Guitar Strings and Dragon Wings

Chapter 25

With sheer terror in her soul, she flipped off the covers as fast as she could. Immediately she jumped out of her bed, as the pair of blue eyes watching her began to stir. The dark figure raised its arm and slammed it through her window.

CLASH!

Pieces of glass were strewn about her bedroom, as the silver creature stuck its head inside bearing a dagger filled grin. Somehow it managed to squeeze its form through the square opening. The moonlight glistened off the beast's metallic scales as he drew closer. Every step the monster took left deep scars on the wooden floor. Breathing heavily, it drew nearer, step by step.

Fluttershy desperately fumbled with the door, but in her current state of shock she forgot how it functioned. In a fit of terror she let out an ear-piercing shriek.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Taking this as a signal the white dragon lunged forward and scooped her up with one claw. During a lapse in judgment the beast's tail scratched a long crevice along the length of her wall. Fluttershy desperately hit the beast with her free hoof, constantly shrieking and crying for someone to save her.

The dragon let out a gurgle of discomfort as he struggled to subdue her. After performing a complete turnabout he raised his arm yet again, and brought it down across the window in a great swipe, destroying the wall standing between himself and freedom. Splinters of wood as well as shards of glass were sent flying about with a loud crash.

Fluttershy continued to struggle as the monster placed a hand over her face, to muffle her screams.

"Without you…" the beast sneered, "the other elements are worthless."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Packie was stirred awake by a scream and his heart started to race. He frantically fell off the sofa and struggled to right himself. Clutching his wings close to his body he darted for the staircase.

The scream came again and went, dying into nothing.

"NO! NO!" he yelled. With a single leap he cleared the entire set of steps. Quickly he turned to snatch the door handle, but when he tried to turn it, it gave no response. He could hear something causing a ruckus in the room and a muffled yell underneath it all.

Suddenly he felt his heart lurch and beat faster, this odorous and putrid stench filled his nostrils, and his hearing almost at once encompassed everything around him. With his senses heightened to near godlike levels, he pulled on the door with all of his might and it snapped clean off the hinges. He threw the door to the wayside and caught a glimpse of the beast, as it jumped past the wreckage of Fluttershy's room and into the cold night. With a flap of its mighty wings the dragon took to the sky.

Thump* Packie heard his heart beat in his head. He took two frantic steps forward and ripped his shirt clean off.

Thump*Thump*

He heard it again. Taking two more lunges forward his wings unfurled, spanning across the entire bedroom.

THUMP*THUMP*

"RRAAAAHHHHH!" he roared.

He gave one final lunge forward and jumped directly skyward with all of his might.

The first unbelievably powerful beat of his wings tossed everything in her room against the wall, leaving it in a state of total devastation.

With every flap he gained altitude, pursuing the white beast. He gained upon it quickly with each violent thrust.

The dragon was about twice his height and probably three times his weight. He didn't care at this point if the odds were against him, all he cared about was her.

As his anger increased, so too did his speed. The constant pounding in his chest drove him onward.

The white beast turned and glared at him, not counting on having to deal with this unexpected problem. Ever so slightly the monster began to open its jaw and suck in air. A blue glow started to emanate from his neck and move up his throat.

Without warning the beast released its payload, a densely concentrated ball of blue flames.

Packie panicked and brought his wings close to his body, spinning in a tight corkscrew formation. The incoming fire ball glazed harmlessly overhead, as Packie unfurled and up-righted himself. He continued to gain on the dragon.

The beast charged another blast in his throat and spewed another white hot missile at him.

In the spur of the moment Packie took his left arm and placed it in front of him. Apparently his body was going through yet another drastic transformation as his hand had now developed a full set of five inch long claws.

Just as the blue ball of flame was about to connect, he furiously swiped at the projectile with his new weapon. His claws tore through the flame like it was made of butter and the fire dissipated into the cool night air.

Rage continued to build within him.

