Controlling the Beast Within

Daylight streamed through the space between the curtains, casting its all-too-bright rays upon my face. Tightening my closed eyes, I rolled over onto my stomach, trying my best to not succumb to the tyranny that was morning. The sounds of birds happily chirping from outside bled through the window as well, only adding to the force that was trying to get me up. The image of a certain white horse floated around in my mind, smirking at my futile resistance. You’ll get yours, Celestia…

Rubbing a hand over my face while opening my eyes, I gazed out into the living area of the library, expecting to soon find my ears being assaulted by the owner. However, even as I laid there motionless, straining my sensitive ears to hear anything that may have been moving about in the tree, I couldn’t pick anything up.

“...Odd.”, I stated, pushing myself up and swinging my legs over the edge of the couch into a sitting position. “Must have left without my knowing. Or even telling me...” Frowning, and completely contradicting how I’d felt the last morning I was prevented from sleeping, I added in a smug tone. “Rude.”

Getting up and stretching my arms over my head with a satisfying groan, before letting them fall limply back to my sides, I stared over at the hallway that would lead to the bathroom. Doubting that a repeat of what happened yesterday would perspire again, especially since there didn’t appear to be anyone home, I made my way to the facilities in hopes to take my much-needed bath. After knocking on the door, just to be extra safe, I entered the violet bathroom and took another look around. This room really screams ‘girl's room’...

After a relatively relaxing soak in the tub, as well as attempting to do my best at brushing my teeth with no toothbrush, I came back out of the bathroom squeaky clean and smelling strongly of lavenders. The latter of all that, because I had to resort to using Twilight’s shampoo… It could have been worse, though. Meh. Rather smell like flowers, than a mutt.

Stepping into the kitchen to grab me my breakfast, I stopped at the doorway to stare at something that stood out on the counter. Sitting on top of a plate, which looked to be a folded note next to it, was what looked like a bagel that had been sliced in half and toasted. Oddly enough, it still seemed to be giving off heat, even though it had probably been made quite some time before my waking up. I quickly just shrugged that off as ‘magic’. The aroma coming from the enticing bread was all too inviting for me to resist anymore, and I soon found myself walking over to the counter.

Glancing at the note a second time, I could see that it was stamped with what looked like Twilight’s cutie mark. Taking it and opening it up, I quickly read through the letter.

“....“

Which was entirely unintelligible, due to it being written in what looked like gibberish. I honestly couldn't tell if she'd written this or a five-year-old!

“Note to self, learn pony handwriting. Er, hoof writing...” Placing down the note and looking at what appeared to be an offering that came with the note, I pursed my lips in thought. “Maybe... She's trying to show we're on good terms?“ I soon found myself smiling softly. “...Alright, your bribery has won me over. I’ll do something nice for you in return, later.”

And with that, I had myself a very satisfying, grape jelly-covered, bagel breakfast. I really had to admire how rich the flavors of both were, having much more of an impact on my taste buds than the foods back home. Whether this was from having werewolf senses or just the foods in this world being somehow different, I wasn’t sure. But it was delicious nonetheless. After finishing my meal, I grabbed the note once more, before noticing there seemed to be some sort of map on the back. Tilting my head, I cocked an eyebrow as I traced the lines that looked like they went through town, and out toward some floating structure on the outskirts.

“...I'm guessing I'm probably supposed to go there at some point?”

Tucking the slip into my back pants pocket, and making sure I had everything I needed—Which was pretty much nothing—I headed toward the front door and exited outside of the library. Taking a deep breath of the clean, refreshing air that met me, I stretched out my arms over my head with a small groan to rid myself of the last of my morning-tude. With a small smile on my face and a new feeling of contentment burning within me, I greeted my next day in this odd world with open arms.

Good morning, starshine! The Earth says ‘Hello’!

“Hi Nick!”, came the always-happy-go-lucky voice of the one I was starting to distinguish as— “It’s Pinkie Pie! From yesterday? Not that you’d have forgotten or anything, since you did meet me twice that day.” She finished off with a giggle, now right in front of me. “Silly me~”

Staring at the poofy-maned, pink pony with a now somewhat strained smile, I quickly reminded myself that it wasn’t nice to punch morning people in the face. I figured it was the same rule for ‘morning ponies’. Letting out a small breath I had apparently been holding, I smiled back with a bit more earnestness this time.

“Good morning, Pinkie. Yes, it would have been silly of me to forget someon- pony like you.” Even if I really wanted to at some point. “So…” I raised and lowered my hands in front of myself, referencing my whole being. “I’m not broken anymore!”

“That’s great news! I’m reallyreallyreally happy to see you’re okie dokie lokie!” She added emphasis to her ‘really’s by jumping around me, before throwing her hooves up at the end. What startled me was the burst of streamers that went everywhere with that last action.

“...How’d you do that?”

“Do what?”, she asked with a blank expression.

