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// Chapter 9: Starlight gets got 
// Story: Boy or Beast 
// by AstralFlame 
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	Finding the cave that held the cutiemarks was easy. Starlight had made no attempt at trying to hide it, which had thrown Cyril off for a second. He had assumed, much like a lot of bronies, that she was evil and didn’t want ponies to see their past. Now though he stood in front of the large box and couldn’t help but be impressed by the sheer size of the holding compartment.

Breaking the compartment that held the cutiemarks would have been simple. All it would take to bring that wall down was a well placed Rhino skull, Cyril didn’t want to do that though, mainly because it would save him a headache, but he didn’t see a point in releasing the cutiemarks right now. All he’d do is give himself away, and the ponies here were still brainwashed, they’d go right back to Starlight and have their cutiemarks removed yet again.

Cyril thought about breaking the staff that Starlight would use, if he showed the ponies that the staff was a fake maybe they’d start seeing the truth. Cyril didn’t know nearly as much magic as Twilight or even Starlight for that matter, but he was pretty sure that strong magical items didn’t just break so easy. 

Cyril tried several ways to break the staff. first he tried to snap it over his knee which only resulted in a lot of pain for him. Then he tried to grab it by it’s two prongs and tear it down the middle. It was another failed attempt. Smashing it against walls, dropping heavy rocks onto it, trying to use it as a lever, none of these worked to snap the damned stick, Starlight probably put some kind of spell on it to make it harder to break. Eventually Cyril gave up and put the staff back where it was and began to pace back and forth.

“How do I stop her?” he asked aloud, before he laughed mockingly at himself  “I could always just walk into town and call her out,” he shook his head at that. “I might as well throw a big sign over my head that says ‘come and get me’.”

There was only one option that Cyril felt would work well. Cyril would have to douse Starlight in water and wash away the makeup that covered her real cutiemark. The question Cyril had to ask himself now was, how to go about it. Attacking her head on was bad idea if she saw him dive bomb her, she might attack him with magic and that just wasn’t going to work out, plus what if she aimed the kill him? It wasn’t likely but still Cyril didn’t feel the need to take that chance.

Cyril’s best option was to fly up on her from behind and drop water on her as he passed over her. If he did it quick enough she’d be revealed, the town’s ponies would revolt, and then Starlight would be taken care of. That last one Cyril was still a bit unsure about, he wasn’t sure if the ponies who lived here would be able to actually hold her, but one thing was for certain. If Cyril stopped her before Twilight and her friends got to the town, the Starlight wouldn’t seek to destroy Twilight and her friend’s friendship. A time traveling crisis would be averted, Twilight and her friends would be safe and most importantly, if Starlight did manage to get away Cyril would always track her with his wolf form.

Before Cyril could even begin to put his plan into action however, he heard something outside of the cave. Confused, he walked outside and looked down on the town. To say that he was surprised would be an understatement, down below in the village, ponies were singing. Normally this wouldn’t be that big of a deal, Cyril figured that ponies were prone to breaking out in song, and while he had never seen it happen before, he had decided long ago to simply roll with it.

What had surprised Cyril was the song the towns ponies were singing, and who he caught a glimpse of in the sky before two other pegasi placed their hooves on her withers and lowered her to the ground. There was only one rainbow maned pony that Cyril knew of and if she was here right now then that meant that the other mane 6 where here as well. 

Pacing, Cyril started to worry. Things were happening like they had in the show, Starlight was going to get away, of course that meant that everything was going to work out fine in the end. The towns ponies were going to get their cutiemarks back, the mane 6 were going to solve a friendship problem. Now would be a good time to turn and get the hell out of Starlight’s village and away from the mane 6, but the thought that Starlight would get away kept him planted in place.

At least that was until he heard voices nearby. Looking up Cyril recognized the voices of the mane 6 were approaching and cursed himself for getting lost in his thoughts. He should have been planning, instead he had wasted time. Looking around Cyril quickly turned into a bat before he flew to the top of the cave and looked down watching the mane 6 as they moved closer to the cutiemark vault, and right behind them skulking in the shadows was Starlight.

Cyril could hear them talking. It was the same thing they had said in the show, all down to the same tone of voice, then more ponies showed up as the mane 6 tried to run. Cyril watched as Starlight grabbed the staff and began to charge it up to steal their cutiemarks.

Without thinking Cyril changed into a hawk and dived at Starlight, his talons extended before he pulled up. There was a scream of pain and confused murmurs from both the mane 6 as well as Starlight’s brainwashed villagers. Hiding behind a large rock Cyril looked down at his talons and saw a large chunk of mane that had been ripped from Starlights Skull. Smirking at his small victory Cyril returned to his base form and peeked over the boulder to see Starlight clutching her head while the mane 6 looked on in confusion. Twilight, ever the smart opportunist, rushed forward, casting a spell that hit Starlight in her barrel. Stumbling back, Starlight regained her composer and began to fire magic blasts at the mane 6. Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy took  cover While Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Twilight began the offensive

Twilight fired back her own spells, while Rainbow Dash flew around Starlight trying to flank her, Rarity was using her telekinesis to hurl rocks at Starlight, Starlight however had put up a shield blocking both Twilight’s magic, and Rarity’s rocks. Rainbow seeing an opportunity to strike, dived at Starlight hoping to knock her out, however Starlight quickly turned and fired a blast of magic that hit Rainbow square in the chest. 

