//------------------------------//
// Act 1, Chapter 3 - Rebirth 
// Story: Hoof and Claw Versus the World 
// by Chythar 
//------------------------------//

Upon finding out that humans have no magic, Nightmare Moon decided to change me into some sort of cat-thing that did have magic.

I am so boned.







The creature, remade by dark magics, knelt down on one knee in the dirt of the cave.  Its left hand, which was clenched into a fist, was also in the dirt next to its left knee.  Its other hand was braced upon its right knee, and its head hung low.  Smoke rose in wisps from the black fur covering its body, as the remnants of the metamorphosis spell dissipated.  The creature made no effort to move from its spot on the ground.  In fact, the only sign that it was alive was its slow and even breathing.  Even its tail was still.

Nightmare Moon sat several feet in front of her new minion.  As before, she wore her full armor minus her helmet, which was resting on the ground next to her.  She was calm and confident, secure in the knowledge that this minion would be obedient and thus serve her well.  Her magical mane and tail waved slowly in its ever-present yet unseen wind.  At last, she spoke.

"Arise, my subject."

The creature rose as if on invisible puppet strings, and slowly got to its feet.  No movement was wasted, not even a quick brush of the hand to dislodge the dirt stuck in its fur.  Its muscles were tensed, as if ready to lash out at any moment.  The creature stared straight ahead at an imaginary opponent in the distance.  Much like the Uruk-Hai from the Lord of the Rings movies, strength and aggression were clearly evident in its stance.  It was eager to fight for its Mistress.

Ah, the blend of Abyssinian and human shapes was successful.  My new minion stands tall like a human, mayhaps a bit taller than his old body once did.  He should be able to use his limbs and hooves just as he used to before.  Yet he now has a feline tail, and warm black fur all over his body.  His face proved to be difficult, but I believe I have blended feline features into his facial structure well.  The added muscle also suits him.

And he is so very handsome, too.  I am pleased.

"Are you ready to serve, my subject?  The pain from the metamorphosis spell should have passed by now."

A pause before the creature responded.

"I feel no pain, only rage."

The Moon Mare cocked her head to he side slightly, puzzlement quite evident in her expression.

"Rage, my subject?  That is unexpected.  What else do you feel?"

The creature turned to the Night Mare and struck an aggressive pose, its eyes glinting in the magical torchlight and its tail lashing back and forth.

"Hate, power!  Death to our enemies!"

(Was I really that cheesy?)
(Yes, I remember it well.)


The former Mare in the Moon sat in the dirt, surprised by her minion's aggressive behavior.  The expression she wore was one of concern, shared with a bit of sadness.

Alas, it seems the mind spell I cast was too strong.  I merely wished him to be obedient to my whims, but instead I have crushed his personality and created a bloodthirsty beast.  Such a creature has little use to me and my plans.  I must break the spell ere it sets forever, and hope some shred of his personality still remains.

The Night Incarnate quickly summoned power to her horn, and sent a blast of magic into the chest of the creature.  The black-furred being buckled at the waist, and the force of the blast forced it to stagger back a few steps before it fell to its knees.  A sound not unlike the shattering of glass rang through air, as the spell matrix within the creature fractured under the onslaught.  The dark mare did naught else but observe the being, and simply waited several seconds to see if the creature moved on its own.

When it did not, she lit her horn yet again.  A gossamer-thin net of magic wove itself into being in front of her.  The net was attached to her horn by a thin glowing strand, a strand which pulsed slightly as if alive.  The net was designed to check the magical health of whatever it was draped over; a magical check-up, if you will.  The Night Mare re-cast the spell three times before she was satisfied with it, and then with a shake of her head tossed the net into the air.

Her aim was true; the net draped over the creature, and stretched to cover its entire body.  The creature did not flinch, nor react in any way as the net settled over its form.  It knelt there unmoving, like a puppet with its strings cut.

The strand connecting the net to the dark mare pulsed for several seconds, sending its readings to its caster.  When its task was done, the strand and the net broke apart and simply faded away into nothingness.

Good.  The spell has been stopped, and he appears to be stable.  The rage inside him has been quenched.

The ebony mare brought a hoof to her chin, and thought for a moment.

