//------------------------------// // Power Player // Story: Bad Wolf // by Dusk Writer //------------------------------// Rose hadn’t really been having all that great of a day. First of all, she had accidentally disintegrated herself by over-using powers when she was the Bad Wolf. Then, something had happened, turning her into an actual wolf then sending her into a world full of ponies. After waking up from exhaustion and shock, the shock coming from seeing Twilight, she felt even more degraded to having to eat like a wild animal because of her ravenous hunger. The bloody piece of meat had tasted extremely good, but it still felt odd to be eating it raw. Next, she had to get stitches. She already hated needles, but being stitched by a creature that her new instincts saw as prey made it all that much harder not to snap at the meek little pony. And now, she was being attacked by another pony that had jumped to conclusions. Rainbow slammed into the black she-wolf, catching her off guard. Rose stumbled with her paws and fell over, directly onto some freshly stitched wounds. She growled in pain, but Rainbow mistook it for the hostile growl of a wild and out-of-control animal. She pumped her wings again, shooting towards Rose. However, Rose was prepared this time and managed to hit the bottom of Rainbow Dash jaw with her head. The blow dizzied the blue pony, but not for long. In an attempt to confuse the wolf so she could land another blow, Rainbow began to fly rapidly in the small room, forming a rainbow colored wall directly around Rose. Rose watched what seemed to be a wall carefully, but when she tried to get a glimpse of the blue pony, it only began to make her feel dizzy. Seeing her chance, Rainbow flew as fast as she could into the wolf’s ribs, causing Rose to fall to the ground a good six feet away. Rainbow shot towards the downed wolf for the knockout blow, but then saw Fluttershy run out of her kitchen. “Rainbow, don’t!” Yelled out Twilight, but it was too late; there was simply too much forward inertia. However, Rainbow never hit her mark…or really anything at all. She was held in the by something that looked like Celestia’s magic aura, but didn’t at the same time. The aura that surrounded her looked much more like golden dust than any type of magic. However, to Twilight, it seemed eerily familiar, but she couldn’t figure out why. However, Rose’s growl brought her attention to the she-wolf, finding just why it was familiar. Rose’s eyes were aglow with the same golden light, looking like particles of dust floating around in organized patterns. Suddenly, her dream from the previous night came rushing back to her; the weird metal room, the strange cone-shaped robots, the giant, gold UFO, and most of all, the blond two legged creature, whose name was Rose, and had the same glow in her eyes as the wolf in front of Twilight. Remembering what the creature had done, Twilight began to panic. “Rose! Don’t do it! She didn’t mean to hurt you; she was scared!” Rainbow gave her an exasperated look, but couldn’t say anything. However, what shocked them all next, was the voice they all heard inside their heads. “But she attacked me.” The voice had the same accent as ponies from the English Bridals. “Yes, I know she attacked you, but she realized her mistake. Please Rose, just let her go,” Twilight said in a calm and soft voice, trying to calm the frightened she-wolf. Suddenly, Rose whined, dropping her head to the floor with fresh tears matting down the fur around her eyes. She took her front paws and held her head as though she were in pain. “My head; it’s killin’ me.” It was said with a shaky voice, as though she might break at any given moment. However, the golden glow persisted to hold Rainbow Dash in the air. Fluttershy bolted over to the wolf from the kitchen, wrapping her fore hooves around the wolf’s large neck, effectively giving her a soft hug. Speaking so quietly that Twilight and Rainbow had a hard time hearing her, she said, “It’s okay Rose. I know the pony hurt you, but you need to let go of all the stress. Just let go.” With that, she planted a soft kiss on Rose’s head, like a mother would to her child. The glow vanished from Rose’s eyes and from around Rainbow Dash. The blue pony dropped to the ground and crouched like a cat, prepared to attack if she needed to. However, it was unneeded as Rose lay her head down fully and passed out again, finally getting her first peaceful sleep in a while. Rainbow looked to Twilight and crossed her fore hooves, using her wings to stay standing. “Mind tellin’ me what’s going on?” ~~~~~~~~~~ “So, you basically think that this wolf is a thing you saw in your dreams, and has an unimaginable amount