Rainbow Stopped in mid flight as her Cutiemark quickly peeled itself off of her flank before taking up an empty container in the vault. The rest of the mane 6 gasped as did Cyril as the black equal sign faded onto her flank and her bright color drained from her. Anger rose inside of Cyril as he watched Rainbow fall to the ground. He may not have been on the best of terms with the mane 6 but that didn’t mean he didn’t care.

Before he could even transform however a lasso shot out from behind a rock and wrapped itself around the staff. Starlight saw it coming however and quickly shot a spell at the rope which caught fire. The rope snapped and Starlight fired a spell which hit Applejack. The same effect that had happened to Rainbow happened to Applejack as well. 

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie quickly stood up to help AppleJack, but they to were hit with the same spell that forced their cutiemarks to remove themselves from their bodies. Twilight growled and fired more spells at Starlight’s shield. The spells bounced off of Starlights shields. Twilight growled in frustration before she charged a massive spell.

Starlight quickly took advantage of the situation and fired her spell at Twilight. Twilight screamed in pain as her cutiemark peeled itself from her flank, as the spell she had been charging quickly lost power and sputtered  out. Rarity looked between her friend Twilight and Starlight, but before she could so much as blink, she to was hit by the spell and her cutiemark joined the others in the vault.

“Okay Double Diamond, escort the Princess and her friends back into town and put them in the ‘guest house.’” Starlight said putting emphasis on the last two words.

“Starlight I think we should talk about what just happened,” Double Diamond replied as he looked between the mane 6 and Starlight.

“Double Diamond, you saw for yourself they attacked me first,” She replied as she moved a hoof to her mane. “Just look what they’ve done to my mane, they could have hurt me,”

Double Diamond seemed to think about it for a moment before he nodded and decided that she had acted in self defense. Once he had made up his mind Double Diamond began escorting the girls out of the cave.

Cyril peeked over the boulder he had hidden behind and saw Starlight glaring around the cave before she finally left with the rest of the ponies. Cyril watched her leave as a low growl escaped him. The thought of turning into a wolf and sinking his teeth into her throat before ripping it out ran through his mind. Cyril could already taste the blood in his mouth as he slowly crept out from behind cover.

The taste of copper became too real and Cyril had to stop a moment. Spitting onto the ground, Cyril could see the red as it stuck out against the cold grey of the floor. The light from the vault bringing a sense of clarity to his mind as he realized the blood he had been tasting was his own. Cyril had been so caught up in his anger that he hadn’t even realized he had been biting his own lip, his anger clouding his mind and not letting the register the pain.

Spitting again, to rid himself of the taste of blood, Cyril looked to the entrance to see that Starlight had already left. Looking down at his blood Cyril growled again, this time at himself. This was getting out of control, already had his anger nearly caused him to die, but now he was unknowingly hurting himself. Cyril would have to keep a close eye on his anger, however he had to laugh a bit as the thought that he was actually the Hulk played through his mind.

Pushing his humor aside, Cyril focused on the problem at hand. The mane 6 was in trouble, and he was going to get them out of trouble, however possible. Screw the integrity of the show.


00000


Sneaking down from the vault in his base form was easy for Cyril, especially when night had fallen. Most of the towns ponies had returned home and fallen asleep. The only one’s who seemed to be awake right now were two ponies who stood on either side of the “guest house”. In fact they made it really easy for Cyril to spot which house to look for.

It also helped that it was the only house blaring propaganda about how being the same as everypony else was to be equal. Behind the “guest house” away was a window that was barred and showed the inside. Standing with his back against the wall Cyril turned and whispered inside the house.

“Pst, Princess,” he called keeping himself out of sight. “Princess Twilight, come to the window,” He wasn’t sure if she had heard him, he wasn’t even sure she was awake. He didn’t want to risk peeking inside for fear that one of them might see him.

The night was silent for a few seconds, except for the speakers, before Cyril’s ears picked up the sound of approaching hooves. “Who’s out that? What do you want?” Twilight hissed her muzzle barely visible from where I was standing.

“Let’s just say I’m a friend,” I whispered back. That got a snort out of her, it seemed she didn’t believe me. “I’m the one who ripped part of Starlight’s mane out,” I whispered back before I was meet with silence.

“How barbaric,” I heard Rarity say.

“I thought it was pretty cool, someone needed to knock that mare down a few pegs,” the voice of Rainbow Dash said, making Cyril smile a bit.

“So if you are a friend why are you here now, why didn’t you help us back in the cave when Starlight was stealing our cutiemarks?” Twilight asked hints of anger in her voice.

“If I showed myself I would have been caught like the rest of you, and I wouldn’t be able to help you now,” Cyril replied getting them to keep quiet. Deciding to push forward Cyril spoke again. “Listen when you were in town did you notice something strange about the towns ponies?” 

“Ya mean besides the fact that they share the same cutiemark?” AppleJack asked. 

