//------------------------------// // The Morning After // Story: A Wolf Among Ponies: First Contact // by Ardashir //------------------------------// Chapter Two: The Morning After A kettle steamed on the large stone hearth that served as the cottage’s kitchen as Fluttershy moved about the main room, hooding glowgem lanterns and blowing out candles. Her animal friends snuggled in the burrows and holes that festooned the cottage’s main room, those who couldn’t find a proper bed curling up in odd corners to sleep. Occasionally she caught a bit of eyeshine flaring at her from some dark corner of other as one of them looked at her before turning in. Even Angel had hopped off somewhere to sleep. They yellow pegasus looked around the main room. Only one small lamp glowed, light for her and to keep the flickering shadows from getting too deep and scary. With a half-sigh/half-squeek, she crossed to the hearth and poured herself a cup of chamomile with honey. Fluttershy always sealed herself in her cottage on Everfree Road for Nightmare Night; the festivities had always been too much and too scary for her – especially after she’d faced down the real Nightmare Moon only sixteen months ago. This year’s had been good and bad. Good in that no colts sneaked over from town to prank the shy pegasus who lived at the edge of the Everfree; bad in that Twilight Sparkle had shown up at her door with Princess Luna, AKA the former Nightmare Moon. Even purged of the Nightmare by the Elements, the dark Alicorn Major was still scary. Loud and scary. Especially when Pinkie showed up with the little ones after the Princess had overwhelmed her and things really got weird. The chamomile was having its effect as she lay on her downstairs couch sipping the warm brew. After tonight’s excitement, she didn’t think she had the energy left to go up the stairs to her bed. No, just sleep on the couch tonight while the coals on the hearth burn down. Either way I’ll need a brushing and preening come morning. Dashie if she’s awake… She curled up on the couch with a soft whicker, long-lashed eyelids getting heavier and heavier, slowly closing over her teal eyes… Only to fly open with a Yeek! As something thudded hard against her front door like a monster from the Everfree. When Fluttershy returned to the floor she stared at the door with eyes wide. “G-go away! No candy here! Visitors not welcome on Nightmare Night!” The noise repeated, irregular thumping joined by what sounded like something being very sick. The wary mare crept to the door, her wings half-spread. A late-Nightmare Night prank? She knew that for some fillies and colts in town, putting one over on her was considered hilarious – but what if somepony was really and truly in trouble? “Twilight? Princess Luna?” The thumping stopped as she reached the heavy door; pressing an ear to the wood, she could hear harsh and heavy breathing, more like a panting. Oh, Dash, Pinkie Pie, I hope this isn’t you pulling some prank! Swallowing and hoping that if it was a prank, she wouldn’t be too scared at whatever costume they wore, she carefully opened her door. It took her a few moments to work all the locks on it. Living all alone on the edge of the Everfree, the town and her friends insisted that she be able to bar the door against potential monster attacks. Twilight had even magically-reinforced her doors and windows to where “nothing short of a dragon could break in.” She sighed as she opened it, remembering how she’d argued – well, disagreed strongly – with her friends over it. It’s not the old days, when Ponyville was on the edge of civilization, and most of the really dangerous monsters killed each other off long ago. Except for the – gulp – dragons. The door creaked open to show no costumed ponies; only Luna’s moonlight playing down over the road and town, the hoofbridge over the creek – and the pony-sized wolf curled up shaking at her feet. Wolf? Fluttershy gulped as she remembered every story she’d ever read as a filly about a pony-eating – WOLF?!? The only thing stopping the pegasus from hurling the door shut in a panic was the pitiful whine that rose from the reeking mass of fur at her hooves. She looked down, wrinkling her nose up at the sewer stench rising from the wolf. It looked at her, eyes rolling in their sockets, too weak to even growl. It shuddered and convulsed, shaking horribly for several moments, one hind leg kicking air where the door had been. That explained the knocking. “Oh, you poor thing!” Fluttershy examined the wolf, a once-white-furred male, as quickly and thoroughly as she could without touching him as yet. She knew how dangerous a sick or wounded animal could be, and doubted that her Stare would do much if he bit her in confused panic. Another moment showed her that this wolf was not just horribly sick but exhausted. When she bent to look closer, he tried raising his head, only for it to fall back down as he vomited. The freshly-fertilized field smell from him showed he’d been heaving ballast from both ends. “Take it easy, you poor dear,” Fluttershy said. “I’ll be back and helping you soon.” Propping the door open, she hurried back inside, to the utility/storage/bathroom on the other side of the stairs. Her wings brushed the far wall as she reared up and started pulling things off the storage shelves with mouth and forehooves. First a waterproof tarp and old blanket big enough to work him onto and slide him inside. She wished she had Harry here. The bear’s strength would be useful in getting the wolf inside. Applejack or Twilight or even Rainbow Dash would have been even better, provided they didn’t try arguing with her about bringing a dangerous predator into her home. She wondered as much herself. But even as she did she hurried. That wolf might be dying, and he was on her front step. She had to help him. Back into the main room, to the hearth. Rummaging through the firewood bin, the pegasus fetched a strong piece of cord and a stick of firewood that looked strong enough to stand up to his jaws. Just because he couldn’t bite her now didn’t mean he’d be so forgiving when he got his wits back. Back to the utility room, to the shelves by the hoof-pump and basin where she kept her veterinary supplies and potions. Emergency bag – the one for carnivores – in her mouth, she hurried back to the front door. Behind her came chitters and squeals of fear as her animal friends roused awake by the commotion and fear of wolf-scent. She’d reassure them, but first things first. The wolf still lay there, shivering terribly. His eyes were wide but seeing nothing as she unrolled the tarp beside him and with a grunt of effort, rolled him onto it. He weighed at least as much as herself. The wolf fouled himself again as she covered the shivering form with the blanket, and she winced. At least it’s an old blanket. “Okay, now just trust me.” She leaned over him and whispered in the voice she used with frightened critters, “I’m going to be pulling you inside. As gently as I can.” He merely whimpered. She frowned at the lack of meaning in it. Ponies ‘knew’ she could talk to animals, but even with the heightened intelligence of most Equestrian animals, most of her “speech” with them was more a strong sense of their emotions and an awareness of their body language. She should have been getting something from this wolf, but all she could sense was the pain wracking his belly and addling