Controlling the Beast Within

I found myself being woken up several hours later by something hard poking at my side, causing a groan. Which actually ended up sounding more like a growl. Opening one eye in slight annoyance brought me face to face with one of the pinkest things I’d ever seen in my entire life. That was, until… I sort of recognized it.

“Can I help you?”, I mumbled out, closing my eyes and hoping that I may have still been dreaming.

“Hi there!”, the mare said, in a far too happy voice for my still-tired ears. “I’m Pinkie Pie! What’s your name?”

Letting out a long sigh, I opened my eyes and started to sit up, knowing I wasn’t going to be getting back to sleep anytime soon. Pinching the bridge of my nose, as well as getting all the gunk out of my eyes, I stared back at this ‘Pinkie Pie’ with a most unamused expression. I hate mornings...

“...Nick.”, I stated rather flatly.

In case it hadn’t been apparent in my tone, I’m a bit of a grouch when I don’t get my sleep. However, this pony didn’t seem to get that. In fact, she must have thought the complete opposite. Because within the second, she was sitting on my shoulders and running her hooves through my hair.

“You look kind of funny.”, she stated rather matter-of-factly. “You’re not a pony, are you? Because I’ve seen A LOT of ponies, and let me tell you-” I attempted to grab at her, but ended up only waving my hands through thin air. “Ooooo, do you like parties? Because I love parties!” She now managed to get right in front of me, placing her face a mere few inches from my own. She let out a far too exaggerated gasp before letting out a quick mesh of words that I couldn’t fully understand. “I should TOTALLY throw you a super dee-duper, funtastic part-”

Not giving her a chance to finish whatever she had been rambling on about, I quickly wrapped an arm around her, pinning her against myself as I put a finger to her lips.

“Shhhhhhh...”

This must have taken her by complete surprise, judging from the look of utter shock she had. Although, the small smile she was starting to get didn’t keep me thinking that for too long.

“...I’m going to take my finger away from your mouth.” I kept my gaze staring right into her large, saucer-like eyes. Of which, I had to admit, were a very nice set of skyblue. “When I do, you are going to speak calmly, and quietly. Understand?” She gave me a series of over-excited nods, her smile rather large now. With a quick prayer, I finally lowered my finger, releasing my hold from her. However, she surprisingly stayed still right in my face.

“You’re funny!”, she said with a bit of a snort-laugh. “We really have to have some fun together sometime!” And just like that, she vanished in a dust trail. One that, oddly enough, led up the stairs.

“...What the fuck just happened?”, I asked myself aloud. “Forget dreaming, that was a complete nightmare!”

Groaning as I felt myself becoming fully awake, I got up onto my feet and stretched. I only paused a moment when I swore I heard a startled scream from outside only a few seconds later. However, when nothing else seemed to happen, I shrugged my shoulders and figured it was my head playing more tricks on me.

First thing I was sure to do was head off toward the kitchen to get myself something to eat. Sadly, the only thing I could find that was even edible were some more apples and a few carrots. “Great. Haven’t even been here two days, and I’m already getting forced to become a vegetarian…”

Sighing off my distaste, I quickly ate the fruits and vegetables with a bit of disappointment. It was better than eating nothing at all, but still... Some eggs and bacon would be awesome, right now.

Exiting the kitchen and heading back into the living area, I glanced around the tree library one last time before coming to my ultimatum for today. “...I should probably go introduce myself to the other locals.”

I was just on my way towards the door, reaching toward the doorknob, when a sudden thought made me hesitate. An image started to roll through my mind of me walking around outside, parading through town like the swaggy, motha’ fucka I am. But then, some of the pony residents become troubled by my presence. Not quite sure whether I’m peaceful or not, and with no Twilight to help back me up, I’m questioned and ridiculed! They call the law enforcers, and have me taken away before I’m even able to say a single word! And THEN I lose myself and turn into a raging werewolf, brutality tearing apart all that try to stand before me!!! Before I know it, every single one of those colorful, pretty ponies is a steaming pile of ravaged flesh and organ, getting fought over by the hordes of flies trying to dine and procreate. And me, fur caked in dried blood to the point where I’ve gained a couple of pounds, let out an unearthly howl of—

Blinking out of my horrid, and oddly very specific scene of apocalyptic proportions, I slowly backed away from the door. “...Perhaps I should just stay inside today.” I quickly turned toward the couch, before adding, “As well as question my sanity.”

