Fluttershy was shocked to see Angel in such a sorry state the next morning. She fussed and took care of him as much as possible while he insisted on breakfast. When she went into the kitchen to make it he shook his head and stomped his foot, pointing at her, then himself. She eventually got the idea and let him make it, and he put together the tea and a plate of mediocre pancakes. Fluttershy and he ate it side-by-side, with him staring at her while she drank and ate. She saw him watching and smiled.
“This is… interesting tea. What did you put in it?”
Angel just shrugged and pointed at the kettle.
“Hot water? Well it’s… not bad.” She coughed.
Fluttershy knew something was up. Angel wouldn’t have gotten himself hurt over nothing, but she wasn’t going to bother him too much about it. He and Harry often went out a got into fights. Some club or something. The problem was that he was worse off than normal, and now that she’d drunk the tea, the smell of it was filling her nostrils. It was uncomfortable and she didn’t like it. When she put the cup down, though, Angel got uppity and pointed at it, insisting she finish it. He did the same with the pancakes when she avoided the charred parts. She ate it all and drank it all, just to appease him. He’d gotten hurt trying to help her, she could eat some bad food.
When they were all done, Fluttershy went outside to feed the animals. Angel and Harry followed her. When she stepped outside, the difference was obvious: She couldn’t smell anything.
“Oh! I smell… nothing at all!” She smiled. “Angel, did you fix it?” She looked down at him.
Angel shook his head sadly and pointed at his nose.
“Oh, just my sense of smell?”
He nodded.
“Oh… well that’s okay for now. I don’t have to smell the scary thing.” She picked him up and hugged him. “I’m sorry I doubted you.”
Angel just waved a paw dismissively.
“You may think it’s nothing, but it means a lot to me that you’d go to all this trouble. Thank you.”
Harry growled.
“And thank you, too, Harry.”
Fluttershy was all smiles and cheer as she worked. She fed the animals, went out shopping, and talked with her friends. Everything felt wonderful and she was pleased to go about her day. Though Angel followed her everywhere she went, riding on her back or hopping along beside her, she didn’t frown or complain once. She was genuinely pleased to have no sense of smell, and that made him happy.
The tea even lasted up until night fell, and she crawled into bed. He watched her as she slept for a while, until she started tossing and turning. Her nostrils flared when a breeze blew in the window, and she shifted restlessly. Angel hopped over and closed the window, staring out at the trees. He swore he saw something moving, but he was in no condition to fight it.
Angel went downstairs and stepped outside to find Harry just beyond the door. He sat down and pointed at the forest, then slapped a fist into a paw. He patted Harry on the leg and nodded. Harry growled back. They sat in silence for a while, just watching the woods, until Angel slipped back inside to sleep on Fluttershy’s bed.
All was well until the full moon. Fluttershy had no sense of smell and no desire to follow a strange voice into the forest, but every day she woke up more and more tired. The tea was beginning to take a toll on her, and she didn’t want to drink any more of it.
“I can’t sleep well, Angel. I dream of things. Things I don’t want and don’t like, but things I don’t know I can avoid,” she said.
Angel never left her side.
When the day went dark and the full moon rose, Fluttershy changed. Her mane and tail grew long, covering her in thin, damp branches coming out of her head. Through them it was hard to see her legs, which grew thick bark, and dangerous claws that jutted out of her hooves. Her teeth became large fangs, and her ears sprouted leaves. Her eyes changed from a soft, beautiful blue to a deadly yellow, glowing brightly in the darkness of her room.
She growled and tried to jump out of her bed, but Harry and Angel had tied her down. They both stood at the foot of the bed, Angel with his healed paws ready and Harry down low to receive any attack she might make.
Fluttershy wasn’t having it this time, though. Her razor-sharp teeth snapped at the rope and tore it in twain immediately. Her claws severed the other ones, and the rest just snapped as she pulled herself up. She glared at both of them, twin pools of livid yellow beaming out of the darkness at them both. Angel’s brow furrowed. He stomped a foot. She ignored him.
She stalked off the bed on the far side of the room. Her wings unfolded, made of leaves instead of feathers. Thick branches stuck out in place of her bones. Angel shuddered.
Harry whimpered, looking to Angel for direction. Angel shook his head and stared at the feral Fluttershy on the other side of the room. She was eyeing him and Harry one after the other. She was looking at him like he was a morsel, but she seemed afraid of Harry. Angel folded his arms and smiled. He could use that.