his mind. Nothing clearer than that. It’s like he’s a pony. Shaking her head at that nonsense, Fluttershy took a firm bite on the tarp and began working it inside, hoof-width by hoof-width. As the smelly burden eased through the doorway her animal friends went wild, setting up a clamor of noise. She shivered herself at the sudden wave of panic filling the room. She pulled him left at the stairs, through the arch and into the stone-floored utility room where she could clean up after him. When she reappeared in the archway, the rabbits and squirrels and chipmunks and birds and pair of weasels in the room all chittered and shrieked their panic. “Uh, everyone, please? If you could just calm down?” Fluttershy flew to the center of the room, making sure they could see and hear and smell her. They calmed down as she said, “Now, I know he’s a wolf and that scares some of you.” The weasel with his mate snoozing in one corner chittered loudly and abusively. Fluttershy gasped at his language. “No, Shadow, I will NOT be feeding him to the Everfree monsters to protect you all! Shame on you even for thinking that.” She fluttered over to him, giving him a stern look. Shadow looked embarrassed as she said, “And such language! I suppose I know now where Angel has been getting it from.” Shadow chittered something very sharp. Fluttershy blushed. “Oh, you got it from him. Sorry about that. But still, please, manners when you’re here?” He sniffed but curled back up, watching the archway. She added, “And when I’m sure he’ll be alright I’ll close the inner door to the storeroom. He won’t be able to get through it, and you’ll all be safe.” Fluttershy smiled and settled back to the floor next to hearth and fireplace, as quick and sure as Rarity when she made a dress, or Rainbow Dash when working the weather. First more wood onto the fire, flaring it back up from its nighttime banking. Then the kettle, dumped out the front door, refilled from the hoof-pump. She’d seen the wolf’s symptoms before – all of them, courtesy of the CMCs’ attempt at dog-training cutie marks. Theobromine poisoning, worse than Winona. He must have gotten into the Nightmare Night candy. More supplies from the shelves, and she started to mix a brew in the kettle worthy of Zecora. Salt and honey, enough so his body would accept the water to rehydrate him. Spewing out both ends like that, he could die from dehydration. Next the special herbal mixtures from Zecora, augmented by non-alchemical ones from her own garden. Something for the convulsions, something from Zecora to slow that heartbeat down, and anti-emetics so he’ll keep it all down. Six times the dosages I used for Winona – he’s as heavy as a pony, four-five times Winona’s weight, and he’s got it worse. If he keeps it down, I’ll start with the diuretics so he’ll pass the poison. Back into the main room and hearth, putting the brew over the fire to warm with a towel soaking in it. If he can’t swallow or keep it down, he can suckle on that. Then back to the whimpering wolf on the utility room floor. He lay on his side under the blanket, rippling in convulsions. She wrinkled her nose at the foulness enveloping him even as she thought, good, his body is already trying to get rid of the poison. She checked his pulse on an artery along the thin and mostly hairless skin of his inner leg. It beat wild as a triphammer in a Fillydelphia ironworks, worse than her own heart when she’d first seen that dragon last year, in the cavern at Red Dragon Peak. She gasped. This was bad, as bad as a filly who’d grazed a stand of foxgloves. Bad enough to burst his heart and kill him if she didn’t do something drastic fast. “How did you get into that much chocolate?” She fetched the now-warm kettle from the hearth, almost burning her lips on the handle. Working carefully, she removed the lid and took out the potion-soaked cloth, setting it between his fangs so he could suckle at it. “There,” she said softly. She gently tousled his ears, feeling the unponylike rough thickness of his shaggy fur. “That should help.” Even so she watched, holding her breath, as the convulsing wolf worked it between his fangs. She released a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding as he slowly relaxed. But not enough. Now for the drastic measures. Fluttershy reached inside her veterinary bag, withdrawing a long, sharp lancet. It gleamed in the lantern light, leaf-shaped tip sharp as any Guardspony’s sword. A memory flashed through her mind of the way she’d once seen Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie both flatten their ears and nervously scrape the floor with their forehooves at the mere sight of the lancet. She had to grin at the memory. And they call me a scaredy-cat. The wolf gagged, wet retching sounds mingling with the sound of his paws beating a drumroll on her floorboards. She hurriedly took a pipette from the kit, along with another potion of Zecora’s. I wonder where he came from, the poor dear. Fluttershy wondered irrelevantly as she waited for the wolf’s latest fit of convulsions to calm. She kept well clear of those jaws, snapping like shears. When it passed, she made sure she had a clean cloth bandage nearby and looked at the inside of his hindlegs. Where’s a vein? Need to get this into you now before it gets worse. Fluttershy mouthed the lancet as she rubbed his thin loin fur aside with one forehoof. She caught the faint blue tracery on the exposed skin, placed the lancet’s point to it, and pushed it in with infinite gentleness. Dark blood began to flow from the puncture. The wolf didn’t so much as twitch. Better this than him yelping and fighting me over it, I can’t think of anypony I could get right now to help hold you down. Okay, now the pipette. She set down the lancet, mouthed the pipette and sipped it full of potion, then inserting it into the wound and lightly blew on the open end, sending the medicine into the incision. Fluttershy immediately took the pipette away and bound the wound in the bandage. Little use to dose him if it all ran out again right away! She repeated the process twice more, once for the anti-convulsant, once for additional anti-emetic. The wolf whimpered. Fluttershy gently ruffled the fur by his ears. “It’s okay,” she half-whispered in her soft voice. “I know you feel sick now, and this hurts, but it’s to get rid of the theobromine, the chocolate, in you.” She frowned and said in as angry a voice as she could manage, “Who fed you chocolate anyway? None of my friends would, and no other pony in Ponyville would get close; did you snatch it from the Nightmare Moon statue after everypony else left?” She rubbed one hoof against her chin as she thought, speaking out loud. “But that would have been just a little while ago, and it’d take hours for the symptoms to hit. Where were you when Princess Luna was visiting? It’s not like you could hide in town…” The wolf coughed, something gurgled inside of him, and Fluttershy flew back just in time to avoid an explosion of filth from the other end of the animal. At least he’s keeping it down… She wrinkled her nose against the stench, so much worse than any similar mess a pony or other herbivore might produce. From the next room she heard sounds of disgust from her other critter friends. And fear as well. They knew what carnivore scat smelled like, and what it meant. She’d reassure them, but first things first. Fluttershy went to