Controlling the Beast Within

Have you ever had one of those nights where, no matter how much you tried, you couldn't fall asleep? Laid down on one side, just to flip over onto the other, gotten up at least three times to get a glass of water, plus stared at the ceiling for an hour; all in the same night? Only to, again, find that your mind simply is going to say “fuck you” and not let you find peace?

Yeah, I'm having one of those nights...

It was about midnight, possibly one in the morning. Don't ask how I knew, I just did. Twilight and Spike had gone off to bed several long hours ago, and had left me to myself downstairs. Not wanting to even try that rather small bed, I had decided to take up residence on the lazy boy; feet up and leaning back. By all means, that should have been comfortable enough to sleep in, but I couldn’t seem to keep my mind from digging itself deeper and deeper into the pits.

Yeah, turns out that being forcibly dragged into this magical wonderland not only had me thinking about Mom, my sis, and my grandparents back home—wondering if I'd ever see them again— but it had also messed up my sleep cycle, or something. I could not fall asleep for the life of me...

So, I did what any sensible young man who had just been transported to a strange, and even dangerous, new world would do; I went for a night stroll. Yeah, I'm not really that sensible. Taking a lung-full of the cool, night air definitely started to calm my nerves, though. The brief moments of clarity to sort out my current issue, however, only made the frown that’d been stuck to my face since leaving the library grow firmer.

"...As if getting ripped away from home wasn’t enough. Now I gotta deal with some curse that’s messing my body all up."

I kicked at a stone as I kept walking down another empty street of Ponyville, not caring to pay attention to where I was going in particular. I’d pause for a moment, however, as a vaguely familiar smell brought about the mental image of the Lunar Princess. I couldn’t fathom the reasoning behind the connection, but still found myself thinking about her, as well as what she’d told me before our leaving."...Eh, it's probably too soon to think she'd stop by." I kicked at another stone, only to have it float out of the way. The curse had also done something to my eyes, making them better at seeing in the dark. It was kind of cool...

"And what makes you think it's too soon?" asked the voice I was both surprised and expecting to hear, a small grin coming onto my face as I turned around toward its source. There before me, easily visible in the still bright moon, stood Princess Luna, an equally playful grin on her face. "She may think it was just the right time."

I just pointed a finger at my nose, tapping it. "I smelt you, funny enough. I must say, whatever shampoo you use is quite... interesting." It smelt like a combination of, well, something floral while still having a hint of ...vanilla?

She averted her gaze a moment, raising a hoof to her mouth and holding what I assumed was a snicker. "I'll take that as a compliment..." Lowering her hoof, she looked back at me. "They're called moonflowers. Not very popular with most ponies due to the fact that the true scent is hard for some to smell. I presume by the look on your face that you approve?"

Lady, I frickin' love vanilla! "Y-Yes. It actually kind of reminds me of back home." Mom used to make me vanilla chip cookies every once in a while, surprising me whenever I came home from a rough day at school. Don'tjudge a man's cookies. It was probably one of the only things she did that actually made me feel better...

Probably from my sudden frown, she began to walk over to me, a mirror image of what I guessed my expression looked like reflected upon her own. "...Nick, I truly am sorry for this. It pains me more than you could possibly know to see you here, and know I am responsible for it." She was at my side now, looking up at me. I hadn't fully realized until then how much smaller she was now than when she had been Nightmare Moon; she only came up to my chest.

Nodding before looking back at her, I shrugged slightly. "I don't blame you, Princess." I kind of called her that as more of a pet name than due respect. "I blame Nightmare. Looking at you, and talking to you like this, I can tell that you are not her. Which, you know, makes me feel a bit bad for thinking about what I wanted to do to Nightmare after she turned me into a monster." Her eyes slowly widened, her face appearing to go slightly pale before turning her head away from me at that. I continued with a bit more of a pleasant tone to my voice, though, "Buuut, if you would like to try to make it up to me... I suppose I could think of some ways to make it up." I smirked lightly, leaning a bit closer to her while placing a suggestive look on my face. That got her to look up at me immediately. And after seeing my face, her own quickly turned a shade of red. That's when I let out a muffled laugh, not wanting to wake anyon- anypony, rather. "I’m just teasing. But I'll tell you what. You be my friend, and I’ll consider us even."

