Twilight opened her eyes, blinking. It took a few seconds for her blurry vision to clear up and adjust to the light. She put a hoof on the ground to heave herself up and froze. There was a strange sensation on her feet. She could feel the ground. Twilight looked down and was horrified to find lilac-gray paws replacing her hooves. She got up, wobbly and spun around to check what she was. Her fear was soon replaced with mind aching deja vu. This obviously was the first time she had woken up in another body. She checked her fur. It was thick and fluffy. She moved her tongue about her teeth. They were long and sharp. Her ears were perky and sharp and her tail was thick and bony. She scanned the terrain cautiously. There were trees every where. Ponyville was nowhere to be seen. She dashed over to a puddle and checked her reflection. Her jaw dropped when she saw that she was a wolf.
Twilight turned around to see five other wolves lying unconscious behind her. A tawny wolf opened her moth to speak.
"Ughh... Twalaght? Raity? Flutter shai?" The accent was all to familiar.
"Apple Jack!" Twilight called. The tawny wolf, who was really Apple Jack got up and looked around.
"Twi? Twilight? Where are ya?" Apple Jack called.
"I'm in front of you... Just... Dont freak out, ok?" Twilight pleaded before stepping out from behind a bush. Apple Jack let out a gasp and demanded an explanation for them being wolves. Twilight admitted that she did not know.
The two called out for the rest of their friends. A common thought coursed through their heads. What other savage things might they find? They were turned into wolves. But they had a feeling this was the least of their worries. They stumbled upon a white wolf squealing her head off.
"Dirt! Dirt everywhere! My coat is so tacky and my mane is missing!" Shouting out loud seemed to help, so she wailed out her problems to no one.
They already knew who they had just found.
"Rarity! Its us! Twilight and Apple Jack!" Twilight said. Rarity gasped.
"It happened to you too?! We've turned into such vulgar beasts!" Rarity whined. The bushes rustled from beside them. A yellow wolf with dark red streaking where her mane and tail were stepped out of a shrub.
"Oh thank goodness I found you all!" It was Fluttershy. "I can't explain why we are like this, but I'm glad we are all together again." Fluttershy froze. Every one else did too. Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Spike were missing still! The wolves howled their names and ran all over the place in a frantic attempt to find their missing friends.
"Oh I do hope she is alright." Rarity fussed. For once, each of them were equally was worried as Rarity was.
"What if she's hurt?!" Fluttershy squeaked in anguish. "I hope you know a healing spell, Twilight! The woods are so dangerous!"
Magic! Twilight turned around.
"My wings are gone! My horn is too!" Twilight bawled.
Fluttershy and Rarity screamed. Their wings and/or horn was missing as well.
Twilight had split up from the group and was racing through the forest when she saw a deer. She was relived to see that there was life in the woods, but also a bit concerned. She saw what appeared to be a wolf in the shadows. Rainbow Dash?! Twilight tensed her muscles to run over to what she thought to be Rainbow Dash. Twilight had barely lifted a paw when her heart sunk and she froze. The sight in front of her horrified her and sickened her. The wolf, who was obviously not Rainbow Dash, made a long, swift leap from down wind of the deer and had tackled it into a clearing. Twilight's ears lied flat against her head and her tail tucked instinctively between her legs.
The deer was kicking under the wolf's powerful grip and screaming. She nearly fainted as a splatter of blood squirted out of the deer's neck. The deer jerked around and went still. She could not comprehend what she had just seen. The wolf had dropped to its knees and stared into the deer's eyes, giving it a grateful, thankful and a bit apologetic look. Twilight felt like weeping. None of her friends could see this...this... homicide! She glanced at the wolf again. I don't even wan't to imagine what a monster like that would do to a pony...
The wolf turned around and called behind him.
"Myrr! Maudie! Come here!" Two pups responded and came scampering out of the shrubbery. Twilight began to grasp the idea behind the death of the deer. The two young wolves tore into the animal's flank and blood spilled over the side of the deer.
"Thank you for the food, Foalan. But shouldn't we save some for Burney and Toby?" The female pup piped up.
"Those two are bears, you know." Foalon nuzzled the pup. "They are out fishing by now."
"What about Edme? She needs to eat!" The male pup put his paws on Faolan's side. He nodded and stripped a chunk of flesh and set it aside.
"I'll eat that bit. The rest you pups don't will be for Edme. She did eat earlier, after all." Faolan said simply. The wolves made their way out of the clearing casually, dragging the stag by the horns. Twi took this opportunity to sprint away and search for the rest of her friends. Her mind was shaking in confusion and fear.That wolf only killed the deer to feed those foals...well...pups. But that still does not change the fact that he is a killer! Why can't he eat plants?!