another shelf, took out a pair of bedpans. She felt a twinge as she did, remembering Aunt Posey’s last few weeks and how she’d needed these. An uncharitable part of her thought, at least this time it’ll all be over by morning, one way or another. No weeks without sleeping, just one night. Fluttershy positioned one under his backside and the other under his head, making sure he wouldn’t be lying in his own waste. Then she used an old towel and cleaned up the mess he’d already made as best she could. She shivered at how heavy the wet cloth felt when she picked it up, and at the ripe sewer stink. Like Aunt Posey… How can there be anything left in you to be sicked out? Driving that thought from her mind, she opened her back door and set the towel in the garbage. Only then did she turn to her other animal friends. She quickly flew into the main room. Weasel and rabbit and squirrel and chipmunk all looked at her, chittering in fear and curiosity. “Listen, everyone? Right now, if you don’t mind?” The animals slowly settled down. They knew enough about Fluttershy’s personality to realize that those words were the equivalent of a shouted order. As they did Fluttershy said, “I’m afraid that Mister Wolf is very very sick, and he’s going to be here for at least three or four days.” A new outbreak of fear-filled squeaks filled the room. Fluttershy ignored it, hoped she didn’t hurt their feelings by doing so, and said, “He’s going to be very weak, and probably very hungry when his strength starts coming back…” More chitters. Yes, they were saying, that’s what we’re afraid of! “But I’ll be brewing up some of my meat substitute for him, the soybean paste.” She looked at the weasel. “You remember Shadow, you’ve eaten it before.” She turned back to the other animals, ignoring Shadow suddenly pointing one paw at his muzzle and making gagging sounds. “Between that and me treating him everyone will be safe, I promise. But if you want to leave tomorrow morning and spend a few days in Whitetail Woods or the West Pasture, I’ll understand.” She waited and tried not to sigh in relief at their collective response. They would indeed be making themselves scarce for the next few days. Good. Given how badly ill that wolf was, she’d need to focus all her attention on him. Provided he’s alive in the morning, that is. If not, maybe she could get some help from Big Mac or even Applejack to bury him at the edge of the Everfree, in the special plot holding those of her animal friends she hadn’t been able to help. And hopefully before word spread and half of Ponyville came to her front door, wanting to see something as rare as a wolf. Or panicked and demanding that she either kill the pony-eating monster or let them do it. Why couldn’t you have been something normal, like a chimera or manticore or even a cockatrice? Thinking about that, she hurried back to his side. The medicine seemed to be helping. His shaking looked less severe. She’d thought his teeth were going to fall out before. Even his panting seemed to slow down. Still, he was sick and was going to go on being sick for some time. “I hope you’re at least a little thirsty,” Fluttershy said, holding his head up while she set the herb-steeped cloth between his fangs. He worked it between them, giving her a good look at a fine set of gleaming ivories. She watched as they came together like shears designed to slice through bone and flesh. My bones and flesh if I’m not careful. Right now, however, the wolf was too weak to do anything other than lightly chew on the heavy towel. He quickly seemed to get all the medicine from it. When he whined again, he sounded a little less like somepony at Death’s door. She re-soaked and replaced the towel, again and again. When the kettle was emptied, she mixed another batch and set it on the fire to warm. If she’d given it to him down his throat right off, he would have sicked it all back up. This way it got into him more slowly, but it stayed down when it did. Fluttershy still watched as he relaxed, looking exhausted. He still shivered, and she’d have to keep an eye on him for tonight with the medicine and fresh blankets to clean him off close at hand, but she began to hope he’d live. “Okay,” she said, thinking out loud and too tired herself to care. “I’ll have to sleep on the sofa tonight to keep an eye on him and the rest of my animal friends.” She turned and headed for the door, yawning widely. “And tomorrow, after some sleep, go to the library and get a book on toxicology and about wolves. I suppose I should tell Twilight first, she and my friends can help me get him back out into the wild…” “No. No tell anywolf.” Fluttershy froze. I didn’t hear that. Maybe the speaker heard her thoughts, for they repeated in a croaking, weak snarl of a voice, “No, don’t tell… Ponies can’t know… Ponies would kill us… Burning Queen… Nightmare Moon...” Fluttershy turned and looked through the archway, still unwilling to accept it. The wolf was up on his forelegs somehow, sitting up in the bedpan, soiled blanket falling off, his eyes unfocused and half wild. He looked at her unseeing, speaking – actually speaking Equestrian – to something that existed only in his mind and memories. She wondered if he saw her or somepony else entirely as he said, “Keep it secret… Keep it safe... Practice the pony-speech... I swear it on Father Fenris’ name... Learn what happened to the Moon… to Nightmare Moon... I remember what you said, uncle...” The slurred Equestrian trailed off into a complex string of growls, huffs, and yips. Fluttershy wasn’t the scholar Twilight was, but she understood the difference between animal sounds and speech like ponies used. These were words, words in a wolf language. Moving with caution, she stepped closer to him as he slurred back into Equestrian, the tonal snorts and whinnies and nickers sounding so alien from that non-equine throat. “I, I will keep The Secret… Keep it safe… Or slay myself, uncle. I promise.” “No!” Fluttershy hurried to his side. His eyes were unfocused again as he flopped back down. She knew he didn’t hear her words, but she said anyway, “Oh, please, no, don’t do that! I won’t tell anypony! And you, you don’t have to be afraid, we won’t hurt you!” Even as she said it his eyes were closing as he drifted off into what looked to be a restless sleep. Fluttershy stared at him for several long moments. Her thoughts dashed from one to another quicker than Rainbow ever managed to fly as she worked over what she’d heard. That’s why my talent didn’t work, she thought as she glanced at the butterflies on her flank. I tried approaching him like an animal, like Angel or Harry, and he’s not an animal, he’s like a pony. He can think. He can speak. Which means other wolves can too, and they’ve hidden it from ponies because, what? She shook her head, pink mane spilling. Because they fear Nightmare Moon and the, what was it, Burning Queen? The pegasus felt more confused than the wolf. She needed answers to a lot of questions, which meant… She gulped. I have to take care of him until he gets better, and find out what he knows. She thought of what he’d said and shuddered. And stop him from killing himself when he learns he spoke to me. Fluttershy quietly went to get some blankets and pillows from upstairs. When she returned the wolf still lay there shivering, if less so than before. She half hoped he would have vanished, some weird Nightmare Night prank