A Bleeding Heart, Painful Past

Chapters

He Fell From The Sky?
The Beast I Am
So Yeah, I'm a Werewolf
Invitations
I Hate Suits

He Fell From The Sky?

'I'm falling? Strange, I don't remember jumping off anything.' I feel the cool breeze rush past me as I fall towards the ground. I see a beautiful sun and a clear blue sky. I hear birds chirp a cheery tune, they won't fall like me, they can't.

It's obvious that I didn't jump off something, not this time. There aren't any cliffs, towers, or buildings around. Thrown from a plane? No, I couldn't have been ambushed, and I couldn't have been falling for long, there's no sign of an aircraft around. So why am I falling? But you know what? I don't care, I've been trying to kill myself for a while now. With failure every time.

'Maybe this time will work.' I breath deeply through my nose one last time. I smell many things, flowers, apples, cupcakes, various animals...... cupcakes?

I turn my and see a small town getting closer. I assumed I was going to die in the wild because I saw a forest on the horizon. 'I feel sorry for any poor bastard we may land on.'

'Yeah.' I close my eyes, accepting death.

Darkness; that's all there is. And a killer headache. I put my hand to my forehead, subside the throbbing. I open my eyes when the headache passes and sit up.

I'm in someone else's bedroom. Curtains pulled over the window to reduce sunlight, there are books all along the walls of the room. And I mean all along the walls. The bed I've been sleeping in has star covers; and the sweet scent of a woman. Whoever brought me here was kind enough to bandage me up. But not kind enough to leave my shoes or shirt around.

I quietly climb out of bed and unwrap my bandages to inspect my body, see what the damage is. Scratches. 'No pain, no injuries, not dead, not surprised.'

'Didn't work this time either, huh?'

"I'm telling you Twilight, he fell from the sky and was a mess. His body was horrific. I don't know how it is he's still alive." A woman's voice, she sounded elegant and formal, but her voice was trembling, must have seen me when I landed. A body is never pretty after it falls a few hundred feet.

"Listen Rarity, I'm not saying that you're lying, but maybe you were just in shock from seeing all the blood." Another woman, she sounded well versed. "I inspected him myself, though I may not be an expert doctor, I know a thing or two about medical treatment. Only a few fractured bones and bruises, nothing a little first-aid couldn't fix. But there being so much blood was a mystery, there was no indication of his body expelling that much. There was only small internal damage and a few cuts." I feel around to make sure none of my bones are still damaged.

Nope, everything's in working order, healed this fast. Must be close to a full moon. I close my eyes to narrow my sense of smell. I know there are already two women downstairs, so there could be more. Let's see what we got here. Heh, another four. One can't stand still and smells like sweets. Another has the smell of apples on her. A third keeps moving around, she's impatient. But I don't hear footsteps, there's a gust of wind hitting the floor, like she could fly; that's odd. The last I would have missed if she didn't have the scent of various animals over her, she's staying perfectly still and quiet. 'Heh? Wait, there's a seventh person here!'

'What?'

'In the hallway! Heading here!'

The door opens and a young boy walks in holding a tray that had a sandwich and milk on it. I was too busy trying to find the little clues when the giant give-away was right in front of me. He saw me out of bed and froze, shocked to see me up. In the whole second we saw each other, I did the only thing reasonably. I shielded my face and jumped out the window. When you have a past as bad as mine, you learn a lot of things. Trust no one and run from everyone.

"TWILIGHT!" He yells as he watches me run down the street.

I had a few questions going through my mind. But one that stood out amongst the rest. 'Why'd he dye his hair green?'

'Could be a punk thing the kid's going through.'

Twilight Sparkle hears a loud crashing sound and Spike calling for here right after. She and her friends run upstairs to little Spike looking out a broken window.

"Spike what happened? And where's the guy that was injured?" She asks.

"I, I come up to give him something to eat and drink when he wakes up. But he was already awake and when he saw me he just jumped out the window and ran down the street." The small boy said in a panic.

"But given the extent of his injuries he shouldn't have been able to do that, or get away so quickly. Plus the fall would have increased his injuries, he shouldn't even be able to walk away from that. Come on girls, we have to find him." The seven of them ran out the door, following his trail. "Oh this isn't good. We need to find him as soon as possible." Twilight says getting worried.

"Why? I mean sure, we should make sure he's okay and all, but why should we hurry?" Rainbow Dash asks flying above the rest.

"Because Dash, Rarity said he fell from the sky, but he doesn't have wings like you or Fluttershy. And she said his injuries were far more severe than when we found him. And now he's jumped out the window and ran away like nothing was wrong. There's something with this guy that we need to know about." Rainbow Dash grumbles to herself knowing that her friend is right. They find their way to the market place, everyone is scrambling around from one booth to the next.

"Okay, Rainbow Dash, you fly around checking the east side of Ponyville, try and spot him from the sky. Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy, you check here then work your ways south and west. Pinkie, Spike and I will head North, if any of you spots him make sure to call for the others." Twilight lays down the plan, she always does.

"Okie dokie Twilight. But I have just one question. Who's he?" Their overexcited friend points to a large man in a big green coat and a hat pulled over his face. He sees that they've noticed him and runs away.

The girls chase after him. Twilight yells after him to stop, he doesn't. The crowd begins to thicken, they begin closing the gap between him and them. But it suddenly widened. With one powerful push, he flies over the crowd with a single bound, his hat falls off revealing his black hair. Everyone's eyes were on him as he soars over their heads and lands clear on the other side of the crowd. And another jump onto a building rooftop with a second bound.

Even the seven of his pursuers watched in awe at the amazement. The first to snap out of their trance was Rainbow Dash, she flies over everyone's heads and after the guy.

"Now how th' heck does someone do that? He don't have magic or wings." Applejack asks scratching her head from under the stetson hat she wore.

"I don't know." Twillight Sparkle grows even more worried about this mystery man now. He seems to be able to great things without the aid of magic or wings. Just who was the man?

The five remaining girls and young boy follow in the direction that Rainbow Dash was heading in after the odd man. They reached the edge of town and see a figure in the field. It was their friend Dash, on the ground clenching her stomach in pain.

"Oh my gosh. Dash what happened?" asks Twilight concerened for her friend.

"He gut-punched me!" She blurts out, short on breath. "All I told him to do was stop so we can talk. But he said like he hasn't heard that one before and punched me. When I get my hands on him... "

"Come on y'all," Applejack helps her friend up on her feet, "you can have yer revenge after we find him."

"Twilight, are you sure we should chase after this man? After all, he just attacked Rainbow Dash unprovoked." Rarity was getting more nervous about the stranger with each passing minute. After all, she found him when he first landed.

"Yeah Twi, I don't know about this." Spike said taking his crushes side.

"He may have attacked Rainbow, but he said like he hasn't heard that one before. He may have hurt Dash but by the way he acts it seems like he's someone with a very troubled past. It's our duty to find him before he gets into any more trouble and show that we really mean no harm."

"We may be a little too late for that one Twi." Dash looks towards the large forest in front of them. "Because after punching me he ran into the Everfree Forest."

The Everfree Forest, as beautiful as it may seem at times, it is very dangerous. People mainly stay out of it because of the viscious creatures, poisonous plants, and who-knows-what-else that lies within. No matter what it may be, big or small, beautiful or ugly, alive or dead, nothing was to be taken for granted. The girls have journeyed in more times than someone would comfort, and they've never ran out without something attacking them.

"Are you sure we should be doing this Twilight? I mean, maybe he's not in the Everfree anymore." Spike asks his surogate sister, staying close to her for protection.

"Don't worry Spike, we'll find him soon and leave right away. I promise." She says comforting him. She doesn't want to be here anymore than he does. None of them do.

Suddenly they hear a lod roar echo through the trees and a manticore jumps infront of them from the bushes. The girls huddle together and scream in terror as four more jump out and surround them.

"Five manticores? Twilight, why are there five maticores? Aren't they territorial?" Asks Applejack seeking guidance from the leader of their group.

"I'm not sure. Maybe there's a female around. They're very rare amongst their species and every male in the area will compete for the right to mate with her." Says the know-it-all huddling close to her friends.

Oddly enough, it was Fluttershy to break from the group and protection of her friends. She walked towards the first manticore. Out of their group, Fluttershy would seem like the weakest one and is the meekest one of them. Too meek at times. She frightens easily and isn't very open to others except her friends. But when it comes to animals and creatures of the sort, she is in her element. She seems to be able to communicate with animals on an eniterly different level than most people. Even to the point where she can scare them, she once stared a cockatrice into submission.

"Wait, Fluttershy, male manticores become extremely aggresive when a female is around. It's a sign of dominance." Twilight tries warning her friend.

"It's okay Twilight, I'll be fine." She says it with full confidence, not denying herself for a second. She turns back to the manticore. "Excuse me, but do you and your friends think that you can leave? We're trying to find someone and you're kind of in our way." The manticore sniffs her. She's not terrified, not one bit, and the manticore dosn't like that. How could he appear dominant and get the right to mate with the female if others do not see his might? His eyes turn hard and angry. With a bloodthursty roar he brings a massive paw up, and down on the sweet woman.

'Alright, I got out. Now we have to figure out where we are.' I walk through an alley, trying to stay away from anyone who might spot me. I come to a house were a couple were sunbathing. Their clothes were hanging on a wire behind them. The guy looked to be about my size, I swipe his boots, a white tee-shirt, a long jacket, and a hat I wear to hide my face without them noticing. Now I won't have to walk around town half naked.

