//------------------------------//
// Chapter 12 
// Story: With the Help of a Wolf 
// by bronzewolf78 
//------------------------------//

Chapter Twelve

It was as if I couldn’t fall asleep. I had been trying for a long time, maybe hours, maybe minutes. The wait only felt longer with having to listen to what was quickly becoming the most annoying part of my life complain about being bored. I was actually starting to get bored listening to him.
Will you just shut up already?
Wolf-me raised his head from where he previously had it on his crossed paws. “But-”
Look, you little shit. I know you’re bored. There is literally nothing I can do about it right now. I’m tired of listening to you whine and complain!
His ears flattened to his head. He stood up and walked over to me, lowering himself in front of me, almost like a bow.
What are you doing?
“Sign of submission to the alpha,” he said without looking up.
Stand up, you idiot. I’m not your leader, and you’re not mine.
He stood up, waiting for an explanation. I didn’t give him the pleasure.
We’re going to be stuck with each other for a long time. I don’t specifically mean right now, but that may be the case as well. First off, you need a name.
My counterpart’s ear twitched, but he didn’t do anything else.
I’ve just been calling you wolf-me in my head. You claim to be me, which I’m not questioning, but you can’t have my name because that would be confusing as hell.
He tilted his head.
Are you even listening?
No response.
Hey!
Still nothing. I snarled and poked his muzzle. Not-me blinked and started in surprise.
“Sorry, your mane is mesmerizing.”
I felt my eye twitch. You couldn’t have been entertained by that fifteen minutes ago?!
“Nope. What were you saying?”
Nope. Not going to repeat myself. I know you heard me. He stayed quiet as I went on. How about I just call you Punk?
“Punk? Why Punk?”
You’re annoying as hell and you have a problem with authority. I gave him a deadpan look.
“I don’t-”

My face was lying on something hard. As I moved it, I could feel a thin layer of something move with me. I opened my eyes and sat up. Around me there seemed to me a wreckage of a house. Memories came rushing back as my mind caught up with recent events. I was sitting on the remains of some unrecognisable furniture. Most of the structure was intact enough to stay standing, but I wasn’t going to take my chances. I stretched and made my way out the empty doorframe.
The one time I actually wanted to talk to him, I don’t get the chance…
The setting sun blinded me as I stepped outside. I raised my hoof to shield my eyes. Blinking a few times, I found myself face-to-face with what seemed to be a confused fire-fighting pony. The pony adjusted its hat before brushing past me into the burned building.
“There he is!” someone shouted. Something slammed into my side, knocking the breath out of me and clamping hard. I looked down, and to my surprise, a grey pegasus mare was holding onto me and crying in my shoulder. A little confused, I patted her blonde mane and looked around for someone to give an explanation. Rainbow Dash was standing a ways away, next to a group of six younger ponies and a dark pegasus, all watching the scene with varying expressions of amusement. I caught Dash’s eye and she immediately looked away. I could make out some words within the sobs.
“Thank you, thank you! Oh, I can’t thank you enough! You saved my baby!” the mare cried. I guess they were tears of joy.
“Look, ma’am, it was nothing…” I said softly to her. I don’t think she heard me over her own sobs. “It’s ok. Your baby’s fine, just let it all out.”
I really had no idea what to do. I’ve never had to comfort a crying woman before. I tried to gently pry myself out of her grasp. She resisted at first, but let me go.
“Please, what ever can I do to repay you?”
“Really, you don’t need to do anything for me.”
“I insist-”
“And I refuse. I couldn’t just stand by and let lives go to waste.”
“Your bravery and kindness will not be forgotten! Thank you!” The mare ran back to the group of kids, giving one of them, presumably her baby, special attention. Now that the rush was over, I could recognise another three as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but I couldn’t remember their names. The other two I couldn’t identify.
With my work here done, and the sun setting, I turned around and retraced my steps towards the park. If I remembered correctly, Twilight’s library was on the other side, and I had agreed to meet Octavia in the adjacent field at dark. I felt eyes on me, and I looked back. Dash was staring at me, but as soon as we made eye contact she looked away again, quickly peeking back afterwards to see if I’d stopped looking at her. I tried to pour as much “I’m sorry” as I could into the gaze, hoping that she would see and pick up on it. She actually turned her back on me, but not before I saw her expression soften.