Now, how do I test to see if his personality has returned to his body?

A lecherous smile graced her muzzle.

Ah, I know.

Addressing her servant, she spoke aloud.

"Bleaugh, that was a horrible kiss!"







Huh?  I shook my head to try and clear the thick cobwebs shrouding my thoughts.   A wave of vertigo hit me, causing me to wobble on my knees.  I blinked several times to clear my view, and the black blob in front of me eventually settled into a mare wearing armor of some sort.  As my vision finally cleared, I could see her face was framed by a slight frown and she looked somewhat disgusted.  Something told me I should care about that.  I think.  My tongue felt like it was too big for my mouth, so I couldn't help but slur my next words.

"Sorrrry, sorrrry!  Leeeme fix dat."

Stumbling to my feet, I absentmindedly brushed the dirt from my knees.  Gesturing with my left hand, a crimson glow surrounded both my hand and the body of the dark mare in front of me.  The shocked look upon her face quickly grew, as my magic deftly lifted her up off the dirt floor and over to land gently in front of me.  Quelling the levitation spell, I took her muzzle in my paws and turned her a bit roughly to face me.  Her cat-slitted eyes snapped over to bore into me a brief moment before our lips met, and my eyes closed of their own volition.

Ah, this is nice.

Is that mint I taste?

A memory came unbidden to me, of a similar kiss with this mare.  I remembered her surprise and shock as I pressed my lips to hers.  Another memory, as sudden as a lightning bolt through my psyche, of sharing a second kiss with this mare.  But this time, in the memory, she leaned into the kiss.  She enjoyed it!

Oh yeah, I remember now.

A torrent of thoughts cascaded through my mind, memories of not only the past few hours but days, months, years as well.  Hearing a clip-clop-clank behind me.  Getting fired from my job, because I was a drunken idiot.  Picking up a little kitten, barely bigger than the palm of my hand.  The kitten shivered in fear, but still managed to look up at me - not near me, AT me - as if to ask, "You're not going to hurt me, are you?"  Remembering school, friends, parents.

Then the memories reversed, or went forward again, like fast forwarding a movie at maximum speed.  Within a few seconds, I was back in the present time.  Thanks to that memory flashback, I knew who I was once again.  I felt refreshed, strong, powerful.  My last memories were of being picked up by Nightmare Moon's magicks, then...nothing.  And then being kissed by those dark lips.  Quite a pleasant way to wake up.  Had I fallen asleep?

I broke the kiss gently, then pulled back from the mare just a little bit.  When I realized what she had done, a smirk stole over my face.

"You sneaky little mare.  That was a dirty trick, waking me up like that."

Returning my smirk, the cool nose of the Night Incarnate bumped my own.

"True, but you cannot say you are displeased with the result."

The whole 'being woken by a kiss' thing left me feeling really affectionate towards the Mare in the Moon.  So I stole another kiss from her lips, then wrapped my arms around her neck to give her a warm hug.  The mare stiffened in my grasp, clearly unused to this kind of physical affection.  I held the hug for a few moments before answering her.

"Nope; not at all."

A moment later, Nightmare Moon leaned ever so slightly into the hug.  She waited a bit longer before she rested her head on my shoulder.  I tried to hold that intimate moment for as long as I could, but my Moon Mistress had other ideas.  When I felt her start to pull away, I let her go and backed away a step or two.

"Your affection was surprisingly pleasant, my subject.  But we must not let ourselves get distracted.  Your lessons on magic must start as soon as possible."

"Um, I did say I don't have magic - right?"

"Aye, but you used magic to carry me over to your side.  Dost thou not remember?"

What?

I looked down at my arms, and they were covered in what looked like soft black hair.  Hair that was so thick that I couldn't see my skin underneath it.

This isn't me.

But no matter how I twisted and turned my arms, these furred ones always moved in time with my mental commands.  I had no choice but to accept that yes, these were my arms.  The fur on them looked so soft and inviting, I just had to touch it.  Just so I was absolutely sure it was mine, of course.  Reaching over with my left hand, I stroked my fingertips across the hair on my right forearm.

Ooh, that tingles.  Feels nice.

As I continued to stroke the hair on my arm, memories of petting my black cats came unbidden to my mind.  A moment later, it finally clicked.

