The Girl Who Cried Wolf

by J3sterking

Howling at the Moon

"Tonight alone you're riding, onto the other side,
Your might untold and waiting."
Son of the Wolf by Powerwolf

The first thing Rainbow Dash did was start running. Clearing the fence with a leap was easy enough with her human form, but in the wolf form, it was child's play. She hit the ground, and then began speeding through the forest.

Tension and energy slowly bled out from her on her run, until finally, she came to a stop, panting. She took a brief rest, to catch her breath, then felt the rumble from her stomach. She normally made sure to eat well on a full moon--as little help as it did, normally. She knew she'd still have to hunt anyway.

With a little bit of prowling, she found a deer going through with a limp. The poor thing wasn't long for the world either way, and she needed food.

She snuck close, and then let out a howl. Her 'words' came out weird in this form. Her language consisted of a series of howls, each one carrying a different message.

This one's message was simple and concise: 'I am going to eat you'. Not to instill fear, or to be cruel--Rainbow took it as more of a professional courtesy.

The deer bolted, and Rainbow took off, giving in to her instincts. None of the deer had escaped her--except, notably, one whom she'd let escape. That specific deer had escaped her for forty-five seconds, before she let it go out of respect. She referred to it in her head as 'Daring Deer', and she prayed that his legend still lived on.

This deer was not so lucky.

Rainbow ate down to the bones, and some of those, too. If she was going to kill it, she wouldn't let any of it go to waste.

It was...one reason why she hadn't just turned into a werewolf and scared off the Sirens. One of a few, really. If they chose to fight back, then she'd have killed one or more of them. And if she killed it, she ate it.

And she wasn't a man-eater. Or...Siren eater, anyway.

The deer satisfied her, leaving her with a generally full feeling. But, of course, there was no time to slow down. Onwards she ran.

Before too long she encountered a small hunter's blind. Inside was a man who smelled heavily of alcohol, snoring with a gun pointed out the window.

Rainbow crept up, taking the gun in her teeth and crushing it. The drunk woke up with a start, then screamed, bolting from the blind at what was probably a record speed for him. For Rainbow Dash, it wasn't even impressive, even when she'd been human.

She stopped herself a few feet into her chase, claws dragging a path in the ground as she snarled at herself. She didn't need to hunt him. He'd have probably shot some kid if she hadn't shown up, but that didn't mean she would be the one to kill him.

Especially if she was the one to do it. Rainbow didn't need to handle that right now. She had gotten control of her wolf, after much struggling with it, and it wasn't just to give it the reigns now.

Not when her friends were counting on her to manage herself, anyway. She needed them to believe that she was fine, if only so that she could be fine.

That was how this worked, right?

---

At early morning light, Rainbow Dash came back to the little woodland cabin, then hopped over the fence. She didn't waste any time, changing back to her human form the moment she was over. After a few minutes of pain and a scream or two, she slipped back inside.

"Hiya!" Pinkie said, just finishing up setting a spread of deserts. "Morning, Dashie!"

Rainbow Dash stared in dumbstruck awe. "I--what? When? Why? How?"

"I asked your mom," Pinkie explained. "Then I spent some of last night baking up some deserts, cuz I thought you'd be hungry, although..." She hesitated. "Something tells me you already ate."

Rainbow looked down at herself. "Was it the deer guts?"

"Umm...yes ma'am, yes it was."

Rainbow chuckled. "So, uh, whatever happened to staying away from me while I was in the wolf form?"

"Are you in wolf form?"

Rainbow opened her mouth, then closed it. "I...I don't have a response prepared for you, Pinkie."

Pinkie giggled. "Well, a 'yum' would do great!"

"Uh, I'll get to that in a minute, Pinkie." She gestured at herself. "I'm buck-naked and covered in dirt and deer guts. I need to go shower."

"You go do that, because this is reeeeeally awkward," Pinkie said with a blush and a smile. Rainbow noted that her baker friend was trying her hardest not to look directly at her at that moment.

Rainbow grinned, but her own blush prevented her from teasing Pinkie any. She slipped into the shower, turning the water as hot as it would go, letting it run over her.

"So, uh..."

Rainbow waited for Pinkie to finish, but she didn't continue. She tilted her head back, eyes closed against the hot water in her face. "Well?" she called back out.

"I assume you don't have the silver chains for fun?"

Rainbow thought up several jokes she decided not to make. "No. Don't worry--I haven't had to use 'em in over a year."

"Well, that's good, because they don't look fun at all."

Rainbow laughed. "Oh, believe me, they weren't," she said very quietly.

"What was it like? Trying to control it?"

