The Protector

by QueenChrysalisForever

Start of a New Life

Chapter 3: Start of a New Life

Hollow Shades- Edge of Town- Nightingale

I lifted both my hooves to my muzzle, heart beating wildly as I stared down at the unconscious timberwolf- or well, pony now. His coat was much the same color his wood had been, an almost black dark-brown. His mane was short, just a little past the bottom of his ears, but it was wavy, and the color of mahogany.

He bit his lip as he slept, ears twitching, curled up into a ball with his tail wrapped around him, what little there was of it. Like his mane, it was also wavy, but only long enough to reach his upper flanks. “You are so handsome,” I sighed, then slapped my hooves back over my mouth. What was I doing? I- I couldn’t just fall for him like that. No matter what the stories said. Though, he had saved me.

Not that I couldn’t have taken care of Mug and Barrel myself, but−

“Gale?”

I lowered my ears flat against my skull as I heard the voice of my mother calling. Colt! What was I going to do with him? Grannie’s stories kind of skipped over a lot of the part after… but then being such an old tale those details were likely lost.

I looked around, from one side of us to the next, where to put him? What to do with him? Upon spotting the Shades wheelbarrow, usually used for transporting crops, against the tavern wall I grinned. Leaning down, I really wished I was a unicorn right now. Moving him would be so much easier.

I wrapped a hoof under each of his front legs, grunting as I stepped backward, pulling him along with me. He groaned softly, mumbling, but otherwise remained quiet. “Shh, just a little farther big guy,” I whispered and laid him out next to the wheelbarrow, taking in a deep breath as his weight left me.

“Okay Gale, let’s do this. Hide him now and we’ll be back for him early in the morning. I just hope he sleeps that long.” I grunted as I pushed the wheelbarrow over, breathing a sigh of relief when it covered him neatly. He’d have some dirt in his fur come morning, but that was the least of our problems.

“Gale!” Mother yelled, letting out a sigh as she came around the corner. “Barrel just found me. He told me you were attacked by a timberwolf?”

“Ugh,” I groaned, facehoofing. “No, the wolf attacked Mug mother, but he didn’t hurt him.”

“Oh thank Celestia you are safe,” she said, running to wrap me in a hug. “What happened to the timberwolf?”

“Well that loud bang scared him and he ran off,” I said, ears lowering slightly. I really hated lying to mother, but it’s not like I could tell her the truth now could I?

“Bang? What loud bang?”

“You mean you didn’t hear it?”

Mother shook her head, looking around. I cringed as her eyes fell on the upside down wheelbarrow. “Unless you are talking about that, I did hear what sounded like that falling over. But that wouldn’t be too loud.”

“Right! That was it,” I mumbled, hugging her to me again and pulling her away from it. “I pushed it over and the sound scared him.”

“Well aren’t you such a brave one, my dear,” Mother chuckled, rubbing a hoof through my mane. “It’s late, we need to get you home.”

“Of course, mother.” I let out a huge yawn, covering my mouth with one hoof. “It has been an exhausting day.”

Mother nodded, taking one last look at the wheelbarrow before she turned around and began to lead the way home. I trotted after her, taking a deep breath and letting it out in relief.
“Where’s father?”

Mother winced. “He’s at home, passed out.” She turned to look at me as we passed under the bright light of the moon. I hadn’t noticed until then, but she looked so exhausted with deep bags under her eyes. “It’s been a very hard day on him. Even worse when you disappeared.”

I lowered my ears, rubbing a forehoof against my other. “I’m sorry mother. I just… needed some time.”

“I know honey,” she sighed, and trotted on.

It wasn’t long until we reached our front door. Trotting inside, I looked to see Grannie’s bedroom door wide open, moonlight pooling out onto the floor in front of it. A tear trickled down my cheek, but I shook it away. The blanket I had used the night before had been folded neatly and placed on the arm of the couch, the pillow on top of it.

“If you need to, you may sleep on the couch again,” Mother whispered, nuzzling my cheek. “Just stay safe. You know you can come to me if you have any problems, right?”

“Of course mother,” I nodded. I kissed her cheek, and pulled the pillow back onto the couch as
mother stepped toward her room.

