Chapter One
The battle was long and fierce. Quite frankly, it had taken several turns that Twilight didn’t expect. But soon it would be over. Soon, Queen Chrysalis would be no more. Even if what would be left in the wake of the Changeling Queen’s banishment would make ponies almost wish she had never left.
There were spells no pony would ever be expected to use. A portal to oblivion, the space outside the universe, was one of them. Twilight had read about it once, and using the half remembered spell she sent the evil queen to a place where she would bother nopony ever again. But like so many things associated with the Sparkle family, Twilight overdid the spell. Now they were risking their own doom as well.
A quick look around was enough for Twilight to know what was going on. Most of the ponies in Canterlot had safely evacuated the area. Twilight’s brother, Shining Armor, had erected a smaller version of the Canterlot shield barrier with the help of Princess Cadence. Princess Celestia, who had helped in the ancient spell, was taking shelter behind a fallen column. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie was there with the Diarch of the Sun, trying their best to help. The two energetic ponies would normally love this sort of thing, but the fight with Queen Chrysalis was anything but cool and nopony was smiling now.
Applejack was behind another column, her signature hat blown off into oblivion but her lasso being held by her teeth. Fluttershy had been caught before she too fell into the portal, and now the weaker pegasus was doing her best not to drag in her friend with her. Twilight was only able to keep from falling into oblivion by her own magic, but the battle had left her so exhausted that she could only help by risking herself.
Another glance reveled Rarity’s own situation. Struggling with Princess Luna, pushing with strength that even an earth pony would envy, the fashionista turned hero was doing her best to save the Diarch of the Night. It wasn’t enough, though. They were too close to the portal, and soon Rarity would loose her footing and then… that would be it.
Twilight knew that she had to save them. Rarity was her friend, and without Princess Luna to aid Princess Celestia the sun and moon which sustained Equestria would go wild and doom life on their normally tranquil world. But helping them would mean she would be sucked in, and cease to exist.
It was a nobrainer. Sacrifices would have to be made.
Letting go of her own anchor, Twilight used her magic to fling both Rarity and Luna to the edge of the bubble, and behind some rubble.
As Twilight rushed to the gaping maw of the void, something seemed to ignite. Some sort of spark. Like her Element of Magic, but stronger. And with it came a revelation.
Creation did not end with Equestria. It didn’t even end with their own universe. There were many worlds, and if a sentient was one of those lucky one in a million to be born with the latent gift, and one of the few to realize what it meant… they could travel between the space between worlds.
Twilight Sparkle was going to be okay.
And with that comforting knowledge, Twilight Sparkle fell into oblivion, and ceased to exist in Equestria.
~ ~ ~
It felt like an eternity that Twilight spent hurtling in blindness. She knew that she was going to be safe in the sense that she won’t immediately die. But she had no idea where she was going, or how she was truly getting there.
She could feel other presences, though. Those who had been exiled into the infinite blindness that defined… if not oblivion, then something else. She felt others, such as her herself, who were transients between worlds. She could also feel beings, much greater than herself, greater than gods and yet so much less as well.
Twilight was not a feeling sort of pony. Of course she had emotions, any sort of pony does. But she didn’t like trusting her intuition. She needed solid and concrete evidence. She needed to plan, to organize. At least use some basic logic before making a decision, no matter how seemingly foolhardy it might actually be.
For her, seeing was believing. Belief in unseen gods was hard enough for her, even if evidence was logically laid out before her and the sun goddess she called her mentor was proof that there was already precedent. Belief in the Pinkie Sense was even worse, because it was something that happened without any logically explanation how. Experiments, writings, correspondence, peer review… she put more stock in those than in prayer and faith.
But in this moment of introspection, Twilight Sparkle realized that she was going into the great unknown. To some place where nopony has gone before her, and perhaps will not follow. That thought of being ripped away so suddenly was hard for Twilight to accept. No more Equestria. No more Ponyville. No more spending all nighters at the royal library. No more friends, no more Princesses, no more Spike or Mom or Dad or Shining Armor…
Just her. Twilight Sparkle. Alone on some alien world. With no knowledge, no plan, and no other pony that she could rely upon. She was going to be alone. For the very first time in her life, truly alone.
And because of that, in the space between worlds and for the first time in her life as well, Twilight began to pray in her heart.
‘Please, whatever gods may hear this prayer, be kind. Please help me get back home.’
~ ~ ~
For the very first time in her short life, Twilight felt the unsettling shock of coming into existence. One moment, a certain space in the world she was traveling to was empty. In the next, she was there, disoriented, feeling every nerve in her body come to life, and feeling the worst motion sickness any sentient could ever experience.
