Snow whips through my mane as I peer out of the door of the abandoned stone shrine. The dark snowscape outside is downright eerie. Maybe it’s the reason I’m out here spooking me, but in the moonlight, all of those deciduous trees, barren of leaves, look like claws reaching for the moon. Thousands of boney claws, like the undead are rising from a frozen grave.

Shivering slightly, I push the door closed and look to the deadwood I’d piled into the firepit some previous traveler had put in the building. It probably wouldn’t burn down the old structure, but it’ll definitely burn the whole night. Given what I’m out here to do, that warmth is important.

Pulling my beanie up over my horn and setting my rucksack on the floor in front of a large silver statue, I focus on the rather large charge stored in the band. I’ve been pumping so much magic into this thing lately that it practically hums at times, I think to myself as I cast prestidigitation with the fire-starting focus. Given that I don’t know what is going to happen out on these jobs, I can’t chance not having reserves.

The fire catches quickly, and warmth fills the small shrine. Celestia’s time-worn face smiles down at me with a serenity that looks strangely mischievous as the shadows flicker across the statue’s face. How long has this place been abandoned? I wonder as I return the statue’s gaze. I know ponies worship the ground the princess walks on, but I’ve never once seen signs of direct worship like this.

Honestly, this whole ruined town on the outskirts of the Whitetail Woods gives me the heebie-jeebies. I came across it early this afternoon while scouting around for signs of my target, and I honestly can’t make heads or tails of the place. I mean it’s just sitting here, nestled between the mountain-ridge west of Ponyville, the border of Whitetail Woods, and the river feeding into the South Luna Ocean. To the southwest, you have Las Pegasus, and a rail-line to the north and west once you cross the forest. By all accounts, it’s a great location, so it just seems spooky for such a place to be up and abandoned centuries ago.

The only indication of what this place might have once been for is a signboard that I found poking out of a snowbank outside the shrine. It proclaims the place the Shrine of the Waking Dawn. Knowing my luck, this place was some kind of cultist village that Celestia had exterminated, and it’s now haunted by angry cultists.

Nah, I can’t imagine her actually having ponies murdered. I shake my head and levitate a foil pack and some cookware from my rucksack. I empty the contents of the pack into the small pot and set it hanging from a spit over the flame. Rehabilitate them, sure, but I don’t think she’d have a pony gestapo. I think that’s why she had Luna.

Shaking my head, I watch my spicy rice meal cook. Occasionally, I stir it with a spoon, but for the time being, I’m content to just listen to the fire. It’s peaceful, and relaxing, but I can’t stop my eyes from flicking sidelong to the door from time to time.

Should I prop something against it? That’s the only way in or out of the shrine so far as I’ve been able to tell, but my target is out there in Whitetail Woods somewhere. I definitely don’t want it coming upon me while I sleep. If the target is even real and not just some hallucination from a drunken reveler from Las Pegasus.

I levitate out the contract info I’d written down, along with my bounty hunter’s card. Sighing, I read over the parchment with the quest details.

A blighted wolf has been sighted by multiple passengers traveling on a train from Las Pegasus. The creature was said to be crossing into the Whitetail Woods from the unexplored reaches known as the Undiscovered West. The Royal Guard cannot spare the resources to validate the claims at this time.

Investigate the sighting of the beast. Should the creature be more than just the imaginings of drunken party-goers, it cannot be allowed to cross further into the Equestrian heartland. It must be exterminated.

I look to my bounty card at the spot with my quest information. It lists two objectives. Listed under primary, Investigate blighted wolf sighting. Secondary? Exterminate blighted wolf.

The more I think about it, the more taking this quest was a bad idea. It’s been three months since I came out of the coma, and although I’m definitely doing better physically, I still need to get more practice hunting. Going after a diseased wolf isn’t my smartest plan.

What if it’s not a diseased wolf, though? As much as I try, I can’t shake the feeling that I might’ve bitten off more than I can chew. I’ve read a few bestiaries in my time at Twilight’s, and the word blight stirs my memory... but without going into a trance and talking to Book, I’ll probably not get the sort of recall I need. Unfortunately for me, I don’t get the same sort of sleep I’d get if I actually fall asleep.