Packie was suddenly wracked with a terrible throbbing in his right arm. The pain traveled down through his biceps, triceps, and then directly through his wrists, eventually reaching his fingers. Each muscle in his hand flexed at once as every finger started to increase in length. The same claws that had been on his left now had a matching pair on his right.

But it didn't stop.

New bone and cartilage was forming, pushing his skin farther and farther past its threshold. His hands, now double their original size, each bore five deadly blades for claws. The transformation was taking its toll on his body.

"RAAHHH-OOHH!" he roared in pain.

His course of flight altered, sending him in some other direction. The pain was beginning to be too much for him to handle.

The dragon glanced behind him, watching Patrick fumble around in midair.

"It seems he's starting to fatigue." The beast said.

Fluttershy thrashed about in his grasp, flailing her one free hoof and occasionally hitting him. She continued to scream into the monster's arm but now she was completely inaudible.

With her hope running thin, she began to cry.

"LEEEETT HERRR GOOOOOOOO!" Packie growled.

He had managed to fight through the pain and redirect himself back at the dragon. After enduring the transformation, he now had much ground to cover.

The dragon was over the length of two football fields away, but Packie continued to gain. The beast was startled to see the human catching up so fast.

In a panic he unleashed three more blasts of blue white hot fury, directly at Packie.

In his heightened state of awareness he only needed a moment to prepare for the impact. With three blindingly fast swipes of his claws the dragon's flames were extinguished.

Now with no more interruptions Packie closed the distance between them and attacked the dragon viciously.

With animal like instincts he fell onto the dragon and sunk in his newly developed fangs. His teeth pierced down through the beast's scales on his back, causing it to shriek in pain.

"LLLLEEEEEEEEEEOOOHH! Damn you human!" The dragon bellowed. He turned over and wildly swung his free arm with his claws poised. At this point he would do anything to rid himself of this nuisance. He swiped back and forth with his attacks always narrowly missing.

Every time the beast tried to counterattack Packie would dodge and weave accordingly, keeping his wings low to the monster's back.

Going off of instinct, Packie took his clawed hands and dug them into the monster's hide, ripping and tearing through scales and flesh.

The dragon's side was now an unrecognizable bloody mess.

Packie released his fangs' grip on the beast's flesh, his mouth full of dragon blood. Keeping his grasp on the monster's hide he hung on as it suddenly jerked to the side, plummeting towards the earth.

"RAAAAHHHH!" Packie roared, "RELEASE HHEEERRRRR!" The dragon's blood spewed forth from his open mouth.

The beast shrieked in pain and then responded. "Very well, take her away!" he replied coldly.

Unfurling his arm he showed Packie a now unconscious Fluttershy.

She had been choked to sleep by the beast to prevent her from acting out any longer. With a great heave the monster threw her, out across an expanse of dense forest.

Packie watched as she fell helplessly, his claws still deeply embedded in the dragon's hide.

"Fluttershy…" he cried weekly.

Seeing her in such a pitiful state brought him back to his senses.

He relinquished his grip on the dragon's hide, realizing they were falling at terminal velocity. With all of his focus on Fluttershy he jumped off, flying frantically after her.

She continued to fall, gaining speed.

"No! I'll save you!" he assured.

She was moments away from disappearing underneath the tree line.

He began to panic and his heart quickened, adrenaline flooding his system.

He couldn't bear to lose her. She had become his world and he had sworn to protect her at all costs.

Now she was about to die, and every flap of his wings pushed him a little closer to her.

BOOM!

A freight train impacted into his back, surging him forward. This intense searing heat was burning his flesh and his wings. A giant ball of blue fire continued to push him and he lost sight of her.

The silver dragon had corrected itself and was now on a collision course with Fluttershy. A trail of blood trickled behind him slowly, falling to the ground beneath the tree line.

The intensely hot missile continued to steam ahead into Packie's back, starting to pull him downward. He blew past Fluttershy, of whom he briefly caught a glimpse. But something else caught his eye.

He watched the white dragon snatch her out of the air, and she dangled limply in his grasp.

Packie dipped beneath the tree line and collided with a branch. The fireball that had been propelling him was extinguished when he made contact.

