//------------------------------// // The First Night // Story: Lycanthropy // by Schaechterle25 //------------------------------// Twilight just stared at the body, unable to comprehend that the dead pony from her nightmare was the one on the ground infront of her. She thought about screaming, but had second thoughts on how the guards would react. She only let a few tears through her eyes. Archie only nodded his head at the mangled body before him, “Such a shame,” he said, “What pony could even do something like this?” He walked over to the other side of the body and looked at its expressionless face, and stared into the clouded eyes, unable to see into them. Twilight took a few steps backward and leaned against the wall to give herself balance. She thought about how this was even possible, how her nightmares seemed to becoming real somehow. Was she seeing into the future? She didn’t like how everything was starting to turn out, and she’d only been in Canterlot for about two hours now. She felt like she was going to be sick. Seeing the body and the thought of nightmares was like a combo, breaking her mind, trying to send her into a mental meltdown. She wouldn’t give up so easily though, she promised Princess Celestia that she would help her no matter what, she wouldn’t let the madness catch up to her and fail. Failure was not an option. She was going to have to ask someone about the nightmares sooner or later though, so she settled on asking Celestia and Luna, if Luna could help her now, that was. She was just going to have to muster enough willpower to examine the body. Most of the guards either looked sad, angry, scared, or mixtures between the three. Archie seemed to be more upset than anything. He was looking at Twilight with a look that asked if she was gonna be okay. Twilight assured him that she was fine and could handle it. “Do you know who he is?” Twilight asked. Maybe knowing who he was would help her nightmares. One of the guards gave her a folder with papers in it. It was a file that had all the information on the pony that she needed. It gave his name, age, birthday, relatives, even his cutie mark (which had written down n/a). She wondered if the Princess had files on every pony in Equestria. She would like to read her own. “Well,” Twilight began asking Archie, “Have you found out anything?” Archie looked at her and replied, “Not much, no. Just that whoever did this must be pretty strong.” Twilight took out her notepad she had with her and a quill and began to take notes. “Why is that?” She asked. Archie placed a hoof on the body's head and said, “The whole skull is crushed and completely beyond repair.” Twilight thought about and said, “But most ponies can crack walls with a buck of our hind legs, and knock apples from trees with a single buck.” She thought about Applejack. She was the strongest earth pony she knew. “Yeah,” Archie replied, “I thought that at first, but,” he pointed to multiple puncture wounds along the pony's head. “These puncture wounds say otherwise. He didn’t get kicked in the head, his skull was crushed by a bite.” Twilight took a second to absorb that into her brain. “So somepony grabbed him by the head with their mouth and broke his head?” She wrote that down on her notepad. Archie shook his head, “No,not somepony, something.” Twilight looked at him puzzled and asked, “What do you mean?” Archie pointed his hoof back at the head and said, “Look at the bite marks on the head. They are not from a pony, the shape is different. They seem more more circular.” Twilight got closer to the wounds and inspected them closely, while slightly hesitating and gagging a bit. She crossed out “somepony” and put above it “something/animal”. “So it was an animal of some sort?” She asked Archie. “Possibly. Do you know any type of animal that has sharp teeth?” Twilight thought about it for a bit, but couldn’t come up with anything. Fluttershy would probably know, but she couldn’t make a trip back down to Ponyville to just ask a question and then come back up to Canterlot. She tried to recall any animal that had sharp teeth. “What about a Timberwolf?” Archie thought about and said, “It’s a possibility, but they live in the Everfree Forest. They couldn’t have gotten up to Canterlot.” They were out of ideas. Twilight was going to make a trip to the Canterlot archives tonight anyway, so maybe she could find something of some use there. She only hoped for everything to be over soon now, anyway. “Alright,” Twilight began, “If this is all we can figure out, I’m going to head over to the Canterlot library to see if I can find anything usefull.” “What should I do, Miss?” Archie asked. He had to have some kind of orders. Twilight thought for a second and told him to investigate the surrounding area and the alleyways around them. There were probably more clues around them that they haven't seen yet, but Twilight didn’t want to stick around anymore because she couldn’t handle seeing the body anymore. Archie saluted and replied, “Yes ma’am.” Then he