At the same time, she was alive. She was whole. So as she stumbled in this new place, trying to adjust to her senses coming back to her, Twilight felt a euphoria from the simple fact that she was alive and in one piece.
Then the smell of the place she had found herself in hit her. She was in a forest, that much was true. There was the smell of fallen leaves decaying underhoof, of wild flowers blooming out of season. The world felt cool against her fur, though not quite cold. The sun was setting, a gigantic, silvery moon seeming to rise on the other horizon.
At that point she heard howls and screams.
The howls sounded almost like timberwolves, but worst. Whatever it was, their faint smell permeated the air. There were many of them. This was not something that Twilight could take comfort in.
It was also then that Twilight heard the screams. They sounded like ponies, and there were a lot of them. Twilight knew that she had to help them, though she didn’t know how.
‘Plan later, run now,’ Twilight thought to herself, moving at a gallop. She couldn’t run as fast she she normally could, the trees were too much in the way, but she kept her ears trained on the noise. She ran towards the noise, hoping to get there before it was too late.
As she emerged near a lake, she began to saw where some of the screams were coming from. She saw strange, bipedal creatures covered from head to toe in dull brown clothes backed up against the lake. In their hands were swords and clubs and farm tools, even flaming sticks which were being swung around in desperation.
She didn’t know what the bipeds were, but she knew what the creatures they were fighting were. They were facing down wolves, larger than Twilight had ever seen. Larger then she had read, outside of the obscure bestiary from before most dire animals went extinct.
Twilight ran forward, moving on automatic. She didn’t have much magic, but she didn’t need it as she charged into the nearest wolf. The full weight of her body crashing into the creature was enough to send it off balance and crashing into one of the bipeds. She didn't mean to send into the biped, but it wasn't in the position to attack as well now either.
Twilight hit the ground, momentarily caught in a daze. But she was not the same Twilight Sparkle as a few years back. So she noticed something that looked a lot like claws and reacted with momentary fear, surrounding herself in a bubble shield that was just large enough to cover her and not much else. The claws bounced, and the creature above began to slash savagely into it. And somehow, the claws were going through, only giving her moments to reform the shield.
Twilight was now more scared than she ever was before. She had faced off against evil, but this was different. This was primal, wild, and raw. Ponies were not the apex predators of their world, and the sight of one awakened the flight reflex with such intensity that she was frozen in fear. Her shield became stronger as her fear made her pour as much of her magic as she could into it, the terrifying creature above slashing away at it to try and reach the shield bubble’s tasty pony center.
The other creatures, the bipeds in brown clothes, fell upon the wolf. They hacked and slashed and burned it, using pitchforks, swords and butcher knives. Dark red blood welled up from its wounds as it fought, mingling with the bright crimson that coated parts of the hairless bipeds, before it slowed down and collapsed completely.
The bubble shield collapsed as the last of her magical energy fled from her. All around her were the strange creatures, all dressed in brown like the woods. Their tools, their clothes, their skin and hair. Every surface was covered in some sort of blood, either from the wolves or from their own wounds.
Twilight was shaking. She was shivering, whimpering. The fear was painfully apparent, even to those from another species.
Twilight was afraid. She had hoped to save innocent people from monsters. Yet as those people surrounded her, looking at her, judging her, she wondered if she didn’t somehow stumbled upon monsters of a different sort.
The shield went up again, though it was weaker this time. The creatures took a step back, gasping, startled at the sudden display of spellcraft. But for the most part they seemed less hostile. Wary, still covered in blood and holding makeshift weapons, but not hostile.
One among their number began to pass through the crowd, lightly stepping around the much larger bipeds. It was short, its face long. Although Twilight couldn’t tell exactly what sort of creature it was supposed to be, from its wavy brown hair and feminine eyes, and features in comparison to the larger bipeds, the analytical part of Twilight’s mind decided that it was probably a female of some sort.
“Shhh….” The biped quietly whispered. “Shh… Everything’s going to be okay. Everything’s alright. We’re safe for now.”
Twilight wasn’t sure if the other creature was being honest. Twilight wanted to trust the seemingly peaceful creature. But she had seen her fellow biped kill. Worst, she helped them. She banished the occasional evil, sure. She even chased dragons away when she needed to. But killing?
“Everything’s alright,” the female biped continued to coo, approaching the bubble. She made an open handed gesture, lightly touching the edge of the protective force field. Twilight looked back the female. Gently, she placed a hoof against the field, where the creature’s hand was.
