//------------------------------// // The Confused Darkness // Story: Her Face Overgrown // by Waxworks //------------------------------// All Fluttershy remembered was the taste of blood. It was distinct and clear in her mind and was overpowering in the worst way. The smell of it even filled her nose it was so bad. She was outside the back of her cottage with Harry and Angel. Angel was scolding Harry for something, and Harry was growling back at Angel in defense. Covering Harry and Angel both, though mostly on Harry’s muzzle, nose and claws, was the source of the offending smell: Blood. Fluttershy pulled herself up to her hooves and glared at the both of them. Her head felt light and cottony, and she said something, but she wasn’t sure what. Her voice sounded small and indistinct, and she had meant to be scolding him as well as Angel, but she swooned and bent over, then vomited. The two of them looked over at her. Despite their earlier disagreement, they were both intent on helping her, despite themselves. Angel came and held her up until Harry got there. Harry lifted her into his arms and lumbered back toward her cottage. Angel held the door while he carried her inside and deposited her in the bathtub. Angel turned on the tap and she sighed as warm water washed over her. It felt amazing. She forgot her earlier nausea and just gave herself up to the comfort of the bath. She wasn’t sure what happened, but the next thing she knew she was in her bed, waking up to the sound of birds outside her window. She lifted her head off the pillow, blinked away the sleep from her eyes, and looked down at the foot of the bed. Harry was there, lying next to Angel. There was no longer any blood on Harry, and nothing on Angel, either. She smiled and spoke. “Good morning, you two,” she said. Angel opened his eyes. He sat up straight at the sound of her voice and looked at her warily. He elbowed Harry in the side, and the bear slowly lifted his head from the bed. He looked at her two and growled happily. “Thank you, Harry. And you, Angel. I don’t know what happened last night. I’m very sorry to have worried you both.” Angel and Harry both came closer to sniff her. Angel’s face looked like he was expecting something to pop out of nowhere and attack him, while Harry just looked confused. Angel’s little nose twitched quickly while Harry’s beastly snout wagged at her for a moment. Fluttershy just sat there in confusion while they sniffed. They both turned to look at each other and shook their heads. Angel folded his arms and Harry followed suit. “What? What’s wrong?” She sniffed herself, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Angel pointed at her angrily, then out the window at the forest. “Is it what we did last night? Is that what I don’t remember?” Angel nodded. Fluttershy tried to remember what happened last night, but her memory was fuzzy, with events separated into chunks of half-formed good and bad things. She remembered she was out helping a timberwolf, and then… nothing. Then there was just the blood she remembered on both Harry and Angel, then she woke up. She remembered nothing else. Her hoof went to her head and she blinked rapidly. “I remember… blood. But I don’t seem hurt. Who got hurt?” Angel and Harry looked at each other again, but neither one said anything. Harry lumbered away downstairs and Angel pulled the blankets away. Fluttershy tried to pull them back up, but Angel just tugged them out of her hooves and pointed downstairs. Obediently, she went. Harry had prepared a large bowl of fruits and vegetables at some point, and pushed it toward her on the floor with a paw. She took a piece of melon and ate it, looking between Angel and Harry. They watched her until the slice was gone, then each took some themselves and ate slowly. They all ate in silence for a few minutes, until Fluttershy broke it. “Are you going to tell me what happened? Somepony is hurt, aren’t they?” Angel looked at Harry, who shrugged. He looked back at Fluttershy and nodded. Fluttershy’s hooves went to her mouth. “Oh no! Who is it?” Angel shook his head and refused to give her a name. “Oh, Angel, who’s hurt? Please tell me!” Angel shook his head again. Fluttershy looked up at Harry. “Harry, please, who’s hurt? Is it one of my friends?” Harry shook his head and gave a quiet roar. “I know Angel doesn’t want to talk about it, and I’m sorry, I’ll probably get emotional, but I need to know. Not knowing is worse! Please!” Harry looked at Angel, who shook his head vehemently, but one look back at Fluttershy and Harry brayed in frustration. Fluttershy covered her mouth with her hooves. “Royal Pin? Oh no! How did he get hurt?” Angel and Harry both pulled a paw over their mouths in unison. “Is it… bad?” Angel nodded, then pointed at the bowl of food again, glaring at her. She picked up an apple and nibbled at it. “How did he get hurt?” Angel just pointed at the food harder. Fluttershy