by Twilight, or that Pinkie Pie would whip off that head and yell “Surprise!” No such luck. Fluttershy carefully set one of the pillows under his head and the other under hers as she wrapped first him and then herself in warm blankets. She knew she needed sleep, she was going to be even busier tomorrow than she’d thought, but for long hours she silently watched the wolf she’d saved and wondered just how crazy this would all get. # # # Fluttershy got little sleep that night. It seemed as though every time she began to drift off the wolf would start spewing again, or shivering with his convulsions, or gasping and choking as his heart beat wildly from the chocolate working its way out of his system. The near-zombie pegasus worked quickly each time, cleaned him up, kept him hydrated, got more batches of medicinal potions into him. By three in the morning she started him on the diuretics; by then he was lapping from a bowl instead of suckling from a wet towel and keeping most all of it down. At least from that end. Except for the size and stench and shivering, he looked like a big dirty-white puppy lying there. All would have been well (if exhausting) if he hadn’t spoken several times more. Her hopes of learning that what she’d heard before were just a dream caused by her own fears and fatigue faded as he raved or begged with beings, wolves or ponies or something, from his own memories. “So sorry, so sorry,” he half whimpered at one point. His eyes were locked on hers but she knew he didn’t see a yellow pegasus as he said, “Aunt, uncle, so sorry, I’ll never go to that pool in Ice Fangs territory again. But I had, had to know, to see what the rusalka really looked like…” His voice trailed off as Fluttershy hesitantly stroked his head. He whispered in what she recognized as a little-foal’s voice, “Am I in trouble?” “It’s okay,” she said, knowing it was anything but okay. Lying through her teeth, she said, “You’re not in any trouble.” His eyes closed and he drifted back off to sleep, one haunted by nightmares to judge by his puppy-like whimpers and the way his paws scraped at her floor. Cautiously, she left the room and headed to the bookshelf beneath the stairs, lit by the hearth’s glow. She wondered if she’d even find the book, it was old and she’d cleaned out some of her unread books a whole ago. No, there it was. Tales of Equestria: Time-lost Legends of Our Lovely Land. She looked at it, remembering how Twilight had sniffed at the author’s fondness for mixing in the wildest legends and fairy tales with real ancient history, going so far as to proclaim the author’s version of Megan in the Midnight Castle story “an obvious stand-in for Celestia in the time before her actual appearance”. She’d made the mistake of doing that at Twilight’s attempt at a “literary discussion circle” in the Library, in the presence of the rest of her friends and other interested ponies. Fluttershy winced to remember the angry whinnies that followed as Applejack and Rainbow Dash and even Rarity all tried to convince her of the story’s factual nature, even as all three told different versions of it – the unicorn and earth pony versions as well as the pegasus version she’d been taught. Applejack in particular swore that her own family had personal accounts of the events that they shared with each other. That led to an argument about the unreliability of oral traditions and the tendency to exaggeration in “even the most honest recountings of an event.” Then Lyra Heartstrings had joined in with her wild ideas about Megan. Fluttershy gulped. What followed that was memorable – Chaos like a second Day of Discord – but at least they forgave each other. Eventually. Fluttershy found what she remembered in the chapter on Beast Fables. A very old woodcut picture of a wolf, grinning evilly as it set a mare’s hide over itself and hiding behind a tree, obviously planning something awful for the two young colts coming down the trail. She flipped through them, remembering her own amusement at the author’s solemnly recounting that wolves could disguise themselves as ponies, that they’d served evil kings in the past as guards, and that long ago some giant of their breed tried to eat Celestia and Luna and even, she gulped, ‘a mad draconequis’. Maybe those legends weren’t all as silly as I thought. Putting down the book, she edged to the archway, staring at the recumbent canine. How did he get into town? Was he disguised? She shuddered. You, you don’t really wear the coats of the ponies you eat, do you? And if he did, then how could she do anything but had him over to the Mayor and her friends to be punished or at least caged? She didn’t want him dead, but if freeing him meant that he’d kill and eat ponies… She checked the wolf again, emptied the bedpan down her floor toilet, cleaned him off yet again. The mess and smell seemed less than before; his intestines had finally emptied. And he’s keeping the potions down; time to increase the diuretic and let him pee the rest of it out like Winona did. “I guess you’re going to live,” Fluttershy said down at it – him. The tufted ears twitched towards her, but he showed no other signs of noticing her words. His breathing slowed and he went back to sleep. Part of the mare wondered if it might not have been better for him to silently die during the night. No need to explain anything to my friends, no worries about what to do about his being able to speak, she looked at the fangs filling his mouth and gulped, and no worries about ending up in a wolf’s belly. She lay on the floor the rest of the night watching him sleep, long pink tail peeking out from her own bundle of blankets, until her head drooped onto her fetlocks and her eyelids got too heavy to keep open. # # # “Darn ya, ‘Shy!” Applejack snorted, her ears back and her lasso ready. She and Dash flanked Twilight. All three wore their Elements. “We were okay with ya befriendin’ that manticore, an’ the butterfly migration, an’ the cockatrice,” Twilight shuddered at those words, “but this here’s th’ last straw! Take yore mangy wolf and git! We can’t trust somepony fool enough ta help some pony-eatin’ monster get better an’ let him go!” “Oh, but that’s not true!” Fluttershy said. “He’s not a monster! He can speak and reason just like a pony!” Her friends looked at her skeptically. She turned and spoke to the wolf. “Go on, tell them!” The wolf said nothing. Instead he prowled over to Applejack. She recoiled, and froze as the wolf sniffed at her flank. The palomino snorted at him and he fled back to Fluttershy’s side with a whine. She turned back to her angrier than ever friends. “H-he’s just trying to be friends…” The next thing Fluttershy knew, she was sailing out of the town with the yelping wolf beside her, a pair of horseshoe marks emblazoned on her rump and a yell trailing after her. “An’ stay out!” Fluttershy looked at the wolf. He grinned and said, “Should I have asked if I could sniff her flank first?” Then a Rainbow of Light crashed down on them with Applejack’s voice, loud as a wild thunderstorm off the Everfree – “HAY, SHY!!!!” Fluttershy jolted awake with a squeak. Celestia’s sun was up, shining through the curtains of the front window. When her eyes could focus, she checked the wolf in the utility room – still sleeping, still stinking – then the clock in the main room. Almost eight? With a yawn, she shook her head, long pink mane flowing. No, no, you