On my way back, I ran into Bronze. He explained everything that happened with Celestia.
So what did she need to do here? I asked after he was finished.
“Dunno. Something about responding to her ‘faithful student.’ What did you do while I was gone?”
I told him I took a nap.
“Really?”
Yeah, nothing happened while you were gone. I fell asleep on that bench, woke up, and then you showed up.
Bronze narrowed his eyes at me as we walked. “Then why are you half-covered in soot and ash?”
I wiped a hoof across my muzzle and it came away black. Dammit.
“Busted.”
There was a fire. I sighed.
“I got that much. What did you burn?”
I didn’t burn anything! Why do you automatically assume I did it?
“I was half-joking. But your head is always on fire.”
It wasn’t me. I really was taking a nap when you were gone. The smell of smoke woke me up. I followed it to its source; one of the local houses caught on fire. I rescued six kids from inside.
“Six kids? That’s hard to believe.”
It’s true.
“Relax,” Bronze gave me a good shove. “I’m just giving you a hard time.”
Come to think of it, that guy drenched me after I fell out the window…
“Pffft, you fell out of a window?” He was having a field day with this.
How did I get back inside? I couldn’t come up with an answer. Bronze had no interest in helping, too busy laughing. I rolled my eyes and slammed my shoulder into his side.
Hey, at least I didn’t do anything stupid this time.
“Yeah, you did. You fell out of a window!” Bronze’s laughter returned full force.
I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.
We had made it to the library. Passing the giant tree, we made our way into the heart of the field. A small campfire had been set up, an earth pony sitting next to it. She looked up as we approached.
“Oh, good. You’re early.” Octavia stood up to greet me.
“Hey, Octy,” I responded. She gave me a funny look. “What?”
“Nothing, it’s just weird to hear someone other than Vinyl call me that.”
“So what’s the first thing on the agenda for tonight?”
Octavia started to ruffle through a bag that I hadn’t noticed before. “Well, first things first, I’m going to have to explain a couple of concepts to you. We’ll go on from there.”
“Okay…”
The lycan turned around and sat in front of me, setting out a few items on the ground. One of them I recognised as wolfsbane, and I recoiled.
“Relax,” she said, setting it far off to the side. “That’s only for emergencies.”
Bronze chuckled from where he lay. Shut up, you.
“Um… I haven’t tried to teach this before, and all I have to go with are my own experiences. So, I suppose I’ll have to start with… Have you been feeling odd at all lately? Any urges?”
“Didn’t you ask me all these already with Vinyl earlier?”
“Yes, I suppose I did. Well, onto the next thing…” Octavia started to mess with one of the things she brought.
“What’s that for?”
“Oh, this? The smell of this is supposed to help you get in touch with your… uh, how do I put this?”
I decided to take a shot in the dark. “A furrier version of me in my dreams?”
She looked surprised. “Oh, you’ve met him already? Good!”
“Yeah, I’ve met the little prick.”
“Well that’s a little harsh, isn’t it?”
“If you knew-” I cut myself off. “You probably do.”
“If we have that covered, then that takes out what I had planned for tonight.”
“Really? What now, then?”
Octavia put away the incense. “Like I said, I haven’t done this before.” She shrugged. “Any questions for me?”
I thought about it for a second. “Lycans can change on command, right? Can you show me?”
“I don’t see any reason why not.” Octavia focused for a moment, then changes rapidly came over her. Her coat grew a few inches and became shaggy; her mane several and messy. She grew a wet, black nose on the end of her muzzle. Paws tore out of hooves. It looked much more pleasant than what I had gone through. She opened her eyes, and they were bloodshot yellow. I must have been making a face, because she laughed, exposing a set of canines.
“Woah…”
“So,” Octavia growled at me. “What do you think?”
“That was awesome! How do I do that?”
Octavia stopped smiling. She sat down and began to revert back to a pony. “Now, that’s where I have a problem.” I lost my smile as well. “I have no idea how to teach you to do that.”
“...oh.”
“...I still have control issues myself,” she admitted.
“Aww…”
Seeing my disappointment, Octavia was quick to offer a solution. “I just thought of something. Remember when Vinyl and I kept trying to keep you calm?”