The creeping doubt is enough to convince me that I should bar the door to the shrine. More than that, I need to make sure the doors don’t just break around the brace. Picking up a long plank with my hooves, I slot it into the door. The wood—both the plank and the doors—has definitely been treated to last, but it feels really dry. It’ll definitely be fragile if hit, but...

With a groan, I tap into the ring once more. There’s enough to enchant the doors to be indestructible, but not enough to do the plank... Durability, on the other hoof, should leave me with plenty of reserves for tomorrow.

By the time my enchanting is done, my food’s ready and I can chow down. Nothing like hot food with just the right amount of spice to make you feel all warm inside on a cold night after lots of traveling. It feels good to just sit back and eat...

Off in the distance, and yet still too close for comfort, I hear the howl of a wolf. It’s unreal to think that I’m supposed to be a prey animal now. Here I am, prey, but also the hunter. An unsure smile pulls at the corners of my mouth. The fucker won’t know what hit him.

Topping off my canteen with a quick transmutation spell, I begin to roll out my sleeping bag beneath the altar to Celestia. Stripping out of my boots, my cloak, and all but my ring, I decide it’s time for bed. I even pull one of my blankets out of my rucksack and wrap myself in it before wedging myself into the sleeping bag as a tiny pony burrito. The hunt begins in earnest tomorrow.

Before I lay my head down to sleep, I levitate out the framed photo Aunt Twilight gave me on my birthday. I look at her, Spike, and myself having a picnic in a public garden not long before I tried taking a header off the side of Canterlot.

As I gaze at the photo, I can’t help but wonder what she’s doing right now. Is she worrying about me? I frown as the memory of her trying to talk me out of taking the bounty floats to the front of my mind. Is she watching with a scrying spell?

“You aren’t ready,” I remember Twilight saying. “You need more time.”

She’s probably right, but at the same time, she’s wrong. I’ve been ready since I killed that changeling. It felt wrong before, but... if I can make it so good ponies don’t have to fight monsters, I’ll gladly kill as many things as possible. Sometimes, you gotta do things for the greater good, at the risk of your very life...

Sometimes...

~ 13 ~

The storm front will move west over the Whitetail Woods and out into the Undiscovered West, where it will disperse. The weather plan sat there on the desk, plain as day. Twilight’s ear twitched as she looked down at it. The storm will be deployed over Ponyville on the day of January the 14th.

“Rainbow, this storm is happening today!” complained Twilight, as she turned to face her friend. “What are those... those—” Twilight clenched her teeth and hissed. She didn’t usually approve of Penny’s colorful choice in language, but she’d make an exception for this case. “—assholes up in Cloudsdale thinking dropping this storm on us without prior consultation?”

If Rainbow was at all disturbed by Twilight swearing, she hid it well behind her own mask of frustration. “I know, right?” she agreed in a tone of annoyance. “Now we have to completely rework the Ponyville weather schedule again. I hate paperwork.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, and Rainbow gave her a sheepish look. “Sorry, Twi,” she said. Ruffling her wings, the pegasus gave a sidelong glance at the clock. “I know you’re worried about her. It’s just... even if she looks like a foal, she knows how to take care of herself.”

That was true and Twilight knew it. It was just that Penny had grown on her—wormed her way into her family and her heart—like some sort of adorable tumor. Sighing, Twilight walked over to the window. The snow was already fairly deep, and it was frightening to think that Penny was probably already hunting in the Whitetail Woods when fillies her own size should be playing in the snow below like the Cutie Mark Crusaders presently were.

Then, of course, her brother’s legal adoption of Penny still weighed heavily on her mind. Shining Armor recognized that Silver Penny, despite being of age, was inexperienced and still needed the support and guiding hoof that would normally be afforded a foal. Until such time as she made her way to him, or he and Cadance came to retrieve her, Twilight felt it was her obligation to watch over her... her niece.

Goodness, it’s so weird thinking of myself as her aunt now... Twilight mused, placing a hoof against the window. She’s just two years younger than me.