know your friends, they’d never act like that. The Everfree thundered again. “Hey, ‘Shy!” Her front door shuddered as a hoof pounded on it. “Can y’all come out here? Ah wanna talk with ya.” “EEP!” Fluttershy jumped to her hooves in an explosion of flying blankets and flaring wings. Applejack? Why? How? Hide the wolf! She slammed the archway door, cutting off sight of the wolf but not the reek of his sickness, then with a gulp opened the top half of her door. The chill of the autumn morning hit her face like midwinter-cold water and she was fully awake. AJ stood there, her old Stetson shading her eyes. “Oh, hello Applejack,” Fluttershy whinnied. “Is, is something wrong?” “What? Oh, naah,” the palomino earth pony shook her head. “Town’s just cleaning up after Nightmare Night. Just wanted ta check and make sure ya were okay. We kind o’ missed ya last night. Princess Luna dropped by and paid us a visit.” “I know,” Fluttershy said, not without a small shudder. “She came here with Twilight, but Pinkie Pie upset her.” She noticed that Applejack looked a little embarrassed herself. “Yeah, well,” she said, blushing a little, “Ah guess Ah didn’t do so well first time around with her last night, either. But she made up with everypony an’ we all had a great time before she left a little after midnight. Said she’ll be back next year, an’…” Her voice trailed off and her nose flared then wrinkled as the smell hit her. “Ugh! What th’ hay stinks like that? Smells like your cesspool’s spillin’ over! Want me ta take a quick look at it?” She made to open the lower half of the door. “No! I mean, no need,” Fluttershy hurriedly added to the startled Applejack. “Just one of my poor animal friends. He’s very, very sick. Somepony fed him some chocolate last night and it poisoned him. Like Winona. No need for you to help!” Fluttershy said, forestalling the next offer. “He’s going to be fine, but he’ll be ill for a few days, the poor dear. I’ll probably be a little scarce around town while I take care of him.” She opened the bottom half of the door and pushed out, pressing against Applejack. The palomino backed away, almost tripping over her own hooves and smelling of straw and sweet apples. “In fact, I’m heading over to the library for some books to help me figure out how to help him.” “Huh.” Applejack frowned. “Ya sure ya don’t need any help? Me an’ the girls would be glad ta help ya out.” She rubbed her chin. “I gotta wonder how one o’ your critter friends got inta the chocolate; the most Ah saw was that one pony in a good wolf costume gobbling up a whole plate o’ Pinkie’s best right afore he danced with Lotus.” “Oh, thank you, but no, it’ll all be fine.” Fluttershy said, wondering as she did if maybe she should ask them for help. Or even Lotus? She vaguely recalled the Stalliongrad-born beautician mentioning something about wolves once or twice, but nothing very specific. “I, I will keep The Secret… Keep it safe… Or slay myself, uncle....” “It’ll be fine,” Fluttershy gently insisted. No, no telling anything to anypony unless she wanted his death on her head. Finally noticing some rolled-up flyers Applejack had sticking out of a saddlebag she wore, she said, “What are those for?” “Huh? Why the Sisterhooves Social, o’ course.” With a toss of her head, Applejack withdrew one and unrolled it. Fluttershy looked on an illustration of two ponies, one smaller than the other, both with stars set on their heads. Applejack re-rolled it and set it back inside her saddlebag. “It’s about time for it, after all.” “Oh, that’s right, I’d forgotten in all the excitement. I suppose it just feels odd that you’ll be holding it, what with everything that’s happened already so far these past few months.” “Nah,” Applejack said. “Best ta hold it now, help get everypony’s minds offa what Discord did ta us all. Ya’ll are invited if ya feel like coming.” She took another whiff and winced. “Or if ya want some fresh air. It’ll be next week.” “Oh, thank you, but that all depends on how well the poor creature is doing by then.” Angel Bunny hopped out the open door and down the creek, in the direction of a rabbit warren he liked to visit. Fluttershy sighed in relief, hoping he’d spend a few days there. He’d seemed jealous of the way the wolf needed her attention last night. And she wouldn’t have to worry about returning to find the delirious wolf having a fresh rabbit breakfast. “Well, it was good to see you, Applejack,” the yellow pegasus gave the palomino an equine neck-to-neck hug. “I hope everything goes well for the Sisterhooves Social.” Applejack returned her thanks and set off back into town, backlit by the rising sun; Fluttershy watched her disappear down the road before she went back inside. # # # Mane and tail streaming and wings pumping, Fluttershy shot across the West Pasture below treetop level, Ponyville growing before her. “The most ground-bound of pegasi” normally preferred walking to town, but this time she needed speed. Passing between the clock tower and schoolhouse, she aimed for a huge oak tree on the West Side of town, festooned with windows and balconies. “Golden Oaks Library” was the official name, but most ponies called it “Books and Branches” or just “the Library”. Flaring her wings, she passed between two houses and touched down at the end of Library Lane, where a little colt of a purple dragon was taking down the last of the Nightmare Night decorations. “We’re closed and –” A small dragon head popped up from behind the stack of boxes. “Oh, hi, Fluttershy!” Spike yawned and stretched, then picked up the stack. “Oh, sorry. We’re kinda not open yet, but you can come in if you wanna.” “Oh, thank you, Spike,” She said as she followed him into the Library. In the main room, violet-glowing books floated from shelf to shelf as the purple unicorn rearranged them, returning the ones she’d had out on the tables for Nightmare Night and bringing out others. Twilight seemed oblivious to everything but her task, not even noticing Spike taking the decoration boxes to the basement. The yellow pegasus stopped by the circular reading table at the center of the room, trying to get up the courage to disturb her friend’s concentration. Amid the stacks of unclassified books, she caught sight of some bright-colored covers – like paperback bit novels, but larger. Her mane flowed as she bent down to look at the one on top. It was a thick magazine, with a garish cover of a giant Discord smashing Canterlot Castle under the title Terror Tales of Tartarus. Fluttershy winced, but then, modern literature never made much sense to her. “Oh, Twilight, here,” she said, picking it up and taking it to her. “I think you missed this one.” “What?” Spike popped out of the basement stairwell. “No! I mean, those are mine and…” Twilight looked back over her shoulder and froze, glaring down at the cover. She directed a furious glare at the little dragon, who made for the front door. “SPIKE!” He gave a yell and started to run, only to stop when Twilight caught him with her magic. She set him down before her and waved the magazine under his nose. He looked mortified, and Fluttershy felt her own cheek burning to be present for this. “What have I told you about leaving these, these,” Twi’s mouth worked, making her look almost as sick as the wolf, before she spat out, “pulp magazines laying out around the reading room? I’ve been getting complaints from the parents.” “The