“Yeah,” I drew out the word, starting to see where this was going. I was wary to try it.
“Get mad!” she exclaimed, as if it were the perfect solution to our problems.
“How about no? You remember the last time I lost it? I threw Scratch through a wall!”
Bronze grinned, as if he were proud, and his smile was contagious, a smirk spreading across my face. Octavia noticed as well.
“Why are you smiling?”
“Oh, just throwing Vinyl through walls, you know?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, hilarious.”
You paying attention? You could learn something about sarcasm from her.
“Shut up.”
Octavia started to pack up her stuff. “I guess we’re just about done here.”
“Woah, hold up. How are we done? We didn’t accomplish anything!” I reached out to put a hoof on her shoulder, then thought better of it. Octavia turned around to face me with a huff.
“Until we get an opportunity to go to Canterlot and meet up with The Inner Circle, there isn’t much more we can do.”
“The Inner Circle?”
“It’s an organization dedicated to helping ponies like us. And yes, I am perfectly aware that it is a terrible name. I’m pretty sure I’ve told you this earlier today.”
Yeah, when I was totally paying attention… “If we’re done here, I’ma just hit the hay.” I held out a hoof to the side. Octavia saw the invitation and went in for a quick hug. “Catch you later, Octy.”
She visibly shivered as she heard her nickname. “That still sounds odd coming from you.” She turned back to finish packing up her stuff as I headed off towards Fluttershy’s cottage. After a train of thoughts ran in my head for a moment, I started to worry if I would be welcome in her house after mauling her best friend.
Surprisingly, I was. Funny how the Element of Kindness lives up to her name. 
“Are you sure? I can leave if you don’t want me here. I underst-”
“No, it’s ok. Why would I kick you out for something that you couldn’t control?” Fluttershy had looked up at me with a look of compassion that comforted me and made me uncomfortable at the same time. I was confused, and a little relieved. Suddenly, she moved in and wrapped me in a hug, resting her head on my chest. 
It was completely unexpected. I didn’t really know what to do. I snaked a hoof around her. “Uh, Shy?”
“It’s ok. Rainbow will forgive you. She might just need more time.”
It was amazing how insightful Fluttershy was. As quiet as she normally was, it turns out she pays attention. She had immediately pinpointed what had been gnawing at my mind.
“How did-” A knock on the door interrupted my question. Fluttershy looked at the door and lowered her hooves to  the ground. After trotting over to the door, she opened it and greeted the visitor. The door blocked visual of the pony, but that also meant that she couldn’t see me.
“Oh, hi Rainbow Dash!”
Oh no.
“Hey, Shy. Is Hot Head here?”
Before she had even finished the question, I was already diving out of the nearby open window.
“Uh, you know what? He just left.”
Nailing the landing outside (face planting on the grass, tumbling down a hill, and landing on a rock), I looked up to see that my amazing escape had put me a few meters away from Rainbow, who was sitting on the front doorstep. Well, shit.
“Wait, Hot Head! I’m not here to yell at you!”
“Why do I not believe you?” I hadn’t moved any closer.
“Look, I know it’s not what I normally would do, but I thought this would be a problem that is better to just face already and not run from it.”
I thought about how much it must have meant for her to come all the way out here with her injuries. Bronze nudged me forward.
“Go on.”
There was a small grassy hill near Fluttershy’s cottage, and we made our way there. On the top, Dash stretched out, and I sat beside her. Several minutes passed as I tried to find a way to open the conversation, staring at the stars that had started to come out. I imagine she was doing the same. An idea popped into my head.
“Wanna hear a story, Dash?”
The eye that wasn’t covered by hair looked up at me. “Sure, I guess.”
“Ok, so, there’s an annoying boss at work. One day, he comes in to work one day with a charade of a fake illness and he’s wearing a bikini. The employees are like ‘What the fuck, boss?’ The boss tells them, ‘Oh, sorry, I’m sick.’ The employees are still confused. ‘But what about the bikini?’ The boss says, ‘Oh, this thing? I accidentally put on my bikini instead of my suit today.’ One employee says, ‘Oh, yeah. Happens to everybody.’ The end.”
Dash stared at me. “Really?”