dropped the questions, instead eating her fruit like Angel wanted. If he wasn’t going to tell her, he wasn’t going to tell her. Angel was a very stubborn rabbit when it came to sensitive issues. Angel kept quiet about what had happened after that. He forced Harry to swear himself to secrecy as well, and so Harry, being so bad at keeping secrets as he was, avoided talking to Fluttershy much after that. It was awkward, on the whole, and Fluttershy couldn’t think of how to get around it. Angel was stubborn, and he commanded a lot of respect around the cottage’s residents. If he wanted something, he usually got it from everypony but her. If he wanted to keep the secret from her, however, that meant it was probably something big. Something huge, even. Fluttershy kept her piece and waited. The following days were awkward, but not impossible. It appeared that only Harry and Angel knew what had happened that night with Royal Pin and her, and they hadn’t told any of the other animals. She tried asking the insects and birds that might have been around, but the birds had all fled during the events, and the bugs weren’t talking. Angel had gotten to them first. She’d gone into town to try to visit Royal Pin, but when he’d heard it was her coming he had demanded that she not be allowed in. He was insistent, and the orderlies and nurses had blocked her way. Fluttershy’s quest for information had come to a halt before it had even started. She returned home and continued with her daily tasks, trying not to worry too much about it. If it was that important it was bound to come out eventually. Even Angel wouldn’t be able to hide it forever. She contented herself with her work, taking care of her animals, and just waiting. A month went by… Harry, who had been avoiding Fluttershy for the past month, suddenly paid her a lot of attention during the day. He was following her around, at Angel’s insistence he said, and was watching her carefully. Royal Pin had rebuffed all her attempts to contact him for some reason, and Fluttershy had given up trying. She’d sent him a bouquet of flowers with an apology, but she had never gotten an explanation back from him about why he was avoiding her so much. She chalked it up to one of those unavoidable things that just didn’t make sense to anyone but the pony who was hurt and decided to give him whatever space he needed. He’d come around eventually, she was sure. Harry urged Fluttershy along as she worked, trying to get her to hurry up. She didn’t understand, but it was nice to have him back, so she obliged him. She figured there was something he wanted to do with her and she needed to finish early so they could go do it. She finished as soon as she could and looked at him, dusting her hooves off. “What is it you want, Harry? You’ve been pushing me along all day, but I’m done. Does your back hurt again? Why have you been so quiet all day?” Harry snuffed at her and pointed at the house. “You want me to go inside? But the sun isn’t even down yet.” Harry growled quietly. “Okay, okay. I can do that.” She went up to the house and stepped inside, leaving the door open for him. “Now, what’s—” Fluttershy barely had a moment to squeak before ropes were thrown around her. Angel Bunny was tying her up! He had a crowd of other critters crawling all over her, tying her hooves down and gagging her mouth shut. Harry sat in the door with a paw covering his face. “Mmmmph!” she cried, but Angel wasn’t listening. He was giving orders to the critters around her as they fastened everything down solid. The knots were tight, the ropes were taut, and she could barely move besides some mild wiggling She tried to turn her head to look, but her head was pressed against the floor and the rope didn’t have enough give. She just grunted at Angel. Angel hopped down in front of her so she could see him and tapped his foot. He pointed at her, then out the window. He shook his head and folded his arms. He looked angry, but that was normal. Behind that anger, however, there was a little bit of fear. She knew him well enough to notice it, and Angel being afraid of something was extremely concerning. She looked over at Harry, who had stepped inside and shut the door. The other critters all disappeared outside, leaving Angel and Harry the only ones left with her. They were waiting for something. Harry groaned at Angel, who just tapped his foot back at him and pointed out the window. They both sat, alternately staring at her, then the window, then back at her. The sun went down. Fluttershy opened her eyes. The living room was a mess, and Harry was sitting on her. The couch was overturned, the bird house was broken on the floor, and some of her dishes were smashed. The ropes that she had been tied down with were ripped, and Angel was sitting on top of a chair nearby, staring down at her. He had a cut on his forehead, but that was it. He glared at her. “What…” she