If she hadn't been blushing before, she was now. "Y-You'd want to be... my friend?" She almost looked shocked.

I nodded, giving her a strange look. "I don't see why not. I mean, we're both pretty much strangers here if you've been gone for as long as Celestia said." That made her grow a bit more gloomy. I reacted by placing my hand behind her lowered ears, and giving them a light scratching. She flinched at my touch, almost making me draw back, until she started leaning into my hand, a content look coming over her. "I'm not trying to put you down, only saying that we could help comfort each other better. Being in the same boat, and all."

She paused for a moment from her relaxing, glancing around us before looking at me in confusion. "But, we're not in a boat."

If I was a rude person, I would have facepalmed right in front of her. However, I'm a relatively nice guy and chuckled lightly. "It's just a figure of speech. It just means that we're in ‘similar situations’." She seemed like she understood it then.

After a moment or two of a building silence that was on the verge of, or already was, becoming kind of awkward, I spoke up again. "So, what brought you here? I mean, some small talk and my dashing good looks couldn't have been why you'd have come all this way in pers- Er, face to face."

She nodded, starting to make toward what I guess was a park or something; nothing huge, but it did have some nice-looking trees and a few benches here and there. Could ponies even use those?... Huh.

Luna suddenly took a seat when we got to a more open part of the small stretch of grass, motioning me to join her before saying. "You are correct. I wanted to have a more..." She paused, as if expecting others to be here at two in the morning. "Private conversion." I couldn't help but smirk at her wording as I took a seat.

"Well now, I didn't figure you were a girl to move a relationship this quickly." I said, eyeing her up and down. All things said, she wasn't really that terrible looking... For a horse.

I was joking, of course, but she just continued on like I hadn't spoken anyway. "I wanted to speak to you about your curse, Nick."

...Oh. "...Okay?" I suddenly felt a bit uneasy. "What about it?" Could there be more to it than being turned into a savage monster?

She gazed up toward the just-off-full moon, beginning with a question. "How have you been feeling lately?"

"You mean besides being completely confused about what has gone on within the past twenty-four hours, and realizing I may never see home again?" She nodded with a slight grimace, still staring at the night sky. "Eh, I've been better."

This time she directed the question toward me, instead of the sky. "I meant, how do you feel; physically?"

"Oh. Well, my senses have been all over the place. I seem to have a much better sense of smell, my eyesight is better with low lighting, and my ears can pick up whispers like they were being spoken normally. Oh, and reflexes seem to be jacked up as well. You mean like that kind of stuff?"

She seemed either shocked or amazed. "Y-You're experiencing synchronization this early on?..." I wasn't quite sure if that question was for me. "This is rather sudden. It usually takes years for the process to begin!"

I finally interrupted her thoughts. "Uh, could you explain what all that means, Princess?"

Luna turned her gaze to me once more, the smell of anxiety coming from her. And vanilla. "Synchronization is a part of the curse when both souls, pony and beast, start to merge together. The beast's soul will usually overcome the pony's, turning the pony mad. The beast will then take control, and force changes upon the pony whenever it wants, or even keep them as a beast forever." I was starting to get that bad feeling in my gut. "However..." Her expression grew troubled. "Your case is different. Not only are you not a pony, but you say you had control when as this 'werewolf'. This has never happened before, and the effects of it are unknown to both me and my sister. But if both of your souls are already trying to synchronize, and you're still you..."

At that moment, the most terrifying thing I had ever heard growled through my mind, speaking in between a snarl and actual words. "It means you're winning..." I immediately pushed whatever that voice had been as far back in my mind as I could.

"I-I take it that means he's not faring so well against me..." I said, still shaken up from whatever the hell had just happened.

Luna's look of tension softened slightly into confusion. "Well, yes." She slowly began to grow uneasy again. "In a matter of speaking. Tell me, have you..." She paused, her gaze piercing right through me. "Heard it yet." I could already feel something stirring in my head again.

