“Lyra! There you are!”
Lyra turned to face the speaker.
“Hey, Octavia! I’m guessing you’re the pony I’m supposed to be waiting for?”
Pinkie’s message had simply asked her to wait for somepony on the edge of town by the path into the Everfree Forest. How said message had gotten into her box of breakfast oats was something that Lyra had chosen to ignore.
“Indeed. How have you been?”
“Not bad. How about you?”
“Quite well, thank you.”
“So, what’s going on?”
Octavia gave a confused look. “Didn’t Pinkie tell you?” The green mare shook her head. “Well, Pinkie thought it would be a good idea to have you shadow each of the local Owls, so you could get to know us, and the types of things we specialize in. And, as I had a bit of work to do today, Pinkie sent you here.”
Lyra nodded. “That makes sense. What are we doing, then?”
“I’ll tell you on the way. Oh, but before we go, Pinkie wanted us to do this by the book, which means we need to introduce ourselves. Pinkie did remember to tell you about that, right?” Seeing Lyra’s confirmation, Octavia gestured to her to begin.
“The glade is dark and full of shade.”
“The owl stands, ever vigilant. Octavia Melody, Howling Symphonist.”
“Lyra Heartstrings, Truthseeker.”
Satisfied, Octavia began walking down the dirt path towards the forest, and Lyra followed. “Truthseeker, that’s not bad. Pinkie did a good job on that one.”
“Well, yours is pretty cool too.”
“Really? I’ve always found it to be a bit… hmmm… overdramatic.”
“So whyHowling Symphonist?”
Octavia chuckled. “You’ll find out when we get to the forest.”
“So, we are going into the Everfree?”
“Indeed.”
“…The wild forest? The one packed with mare-munching monsters and malicious magical plants?” The grey mare nodded. “And we’re going in… completely unarmed?”
“Oh, it’s not that bad.” Octavia replied. Lyra froze, completely caught off guard by the mare’s casual response, and after a moment had to rush ahead to catch up.
I guess if she says it’s fine, then it’s fine, Lyra thought to herself. Besides, this is what you signed up for, isn’t it?
“What are we going to be doing in the Everfree?”
“I was out in the forest last night for a run, and I noticed that a lot of the animals were acting strange, as if something had frightened them. I brought this up with Zecora, and she agreed. You and I are going to investigate, and see if we can’t figure out what’s got them so worked up.”
Any further questions about their mission, or about Octavia’s running habits, were silenced as the two passed through the entrance into the forest. She turned to Lyra. "Are you absolutely certain you’re ready for this?”
Lyra swallowed nervously. “Yeah.”
“Alright then.” Octavia’s face took on a sly smile. “Now, you were wondering where the Howling part came from?”
All of a sudden, Octavia’s features began to change. Her muzzle elongated and widened into something more similar to a snout. Her ears became pointed, and her coat grew thicker. Her legs thinned and bent, hooves splitting apart into toes, no, paws, with sharp claws extending from the ends.
Octavia looked down, now a head taller than her companion. Her mouth opened, revealing sharp teeth and a long, flat tongue. “Well there you have it.”
“You’re a werewolf!” Lyra shouted in shock.
“Indeed, although personally I prefer lycanequine.”
“But I thought—“
“That those were just old mare’s tales?” Octavia shook her head. “I’d get out of the habit of saying that. Otherwise, you’ll be saying it a lot. Come along.”
The two began their trek into the forest, Octavia leading the way, sniffing at the air every so often.
“So, how does the whole werewolf thing work, exactly?” Lyra asked. “I mean, the legends say you only transform on the night of the full moon, but it’s the middle of the day.”
Octavia bent down to examine a set of tracks. “As with most legends, they’re half right. We are forced to fully transform on the night of the full moon; we also go feral and lose control of ourselves during that time. But we can shift the rest of the time as well, and keep control.” Shaking her head, she led Lyra in a new direction. “Oh, and what you’re seeing right now is a partial shift. I’m currently holding the transformation about halfway between pony and wolf. It makes conversation easier.”
“So what do you do, chain yourself up every full moon?”
“No, that’s a recipe for disaster; a confined lycan is an angry lycan. I go into the Everfree. Plenty of room to run around in, plenty of prey to hunt, everything a feral lycanequine needs to keep itself occupied until morning. It’s the main reason I moved to Ponyville.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Not at all! I’ve been doing this for years, and my lycan form has never tried to leave the forest. And even if I did, Vinyl keeps watch when I go out, and the rest of the Owls know to be on their guard. There’s absolutely no danger to the town.”
“That’s good to hear,” Lyra started, “but I was more concerned for you.”
Octavia stopped and looked at her companion. “Lyra, have you ever seen a timberwolf?”
“I’ve seen pictures, why?”
“My fully shifted form is bigger. And twice as strong.”
“Oh.”
The two continued into the forest.