began, confused, “what happened? What’s going on?” Angel pointed right at her and frowned harder. Harry grunted. “I happened? What do you mean?” Angel pointed at her, then at the cut on his forehead. “I hurt you, as well? What’s going on? I don’t…” She thought back to last night and all the things that happened before she went to sleep. She remembered getting tied up by Angel and Harry, then… nothing. “I don’t remember. Why don’t I remember anything?” Angel sighed. He motioned to Harry, who lifted himself off Fluttershy. She stood up, feeling sore in most of her muscles. That made her frown. If she had been tied up, she shouldn’t be so sore, but looking at the state of the house and feeling her muscles made her wonder if she truly had been the one to do all of this. “What happened last night, Angel? Tell me,” she demanded. It was actually Harry who explained. He went into tearful and concerned, blubbering detail of how concerned they were about Fluttershy and how she was feeling that they had to keep her safe last night for her own good. She’d been out and about and gotten an… “infection” as Harry put it, from Royal Pin. “I… change?” Angel motioned to the trashed living room and kitchen. “I just… thought that was Harry, actually.” Harry looked offended. “What do you mean? Please explain.” Harry told her. Angel nodded in agreement. She sat down heavily after they told her. “I… change every time there’s a full moon? Into a timberwolf?” Angel waggled his paw back and forth. “Not quite a timberwolf? O-oh.” She went silent. Harry and Angel both just sat next to her and waited as she processed everything. She didn’t know what to think. She was sick now, and she had no idea with what. And Royal Pin had given it to her? “Then, the blood last month, that was you two protecting me from Royal Pin?” They nodded. Tearfully, she went and hugged both of them. “I’m sorry, you two. I thought you were just being overly cautious about silly things. Thank you both.” She stepped back and went to start cleaning up the mess. “But now that raises the question of how I’m going to get better. I can’t leave this as it is, obviously. I don’t… want to hurt anypony.” She tried singing to herself while she cleaned, but her heart was pounding. She was sick with something terrible, and she had hurt her friends during a fit of uncontrollable rage and animalistic anger. Even Harry didn’t do that. He was a big, but gentle soul. She fumbled with the couch as she tried to right it, until Harry came over and helped her lift it into place. Her smile faltered while she swept up the broken dishes, and she could hear her voice cracking as she tried to pick up the mess around the rest of the room. When everything was clean, she sat on the couch and went silent, staring into space for a few minutes. Harry and Angel watched her carefully. “I don’t… know what to do. I have a month? How do you two know?” Angel hopped over to a bookshelf and pulled a book out. He bounded back over to her and held it up. It was a book about monsters she had been given by her brother one Nightmare Night. He thought it was funny even though she was scared. She’d kept it only because it was a gift. It looked well-used, probably by Angel himself. Angel pulled it open to the page about werewolves and pointed at it. The image on the page was of something that looked like a pony and a timberwolf. The pony in question had wooden parts covering their limbs and face, and glowing yellow eyes. It had sharp, pointed teeth, and a long tail that looked like branches. Its back was covered in chunks of bark, but it looked fierce, and scary. Fluttershy squeaked quietly and pushed it away. “There’s no way I look like that, is there?” Angel nodded. She looked to Harry. He nodded, but shrugged. “Oh, dear.” She pursed her lips in thought. “What about Royal Pin, he was one of these things too?” The two looked at each other and both frowned. Angel shrugged. Harry mumbled. Fluttershy nodded absentmindedly. “I need to fix this, but I don’t know how. If it has to do with timberwolves then I know just the pony, however. I need to go see Zecora!” Angel stood up and pointed to himself. Harry grunted and lowered his head. “Yes, you two can come if you want to. Zecora could use the information you two have.” Harry grunted again. “Why don’t you want to come, Harry?” she asked. Harry pointed at himself and rubbed at his fur, making a pained face. “Oh, are you still hurting from last night?” He nodded. “Okay, you can stay here. I’m sure Angel will be enough, since the two of you have been helping me out so much. I’ll give you a bath later, okay?” She kissed him on the forehead and he smiled. “Oh, but before we go.” She flew upstairs and grabbed a bandage from her first-aid kit, then came back down and stuck it on Angel’s forehead. “There you go, my sweet little guardian. I’m sorry if I hurt you.” Angel folded his arms and looked away. With Angel