Pushing the latter daydream as far back as I could manage, I took a seat on the couch with an audible ‘oof’’, and stared up at the ceiling. Perhaps it was at this time that everything slowly started to come down on me again, my realizations of where I was, what exactly was happening, and what I’d become weighing down on my shoulders. I could often find myself in this kind of ‘depressive state’ every other week or so back home, but hardly knew what was the cause of it, or how to even go about fixing it. So, I’d just let it run its course until I found myself happy, go-lucky me again. However, this time it’d seem to find me in an already unraveled state…

“I wonder what the family’s doing back home…”, I mused to myself. “Moms probably blissfully unaware of my not being there, playing some kind of board game with Nanna. And Gramps is probably trying to remember what was so important that he had to tell the others.” At this point, I was on the verge of laughing at my own imagery. “‘Dang it, I know there’s something around here that seems to be missing… I just can’t seem to put my finger on it!’”, I mocked in an old man impression. I could then make out all of them laughing. Enjoying themselves. One less mouth to feed, and one less person to send off to college— Well, if I were to go, that was.

My fists unconsciously tightened at my belittling thought. I knew they would never do that, and might have actually been worried out of their minds that I was nowhere to be found. But honestly, that had me feeling even worse. The fact that my family could be going through hell because of my not being there. And I couldn’t even tell them I was fine. Well… Relatively fine. Not sure if ‘werewolf powers’ counts as being ‘in good health’.

But then I suddenly felt my building sorrow take a huge dump on me as the face of my sister emerged from the caverns of my mind. That light, messy mop of hair getting in her eyes as she tried her best to give me a tough-looking smirk. Her dumb, purple t-shirt with some… red and yellow image on it, that she, for one reason or another, insisted on wearing every single day—She had several copies of the same shirt, but still— torn jean-shorts, and well-worn sneakers with ‘bedazzles’ on the sides.

“You just gonna sit there and cry? Sheesh, what a baby!”

I could feel moisture running down my face before I even realized what I was doing. Shaking my head and wiping at my reddened eyes with my arm, I forced myself to take in a sharp breath while loosening my clenched hands. Getting up from the couch, I stared at the floor as my expression returned to a neutral state. She was the only one I could say, without a doubt, would be the most distraught about my disappearance. Heck, she would probably be the one confronting me right now, if she were here.

“You always did have a way with words...”, I couldn’t hide my smirk while glancing back up at the ceiling. “You little brat.”

“And just who do you think you’re calling a brat?”, asked a sudden female voice, causing my attention to quickly turn toward the doorway. “At least I’m not the one who refused to get up in the morning like a stubborn foal…”

All manner of my previous state of mind was now quickly replaced by a flat, blank stare at the purple unicorn staring at me with a questioning gaze.

Without thinking, I mistakenly went on the offensive. “Don’t you ponies know how to knock?!”

Her eyes soon turned into a rather unamused glare. “I shouldn’t need to knock on my own front door.”

Quick, you fool! Apologize before you end up making it worse!

Sighing, I shook my head and gave the mare an apologetic frown before saying, “I’m sorry…” Heading over toward the now confused-looking Twilight, I gave her a few gentle pats on the head. She didn’t seem to understand, or like, the action. “I guess I’m just still on edge while I try to come to terms with the fact I’m no longer back home. That the world I find myself in right now is not like anything I’ve ever seen in my entire life”—Aside from the baby shows my lil’ sis used to watch—“and that this may end up being my permanent home. Separated from the people I’ve known my whole life. It just… still feels surreal.”