Twilight let the field drop.
The creature reached into a small bag, like a saddle bag but with only one pouch, slung around her shoulder. She pulled out a small fruit, some sort of apple from the looks of it. The creature offered it to Twilight. Twilight used her telekenisis and gently lifted the apple, taking a bite of it.
It wasn’t delicious. It wasn’t even ripe. But from the look of these… ponies… it was the most that they had.
The others began to crowd around Twilight. There wasn’t any sort of bloodlust, like she feared, or killing intent visible in their eyes. They were simply curious. Heck, she would be curious if one of them just showed up in her world as well. The female produced a small brush, and recognizing the gesture Twilight offered some of her mane. It wasn’t a proper brush, but it helped get some of the twigs and leaves out, all while the young female seemed to whisper something about brushing over and over again.
Then the howls began again.
“We must go,” one of the older creatures said. “We cannot leave the camp unguarded. Not tonight.”
“We have to burn the bodies,” another creature responded. “If we don’t, then they may come back as ghouls.”
“We don’t have time,” another said, before turning back to the female and Twilight. “Natalia, I realize you’ve made a friend, but we cannot keep her.”
“It’s fine. I’m a grown mare. I can take care of myself,” Twilight said, quietly enjoying the surprised look on everyone’s faces as they took a step back. “What? Never seen a pony before?”
“Tiny horses, yes,” the man who was speaking to ‘Natalia’ said. “Tiny purple horses with horns on their heads that can talk and use spells… Avacyn protect us, you can talk.”
“You can talk,” Natalia said in awe.
“I can sing,” Twilight added, before grinning sheepishly at her own lame joke. “Though not very well. Not before three cups of warm cider at least.”
Nearly all of the creatures laughed, a sound that was eerily pony like. They all seemed so hopeful. Like this was the one bright spot in their whole day.
Then the howls began again. Nobody was laughing at that point.
“You said something about a camp?” Twilight asked.
“Yes. Us and the other refugees. I’m not sure… but then you saved us so…” the man made a gesture. “I’m Gunther. If you want to, you can follow us. We can use all the help we can get.”
Twilight smelled them, now that she was calm. “Ugh. You smell like… like… not very good.”
“Might be the blood,” the older creature said. “Well, there’s a lake. Everyone wash up. It’s better to be cold than wet than to have werewolves rip you to shreds.”
The other creatures nodded in agreement, the gesture eerily like a pony’s. They began to walk into the lake, taking off whatever shoes they had, washing their clothes and their bodies. It would only be a quick rinse, but already the majority of the still wet blood was coming off their skin and out of their clothes, dying the surface of the lake a light red that was visible because of the moon.
The sight made Twilight’s stomach churn. Yet she was in store for another one. She heard the sounds of bones cracking. Looking back, to her surprise and disgust, the bodies of the slain wolves began to transform. They were dead, but the process still looked unimaginably painful as their bones telescoped and changed, their hair falling out of their skin. Soon, the wolves looked like the bipeds she had just saved. Except naked, and full of cuts and holes.
“Well, looks like we found out what happened to Estwald,” the older man, Gunther, said. “I used to drink with him when his family visited our village for the harvest festival. Shame. They were mighty decent folks.”
“I don’t understand,” Twilight said as she looked. She was revolted by the sight, but her scientific curiosity got the better of her.
“It’s a curse,” Natalia said quietly.
Twilight laughed quietly, nervously. “Curses don’t exist. It’s just silly, made up superstition. Fake magic playing on the fears of old pony’s tales meant to scare.”
“Says the talking purple horse,” one of the other man, a solidly built and well muscled fellow who reminded Twilight vaguely of Big Macintosh, commented. “I tell you, horse girl, it’s a curse. No good comes from lycanthropy.”
Twilight was ready to ignore the talk, but her curiosity got the better of her. She wasn’t dumb, and she wasn’t going to be arbitrarily skeptical either. She was in a strange place. A different world, with different beings and magic that felt familiar but never quite right.
“Okay,” Twilight said, sighing. “Okay. Even if it’s superstitious, superstitions begin in facts. So what can you tell me?”
“Too much for my liking,” Gunther began. “A lycanthrope starts off as a normal man or woman, as near as we can tell. Then something happens. Something begins to change them. They transform from human to werewolf, a machine perfectly designed for killing and murder.”