bandaged up, Fluttershy opened the door for them. Angel hopped outside, followed by Harry, then Fluttershy. She shut the door and locked it and quickly went through her morning routine. The animals were all fed while she pondered what she had been told. She wasn’t sure how much she believed it. Angel had been known to make problems seem larger than they were. Harry wasn’t quite as prone to exaggeration as Angel, however, which is why she believed it somewhat. She knew she had a problem, but whether she was actually afflicted with some strange curse was still up in the air. Somehow she had been hurt last month during the night, and Harry and Angel both had seen it but didn’t want to tell her what had happened. A hazy memory of Angel and Harry covered in blood came back to her, and she winced at the mental picture. She looked down at the chickens she was feeding and smiled at them. They looked up at her and she thought they smiled back, but they weren’t afraid. Didn’t animals just “know” these sorts of things somehow? If the chickens weren’t afraid, and neither were the goats or other animals, didn’t that mean she was okay? She dusted off her hooves and waved to Angel. He hopped up next to her and she landed, then began walking off toward the Everfree. She reached out to try to rub his head, but he flattened his ears and ducked away from her hoof. “It’s not that bad, is it?” He frowned harder and tapped the bandage on his forehead. “I said I was sorry. It wasn’t intentional.” He didn’t say anything else. She left it at that, but her earlier smile was gone. If she’d hurt him and Harry in some strange, instinctive rage, she really needed to fix this problem soon. They entered the Everfree and walked down the overgrown path leading to Zecora’s hut. Fluttershy knew the way, and there wasn’t much danger on the path. Zecora kept scented oils and specific plants set up on the path to deter any wandering creatures that might feel sassy enough to try to attack anypony coming to visit her. It was on this path somewhere that Fluttershy smelled something. Something ugly and awful. It burned her nose and made her sneeze. It was acrid, smoky, and oh, did it burn! She put a hoof to her nose and flinched, backing away. “What is that horrible smell? Angel, do you smell that?” Angel sniffed the air and spread his paws, then shrugged. “It’s horrible!” She tried to walk wide to get around it, but even when she did, there was more of whatever was making the smell elsewhere around the hut. She could see it in the distance, but she couldn’t find a way to get through. She even flew up above and tried to fly down, but the smell permeated the entire place. With a hoof on her nose, Fluttershy landed and looked to Angel. “Angel, sweetie, could you go get Zecora and bring her out here? I can’t handle this stink.” Angel sighed audibly, but he hopped into the copse with Zecora’s hut in it and pounded on the door. Fluttershy couldn’t hear what was said, but Zecora came outside and walked down the path to meet Fluttershy. She stayed just a little bit away, inside the smell. She looked out at Fluttershy, who was holding a hoof over her nose, and smiled amicably. “I’m sorry for the smell you hate, the woods have been unkind of late, but I need not to make you wait.” Fluttershy put on an awkward smile. “Good afternoon, Zecora. I have a little bit of a problem and I wanted to know if you could help.” “Your problem’s obvious to me, that smell you find so bad, you see, is meant to be protection from thee.” “From… me?” “The bane of wolves the scent is named, to stop the ones who’ve been untamed.” “The ones who’ve… oh.” Fluttershy’s face fell. “So it’s true, then? I’m cursed?” “If you find the smell so bad, it’s true a curse be what you have. But lose not hope, for there’s a cure. You take this curse and it abjure.” “Ab—what?” fluttershy was confused, but it sounded like there was something she could do about it. “Do you mean I can get rid of it? How?” Zecora leaned closer. Fluttershy kept her nose covered and listened intently, but Zecora’s voice got louder, booming out into the woods. Birds flew away in fright. “I’ll not let you in my home, not while so wild and free you roam. You have one month to live your life, but then on moon-filled nights of strife, the curse will rear its ugly head, and ponies ‘round you end up dead. I heard of Royal Pin and he—so injured and so hurt he be—came round my hut to ask the same, the question that brings you such shame. You’ve passed it on and cursed the next, so ask the princess with the text, of wolves and wolven-types around and ask how you may be unbound from curse and terror, somehow, sure. But as of now, I have no cure.” It took Fluttershy a moment to parse what Zecora had said. “You mean there’s no cure?” “I mean I have none here with me, but something at the castle may be.” Fluttershy’s ears wilted. “Oh.” “Do not fret, my yellow friend, we’ll find