Fur.  I'm covered in fur!

As I glanced downwards, all I could see was black fur.  My feet looked...different, but the toes wiggled when I told them to so they were definitely mine.  And I could feel dirt rubbing beneath my toes when I wiggled them.  Something kept brushing the backs of my legs, so I reached behind my new body to grab at it.  Once I managed to get it, I pulled it around my body to get a better look.  At a glance, I immediately knew what it was.

A tail!  I have a tail!

"Enjoying thyself?"

SHIT!

I completely forgot I wasn't alone.

"Sorry."

"It is clear that your new body is unfamiliar to you, and you wish to explore it.  I shall not fault you for that.  However, you shall have to wait until after tonight’s training."

Letting my tail drop from my hands, I brought my eyes up to meet those of my Mistress.  She was standing in front of me, so I guessed she had gotten to her hooves while I was distracted with the new me.

"All right, Mistress.  What's next?"

"Before we proceed, I believe thou needs a name that better suits thy new feline body.  Thy old one is no longer...appropriate."

“What’s wrong with ‘Josh’?”

“Such a name shall not instill fear into our enemies, and as such it is not appropriate."

The Night Mare pondered a moment, then nodded to herself.

"I shall dub thee...Nightmare Claw!  Do you accept this name, my student?"

Nightmare Claw?  That's awfully cheesy, but any name besides the name your parents gave to you sounds wrong.  But I'm no longer the same person I was born as, am I?  I feel stronger, more powerful.  And a lot furrier.  I hope I don't have to groom myself with my tongue, that would taste horrible.

Ew.

When I was Josh, all I could manage to be was a fuck-up.  Maybe this is a chance to be a new me.

"Sure."

Maybe the name will grow on me.

"Huzzah!  Thou now wearest the form of a warrior.  Next, We shall clothe thee in the garb of a warrior.  We ask that thou close thine eyes and stay as still as thou can."

Really?

Fine, whatever.

Nightmare Moon's horn lit up with magic right as I closed my eyes.  After a moment, she spoke again.

"And try not to breathe."

WHAT?!

One very rapid heartbeat later, I suddenly felt...dressed.  From wearing nothing but fur one moment, to the next wearing something solid.

What did she do?

My eyes snapped open, and I looked down at my body to see what my Mistress had done to me.

Woah.

The first thing that got my attention was my arms.  To my surprise, they now had silver forearm guards strapped to them.  I could not place the design, some sort of weird cross between a chevron and a fleur-de-lis, and their edges looked VERY sharp.  Glancing downwards, I saw my chest had some sort of ornate decoration covering it.  The metal was also colored silver, with plenty of curves and edges to it; a spade tip covered my abdomen.  There was a large teal gemstone in the center of the chest piece, inscribed with a crescent moon.  The whole thing looked terribly impractical, as the design of the chest armor left several gaping holes in it.

Beneath the chest piece I was wearing some soft leather that was ripped and torn around its edges.  The same leather was wrapped around my waist, with a purple sash tied around that.  I tried to look at my feet, but something stopped me; whatever I was wearing hit the chest armor with a metallic clink.  A quick check with my hands told me I was wearing a helmet, and it was touching the large neck guard in the shoulder armor.

I'm wearing a helmet?  How did I miss THAT?

Since I couldn't tilt my head over any farther, I had to lean over and lift one leg up at a time to get a good look at them.  My shins were covered in armor that looked much like the pieces on my forearms, though my feet were bare.  Except for the black fur covering them, of course.

It only took a moment’s thought to judge it all to be highly impractical for battle.  Like Nightmare Moon’s armor, there were too many gaps in the armor to make me feel protected.  But my Mistress seemed to like it, so it would have to do.

"Uh, thank you Mistress."

"Do not thank me.  A proper Equestrian warrior does not enter battle without appropriate armor to intimidate her foes.  I simply remedied that oversight.

"It is now time to teach you the spells you shall need, in order to assist me in conquering this world.  For until thou art properly trained, thou wilt be a hindrance in battle.  We shall then start with the simplest defensive spell: shielding.  I shall impart the basic knowledge to you, but you will need to refine and strengthen the skill through practice.  Remove thy helmet."