“What’s she even looking for out there?” Rainbow Dash asked, joining her at the window. “I thought she would be hunting down criminals, not chasing down rumors.”

A frown creased Twilight’s face. Levitating over a sheet of parchment, she read aloud, “A blighted wolf sighting.” She gave Rainbow the parchment and then returned her attention to the foals in the snow. Down below, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Apple Bloom were having a snowball fight. “The crown’s resources aren’t infinite. If the royal guard chased down every jackalope sighting or the such, worse things than the changeling invasion of Canterlot would occur. So they often contract things out to bounty hunters.”

Rainbow, so it would seem, had stopped listening. She was staring intently at the parchment in her hoof, biting her lip. “Um, Twilight... Isn’t a blighted wolf some sort of demon?” she asked, worry creeping into her voice. “I could’ve sworn that’s what was what A.K. Yearling called the monster in the Treasure of Tzichultzan?”

Shaking her head, Twilight replied, “No, that’s was blightwolf, but the two are... easily confused.” Oh no... What if somepony had confused a blighted wolf for a blightwolf when they were filing the report? A blighted wolf was a far lower threat level than a blightwolf. No way a rookie hunter like Penny would be permitted to take on that sort of mission if they knew. “Rainbow, I need you to get a skywagon and Fluttershy. I have a really bad feeling about this.”

The rainbow pegasus tensed at Twilight’s words. “What about the others?” she asked. “If we’re fighting a monster, shouldn’t we bring AJ?”

Twilight shook her head summoned a map that had been given to her by the princess. This map was a particularly old map, marking several long-abandoned colonies across Equestria. Penny would have gone along the southern edge of the mountain range, keeping the mountain between her and the originally scheduled weather. This would place her... She eyed a spot on a map. Here, in the ruins of Dawnhold.

“There’s no time. We have to go by sky, because it’s a full day’s hike—longer if the snow has grown deeper.” If she does kill a blightwolf, the carcass alone would be worth more than the contract itself. “If Penny’s injured, we’ll need all the room we can get.”

~ 13 ~

The next morning, I find my fire’s burned down to coals. Thin shafts of light peer through the tiny gaps in the roof thawed by my campfire. Despite my restless sleep, I help myself to a quick meal of cheese and bread and then start packing up camp.

I don’t start putting my bedding back into the rucksack right away, however. Rather, I pull out a bandoleer I’d commissioned just before Hearth’s Warming. Holstered in it are a number of crystal blue throwing-knives with ring-shaped pommels. I love prestidigitation enchanting so much. From the pommel of each knife but one hangs a spell-tag. Each one of the dozen blades is primed for remote detonation. All but the one.

Next to come out from the rucksack is a spool of thin steel wire, at the end of which is a lanyard hook. At first, I’d decided my combat style would be entirely centered around my hammer—around Tausend Reue—but given how easy it is to manipulate my own creations, it is at times better to wield several smaller blades than one magical hammer. How can I say no to spinning a blade on a line?

The final item to come out of my bag is a dark phthalo blue cloak. I’m still pretty small, so there’s no point in getting fitted for chainmail or kevlar or the like. Similarly, I still need to build up more strength before I can carry around all sorts of shit while also wearing padded armor. It’s much easier to move in a simple mages cloak. Enchanted, of course. Minor slashing and energy resistance, but doesn’t really help against crushing damage.

Aunt Twilight wasn’t happy that I’d spent Hearth’s Warming recovering after prepping all of this. In my defense I know that the best way to keep my magical growth steady is to capitalize on the utility of my ring. The fact that I can enchant a cloak and several conjured throwing knives and then function off the ring for a day is proof enough that I’m ready. Okay, yes, I could just as simply take off the ring and use the proper amount of energy to enchant, but then I wouldn’t be taking advantage of this Saiyan-like power scaling.

Putting aside thoughts of my aunt and my adoption, I begin dressing for battle. First goes the bandolier, wrapped around my barrel and under my left foreleg. At my left side, I clip the spool of wire to my bandolier. Ideally, I wouldn’t pause to slip the lanyard hook through the ring of the untagged knife, but it’s easier just to loop it through and clip the line to itself now, than worry about slotting the knife back into the bandolier after I don the cloak.