I turn around a corner and bump into someone. She falls over and letters fly everywhere. "Oops, sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." She says it like it was her fault.

"It's alright. It was my fault actually, here let me help you with those." I help her pick up the letters, they were mailed to various people. She must be the one who delivers them. I glance at her as she's on her hands and knees picking up the letters.

'What the hell?' The woman was like no one I've ever met before. Okay so she did look fairly normal, except she had yellow eyes. That looked in two different directions. But that wasn't the strangest of thing about her if you could actually believe that. On her back were two beautiful grey wings. She had actual bird wings on her back. Like she were an angel.

I hand her the fallen letters. "Thank you." She took the letters and left.

'Did she have...?'

'Uh-huh.' I walk through the steet and made my way to the market. There's a lot of people around, people that look normal, and people that have wings or a horn on their head. Weird. No one seems to mind those things like it was normal.

"Okie-dokie Twilight. But I have just one qustion. Who's he?" A voice from the crowd grabs my attention and I see a girl with cotton candy style hair point at me. With her were five more woman and that kid from before, it must be them.

'Run!' I don't hesitate. I move through the crowd of people, pushing them out of the way. The crowd soon becomes too thick to push through and the seven people were closing in on me, calling out for me to stop. I can't let them capture me. I just want to be left alone. With one powerful jump I fly over the crowd of people, they all stare at me in amazement. My hat falls off, but quite frankly, I don't care. It was to keep myself in a low profile, now that I've been noticed it doesn't matter.

I land way on the other side of the crowd and escape my pursuers. With a second jump I land on the rooftop of a house. I jump from one roof to another, heading to the forest I saw before. I'll be safe there.

I look beind me and see one of the women chasing me. Unlike the others she had wings, making pursuit easy for her. "Hey! Hold up man!" She calls after me. Like hell!

I jump off the last house and sprint for the jungle. A shadow passes overhead and the woman with wings lands in between me and the forest. "Hey, easy there buddy, we just want to talk is all."

"Like I haven't heard that one before." I ran at her and drove my fist into her stomach. It was only enough to knock the wind out of her, no sense killing her, not yet at least. She falls to the ground clenching her stomach, gasping for breathe. I make a break for the trees.

'This forest is odd. You can smell familiar things, but there are also things that shouldn't exist in this environment.'

'Not to mention the things I can't even recognize. Do you?'

'Nuh-uh.' But all in all, it was a fairly nice place, birds chirped, trees were green, and no smell of pollution. It was a patch of heaven.

I hear the sounds of screaming back the way I came. I knew it was them, I knew they were still pursuing me, but why were they screaming? My damn curiosity gets the better of me and I head towards the people I was running from. Smart.

I jump from tree branch to tree branch, I may be checking things out but I'm not prestening myself. I find them, huddled together while a pack of beasts surrounded them. 'Just when I thought I've seen everything, there's something new around the corner.'

There were five manticores circling them. 'Heh, humans are weak. Dull senses, no natural weapons, scare easily if there's something bigger. They're pitiful really.'

'Shut up! Don't think like that, Fenrir! Don't think like that bastard that took everything from us!'

'... You're right. I'm sorry.'

I notice one of the girls with long pink hair faces the manticore directly under me. "Excuse me, but do you and your friends think that you can leave? We're trying to find someone and you're kind of in our way." She asks it. Seriously? He wants to turn her into lunch and she's asking it to leave? Does she have some sort of death wish? Strange thing was, it looked like it was actually about to do as she asked. About.

He brings his paw up, about to slaughter her. 'Aw hell no.' I drop down from my branch and land on the manticore's head, driving his face into the dirt. I bring my right foot up and down on his neck. Even with his mane there to soften and minimize the attack, his neck snaps like a twig from the impact.

So, here I am, saving a bunch of strange women who were pursuing me not too long ago from strange creatures in a strange forest. So now I have to ask myself: why? Because there are manticores! People shouldn't have wings, they shouldn't have horns, and there shouldn't be freaking manticores! I need some answers, and these ladies seem like the best solution. Besides, I'm not going to let a bunch of people die while I do nothing. I'm not running away, never will I run away from those who need it. Not again since that night.

Oh god, why can't my life be normal?

'Because of what we are of course.'

'Heh-heh, yeah. What we are.'

I casually step off the dead beast, gaining the other fours' attention. "Here puss, puss, puss." I intimidate the four of them. And it worked. They charge at me all at once, to everyone else, they were fast. To me, they were slow as hell. All I do is dodge, weave, slip, and slide past all of them with ease. And I laugh. God how I laugh.

The manticores are furious that I can slip by them all so easily. That's good, I want them to lose it, go berserk. 'Well, why don't I wrap things up quickly? I don't feel like fighting a bunch of beasts.'

One manticore charges at me again without the others, wanting to prove he's the best. I bring my left leg straight up and down on his head. His skull shatters on impact. The next one swipes at me. I grab his paw with a single hand and twist it until it breaks. He roars in pain and agony and reels back from me. I jump up and snap off a thin branch from a tree making a nice makeshift spear. It may be thin, but it was quite sturdy. He tries backing away in fear, but just like back in town, I jump over him and land nicely on his back. I bring the spear over my head and lodge it deep into the back of his head. He slump over dead like the last two.

'Nice work.'

The next guy pounces at me. I crouch under him, but with my blinding speed I grab his underside as he soars over me. Using his own momentum and weight against him, I send him face first into the ground with his body facing vertically up. I straight myself out and kick him so hard in the stomach that it sends him sliding across the ground, still eating the dirt. He slams so hard into a tree that it makes a cracking sound. And I don't think it was just the bark.

The last one tries sneaking up behind me while my back is turned. He's not quiet enough. Before he jumps me I do the one thing far worse than what I did to any of the others. I quickly flick my head so he can see a single cold eye, and I stare at him. It was an intimidating stare. One that asked him--no, pleaded him to try it; one that made him scared, inferior in every aspect. One that said, 'just try it, and I'll show you how merciless and deadly I can truly be'. I humiliate him.

He's smart. He runs away with his tail between his legs.

The carnage ceases, three maticores dead, one unconscious with a few broken bones, and a fifth scared to high hell.

"So," I turn to the group of six woman and a little boy, expressions of awe, astonishment, disbelief, and fear all mixed into their faces. "Maybe we should have that chat."

The Beast I Am

We're back at the place they first brought me to. The local library. Apparently the kid and one of the women live here. Seriously? They live in a library?

"So," The woman called Twilight Sparkle speaks up. "You never introduced yourself to us. What's your name?"

"Riff." I say flatly. I've been introduced to the others. The boy is Spike, not blood related to Twilight, but he's her little brother and assistant. Yeah, his hair was green. The one who found me was Rarity, she's a fashion designer and is all up in that formal and elegance crap. She seems rather nervous around me, but hey, a body is never pretty after it hits the ground from a few hundred feet. Rainbow Dash is the one I punched earlier and is something of an athlete. She's still pissed at me. Pinkie Pie seems to keep bouncing up and down never staying still and keeps asking me a hundred questions all at once. Applejack is a farmer, she keeps staring at me like I'm about to do something stupid. Oh yeah, she's also no doubtedly a cowgirl. The hat pretty much gave it away. Finally there's Fluttershy, the one that asked the manticore to move, she's very nervous and as her name would have it, shy. That's about all I can get from her. (I'm too tired and lazy to describe how they look so just use your imagination or this. I'm sorry okay.)

"How come you fell from the sky? You don't have any wings." Twilight asks another question.

"Don't know, one minute I'm taking a nap, the next I'm falling right above your town. I know I wasn't captured and thrown off somewhere high again." I say flatly like it were an everyday event for me. Well actually, it was an everyday event for me.

"Again? Why would someone be trying to capture you? You're not wanted are you?" Twilight asks worried if she's helping a wanted man.

I shrug. "Number of different reasons. Imprisonment, experimentation, dissect, kill. Choose two from collum A and they'll throw a third one in for free. But if you mean wanted by the authorities, no. No I am not."

The others gasp in shock. "That's barbaric! Why would anyone want to do any of those things to you?" Rarity asks mortified.

"Because I'm different. Back where I'm from, if you don't know about it then you'll do everything to make sure you do know. When you do figure out what it is you'll want to control it. But if you can't control it, then you have to destroy it so no one else can. Most of the people after me all want to use me or to kill me. Hell, they'll even go as far as trying to replicate my genes and inject it into soldiers, that way they''ll have an army who are just like me but completely obedient. They found out what I am and will do whatever they can to get their hands on me for their own benefits."

"Well, why are you different from others?" Applejack asks.

"Because I'm uh... I'm a... Look it's hard for me to talk about what I am. Do you think I can get a few questions in? Like, where am I? Or the odder one: why do you have horns and wings?"

Twilight perks up a little. "This is Equestria. Ponyville to be more specific. We Equestrians derive from one of Three Daughters."

"Three Daughters?"

"Let me explain. We believe that when time was young there was a single alicorn goddess. She created all the worlds and creatures on them. But she was lonely, so she gave birth to three mares. An earth pony, unicorn, and pegasus. She gave them this world to take care of, and so they did. The earth mare created forests, oceans, lakes, and vegetation. The unicorn, given most magic, created the moon, sun, and stars. The pegasus created clouds, rain, snow, and wind. Working together they created a beautiful world. They're mother was so proud with them that in their honour, she created a species in each of their image."

'And it's not hard to guess who is modelled after which.'

