The Wolf and the Unicorn

The only antidote to mental suffering is physical pain. --Karl Marx

The days that followed were mostly spent healing and learning my limits with my newly modified body.  I can't even describe how weird it feels to have small gems sliding around against your skin as you move.  Its definitely...interesting.  There was an upside though.  Luna came to visit every few nights when she could get away from the Night Court.  No idea what she did there, but they, I got visitors.

The fountain turned out to be even more impressive at night.  The statue remained, but the darker night became, the waters became still.  So still it seemed to be a mirror always pointing toward the moon, trailing it across the sky.  If you watched carefully, just for a moment when midnight tolled, you could see the moon fade to a dripping crimson, and back to its ivory hue.

Twilight had taken it upon her self to study my new found body parts and see what secrets the universe was hiding from her.  Still, I didn't much feel that poking and prodding much.  She did end up finding some interesting things though.  Apparently, I should stay away from anything but the basic magic that transforms me.  Anything further would spread the crystals through my body.  It would be a slow thing, but it would happen bit by bit, unless we found something sacrificial to funnel the damage into.

There it was again.  The hairs on the back of my neck standing up.  God, pony magic feels weird.

*WHAM!*

The entire cottage shook as something hit the barriers that the Princesses had so thoughtfully installed.  Gave me plenty of quiet unless somepony decided to knock.

"Damn it to Tartarus!  HEX!  How many times have I asked you to leave that barrier off?!?"

Well, I guess Twilight wanted to visit.  Chuckling softly, I opened the heavy wooden door to see a wobbly lavender unicorn standing on my doorstep.

"What can I do for you Twilight?" I asked smugly "I hope my home didn't interrupt what you were doing."

Immediately, I could tell she was in no mood as she pushed her way into the small house.

"You know, you shouldn't leave these wards on all the time.  They can weaken with constant use.  We have more important things to take care of than the wards though.  My BROTHER is getting MARRIED."

So yeah, apparently Twilight has an older brother that I have never heard about.  Stranger still is the fact that he is the Captain of the Royal Guard, and I've never met him.  Kind of a moot point anyhow, since Twilight barely gave me 10 minutes to grab a few things and hop on a train to Canterlot.  Thankfully I've gotten pretty good at packing in a hurry.   That and a werewolf doesn't really need much in the way of clothes.  I did manage to stash my revolver and some ammo in the bottom of my satchel before I was rushed out the door.

Freaking ponies.

The ride was fairly boring.  Mostly Twilight going between gushing about her brother and rabid comments about some princess she had never met before.  Personally, if they are happy, meh, whatever.  Either way, I tried to be as supportive as I could, and the miles to Canterlot passed quickly.  The scenery was nice as I watched tree after tree of a deep forest pass by.  It felt familiar, kind of like home.

"What in tarnation?!"

That got my attention, my eyes following to where Applejack pointed.  Canterlot was surrounded by a pink shield.  As the train chugged closer, you could see the city ponies going along with their lives in the strangely tinted city.  Guards stood on the walls watching us arrive.  Watching this was unsettling to say the least.  Last I heard we were going to a wedding.  I felt a little under armed.

With one last chug and a soft jerk, the train settled into its place at the station in the bustling city of Canterlot.  Nopony noting its arrival except a handful of guards seemingly waiting for someone.  As the doors cracked open, one voice echoed throughout the car.

"TWILY!"

Oh crap.  That means the blue mained one must be her brother.  And he is meeting us with an armed guard.  Should have brought my rifle.

Thankfully, that thought was interrupted by Twilight bursting out of the car and hugging the stallion.  Without a pause, she went into a long speech about how he shouldn't have married someone she didn't know.  The result shocked her into silence at least.  Somepony...some Princess Named Cadence, who apparently was her babysitter.  Foal sitter I guess.

Introductions started to go around, and you could see every muscle on Shining Armor's body tense as she got to me.  It was probably a good thing I was wearing my human skin at the moment, as I'm not sure if he wanted to attack or run.  We'd end up crossing that bridge at some point, I'm sure.

"What is HE doing here?  The Princesses banished him from Canterlot!  GUARDS!"

Well crap...

"HE is one of my friends Shining.  And the Princesses only banished him while he was learning magic."

Awkward silence filled the air as the guards waited for an order, not sure who to follow and whom to put in chains.  Thankfully, common sense reined in the ponies.

"IF the Princesses gave that order, we'll follow it.  Just know this Hex.  We'll be watching you."

The rest of the trip to the palace seemed fairly calm compared to the situation at the train station.  Yes, the assorted ponies would occasionally stop and stare at the 6 foot thing walking with a group of guards, but no questions were asked until we were at the castle.  Things just got weird when Twilight ran up to the pink alicorn I assume was Cadance and started dancing.  The look of WTF on her face was pretty obvious, even for Twilight.  Even more so as she pushed past the stunned twilight.

Thankfully, I got to spend the time the girls were spending on the wedding by myself.  I did spend a night talking with Luna on the balcony looking through her telescope.  That was fun.  Not so much fun was Twilight seemingly loosing her mind.  Obsessed that the Princess was an imposter.  Personally, she seemed to fit right in with the bitchy princess stereotype.

The next morning, there was a soft knock on my door.  Considering the other girls were pretty well absorbed into the wedding planning, there was only one pony who would knock.

"Come on in Twilight."

The door gently pushed opened and in walked the purple unicorn I was expecting.

"Hex!  You need to help me.  Princess Cadance is an imposter.  She is Evil.  She IS NOT the Princess I remember!"

I did my best to calm her down, but with only a little bit to the rehearsal, she bolted when the music started.  It was the least I could do to keep up as I threw my pack over a shoulder and took chase.  Whispering to myself as I ran... please don't do something stupid... Please don't do something stupid...

"...SHE'S EVIL!"

Well, there went the crazy train.  It was all I could do to duck behind a door as Shining Armor started chewing her a new plot hole.  I won't even go into the fact that he sounded like a lecturing little girl as he stomped off in a huff.

I stayed hidden behind that door, listening to Twilight try to apologize, getting snapped to my senses with the words "YOU WILL BE" echoing through my ears.

Out from behind the door, and sprinting into the chapel, I could see Twilight being surrounded by a haze of greenish flame.

"What is THAT?!"

Not much time to figure out she was talking about my two legged self as I leapt into the ring of flame to try and grab Twilight, only to have my feet sink into the floor like my purple friend.

Fuck me...