"Yes..." I said almost in a whisper. "Just seconds ago, it..." I lowered my voice, even more, not wanting it to hear me. "It said ‘I was winning’."

Now, there are a couple things that I'm scared of. I hate heights, can't swim, and clowns fucking terrify me. But having something inside your mind that sounded like it wanted nothing more than to tear your throat out and lick the blood off its lips? That was a whole new experience for me...

"Your description was rather accurate of what I'd love to do to you."

And it could hear my thoughts?!?

"Don't listen to him!" Luna's sudden, desperate-sounding cry snapped me out of the trance I had been in, finding myself covered in a cold sweat. Luna was at my side, one wing draped over my shoulder. When she saw I was me again, she heavily sighed in what I assumed was relief. "...He will try to gain access to you through your mind, at first. You must resist him if you hope to turn the tables."

As if it couldn't get any worse, right? "P-Perhaps I should just get this over with. I'd hate to have this thing in my head longer than necessary." From the sound of my own voice, I couldn't tell if I was overly confident of the idea. And judging from Luna's reaction to it, she wasn't either.

"...Are you sure? I may be able to assist you, but I won't be able to be much help other than drawing him out from your mind in full. It will be you against him in your head. If you lose..." She suddenly didn't look too happy. "...I will be forced to put you down there and then."

Well, thanks for the load of confidence. "I-I would rather it be that way if it turns ugly." Of which I hope it doesn’t… "So, how does this work?"

Luna's horn lit up as she started her explanation. "I will use a spell on you that will put you into a deep sleep. You will be unable to awaken until only one of you is left in control. You will have until morning, before I am forced to assume the worst, and..." She trailed off, diverting her eyes. I assumed she wasn't going to do something nice.

Okay, roughly four to five hours to get rid of this thing, or risk being killed by a lunar princess. Challenge... Considered.

"You'd be wise to reconsider..." Came that awful-sounding voice again. "Your body would not be of great use to me dead." It then began filling my mind with what I assumed was laughter of some sort. Either that, or it was coughing up something.

Oh, it is so on now, pup!

Luna spoke up again, having not moved from her position. "...Are you ready?"

I nodded my head, a new determination in my heart, and clear on my face. "Let's do this." I had the time to feel her magic engulf me before everything went black.

Now, I'd never really been one to have crazy dreams before. Maybe the occasional oddball that made you say 'What the hell did I eat?', but nothing that really made me stop and wonder what exactly I had just dreamt.

I found myself lying in bed. My bed. I was quickly searching my surroundings, finding I was indeed in my old attic room again. "...It was all a crazy dream?!" I just laid back down, not being able to hold back a hysterical laugh. "Ho. Lee. Shit."

My happy thoughts were interrupted by a low rumbling. At first, I figured that a storm may have rolled in while I was sleeping.

Though... The weather had been rather clear when me and gramps decided to go out hunting. In fact... When did I get home? Or go to bed? Now that I think about it, when the hell do I ever sleep in clothing?!

Then suddenly, the room disappeared. As in, one moment I was in my room, the next I was falling through darkness. Before I could even fathom what was happening—or scream my head off—I started to slow in my descent. That's when I could start to make out six, round, bright shapes coming up from below me. At first, I couldn’t quite make out what they were. But as I steadily dropped closer and closer to them, I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling of deja vu.

Have I… been here before?

Just as what felt like a memory began to come to me, a voice filled the air. But unlike the demonic snarling that I’d expected, this voice sounded more like a crazy lunatic.

"Ah, I see you've finally had that moon princess put you to sleep." He burst into a kind of laughing fit. When I didn't react, he continued with, "See, that's funny because you're a—" He seemed to pout, sighing slightly. "Well, you're not much fun. Regardless, welcome to the Dreamscape! Or, perhaps… Welcome back?” He chuckled to himself, getting a squint from me. “Oh, don’t worry. I took the liberty of blocking out that nosey Luna from watching us. It’s just you, me, and your inner demons!"