Pulling on my boots and hat, I make my way to the door. “Now, if I were a predator and my prey was trapped and didn’t know it, I’d wait for it to poke its head out far enough that it couldn’t pull back before striking.”

Smirking, I reach out with my magic-sense. Reaching out through the cracks in the door, I begin to blanket the area in magic. The village isn’t that big, so it’s not too hard to get a feel for the town. Nothing alive or particularly rich in magic is currently in the area, but there’s a curious bit of magic lingering in parts of the town. It paths from one entrance to the forest, circles the shrine, concentrates on the door, and then leaves through the other exit to the forest.

I can’t tell which is coming and which is going though, and both paths have direct line of sight on the woods. It’s probably watching, even now. Especially if it’s sick with something. Wolves run in packs, but this thing was said to be alone, and I only heard a single wolf howling last night; not a pack.

Withdrawing all of the magic I used to check the area, I push the crossbar plank out of place and pull open the door. Almost immediately, I’m assaulted by the scent of decay. Ugh... it’s like rotten wood.

Have I ever mentioned that I’m great at stating the obvious? Well, I am. As I examine the door, there’s a huge claw-mark raked across the surface. The wood in the furrows and splinters, despite the durability enchantment, is rotting. Worse, the decay’s spreading away from the mark.

Similarly, the snow all around the shrine and on both paths to the woods have taken on a blackish hue. What the fuck is this thing? This is almost like some sort of corruption.

A howl from the forest grabs my attention as I step out and shut the door. Without the walls and door muffling it like last night, there’s an almost haunting quality to it, like there are two voices in near perfect synchronicity. Oh fucking hell. Corruption... huge fucking claw marks... that howl. The memory of a bestiary flickers through my mind. This isn’t some plagued animal. It’s a fucking demon!

A chill runs down my spine. I was ready for a lot of things, but I was absolutely not prepared to face a demon. There’s a reason the Royal Guard leaves animal extermination to bounty hunters: it’s more important to have the army prepared to fight real threats. Like demons.

My eyes snap dead ahead as a second howl rings out—far closer this time. There, at the edge of the treeline, I get my first glimpse of a real-live blightwolf. Surely, I’m going to have nightmares about this.

See, the thing is shaped like a wolf, but it’s about the size of a grizzly bear. A coat of ash-grey fur coats its body, with several large spines jutting from its back. Its coat looks greasy with something. Probably the most jarring are the glowing-red eyes locked on me, which I happen to meet with my own.

Well then...

Some demons are sapient, rather than mindless beasts, but might this be one? Sucking in a deep breath, I prepare myself. “Turn back, demon, and return from whence you came!” I bellow, taking care to not break eye-contact. Can’t blink or look away. Gotta establish dominance! “ You enter the lands of Princesses Celestia and Luna. You have but one chance to withdraw, or you shall be slain!”

The demon’s lips curl back revealing long, yellowed fangs. Is it smiling at me? A throaty laughter reaches my ears, and I cannot help but feel I should be running. It’d be a fools errand, however; I’m fast, but I cannot outrun a wolf. So I fight if I must...

“You are brave, earth-pony whelp,” it says in a quite masculine voice. “Foolish, but brave. Are you truly all that was sent?” It blinks slowly as it scents the air, before redying itself to sprint. “Such a small female. I will enjoy defiling you before I rip into your flesh.”

My eyes roam the town quickly as I consider my options. So, it is sapient... and it thinks me an earth pony. There are a bunch of collapsed buildings between it and me, various wooden beams jutting out of the snow. There are also some cobblestone fences that have seen better days. Finally, the roof of the shrine is high enough that it shouldn’t be able to reach me. Not too happy that it wants to fuck me before it eats me, though.

“I dunno, dude!” I call back, gripping the knife on the wire with my hoof. At the same time, I focus my telekinesis on every one of the tagged knives “I’ve bitten ponies before, and to be honest, they taste kinda awful, and that’s coming from a mare who loves a nice rare steak!”