turned to another guard and they started walking toward the alleyways. Twilight let out a sigh and thought to herself, Good, I won’t have to deal with him for some time. She didn’t want someone following her around when she went to the doctor to ask some questions about her nightmares. She started heading off to the library, but when the crime scene was out of her sight, she turned a different direction and headed toward the hospital. When she arrived at the hospital it was rather empty. It was a good thing that there were no hurt ponies, but there wasn’t even anypony at the reception desks or guarding the back doors. She walked up to the front counter and rung the bell that had a paper next to it that had written “ring for assistance” on it. She pushed the button on top of it down, and at the same time it let out a ringing sound the back doors opened and a pony in a white lab coat came out and asked, “May I help you.” Twilight nodded her head and asked him if she could ask a few questions concerning something important. The doctor led her back through the doors and showed her to his office. He sat down on a chair behind his desk and said, “Now, what are your questions?” Twilight then proceeded to tell him all about her nightmares. How they kept recurring and how she usually always died in them. She specifically left out the one she had on the train though. That question was for Celestia when the time was right. “Well, it certainly is weird,” the doctor clearly stated. “But nothing out of the ordinary.” Twilight looked at him like he was insane. “What do you mean by not weird,” Twilight asked, confused at what he said. “Isn’t it obvious? The events that have been happening lately are starting to take a toll on your psychological well-being.” It was slightly true. She did have a headache from all the craziness going on. “What should I do?” She asked. The doctor then gave her a piece of paper he was writing on the whole time she was talking. It had listed all her problems and what she should do. “For now, all I can tell you to do is drink plenty of water and get some rest.” He walked over to a shelf that had medications on it. He picked up a bottle and gave it to Twilight. “Here, these will help relax your mind and make you fall asleep at night if you can’t do it yourself.” Twilight thanked him and asked him if she should pay him anything. He promptly said no and told her that she could be on her way. Twilight looked around for a clock and seen that she had been here for a total of two hours. She got a little panicked and ran out the front door and turned in the direction of the library. She had to get there before Archie does so she doesn’t get caught up in a bunch of questions that she was going to have to painfully answer for. The doctor just watched through his window as she ran away towards the castle, with a slight grin on his face. The door to the library slowly opened, Twilight peeked through the crack and didn’t see anypony in the main room. She went in and closed the door quietly behind her, careful not to make any noise in case someone else was in the library. The last time she had been in this library was when she still lived in Canterlot. She had so many memories here with Spike while studying. This is where she learned about Nightmare Moon, from which she ended up meeting all her friends in Ponyville. She wondered what her friends were doing and if they were doing okay with what seemed to be the worst thing to ever happen in Equestria. She was sure they were fine, she’d be back home in Ponyville before she knew it and visiting her friends before she knew it. “Hey,” a voice said from behind her. Twilight jumped a bit and turned around, startled. It was Archie. “I was wondering when you’d show up.” He said. “Where were you? I got here about half an hour ago, but you weren’t here.” “Yeah I was off looking for something,” Twilight lied. Archie looked at her and asked, “What were you looking for?” Of course he’d ask that question, Twilight thought. She continued the lie, “I couldn’t find what I needed so I came over here.” Archie just looked at her and replied, “Okay, did you find anything in your research here?" Twilight shook her head, knowing that she didn’t find anything because she wasn’t even here to find anything. “What about you?” “Some of the guards and I found some clues around the surrounding area, but we would have to go back so I can show you everything that we found.” Twilight told the corporal that she would most likely be staying at the library tonight and that she would go back to the scene in the morning. Archie thought it was a bad idea, but Twilight convinced him everything would be fine. “You can sleep back at the castle with all your friends. You’ve earned it.” Twilight told Archie. He just saluted her, relieved that he was actually getting a break. The sudden work all of a sudden had left him tired. After Corporal Archie left, Twilight spent half the night searching for books that might be relevant to the investigation, but