//------------------------------// // Bite (26) // Story: Song of the Moon // by BlackWing //------------------------------// Discovery "No doubt about it. This is definitely wolf fur." "But how? What wolf has the strength to break down a door, and the intelligence to come to town in the first place?" The guard asked a question with a very obvious answer. "Well, a werewolf, clearly." "But they're extinct! They died out, leaving diamond dogs as their descendants." Twilight remarked. "I'm a werewolf myself, and I know this smell. it's a bit different, since the nature of the curse is different, but it's definitely recognizable. What's more, I can track it." "You... can?" The guard asked, interested. "They were sloppy. These kinds of things usually are. I'll track down whoever did this, and get those ponies back. I must make haste. The sky is cloudy, and it may rain." "The pegasi set up the clouds for a heavy shower earlier today. It'll rain late tonight. Let me come with you." Twilight suggested. "No, you should stay here, and organize a town watch. Guards, you're with me. Try and keep up. Lyra, you stay with Twilight." They nodded, and I took off down the trail, following the smell, with the unicorn and pegasus in tow. Earth, wet hair, slick with blood, this is definitely the way..... So, I ran. Taking great strides, I raced down the path leading outside of town, with the muscular stallions keeping pace with me. It took nearly all day as I kept losing the trail, what with the shifting winds and offbeat paths they took, often cutting through brush and thicket. Eventually, late in the evening, the trail led to a cave embedded in a cliff, off the road side. It reeked of blood and dog... as well as... lust? "Stay close. It would be best to avoid any more tragedy tonight." The guards nodded, keeping in close formation as to guard from any attackers as we entered the cave. "Hold up." I moved close the the ground. "Look, tracks. Five sets and fresh... whomever was here left with great haste. Search the cave, and keep your wits about you." They fanned out, searching, while I followed the strongest scent. After a time, a faint crying made it's way to my ears, and I began rushing down the tunnel. A gasp, then the sound stopped. "No, wait! I'm here to help you! Where are you! Let me know where you are! Guards! I think I found one!" The crying became louder than before, the sound that of a mare, who, suddenly, at the prospect of being saved found her voice. I was joined by the pair as we entered the main chamber. The scene before us was.... grisly, and that's putting it lightly. A pair of skeletons, picked clean of meat, but still stained red from fresh blood, sat in the middle of the cave, while a pegasus mare sat huddled and crumpled up near the wall, sobbing. She was clutching something between her hooves... well, hoof, as the other one was missing. "Do not worry, we are here now. We're going to get you help." I tried to be reassuring. I couldn't. "C-c-cloud Chaser. S..sshe she..." She let out a whimper, and a squeak, before showing the thing she was holding. It was a mare's head, with a face much like her own. The only problem was the head didn't have a body to it. Oh..... it's over there. And over there. And over there....... The pegasus turned his head to vomit. At least he had the sense not to spoil the crime scene, not that much sense could be made of it to begin with, while the unicorn used his magic to gently lift her, cover her in a blanket he kept with him, and summon a stretcher to carry her away on, all the while trying to plug his nose and avoid looking at the scene. I, on the other hand, felt a rage boiling inside me that I thought I had not felt since I slew Flandre and Moira. "His eyes!!!! He's one of them!" The mare shrieked, pointing at me with her good hoof, before passing out from blood loss. Looking at my reflection in a pool of blood, I saw that my eyes had turned yellow and wolf like, the beginning of a transformation. I clenched my eyes shut and focused, trying to calm the beast within. "Listen well. I may be one of them, but I am NOT like them. I am going to find them. Princess Luna will sort them out. Guards, get her to safety." I ran to the cave entrance, only to find that it was raining outside. Sniffing the air, I could find no trace of the scent I followed to get here, and the tracks were washed away by the rain. "DAMNIT! Not now... WHY NOW?!?!" Calm yourself Lark, you're losing your composure. I pinched the bridge of my forehead, trying to deal with the stress. "Sir. We can't move her in this weather. She's already lost a lot of blood. If we take her out in the rain, she'll get hypothermia for sure." "Um..." "She'll catch cold." "Well, we can't just leave her here! She'll die if we do! Get pegasus patrols to clean up the sky?" "It's too far away. It would take too long