Midnight Sun

by FluxFeather

Chapter Eight - Timberwolf

Starlight woke up early the next morning and headed out to the Everfree forest, where the last time she had seen Rainius was. Maybe that could cure the hole in her chest. But it was all in vain, or maybe it wasn't because somepony was there. A bat pony. His golden yellow hair with the brown streaks through it seemed to really bring out his turquoise eyes. He wore a green bandana that matched the color of his coat. "So, you're Starlight Glimmer?" He asked.

"How do you know who I am?" She questioned him, wanting to know how he knew her. Was it because of Rainius? She thought for a second.

"You were the protege of the Princess of Friendship. Who doesn't know who you are?" He said laughing.

"Who are you?" She asked, just trying to get the conversation off of the subject of her.

"Oh, my apologies… my name is Latenighter. Latenighter Dirt. I was just looking for somepony you might know. He goes by the name Rainius Songbird." He said, looking her straight in the eyes. "But, he doesn't seem to be around… it's funny that he would leave without taking you with him. Weren't you like some pet of his? Does he still visit?"

Just before Starlight was about to speak to object what Latenighter was saying, a ghost-like image of Rainius had appeared. "Lie." He told her.

"Oh, he comes by all the time." She lied.

"Lie better!" Rainius said, or at least the illusion of him said at least, then vanished into thin air.

"In fact, I'll tell him that you wanted to see him next time he stops by." She lied again. "But then again… I don't really know if I should tell him. He's kinda overprotective."

"But he's far away now, isn't he?" Latenighter asked, turning the tables on the subject.

Starlight didn't know how to respond to that, so she decided to turn the tables of the conversation herself. "Why are you here, Latenighter?" She asked him.

"I came as a favor to Silvertail." He began. "She asked me to see if you were still under Rainius's protection… Silver only feels that it's fair to kill Rainius's mate, which is you… given he killed hers."

"Fury Flight." Starlight said, remembering when Rainius had fought his uncle to save her life.

"Yes. Fury and I were very good friends. After Silver had lost him she was furious. And she wants revenge. An eye for an eye." He sighed. "Silver won't be very happy about my killing you… but I just can't help myself." He said, coming closer to Starlight.

"Then please, don't…" Starlight begged.

"No, no, no, no, no! Don't be afraid… I'm doing you a favor of pure kindness. See Silver wants to kill slowly and painfully. Whereas I will do it quickly and painlessly. I promise you won't feel a thing. Do you have any last words?" Late asked her.

"How exactly will you kill me?" She asked, curiously. "You don't look like one that would be the killing type."

"There are two different kinds of bat ponies. The ones that feed off of fruits… and the ones that feed off of pony blood." He explained.

"Well, which one are you?" She egged on.

"Well, I don't eat fruit, so what do you think?" He said before he revealed his fangs.

"The bloodsucker kind." She stated.

"Indeed." He grabbed Starlight and was about to sink his teeth into her.

"Rainius, I love you!" She announced. Then there was a rustle of the bushes and trees.

"No, I don't believe it… Timberwolves!" Late said as what came out of the woods was a huge timberwolf that stood even taller than him on even on all fours. "Dammit!" A pack of smaller and normal-sized timberwolves followed. The larger timberwolf looked at Starlight and all she could do was just stare back as Latenighter began a daring run to get away from the beast. The timberwolves chased after him, once the big one got close though, Latenighter swung his hoof, punching it in the face and knocking it back. But it just got up and darted back towards him. Then all of a sudden the timberwolves were all until of him and chewing him to bits. The sight was a horror, so Starlight decided to gallop out of the forest as fast as she could to get away from the timberwolves.

"Twilight!! Twilight!!" Starlight shouted.

"Starlight, what's wrong?" She asked worriedly.

"Everfree forest! Timberwolves! One huge one and the rest normal-sized!" She tried to explain.

"Timberwolves? And Starlight what the hell were you doing in the Everfree forest?!" Twilight exclaimed.

"I just needed to get some air." She lied. "Nothing major."

"So, timberwolves?" Twilight asked. "You sure?" Starlight nodded rapidly. "Well, Spike. This giant timberwolf is something that I've just got to see." She seemed very intrigued.

"Alright. Well, I'ma go try to see Sunburst again. Maybe he might have some information on this timberwolf issue." Starlight suggested.

"That sounds like a really smart idea. You should go see him. It'll be good for you two to start talking to each other again." She agreed.

Starlight paused for a second to take everything in. Those timberwolves would be dead by now if Latenighter had done something. But the question is did he? And does Silvertail know that he is dead? And would she be coming to find Starlight and take out her revenge? All she knew was that she really needed to talk to Sunburst immediately.

"Sunburst!" Starlight called, knocking on his door. "I need to talk to about timberwolves!"

Sunburst opened the door. "That's kinda what I need to talk to you about, Starlight…" He said.

"What happened to your muzzle?" She asked as she could see that his muzzle looked like it was broken.

"I'll explain that too. Just come in." He said, allowing her inside. They sat down at Sunburst's table and he poured her some tea. She took it not wanting to seem rude even though she really wasn't in the mood for tea.

"So, what was it that you wanted to tell me?" Starlight asked, commencing the conversation.