"But we're not the only ones. There are other people that don't have horns or wings that are actually decendants of cows and donkeys, or they do have wings but they're more closely related to griffins."

"Ya don't say." I say actually intrigued by some of this information. "Well, wonder what I should do now? Don't know how I got here, but I don't care if it means I've finally escaped from everything. Don't have anything to go back to. Don't have anywhere to go. Guess my only options left are to explore this world or find a place to live. And quite frankly, I've done enough travelling for a lifetime."

Pinkie Pie squeals with excitement. "So you're staying? Does that mean you're going to live here?! And if you're staying that means we get to be friends! And if we become friends, I have to throw you a party!"

"What?" I try and follow her strain of logic. Suddenly she pulls out a cannon.

"What?" I have no idea where she got it. It shouldn't even be physically possible as to where I saw here pull it from. She presses a button on the side and the room literally explodes in party decorations. There were balloons, cupcakes, cake, streamers, a punch bowl, and somehow I was now wearing a party hat.

"What?" I say for the third time trying to figure out what happened.

Spike then clutches his stomach and has a pained face like he's about to throw up. He lets loose a loud belch that would put full grown men to shame, spitting out green fire and a scroll. I stare at him in just a confused expression as I did at Pinkie. Twilight picks up the scroll and starts reading it to herself. "You know what?" I say to no one in particular. "I give up. I'm not even sure if anything else will surprise me at this point."

"Oh no." A grim feature creeps over Twilight's face. "Dear my faithful student Twilight Sparkle," She reads to us, "I have recently been informed by my men that a dragon has gone on a rampage through Equestria." Then again, there's always something new right around the corner.

'Did she say dragon?'

"My soldiers tell me that he is young and very dangerous. He has already destroyed three towns and is heading towards Ponyville. The total death count is still uncertain and the estimate is too high for comfort. You and your friends are to help evacuate Ponyville and bring everyone to Canterlot where they will be safe until this matter is dealt with. My soldiers are doing everything they can to stop it, but he is too strong. He is currently residing in a large mountain to the west of Ponyville. Please hurry and do NOT involve yourselves, he is far too dangerous for a simple talking to. Signed Princess Celestia."

We sit there in silence. "Well what are we standin' around fer? Y'all heard the Princess, we gotta evacuate Ponyville pronto!" Applejack is the first of us to say anything, motioning everyone to the door.

"That may be not be necessary." They all look at me in confusion. "Twilight, tell me everything you know about dragons. Strengths, weaknesses, personality, powers, eating habits, everything."

"Well, the entire body is made out of impenetrable scales, strong enough that even magic has little effect on them. Breath fire and most are able to fly, teeth and claw are razor sharp, always in a bad mood, smell like brimstone. Why do you want to know this?" She asks me not liking what I'm about to do.

"Because now evacuation won't be needed." A twisted grin finds its place over my face and my eyes go wild. "I'm going to kill it."

"What?!" They all cry out in unison.

"Now hold it right there!" Applejack gets in the way of me and the door. "We may not know a thing about ya, but that don't mean we'll let you go and get yerself killed. You're comin' with us to Canterlot mister!"

"I'm not getting myself killed. I'm killing a dragon." I protest. "If I'm going to be living here, than I'd like a place to live first." I push her aside and walk out the door.

"But you'll die!" Twilight calls out after me.

"No I won't." I shout back not turning to them. "I told you before. I'm different."

'She said dragon.'

It's been a good few hours walk. Lets me calm down, can't get too excited, when I get excited people die. The wildlife is wonderful, calm, soothing. I can truly get used to a place like this. I smell brimstone, damn that's nasty. I follow the smell to a large mountain. "This must be the place." I begin climbing the slope and eventually come to a wide cliff with a lot of flat room . And a cave. The smell gets worse inside.

I go in and to my amazement, I find a small mountain of gems. Diamonds, rubies, sapphires, emeralds, opals, amethysts, and so much more. It was beautiful. I reach to pick up a large ruby that catches my eye, but was quickly cut short as a loud roar fills the air. The cave begins to get brighter farther down.

'The hell is that?' I squint to try and make out what it was that was causing the light. Then I smell smoke. "Oh crap!" I turn tail and book it out of the cave. I get out of the entrance and jump to the side just before an inferno of fire spills out behind me. A second or two slower and I would have been well done.

I hear footsteps, big footsteps. I slowly move away from the entrance, the footsteps getting louder. Soon a blue face appears, it was covered in scales, teeth, and horns. He wasn't huge, but he was big. Blue scales, spikes going along his spine, bad attitude.

'Hee-hee, this'll be fun.'

He stares at me, anger in his ruby eyes. I do the one thing no sane man would even think of doing. I charge straight for him.

He snaps his huge mouth at me, rows of sharp teeth threatening to rip my body to pieces. At least he thought that he did. He doesn't know how fast I can be, or how strong.

I leap into the air right before his mouth closes on me and come crashing down onto his face, fist first. I thought that with such velocity, momentum, and force, I would have done enough damage to break his skull. But those scales really are tough. I only hurt myself, he didn't even look like he was annoyed.

I'm thrown off and slide across the hard stone surface. This time it's his turn to charge at me. With one swing of his massive arm he rips four gashes out of the mountain were I was. My heart beat quickens, I'm getting excited.

'This is getting interesting. Should we let him have it?'

'Yeah Fen, we should.'

"Alright you over-grown lizard!" I yell at him not sure if he understands. "I'm gonna fight you seriously now. And when you're dead, I'll be taking your spot on the food chain!" I reach inside myself and call for the real me. I'll show him what we really are, and we'll kill him. I fell the transformation beginning. Muscle, tissue, bone, everything is about to change. The dragon looks to something else that catches his eye. Over the edge appeared Twilight Sparkle and her friends.

"Riff!" She sees me with relief. Then notices the dragon.

The dragon seeing this as an inconvenience and without a moments hesitation let out a spray of fire at them.

"Listen up everyone!" Twilight calls out to the rest of the towns folk. Town square is usually heavily packed with people. They all turn their attention to her. "I have recently been informed by Princess Celestia that there is a dragon nearby. For our safety she has arranged for the town to be evacuated to Canterlot where it is safe while this problem is dealt with. So please, could you all make your way to the train station." Equestiran's weren't unreasonable people. They know that if they were told to evacuate because of danger, they would have to do so orderly. "Spike, go with Mr. and Mrs. Cake."

"But what about you? The Princess told us to evacuate and for you to not get involved." Spike reminds his older sister. He knows perfectly well why she isn't going.

"Don't worry," She crouches down and gives him a reassuring hug. "I'll be fine." Spike goes to look for Mr. and Mrs. Cake while Twilight goes in the opposite direction.

"And just where, pray tell, might you be off to?" She knew this was going to happen.

"You should already know that." She turns around to see her five friends. "And you should know that there's no talking me out of it."

"Good. Then we're coming with you." Rarity says.

"And there ain't no talkin' us outta it." Applejack finishes.

"Um, well actually I was wondering if I didn't have to go too?" Fluttershy squeaks. Rainbow Dash pushes her forward to get her moving.

There wasn't a lot of talking on their trip. They've gone against a dragon before, but that was a lazy, tired on. This dragon is active and very dangerous.

A jet of fire up on a mountain catches their attention. They were definitely close. Flutteryshy started to back away again, but her friends wouldn't allow it and pushed her forward. As they scaled the slope they could hear sounds of struggling. Twilight hoped she wasn't too late.

"...I'll be taking your spot on the food chain!" Her hope soon grew as she heard Riff's voice.

She pokes her head over a ledge and sees Riff, still alive. "Riff!" She called to him, thankful that she's not too late. Then she notices the dragon, and a burst of fire heading right in her and her friends general direction. She covers her face using her hands to shield herself, screaming in panic as she waited for her inevitable demise.

"NOOOO!" Riff's voice was heard over the sound of roaring flames. And then screams of pain soon after. Twilight lowered her hands to see hell.

Riff threw himself in front of the others, actually stopping the inferno made by the dragon using his entire body. He protected them all. When it was finally over he had stopped screaming, his entire body burnt to a crisp. How he was still standing, no one would know. With a throat dryer than the Sahara dessert during a heat wave and vocal cords too fried to work, he was able to still speak with a flaky, dry voice.

"Do I... G-g-g-gotta... S-s-s-save you... Every time?" His last words were barely a whisper. Too quiet to have been heard. The girls watched in horror as they watched the burned body of the man that had saved them not once, but twice in one day, tumble down the mountain. They didn't know what to do: Scream, cry, yell, hate, break down, all of the above? They just starred at the last spot where he was seen falling.

The dragon slowly advanced on them, he knew they couldn't do anything to him after what they had witnessed. "You..." Twilight clenches her delicate hands into fists. "You..." Her horn began to glow. "YOU!" In her wide vocabulary, she couldn't find a single word to call this monster. Her eyes were filled with tears of rage, sorrow, and most of all, regret. Regret that she didn't try stopping him sooner. Regret that she let him walk out. Regret that she'll never know what he was running from.

She used her magic to teleport herself and the dragon away from the mountain and into the dense jungle bellow. Then she threw everything she could muster into a single magic bolt. It struck the dragon with enough force to topple the great beast. But it wasn't enough to harm it. After it was over she felt faint from using so much energy for a single blast and teleportaion. The dragon got back up, not amused in the slightest. With what strength she had left, Twilight picked herself up and ran.

She's usually smart about these sort of situations. She always has a plan. So why did she act only on impulse when she saw a man she never met since today die?