Angel looked at Harry and pointed at Fluttershy, then made a grabbing motion. Harry whimpered and shook his head, but Angel pointed again, firmer this time. Harry stepped forward and lumbered slowly at her, but Fluttershy jumped at him. He flinched.
Fluttershy’s claws dug into the floor and her wings tilted. She spun through the air, whipping past Harry. He groped at the air, but his heart wasn’t in it. He didn’t want to hurt her. She landed next to Angel and snapped at him. Angel jumped backward and socked her jaw. She was stunned for a second, in which time he bopped her on the nose again, then motioned at her in a “come on” sort of way. She growled and swiped at him, but he deftly dodged each blow. That was enough time for Harry to make a grab at her again, but she swiped in his direction and he flinched again, recoiling. Angel slapped his forehead and stomped a foot.
Fluttershy still didn’t want anything to do with Harry, though. She jumped past Angel, headed for the stairs. Angel grabbed her leg and held on as she scurried down them. Her wings helped her glide down the stairs, brushing each side of the stairwell. Angel held on and climbed up her leg. He struggled to reach her back and yanked on the wings when he was up. Her wings folded, and she stumbled down the last few steps.
Fluttershy went into a frenzy trying to get Angel off her back. She jumped back and forth, spun in circles, and rolled trying to dislodge him from her back. Her wings snapped shut and open repeatedly as she tried to get him off. Angel held on tightly. He’d done this enough with the chickens, pigs, goats, and other ponies that came around Fluttershy’s cottage. He was no stranger to rodeo, he just wished he had a rope.
Harry followed them to the bottom steps, but he stood there staring and braying in concern at the furious Fluttershy and Angel clinging to her back. Angel couldn’t spare a paw to give him directions, so Harry was just getting close, reaching out and pulling back, waiting for a good opportunity.
Angel, frustrated at his lack of help, clambered up her back and grabbed onto her neck. He tried twisting and pulling, but her werewolf muscles were far too strong. She was neither made of wood like the timberwolves, nor was she a normal pony. She was augmented too much in either way, and that was a problem. He climbed up further but had to stop a moment as she did a backflip. His hind legs dangled off her, his paws the only thing holding him on as he clung to her fur. When she landed he clambered up the rest of the way and pulled on her ears. Fluttershy screeched in pain and anger at the attack and threw her head around wildly. Her thick, plant-like mane pushing against him and getting tangled in his limbs. Angel held on for dear life, trying to be enough of a distraction for Harry to grab her.
Fluttershy wasn’t putting up with it any longer. Harry grabbed her with a single paw and she bit it. Her sharp teeth sank into his limb and he roared and pulled back. She slammed her head into a wall, dislodging Angel’s paws from her ears, then jumped out a window. The glass broke and the wood slammed open as her body hit it. She felt something snag her mane as she dove outside, but although it tugged, she ignored it and spread her wings. The leaves covering her fluttered in the cool night air as she flew outside triumphantly. She took off into the air and flew out and over Ponyville. She stared down at the sleepy town and howled. She was answered by the howl of other, distant timberwolves.
Fluttershy soared over the city, staring down at the tightly-closed houses below. She saw movement in one portion of it and flew in that direction. Down below she saw a pegasus pony walking through the streets. Without having a horn, this was a pony she could take on her own. She dove at them, mouth open and claws extended.
At the last second, something grabbed her wings and pulled on the right one. It threw her off her dive and she howled at she slammed into the ground just in front of the pony. She snarled and snapped, turning in vicious circles as she tried to find the offending thing that had dared ruin her dive. She spun and scratched at her back until she hit something and threw the white Angel, now with a bloody gash across his forehead, into a nearby wall. He hopped to his feet and air-boxed at her. The pony who had nearly been attacked stood staring, dumbfounded at the sight. Fluttershy glared at the pegasus mare and Angel, confused.
She stalked around both of them, growling and gnashing her teeth. The pegasus pony stood stock-still, unsure what was happening and if he was in danger or not. Angel tried to shoo the pegasus away, and mocked Fluttershy to get her to attack him. He flicked a thumb across his nose and waved his paws at her, sticking out his tongue. Fluttershy stared at them both for a moment, then a howl came from somewhere nearby.
