Princess Celestia, origin of all that is good and mother to us all...
Whoops, wrong introduction. Let me start over.
Princess Celestia, immortal ruler of Equestria and she who raises the sun, calmly sipped from a cup of tea as she considered the stacks of paper in front her. The stacks were considered for only several seconds more before the spiralling ivory horn atop her head lit up with a beautiful yellow glow and the hapless piles of parchment vanished, whisked away to be poured upon by dozens of bureaucrats and secretaries -- the latter being the ones who did all the actual work -- before they were appropriately sorted into their proper places.
It didn't matter to her. She didn't need to read them to know what they said, as the smile that graced her lips showed. Equestria -- no, the entire world -- was entering an unquestionable Golden Age. The dozens upon dozens of papers she had pushed aside would only corroborate that.
The miasma that had threatened the minotaur's food supply had been destroyed. The monsters that prowled the lands where the buffalo roamed had been wiped out. The foul -- or fowl -- darkness that had threatened the gryphons had been purified. Even the changelings, long enemies of Equestria, had been saved from the horrible corruption that had threatened to wipe them out. Celestia certainly hadn't expected it when the Queen of the changelings, still recovering from the poisoned love that had nearly taken her life, had immediately turned around and had helped to save Equestria in return, though Celestia was forever grateful that she had. If it hadn't been for her brave actions, Celestia might have been forced to kill her own sister on that dark day.
The sound of crunching bone ripped through Celestia's melancholic thoughts before she could delve into more self-recriminations regarding what a near thing it had all been. Taking another sip of her tea in order to steady her nerves, Celestia glanced in the direction of the noise. In particular, she stared at the large white wolf that sat in the middle of her working room, happily crushing a large golden bone into shreds with its powerful jaws.
Most ordinary citizens would only see a fairly ordinary wolf when they looked at the large, powerful predator. True, wolves were a rare sight in Equestria, and white ones were almost unheard of, but other than that, there didn't appear to be anything particularly special about the wolf. However, Celestia was one of only a small group of individuals capable of piercing the illusion that surrounded the wolf and seeing her for what she really was. She could see the red markings that patterned the wolf's entire body, and the strange fur that flowed on her back and sides much as Celestia's own mane and tail appeared to flow in an ethereal breeze. Most of all, Celestia could see the large mirror that lay on the wolf's back. Despite its normally mundane use, the mirror was a mighty weapon in the wolf's paws and Celestia had seen her use it as such. However, it wasn't the wolf's only weapon. Celestia had also seen the wolf swap out her mirror for a dexterous set of beads or a devastating sword in less time than it took for her to blink.
Most of the castle staff thought of the wolf as a strange sort of pet of Celestia's and endured the carnivore's presence with only a slight shuddering of fear whenever they witnessed the wolf's mighty jaws crushing bone into tiny shards. Celestia had a sneaking suspicion the wolf was aware of this and always made a point to eat her meals in places where they would disturb the most ponies possible. They believed the wolf was just a ferocious animal kept on a carefully-controlled leash and that if it weren't for the presence of the Princesses, they might wake one night to the sight of a slavering beast standing over them, ready and prepared to tear their throat out.
They couldn't have been more wrong.
If anything, Celestia suspected her citizens might actually be safer around the wolf than they were around Celestia herself. Most ponies thought the wolf a simple beast, and nothing more. What they didn't know was that the wolf actually possessed incredible magic; magic, in fact, stronger than that of both Celestia and her sister combined. If the wolf desired it, she could easily take over Equestria and the surrounding lands and lay claim to anything she wanted.
At the moment, it was clear that the only thing the wolf wanted was the sweet marrow locked away inside the bone she held.
"Ah, my friend," Celestia said with a smile, raising her teacup in front of her face. "If only you could talk, I wonder what stories you could tell."
At the sound of Celestia's voice, the wolf poked her head up and looked at the pony sun goddess. She stared at the other, taller white being in the room for several seconds before her head tilted to the left. "Wurf?"
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If only I could talk, huh?
I could, once. I wasn't always a wolf.
Ah, but I suppose that's a story there. And all a story needs is a teller and an audience.
In that case, I suppose the best place to start would be at the beginning.
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Where... am I?
I gradually regained consciousness. My mind felt muddled and heavy, like someone had packed several pounds of cotton in my skull. My memories were slow in returning to me and came to me in pieces. That said, it wasn't like I was even able to make any sense of them once they had all returned.
"Are you ready yet, Samantha?" Amanda yells at me through the open door before she pokes her head in. The faux-gold crown on her head nearly falls off and she quickly reaches up with a white-gloved hand to catch it. "We're already running late."
"Well, excuuuuuse me, Princess," I blithely reply. My hand blindly fumbles at a spot directly above my tailbone in a futile attempt to attach a pure white tail with a heavy black tip to the sash tied around my waist. After a few seconds, I release the tail... and it instantly drops to the floor. "Damn it!"