She ran for what may have seemed like hours to her. The dragon wasn't very fast on land and couldn't topple every tree in his way. And he wasn't that stupid either, he couldn't burn the forest because without the trees, animals wouldn't have a place to live, without them he wouldn't have anything to eat so he'd have to resort to eating the gems in his horde, and he hated eating his horde.

With tears in her eyes her vision was blurred and couldn't see where she was going. She tripped over a rock and fell to the ground.

"Gah!" She clenched her ankle, that hurt bad. The dragon was soon over her in seconds, she couldn't do anything run, hide, fight, nothing was possible now. She was in the beast's mercy. That is, if it had any mercy. He savours the moment, she truly proved to be more trouble than she was worth. He opens his mouth, taking his prize.

"AWOOOOOOO!" A howl is carried through the forest. The dragon stops and turns his head to the direction of where the howl originated. Who dared challenge him? He was king in these parts!

Twilight turned her attention to a large burly figure stepping out of the shadows. There are many creatures in the world that range from the domestic house cat, dog, cows, and bears, to the more magical creatures, manticores, dragons, griffins, and cockatrice. But this creature was one of myth; of legend.

It had a large, muscular body covered in black fur. Pointed ears, sharp teeth and claws, two massive hands while his feet were paws. This was the beast that should only appear on a full moon, not bright daylight. This was the legendary beast.

A were-wolf.

He growled and snarled at the dragon, challenging him. He darted at the dragon on all fours, maximizing his speed. Before the dragon could snap his mouth shut around this new creature, he quickly darted out of harms way and circled past the head. He runs under the dragon's throat and rip out a large number of scales as he passes by, the dragon roars, unaccustomed to pain. A grown man would have difficulties just trying to tug out a single scale, but this beast was able to rip out multiple with one hand.

As the dragon thrashes around, the were-wolf turns around and punches the dragon on the side of its body. The punch was so great that the dragon was pushed off the ground and topple over a few trees as it was sent flying.

While the dragon was pre-occupied toppling trees over, the were-wolf lumbers over to Twilight Sparkle on his two hind legs. She was scared, terrified, at this newcomer. She didn't know how to react, grateful for saving her life, or fearful for what it may do to her. Will she be killed? Will her friends find her body? Will they be safe?

But the most unexpected thing happened, the were-wolf picked her up with his two muscular arms, one under her legs and the other supporting her back. She saw from his expression that he meant her no harm. She saw nobility, honour, pride, and caring. He had no reason to harm her. Without glancing at her, he said "Let's get you out of here." Her eyes went wide. His voice was deep and had a growl in it. But past it all, she heard it. She heard his voice.

He ran fast, faster than anything on legs. Trees were a blur, she couldn't keep track of them. He was warm and soft, she felt oddly comfortable in his strong arms. She lay her head against his chest, she could hear his heart beat. It was strong and steady. Everything was so peaceful and relaxing that she forgot everything when she was in his arms. Until the roar of an enraged dragon snapped her back to reality.

She looked overhead and saw a pissed off dragon flying above them. All of her fear came flooding back as it dived at them. She screamed and held onto him tighter.

With a push of his mighty legs, the were-wolf propels them forward, the dragon missing his target. Twilight looks behind her to see the dragon chasing them, he was absolutely furious. "Can't you go any faster?" She asks her rescuer. He simply growls in acknowledgement and runs faster, putting distance between them and the dragon.

They reached the opposite side of the dragon's den at the base of the mountain. They take a quick look behind them to see the dragon a good 50 meters behind them, and closing in. The were-wolf bends his legs and pushes up, the two fly up high. He jumps from cliff to cliff, ascending higher with each bound. It would have taken an average person maybe three hours to reach the top if they were prepared for mountain climbing, it took them less than a minute.

"Look, there's my friends!" Twilight points to five other women trying to find the fastest way down. The were-wolf looks back to see the dragon flying straight at them and lets out a belch of fire. The were-wolf jumps out of the way and slides down the mountain side on his back, the stone and gravel rubbing against his back roughly.

Twilight screamed and the were-wolf just growled, stifling his cry. The scream caught the others' attention. At first they were overjoyed to see their friend safe, even if she was screaming, but they couldn't make out what the big black thing was that she was on top of. But their curiosity was cut short as they saw the dragon once again, bits of scales missing from under his neck.

As the two reached the bottom, the were-wolf gets up and runs over to the women. They were petrified by his fearsome appearance to do or say anything. He gently lowers Twilight and hands her to Applejack, she cautiously takes her friend from the beast and helps support her up.

The dragon lands behind them, fumes of angry smoke pouring from his nostrils. The were-wolf cracks his neck, then continues on with his shoulders, elbows, wrists, and finally knuckles. A bit of a habit he picked up. He snarls at it, challenging the armoured monster. He drops on all fours and sprints at the dragon, literally running circles around him.

The dragon snaps his mouth at the were-wolf, trying to eat him. Too slow. The were-wolf skirts around and underneath the belly of the beast. With all his might he lifts the dragon off the ground; the dragon was too surprised by this small creatures great action to fight back. The were-wolf lets out a loud roar and flips the dragon on his back. Hard!

The were-wolf jumps on the dragon, using his claws he cut a large X on the dragon's chest. Not deep enough to cut into his flesh, but enough to know that something can get past that armour. If given the time, he could have ripped into the dragon, but was thrown off.

The two beasts right themselves up and growl at one another. Using his wings, the dragon pushes himself forward, mouth gaping wide. The were-wolf catches his open jaw, stopping the dragon in his tracks and keeping his mouth from closing. It was a power struggle of brute force. The were-wolf sees a bit of light down the long neck. He quickly converts all his power from holding the dragon at bay to twisting his head to the ground. He jumps on the head, using the moment of confusion, he locks the mouth closed like an alligator wrestler.

Now, a dragon is magically resistant to fire and heat, that's why they are able to breath fire and not burn their insides. But what happens when a dragon's fire can't exit the mouth? The fire hits the closed wall and is forced back down his throat. A dragon can't be harmed by fire or heat, but he can still feel it. The dragon thrashes around as he feels his own fire flow back down the way it came. Not a good feeling.

The were-wolf is thrown off, the dragon absolutely enraged to the point where he couldn't see straight. He back hands the were-wolf into the mountain wall and creates a large indent. The dragon flies high and readies another blast of fire. A bigger blast, a stronger blast. Before he could let loose an inferno, the were-wolf shoots through the air like a bullet, a rubber one unfortunately. With enough force to shatter a mountain, the were-wolf punches the dragon in his gut. Fire doesn't come out of the dragon's mouth, or air, or noise, or blood; instead, all that came out was pain. Silent pain.

The were-wolf is fine as he lands on the ground, the dragon on the other hand is having difficulty. After he ungracefully crashes down, he stands up on shaky legs. Then something does come out of his mouth, but it wasn't fire. He unloads his last meal between is legs. The were-wolf takes his chance and jumps on the dragon's back. He brings his claws up and across the scales, sending a barrage of strikes. But by the end of it all, the scales came out with deep scratches. Too thick too cut through. He's thrown off the back and tumbles towards the girls.

He's getting exhausted and pants loudly. The way things are going he's going to tire out before the dragon is dead. He growls aggravated. Then he stops and it looks like something flickers inside his head as a wild grin creeps across his face. He casually strolls up to the dragon on his hind legs like nothing was wrong. He stands erect and puts one hand on his hip and the other over his mouth as he yawns loudly. The dragon knew what that meant. He was bored!

How could such a tiny creature be bored after fight against a dragon? The fiercest and most dangerous of beasts there is? He doesn't take this insult lightly and snarls. Soon that snarl grows into a growl, and eventually a roar. The were-wolf still looks unimpressed. The dragon opens his mouth wide and closes around the were-wolf who didn't do anything. He didn't dodge, stop the jaw, nothing. He let himself get eaten. With one great gulp he swallows the were-wolf whole.

The dragon roars in triumph as his foe has just been devoured. He showed that damn mongrel who's the fiercest! He was still the greatest beast there is! He sees the six girls, still hungry after just unloading his meal, he makes his way over to them. Savouring every step.

But he stops. A face of surprise and pain is shown. He gets on his hind legs and looks at his stomach. It was moving.

His pupils shrink and he lets out a shriek of pain and agony. He falls over on his back, flailing and scraping at his stomach. Blood was filling his mouth, his own blood! He pleaded and begged to make it stop, for the pain to stop. And he was given his wish.

His eyes role back and body relax. He slumps over; dead.

The girls are left standing there, wondering one thing: 'What just happened?' Suddenly a black hairy arm bursts from the dragon's chest, followed by a second. The arms widen the hole and the were-wolf pulls himself out, covered in blood and has a heart the size of their heads in his mouth.

They watch in horror as the were-wolf greedily eats the heart after pulling himself out of the carcase. When he finishes the heart he stands on top of the dragon and howls in triumph and victory, letting the whole world know. He jumps off and walks up to the girls, dripping with blood.

"N-Not another step closer! Ah'm warnin' ya!" Applejack stutters in fear. Something that doesn't usually come to her.

"It's okay Applejack." Twilight puts a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile.

"Okay?! Twilight didn't ya see what that monster just did?"

"It's okay." She says again, her smile not wavering. "He's our friend."

"Friend? Ah'd remember seeing a monster like this and consider him a friend!" The were-wolf chuckles in his deep voice. The five of them look at him, not sure what's so funny.