Fluttershy howled back, and the howling continued in both directions. The howls from outside were getting closer. Angel looked down the different streets. His ears went flat when he saw timberwolves barreling into town. Up behind Fluttershy came a blue unicorn, with a scrub-like mane and tail, and a long, wooden horn coming out of his head. He raced up next to Fluttershy and smiled at her. The two of them grinned, then turned to look at Angel. Royal Pin’s horn glowed that ugly timberwolf yellow and he fired a beam at Angel. Angel leaped to the side and threw a pebble. It bounced off Royal Pin’s horn, disrupting his magic. He shook his head and growled. Angel made a rude gesture.
A deep, baying cry sounded from outside the village. Royal Pin and Fluttershy looked at each other. The timberwolves all spread out, disappearing into the town. Royal Pin smiled at Fluttershy once more, then disappeared along with them, leaving just her and Angel, staring each other down. Angel tapped his foot and folded his arms. He pointed at her and to the ground, angry. She shook her head and took off into he night sky, hovering high above Ponyville, the only sign she was there her silhouetted in front of the moon. Angel stamped a foot rapidly and ran off, headed for the cottage again.
Harry was surrounded by all the other animals when Angel arrived. They were huddled under, on, and around him, hiding in his fur and under his paws. Harry growled questioningly at Angel, but Angel ignored him and dashed inside. He grabbed a backpack and filled it with a pile of herbs from the kitchen, then dashed back out. He looked at Harry, pointed at the ground, then ran back into Ponyville.
Angel smelled something coming from the Everfree and was glad he didn’t have to do all this alone. Zecora must have heard it and was coming to help. She and he had the same idea, though she might have been better equipped for it. Angel still followed that silhouetted in the moon. The other ponies in town could fend for themselves, he had one target, and one target only: Fluttershy. If anypony else got in his way, or a timberwolf tried to stop him, they’d get beat down, werewolf pony or no.
As he thought that, a timberwolf jumped in from of him, snapping its jaws. Angel did a front flip and landed on its mouth, then ran across its back. He stopped in the middle of it as it curved its body, trying to bite him. He reached down and grabbed the branch making up its spine. He put a foot on it and yanked, snapping the branch in half. The timberwolf yelped and crumpled to the ground, dragging itself about by its front paws. He ignored it and jumped down, running further into Ponyville.
He was attacked again, and that one he ripped its head off, then punted it into a fountain. He scraped sparks onto another and watched in grim satisfaction as it burned, but they were all just getting in the way. He needed to find Fluttershy, or the werewolf that started this whole mess. He was angry at that pony most of all.
Unfortunately, he found neither Fluttershy, nor the pony that seemed to be the master of them all. What he found instead, or what found him, was Royal Pin.
Angel’s paws left the ground and he was held up in the air. He swung at it, but he couldn’t punch air at all. He could only watch as Royal Pin turned his body slowly to look him in the eye. Angel scowled. He hated this guy. He looked too smug. His fist clenched, but he waited. Royal Pin hadn’t killed him yet, so that was a plus.
“You’re Fluttershy’s little rabbit, aren’t you? She didn’t get the good end of the transformation. She’s fighting it. If she’d just accept it, then maybe she’d be able to be a little bit more… intelligent, like me, don’t you think?”
Angel rolled his eyes. Great. A gloater. This was going to be easy.
Royal Pin dragged Angel closer to him and pointed Angel’s head up at the sky. Fluttershy was wheeling about in dark circles, howling and calling out to the timberwolves and that deep, baying voice somewhere in the distance. Nopony had come outside yet, which was strange enough, but Angel knew it wasn’t safe in the village.
Angel tilted his eyes toward Royal Pin, then reached into his bag and tossed a pawful of powder into the gloating asshole’s mouth. Royal Pin coughed and choked on it, and his wooden bits shrank. They weren’t gone, but he wasn’t as feral-looking as before. He looked like a pony someone had slapped wood onto. It would have been hilarious if he hadn’t started snapping and blasting magic all around him. That got ponie’s attention.
A few ponies came outside to see what all the fuss was about. The noise and the magic and the howling was starting to disturb everypony enough to get their attention. The few who did come outside were nearby, and they caught Angel and Royal Pin fighting in the street. Royal Pin was firing magic all around, coughing and choking, and Angel was holding on for dear life.
“What the devil is going on here?” somepony asked.