I spoke up, still just seeming to float above the six images below me. I couldn't help looking at each of the ponies that appeared to be represented. "Alright, before you go any further, I want to know who the heck you are, and why you’re keeping the princess out." Before he could even respond, I added, "And what are these images of Twilight and her friends doing here? Wasn’t this supposed to temporarily lock me away in my own mind?"

The voice spoke up again, not sounding too amused. "Well, aren't you just a little questionnaire..." He continued on in a bored tone. "Who I am is not very important. Though I do see us meeting sometime in the future..." He let that hang in the air before continuing. “As to answer what these six ponies are doing here, let me first ask you something. Were Celestia and Luna surprised when you told them you could control your beast form?"

The question seemed completely off-topic,as well as redundant at this point, but I answered reluctantly anyway. "Yes, they were. As was I. And I’m still just as clueless to the reasoning behind it. Why, do you know what’s so important about it?"

"Oh, nothing too much." He chuckled, seeming to enjoy himself at not telling me anything. "One more question. Why do youthink you specifically were chosen by Nightmare Night's spell, hm?"

I still wasn't exactly sure where this was going, but I didn't like it. Whoever this was seemed to be giving out a lot less than they likely knew. "I don't know, because I'm that unlucky?"

He seemed to like that answer, his voice turning way too dark. "I suppose that's a way to put it..." And just like that, he sounded ‘normal’ again. "Ah, but that's enough of the boooring stuff. Now I'll answer your question regarding little Twilight Sparkle and her cute, pony friends." I slowly could feel myself lowering toward them. "You're going to have yourself quite the journey, Mr. Nick, and these six are going to be intertwined in it the whole way. I'm sure by now you know that they’re the embodiments of the Elements of... bleh, Harmony?" He seemed to say that last word in disgust.

"Yeah, I do. Got blasted by the damn things. Wasn't at all as harmonic-feeling as it sounds..."

"Oh, believe me, I know the feeling.", was all he said before continuing. "Well, let’s just say that you and them are important for events to come."

Then the six images vanished, quickly being replaced by one that seemed to show both Princess Luna and Nightmare Moon. Before I could say anything, I was dropping again, though slowing down just as I was about to go splat though, instead landing rather gracefully.

"Ah, Ms. Luna. Quite the story on how she got that alternate persona of hers." The voice just snickered to himself, giving me my own suspicions about what he meant by that. "Ah, but that's a story for another time. Maaayyybe I'll even throw in the tale of that curse you have, too.... It gets boring very easily when physically bound in stone.” Wait, what? "Ah, but that too will have to be postponed for another time."

Then the ground began to shake slightly as a dark blue podium began to sprout up and out of the ground. Oddly enough, a sword of some kind flashed into existence above it, followed by another nagging that I’d witnessed this from someplace before… But all that was pushed aside when I recognized the sword, itself. From… somewhere?

"...Why do I know that sword?." I thought aloud, taking a step towards it.

"Oh, why indeed!" ,was the reply I got back. "In fact, I bet you’ve been wondering why this whole place has been tugging away at your memories." He paused for a moment, before letting out a bit of giddy laughter. “Oh ho, I’m having so much fun with this! It’s been so long since I’ve gotten the chance to play mind games on someone.” A clearing of my throat, along with a raised brow towards the empty blackness above me seemed to reel who or whatever this thing was back on track. “Oh, come now. Don’t be like that! Tell you what. Why don’t you go take a closer look at that sword?”

I weary turned my gaze back toward the sword, before slowly making my way up to it. As I got closer, I could start to make out the details of it, finding it both odd, and somewhat predictable, that it appeared to be wolf-theme. The most obvious of this theme was the fact the crossguard was made up of two wolf heads, facing away from each other with snarling expressions. Now close enough to touch it, I reached my hand out to grab it before finding myself hesitating. I couldn’t explain the reason for it… But I found myself not wanting to touch it. But before I could even register the odd sensation, it was gone. Shrugging it off, I gripped the hilt of the blade and brought it closer for further inspection.

“...Notice anything about it?”, came that voice again.

