A Cloudsdalian Hengstwolf in Ponyville

Birds’ chirping disrupted a quiet dawn somewhere in Ponyville. A gentle wind made some trees’ leaves flow alongside the weak air current, one of these falling on a resting equine couple; Applejack felt the light weight of it on her nose, her own sneeze awakening her, and consequently Rainbow Dash.

The groggy pegasus—barely aware—felt the sun’s rays hitting her sensitive eyes, then she closed them almost as soon as she half-opened them, and continued to snuggle on her…

…Pillow?

She stood up out of Applejack’s abdomen in a flash and landed unceremoniously on the grass, her blood rushing to her cheeks and heartbeat quickening. The earth pony was startled by it.

Looking around in a panic Dash blabbered, “Wh- Where am I?! Why are you here where’s your house why were we-’’

“Rainbow!’’

A small eep concluded her rambling as she looked embarrassed at the mare in front of her.

Applejack took a deep breath and tried analyzing the situation. Dash was confused… why was she confused? She really didn’t remember anything? How the hell was she going to explain everything to her? Where to start?

“A’ight now… what’s the last thing you remember from last night?’’

“Uh-’’

What DID she remember? It’s like somepony had crushed her recollection of recent events and put it in a blender.

“Um… my stomach hurt, so I went to the bathroom and… uhm…’’

That checked out so far, Applejack thought. "Nuthin’ else?’’

“...N—No. But YOU know, right? Why don’t you tell me?!’’ There was suspicion mixed with frustration in her voice.

Shit.

Telling Rainbow Dash with a straight face that she had turned into a mad wolf thing wasn’t a very good idea, Applejack herself wouldn’t believe that story if she hadn’t seen it. She rubbed the back of her head in vexation as she looked down.

“Ya done turned into a mad wolf thing an’ ran away here.’’

Honesty. She cursed her element.

Rainbow Dash looked at her blankly for a few solid seconds.

Her mind reeled way back to her accident. Repressed memories of her second transformation sprung back to her brain like a kick to the groin and suddenly it made sense, but of course she wasn’t going to let Applejack think she thought it made sense, hell she was going to convince herself it didn’t make sense and live her entire life denying it if necessary. She shook her head and tried to not nervously affirm: "Pfftch, hah, you’ve completely lost it now AJ! Anyway it’s getting late I better go,’’ she hurtled the words as she prepared to immediately take wing.

“Wha- Hey!’’ She sprinted to jump towards the pegasus who’d just left the ground and managed to bite her tail, forcing her to flap her wings faster; Applejack tried to stay firm on earth by pulling her tail harder.

“Get off me!’’ Her voice was starting to break.

Thanks to a more-than-aggressive yank her flight faltered, thus she landed headfirst on the harsh earth with a thud.

Short-lived awkward quietness was then accentuated by sobbing from Dash. Applejack was a little too ashamed to get closer to her and look her face to face.

“...Hun? Ah… ah’m awful sorry, ah didn’t mean t—’’

“Just get lost.’’

Hearing that broke her.

Even through the pain she had to swallow, she wouldn’t succumb to indignation; she was going to help her no matter if Dash bit and scratched her for it.

So she creeped closer to her front and, before she could even touch her, Dash jumped to hug her and fully cried her heart out on her friend's chest. She hadn't seen such a display from her since the day Tank first went through hibernation.

“I ate them!” she managed to forcefully spit out between messy disrupted whimpers “I ate them…”

Applejack was left immobilized.

The pegasus’s embrace and an aching yet warm sensation in her chest she was sure she’d never felt before nulled any thoughts she could’ve formed at that instant. Her only response after the initial shock was caressing and patting her friend’s back.

She considered telling her that she wouldn’t leave her, that she’d never, but her throat was in a knot, although deep inside she had a feeling words weren’t necessary.

The one thing she was sure of is that she wasn’t facing a hunter any longer, but a wounded animal.

❈❈❈

“So, whaddya reckon?’’

Twilight’s mouth was agape. She looked at Rainbow Dash, huddled in a corner of the library. She closed her eyes and regained her composure, trying to bring up anything that’d help.

“I- I think I’ve read of something similar.’’

Using her magic to levitate a row of books towards her, she quickly scanned each superficially till she spotted the cover she was looking for. “It's ancient folklore, from around the first century of Celestia’s reign. The legend goes that when the royal sisters settled at the Everfree Forest, a pack of hexed wolves followed the trail they had left and reached the nearest civilization, bringing mass hysteria and several casualties.”

