//------------------------------// // So Yeah, I'm a Werewolf // Story: A Bleeding Heart, Painful Past // by Redwolf15 //------------------------------// So Yeah, I'm a Werewolf "We're rich!" I yell holding the ruby from before over my head. The girls marvelled at the mountain of gems. Rarity looked like she was about to squeal with joy. "We should give these gems to the destroyed towns, they'll be able to rebuild them that way." We stare at Twilight. "Oh come on Twilight, at least let me keep the ruby. I killed a dragon single handedly, that deserves some kind of reward." I plead to her. "And some of these will look absolutely marvellous on my designs." Rarity begs just as much as I do. "No! Every bit counts. Rarity, I'm sorry but this time you can't have them. And Riff, if you really want a reward I'm sure Princess Celestia will be more than happy to give you one." Twilight says sternly. 'Spoil sport.' "Nah, it's fine. I just wanted the ruby is all." I toss the red stone over my shoulder and hear it clink against the mountain of gems. "By Celestia's dying sun! What happened here?" We hear a man's voice from outside the cave. I poke my head out to find fifty or so men covered in gold armour and holding weapons. They're crowded around the dragon, baffled that it was already dead. "Well you gentlemen took your sweet ass time! Not to mention missing one of the greatest parties I've ever had!" They turn around to find themselves confronted by a man covered in dried blood, most of which has been wiped off, dirt, and a grass skirt. I have Rarity to thank for that one. "What do think you're doing here? Don't you know that this place is dangerous?" A soldier walks up to me. He's taller than me, but not as big. "What's so dangerous about this place? All there is is a dead dragon." "Don't play coy with us!" He fumes. "Now come with us so we can ask you a few questions as to what happened here." "What happened? I killed an overgrown lizard. End of story." All the soldiers laugh. "No one man can slay a dragon on his own." "But sir, he's covered in blood, and if I'm not mistaken that's dragon blood. You can tell from its darker shade. Maybe he's telling the truth?" A kid pipes up. "Son, it's obvious that he just found this thing dead and coated himself in the blood to make it seem like fool like you would believe him. It's obvious that he's a crazy man. And the only marks on his body are years old." He says look me up and down noting all my old battle wounds. "Well then, if I found this thing dead, then why even bother asking me happened here if I don't know?" I start off down the hill, I believe I've overstayed my welcome. "Hey! Get back here! I'm not done talking to you!" He stops as he feels a hand on his plated shoulder. He turns around to see Twilight, the hand's owner. "Wha-? Twilight Sparkle? Shouldn't you be in Canterlot?" "It's okay Sargent, I'll tell Princess Celestia as to what happened here." She runs off after me. 'She knows him? He knows her? Why's that exactly?' "But what did happen here? He asks as the other girls passed by him. "He killed the dragon! The fight was so awesome!" Rainbow Dash says behind her, leaving the men left there wondering if I really did kill it. "I suppose some explanations are in order?" I turn to Twilight and the others as they catch up to me. They all nod. "Alright, but first tell me what you know about were-wolves." They each say something from common knowledge. "Well, they only appear on a full moon." "They're deadly." "Absolute beasts, no offence." "Only silver can kill them." "They shouldn't even exist." "Hahaha! Yeah, they shouldn't exist in this world. But I'm not from this world now am I? Guess that means they exist now. Anyway, a lot of those things are bull! Silver, true, very true. But so can steel, I've just got some weird allergic reaction to it silver. Doesn't burn if I touch it, but hurts like hell and will always leave a mark if something like a silver knife were to cut me. The full moon doesn't determine whether we can change form or not, we can change to and from wolf form whenever we please, the moonlight just determines our power. How strong we get, how fast we can be, how sharp our senses are, all determined by how much light there is. On new moons and bright day we're stronger and faster than an average human, but healing factor is next to nothing. A quarter moon, I could survive a stab to the gut and maybe a pierce to the heart, best not to take chances though. Half moon, you won't even see us until it's too late, if we want you too see us that is. And a full moon, we're invincible and immortal." "So that's why you said you were different from everyone else?" Dash asks. "Hang on!" Twilight