“Uh…” I pantomimed the action she had done, then wiggled my fingers to imitate the streamers flying around. She just stared at me like I was crazy. Shaking my head, I uttered, “Never mind…”

“Ooo! Hold that thought!” And in a matter of seconds, she vanished in a blur as she had once before. However, this time she returned with a rather large trampoline.

Thinking twice before asking, I simply glanced toward where her gaze was directed—which happened to be the sky—just in time to spot a multicolored streak paralleled by a browner one.

“Who’s that with Rainbow Dash?”, I asked. Looking back toward where Pinkie had been got me the ever-so-strange sight of her bouncing off the stretched-out material and flying skyward into the cloud above us. I could just make out words being said before she plummeted back down to the earth.

“Uh… Pinkie?”

Off she went back to the cloud, saying something else I couldn’t quite make out before falling back down to me again.

“Pinkie…”

By this time, I was more irked towards the trampoline than I was the pony bouncing on it. So, after she made one more repeat of the action, I pushed the large object away. Taking its place, I simply stood there with my arms held out in front of me with a rather bored stare. I didn’t have to wait long before a somewhat surprised pink mare was caught in my grasp.

“Wha-”

“Shhhhh…..”, I whispered, placing a finger to her lips and cutting her off. Her expression grew slightly dull this time around. “Now, I asked you a question. And it would be rude to ignore me.”

She rolled her eyes before shoving my hand away from her mouth. “Well, I was trying to have a conversation with somepony. And now I’ve been rudely interrupted.” She stuck her tongue out at me like a kindergartner, crossing her forelegs over her chest.

Letting out a sigh, I simply dropped her from my hold before turning toward the cloud above us. I could still make out voices up there. “Hey! Skittles!” I could oddly enough hear the sound of glass breaking from somewhere, but shrugged it off. “Ya gonna come down here, or am I gonna have to come up there and getcha myself?”

The somewhat angered expression of a rainbow-maned pegasus staring down at me from the edge of the cloud had me snickering to myself. Before long, a flash of color trailed down to the area in front of me, melding together to form Dashie, in all her annoyed glory.

“My name ain’t Skittles...”, she said in a low tone. She seemingly managed to regain her composure before saying. “I see you’re not all banged up. Well, I mean aside from your broken ego, Sir Trips-a-Lot.”

Alright, I’ll give ya that one… For now.

“Hahaaa…”, I fake-laughed.

However, my concentration was soon thrown off by the presence of a new creature making itself known. Landing next to Rainbow Dash in a relatively hard landing, before holding its wings out behind it in what I figured as ‘Look how awesome I am’ fashion, was indeed a griffon. There was no mistaking it. From what I could grasp as facial features, I was leaning towards the guess that it was female, too. But none of that was what had me suddenly frozen in silence.

“Oh yeah.”, Rainbow spoke up. “This is Gilda, a friend I used to go to school with a while back.” She motioned her hoof toward me as she looked toward the bird-lion hybrid. “Gilda, this is Nick. He’s… Well, he’s a friend of a friend, I guess.”

Our eyes met. Her piercing golden gaze cut through my slightly rigid amber ones like a knife. At first, she seemed rather confused at what on earth, or rather whatever this planet was called, I was. That curiosity quickly dulled down as she tossed a talon through the feathers that stuck out over her head, her expression turning somewhat bored.

“Uh, yeah. Nice to meet ya, or whatever…”, she stated in a rather insensitive tone. Her gaze drifted away, then back toward me before growing a bit more skeptical. “...You don’t say much, do you?”

“U-Uh…”, I mumbled out before regaining a small sense of understanding of the human language again. “S-Sorry, I was just caught up in your… unbelievable appearance…”

This got several confused, as well as one very subtle, as well as unintended, blush. The latter, thankfully, vanished just as soon as it appeared.

“Y-Yeah, well I get that a lot.”, Gilda seemed to say in a rather annoyed tone. “A lot of ponies around here act like they’ve never seen a griffon before…”

“That’s probably because most of them haven’t.” Pinkie stated with a rather large smile on her face. “By the way, I’m ready to hang out with you two if you’re all done flying around.”

I could feel a sudden warmth in the air, and for some reason felt my gaze being tugged toward the avarian beast. She didn’t seem all that happy at Pinkie Pie’s presence. I could read that clear as day from the look in her eyes. However, I couldn’t help taking a glance toward her flanks again as that cold sweat started to creep up on me again.

The trio seemed to go into some kind of squabble, ending with the two fliers soaring off toward the sky once more with Pinkie quickly taking after them, and leaving me to my own created silence.

...It’s not possible…

I kept trying to tell myself that. While it may have been outdone by the sheer amount of proof that had just slapped me in the face, I still didn’t want to believe it. While she didn’t seem to have recognized me, and I had to thank whatever divinities this place had for that, I wasn’t sure how I would have reacted if she had noticed who I was. I wouldn’t have been able to defend myself against her this time. And from the set of claw marks she still seemed to have on both her thighs, she might not have taken me so lightly, either.

