-“

“Trust me, Twi,” interrupted Raspberry, “since I just cracked a pretty bad joke about how horrible my life was not to long ago, I know this looks even worse. But this isn’t a ruse or anything; Fair Vista wasn’t here.”

“Then…what took Silver Spoon?”

A quick glance between the two non-alicorns, then a beckons to follow saw Twilight following her friends down the hallway and to a partially open door. The plaque on it said Silver Agatha Spoon.

“Oh…oh my…” was all Twilight could say, a hoof raised to her mouth in shock at what she saw. Silver’s room was, simply put, a warzone. Absolutely nothing in the room had been left untouched in what looked like a fierce struggle. The closet had been torn apart, one of the doors ripped clean off its hinges, the window curtains were dislodged and partially ripped, as if tugged really, really hard, and there was a large hole in the drywall but not deep enough to penetrate through the masonry that formed the outside.

But most horrifyingly of all was the bed, or rather the state it was in. Something had clearly clawed its way through the blankets, with shreds of fabric and the cotton stuffing surrounding the bed, the pegasus-down filled pillows in a similar state of ruin. The sheets, while still on the bed, also had deep claw marks carved into them, deep enough that the springs in the mattress were poking through. The piece de resistance, of course, was the disturbingly large pool of blood in the middle of the bed, in the center of which was what looked like half of a bracelet.

“I have to hand it to Silver, she clearly put up one heck of a fight!” commented Dust, worried that should Silver turn up ok, her anger would have her go against Lightning because she too was a werewolf. “But then again, she wasn’t fighting Fair Vista.”

“What do you mean she wasn’t?” questioned Twilight skeptically. “Who else could have done this?”

“Twilight, you know better. Fair Vista, if she had a physical body as evidenced by what we found at the Rich Mansion, then she would have had no problem restraining Silver and…” Raspberry gulped, involuntarily putting a hoof on her throat and remembering very vividly what it was like having her throat torn out. There had been a lot of blood, like what was now on the mattress. “Yeah. However, if the one who attacked – and bit…and kidnaped- Silver was much more evenly matched in strength, then this crime scene makes more sense.”

“But it had to have been Fair Vista! The claw marks, the…the blood, the everything! Unless gryphons somehow decided to kidnap Silver, which still doesn’t explain the blood anyway, there’s no other reason for how Silver’s room is this ruined!”

Raspberry didn’t immediately respond, instead levitating the bracelet that was on the bed closer to her. A quick examination had her nod sadly, before passing it on to Twilight.

“Hey, can I get a look?” impatiently asked Lightning.

“No.” answered Raspberry. “It’s made of almost pure silver, this thing would burn you on contact pretty badly, as it did to the last werewolf it touched.”

Twilight, on the other hoof, was even more horrified by what she saw. “N-no, this…this can’t be true…no way this means what I think it means.”

“I’m afraid so, Twilight,” said Raspberry, levitating the silver bracelet which still had the partially burned remains of distinctively pink fur stuck to its surface. “Diamond Tiara is a werewolf…and for all we know, she’s forced Silver Spoon to the same fate.”

“But why?” asked Lighting, mouth slightly agape, “being a werewolf sucks! Why would she want to spread this damn curse around?”

“Because she’s under Fair Vista’s control, Dust,” glumly answered Twilight, already formulating the letter she would soon need to send to Canterlot in her head. “Fair Vista’s trying to turn Ponyville into the pack of werewolves that Sable Loam intended to use me, and then Applejack, to create.”

The town of Ponyville was full of nervous worry, quite understandable given the news.

“Have you heard? Silver Spoon’s been kidnaped, too!”

“Oh, no! First Diamond Tiara, now Silver Spoon? You think somepony is holding them for ransom because of their family’s wealth?”

“I don’t know, but I’m keeping my children home until the culprits are brought to justice!”

Then, shortly after lunchtime, it was noticed that a large division of pegasi in guard barding had journeyed from Canterlot, by way of Cloudsdale, along with an unheard of addition of what appeared to be a division of Princess Luna’s night guard. While antagonism between the day and night guards didn’t go past basic rivalries, the two tended to never intermingle operations. The fact they were doing just that suggested the situation in Ponyville was much more dire than anypony could have guessed.

Princess Twilight happened to be one of the ponies who had been not-entirely fully informed of the situation, as she was surprised to see the bat ponies landing alongside the pegasus ponies.

“Corporal Skyracer, reporting in you highness!” saluted the commanding officer, a pegasus. “The 352nd Guard Regiment is here in full, as you requested.”

“Corporal Summer Daffodil, also reporting in with the 501st ‘Strike Bats’ Regiment!” added the bat pony mare who moved to salute next to her white-and-blue counterpart.

“I do thank you and your respective groups for hurrying to Ponyville in such a short amount of time, but while I do appreciate having a Lunar Guard regiment at my disposal, I don’t recall having requested any more than a single day guard regiment.”

“It was ordered by Princess Luna, your highness,” explained Daffodil. “Due to some recent reorganization, a good portion of the 501st is pretty green when it comes to deployed service, and so Princess Luna thought it would be a good way to break them in as the crisis at hand reportedly may need the specialties of bat ponies for night operations.”

Twilight nodded agreeably. “I see. Well, all the same, it’s great to have so many ponies ready to protect this town at such a short notice. Corporals, I will need you to come with me when I address the town of what is to be done about the current problem. But the rest of your troops may set up camp in the meantime, after the town address I will leave it in your hooves to organize the ponies at your disposal to protect the town as you see fit.

Another pair of salutes from the lead pegasus and bat pony, before both delegated to their subordinates the job of overseeing the establishment of their joint base camp. Shortly thereafter, Skyracer and Daffodil had changed to their dress uniforms and were escorting the princess to the town hall.

“If I may ask, your highness,” inquired Skyracer, “but what exactly is the need for so many extra guards around Ponyville? Things seem safe enough to me.”

“Oh, please, I might have actually believed that if you weren’t in the guard,” chortled Daffodil. “But seriously, I must admit I am curious to know as soon as possible, too, as while I am loathe to admit it the fact the townsponies seem extremely happy to see so many guards all of a sudden is rarely a good indicator of things to come.”

“I thought you might ask that, which is why before I give my little speech, there is something you need to see first,” cryptically answered Twilight as the trio arrived at Golden Oaks. ”Please, step inside.”

Exchanging wary looks, the pegasus and bat guardsponies entered the tree library with some concern. What they found waiting inside, other than the expected bookshelves, a central table, and various adjustments suggesting the tree served as Twilight’s home as well as the public library, was a nervous orange mare wearing a Stetson sipping from a cup and a purple dragon going around to reshelve books.

“Ah thought you said there was only gonna be the one guard, Twi.” Replied the orange mare. Skyracer fought the urge to verbally reprimand the other pony for not regarding the princess as per her station, realizing it was Applejack, the Element of Honesty, and she was perfectly within her rights to call the princess any way she desired.

“Yeah, well, Luna decided to send some bat ponies, too, and really you know as well as anypony we can’t have too many guards to deal with her.”

Daffodil raised an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, but…her? Who is this ‘her’ you speak of?” Skyracer looked equally curious.

“Jeez, Twilight, you didn’t tell them about-“ started Spike, who in his turn realized this was Twilight telling them.

Skyracer was getting his impatience override his calm demeanor now. “Must we be kept in the dark longer for some reason?”

“No, in all honesty the longer you and your troops are kept in the dark about this the more danger Ponyville is put into by the second.” Twilight assumed as much of a ‘princess knows best’ pose as she could muster, wings opened and everything. “But first, I need to know how much you know about it. This will sound odd, but…what do either of you know about werewolves?”

Daffodil couldn’t stop from snickering. “Is that what this is about? I’m sorry, your majesty, but werewolves are nothing but a myth, the things my mom used to weave into those old Nightmare Night ghost stories she told me and the rest of the sprang when I was a filly. You can’t seriously-HOLYSHIT!”

Applejack, wanting desperately to get to the point, had opted to just get off her seat and change into wolf form without much fanfare. Daffodil, the more excitable of the two corporals, launched backwards into the air, her ridged wings beating hard to keep up with her racing heart that came as a result of all the Nightmare Night stories evidently not having been so made up after all. Skyracer, for his part, managed to stay on the ground, though his wings also flared and he’d taken more than a single backstep. He also was the first to get his voice back.

“W-wait a second…if Lady Applejack is a werewolf, and the problem you need so many guards for also involve werewolves…there are more of them?!”

Twilight shook her head. “As far as we can confirm, there’s only one. However, she’s not only come back from the dead, she’s far more cunning and dangerous than any real wolf and she aims to create some kind of werewolf army to overthrow the current tetrarchy.”

“Ok, not gonna lie, but that’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard,” said Daffodil from her lofty position.

“That’s what I said, too!” called out Spike from the other side of the room.

“Yeah, no arguments from us on that,” replied Applejack, rolling her eyes. “But here’s the thing; just because Celestia could whip her plot into next Tuesday right now, the werewolf we’re dealin’ with – some haridelle named Fair Vista – has foalnapped two fillies from town, and we’re sure she’s gonna try to do it again sometime soon.”

“Which is where we come in,” assumed Skyracer. “This…Fair Vista character could strike at any time and any place around town, so we can’t be too careful.”

“Alright, that I can get behind,” agreed Daffodil. “But since werewolves are just, well, pony colored wolves – no offense, Lady Applejack – do we know what she looks like?”

“Heh, you’re not gonna believe this, but…” Twilight suddenly blasted Applejack with a spell that changed the mare’s colors. Applejack now was a green mare with a two tone mane; sky blue and a shade of yellow softer than what it was before. Her eyes were pink, if not also slightly glowy, and her cutie mark was now a faded sunrise framed by two equally faded mountain peaks.

“Um…” Daffodil was not quite sure what the point of this exercise was. “I get the colors, but…just knowing the colors isn’t going to help us tell our troops what to be on the lookout for. I mean, a ‘spring colored Applejack’ can’t possibly-“

Now it was Applejack’s turn to snicker. “That’s actually the whole point why Twi just changed mah appearance; Fair Vista does look like me. Ah’m actually her great-to-the-somethin’ power granddaughter, much as Ah don’t appreciate followin’ her hoofsteps in bein’ a werewolf.”

“Oh…OH!” The irony of Daffodil’s earlier words about how Fair Vista would have been just a pony-colored wolf, only for it to turn out she looked a lot like Applejack to begin with, finally hit the bat pony hard and her normally dark gray fur was lit up on her face like a red lightbulb.

Twilight’s artificially enhanced voice boomed all over Ponyville and could be heard from the outskirts of town. Stuff about how there was a curfew and that the night guard would be working with the day guard around the clock to protect everypony and…

“She’s a princess, hiding behind guards is what she does best,” drawled Diamond Tiara, also hiding with Vista. The only signs of her having been a pony were her relative size still being that of a filly, her cutie mark still prominent on her flank (though the side effect of lycanthropy; cutie mark mange, had already started to make her mark fade though now she didn’t care), and her insistence on wearing her namesake tiara. But otherwise, her once bright colors were now slightly matted with dirt and in dire need of a wash, the purple-and-white in her hair somewhat in disarray, and her equine features distorted such that she was more like a large dog. She folded her pink paws in order to make herself more comfortable. “Honestly, I don’t know why you’re even keeping us here, what advantage will you gain from listening to that nerdy blowhard?”

“Simple, my young pup. She may be smart, but she’s no good at withholding information. For example; she just mentioned that the night guards have the honor of Ponyville to be their first assignment. No doubt they’ll be assigned to be the majority of the guards assigned to protect the town at night, being that the bat ponies are so efficient at night operations such that they make the regular day guard look like newborns. Still doesn’t make up for a complete lack of experience, however, which is perfect for us.”

“How do you know that?” Diamond was curious. “Bat ponies only recently were enlisted as a whole different guard for Princess Luna after she was restored, before that few ponies even remembered they existed and were native to the mountains.”

“Simple. Back during the glory days when Sable Loam was still around, he’d tell me how the princess of the night had bat guards who, obviously, were better suited for that kind of thing than the boring old pegasi of the day guard. I always thought that they would make good allies since their ancestors had rebelled alongside Nightmare Moon and what was left of the werewolf packs soon after the fall of Sombra, but obviously that’s not an option. Still, it’s valuable info, all because of somepony’s loose lips. You never know if what you say can get the better of you in the end. Isn’t that right, Spoony?”

The third member of the trio just nodded. Silver Spoon, too, had been turned into a werewolf, by her former best friend no less. She’d never been fond of her colors, thinking they made her look old more than of the precious metal her name came from, but now they betrayed her again as of the three werewolves she looked the most like a true wolf. Her cutie mark was just starting to fade, leaving the only other signs she’d even been a filly as her mane – still in its braids, much to her relief as there was no way she was going to fix them with paws – and her blue glasses. Secretly, she’d been amused with how despite the physical performance boost gained from lycanthropy, her eyesight was still bad enough that she needed her glasses. They drove Fair Vista crazy, since she wanted this fledgling ‘pack’ to be as unpony as possible, though due to the bloody affair in Silver’s bedroom one of the lenses was cracked and without a way to escape Fair Vista’s will, Silver was left partially blindsided as a result.

“Enh, you’ll come around,” shrugged Diamond. “Really, lycanthropy isn’t all that bad once somepony gets used to it.”

“Everypony will get used to it, eventually. At least once we finish what Sable Loam started.” A mean grin appeared on Vista’s muzzle as she stood up. “Princess Egghead just finished up, so no doubt there will be guards coming around. We must head back, preparations need to be made for tonight.”

Silently, the alpha werewolf darted off into the depths of the forest, her pink protégé’ in tow. Silver was much slower in getting up, sneaking one last longing glance at her hometown before reminding herself that not following Fair Vista would be hazardous to her health.

I hope the guard can handle the oncoming storm she thought, turning tail and unwillingly heading back into her living nightmare’s base camp, or else tonight is going to be a bloodbath.

Ch.31: Gekkou no Hikari

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 31: “Gekkou no Hikari” (Light of the Moon)

Ponyville’s populace was not unaccustomed to large-scale disasters happening that would potentially incite panic and mass hysteria, but all the times before there had usually been some kind of easy solution provided by Twilight Sparkle or one of her friends. The fact she had needed to bring in an entire guard regiment, with Princess Luna having supplied a second guard regiment, to even start to solve the most recent problem had ponies concerned just what was going on. After all, the citizens of Ponyville were unaccustomed to something that was outright abducting their children.

But for Pear Blossom, she had a much deeper fear to worry about.

“Oh, come on Ms. Blossom!” laughed Cashmere, putting pears into her bag. “You’ve been here in Ponyville for a while now, you know this will all blow over soon enough.” The proprietor of the Retreat was under the assumption the grocer was afraid of the amount of guards walking around.

“Y-yes, of course bella,” nervously replied the pear merchant.

Cashmere was unconvinced. “Honestly, you are acting like you’re going to be thrown to a manticore or something, what’s the matter?”

“Don’t w-worry, it’s n-nothing, really…”

The elderly pony narrowed her eyes as she dropped her smile. “I know when somepony is hiding something they’re scared of. Celestia knows my three kids all did the exact same thing you were doing when they were convinced the Slenderpony was hiding under the bed and in the closet simultaneously.” She grinned slightly as a truncated chuckle came out of Pear Blossom. “Let me guess, this has something to do with Raspberry turning out to be a dark magic user?”

“…Y-yes!” Pear had to blurt it out. “I mean, I am sure she’s probably still the same mare and all but the fact remains that she’s always liked my pears, both her and her phoenix so if my produce isn’t satisfactory she might-“ A hoof suddenly found its way to Blossom’s muzzle, silencing her.

“My dearie, she won’t do a thing like that,” reassured Cashmere. “In fact, the only reason she asked me to pick up the pears instead of her doing it personally was she needs to do some research or something.”

“R-research?”

“Yeah, something to do with what’s going on, she doesn’t want to tell us due to the ‘delicate nature’ or whatever. But that should tell you right there you have nothing to fear from her, since she’s going to all this trouble to protect everypony. She’s truly just your average unicorn, just…with a twist, I guess?”

“If you are sure, madam. I apologize for being afraid, but in light of all these happenings one can not be too careful. As a matter of fact, Knotwood suggested we take our vacation early this year, away from Ponyville to be somewhere a bit safer.”

“You and practically half the town it seems,” commented Cashmere, giving over the amount of bits she owed for the pears. “After two foalnappings, the entire Royal Guard could set up shop here, wouldn’t make familes feel any safer. Anyway, I need to get back to the Retreat, so I’ll be seeing you.”