cuts in before I could answer the rainbow haired girl. "It's bright day right now. We saw you die twice. So from what your abilities are now, shouldn't you be dead?" "Very insightful of you. To answer both of your questions: being a were-wolf isn't what makes me different, don't get me wrong, the majority of people were normal humans, so in a sense I was different. But that's not what truly made me different from most were-wolves. Other were-wolves need the actual moonlight for their power, so any other would be dead right now. But I don't need the actual moonlight shining on me, there just has to moonlight somewhere in the world. Day or night, it doesn't matter, for some reason I still feel the effects of the light all the time, doesn't matter where I am. I even feel it right now. That's why I was being chased, people wanted to know what the secret was that allowed me this." "Do you know why you're better?" Twilight asks wanting me to carry on. I go deathly quiet for a while. "Yeah, and the origin of that lies within an uncomfortable past. One I don't like talking about." She looks a little embarrassed for bringing it up. "Well if you're supposed to heal instantly, how come you have so many scars over your body?" Rarity asks eyeing me up and down again. Her gaze going over the many scars on my body. I've noticed that they've all been doing that time to time. "These are all wounds I got when it was close to a new moon, my healing factor doesn't work in that time. Once they're on there, they're not coming off. But some of these are also done by silver weapons." "How'd ya get 'em all?" Applejack asks quizzically. "Many of different reasons. The one on my back: sword fight." I point to a scar going from my left shoulder blade to the centre of my spine. "This I got in a fight with another were-wolf" Five scars going the left side of my waist. "Shot with silver bullets." Three puncture wounds on my right arm, one of which went right through. "Silver-laced wire." A spiral going around my left leg under the kneecap. "I could go on and tell you how I got each and every one of these, but my better judgement tells me otherwise." "I'm interested! Especially that cool looking X one, I bet it was a fight for your life." Dash says ecstatically. My hand goes over the one the one she mentions. A big cross right over my heart. My thoughts go back to how I got this one, and I curse the one who gave it to me in my mind. "They were all a fight for my life Dash. All of them." I say icily. 'You should have killed her. You should have let me take over.' 'Sometimes I think you're right Fenrir.' I say to him. 'And sometimes I think maybe I should have let her finish me. But you know what happens when you take over, nothing good ever ends for us that way.' "Riff?" I snap back to reality to find Applejack addressing me. "Ya'll right there?" "I just killed a dragon and came out unharmed. Most would consider that lucky." I reply giving a sheepish laugh. "Ya looked a little off is all." She says. "Oh, yeah, just had something on my mind is all." Best not to tell them of Fenrir. I know I want to trust them, but sometimes you have to keep your secrets from your friends more than from your enemies. "By the way, who's Princess Celestia?" I ask them remembering that they've mentioned her name a couple times. "She and her sister Luna are our rulers, they're the highest points of authority. They live in the Canterlot castle on the side of the mountain. Princess Celestia is my personal mentor." Twilight says perking up. "You know royalty?" I ask uneasy. "Yes, she's always been kind to everyone, one of my field studies is to learn about friendship in Ponyville. This reminds me, I suppose it's time to send a new letter. Especially to explain as to what happened to the dragon, I'm sure she'd have plenty of questions." Something catches Twilights eye. "Oh look, we're back home." I turn my head must noticing now. "Already? That didn't seem to take long." Applejack looks at me strangely. "Something wrong?" I ask her. "Yeah, hang on Ah'm gonna stop by th' farm first. The rest of y'all can head to Twi's place." She walks off in the opposite direction from us. Now I'm wonder what's on her mind. The town is empty, Twilight told me that they evacuated the town like their Princess told them to. "I should probably start writing a message to Princess Celestia now explaining what happened. But I'll have to wait for Spike to return in order for her to get the message." Twilight thinks aloud as we file into her house. "Don't mention to her as to what I am." My eyes go dead and serious as I glare at her and my voice is harsh and commanding. "What why?" She steps back uncomfortably as she stares