to rouse them and inform them of the situation. She'd pass before then." "...... I have the answer. Cloud Kicker, was it?" She nodded meekly. "I'm going to do something I will most likely regret. It will be scary, and it will be painful, but it'll save your life. I have to know, are you willing to serve Princess Luna with all that you are, till the end of your days?" "Y...yes..." "Hold still." I turned to the unicorn. "Guard, send a message to the guard in Ponyville, and tell Twilight to send a letter to Princess Luna. Tell her to make the moon full, immediately." "It'll take me about an hour to get in range for the spell... and you?" "I'll stay with her. GO!" The guard galloped, leaving myself and the pegasus with the mare. "Listen closely. No matter what you see here, you must never speak of it again, other than to the princesses. Understood?" He nodded gruffly, as I felt myself begin to change. "Keep her held still, I do not want to cause any more harm, and she may.... 'freak out' if she sees this. Once I'm finished, go outside and punch a hole in the clouds to let the moonlight through." Bones snapped, fur grew, teeth sprouted, and in moments, I had completed my transformation. The guard shuddered, and the mare screeched, but he held her still. Slowly, carefully, I took the mare's good hoof in my paw, lifted it to my mouth, and bit down on it lightly. Once I could taste the sanguine on my tongue, I let go, the bite fresh on her coat. She looked at me fearfully, but a steady whimper from me gave her some comfort. Once the sun had set, I carefully pulled the stretcher outside as the guard flew up and allowed the moon to shine down on us. We both looked up at the full circle as we bathed in it's glow. He got through. Good. With the moon's change came one in the mare as well. Her coat became longer, as did her muzzle. Her teeth sharpened, paws grew where her hooves were, and her tail turned from loose strands of a pony to the thick tail of a dog. I could hear her heart pounding, faster and faster, and watched as her eyes turned golden, the moonlight reflecting in them. All her scratches and bruises faded away, and finally, her missing hoof, just like the rest of her features, formed in the agonizing transformation that is lycanthropy. She rolled and stood from the stretcher, lifted her head, and howled at the moon. She definitely looked the part of a werewolf, but she still retained many of her pony features, so we did not look all that similar. The guard landed next to us, and Cloud kicker prepared to pounce, only to be tackled by yours truly. We rolled in the dirt as we fought, scratching, biting, tooth and claw, before I finally managed to turn the mare's back to me, and wrap my arms around her, effectively pinning her, before bringing her back into the cave. For the next hour, she thrashed, and scratched, and clawed, and bit, and squirmed, trying to escape my grasp, before she tired and began her transformation back into a mare. She cried and screamed in pain as she turned, before falling limp, exhausted from the day. I too closed my eyes, letting myself slip back to my human form before laying the sleeping mare back on her stretcher. The guard, meanwhile, had returned from casting his spell, panting and sweating, clearly having run a long distance very quickly to be able to send a message through some unknown method. "She's..... fine? What... buh..." He looked at me as I cradled the pegasus' head in my lap. "Thanks to you. She's resting now. You've done a great deal, rest a while, then mark this spot so the rest of the patrols can find it. I'll get her back to town." So, holding poor Cloud Kicker like an infant, I headed back to Ponyville, this time only taking two hours as I wasn't crisscrossing all over the blasted countryside, though I was moving rather slowly to try and avoid waking her. She'd been through enough. When I arrived in Ponyville, the guards were still milling about, and Luna herself was directing them. On seeing me approach, she hastened to meet me. She prepared her 'Royal Canterlot Voice' for what I can only assume would be the 'chewing out' of the century, so these ponies say. She quickly hushed when she saw who I was carrying with me. "Get her to Canterlot, and put her in my room. Make sure there's something for her to eat. She just regrew a hoof, she's going to be hungry." I passed her off to a pair pulling a chariot before turning to the princess. "Lark... would you like to explain why I received a letter with instructions from you, demanding that I make the moon full at once?" "My dear Luna, I would like nothing more. Unfortunately, I've been running all day and haven't had anything to eat. I think I'm going to sleep now, whether I want to or not." And so, without another word, I climbed into another chariot, then (they're rather spacious) laid down to sleep.