The mares said their farewells and went their separate ways. Cashmere hadn’t told poor Pear Blossom the whole truth; which was that Raspberry had been very open to them about what was going on. Of course, she hadn’t really had a choice otherwise given she accidently let it slip in private about how the werewolf terrorizing the town was the same one who caused all the trouble on Nightmare Night and had tried to do terrible things to the unicorn by way of ripping her throat out.

But my Razz is strong like that, thought Cashmere, pausing momentarily to smile at how she was being so possessive of the young mare. It was sort of ironic: Raspberry’s magic and heritage was of the darkest and most brutal origins imaginable, yet she only brought light and warmth into the old bed and breakfast. While both Cashmere and Ascot were expecting to live on for a few more years, they were still at the age when their mortality was only too present and they didn’t know what to do with their business in the event they passed on. Their kids; Paradise Dream, Autumn Storm, and Carry On, were all grown up and had moved away to pursue their own interests. They wouldn’t know the first thing about running the bed and breakfast they grew up in, which was unfortunate as Ascot had hoped to keep the place within the family.

But as Cashmere walked back into the Retreat to be greeted by the younger unicorn, still levitating a book she’d clearly been reading while waiting to serve anypony at the front desk, the elderly pony knew her foster daughter of sorts would be the right mare to inherit the business.

“Oh, wow, that’s a lot of pears!” said Raspberry, generating a second aura of magic around one of the fruits in Cashmere’s bag, lifting it out into the open.

“Indeed, they’re from Pear Blossom, as you requested.” After Razz put the pear back in the bag, Cashmere hurried into the kitchen to store the fruits away. When she was done, there was more on her mind to talk with Raspberry about. “So, Raspberry, once this whole, erm, ‘werewolf’ thing is dealt with, do you plan on staying in Ponyville?”

“I have to. Don’t you remember?” replied Raspberry, back to reading her book. “Technically I’m sentenced to life servitude to the Crown and unless I’ve got one of the six ponies appointed to be my ‘wardens’ with me, I am under house arrest of sorts. Only instead of a house, it’s just that I can’t leave Ponyville. Though, honestly, I don’t really have anywhere else to go. Ponyville was more or less the last significant town I hadn’t been in that was within Equestria proper, and I can’t go to the frontier towns because Heliodor wouldn’t be able to find anything to eat.” She reached over to scratch the proud phoenix’s chin. “I’m not a fan of frontier towns, anyway, since I was born in one and…well, I don’t need to go into why I don’t want to go back.”

“Razz…Twilight told me about the ‘joke’ you made about your history.”

Raspberry sighed, putting a bookmark in her place before closing the tome and setting it aside on the desk. She then turned to look directly at her adoptive mother. “I know it came off weird, but I don’t see why everypony has a problem with me making fun of my origin.”

“Because you’re treating it as something to be mocked, honey.” Cashmere walked closer and drew up a seat next to Raspberry. “The problem is that by doing so, you’re tempting fate to have ponies go from fearing you as a monster, to treating you like a joke.”

“Honestly, why can’t anypony just let me do what I want with how I see my past? It’s not like I am ever going back to Lonesome Dove, the entire populace would try to kill me the second I set hoof there! Not like they’d succeed considering my inherited regenerative powers, but it would still hurt and I’d gain nothing.”

“Except that wouldn’t happen. Do you think your friends, who based on what you just said earlier would need to accompany you, would allow that to happen? You’re a princess, even! To attack you would be declaring hostilities on all of Equestria, and nopony wants to do that.”

“I guess…but I’m still not going back.”

“Yes, you are.” Cashmere saw she needed to draw on her motherly firmness once again. “While yes, nopony envies you for the trouble your life has-I mean, was, but at the same time your life has shaped you into who you are. Now that you don’t need to be afraid of your powers, or not having a roof to sleep under, the healing can begin. But for that to happen you need to come to have peace in your heart and that will require going home.”

Raspberry said nothing, just looking sullenly at the floor. “I…I don’t know if I can. The memories are bad enough to forget, but just being there…I don’t want to lose control like I did that night. Not again.”

“And you won’t,” Cashmere assuaged, taking Raspberry into a one-legged hug. “You’ve grown stronger, inside and out, but even though other ponies are starting to learn to not fear you, it is necessary that you stop fearing yourself.”

“I…”

Cashmere then took Raspberry’s face into her hooves and oriented it so it was looking right at her. “And don’t tell me you don’t know what to do when you’re at the town. You will know.”

Raspberry didn’t say anything, once again going into a period of self-reflective silence. Finally; “Alright, I think I understand your point, but I’m not going until Fair Vista is dealt with.”

“That’s my girl.” A full hug this time before Cashmere was willing to let Raspberry go.

Evening was finally starting to set in when the Crusaders were at the train station, with their adult escorts, to see Babs Seed off. News of the pseudo-lockdown of Ponyville had somehow reached her parents and so they had requested their daughter to be sent back to Manehattan where she would be looked after by family friends until the cruise returned.

“It’s a real shame you gotta go when Ponyville is like this,” said Apple Bloom.

“Yeah, I know, really wish our time didn’t have to be cut so short,” snorted Babs, unhappy about the whole affair. “Spendin’ time with you three was the most fun I’ve had in, well, the last time I was here, I guess!”

“You’re always welcome to stay at Sweet Apple Acres!” replied Applejack. “Heck, Ah’ll try to see if you can’t just come back once we deal with you-know-who and rescue those fillies.”

“I’d appreciate it, cousin Applejack!”

The next few minutes were mostly just the Crusaders talking amongst themselves, planning what to do to get their cutie marks and whatnot, as usual. This, in turn, allowed the older ponies to talk amongst themselves, too.

“Ah have to admit, Rares, Ah woulda thought your parents woulda taken Sweetie to safety, too,” confided Applejack. “If Apple Bloom wasn’t needed here because…well, because she’s a werewolf and may be needed to help rescue Tiara and Silver, Ah’d have sent her and Granny off to Appleloosa for safe keepin’.”

“I did tell mother and father of my similar concerns,” answered Rarity, her face etched with trepidation as well. “But of course they already made vacation plans for next month so they don’t have the money to take Sweetie to safety. Honestly I would think it poor of them if it wasn’t the fact their reservations in Ponyville being safe largely have to do with me being one of its principal ‘defenders’ so to speak.”

“At least your parents know about what’s probably going to go down soon,” added Rainbow Dash. “I’ve been trying to contact Scootaloo’s parents all day, haven’t heard a thing from them. Which is especially bad because I need every able-bodied pegasus I can get to deal with that storm over the Everfree.”

“Storm? Is that what those clouds over Castle Everfree are doing, forming up a storm of sorts?”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, it’s already being classified as a supercell. If it gets even worse to the point lightning is striking anywhere within a mile radius of the center, the town will need to be evacuated.”

Applejack grimaced. “You think it might have somethin’ to do with whatever Fair Vista’s got in the works?”

“I’m almost certain of it. Which of course implies somehow dark magic is involved.”

“Poor Raspberry, all she wants to do is just work the Traveler’s Retreat, instead she’s needed for her special magic expertise more and more almost daily,” lamented Rarity. She then recognized the sound of a clunky motor shutting off just on the other side of the train station. The two ponies who subsequently showed up were of no surprise to Rarity, given she already knew. “Lyra, Sandalwood, what bring you two here with your, erm, contraption?”

“Hey, Rarity,” answered Sandalwood. “As far as I know, the next train is going to have an order of some perfume ingredients that I need for some of my aromatherapy mixes.”

“Of course, it happens to be a large order, or so I was informed,” added Lyra. “So we needed to bring the car as the Apple Truck is still locked up over at Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Hey, at least I got the thing running, alright?” snorted Sandalwood.

“Speaking of running,” observed Sweetie, her squeaky voice coming out of the blue, “is it just me or is the train running a little late?”

“It’s just a few minutes, that’s all,” shrugged Scootaloo. “Not like it’s a deal breaker. Hey, I think I just heard its whistle.”

Sure enough, the train was barreling down the tracks only to apply the brakes and come to a stop in front of the station.

“Hey, isn’t this supposed to be a passenger train to Manehattan?” asked Babs to nopony in particular. She then checked her ticket. “Oh you’ve gotta be kidding…”

“What?” asked Apple Bloom, inching over to take a look.

“The tickets are for a train tomorrow! We’ve been waiting here for nothing!” The group collectively groaned at their collective stupidity.

“Well, look on the bright side,” suggested Sandalwood, who was signing for her materials, “at least you didn’t miss the train, right?”

“Sandalwood,” interjected Applejack, “Ah must admit Ah’d feel better if Babs was on a train back home, it would be safer than here.”

“Oh, please!” Sandalwood let out a whinny in her laugh. “Applejack, I know werewolves, Lyra too. We had to deal with you last time, what does this new pretender to your throne have to offer?”

Almost as if on cue, one of the boxcars of the train rocked violently on its trucks. Then, the door was somehow knocked clean off its mounts, revealing the stowaway cargo inside. Of course, the non-ticketed train riders soon made themselves known when multiple Fair Vistas launched themselves out of the car and right at the now horrified ponies who realized the threat Fair Vista now needed to be described in the plural sense.

Applejack tensed up, right at the verge of shifting into a wolf. She knew it was a risk, exposing herself to the other ponies still around, but she wouldn’t let the need to keep a little secret like hers endanger more innocent ponies. However, right as she felt the familiar pressure in her hooves, the Fair Vista she was readying up to attack suddenly was knocked back and pinned to the boxcar she had just left, a spear impaled through her heart.

“You know what to do, guards!” bellowed a strong, female voice, followed by a sudden surge of guardsponies – both regular pegasi and bat pony variety – converging on the sudden ambush of werewolf clones. Where the Fair Vistas were cunning and ferocious, they were held at bay by the armor and training of the Royal Guards and gradually they began to be pushed back as one by one the Fair Vistas were killed. Where the old werewolf had predicted the newer bat pony guards could be exploited through their inexperience, she had failed to count in the fact that the bat ponies also were naturally more aggressive than the regular pony kinds and so were fatally underestimated.

But in the ensuing chaos, all sight of the crusaders were lost.

“Sweetie? Sweetie Belle?!” cried out Rarity, ducking and weaving, searching frantically for her sister or her friends. Of all the worst possible things, losing her sister in basically a smooze-like mob of identical werewolves qualified as one of the. Worst. Possible. Things. As she was distracted with the search, she did not see one of the Fair Vistas doing something similar to her, only that werewolf had intentions of sinking her fangs into Rarity’s neck. Intentions that Rarity didn’t realize until it was too late for her to take action…but suddenly she was shoved by something in the nick of time and thrown clear. “Wh…wha?” As the unicorn worked to regain her bearings, she was shocked to see that the pony who had saved her was Sandalwood, and for the aromatherapist’s trouble it was now her neck that a Fair Vista had clamped in her fangs, the tan mare’s body having gone limp with trickles of blood already dripping to the ground.

It was shortly followed by the rest of the wounded pony hitting the floor as the werewolf was quickly dispatched by a few guards. As Rarity rushed to Sandalwood’s aid, Lyra doing the same on the other side, the werewolves fell back before finally cutting their losses and the survivors fleeing for the edge of the Everfree in the distance.

“Yeah, we showed them what for!” exclaimed one of the bat ponies, high-fiving another batpony who was wearing an eyepatch in addition to the normal barding.

“Sunshine, Meadowlark!” exclaimed Daffodil, who bucked one of the dead Fair Vista bodies away in disgust, “you’re guard ponies, moreover you are ‘Strike Bats’ under my command, and I will not have any units under my command acting like a bunch of frat ponies when the area is not secured! Is that understood?”

“Yes, m’am!” the two replied in unison, before getting the hint that they should join the rest of the guards in making sure none of the dead werewolves weren’t actually dead.

Daffodil just shook her head, before realizing there was a downed civilian. “Oh dear Luna high on her throne…SOMEPONY CALL FOR A MEDIC, STAT!”

“Ah think we got another issue at hoof!” suddenly called out Applejack, who was inexplicably half-buried in dead werewolves and for a split second Daffodil thought Applejack herself had taken on her werewolf form as well, though one double-take later showed the farmer was not in her beastly state.

“And what would that be, Lady Applejack?”

“Hey, does anypony know where the other Crusaders went?” asked Apple Bloom, unaware that Applejack had noticed the same thing. Gradually, all the ponies still on the platform realized the noticeable absence of Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Babs Seed.

Several hours later, Ponyville was in complete lockdown. Nopony not in the guard was allowed to be walking the streets at night, even then the guards couldn’t go around without being in groups of five at minimum.

It was also an extremely low point for the so called “defenders” of Ponyville as they were all gathered in Ponyville General’s waiting room. Sandalwood had potentially sacrificed herself to save Rarity, her fate still unknown if she would live or die. The number of missing fillies was now up to five, the number of enemies poised against Ponyville now possibly in the hundreds, maybe even thousands, though the means of how remained unclear in how Fair Vista not only stopped being a ghost but had also cloned herself. And one of those fillies, Diamond Tiara, was almost certainly a werewolf herself.

“Ah never shoulda scared her like Ah did,” lamented Apple Bloom. “All of this is mah fault.”

“No, Apple Bloom,” said Applejack, holding her sister to her side tightly. “None of this is your fault. It’s Fair Vista’s, always been. Ma, Pa, who knows how many others…she may be technically an Apple to the core, but she’s a rotten one all the way through.”

“Mirror Pool!” exclaimed Raspberry, who seemed to be especially distraught about the situation to the point she buried herself Twilight Sparkle style with books and was frantically looking through various pieces of Sombra’s research notes. “That’s how she has to have done it!”

“But she was a ghost!” exclaimed Pinkie, figuring out what Raspberry was talking about. “The Mirror Pool just makes clones of ponies, not brings them back to life! And even then, Twilight sealed it up, there’s no way anypony could dislodge it from the inside!”

“She may have found another one, the legend of the Mirror Pool never specified it was a unique thing,” corrected Twilight, though now she found no joy in her knowledge.

“Indeed,” agreed Raspberry. “If she found an unobstructed Mirror Pool, she could have easily created a clone of herself that was alive – she can turn herself physical for brief periods, reciting the incantation listed here in these books would do the trick – and then just possessed the produced copy to effectively resurrect herself.”

“And then she could make more simple-minded clones to make an army of herself,” grunted Rarity. Gone was the proper lady, for now in her place was her wrath mentality. Having her dear sister foalnapped and a good friend subject to one of two terrible fates was a level of shit the fashionista refused to tolerate. Fair Vista was going to pay.

“But it doesn’t explain why she’s kidnapping fillies left and right,” Fluttershy pointed out.

“It’s because she’s tryin’ to get to me,” answered Apple Bloom. “Tiara was workin’ with her, so they took Silver ‘cause she betrayed them and joined the Crusaders, and then the thing at the train station where the Vista copies took everypony else was just because they’re mah friends and family.”

“Does this have anything to do with the whole possession thing?” asked Lightning, her sudden appearance spooking everypony. “What? I just woke up, came straight here from the house.”

“Sorta, Ah think. Silver told me that Fair Vista’s intention of wantin’ to possess me was all part of some revenge plot to get back at Applejack.”

Applejack nickered. “All because Ah killed Sable Loam, Ah’m bettin’. If any of us had known this kind of stuff woulda happened…ugh, can we have some good news or somethin’ for once?”

All attention was suddenly drawn to Nurse Redheart, who was clearing her throat. “Funny you should say that…” said the medical care provider.

“When I get my hooves on that bitch, I’m gonna---ARGH!” Snorted Sandalwood, who was remarkably active for somebody who had just recovered from a critical throat injury mere hours before. Needless to say, it put all the ponies gathered around her bed at unease.

“Easy, Sandalwood, easy,” cautioned Rarity, fearful for her spa friend’s welfare, knowing full well that there was only one reason Sandalwood had managed to recover from her injuries faster than Applejack had. “You saved me from that ruffian, I can’t thank you enough for that, but I must insist you take it easy.”

“I’ll take it easy when every last one of those Vista clones is dead, especially the real one. She’s foalnapping innocents, terrorizing the town with her own narcissistic army of herself, and messing up my business! Nopony wants aromatherapy, not when there are bitches running around who can smell that kind of stuff for miles around!”

Lightning, Applejack, and Apple Bloom all immediately picked up on the subtle tells in Sandalwood’s mannerisms that they had become all too familiar with themselves.

“Sandalwood, you best calm down now,” warned Applejack, subtly repositioning her hooves for a slightly stronger stance should the need arise.

“Why, don’t I have a right to be angry at anypony?!” The tan pony was now getting angrier by the second, her eyes seeming to glow for a brief second.

“Not now, Sandalwood. This is not the time to be angry.” Applejack’s fur stood on end, edging closer to the point of no return. Sandalwood was now clearly a threat and not in control of herself because of her temper, but if she didn’t have the same luxury as either of the Apples, there was a chance every single pony in the hospital was now at risk. That prompted AJ to wonder; Was this part of Fair Vista’s plan, too? Would Rarity have had this happen to her?

