Chapter 3:
A Day in Ponyville
“Blood Moon, Blood Moon,
Better behave, or he’ll get you soon.
Blood Moon, Blood Moon,
Over your moonlit houses he’ll loom.
Hide your fillies, hide your colts,
If you see him, you better bolt!
Never sleeps, always eats,
Once a month, he’s after your meat!
Blood Moon, Blood Moon,
Better behave or he’ll get you soon…”
So… They’ve finally written a song about me. About time. I was wondering when I’d become a tall tale. I can hear the children singing about me. Little did they know that the monster they so feared was a mere thirty hooves from them. I’m only spending a night in this village. I have bits enough to stay a night. But a night is all I’ll stay.
Nightmare Night. Tonight is when all the children will be dressed in ridiculous costumes asking for candy at the door. As I’ve found out in the past few hours, this place is weird enough; I hope they don’t ask at motels. I inhale the white stick of tobacco and blow a gray smoke cloud into the sky. I don’t like to smoke. It’s disgusting. It’s wrong. And it’s all I’ve got. It treats the pain. Besides… in recent years, my personality has changed. I’m much more susceptible to doing the wrong thing. I try to hold it back, but I can’t stop myself from going against my own morality. Hell, I didn’t even pay for these cigarettes.
“Y’know… It’s not right to smoke,” says a female voice. I let out a quiet sigh. As I look to my right, I see a purple Alicorn mare standing next to me. I let out another, much more audible sigh and reply to her.
“I know. I don’t want to.”
I look at the ground to try to hide my face. The Alicorn lets out a sigh and sits down next to me. She…
Wait. She’s an Alicorn? I sneak a subtle peek at her side. A purple-feathered wing rests there. I take another look at her forehead. A semi-long purple horn stretches past her hair.
Yeah. She’s an Alicorn. This town has so many oddities.
I quickly look at the ground as she looks over at me.
“Then why do you?”
“Numbs the pain.”
“What pain?”
Dammit!
“Er… Uh… Nothing…” I can’t help but stutter. Wait a second… I know this mare… Sixteen nights ago I passed that tree… She was standing outside of it doing something…
I can’t help but ask.
“Hey… Would you happen to live in that… uh, tree over there?” She looks over at said tree and smiles.
“Every couple of weeks. Other than that I live in Canterlot Castle. I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle,” she says, extending her hoof to me.
Wait…
…
What.
I slowly shake her hoof and force a smile, holding back my bewilderment. “Um… N- Nice to meet you, Miss Sp— Uh, Your Highness,” I say, lowering my head.
“Oh, please don’t call me that. Just call me Twilight,” she says with a blush. I slowly nod, nervousness making its way through my calm exterior. She suddenly looks a bit downtrodden.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, putting out the cigarette and throwing it in the trash.
“It’s just… It’s just that ever since I became a princess, the ponies that were once my friends… They’re all nervous and try not to talk to me now… I’m still the same mare, I’m just a higher rank now… I’ll be honest, I never really wanted to become a princess. There’s a lot of work to it that I don’t really like doing. So much stuff needs to be taken care of. So many problems piling up… And now there’s this… monster killing ponies left and right… That’s actually why I’m still here.”
I keep myself from having another panic attack at the memories. I stay silent. Comfort never really was my strong suit. I let out a grunt as my head begins to hurt. Something’s wrong. My head hasn’t hurt this much a full two weeks away from the full moon. This feels as if I’m but a night away.
“Hey, are you okay?” Twilight asks me. I look over at her and ignore the pain in my head.
“Yeah. Uh… Allergies. They give me bad headaches.”
“Is that why you smoke?”
“Yeah.”
“There’s easier ways.”
“I know.” For a moment or two, all that happens is silence. A cloud drifts in front of the sun, darkening the land. It’s probably just a Pegasus clearing the sky for tonight.
“So… Are you doing anything for Nightmare Night?” Twilight asks me.
“Nope,” I answer bluntly.
“Well, just don’t be cooped up all night long. Princess Luna is coming to town. She hasn’t visited Ponyville for three years!”
Princess Luna is coming to Ponyville? Tonight? This is my chance! All I have to do is tell her my situation and she’ll find some way to help! She’s the princess of the night, the controller of the moon! She has to know something!
“Perfect,” I whisper to myself. Suddenly, my stomach growls like mad at me. I cover it with my hoof and smile at Twilight, who’s looking at me with a sarcastic glare.
“Hungry?”
“Heh… Yeah… Haven’t eaten in…” I stop myself from saying ‘in days.’ “In a while.”
“Y’know what? I like you. You seem nice. Wanna go grab a bite to eat?” she says, pointing towards a café a few buildings away.
I sure could. And I’m lookin’ at the main course.
What?! Stop it!
“Sure,” I say as my stomach grumbles again. Twilight giggles and stands up. I stand as well.
“Oh, I never got your name,” she says, looking at my cutie mark. My mark is that of a martini glass full of a red liquid with a lime wrapped around the rim.
“Sparkling Cider.”
Later…
The sun’s going down. Fillies and colts are running around dressed as ninjas, pirates, cows, princesses, and other cartoon looking things. More than a few of them look like deformed wolves. They’re dressing up as me, and that’s just weird. I expel the remaining water droplets from my thick brown mane. My dark blue fur is clean and silky. My breath is fresh and minty. And my hair is now smooth and stylishly messy. Have to look good for a first impression with Princess Luna. I can’t make a fool of myself, even though it doesn’t matter either way.
Heh, I haven’t looked like this in six years. Ever since I first transformed, my fur’s been knotted and dirty. My mane’s been messy and tangled. And my breath smelled like death.