back. "She should know about this." "No, she shouldn't. No one should! No one must know as to what I am or what I can do!" They others look at me the same way, fearful and worried, a hint of fear is produced in their eyes. "The less people that know, the better. If the wrong kind of people that thirst for power and control hear about me, they will stop at nothing to control me, to replicate me, to use and abuse me! And they'll even go after the people I know to get to me!" My voice calms down. "Trust me on this. It'll be for your own safety." The room is deathly quiet, the girls are staring at me like I've just grown a third arm. The door bursts wide open with Applejack in the doorway holding some clothes. "Hey, got what A'h needed." She looks around and is confused as to the odd silence. She looks at me, instantly knowing that something's the matter and I'm the cause of it. Again. "Did A'h miss somethin'?" "No, nothing at all." I turn my attention to her, knowing now that this discussion is over. "What'd you need to get anyway?" "Somethin' for ya." She tosses me the clothes. A red plaid button shirt and normal pair of blue jeans. "Got 'em from m'ah brother's wardrobe. You're about his size. Can't have ya goin' 'round town in a skirt now can we?" I look down to what little I was wearing already. She's right, I can't go around looking like this, that'll just bring the very thing I don't want: attention. "Well, what'cha doin' standin' there? Go put 'em on." She pushes me to the washroom and closes the door behind me. I slip out of the grass skirt and into the clothes. Her brother is a big guy. I'm just big enough for these things to fit on me without them slipping off. I throw the skirt into the trash bin and walk exit, all but Twilight are present. I notice that Fluttershy's been extremely silent since, well since I've met her. But I can tell something's bothering her, and I don't think it's too hard to wonder what it is. "Hey, thanks for the clothes, when you see your brother can you thank him for me too?" I ask Applejack. "Sure, no problem. Helpin' others is what the Apple family does." She responds with smug pride. "Hey, is there something with Fluttershy? She's been pretty silent." I ask her quietly so as only she hears it. "Well, Fluttershy's normally like that, but she has been quieter than normal. Although A'h think that you harmin' those maticores has really out her off. Not to mention killlin' the dragon." "Okay, those may be impossible for normal human feats, I don't see how she could still be effected, the rest of you got over it." "Yeah well, animals are sort'a her thing for living. She loves creatures, big, small, dangerous, or friendly, she loves 'em all. Except dragons oddly 'nough. Even though, watching ya' kill it still upset her a mighty ton. I suggest ya go 'n apologize to her." She turns me around and faces me towards the small woman in a yellow sweater. I walk up to her, she looks distracted and doesn't notice me. I ask her if something's wrong even though I already know the answer to it. She lets out an adorable eep when she finally notices me. "Oh, Riff, I didn't see you coming. I'm sorry." "Uh, it's okay." 'Why is she apologizing? She's acting like it's her fault.' 'I don't know man, I honestly don't know.' "Listen, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You just looked kind of out of it." I scratch the back of my head. "I'm just still a little shocked at how you handled that... Dragon." She even looks afraid just by saying it. "And those poor manitores. The fear in that last one's eyes." "Well it was either them or us." I say bluntly. I'm greeted with a slap on the back of my head by Applejack who sneaked her way beside me. I was about to yell at her and ask what that was for, then I saw that her eyes were saying that I just said something incredibly stupid. "I mean... look the last seven years of my life have been tough. I've had to fight or run just about every day. I couldn't just leave you girls to the fate of five pissed off manticores, and I could tell reasoning obviously wouldn't work with them, so I had no choice but to fight. And that dragon was too dangerous to walk away from, I had no choice." I try making it sound as reasonable as possible. She didn't look okay with it, but she seemed like she was a little better now that she didn't think I was just some psycho that killed for the hell of it. About now was when Twilight came back from upstairs. "Well, we should probably leave, it's getting dark. And Fluttershy, you were gong to help me with that uhm, new move for the Wonderbolts tomorrow." Rainbow Dash pushes her winged friend out the door rather hastily. "Oh, I'm sorry Rainbow but I don't remember