With that, the blightwolf runs forward and I whip the knife from its sheath, sending it airborne. My magically guided blade flies straight up and wraps around a post jutting out near the top of the shrine. Once the line is taut, I jump—loosing every one of the knives into the snow around me—and begin reeling the line with some magic from the band. The ascension is quick, but the beast is already nipping at my hooves.

“What’s the matter, scruffy?” I crow from atop the building as I resheath the blade. I know it’s a stupid idea to taunt the beast like this, but it’s either be obnoxious, or be afraid. A careful mix of both is what’ll keep me alive. “Can’t smell the magic in the air? You should try bathing in some holy water!”

The blightwolf snarls up at me. Instead, it licks its bared fangs and stares up at me. “Is that your plan, little pony? To hide above until I go away?” That throaty laugh fills my ears again. “I will bring down that which you stand upon!”

I nearly lose my footing as the entire shrine shakes. Somewhere below me, I hear wood splintering as the demon wolf slams itself into the wall. This building might be sturdy, but it won’t take too many hits like that.

Focusing on one of the knives, I give it a quick telekinetic shove with enough force that it could puncture stone, launching it into the wolf’s flank. It howls with pain, whipping around to look in the direction the knife came from. “Whoever is hiding out there, come meet your demise before my fangs find you instead!”

Presented with the opportunity, I repeat the attack from a different angle with a different knife. Each time I do so, he gives me another opportunity. After nine such attacks, its face is finally lined up with the last remaining blade on the ground. It’s too good an opportunity to pass up, so I launch the last knife into its right eye.

The screaming of the beast is nearly deafening. He rolls and thrashes, attempting to dislodge the knives, especially the one in its eye. He only manages to drive them deeper. Again, he slams into the building.

This time, I’m not so lucky. As he slams clean through the cobble wall of the shrine, I topple forward. There’s no time to whip out my blade and grapple onto the building again. One moment,I’m on the roof, and the next, I’m face-first in a snowbank. My head strikes something hard, and for a moment, I feel dizzy.

“I don’t know what kind of game you are playing, little pony,” the wolf says, looming over me as I climb out. Near-black blood falls onto my cloak from one of the wolf’s wounds. “It ends now, though.”

A large paw slams down on my back. Rough claws punch through my cloak to either side of my neck. Beneath my cloak, I feel hot agony race through my sides as I glance over my shoulder. I wish I never looked. I didn’t think it meant that when it said it would defile me...

The blood-red shaft that it wants to violate me with will never fit! It’d split me in half just trying... and if I were somehow stretchy enough to not rupture when he hilts, the canine knot would most certainly destroy me.

“Scream for me.” I feel the tip—hot, slick, and rigid from the baculum—pressed up against my unused entrance. Tears stream down my cheeks as my nether lips are forcibly spread. He doesn’t just thrust in like a dog, however. He’s trying to savor it—the agony he’s trying to cause me.

Am I really going to just roll over and take this, knowing that I’m going to die either way? It’s too big. Even before his member can strain against my maidenhead, I’m in pain. My ribs hurt hard enough that I can’t even move. It hurts so bad...

I clench my eyes shut...

~ 13 ~

... and when I open them again, I’m not pinned to the ground by a giant wolf monster that wants to rape me to death. Instead, I’m lying on my side in a round dark room. Everything hurts. My teeth, my face, my ribs, by ass and vagina.. even my wings. What? Wings?

There’s a bloodied grey leg stretched out in front of me, but it seems twisted at an unnatural angle. Somewhere, out of my field of vision, there’s a mare crying. Occasionally I hear her mutter in a strangely accented voice. “Please, stop! Don’t hurt her anymore!” The sound of the voice is so... familiar. It makes my heart ache. “You don’t have to do this!”

A red hoof steps into my view, and I find myself looking up at a familiar red unicorn stallion. He looks so familiar, with his unkempt long golden mane and hate filled teal eyes, glaring down at me with disdain. There’s a name at the tip of my tongue...

“Agwa, why?” I ask through blood and broken teeth, except it isn’t me doing the talking. My voice isn’t that mature. “Why do thith?”

