PonWolf: the Ascension

The next day, Applejack awoke with a pounding headache. "Ugh. Ma head's poundin' like a drum. And it must be a right hootenanny."

Shakily, she got to her hooves. She stumbled her way to the shower, quickly washed herself and stepped (carefully!) down the stairs. Sure enough, Big Mac was busy making some breakfast. Apparently flapjacks were on the menu. Among other things. He was also making sausages.

The smell of it strangely made her mouth water. They ate that now and then, but today they smelled particularly tantalizing. But she shook that off in favour of greeting her big brother.

"Mornin', Mac! What's shakin'?"

"Breakfast." He replied curtly.

Applejack smiled. Such was the way he was. Long time ago he used to be a terrible motormouth. But he had resolved to talk less and listen more. He took that idea and ran with it. After that he only spoke when and as much as he needed to. Which was typically only a few words.

At least he had gotten to saying more than "Eeyup." And "Nnnope" most of the time.

"Hungry?" He asked.

"Starved." Applejack replied. "An' Ah also got a serious headache."

"Remember last night?"

Applejack tried to think her hardest, but couldn't remember what happened after she was heading home. It was a complete blank after that. "Nothin'. After gettin' the last o' the apples, Ah remember headin' home... But nothin' after. Did somethin' happen?"

"Eeyup. You beat up some Manticores."

"Huh? How'd Ah do that?" She asked, tilting her head.

"Tore 'em apart. Literally."

Her eyes widened. "What?!" She exclaimed quietly. She had intended to shout, but couldn't.

"Check your teeth." He said simply.

Applejack quickly did so. She found that she had...

'Fangs?!'

She tested them. Yup. They were sharp.

"What happened ta me?" She asked, now more than slightly afraid.

Suddenly another voice rang out. "Ya became a PonWolf, is what." Granny Smith said as she ambled her way down. "Fortunately fer you, Ah got some 'xperience with those. Yer great great great grandpappy was one."

Applejack grinned at that. "Well, who'da thunk it? Incident'ly, good mornin' Granny!"

The two shared a hug. Whatever may or may not have changed, Applejack remembered that well enough.

Somewhere in the background, you could possibly hear an "Aww".

Everypony looked around, but they didn't see anything.

It was at that point that Apple Bloom came down the stairs, herself. Clearly she was still really sleepy. She almost fell down the last few stairs, but Applejack was faster. In an instant, she was there to catch the Apple filly.

Apple Bloom, fully awake now, hugged her sister tightly. "Thank ya kindly, sis."

Granny Smith smiled and said, "Yessir, it does do ma heart good to see love among th'family. Now c'mon. Let's get to the eatin'! AJ, yer gonna want more pro-tein in your diet."

Applejack tilted her head to the right. "Don'tcha mean that i'ma gonna need it?"

"Well, that too. But you will want meat more oft'n."

With that said, Big Mac started sliding the large plates onto the table before sitting down himself.

Applejack found that the sausages were just as good as they smelled.

Fluttershy was trotting through her home's environs. It was nearing nightfall and she was in the mood to see the stars tonight, under the Crescent moon. Usually she would be safely indoors at this time... But tonight felt very Auspicious.

She didn't know the half of it.

As she went along, a spring in her step, some of her little animals decided to join her, much to her amusement. Together they went to the hill nearby. It was just about the right time. She was able to sit there and enjoy basking in the light of the Moon, her little friends playing around her. Things seem just about perfect.

Suddenly, a voice rang out behind her. "Well, well! Look what we have here guys."

The voice sent a chill down Fluttershy's spine. She could tell without even turning around that there were multiple dragons behind her. And not the particularly nice kind.

She could hear that there were six or seven of them. Possibly more coming along. Turning around slowly, she saw that those were, indeed, teenage dragons.

"How about that? There's enough food here to feed all of us. And we can bring some back for later. If there is any."

The lot of them laughed in unison.

Fluttershy could tell that they meant some serious harm to her animal friends. They wanted to kill them. Possibly eat them. Most likely eat them.

Before she could move very far, one of them had her pinned down, intending to make her watch as they did what they were about to do.

She struggled fiercely, but couldn't get free. It was nearly hopeless.

This had always been an issue of hers. Always having to rely on her friends, always having to let them take care of her, like she takes care of the animals. She was weak and helpless at the best of time. And at worst, a hindrance.

She was absolutely sick and tired of it. And she wanted it to stop NOW.

She was able to briefly look up at the Moon, which seem to shine in her direction. Just for her.

She thought to herself, 'Luna, grant me your strength tonight so that I may protect my friends, large and small. Protect them from enemies like these. Protect them from the cruelties of the world.'

Suddenly, she felt a feeling of Rage come over her briefly, before that disappeared, replaced by a cold, calculating attitude. She felt her senses truly open up. She could see just how much pressure she had to apply to break the bones of the Dragon pinning her down. And just how to do it. All she needed was a little more strength. And strength did she get.

Her coat started to grow out, quickly becoming bushy. Her ears became more finely tuned. Her teeth started to become more like those of a predator. Her eyes began glowing bright yellow. Her muscles began to gain in mass, doubling, tripling, quadrupling in strength. This is more power than she'd ever felt before.

She felt powerful. Strong. Dangerous.

She liked it. A lot. It was time to show these dragons what she was made of. They would regret ever coming to her home. Should they live through the experience.

Taking in a large breath, she was able to unleash a primal howl. {Warcry!}

AOOOOOOOOOH!!!

The dragon pinning her down was unprepared and leapt back in fright. The attention of the other dragons was, needless to say, gathered quite handily. It was too late for one of them. The closest one got taken down and dragged into the nearby bushes.

{Fog of War; Hunting Ground}

Suddenly, a dense fog began to cover the area. The dragons were disoriented. Fluttershy's voice began to come in from seemingly everywhere and nowhere.

"So." she said, "You like picking on those smaller than you, huh? You like to hurt others because you find it funny. You like to prey on the weak and helpless. Don't you?"

The dragons were looking around nervously, rather afraid by this point.

"How would you like to be The hunted instead, for a change?"

One shot a blast of Fire in the direction he thought the voice was coming from.

"Missed me. Care to try again?" she said from a difference direction.

Something flashed by the dragons and another of their number was gone in that instant. They could hear his tortured screams from nowhere in particular.

"One down. How many of you are left? I suppose it doesn't matter. You're all going to die, anyway."

She appeared long enough for them to see a very changed Fluttershy smile at them. But this wasn't a kind smile. Not one that you want directed at you. It was a smile that said, "you are about to die and I'm going to enjoy every last second of it". Then she vanished again

"Come on, boys. This is getting boring."

Another flash, another Dragon gone.

"Do you give up? Or are you thirsty for some more?

The remainder attempted to stand back to back and expel flame in all directions. But their flames died at less than 2 meters in front of them.

They all heard a laugh come out from the shadows. But again, this isn't the kind you wanted directed at you.

{Pack Call}

Fluttershy appeared again, still giving them her smile. But then they also noticed that multiple animals appeared around them. All of them had glowing yellow eyes and there was some yellowish energy wafting off of them.

"I suppose it's getting rather late in the night. And I think we're all in the mood for a bit of a snack too. Since you were planning on eating my little friends... you don't mind if we... Return the favour, do you?"

All of the animals, including the changed wolf like Pony, started approaching them all at once.

If you were listening, you could hear their screams for quite a distance

"Congratulations, Fluttershy. You are now a Hunter in Darkness; A noble PonWolf. Now, enjoy your first meal."