Taking a good look at Twilight almost had me grimacing at what I’d just told her. I had no time, or ability, to react before she was pulling me down with her magic and enveloping me in a somewhat awkward embrace. I could feel her tears leaving damp pools on my shirt.

“I-I’m so sorry, Nick…”, she began. “I can’t even begin to try to relate to what it is you’re going through! But while I know I haven’t really done much to show it that well,” My eyes widened slightly as she pulled away, revealing the most heart-wrenching face I’d ever seen. ...On a horse. “Please know that I am here for you, whenever you need somepony to talk to.”

If I hadn’t been so utterly flabbergasted by her sudden show of concern for someone she had only known for a day, I would have responded with a “Thank you”, or something. However, as I tried to produce a form of acknowledgment, a wild Spike appeared.

“Hey Twilight, I-”, the little purple dragon that’d been entering through the doorway paused to look at the scene before him, a questioning look coming to his face. “Uh… I can come back another time.”

I, however, threw my hand up at him just as he was about to leave. “Wait! I was actually just about to go look for you!” Patting Twilight’s head with a slightly awkward chuckle, I accomplished in getting the unicorn to release me and got back to my feet. Judging from the look of confusion plastered on her face, slowly turning into a look of solemness, I knew I’d be having to address her at a later time. Like when I’m not tripping balls.

“You wanted to see me?”, Spike asked as he came over to me. I could tell he was glancing back toward Twilight, but was glad when he didn’t bring her up. “What for?”

“Yes, um…” Shit. Now I have to think of something. I could almost feel the light bulb form right above my head. “Yes! I wanted to ask you if there were any places in this town where I could get something to eat! Aside from fruits and vegetables.” ...Bravo, Nick. Bravo…

“Oh! Uhh…”, he paused a moment before answering. “Well, I know Pinkie Pie told me that Sugarcube Corner has the best pastries in all of Equestria, and it’s close by, so…” I could hear the grumble from his stomach that caused him to start blushing. “Heheh. Um, perhaps we could go check it out?”

Glancing back at Twilight, who had now started to set up what appeared to be a makeshift laboratory in the main room of the library, I asked aloud, “Hey, Twilight! Wanna go get some sweets with me and Spike?”

“It’s ‘Spike and I’”, she stated in a rather grouchy way. “And I’ve got experiments that need to be conducted. You two can go by yourselves.”

With a small frown forming, as well as a bit of attitude building up, I countered her random bitchiness with “Well, I’m broke. I kind of forgot my wallet in my other pants.” I even went as far as to add. “The ones back in my world?”

By the shocked expression she grew, followed by the tears starting to form, I knew I’d really stepped over the line. The pouch I found flying at my face also helped enlighten me. Luckily, I managed to catch it with my crazy werewolf reflexes.

“J-Just get out of here!”, the unicorn yelled in a hurt voice before turning her back to the two of us.

I honestly hesitated, really wanting to apologize for my sudden, inexcusable behavior, but instead lowered my head as I turned toward the door. Grabbing hold of Spike’s hand, I slowly dragged the worried-stiff dragon out of the library with me before closing the door behind us.

That’s when Spike finally came back to life, glaring daggers at me. “What was that all about?!” While his upsetness for making the one who took care of him cry was obviously well-expected, I had to pause a moment at the fact that he had actually managed to make himself look rather frightening. As frightening as Barney could ever look. ...Wait, that’s actually pretty scary.

Trying to push my thoughts aside, I ran a hand through my hair—which was starting to need a good washing—before speaking up. “I-I don’t know, Spike…” I glanced down at him with a suddenly tense gaze. “...I honestly don’t know.”

Heading off to Sugarcube Corner with Spike, and actually encountering a few of the other ponies in town in the process, we had decided that I was in dire need of some stress-relieving activities. I’d told Spike what had happened back in the library and was actually surprised to hear that he’d also gotten in somewhat odd verbal tussles with the purple unicorn before. Though, I wasn’t quite sure his own experiences matched up with my random mood swing this morning…

“You’re probably just stressed.”, he chimed up over a plate of the best cupcakes I’d ever had in my entire life. “After going through what’s happened to you, I’m sure it’s a normal reaction. Twilight will come back around, though I do think an apology would speed it up a bit.”