Instinctively he curled up into a ball before hitting another branch, and falling even faster he hit another tree at the widest part of its trunk. His momentum caused him to plow through the entire body, despite its thickness being fifteen feet in width. A shower of wood, splinters, and pine needles fell to the forest floor below.

CRACK!

The top of the pine tree lurched and began to topple over, being disconnected from its base.

After the initial force of the impact, he struggled to maintain his balled up form. He was beginning to approach the edge of the forest, coming in at angle.

He plowed through another thick tree, his body bloody and torn as he passed the edge. With another thirty feet still to fall he found his impact site.

The dense forest had been concealing an expansive hidden lake.

The surface of the stagnant water was completely still, reflecting a mirror image of the sky above, encompassing every star, tiny cloud, and above all the absolutely full moon.

KERSPLUSH!

His body impacted with the water, jostling him about one final time. The sudden addition of his mass caused a huge ripple to erupt upwards and cascade over the lake's entire surface. The water now had a hold on him.

His head ached and he felt himself begin to sink. His back and wings had been charred from the fireball, and his torso had been bloodied on the way back down.

One last breath escaped his mouth and the resulting bubbles floated skyward.

He let his muscles relax and be blown by some gentle current he caused. His eyes closed as he began to fade in and out of consciousness.

His flowing blond hair reached outwards and hung loosely in the space surrounding his head. The blood of the dragon that had clung to his face slowly dissolved away.

In this world of zero-gravity and absolute quiet he had only his thoughts to keep him company. His heart was not thumping loudly in his head anymore.

He was finally calm and serene, and his face relaxed into complete absence of expression.

For about a minute he did absolutely nothing, taking in his situation.

Why am I here? He thought.

Silence filled his ears.

Do I just give up now? Is this how it ends?... I failed her anyways…

More silence.

Is this how my parents raised me? NO!

Thump*

Am I just supposed to sit idly by and watch everything get taken away from me because I was too weak?!

His mouth turned into a deep frown, and he began to grit his teeth.

I'm tired of people being there for me when I am weak, and then when they need my help I can't do anything!

Thump*Thump*

It's time I started being the savior I always wanted to be!

He was screaming in his head.

God damn it! I should've been able to save her!

"Glarph…" he opened his mouth in a rage. Bubbles churned upwards towards the lake's surface.

THUMPTHUMP*

His heart was now pounding in his chest. Not being able to take it anymore he turned, deep beneath the water's surface. His feet planted on the lake's floor and he began to slowly stumble upwards. He opened his eyes in the foggy water and could see the faint outline of the moon high overhead.

Step by step he approached the lake's edge, closer and closer to the sky.

As his head broke the surface he took a deep gulp of air and continued to stumble out of the water.

His golden hair coated his face and he wiped it to the side. When he reached the rocky coast he fell to his hands and knees, wailing in grief.

The pain of the burns and his cuts was unbearable in the dry air.

"AHHHH! I'm sorry Fluttershy! GRRR! Damn it!"

THUMP*THUMP*THUMP*THUMP*

"GACK!" He choked on something in his throat, a throbbing like he had felt in his hand earlier. The throbbing continued down into his chest and he felt himself jerk forward.

He could only equate the pain to a massive heart attack.

He grabbed his chest in pain. "RAAAAHHHH!" It felt like some outside force was ripping his ribcage apart. Cartilage expanded, bones grew, and his heart struggled. In this state he thrashed about wildly, blind rage taking over him only to deal with the pain.

The surge of change continued down through his abdominals and hips, and down into his legs. His muscles expanded and his skin stretched to its maximum. The black jeans he had been wearing ripped cleanly into two halves and fell to the ground, as he stumbled across the rocks.

The pain caused him to stand up and throw his head backward, gazing at the starry night sky. Electricity poured through him, causing terrible convulsions. His spine elongated and arched, and he struggled to keep his footing. The skin around his toes pulled back and his nails ejected forth and downward into a sloped shape to better grip the terrain.