"I… don't know how to put this. I… there was a complication to a spell I had tried to cast, but it didn't turn out so well… the result was I can shapeshift into a timberwolf and back into a pony at will." He said. "They made me the leader of the pack!"

Starlight leaned back in her chair, processing all this new information. So, he was the huge timberwolf that she saw in the Everfree forest that killed Latenighter? "Well, that's really something. But it's wrong… you kill ponies." She said.

"No, just him. I wasn't going to let him kill you. I care about you, Starlight. Which is why I'm also going to be tracking down that other pony after you." He claimed.

"Silvertail." Starlight said. Sunburst nodded. "Are you sure you're even going to be able to catch her?"

"Your doubting me is kind of insulting." He said chuckling. Starlight chuckled too. "I just couldn't keep this a secret from you any longer."

"That's okay, I forgive you." She said, forgiving him for keeping what's been going on with him a secret from her.

"Anyways, I need to get ready to hunt for Silvertail, she should be in the Everfree forest," Sunburst said.

"Wait! The Everfree forest?!" Starlight asked. Sunburst nodded. "But that's where Twilight and Spike are… looking for you."

"Great. She'll have somepony and dragon to prey on to sustain her." Sunburst said a little annoyed. "I'll have to go now. Starlight, go home now… now!" Starlight obeyed his order and ran back to Ponyville, back to the castle.

Meanwhile, Twilight and Spike were on the search for Sunburst, but we're having no luck. "Um… Twilight?" Spike said nervously.

"Yes, Spike?" She said, turning to him. "Have you found anything?!" She began to get excited.

"Um, no. When are we going to get out of this spooky forest?" He asked anxiously.

Twilight sighed. "Fine. If you really want to go back to the castle so badly, I guess we can." She said and the two went on their way, but not without a certain somepony following them from behind. But as Silvertail was about to feast on their blood, she was tackled by a timberwolf. That timberwolf being Sunburst.

Silvertail began whistling at the timberwolf, antagonizing it. Sunburst growled and started chasing after her as she fled. He chased her all the way through the Everfree forest to Ponyville where she flew out of sight. The chase was over. She won… this time. But next time he was going to make sure that he would catch her.

As Twilight and Spike were heading back to the castle, Starlight was behind the castle at the little pond, thinking about Rainius… and about Equestrian legends. Fairy tales and horror stories. Were they all true? Was there nothing sane or normal in this world at all? One thing was for sure. She had to see Rainius again. Then she thought of it. She was going to try to drown herself in the pond. But before she was about to jump in, the illusion of Rainius appeared again. "Starlight… don't do this." He begged of her.

"You wanted me mortal… now you're gonna have to face the consequences." She said before she jumped into the pond, the illusion of Rainius disappearing once again. She slowly sunk down to the bottom of the pond where she once again saw the illusion of Rainius, but this time he had nothing to say to her. It was calm, peaceful, and quiet down there. But all her peace and quiet was about to be interrupted as she was grabbed by a hoof and pulled back to the surface. Rainius's illusion once again, gone, just dissolved in the water as she pulled herself back, refusing to be pulled to the surface. But soon she gave up and let the hoof bring her back to the surface.

"Breathe Starlight! Breathe!" Twilight said as she continued to perform CPR on her. After a few times, Starlight shot up and coughed up the water in her lungs. "Uh, thank Celestia you're okay. Starlight, why the fuck would you try to kill yourself?!"

"I'm sorry, Twilight." Starlight said, apologizing.

"Is it about Rainius?! Because you know I miss him too, but I'm not gonna kill myself just to see him again!!" Twilight exclaimed, trying to get Starlight to see a different side of things. Twilight sighed. "I'm not angry… it just worries me that you're going to extreme measures just to see if he will come back. Starlight he's not coming back no matter what you do. I just hope you know that. Now c'mon, let's head back inside, it's warmer in there." She took Starlight with her into the castle. Twilight kept a sharp eye on her.

Starlight was wrapped in a blanket, drinking a cup of hot chocolate as Twilight sat on the other end of the sofa. "Just promise me you won't try and do something like that again, Starlight? I was worried sick. I wasn't even sure if you were gonna make it or not!" Twilight said.

Before Starlight was about to speak, Spike burped up a letter. "It's from Celestia!" He said.

"Give it to me!" Starlight said, taking the scroll in her magic and began reading it aloud.

'Starlight, please come to Canterlot immediately!

Sincerely, Celestia.'

"It must be urgent!" Twilight said. "I'm coming with you!"

Starlight sighed. "I don't need you to follow me everywhere I go! I already promised that I wasn't going to try to kill myself!" She exclaimed.

"And I said I was going to keep an eye on you!" Twilight said.

"Twilight, please?! Trust me?" She pleaded.

Twilight took a deep breath and exhaled. She had to prove that she trusted Starlight, but after Starlight tried to commit suicide she just wasn't sure if she could, but she decided that it was right. "Fine." She finally said, letting Starlight go. "I just hope I won't regret this."

Author's Note:

Yes, Sunburst is a timberwolf! But I think the real shock here is how fast I actually got this chapter done and uploaded in less than a day from the previous one.