Royal Pin’s eyes watery eyes focused on the stallion, and he leaped at him, jaws wide. Angel fell to the ground, forgotten.
Angel stumbled to his feet. Royal Pin had forgotten about him, and he didn’t care what happened to anypony else. Not even that stallion that had saved him. Fluttershy’s howl sounded in the distance, and he made to leave, but when Royal Pin started snapping and biting at the earth pony, Angel sighed. Fluttershy would never forgive him if he left somepony behind.
Angel sighed and turned to look. Royal Pin was snapping at the pony. The stallion put up a good fight, but Royal Pin was using his magic to slowly pull the stallion’s hooves away to give him access to the pony’s neck. It was only a matter of time before his neck was torn out.
Angel jumped onto Royal Pin’s back, climbed up to his head, and walloped him right in the temple. Royal Pin screamed and released the stallion. His hind hoof came up to scratch at his head, trying to dislodge Angel. Angel just held on with his hind legs, gripping royal Pin’s ear, then put both paws together and slammed them into the side of his head. Again and again and again he pounded against Royal Pin’s skull until he fell to the ground, unconscious. He twitched. Angel hit him once more for good measure. Then he kicked dirt on him.
The stallion looked at Angel and nodded. There was howling all around them and more screams picked up in Ponyville. It sounded to Angel like the timberwolves were making their move. That deep baying was the cause of all of this, and it was getting closer. Images of some big, huge timberwolf filled Angel’s mind and he looked up at the sky. Fluttershy was high overhead, barking and howling in different tones, swooping first one way over Ponyville, then another way. She was looking for something, it seemed. Angel needed some way to get up there.
Angel hurried through town. He ran up to Sugarcube Corner and pounded on the door. There was no answer, but when he pressed his ear up to the door he could hear crying. He put his paws on his hips and climbed the walls, then broke a window upstairs and fell into the building. The noise woke up the pony he was looking for.
“Angel, you could have just knocked! What are you doing here?” Pinkie Pie asked.
Angel pointed to the window he had fallen through.
“You… came here to break my window? That’s kind of mean.”
Angel shook his head and facepalmed. He hated dealing with Pinkie Pie. He went and opened the window, then jabbed a finger up to the sky. Pinkie Pie came over to look outside. Fluttershy’s silhouette was hovering in front of the moon, she was howling still.
Pinkie Pie squinted at the sight. “Fluttershy’s turned into a werewolf and is terrorizing the townsponies with her timberwolf helpers and there’s something even bigger coming and you want my help?”
Angel sighed and nodded. He hated dealing with Pinkie Pie.
“Well, golly gosh gee, I can help! What do you need?”
Angel pointed at the party cannon she kept in the corner, then at Fluttershy out the window. Pinkie looked at him, then at Fluttershy, then a smile crept across her face. “Are you implying what I think you’re implying, Angel bunny?”
Angel nodded.
Pinkie Pie whooped and grabbed her party cannon, then pointed it out the window. “Okay, Angel. This is going to require some pinpoint accuracy, and some on-the-wing adjustments. Are you ready for this?”
Angel nodded and climbed inside the cannon. He fitted some goggles on and stuck a paw out, giving her a thumbs-up.
“Wait! Wait wait wait!” She went and rummaged under her bed for something and pulled out a tiny parachute. She shoved it into the mouth of the cannon and aimed. “Ready?”
Angel stuck out a thumb.
“Aim!” She tilted the cannon, pointing it above the the dark figure of Fluttershy in the night sky. Fluttershy’s long mane and tail waved gently in the darkness. Angel focused his eyes on her and furrowed his brow, tuning out Pinkie’s voice. The only thing that mattered was Fluttershy.
He didn’t hear her say “fire”, but the next thing Angel knew he was flying through the air. The party cannon went off and confetti flew with him a short distance before dropping away, sprinkling down onto the timberwolves filling Ponyville. He saw Pinkie Pie pop her head out the door and assault them with a rolling pin and baked goods, but then his eyes flicked back up to Fluttershy. He was almost there, flying full-tilt toward her. He reached out for her wings. She threw her head back and howled. He hit her back, knocking the wind out of her. Her howl was cut short. She snarled. He held tight.