“Twilight, get everypony out of here, now.” Lightning had come to the same conclusion as Applejack.

Sandy also realized what was going on…and that just made her angrier. “Oh Celestia, why does this shit keep happening to me because of bucking werewolves!?” Her distraught state had triggered the lycanthropy, and every single pony in the room realized it. The sudden surge of adrenaline in her system, the pain of transformation, overwhelmed the poor mare’s mind and all she could think about was how much she hated werewolves at that point. So, to her, the most logical action was to pounce on the first werewolf she saw.

Thinking quickly, Twilight teleported everypony out of the room except for Applejack and Lightning Dust. The princess knew that they were the best choice to get Sandalwood back to her senses. Indeed, in unison they assumed their wolf forms and they double-teamed the enraged Sandalwood, now having fully assumed wolf form herself.

“Get a hold of yourself, Sandalwood!” barked Lightning, delivering a mean right hook across her opponent’s face before getting bucked clean across the room in retaliation. But the pitched battle suddenly came to a screeching halt when Applejack returned fire with her own skill in bucking.

“You’re outta yer league, Sandy!” growled the farmer, closing the distance and picking up Sandalwood by the throat before slamming her into a wall. “Now Ah don’t like to remember when Ah ‘intrahduced’ mahself to ya back when Ah was becomin’ a werewolf, but damn if this don’t seem familiar.”

Somehow, being reminded of the incident at the spa jogged Sandalwood’s memory such that she regained her senses. “Uh, y-yeah, I guess?”

“You done bein’ crazy now, Sandalwood?”

“I…I think so…” Sandalwood suddenly fell to the floor, the shock of what just happened finally registering to her sane mind.

“Just so you know, Ah know what it’s like to lose your mind like that. First time was with you, Sandy, though sadly not the only one.”

“I’m guessing you kicking my plot seven ways to Sunday was the other?” said Lightning, rubbing her head to get rid of the little flying stars she was seeing. “Though at the very least I didn’t get hurled into something at the time, which is happening to me now at an increasing rate it seems.”

“Yeah, uh…” Sandalwood looked down in embarrassment, “Sorry about that, Lightning.”

“Hey, at least you got the whole transformation pains thing done with in one go, believe me when I say it sucks in having to go through that kinda shit for almost a whole year and then fast-forwarding to the worst part.”

The door then creaked open, Apple Bloom (in wolf form, just in case) peeking her head in. “You girls done fightin’ yet?”

“Yeah, Bloomie,” sighed Applejack, “we’re done.”

Twilight then brushed past Apple Bloom, her face showing more wear and age than anypony her age should have had. “That’s good, girls, because while you were fighting, Rainbow had to be called out to manage the weather team.”

Lighting blanched. “It’s the supercell…isn’t it?”

Twilight nodded glumly. “Raspberry went as well…she says it’s dark magic, something she’s never seen before, but one thing is for sure according to her; Fair Vista is at the heart of that storm, and she’s waiting for something.”

Ch.32: Fair Ultimatum

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 32: “Fair Ultimatum”

The last thing Babs Seed could recall was being at the Ponyville train station, having waited for a train that wasn’t going to come, when somehow a bunch of identical werewolves erupted from a freight car and swarmed the platform. It was in the middle of the ‘swarming’ that at some point she’d been knocked out, evidently because she had been foalnapped herself.

“Unnhhh…” moaned Babs, putting a hoof to her head as it rang from whatever had knocked her out. She immediately registered the fact she was in some kind of prison cell, judging from the old iron bars right in front of her.

“Babs? BABS!” suddenly came the voice of Scootaloo. “Hey, Babs! Are you okay?” The brown filly’s sight started to refocus, allowing her to now see that she was not alone in the cell. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle had evidently been waiting for Babs to wake up. They did not look to be in the best condition.

“Wha…what happened?” asked the Apple, realizing she didn’t feel quite up to snuff herself. “All I remember is a buncha werewolves comin’ outta some train car…”

“Yeah, somehow Fair Vista has a lot of identical twins all of a sudden. Must have used some of ‘em to foalnap us, though why they didn’t take Apple Bloom is beyond me.”

“Maybe she fought them off better than we did?” suggested Sweetie. “I mean, obviously we’re pretty beat up so we have to have put up quite a struggle…right?”

Babs could only nod, since how else could they explain the fact all three of them were bruised all over with one or two cuts for each filly and none of them were as energetic as they usually were.

“How much you wanna bet Tiara’s behind this?” snorted Scootaloo, “I’m thinking she wasn’t foalnapped at all, but instead allied herself with Vista!”

“Oh, bravo, the Crusaders finally figured it out.” The imprisoned trio looked wildly around for the sudden source of Tiara’s droning voice: “I’m over here, you idiots.” Then, right on the other side of the bars, materialized the altered form of the Crusaders’ scourge. “Do you like my new look? I think it’s quite nice, myself.”

“What, you finally realized your face is even stupider than before?” taunted Scootaloo, getting a laugh out of the Crusaders. “But seriously: you really had yourself be willingly turned into a monster?”

Tiara chuckled. “Oh, so is that what Apple Bloom is to you? A monster? Because she is not more of a werewolf than I am, I do hope you realize that.”

“You couldn’t even keep your best friend!” squeaked Sweetie Belle in angry retaliation. “Even she could tell the difference between you and Apple Bloom!”

The sudden grin with which Diamond brandished her jaws of sharp teeth intimidated the tiny unicorn. “You sure about that?” She then beckoned to another individual the CMC could not see…until a very unhappy looking Silver Spoon emerged to take her unwanted spot at Tiara’s side.

“You really are a monster!” shouted Scootaloo, face to the bars with her hooves wrapped around them tightly. She slitted her eyes, gazing daggers at the crowned lycanthrope. Diamond for her part didn’t seem to give a buck.

“Oh, come, come!” rang a new voice, eerily too cheerful given the circumstances. “Tiara, you know better than to tease the new recruits!”

“O-of course, mistress,” said Tiara, her voice taking on a tone of innocence once reserved for kissing up to adults. But of more immediate concern was who she was referring to as ‘Alpha’. It didn’t take much guess work, as a very contented Fair Vista was almost bouncing her way over to the jail cell.

“Once a plotkisser, always a plotkisser, even when you’re less of a pony then you were before!” snorted Babs, “I guess something never change, even when the rest of you does to the point of becomin’ the very thing you swore Apple Bloom was – but worse!”

The harsh-yet-still-haughty laughter that came from Vista and Tiara chilled the Crusaders to the bone, especially when the ancient werewolf seemed to have a gleam in her eye that couldn’t mean anything good. “No, young one, the real monsters are the freaks who rule this land and the pony who killed my love last year. Ah, ah, don’t give me that questioning look, you’ll understand soon enough when you’re part of our pack.”

“We will never join you!” seethed Scootaloo, Sweetie and Babs mirroring the same angry glare.

“Oh, but you already have!” Vista suddenly snapped her head backward and let out a fearsome howl. Babs reeled back from the volume, but when she noticed the terrified expression shared by Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, it became clear that their wounds were not from having given their all in a fight, but were to hide the fact they’d been cursed by Fair Vista and her new cohorts.

Except, as Babs could only watch on in absolute horror as the pegasus and unicorn’s bodies were malformed in the same manner to that of Apple Bloom’s first transformation months prior, something else wasn’t right either.

Tiara was the first to voice what everypony had noticed by that point; “Waitaminute, why isn’t she changing like the others?”

“You did bite down as I told you to, right Silver?” said Vista, her charmed mannerisms having instantly changed to that of a pony on the verge of going postal. “After all, I do recall having you be the one who was to turn the brown one into part of our pack!”

“I-I swear, I did bite down! Hard!” pleaded Silver, the one non-cracked lens in her glasses showing her eyes quivering in fear. “But maybe some ponies just can’t get cur-“

“Blessed is the term you should be using, pup,” interrupted Vista, closer to going off the deep end with her rage. “Though I suppose it can’t be helped if she’s immune or something, she just will have to rot here alone while the rest of Equestria is allowed to bask in what ponies were meant to always be. It would be nice to know how she is still burdened with only being a pony, unlike her liberated companions, to be fair and all.”

“Uh…” Babs racked her brain, trying to come up with some kind of excuse. “I ate a lot of garlic pizza back in Maneha-“

“DON’T YOU DARE MENTION GARLIC HAVING ANYTHING TO DO WITH WEREWOLVES!” screamed Tiara, smashing her face right up against the bars and trying to swipe with her claws at Babs in vain.

“Ha. That’s five bits, Sweetie,” said Scootaloo, evidently still having the strength to laugh despite the agonizing pain she’d just gone through, especially with how hard it hurt to just talk with a canine’s muzzle.

“Now? Are you serious?” Sweetie was slightly farther in recovery, having managed to sit up in a slouched position.

“Um…what are you talking about?” ventured Silver, still wary of setting off Fair Vista.

Babs rolled her eyes. “Sweetie didn’t believe that whole garlic thing at the school actually was your doing.”

Silver just stared. “But I literally told you guys it was us. During the whole Nightmare Night thing? Sandalwood went bezerk from the news. And you still didn’t believe me, even though the rest of what I said was all true?”

Sweetie, now fully sitting upright, slowly shrugged. “I didn’t think Tiara was actually that stupid at the time.”

“You think these bars will protect you?” threatened Tiara. “When you get outta there, I’m gonna teach you why you need to show me more respect.”

“Now now, Tiara,” chastised Fair Vista, slowly resuming her over-abundantly cheerful attitude, “we can’t let them out yet, we need them as bait to lure the Apple bitches here.”

“I-if I may make a suggestion?” asked Silver.

“Yes?”

“Since one of them evidently can’t be cu-I mean, blessed - with the gift of lycanthropy, I would suggest we use her to our advantage in a different role.”

“Go on…”

“I say we release her to deliver a message to the so-called ‘princess’ and her friends, letting her know that Applejack and Apple Bloom are to come to this castle by themselves or else we hurt the other two captives by turning them into our own.”

“Uh…we already did that, Silver,” pointed out Tiara, skepticism heavy in her voice.

“Then we already win, even if the Apples somehow have a chance against our pack.”

Diamond looked like she was going to argue a point, but Fair Vista’s nodding of approval silenced her. “Maybe I was wrong about you, Silver Spoon, you might make a good werewolf yet. You may take the brown one and send her with an ultimatum.”

“Thank you, mistress.”

Babs, on the other hand, barely had time to say goodbye to the other Crusaders before Silver insisted on hauling the urbanite away.

“I thought you were cool, Silver,” seethed Babs, “but I guess now-“

“Shut up, stay quiet, and do exactly as I say if you want any chance of making it back home alive,” whispered Silver, swinging Babs around so they were face to face. Then, with some effort, Silver willed herself back into pony form and took off her broken glasses. “Tiara’s fallen too far to know if she can be saved, but do not doubt my spirit. I am and always will be a pony at heart, and right now it is my duty as a pony to help warn those who actually can stop what Fair Vista plans to do.”

“Your highness, we cannot permit you to do this!” declared Skyracer, slamming a hoof down on the table inside Golden Oaks. With Sandalwood back on her hooves and under the careful supervision of Applejack, the ponies closest to the princess had gathered in the library to discuss the grave situation at which Ponyville and five of its fillies were in.

“I have to, Corporal, I’m a motherbucking princess!” retorted Twilight, “and I’m not going to let a couple of fillies be killed or worse, be turned into werewolves against their will, without me having done anything in my power to try and prevent that!”

“Your reasoning is sound, my liege,” conceded Daffodil, “but as it is our sworn duty to protect the Royal Tetrarchy, of which you are a member, and that protection extends to preventing you from wadding barrel-deep into a den of werewolves who would probably try to turn you into one of their own!”

“Um, actually, they wouldn’t be able to,” meekly corrected Raspberry. “The raw magic that flows through their blood is far too strong for any strain of the curse to latch on to, generally they’re the only species of pony that’s inherently immune to the curse. I’m only immune because Sombra built a failsafe into the curse that prevented him and any of his descendants from contracting it.”

“Does that mean her majesty also can’t be killed by werewolves?”

“Well…no…”

“Then my point stands!”

The angry murmur from the gathered ponies did not indicate that was what they wanted to hear.

“Then what do you propose we do, Corporal?” asked Rainbow. “Looking past the fact you and the rest of the guards don’t want us going into their lair to at least try and save innocents, the result of fusing a tornado with a hurricane is still building up over Castle Everfree and we’re certain Fair Vista has something to do with it as no weatherponies can do a thing to stop it!”

Skyracer scowled. “And we can’t evacuate the town because that would give that monster and her duplicates the perfect opening to attack the entire populace while the ensuing chaos would prevent the guards from defending against the werewolves in an effective manner.”

“So, I guess this is a case of ‘damned if we do, damned if we don’t’ more or less?” rhetorically asked Rarity. “It’s a shame that we can’t just borrow the Elements of Harmony for this from the Tree of Harmony, since we can’t risk the Tree losing power again. Who knows what horrors would be unleashed.”

Rainbow nodded. “For all we know, the only reason that storm hasn’t gotten worse than it already has is because it’s being tempered by the Tree’s power, though in that case we don’t know for how much longer it can hold the tempest back, since there’s some kind of magic involved.”

“Ah think Razz said somethin’ about it bein’ dark magic,” said Applejack. “What on account of what lycanthropy is made from and all, right?”

“Yeah,” acknowledged Raspberry, “but how Fair Vista can form such a thing when she was originally an earth pony is beyond me, as there’s no way she can control any kind of magic without a horn or a possible biological adaption to serve a similar purpose.”

“I’m pretty sure her ability to spread lycanthropy through magically created clones, if that Mirror Pool theory is at all true, means she can use some magic,” pointed out Sandalwood. “after all, we all pretty much agree Applejack spread the curse to Apple Bloom by accident and not by a bite, so I have to assume that means she cast magic in some way.”

“This might sound crazy,” interrupted Lightning, “but even though you think it’s dark magic, Raspberry, what if it’s not directly from Vista?”

“Wh-what do you mean?” stammered Fluttershy.

“It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that stupid wolf and her army of narcissism is under that storm, but if they’re holed up in those ruins – the same ruins where Nightmare Moon was both created and destroyed – then that place is ripe with uncontrolled magic. The Everfree doesn’t play by normal rules of anything as it is already, who’s to say that storm isn’t the forest reacting to a large, evil presence building up in the same place?”

“I hardly see how anypony can come to that conclusion, given that it didn’t do this whenever Nightmare Moon was around.” Said Twilight, “What makes Fair Vista different from the beast that possessed Princess Luna?”

“Nightmare Moon was merely the manifestation of Luna’s dark side,” said Raspberry, having figured out another part of the puzzle. “For all the evil alicorn did, she was neither a resurrected spirit nor was there more than one of her. Additionally, of the two times Nightmare was at Castle Everfree, she was there for less than a couple of hours if what has been told to me is at all accurate. Vista has been there – times how many clones of herself there are with her – for days. The Everfree may not have reacted to Nightmare Moon simply because it didn’t have time to form a response like this!”

“But why a storm that is full of dark magic? It doesn’t make sense that the Everfree would put out something like that, the forest is wild but it’s not evil like King Somb-“ Twilight froze when her eyes were locked with Raspberry’s, the mulberry mare’s face looking hurt at once again being called evil because of her magic handicap. The princess immediately made to apologize, before realizing more of the truth. “No, it’s because the Everfree isn’t evil that it’s using dark magic in a way we don’t understand!”

“Huh?” Everypony in the room was confused.

“Raspberry, you’re an example of this phenomenon: you are the closest thing to King Sombra in both lineage and raw dark power alive, but ponies still call you evil simply because you use dark magic! They see that as a sign of you being a high-level threat, thus they will act accordingly if they don’t know better!”

“Uh, Twilight?” interrupted Pinkie Pie, “You want to try explaining that in terms we can understand?”

“The Everfree is trying to help us!” exclaimed the alicorn, the full picture now clear to her. “Normally, some animals employ a form of mimicry such that they serve as warning signs to ward off predators with false illusions of being more dangerous than they really are. Here, the Everfree is doing something of a similar nature, but it’s warning us of the danger within!”

“That makes no sense!” argued Daffodil. “It’s a forest, not a living creature!”

“We don’t know that.” Fluttershy caught everybody off guard when she turned out to be the one responding. “Like Lightning said, the Everfree doesn’t play by the rules as defined by ponies. Maybe this is its own way to try and communicate to us?”

“Well, it certainly takes out the guesswork in figuring out where Fair Vista is, but that still leaves us with the problem of-“

Just then, there was a knock at the door. “Your majesty, one of the patrols has returned with one of the fillies who was foalnapped! She says she needs to talk to you!”