I had to admit that he was probably right. Of course, I didn’t tell him about how I’d imagined the ‘complete destruction of everything in existence’ just from me stepping out the door, but that was just a given. Probably just me overreacting, anyway…

So, it was now time for us to find said “stress reliever”. That had us wandering around Ponyville, attracting more attention from the townsfolk on my part, until we had taken a dirt path toward what looked like a farm. However, that had us in front of an all too familiar pink pony…

“Aww…” Pinkie mused, rubbing a hoof on my head. “Of course I‘ll help! After all, who’s better at making ponies smile than Pinkie Pie?”

...Stress levels increasing…

I still couldn’t understand why I’d agreed to this, especially after my first encounter with the sugar-high mare this morning. But at the remembrance of a certain Twilight Sparkle’s expression after having her own kindness shoved back in her face, I guess I was just desperate. So, Spike had suggested that we try and search out for the pink menace in hopes that she would be able to help.

“Well, I still don’t like it.”, mumbled the pegasus who’d also been with Pinkie. Her cyan pelt, and rainbow-colored mane had me recognizing her as another one of Twilight’s friends. “I mean, just look at him! He’s totally a monster of some sort!”

That had me clenching my fists a bit tighter. ...Frustration growing…

“Aw, come on Rainbow Dash!” Spike said, coming to my defense as it would seem. “He’s not a monster, he’s just…”, the small dragon looked me up and down a moment before smiling awkwardly. “...Different.” Thanks, Spike…

“Look, as amusing as having you all talk about me right to my face, I’d really like to get rid of this quickly building irritation.” It took a lot of self-control to say that without the hint of a snarl.

“Did you try eating something at Mr. and Mrs. Cake’s?”, asked Pinkie. “That always makes me feel better!”

“Yes…”

Rainbow just rolled her eyes in an almost bored expression. “Well, I’d suggest doing a couple of laps around Ponyville. But since you don’t really have any wings…”

Wait a second…

“Taking a quick run around Ponyville might actually help.”, I thought to myself. I wasn’t exactly sure why, but the thought seemed to appeal to me. “In fact, how about a little race, Miss Attitude?”

The looks on all of their faces seemed to change all at the same time. Spike’s into utter surprise, Pinkie’s into one of frighteningly high excitement, and Rainbow Dash’s into one of slight interest followed by a smirk. This caused the confident smile I had been wearing to falter slightly. ...What have I done?

“Is that supposed to make me laugh?”, asked the cocky pegasus. “I’m the fastest flier in all of Ponyville! There’s no way you could beat me!”

I could slowly feel the edges of my mouth creeping up into a smug grin of my own again. “Then I guess you don’t have much to worry about, do ya?” I closed the distance between the two of us just a bit to finish it off with. “Skittles.”

While I highly doubted any of them actually knew what a ‘skittle’ was, the way I had said it seemed to get across to them that it was supposed to be a belittling name.

With her face pushed right up into mine, dark pink eyes radiating in a sense of determination, Rainbow Dash merely replied with, “You’re on.”

“Oooo! This is going to be so exciting!!!”, Pinkie yelled out, jumping up and down next to the three of us. “Okayokayokay, first one to reach Golden Oak Library, make it to Sugarcube Corner, dash to the Town Hall, and make it make to Golden Oak again first wins!”

I had a hard time concentrating on the path laid out before me due to the fact that I was questioning where the heck she had pulled the large poster, with the exact same route she’d just made up, out from…

“Ready?”

I plastered an all-too-excited grin on my face as I took up position, getting down onto my hand like an athletic runner would. With my gaze toward the town ahead, I could feel myself closing my eyes as I took in a deep breath, slowly exhaling the warm air out. The air seems so much cleaner here. It’s… actually really nice.

“Set?!”