I’m rolled roughly onto my back as the stallion sits on my chest. There’s no stopping the scream from escaping my mouth as his weight puts pressure on my broken ribs and wings... until he wraps his hooves around my throat.

“Why? Why!?” he screams, frothing spittle flying into my face. “All you had to do was bow your head, work with me... be the moral compass I never had... We could have fixed the cancer plaguing House Blueblood. I could’ve been free to live my own life!”

My head is pounding... my eyes feel like they’re going to pop. I try to gasp for breath, but I can’t suck down anything. Black dots cloud my vision and I can hear a ringing in my ears.

“Instead, you pushed me and kept pushing me! Antagonizing... failure to submit!” he continues, increasing the pressure on my throat. Why is he crying though? “Then you pushed me too far! You ruined my life! You ruined everything! You ruined me!”

It hurts so bad, but I can’t do anything... I don’t wanna feel pain anymore. My eyelids feel heavy, drifting shut. And then...

Crunch!

... I don’t.

~ 13 ~

I blink, and I’m back again.

No. I won’t let it happen to you the way it happened to me! The voice in my head... It’s the one from the vision. The voice that is and isn’t my own. Penny! I can numb the pain, but you have to fight!

I know I have to fight, but how? It’s going to kill me!

Your blades... the tags! Use them and then make him pay!

Of course! Fury wells in my chest—at myself for even considering letting myself be sullied, and at the demon for daring to touch me. It’s not just my fury, though; there’s a strength welling within me that has that same paradoxical mine/not mine feeling as the voice. It’s like this presence is filling me with the determination I need to live. I’ll make him pay.

“How about you scream for me, bitch!” I grunt, flooding the air around the demon with magic. At first, nothing happens, but then there’s the distinctive staccato cracks of gunfire as the fire tags go off. There’s a loud howl as the reek of burnt hair and flesh fills my nose, and he pulls away.

That’s all the time I need. Sheathing the wired throwing knife in magic, I tear it from the its spot on the bandoleer and send it spiraling behind me. Immediately, the wire goes taut around the base of the wolf’s still-erect phallus. I pull it as tight as it’ll go without shearing right through to the bone and then push myself upright.

“You know, I’ve got a lot of regrets. I regret that Soren answered Lyra’s email. I regret the shitstorm of events that followed. I regret nearly killing those who are now precious to me,” I say, running through the spell to conjure an item from a pocket dimension. One of the most useful spells Aunt Twilight’s taught me yet. “But you know what? Getting fucked to death by a dog ain’t gonna be one of them!”

My horn flares beneath my cap and my cloak flaps in the force of my casting. The magical corona envelops not only my horn on the outside of the cap, but the entirety of my front half. I glance to my side, and am treated to the sight of phantom wings illuminated in the blue light. I’m with you. Always.

Locking eyes with the burning wolf while it struggles not to tear off its own dick. “Tausend Reue!” I cry, calling my hammer from the aether. “Time to add your regrets to the list, demon!”

With blinding speed and burning rage, I slam the hammer into the knife in the wolf’s eye. It shrieks in agony as the blade is driven further in... or is it because I hit it with silver? Silver is what you use to kill monsters and demons, after all. Hmm.

I strike again, this time using one of the kinetic amplifier faces. There’s enough built up charge that it forces the blightwolf back. Far enough that there’s an ever so satisfying ripping sound. The line goes slack, and my blade hits the ground beside a blood-red sleeve of flesh.

The shrill yelping of the demon catches me off guard for only a moment. Then it’s right back to fighting. Twirling the blade with one ethereal hand of magic, I slash frantically at its underside, while with the other, I smash its ribs. It tumbles away, revealing its spines.

A dark smile crosses my face.

“What are you?” the wolf howls, trying to get away. “What kind of monster are you that takes a pony whelp’s form?”

Cackling, I telekinetically seize a wooden beam from the snow and smash the wolf from both sides at once. The wood splinters, so I drop what remains of the beam and seize the wolf by all of its spines. “Monster. That’s rich.” I bring the hammer down on its back while yanking on the spines with my magic. They tear free with a sickening ripping sound. “All things must end. You included.”