Twilight noticed something while racing frantically through the foliage. The usual thundering of her hooves striking the ground was replaced by a soft brushing. She was relieved that she at least didn't have to worry about muffling her movements as she ran.
The sun was falling slowly. Twilight had assumed that the sun moved on its own, just like in the human world that she had recently visited. She kept running in the same direction as she came, looking around as she ran. She had hoped that they were not worried and weren't panicking without her help.
Twilight had found her friends eventually. But by the time she had come across them she was panting in exhaustion. Pinkie Pie had been found. She was a light russet wolf. Spike was an owl, a tyto. The last one who needed to be found was Rainbow Dash. Twilight had mentioned that there were other wolves here and they really did not seem friendly. She left out the part where she watched a stag be tackled to the ground and have its insides consumed. She was clearly agitated but her friends seemed oblivious as to why. They barely knew a thing about wolves. The closest they had ever come to one was being chased by timber wolves, and that was a terrifying experience.
The wolves had sat down to rest.
"What if we can't find her?" Fluttershy whimpered into her paws.
"We have to!" Apple Jack stomped a paw onto the rough grass.
"We will, Fluttershy, Darling." Rarity soothed the yellow wolf.
Twilight remained silent. There were bears and wolves and killing in this place. Those wolves didn't even look like they felt bad! They had just made off with a living creature! But... He had to feed those youngsters...
Twilight growled silently and swore quietly. Too much had already happened. She was stuck on what she had seen. Stuck on the wolf and the two pups. Stuck on the stag that had been killed. She knew that her friends would be as shocked as she was when... or if... they found out about this dangerous place. But she especially felt like crying as she pictured the look on Fluttershy's face. This was all too much. Twilight wanted desperately to defend her friends from the horror she had already just experienced.
The wolves had noticed that the sun had drooped a bit closer to the horizon."We had better search some more before sun down." Apple Jack stated.
Twilight's hackles rose as she thought of her friends lost in the night in these woods. Rainbow Dash! Rainbow was brave but how would she handle being separated from her friends, without her wings which she relied on so much?! Twilight had to wait and see.
"I wan't you all silent walking through here." Twilight ordered sternly. Her friends obeyed although they seemed confused. "Its a dangerous place here." Twi was used to dealing with disorder and confusion throughout ponies. But this savageness was overwhelming.
The six of them lied down to rest their wobbly bodies and to ease their worried minds. Spike perched in his usual place atop Twilight's back.
"Pinkie Pie, did you see anything unusual when or before you came across us?" Twilight inquired.
"Not much besides waking up in an unknown wood." Pinkie said simply. That was right! How did they get here? Twilight thought hard about this. Twilight sighed and rested her chin on her paws. It was obviously some sort of magic, for what else could cause this? Equestria didn't have very advanced technology.
Twilight thought of all the places that she could think of having this sort of magic and this sort of power. Was it her own Ali-corn magic? No, it couldn't have been. She wasn't practicing any spells that could backfire lately. A brew from Zecora maybe? No, she hadn't spoken to her for a while, none the less borrow a brew. The House of Enchanted Comics? Why did that even come to mind?! Twilight shook her head, as if trying hard to clear out any unnecessary thoughts. Faolan... Maudie... Edme..Toby...Burney...Myrr... The wolves, and bears, names rung in her head like a massive, hollow bell. Had she read their names in a book somewhere?
The last shed of sun had faded and the land was soaked in a rich purple twilight, much like the pony herself. Twilight remembered somethings as she slowly watched the stars unveil themselves after being draped in liquid darkness. She turned around and was not extremely surprised to see her cutie mark missing. No one else had their cutie marks either. It didn't bother her that much at first bu then a sort of moral emptiness crept into her. Twilight eyed the rest of her friends. The did resemble their true selves a bit. Their coat colors were...well, more "wolfish". But Pinkie still kept a reddish hue. As well as Fluttershy's yellow tone could still be detected on her long, silky fur.
The wolves lied under a large tree for a while, watching the sunset drift into twilight. A solemn feeling wafted through the night breeze. All of them felt a stronger moral emptiness that they felt for their blank flanks. They felt empty without Rainbow Dash beside them. There was a silence that hung around, lingering. Not even Rarity broke it with some complaint about dirt or dust getting in her fur or the hard ground. None of them wanted to risk another of friend getting lost, especially in the night. All of them lay resting until they could remotely her or see or even smell a slight sign of Rainbow Dash.