I quickly removed said helmet and held on to its bottom edge with one hand.  Tilting my head forward in acceptance, I awaited my gift from my Mistress.  A moment later, I felt the edge of her horn rest on my forehead.  With a flash I could see through my closed eyelids, her spell was cast.  At the same time, I felt a small surge of...something flow through me.  Perhaps it would be closer to say that a part of my new body had woken up.

Somehow, I knew what this strange feeling was even though I had never felt it before: magic.  This new body of mine had MAGIC!  The dark mare had opened up the stores of magic in this new body of mine, almost like throwing open the blinds in a dark room.  From empty nothingness to blindingly bright light!

As well as that magic, the spell had also given me a really strong feeling of déjà vu.  But instead of a familiar sight or place, I now had familiar MEMORIES.  As a human, I was never taught magic.  I couldn't use it, so how could I learn it?  Yet the Night Mare had just given me many years' worth of memories of doing exactly that.  These new memories told me that I had practiced shield spells for a very long time, and that I could cast them with little effort.

As the glow from her horn faded, thus ending the flow of memories to me, I could see my mentor's hooves back away.  As I looked up at her, she spoke.

"There, now you have the knowledge of a shield spell.  Cast it!"

With but a thought, I dropped my helmet and lit my hands with arcane magics.  In response, a crimson shield popped into place a foot or so in front of my body.  The shield was transparent, so I could easily see through it despite the red tint.  Its shape was roughly oval, taller than it was wide; the surface was about the size of a large riot shield and was quite flat.  The shield itself was not held, nor did it rest on my arm or in my hands.  However, despite the lack of contact the shield still felt connected to me somehow.  

The Mare in the Moon approached and examined my shield closely.  She lifted a foreleg and ran her armored hoof along its surface.   The shield shimmered around her hoof, like oil sliding across glass, but it did not waver or falter.

Wow, magic is easy.

When she was done analyzing my shield, my teacher nodded in silent approval.  My chest swelled with pride and I gave her my trademarked cocky grin.  Glancing at me, she smiled back.  Then she lightly tapped the shield with her hoof.  My pride shattered along with the shield as it fragmented; tiny ruby shards fell to the dirt as if the shield was made from sugar glass.  

The Night Mare glanced down at the shards in the dirt, shards that quickly faded away like they were never there.  She arched an eyebrow in disapproval (which was kinda hard to see actually, as it was a black eyebrow on black fur), then she paused a moment to let the rebuke sink in.

"Again!"

I could do naught but obey.

It took several tries before my shield could withstand several strong blows of Nightmare Moon's hoof.  This practice taught me something important: an essential part of magic was willpower.  If you put a half-assed effort into a spell, you got a half-assed result.  Hal Jordan I was not, but I was familiar enough with the hero Green Lantern to know how this was supposed to work.

The memories given to me by Nightmare Moon emphasized that the strength of your shield involved 'pushing your will' into the magic.  The memories reminded me of a martial arts master demonstrating his (or her) art, where each move is carefully made yet done with deliberate force.  The casting of magic is much the same, but a mental push is used instead of a thrust with a hand or foot.  And it took practice to do it just right.  As with each previous attempt, Nightmare Moon tested my shield with physical force.  The magically-enhanced impacts of her hooves boomed loudly throughout the cavern.  Each 'boom' hurt my new sensitive ears, no matter how I tried to cover them.  It was not a pleasant experience.

At long last, my Mistress ceased her royal pounding and let her hooves drop to the ground.  The loud echoes faded from the cavern, yet they continued ringing in my head.  As it was, I nearly missed the Night Mare's next command.

"..ld is sufficient.  We shall continue your training outdoors."

She turned to leave the cave just as her magic lifted her helmet from the floor and slid it smoothly on to her head.

I dropped my shield with a thought and rubbed my ears in a futile attempt  to try and stop them from ringing. I kept rubbing my ears as I followed Nightmare Moon out of the cave.  And returned a moment later to grab my forgotten helmet.  Placing it upon my head, I quickly walked out of the cave and out into the passageway beyond.