“Sleep well then.” With that, she opened her bedroom door and trotted inside, closing it behind her.

I grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around me, sitting down on the couch. So much had happened today –tonight− and it still buzzed in my brain. Grannie’s stories had been true, it seemed. The Timberwolf moon, the transformation, all had come to pass as she said. Did that mean the rest would happen too?

This wolf and I, were we to be mates? The idea just seemed so… weird. Shouldn’t we be able to choose our own fate? And what would he think of all of this? I mean, he was a predator, would he even want to be mates with what he might consider prey? “Ugh! When did life become so confusing?” I groaned, throwing my hooves up over my face.

I stood, walking to the kitchen window and looking up at the sky. The stars shone brightly beside the full moon. “Grannie, why did you have to leave me now?” I sighed. “I need you now more than ever.”

The light of the moon caught against my necklace, the moonstone shining bright for a moment. I picked it up in my hoof, looking down at it, and smiled. It reminded me of what Grannie had said last night.

“Promise me you will be open minded Gale.”

I clasped my hoof around the moonstone, nodding. “I will keep my promise Grannie. Somehow, you knew. You knew all of this. I don’t know how you do it, but I will do my best.” It was at that moment, a shooting star shot across the sky. My eyes watered, my body shaking a little. “I love you too Grannie.”

---

Hollow Shades- Shadow

My ears twitched, hearing grunting above me. Something moved, and my body became enveloped in a slight warmth. “Gah!” I yelped, when I felt a hoof gently nudge against me. Opening my eyes, I looked up into the face of an angel, a halo of light surrounding her beautiful mane. Wait, mane? I blinked, shaking my head and holding a paw to it, only to feel something cold and hard in place of my claws. Seeing a dark hoof where my claws should be I panicked, scrambling backwards.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you,” the angel before me whispered, smiling at me. She moved to the side, and with the sun no longer haloing her in light, I saw it was that mare from before. Gale was what those ruffians called her, wasn’t it?

I took in deep breaths, feeling the wind against my body. Dare I look? Taking a deep breath, I looked down to see my barked hide was gone, replaced with flesh, bone, and fur. My coat was a brown so dark it was almost black. In place of my claws were hooves, a lighter brown than my coat, almost reddish-brown. Little tufts of fur hung over them.

“By the love of the moon, am I a- a pony?” I gasped.

Gale giggled, kneeling down beside me where I lay on the dirt. “Mmhmm,” she said. “An earth pony, to be exact.”

“B-but how- why? A-and you can understand me?” I felt my ears twitch, the little hairs inside of them brushing against each other.

“Yeah, I guess I can,” she rubbed her chin in thought. “How are you feeling? You’ve been out for hours.”

My eyes widened at that, my breaths coming fast. “H-hours? Oh this is not good, not good...” I jumped up, wavering back and forth as the dizziness returned.

“Careful, not so fast,” Gale said, putting a paw- no hoof- to my shoulder.

“You don’t get it, my pack will be worried. I- I need to go.” I turned to head back into the forest, only to stumble over my new hooves and tumble to the ground again. “Ugh, how do you walk on these accursed appendages? You have no claws to hold onto the ground!”

Gale laughed, and held out a hoof. “You’ll get used to it I imagine. What is your name, by the way? I’m Nightingale, but most ponies call me Gale.”

“I know who you are,” I said taking the hoof and grunting a little as she helped me up. “I am Shadow, Alpha of the Moonclaw pack.”

“The Alpha?” she asked. “Does that mean you are their leader?”

I nodded. “And that is why I must get back to them. I told Cherry I would be back soon, and now,” I looked around, watching as the sun left the horizon. “I’ve been gone all night.”

Gale’s ears lowered slightly, biting her lip. “Is-is this Cherry your wife?”

I laughed at that, shaking my head. “By the elders bark no! She is just my youngest sister.”

Gale chuckled at that too, and I saw her blush. “Oh, well good!” She stepped a little closer to me, head tilted sideways. “Though, you might want to reconsider going to them.”

“But they need me! Without me there, some lone wolf could just clamber in and steal them!” I growled.

