//------------------------------// // And After // Story: A Howling Good Time // by Master4871 //------------------------------// The cottage, which was usually full of little critters, was a metaphoric wasteland. No animals that Fluttershy cared for were around, all except Angel of course. As Fluttershy tended to her critters, Twilight was deep in study. Why couldn't she find any documents or sources about these creatures. As she flipped through her text books, the only thing she found close to the beasts before her, were timber wolves, ligna lupus, but throughout all her biology books from the library, she can say without a doubt that these creatures have never been seen before. She did send a letter to Celestia, regarding a never before seen species, but no reply from her mentor has been noted yet. Even though she can't find anything on the beasts, Twilight just scrolls through them again and again, hoping a sign will come up. She did note that the beast from the original encounter has calmed down considerably, but still looks tense around them when they move too close. Still, something about them makes Twilight edgy. Fluttershy on the other hoof was having the time of her life playing with her new friends. She tried playing ball, but nothing happened, so she decided to just groom them, which they liked a lot. While grooming the smaller creature, Fluttershy noticed that the larger one had fallen asleep. She still wanted to take the chains off of its front paw, but it had no interest of letting her near it, so she just stared at the chain. Fluttershy paused for a moment, "Excuse me, but I need to do something." She headed towards a chest like structure across the room, grabbing a blanket from the inside. "If that's okay with you of course." The creature didn't bother to care about her kindness, and wandered off into another room of the cottage. It walked past Twilight, flicking its tail in her muzzle. If looks could talk, Twilight's face would be saying, 'don't do that again, I'm busy'. The beast wore an amused expression across its muzzle. Twilight noted that. If a creature has a higher intellect to detect humor, than maybe it would be able to listen to them. She only came to this conclusion because of her observations of the other animals Fluttershy takes care of. Twilight just shrugged her shoulders, and continued reading her book. Twilight, with blanket in hoof, trotted over towards the sleeping critters, hovering above the creature. She unfolded the blanket and noticed it shuffle around a bit. It had a less than pleased look on its face, signaling discomfort. The rolling over allowed Fluttershy to tell that the animal was a male. She didn't really care, the fact that she lives with animals day and night. With that information, she could almost conclude that the other creature was female. Speaking of witch, where was the other one? Fluttershy looked around the room. It was indeed gone, but to where and why. She gently wrapped the blanket around the sleeping male, making sure not to wake it. When she was satisfied with the end result, she zoomed by Twilight. "Twilight, did you see where the other one went?" She asked while searching around corners and through doorways. "She shouldn't really wander, you know, because she is new." Twilight shut the book and sighed, "Yeah," She stretched, giving off an audible crack, "It went this way." Twilight lead the way, leading Fluttershy upstairs. Sure enough, the female was bunched up in Fluttershy's bed, fast asleep. "They look like dogs when they sleep, don't they." Twilight observed. "Yeah, I've noticed." Fluttershy commented. They both returned downstairs, finding that Twilight's book was gone. "Hey!" Twilight exclaimed, "Where did it go?" They both looked in the main room, finding that the male was...reading. "Fluttershy, I don't suppose you have seen that before." Twilight shockingly joked. "Can't say I have." Fluttershy responded. The beast had a certain page open, leaving it on the page for them both to see. Twilight grabbed it with her magic, bringing it to her eyes. The page read 'wolf'. "Hmm..." Twilight was stuck in deep thought for a moment. "That can't be right." "What is it?" Fluttershy asked. "The page it has says wolf, but wolves are extinct." Twilight examined the page, then turned to the published date. From the best she could tell, this book was almost as old as Celestia, but why does it say they are extinct. Suddenly, a knock was heard at the cottage door, followed by a voice. "Hey Fluttershy, you guys in there?" The pony it belonged to was Rainbow Dash, who was caught peeping through the window, she smiled at the sight of Fluttershy and Twilight, but confusion took hold of her at the sight of the beast inside. Fluttershy signaled for her friend to come inside, which Rainbow obliged to. She walked in, closing the door behind her. "Hey Fluttershy, you get a new pet?" "Well, two of them, and they aren't really pets, but essentially, yes." Fluttershy replied. Rainbow trotted up to the creature, inspecting with utmost curiosity. "What is it Fluttershy?" "Well," Twilight began, "We think it's a species known as wolf, but it says in this book that wolves have been extinct for over a thousand years." Twilight showed the book page to Rainbow, who ignored the book. "Well, whatever it is, it looks awesome." She flew up to it, which set if off immediately, "Just look at it; it's got a chain from some sort of imprisonment, an earring for Celestia knows what, and awesome markings all over its body. What's not to like about it?" "It almost attacked us earlier." Twilight pointed out. Rainbow ignored her and move over to the table, which had blanket wrapped items on top. "Hey Flutts," Rainbow held the item up, "What's this?" "Oh, I don't know, that's something to ask Twilight later." Twilight took the item with her magic, keeping it encased inside. "I'm not quite sure, I've never seen anything like it before." She set it back down. "Perhaps it's something from one of Daring Do's adventures." Twilight smiled at Rainbow's sudden interest in the relic. "Actually, I have a question Dashy. I thought you were practicing for you Wonderbolt thing this weekend?" Fluttershy asked. "I am, but I decided to visit you on my break." Dash approached the item again, "Because we couldn't hang out today." She held the item in her hoof. It was certainly heavy. Even she was barely able to lift it off the table. She did manage to pull the blanket off of the item, revealing a weapon of sorts. The creature in the room was paying no mind to them, instead staring out a window, lost in deep thought. "I believe it's a sword of sorts." Twilight explained. "The amounts of energy given off by this thing are very high, meaning that something with vast power forged it." The creature turned to see what they were talking about, but the item was already stored inside the blanket again, so it looked back out the window. Some thuds were heard around the corner, drawing the eyes of everypony, and the creature. It was the female, coming downstairs. She went up to the male, sitting next to it. It rose its head, looking at the ponies who were, again, too preoccupied to notice. The faintest sound could be heard coming from them, even fainter than Fluttershy's voice towards new ponies. The female decided to listen in on their conversation. 'So have you told the Princess about this thing?" Rainbow asked. "Yes, I have." Twilight walked over to the item, looking at the encased goodness. "But she hasn't responded to me." "Well, how about Luna?" Fluttershy inquired. Twilight's eye twitched. "Why didn't I think of that?" Twilight went over to the parchment and quill 'station' she had set up in the living room. She wrote the letter to Luna, basically the same thing she sent to Celestia earlier. It outlined what was going on, and asked what to do. With a quick wave of her horn, the letter was sent off to Luna. Now, they had to play the waiting game all over again.