The doors of the town hall burst open with ponies flooding out, running away. No one saw the hoodie pony running in the opposite direction.
Inside the town hall was a mess. Twilight used her magic to entrap the Rarwolf in the air. But the Rarwolf used her broken horn, causing Twilight’s magic to fly uncontrollably as bolts and jolts zapped all over. Twilight decided to let the Rarwolf go and flew up high enough to be safe. The other bearers might be in trouble, but Luna kept them safe inside a magic shield.
Celestia approached the Rarwolf and lit up her horn in golden magic. The Rarwolf charged at Celestia with sadness in her expression. The Princess of the Sun fired her spell at the Rarwolf, but as she did, something unexpected happend. The spell princess Celestia fired shattered to pieces near the Rarwolf’s broken horn. The princess didn't have time to figure out what had destroyed her spell. She cried out in pain as the Rarwolf bit down on her neck.
The Rarwolf enjoyed the taste of blood and flesh and wanted more of it. As the Rarwolf tried to bite down on Celestia’s hind leg, she lifted her claws to really dig in.
But before she could do that, the werepony was caught in another telekinesis grip and was tossed into a wall. She quickly shook it off and looked up to see Twilight flying in the air with her horn lit up and tears in her eyes. But the purple alicorn wasn't done. She used her telekinesis again to send the werepony slamming to the ground several times. Thinking quickly, the Rarwolf charged up her horn until it began to emit wild sparkles of magic. Then she released it. An uncontrollable wave of magic burst forth and Twilight lost control of her telekinesis grip. The Rarwolf fell to the ground, landed on her paws, then jumped towards the wall and, using her claws, began to climb.
Twilight flattened her wings to get a little higher, but Rarwolf jumped off the wall and launched straight at Twilight. Her jaws clamped onto Twilight’s leg. The purple Alicorn yelled in pain as her friend bit into her hind leg, but the worst was yet to come. Rarwolf used her claws to start climbing and cutting Twilight’s coat.
"Oh, no, you don't!" A rainbow bullet hit Rarwolf in the side and knocked her towards another wall, but the damage was already done.
Twilight started to fall to the ground, but luckily for her, Rainbow Dash grabbed her in midair.
Rainbow glided down to the ground and said with tears in her eyes, "Twilight, are you okay? Please tell me you're okay! I can't lose you! I can't lose another friend!"
They landed and Rainbow frantically shook her friend, trying to get her to wake up.
Then Twilight weakly said, "Rainbow, you're standing on my tail." When she said that, Rainbow felt relieved, knowing that her friend was okay. She kindly stepped off her tail.
Rarwolf then lunged at them with hunger burning in her eyes, and she was about to dig into Twilight, but Rainbow hit her before she could get close enough. That hit sent the werepony through the wall. Rainbow flew through the wall after her and saw the Werepony getting up and looking at the crowd of ponies who had gathered to see what the commotion was. When they saw the Rarwolf, the crowd of ponies panicked and ran for the hills. Rarwolf got excited, but before she could eat anypony, she was hit in the face with an orange hoof.
Applejack said then, "Rainbow, mind getting me my rope? It looks like I'm going to need it."
Rainbow zoomed towards Sweet Apple Acres. The Rarwolf got up, spit out some blood and a loose fang, and said in a monstrous voice, "I hope you don't mind if I help myself to your blood and vital organs to munch on?"
Applejack lifted her hat and replied, "The Rarity I know wouldn't want stuff like that, therefore you are not her!"
The Earth pony charged the Rarwolf then slid on the dirt to trip the monster. She quickly got up and, using her hind legs, kicked the werepony in the face so hard that a physical shockwave erupted because of it. The werepony was sent flying backwards toward a rock, which crumbled to pieces upon impact.
Rainbow came back with Applejack’s rope and said, "You know, you should really figure out how to carry your rope with you if a situation like this ever happens again."
Applejack shot Rainbow a half bored look and replied, "Well, the only pony who could give me something to help with that is currently being a monster."
As they discussed how Applejack should wear some sort of saddlebag to hold her rope, the Rarwolf got up and started to charge straight at the two ponies.
She managed to tackle Applejack. However, Rainbow was able to fly up and get out of the way.
The Werepony said, "Are you prepared to join me? Just imagine it. You, me, and all of our friends happily going on killing sprees. And, FYI, the hunger will never end."
With that last word, Rarwolf lowered her neck to bite Applejack and spread the Werepony curse. Applejack’s life flashed before her eyes, but it was interrupted by a howl-like scream coming from the Werepony who was now running like a madpony around town hall. When she finally saw the cause of the pain, she began to use her claws to dig the silver arrow out of her. When it was removed, she tossed it to the ground and looked around to find her shooter. A second arrow zipped by and Rarwolf dodged it this time. Now she knew which building the shooter was in. She guessed whoever it was would be on the second floor somewhere in town hall. She ran inside.
Twilight used whatever was left of her magic to heal herself. When she was able to get up, she saw the Princess of the Sun and ran straight to her side. But Twilight was out of magic and felt quite helpless. But she started to notice that Celestia had some red magic surrounding her. The princess began to change. Her coat started to look a bit wolfish, and in her mouth, fangs could be seen.