Angel struggled to cling to Fluttershy as she twisted and contorted in the air. His paws gripped and tugged at her mane and tail while she tried to dislodge him. Paw over paw he climbed up the long, tangling vines of her hair until he was next to her ears. She shook her head violently back and forth, trying to dislodge him. When he wouldn’t let go she dropped out of the sky, twisting upside-down. He hung on for dear life, waiting for her to get right-side up again.
When she did he swung down, grabbed on to her muzzle, then filled a paw with tea leaves and shoved it at her mouth. She closed her lips and his paw smacked uselessly against her face. He tried to force it in, but she growled and scraped at him with a hoof. He lost that handful of leaves as he clambered away onto her muzzle, then he grabbed a new handful of leaves, glared at her, and shoved his whole paw, leaves and all, up her nose.
Fluttershy snorted and coughed. Her mane shrank and the bark on her legs retreated. Her claws became smaller and her eyes turned green instead of full yellow. Her wings fluttered awkwardly as she changed back slightly, but none of it went away completely. She coughed, sneezed, then her eyes focused on Angel.
“Angel?”
Angel breathed a sigh of relief. It had worked somewhat, though not completely. She was still a little wolfed out and covered in tree bits, but she might like that. At least she wasn’t being all bitey anymore. He patted her on the head and climbed back up her face to her mane where he hung on.
“Oh, okay. What are we… where are we…? Oh, dear.”
Fluttershy heard the howling from below and looked down to see the swarms of timberwolves attacking Ponyville. Her hooves flew up to her mouth in shock and she twisted, staring at the mess that was the city. Ponies were in the streets fighting swarms of timberwolves, magic flying every which way. Pinkie’s party cannon could be heard squeaking and exploding down in the town square. Pegasi were flying to and fro, carrying earth ponies and foals to safety, which an impromptu militia of earth ponies marched through the streets, carrying the odd spear and farm implements to fight back.
“Did I do this?’
Angel shook his head, then grabbed her by the ear and pointed at the Everfree. The low baying sound, similar to the roar of a tractor, hove out of the woods. I great tree-like head burst from the undergrowth. It tore up trees and dirt, but instead of throwing the plants and soil to the side, it subsumed them. It left a trail of overturned earth and an eclectic mix of freshly-planted trees in its wake as it hove toward Ponyville. Its tail remained firmly fixed to the ground and its head whipped to and fro. It would bay, then it would wait for a response.
“It’s blind,” Fluttershy said. She was right. Where most timberwolves had glowing yellow eyes, this beast had none. It had great ears, created from the stumps and trunks of trees that it tilted back and forth, listening for the timberwolve’s howls.
The beast drew a giant paw across the grassy plain separating Ponyville from the Everfree, and howled a long, deep howl. Fluttershy plugged her ears, but Angel could see her mane and tail growing longer again. Her eyes glowed from the call, and the raucous response from Ponyville below made her flinch.
The creature lumbered forward without a care. Its tail carried with it shrubs and bushes that planted themselves in the churned soil below its feet and it careened into the buildings of Ponyville. Upon hitting one it struck out with a giant root-like paw and tore the building to pieces. It drooled on the remains of it and seedlings sprouted. The straw that covered the roof became green and fertile once again and drew itself up in a small patch of fresh seed.
“What is it doing?” Fluttershy said, confused. “Is it trying to make a forest again?”
Screams from below drew Fluttershy’s gaze, and somepony down underneath her was torn to pieces by the angry plant monsters. Elsewhere, a unicorn was crawling away from them, injured and bleeding. She could see with her enhanced eyesight that he was slowly growing more plant-like himself, cursed much as she was.
An acrid smell hit her nose that she recognized and Fluttershy looked about. Zecora was somewhere near! She tried to see the zebra somewhere in the tangle of buildings, but couldn’t find her in the hubbub. She instead had to follow her nose. She flew down, going to where the smell was strongest. Her eyes watered and her nose burned, but she forced herself into it.
“Zecora! Where are you!” Fluttershy called. Her voice was guttural and strange, affected by her transformation. She passed by some whimpering timberwolves as she passed through an alley. They didn’t care about her and were more interested in getting away from the smell than chasing Angel, who stuck out his tongue at them from her back. She eventually found the zebra, standing over the bloody form of an earth pony. The pony’s guts were strung out across the dirt. Zecora was trying to feed them a potion of some kind.
“Oh! Zecora, thank goodness I found you. I need your help to get rid of the giant timber…beast? They’re all attacking Ponyville, and I think it’s because of the big one!”