Aside from the fact it looks cool as hell? “...There’s some sort of markings on the blade. Like writing, but I can’t make heads or tails of it.” Oddly enough, they didn’t look similar to any of the letters I’d been looking at throughout the books in the library. In fact, they looked older, though fuck all why I’d know that.
Then there was a small blinking of light that caught my eye towards the pommel. Tilting my head, I took notice that the pommel itself appeared to be a jewel, of sorts. Raising the sword and squinting, I thought I could almost see something glowing faintly inside of it…

“How does it feel? Give it a few practice swings.”

I paused again, before giving the sword a few test swings, finding it very easy to handle. Especially since I'd never used a sword before. Once again, odd. "It feels… right, for some reason." And just like that, the sword flashed away in a small poof of smoke. After coughing for a second, I looked around in mild confusion before the voice spoke up once more.

"Splendid! Good to see you’re still comfortable with it." Well, that’s not ominous in any way. At this point, it was becoming blatantly clear this being was withholding crucial information from me. "Now, onto the next station. Shall we be off?" I had no time to reply, nor comment on what they’d said prior to, before the whole stained glass picture of Luna and Nightmare Night shattered beneath me. "Oh wait, of course! You don't have a choice. Silly me!"

The only thing I could think as I started falling again was how much I was really starting to find this guy annoying. The next station, as he had called it, that began to come into view below me showed a royal-looking Celestia. I wasn't sure if I should have been surprised or not. Landing just as gracefully as before, I glanced around, wondering what was gonna happen next.

Still no sign of this beast inside me, yet…

The voice cut off my thoughts with, "Oh don’t you worry!” He seemed to snicker, continuing his statement. "He’s simply keeping me company while I prepare you for him.” Wait, what? “Now then, I suppose it'd make sense to have you use that fancy toothpick of yours before your big fight." His attention then seemed somewhat occupied. "I will say, he seems quite eager to meet you..." In another flash, the sword I had picked was in my hand. Just as quickly, I was surrounded by several pony-sized wolf creatures, black in color with glowing red eyes. "Practice on these little creations of mine. I'll just sit back and watch." Gee, don't bore yourself too much. "Oh, believe me, I'd much rather be doing other things than this. But sadly, you're the only interesting thing to play with right now."

And with that unsettling remark, the shadow wolves all began to circle me. Getting into what I would guess was a shitty fighting stance, I prepared myself for a rather rough tussle. Just as one of the creatures let out a snarl and bound toward me, I felt my arms react on instinct, performing a horizontal slash with my sword. The wolf didn’t seem to take the hit well, flying back a ways before exploding into darkness. I reeled back slightly from what I had done, both shocked and confused. I didn't have long to ponder before I heard another sprinting at me from behind. Turning quickly, I let out a swinging slash just as the second shadow creature was feet away from landing on me, cutting it in half.

Where did this power come from?! I mean, werewolf or not, I’ve never swung a sword in my life!

Soon, another two dark wolves were upon me, though this time coming at me from opposite sides. Leaping back a few steps and readying my blade, I prepared to add a couple more notches to my belt only to hiss out in pain as my back was slashed by what felt like daggers. Spinning around through the stinging in my lower back, I swung upwards like a golf club. My attack just caught the paw of a second attempt before I was already turning on my heel to address the two wolves still coming at me. Bringing the butt of my sword back, I bashed it against the side of the now pawless wolf’s head, following it with a cross slash. It exploded in darkness right in front of me, shielding both of its teammates from my gaze until they were already upon me, both of them knocking into me and onto my back. I could feel the sword coming loose from my grip, before hearing it fall to my side with a clank.

Shit, shit, shit!!!

The last thing I heard before raising my hands over my face in a last-ditch attempt to shield myself from the one leaping shadow-wolf… was the sound of both of them bursting, followed by my vision getting clouded in darkness. The pain I was expecting not coming over me, I lowered my hands and waited for the darkness to dissipate, before staring at an even stranger—and more terrifying—sight.

It looked like your everyday, typical, run-of-the-mill wolf. If your average wolf had demon-like eyes, blood-matted fur, elongated fangs, and around was my height on all fours.