Amanda chuckles, ruefully shaking her head as she steps into my bedroom. Her large pink dress flows with every careful step she makes, the hem resting only an inch or two above the ground. "Wrong Princess. And is the poor wittle puppy having twouble getting weady?" she adds in an irritating baby-talk.
"Oh, go get kidnapped by a koopa," I grumble, bending down to scoop up the fallen tail. She just laughs as she takes the noncompliant clump of fur before she crouched down behind me and started fiddling with my watashi or whatever the sash was called.
A few months ago, my girlfriend Amanda had told me about this costume convention she had been to a few times and asked if I wanted to go with her. She even said she'd help me make my costume if I wanted to dress up, so I really had no reason for saying no. I had never gone to one of these events before, so I decided I'd dress up as one of my favourite player characters ever, Amaterasu from the PS2/Wii game Ōkami. If you've never heard of Ōkami before: A) the hell is wrong with you, B) it's like Zelda, only more awesome in every way except for some of the suckier sidequests and the lackluster final dungeon, C) Ammy is the greatest silent protagonist ever (even better than shapeshifting Mario), and D) the hell is wrong with you?
Seriously, the sidequests suck hardcore. Blockhead Grande and the stupid beehive can die in a fire.
Amanda had chosen to dress up as Princess Peach for the convention. She even had a little Toad plushy hanging off her waist. When I asked her why she wanted to dress up as the world's quintessential kidnapping victim, she just said that she 'liked the dress.' And to be fair, she does look good in it. Her homemade dress hugs at her body, nicely showing off the curves while also hiding the taut muscles that I know are there. You wouldn't know it by seeing her in the fancy outfit she's wearing now, but she's actually a fan of boxing and wrestling and she's pretty good at both. She's even forced me to learn how to fight just so she could have a sparring partner whenever she wanted one. Not that I minded too much. I wasn't a fan of the fighting itself, but Amanda always knew how to make it up to me afterwards.
In comparison to Amanda's costume, mine had actually been a little tricky to put together. Since Amaterasu is a wolf -- something I am not -- I had instead dressed up as a bipedal, or anthro version of the character. We had even gone out and bought me a white kimono and some wolf ears for me to wear. I had even gone as far as to dye my hair white. My skin was given a pale appearance thanks the judicious application of some make-up, which made the red markings that patterned my body like some native-american warpaint stand out all the more. The only object that had needed to be hand-made was the tail, since it had the most specific requirements.
And, naturally, the tail absolutely refused to stay on.
"And done," Amanda suddenly says, patting my butt as she stands up. In order to test the security of the tail, I wave my hips from side to side as she moves away, knowing it will only last for a second at most before it drops off just like it had all the times when I had tried it. The tail wags from side to side, but does not fall off. Glaring at it like it had personally betrayed me, I start shaking even harder in an attempt to dislodge the furry appendage.
"Not that I don't enjoy the show," Amanda drolly said, instantly bringing a blush to my cheeks as I realize how silly I must look, "we really should get going."
"Go!" I snap, suddenly eager to leave. I quickly head for the door, pointedly not looking at the smug smile that's present on Amanda's face. "Yes, let's go!" I hurriedly put my shoes on while Amanda follows me at a more sedate pace, her smile unchanging. "Come on, Amanda, we don't want to be late!"
I tear the front door open and step outside. The instant the sun's rays touches me, I suddenly start to feel light headed. The feeling of wooziness persists until I collapse and everything goes white.
That was it. The last thing I remember.
After getting my confused thoughts into something resembling order, if a jumbled sort of order, my awareness starts to extend to the area around me. I have the sensation of opening my eyes, though it wasn't until afterwards that I realized I didn't even have eyes anymore.
The first thing that instantly drew my gaze was the large planet spread out below me. I mean, how would I have missed it? It's a friggin' planet!
Buh... Huh? Bwa? Not the most comprehensible of thoughts, I'll admit, but I'd say my confusion was justified. Last thing I remember was heading to a convention with my girlfriend. Next thing I know, I'm in space. There's a bit of a slight gap between those two events.
Where am I? Well, space. I'd think that's pretty obvious, past-me.
What happened to my clothes? Clothes? Seriously? That's your next question?
Amanda! Oh my god, Amanda! Where are you?
Yeaaah, I'm going to interrupt here. It just gets sad from here on out. Lots of tears. Anyway, after a few hours crying and begging for someone -- preferably Amanda -- to come save me, I managed to pull my mind together enough to get a better idea of my situation. At first, I wondered how I was breathing in space without a spacesuit. I mean, I wasn't Superman. Or Batman. What? Batman can breathe in space. True fact.
Where was I? Right, breathing in space. Well, suffice to say I figured out the answer to that question when I realized I wasn't actually breathing any more. Mostly because I didn't have lungs. Or a body. Or... much of anything else, really. No, instead, I had somehow or another been transformed into the sun itself.