“I think you are forgetting something,” she said softly. “You are not a timberwolf anymore.”

I just stood there, blinking at her. She was right. “But why? What happened? I- the moon!” Suddenly, all of last night came back to me. Could it be? Had Dad’s stories been true? I looked over at Gale, who seemed to suddenly become shy and turned away.

“Grannie always told me stories about the Timberwolf Moon,” Gale sighed. “But I-I I never thought…”

“My Dad used to tell them to me too,” I said. “Sorry about your Grannie by the way.”

She looked back up at me, startled. “What do you mean?”

“Well it is her grave in your graveyard, right? The freshly dug one?”

Gale winced. “Y-yeah. She died yesterday.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “My Dad died three summers ago, but I still miss him so much.”

“Gale?”

Gale jumped, turning around as a nutty brown stallion with a dark green mane trotted up to her. “Mossy? What are you doing here?”

“I came looking for you after I heard what happened last night,” he said. “I tried at your house first, but your mother said you had already left.” He turned to look at me. “Who are you?”

“This is Shadow,” Gale blurted. “He’s new to town and I met him as I was taking a morning walk.”

“New, huh?” Mossy said, narrowing his eyes. “We don’t get many new ponies here.”

“Y-yeah, Gale is right,” I stammered. By the elder’s bark, why was I so nervous around this pony? “I wanted a change of pace, yeah something different.”

Mossy continued to stare at me for a moment, but then nodded. “Well then, I guess I should welcome you to Hollow Shades!” He held out a hoof, and I shook it carefully. “Names Mossy Oak, nice to meet you Shadow.”

I heard Gale breathe a sigh of relief behind us. A howl echoed out over the town, and both Gale and Mossy jumped. Broken fangs, it was my sister Cherry! I’d recognize her howl anywhere. From the tone of it, she was not happy.

“That sounded close,” Mossy whispered. “You think it is the one that attacked you last night?”

“He didn’t attack me!” Gale yelled. “He was trying to protect me from Mug and Barrel.”

Mossy sighed, putting a hoof to his head. “Protect you? What were they doing that you needed protection from?”

“They had vile intentions for her,” I snorted.

Mossy stared back over at me. “And how would you know?”

“Because he heard the racket last night and was wondering what happened,” Gale said, blushing.

“So you told him first?” Mossy asked, holding out a hoof, ears wilting.

“I’m just the first who asked for the truth,” I said, shrugging.

“Um, maybe we should just go back to my home for breakfast?” Gale whispered, standing between the two of us.

“Sure, I love your mom’s cooking,” Mossy grinned, turning around to lead the way. I walked slowly after him, wobbling a bit but quickly getting the hang of walking with these new hooves. Even without the claws, wasn’t that much different from my own paws.

“So, what we going to do about well… this?” Gale whispered, walking along beside me. “I don’t think it wise to tell everything.”

I nodded. “Let’s just keep it a secret for now. We’ll continue with your out of town story.” I whispered back. She nodded, and we continued on silently. I heard the sound of Cherry’s howl again, and lowered my ears. That was something I would need to deal with sooner, rather than later.

---

Nightingale’s Home-Nightingale

I led Mossy and Shadow inside, smiling at mother as they trotted in behind me. “Good morning Mossy,” mother grinned. “I see you found Gale.”

“Yeah, I was just taking a morning walk,” I mumbled. “Where’s father?”

“Asleep, the poor stallion,” she sighed, lowering her ears. “Ever since Grannie−” she paused shaking her head. “Anyway, who is your friend?”

“Mother, this is Shadow,” I said, pointing a hoof at him.

“It is a pleasure to meet you,” he said, nodding to her, he turned back toward the door, tail swishing back and forth.

“He’s from out of town, but thinking about staying here.”

“Well that’s wonderful, we could always use some new ponies. We rarely get visitors,” mother beamed. “Are you three hungry? I already have breakfast cooking.”

I sniffed, licking my lips as the scent of mother’s homemade rolls reached me. “I was just about to start some grilled daisy sandwiches too,” mother said, pulling out a loaf of bread. “I know it is a little early for lunch, but I was hoping making your father’s favorites would bring him out.” Her gaze turned to their bedroom door, which remained closed.