"Your overconfidence will not be the end of you. Not before I get a chance to tear your mind asunder." Its non-speaking jaws snarled out, snapping in my direction. "How am I to enjoy taking control of this body if it’s not Iprying it from your broken psyche?"

Now, I wasn't a guy with bulging, veiny muscles. But growing up, I'd always found that if you at least looked like you could handle yourself, kids would usually only torment you verbally, and emotionally. So, I was a one-hundred and sixty-two-pound young man of pure, lean muscle. Add the fact that I had the inner ego of a superstar wrestler to it, and I could probably fake a fight in a ring rather convincingly, I could sometimes come across as a pretty scary guy when I wanted to. But this thing didn't want to ‘tussle’. It wanted my neck in its jaws.

How the hell am I to beat this thing if I couldn't even handle those shadow things?!

The wolf only grinned a nasty smile, flashing its blood-stained fangs. "The answer is you don't. Make it easy on yourself, and just give up." The other crazy voice had all but stopped talking now.

I sat there for a few seconds before slowly reaching for the sword that was still next to me, taking hold of it before getting back up to my feet. "...You know what? No. This is my body, mutt!" I gulped quietly before standing in my 'fighting stance' again. "A-And I'll be damned if I don't put up a fight for it!"

My response had seemed to catch the large wolf off guard. It didn't stop him, however, from charging at me full throttle, teeth bared. I had little time to react before I found myself back on the ground with it on top of me, pushing the flat end of the blade against its throat with both hands while it tried—very hard mind you—to snap at my face with his teeth. I had to clench my teeth to hold back from yelling out in pain as my chest was now getting slashed at with claws that felt like dull knives.

Trying to fight back, I kicked at his hind legs, attempting to get him off balance. Turns out that was kind of hard when you're getting mauled. So, I went with the next great idea I had. Turning the blade in my hand, I made it so he was now pushing against the sword's edge before quickly and forcibly jerking it to the left. From the yelp of pain, followed by the blood leaking onto me, it seemed like it had been an effective move. Though, even with my improvised attack managing to slice the creature’s chest a bit, I was still under a very large wolf. Only now, I had nothing between the two of us. So, using the sword’s pommel, I slammed down against the side of the wolf's head, and what I had assumed was its temple, sending it rolling off me and reeling in pain. Quickly getting to my feet, sword at the ready, I loudly shouted, "This is my house, bitch!" before running right at him as he was trying to recover. Thrusting the sword straight into its side, and twisting it as it went in, the cry of pain I got out of him almost made me feel bad inside. Almost.

The wolf fell to the ground, sword now embedded into its now heavily bleeding wound. It whined pathetically, trying but failing to get away, its demon eyes now nothing but fear-stricken orbs, gazing at me in a pleading fashion. "F-Finish me off already! You have won, kill me!"

Oh, how much his attitude has changed now. But, is it just me, or did that go way too easily?

But as I pulled out my sword from its side, readying for another attack, my suspicions were proven worthy. Faster than I could even comprehend, I was suddenly being tossed aside by a pair of canines in my arm. Without even seeing it, the wolf had somehow managed to get back up and latch onto me, tossing me across towards the other side of the station. Landing on my side rather hard and rolling to a stop, I almost found myself falling off the side of whatever platform we were on.

"This may have been your 'house', but I promise you that it's soon to be under different ownership." It said, stalking closer to me. "You should not have lowered your guard. An unwise mistake that will cost you your body.”

Trying to pick myself up, grabbing hold of my nearby weapon, and aching as the beating I’d been taking up to this point finally started registering, I finally realized something. This wolf was playing me. He was obviously stronger, faster, and an overall better fighter. And yet he’d still not kicked my ass yet?

Grinding my teeth in frustration, as well as becoming all the tenser from my new discovery, I tightened my grip on my sword, pacing away from the edge of the station. “Why don’t you just finish me off already?! I’ve got to be causing more of a hassle than I’m worth, so why not just kill me quickly, and get it over with?”