of magic power inside her,” Dash deadpanned, obviously not fully believing the crazy story. “I know it’s hard to believe, but it makes the most sense after what just happened with her eyes!” Twilight was brimming with excitement at this new discovery. She knew a spell that would allow her to see a pony’s or other creature’s magic stores, but she wanted both to ask Rose’s permission, and for Celestia’s. While this spell was useful, it had to bypass several layers of the subject’s mind, effectively taking away all forms of privacy. “Just try to make up with her when she wakes up please; I don’t need her thinking that most ponies will attack her on sight.” Dash just gave her a huff of annoyance before floating over to the couch and landing, ready to start her own nap. Twilight rolled her eyes, accompanied with a sigh before leaving the small cottage. She knew Rainbow Dash would at least try to keep the peace between herself and the wolf. Going back into Ponyville, she noticed at some points that Rose’s paw prints were obvious. But she was able to quickly fix this with a few sweeps of her tail. It was just in time too, as several ponies opened their doors and walked out into the rising sun. A couple gave her curious glances as she swept her tail along the ground to hide the last of the tracks, giving them a sheepish smile in return. They simply shrugged and went back to their own business, and Twilight left the area quickly before suspicions could arise. As she walked through the small town, more and more ponies began to wake up, signaling the true arrival of a new day. It was so peaceful at that moment it was easy to forget about the giant black she had found in her basement earlier. Finally, she reached her library, and upon seeing no lights on knew that Spike wasn’t quite awake as of yet. She decided to let him sleep for a little while longer and write the message herself. Grabbing a quill, some ink, and a piece of parchment, she began to write upon the thick paper. Dear Princess Celestia, We often meet strangers who look different than us and judge them easily for it. I ran into something like this not too long ago; last night to be specific. Last night, I found a giant black wolf with golden glowing eyes in the library basement. At first, I thought it was a wild animal, so I ran as fast as I could to get my friend Fluttershy so she could help it leave. However, upon returning, I found it to be just as sentient as us ponies. It allowed Fluttershy to do some basic cleaning and stitches in the wounds it received from broken glass, then followed us back to her cottage, conveying to us that her name was Rose along the way. After a more thorough stitching, my other friend Rainbow Dash attacked her after making a quick assumption about her eating Fluttershy. That’s when I believe Rose used magic, and I recognized the eyes from the dream I had had the previous night. I wish to see her magic stores, for which I would like your permission and hers to proceed with. Your Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle Reaching deep into her own magical reserves, she called forth the power she would need to teleport the letter to Celestia herself. Her horn glowed, and there was a flash of light as the letter was sent instantaneously to her teacher. While she waited for a reply, she decided to first wake up Spike and then catch up on some light reading. Slowly trudging up the wooden steps, she found her exhaustion hit her like a bag full of bricks. It was actually difficult to walk up the rest of the stairs, and when she got there, she had to practically drag herself up the second set of stairs to her bed. ‘Ugh, I’m way too tired to even read. Maybe I’ll just close my eyes for a few minutes,’ She thought as she pulled herself on top of the covers. She fell asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. ~~~~~~~~~~ She didn’t have any dreams this time, only a black expanse of space. However, she was brought out of her dreamless sleep by a warm nuzzle and soft voice. “Wake up my student; we have some work to do.” Twilight only mumbled in her sleep and turned over so she was facing away from the sun. “Just five more minutes Princess…” That’s when she realized just who was in her bedroom. Her eyes shot open, as her body jolted upwards into a sitting position. “Princess Celestia! I-I’m sorry you had to see me sleeping like that!” The white alicorn princess simply chuckled light-heartedly and shook her head. “It is okay, my student. However, I did receive your message this morning and came as quickly as I could, although, you did send that letter nearly four hours ago.” At Twilight’s panicked look, Celestia was quick to allay her fears. “Do