Opening my eyes, I glanced over toward Rainbow Dash. She had taken up position to my left in a prepared stance of her own. She glanced over toward me as well, then gave me a resolute sneer, mouthing something out. “You’re. Goin’. Down.”

“Go!!!”

At that moment, everything happening around me seemed to slow down. Glancing toward Rainbow, I could see her just starting to spring forward as her wings unfolded. I couldn’t help but smirk at her obviously unfair move. Pinkie was somehow floating in the air. Or maybe she had been in mid-jump. Spike looked like a kid who’d just been brought to a horse race for the first time, one fist in the air and the other near his mouth as he tried to yell out something. Focusing my gaze back onto the path before me, I found myself moving forward in an almost sluggish motion. As if something was trying to hold me back, and I was having to force myself forward with all my might.

That’s when a warm feeling began to grow in my chest. It started right in the center, and spread out until it was covering my entire body in its boil. My vision seemed to come to a bit of a blur as I felt my movements become more fluid again, with less restraint. It was around this time that I could feel everything starting to speed back up again, the beating of wings quickly approaching from behind being heard clear as day. Also that I was propelling myself forward on all fours…

I suddenly stopped in my tracks, skidding at a speed far too fast and tumbling forward. After rolling against the ground, feeling dirt, small stones, and the occasional brush burn, I finally came to a sudden stop. Or rather, something very hard and solid stopped me. With a rather large thud, I slammed into the door of the library with my back, slamming my head into it in the process of knocking it down and following it to the floor. Needless to say, it was all rather painful.

“What in the name of Celestia—Nick?!” Before I knew it, the face of a far worried, purple unicorn came into view above me. “W-What the hay happened to you?!”

My head hurts like a sonofabitch, my whole body feels used and abused, and I’m afraid that I may have almost turned into a werewolf right in front of two ponies, and one dragon. My heart is racing out of my chest and my body itself feels like it’s cooling down, still seeming to be getting over whatever the hell I just went through. All in all, I could have fractured, if not broken, a hand full of bones, given myself a concussion, and turned myself into a cripple for the rest of my life. Think, Nick. How do you answer this?

“I t-tripped…”, I weakly stated before attempting to give Twilight a weak smile.

Her face soon began twisting into an odd mixture of pure frustration and complete turmoil. The first most likely due to the fact that I’m just such an ass, and the latter caused by my current condition.

“H-Hey…”, I exhaled more than I said, removing any signs of joking from my bruised face. This seemed to help simmer down her distress a wee bit. “I’m sorry for- for being a jerk earlier.”

She paused for a moment, staring at me before shaking her head. Her horn soon began glowing a second later. “We can talk about that once you’re well again. But first, let's get you on the couc-”

“Nick!”, came a terrified scream from outside, cutting her off. Surprisingly, it was Rainbow Dash who appeared in a multi-colored blur through the doorway. Well, somewhat surprisingly. She is supposed to be the fastest flier in Ponyville.

“H-Hey there, Skittles.”, I said through a toothy, albeit tightly clenched, grin, mostly due to a sudden ping of pain that shot up my arm. “I-I guess I’m out of the race by forfeit?”

“A race?!”, Twilight burst out, eyes widening. “Nick, you challenged Rainbow Dash to a race!?!” She was just now setting my battered body on the couch, being extra careful with my head. “What in the world were you thinking?”

“Apparently I wasn't…”, I said with a chuckling cough. “She’s pretty good.”

Rainbow didn’t have enough time to comment, however, as the room was soon filled with more panicked yelling.

“Nick! That was completely, absolutely, the most…”, Pinkie was quickly at the side of the couch, followed by Spike. “Um- well- it was something all right!” She seemed to simmer down a bit with her bubbly personality. “Are you alright…?” Spike was at her side, sharing the concerned look.

“Ah, I’ll bounce back.”, I said, giving a dismissive wave to the two. “I’m feeling better already!”

Twilight’s gasp was what had me quickly questioning my own statement. “Y-You’re arm! It’s…” She couldn’t seem to finish. Oh lord, don’t tell me I have bones sticking out!