By now, the hammer’s built up enough charge from magical pressure and blows that when I turn and strike it under its jaw, it flies backwards, crashing through the wall of the shrine. I launch the spines right after it like javelins, impaling it through the chest while it flies.

Yet the wolf never hits the ground. A silver spear erupts from its chest. Princess Celestia, as it would seem, has made her claim to ending the wolf. No, not Celestia, I realize. The statue. The shrine.

I can’t help but giggle as my personal reservoir runs dry, and I look at the carnage I’ve created. The ruins of a village, wreathed in blue flame... A blightwolf impaled with its own spines, mounted on the horn of a princess. Blood pours from its shredded underbelly. Fire still clings to the beast’s fur.

“Sometimes,” I murmur to the beast as the wind begins to whip out of the east, blowing the snow harder than ever before. “You have to become the monster that monsters fear.”

Grabbing the strap of my hammer in my mouth, I drag it back into what’s left of the sanctuary. It hurts to move. My ribs are clearly broken, but I gotta get back inside. There’s an instinct that tells me a storm front is rolling in, despite the schedule I’d read before leaving.

Thankfully, my stuff isn’t soaked in blood like I am. Somehow, when it broke through the first time, the debris knocked my bag into a corner... It just so happens that this corner is a nice, sheltered corner. This’d be a good place to nap and recuperate.

Smiling, I draw on the ring’s power and levitate my guild card out of the bag. I flip it over and look at the objective display.

Primary: Investigate blighted wolf sighting. *Complete*

Secondary: Exterminate blighted wolf. *Canceled*

Emergency: Run. *Failed*

Emergency: Exterminate blightwolf. *Complete*

Optional: Bring blightwolf remains to guild outpost or kiosk. *In Progress*

Good job, kid. Looks like you might get a double payoff for this, that voice in my head says as I close my eyes. I’m proud of you.

~ 13 ~

Twilight scanned the ground over the edge of the wagon. The storm was tearing through even sooner than it was supposed to, and it was making it hard to see anything at ground level. Just what were those feather brains in Cloudsdale thinking?

“Are we almost there, Twilight?” Rainbow called from the dual pulling position at the front the sky wagon. “Things are gonna to get really bad soon.”

With a glance to the North, Twilight nodded to herself. The mountain range was meeting forest just up ahead. “The ruins of Dawnhold should be straight ahead!” she called back. “Take us lower and keep us north of the river. You should see it soon.”

It sounded like Fluttershy was trying to say something, but it was lost to the winds. Twilight expected she was trying to reassure her that they’d get there in time—that Penny would be fine.

Looking down, she wished she could share the optimism of her friends. They didn’t know the sort of dangers that came with fighting demons. They couldn’t know.

She’d asked Princess Celestia once what the worst thing about fighting demons was. Twilight was shocked to hear that it wasn’t the risk of corruption—modern magic did a good job purging early onset demonic contamination—or the lengths that demons would go to win. “Demons almost without fail will bring out the worst in those fighting them. Even in victory, they are at their weakest, and risk contamination of the soul itself.”

“I see the place, Twilight!” Rainbow yelled a few moments later. “Is it supposed to be on fire?”

For a moment, she thought Rainbow was making a joke, but when she looked down, Twilight saw that the ruins were burning. Blue flames clung to many smaller piles of debris strewn around a partially collapsed stone structure. The roof of said structure was also burning, although not nearly as bad.

Sighing at the wanton destruction of what was clearly once a historical site, Twilight Sparkle had her pegasus friends land as close as possible to the structure without getting caught in the thermals caused by the magical flames. Definitely Penny’s handiwork. As they came in for their landing, she saw just how bad the destruction was.

The entire front wall of what looked to be some sort abbey or shrine was caved in. Some blue flames lingered inside, but it seemed mostly intact. The same could not be said for the surrounding ruins. It looked as though several small explosions had gone off at once, scorching a small area of earth that still seemed too hot for snow to land on, but for a small raised spot in the center... like some sort of torus of fire had once rested there. Further out, anything that had once been made of wood was covered in blue flame.