"I am not a monster Applejack, I told you before... " His body begins to changing. Fur retracts into his body, ankles touch the ground, claws retract, his face flattens, ears shift down and lose their point, teeth get dulled. His body becomes smaller as bone, muscle, and tissue reform. Standing in front of them was no longer the legendary beast. Now it was a man they saw die right in front of their eyes. Safe and without a scratch on him. "... I'm different." Says Riff.

They all stare and gawk at me, they don't believe their eyes. What could they all be thinking? Are they afraid? Astonished? Worried? Glad to see me alive?

"Look! He's also naked!" Pinkie Pie points rather low at me switching the mood rather quick.

Everyone's face turns red with embarrassment. They try not to look at it but can't help but getting a quick peek. I try covering myself.

'Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! I guess we know what they're thinking about now?'

'Heh, yeah. I guess we do.'

Fluttershy finally reaches her breaking point and actually faints.

So Yeah, I'm a Werewolf

"We're rich!" I yell holding the ruby from before over my head. The girls marvelled at the mountain of gems. Rarity looked like she was about to squeal with joy.

"We should give these gems to the destroyed towns, they'll be able to rebuild them that way." We stare at Twilight.

"Oh come on Twilight, at least let me keep the ruby. I killed a dragon single handedly, that deserves some kind of reward." I plead to her.

"And some of these will look absolutely marvellous on my designs." Rarity begs just as much as I do.

"No! Every bit counts. Rarity, I'm sorry but this time you can't have them. And Riff, if you really want a reward I'm sure Princess Celestia will be more than happy to give you one." Twilight says sternly.

'Spoil sport.'

"Nah, it's fine. I just wanted the ruby is all." I toss the red stone over my shoulder and hear it clink against the mountain of gems.

"By Celestia's dying sun! What happened here?" We hear a man's voice from outside the cave. I poke my head out to find fifty or so men covered in gold armour and holding weapons. They're crowded around the dragon, baffled that it was already dead.

"Well you gentlemen took your sweet ass time! Not to mention missing one of the greatest parties I've ever had!" They turn around to find themselves confronted by a man covered in dried blood, most of which has been wiped off, dirt, and a grass skirt. I have Rarity to thank for that one.

"What do think you're doing here? Don't you know that this place is dangerous?" A soldier walks up to me. He's taller than me, but not as big.

"What's so dangerous about this place? All there is is a dead dragon."

"Don't play coy with us!" He fumes. "Now come with us so we can ask you a few questions as to what happened here."

"What happened? I killed an overgrown lizard. End of story."

All the soldiers laugh. "No one man can slay a dragon on his own."

"But sir, he's covered in blood, and if I'm not mistaken that's dragon blood. You can tell from its darker shade. Maybe he's telling the truth?" A kid pipes up.

"Son, it's obvious that he just found this thing dead and coated himself in the blood to make it seem like fool like you would believe him. It's obvious that he's a crazy man. And the only marks on his body are years old." He says look me up and down noting all my old battle wounds.

"Well then, if I found this thing dead, then why even bother asking me happened here if I don't know?" I start off down the hill, I believe I've overstayed my welcome.

"Hey! Get back here! I'm not done talking to you!" He stops as he feels a hand on his plated shoulder. He turns around to see Twilight, the hand's owner. "Wha-? Twilight Sparkle? Shouldn't you be in Canterlot?"

"It's okay Sargent, I'll tell Princess Celestia as to what happened here." She runs off after me.

'She knows him? He knows her? Why's that exactly?'

"But what did happen here? He asks as the other girls passed by him.

"He killed the dragon! The fight was so awesome!" Rainbow Dash says behind her, leaving the men left there wondering if I really did kill it.

"I suppose some explanations are in order?" I turn to Twilight and the others as they catch up to me. They all nod. "Alright, but first tell me what you know about were-wolves." They each say something from common knowledge.

"Well, they only appear on a full moon."

"They're deadly."

"Absolute beasts, no offence."

"Only silver can kill them."

"They shouldn't even exist."

"Hahaha! Yeah, they shouldn't exist in this world. But I'm not from this world now am I? Guess that means they exist now. Anyway, a lot of those things are bull! Silver, true, very true. But so can steel, I've just got some weird allergic reaction to it silver. Doesn't burn if I touch it, but hurts like hell and will always leave a mark if something like a silver knife were to cut me. The full moon doesn't determine whether we can change form or not, we can change to and from wolf form whenever we please, the moonlight just determines our power. How strong we get, how fast we can be, how sharp our senses are, all determined by how much light there is. On new moons and bright day we're stronger and faster than an average human, but healing factor is next to nothing. A quarter moon, I could survive a stab to the gut and maybe a pierce to the heart, best not to take chances though. Half moon, you won't even see us until it's too late, if we want you too see us that is. And a full moon, we're invincible and immortal."

"So that's why you said you were different from everyone else?" Dash asks.

"Hang on!" Twilight cuts in before I could answer the rainbow haired girl. "It's bright day right now. We saw you die twice. So from what your abilities are now, shouldn't you be dead?"

"Very insightful of you. To answer both of your questions: being a were-wolf isn't what makes me different, don't get me wrong, the majority of people were normal humans, so in a sense I was different. But that's not what truly made me different from most were-wolves. Other were-wolves need the actual moonlight for their power, so any other would be dead right now. But I don't need the actual moonlight shining on me, there just has to moonlight somewhere in the world. Day or night, it doesn't matter, for some reason I still feel the effects of the light all the time, doesn't matter where I am. I even feel it right now. That's why I was being chased, people wanted to know what the secret was that allowed me this."

"Do you know why you're better?" Twilight asks wanting me to carry on. I go deathly quiet for a while.

"Yeah, and the origin of that lies within an uncomfortable past. One I don't like talking about." She looks a little embarrassed for bringing it up.

"Well if you're supposed to heal instantly, how come you have so many scars over your body?" Rarity asks eyeing me up and down again. Her gaze going over the many scars on my body. I've noticed that they've all been doing that time to time.

"These are all wounds I got when it was close to a new moon, my healing factor doesn't work in that time. Once they're on there, they're not coming off. But some of these are also done by silver weapons."

"How'd ya get 'em all?" Applejack asks quizzically.

"Many of different reasons. The one on my back: sword fight." I point to a scar going from my left shoulder blade to the centre of my spine. "This I got in a fight with another were-wolf" Five scars going the left side of my waist. "Shot with silver bullets." Three puncture wounds on my right arm, one of which went right through. "Silver-laced wire." A spiral going around my left leg under the kneecap. "I could go on and tell you how I got each and every one of these, but my better judgement tells me otherwise."

"I'm interested! Especially that cool looking X one, I bet it was a fight for your life." Dash says ecstatically. My hand goes over the one the one she mentions. A big cross right over my heart. My thoughts go back to how I got this one, and I curse the one who gave it to me in my mind.

"They were all a fight for my life Dash. All of them." I say icily.

'You should have killed her. You should have let me take over.'

'Sometimes I think you're right Fenrir.' I say to him. 'And sometimes I think maybe I should have let her finish me. But you know what happens when you take over, nothing good ever ends for us that way.'

"Riff?" I snap back to reality to find Applejack addressing me. "Ya'll right there?"

"I just killed a dragon and came out unharmed. Most would consider that lucky." I reply giving a sheepish laugh.

"Ya looked a little off is all." She says.

"Oh, yeah, just had something on my mind is all." Best not to tell them of Fenrir. I know I want to trust them, but sometimes you have to keep your secrets from your friends more than from your enemies.

"By the way, who's Princess Celestia?" I ask them remembering that they've mentioned her name a couple times.

"She and her sister Luna are our rulers, they're the highest points of authority. They live in the Canterlot castle on the side of the mountain. Princess Celestia is my personal mentor." Twilight says perking up.

"You know royalty?" I ask uneasy.

"Yes, she's always been kind to everyone, one of my field studies is to learn about friendship in Ponyville. This reminds me, I suppose it's time to send a new letter. Especially to explain as to what happened to the dragon, I'm sure she'd have plenty of questions." Something catches Twilights eye. "Oh look, we're back home."

I turn my head must noticing now. "Already? That didn't seem to take long." Applejack looks at me strangely. "Something wrong?" I ask her.

"Yeah, hang on Ah'm gonna stop by th' farm first. The rest of y'all can head to Twi's place." She walks off in the opposite direction from us. Now I'm wonder what's on her mind. The town is empty, Twilight told me that they evacuated the town like their Princess told them to.

"I should probably start writing a message to Princess Celestia now explaining what happened. But I'll have to wait for Spike to return in order for her to get the message." Twilight thinks aloud as we file into her house.

"Don't mention to her as to what I am." My eyes go dead and serious as I glare at her and my voice is harsh and commanding.

"What why?" She steps back uncomfortably as she stares back. "She should know about this."

"No, she shouldn't. No one should! No one must know as to what I am or what I can do!" They others look at me the same way, fearful and worried, a hint of fear is produced in their eyes. "The less people that know, the better. If the wrong kind of people that thirst for power and control hear about me, they will stop at nothing to control me, to replicate me, to use and abuse me! And they'll even go after the people I know to get to me!" My voice calms down. "Trust me on this. It'll be for your own safety."

The room is deathly quiet, the girls are staring at me like I've just grown a third arm. The door bursts wide open with Applejack in the doorway holding some clothes.

"Hey, got what A'h needed." She looks around and is confused as to the odd silence. She looks at me, instantly knowing that something's the matter and I'm the cause of it. Again. "Did A'h miss somethin'?"

"No, nothing at all." I turn my attention to her, knowing now that this discussion is over. "What'd you need to get anyway?"