some way to make this end.” “Okay,” Fluttershy said. “I guess I understand. Do you know how I might have gotten it?” “This fact, to me, is hidden yet. I’m sorry, dear. I’ll make no bet.” “Okay, thanks anyway, Zecora. I’ll come let you know what I find out, if you can help.” “Good luck to you, and all your friends. It shan’t last long, we’ll make amends.” “I certainly hope so, Zecora.” Zecora waved goodbye and Fluttershy left the hut behind her. The smell lessened the further away she got until she could breathe properly without her nose burning like it was on fire. She wandered despondently along the forest trail back toward Ponyville. She could see Twilight’s castle off in the distance, and she could have made it there much quicker by flying, but she just dragged her hooves along. She didn’t know what to do about her problem, and she really didn’t want to hurt anypony. She had thirty days? What was she going to do when it all came around again? How would she handle it? “Angel, what should I do? I don’t know how I’m going to deal with this. If I broke out of the ropes yesterday and you could barely stop me then, what are we going to do next time?” When she got no response, she turned around to look for him, but he was nowhere to be seen. “Angel?” She looked back at the Everfree and realized he had probably gone to talk to Zecora. Either way, it wasn’t the first time he had gone off by himself. Still, she was worried. She fluttered back down the path, looking for him. “Angel!” she called, but there was nopony to be seen anywhere on the path. No flash of white or anything. She eventually hit the wall of stink and was repulsed. She could see Zecora’s hut inside it but couldn’t bring herself any closer than she was. Even if she held her breath and tried to fly through it, her eyes burned. She eventually gave up, hoping that he had indeed gone inside the hut with Zecora. He was probably just trying to help her out. Once again, Fluttershy turned away from the hut and wandered slowly down the path. She made her way back into Ponyville and up to Twilight’s castle. As she passed by ponies in town, she could see and hear them talking to each other. Her mind made every hidden conversation talk about her and her problem, and how she had injured Royal Pin. To her, everypony was blaming her and her strange disease for everything. Her ears remained flattened to her head, even as she walked up to the castle she had been to so many times before. She was so self-conscious, she found herself knocking on the castle doors, even though she was one of the elements of harmony. Spike answered it after a minute, and he almost started int a welcoming spiel before his face became confused. “Uh… hi, Fluttershy. Can I help you? You know you can just come in whenever you want, right?” “Oh!” she said. “Right, I’m sorry. I’m a little preoccupied at the moment.” “It seems that way. Something wrong?” “Well… yes, but—” Fluttershy stopped herself. If she told Spike and Twilight, they might start treating her differently as well. Zecora had something at her hut to keep her out, would Twilight do that too? “Yes, but…?” Spike said, urging her on. “Can I look at your library? I need to find something out about some animals, and I don’t think I have the books myself.” “Oh, sure. What animals?” Spike stepped aside and motioned her in. She walked along down the halls toward the library, Spike jogging to keep up. “Well…” Fluttershy hadn’t thought this far ahead. “Bears?” “Bears? Can’t Harry answer that for you?” “Harry… won’t talk to me about it. I think it’s a… sensitive issue? I’m trying to figure out what it is,” she lied. She knew everything about bears, but she had started the lie, she was going to run with it. “Oh, well I wouldn’t know, but I know where the bears’ books are at. Come with me.” He led her into the library and down the crystal shelves of books. He held out a claw, muttering the titles to himself as they went until he came to the letter B. “Here we go! Bears! All you might want to know about bears in Equestria, right here.” “Thank you, Spike. I’ll let you know when I’m done.” “No problem. Are you looking for something about bears that can tell you about their hygiene, their fur, their claws, their paws, their eyes? Is his nose runny?” Spike pulled a couple of books off the shelves and began flipping through them. “Spike, please. I can’t talk to you about it because I said it’s sensitive. I’ll find it myself. Can I just have time to look alone?” “Oh! Okay. No problem.” He put the book he had been flipping through back on the shelf and trotted away. “Just call me if you need anything.” “Thank you, Spike.” Left alone, Fluttershy went searching through the books. She pulled the one he had first offered her off the shelf and looked through it, just for a quick smile. It was about bear’s hygiene habits in the wild, and it had cute illustrations. She smiled at the look of the