...I need to talk to someone! But who?!?

I didn’t even realize that I was now in a completely different setting until a familiar, tranquil voice spoke out to me. “Is something the matter, Nick?” Turning toward my right, I found myself before the Sun Princess herself, sitting regally upon her throne.

Blinking away the dumbified look on my face, as well as the slight nausea I was experiencing from having been teleported, I respectfully lowered my head before speaking up.

“G-Greetings, your highness. I-”

“You needn’t have to be so formal, my dear Nick.”, she cut in. “We are alone here, and safe from prying eyes and ears.”

I wasn’t exactly sure whether that made me feel any better, but it got me to stand straight again. Taking a quick glance around, I couldn't help but marvel at how magnificent the interior of the room was. The marble flooring acted almost like a mirror, casting my reflection back up at me. And the stained glass windows! I’d been to a few churches growing up back home, but I’d never seen anything like this! Heck, even the spot for her chair is completely decked out!

“Are you finding my castle to your liking?”, mused Celestia as she got up from her seat and made her way toward me.

Quickly shaking off my childish sense of wonder, I gave the approaching Princess a somewhat sheepish grin as I itched the back of my head. “Y-Yeah, sorry.” She seemed to only shake her head with a small smile, disregarding the fact that I was making a fool of myself. “Oh! Um, right. The reason why I’m here…”

Her look turned more concerned at my return to the topic at hand. Or… Hoof. Gah, fuck it.

“Yes, tell me, Nick. What seems to have been bothering you lately?” Deciding to skip over calling her out on spying on me with whatever kind of powers she had—Oh yeah, I knew. Just didn’t really care too much—I got straight to the point.

“...I, for reasons not known to myself, have been getting a bit agitated over the littlest of things lately. Take yesterday, for example. I got in an argument with Twilight over absolutely nothing!” Her expression seemed to turn more uneasy at that. I reassured her with, “Don’t worry, I didn’t eat her.” That got her to stare blankly at me for a moment. “Anyway, so after a long day of trying to not turn into a snarling wolf-beast and devour every pony that I come upon— Oh, and yes. I actually did imagine myself doing that. It was pretty well detailed— I headed out into the Everfree Forest that night to just kind of run around as my wolf. Y’know, blow off some steam to see if that’s what it is. Then, out of nowhere, I’m getting attacked by this bird creature! I wasn’t even doing anything! So, I fight back, giving it a set of nice claw marks on its rump, and scare the thing off. Then I go back home. Next morning, or rather this morning, I wake up to find that exact same bird thing was actually a griffon, and is now hanging out in town with one of Twilight’s friends! So now, even though I’m reallyreallyreally trying to not get any of the ponies worried about my ‘special power’, this griffon could spoil everything if she realizes that I was the one she fought last night! Then it’s me getting chased out of town, torches lit and pitchforks raised, screaming for my beastly head on a pike. Ugh, and let's not even get started on that oddball that’s probably living in my hea—” I was cut silent by a hoof being placed on my mouth.

Judging from Celestia’s face, I was more than likely going to be getting a one-way ticket to the psycho institution. Either that or death. Death was probably the other option. As she lowered her hoof, she turned her gaze away from me before slowly trotting over toward one of the stained glass windows. A sudden eerie feeling started to crawl up my spine at what I was starting to expect.

Someone’s about to drop another drama bomb…

“You’d be right in thinking that.” Another shiver went up my spine at her words. “If I understand exactly what that term signifies correctly.”

“I knew you two could read minds!”, I shouted, pointing a finger directly at her. “You've been watching me, too! How else would you know that I was upset?”

The Princess’s expression turned rather serious, almost to the point of sternness. “I will not lie that my sister and I had been keeping watchful eyes on you. It’s understandable if you’re upset by thi—”

“Oh, I’m not upset,” I interjected, waving my hand nonchalantly. “If anything, I’m just glad to know I wasn’t being paranoid. I completely understand the need to keep an eye on a creature you know nothing about. Heck, I’d have kept guards on me, or kept me locked up somewhere until you were certain I wasn’t a treat.” At the look she was giving me, I quickly added in, “Which I’m not.”