"Somethin' for ya." She tosses me the clothes. A red plaid button shirt and normal pair of blue jeans. "Got 'em from m'ah brother's wardrobe. You're about his size. Can't have ya goin' 'round town in a skirt now can we?" I look down to what little I was wearing already. She's right, I can't go around looking like this, that'll just bring the very thing I don't want: attention. "Well, what'cha doin' standin' there? Go put 'em on." She pushes me to the washroom and closes the door behind me. I slip out of the grass skirt and into the clothes.

Her brother is a big guy. I'm just big enough for these things to fit on me without them slipping off. I throw the skirt into the trash bin and walk exit, all but Twilight are present. I notice that Fluttershy's been extremely silent since, well since I've met her. But I can tell something's bothering her, and I don't think it's too hard to wonder what it is.

"Hey, thanks for the clothes, when you see your brother can you thank him for me too?" I ask Applejack.

"Sure, no problem. Helpin' others is what the Apple family does." She responds with smug pride.

"Hey, is there something with Fluttershy? She's been pretty silent." I ask her quietly so as only she hears it.

"Well, Fluttershy's normally like that, but she has been quieter than normal. Although A'h think that you harmin' those maticores has really out her off. Not to mention killlin' the dragon."

"Okay, those may be impossible for normal human feats, I don't see how she could still be effected, the rest of you got over it."

"Yeah well, animals are sort'a her thing for living. She loves creatures, big, small, dangerous, or friendly, she loves 'em all. Except dragons oddly 'nough. Even though, watching ya' kill it still upset her a mighty ton. I suggest ya go 'n apologize to her." She turns me around and faces me towards the small woman in a yellow sweater.

I walk up to her, she looks distracted and doesn't notice me. I ask her if something's wrong even though I already know the answer to it. She lets out an adorable eep when she finally notices me.

"Oh, Riff, I didn't see you coming. I'm sorry."

"Uh, it's okay."

'Why is she apologizing? She's acting like it's her fault.'

'I don't know man, I honestly don't know.'

"Listen, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You just looked kind of out of it." I scratch the back of my head.

"I'm just still a little shocked at how you handled that... Dragon." She even looks afraid just by saying it. "And those poor manitores. The fear in that last one's eyes."

"Well it was either them or us." I say bluntly. I'm greeted with a slap on the back of my head by Applejack who sneaked her way beside me. I was about to yell at her and ask what that was for, then I saw that her eyes were saying that I just said something incredibly stupid. "I mean... look the last seven years of my life have been tough. I've had to fight or run just about every day. I couldn't just leave you girls to the fate of five pissed off manticores, and I could tell reasoning obviously wouldn't work with them, so I had no choice but to fight. And that dragon was too dangerous to walk away from, I had no choice." I try making it sound as reasonable as possible. She didn't look okay with it, but she seemed like she was a little better now that she didn't think I was just some psycho that killed for the hell of it.

About now was when Twilight came back from upstairs.

"Well, we should probably leave, it's getting dark. And Fluttershy, you were gong to help me with that uhm, new move for the Wonderbolts tomorrow." Rainbow Dash pushes her winged friend out the door rather hastily.

"Oh, I'm sorry Rainbow but I don't remember you asking me to-"

"Yeah, you know, that one? Anyway, see ya guys, bye." She cuts Fluttershy short and closes the door behind them.

"Goodness, Rainbow Dash is never that pushy, even for the Wonderbolts." Rarity says still in awe at the events that just transpired.

"Did I miss something while I was upstairs?" Twilight asks with no idea as to what just happened during her short time of absence.

"Heh heh, A'h think that Riff here just dodged the bullet on that one.. But Dash is right, we should be getting home."

"Oh, ohohoh. We need to give Riff a surprise welcome party tomorrow. That way you'll get to meet everyone in Ponyville." Pinkie Pie bounces up to me excitedly.

"but now I know of it. How's it going to be a surprise party if I know of it now?" I ask her as she keeps hopping up and down.

"No silly, it's not going to be a surprise party, it'll be a surprise welcome party. And we'll surprise you of course." Without saying anything else she hops out the door with the biggest smile I've ever seen.

"How do you put up with her?" I ask the others as she gets out of ear shot.

"It ain't easy A'h can tell you that much." Applejack chuckles and walks out next before wishing the rest of us a goodnight.

"Well, it certainly was nice meeting you Riff. Why don't you stop by the Carousel Boutique tomorrow and I can get you into some of your own clothes."

"Thank you Rarity. That would be much appreciated."

"Thank you, good night Riff. Good night Twilight." She says pleasantly before leaving.

"Good night." Twilight calls back. It's just us two now. We stand around in awkward silence.

"Well, I suppose they have the right idea. Good night Twilight." I follow suite and head towards the door.

"Aren't you staying?" She asks confused, but I can hear a bit of disappointment in her voice too. Nah, I'm just imagining it. "We have a spare bedroom for guests that you can stay in. After all, where are you going to go? You don't have anywhere else to go."

"Thanks, but I'd prefer to sleep under the stars, and that forest from earlier seemed rather nice. I could probably find a nice relaxing place to lie down." I think back to that forest. The Everfree forest I think they called it.

"You can't go back to the Everfree, it's dangerous in there. You saw what lies in there." She says in alarm.

"Yeah, maybe that's why I think it's nice. And don't worry about me, I can smell danger a mile away, four miles actually." I tap my nose, proud of my keen senses.

'Technically, it's my senses. I just allow you to tap into them.'

'Shut up Fenrir.'

"Thanks for the offer anyway." I leave before she has a chance to protest any further. She calls out a good night to me. I simply look back and give her a wave of acknowledgement. I hear steel grinding together and the sound of a train stopping. The first batch of the townsfolk must have returned. The town is so quiet, it's nothing like from this morning.

But I don't have that on my mind, I'm thinking of something else, someone else. I didn't want to be around Twilight. It's not that I couldn't stand her or didn't like her, but the opposite. I do like her, and I don't mean because she's just nice or anything, but I can't get her off my mind. Ever since I woke up in her bed and caught a whiff of her scent, my mind's felt foggy. She's smart, pretty, brave.

'Oh god. Not again. Not again. Not again! I can't be falling for her! I just can't! Not a second time.'

It was a pleasant walk to the forest if you don't count me going down my hateful memory lane. I find a tree with branches fat enough to support my weight. I prefer to sleep in a tree rather than under it. I climb up, cross my arms over my chest, and lay my back against the tree, letting my head dangle. I try falling asleep, trying to get these unpleasant thoughts out of my head. If only it were that easy.

She watches as the strange man walks off into the night. He's strange, and this is coming from a person who personally knows the party girl Pinkie Pie.

She closed the door, her mind was flooded with the events and wonders as to what happened this day. She remembers everything so clearly, finding Riff, chasing after him, getting saved by him, chasing after him again, watching his grisly 'demise', and then being saved by him for a second time. She remembers when he saved her the second time the clearest, how he scooped her up in his strong arms, how he put their safety before his, how brave he was to face danger without a second's hesitation.

She can feel her face grow hot and her chest felt like it was beginning to shrink. She knew what this feeling was, she just never thought she'd experience it in such a way. He was a mystery, she just met him today, so why couldn't she stop thinking about him?

Invitations

I woke up in a forest, but it wasn't the Everfree. I don't need to look around and notice that the trees are different, that the scents have changed, or that it I am now under a tree instead of in one. None of those facts are how I knew that I wasn't in the Everfree any more, I knew because I just did. Don't ask me how that works, it's just that feeling you get when you know something is different.

Well, saying I was no longer in the Everfree any more wasn't precise, I was still there, still asleep in that tree. But now I'm somewhere else, I'm in our world. The world Fenrir and I built, the world we built in our mind. It is a vast world of green, creatures run wild, hunting, scavenging, caring, doing whatever they may do without humans interfering. In our world there is no such thing as human, only animals. Except me.

I stand and dust myself off, I come here time to time on my own free will, but this time he summoned me. And if he summoned me here, he definitely has something on his mind. Not too surprised, this day has had all kinds of surprises. I walk, it doesn't matter which way I go, either way, we'll run into each other sooner or later.

I follow the sound of laughter, laughter of a young child. I stop at a tree line where a house is built in a clearing. In front of the house is a small boy playing with his father. They're running around, laughing and chasing each other, not a care in the world. A woman with skin as white as snow sits on the porch, watching them as they have fun. And she smiles. I watch a while longer, a small smile comes to my face, I and see the innocence in the smile of the young boy.

A shadow comes beside me. I turn to the the cause of the shadow, and beside me stands a great wolf. He's no giant, but he was a little bigger than a dire wolf, and even though dire wolves died off thousands of years ago, they grew big. I turn back to the house and family of three. But it was gone, no trace of there ever being anything distinctly human, now there was only a clearing.

"You need to be careful." He says. "I don't trust them."

"I'm not surprised that you wouldn't. But it's fine Fen, these people aren't like that, they're different."

"Different? HA! They aren't different. They're the same as any other, ready to stab you in the back the moment you give them everything. And what of that Twilight girl, do you really feel that way? Or have you forgotten?"

I'm silent for what seems like the longest time. "Do not think that one day has wiped away the pain of three years. I'm not going into that again. And I hope that bitch is rotting in hell now."

"So why do you trust them?"

"Because this is a new beginning for us. For five whole years it has been nothing but running, hiding, hunting, and killing. But look where we are, we're not there any more, we've been given a second chance, we can pick up where we left off, we don't have to run any more. I'm not saying that I'm going to put all my faith and trust in these girls, but I'm going to do my best to move on."