Dash flinched at the last word.

“What ‘bout’ta curse then?”

“Getting there,” she flipped thru a few pages, “The few ponies who were harmed by the wolves but survived began shifting into unnatural hybrids of both species every time the moon rose, these were referred to as hengstwolves.’’

“Whatwolves now?’’

“Uh… old ponish for stallion.’’

A snarky remark about the term being importunately not unisex brewed in the earth pony’s mind but she decided to not vocalize it.

“But, how did she get infected in the first place?’’ inquired Twilight, “Those wolves were all hunted down after the massacre!’’

Applejack looked at Rainbow Dash, who was in turn looking away in shame.

“As she told me… she broke into Zecora’s to find sumthin’ to scare me with… got ‘er hoof pricked by the skull of one o’those varmints by accident.’’

“What?! Is that why you came to me and not Zecora for help?!’’

“Just figured ya wouldn’t judge.”

Twilight considered retorting, but there was no point in escalating things; she was the only one in the room that knew how bad their state of affairs truly was. She sighed.

“There’s… there is only one recorded cure. A pony that's pure of heart must poison the afflicted subject with wolfsbane during their transformed state so that they can finally…”

“...Be cured, yeah?”

Her throat couldn't let the words out, but Applejack's pleading stare forced them out.

“So that they can rest in peace.”

The couple’s uneasy ignorance was shattered in the worst way.

Motionless in full-bore anguish were the three, in the first grade of unconformity was Twilight who was bearing the looks of pain and shock that the pair were giving her.

Before the overwhelmed alicorn was capable of giving them some hope about the seemingly bleak situation, Dash stormed off the castle in seconds with tears in her eyes.

“Rainbow!’’ Applejack galloped to the exit as she ignored Twilight’s pleas of staying and listening for just a moment. She was left alone, weak with gloom-ridden emotions and chaotic thoughts, but she knew what she had to do.

If a pure pony is what she needed, she was already familiar with one.

❈❈❈

Shades of orange and blue colored the overcast sky above.

Applejack’s heart and mind calmed a considerable bit the moment she was finally able to spot Rainbow Dash in the distance. She trotted faster to the pond the pegasus was close by, slowing down and to a halt when she was close enough.

“Sugahcube?’’

Dash was sitting, staring at nothing in particular, silently praying Luna didn’t rise the moon anytime soon. Applejack sat beside her.

“Glad mah hunch that you were here turned out right.’’

“Yeah, well, didn’t feel like being locked in my home in my last moments.’’

Applejack winced.

“...Y’know, we don’t hafta go through with that nonsense.’’

“Don’t say that.’’

“What?’’

“It’s either me kicking the bucket or me continuing to mow down more animals, right? And… what if the next time it’s not just animals, AJ?’’

Her words weighed down on the earth pony greatly.

She was right, it hurt to admit. Even if she somehow contained herself every night for the rest of her life, every night it’d still be her uncontrollably transforming into a monster with poor reasoning skills and primal needs; a monster that was her, but just quite not her. And she’d never asked her, was afraid to, but she’d bet all her bits that the process of turning into that thing was a bitch.

Even understanding all this, she still didn’t care. Her rival, her bezzie, her confidant, her intimate, her soulmate; she wasn’t gonna let the world take her away that soon.

Rainbow’s face was held suddenly by two hooves and her lips met the warmth of Applejack’s.

The shook pegasus’ wings unfurled wide and became stiff; there was something that was instinctively demanding her to push her and fly away, but that new sensation she was experiencing lulled her mind and, in an instant, she was ok with the idea of it never ending. Maybe she wanted it all along.

After what felt like an eternity, the kiss was broken by Applejack, leaving Dash panting lightly.

“Rainbow Dash… ah love ya.’’

“M-Me too,’’ she muttered absent-mindedly.

“An’ I kno’ it’s selfish, but… I want ya to stay with me for at least one more night.’’ There was an inscrutable look on her face that seemed to be guilt.

She held herself from answering with a yes.

It would be dangerous, it would hurt, it would only painfully delay the inevitable, but that all sounded worth it.

Dash smiled, masking the worry in her eyes.

“Well, I never back away from a dare.’’

❈❈❈

Starlight walked past Twilight's room but stopped in her tracks after hearing something about ending somepony’s life.

She pushed a side of her face closer to the door.

Spike replied by saying whoever did it would probably be seen as a hero by some.

Holy shit. This was her chance, wasn't it?

The unicorn busted the robust door open with her magic.

“Hey, maybe you need a little help with your trouble?"