Luna walked up to her sister. "Don't worry, sister. Even though you have been bitten, you won't end up like Rarity." Luna placed her horn on Celestia’s horn and dark blue magic lit up the whole room and started to suck the dark red magic out of Celestia. Celestia returned to normal self but fell unconscious.
As Luna got up and looked at Twilight and her friends, she said, "Wait here. I have something to deal with." Luna teleported out of there before Twilight could ask what was happening.
Suddenly, every pony in town hall heard the whoosh of the arrow that hit the Rarwolf. She screamed with agony and got every pony;s attention. The silver arrow that was lodged in the Rarwolf started to burn her coat and flesh. The Rarwolf tried to dig it out. She eventually did get it out by biting it out. The burning stopped as soon as it started. She looked around to find the pony who shot her. Then a second arrow zipped down toward her but she saw it coming and dodged it. She knew where the shooter was and quickly began climbing the wall of the town hall.
Then, two more arrows zipped down, but the Rarwolf saw them coming. She leapt off one side of the wall to the second floor, but one of the two arrows hit her in the hind leg. The werepony thought to herself 'If I dig out another arrow, then whoever is shooting at me has more time to kill me.' She dodged another arrow. 'No, I will just ignore the pain. Even though it hurts like Tartarus.' As she ran up the stairs, the Rarwolf wondered who it was that was shooting at her.
She made it up to the attic where she saw the pony that was shooting at her with cursed arrows. The pony in question was wearing a hood and wasn't moving. Not wasting any time, the Rarwolf charged at the stranger.
But then, as she tackled the hooded figure, Rarwolf felt a burning pain in her stomach. The same burning pain she had felt in her hind leg earlier. A calm voice that came from next to the door said, "Well, it looks like my trap worked flawlessly." Then a click could be heard and two arrows hit Rarwolf in the back. The same pain continued to hurt like Tartarus. She ripped the cloak to shreds and saw five silver daggers piercing her stomach. Then she heard hoof steps and saw Night Breeze, but she looked like a Chiroptera in leather armor.
"There was a fifty-fifty chance of you stopping and looking around, but you followed your monster impulses. That has led us here. Just look at you, miss Rarity. What happened to you? Are you using a magical artifact to take the form of a werepony? No, that’s not it. It's those eyes." Night Breeze examined her eyes. "Those eyes are the eyes of a monster. They are eyes of pure hunger and rage. If that is so, then you are lost to us, and the only good thing to do is to show you mercy. By chopping off your head."
Night Breeze raised her sword and prepared to cut Rarity's heat off
"Wait!" called a commanding voice.
Night Breeze turned around and saw princess Luna. The princess walked up to Rarwolf and used her magic to look through her memories.
"I see you have suffered greatly, but you’ve got to hold it together, for soon this nightmare will be over."
Then, using her magic, Luna created a chess piece from the silver daggers and arrows. It contained a mixture of symbols The first was the lunar magic to fight the monster that raged inside Rarity. The next was a forbidden spell. Its purpose was to torture Rarwolf if she tried to kill any pony. And the final symbol was a magical rune of death, glowing in black.
"Princess Luna, what are you doing? She’s a monster, a werepony. And Equestria would be better off without her."
"Kill her and we would be doing Night Fall’s work for her. No. As much as I hate it, we need her alive. And who knows. Maybe she'll be an asset.”
Night Breeze looked at Luna seriously. "Alright, I'll go along with it. But if anything goes wrong, I will not wait for you to give the order. I will kill her."
"Your vote of confidence in me is noted."
Luna looked at Night Breeze. “I think your daughter needs to be enlightened."
Night Breeze’s eyes widened. "No, she does not have the stomach for it. My daughter is not a hunter."
"Now, normally, I would agree with you." Luna said as she looked down and saw Fluttershy with her friends. "But times are changing and the hunters need to change with them."
"Okay, let me talk to her. But I think I know what her answer will be."
Outside the old ruins of the Order of Time.
Four hunters heard Eager Shot’s story about the ghost of Lamoni, the mask of knowledge, and what the ghost had told him about the downside.
"Do you think he’s lying about the downside?"
"I don’t think so. He very clearly told me, and I quote." Eager Shot spoke in a sensei voice, "You will see."
Night Glider looked at Eager Shot and sighed. "Well, it's not like we have much of a choice."
"Wait, what do you mean?" asked the first hunter.
"Anything written on paper down here is too damaged to read, burned away, or been stolen. It seems that this mask is the only thing that could tell us about the spear of the first hunter. So, who’s going to use it?"
Eager Shot sensed noticeable discomfort from the group of hunters.
The first hunter said, "I'm not going to do it! That thing has a strange aura around it and I don't like it."
The second hunter said, "Hey, don't look at me. This is my first year with the hunters."
Night Glider said, "Well, I think I'm the right pony for the job."
"Yeah, right," said a third hunter. "How could we be sure you’re telling us everything?"
Night Glider replied, "Well, Mr. ‘I Don't Trust My Fellow Hunters.’ Why don't you do it then?"
"Are you serious? I’ve got a girlfriend back at home. And I'm not going to get myself killed for some information that might or might not be useful."
"Alright, alright, I'll do it," said Eager Shot, as he grabbed the mask and placed it on his face.
"No! Eager Shot! Wait!" Night Glider yelled, but it was too late. The power of the mask flooded through Eager Shot’s entire body. His coat started to glow golden and his eyes glowed pure white.