Glancing at my arm told me nothing, though. There didn’t appear to be anything out of the ordinary, and everything seemed to move and bend just as it should, aside from a slight bit of discomfort. “...W-What about it?”

Twilight’s expression had a very dark tone to it. Her voice equally shared that tone when she spoke. “...It was broken when I placed you on the couch.”

Oh... Oh, shit!

The others in the room all gasped in equal levels of surprise at her statement. I tried to act just as taken back as them, but could already feel the sweat running down my temple. The only reason why my body would be healing so fast would be due to being a werewolf. But that was something I definitely was not willing to explain to them just yet. I tried to rack my brain for some kind of excuse, until I finally blurted out, “H-Humans can heal SUPER quickly!”

Twilight’s eyes widened quite a bit at that, while the other two mares and dragon just stared at me in awe. ...Did they seriously just buy that?

“...Why didn’t you tell me that yesterday!?”, exclaimed Twilight. “Now I’m going to have to go through all of the notes I took down, and add it in where it should have been! I’ll probably have to rewrite the whole thing over again!” She looked highly agitated as she turned and headed off back toward the stairs.

“Y-Yeah…” I, on the other hand, could feel a heavy burden lift off my shoulders. “Sorry about that, Twilight.”

After only minutes had passed from the accident, I could already see more than half of the injuries I’d taken had mended themselves, leaving only a couple of the more major ones almost fully tended to. But what really got me to start chuckling like an idiot, was the fact that one of my bigger problems had also seemed to fix itself.

“Hey, guys.”, I focused my attention back toward Spike and the other two, still giddy at my discovery. “...I’m not feeling stressed anymore!”

They all seemed to react in a slightly perplexed way, before glancing toward one another and shaking their heads with varying smirks.

—————————————~O~o~O~—————————————

The rest of the day went by rather uneventfully. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash went about their own business again, leaving me, Spike, and Twilight to ourselves at the library. We had ourselves what you could call a kind of late lunch or early dinner of some kind, and went about our own activities as we had the previous day before. Twilight had, true to word, rewritten her entire report on my species, leaving Spike and I to shoot the shit for a few hours. Once we’d grown bored of that, and after double-checking to confirm that I had actually recovered fully, I got myself up from the couch I’d been resting on and went towards the bathroom. After having gone through all I had so far, and not taken a shower in the past three days—one day from back home, and two since arriving here–-I was really starting to feel a bit gross.

I can’t possibly get into any kind of trouble taking a bath, right?

Entering, I quickly took note of several things that stood out to me.

One, the fact that it really resembled one that you’d find back home. I wasn’t really sure why I found that surprising, but the fact that they were all horses may have helped. Aside from the far too girly look of it, with all the shades of purple, it had the basic necessities. Toilet, bathtub, sink. Standard-esque bathroom.

The other thing was that the object I would be using to clean myself in, was currently occupied. And by that, I meant a suddenly frozen stiff, wide-eyed unicorn was currently staring at me with her mouth hung open. Surprisingly, I actually kept my composure pretty well. And when I say that, I mean I flailed crazily to both shield my eyes from the sight before me, as well as try to avoid the multiple objects I now had getting flung at me in a light-purple aura.

Out of the frying pan, and into the fire… You really have a knack for trouble, Nick.

Pushing myself out the way I came in, and slamming the door behind me, I stood there a moment as a soaked washcloth slowly slid off my face, revealing my beat red face. I could still make out Twilight’s beyond frustrated screams from just behind the door. I could still see the soaked mare in my mind's eye, the way her wet mane reflected some of the light from the room. The patches of bubbles that adorned her dripping pelt. I could almost imagine what sh—

Nope! Snap out of it!

Forcibly shaking my head from the rather repulsive thoughts that I’d been imagining up, I gave my head a few knocks. This is no time to lose whatever sanity I may have left! Getting as far away from the door as possible, even to the point where I realized I was exiting the tree house itself, I continued wandering away from my newest found stressor. I could feel that sudden, slowly increasing, fire inside me again as I headed toward the direction I’d remembered the edge of the forest was located. There was something that was causing me to continue to grow so crazy, and I was not going to blow off the handle near these ponies.