“Sometimes they return,” Natalia added. “They come in naked and confused. Most are repentant. They don’t like the killing, or the hunt. They’re shamed by their actions. Sometimes they throw themselves at the mercy of the Church, hoping that blessings and guards will keep them from transforming. Others go as far away from civilization as they can, living in the wild. Some try to live normal lives with their family and friends. But it doesn’t matter. They always change. ”
“Those are the good ones, mind you,” the well muscled one began. “A good many are wanton. They love killing. They love being the wolf. So they go out of their way to become the beast again. Either way, if you live near the woods, then you probably already know a werewolf. They’re just smart enough not to make themselves known.”
“And there’s no cure? No prevention?” Twilight asked.
“None that we can tell,” Gunther said. “Oh, they might have theories in Gavony, or Nephalia. But us Kessingers are simple folk. The blessings of Avacyn and faith in her teachings provide help, eases our burdens. Some penitent lycanthropes even have a small amount of success holding back the beast. But the Angel above hasn’t been coming around as often, and the wolves… well, you can see for yourself.”
“Everyone’s washed up,” one of the men in the group said from the lake. “The supplies too.”
“Good,” Gunther replied. “Let’s get going.”
And with that, they made to… well, Twilight didn’t know. But hopefully someplace with a warm fire and a warm meal. It was probably a horrible idea to follow them, but ponies always felt safer in groups. For right now, she felt like part of the herd.
~ ~ ~
The world around them was dark, but the path before them was still well lit. The moon of this world was out now, large and bright enough that Twilight could read by it if she had any of her books on her. The creatures that she had met, the ‘humans’, were tall and thin from her perspective. Humans were gangly things that moved much too awkwardly compared to normal equine life forms. Yet at the same time the humans had enough grace to move silently through the woods. It felt as though Twilight was the loudest of them all.
Natalia had stayed close to Twilight. The men of the group had placed them in the center, not too close from either the front or the rear to make escape impossible. Despite their self-proclaimed status as refugees, or perhaps because of that same status, they acted like experienced adventurers that Twilight would occasionally see moving through Canterlot or Ponyville to go to places that no sane pony would normally care to go. Their travelogues and diaries were consumed with vigor by a curious public, but everypony was more than happy to let the adventurers do the risk taking and the implied dying that went with it.
Another blood curling howl echoed through the air.
“It’s getting quieter,” Twilight whispered.
“The howlpack must have found what they were hunting for,” Natalia replied back, just loud enough for Twilight to hear. “It’ll become louder again soon. They won’t stop for long unless it’s a village.”
“Will we be safe?” Twilight asked.
“Nobody’s safe,” Natalia said, staring off distantly. She then blinked a little bit, before looking at Twilight. “But we’ll be safer than most once we get back to camp. The werewolves normally don’t want to fight large groups except when their packs are big enough. They’ll stick to raiding farms and hamlets this night.”
They continued to walk along with the group. Nobody seemed to pay any mind to the two.
“What will happen when we get to camp?” Twilight asked.
Natalia seemed to think about the answer to that question, far longer than Twilight was comfortable with. “Well, we’re short on food. We always are. But nobody’s going to eat you if you show them that you can talk. Some people would, but we’re not cannibals or angle slayers.”
“Great,” Twilight drolled, before perking up. “So you’re omnivores?”
“What are you talking about?” Natalia asked.
“Does your species eat both meat and plant life?” Twilight asked.
“If by species you mean kind, then yes,” Natalia replied. “But hardly anybody eats meat since the Troubles started. Except maybe the people in Setsia, since they can’t grow crops like us or Gavony and they can’t trade for food like Nephalia. Well, maybe the Nephalians too. But it’s all fish.”
“Makes sense,” Twilight said. “I guess I have a lot to learn about this place.”
“Someone at camp will teach you,” Natalia said. “I wish I could, but I’m the only healer we have left. And I can’t call upon the angels like a real healer. I can only use what plants and herbs we have.”
“Maybe I can help,” Twilight said. “What else can I expect?”
“We only have a little blessed silver. They’ll press it against you to see if you’re unholy,” Natalia said, to which Twilight rolled her eyes. Natalia seemed offended by the action. “It’s only a precaution. They say that there are exotic werewolves in the distant lands. Lycanthropes who transforms into things other than wolves. You talk and act like a foreigner. You could be one of them. We have to be sure.”
“I talk and I can use magic. I don’t want to hurt anyone. Can I really be a werewolf?” Twilight asked.
“Most lycanthropes are repentant, but they still hunt and kill because it’s in their blood. And as for magic… I’m from Hollowhendge,” Natalia said. Twilight could see a light shimmer in her eyes, before the young woman began to lightly sob.
“I don’t know what that means,” Twilight whispered. “But I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?”