bear inside, but eventually put it back. She had come here for a reason, and she needed to take care of that before her friends found out about her little problem. She didn’t want them to all hear about it and then make every house smell like that awful thing Zecora had done. She hunted about for the books about wolves. They weren’t kept too far away from the bears, thankfully, but there were significantly fewer of them than the other. The books covered a range of topics such as timberwolves—the most obvious—to wolverines and maned wolves. There weren’t a lot, and not one of them had a focus on werewolves, so she picked out the one about timberwolves and flipped through it. It appeared to have been written a very long time ago, as the language used in the book was archaic and more than a little boring. It appeared to have been penned by Starswirl, at least in part, as his name appeared in the credits at the start of the book. Unfortunately, despite going into detailed speculation of how the timberwolves came to be, there was nothing describing how they might pass their unusual curse on to a pony. In fact, it seemed as though Starswirl and the others decided it wasn’t a curse that could be applied to a pony at all. It was more of an animation spell that caused the deadwood of the forest to come alive. Curious in and of itself, but not useful for Fluttershy. Unable to find what she was looking for in that book, Fluttershy dropped it and moved on to one of the others, but both other books were just biological texts talking about the life of wolverines and other things. Normal, and boring, and completely unhelpful to Fluttershy. She wandered in circles, looking at the other books, trying to think of what she could do. “If I can’t find anything about their biology, then I should look at unbiological things!” Starswirl’s theories gave her an idea. It wasn’t a normal effect that caused her to become a werewolf, it was a curse! She hunted through the stacks for books about curses and began reading. Unfortunately, there were a lot of curses, and many of them were as calm and painless as a little bit of dry skin, to things as bad as something called the “creeping doom of Mephistopheles”. That one she avoided reading about. Just the name scared her. She hadn’t found her problem yet when she heard a voice behind her. “Fluttershy? I heard from Spike you were here about something sensitive and since I had a spare moment I thought I’d come ask if I could help. Harry having fur trouble again?” She looked at the section Fluttershy was in and frowned. “Is everything all right? This section has nothing to do with bears.” “Oh! Um… I was trying not to bother him or you about it.” “If he’s cursed, I can help you out better than a book can. Can you describe what he’s got?” Fluttershy looked at the floor, the ceiling, the walls, and even a spider in one corner of the vaulted crystal ceiling. Anything to avoid looking at Twilight, but she eventually squeaked, “He’s got a problem that comes only on the full moon.” Twilight brightened. “Oh, a full moon curse? Those are rather simple, honestly. You see, since the moon has such a regular pattern, we can attribute mathematical properties to the curse itself, which would make sense given that the spell should be cast with properly aligned energies in order to ensure…” Fluttershy stopped fully listening and looked back at her book. It didn’t have any useful information, but Twilight was smart, and knew all about magicks. She didn’t understand what Twilight was talking about, but as the books came flying at her through the air, Fluttershy smiled at how willing her friend was to help. Maybe it would be okay to bring it up with her? Surely she’d be more sensible and helpful than Zecora would? “…except lycanthropy, which follows the regular patterns, but induces a very unpony rage upon the subject, transforming them into a wolfish form, complete with the anger associated with timberwolves. That’s—” “Wait, what was that?” Fluttershy interrupted. “Timberwolves?” “No, that other word you used?” “Lycanthropy?” “Yes, that’s associated with timberwolves?” “It’s the word used to describe a pony that’s been afflicted with lycanthropy, which is when, during a full moon, the pony transforms into a horrible beast.” “A… werewolf?” “Yes, exactly! I should have known you’d know the term, Fluttershy. It’s unique among moon-related curses in that it’s transmitted more like a disease.” “Transmitted?” “Oh, yes. A bite will infect the one bitten with lycanthropy if they don’t follow the proper steps to clean the wounds within twenty-four hours, and then you’ll have yet another werewolf on your hooves.” “Oh… that… that sound t-terrible.” Fluttershy was swaying where she stood. Royal Pin might be a werewolf too! What had she done? “How do you… cure it?” “Cure it?” Twilight looked away in thought. “You know, I’m not sure. I should look that