"Like a wrestling match," Rainbow answered. "Me and the wolf, winner take all."

"Huh. This was...before we all became friends again, right?"

"Yeah." She ran her fingers through her hair, feeling the dirt. She picked up a thing of conditioner, and began vigorously applying it.

"I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"Well...never talking to you. I wasn't even mad at you! Well, I was kind of, but I thought that Applejack should just talk to you about it. It's kind of ridiculous that we never once talked about any of that."

"A little? But I was going through a lot of shit at the time, and..."

"You changed shortly after we all split up? Or...before?"

"In the middle of that. I used to be terrified that Sunset would find out that I was a werewolf. I'm not sure she ever found out about any of that mess, though." She paused. "Forewarning, my clothes aren't in here, so--"

"My eyes are sealed!" Pinkie promised.

Rainbow smiled. She stepped out of the bathroom, searching for her backpack. She quickly found it, and began pulling her clothes out.

"So, did you have fun?"

"I guess?" Why did bras always take so long to find? Ugh. "More than the deer had."

"Did you...have to kill it?"

"Everyone's gotta eat," Rainbow said slowly. "Trust me, you do not want to deal with a hungry werewolf. I'm decent by the way."

Pinkie turned, pushing the plate of cupcakes slightly closer to her. Rainbow chuckled. "How do you even know I'm still hungry?"

"I always know that," Pinkie answered, "because you normally are."

"Heh. fair." Rainbow took a cupcake, putting the entire thing in her mouth. "Th'n's. Thish ish awe'shum." She swallowed.

Pinkie giggled. "Aw, thanks. So, do you eat a lot more because you're a wolf?"

Rainbow nodded. "You don't even see half of what I stick in my mouth," she said. "I eat a lot."

"Yikes! I'll keep that in mind for the next sleepover."

"You don't have to make extra for me--"

"No, it's my obligation! As the official chef of the Rainbooms--"

"What?"

"--I would be remiss if I let you go to bed hungry! When you didn't even do anything wrong? No way!" She firmly slammed a fist into the table, shaking the numerous desserts on it.

"Whoa! Careful, Pinkie!" Rainbow caught another cupcake before it fell off. "You made all this food for me, let's not let any go to waste."

Pinkie smiled. "Of course not! I would be remiss of that, too!"

Rainbow gave her a grin back.

"So, anyway," Pinkie said, "are there any food things I should know about? Like, do you have any allergies as a werewolf, or preferences or--"

Of course Pinkie would be asking about her diet. "Aside from being hungrier, more? Mostly, a craving for meat. Because, wolves, I guess."

"I was thinking because meat foods are rich in protein and fat, which are two of the biggest sources of energy you can get, and your body needs all the energy you can get, so you need more meat as a way of obtaining more energy so you don't get hungry!"

"...Because wolves, I guess," Rainbow repeated.

"Eh, to-ma-to, to-mah-to."

Rainbow laughed. "Uh, do you want any of this?" Pinkie had made all of this for her. The least she could do was offer to share.

"No, thanks. I had some of the batter."

"Because of course, why not?" Rainbow laughed.

She ate in silence a minute more before she heard a ringing sound. "Is that mine or yours?" she asked, looking for her backpack.

"Mine!" Pinkie called out cheerily, getting her purse. She pulled her phone out, saying, "Hiya, Bon-Bon! Back from your trip?"

Rainbow tried, and failed, to listen in to Bon-Bon's half. Unfortunately, she did not have god-like super hearing like some books portrayed werewolves as having, so she was left to pout and try and wheedle information out of Pinkie Pie later.

"I hope you enjoyed it! I've heard good things about Appleoosa! You gonna be at school tomorrow?" A pause while Bon-Bon answered. "Oh, sounds rough. Is she okay?" Another pause. "Aw, poor thing. You want me to help cheer her up?" Bon-Bon took a lengthy time making her reply. "You got it. Just try and be close to her, okay? That way, if she needs help, you'll be there to give it! And if you need any help giving her help, talk to one of us! We'll be there in a jiffy!"

Rainbow took a slow bite out of a danish as she listened to Bon-Bon rattle off a reply. "Oh, okay, that makes sense. Something embarrassing, then?" Pause. "Got it. I'll be subtle. Like a ninja. A pink ninja whose name is 'fun'."

"That doesn't strike me as very subtle, Pinkie," Rainbow Dash said.

"No one will expect it," Pinkie said with a wide grin.

Rainbow heard some sort of frantic speech from Bon-Bon's end, though she did catch a, "Don't you dare--".