The darkness of night flew over the woods, encasing it with shadows and splashes of pearly moonlight. Fshhh... The gentle breeze breathed its hushed breath over the land, rustling up leaves and making blades of grass dance. A more unnatural rustling aroused the wolves. They all prayed it to be Rainbow Dash. The leaves in the brush went still and all hope dropped to the floor. A low growl sounded from the bushes.
"Rainbow Dash?" Apple Jack was the first to hope out loud.
The single low growl erupted into a silky, smooth howl. The wolves stepped back and their ears went flat but their hackles raised.
Twilight knew that her worst fear was bringing itself upon them with all four paws.
"Rainbow Dash?!" Rarity begged over the sound of the elusive wolf howling. She knew this could not be her friend, wolf or not.
The lone rustling grew into a surrounding storm of pelts scratching shrubs. A pack of wild wolves surrounded them, baring their white, glinting teeth in a fierce snarl.
"It must be one of Heep's out clanners! That one is yellow, like him!" Maudie, the female pup snarled. Fluttershy sank to her knees.
"You know Heep was killed a long time ago! Remember? He was impaled on narwhal tusks!" The mane six exchanged horrified glances.
"What are you doing here?! Did Heep's heir send you?!" The wolf known as Faolan growled. He stepped out of the bushes, his pelt was bright silver and shined like diamonds. Rarity alone was dazzled by its marvelous reflection in the moon light.
A silver Female wolf who was missing an eye brushed up from behind him, her gaze and tone was much more gentle.
"Tell us, what is your purpose here? Did you survive the earth Quake in the Beyond like we did?" She said calmly.
"W-we don't know! We just woke up and we were like this!" Twilight said first.
"Like you!" Pinkie added.
"Like us?! What kind of cag-mag none sense are you talking about?!" Two tawny wolves, sisters Dearlea and Mhairie, both said in a hostile tone. The mane six didn't have a clue what she had just said.
"Urskadamus!" Faolan swore."What are you doing here?!"
"We don't know!" Apple Jack said apologetically. "We woke up and we were wolves."
Fluttershy buried her face into her paws and wept.
"What are you talking about? 'Were wolves'?! Are you saying you weren't wolves before?!" Edme asked skeptically.
"Exactly!" Apple Jack smiled at her understanding.
"Well, if they are telling the truth, then they must be demons. Demons taking the form of wolves." The ponies understood smiles faded into horror.
"Like Liam MacDuncan!" Myrr growled. He had lost his parents to the so called "Prophet", Liam MacDuncan.
"They must be out clanners!" Mhairie accused. "I will test them."
Mhairie strode over to Rarity, assuming a suddenly regal appearance.
"Show me a third degree submission roll! Now!" She snarled. Rarity trembled, bewildered.
"See?! They're out clanners from Heep's route!" Dearlea howled.
"We don't know who 'Heep' is! One second we're ponies the next we wake up as wolves!" Twilight said bravely.
The wolves looked at her, confused and shocked. A silence filled the air, laced with hostile growls and Fluttershy's weeping.
A low sigh sounded like rustling leaves. Edme was the first to speak. She spoke in her usual, gentle and calm tone.
"They're coming with us." Edme then declared.
The mane six followed obediently behind the wolves. Each of them were scared and confused.
Airmead shoved the mane six into a clearing and dragged out a blue-gray wolf by her scruff.
"We found this one wandering around." The Whistler rasped in his rough exotic voice. He paused. "She claimed to try to fly away."
He paused again, as if unsure what so make of his own words.
"She must be cag-mag." Airmead shook her head and sighed through the blue-gray wolf's scruff.
"Put her with the others." Katria ordered.
Abban went up to Fluttershy and bared his teeth.
"This one is yellow, like my father." He spat the word 'father' like it was bitter in his mouth.
Fluttershy looked up at him from her paws. He shoved his head into her face, making her shrink back.
"My father was a monster. You look just like it." Abban had refused to refer to Heep as a wolf or even a 'he'. Abban refered heep to be an 'it'.
"And what about you?" Gwynneth twisted her owl head to Spike's. "Were you something before an owl?"
"Yes a dragon actually." Spike confessed.
"A dragon!" Gwynneth screeched. "A DRAGON?! Quit talking rac-drops and don't try to frink me off." She hissed.
Frink? Cag-mag? Rac-drops?! None of them knew a darned thing they were saying. But they had picked up that it wasn't anything good. Ponies rarely swore in Equestria.
"The pups must be hungry, and the new comers too." Edme said finally. "Mhairie, Faolan, please put together a byrrgis."
A few of the wolves set off leaving Edme, Dearlea, the pups, and a few other wolves with the mane six.