up.” “O-oh. Well…” Fluttershy’s heart was racing. There was no cure? Even Twilight didn’t know? What was she supposed to do with herself now that she would become a danger to everypony around her every month? She’d hoped that somepony as smart as Twilight or as wise as Zecora would have something to fix this… lycanthropy. She’d thought it just a disease that could be fixed like a cold or something. This was getting worse by the minute! Twilight kept talking while she picked up several of the books Fluttershy had already been through. “You know, Fluttershy, I never took you for being so interested in something like this. Is whatever is affecting your friend causing him or her temperament problems? If it’s a full moon-related problem, it might very well be lycanthropy.” “Oh! No!” she answered too quickly, “It’s just… something else. It’s a bit embarrassing. I don’t know if he’d be okay with me sharing it.” “Okay, well it could be lycanthropy, though I’ve never heard of a bear suffering from the disease. It’s something that can really only affect ponies, as far as I’m aware. But! There’s a first time for everything,” Twilight said cheerfully. “Have you watched him during the full moon?” Fluttershy shook her head and swallowed heavily. She’d been to busy with her own problem to worry about what Harry was doing. He’d certainly been bit and injured by her, however. Could he contract it? “Well,” said Twilight, “if you haven’t been able to keep an eye on him, you’ll want to do so next full moon. From a safe distance, of course. You’re a pegasus, so you can just fly above him and see what he does. Perfectly safe.” “Oh, no. I don’t… I mean… I don’t know…” Fluttershy stammered. “If you want, I can come help you watch him. We have a full month, so we can plan for it. I can keep him under control if it turns out to be true.” “No!” Fluttershy shouted. Twilight recoiled in shock. “I mean… no, thank you. It’s embarrassing enough as it is. It’s not lycanthropy. It’s something else. I’m sorry, Twilight. You don’t have what I was looking for.” She made to leave, and Twilight just watched her go. She turned around at the exit from the library. “But… please do find out what fixes lycanthropy. I am curious,” she said. “…for unrelated reasons, of course!” She galloped out of the building. Twilight didn’t try to stop her. She ran back home, ignored all the hoots, chirps, and clucks from her friends outside, threw open the door and rushed upstairs. She tossed herself onto her bed and lay there, eyes burning, but not crying. She didn’t know if she even felt like crying. She had a problem she didn’t know how to fix, and she could potentially end up hurting her friends. Things couldn’t possibly get any worse than this. Fluttershy didn’t know how long she laid there for, but soon night came. She heard the lumbering footsteps of Harry moving about downstairs, along with the quick pitter-patter of Angels tiny paws. She could smell them, both of them. The heavy, musky scent of Harry, his commanding but gentle presence, and Angel’s hard, acrid smell that didn’t feel anything like any other rabbit she had ever smelled. Angel had always been different, but his smell just drove that point home a little harder. For that matter, why could she smell them so clearly? Her drowsy mind didn’t quite grasp the significance of that. The footsteps started up the stairs, and Fluttershy groaned inwardly. She didn’t know that she wanted to see them right now. She growled into the pillow, then heaved herself up off the bed and went to her window. She pulled it open and jumped out of it, wings picking her up and off into the twilit sky. She heard Angel running up after her, and Harry growling behind her as she left, but neither one caught her before she was gone. Out in the night sky, Fluttershy felt a lot more at ease than she had inside her house. The air was crisp and clean, the moon gave her just enough light, and the smell—oh! The smells!—she’d never noticed it before, but the smell of Ponyville told her a lot about the place. She could smell Sugarcube Corner off in the distance. Sweet, yet welcoming. She could smell the apples from Sweet Apple Acres, and she could smell the unnatural, mineral smells from Twilight’s castle, tinged with magic. She rubbed her nose. She could even smell the awful stench coming from Zecora’s hut in the Everfree. It was just a touch of it, but it was present, and she didn’t like it. Fluttershy looked up at the moon. It was waning gibbous, having just passed its full phase. Looking at it filled her with a sense of strength unlike anything she’d ever felt, save for that brief time after having taken Iron Will’s class when she was forceful and very much in control. Deep down, however, she knew that wasn’t right. That wasn’t her. “I’m not… like that.” She fluttered slowly down to the grass, just on the edge of the Everfree. It felt… homey, to her. Like there was a place she could