she couldn’t find much of anything. She picked out some books about Canterlot history, Equestria history, a couple different animal guides, and some detective books to get herself in the mood to be an investigator. She read some of the history books first, learning stuff she pretty much already knew, The Mare in the Moon tale, Discord, but none of it seemed to add up, she was stumped for the time being. Then she started to read the animal guides, but they only listed all the peaceful creatures such as bunnies, birds, and deer. Nothing about dangerous animals except for Timberwolves that haven’t actually been seen outside of the Everfree Forest for a couple decades. She had gotten nowhere, books were failing her for once, which she thought would never happen. She started reading some of the fiction mystery books, but was too tired to try to read anything anymore. She walked down the spiral staircase and set up a blanket on one of the desks in the reading area. When she lied down and started drifting off to sleep, she started to think about the nightmares again. Was she going to have another one? She was suddenly awake again. She sighed and turned over, but couldn’t find a comfortable spot anymore. She had to get her sleep or she wouldn’t be focused in the morning to do more research. Then she remembered the pills the doctor had given her. She opened her saddle bag that she had laid next to her and took out the medication. She read the dosage amounts on the label and decided that two pills would be enough to make her sleep the rest of the night. She went to the library's restroom and let some water from the sink run into her mouth, then she put one of the pills in her mouth and swallowed, then did the same with other. She had let some of the last pill stay in her mouth for too long and it left a bitter aftertaste. She rinsed her mouth out with water and then drank some. “I hate it when that happens,” she said out loud. She looked at herself in the mirror and giggled a bit at how her mane was already a bit messy. I won’t need to fix it till morning anyway, she thought. She exited the restroom and settled herself back down at the desk. She put her head down on the desk and before she knew it, she was sound asleep. Twilight woke up feeling well rested and extremely happy. She didn’t even remember what her dream was, but it was better than a nightmare. Although something still seemed off, why was she so cold, and why did she feel like she hadn’t bathed in a couple days. She looked up and noticed that it was still dark, then noticed that she was lying on the ground in the middle of an alleyway. She quickly got on her hooves and looked around. She was starting to panic and quickly realized where she was. Pony Joes. The moon had hardly moved at all, she had only been asleep for an hour at most. She glanced over to the dead pony who was still in the same position, then looked beyond the body and noticed another body. She was confused, there was only one dead pony. She started to walk over to the other body when she noticed another one next to it, and another farther to her left, and a few more by the back door of Pony Joes. More ponies had been killed. At this, Twilight entered panic mode and her head started to hurt. How had these ponies died? When did it happen? They were all wearing gold plated armor and all had either white or dark gray coats. They were the royal guards. She couldn’t move her legs at all, she was frozen in place, scared out of her mind. She looked down at her hooves and told them to move, yet they still wouldn’t move. Her eyes widened as she continued to stare at her hooves. They were soaked in blood. Her hooves, her legs, her stomach, her back, her face, were all soaked and splattered with blood. “No,” she began to let out a tear, “No, no, no.” She couldn’t have killed these guards, she would never do anything as horrible as killing a pony. “This can’t be happening.” She took a step back and turned around to run, but was stopped by another dead guard that was behind her. His whole midsection was torn open and his insides were falling out onto the ground. Twilight vomited almost instantly at the sight and fell over on the ground where she continued to empty the contents of her stomach. She buried her face in her hooves and proceeded to cry silently. She didn’t want to accept that she had killed the guards, how would she possibly even do that anyway, her body wasn’t built for fighting, she was only a bookworm. She was going to have to get back to library before Celestia rose the sun and everypony started getting up and about. That also meant cleaning up this mess so she didn’t leave any evidence behind that could lead to her. She stood up and looked around, but there was nothing to clean up. There was no nothing around that was hers or resembled that she had been there, except for her puke puddle, but that didn’t matter. She thought about how she was going to act in the morning around the guards. She wouldn’t be able to act normal now knowing