“For Celestia’s sake, boys!” cried out Skyracer, “let the poor girl in! The door isn’t exactly locked!”

The two-part door into Golden Oaks opened up, revealing a slightly beaten up Babs Seed with a guard flanking her on each side.

“BABS!” exclaimed Apple Bloom, saying the first thing to leave her mouth since leaving the hospital and instantly charged right at her cousin to grapple her in a big hug. “Ah was so worried!”

“Yeah, how did you escape?” asked Rainbow. “And what happened to Scootaloo and Sweetie, or Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara?”

The way Babs seemed to try and figure out how to voice what she was going to say immediately informed everypony that it was not good. A curt nod from Twilight had the guards outside shut the door for privacy.

“It’s good to see you all, but really the only reason I’m ‘supposed’ to have been able to return is to deliver some ultimatum to Applejack and Apple Bloom.”

“Ah guess this is where we figure out why she’s cooped up with her army of lookalikes in the Everfree ruins.” Said Applejack. “Let me guess; she wants me and mah sis to go alone to the castle to go fight her, with any funny business meanin’ the other four fillies she’s got in her grasp get turned into werewolves like us?”

Babs blinked a few times in surprise. “Uh, yeah, that’s actually pretty much it. How did you-?”

Applejack laughed. “It’s not the first time Ah’ve had to face off against an evil werewolf, though Sable Loam didn’t actually come back from the dead or have identical clones, come to think of it.”

Raspberry was more grim in her outlook. “But why would she even bother sending an ultimatum? After that stunt at the train station she should have figured out we know about the duplicates.”

Babs sighed. “When she was talkin’ to me and the other Crusaders, she seemed to not exactly be quite all there in the head, if you know what I mean.”

Pinkie nodded as if in agreement. “That means she did clone herself with a Mirror Pool and then possessed the body. Two identical minds occupying the same form…while the original could easily dominate the mind of the inferior copy, they aren’t exactly the same mind to the level that they could work in harmony. Thus, the original is getting distorted in her thought processes and slowly going insane.”

“How did you know all that?!” asked Raspberry, dumbfounded.

“Just a hunch!” cheerfully answered Pinkie, leaving Razz with no further clue as to what had happened.

Twilight just chuckled before getting back into serious mode. “Unfortunately, that means that nest of wolves is all the more dangerous, and for all we know the other fillies are already werewolves.”

“Well…” Babs started, then became unsure of if she should continue or not. However, the horrified reactions from the older ponies showed she’d already said enough.

“No! Not Sweetie Belle!” exclaimed Rarity, “she’s too young for this!” The thought of her sister befalling such a fate, the latest in the series of ponies close to her becoming cursed one by one, shocked her so terribly that she couldn’t even ham up her emotions.

In comparison, Rainbow found herself at a loss for words. Although it had been only slightly over a year since she’d filed the paperwork to be Scootaloo’s mentor, the squirt had been the little sister Rainbow never had and it could be said learning of Scoot’s fate hurt Rainbow even more than what Rarity was going through. She was the Element of Loyalty for Celestia’s sake, but she’d-

No, thought Dash, her distress slowly boiling into a blistering hot anger, I will not fail her, I will not let my little wingpony down!

“Uh, Rainbow, are you okay?” asked Lightning. For all the time she’d spent around Rainbow since coming to Ponyville, she’d never seen Dash get this angry.

“No, I’m not okay!” shouted Dash, “we’ve done nothing but talk and talk in here while Fair Vista’s been doing who knows what to our little sisters, so I don’t care what you all decide to do but I’m going out there with or with-AH!” Rainbow suddenly felt her rear hooves be grasped by something, which subsequent examination showed they were now planted in the floor and held down by dark crystal.

“No, Rainbow, there’s a freakin’ werewolf army in there, you’d be mincemeat well before you got close to the ruins!” pointed out Raspberry, much more firm in her voice than before. “As loathe as I am to say this, we can’t send anypony into that hollow bastion who isn’t either already a werewolf or is otherwise able to survive…” a quick glance at Rarity, fully in shock at this point, inspired Razz to change her next few words, “…fatal wounds in critical areas of the body.”

“I’m down with that,” said Sandalwood, “as long as I can kill as many Fair Vistas as I want!”

“Easy, Sandy,” warned Applejack, not wanting to have to deal with a repeat of Sandalwood’s earlier incident. She then turned to Babs. “But until we can know that the fillies are safe, there is still the real chance they can be hurt by Fair Vista if any one of her bodies sees there is another pony or werewolf other than Bloomie and Ah, so Ah have to figure we’ll both need to somehow distract all the Fair Vistas and any other goon she’s got while the rest of y’all go and save the fillies. Though…” Applejack’s eyes narrowed in suspicion, “Ah don’t believe you explained how you managed to convince Fair Vista to let you go without bein’ bit or anythin’ Babs.”

“Oh, that’s easy,” said Babs, oblivious to AJ’s suspicions of her, “it was all Silver Spoon’s doing.”

“Uh, that doesn’t explain anything,” pointed out Pinkie.

Babs sighed. “Tiara…she’s pretty much lost it herself, she’s willingly serving Vista and everything as a werewolf, but Silver’s there against her will. When Silver was getting me outta there, she said that she was supposed to have bitten me and made me a werewolf, but she faked it to spare me. “

Lightning nodded an acknowledgement. “Alright, so we might have an ally on the inside, but that still doesn’t answer how we’re going to rescue Scoot or Sweetie.”

“I’ve been thinking about that, actually,” piped up Fluttershy. “Raspberry, how hot would you say Heliodor’s fire aura can get?”

“Uh…” Raspberry scratched her head, “I don’t have a real measurement or anything, but back when I was still making faked precious stones with dark crystals, he helped power the blast furnace I used to artificially pressurize the gems so they looked more like the real deal does with microscopic imperfections and such. Why do you ask?”

Fluttershy smiled. “Simple, Fair Vista only demands that Applejack and Apple Bloom be the ponies who go into the ruins. She said nothing about there being any retribution for there being, say, a fire breathing dragon and a fire breathing phoenix. To her, they’re just animals-

“HEY!” exclaimed Spike, who had been running around and serving minor refreshments to all the ponies, “who’s calling me an animal? I was only a dog on the other side of the mirror thank you very much!”

“Easy, Spike,” laughed Twilight.

“As I was saying,” continued Fluttershy, “we could get the fillies free from wherever they’re being held captive – I’m guessing they’re in the old dungeon cells or something, so they’re prevented from leaving by the old iron bars – if the lock holding their cell or cells closed was simply melted off. Spike or Heliodor alone would probably take forever to do it, but together…”

“It wouldn’t take much time at all!” finished Apple Bloom, jumping into the air with glee. “We might actually have a chance to save everypony!” Her ears then drooped. “Well, from Vista, at any rate, not the lycanthropy.”

“We’ll handle that when we’re done with the bitch who took ma and pa, “ answered Applejack, though she was probably a little too happy at ending all the werewolf nonsense again. “Ah’m guessin’ you got a full plan in your head, Fluttershy?”

The pegasus nodded. “Uh-huh, but it’s going to put you and Apple Bloom in danger, possibly more than you’ve ever been in before.”

“Fluttershy, Sable Loam wanted me to basically become Fair Vista. Compared to that, the fact she wants to just kill me and Bloomie is nothin’ in comparison. But time is against us, so we need to get this underway as soon as possible.”

Two hours later, Fair Vista lay on her chest, watching the main entrance of the ruined castle, lying in wait. She knew her prey would come. She knew they had no choice.

“So…” said Tiara, obviously trying to start conversation. Her dedication and loyalty were indispensable, but she had much to learn if she was to be Vista’s right paw wolf.

“So what?” snapped Vista, figuring it was going to be some stupid question.

“What was he like? Sable Loam, I mean?”

The question caught Vista by surprise, which brought a small smile to her face. While normally surprises were to be avoided, the small ones like this question did liven up things.

“He was, in a word: wonderful,” replied the Alpha, her eyes glossing over slightly as she allowed herself to get lost in her memories. “Back when I was still trapped by the restrictions imposed upon me, a mare born in a society where I was nothing but a homemaker, where I had no ambitions to follow and life was the same day-in and day-out, Sable Loam was my savior.”

“By…turning you into a werewolf?”

“Uh-huh. The day he broke into what had been my prison of a home, he was the breath of fresh air I needed, the thing that saved me from drowning in the monotony that had been life. The wild, unrestrained ferocity he radiated was unlike anything I’d ever seen at the time…it helped he was also considerably much hotter than my former husband had ever been.”

“You were married before you partnered with Sable?”

“Regrettably, along with having a filly. I do not remember the names of either, but in truth I don’t care. All I know is that they were just two more shackles in my life as a pony, shackles I gladly cast off to enjoy the freedom that comes with being a werewolf. Plus, I-“

“Tiara, Vista!” cried out Silver, running up from behind the vantage point, “the Apples are here!”

“Huh, so they actually did show up?” grunted Tiara. “I didn’t think they had the spine.”

“Oh, on the contrary, I knew they’d come,” smirked Vista. “After all, they just have to save their little friends in the most brazenly dumb manner possible. Come along, you two, time to tie up some loose ends.”

“Are you sure about this, sis?” ventured Apple Bloom, “Ah mean, Ah’m totally with you in rescuin’ Sweetie, Scoot, and Silver, but…”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s probably a trap of some kind,” grumbled Applejack. “But it’s like Ah said earlier, until we can get the upper hoof, we gotta play by her rules. Besides, Ah actually do have a question or two Ah wanna ask her…”

The sisters didn’t say much else as by that point they’d passed under what was left of the castle’s main gate. While it hadn’t been mentioned where exactly they were supposed to confront Vista, it seemed almost instinctive to the Apples that the showdown would begin in the ruined courtyard. Indeed, the second they entered it, their fur stood up on end.

“Ah, and here they are at last,” came the sing-song voice of Fair Vista, stopping short just as her eyes went wide. “Wow, you really do look like me.”

“Considerin’ how your lover boy decided to try to make me your successor,” flatly replied Applejack, “that’s honestly old news.”

“As much as I do still love Sable, the idea that a wretch like you could ever take my place in full is laughable. You’re one of the worst werewolves that’s ever lived!”

Applejack gritted her teeth, already elongating to sharp tips. “You make it sound like Ah had a choice, when Ah had no say in becomin’ a freak like you or him, just like how you didn’t give mah folks a choice when you turned them into werewolves eleven years ago!”

“Is that why you killed Sable, because of some revenge-needing-dead-parent complex or something?”

“Actually…” interrupted Apple Bloom, “Applejack only really dealt the final blow, the one who actually did most of the butt-whuppin’ was a minotaur.”

“So you’re saying Iron Will is a fraud, then?” came the haughty tones of Diamond Tiara, the pink werewolf emerging on the right side of Fair Vista. Her counterpart Silver Spoon then emerged from the left, though unlike the other two she did not smile or look at all happy. There was suddenly sounds coming from all around, a number of pink eyes suddenly illuminating the dark with their glow.

Applejack just rolled her eyes. “Alright, look, before you start throwin’ copies of yourself at us, Vista, Ah just want to know one thing.”

Vista raised an eyebrow. “And that would be…?”

“Why mah parents? Ah need to know why you decided to sentence mah parents to their fates as werewolves, why mah sister has to grow up when the only family she interacts with on a daily basis is her two older siblings and our grandmother.”

The green werewolf smirked. “Is that all? Fine. If you must know, it was truly nothing personal. Sable was going to use these ruins as the base for his new werewolf army, and of course that army would need to be fed. Thus, we would need farmers to grow the crops to feed the pack. While regrettably I have to guess Sable killed them for being utter failures as werewolves in one way or another, it is fortunate you brought this matter up because I know you are a farmer just as much as your parents.”

“Over mah dead body,” snarled Applejack, instantly shifting to canine form. Apple Bloom followed suit, ready to back up her older sister.

“Such heroic nonsense, commendable really but it’s not like that will get-AH!” Vista’s taunting was suddenly interrupted by something having ambushed her and sinking its fangs into her throat. Some violent swinging managed to free her neck, but not before the incisions went deep enough that it was a struggle just to breathe without both raspiness and making the bloody wounds bleed more profusely than they were already.

At the same time, Silver Spoon got up from where she was tossed, which happened to be right in front of the Apples, and wiped the blood from her muzzle. “For Celestia’s sake, do you ever shut up about how you are so much better than everypony else because of your self-important werewolf bullshit?”

“Silver, what are you doing?!” shouted Tiara, aghast at her now once again ex-best friend had done, “Is constantly betraying your allies a hobby for you or something?!”

The gray werewolf just rolled her eyes. “Is it really such a bad thing when I betray the same ponies twice for the same reasons both times because I have moral standards?”

“Yeah, Silver, you’re such a bitch!” answered Apple Bloom with a grin, which in turn only got an Are you serious? glare from the bespectacled traitor.

“She’s going to be a dead bitch in a minute, just like the rest of you!” Vista finally had managed to say a complete sentence and with it she declared open hostility. Immediately the courtyard became an arena, a sea of identical Fair Vista clones, snarling and yapping at the trio now stuck in the middle.

“So, uh, I hope you guys had a plan, right?” asked Silver, worried she might have just become a liability.

“Of course!” replied Applejack. “We’re the distraction!”

“Huh?!” It had not been the response Silver had been hoping for, but there was no time for clarification as the mass of Fair Vista surged forward, the encirclement complete. As she frantically fought for her life, Silver now hoped that whatever this ‘plan’ was, it would save the Crusaders and stop Fair Vista, even if in the end she herself was lost in this carnage.

“Um, hello?” called out Sweetie. “Helloooooooo?”

“Hey, wolf-pony…thing!” added Scootaloo, “this is kind of important!”

The Fair Vista set in charge of guarding the cell, in the event the residents of Ponyville tried to mount a rescue operation, scowled as she glared back at the whelps in their pen. “What?”

Sweetie started dancing in place rapidly. “I really gotta go potty!”

“So?”

“So?!” retorted Scootaloo, “You expect her to just do her business in here?”

“I don’t see why not,” the clone emphasized the last word, making it clear that she was not going to let the pair out no matter what.

“Because we don’t want to be stuck in a stinky, rotten, old toilet of our own filth?”

Now the copy started having second thoughts. While she was simple minded enough that she had no qualms about being left out of the battle going on at the moment in the courtyard, she certainly was wary of having to be stuck guarding-

The train of thought the reflection had was interrupted by the sound of something in the area.

“Who goes there?!” barked the guard. No response, but instinctively she could feel the presence of another creature. “Clearly you have a deathwish, either for you or these pups, if you are still around here, but if that is the case then show yourself! Now!”

The answer was…a squalk. Then, literally falling from the sky, a pink fleshy thing slammed into the ground. It picked itself up, albeit in a dazed state, but it was such a stupid looking bird…was it even a bird? No matter, it was a joke of a life form and the clone thought it funny.

“Well, looks like I get my dinner early!” The clone was pleased, moving slowly away from the gate towards the bird thing. Even though she was but a magical construction, she still needed to eat. However, hen she was right on top of the bumbling thing, there was a gleam in its eye and it suddenly shot green fire in the face of the werewolf.

“AAAAAAAHHHH!” The Vista clone reared up on her hindpaws, the fires burning her face severely. She did not see the baby dragon sneak up from behind and bathe her in a different green fire, one that made her vanish from view altogether in a flash.

“Sp-Spike?!” squeed Scootaloo, “You’re here to save us?”

“Yeah!” answered the heroic drake, “me and Heliodor!” At the mention of his name, the sick birdie became enshrouded in a cloak of emerald embers, dispelling it shortly afterward to reveal he was still perfectly healthy.

“But what did you do with the guard?” asked Sweetie, who no longer needed to use the bathroom. It had only been an attempted ruse, anyway.

“She went on a trip,” cryptically replied Spike, readying alongside Heliodor to melt the lock off.

The Vista clone materialized in mid-air only to fall to the ground with a large thud. Her face had been nearly burned off and now she had no clue where she was. But she was well aware of her not being alone.

“Hello, there,” snarked Daffodil, motioning with a bat wing to a group of her charges to ready their lances, “and goodbye.”

“Oh, buck me” said the doomed clone.

“Wow, you guys can melt metal?” asked Scootaloo, astonished.

“Well, yeah, we breathe fire, kind of a given isn’t it?” nonchalantly replied Spike, the phoenix hovering just above to his right nodding in agreement.

“Well, thanks for rescuing us!” squeaked Sweetie, “but what are we gonna do about the other werewolves? There’s gotta be like, a bazillion other Fair Vista copies along with the original, and then there’s Diamond Tiara who is just as bad as Vista!”