“I’ll help,” Mossy offered. Mother nodded, leaving Shadow and I alone in the living room.

“I’m guessing that was one of your sisters?” I asked, taking a seat on the couch.

Shadow nodded, “she is very angry at me for not coming home last night.” He plopped down on the floor next to me, staring up at me with those big, golden eyes. “She might be the youngest of us, but she really acts more like our mother,” he laughed hesitantly.

I daren’t ask if their mother was dead as well. “Well you can’t very well go back a pony,” I said. “They would probably try to gobble you up.”

He chuckled at that, but then his eyes grew wide as the idea hit him. “You’re right. Well, partially. Father taught us that ponies are only food if nothing else is available. Thankfully, times have never been lean enough that we have had to eat one.”

That was a relief! What would I have done if he had eaten pony? I shivered a little at the thought, wrapping my hooves around me. “What would they do? Would you even still smell like yourself to them?” He sure didn’t have that normal stench timberwolves produce, not that I could smell at least.

Shadow lifted a hoof, sniffing at his fur. “Hmmm, maybe. I do smell somewhat like myself, but it is covered by the sweet and tangy smell of pony.”

I chuckled. “We smell sweet and tangy, do we? How do you resist not taking a bite out of one of us?”

He grinned back, “it can be hard, but we make do. I could never hurt you, not now.”

“Oh!” I gasped, blushing. So I wasn’t the only one feeling this so strongly. Sweet Celestia, this connection was so… powerful. “T-thanks for saving me, by the way. Mug and Barrel are not usually that callous, but when they get some drinks in them…”

“You are welcome,” he smiled. “The wrongness called me to you, and I couldn’t ignore it. I-I had to stop it from happening.”

“Wrongness?”

Shadow nodded. “I’m not sure what it was exactly, but it sent a tingling throughout my entire body, and it didn’t stop until I jumped in to help.”

Interesting, Grannie had spoken of something similar a few times, but I couldn’t recall if it had a connection to the timberwolf moon. “Well whatever it is, let’s hope it happens again if I need your help!”

He nodded, jerking up as Mossy trotted back into the living room. “Brunch is served,” he grinned, and led us back into the kitchen.

Lunch was eaten quietly. It seemed all of us were a little tired, which is to be expected. After all that had happened yesterday. Shadow chewed on the daisy sandwich almost reluctantly. He tried his best to hide it, but I could tell he didn’t like it. Father never showed for lunch, even as mother and I were doing dishes. I was really getting worried.

“He’ll be okay,” mother reassured me. “Some just take longer to get through their grief than others.” She looked back at Shadow and Mossy, who were still at the table. Not saying much, just staring at each other. “I’m glad you have friends who are helping you. How did you meet Shadow anyway?”

Wasn’t that a loaded question? “Well, he heard the timberwolf last night, and was worried about what had happened.”

“So he asked you?” Mother asked. I nodded. “Hmm…” She handed me the last plate, which I quickly dried off and put away.

“Well, I better get going,” Mossy sighed. “I promised Ivy I would help her in the garden today.”

“Feel free to come back anytime Mossy,” mother said, trotting over and wrapping him in a hug.

“Yes Mrs. Peach Pie,” he said, looking to Shadow once more before he trotted out the door.

I jumped, startled when the door to my parents room slammed open. Father stumbled out the door, mane hanging in his face and smelling strongly of apple cider. “Gale, you’re home,” he mumbled, shaking his head and holding a hoof to it.

“Father!” I yelled, running over to wrap him in a hug. “Good to see you awake.”

He hugged me back, but was quiet otherwise. Shadow cleared his throat at the table, standing and holding out a hoof to father. “And who are you?” Father growled.

“I’m Shadow sir,” he said putting the hoof back down slowly when father didn’t lift his own. “New to town, just looking for a place to stay I guess?”

“We don’t need no new ponies,” father snorted.

“Nighthawk!” mother scolded, coming between the two. Father didn’t even look remotely sorry, just shrugging and heading into the kitchen, grabbing an apple cider from the ice box. Mother shook her head, turning back to Shadow. “I’m sorry Shadow, he isn’t usually like this.”