fillies and colts don’t complain,” Spike muttered. He scratched a little curl of wood from the floor with one toe-claw, trying and failing to look contrite. “They keep bugging me to leave more down here.” “Yes, and when they have nightmares later, their parents come and give me grief over it.” Twilight set it down with a snort of disgust. “Ugh! At least please keep them out of here, okay?” Spike snatched it up, grabbed a couple similar magazines from the table. One dropped in front of Fluttershy, front cover up. Tales from the Lunaverse, the title block read above a cover painting of the most terrifying Alicorn she had ever seen – another Nightmare Moon with coat of glowing lava instead of black night, in golden barding instead of silver, with mane and tail of yellow sunfire instead of a starry night sky, Princess Celestia’s sunburst cutie mark blazing on her flank instead of Nightmare Moon’s lunar crescent. Below, a subtitle announced The Coming of Solar Flare. The pegasus froze, the poisoned wolf’s words echoing in her memory. “Nightmare Moon and The Burning Queen” – Luna and Celestia? They think the Princesses are MONSTERS? Spike snatched the pulp away; seeing Fluttershy’s questioning look, he babbled an answer. “It’s an ‘alternate-history series’ – what if Celestia had gone Nightmare instead of Luna a thousand years ago and became the Mare in the Sun…” Twilight shot him a glare. The little dragon fled up the stairs, somehow holding onto the stack of pulps. Twilight shook her head as he disappeared, then finally turned to Fluttershy. She looked tired, but smiled as she said, “Good morning, Fluttershy. Sorry about last night, Princess Luna said to tell you she apologizes…” “Oh, it’s quite alright,” Fluttershy near-whispered. “I came here for some help with one of my animal friends. Tell me, do you have any toxicology books on theobromine poisoning and treatments?” Twilight looked concerned. “Winona again?” “Oh, no!” Fluttershy hurried through the rest. “It’s not Winona! Another critter got into the Nightmare Night chocolate last night and it made him really sick. I’m taking care of him, so a few reference books would be helpful right now.” Trailing one forehoof along the floor, she added, “Oh, and if you have anything about canines, you know,” she took a deep breath, “like dogs and coyotes and jackals and, and wolves?” She smiled and hoped there wouldn’t be any questions. “Here you go,” Twilight said as she went to the shelves and scanned them professionally. Several books floated off them, glowing soft violet from her magic; two thicker ones separated out “Here’s Helping Hoof’s Chirurgery for Canines, both volumes; they should help.” “I’m sure it will,” Fluttershy said as Twilight floated both heavy volumes into her saddlebags. As she saw Twilight returning the other books to her shelves, she asked, “Oh, Twilight, if I may ask, just which books are those?” “These?” The mare chuckled. “Oh, just some books on wolf legends. I thought maybe you were interested in the mythology of wolves, I don’t think any real ones have been seen south of Stalliongrad since before it became part of Equestria.” She began replacing them on the shelves, saying, “Not that it matters, they’re all just silly stories anyway. They don’t belong here.” Fluttershy blinked. She’d never heard her friend speak poorly of a book before. Pulp magazines and paperback saddle-rippers, yes, but never a real book. Twilight noticed and started forward. Fluttershy opened her mouth to apologize but Twilight beat her to it. “Oh, I don’t mean they don’t belong in a library! I mean they don’t belong where they were shelved.” She pointed at the stacks. Fluttershy saw the section was reserved for historical works as Twilight said, “They’re collections of Old Mares’ Tales.” She levitated one before Fluttershy. The cover showed several snarling canines, one of them looking rather too much like her patient for her ease, surrounding an oblivious filly. The title read, Cruel Canine Creatures of our Country. It flipped open. Fluttershy saw pictures like those from her copy of Tales of Equestria, only done here as old woodcuts rather than painted prints. Wolves donning pony hides, luring ponies to their doom, and drawn as though they spoke to ponies. Fluttershy eeped as the book slammed shut and lowered to a nearby table. Twilight continued, anger in her voice. “The author was some hack who tossed in every sort of unsubstantiated legend and folk belief and Old Mare’s Tale about wolves and other animals alongside some factual information. Stories about wolves disguising themselves as ponies, or wolves eating ponies and then making their ghosts help lead other ponies into the woods,” she snorted in disgust as Fluttershy sighed, her friend was in full lecture mode now, “or aiding evil kings of old or even being able to speak! You know animals. Have you ever heard such nonsense, Fluttershy?” “Huh? Oh, yes!” Fluttershy hoped her smile didn’t look forced. “Talking wolves, how silly! Hah. Anyway,” Hesitantly, she looked at the book with the legends. And picked that one up as well. “Oh, Fluttershy,” Twilight groaned beside her. “You’re not going to be reading that nonsense?” “Oh, but I enjoy stories about animals,” Fluttershy hurriedly said. “Even when they’re silly.” She set the book in her saddlebag and hurried to the door. “See you later, Twilight. If you have the time, that is.” “Fluttershy!” There came a soft thump behind her of air rushing into a suddenly-empty space and a flash of light before her as Twilight reappeared. The pegasus stopped with an eep and a sudden flaring of her wings out to her sides as the unicorn, looking somewhere between amused and annoyed, said, “You didn’t think I’d let you get away with it, did you?” She knows! Fluttershy tried to think of something to say that would save both the wolf and herself. Twilight smiled as she took the books from Fluttershy’s saddlebag. “You have to check these out first, remember?” # # # The rest of her trip to town was thankfully less stressful. First the Flower Trio’s shop and herb garden opposite Sugarcube Corner where she got some herbs from them that she recalled as being helpful for Winona when she’d been poisoned. True, she grew them in her own little garden, but not nearly enough for something the size of her current patient. Daisy and Lily and Roseluck were their usual less-jumpy post-Nightmare Night selves, and they shared stories with her about how Luna playfully scared ponies the night before. When she cautiously asked about wolf costumes the night before, Lily said she remembered seeing Scootaloo, of course, and she saw some stranger pony in a costume dancing with Lotus? “Dancing?” Daisy snorted. “With the Stalliongrad Stallion-Eater? She was ready to drag him off, more like!” Fluttershy flushed crimson as Daisy added, “I’m glad you’re so shy and demure, Miss Fluttershy; between that Lotus Blossom, and Miss Rarity, and Sweetcream Scoops, it’s getting so a single mare can’t find a stallion in this town.” After some polite commiseration, Fluttershy managed to get herself away from the flower shop, cantering down Library Lane to Town Square, where the farmponies should be setting up their market stalls for the day. The archway over Library Lane opened onto a debris field – Town Square had been the center for all the Nightmare Night celebrations, and now all the decorations were coming down. Fluttershy