"So tell me" Edme said, her voice calm like a stream. "What are you?" The wolves blinked and Twilight spoke.
"We... We're ponies. All six of us. Spike is a dragon." Twilight said, her voice thick with pleading honesty.
"Ponies?" Edme was intrigued but still remained her composure. "Like...Horses?"
"Yes. I am an Alicorn, Rarity here is a unicorn, Fluttershy is a pegasus, and Apple Jack and Pinkie Pie are ponies."
"Alicorn? Unicorn? Pegasus?" Edme had heard of unicorns and pegasi, but she had never heard of an alicorn.
"I'm...uh..."Twilight felt herself getting hotter as she thought of her humbling title.
"She is a princess." Rarity objected from the silence.
Edme blinked her single eye and looked fondly at her.
"Well then, Princess Twilight, i apologize for my home pack treating you so harshly." Twilight nodded sharply.
"You see, ponies, we had some trouble with a yellow wolf, Heep, in the past. He was a route of out laws and fought us in a grusome battle over the ice bridge." She had sensed Twilight's confusion.
"The ice bridge was a huge bridge of ice crossing from here to The Beyond. The Beyond was destroyed in an earth quake along with thousands of animals." It was terrifying.
Edme took a deep breath and tried to comprehend the absurd wolves and their situation. Twilight obviously didn't seem cag-mag, and neither did the rest of them. She decided she would find out what would become of them if she supposed that she believed them.
"And what about that one over there?" Edme nodded her head to the blue wolf. Twilight peered close.
"Rainbow dash!" She cried.
The blue wolf's head shot up and she quickly regained consciousness.
"Twilight-we-gotta-get-out-of-here-these-wolves-are-gonna-attack-us!!!!" She sputtered out her words and passed out again.
"I deeply apologize, she had threatened our out flankers and we had no choice but to knock her out."
Twilight nodded and looked at her paws.
Edme sniffed the air and said gleefully.
"Our byrrgis brought our food." Her regal wisdom faded and Twilight saw that it was all an act as she was about to get up childishly.
The stopped herself and looked at Twilight and her friends.
"Come now. You can eat with us. You're not our hostages. You're our guests." She said the last part a bit louder so that all the wolves could hear.
The mane six smelled something that made their mouth water. they licked their lips and their sharp, pearly teeth.
They watched intently at the bush that they could smell the aroma coming from.
The mane six's lips twitched as the bush rustled and Mhairie's back side came into view, she was dragging something. Some thing big and heavy.
The bushed parted. Twilight's worst fear came dragging through the shrub. Rarity tucked her tail and stared. Rainbow Dash shut her eyes. Apple Jack put a paw over her heart. Pinkie pie whimpered. Spike went yeep. His wings locked and he stumbled onto the ground. Fluttershy's breathing quickened.
"What is this?!" She screamed. Edme's ears perked up and soon her eyes flooded with understanding.
"I'm so sorry. Wolves are carnivorous. We eat other animals. It's how we are." Edme begged her to relate to her own situation.
A shadow cast over Fluttershy's eyes.
"D-did you... Did you kill this...?" She muttered.
Edme lowered her head.
"It is the only way. A wolf cannot survive by eating plants. It is a perversion of the Great Chain."
Fluttershy began to weep and shoved her muzzle into her paws. She continued crying and looked up through her tears at the dozens of wolves staring at her. She got up and shook herself. She stared at Edme, her teal eyes reddening not just with tears, but with anger."
"You killed this innocent creature?! What did he ever do to you?!" Fluttershy screamed at Edme.
Edme took a step back, surprised at the shy, gentle wolf's sudden hostility. Edme's own eyes hardened. Edme too was usually a kind, gentle creature, but was firm when needed.
"I have already explained that this is the natural way. Every carnivorous animal eats herbivores."
"You... You stupid wolf!!!!!" Fluttershy screamed out and took a leap at Edme.
Faolan dove between Edme and Fluttershy as his transformation into a bear began. His guard hairs froze white, his muzzle broadened, his muscled pulsed through his pelt. He unleashed an earth shaking roar. Fluttershy's eyes went nearly as wide as her face and she shrunk back into the shuddering pile that her friends formed. His long white fangs dripped with saliva and her stood in front of Edme, snarling. He stalked over to Fluttershy, his face looking more bear like than ever.
"You do not insult my mate, do you understand me?!" His break blew back Fluttershy's whiskers.
Fluttershy nodded quickly and he Faolan drew himself up to full height. He was a bit taller than a sapling. His fur reflected the moon and shone like silver. His starry coat softened and he began to look like a wolf again. He turned away and ripped into the carcass of the caribou. All the wolves followed. Reluctant at first, fear and hunger got the best of them and they all found themselves eating the meat peacefully without objections. This although, was not something that they would eat ever again or in Equestria.