“It’s okay, I’m… used to that kind of reaction,” he frowned. “Gale told me what happened yesterday. I’m sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you Shadow,” mother smiled softly. She turned to look at me. “Gale, why don’t you take Shadow for a tour of the town while I have a talk with your father?” she glared over at her husband, who had shambled to his kitchen chair and was sipping on his cider.

“Yes mother,” I said and nodded to Shadow. “You coming?”

“Of course,” he grinned, ears lowering as he looked once more at father. Together, we then trotted outside.

---

Hollow Shades- Shadow

I followed beside Gale as we trotted through town. Sure I had seen much of it from the woods, but it was an altogether new experience seeing it from the town itself. I lowered my ears slightly as everypony we passed watched me. The adults stayed clear of me, whispering to each other. Even though I couldn’t make out much of what they were saying, it still made me nervous.

“You’d think they didn’t like newcomers,” I said, sticking as close to Gale as I could.

“They’re not usually this bad,” she sighed. “It must be− OH! How did I not notice it before?”

“What?” I yelped raising my head and looking around us, ears perked up.

“That,” she said, pointing to my flanks. I looked to where she pointed, finding just bare fur. I lifted a hoof to ask her what she meant, when it dawned on me. The others around us, all except for the littlest ones, had pictures on their flanks, those things they called ‘cutie marks’.

“So I don’t have one of those pictures,” I said, shrugging. “What’s the big deal?”

“The big deal is everypony gets one. It tells them what they are meant to do with their lives, what they are good at.”

“You don’t have one,” I pointed out. She just glared at me.

“Don’t remind me,” she huffed. “But it would explain why they are cautious around you. It is strange enough I don’t have one, but another pony from out of town coming here, who also doesn’t have one? Not something you see every day.”

“Oh,” I said. I winced, holding a hoof to my stomach as it growled. “Quiet you!”

“Still hungry?” she asked. I smiled sheepishly at the question, nodding.

“Do you have a place around here that I can get a nice slice of meat?” The crowd around us grew silent, staring at me. What was the matter?

“Um, we don’t eat meat,” Gale whispered, tugging me away from the other ponies and over to the town gardens. It took a few minutes, but slowly the crowd resumed their talking.

“Then what do you have the goats and pigs for? I mean what can they really give you?”

“Well, we do use the goat’s milk for cooking and drinking, and their wool makes for excellent clothes and blankets for the cold. As for the pigs, they help our farm ponies dig for truffles, as well as help with getting the fields ready for planting. They are a lot smarter than many give them credit for.” Gale grinned, reaching into the garden and snapping off a huge, red, ripe tomato. “Perhaps this will taste better than flowers?”

I nodded, taking it from her and biting down on it. It did have a stronger flavor, juicy and stringy, but I wasn’t sure. “Well, it is better than the flowers,” I grinned, hungry enough that I continued on the tomato. “But I don’t know how long I can survive on this kind of diet.” I shuddered. Just thinking of never sinking my teeth into a juicy rabbit or delicious deer again, I didn’t know if I could handle it!

“Well, long as you are a pony, your body won’t be able to digest meat well. It would just make you sick,” she sighed, putting a hoof to my cheek. I jumped, dropping the last few bites of tomato as a spark spread from where her hoof touched. It didn’t hurt, but felt nice, right, like it was meant to be there.

“Sorry,” she said, blushing, but didn’t move her hoof. She raised her head to look at me, her eyes sparkling, and I could tell she felt the same way.

“It’s okay,” I whispered, just staring into those beautiful eyes of hers. They were the exact shade of blue that one sees in the sky just as the sun goes down, but before the moon rises.

“Maybe we should go somewhere a little more private?” she asked, removing her hoof.

I looked around, noticing some of the ponies starting to stare at us again. Did they have nothing better to do? “Yeah, that might be a good idea,” I nodded.

“Follow me,” she said, gesturing with her hoof toward the pond.

