The Mare and the Wolf

Disturbance

Winter took deep breaths, enjoying the feel of fresh air of the grassy plains; a feeling he hadn't experienced since before he moved to the Everfree Forest, where the air always had a dampish feel to it, and the light of day rarely reached the ground, through the leaves of the countless half-dead trees.

A field of marigolds now surrounded him, waving with the passage of the wind, creating a moving green and yellow sea. He felt as if he had been living there his whole life, and didn't want to ever leave.

"Enjoying the view, Winter?" a dark, jesting voice suddenly appeared from behind him. It sounded like two boulders being grinded together.

Winter quickly turned around, no one was there. The colorful field turned to a sad, grayish yellow, as the flowers turned to dust and got swept away by the wind; the grass began to dry until it was nothing more than small gray leaves that would crumble at the softest touch.

The surprise soon abandoned the wolf’s eyes after seeing the last portion of green die off, being quickly replaced by a look that mixed sadness with anger. A dream...again...he thought.

"Ah… much better scenery, if you ask me." The voice now came from right in front of him.

Winter didn't need anything else, he knew what the voice was. The wolf turned away from the cold sound and said with a frown "I should have know it was too good to be true. I thought I told time and time again not to talk to me again."

"Well that's no way to greet an old friend, now is it?"

"Piss off. You know damn well you're not my friend."

"Let's get one thing straight, you don't get to decide anything I do!" the voice was now louder and more aggressive "Try to boss me around again and I'll tear you apart!"

But this didn't even make the wolf flinch, he had heard the threats more than a few times before over the years; they were now little more than an annoyance.

"What do you want?" Winter asked half-heartedly.

“I wanted to talk with you, of course. After all, I’m all you have.” it tried to sound amiable, failing miserably.

“And whose fault is that, again?” the wolf began to get angry.

“Yours, of course,” the sinister voice countered immediately, as if answering the simplest question in the world “Don’t try to blame me for your mistakes.” Winter snarled to this.

“What do you even want with me? It’s not like controlling me is worth a lifetime of effort.”

"Now that...is a surprise.” It giggled “Never mind that, there's just so much I want to discuss. Like your new best friend Fluttershy."

Winter's eyes widened at the name, whatever it was the voice was going to say next, it couldn't be good.

"you leave her out of this. She has nothing to do with us."

"Are you sure? Just moments ago you were desperate for her company."

"Don't you even…" He was interrupted by the voice's insistent tease.

"I sure didn't expect to see a pony becoming your emotional substitute for Snow Bre…"

"DON'T SAY HER NAME!!!" Winter's temper rose to a volcanic level, and he interrupted with a shout loud enough to make the voice stammer for a few seconds, "DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT HER!!"

The voice having regained its composure and continued to tease the furious wolf, it seemed to move around him for greater annoyance, as it said "I'm going to love seeing you rip her neck off…"

"Shut up." Winter muttered.

"Snapping it into two…"

"Shut up!" Winter said.

"And feed on her…" the voice began to raise its tone, to match the angry wolf's.

"Shut up!!" Winter yelled.

"Until there's nothing left but HER BLOOD IN YOUR TEETH!! Just like HER!" It laughed maniacally, thrilled with the wolf’s growing anguish.

"SHUT UUUUUP!!!" Winter screamed.