Sparkiverse: Fireflies

The sun was going down, and it was taking the colors of the skies with it. Blues, oranges, reds, purples and pinks were being pulled away into the horizon, leaving behind the twinkling night sky. The light of many stars would come to many a pony's eyes now, reminding them that they were always there, even if the sun covered them up. Down below, in a field of grass, fireflies were all aglow. They twinkled and sparkled, showing only for a few minutes before they too would disappear. It was moments like these that were to be cherished. The glowing field of gently waving blades of grass was quiet, save for the sound of chirping crickets, a babbling stream... and the hoofsteps of a pony.

A dark brown, sturdy stallion was walking the fields tonight. He silently watched the sun go down, watching the last of his freedom disappear. It was when the full moon was up that he would lose himself. He might hurt somepony. He might hurt himself. Who knows? But tonight, he and his pack would hunt, and the stallion hoped not to wake up with equine cuisine in his short, light, leafy, green hair. The sun went down, and the full moon was now fully above the horizon. He could feel magic coursing through his bones...

There was silence.

It wasn't silent a few moments before, no, it was quite the opposite. An entire pack of timberwolves was howling into the night, signifying the first day of Zap Apple ripening. They were about to feed, on a small, brown colt, when... he howled with them.

The colt wasn't frightened. He laughed and howled along with them as if the bloodthirsty pack was just a litter of playful puppies. The timberwolves were stunned, and while they stood frozen, the baby Earth Pony happily climbed up their tree-like hides. It was a fateful night, where the right howl or the tiniest spook could send the baby crying, and end everything for him... but he was fine. It was incredible. The pack looked at each other, the six total that there were, and they looked at the colt (who was currently nibbling on the ear of the eldest wolf). The eldest gave a soft look to the colt, and looked sternly at the others. They seemed to understand. "No eating."

It was a couple years later, and the small colt was a healthy young boy, with a green mane sprouting and a rich chocolate coat. The only blemishes that he had from that one night were the two, small, circular scars on his neck, from where he had been picked up by a young hunting timberwolf and carried to his, well, family now. It was the night of the full moon, and the colt was excited. It was the one time each month that he would be able to join his pack, truly join it, in the hunt.

Soon, a small pony stood there no longer. Rather, a timberwolf cub, about the same size as the colt, had taken his place. He breathed in through his long snout and the leaves rustled on his back. He turned to head back into the woods (not before a short howl, though).

Timber chuckled to himself. It had been a long time since that had happened. He now had a job in Ponyville, a house, and even a marefriend. He wasn't a mindless cub anymore. Err, colt. And when he was about to.. ugh... transform.... he had to be away from anypony and everypony that he might mindlessly mangle when he was a timberwolf.

The sun had finally set. Timber frowned. The irony... I transform into the very creature that I keep at bay and in the Everfree on a day to day basis. I wonder if my bosses have caught on about how I manage to communicate with them so well. I just hope... and the last of his thoughts were drowned out by a whirl of wind and leaves.

A timberwolf had taken the pony's place. He let out a long howl and waited for a response. Shortly after, the howls of an entire pack of timberwolves, and more, came from the trees of the Everfree. It was a happy howl, calling him back to the forest, his home. A wide smile grew on the timberwolf's face, and he bounded off into the treeline under the light of a full moon.

And the fireflies followed after him.