Chapter One The Wolf
My name is Scythe. When I gained my cutie mark, a scythe wrapped around a bail of wheat, I did not feel happy, I was not content with my talent, I wanted more. I did not want to spend the rest of my life a farmer, a mere tender of crops. I was greater than that. I had spent every spare second of my life studying magics and sciences while only working on a farm as a means to a end. I was smarter than most of the ponies around me. I was capable of more. I just needed the right tools.
I began studying the applications of magics on the living form, as well as how I could use them with effect. I began to construct a machine that could wield the powers I could not. The local librarian was all to willing to assist a "eager mind", to teach me what I needed to know. I could not use the magics myself, but I could not have another do them for me, I had to do this myself. Conventional magic made no reference to what I needed, it almost avoided the subject, but black magic referenced what was needed. Black magic was illegal, but legality was not a issue.
I build the machine in an abandoned barn, content knowing the good natured people of the village wouldn't be snooping around there.
It would use the magic I fed it to change the mark. No one would be prepared for a farmhand to attempt something like this. It took months of research but the machine rose steadily until it was almost finished.
All it needed was a power source. I couldn't have anyone else do it less I risk blowing my cover. And then I thought, why not use some sort of battery? I could use that bookworms natural admiration of intelligence to easily trick her.
I simply visited her and said
"Hey smarty, wanna try out a thingy I made while trying to be smart like you? Just shoot it with a bolt of power and watch what it does!"
And of course she agreed.
The second her magic made contact, a large protion her magical energy was ripped away and neatly stored for future use. Don't worry about her to much she'll be fine after a nice long nap. Long enough for me to use the machine and bugger off.
The Full Moon rose high.
I did a final check to ensure all was secure, then I strapped myself in. I held the activation switch in my hand. There was no going back. I had used a black magic rune to steal the booky's magics and black magic was punishable by death. Question would be asked, homes would be searched, machines would be found, I would take a long walk to a short drop if you catch my drift. It's time to say goodbye to my old life.
'click'
Imagine being struck by lightning. It would hurt. Now imagine the bolt lasting for a couple dozen seconds. It would REALLY hurt. Now imagine every inch of you body being struck at once. You cannot imagine how painful it is.
If you can, I pity your soul for being able to contemplate such horrors.
Fortunately for my sanity, I blacked out after about a minute.
I woke up. Every inch on my person throbbing in pain after using the machine. Wait, did it work!
I hit the release switch and, when my muscles decided to not do as they're told, landed face first on the ground. The spell, which the machine was only a means to, should have changed the mark to some subcontious desire.
Oh f**k.
The same mark was there.
Great.
Not only did I just commit a capital crime, but I got nothing out of it.
BAM, BAM!!!
AND the linch mob was already here. Apparently I had slept longer than wished.
Right...
Out the window! I sprinted to the window and was half way out when they knocked the barn's door down and grabbed my ankles.
A small beating followed, before they dragged me out of the barn and in front of the local sheriff. The sheriff stood with the moon directly behind him, creating a white halo of light around him.
"You are charged with black magic, how do you plea?"
"Innocent by ignorance to laws?"
Bullsh*t and we both knew.
"Hold him tight."
The sheriff walked towards the barn to find the evidence he needed. In the sheriffs absence, the moon shown brightly in the sky, shining down on me it felt almost comforting. A wave of shivers washed over me. The feeling was similar to the effects of the machine.
Suddenly I felt like I was on fire. I screamed and writhed. The two men holding me letting go from surprise.
I screamed on my hands and knees, my voice getting deeper. A feeling, painful yet not unpleasant began to rack my body. A voice inside cheered in victory. The spell HAD worked. I only hoped whatever I became was enough to escape this mob. My mind faded into a cloud of swirling darkness as savage thoughts took control.
My bones stretched and shattered, reforming into something predatory, something savage. I growled deeply. A werewolf. I grinned slyly. Better than I could have hoped. I looked around at the armed mob's scared eyes. They aren't worth the trouble. I turned and looked at the machine I had built.That on the other hand, is. I ran into the barn, kicking over a barrel of kerosene. The sheriff came at me with a torch, which I quickly seized while knocking him to the ground.
I took one last look at the mob outside before dropping the torch and jumping out the window, this time successfully.
The barn was engulfed in seconds and the machine with it. The explosion that resulted from the flames reaching the only half empty barrel only helped my task of destroying my creation.
The confusion that followed only assisted my escape. By the time the mob regrouped I was on a hill overlooking the blazing structure. I looked at the scene of destruction and grinned, a sudden urge to howl felt perfect.
I howled loud and long, my voice crying out in victory, joy, and the feeling of freedom. Let all know that I changed my fate. I set myself free from myself. I fled to the Everfree forest in the south-west. They would not follow. I was rid of them and they were glad to be rid of me. But fate still had something new in store for me.
Thus ends the tale of my banishment. Or at least my portion to tell.