Aaaaaand... that was it. That was the point when my brain broke. I don't know how many years passed before I recovered enough to think comprehensible thoughts again. Thousands? Millions? Several millions, at least. Enough time for life to begin to develop and even flourish on the planet below me.
It was actually watching these animals that helped me pull my shattered psyche back together. Despite the distance between us, I was able to see them as clearly as if I was right there next to them. 'Anywhere the light touches' may seemed like a bit of a cliché, but in my case, that's an accurate description.
I watched as the animals grew and developed, eventually forming societies and cultures of their own. They weren't humans, but it didn't matter to me. I witnessed their successes, their failures, their triumphs, and their tragedies. I grew to love them, these creatures below me.
Many years passed while I watched, until the time when I felt something brush up against me. It was a warm feeling, a tender embrace; almost like a daughter holding their mother for the first time. My attention was drawn down to a specific spot on the surface far below me, to a small young pony-like creature with both a horn and wings. It -- no, she -- she had white fur covering her body along with a pink mane and tail. Her expression showed immense satisfaction, and, as I watched, her flank suddenly lit up and developed a stylized image of the sun on it.
From that point on, I took special interest in watching the white pony. I watched as both her and her sister grew from a pair of young fillies to two very beautiful mares. I didn't see when the sister gained an image of the moon on her flank, but I suppose it happened during the night when I was blind to the events occurring on the surface of the planet. The pair lived on despite the marching years, only becoming larger and more beautiful as the others around them aged and died.
I observed as the pair grew to become leaders among their people, rulers of a wide-spread country that had almost been destroyed before it could start. I wanted to be there, down there with them. I tried to reach out to help them when they fought a strange creature that looked like an amalgam of several other creatures. My non-existent heart ached for them when they fought a cruel centaur capable of stealing away the magical energy of other creatures. I could do nothing but watch as they fought against a twisted unicorn using foul magic in order to save a city made of crystal, and I would have cried if I was able when they were unable to save the city and it disappeared into thin air. And I shared in their pain when the younger of the two sister succumbed to dark powers and the elder was forced to banish her to the moon in order to save the world.
For the next nine hundred years, I tried to reach out to the pony that had been banished to the moon. But restricted in the sun as I was, I was unable to penetrate the vast expanse of space and eventually had to give up. There was a moment, about eight hundred and sixty-two years in, when I thought I had finally managed to reach her. For the space of a split second, I managed to establish a connection with her. For that one glorious, heart-stopping instant, I could feel her emotions and sense the touch of another's mind on my own. But then the moment was gone, and the bond shattered to pieces before I could strengthen it. I was never able to contact her again. In time I gave up trying.
For the next hundred years, I returned to my pastime of silently watching the many creatures and species on the world below. This was how it continued on, with no sign of changing, until the day when everything changed.
The day had started much like any other day. I had been floating in the vast empty void of space, silently watching the creatures on the surface of the planet going about their lives. The large white pony had appeared tense about something, but I figured it didn't concern me and that I would eventually find out what had her so worried.
I was right about the latter, but oh, so very wrong about the former.
Just as I was expecting for the white pony to go through her daily ritual of grabbing me with her magic and guiding me across the sky, I was distracted by something happening that completely broke the regular, day-to-day pattern. The moon started to glow.
I watched with amazement as the shackles that had held the younger sister for so many years suddenly shattered. The powerful forces breaking her free followed the bond connecting us together -- the bond that I had thought broken. In hindsight, I suppose that even once something is broken, that's different from it having never been there in the first place.
The potent forces reached me, and everything went white.
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I woke up to the pleasant sensation of a throbbing headache. My ears twitched irritably at the sound of tweeting birdsong around me, and I raised a paw over my eyes in a desperate attempt to make the noisy animals go away.
Wait.
Wait.
Hold up.
Ears? Birdsong? Paw?
Ignoring the feeling in my head that felt like my brain was trying to tunnel its way through my skull and set off for new lands on its own, I stood up for the first time in uncounted millennia. And after doing so, I froze.
I was in a forest. Not merely watching it from thousands of kilometers away, but actually in a forest. I tried to take a step forward but, unused as I was to controlling a body, I stumbled and nearly fell over. During my little almost-tumble, I happened to glance down and the ground in front of me. Where I thought my hands were, and that I was resting on my hands and knees, I instead saw a pair of pure white paws. Looking over my body, I realized what had happened.
Somehow, I had been turned into Amaterasu from Ōkami. My human body was gone, and I had instead been transformed into a four-legged white wolf. And you know what? I was in way too good a mood about finally having a body of my own to care or question it in the slightest.
I looked up in the sky, at the sun that had been both my prison and my home for so long hanging high in the air above me. I could feel something growing deep inside me at the sight of the glowing orb. A sensation that built and built, until it finally demanded to be set free.
I released it.
Holding nothing back, I threw back my head and howled to the heavens.