Zecora looked away from the dying pony and stared at Fluttershy with a bemused expression. She didn’t look surprised, but she wasn’t expecting what she was looking at. “Fluttershy, I see you’re here, but with plants all growing off your ears.”
She looked at herself, then turned back to Zecora. “Yes, I’m sorry, but the smell here is terrible. Can you help? We need to get rid of the giant.”
“A giant timberbeast has come, it’s huge and dangerous to some, but not to me, not to my smell, but I can’t stop it with any of my spells. Your help has brought it to the town, your help is all that can bring it down.”
“My help? But I’m not prepared for this. I can’t fight something that big!”
“You needn’t fight, it goes to you. A unicorn would also do.”
Fluttershy looked at Zecora in confusion. Angel shrugged on top of her head. Zecora looked at both of them with that infuriating small smile she always had on her face, like she knew something everypony else didn’t. “I’m… still not understanding.”
Zecora sighed patiently. “Animals go to where Fluttershy is, because you are the best in the biz. If maybe that creature has come here for you, then maybe you ought to not be here, you two.”
“We two? You mean Royal Pin?” Fluttershy asked. Zecora nodded. “Oh! I should find him and try to talk some sense into him! Thank you Zecora!” Zecora waved as Fluttershy flew away. She finally removed her hoof from her nose and gagged on the smell. She turned to Angel. “Angel, you said you fought Royal Pin? Where is he?”
Angel patted her on the ear and pointed over her head. She followed his direction as she flew until he pointed down. She followed his paw, but there was nopony there. Angel made a frustrated motion and looked around, then jabbed his paw in another direction. Fluttershy followed and saw the blue body of Royal Pin running through the streets. He was headed toward the giant timberbeast, horn aglow. Fluttershy bolted down to land near him. He jumped in surprise, then narrowed his eyes.
“What do you want, rabbit?”
“Angel wants to be left alone, Pin. It’s me who wants something now.”
“And what’s that?”
“I want you to help me get the timberbeast out of town.”
He barked a laugh at her. “Help you get it out? I just helped you bring it in! We wanted it here.”
“You wanted it here. I wanted nothing of the sort! It’s dangerous, and I don’t want ponies to get hurt!”
“Then maybe you shouldn’t have sung it over here. You smelled it, you wanted it, and now it’s here. I’m not going to help you get rid of—”
Fluttershy shoved her face up against Royal Pin’s. Her eyes bored into his, flashing yellow and blue. She pressed her nose against his and forced him to back up. She followed until he bumped into a building. “I did not want ponies to get hurt! I was not in my right mind at the time, and I will not stand idly by while my friends get hurt! Now you are going to tell me how to get rid of it, even if you aren’t going to help me do so. I’ll come back for you when I’m done, but you can be sure you’re not getting out of this so easily!”
Royal Pin stammered and tried to scoot away, but Fluttershy just followed him with her nose against his. He growled at her and bared his teeth, but Fluttershy’s eyes flashed yellow when he did, and she bared her own teeth back. Her lips drew back much further than his, showing a line of angry, jagged teeth far back in her mouth. They were not pony teeth.
“Okay! Okay! Calm down!”
Her eyes went back to blue, then she sneezed. A glob of wet powder splatted onto the ground. Her eyes went straight yellow again.
“Just, sing to it, okay? Your howling brought it here. It’s following you and me. Me with magic, and you with song.”
“Then you’re coming with me. I don’t need you fighting against me for its direction,” fluttershy’s voice had gone deep and gravelly. Her brow furrowed and her mane and tail were growing out. Her ears were long and studded with leaves. Angel was fumbling in his bag for more powder. He reached down, but Fluttershy’s wings reached up and batted him off her back.
“Uh…” Royal Pin said, worried. Where he was studded with plant bits, Fluttershy was covered in them. She snarled at him and lunged. He brought up a shield and her teeth bounced off it. Out of strange and alien instinct, he rolled onto his back and stretched out his neck. Fluttershy clamped onto his neck, but didn’t rip it out. She held still, waiting. He breathed, frightened and alarmed. His shield went down.
“Yo’ah gonga hep meh,” Fluttershy said, with her teeth on his neck. He nodded. She released him and he stood up, then, wordlessly, she flew up into the sky. Royal Pin ran along the ground as she flew away, following.