The look of pure and utter evil that appeared on the wolf's face almost made me think I had made a dire mistake. The snarl I heard also helped. "Does a cat not toy with a mouse before snuffing out its life?" It then turned its maw into an incredibly disturbing grin, continuing with, “I’m glad to see you’re coping with the fact that I’m winning, though. Perhaps after mauling and devouring every one of those ponies, I’ll find a way back to your home. I’d quite enjoy chewing on the neck of that sister of yours…”

That was all it took to freeze me in place. The very idea of this- this monster following through with such a threat started to play through my mind. I could literally hear her screams, of her calling out my name, before a dreadful snarl and roar silenced everything. My pupils dilated, my entire body quivering in a building rage, I could barely see straight anymore as my vision started to blur.

“Stay in control!”, came that voice from before. However, this time he didn’t sound at all like he was trying to fool me. Oddly enough, it also seemed like the beast before me had frozen in place. “Do not let your rage take you over! You need to harness it. Use it. Focus all of your hatred, all your wrath into a single point, then strike with it!”

Before I could even reply, or even fully comprehend what had just been said to me, the wolf was back to circling toward me, pulling its muzzle back in a sinister snarl. “You, and all you’ve ever known, will regret you not defending yourself!"

And that's when he charged at me again. However, it was at that point everything seemed to slow down again. Or at least, it felt like it, as all I could hear was my own heartbeat, thumping away in my chest. Closing my eyes, I tried to do what the voice had told me to, slowly raising my blade before me..

Focus on all of my anger… Then strike with it…

An image of my little sis as a kid, playing at the playground back home entered my mind. My real home. Her suddenly getting approached by three older boys. Her slowly backing away from them, fear evident in her eyes. Her letting out a shrill cry out for me, before— “Nick!”

Just as I could feel the beast’s hot breath on my face, I snapped my eyes open in a deadset glare while quickly dodging to the right quicker than I’d ever been able to move before. Catching myself on the ball of my foot, I let out a roar of pure rage before turning towards the monster wolf and slicing down with my sword, almost releasing it when the blade caught on fire! His unguarded side now open to this new, devastating attack, he only had enough time to glance in my direction before letting out an uproar of both frustration and pain.

The last thing he saw as he turned to face me, however, was my flaming sword meeting his temple and embedding itself into his skull. Judging by the pure look of shock in his now lifeless eyes, I had won.

My breathing quickly became slightly abnormal, my wounds and joints starting to ache as the adrenaline started to wear off. I took a moment for it to dawn on me, but this had been the first time I'd actually killed something, with full intent on wanting it dead. It... honestly wasn’t that great a feeling. Closing my eyes, I gave the sword a good yank, causing a sickening, indescribable sound as the lifeless body plopped down onto the ground. The flame that had been burning brightly slowly began to die out.

Letting out a long, held in breath, I allowed the sword to fall next to me before falling into a sitting position as well. ...I guess that's that. I couldn't help laughing quietly, trying to keep myself somewhat sane. Can't say I'd like to have to do that again.

My eyes were soon drawn back to the sword lying next to me, staring at it with a growing sense of wonder, and fear. Had… Had I caused that burning effect to happen? Or, was it some kind of magic those runes had sparked? I couldn’t help but stare at the jewel embedded into the sword’s pommel, an odd sensation pulling me towards it.

All my thoughts, however, were cut off by the sound of movement from the wolf before me. Snatching up my sword in a flash, I was up on my feet and ready to fight back again if I had to. However, what once was a bloodied, devil of a wolf, was slowly starting to radiate in an ambered glow, becoming a darker dirty-blonde in color as its wounds closed shut. The 'aura' then seemed to seep into it, its eyes blinking open in the same amber color.

It stared at me for a moment, eyeing my shoddy and weary stance, before seeming to… chuckle?

I didn’t have much time to react before it suddenly turned into a radiating cloud of light, and rushed right at me. Gasping, trying to swat at it with my sword, I could only watch as it slowly started to seep into me, getting absorbed into my body. At first, all I could do was freak out, trying to brush whatever it was off of me like I thought that would somehow work. However, a calming effect started to wash over me, and I could soon feel myself becoming slightly warmer from the aura, as if I’d been wrapped up in a blanket. And just like that, I didn’t feel uneased anymore.