Rainbow Dash looked around. She was scared when she was wandering aimlessly around the woods. Though despite the fact about Faolan's little warning to Fluttershy, she felt some what safe with every thing. She looked around. All the wolves here were a family. Rainbow had listened to the stories that Edme began to tell. They had been through treacherous things, these wolves. They were all beginning to think that friendship may exist everywhere. One wolf with a particularly rough past was Abban. He had snapped at Fluttershy because of her yellow coat.
His father was a yellow wolf as well. Rainbow Dash always had a close relationship with her father. Abban hated his. Rainbow took a long look at Abban. His fur was tawny... and a bit orange- brown. She felt that even that he snapped at Fluttershy, he seemed the closest to her. She didn't know why, she was truly a pony, a pegasus in fact, but Rainbow Dash felt that she could get to know Abban.
To her luck, Abban had walked over to her after they both finished eating.
"So you were telling Edme... that your a horse?" He said flatly.
"Yea... Ponies..." Rainbow Dash felt awkward. She turned her head away. Abban looked at her boldly.
"You're lucky I'm not Myrr... or even Maudie. Mauidie's mum was killed by Heep's wolves on the ice bridge, and Myrr's parents by the Skaars Dancing Plague. Edme and Faolan raised them. Any one who ridicules them will definitely get it from Maud and Myrr."
Abban chuckled and suddenly looked scurrilously at Rainbow Dash?
"You don't have to be so shy. Edme said that you're our guests, remember?" Abban tapped her with a paw. Rainbow Dash smiled and giggled lightly.
Pinkie Pie had started up conversation with Maudie and Myrrglosch. They thought she was hilarious and funny. Pinkie Pie just had a way of making everything smile.
Rarity was complimenting Dearlea on her silky long fur. Dearlea was a skreeleen and didn't go hunting or mess up her fur often at all.
Fluttershy was apologizing to Edme for snapping at her, she admitted that she was scared and usually cares for animals. Edme nodded in understanding and apologized for Faolan snarling at her.
Apple Jack listened to Caila's story of how she took in Mhairie and dearlea after them and Faolan's mother, Morag died. She also was brain washed into being loyal to Heep when she had Abban.
Twilight was thinking of spell books at the time.
What spell could she use to get her and her friends home?! She had remembered about something while the word 'books' was on her mind.
Wolves of the Beyond! The wolves had mentioned 'the Beyond' right? They did! Edme had referred to ' the earth quake in the Beyond'! The beyond! She remembered it all so clearly now. Her memory traveled back to her and the rest of them in the library. She had asked Spike to grab a book for her spell as quick as he could. Twilight had told him the wrong area of the library for him retrieve the book from. The spell was a mass teleportation spell. They needed a quicker way to get to Canterlot for Rarity.
In Ponyville, Rarity needed all the time she could get to make dresses. Twilight had offered a spell so when she gets a big order, she can teleport them in seconds. She needed a location, but Spike had grabbed the wrong book and she had read out loud : The Distant Blue of Wolves of the Beyond.
"Gather around girls... and Spike." Twi called to them.
The other wolves were confused. twilight politely asked them to step back. They were going home, and she now knew how. Twilight's horn protruded through her fur and began to glimmer.
Twilight's horn lit up and magic coursed through her. She said the location for the spell to work and a purple light shimmered through the air. The wolves were amazed to see for a few moments the 6 wolves and the one owl were floating in a cloud of pink light. For a short time, they flashed a transformation into ponies and disappeared.
The mane six opened their eyes and they were lying in a pile inside of the Ponyville library.The looked at them selves and at each other and cheered. They were ponies again! They hugged each other.
Rainbow Dash would never forget Abban. She saw just how much she appreciated her relationship with her dad.
Pinkie Pie would cherish Maudie and Myrr in her memory. They came from terrifying pasts but still allowed Pinkie to laugh with them. The two reminder her alot of the Cake twins.
Rarity would remember Dearlea and her beautiful fur, voice and ways she learned from her and Mhairie's life with Faolan.
Apple Jack would forever keep in mind the courage and hardships Caila faced, for it inspired her.
Fluttershy would not forget Edme's gentle, gracefulness and her forgiveness.
Twilight would never forget the life of a wolf or the daunting reality of violence and survival. The sacrifices made every day by the wolves taught her that even though the world seems dangerous and unforgiving, death can give life, and sacrifices will always be made, sometimes its for the better.