“Don’t worry, we planned for that,” answered Spike, who produced a raspberry beryl gemstone out of nowhere. “Heelee? It’s all on you, bro.”

Heliodor cawed acknowledgement, taking the gem in his talons, then with a mighty flapping soared into the sky. He didn’t stop until he was as high as the tallest remaining spire of Castle Everfree, at which point he threw the precious stone into the air. The red gem caught the moonlight, sending rays of the dark red color all over the ruins, before gravity pulled it back down and smashed it right in front of Fair Vista. The real Fair Vista.

“What the-?!” yelped the werewolf, causing her clones to all immediately look in her direction in worry that their template was in danger. It was momentary, however, for then there was a subsequent honking noise at the base of the ruins, followed by various howls and cries.

“Keep fighting, you fools!” shouted Vista, retreating as her copies surged forward again. The true Alpha ascended to her vantage point from before, only to see a terrible sight.

There, illuminated by the light of some strange wheeled contraption themed on apples, were reinforcements for Applejack and Apple Bloom. Surrounded by dead werewolves, Vista recognized the werewolf pegasus from Nightmare Night, along with a tan pony who seemed to be holding back for some reason (was she the one the clones she’d send to capture those young ponies had reported to her as the bitten one?), ready to move on and attack. Behind the truck, the forms of guardsponies could be seen darting out of sight, probably surrounding the entire ruin to ensure no werewolf escaped. But most worryingly was the unicorn in front of it all: the one with the purple haze around her horn.

“Pity you aren’t here, love,” whispered Vista. She knew this situation was bad; it was almost certain her trump card of having those two fillies in her grip had been undone, hence that damn phoenix lighting up the whole place with that gem as a signal. Somehow, despite there being almost a thousand of her, the almost insignificantly small trio of werewolves were holding their own. And now not only were two more enemy wolves joining the battle, but so was the one non-lycanthrope who Fair Vista had really, really hoped would not have gotten involved. And unlike the last time they fought in these same ruins, there was no escape as the guards were all around the perimeter. Sable would have loved the thrill of having to fight to his last breath in these circumstances, but the same could not be said of Fair Vista. But, even if she wasn’t going to make it, she would at the very least get revenge on the Apples for having killed Sable. It was what she’d set out to originally do and to her last breath she would ensure she at least avenged the greatest werewolf who ever lived.

But as she slunk back into the shadows to lie in wait, she was going to ensure it was on her terms.

Ch.33: Nightmare Fiction

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 33: “Nightmare Fiction”

Normally, the sheer numbers being pitted against the ponies who sought to stop Fair Vista would have determined their fate to be utterly eviscerated by the mirrored army. However, Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Silver Spoon had been able to hold their ground, albeit barely, simply because of how simple minded the Fair Vista clones were. They were dangerous, that much was obvious, but they were truly of a pack mentality and didn’t adjust to sudden changes in the situation at hoof. In comparison, the three non clone werewolves were much more capable of simply fighting defensively and so their better reactivity countered the sheer numerical disadvantage.

But even with their boosted werewolf endurance, they weren’t going to be able to keep up the fighting forever.

“How many clones did she make, anyway?!” shouted Silver, bucking a Vista square in the face before rolling to dodge two others making swipes at her.

“Ah dunno, Ah lost count!” shouted back Apple Bloom, who was using what she could recall from those martial arts sessions with Rainbow Dash, back before the CMC had been formed, in combination with her claws to always be on the offensive while moving, never giving the enemy a chance to land a blow.

“This would be so much - *UNH*- better if we had Twilight and that mirror spell of hers!” added Applejack, putting all of her might into double bucking into a packed group of Fair Vista clones, sending them flying every which way.

“Hey, leave some for us!” suddenly came the voice of Lightning Dust, who subsequently swooped down and promptly used her aerial superiority to cause all kinds of new havoc, sending clones flying with miniature tornadoes.

“What she said!” followed Sandalwood’s voice, as the tan pony galloped into the fray and just started punching and kicking everything she could. Unlike Lightning, who disconcertingly had taken to being in her wolf form a little too much, Sandalwood was determined to avoid using that form at all costs and wanted to prove she was a pony who could still hold her own in a fight. Though the fact her lycanthropy made it easier to withstand the return damage occasionally inflicted by one clone getting in a lucky shot was certainly something she wasn’t going to argue.

But most shocking was when all the clones suddenly stopped upon detecting a third newcomer, taking one look at her, then running off into the shadows to try and avoid her wrath. As all the werewolves left in the courtyard turned to see, Raspberry Beryl casually walked forward with her eyes emitting purple haze and her horn enshrouded by the purple mist of dark magic.

“Girl, you musta whupped Fair Vista’s plot something hard the last time you met, if her clones seem to remember how dangerous you can be!” commented Sandalwood.

Raspberry shrugged. “Not like normal ponies wouldn’t run for the hills if they saw me like this anyway.”

“True.”

“Alright, somepony want to fill me in on what’s going on?” asked Silver Spoon, before her glasses suddenly became surrounded by a black aura and flew up from her face. “Hey, what gives?”

“One sec, please,” said Raspberry, evidently casting some kind of spell. It was brief, for a few seconds later Silver got her glasses back, this time good as new with the broken side looking just as pristine as the other. “I figure you might want to have full vision if possible, no?”

“Uh, yeah, thanks!” Silver smiled, happy to not be partially blindsided anymore. “But my question still stands.”

“Yeah, apologies for not tellin’ you earlier, but there wasn’t any time to explain,” answered Applejack. “But really, we were just here to distract Fair Vista and her cronies away from wherever they were holdin’ Scoot and Sweetie. Heliodor and Spike went to go save them.”

“But how? There was a guard!”

“Guard shmard!” laughed Raspberry. “I know my Heelee, he can handle himself against a werewolf. And I suspect Spike has one or two tricks of his own.”

“But now that the Vistas are scattered, we need to find those fillies.” Said Lightning. “While I’m sure Helidor and Spike can help protect them, it won’t take many Vistas to overwhelm their protection, so we need to hurry.”

“I suggest we form three groups. Applejack and Apple Bloom, Lightning and Sandalwood, and then you’re with me, Silver,” suggested Razz. “With two capable mares, we should be able to handle ourselves.”

“B-but you’re not a werewolf…” pointed out Silver, concerned for Raspberry’s sake.

“Oh, Ah wouldn’t worry about Raspberry,” said Apple Bloom, “after all, she took on Fair Vista by herself and saved mah life.”

“You’re sure Applejack and the others are around here, looking for us?” asked Sweetie, cautiously.

“That’s what the plan was, at least when Fluttershy explained it,” answered Spike. He, Sweetie, Scootaloo, and Heliodor upon the phoenix’s return, were trying to navigate their way through the dark enclosures that formed the basement of Castle Everfree. As Heliodor’s original route out of the dungeons was a hole in the ceiling, through which he was not strong enough to individually lift any of the three ground bound members of the group, they were forced to find an alternative exit. Because they couldn’t light a torch – which would have been a luxury given that they didn’t have one – or have the path lit up by either fire breather without risking detection, it was up to the werewolves to lead the way because of their improved night vision.

“Figures we’re stuck doing this instead of having already been on our way to the perimeter all because of me,” Scootaloo moped.

“What are you talking about?” asked Sweetie in a whisper, before remembering the obvious. “Oh, right, you’re a pegasus. But even if you could…um…you know, ‘that’, we all still couldn’t make it out. Heliodor is barely strong enough to lift Spike, there’s no way you would be strong enough-“

“Yeah, just remind me why I can’t fly, why don’t you?!” snapped Scootaloo, tears starting to form in her eyes.

“Shhhh!” hushed Spike, finger to his mouth.

“Oh, right, sorry.” Apologized Scoot.

“Scootaloo, is…is there something you need to get off your chest?” Sweetie had to wonder how long Scootaloo had been keeping this hidden. Everypony knew that there was something wrong with her, given that she had such difficulty in using her wings to stay aloft for any amount of time when other pegasus ponies who were younger than her already had mastered liftoff and landing. Previously, she always tried to dodge the question whenever she was asked, especially if it was Apple Bloom or Sweetie doing the asking.

“N-no…” the orange werewolf lied, knowing full well the unicorn, the dragon, and the phoenix didn’t believe her for a second. Oddly, Heliodor suddenly took off from his perch on the old torch mount on the wall, flying a short distance forward before taking a hard left and disappearing from view. He then banked right into a circle such that the non-avians could see the doorway.

“I think he wants us to follow him,” said Spike. Acknowledged with nods by the werewolves, the three followed the bird. The room the phoenix had found was quite large and, in contrast to their previous location, well lit thanks to openings in the ceiling that seemed purpose built to let in light, whether it be from the sun or the moon. Heelee himself had taken a perch on the right side of an ancient pipe organ – why there was a pipe organ wasn’t exactly clear – and seemed to be gesturing to a small corner just under his vantage point.

“Do we really need to do this?” whined Scootaloo. Her answer was the phoenix nodding impatiently and emphasizing the gesture to the spot under his perch.

“C’mon, Scootaloo,” prodded Sweetie, “you need to say your piece, and it’s just us three. Or do you not trust us?”

“No, no, it’s not that,” relented Scootaloo, walking slowly over to the little hideaway near Heliodor before plopping down on her butt. “It’s…It’s…” Her whole body was trembling at this point, but she sighed in defeat, knowing there was no point in hiding it any longer. “It’s because I was born a cripple.”

Confusion was all she saw on the faces of the trio looking at her. “No, seriously, what’s eating at you, Scoot?” asked Spike.

“I am serious!” retorted the pegasus, “nopony really notices since all anypony sees is just my wings, which while below the average size for wings of my age, aren’t the reason why I can’t fly though they sort of contribute. In truth, I’ve got what’s called ‘muscular dystrophy’ due to a birth defect.”

“Muscular dystru-wha?” repeated Sweetie, struggling with the unusual word.

“Don’t worry about it, all you need to know is that it’s some medical term given to describe muscles that didn’t form correctly before I was born. It’s only in my flight muscles, but they’re naturally always going to be weaker than they should be. I have to work them harder just to accomplish lift off, so combined with my small wings not giving me nearly enough surface area to generate thrust, I literally am no better than a chicken!” The tears were starting to fall now, with the dam looking like it was going to burst.

“But you’re not!” retorted Sweetie, “I know flying is a big deal for you since you idolize Rainbow Dash, but your wings are still far from useless, and you know it! On your scooter they’re your means of going faster than anypony else can, as they seem to generate more than enough ‘thrust’ or whatever that is, and you’re still the most athletic of all the crusaders!” The tiny werewolf unicorn moved back to stand atop the pipe organ’s bench like a soapbox, her rant continuing; “If there’s any one of us that has a right to complain about not doing what they’re supposed to, it’s me! After all, you’re not the one who has a bone sticking out of her head that has absolutely no purpose since just as you can’t fly, I can’t do magic!”

Scootaloo was stunned, having admittedly never realized Sweetie’s own birthright as a unicorn not having been developed by now was far worse than her wings just being too weak to lift her. “I…I never thought of it that way…”

“Yeah, maybe you’re just both late bloomers?” suggested Spike. “Twi’s always been a magic prodigy, nopony can argue that, but few ponies actually know she struggled to do more than levitate things until the day of that magic entrance exam where she hatched me.”

“Wait, how could you know that if that was when you were born?” asked Sweetie.

“Simple, Twilight told me. But you guys gotta keep it on the down low, ‘kay?”

The two crusaders nodded, along with Heliodor, with some much needed confessionals having been said. However, it was at that exact time that Lightning and Sandalwood found the three younglings and the bird.

“There you are!” exclaimed Sandalwood, thankful that she didn’t need to keep going around the old castle any longer and risk getting attacked by hiding Fair Vistas. Her lack of tact in suddenly announcing her presence shocked the foursome, however, with Sweetie toppling from the bench and the back of her head hitting the first row of keys on the pipe organ. The ancient instrument reasoned with a loud, deep, reverberating echo that sent a chill down the spines of every pony all the way out to the perimeter of the ruins.

“Uh oh…” said Lightning, immediately turning around in anticipation of an ambush. “Something tells me that is not a good sign…”

As the deep tones of the organ echoed through the ruins, Apple Bloom suddenly found herself on unstable ground as part of the hallway suddenly flipped in towards the wall, causing the filly to go with it into a secret passageway. It was all she could do to scream before she found herself be pulled down by gravity into a chute defined only by touch.

“APPLE BLOOM!” shouted Applejack, immediately rushing to where her sister had been only to find the wall and floor perfectly flush as to suggest it was all as much one piece as it looked. A frantic minute had the farmer look for any way of manually opening the secret door to no avail. “Hold on, Apple Bloom, Ah’ll find ya!” called out Applejack, hurriedly running down the hallway in the hopes of locating wherever Apple Bloom would end up. If there was another end. The elder sister didn’t want to think about the situation if Apple Bloom was now trapped in the walls.

Apple Bloom, for her part, was hurled into the darkness in every direction imaginable and got more than a little green in the face from the ride. As far as she knew, it was like she was travelling down some kind of secret slide, though how it had been triggered such that she – and only she – was its first passenger in a millennia made the idea this was something created purely for amusement quite ludicrous.

Fortunately, the “slide” did have an ending, though rather an abrupt one, as AB only just noticed the box of light she was heading towards before going through said box and being sent flying out of a wall to land rather awkwardly in a new room. Groggily, she got up, then had to hurry over to one of the windows open to the outside to void her latest dinner. It had been heavily loaded with something Pinkie had come up with to simulate the taste of those bacon flavored dog biscuits, which had somewhat helped with the hunger pangs but evidently it didn’t sit well if not digested fully.

“Ah really don’t wanna be a werewolf anymore…” moaned Apple Bloom, still feeling nauseous after all the activity and having to sit down lest she need to give up the previous night’s dinner, too. As she waited for her stomach to settle, she noted she was in what looked like some kind of throne room. Castle Everfree had once been known as “The Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters” at some point in the past, reflected in how there were two thrones still standing in perfect symmetry at the far end opposite of Apple Bloom. Above the thrones were a tapestry, one colored such to be invocative of sunshine, and the other the dark mysteries of the night, though the latter was notably in almost pristine condition compared to how parts of the former had been torn from its faded threads. Running down the middle of the far end was a smashed podium of sorts, from which a large hairline crack ran up the wall to a giant hole punched through to the outside, inside which was framed Luna’s bright moon, which as far as Apple Bloom knew was left in its ‘full’ brightness by request of Twilight such that it would give as much possible illumination to the events now happening in the ruins.

“You know, had I been born in time to see the rise of Nightmare Moon, I probably would have joined the New Lunar...whatever it was called,” echoed the voice of Fair Vista, evidently fully healed from her earlier injury. “Even as a pony who was blissfully unaware of this far superior life of a werewolf, I never was a fan of the day.”

“It’s over, Vista,” snarled Apple Bloom, turning to see what a less informed pony would believe to be a recolored version of Applejack, sans hat…and evidently sanity. “You’ve done enough to hurt Equestria, to hurt Ponyville, to hurt mah friends and family.”

“Oh, there will never be enough!” cackled Fair Vista. As if in response, a crack of lightning erupted from the dark storm overhead, momentarily turning all views of the outside into nothing but featureless white, alongside a deafening crack of thunder. “You Apples took from me my Sable Loam, my destined love, and while I have come back to finish what he started, it will never be enough because he can not come to see his work finished!’

“What work? All you’ve done is just clone yourself a buncha times and turn a couple of defenseless fillies into monsters!”

“Huh. And here I thought you, of all former ponies, would understand that’s not true,” commented Tiara, whose exact location Apple Bloom couldn’t pinpoint before getting broadsided with a headbutt from the prissy pink one. “Ironic, isn’t it? You started this whole mess by making me hate your guts for being a werewolf, yet now you probably hate mine because I’m a better one than you! Funny how-“ There was barely enough time to react for Tiara, as she moved just in the nick of time before Apple Bloom involuntarily vomited again, this time needing to roll over onto her stomach while propping herself up, as she couldn’t make it to the window in time.

“Sorry,” apologized Apple Bloom, more out of habit than actual sincerity, “musta been somethin’ Ah ate…”

“Sorry nothing!” fumed Tiara, “you just killed all the dramatic tension I had going! Do you have to ruin everything I try to do to humiliate and defeat you?!”

“No, that’s my job!” Now it was Diamond Tiara’s turn to get headbutted, this time by Silver Spoon, only the descendant of the Silver family paranormal hunters did it far harder. It was enough to send both fillies toppling out of one of the windows. In fact, it was the same window Apple Bloom had been bent over a few minutes ago to safely dispose of her undigested foodstuffs.

“Silver Spoon!” exclaimed Bloomie, rushing to the window. She stopped midway, realizing she was leaving herself open for Fair Vista to attack, this time of all times being the worst as now Vista had no reason to keep her alive. But, as AB assumed a defensive stance, she saw Sable Loam’s mate was too focused on something else.