"... You really think that we can trust them? That we can move on?"

"Trust them, maybe. Move on, yes, I believe that we can." Fenrir sighs and lays down.

"Alright, I'm in. Besides, in one day we were able to reach the top of the food chain, and you are right, this forest does seem nice." I sit down and lay against him, my hand brushes through his fur.

"That's a good boy." We sit there for a while, listening to to birds, feeling the wind and sun, taking appreciation in our world, our paradise. "Well, if there's nothing else, I'd like to wake up now."

"There's one more thing." I face him, and he actually had a look of concern. "How did we get here? Why were we sent?"

"I don't know. And as far as I'm concerned, I don't care. Maybe someone finally heard our tears."

"Maybe..."

I smell something, something good. I open my eyes, in the Everfree again, in the same tree I fell asleep in. I see a small white rabbit underneath. Well, others saw it as a rabbit, I saw it as breakfast.

I quietly stand up and crouch on the branch I was sleeping on, waiting for it to move right under me. I jump down and land in front the little guy. There are two things I love about a good hunt, the second best thing is the fear in the prey's eyes as it realizes it's been hunted. Which is exactly what I see in the rabbit, fear.

It turns around and bolts away from danger. I run after it. The first best thing about a hunt? The chase.

The rabbit is fast, but not fast enough. I have fun toying with it. The moment it looks like I'm about to grab him, something 'trips' me and I lose my footing, giving him the false sense of safety. We run and run, little bastard, I've given him less credit deserved for him, faster than I expected. But I'm still faster. We come to a small cottage near the forest, he runs around back with me in hot pursuit, I'm loving every second of this.

I come to a skidding halt as I'm about to run into a familiar pink haired woman with yellow wings. "Hey Fluttershy," I lightly pant putting on a friendly smile. "Have you seen a little white rabbit ru-" Before I got to finish my question is see the furball hiding behind Fluttershy for safety. And somehow giving me dirty looks. Was it possible for a rabbit to do that?

"Oh, hello Riff." She greets in her timid way and picks up the rabbit. She doesn't look at me in the eyes though. "I'm sorry, did Angel bother you?"

"Uh... no no, not at all, I just scared the little guy is all."

'Bullshit'

"So is this where you live?" I ask here looking around. She's wering the same Yellow sweater and long green skirt from the other day. "There sure are a lot of animals around. Are they all yours?" I ask looking around. There were all kinds of animals around, she could open up a petting zoo.

"Not all of them, most are friends from the forest that I look after. But others stay with me, including Angel."

"Wow, there sure are a lot..." She's still doesn't look comfortable around me. Like she's scared. It's evident that she likes animals, which probably didn't look good for me when I killed those lot the other day. "Listen, I really am sorry if the things I did yesterday frightened you. But for the past five years it has been nothing but running and fighting for me, each day I had to kill to survive, and the last three of those five has been the worst. Those were the years that I went through a lot of pain and suffering."

She's silent for a while. "What kind of pain?"

"The kind that doesn't heal. I was excluded from society, for being a monster, from the rest of the were-wolves for having... different backgrounds, hunted to control or copy me." I say in a melancholy tone that carries every burden of truth. There's a gloomy silence for a while.

"I was laughing stock in flight school."

"'Scuse me?" I turn to her to see our eyes meet for the first time.

"Mm-hm. All the other kids laughed and made fun of me because I was the only one who was afraid to fly. They all laughed and made fun of me, making me unsure and insignificant. But it was thanks to my friends that I was able to get past it. Especially Rainbow Dash, she was the only one to stand up for me, it's also thanks to her that I was able to find my place helping animals." She gives me a friendly smile.

"You know, I have a similar story, but without the happy ending... "

"Do you think you can tell me what happened?" She asks.

"I don't know, it's pretty terrible."

"Please, I'd like to help."

"Okay Fluttershy," I give in. "But still down and cuddle that bunny, 'cause this isn't going to be easy to sit through." He doesn't say anything, but I can tell Fenrir is pissed with me now. I sit in the grass and wait for Fluttershy to do the same. "I suppose it starts out with me trying to find two very imporatant people..."

"... And so, I gave up on everything. I no longer trusted anyone, I couldn't my reason to fight or to live anymore, all I could do was run and cut myself off from the world." She's in tears when by the time I've finished the story. The bunny is trying to comfort her the best he can. But I think he doesn't know he needs the comforting more, me, or her.

She sniffs back a tear before speaking, "How- How could she do that? After all that time... And she... she... " She couldn't finish, she just kept weeping. I move closer and put my arms around her to comfort her a litttle.

"Listen," I say softly. "You have to promise me to never tell anyone else." She pulls away and looks up at me, tears stream down her face.

"But -"

"No!" I cut her off before she can object. "I hate my past! So that's where I'm leaving it, in the past. I'm not bringing it with me here in the present, or tomorrow, or next week, and no time in the future. My past is dead and buried, and I'm moving on."

"Okay," she says meaningfully. "I promise."

"Riff!" I turn my attention to a familiar voice. Twilight. And she was running towards us.

"Hi, I've been looking for you everwhere. I have something to tell you that I think you'll really-" She stops and notices Fluttershy's state. "hey, Fluttershy, what's wrong?"

It looked like she was about to tell Twilight the truth, but then she quickly catches herself. "Riff just told me a story is all." thank you Fluttershy.

"What story is that?" She eyes me suspicously.

"It's called Romeo and Juliet, a classic piece of lierature but with a tragic ending to it."

"Oh, so what's it about? I might be interested."

"There are these two families that hate each other, but their children love one another. I won't tell you how it ends if you hate spoilers."

"I'd love to hear about it, maybe you can tell me about it some other time." Twilight says reasured.

"I- I should be tending to the animals now." Fluttershy gets up and walks off hastely.

"Was the story that sad?" Twilight asks looking a bit worried for her friend. I simply nod my head, eyes locked on the direction Fluttershy went.

"Anyway, what is it that you wanted to tell me?" I ask her pulling myself off the ground.

"LAst night I recieved a letter from Princess Celestia. Her guards already reported what happened yesterday, and she wanted to know who it was." Uh oh. "When I sent her the letter explaining that it was true that you killed it by yourself she replied back saying that she'd like to thank you personally. There'll be a banquet in your honour. Isn't that great?"

"Isn't." I reply bluntly.

"Pardon?"

"It isn't great."

"What?" She asks taken aback. "Why not?"

"Because I hate things like that." I stand up and walk off to the town. "Too many people, too much formality, and the perfect chance for people hunting me to capture me. Trust me, its happened.

"Oh come on, It's not going to be that bad." She begins pleading for me to go.

"No!"

"Oh come on. The Princesses just want to meet you and thank you formally." We start getting into an arguement as to why I should go until she asks one very insightful question. "Besides, who's hunting you?"

Her qusetions gives me pause. 'That's right. I'm not being hunted anymore. I don't have to worry about that.'

'So that means you're going?'

'Hell no! I still have two more reasons to not go.'

"Sorry Twilight, but I really don't want go even if I'm to be awarded with a mountain of gold that could buy me a continent. Besides, I'd rather not be the center of attention."

"SURPRISE!" My heart skips a beat as we turn a corner to be greeted by the entire bloody town with Pinkie Pie at the front.

"Christ Pinkie, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" I yell as I try calming down.

"Oh course not. why would I try giving you a heart attack on your surprise welcome party? That'd just be silly." I look around the street to see a banner spelling out 'WELCOME,' a long table with food and drinks, and various decorations around like steamers and ballons.

Crap.

I'm being lead through the massive group of people by Pinkie Pie, introducing to them all. She's got a titan's strength. Sure I could break free easily, but she's strong for even a human. And a girl no less! After I've met everyone in town I finally get a chance to get myself something to eat. And that part about meeting everyone else is not an exageration, I met everyone! Although it's not like I got a chance to actaully meet them, she just kept pointing to someone, told me their name, and then went straight to someone else before I could even remember it. I pick up a cupcake and begin eating it.

"Wow, mah sister was right, you are big!" I hear a voice lower down. I find myself to come face to face with three girls. One had red hair with a bow tied in it, and a yellow shirt under overalls. Another had hair that looks like it must have been combed a hundred times a day with a combonation of two purple colors, she wore a dress with purple ruffles, she had a small white horn on her head. The next girl was quite the opposite as the previous. She had a tanned orange tee-shirt, purple shorts and matching colour hair that doesn't even look like it's heard of a comb, and two small orange wings. They stare at me longer.

"Can I help you?" I finally ask.

"You're th' new guy right? Riff?" The with red hair asks. I nod my head. "Why are yeah wearin' mah brother's clothes? Don't ya have any of your own?"

I look at my clothes, forgetting that these don't belong to me, they're Applejack's... brother's. "Wait, your brother's?"

She nods her head. "Ah'm Applebloom, Applejack's sister." She says with a cute smile.

"And I'm Sweetie Belle, Rarity's sister." The one in the dress says.

"And I'm Scootaloo. And we're,"

"THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!" The shout at the same time.

"Uh, nice to meet you." I rub my ringing ear.

"So why are ya wearing mah brother's clothes?" Applebloom asks again.

"Because mine were burned."

"Why were they burned?" Scootaloo asks.

"Because someone didn't like me." What? You thought I would tell three little girls a dragon lit me on fire? Yeah, right.

"Why didn't they like you?" I stare at the three of them for a while.