The last thing I could hear before everything around me started to turn into a blinding, white light was the small chuckle from Crazy Voice, followed by “Well done...”

And then, there was darkness, quickly followed by the feeling of being violently shaken by what felt like hooves. How's that even possib- "Nick! Are you alright?!" Luna didn't sound all that happy.

I was able to croak out a response, feeling like I was being woken up from a monster hangover. "If you'd quit shaking me, I'd be a whole lot better." That quickly got her to stop.

It didn't stop her from wrapping me in a hug, though. "Oh, thank goodness! I lost sight of you right after you vanished from that bedroom you were in." I think she finally realized she was hugging me though, and hastily released me, a slight blush present. "W-What happened?"

“I… I honestly don’t know." I said, getting up rather uneasily and brushing myself off. "I think I won, but- Well, after I defeated it, it kinda changed into something that wasn’t a terrifying, blood-thirsty wolf, before ‘absorbing’ itself into my body." I left out most of everything else, not wanting to tell her that I also had some conversation with something that sounded like it may have had something to do with Luna turning into Nightmare Moon. And if I had to guess from Celestia's station being there as well, he probably had a history with her too. Sure, that was probably a bad idea, but… Well, who said I was the brightest of the bunch?

Luna’s eyes widened at my explanation, however. “Y-You won?” I could tell from her reaction she hadn’t really thought I could… It quickly, however, turned to something much more confused. “I’ve never actually known somepony who’d been able to fully take over his own curse. I can honestly say I don’t have a clue what waits in store for you now, Nick.” She ended that a bit too grim for my liking.

“Well, it doesn’t feel like the wolf is trying to take me over, anymore.”, I said, trying my best to sound positive. “As for how things will work for me now… I’ll just take things slow, and learn as I go.” I actually paused for a moment to realize I’d just rhymed unintentionally.

Thankfully, though, it looked like the sun was about to be coming up any minute now, and I could actually feel myself growing kind of exhausted, despite having just been “dreaming” for the past five or six hours.

Luna must have realized it as well, since she simply nodded with a small smile. "I suppose you may be correct. Hopefully, you will not have need to turn into it too often, though."

I kind of agreed with that, but now that I thought I could do it without worrying about losing control, I kind of was swaying toward the 'This might be kind of cool' thing. But for now, sleep. "Yeah. Well, I guess I'll head back to Twilight's place for some much-needed rest..." This time, I gave the hug. "Thank you again, Princess." Letting go and walking away, I could only imagine the look she had before I heard her teleport away.

I made it back to the library just as the sun was slowly peeking over the eastern horizon. Letting myself in as quietly as possible, and heading over to the living room, I plowed down on the couch and slowly let out a tired sigh, allowing myself to start relaxing.

My moment, however, was cut short by a familiar unicorn's way-to-cheery voice as she made her way down the stairs. "Good morning, Nick! Ready to start off your first real day in Ponyville?" Oh, how I wanted to answer by throwing a pillow at her face... The expression Spike had on almost made me feel better; He didn't seem too happy either.

Instead, I just answered with a groan, rolling onto my side so my back was facing her. "No, not really..."

Why? Why can't I get a break?

Twilight just laughed, as if I was a fucking comedian or something. It was at that time that I soon felt my whole body start to tingle as I floated off the couch. "Oh, come on, Nick. I'm sure it won't be that bad." She placed me down on my feet before letting me go, in which I just fell down onto the floor face first, too tired to give a damn. "Sheesh, you're just as difficult as Spike is." Spike humphed, crossing his scaly arms at that. "Well, fine. Sleep the day away. If you need us, we'll be at the park." She turned in a huff and started out, Spike sighing as he followed.

"I'll be out in an hour or two!" I shouted from the floor, though whether they heard me or not wasn't important.”...Maybe.”

So, with a content sigh, I curled up on the floor and took a cat nap. Or rather, wolf nap.