“My, you just can’t stay away, can you?” taunted Vista, evidently not remembering the events of last time. “Not having enough fun knowing every single thing you do is against the law of this corrupt land just because of who you are descended from and nothing else?”

“Heh,” smirked Raspberry, standing from above on a balcony. “I actually would say being given a life sentence like the one I must serve marks the dawn of my brighter tomorrow.” A small leap had Raspberry take the quick way down, the unicorn deftly landing on all four hooves. “And the end of your past-welcome life!”

“Hypocritical words, coming from one whose only power comes from the king of shadow himself, no?” At this point, Raspberry and Fair Vista had started to walk in a circle, Apple Bloom taking advantage of being forgotten entirely by hiding behind some rubble, offering a ringside seat of the inevitable battle.

“I’m not a power monger, I understand what makes magic evil in nature is not the magic itself, but how it is used.”

“Uh-huh. I’m not an idiot, I know why that apple farmer who looks so much like me wanted to kill Sable Loam. She must have heard that old legend of how ‘killing the werewolf who turned you’ supposedly would remove this blessing, but you know just as well as I do that it’s all a bunch of hooey. It only makes it become dormant, but merely being around anything associated with dark magic reactivates it. Considering how you reek of your ancestor’s blood and its magic, I bet you merely just sneezed at Applejack and turned her back into a werewolf, didn’t you?”

“Hey, at least I’m not the one Sable Loam tried to replace because he was thinking about his loins ever since you died!” snapped back Razz, though she didn’t like how Vista seemed to know how to push her buttons this time. She also didn’t like how it was so easily felt in the ways her disguise was slipping, already her fangs were starting to lengthen and press against her lower lip.

Worse, Fair Vista noticed as well. “My, are those fangs? Do you mean to tell me you actually did end up a werewolf as well? It must be hard for you to have all the power of your ancestor who created lycanthropy in the first place, except you and those other ponies who have since become werewolves yourselves will rot away because you just can’t handle being the top dog race like those Apple brats.”

“No, I don’t have lycanthropy, because then if I did then I could have some hope of curing who I am!” With an unearthly wail, Raspberry dropped her disguise, letting her horn’s true shape emerge alongside her dark colors and the wispy trails of her dark magic being brought forward. “But there is no cure for having been molded in Sombra’s image, so it is all I can do to ensure I am the only thing that can be claimed to be his legacy!” The dark unicorn then charged Vista with determination and purple mist in her eyes, making the resurrected werewolf once again feel the grip of morality as they met in combat once again.

“C’mon!” shouted Sandalwood, forcing herself to stay ahead of the pack of werewolves and phoenix while she grudgingly allowed Spike to ride on her back. Applejack had stumbled upon them – sans Apple Bloom – after they’d shortly left the room with the pipe organ. Apparently, Apple Bloom had triggered something (the connection between the pipe organ going off at the exact same time as Apple Bloom’s vanishing act never occurred to anypony) that had separated her from Applejack, and now the race was on to try and find the wayward filly. Unfortunately, it was almost a sure bet that, somehow, Apple Bloom was in the middle of whatever was going on around the middle of the castle, where the throne room would be.

“We better grab her and get outta here!” exclaimed Lightning, Scootaloo upon her back, “Whatever the Everfree is doin’ with that storm, it’s getting agitated if I’m reading those cloud movements correctly!”

“You girls go on ahead, Ah’m not leavin’ without Apple Bloom!” said Applejack, apparently forgetting Sweetie Belle was currently on her back. “Fair Vista’s already done more damage to mah family with Sable’s help than Ah think can ever be fully healed, if she gets Apple Bloom then…then Ah don’t know if mah family can survive a blow like that!”

Just then, Heliodor came swooping around a corner, frantically trying to get somepony’s attention. Upon doing so, he led the group a short distance away where Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara lay.

“Silver!” exclaimed Sweetie and Scoot, dismounting their werewolves and rushing to their compatriot’s side, “are you alright?”

“Ow! Yeah, considering I just tackled my ex-best friend out of a window currently above us,” answered the gray filly, trying to point up to the throne room, “I think I’m alright aside from a broken bone or two.”

“And Tiara?” asked Spike, “Is she…”

“Hah! As if. I think I knocked her out cold following our landing, she won’t be posing a problem to us anymore.” Behind Silver was the unconscious form of Diamond Tiara, remarkably back to the recognizable form of a pony though her coat and mane/tail hairs were still a complete mess. Her namesake tiara also had been knocked off, landing rather unfortunately in what looked like a half-digested dinner. Silver paid it no mind. “Raspberry Beryl’s still up there, probably fighting Fair Vista again to protect Apple Bloom.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” sighed Applejack. While she would not be fully relaxed until she could hold her baby sister in her forelegs again, right now Razz was the only pony AJ knew who could keep that insane werewolf at bay. “C’mon, we gotta get you and Diamond to the guards, you need medical treatment.” A slight gust of wind brushing past her right ear prompted AJ to look up and see Heliodor rapidly gaining altitude to rejoin his mistress. It’s up to you, Raspberry, thought Applejack, you’re the only one who can stop her.

“GWAAAAHHH!” screamed one of the combatants, though at that point Apple Bloom didn’t know who was doing more of the screaming. Even though by nature Raspberry Beryl was not at all a violent pony, she seemed to have a disturbingly good idea of how to fully utilize her body’s traits to be a lethal weapon. In addition to her already formidable dark magic, her horn itself was purpose-formed to be used as an impalement weapon (as her father had found out in a very personal manner) and her fangs were just as sharp as Fair Vista’s, for more than once the unicorn resorted to using Vista’s own tactics against her by digging her teeth into the werewolf’s body.

At the same time Fair Vista was truly giving it her all. Her years of experience as a predator, mixed with the insanity brought on by having to possess her own mirrored copy, combined with more easily utilized weapons on all four of her paws as evidenced by the numerous cuts she kept carving into Razz, allowed her to pose a far greater challenge than ever before. Additionally, she still had the race advantage of being an earth pony, which boosted with lycanthropy meant she was both physically stronger and had more endurance than her unicorn opponent, and her jaw strength was enough to snap bones in addition to driving her fangs in deep.

Such was the situation Raspberry found herself in when, after a good fifteen minutes of the two lashing out at each other and dealing unnaturally gruesome amounts of damage to each other, enabled only by both of them having unnaturally high regenerative abilities, Fair Vista had managed to maneuver around and grabbed her left rear leg’s gaskin in her jaws. With malicious joy, the werewolf bit down as hard as she could, crushing the most important load-bearing part of Razz’s leg while simultaneously tearing through her flesh as the fangs dug down to the muscle tissue.

“WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” screamed Razz, her abnormal healing not doing anything to stop the unimaginable pain of her leg’s middle section getting crushed like a cardboard box while oozing blood profusely. It got worse when suddenly Vista began to swing the crippled unicorn, leg still in her jaws, around and around in a circle before throwing her body against a wall with a loud *THUD* before the pulverized unicorn slumped to the ground, her left leg looking every bit like a broken chew toy that it had just been.

“Is that all?!” demanded Vista, wild with bloodlust as she wiped away Razz’s blood, remembering what happened the last time the unicorn’s blood was allowed to pool and settle. “Is that the best I can get from the pony who inherited the legendary powers of Kind Sombra?!”

Razz did not answer, or rather she couldn’t. The pain from her leg was mind numbing, but right now she couldn’t let her magic do its thing and fix it. Not if what she was planning was going to work, if she was short even the tiniest bit of magic then it would all be for naught. But unless she got her chance soon, it wouldn’t matter anyway.

Taking the silence as an admittance of defeat, Vista felt the need to gloat. “HA! I thought as much, to think you caused me so much trouble in the past, that you were the greatest thorn in my side, yet here you are laying before me like the worthless wretch that you always have been! Does it burn you up inside? No, not the pain, though I do hope that hurts, too, consider it payback for last time. But what I mean now is the fact you had Sombra’s power, you had the best chance of stopping whatever it is that created lycanthropy, but you have failed. Everypony you know who has been blessed with being a werewolf will die because they are not worthy, or learn to appreciate the gift they have been given as they become part of my pack. Of course, this comes as no surprise, spawn of Sombra, you’re a dark magic user, and no matter what ‘good’ your kind ever tries to do, it always ends badly for you and those you are fond of! AHAHAHAHAHA!”

Do you ever shut up? wondered Raspberry, the words not having their fully-intended effect partly because they were hardly unlike the things she’d been told all her life: how she wouldn’t be good for anything, that she was corrupted before birth because of her connection to Sombra, etc. But it was also partly because this was what Razz was waiting for; Vista thought she had won already so she was letting her guard down. She just needed a distraction and-

“SCREEEEEEEE!” cried out Heliodor, letting loose a torrent of flame down at Fair Vista, forcing the gloating werewolf to take evasive action and take her eyes off her enemy.

I swear I love that damn bird like a brother, thought the unicorn, smiling at how once again her ever faithful pet had done exactly the right thing at the right time. Without hesitation, Razz pulled out one of the few tricks she’d managed to learn from Sombra’s books, and her body instantly dissolved into a black mist-like form that vanished into the shadows cast by the castle itself.

After a few minutes of vainly trying to catch the mocking phoenix, who had infuriatingly perched high on the balcony from where Raspberry had entered the room, Vista realized she’d let her enemy get away.

“I know you’re around here somewhere, you damn, dirty demon!” shouted the enraged Vista, looking rapidly all over the place in vain.

Oh, please, you think you’re the only creature who can hide in the shadows? echoed the voice of Raspberry Beryl, now with a touch of that evil reverberation in the vein of Nightmare Moon, Chrysalis, and in a way of her own ancestor. You may have been born in the shadows, but I trained in- wait, damnit, I said that wrong, hold on…

Fair Vista and the hidden Apple Bloom were dumbfounded at how Raspberry was managing to do something no pony truly had ever done before, yet she insisted on saying a horribly cliché and cheesy line that she kept screwing up.

Uh, yeah, is it trained and then born? ‘You may have trained in the shadow, but I was shadow born’- ugh, sorry, I just gotta get this right…

Fair Vista then became aware of a presence just behind her, a quick glance showing a pony-like shape forming from what could be described as shadow particles. “Enough of this charade!” screamed the werewolf, charing at the shape and clamping her jaws around the pony’s neck. She wildly swung the body around, snapping it back and forth, intent on silencing the annoying unicorn once and for all by ripping off her head. Finally, she did so, feeling the weight of the body go flying in one direction as the head and neck stayed in motion with the werewolf.

Wait, realized Fair Vista, why am I tasting…cardboard?! Spitting out the “head”, she realized she had not just bitten off the head of who she thought she had, but instead all her attention had been focused on what had been a cardboard cutout of Twilight Sparkle. “Where does somepony even get something like this?!” whined Vista, not knowing what to make of the situation.

“Oh my Celestia, you killed Cardlight Sparkle!” hollered Apple Bloom, “You bitch!”

“You’re nex-HURG!” The totally livid werewolf had made to turn to face where she’d known Apple Bloom had been the whole time, only to stop short when she felt something very warm and pointy pierce her chest right to her heart.

“No, you’re next,” cooly replied Raspberry Beryl, who seemed to rise out of the ground, which had been in shadow and thus fully disguised her movements. At the same time, the impaled werewolf was raised up as well, her legs finding no traction in the air.

“You…think this will kill me?” said Vista, a droplet of blood running down the side of her mouth as Raspberry’s horn started to tear deeper into the bodily organ. “I’m still a ghost, you -*ACK* can’t kill a ghost! Not like this!”

“Oh, wanna bet?” snorted Raspberry. “You seem to forget dark magic doesn’t always play by the rules!”

“Y-you’re bluffing!”

“Not in the least! If a filly can see past the darkness of my magic to help ponies understand who I am, then there is a way to end this on my terms, to end it all!”

With a loud wail, Raspberry’s eyes ignited in a bright purple light along with her horn. Simultaneously, the storm now swirling around Castle Everfree that was fueled by dark magic reacted as lightning came down from the heavens, through the hole in the wall left in the wake of Nightmare Moon’s creation, and struck Fair Vista. It was the second greatest display of dark magic in history, surpassed only by King Sombra’s terraforming of the Crystal Empire, but Raspberry was not subjugating an entire populace under her will. Instead, she was erasing one of Sombra’s few remaining legacies.

At the same time, Fair Vista couldn’t comprehend what was going on. She wasn’t exactly dying but at the same time the unicorn she was impaled upon seemed to be doing something.

“You like being a wolf so much?” shouted Raspberry over the roar of the raging storm of dark magic she was at the helm of, “then die as one!” This was the final attack Raspberry had been planning; a two-layer counterspell delivered straight into the heart of Fair Vista. Combining the dark magic versions of the fabled ‘age change’ spell and a specific custom spell of her own creation designed to amplify the werewolf curse within Vista such that her natural immunity to its corruption was neutered, Raspberry was doing more than cleaning Fair Vista’s clock; she was breaking it.

“Sa…Sable…” gasped the rapidly aging Vista, who was far more wolf like than ever by the second, before all the spinning stopped and she was thrown off of Raspberry Beryl’s horn. Gone was the young looking werewolf who had been just as dangerous as her mate had been, for in her place was a very old and frail looking wolf who didn’t appear anything like the pony once known as Fair Vista other than being unnaturally green. And it was only a minute or two later that the wolf slumped over, its heart having been pierced and the years Fair Vista had cheated death finally having caught up to her.

“That…was draining…” gasped Raspberry, before her eyes rolled up in her head and she fell sideways onto her right flank.

“RAZZ!” shouted Apple Bloom, racing to the fallen mare’s side with a worried Heliodor right beside her.

“I…I think I’m gonna need a cast...my leg still really hurts, ahahaha…” For somepony like Razz to try and laugh off the truly unreal amount of punishment she had just gone through, it was a testament to how much she had grown once ponies had accepted her, had believed in her.

“You’ll be okay, Razz,” comforted Apple Bloom, who had shifted to her normal pony form now that the danger was eliminated. “Ah had to wear a large cast on mah leg mahself a few months ago. It sucked, but at least you can say it’s a battle wound. All Ah did was accidently give mahself a pretty bad cut. Oh, and thanks for savin’ me. Again.”

“Y’know, Apple Bloom,” said Razz, already regaining some strength, “I’m wondering if my cutie mark is wrong and that it really should just be a picture of your head in front of a shield, since this rescuing thing is becoming a little too common, y’know?”

The two ponies laughed, with Heliodor soon joining in. All around the ruins, the still living duplicates of Fair Vista didn’t react to suddenly winking out of existence, the bodies of both the living and the dead clones all turning back into magic energy and shooting off into the sky, returning to the Mirror Pool near Baltimare from whence they came.

Back in Ponyville, Twilight Sparkle watched from the balcony of Golden Oaks as the magic residue of the Fair Vista clones shot into the sky, through the gigantic dark magic stormclouds which already were breaking up.

“Corporal Skyracer?” called the princess to the interior of Golden Oaks, the summoned guard leader instantly at her side.

“You summoned me, princess?”

“Please, now that the werewolf problem posed to Ponyville has been dealt with, you should go to the ruins to check in with Corporal Daffodil and make sure everypony gets back.”

“Right away, your highness, anything else?”

Twilight thought for a moment. “Actually, yes. Have Raspberry Beryl come see me at her earliest convenience. I suspect she will have learned something that can allow us all to finally lay werewolves to rest as nothing but mere legends in the pages of young pony horror novels."

Ch.34: Finally a Brighter Tomorrow

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Rise of the Furball Chapter 34; “Finally a Brighter Tomorrow”

“Hnnnnng!” Raspberry sucked in air with a hiss, enduring the pain her injured leg was radiating. It was to be the last laugh for Fair Vista, in that due to the severity of the injury to her hind leg having been denied immediate magic healing until well after Fair Vista had been dealt with, and how burnt out Raspberry had been at the time, the fact she hadn’t needed her leg amputated in the end was thanks to the rapid response of Royal Guard medics applying battlefield triage until she could safely be transferred to Ponyville General’s Emergency Room. Over the past two weeks, she’d been stuck in a hospital bed under orders by Twilight, the rest of the elements in a show of their power as her “wardens”, all the doctors, and everypony else who thought she hadn’t been reminded of her lower left leg still being attached to her body by tendons thinner than a toothpick.

What had made the stay at Ponyville General even more awkward was that because she put every last drop of magic she recharged while bedridden into healing her wounds, there was nothing to put into her ‘true’ colors disguise and so there was more than one instance where her elongated horn caused somepony to freak. But now, after her magic had recharged enough for her passive regeneration to kick in, her leg wasn’t going to fall off if hit by a stiff breeze now that the bone and tissue had healed…mostly. As it was, her muscles couldn’t heal the scars left by Fair Vista’s teeth, leaving her left leg forever weakened slightly. Back in Sombra’s time, a pony would have been killed out of mercy due to the impossibility of them ever being able to walk again.