Upon reaching the tree line, dusk just starting to darken the sky, I halted just before stepping into the dense growth of vegetation, remembering what Twilight had called this place. The ‘Everfree Forest’. Forever Free… My eyes pierced through the shadows of the many trees within, the burning sensation in my chest growing. Perhaps this is what I needed… Stepping further in, I began to unconsciously remove the articles of clothing that I had on, tossing them aside until I was welcoming the summer night air with my bare skin. This stress… It just needs to be let loose for a little bit. I could feel my heart starting to increase in its rhythm as the warmth within wrapped my entire body in its embrace, transforming it into that of which it wanted.

Letting out a heavy breath from my now elongated jowls, I fell onto all fours before quickly speeding off into the forest before me. Claws dug into the earth, pulling me further and further away from the civility that lay behind me. My senses surged as the smells and sounds happening around me hit me with information all at once. My fur tossed about from the breeze that was brushing past me. It felt so… Good. I soon realized the fact that I was slowly losing myself to these new sensations. And that I was okay with it! I was just about to fill the night with a howl that was forming in my chest, when—

*whoosh*

Stopping abruptly, though not wiping out as I had earlier, my ears flicked at the small sound that caused me to stop in my tracks. Lifting my nose toward the sky, I took in several quick inhales, something seeming to smell a bit off to me. Something’s nearby… Instantly turning toward my right, I had enough time to duck before a clawed appendage flew directly where my head had been a mere second ago. Following the airborne creature with now hate-filled, ambering eyes, I let out a threatening roar to back off. This didn’t seem to get through to the winged beast, as it was already coming around for a second assault, letting out an avian screech of its own. This thing wanted blood… and seemed determined that it was mine it got.

So be it…

Watching it carefully, I waited until it was just about to swing its taloned claw at me again before rolling to the left, and launching myself at the thing that had dared pick a fight with me. I could feel my claws dig into what felt like fur, racking out a nice set of claw marks on its hind quarters before getting slammed in the muzzle by a paw. Releasing my grasp, I fell back to the ground with a thud, recovering to my hind legs in a hurry. However, the third attempt at an attack I’d been expecting never arrived. Instead, the sound of wings beating against the air slowly faded out into the night sky.

Serves ya right, you damn animal.

Bringing up my clawed hands, and letting out a victorious howl just for the sake of adding insult to injury, I gloated up my first actual win in a fight in this new world. Turning my head back toward the direction of town, I slowly came back to my own senses. It’d seemed like this experience had shaken off whatever had been coming over me again, and I could think more clearly once more. And that’s when the realization that I had been planning to run away and stay in this awful forest came to light. What on earth was I thinking?!

Dashing back through the way I came, and following the familiar smell of town, I managed to exit the tree line close to where I had discarded my clothing. Lifting a paw to my face, staring at it with slight unease, I took in a deep breath before closing my eyes.

If restlessness and stress is what cause me to go into this state of mind, and fuel the desire to turn, then calmness and tranquility should counteract it, right?

With that in mind, I took a few calming breaths, allowing my heart to slow down its pounding. A new wave of cooling started to creep up my arms and legs, until I was completely washed in this new feeling of peace. Opening my eyes, I could see that I was once again staring at my own, human hand. Smiling to myself, I began my search for my clothing, and got redressed before heading back toward Twilight’s house. However, I could still feel several things itching at my mind.

Why am I going through all of this if I’d already “gained control” over the wolf inside me? Is it the cause for all of my recent overreacting, or downright rude behavior? And what about that thing that’d attacked me so suddenly? I mean, Twilight told me the creatures in that forest could be vicious, but to attack something like me when I was like that? They must be more dangerous than I thought… Perhaps I’ll talk with one of the Princesses tomorrow about all of it.

However, little did I know just what tomorrow actually had in store for me...