"Okay, okay, yeesh," Pinkie said, holding a hand up to her phone in a placating fashion. "Grumpy today, aren't you? You should try and relax, too, Bon-Bon. See ya tomorrow!" After one last pause, she hung up.

"So, trouble?"

"She said we didn't need to worry about it," Pinkie said. "You know what I say?"

"That we should respect her wishes and not do anything that makes her mad at us?"

Pinkie Pie reached up, behind her head and beneath her hair, and pulled up a pink ninja hood that made her hair fall so flat that with the hood on, her head looked like a round circle with a pair of eyes. "Agent Double Ooh-Fun is on the case," she said, putting on a pair of goggles with googly eyes.

She dashed towards the door, hit the wall, and fell like a tree, feet going akimbo briefly before falling back to the ground.

Rainbow grinned. "Or my name isn't Rainbow Dash," she said calmly.

---

Rainbow wasn't quite used to feeling 'full' on her way to Canterlot High, especially after the full moon. She supposed she had Pinkie Pie to thank for that, if, of course, Pinkie Pie was anywhere to be seen.

Rainbow supposed she should be worried about that, but couldn't find it in her heart to be mad at Pinkie for being herself.

Rainbow pulled to a stop, then turned to look at Lyra Heartstrings. On top of the fact that Pinkie didn't seem to think she or Bon-Bon would be here today, Lyra was staring vacantly into her locker, not doing anything.

"Hey, Lyra," Rainbow said.

She jumped, bouncing off her locker door, and hit Rainbow Dash. Rainbow maintained her balance while Lyra hastily regained hers. "Sorry! I was thinking--spacing out! Yeah. um--"

"No, it's alright," Rainbow said. "I'm fine, so--" She paused, then sniffed. That smell... "Are you wearing perfume?"

"Umm...maybe?"

"Fleur de Liss's Scent of a Morning Rose, if I'm not mistaken," Rarity said, pulling to a stop besides them as well.

"No, I know what that smells like," Rainbow said.

"Really?" Rarity stared at her. "I've never worn any, and I didn't think you were friends with any of the rest of the fashion crowd--"

"Well, I only need to pass someone once--"

Rarity leaned in and sniffed. "My word, you're wearing it?" She gaped at the athlete. "Since when?"

"It helps cover up the smells of someone who does jogging," Rainbow muttered.

"My, I had no idea you liked Scent of a Morning Rose," Rarity continued. "I have a few others you could--"

"No, thank you," Rainbow interrupted pointedly. "My point is, that is not what I smell. It's on the tip of my tongue..."

Lyra sniffed at her arm. "I don't smell anything unusual," she said. "Except..." She sniffed again. "...something over here smells weird."

The bell rang. "Ah, well," Rainbow grumbled. "Smell ya later, Lyra!"

Lyra laughed, but her it sounded somewhat forced. "Smell ya later, Dash."

"Did she seem--off to you?" Rarity asked.

"'Off' how?"

"I don't know. Something about her eyes, maybe?" She tapped her chin. "I'm sure once I'll figure it out once I get over the fact that you wear any perfume, much less—"

Rainbow put a hand over her mouth, then checked to make sure no one was nearby. "It's to cover up the smell of the deer I killed and ate last night," she whispered quietly. "Please. Stop talking about it."

Rarity blanched, then shut her mouth. Rainbow let out a deep breath. "Sorry."

"It's--it's fine. I suppose--just--the whole thing?"

"Of course! I'm not killing a deer just for a snack," Rainbow griped.

"My word," Rarity said quietly. She said nothing more, for which Rainbow Dash was grateful.

Comments

[Pete100]

"You go do that, because this is reeeeeally awkward," Pinkie said with a blush and a smile. Rainbow noted that her baker friend was trying her hardest not to look directly at her at that moment.

Never thought I would see this reaction from pinkie.

"In the middle of that. I used to be terrified that Sunset would find out that I was a werewolf. I'm not sure she ever found out about any of that mess, though." She paused. "Forewarning, my clothes aren't in here, so--"

Wait, so she could’ve solved the sunset problem all on her own?

Rainbow tried, and failed, to listen in to Bon-Bon's half. Unfortunately, she did not have god-like super hearing like some books portrayed werewolves as having, so she was left to pout and try and wheedle information out of Pinkie Pie later.

That sucks

[J3sterking]

11657140
For similar reasons to why she didn't go to stop the Dazzlings, she decided not to beat up the Sunset Shimmer. Admittedly, I have slight pothole in how Sunset got a hold of the crown at that point, but once she actually put the crown on, there was no amount of werewolf magic that could help her.