I step out into the chilled sunset air. A crowd is beginning to gather in the town square. This is where Princess Luna is going to be landing. I know it.
“I thought you said you were leaving!” says a mare’s voice. I look behind me and see Rarity smiling as she trots up to me. She’s dressed up in a long black cape, her hair styled back and long plastic fangs sticking from her lips. “Cider!”
“Hey, Rarity,” I say as I turn around completely.
“Look at you all cleaned up. What are you dressed as? An actual gentlecolt?” A chuckle escapes my lips.
“Nah. It’s just… There’s somepony important I’m meeting tonight,” I say carefully. Something tells me I shouldn’t just blurt out ‘I’m talking to Princess Luna tonight!’
“Oh? Who?”
Suddenly, right from who-knows-where, that pain enters my head tenfold. I very audibly grunt and hold my head. Waves of pain surge through me. Not even just my head anymore. My entire body catches fire.
“Cider? What’s wrong?”
“N- Nothing! Allergies! Hurting!” The pain leaves me, for the most part and I recollect my composure. “S-Sorry… I have this… er… birth thing. Whenever my allergies act up it hurts my head.”
“Oh… I’m so sorry to hear that, darling,” she says, putting her hoof on my shoulder. I flinch at her touch, but let it remain.
“Don’t be. It’s just an inconvenience. Doesn’t last very long.” I stand up straight and smile to confirm. She smiles as well. We stare at each other for a moment or two. The town seems to quiet down as we look at each other. A smile is present on both of our lips.
“Y’know… I never noticed… but you have extraordinary green eyes…”
“Thanks,” I say slowly. I quickly look away and Rarity does too. Blushes cover both of our cheeks.
“So… Um… Princess Luna is coming tonight…” she says, looking anywhere but in my direction.
“Erm… Yeah… Wait…” I look over at the mountains in the distance. The moon is barely over the horizon, but it’s raised enough to the point where I can see what shape it will be tonight.
It’s a full moon.
“Wh… Why is…” I back away from the direction of the moon, as if that’ll help. Rarity looks at me and back to the moon. “N-Not for… Not for two weeks!”
“Oh! Luna does this every year! She makes a full moon to highlight the holiday! Um… Why…?”
Oh no. No no no no no no. This can’t be happening. I… I gotta get out of here!
I look at Rarity once more before I take off. I run full gallop away from the town. The wind blows my once neat hair back and ruffles my fur. I can almost hear Rarity calling to me. I have to get away from this town. As far away as possible. These innocent ponies can’t be hurt… Where can I… The Everfree! Perfect! The forest! Nobody’ll ever find me there! And hopefully, I won’t be able to find my way out!
My legs start to hurt. From the running or from the searing heat of the rising moon I’m not sure. My head hurts once more, but I don’t care. Rarity continues to call for me. Is she following me? There’s no way I should be able to hear her if she’s still in the town! Why is she following me?!
Out of the corner of my eye I can see a dark figure fly overhead. Probably Luna. I don’t care. The moon is still rising. The sky is darkening and the pain in my entire body is growing more intense. I close my eyes tight and grit my teeth as moving becomes a more and more difficult task. My heart is beating a mile a minute and I’m running out of breath. Wait… I can see it! The forest wall! As I near the forest, the pain in my body intensifies like nothing I’ve felt for seventeen days. It’s like a million bullets shoot through me all at once. I scream a loud scream and cause a few birds to fly from their perch.
My hoof catches a loose twig and I trip. I roll down a small hill, only adding to the pain in my body. I can hear the sounds of deep galloping near my position. The sounds of thuds on the dirt and grass come to a halt a few hooves away from me.
“Sparkling Cider! What is wrong with you?!”
“Rarity!!” I scream at the top of my lungs, “Get out of here! NOW!”
“Don’t you dare yell at me! I demand you tell me what is going on! This! Instant!”
“I’M BLOOD MOON!!!”
“What?”
“Go!! Please!”
“Cider, please! Let me help you!” Rarity starts to lean in close to me. I grit my teeth, which now send waves of pain through every fiber of my being. She’s getting closer. Why won’t she stop?
“Get away… M… Monster…” is all I can stifle before an incredibly loud grunt. I hold my head tight as the moon continues its painstakingly slow ascent into the sky. My breathing increases dramatically in speed and depth. My muzzle slowly begins to extend from my face and my claws bore into my skin.
“Cider… What are you talking about?” asks Rarity. Oh gods… she’s only a few hooves away from me. I let out a short scream as the two of us are shrouded in a silvery light.
The moon is showing over the treetops. It’s time.
I slam my hooves against my head and scream a long, loud scream. Words cannot describe the pain in my body. It’s as if all the punishment my body had endured all my life suddenly floods back to me all at once. Shockwaves of torture zap through me. My skull seems to cave in on itself. My mind melts and my thoughts erase from my brain. My very soul leaves me to seek council elsewhere; I know not where. My chest heaves, my heart races, my blood burns, my eyes water, my bones ache, and my screams simply escalate as I fall to the ground. My core freezes and my hooves go numb. My muscles evaporate and my lungs shrivel.
Four stout stubs grow from the front of my hooves. Thick black claws rip from the stubs. My gums spew blood as my canines violently extend and sharpen. My fur lengthens and turns five shades darker. My senses heighten.
…Oh gods… I can hear EVERYTHING…
My ears grow and swivel forward. My muzzle narrows and lengthens from my face. My tail grows and my fur knots. I arch my back in agony as the burning in my bones fails to cease. My electric green eyes turn a sharp blue. My muscles grow and I can feel my strength building. My bones extend and I easily tower over my former self.
My transformation is complete.
I raise my head to the sky and howl a long, loud, and proud howl.