The Wolf and the Rainbow

Chapter Five

-Moon Howl’s Den-

The stallion’s ear twitched, hearing a voice yelling. “Hm?” He grumbled, pulling his head up to look out of the cave’s mouth.

“Scootlaoo!” The voice of a mare yelled. She’s further away from the cave, but close enough for him to hear her.

He leaned his head down, and nudged the filly with his muzzle. “Scootaloo, wake up, little pup.” He whispered, the filly groaning a bit before nuzzling against his pelt. “Come on, you need to get up… Somepony is looking for you.”

Scootaloo mumbled a bit, before looking up. “R-Really?” She asked, a bit drowsy. “I wonder who it could be.”

Moon Howl slowly stood up, picking Scootaloo up and placing her on to his back once he did. “Then how about we go up and find out, hm?” He said, making his way out of the cave.

“You sure? You haven’t been the most social pony, since you showed up.” She said, holding on to the wolf pelt.

“If they’re willing to enter this forest, just to find you, then they’ve earned to see my, and know of my presence.” Moon Howl said, walking into the brush. “Hm… Their voice is rough, but it's still that of a mare… Heh, she has an adorable squeak.” His eyes suddenly went wide, he recognized that voice! It was the cyan pony’s voice!”

“It must be Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo said, perking her head up, while Moon Howl kept his gaze forward. When the voice yelled out, the two close enough for the filly to hear it, Scootaloo smiled brightly. “That is Rainbow Dash! But… Why is she in the Everfree Forest, looking for me instead of practicing?”

“Ok… That shows she’s somewhat dense.” Moon Howl thought, smirking a bit. His smile faded, when they heard a powerful roar, followed by a pain filled scream. “Hold on!” The stallion yelled, his leisure walked turning into a dead charge, Scootaloo holding on to his pelt, tightly.

“Hurry, Moon Howl! That sounded like a manticore, and everypony knows you can’t fight them alone!” Scootaloo yelled, the stallion picking up the pace with the new information.

“When I get close enough, I want you to hop off. Alright, Scootaloo? I won’t be able to fight with you on my back.” Moon Howl ordered, the filly giving an understanding nod.

“Wait, are you seriously going to fight a manticore on your own?” She asked, wondering if he could actually do it.

“Trust me, when I say this.” The stallion lowering his head for a full on battle charge. “I’ve probably fought a lot worse, and a lot bigger.

-Friendship Castle-

“Impossible! T-There’s no way in Equestria this can be real!” Twilight said, her horn scanning the fangs, with a beam of magical light. “But… The evidence is literally right in front of me!”

“Uhh… Twi? What are ya talkin’ ‘bout over there?” Applejack, who arrived with Rarity sometime after finding out about the incident at the school house. “Ya’ll been usin’ yer fancy magic ta scan that there broken necklace since before we got here.”

“Yes, darling, not to mention you have been mumbling ‘impossible’ too… Would you mind telling us what makes that… Barbaric piece of jewelry so interesting?” Rarity asked, the group nodding.

“Because the genetic structure of this ‘Fenrissian Wolf’ has been genetically enhanced beyond Equestria’s own abilities! Not to mention, the DNA Type is nonexistent on our world.” Twilight answered, the group giving her confused looks. “In other words… This ‘Fenrissian Wolf’ is not really from our planet, and was artificially created somewhere down its family tree.”

“But wait… Moon Howl looks like any other pony, besides being a Charger.” Sweetie Belle noted, looking around at everyone else.

“Then I guess I’ll have to ask him some questions.” Twilight said, using her magic to levitate said necklace. “With this, I can easily track them.”

-Everfree Forest-

Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe this was happening right now… First of all things, she still hasn’t found Scootaloo yet. The second, due to her search for the filly, she completely missed the apparent manticore that had been stalking her! Now, the cyan mare was on the ground, a gash on her side, a sprained wing, and one hungry Manticore walking straight for her.

“Perfect… Scootaloo is still out there, who knows what happening to her, I can barely move without pain… And now I’m about to be Manticore chow!” She thought, glaring up at the approaching manticore. “I’m not giving up this easily, punk!” Rainbow Dash yelled, defiantly, before heavy thumps and angry snorts were heard behind him.

Just as the mare was about to turn around, so she could see the source, a shadow loomed over her and a pair of armored hooves stomped in front of her body. She looked up to see that she was now underneath one huge stallion! His armor like a mix between a light blue and gray, just like a storm cloud, and he had a black fur pelt hanging over his body, there were even strange markings over said armor.

“I-Is this…” The mare thought, staring up at him, in awe. “Moon Howl?”

As if he heard her thoughts, the stallion stomped his hoof and actually growled at the manticore. “Try to touch her again, Fuzz Ball… And there won’t be a single trace of you to be considered scrap!” Those words, brutal as they were, actually sounded beyond tough to the mare.

With another powerful roar, the manticore charged the stallion! “He isn’t seriously going to fight that thing, is he!?” She thought, when the stallion didn’t move.