His biceps bulked upward and his back widened to accommodate his now growing frame. His pectoral muscles sculpted themselves into a heavy square shape while his core bulked, forming a tight eight-pack.

The more his body changed the more pain he was forced to endure, causing intense uncontrollable shaking.

He felt himself growing taller and stronger by each painful second. No longer having any sense of the world around him, he focused on the one constant he now had, Fluttershy.

"Guhh… GRRR! Gahh…gack!" he kept choking on a lump in his throat.

His wings began to recede into his back, their mass reforming inside his body.

Every moment they grew smaller while he simultaneously grew taller.

They kept retreating until they became but two stumps on his back.

"GRRRRAAHH!" he yelled.

The stumps fully retreated underneath his skin after his final yelp in pain.

He felt something hairy in his palm and shrieked when he saw his hands covered in golden fur.

"GRAHH! What's happening?! His voice began to distort into a deep growl. In a state of panic he began to hyperventilate.

Then the surge that had wracked his entire body up to that point moved back up to his neck.

He grunted in discomfort as the feeling moved past his cheeks and up into his face. His nose began to elongate alongside his upper and bottom jaw. His canine teeth burst through his gums and hung out of his mouth, curved downward in a vicious hooked c-shape. His eyes receded backwards slightly and his face started to stretch further into a long snout.

His ears began to perk upwards and lengthen while the blond hair on his head began to move down his face. The pores of his skin began to open, letting blond follicles push upwards to the surface.

The cuts and burns that had plagued his body started to heal themselves as more hair across his skin surged to the surface. Blond hair started appearing in places it should not have, taking over his feet, legs, chest, back, arms, and neck.

He grabbed his chest and felt his ribcage finally burst forth, his lung capacity now practically quadrupled.

The transformation started to slow down. His chest was now deep and wide, his midsection tight and compact. His thighs and calves were bulky and powerful to support his enlarged frame. He felt something else, something new to him, a big bushy tail that nearly touched the ground.

He lumbered around as his arms now reached very low. Every breath he took was labored as he tried to force himself to get used to his new body.

He was no longer quite sure who he was, but he knew he was looking for someone.

The taste of blood still lingered in his mouth. The blood was that of his target, his enemy. That much he was sure of.

He fell to his knees utterly exhausted and looked down at his palms. They were covered in blond fur which traced the length of his entire body. Packie now glanced over his form. He was about nine feet tall now, muscular and lean, covered in fur.

Who am I? He asked himself.

He turned to the water and took a few steps, the claws on his feet leaving scars in the stones.

The water allowed him a mirror like surface to gaze upon.

His face was canid-like, like a dog or something. His fur was brightly blondish-gold and his eyes were still the same deep ocean blue, though his pupils were dilated more than usual.

What am I? Who am I looking for?

The smell of flowers crossed his nostrils as a breeze blew by. His sense of smell had increased so dramatically he knew which direction the scent had come from, though the source was now over a hundred miles away by now.

He turned to face an icy mountain range far in the distance.

Packie wasn't quite sure why, but the mountains looked extremely familiar.

The smell of flowers though… he knew that smell. It came from a pony.

Fluttershy? He thought. Why is that name stuck in my head? And how do I know she's a pony?

The questions irritated him. They painfully wracked his brain.

He knew there was someone or somepony he was looking for. It had to be her. He was sure of it.

And the blood he tasted? Was that from his enemy?

The dragon!

I remember the dragon.

He must have taken her away from me!

NO!

SHE IS MINE!

"RAHH!" he snarled. Anger built up inside him. He balled his clawed hands into tight fists.

He would hunt down the dragon and take back Fluttershy. He knew it was his purpose.

Packie stumbled away from the water and gazed at the mountains with rage in his eyes.

With his enhanced lungs he took in the largest breath of air he had in his entire life and planted his feet firmly.

"RRROOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!"

His roar was long and loud, shaking the heavens themselves and echoing across the fullness of Equestria.

The animals surrounding the lake all turned their attention to the beast who had made his presence known, a towering behemoth of rippling muscle and fur.

A bright golden werewolf, bathing in moonlight.