“...I see. In any case,” she said with a shake of her head in what I thought was bemusement, “Perhaps it was best this way, then, for now I can give you some much-needed guidance. First, the griffon was not attacking you by pure chance. Griffons were Equestria’s main line of defense against the Caballio Lupos, or Pony Wolves.”—Wow. Should have stuck with the first name.—“...Yes, I know it’s an odd name, but bear with me. Before Nightmare Moon possessed my sister, most caballio lupos were simple beasts that often roamed the woodlands at night. Easily taken care of whenever they caused too much of a problem. However, Nightmare took deep pleasure in realizing she had the power to spread that awful curse to other ponies…”

She seemed to become a bit distant, before turning her gaze to one of the mosaics, her horn radiating slightly. With a flash of light, one, in particular, started to change into a rather alarming sight. Celestia, now seemingly striking a pink mane-do, was shooting a multicolored beam at who I knew as Nightmare Moon. Not too much of a shocker, seeing as I’d already been told that much about what happened. However, upon closer inspection, I could make out bodies of pretty-dead-looking ponies on the ground, bleeding as vicious creatures tore at their throats. One of the beasts seemed to be getting slashed in the back by a pony in some sort of knight get-up, while some of the others were engaged in combat with griffons. All in all, the scene painted an image that showed no clear side winning, had it not been for Celestia’s actions against her sister… I could also tell why it was something she’d hide from her precious, happy, ponies.

“That was one reason why I went to send you away so quickly.”, she started again, drawing my attention back to her. “I was… Blinded. All I could see were the countless lives we had lost back then.” She lowered her head to me. The Princess. Bowing her head to me. “Truly, I apologize again for that.”

Shaking off a bit of surprise, I quickly let out a soft chuckle. “H-Hey, all water under the bridge.” I wanted to get this conversation back on track, though. “Now, tell me about those griffons. Any idea why she may not have noticed my 'other self' today?”

That seemed to do the trick. “Oh. No, I’m not sure why.” Putting a hoof to her chin, she seemed to ponder as she continued. “Most griffons could actually detect a wolf beast even in its regular, pony form.” She then looked back at me. “Perhaps the fact that your— Werewolf? Perhaps it’s different from that of a pony’s caballio lupes.”

“Okay…” A rather nerve-wracking thought came to mind, though. One I hadn’t thought of until then. “...There’s no chance that she’ll be cursed like I am now, is there? We got in a bit of a scuffle in the Everfree Forest, before formally getting introduced, and I sort of left some light scaring along her flanks.” The Princess squinted at me somewhat, in what I could only guess was mild disappointment. “H-Hey, she attacked me first, and I just assumed it was one of those ‘monsters’ I’d heard live in that place.”

It took a second, but her expression softened somewhat, and she shook her head. “No, you need not worry about that. For whatever reason, the curse doesn’t appear to affect certain types of beings, griffons being one of them. But seeing as your own curse appears to be a variant we’ve not encountered before… I’d highly suggest you refrain from attacking anyone else while in that other form…”

“Well, yeah, that sounds pretty reasonable…” I seriously can’t understand how any of this works, but sure. Her sigh let me know that, indeed, she was reading my thoughts still. “Please stop that. We’re having an honest talk right now. You want my trust? Give me your own. Trust in me to not lie, or to tell you what you need to know. The only thing prying my head will get you is a very untrustful werewolf.” Again, her sudden look of ever so slight agitation had me continuing with, “No, that wasn’t a threat.”

“...I suppose you may be correct. Trust is earned, not given.” Looking over my shoulder, she made some sort of hoof gesture to something behind me. Turning around showed me a just materializing Luna, an expression of distaste starting to form. However, after the small, sorrow-filled look she soon gave me before flashing away in her blue-gray magic, I could tell she hadn’t been happy about having done what she did. Which wasn’t really anything too horrible. Just backup to kill me in case I started something. Nah. Nothing wrong with that. Looking back at Celestia with a “Really?” look, she only let out another sigh in response.

“Well then…”, I started, brushing off nothing in particular from my shoulders. “Where were we?”

“What was that about a voice living inside your head?”, she said abruptly.

Well, shit. Tell her you wanna be truthful to each other RIGHT before being asked that. Great. Effin’. Job.

“...You may tell her.”

“What?!” It was only a few seconds after yelling that out loud that I realized… I yelled that out loud.

“I asked what you had meant when you said you had a voice in your head.”, Celestia replied with an odd expression.

“You can tell her who I am.”, came the voice again. “Everything’s been growing rather dull, anyway. It’d be quite amusing to see her reaction to my not being as contained as she thought.”

Well, that’s nice. Just one thing. I still have no freaking clue who you are!

There was a small moment of silence before the voice let out a stifled chuckle. “Oh… Right.”

There was another moment of silence before a small whirlwind started to pick up next to me. Both Celestia’s and my own utterly shocked expressions stared at it until a solid kind of shadow began to form from the mini twister. I couldn’t make out much detail, since it was a shadow, but it kind of had the silhouette of a horned serpent with odd-looking arms and legs.

“Hello again, my dear Celestia!”, he said with a rather eerie voice. Judging from the slowly creeping sense of fear, followed by utter hatred, on the alicorn’s face, I guessed that she knew who this was.

“D-Discord?!”, with her flaring gaze going straight to me, she held out a hoof while yelling out. “Guards! Gua-” She was, however, cut off by the shadow’s tail as it wrapped around her mouth.

Oh shit. What have I just brought into this world?!