that she had done this. Archie will probably know something’s wrong and report it to the Princess. Her eyes widened again as she realized that she had pretty much failed the Princess. She had committed treason against all of Equestria. She wasn’t Princess Celestia's most faithful student anymore, she had failed her. She would never be able to approach her anymore with this in mind. She slammed her hoof on the ground and thought, NO, I won’t let this ruin me. I must get back to library and not look conspicuous in the morning. I’ll just have to be quick and think about every question that can be asked of me when the time comes. I should think of every outcome and figure out a way to make myself not seem like I’m a suspect. She started walking toward the street, carefully stepping over and around the bodies. She looked both ways down the street and didn’t see any pony else around. She continued to walk down the street and quickly began to pick up the pace. She felt like she was being watched by something behind her. She didn’t want to look for a fear that something would actually be there, but her curiosity got the best of her. There was sudden darkness all the way down the alley. It darker than the black night sky. She continued to walk backwards and then quickly turned around and galloped as fast as she could back toward the library. She could’ve sworn that she heard something growling at her. Twilight ran into the bathroom of the library and began to splash water all over herself. She had to wash all the blood off, she couldn’t leave any blood or dirt on her coat stay. She plugged the sink and let it fill up till it was almost overflowing. She dipped her whole head in the sink and then shook the water out of her mane. She scrubbed the remaining blood out of her coat with her hooves and let the sink start to drain. She checked herself in the mirror. She might’ve gotten the blood out, but she still looked like she hadn’t bathed in days. It was just going to have to do for now. She walked back out into the reading area where she had set up her sleeping area. She sat down, put her head down, and used magic to lift her blanket up and cover herself back up. She was going to have to go back to the doctor with the pills she had been given. They surely hadn’t done anything good for her, only bring some of her nightmare to reality. What scared her the most was that she felt happy in her sleep when she had apparently been killing ponies. That made her feel horrible. How was she going to even act normal when the morning came? She was going to blow it and she would be discovered. Maybe she would get lucky and only get banned to the Everfree forest. She lifted her head up. Once again she felt like she was being watched. She turned her head toward the balcony above her but didn’t see anything. Then she looked over at the front door. There was something in the window next to the door, like a shadow staring at her. She couldn’t make out what it was, but it definitely wasn’t a pony. Two yellow dots appeared in the center of the shadow and began to blink. Twilight rubbed her eyes and looked back at the window. Nothing was there. Great, she thought, now I’m seeing things. She put her head back down and tried to go back to sleep. Somewhere in an abandoned building, two shadowy figures were talking to each other. “Well,” a female voice said, “Is everything going according to plan?” “Yes,” a male voice said, “The plan is moving along quite nicely. Couldn’t be any better.” “Good,” the female figure said. “Does she have any clue what is going on?” “No ma’am. She completely clueless right now, but she does think that she’s the one who killed the guards just like you said it would happen.” “Her mind is slipping from reality, and she will eventually be able to kill without hesitation.” The female figure said. “We must now take the next steps before it’s too late.” The other male figure asked, “What should you have me do next then, ma’am?” The shadowy figure waved her hoof at him and said, “Take your friends and clean up the mess you and them made. We must make Twilight Sparkle’s mind as unstable as possible.” “As you wish my queen.” The figure walked away while four other shadows materialized and followed him out onto the streets. After they left the female figure started talking to herself. “I will break thee Twilight Sparkle. The nightmares and guilt are starting to seep in, and when they do, I’ll be waiting for you.” With a slight grin on her face she laid down on the floor and continued talking to herself. “Princess Celestia,” she said the name like she was evil, “Will not be able to stop this unstoppable force of events.” She just started to laugh at the idea of the mighty Celestia failing her subjects and losing power. Soon, oh so soon." Twilight Sparkle health analysis: All is good. Twilight Sparkle sanity analysis: A slight headache. Many thanks to the glorious proofreader Rush fo helping me out. Have any questions? Leave them in the section below. Hope you enjoy the read.