As if it was a sign of accepting the challenge, Moon How drew his sword. “Your funeral!” He yelled, and charged the manticore himself! Not a single trace of fear around him. When the manticore swung its paw, the large beast soon found a sword ripping through said palm, and quickly pulled out but not quick enough to dodge a tail whip from the beast. Moon Howl slid back to Rainbow Dash, with no clear injury. “Huh, you aren’t like that bear… Good, show me what you have to offer!”

The cyan mare watched, as the stallion rejoined the fight, and the two continued their battle. She has never seen a pony actually take some manticore head on before… And this stallion is doing it like this was just another bar brawl! “Oh, my gosh, Rainbow Dash! Are you ok!?” A young voice yelled, making her turn to see Scootaloo run over to her.

“Scootaloo! Thank Celestia, you’re ok!” She said, using one of her fore hooves to hug the filly, when she was close enough. “When I heard that you may have ran into the Everfree Forest, I started looking for you!” Rainbow Dash nuzzled the filly, happy she wasn’t hurt. “Don’t ever do that again! This place is really dangerous!”

Scootaloo, hardly believing her idol is acting this way, just rolled with it. “I was fine, R-Rainbow Dash… After all, Moon Howl wasn’t going to let anything hurt me.” She said, smiling up at the mare.

Rainbow Dash eyes went wide, finding out her assumptions were correct, and looked back at the battle. “So… That is Moon Howl?” She asked, watching the stallion conduct a flawless dodge of the manticore’s bone snapping jaws.

“Yeah! I told you he was cool! Isn’t he cool?” Scootaloo asked, looking back towards the fight.

Rainbow Dash slowly nodded, watching ever movement Moon Howl made. To her surprise, each one was done with an expert’s skill, strong but also agile. Fierce, but also delicate. Not even the Royal Guard, or Wonderbolts, had that kind of skill. “W-Who is this Stallion?” She thought, still studying his movements.

After the manticore failed to strike the stallion again, it became frustrated and set its hungry eyes on both the pegasus mare and filly. Without warning, the beast charged the two of them! Surprising all three ponies, the two pegasi screaming when said manticore raised its paw.

The blow never came, they only heard a metallic thud followed by something rolling away. Rainbow Dash slowly opened her eyes, to see Moon Howl standing in front of her and Scootaloo. His helmet was laying off to the side, covered in blood. The manticore was just staring at him, frozen in place.

While Rainbow Dash couldn’t see Moon Howl’s face, herself, she could see his reflection within the manticore’s own eyes. The storm gray coat, a long black mane draping over some of his face. Those glaring yellow eyes, seeming to make him look more like a dangerous beast of some kind. But, what made him have the freezing effect on the manticore, was the blood sliding down the left side of his face… Yet he didn’t seem bothered by it.

“Bad move, Fuzz Ball.” Moon Howl said, launching forward and taking advantage of the Manticore’s hesitation. He leapt at the fearsome creature, and used his sword to slice the side of tis face! With a pain filled roar, the manticore tried to bite the stallion, but he was already on his back. Moon Howl’s blade flashed for only a second, and the manticore fell limply to the ground. “You’re done.” The stallion stood on the slain beast’s back, hopping off with a strange daze.

“Moon Howl! Are you ok?” Scootaloo asked, running up to him. “That manticore hit you pretty hard, and your head is bleeding!”

Moon Howl grinned at her. “I’ll be fine. I’ve taken a lot worse than-… Why is everything spinning all of a sudden?” He held his head, eye widening at the late realization. “Fangs of Morkai! New body, means no quick healing!” Moon Howl thought, and attempted to voice his concern… But his sight went black, and the Charger fell over to the ground.

Both Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo rushed over to his side, checking to see if he was alright. “Rainbow Dash, is he alright!?” Scootaloo asked, frantically, while she stood next to the fallen Charger.

Rainbow Dash placed a hoof over Moon Howl’s neck, trying to feel a pulse. To her relief, she felt it, somewhat weak but still strong. “Yeah, squirt… I think he just went unconscious, because of that hit from the manticore.” She said, smiling at the filly before she gave a concerned look at the stallion. “Now, to figure out how to get him to a hospital… He must weigh a ton!”

At that, a lavender flash caught their attention. The two smiled, when they saw Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack; standing near them. “Rainbow! Thank Celestia you found-!” The princess stopped, when she spotted the slain manticore, and then the unconscious Moon Howl… Speechless.

“I-Is that… Who ah think it is?” Applejack asked, not believing her eyes.

“Sweet Celestia… They weren’t lying. That is a Charger!” Rarity said, surprised, while placing a hoof over her muzzle and a blush finding its way on to her cheeks.

Raibnow Dash nodded, looking between the two. “Yeah, and he’s hurt! Moon Howl took a manticore claw to the head!” The other three mares gasped, Twilight’s horn starting to glow.

“I’ll teleport us straight to the hospital!” Twilight said, before all six of them disappeared in a lavender flash.