“Calm yourself, Celly. I’m not here on my own behalf.” I could just make out a sneer from where his mouth should be. “Not today, at least.” This ‘Discord’ then looked over at me. “Ah, Nick. So many questions running through that head of yours…”

Trying to force myself out of the frozen state I had been in, I shouted out in a hesitant voice, “L-Let her go!”

The shadow just let out a laugh, holding his sides as he fell back into the air. “THAT’S the first thing you say to me? ‘Let her go’? Not, ‘Who are you?’, or ‘What’s going on?’, or even ‘Why have I been acting peculiar lately? Just… ‘Let her go’.” He couldn’t seem to cease his laughter. “Oh Nick, that is what I like about you. Worrying about everybody but yourself, regardless of what you think of yourself.”

I could feel a small snarl starting to release itself from my clenched teeth. “Don’t act like you know me just because you’ve been in my head.”

The shadow was now beside me, a clawed hand of some kind on my shoulder while the rest of him was still dragging a struggling Celestia along with him. “Ah, but I have known you Nick. For a very long time now. I’m just surprised Celestia here didn’t sense the aura coming off you...” There was a small silence before I realized the Princess had stopped her attempts to break free, an irked expression on her face. This only got a laughing fit from the shadowy being. “You did?! And you didn’t tell him?!”

With a quick pull away from the shadow’s tail, the princess finally released herself from its hold. However, she didn’t begin calling for help as I thought she would. She didn’t even light up her horn to cast a spell. She just… stood there, staring at the ground in a way that didn’t really suit something as royal as her.

“...Celestia?”, I began, “What else haven’t you been telling me?”

Her gaze lifted to my own before she finally spoke again. “...Your beast isn’t what has been causing all of your odd behavior as of late.” She paused a moment to give a hate-filled glare at the shadow before continuing. “Discord, he’s not ready to know yet. He wouldn’t understand.”

“Oh, come now, Princess.”, Discord replied, waving what looked like a paw. So, he’s got different appendages…? “Better to let him know now, then at the last second.”

“But to tell him so soon?!”, she rebutted. “He’s only been here several days!”

Discord just scoffed, folding his forearms disapprovingly. “All the more reason to tell him before he gets comfortable, in my opinion.”

“What the hell are you talking about?!?”

The two beings stopped a moment from their argument, turning toward me. Burning sensations ran up and down my insides, my fists clenched up into tight balls. I could feel my heart thumping out of my chest as sweat began to drizzle down my forehead. Taking a long breath, then releasing it, I attempted to calm myself before speaking up again.

“Look… I don’t want either of you deciding what’s best for me. You don’t know me.” Discord opened its mouth, as if to say something, but I quickly cut him off. “Period. You may know something about me. Something even I don’t know… But I’m the one in charge of my own decisions.” Celestia was the one who seemed ready to step in this time, though I stared her down as well as I said, “Not some mythical horse princess, or some black blob-thing.” I ended that glaring at Discord. The two’s expressions were quite unhappy looking, though they still said nothing. “...So, that’s why I’ve decided to not hear what either of you have to say.”

“What?!”, they both said in unison.

“You both heard me! I don’t want you two to tell me what this big secret is. Celestia’s right. I’ve only been here for a rough three days. I’m stressed as it is, and I don’t need more added onto it.” I grimaced at the realization I was still gonna have to deal with Gilda when I got back. “However, Celestia,” She lifted her head slightly in acknowledgment. “If you do know what is actually causing my strange behavior, then perhaps the two of you could fix it for me. Like, suppress whatever huge secret thing I must have until I feel I’m ready to deal with it.”

The two glanced at each other for a moment, before Discord let out an annoyed huff, turning his back to the two of us. Celestia, slowly letting a soft smile come to her face, nodded her head to me before stepping forward.

“I can try and repress the power you hold inside, though I’m not sure what kind of effect it will have on you. If I had to guess, you’ll just feel less…”, she paused for a moment, searching for a word, “...violent.”

“Well, that sounds good in my books.” I prepared myself for whatever she was going to do to me.

“Just be warned, Nick…” Discord spoke up, peering over his shoulder. “The power you hold in you can not be undone. It chose you, and you’ll have to live with it sooner or later...” With that, the shadowy body of Discord began to turn into a miniature tornado again, before completely vanishing.

With that eerie message now haunting the back of my mind, I gulped down a lump I could feel growing in my throat before turning back to Celestia. “...Well, go ahead.”

With another nod, she closed her eyes and ignited her horn in a radiant light before lowering it onto my head. I tensed up for a moment, my vision blacking out before slowly returning to normal. However, the scenery around me no longer resembled the throne room I’d just been in. Instead, I was in a rather dim room, the only thing allowing me to see through it being my wolfy, night vision. And it was a tight fit, too. I could barely stretch out my arms without bumping into the walls that surrounded me. And then, just like that, the door in front of me opened wide, releasing a flood of light into my eyes.