belong inside there. She knew that was wrong, too. She stared into the woods, her eyes piercing the darkness of the forest unlike anything she had ever experienced. There was darkness in there, but there was something more as well. Something that knew her, just as she knew it, and it scared her. She backed away from the forest, carefully taking one step at a time as she looked into the darkness, her eyes showing her things she never would have noticed otherwise. Animals scurrying about in the dark. Falling branches and leaves, knocked loose by a bird or one of the animals yet hidden. Rustling bushes and loose dirt, kicked up by something hurrying past, eager to get past the wide-open space and back into the comfort of the underbrush. Suddenly, there was a howl. It tore her out of her reverie and she jumped in fright. The pony side of her was fearful, but she also felt another part of her that was pleased that company was near. She felt something inside her want to join them in their call, but her fear overruled it. She turned and ran, galloping back to her warm, safe cottage, with its walls and doors and windows that kept the outside world away. She was too scared to fly, and she struggled with the door when she got back. When she fell into the house, Angel and Harry were both there waiting on the couch. Angle folded his arms and frowned, while Harry just twiddled his thumbs and looked contrite. Angel pointed to the table, where a bowl of food had been placed. Neither Angel nor Harry said anything, but just watched her, waiting, expecting her to do something or say something. She sobbed then, and burst into tears. “I don’t want to be cur-hur-hurrrrsed!” she cried. Harry came over and picked her up. Angel stood on the couch, frowning harder, but his eyes weren’t into it as much as they had been. He looked concerned instead of upset. Harry growled kindly at her and rocked her back and forth in his big, strong arms. “I’m sorry I went outside. I was scared of you two and what you’d say,” she said, “but it’s even worse out there! I can smell everything, and see everything, and hear everything, and I got close to the forest and there were timberwolves, and they howled, and I wanted to howl and… and…” she threw up her hooves and sobbed even harder. “I don’t want to be like this!” Harry growled softly and patted her on the head. “I know you’ll help keep me safe, but I already bit Royal Pin, didn’t I? What if he’s cursed too, and then he’ll bite other ponies, and I’ve ruined everything! Ohhhh!” Angel thumped a foot and pointed to the table, where the bowl of food sat untouched. “I know, I know. I should eat. It’s better for me, okay. I’ll eat, then get some sleep, and try to… figure this out.” Harry gently lowered her to the floor and she walked over to the table. She sat down and listlessly stared at her bowl and the vegetables inside it. It even had a sprinkling of oats on top, with her favorite dressing. Her eyes welled up at how thoughtful the two of them were, despite Angel’s scary face, and she started crying again. She eventually finished her food and went upstairs. She bathed, groomed her mane and tail, and dried off as she prepared for bed, then crawled under the covers. Harry and Angel watched her as she got ready to sleep, and Harry kindly shut the window when howling floated up from the Everfree. “Thank you both,” she said with a smile, and fell asleep. Elsewhere in Ponyville, Royal Pin was struggling to pull himself together. He had woken up in the morning near the woods covered in blood. He’d returned to town only to find out that somepony had been murdered; utterly torn apart. He’d gotten to his own home before most of the town had woken up and bathed, cleaning himself off, and was trying to piece together the events of the night before. He wasn’t injured, his horn was fine and working properly, and nopony was mentioning him as part of the list of suspects, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was somewhat at fault for all this. He went through the motions of his day as best he could, but he made mistakes, was absent-minded, and destroyed more things with his horn than was normal. He made some filly cry when he wandered through her cuteceneara and accidentally destroyed her piñata, but he only offered a half-hearted apology. Something was wrong, and he couldn’t quite put his hoof on it. He worried so much about the murder, he didn’t realize it when he found himself wandering out of Ponyville, past Sweet Apple Acres, and into the Everfree forest. When he finally looked up and realized where he was, contrary to the feeling of fear he would normally feel, he actually felt sort of at home. There was a powerful stench coming from the direction of the local witch doctor’s hut, so he avoided that, but he felt something calling him. He followed it, only to find himself outside a cave. Yellow, glowing eyes looked at him. He felt calm.