“No, look all of them share the same cutiemark but they also share something else, something Starlight doesn’t share with them. Their colors are faded, but who’s the only brightly colored pony in this town?” Cyril asked. The inside of the room was quiet for several seconds before Twilight spoke up.

“Are you saying Starlight still has her cutiemark?” Cyril smiled, but said nothing. Instead he slowly moved away from the window and towards the front of the front of the house. He spied the two ponies who stood outside.

Moving as fast as he could, Cyril punched the first pony in the face, making him stumble back. Using the second pony’s surprise, Cyril jumped over the first before he landed and swept the legs of the second pony making him fall to the ground. Getting up on a knee, Cyril punched the pony in the face, knocking him out, before he turned to face the first pony again. Still dazed, the pony tried to charge Cyril, however he simply sidestepped and charged forward himself, his fist connecting with the ponies face for a second time before he fell to the ground unconscious.

“What’s happening out there?” Twilight asked, causing Cyril to quickly move out of sight from the windows.

“I just took out the guards, I'm about to open the door,” Cyril replied as he looked the door over. Glancing at the door he saw it was locked and needed a key.

“You attacked somepony?” Twilight asked. It was clear she was angry, and Cyril had to frown.

“Oh I’m sorry Princess I couldn’t just ask them if I could let you guys out now could I? Besides I only knocked them out, they’ll be fine, if a little sore,” Cyril commented. No one replied so Cyril continued. “What do you plan to do when I get this door opened?”

The question seemed to catch Twilight off guard. “What?” She asked, causing Cyril to shake his head in frustration. Already he was getting somewhat angry.

“Listen Princess, since you don’t seem to know what you’re going to do I’ll just tell you. When I get this door opened, you’re going to head to Starlight’s place, and you’re going to restrain her, meanwhile I’m going to smash that vault wide open,” Cyril hastily said as he looked left and right.

Being out in the open for as long as he was, was unsettling, not to mention it had been awhile since he had talked to someone else. Social standards had gone out the window and the fact that he was talking to the pony who had unknowingly violated him still left him on edge. He glanced around again before a light caught his eyes. Turning to glance at it he saw that the light came from the second story of the only house that wasn’t in a line.

In the window staring down at him with a mix of fear, anger and curiosity was Starlight. The two stared at each other for a long while before Starlight bolted out of view of the window. “Shit,” he growled which caused the mane 6 to jump in surprise at the anger in his voice. Transforming into bear and not caring if he was spotted or not, Cyril pounded on the door, causing the wood to splinter and the ponies inside to scream in terror.

Cyril ignored their cries as the door broke under his assault and fell to the ground as nothing more than splinters. The light from the moon illuminated his beastly form which caused the mares inside to shrink back. It was not until his form shrank that they seemed to calm down a bit, but they still looked at him with fear.

“Starlight is getting away, you need to stop her before she disappears for good,” he said before he walked out of the house and ran for the cave.

“Wait?!” he heard Twilight call from behind him, causing him to falter for a moment. Turning to face her, Cyril saw gratitude as well as curiosity, but fear still marred her features.

Twilight opened her mouth as if to say something but Cyril cut her off before she could let a single syllable escape. “Stop  Starlight!” he growled, which forced Twilight to take a step back. For a brief moment regret flashed over his face before he turned and ran to the cave.

Once inside the cave Cyril turned into a Rhino before he charged at the vault. Spiderweb cracks appeared on the vault’s surface but otherwise the vault remained intact. Cyril moved back before he charged the vault again. More cracks spread along the surface but still the vault remained. Puffs of steam escaped his nostrils as he pawed the ground before letting out a bellow and charging for a third time. 

Lowering his head at the last second, Cyril felt his horn lodge into the vaults surface. Raising his head and pulling back as hard as he could, the glass shattered. In a show of light, the cutiemarks flew from the vault before leaving the cave to find their owners.


00000


Cyril stood above Starlight’s village. He had to grin as he saw the unicorn bound and gagged. The whole of the town surrounded the mane 6 and Starlight. Cyril watched as Twilight used a rag to wipe away the makeup that hid her cutiemark. Gasps and angry shouts met Starlight as she looked at the once loyal members of her “Perfect society”. Twilight turned as she seemed to notice him from his spot up high.

Realization flashed through her eyes and  she looked like she was ready to to rush towards him to ask all sorts of questions. Cyril only shook his head before turning around and walking out of her sight. A moment later a bird rose in the sky and took off. 

Up until now Cyril didn’t know what he was going to do, or where he was going to go. Staying out of the way of ponies seemed nearly impossible, but Cyril had begun to change his mind on a few things. Getting to see Starlights village had made him more open to the idea of seeing the rest of Equestria, and now that Starlight had been captured, Cyril didn’t have to worry about her messing with the past.

Turning to the icy mountains that Starlight had used as her escape in the show. Cyril had decided that he’d like to see Rainbow falls, after that he was going to head to the Crystal Empire. Cyril had a new goal in life now, and while Cyril had never once given any thought to traveling the world...now it didn’t seem like such a bad idea, in fact Cyril almost felt compelled to travel now