“There you are, Nick! We’ve been looking all over for you!”, came the bubbly voice of Pinkie Pie. “What were you doing, hiding in the closet? Oooo! Were you playing hide-n-seek? Did I win!?!”

Still adjusting my eyesight to the lighting, I warily came out from what must have been the closet, and glanced around. I had somehow wound up at Sugarcube Corner, remembering the interior from when I had visited it with Spike. However, it now looked as though there seemed to be some kind of party going on. Streamers and ribbons decorated the ceiling, while multiple tables held different kinds of food and beverages. One even had gifts on it. I could also notice some of the stares I was getting from the other ponies that were there…

“Um…”, I glanced back at Pinkie, who was still next to me. “Yup. You found me!” I let out a relatively honest laugh, mostly from finding myself in such an awkward situation. “You win, Pinkie.”

Upon hearing that, the pink mare let out a series of ‘Woohoos’ and ‘Alright!’ before bounding off somewhere. Seeing my chance, I quickly scanned through the crowd again before spotting a familiar, lavender pony amongst the other colorful bodies there. Casually walking across the room, and not giving a shit about all the eyes on me, I tapped the shoulder of said mare from behind before smiling the best I could.

“Well, hello there, Ms. Sparkle. Did you miss me?”

Twilight turned around with a somewhat confused expression until she spotted who it was, smiling brightly back at me. “There you are, Nick! I was wondering where you disappeared to. Nopony knew where you went. Did you get my note this morning?”

“Why yes I did, Twilight. And may I just say that that bagel you left me as well was absolutely divine!” I was sure to add an extra bit of emphasis to that last word. “I thank you for going out of your way like that. I’ll be sure to make it up to you.”

By this time, her expression had turned to one of slight amusement, mixed with a bit of puzzlement. But she just let out a rather cute giggle before shaking her hoof at me. “You don’t have to do that. Consider it just part of turning over a new leaf between us.”

Nodding, I gave her a light pat on the head—which she surprisingly didn’t mind this time—before looking about the room again. “So… What exactly is going on here?”

“Oh! Pinkie Pie decided to throw a party for Gilda, an old friend of Rainbow Dash.”, she then turned her attention toward my left. “Fluttershy, you’ve met her already, right?”

Glancing toward my left, I saw what had to be one of the cutest damn things I’d ever seen in a very long time. Doing her best to not look me right in the eye, with a rather nervous expression, was a yellow pegasus with a pink mane. She seemed to lean over towards Twilight, mumbling something that I couldn’t really make out over the compulsive action I was trying to hold in.

Must...Not...Hug!!!

Not being able to resist myself anymore, I grabbed hold of the little pony in a big hug, thankful that my werewolf strength was allowing me to do such a thing. An audible ‘Eep!’ came from her, only making me love this little bundle of cuteness all the more. “Oh my gosh, if you aren’t the sweetest, most precious little thing I’ve ever seen! Ohhh, I just want to snuggle up with you like a stuffed animal, and keep you for my own!”

Needless to say, I kind of caused a bit of a scene…

“Um… While that’s very kind of you to say, as well as a b-bit creepy, um… Sir. Could you, maybe, put me down, please…?”

Oh my god! OH MY GOD! She’s even sweet when she’s slightly annoyed!!!

Harnessing all the power I could muster, I complied with her request and put her back down, revealing quite the large blush from the still startled mare. Who immediately proceeded to make herself scarce.

“S-Sorry about that!” I quickly called out, rubbing the back of my head. “...I just couldn’t resist myself.”

“Nick…” Twilight’s voice spoke up, causing me to turn to look at her. She was wearing a very smug grin on her face, which almost got me blushing in embarrassment. “Just when I thought you couldn’t possibly get any stranger, you surprise me.”

“Oh, hush you…”

“SHE’S HERE!!!”, came Pinkie’s exasperating scream.

Turning a suddenly uneasy stare toward the door, I caught sight of the pair that were entering. They seemed to stop in front of Pinkie, conversing with her for a moment, before Rainbow began making her way over to me, followed by several other ponies I barely recognized.

“So, uh, Ahm guessin' yer that new house guest uh Twilight's?”, asked an orange mare wearing a stetson. She squinted at me slightly, looking me up and down in suspicion. “Say… You wouldn’t happen tuh be that critter we saw up at Nightmare Moon’s castle, wouldja?”

“Uh, heh heheh…” I suddenly felt like going straight over to Gilda would have been a better idea. “Yeah, that’s me. Sorry, I’ve never really been that great at first impressions…”

The mare seemed to pause a moment more, giving me that careful stare, before softening up a bit with a smile. “Well, Ah don’t seem tah get the feelin’ yer too much of a trouble maker. The name’s Applejack. My family owns the apple orchard outside uh Ponyville.”