But as Razz grunted again, shifting herself to a more accessible orientation, she smiled at the device her magic levitated. Modern technology had answers to problems like hers, and while she would need it for the rest of her life, it was but a small price to pay for what she’d been able to do. Gingerly, the three-piece leg brace wrapped itself around the still scarred middle joint of Raspberry’s left leg, before closing and the clips snapping into place, ready for testing.

“Alright, are you ready?” asked Nurse Redheart, positioning herself to give support. It had taken the caregiver some time to acclimate to Razz’s unusual appearance, much like the rest of the medical staff when the mauled unicorn was carted into the ER, but after learning she was a princess it didn’t take long for first impressions to fade.

“Y-yeah, here goes!” said the unicorn, easing herself over the edge until she was sitting upright. First her right leg, thankfully still as good as ever and to support her weight. Her left…not so much, as she involuntarily let out a brief scream of pain as she put weight evenly on her legs for the first time in fourteen days.

“Easy, easy!” cautioned Redheart, immediately rearing to support the upper body of Raspberry, “you don’t want to put too much strain on it too soon!”

“I know, but no offense, Nurse, I’m no stranger to pain, I can-HNNNNNNGGGGGGG- take it!”

“That may be, but even princesses must take the time to lick their wounds.”

Gradually, Raspberry was eased down with Redheart’s help until she was once again upright on all four hooves. Delicately, the unicorn walked forward with baby steps, testing out her new accessory. While it didn’t totally numb the pain, Razz wincing with every step she made with her left hindleg, the brace’s sliding and twisting in tune with her leg was like heaven, and it only increased as the rehabilitated mare started to prance around the room in a circle, the pain fading into nothing as both her leg and magic worked together to acclimate to the brace.

“Feels good, doesn’t it?” asked Redheart, to which Raspberry nodded happily. The nurse smiled, happy herself to see another patient back on her hooves, especially one who she could easily tell had a long road still to go in terms of healing in ways other than just physical. “The brace is designed such that it will eventually allow you to walk around while supporting your own weight on your leg, but I’m afraid that doesn’t mean much more than allowing you to take it off safely to sleep or take a bath. Any time you’re mobile for even a short distance, like down a hallway, the brace will be needed or else you risk tearing the ligaments again.”

Raspberry stopped her trotting in circles to look face-to-face with the nurse. “I must confess; when I chose to prevent my leg from healing because I didn’t want to risk not having enough magic to stop the monster who threatened Ponyville, or more importantly the very filly who is the reason I am able to call this town home in the first place, I was prepared for the worst and would have been happy if I’d been stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. This leg brace is better than I could have hoped for…like everything that’s happened to me once the truth about me got out.”

Oddly, Redheart snickered. “Funny you should mention that. Did you take a closer look at your brace before you put it on?”

“Uh, no, was there more than just the black plastic and straps?”

“Well, yes, but now that I think about it, I’m not the pony who would be best suited to describe what really went into your new support.” Redheart then gave a sly wink that Raspberry had no idea how to interpet. Just then, Heliodor appeared at the room’s open window.

“Oh, there you are, Heelee!” said Razz, “I was worried when you didn’t come back around the time you usually do from your morning hunts.” As if in answer, Heliodor stretched forward one of his legs, which had tied to it a note. Raspberry took the note off and unrolled it to read. “Ah, I thought as much.”

“What?”

“It’s a summons to Golden Oaks, signed by Princess Sparkle herself.”

“She can’t possibly be serious!” Redheart firmly stated. “You literally just got back on your hooves, after the state your leg was in it’s an absolute miracle you’re able to walk around half a month later without any aid other than the leg brace you now wear.” However, one hard look from Raspberry was enough to have Redheart back down.

“Nurse Redheart, I appreciate your concern, and if it hadn’t been for you and your colleagues I may have ended up more of a cripple than just needing an accessory. However, as you can see, I’m back on my hooves and off the bed. The latest miracle in a long series of miracles that I’ve been more that fortunate to have. But now it’s my turn to work miracles, to give back to the ponies who have given me so much…but I can only do it with Twilight’s help.”

An understanding gleam shined in Redheart’s eye as she smiled. “You may think I’m just flattering you, but a dedication to your fellow ponies like that truly is a trait of true nobility. Go, my lady, I’ll handle the paperwork, just…be careful, alright? Normally I recommend ponies go through some physical therapy once they’re at your stage, but then again, it’s just a brisk gallop to the center of town you’re seeking, no?”

“Thanks, Nurse. Alright, Heelee, let’s go make miracles.” The phoenix chirped happily, taking his place on Razz’s horn as she felt strong enough to don her brighter colors. Together, the pair left for the library with high spirits.

The great sun shone bright in the sky, but a pony who was not aware of that fact would have thought the sound reverberating from the middle of Ponyville meant another wild storm was approaching. But, as the dark powered unicorn entered the library, the dark interior suddenly was brought into light, with over a dozen ponies inside and all but one of them stamping their hooves in applause.

Within the library, Twilight had gathered all the ponies involved with the recent werewolf troubles. As it was, all the surviving werewolves were in attendance; including Diamond Tiara who was behaving the complete opposite of her usual self. The usual company Twilight kept was also there, along with Corporals Skyracer and Daffodil, who had wished to keep their respective units in Ponyville until they were sure that it was safe once again. The only pony who was absent was Lyra, citing her new job as an instrument repair pony and that she was trustworthy to keep the secret, given her involvement in the Sable Loam incident a year prior.

That was all Raspberry could figure from the brief second she had to survey the group, before Pinkie vanished from view only to make her presence known again by a massive side tackle hug that knocked Heliodor clean off his mount.

“YAYIMSOHAPPYTOSEEYOUAREBACKONYOURHOOVESRASPBERRY!” squealed Pinkie, squeezing the unicorn hard.

“OHCELESTIAMYLEG!” screamed Razz, Pinkie’s death grip having pushed her leg into a position where the brace couldn’t work and thus relieve the strain on the weakened muscles.

“Oh, sorry…” apologized Pinkie, immediately letting go, “It’s just that I’m so glad that meanie Fair Vista didn’t do any more lasting damage than to your leg, that I sort of forgot you just came from the hospital.

“D-don’t worry, Pinkie,” the unicorn winced as she repositioned her bad leg, pain still shooting pain in brief spurts, “compared to the two times Fair Vista’s jaw closed on my body parts, that was nothing.”

“Okey dokey, then! Does this mean we can throw you a ‘survived fighting a werewolf twice’ party now?”

“Not yet, Pinkie,” interjected Twilight, “even though Fair Vista has been vanquished and Ponyville no longer under immediate threat, we have one more business item to attend to.”

“How?” asked Sandalwood. “the only thing left to deal with is the fact about a third of the ponies in this tree have lycanthropy, and of them only two aren’t going to eventually going to be forced to lose everything that makes us ponies in both body and mind.”

“Oh, great, I totally forgot how much time I’ve got left,” realized Lightning, her ears drooping. “Though if I remember enough about how long it’s been since AJ and I fought…I’ll no longer be a pony by the end of the month.” The werewolf pegasus slumped onto her rear, involuntarily unfolding her wings while she gingerly petted one of their tips.

“And what about us?” inquired Silver, “Aside from Apple Bloom, are we fillies going to become simple wolves ourselves?”

“Great, now we’re never going to get our cutie marks!” moped Sweetie.

“There, there,” babied Rarity, taking Sweetie into a one foreleg embrace. “There has to be some way to undo this…this crime done to all of you.”

“No…” mumbled Tiara, who didn’t even look up from the ground. “There isn’t a way. Fair Vista was very, very adamant about how one of the ‘benefits’ of lycanthropy is that it was a gift that couldn’t be taken away, only given back to other ponies.”

“Well, with all due respect to Vista, which is to say no respect whatsoever,” voiced Raspberry with a smirk, “she wasn’t born as the direct descendant of the dark unicorn who invented the curse.”

“What are you sayin’, Razz?” asked Applejack, daring to hope for the impossible.

“I’m ‘sayin’ that for all lycanthropy is, it’s still just parasitic dark magic. All kinds of enchantments, hexes, and such cannot exist without there being one way to remove it, no matter how powerful they are made to be.”

“But Lycanthropy is more than just the typical run-of-the-mill magical punishment, when I tried to examine it with Lightning, I only ended up making things worse,” pointed out Twilight, cringing slightly as she glanced over to the fallen pegasus who was being comforted by Rainbow.

“No offense, Twilight, but if you understood as much about dark magic as I do, you would have known trying that without knowing exactly what to do would be like…like trying to pick a sensitive lock with a hairclip. Lycanthropy is complex purely because it needs to sustain itself long enough for it to be spread to a new host.”

“So, it’s in a way a woven tapestry?” suggested Rarity, “only far less admirable?”

“Yes, the components are very much woven together and unless pulled apart precisely, will have disastrous effects as what happened with Twilight and Lightning. However…” Raspberry's eyes grew bright in the way all the other ponies leaned forward in anticipation, “…because my last attack on Fair Vista involved me driving my horn right into her heart, I was able to directly see the curse and pick it apart while turning her into the wolf she had wanted to be.” She shrugged at the squeamish look her audience gave her. “Gruesome, I know, but along with being rightly deserved for what she did to my leg, I’d say it was better for me to understand the curse from as close to the original strain as I could get without having to harm any of you. Especially since it would be defeating the point of having worked out the cure – the actual, honest-to-goodness, cure.

“W-will it work on all of us?” asked Apple Bloom, “Or just the ponies who aren’t related to that monster?”

“Let’s find out, shall we?” Raspberry’s words barely had any time to register to the others before the unicorn revealed her magic was far more recharged than she had let on, her horn enshrouded in dark purple bubbles and her eyes the thing of nightmares, as she cast a spell Twilight had only guessed she’d even begun to think of.

-The next day –

“Rainbow, where are you taking me?” shouted Lightning, struggling to keep up with her multi-colored counterpart.

“It’s a surprise!” was all the answer Rainbow gave back. But she didn’t leave Dust in the dark for long, as not long after did the clouds part and there, plain in sight, was the plateau of Wonderbolts Academy.

“Wh-what?” Dust was shocked, what possibly could Dash have in store here? The green pegasus had been kicked out following her dishonorable actions and behavior, with every impression that she would never return, never have a chance to live her dream as a Wonderbolt.

So why was Spitfire apparently waiting for the duo in front of her office.

“Well, I can’t say I ever expected to see you again, Private Lightning Dust,” the Wonderbolt captain curtly said, apparently meant as some sort of greeting.

“That makes both of us, ma- wait, did you just call me a private? But I got kicked out! By you!”

Oddly, Spitfire smiled. “I’ll be inside once you’re done, Rainbow.” She then turned and entered the door, leaving a very confused Lightning at the doorstep.

“You might explaining this, Dash?” asked the not-sure-if-still-ex-or-not-Wonderbolt hopeful.

Rainbow gave a characterful smirk, before her expression changed to that of somepony who was about to express gratitude. “I’m not gonna lie, even though the tailspin your life went into after you got kicked out was totally your fault, I still felt more than a little guilty about it all.”

“I was a horrible pony back then, Dash, I deserved everything that came my way. You stopped me before I did something even more stupid and got more than just a hoofful of ponies hurt.”

“But that’s just it, that was you back then.” A blue hoof found its way onto a green shoulder. “The werewolf thing…well, on your terms that was still totally all your fault though nopony could have foreseen you actually getting cursed from that small brawl. But now that it’s all said and done, you’re a new mare, Dust. Goodness knows you put up with having to live with me for a few months, which must have been worse than our time in training here.”

“You kiddin’? I never made you for a neat freak. Your pad was spotless, which is more than I can say for anything I did to that couch.”

“Exactly, for all that I kid around with Twilight for being so OCD all the time, I do not like the place I live in being a mess. But it must have driven you crazy not to do…wolf things in my house.”

“Do not even get me started.”

Rainbow chuckled. “Thought so. However, the main reason why we’re here is because I owe you. Big time.”

“For what?”

“Scootaloo. Fair Vista grabbed her under my supervision and I couldn’t go rescue her, which is like letting a wingpony down. But you…you went in there and saved her. You proved you are wingpony material because you were there when I couldn’t because of the situation. And, as I said back when you first showed up in Ponyville, you deserve a second chance. So here we are, where everything went wrong.”

“A second chance…” repeated Lightning, “Is…is this for real?”

Rainbow laughed. “You heard the captain, private. They’ll ride you hard, probably harder given they most likely still remember you, but having one of the princesses vouch for you helped grease the wheels a bit.” She then was going to give a sly wink, but Dust beat her by charging forth in a giant Pinkie Pie style hug.

“You’re the greatest, Dash,” said Dust, muffled by her face buried in Rainbow’s neck while her tightly shut eyes were overflowing with tears.

“H-hey, now, don’t get me all sappy, I have a rep to keep up!” mock whined Rainbow, smiling all the while. Eventually she managed to pull Dust off of her neck. “Also, if you ever need someplace to crash, or just want to hang out – when you aren’t supposed to be here, mind you – sometime, just drop by Ponyville.”

“O-of course!”

“But in return, you gotta promise to not let me down, Dust. Someday we’ll be Wonderbolts together, but it’s on you to prove to Spitfire and all the others you’re just was worthy as me, got it?”

“Yes, ma’m!”

“Alrighty, then! I gotta get back to Ponyville, some of the stormclouds from you-know-what didn’t fully dissipate and as weather manager I need to handle the response, so I’ll be seeing you.”

The two wingponies batted wings together in a sign of their friendship, before Rainbow then took the opportunity to launch into the air off of the tarmac. As for Lightning, still teary eyed, she was still trying to understand how fortunate she was.

And to think I originally blamed her for all my troubles, thought Dust, slowly waving after the fading afterimage of a rainbow streak, but now she’s the reason I can keep my dreams alive.

Recess at Ponyville Elementary had, initially, looked like it was going to be another playground showdown between the Crusaders and Diamond Tiara, now that all the ruckus over whatever they’d been involved with (in the interest of minimizing public outcry, Fair Vista had been painted as an anarchist who had been obsessed with her own appearance to the point of painting trained wolves to look like her, all mention of lycanthropy stricken from official records given to the public). However, it was an air of disappointment when Diamond Tiara merely walked out the back door of the schoolhouse just to turn the corner and sit in a heap of depression in the building’s shadow. Inevitably, the Crusaders – all five of them – soon turned up to have followed her.

“What do you all want?” she sneered, though there was no feeling behind it. After she’d woken up following the high fall Silver had knocked her into, she had also come back to her senses. Once Silver Spoon had recounted what Tiara had done while serving Vista, the pink filly had been horrified to see how far she’d gone in the name of revenge and been blinded by her own ego. Her father’s punishment of grounding her for life until further notice was trivial compared to what judgement lay in store for her at the hooves of the Crusaders.

“Well, Ah’m here to apologize,” Apple Bloom said flatly.

“Y-you’re what?” Tiara was stunned. “After all the stuff I did to you, to your friends? What do you have to apologize for?”

“That was me at the window that night durin’ the storm. Ah’d been so worked up about gettin’ back at you for all that Ah’ve had to deal with because you don’t like me, or mah friends…it’s mah fault for drivin’ you to such extremes. And Ah’m sorry for callin’ you a bitch ‘cause you insulted mah parents.”

“Seriously, Apple Bloom?” asked Scootaloo. “Are you going to apologize to her for everything before you got the cast, too?”

Tiara sighed. “No, I wouldn’t accept an apology for any of that earlier stuff, either, I deserved it. Especially since I now know more often than not I dragged Silver along for the ride as well, didn’t I?” Silver just nodded, prompting Tiara to continue. “All this time, I’ve been a big fat bully, all because of some stupid reason.”

“There was a reason?” Sweetie raised an eyebrow in confusion. “I thought you just didn’t like us because we didn’t have cutie marks?”

“Well, that too, but that was really just a bonus cause for being mean to you all. Really, I guess the main reason why I was the bane of your existences was that you three will be more important than I ever will be.”

Now Babs was confused. “Say again?”

Tiara scowled, “are you all that blind? Your sisters – or sister figure in the case of Rainbow Dash – are half of the Elements of Harmony; the six most influential ponies in all of Equestria below the alicorns! You have near direct ties to two princesses now! The only reason I’m even from the wealthiest family in town is because my great grandfather sold the goods made by the Apple Family!”

“So, what, does that make me chopped alfalfa now?” grumbled Silver.