couldn’t help but sigh in relief – all the skulls and witches and monsters and Nightmare Moon sigils gone until next year. Another few weeks and she’d see the sigils of the Three Tribes and Founders going up for Hearth’s Warming, along with the trees and tinsel. Threading between the stalls and Nightmare Night wreckage and ponies cleaning up, she started searching. # # # Saddlebags bulging and sack of Neighponese soybeans balanced between her wings, Fluttershy trotted back down the Everfree Road towards home, too heavily-laden to fly. She’d managed to get the meat substitute and remaining herbs without having to pay too many bits or get stopped by ponies who wanted to chat. Not even Pinkie Pie. Probably sleeping in after last night… She was just grateful she didn’t need to take the time to go into the Everfree and get some of Zecora’s medicines. She liked the zebra herbalist, and talking with her about her distant home, but it took hours to make it out there and back again. What if the wolf died while she was gone? Or what if he woke up and stumbled outside into Ponyville? Holding the sack on her back with her wings, she broke into a canter, not stopping until she reached her cottage at the jog in the road. Sliding the sack of soybeans off her back, she dug out her key with her mouth and worked the locks. The door swung open, morning sunlight streaming in. The grass-roofed little house was quiet, no sign or sound of her critter friends. Or of a wolf moving about. Maybe he was still asleep or unconscious? Or maybe he’s awake and ready to eat me? Fluttershy gulped and shivered, as suddenly every single ‘silly story’ from Ancient Myths rose up in her mind. “Hi, girls!” Fluttershy said as she strode up to her friends, all standing at the edge of the Everfree Forest. Her friend shifted uneasily at the lopsided smile she showed them, as well as at the way her wings hung limp across her back. “Hey, thanks for coming here! It’s so great for you to come to the eating – meeting!” “You said you had something to show us deep in the Everfree, Fluttershy,” Twilight said. She looked at her friend, curious. “Are you… okay? You seem to be acting oddly.” “Oh, I’m just happy to be alive,” Fluttershy said, before adding under her breath, “and so well fed.” “What was that?” “Nothing!” Fluttershy smiled, making sure to keep ‘her’ lips over ‘her’ lupine fangs. She began leading her friends into the Everfree, saying, “Now let’s get going. My pack, I mean friends, are just so eager to eat, I mean meet, you all!” And as the innocent and trusting ponies preceded ‘Fluttershy’ into the forest, she pulled her mouth wide and pushed her head back revealing a ferocious wolf that grinned toothily and licked his fangs before following them to meet the pack. Fluttershy gulped, recognizing the silliness of the idea even as she pulled the sack of soybeans inside. Just because wolves ate ponies long ago didn’t mean they did it now. Griffins didn’t, after all. And look at the stories ponies once told about Nightmare Moon! She’d heard for herself how hurt poor scary Princess Luna was last night when the local ponies fled from her (Fluttershy winced and reminded herself to send Luna a letter to apologize for her own reaction) and told the old stories about her eating foals. She’d never done that, even when she was Nightmare Moon. No, Fluttershy thought, she was just going to conjure forth Night Eternal and kill everything on the planet when the world froze over. Even if wolves can’t do all the things the book said, it doesn’t mean they aren’t dangerous. Flutts gulped. Why did she have to have this morbid imagination? “Umm, hello, wolf?” She listened at the utility room door. No sounds inside. “I, I’m here with some food and medicine for you.” No response. Grabbing the handle in her teeth, she carefully opened the door. The stench wrinkled her nostrils; her shadow fell upon the empty tarp and crumpled soiled blankets. Bowl, bedpan – Where’s the wolf? A low growl came from the other end of the utility room, the alcove for her bathtub and garderobe. She looked up in shock into two blue eyes blazing from the shadows, followed by the silhouette of the wolf. It came at her snarling, muscles working under that dirty and matted white coat as she froze, unable to even think of using the Stare. Her wings shot out to either side in shock, instinctively seeking to make herself look bigger. She swore she could feel the fangs at her throat. No, please please don’t, no! And the wolf yelped and shrank back to cower against the shelves, staring at her as he yelped in a voice filled with utter terror, “PLEASE DON’T KILL ME, BURNING QUEEN!” “EEEP!” Fluttershy whinnied, rearing up with wings widespread, backlit by the sun coming through the doors, turning her yellow coat into molten gold. The wolf’s eyes went even wider as she said, “No, no! I won’t hurt you!” She saw how he cringed, ears down and submissive. Confused, she said, “I, who do you think I am, anyway?” “The Burning Queen,” he said, and she realized he was still delirious. “Demon Queen of Ponies! Betrayer of Fenris! Killer of Wolves! Day herself! You came here to kill me for entering your land and…” His eyes somehow went even wider. She wondered that his face didn’t fall into them. “AHHH! NO, I SPOKE! I MEAN, I DIDN’T! YOU DIDN’T HEAR THAT! I…” His eyes rolled back and he collapsed shaking to the stone floor. Okay, Fluttershy thought as she laid down beside the wolf, setting one of her wings across him to help keep him warm. What the hay was all that about? # # # Ardi awoke from nightmare images of monstrous ponies alternating between pouring that sweet-tasting poison down his throat and dancing with him to find himself in a den whose scent he didn’t recognize. He groaned weakly, feeling as though he’d been drained of life. The wolf tongued his nosepad and sniffed deeper. Ugh, he thought, shuddering and not shivering. I must be covered in my own scat! Which Wolf took care of me? He gulped at the thought of what he’d owe them afterwards. He’d meant to get back home to his pack before the snows came, but with the hunting and other work he’d owe this Wolf or Wolves he’d be lucky to be home this time next year and – Wait. He tried moving and felt something lying across him, something soft that tickled. And he felt the warmth of a body nearby. It didn’t smell like a Wolf, it smelled like a – “Oh, are you awake?” The softest and gentlest voice he’d ever heard half whispered in his ear. “Are, are you okay now? I’m not going to hurt you.” He froze as he placed it. Earlier, an equine form, backlit by the sun with golden coat ablaze and wings outspread. The most terrible vision in the mind and heart of every Wolf born. HER. The Burning Queen, bright as the sun on her flank, who brought the sun itself down into their dens and chased the survivors into the Frozen North so her herds could cover the world. Hush and be quiet pups, we have to go hungry tonight unless we want the ponies to kill us with their witchcraft or call The Burning Queen to burn us all to ashes in our dens… The Burning Queen. Demon Empress of the witch-ponies. Lying right beside him. Ardi never quite figured out how he got out from under the sheets and started racing for the door to the small room – No, it’s a pony den, I’m INSIDE ONE OF THEIR DENS – but he did it. His heart seemed to thunder inside him and it felt like his body kept