I followed silently behind her as she led me towards a large rock nestled against the side of the pond closest to the woods. A slab of it hung further outward than the rest, creating a small alcove beneath it, facing towards the woods. She plopped down on the grass below it, looking around to see nopony had followed us.

“This is nice,” I said, sitting down next to her and leaning against the cool rock.

“Not many come over here, thanks to it being close to the woods,” she said softly. “Gr- Grannie wasn’t scared,” she paused, biting her lip and holding a hoof to her chest. “B-but most others are, at least a little. We should be safe to talk freely here.”

“I’m guessing you want to talk about… us?”

She nodded. “Yeah, we really should.”

“This does feel… weird, doesn’t it?” I chuckled softly.

“You have no idea!” she grinned. “Well, maybe you do.” She turned to look up at the sky, a clear blue with few clouds in its embrace. “Grannie always said I was special. But this? I-I don’t know.”

“It confuses me as well. But even still everything just,” I put a hoof to my chin, thinking. “It just feels right, you know? Maybe it is just the curse, or whatever you want to call it, but I can’t help caring for you.”

She smiled up at me. “I feel the same. Though,” she ran a hoof through the grass, letting out a sigh. “I’m not sure what I feel, about losing the chance to choose myself.”

“Was there another you had your eyes on?” I asked, feeling my heart ache at the thought. “Maybe Mossy?”

She shook her head, “No, Mossy is just my friend. He’s a great stallion, but I’ve never felt that way about him. No stallion in our town have I felt this way about.”

I breathed a sigh of relief on that! “I’ve never had my eyes on anyone else either. Of course, it helps that most of my pack is just my sisters,” I chuckled.

“Then perhaps the curse… chose well?” she said softly, then smiled at me. “I do find you quite handsome.”

“Oh!” I yelped, blushing a little. “I-I find you rather beautiful. I don’t care if it is the curse telling us so or what.” I paused, thinking for a moment. “Let’s not call it a curse. That is, if you want to see if it is all true?”

She nodded, leaning back against the rock next to me. “It’ll mean we’ll have a lot to work through, but yes, I do think I’d like to try this out.” She let out a sigh, “but then, what should we call it? Destiny? Fate? True love?”

“Destiny, for now, sounds fine. By the elder’s bark, this is going to be interesting.”

She giggled. “Elder’s bark?”

“Oh? It-it is a saying really,” I stammered. “My father used to say it and I kind of picked it up.”

“Well, I like it,” she beamed. “Ready to continue the tour?”

I nodded. “Lead the way beautiful,” I crooned, smiling when I saw the blush on her cheeks.

Author's Note:

And the third chapter! Woo! Now after this, it might be a few days until I get out another. This is the end of my stash of what I spent June working on. (Sadly, didn't get as far on it as I thought I would. I blame work/life.)
Anyway hope you all are enjoying! Comment/Critique and have a great day!

Comments

[NicLove]

Before I read this, what is the Dark tag for ?
And how bad does it get ?

[Mix-up]

interesting story so far, I didn't realize that the pony was a mare at first and that the timberwolf was a male. Still, I am looking forward to see more.

[QueenChrysalisForever]

8290906
There are/will be some deaths, fighting, injuries from being hunted to name most of the bigger ones, brain is too asleep right now to recall the rest.

8290912
Hmm maybe I should make that a bit more clear when I get back to a computer then... but good, I'm glad you are enjoying it! I plan on having the next chapter out in a few days, so shouldn't be too long of a wait!

[Toggle Switch]

"So, don't think about the atraction too hard?"
"Yup"
"K"
I don't know if it was just me, but this felt refreshing and jarring at the same time. It's a breakaway from the cliché "but it's wrong" thing, but it also kinda trout slaps you with how sudden it is. I don't know how I feel about this yet. Other than that this chapter was great.

[QueenChrysalisForever]

8300982
Hehe thanks! I like to give my own twist on the old cliche. And it is kind of something I always wondered in the old tales about such things, wondering why they didn't even question this new attraction to each other. But yeah, wanted to do a little more realistic reaction?
I hope you continue to enjoy! Next chapter should be up tomorrow(Sunday) or Monday, just finishing a few scenes in chapter 4.