not worry Twilight, I have already checked on Rose; they are all fine, but we should go join them now.” Twilight nodded and quickly brushed her mane and tail into a more presentable condition and followed Celestia to the door. As they opened it, Twilight had to shield her eyes from the blinding light. Suddenly, she realized something was amiss. “Princess, where’s Spike?” “Oh, he is already at Fluttershy’s cottage and is waiting for us as well.” Twilight nodded her head, and then walked out the door and into the public view. Many of the ponies gasped in surprise and bowed down to Princess Celestia as she walked past them alongside Twilight. She waved a hoof to most of them, treating everypony as though they were great friends. Twilight watched her mentor with awe, observing the attitude of a true leader. It seemed as though it took no time at all to reach Fluttershy’s cottage right next to the Everfree, and when they opened the door and walked in, they came upon a most unexpected sight; Rose sat on her haunches playing a game of chess with Rainbow Dash, who was sitting on the couch. Rose moved her queen to a new position on the board and growled. Apparently, they’d worked out a system as Rainbow groaned in annoyance. “Gah! I don’t know why I let Fluttershy convince me to play this with you! You keep winning!” Rose simply made a deep throaty noise that sounded a bit like a chuckle. Her ears twitched then, and she turned to face the newcomers, just nodding at both of them while Rainbow bowed to Celestia. “As I said Rose, I have returned, and my student wishes to look into your mind to find if there are any traces of magical power. However, she needs your permission before we do. Do you give her, a complete stranger, permission to violate your mind, your safe haven? Do not take this matter lightly.” The fur above the she-wolf’s eyes furrowed as she brought her brows together into an expression of thinking. After a few seconds, she slowly nodded her head. “Okay, Rainbow Dash, give Twilight some room to work her magic.” Rainbow Dash did as she was told and flew over to Celestia’s side. Fluttershy also came in quietly to stand next to her ruler. Twilight moved forward to the black wolf, no longer hesitant in trusting her. Her horn began to glow with power and she brought it into contact with Rose’s forehead. Celestia watched as the entry took place, as Twilight went past many of Rose’s memories. To them, it only took a few seconds, but Celestia knew that it seemed like a few minutes to Twilight and Rose. When her student was back in her own body, a confused look etched itself upon her face. “Twilight, what’s wrong?” Celestia knew that look all too well; Twilight had gotten it many-a-time when something confused or she didn’t what was going on. “Well, I can’t describe it princess, but normally, a creature’s conscious is a black void, with whatever magical power they have appearing as a sphere. But hers was more like a giant white wall.” Celestia frowned slightly, then going up to Rose and saying, “As much as it pains me to ask, may I now enter your mind as well?” Rose huffed and nodded her head again, and Celestia smiled. She called up the necessary amount of magic and touched her horn to Rose’s forehead. She leaped into the black scape, flying along towards its center past pictures that were memories. Quite a few of them held an odd looking creature with short hair and a goofy smile. However, almost as common as the creature, was a large blue box that revealed itself to be bigger on the inside. Finally getting past the memories, she reached the very core of Rose’s subconscious. As Twilight had said there appeared to be no sign of a sphere, but a large white wall. She willed her body to fly back to a further distance and turned around to look at it again. Still, all she saw was the white wall, reaching up wards, left, right, and downwards forever. That’s when the realization hit her. This was Rose’s magical power, so large that there was no way it could’ve fit inside one being; Rose should’ve burned up by now. However, it appeared to be hidden in what Celestia could only describe as a pocket universe. The revelation was so shocking, so mind blowing, that her consciousness was pulled out of Rose’s mind and back into her own with enough force to fling her backwards a bit. She managed to recollect herself and calm down the others before their cries of shock could escalate. “It is okay Twilight. But what we found was more than just a white wall. Twilight, that was her magical power. Rose, you are easily the most powerful being to have ever existed in our universe. In fact, I would go so far as to say the amount of power you hold, is unlimited.”