Angel picked himself up out of the dirt, looking concerned.
Fluttershy was angry. Royal Pin made her angry, the memory of the dying and dead ponies in the town made her angry, and the constant howling made her angry. She knew she was responsible, and somewhere deep down she knew it was partially her fault. She could see other ponies, afflicted by the same curse that afflicted her, running, howling, snapping, and biting. The timberwolves were making it worse, and she was sure the presence of the large timberbeast was the cause. It wanted her there to help, and it was depending on her for help. Her and the other ponies, all howling for it to come. It had followed them, wading into town, leaving a swath of destruction and forested growth in its wake. It didn’t bite or snap or even attack anything except buildings, but it was coming, and it was following her and the others.
Fluttershy stopped above it. She looked down at the timberbeast, then howled.
It was a long, high, angry note. She forced it out over the other, scattered howls around town. Royal Pin, somewhere below, joined her, and the two of them shut down the other ponies and wolves howling for attention. They held the notes as long as they could, and when they stopped, there was silence.
The timberbeast, towering below her, turned around. Its tail dragged through the street, uprooting houses and overturning cobbles, but it turned, seemed to look with its blind eyes down at Royal Pin, then up at Fluttershy. It let out a slow, mournful cry; short, and seemingly confused. She flew down stopped in front of it. It sniffed, great gusts of wind coming from its dirty nostrils.
“You’re going to come with me, then, okay?” She started singing to it. It was a sad song, wordless, but carrying with it the concern Fluttershy had for Ponyville and the ponies within it. She didn’t know if it meant anything to the timberbeast, but she wanted to help it, almost as much as she wanted to help her friends. She was angry at Royal Pin and the other timberwolves for using the timberbeast to attack Ponyville, and she sang of that, as well. Royal Pin remained silent, subdued by Fluttershy’s effect on the beast, and he wandered silently along beside it.
Fluttershy moved backward, singing and howling in equal measure, her strange, timberwolf song gathering the other creatures in a swarm as she led them slowly back along the timberbeast’s trail of destruction. Other werewolves gathered up with Royal Pin and they began to howl and sing harmony with her, quiet and following her lead. Emboldened by their obedience, Fluttershy began to dance, flying in small circles through the air as she sang, and the timberbeast followed.
She sang her way out of town. The timberbeast dragged itself over the new growth it had left behind, and shifted its way through the trees. The plants parted to allow it through as it made its way out onto the fields leading to the Everfree Forest. Fluttershy saw Zecora standing at the edge of Ponyville, and she saw Angel, following at a respectful distance, just behind the timberbeast’s tail. She wanted to stop singing. She wanted to go say goodbye. She wanted to bid them farewell, but she knew the moment she did, she would lose control of the crowd, and she didn’t know if she could ever get them to stop again. So she didn’t. She waved, and hoped Angel knew it was for him, and disappeared into the forest.
The timberbeast followed.
A month later, Angel sat at the edge of the Everfree forest. The trees left in the beast’s wake had been cut down and used to make new houses to replace the ones that were destroyed. The afflicted ponies that hadn’t transformed had been captured and cured by Zecora before they could change into werewolves themselves, and Ponyville had slowly rebuilt itself. The population was smaller than it had been, but they finally felt safe again. Zecora had come by to take care of the animals, but Angel couldn’t talk to her. She never said anything about Fluttershy, and Angel couldn’t ask. So he sat. And he waited.
The sun went down and the full moon rose, and, like every night, a sad howl erupted from the Everfree. Angel knew it was Fluttershy. He’d know that voice anywhere. He sat, and he waited, like he did every night, but she never came out.
He knew why. Because if Fluttershy left, the timberbeast might be used by whatever malevolent force had introduced the curse and woken it for sleep for malevolent purposes once again, and Fluttershy had the other werewolves and timberwolves under a spell of sorts.
But she was all alone. She was taking care of them alone, and had given herself to the forest to keep Ponyville safe. To keep Angel safe.
He couldn’t abide that. He owed her. Like he always did.
Harry lumbered over and growled at Angel, and Angel said nothing. He stared at the forest, then finally looked at Harry. He nodded.
Harry picked him up and hugged him, then dropped him again. He waved his claws, and Angel disappeared into the forest.
He hadn’t gone very far before a pair of smiling yellow-and-blue eyes greeted him
Angel smiled and reached out for a hug.