trying to fall sideways with every step forward he took. But nearby, through some circular opening? Yes! Sunlight and free open sky over the good green earth below! Freedom! “No, no! Please don’t! I want to help!” Ardi refused to listen to that voice and its lies. He risked a glance and snarled to see no alicorn but instead some flier-pony, her wings half-spread as she chased after him. Something about her eyes dragged at his own. He tore his gaze away at the last moment and with a victorious yelp leaped for the hole in the wall. And slammed full into the closed, magically-reinforced window. Something cracked sharply. Agony smashed between his ears and down his backbone. He dropped to the floor, scraping at the mortared stone underpaw to try and rise. He had to get away, escape before that flier trampled him or carried him so high into the sky his spirit could never find his packmates again. She was on him. Her face looked into his, filled with worry and dread. Of what? Not him, surely! He fought to rise, baring his fangs right into her face as she fought to hold him down. He remembered his alpha’s words to young pup Ardi. A son of Fenris wins every battle but one, his last. Ardi drove his fangs for her face. He’d mark this sun-yellow flier for life before she killed him. She squeaked like a mouse found by a hungry pup. Emboldened, he snarled and closed in, licking his fangs. Her face went from fearful to furious as her eyes shot wide. “Don’t you DARE!” Ardi couldn’t move. Her eyes were wide and locked on his. His awareness of the floor beneath him, the animal-scents all around him, the distant birdsong outside, all faded until her angry gaze was all he knew. He snarled at himself to rise and run, to attack, to do something, but to his horror all he could do was lower himself to the floor in full belly-to-ground submission. His ears down, he whined miserably as she said, those eyes still blazing with dominance, “I am trying to HELP you, you crazy wolf! I understand that you’re frightened for some reason, and that you’ve probably never been in a pony house before, but that is NO reason for you to act like this, mister! So calm down! Un-der-stood?” Ardi could do little more than whine in agreement. As he did the winged demon seemed to calm herself. That power in her gaze faded. He found himself instinctively licking at her muzzle, placating her as he would have Aunt Ava or any Wolf above him in pack hierarchy. To his surprise she seemed to understand what it meant. “It’s all right,” she said, running one hoof along his head and neck. He cringed back, expecting an attack, but she just kept gentling him. He whimpered. He would not just die, he would die shamefully, like so many wolves did at the horns and wings and hooves of ponies. Shushing him, she said, “I’m not going to hurt you, okay? I just want to get you back into the back room so you’ll be safe. I don’t want other ponies to find you here, they might not understand.” Ardi wondered what there was to understand. Maybe she wanted to do keep him for her own amusement? He rose, moving slowly and painfully. That poison from the chicken pony still twisted his guts, though not so badly as before, and his head throbbed from hitting the glass. He began staggering towards that back room. He almost fell. Suddenly something warm and sweet-smelling pressed up against his side. He yipped in disbelief at what his nose told him. No, it was true. The flier-pony pressed against him, supporting him the way younger wolves supported elders who could still make their way around a den site. Her long flowing mane hung against him. He stuck his nosepad into it and sniffed. It felt rough yet soft against his wet black nose, and smelled even more strongly of flowers and warm dens and a loving dam then the rest of her. She eeped once more and shivered at the touch. But she didn’t pull away. Together, they made their way back to the piled blankets and towels. Ardi sniffed them and recoiled in disgust. They reeked of sickness and weakness. “Oh dear,” the flier said in that soft voice. “You really did make a mess of this, didn’t you?” Ardi looked at her weakly. She shot him a look, eyes wide with concern. “You were poisoned after all, though I’m sure that whoever did it wasn’t planning to hurt you, they just didn’t know…” As she went on in similar vein, all the while gathering up the old fouled blankets and setting fresh ones down, Ardi wondered about this flier. If a Wolf acted like this around their pack, they’d become the Omega before two shakes of their ruff, scorned and given the worst of all tasks unless and until they proved themselves worthy of more. He couldn’t help but to think that ponies must be somewhat similar at least from what he’d seen of the Stalliongradders. But this one? One second she seemed so helpless he wondered how she’d lived this long, and the next? He shuddered in memory. “There,” she said, showing him the fresh blankets. He warily laid down on them, giving a yip as she set a pillow under his head. She took away the pans filled with his waste, dumping them somewhere in the shadows at the other end of the den. He wondered what sort of crazy pony he’d found that would do this for an enemy. The flier-pony crossed over into the larger room, to return a few moments later bearing a tray in her mouth. What looked like a loaf of crusty pony bread lay on it, brown instead of black like those Stalliongrad ponies ate. Ardi remembered seeing them sometimes when he sneaked close enough to peer into windows of pony dens near the city. He definitely didn’t remember anything like the scent coming from it, though. Like meat but different, somehow. “Here you go,” she said, sounding happy as she put the tray down before him. A sort of funny-looking paste filled a depression within the bread bowl. “Here’s something for you to eat so you can get healthy again. I feed it to all my meat-eating animal friends.” He sniffed at it and bristled. A sharp and musty odor lay under the other smells, reminding him of herbs his grand-dam used to make him eat when he got sick as a pup. He looked at the flier warily. She must have read his thoughts, for she said, “Oh, those are just some medicines to help make you better. Herbs I grew in my own garden, and some alchemy my friend Zecora made, not that you’d know who she is…” Her voice trailed off as he watched her coldly. “Oh, would you like me to eat some to show you it’s okay?” She lowered her pony muzzle into the bowl like a Wolf into a kill, scooped up a small amount of the paste, hesitated. She looked at him. Ardi watched her silently. With a gulp she swallowed it. It seemed to go down hard to judge by how she acted, but nothing happened. She didn’t go into convulsions or the like. “See?” She said, cheery. “Now you try some.” Ardi put his muzzle into the bowl and all but gulped the contents down. He hadn’t eaten since before being poisoned, and even if this stuff failed to satisfy it was food that he could keep down. As he did so he wondered how he’d escape from here. Thankfully this pony seemed some foolish sort who thought of him as a mere beast. He’d play along and stay silent until he could sneak away. The secret was still safe. “So,” she said, out of the blue, “Who’s ‘The Burning Queen’ and why did you think I was her?" Ardi felt his eyes going wide. "And why would you have to kill yourself just because I learned you can talk?”