“Oh! I actually went by your place just the other day while trying to get accustomed to Ponyville.”, I recalled, remembering back. “It looked like a mighty fine farm. Heck, I may even end up asking for work there if—”

“Whoa there, partner.”, Applejack cut me off. While she didn’t sound all that severe with the grin she was giving, she still seemed serious in her words. “I assure you, us Apples have everythin’ under control. While Ah’m mighty grateful fer the thought, I’ll have to ask that ya leave it to us.”

I nodded my head, getting where she was coming from. “I understand. Apologies if I made it sound like you needed help. You look like a girl who knows what she’s doing.”

With a tip of the hat and a small smile, she trotted past me with, “I think we’ll get along just fine, sugarcube.”

...Sugarcube?

Rainbow Dash was the next to approach me. And by that, I mean punching a hoof into my right arm. “Hey! Where ya been, Clutzentein? Haven’t seen ya since earlier this morning.”

Rubbing the slightly sore spot she’d left on my arm, and giving her a sneer that said I was definitely going to be getting her back for this, I stated. “Why, training myself to kick your butt, of course! I may have slipped up once, but I’ll be sure to be ready next time.” The look she gave me couldn’t help but dismiss from my mind today’s earlier events as a similar grin grew on my own face.

“Is that supposed to scare me?”, she said through squinted eyes, getting right into my face.

“Only if you’re on a diet.” I pushed my forehead right against hers. “Cause you’re gonna be eating my dust.”

“Then why don’t we take this outside, here and now?”

And just like that, I turned around, snickering. “And leave your friend alone by herself? Nah, we can postpone your demise for another day.”

I could just make out her groan of agitation before another pony walked up to me. This one, however, seemed far too uppity for my own taste…

“Hm… If you do not mind my saying, I think I may be able to get you a much more lively outfit than,” the white unicorn paused for a moment to point at what I was wearing, “Those.”

“...Um. Excuse me?” I wasn’t really offended, since I had to admit that my current clothing was probably in need of a good washing, but still. “I think it’s more polite to introduce yourself before commenting on another person’s attire.”

The unicorn’s eyes widened before she made a hasty scramble to put a smile on her face and hide her embarrassment. “Oh my, I’m terribly sorry! Please forgive my rudeness…” She seemed to be sincere, so I nodded my head with a small smile. Returning it, she started over. “I am Rarity, owner of the Carousel Boutique here in Ponyville. You must be Nick. Twilight has told me a bit about you.” She then went to hold out her hoof in greeting.

“All pleasant things, I hope.”, I said with a subtle smile. Kneeling, I tenderly took her outstretched hoof in my hand. “A pleasure to meet you, Ms. Rarity. If you’ll excuse me, though, I’d like to grab myself some punch. Perhaps we’ll run into each other another time.”

With a slight bow of my head, I released her hoof and made my way off towards the table I’d spotted with the punch bowl on it. Passing by a few of the townsfolk, and doing my best to give them a kind wave, I reached for a cup at the table only to have it snatched from in front of me by a clawed talon. Stepping back a bit, I watched as a very distraught Gilda attempted to drink the punch in the cup, only for it to spill out from a hole in the side. This seemed to get her a bit more agitated. The laughing that came from Pinkie and Rainbow Dash also didn’t seem to help, boasting out how something she’d eaten had been tampered with and that the drinks had been messed with as well.

Rolling my eyes, I picked up another cup and tapped Gilda on the back before she’d do something she’d regret. Her burning glare immediately turned toward me, but seemed to become less intense on the realization of who it was.

“Here.”, I said, holding the cup out to her. “It’s not boobytrapped.” I gave it a second look before handing it out again. “At least, I think it’s not.”

With a muffled growl, she hesitantly snatched the cup from my hand before gulping down the entire beverage. Tossing the cup aside, she gave me a second glance, before talking out in what I assumed was her normal speaking voice. In reality, it just sounded like she was mildly upset. “Thanks…”

“No problem. I’d be annoyed if those two were pulling some kind of game with me, too.” I gave my best shot at a sincere smile, before glancing toward the ones being talked about. “Any particular reason why you look like you’re about to strangle those two?”

With another snarl, she too started over at Pinkie and Rainbow. “That loser, Pinkie Pie, thinks she’s going to make me lose my cool in front of Dash. Well, she’s got another thing coming if—”

“Just ignore her.”, I interjected, taking a sip from my own cup of punch. That got her to give me a confused glare. “I mean, if she’s really ruffling your feathers so much–no pun intended–then why not just stay away from her?”

The griffon stared at me like I had corn growing out of my ears. “...Sheesh. You don’t talk much at first, but you’re a chatterbox later on, aren’t ya? I can take care of myself.”

“Well, with an attitude like that, I doubt it.” I soon found my cup of punch being flung across the room, splashing somepony in the face. Turning to look at the griffon that had now pulled us behind a table, my collar in one of her talons, I gave her a rather stern scowl. “...Look, I’m not going to force you to keep your shit together, but it would make you look like the better person in this situation. I mean, do you really even have any proof that Pinkie’s even trying to get under your skin? Or are you just acting like a jerk on purpose?”