Realizing her lapse back to her usual behavior, Diamond immediately became ashamed of herself. “Sorry for the outburst, but…old habits die hard. As for you, Silver; you’re from a line of silversmiths and are in line to take over the family business, along with the other thing your family did. But me? I’m just a rich brat.”

“A rich brat with a cutie mark she likes to flaunt in our faces,” commended Apple Bloom, referencing the argument that had gotten the entire mess started in the first place.

Diamond picked up on it. “If you really want to know; my cutie mark isn’t really all that special. My special talent? I love to get attention. That’s it. I’m rich, I’m popular – or was, at any rate – and for all anypony cared I was living the dream life. So it was a constantly maddening thing to go through every single day to see you three blank flanks have something that I couldn’t have for all the money in my dad’s bank account or any other means.”

“And what would that be?”

“Friendship.” DT couldn’t even look any of the other fillies in the eye as she elaborated; “You were right, Silver, we were never really true friends, we really just hooked up because I wanted to be seen with the second richest filly in town and you were desperate to do anything for a friend. But as much as I tried to deny it, there were you Crusaders, undefined by cutie marks but instead possessing something my cutie mark demanded I try to have but the best I could accomplish was a mere farce of one. Hence, why I always worked to try and knock the Crusaders down whenever I could, to prove to myself that I was better. That’s what blinded me during this whole affair, I wanted to get back at you so badly, Apple Bloom, that I willingly sacrificed everything that mattered to me. In the end, I guess I did become what I always have been; a bit-“

“Okay, that word’s been tossed around far too much at this point, okay?” interrupted Babs. “You’re all ponies again, can you just refer to yourselves and each other as ponies instead of as small female dogs?”

“Of course!” laughed Apple Bloom, who – against every logical particle in her body screaming for her not to – did the unthinkable and outstretched a hoof towards the teary-eyed filly who had been the most hated thing in her life for years. “And ponies are the best at friendship.”

“Someday I’m going to get you to pay for one of these things,” said Sandalwood, her hooves around Raspberry’s neck.

“I could just as easily undo the cure, y’kno-oohhhhh yessss…” replied Razz, sighing contentedly as Sandy’s delicate hooves worked their magic on her body.

“But you won’t, will you?”

“Of course not, I’m too nice a pony for that. Besides, I doubt you’d be this good at your job with canine paws.”

Sandalwood merely ‘mm-hmmmed’ a reply but Razz knew the aromatherapist was grateful. After all, she’d immediately promised the unicorn free aromatherapy for a month or so when it was found the cure did indeed work and lycanthropy had ceased to exist in Ponyville. That had been yesterday, but while not even a full day had gone by it felt like so much had happened. The guards, satisfied that Ponyville was now safe from any lingering threats, had bid their farewells and departed back home to Canterlot. Rainbow had begged Twilight to get Lightning that second chance at the Wonderbolts for a variety of reasons. And here was Sandalwood, back to work as if nothing had gone wrong.

“So, are you going to go back to selling those gems of yours?” asked Sandalwood, moving to set up another one of her scents, one which smelled something like cinnamon.

“Sort of. If ponies want to order them from me, I’ll do it, but as it stands there’s no need for me go door to door anymore. The Traveler’s Retreat is my workplace and my home, now, so I have to abide by the rules of Ascot and Cashmere and they probably won’t want me installing a blast furnace inside the place. Doesn’t bother me, anyway, since I still have my set up back in the safehouse in the Everfree ruins.”

Sandy raised an eyebrow at that. “The guards didn’t confiscate that stuff? Even though it was used for illegal counterfeiting?”

“It’s dark crystal, you think anypony would even try touching that stuff? Of course, there is that stipulation I have to add the embittering charm on any gems I make from now on to prevent a certain baby dragon from eating them and repeating that fun scenario.”

The conversation largely stopped at that point as Sandy started to go deeper in her motions, the relief evident in the noises coming out of Raspberry’s muzzle. She was slightly disappointed when it was all over, but not too much as if the conversation with the waiting Rarity in the spa’s lobby meant anything, this was going to be a weekly occurrence.

“Oh, Sandalwood, I got a package for you,” said the receptionist, not looking up from whatever fashion mag she’d grabbed off of the stack sitting in the lobby’s table. “Lyra Hearthsrings or something dropped it off.”

“Really, now?” Sandy popped into the small office and retrieved the package, choosing to open it in the safety of her own little corner in the back as she didn’t have another appointment for at least 15 minutes. Inside the package was a book: Minotaur Anatomy for Dummies. The section about minotaur hand structures had little post-it tabs attached, no doubt Lyra’s doing.

“Well, this should prove useful,” chuckled Sandalwood, wondering if the book in her hooves could prove that minotaurs were in fact related to the mythical human race in one way or another.

“So, this is the one you actually killed eleven years ago?” asked Luna, skeptical of the body she stood next to. “I was, admittedly, expecting more than a dead wolf, almost literally skin and bones no less, with its heart gored out.”

“Come now, you read what Twilight wrote was how this came to be,” chastised Celestia. “The only thing still remaining in that crater is a broken tombstone, which ironically marks where Sable Loam died last year.”

“Poetic justice, I guess?”

“I honestly don’t care, the fact these two are finally both dead for good is enough for me.”

With a nod, Celestia commanded the guards to carry the stuffed body that had once been Fair Vista’s resurrected vessel into the secret vault under the Crystal Castle. Silently, the also stuffed body of Sable Loam, untouched and forgotten since having taken residence there, gazed into nothing as it was finally reunited with its mate.

“And so here, finally, ends the legacy of Sable Loam.” Celestia’s tone was a mix of relief and annoyance. She was relieved that there truly had been an end to Sable’s plans in any form whatsoever, but was also annoyed at this being the third time she had decided he had been finally dealt with. “Let us hope that the third time truly is the charm and these two will stay locked away forever.”

“Of course they will, Celly,” snarked Luna, “they finally are reunited, what more do they need than each other?”

“Oh, that’s easy, Lu-Lu; silence.”

Together, the alicorns of day and night re-sealed the vault, the light from outside being drawn across the two stuffed werewolves inside, where their only companions were each other and the elaborate defenses that would ensure they would never get out if, for whatever reason, they actually could still come back to life. Then, with a resounding clang, all light was shut out of the vault, leaving the last of the werewolves forever entombed under the place where the curse had been created.

That evening, a great feast was held at Sweet Apple Acres, to celebrate the final defeat of werewolves and how it had cursed the farming family for two generations. Of course, due to needing to keep werewolves actually having existed as a secret, it was instead Pinkie’s “Ponyville is now safe thanks to Raspberry Beryl/Celebration that Raspberry Beryl’s injuries weren’t more serious” bash. The majority of the townsfolk were in attendance, namely to thank (and for many, the first chance to really meet) Raspberry, who did her best to not show how uncomfortable she was with being the center of attention. Though, admittedly, she did appreciate the attention being positive and welcoming to her instead of the mobs of old who drove her out under the impression she was no better than Sombra.

By the middle of the party, when it was pretty late at night, Razz did manage to find a way to sneak out of the festivities. Once reunited with Heliodor, who had been off doing his own thing in the edge of the Everfree, the two silently made the short journey to the farm’s graveyard. There, standing out from the other, smaller gravestones in the sea of roses, two alabaster sentinels marked the final resting places of the ponies Raspberry wished to speak to. She drew closer, getting in range to read the inscriptions.

APPLESEED

Loving Father

CORNFLOWER

Loving Mother

“Um, hello,” awkwardly greeted the unicorn. The tombstones said nothing, which was perfectly normal behavior for tombstones. Nonetheless, Razz sighed. “You probably don’t know me and I most likely never met you before you died, but I know the monsters named Sable Loam and Fair Vista were the ones who transformed you into werewolves yourselves, before Sable murdered you both in the dead of winter. Applejack told me of how she and the rest of your surviving family met you on some other plane of existence following Sable Loam’s defeat, so I’ll just assume you know everything up to that point.

“As for why I am here now…it’s to apologize. Because of me, Applejack had to suffer everything she went through a year ago all over again. It was unintentional, but it doesn’t make me feel any less guilty about the matter. However, you should also know that I have purged the curse of lycanthropy not only from your daughters but from the thankfully few other ponies who were unfortunate to contract it, along with personally dispatching Fair Vista. No more shall werewolves plague your family, nor this town as a whole.

But I am also here to let you know how deeply indebted I am to your daughter: Apple Bloom. Until I came to Ponyville, there was nothing for me other than my companion Heliodor and a unique type of magic that ponies believed was all they needed to know about who I was and that I was to be run out of town, if not worse. Then not once, but twice I almost did things I would have forever regretted and ruined any chances of me being ever accepted as a regular pony, much less being able to have a stable life that others take for granted. If it wasn’t for her, who knows what would be different?”

“Ah’d still be a flea bitten varmit, for starters!” suddenly came the voice of Apple Bloom. Surprised, Beryl turned around to see the filly standing not too far away from her. Apple Bloom was not alone, for Applejack was also there.

“Heh, don’t worry, we talk to our folks once ‘n a while ourselves. Just ‘cause they’re dead don’t mean they aren’t around,” said the orange mare. “Heck, after all you’ve done for us, you’re practically part of the Apple Family already!”

“I guess so, huh?” Razz smiled. “I even have the fashion accessory, too.”

Apple Bloom raised an eyebrow, “What are you talkin’ about?”

“Oh, well, all of the Apples have some kind of accessory. You’ve got your bow, Applejack’s got her hat, Granny has her neckerchief, Big Mac has his collar…and I’ve got this.” The unicorn’s rear left leg rose up to show off the brace she would forever need to wear.

“Funny you should mention that, darling,” said Rarity, who also had appeared on the scene. Pinkie, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Rainbow followed right behind her. “I take it nopony’s explained why your leg brace is so special, yet?”

“I remember Nurse Redheart mentioning something about it, but that she wasn’t the one who should tell me.”

Twilight beamed, “Can you take it off for a second?”

“Uh, why? Right now I can’t even stand up without it.”

Pinkie suddenly produced a large, pony sized mirror with a back stand, putting it between Twilight and Raspberry. “I knew I kept an emergency fashion mirror on Sweet Apple Acres for a reason!” she said with pride.

Raspberry didn’t pay any attention to Pinkie, rather her focus was more on the detail she’d missed. On the middle section of the brace, positioned right over where the scars still were normally quite visible, was an engraving of a Claddagh Ring within the smooth face of the plastic case. Two hooves held a heart between them, with the heart having a crown of sorts sitting on top of it. Of note was that the heart appeared to be more than just the outline of one, rather it was faceted. It was the Crystal Heart.

“Traditionally, Claddagh Rings are symbols of shared bonds of love, loyalty, and friendship," explained Rarity. "The hooves are friendship, the heart is love, and the crown is loyalty. Admittedly, while I was the one who suggested the heart be made to resemble the Crystal Heart in recognition of your nobility - I have a working relationship with the pony in charge of making medical attire of all sorts used by Ponyville General ever since I simply had to redesign those hideous patient gowns following Rainbow’s accident almost two years ago, and if you need another brace for formal affairs I’ll gladly have another one designed and made just for you - it was Apple Bloom who came up with the idea first to put a meaningful symbol on your brace.”

“Yeah, after what happened at your trial, I never did forget how you only did that because you thought we, as your friends, had abandoned you, even though we hadn’t. This way, you’ve always got a piece of Ponyville to take with you, a reminder that no matter what, we’ll always be there to support you!”

The way Raspberry’s eyes started to tear up almost made it a truly heartfelt moment as she took in the significance of the symbol emblazoned on the leg brace, except at that same moment Heliodor started making some kind of whining noise, evidently worried about something.

“Oh, shush, you!” scolded Raspberry, “Don’t think for a second I’m ever going to abandon you just because you’re not my only friend anymore, which I will point out hasn’t been true for months. Besides, it’s not like I could get you to stop using my horn as your favorite roost spot.”

Heliodor shrugged as if that was a good enough answer for him, to which everypony laughed. Then Pinkie shivered.

“Wowee!” she exclaimed, “is it just me or is it getting colder?”

“Well, we are getting close to when the weather team will be bringing in the snow for Hearth’s Warming!” said Rainbow. “Plus, we’re missing the party, so let’s go!” The group nodded in unison, though the Apples didn’t seem to make a move to follow along.

“We got some things to say to our folks, too, we’ll be along shortly,” said Applejack.

“Alright, see you inside,” replied Raspberry, who then seemed to remember something. “Hey, Twilight, can I ask a favor of you?”

“Uh, yeah, sure,” answered the alicon. “What do you need?”

“Well, it’s sort of a personal matter…”

Whatever Razz and Twi were discussing, the Apple sisters didn’t hear anything more as they turned to commune with the dead.

“Well, Ah guess there really isn’t much to say, given Razz said most of it,” chuckled AJ. “But yeah…we ain’t werewolves no more, for real this time, and there aren’t any more so it’s almost like they never stopped bein’ more than legends in the first place.”

“But just because we’re A-OK don’t mean we won’t ever stop thinkin’ about ya!” added Apple Bloom. “We still miss you, ma and pa, but we know you’re lookin’ out for us from wherever you are!”

As if given an invisible que, both Applejack and Apple Bloom instinctively looked up. There, streaking across the sky, were a pair of eternally mated shooting stars. AJ took her sister’s side, draping a foreleg over her body, as the sisters watched their parents fly towards the horizon and through the cerulean night.

Meanwhile, in Canterlot…

“Honestly, Vinyl, you can’t be serious!” complained Octavia. This had been an extremely difficult resturaunt to get reservations to and while Vinyl Scratch, a.k.a. ‘DJ P0N-3” was capable of acting like a normal pony in this setting, she tended to be quite eccentric given an interest in something.

“I’m serious, Octy! I got a guy in the 501st, old childhood friend of mine, he told me there were honest-to-Celestia werewolves threatening Ponyville! He even killed one or two of them, though I will admit I don’t believe him on his claim that they were all identical clones.”

“Right. And the fact something similar happened in that strange forest – why anypony lives near it still confuses me – last year that the Minotaurs were somehow involved with also had something to do with werewolves? Didn’t that one individual, ‘Iron Will’ I think his name was, claim to have killed the last one and thus make the princess as his bride?”

“Yeah, totally! I know everypony says it was all a cover up for some seriously bad stuff that went down and our nations only used his wedding with the excuse of werewolves to hide why they suddenly have stronger ties, but think about it! What if it actually was werewolves involved there, too?!”

“Oh, please.” Drawled the gray pony with the black mane, “werewolves… a silly idea, no doubt about it.” Suddenly, the pony behind her broke into hysterics. Annoyed, Octavia turned around to confront the offender. “Sir, do you mind?”

“Ah, yes, sorry!” apologized the finely dressed brown unicorn, then taking the chance to sip at his coffee…which looked suspiciously more like chocolate milk than anything. Octavia couldn’t be sure, but for a second she thought his eyes, which appeared to normally be regular, brown colored eyes, had flashed in color where they were yellow with red irises. “I just figured out an old joke that a friend once told me long ago, unfortunately it’s an inside joke so you wouldn’t understand.”

“Well, please, some ponies are trying to have a conversation with ponies at the table they’re sitting at.” She then turned back to Vinyl, scowling. “But honestly, ponies who turn into wolves…what rubbish!”

A Hairier Problem: Rise of the Furball

by BlueBastard

Ch.1: Anniversaire du Soleil

Ch.2: Over the Line

Ch.3: The Wilds of Whitetail

Ch.4: Two-Eyed, One-Bowed, Farming Yellow Apple Werewolf

Ch.5: From Dawn ‘till Dusk

Ch.6: Peek-A-Boo!

Ch.7: Ancient History

Ch.8: Give the Dog a Bone

Ch.9: Behold, Behold, the Princess Twilight Cometh

Ch.10: Achieving an Understanding

Ch.11: Interludes

Ch.12: Beyond Monday

Ch.13: Grounded Flight

Ch.14: The Trine of Terror

Ch.15: The Humbling River

Ch.16: Nightmare Night!

Ch.17: What a Fright!

Ch.18: Give Her Something Sweet to Bite!

Ch.19: Shattered Illusion

Ch.20: The Evil Within Us All - Part 1

Ch.21: The Evil Within Us All - Part 2

Ch.22: Of Apples and Raspberries

Ch.23: Reflections

Ch.24: The Fresh Princess of Nowhere

Ch.25: Divine Judgement

Ch.26: Saving Grace

Ch.27: Daughters of Darkness

Ch.28: Paranormal Poltergeist Presents Perfectly Perplexing Problem

Ch.29: Cracks in the Foundation

Ch.30: Safety in Numbers

Ch.31: Gekkou no Hikari

Ch.32: Fair Ultimatum

Ch.33: Nightmare Fiction

Ch.34: Finally a Brighter Tomorrow