The packed earth beneath my new feet felt...weird.  It felt sort of like I was wearing sandals, not shoes, but I could still feel the ground beneath me.  And that rock I stepped on didn't really hurt, though it felt sharp.  Pausing for a moment, I placed a hand against the wall and lifted a foot up to inspect it.  My new leg armor made a clanking noise as the shin guards touched.  It was now clear that my feet were bare, my dress shoes and socks removed or destroyed.

Eh, they were thrift store shoes anyway.

A quick glance showed I had paw pads beneath each of my toes, the balls of my feet, and under my heel.  Just fur between the two paw pads - whups!  My feet were just as ticklish as my old ones.  Speaking of feet, my new ones were shaped kinda different...

A familiar feminine voice drifted from farther down the passageway.

"Stop dawdling, my student!"

Shit!  Looks like checking out my new feet will have to wait until later.

My foot went back on the ground and I jogged the remaining several yards to my Mistress's side.  As we walked closer towards the exit and away from the magical lights in the cave, I expected the light to fade to darkness.  But instead, it was getting brighter instead.

"Um, Mistress?"

"Yes, my student?"

"Why are we going outside during the day?  I thought you were concerned about being seen."

"It is still night time, my student.  In fact, it is still the same night that I brought thee here.  Merely an hour has passed since we arrived."

"Then why is it so...bright..."

We finally left the passageway and stepped into the surrounding area.  I gazed out over the desert landscape, and was totally stunned by what I saw.  The sky was lit in a wan twilight, dim and pale but I could still see everything clearly.  Yet the shadows beneath the bushes and rocks were so faint I could barely see them.  The whole scene was strange, very unlike what one would expect from sunlight.  It was like the light was coming from everywhere at once.  I could also see these little pinpricks of light all over the place; some were moving, some were not.  The lights touched most of the plants I could see, but the rest were spread out in some sort of random pattern.  Were these lights the source of the twilight in the desert?

A nearby light skittered across our path, and I realized it was centered on a small desert rat.  An epiphany was made: the pinpricks of light were from LIFE in the desert.  Plants, birds, mammals, anything alive showed as a little pinprick of light.  The desert in front of me was not as barren and dead as I once thought, but instead was teeming with life.

And I could see it all.

This new body had better hearing than my old one, for I could hear the rustling of the wind through the bushes and the sounds of tiny feet scampering around.  I guessed the scampering was from the desert rat that just went by.  It was all terribly distracting as I tried to identify everything I heard.

The sound of a throat being cleared popped up next to me.  Startled, I flinched.  Then I turned my head toward the sound, made by the Mistress of the Night.  She was smiling at me, clearly amused at my amazement.

"Look up."

And so I did.

If I thought the desert was incredible, it paled in comparison to the night sky.  Back in the city, it was rare to see more than a smattering of stars at night as light pollution blocked out the view.  And my night time vision was not the best anyway, I could only see maybe a blur of light in areas my roommate said he could see dozens of faint stars.  But this view in the desert was a veritable carpet of stars.

I would have expected to see stars in the sky, this far out in the desert.  But this was something else.  The sky was just covered with bright stars.  Even the smallest star was clearly visible, almost like a Photoshop contrast filter turned up to the max.  The large stars were bright, but not too bright.  I could see constellations I had heard of in my youth, ones long forgotten but sprung to mind as if they were old friends.

It was WONDROUS.

"Is our night sky not wondrous?  Well, tis not mine sky but it is still beautiful."

"Do...do you see this EVERY night?"

"Aye.  Sometimes it is more beautiful than tonight.  Is it any wonder I prefer the night over the day?"

I think I'm becoming a fan of the night too.

"Why did you share this with me?"

"Hmm?  Oh, tis merely part of the enchantment that made you a creature of my night.  Twould not be useful if thou could not see thy hoof in front of thy muzzle, would it not?"

Awed by the generous gift, I could not respond right away.

"...Thank you.  It's a wonderful gift."

I was so busy staring at the stars that I almost missed the blush stealing across Nightmare Moon's cheeks.

"You should share this gift with others, even if it is only temporary.  I have no doubt the ponies of Equestria would appreciate your night more if they could see it as we do."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Mare in the Moon dip her head low in shame.

"I...had not thought of that."

Several minutes passed as we quietly basked in the beauty of the night sky.