Oh, the look in her eyes. She really really wanted to punch me in the face. And I wasn’t sure if it was the wolf making me feel this way, but I was hoping she would, too. Surprisingly, she released me though.

“Hmph… I don’t need life lessons from a dweeb.”, she said, walking away from me and toward Rainbow Dash, who was waving her over.

“...Sheesh, what the hell is up her ass?”, I mumbled to myself.

Shrugging it off, I got up from behind the table and made my way over to the group that was starting to form around the presents. That’s where I got to watch Gilda make a fool of herself again with some snakes-in-a-can, and then get more aggravated. Yup. Not long now until she erupts.

The rest of the party kind of just continued that way. Cake was brought out, of which Gilda attempted to blow out the candles. But of course, the candles were re-lighting candles. Que the griffon fighting not to grab hold of the pink mare. But while most of everyone there was laughing in amusement, I could notice somepony in particular snickering out from the corner of my eye.

“Yo Dash! C’mere for a sec.”, I called out.

Pausing a moment to look at me quizzically, she slowly made her way over before saying, “What’s up?”

“Are you the one playing all those pranks on Gilda?”, I asked in a very out-of-the-blue way. Her eyes immediately widened at my question, before looking around in a nervous way.

“Uh, why would you think that?”, she laughed awkwardly.

“Yup, that’s what I thought.” With a sigh and a shake of my head, I pinched at the bridge of my nose. “She thinks Pinkie Pie is throwing this party to get her to crack in front of you. Like this whole thing is a scheme to make her look bad.” Her expression went from uneasy to confused as I spoke. “If I were you, I’d call off whatever else you had in mind, since I really don’t think Gilda’s enjoying all of this.”

Rainbow stood there for a moment, with her gaze to the ground, before looking back up at me. “Are you sure about that? Cause she didn’t seem that upset whenever I asked her.”

“If your mom got you a really ugly sweater, and all you wanted to do was burn the dreaded thing, but then she goes and says that she actually stitched the damn thing because she loves you so much, would you be honest and tell her you hate it, or lie just to keep her happy?”

...Sorry, Mom.

She stared at me again with a blank expression, until it seemed to dawn on her what I was trying to say. Rubbing the back of her head in a similar fashion of my own, she replied, “Yeah, I guess you may be right…”

But just as I finally thought I had saved the day, a loud roar filled the entire room. Quickly looking to the source, I felt a shiver run down my spine as Gilda had Pinkie by the throat, yelling loudly in her face. I couldn’t coherently make out what she was yelling about, but I could make out the words ‘loser’ and ‘lame-o’.

Speeding over the rest of the now stunned party-goers, I quickly grabbed hold of the griffon from behind before she could even realize I was there. Thankfully, Dash was by my side as well, grabbing Pinkie from the raging avian. Her squawks of protest and hatred now filling my ears, I tried my best to keep her in my grasp as I pulled her toward the door. However, she really was making sure it was not easy for me. Luckily, the door opened for the two of us in a purplish glow, slamming shut when we were both out. That’s when I made the mistake of releasing her...

“Why you-!”, she hissed, swinging around in the air before slamming her clenched talon into the side of my head, knocking me down.

Wiping away a bit of blood I could feel dripping down where she’d slugged me, I stared back up at her with amber eyes that burned with a growing intensity, a growl inching out of my throat. “...I warned you not to lose your cool.”

Her anger soon turned to one of complete shock as she tried to muster out a comprehensible sentence. “Y-You’re a… But… How could you…?!”

With a fanged grin, I slowly got back up to my feet before saying, “That’s none of your business. And I’m even willing to apologize for those scars I gave you.” That made her aggression return. “However, I don’t wish for this to get ugly. I simply ask that you leave here, and not come back until you’ve cooled down. I don’t know your life story, the same as you don’t know mine. And because of that, I’m not going to judge you too much on your actions inside, and am willing to just let you leave peacefully...” I could tell she was pondering on the idea of diving at me, instead. “But if you’d rather start a blood bath, here and now, just know this.” My voice then lowered into a rather cautionary tone. “...I’m not the one with a best friend in there who just watched me make a completely hostile jerk out of myself.”

The griffon’s hardened attitude cracked at the mention of her actions inside, and for a moment, I thought I could see a bit of conflict happening in her. But whatever I had seen was instantly covered back up by her temperament, before she let out one last, hate-filled. “Whatever!”

And just like that, she turned tail and flew off. I couldn’t help but still feel that deep down, she might not have been that bad. And yet, I still couldn’t discount that she had grabbed one of my newfound fri- Er, acquaintances by the neck in a rather violent manner. Turning back toward the bakery—after making sure all former wolf-like factors had receded—I simply stated under my breath one last declaration.

“She really needs to get laid…”