"You three ask a lot of questions, don't you?" Before they could answer, or even worse, ask another question, Applejack and Rarity come over.

"Hey there Riff, enjoying th' party?" Applejack asks.

"I've decided I hate questions." I answer back.

"Sweetie Belle?" Rarity asks having an idea as to why I'd say that.

"But Rarity-" Her little sister begins.

"No but, get going." With a groan the three leave unsatisfied.

"Nice kids." I comment and eat another cupcake.

"So how ya likin' the party?" Applejack asks.

"Not too bad. I appreciate what Pinkie's done, but I don't much care for it."

"Speaking of parties, Twilight told us you don't want to go to the one Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are hosting for you. Why not?" Rarity asks.

"Hate those things." I say bluntly.

"Oh you can't mean that, isn't there any way that we can convince you?"

"Nope."

"Oh come on, don't be like that." Applejack chides. "It'll be fun."

"And just think of the glamour." Rarity adds.

"I'd just feel like I'll end up causing a scene."

"But wouldn't you want a change of scenery darling? Enough of this, lone wolf buisness, as you've seemed to put it."

"Beside's didn't ya want to start somethin' new in yer life?" I look at the two ladies, as much as I'd hate to admit it, they're right. I do want to start a new life. I pour myself a glass of punch.

"Fine, I'll go to the stupid party." I say glummly. They perk up with enthusiam.

"Really?" Rarity asks hoping I'm telling the truth. I nod my head reluctantly. "Oh goody. But if you're going to attend a party held by the Princess where you're the guest of honour, we have got to get you into better clothing."

"Seriously? What's wrong with this?" I ask pulling the red plad shirt.

"No offense to Big Macintosh, but what is right with that? Besides you need your own clothes, those are just to borrow." I tried looking for an excuse, but alas, they were right again.

"Fine, I'll get new clothing." Rarity's eyes sparkled like diamonds.

"Really? Oh this is just perfect! Come, we best get started now!"

"But I-"

"No but's." She says to me just like how she did for her little sister.

I try thinking of something to say, but I can't find anything. I turn to Applejack to help me out. She wore a smile that was evident that I would get no help from her. I grudgingly drank the last of the punch and walked with Rarity to where ever it is she was taking me. God I wish another dragon would appear. Then I'd at least have an excuse.

Author's Note

Damn that was a long break. Sorry for not posting sooner folks but I've come up with a few other stories and wanted to make a few chapters for them first, and I'm also working on two huge projects with a couple of other people. So anyway, Bleeding Heart's come out of haitus, I won't be updating regularily like before, but (hopefully) you won't have to wait a month.

I Hate Suits

"Would you stop fidgeting? Honestly, you're squirming around like a child," Rarity tsks.

"I can't help it, I've been standing still for an hour and a half! Couldn't you just take my measurements and use one of those dummies?" I ask as she measures my left arm.

"Unfortunately for you, no." She says nearly sticking a needle through my arm. "You have a much bigger build than most, and there is no mannequin that I have with your size. Now hold still, I'm almost done."

'Oh the disadvantages of being big.'

'Shut up.'

"There, done." I let my arms drop to my sides and give a satisfied sigh as I'm finally allowed to let them rest.

"Thank you, but I really don't see why I need a suit." I say to Rarity as I stretch

"Because you will be presented to royalty and you can not be seen in such drags. No offense to Big Macintosh," She explains trying not to sound rude to her friend's brother.

"Right, well anyway, how much?"

"What? Oh no I couldn't possibly allow you to pay. You saved our lives. You saved Twilight's life. It's the least I can do for a friend." I pause as she mentions that word. Friend, I know all too well what that is, it's just been so long since I've had one. One I can trust.

"Well, thank you Rarity. That's very kind of you." I take her generosity to heart. "When might my clothing be ready?"

"No worries darling, I should have an everyday pair for you in two days. The suit within the week. Is there anything you specific you would like?"

"No, not really. Just make sure things aren't flashy. If there's one thing I hate, it's attention." She looks at me in a queer way.

"You know, minus the werewolf part, you are the strangest man I've known."

"That coming from a girl with a horn on her head." I counter.

"I don't know what it was like where you came from, but here it is completely normal." She bites her lower lip and avoids eye contact, like she has something on her mind. "Riff, what was normal back where you came from?"

"Well, what wasn't normal was me for starters. Why do you ask? Do you have something on your mind?"

"Well, it's just that I me Flutershy at the party, and she seemed rather... off. She's never been the most sociable or outgoing, but something was different about her. I asked what it was but she refused to say anything. Do you have anything to do with that?" I look at the purple haired woman for a good long time with a sadness. Those memories, that story, it'll haunt me forever.

"Yes Rarity, I told her a story. I told her my story. Why I don't trust others, why I feel like such a loner. I told her why and I made her promise to not tell."

"May I hear this story too? You want to make a change in your life don't you? Then getting your friends to help you is the first step."

'There she goes again, calling us her friend. Truth be told Riff, I wouldn't mind having her or any of the others as our friends. But I don't feel like I can trust them, not after her. I kept quiet about it but I did not approve of you telling the other girl, and I don't think you should tell this one too.'

"I'm sorry Rarity, but I don't feel comfortable telling anyone else. I only told Fluttershy not because I felt I could trust her to keep a secret, but because I felt that someone so delicate was the only one who could understand. And because I felt as though I had to explain for my actions the other day."

"Fluttershy does hate violence out of the most out of us, I suppose it would make sense. But Riff, if you ever feel like opening up you can talk to us, all of us." I can see the sympathy in her eyes, the honesty of her words. She really does wish to be my friend, doesn't she?

"Thank you Rarity, I'll keep that in mind." I open the door to exit her boutique. "I'll drop by in a day or two to pick up my clothing." I close the door behind me, more so slamming than closing actually. I grit my teeth together.

'She didn't tell her, and she made no mention of you either. Why do you blame her?'

'Why are you even caring? I thought you didn't trust them!'

'I don't.' Fenrir replies sternly. 'But you made the decision to tell her. You made her promise to not tell and she has kept that promise. So I'll ask again, why do you blame her?'

'I don't know old friend, I don't know. Maybe I'd just like to blame someone else instead of myself for once in my miserable life. To not be conscious that these are my burdens that I have to carry.'

'Then stop bitching about it and move on! You said it yourself, we can have a new life here, a fresh start! But how can we have that if you continue to bring your old pains with you? You have to learn to let things go. We've been together since birth, you've helped me fight my demons, and when you asked for my help I gladly gave it to you. But now is different, now it's my turn to help you.'

'Aye, you're right. I need to drop it, I need to move past it. Forgive and forget as they say.'

'That a boy. Now, let's get out of this doom and gloom and see what fun there is to be had around here, eh?' I chuckle. I could do with something exciting, may as well check things out.

I get the odd greeting from a person ever now and again while walking through the town. The people in here are far more different than they are back home, much kinder and non-judgmental. I pass though the grocery district where most shopping is done. I note how there is a lack of meat produce around, and by 'lack of', I mean there is none at all. Fenrir mentions that we'd have to get our own meat the old fashioned way, which suits me fine.

We find the bakery where Pinkie Pie works at and, apparently, lives. I've known the girl for under 24 hours ad somehow, that goes unsurprising. Pinkie Pie re-introduced me to the people who own and run the place, I most certainly do not remember them, let alone anyone else, from that party. They're very pleasant people and gave me a cupcake for free.

I enjoy the delicious cupcake as I stroll around town longer. Feeling the warmth of the sun over head, a simple breeze, fresh air. I inhale deeply, savoring the atmosphere.

'Feels like paradise.'

'Dude, seriously?'

'What? It does!'

'That's just it, you probably just jinxed it.'

'Ah, stop being such a worry wart and enjoy things.'

'It's amazing how your personality does a flip-flop after a cupcake.' I imaginarily shrug to him as we enjoy a light laugh together. But now I'm worrying about what he said, could I have really 'jinxed' it? Could now everything just blow up in my face?

Well, what have I to actually worry about? No one knows my identity, no one knows what I am, and no one can harm me.

"Riff? That you?" I look around to see who called to me, yet no one appeared. "Up here." I look up to see a rainbow haired girl poke her head out from over a cloud.

"Rainbow Dash? Are you sitting on a cloud?" She flies down and lands in front so we may talk face to face.

"Technically I was sleeping on that cloud. So, what you up to?"

"Not much really. Just exploring the town."

"And how you liking it?"

"Fine, just fine."

"Just fine?" She pushes.

"Well, a lit different, a lot different actually, than what I'm used to." She stares at me for an awkward amount of time.

"You know, I still owe you for that sucker punch you gave me." I cringe a little recalling that event.

"Yeah, I suppose you do. Anything in mind?"

"Well, I could just wail you one of my own, but seeing as though you single handedly took down a dragon I don't see how fair that would be for me. But there is one other thing..."

"And that might be?" I ask not liking where this may be going.

"There's a new stunt that I've been trying, but I'm missing a key component. Leverage to be more precise, some one who has muscle. And the only one around here with enough of that is Applejack's brother, Big Macintosh, and unfortunately he works, like, a lot. So I've been trying to do it on my own, and it hasn't been going over too well, even when I try using substitutes like boulders and sandbags. So I suppose that's where you come in."

"Well, what do I have to do?" She gives me wry smile, one that shows how much she'll enjoy torturing me.

"Sorry, but that'll be a secret until tomorrow when I get everything set up." She unfolds her wings and takes off, leaving a trail of rainbow and giddy laughter.

'... Man, you are so screwed.'

"Yup."