you asking me to-" "Yeah, you know, that one? Anyway, see ya guys, bye." She cuts Fluttershy short and closes the door behind them. "Goodness, Rainbow Dash is never that pushy, even for the Wonderbolts." Rarity says still in awe at the events that just transpired. "Did I miss something while I was upstairs?" Twilight asks with no idea as to what just happened during her short time of absence. "Heh heh, A'h think that Riff here just dodged the bullet on that one.. But Dash is right, we should be getting home." "Oh, ohohoh. We need to give Riff a surprise welcome party tomorrow. That way you'll get to meet everyone in Ponyville." Pinkie Pie bounces up to me excitedly. "but now I know of it. How's it going to be a surprise party if I know of it now?" I ask her as she keeps hopping up and down. "No silly, it's not going to be a surprise party, it'll be a surprise welcome party. And we'll surprise you of course." Without saying anything else she hops out the door with the biggest smile I've ever seen. "How do you put up with her?" I ask the others as she gets out of ear shot. "It ain't easy A'h can tell you that much." Applejack chuckles and walks out next before wishing the rest of us a goodnight. "Well, it certainly was nice meeting you Riff. Why don't you stop by the Carousel Boutique tomorrow and I can get you into some of your own clothes." "Thank you Rarity. That would be much appreciated." "Thank you, good night Riff. Good night Twilight." She says pleasantly before leaving. "Good night." Twilight calls back. It's just us two now. We stand around in awkward silence. "Well, I suppose they have the right idea. Good night Twilight." I follow suite and head towards the door. "Aren't you staying?" She asks confused, but I can hear a bit of disappointment in her voice too. Nah, I'm just imagining it. "We have a spare bedroom for guests that you can stay in. After all, where are you going to go? You don't have anywhere else to go." "Thanks, but I'd prefer to sleep under the stars, and that forest from earlier seemed rather nice. I could probably find a nice relaxing place to lie down." I think back to that forest. The Everfree forest I think they called it. "You can't go back to the Everfree, it's dangerous in there. You saw what lies in there." She says in alarm. "Yeah, maybe that's why I think it's nice. And don't worry about me, I can smell danger a mile away, four miles actually." I tap my nose, proud of my keen senses. 'Technically, it's my senses. I just allow you to tap into them.' 'Shut up Fenrir.' "Thanks for the offer anyway." I leave before she has a chance to protest any further. She calls out a good night to me. I simply look back and give her a wave of acknowledgement. I hear steel grinding together and the sound of a train stopping. The first batch of the townsfolk must have returned. The town is so quiet, it's nothing like from this morning. But I don't have that on my mind, I'm thinking of something else, someone else. I didn't want to be around Twilight. It's not that I couldn't stand her or didn't like her, but the opposite. I do like her, and I don't mean because she's just nice or anything, but I can't get her off my mind. Ever since I woke up in her bed and caught a whiff of her scent, my mind's felt foggy. She's smart, pretty, brave. 'Oh god. Not again. Not again. Not again! I can't be falling for her! I just can't! Not a second time.' It was a pleasant walk to the forest if you don't count me going down my hateful memory lane. I find a tree with branches fat enough to support my weight. I prefer to sleep in a tree rather than under it. I climb up, cross my arms over my chest, and lay my back against the tree, letting my head dangle. I try falling asleep, trying to get these unpleasant thoughts out of my head. If only it were that easy. She watches as the strange man walks off into the night. He's strange, and this is coming from a person who personally knows the party girl Pinkie Pie. She closed the door, her mind was flooded with the events and wonders as to what happened this day. She remembers everything so clearly, finding Riff, chasing after him, getting saved by him, chasing after him again, watching his grisly 'demise', and then being saved by him for a second time. She remembers when he saved her the second time the clearest, how he scooped her up in his strong arms, how he put their safety before his, how brave he was to face danger without a second's hesitation. She can feel her face grow hot and her chest felt like it was beginning to shrink. She knew what this feeling was, she just never thought she'd experience it in such a way. He was a mystery, she just met him today, so why couldn't she stop thinking about him?