I chuckled. “If I tell you the backstory for that story, will you forgive me for telling such an awful story?”
“We’ll see.” Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Let me start this off with telling you that I was really shy growing up. Still am, I guess. Anyway, I had moved the summer before high school started. I didn’t know anybody, and I didn’t really have any intention of getting to know people well. Books were my friends growing up."
"Sounds like somepony else we know," Dash mused.
"Yep. Freshman year changed my outlook on life, all because of one guy. I was sitting in a corner of a hallway, reading a book before class started one morning, by myself, like I normally did. A guy walks up to me and tells me that story out of the blue."
"Really?"
I nodded. "Yeah. Kinda weirded me out at the time. I ignored him the rest of that morning until class started. I didn't see him for the rest of the day, except for my last class. Turned out that he sat a few seats away from me.
"I had never been intrigued about another's life before, outside of family, of course. Except for this guy. This one moron that actually stuck by my side. He walked up to me every day before class and sat next to me in that corner. Eventually I moved part way down the hall, and he showed up there too. Every day, he would sit there and talk to me, telling me about himself or his observations. I don't know what happened. I warmed up to him."
"You say that like it's a bad thing." Rainbow looked up at me again.
I let out a breath before I continued. "Remember how I told you I wasn't good with people?" I looked up at the stars. "I've lost every friend I've made, except Matt, and, hopefully, you guys. He introduced me to a few of his friends, but I didn't get close to them like I did for Matt. He was almost a brother to me."
"Stop being such a 'woe-is-me;' I'm sure it couldn't have-"
"Rainbow, I don't like reminiscing over my past. I've already told you much more than I've told anyone else, here and in the forest...that night. I'd appreciate it if you kept it between us."
There was a pause as she digested that. "Alright."
Another moment of silence passed."I'm sorry, about that ni-"
"Don't worry about it. It's fine."
More time passed as we sat in silence. "Hey, Dash?"
"Yeah?"
"We cool?"
"...Yeah."
"You hesitated."
"Look, Hot Head... I... Damn it, I'm not good with words.” Rainbow Dash fumbled with her hooves. “I'm just gonna say it. I've had...conflicting feeling about you for a long time."
I sat there, stunned, waiting for her to continue. I had an idea of where this could be going, but it was just as likely to go the opposite way.
"When we first met, you hauled me around town on your back without a problem, just because I wanted to be lazy. I thought, 'Hey, this guy might just be cool.' I like laid back ponies. I was bored one day, and I remembered how I crashed into Twilight when I first met her. I saw you walking around town, and I was curious to see how you'd react. We had a bit of a rougher landing than Twilight and I did, but you weren't mad at that either. I think it isn't too much of a stretch to say we both had fun with that."
I had a sarcastic reply, but I figured now wasn't a good time.
"I started to enjoy having you around. We had an awesome time at Pinkie's party, until that, uh, mishap..." She turned away, but I could still see the pink on her cheek. "I was worried about you, after the adrenaline died down. I hated those two days. Then we had that afternoon and the picnic you and Spike put together, and that was awesome..." Rainbow tugged on her bandages. "But then that night in the Everfree... You hurt me, Hot Head. I don't know what to think anymore."
It was apparent that she was done, but I didn't know how to respond. I decided to confirm my suspicions.
"Rainbow Dash... Are you into me?" She looked up at me, and her eye glittered. Her face was red, and she seemed to be choking on her words. "Because I think I'm into you."
"Wha-what? You aren't serious, are you?"
I raised an eyebrow at her and smirked. "Does it look like I'm joking?"
"I can't tell sometimes."
I brushed her hair out of her face, admiring her eyes, despite her grievous wound. It didn't look pretty now, but it would look awesome later. "I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that I am completely serious about what I'm telling you."
Rainbow squeed and hugged me tightly. If I had been a smaller pony she might have broken a rib.
"Hot Head?" she asked, her head still buried in my chest.
"What's up?"
"Can we just...stay like this for a while?"
I couldn't pass up the opportunity to tease Dash. "Aww, does my little Dashie want to cuddle?"
"If you tell anypony, I'm totally going to deny it."
"Sure, Dash," I chuckled. "We can stay like this for as long as you want."
"Awww! That's so adorable!"
Shut up, Bronze!