//------------------------------//
// Mangy Cur and Flying Fur 
// Story: A Howling Good Time 
// by Master4871 
//------------------------------//

	The scene was set, the gears of inevitability were in motion.  The object, the sword, Fluttershy found that morning was on the floor.  It was knocked off of the table by one of the animals that had decided to come back to the cottage.  The blanket, wrapping the object, let a little hole peep through.  

The ponies were gone.  Fluttershy thought she would be able to trust the two beasts for a meekly ten minutes, and so far, the creatures were keeping up with their end of the bargain.  All until the damn squirrel came back to get some peanuts.  

The sword made a loud thump when making contact with the floor, alerting the two occupants in the room of the mishap.  With both of their attentions focused on the new object in front of them, the male unwrapped the blanket, slowly taking his time to ensure the unknown item would stay intact.  The folds, which were now out of the way, revealed a shocking sight.  The creature let out a loud bark of sorts, a noise that could be heard from across Ponyville.  

Who else to come to the noise, but Rainbow Dash herself.  Without any courtesy, she knocked the door open, revealing the creature above the sword.  Rainbow stood in thought, about why the animal would have such deep ties with a weapon.  Not really being able to think beyond that, she braced herself, noticing the beast getting ready to charge.  With a loud bark again, it ran towards her, leaping into the air.

It landed on top of her, taking the fight to the outdoors.  They rolled around until halting to a stop.  Rainbow, who was still struggling to regain her breath, couldn't believe that the beast was coming for another attack already.  She braced herself the best she could.  The contact was harder than the original, knocking all the breath she struggled for, out of her lungs.  

Now, of all the things to do in Equestria, getting in a fight was one of the worst.  Getting in a fight with one of the Elements of Harmony, well, that's a recipe for disaster.  Getting into a fight with an Element of Harmony, with two Royal figures coming your way, well, let's just say, banishment isn't the only thing the antagonist has to worry about.

Around the bend, now in sight, Twilight, Luna, and Fluttershy all saw the fight that was commencing in the front lawn of the cottage.  To shocked to even do anything, Fluttershy just stayed behind the two, making sure not to get in the middle of the tussle.  

Luna and Twilight on the other hand saw this as a threat, obviously taking the required course of action.  Luna, went on the offensive, whenever she could, as to not hit Rainbow Dash.  Twilight tried to find the right time to separate the two, but the creature's ability to fend off a magical separation was, for a lack of a better term, impressive.  

However, the fact still remained:  a  very powerful creature was getting ready to tear the throat off of the Element of Loyalty.

The beast circled Rainbow Dash, dodging any small blasts the new 'enemy' was sending towards him.  Easy, but difficult to fight with a strange feeling in your whole self.  The familiars, the ones who brought the obvious monarch, were helping in the distractions; they would be next on the kill list.  

The female beast, stayed at the door, observing the fight rather than even attempting to look interested in joining in.  She was watching, making sure the male was staying out of two much trouble.  She appeared to be laughing at the whole situation entirely.  Odd, considering her friend was about to get roasted on the sun.  

The beast lunged once more, barely gripping Rainbow Dash.  The two landed in the creek just outside the cottage.  Now wet, the fight got even more challenging for Rainbow Dash to get away.  Wet feathers were not a Pegasus's friend.  As it was, the beast made one final attempt to do anything, it bit the wings of the Pegasus, clamping down with enough force to audibly crush the bones inside.  

"Ahh!"  Rainbow couldn't get away this time.  She violently thrashed about, hitting the beast, but to no avail.  It didn't let go.  The female finally took interest in what was happening, noticing that the monarch of the group, was charging a shot of magical energy.  

The female finally intervened, jumping in to help the male dodge the oncoming blast.  The shot was timed perfectly.  He was the only thing it would have hit.  Rainbow was instead being dominated by the more powerful creature that was now off of her. The male, clearly upset by her interruption, snarled at her, barking her away so he could finish what he started.  To his surprise, the Pegasus was already gone.   

Darkness, was all that he could see before finally falling onto the ground from shock.  The monarch, Princess Luna,  shot him with a stun spell of sorts.  The effect would last for hours.  She left him where he lay, walking past to help the now hurt Rainbow Dash.  

Rainbow was clearly upset, staring daggers at the unconscious animal.  "USELESS CUR!!!"  She screamed before getting taken inside.  Twilight walked past it, going to aid Luna in the hopefully quick field recovery of Rainbow Dash.  Fluttershy on the other hoof stayed behind, trying to get the beast up from its unconscious state.  

It was heavier than anticipated, and when she couldn't struggle anymore, she noticed the female starting to help.  The two of the helped carry the seemingly lifeless body back into the cottage, setting him down where he was before the whole fiasco.  While the female stayed with the male, Fluttershy left to see if she could help Rainbow Dash.  

Luna and Twilight had her positioned on the couch, trying to bandage the broken and bleeding wings.  Fluttershy trotted up to her friend, a little frustration showed upon her face.  "What did you do?"

Rainbow, flabbergasted by her friend simply had mouth agape.  "What do you mean!  It barked, so I came looking to see why.  When I saw it, it was looking at the sword."  This caught Luna's attention.

"What sword?"  The Lunar monarch asked.

Twilight levitated the sword over to the couch, letting the Princess examine it.  "Either that creature knows what this thing is, or it has a really quick and aggressive obsession with it."  Luna took the sword from Twilight, examining the markings and the detail that went into the masterfully crafted sword.  "Did anything else appear with this sword?"

Twilight went back into the kitchen, bring what appeared to be a shield out for Luna to see.  "They definitely look like a matching set."  Twilight inquired. 

"Yeah, let's talk about a matching sword and shield while Rainbow bleeds all over Fluttershy's stuff."  Rainbow was still furious, letting all the anger that would have been let out in the battle, onto her friends.  The two Princesses took medical action once again, helping Fluttershy with the bleeding.  

Twilight prepared a mending spell, while Luna tried to remember a spell to heal broken bones.  "Maybe this will work?'"  Luna said while charging her horn.  

"Maybe?"  Rainbow hesitantly asked.  

Before being able to get an answer, the two Alicorns cast their magic, infusing enough healing magic to fit an army.  The intertwining magic made the pain sting more, causing Rainbow to cry in agony.  The pain went away after a few seconds though, making the experience a lot more comfortable than it could have been.  

"So..."  Fluttershy began.  "What's going to happen to the animal?"  

Luna looked down at her, thinking it was obvious enough.  "Well, dear Fluttershy."  Luna finished up her healing spell, now putting all her attention to the question at hoof.  "To answer your question,  I am going to see what the books say, but if my knowledge is correct, than I would say our friend here is in for a long painful ride."  

Fluttershy was mortified.  "Why?  It was probably just startled by the sword hitting the ground, and thought it was Rainbow."  Fluttershy couldn't bear the thought of seeing the animal getting harmed.  "Or maybe-"

"Dear Fluttershy, I didn't mean it to be so harsh sounding, but things must be done."  Luna thought for a moment, "Unless..."

"Unless what!?"  Fluttershy was on board if it involved saving the animal.  

"Unless it knows what this thing is."  Luna answered.

Rainbow looked at the beast laying in the corner.  "Oh yeah, and how is that cur going to tell us, huh?"  

"Well, I don't know about you girls."   A new voice emerged from the ensuing silence.  None of the ponies made the voice, so who could it have been?  "But how about a little trade?"  They all looked around in a fascinating curiosity.  "Information for a 'cur's' life..."  They all looked to where the voice was coming from.  The only thing they could see, was the female rounding the corner of the doorway.