“Just… just let me think about my ancestors,” Natalia whispered softly.
They made the rest of the trip in silence. The howls began to pick up again.
~ ~ ~
The small host of refugees and Twilight found their way into the camp. It was not what Twilight expected, though so far few things in this world were.
When Twilight thought of ‘camping’, she thought of the sort of cheery outings into the tamed woods that her friends would occasionally partake in. Camps in her mind had warm fires, warm food, and sometimes warm cider that lead to warm (or at least salacious) songs. When the night was through everyone would go to their warm tents and warm bedrolls, and wake up to a warm breakfast that some tired but much appreciated cook spent the wee hours of the morning preparing.
There was nothing warm about this camp. The fires seemed to provide illumination and little else. The settling fog seemed to sap the warmth from her bones. She couldn’t tell what they were eating, but it smelled too much of meat for her to find it appetizing. She would probably have to eat some wild grass, but grass wasn’t filling. At this rate the grass would probably try to tell her how eating it is in fact a blessing, and start rambling about gods, angels, devils, vampires, spirits and curses until she gave it the mercy of a meaningful death.
Everyone was staring at her. She didn’t know where exactly the camp ended, but with the fog it seemed to go on forever. The shelters were pitiful things it seemed, the food was thin, the people shabby and miserable. But they all seemed healthy enough for the most part. Considering what was going on, Twilight was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
“Umm… hello?” Twilight greeted nervously.
“Hello,” another of the men replied. He was a tall man with a broad sword. Like so many of the other farm men he appeared to be well built, and filled out his clothes. The fancy hat and just generally nicer clothes tipped him off as an outsider. “Forgive the refugees. They’ve been having a hard time. I’m Captain Burkov of Lambholt. Who are you?”
“I’m Twilight Sparkle. I’m sort of a traveler,” Twilight said.
“Aren’t we all,” the captain asked rhetorically. “Do you know what comes next?”
“You use some silver and say some nonsense,” Twilight said. “Where is it, anyways?”
“I have your silver,” said a kindly looking old woman. She then drew a knife, holding it overhead. “I have your silver right here!”
Twilight screamed, backing up immediately as old woman began to move much too quickly for her liking. The men who were with Twilight when she helped fight the werewolves moved quickly as well, holding the demented old woman back from doing any actual harm to the young mare.
“See! She’s a werewolf! She’s scared of silver!” the suspicious crone yelled in self-righteous justification.
“That’s a knife! You’re waving a knife at me! Why is everypony here crazy?!” Twilight exclaimed. “Dear Luna, Natalia said ‘pressed with blessed silver’, not ‘stabbed by stab happy ape thing’!”
“For the love of Avacyn, Mum, put that knife down!” the man who Twilight quietly identified as ‘human Mac’ said. “The little horse thing saved our lives. Don’t hurt her.”
“I don’t like her,” the old woman said, although she wasn’t fighting against her son as strongly. The son took the dagger from his mother’s hand, instead giving it to Gunther.
“Why don’t we find some stew, Mum. You like stew, right?” human Mac said, leading the woman off.
“I’m sorry,” Gunther said. “Old Granny Veselov’s mind isn’t there most of the time, but she knows much about healing herbs and midwifery.”
“It’s… okay…” Twilight said haltingly. She then sighed. “Who am I kidding? It’s not okay. I’m on a strange world where everything doesn’t make sense. And I’ll never see my home, or my friends, or the Princesses… or Mom, or Dad, or Shining Armor and Princess Cadance’s wedding…” Twilight’s vision became blurry. She rubbed a foreleg against her eyes, trying to clear the tears away.
“Well, she’s one of us at least,” an anonymous refugee said. “But is she unholy, or a werewolf?”
“One way to find out,” Gunther said, still holding the knife. “This knife is inlaid with blessed silver runes. If you are a werewolf, then it will cause you great pain. If you are a vampire, then it will cause you discomfort. But if you’re truly one of us, even if you are a tiny horse with a horn, then you’ll only feel the chill of the metal. I will be pressing the dull side against your flank. Do you understand?”
Twilight nodded. She waited. She felt the cool metal press against her side. Then, as expected, the metal was removed and the camp was silent once more.
“The men are keeping the watch. Find a place to sleep. We have a long journey tomorrow,” Gunther said to Twilight.
As she moved, she could hear the stories circulating. At some point Twilight got a hold of a thin blanket. It wasn’t much, it was barely better than nothing, but eventually she managed to settle down into a fitful sleep.
Her dreams were haunted by the howls of the werewolves and the blood of those she helped to slay.