“Whoa,” Rainbow said, giving a shrill whistle. “Did Penny do all this?”

Fluttershy looked at the destruction and swallowed. “I hope she’s alright.”

Twilight just smiled and shook her head. “It would’ve had to have been her.” Magical flames like this could burn indefinitely if left unattended, so Twilight cast a counterspell to snuff them out. It took a moment to be sure she got everything in the area, aside from whatever was burning inside the shrine, but no flames lingered. “Blightwolves bring plague and decay; they aren’t elementally active demons.”

Without waiting up for the rest of the group, Rainbow rushed ahead to the cobblestone building. She stood there, transfixed by something inside for a moment before slowly backing up. Her wings twitched slightly as she walked backwards.

“Fluttershy, you don’t wanna go in there,” she said with a pale face. Looking to Twilight, added, “Is that why you brought a tarp?”

Maybe it was the tone of Rainbow’s voice, but seeing her friend looking almost green filled Twilight’s belly with urgency. She sprinted forward, stepping over the ruined cobblestone and nearly tripping over one of Penny’s conjured blades.

Her eyes widened at the sight of the giant silver statue of Princess Celestia. It was unnerving seeing her mentor’s face look so happy and peaceful when it was covered in a blackish-red blood. Never mind the mutilated monster impaled through the chest on its horn.

Looking around, Twilight spotted Penny propped up in one corner of the room with her rucksack. She looked somewhat pale in what had once been a cloak the same blue as Shining Armor’s mane. One of her hooves was resting on the pommel of her hammer, while the other seemed to be wrapped around her barrel.

Amazingly, she actually seemed conscious, albeit not entirely lucid.

“Hey, Aunt Twilight,” Penny said in a pained voice. “I don’t suppose you brought a pickup that we can throw that buck there into the back of. I bet the antlers are worth a pretty penny.”

The foal-sized mare laughed slightly and then her other hoof joined the first in clutching her barrel as that laughter became a cry of pain. Shaking her head, Twilight carefully levitated Penny and her belongings. Aside from the clear damage to her ribs, Penny seemed fine at first glance. The only blood on her seemed to be on her cloak or around her mouth.

Upon closer inspection, however, Twilight caught sight of a tiny trickle of blood on the inside of the foal-sized mare’s haunch. “Penny, did it—”

“No,” Penny interjected far too harshly before Twilight could ask. “Not for lack of trying. Even if I didn’t kill him dead, he wouldn’t have been able to try it on any other potential meals.” She looked Twilight dead in the eye and gave her a dark smile. There was a hurt, haunted look in those bright blue eyes. “I ripped his fucking cock off.”

Twilight swallowed a lump in her throat as the implication hit her. The blood on Penny’s thigh, ‘Not for lack of trying,’ and the genital removal... The demon tried to defile Penny, and she seemed off.

If not for the fact that Penny’s cloak was covered in demon blood and that there were unaddressed rib injuries—to say nothing of the potential infections—Twilight would have hugged her then and there. Instead, she magicked away the blood on Penny’s thigh and brought her out to Fluttershy. Penny wouldn’t want a fuss made over it, least of all by Fluttershy.

While Rainbow helped Fluttershy strip the indignant Penny and bind her injuries, Twilight grabbed the tarp from the cart and returned to the shrine. Even if Penny didn’t know the value of the remains, the spoils were rightfully hers.

As Twi laid out the tarp, she looked up at the statue and frowned. How long had this place lay abandoned? How long would it go without having any more visitors?

Levitating down the great monster, there was a certain degree of wonder at the degree of wounds Penny’d inflicted on the beast. Even without impaling it on the silver statue, the demon probably would’ve died from its wounds eventually. One side of its chest was dented inward in a way that was in no way natural. Such was the fate of creatures weak to silver and magic weapons, though.

The carcass of the demon stood as a stark reminder of Silver Penny’s character. Penny wasn’t a malicious pony, but when the conditions were right, Penny could be a force to be reckoned with. Strangely, in that moment, seeing the destruction her niece had wrought, Twilight was glad Penny was on her side.

Author's Note

Penny’s first hunt!