The Night's Fangs: Chapter 1

Where am I? Who am I? What happened? …and who’s lying on my chest?

The man took stock of everything he could without opening his eyes. He seemed to be on his back, lying on a bed, with sheets covering his body. He could smell antiseptic and various other medicines, along with the scent of…horses? The smell seemed similar, but subtly different. Also, someone was lying on his chest, but it felt too small to be an adult, so he was not worried. He tried to remember something-anything­­-but nothing came to him. Must have amnesia, he thought, but I do seem oddly calm about it. Just who am I, anyway?

Finally, he thought, no sense delaying any longer, and opened his eyes.

Big baby blue irises stared back from the face of a pale-gold horse-like creature with a pale-rosy mane and tail. The creature looked as though its head would come up to the center of his chest while standing.

What the…?

She-for this was clearly a female-was smiling sweetly, her expression that of one who was caring for a dear child. “Hello, little friend,” she said, “How are you feeling?” Okay, thought the man, what the heck’s going on?

She nuzzled him, and fluttered her eyelashes. He smiled, cupping her cheek in his hand. He could not help himself; she was too cute. She smiled back at him. He began to stroke her ears, and she cooed. Chuckling wryly to himself, the man sat up and looked around the hospital room-for hospital it was-and noticed that the only other bed in the room had the curtains drawn. The light yellow wallpaper contrasted with the pine-needle-green of the curtains around the window and bed. He noticed a t-shirt and a light jacket folded on the bedside table, and knew somehow that they belonged to him. He peeked under the covers and discovered that he was wearing a pair of denim blue-jeans. All the clothes appeared to have been washed recently. He saw his reflection in a mirror on the opposite wall, and was mildly pleased to see that he had a strong, well-toned body, and an olive-skinned complexion. Why am I so calm about waking up in an unfamiliar hospital with no memory of how I got here? Well, I can’t remember ever having solved a problem by worrying, so I suppose now is no time to start, the man thought, now stroking the little creature’s mane as he lay back down.

I should get out of here.

He sat up again, startling his companion. Why? Why should I leave? He knew not why he felt the need to leave before he was discovered; he only knew he had to get away. He rose, walked to the window and climbed onto the sill, but stopped.

“Oh, my, are you okay?” asked the little creature, “You really shouldn’t go; we don’t know what’s wrong with you yet! You could be hurt!”

I…can’t, he thought, I can’t leave. I have to do something. He returned to the bed and settled back in, pulling his little well-wisher closer. I don’t recognize anything here, so why do I feel like I need to do something important?

At that moment, the door to the room opened, and two more horse-like creatures walked in, a unicorn stallion in a doctor’s smock with a dust-brown coat and chocolate-brown mane, and a lavender mare with a royal purple mane containing streaks of lavender and hot pink, and a marking of a six-pointed star on her flank. She had both a horn on her head and a pair of wings folded at her sides. “She’ll be devastated when she finds out the creature’s dead, doctor,” the mare was saying sadly, “but I guess there’s nothing we can do.”

“And what creature would this be?” At the sound of the man’s voice, the three ponies-for they were too small to be horses-jumped in surprise. The doctor gaped at the man, as though he could not believe his eyes. The yellow one squeaked and darted under a nearby chair, her rump and tail still clearly visible. The purple one, however, rushed to his bedside.

“Oh, I’m sorry, were we disturbing you…um, what are you?” said the purple mare.

“And who are you? If you don’t mind my asking…” said the yellow mare, as she crawled out from under the chair. The man noticed she was a Pegasus, and had a marking as well; three pink butterflies.

“I can’t remember,” said the man, cocking his head, “My earliest memory is waking up here with this sweet little mare. Thank you for your concern, by the way.”

“Oh, you’re welcome,” whispered the yellow mare, hiding shyly behind her mane.

At this, the doctor spluttered out, “You mean you have amnesia?”

“Yes, I believe so,” said the man.

“Oh, that’s just awful,” said the yellow mare, coming from out behind her mane and gazing sympathetically at him.

“Don’t worry…uh…whatever you are, we’ll help you out until your memory comes back!” said the purple mare with a winning grin.

“But you were dead this morning!” said the doctor.

Everyone in the room turned their attention to him. “That sounds important,” said the man, “any idea why?”

“How can you be so calm?” asked the purple mare, “he just said you died!”

“I’m uneasy, now you mention it,” said the man, rising and pacing, “but that isn’t why. It’s something else, but I can’t think what. I know that it’s important, though, so I need to stay calm and think about it. I just need to remember it first.”

“How?”

“Well, how did I get here, doctor?”

The doctor shook himself, and said, “Well, when you came in, you and Princess Luna were both covered in blood, and…” He jumped as the man turned and snapped a finger at him.

“That mare!” said the man, urgency suddenly etched into his features, “That’s it, she was hurt!”

“Oh no, what happened? Is she alright?” said both mares at the same time.

“Over here,” said a weak, hoarse voice. The curtains were surrounded in a haze of bluish, sparkly light, and they opened to reveal a midnight blue pony with a beautiful starry mane and tail, and lovely blue eyes that were squinted in pain. Like the purple, she had wings and a horn. It would seem this was Luna; she was bandaged around her chest, her left wing, and in various other places.

The man strode quickly over to her. He knelt to kiss her front right hoof, and said, “It’s wonderful to meet you, Princess Luna.” Luna smiled, blushing lightly.

“How badly off is she?” said the man, turning to the doctor as he held Luna’s hoof gently in both hands.

“She’ll recover, thanks to you. She would have bled to death if you hadn’t gotten her here so quickly, with all those cuts. It also allowed us to set her wing and three ribs, all of which are broken. Frankly, I’d like to know how this happened.”

“So would I,” said the man softly, gazing into Luna’s eyes, “because I want to make sure it never happens to her again.”

At that moment, the man heard a tap, as though something had just touched the ground outside. “It sounds like someone’s just arrived from the sky,” said the man, puzzled.

“Wha…?” said the doctor, before a blinding light enveloped the room. It faded to reveal a very large, very upset pony.

“WHERE IS MY SISTER!? WHAT’S HAPPENED TO LUNA!?” said the swan-white mare who had materialized in the middle of the room.

 “Princess Celestia!” said the mares, and Yellow Mare immediately bowed low. The doctor quickly followed her example, but Celestia was more interested in the stranger standing next to them.

“Hello your majesty,” said the man calmly, bowing, “I’m pleased to meet you.”

“Hello my little…um…what are you, may I ask?” said Celestia.

 “I can’t remember,” said the man, shaking her hoof, “I have amnesia.”

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that…and very sorry you had to see that outburst,” said Celestia distractedly, looking about the room, “but would you know…?”

“Over there,” said the man, pointing.

“Luna!” said Celestia, catching sight of her sister. The two embraced, eliciting a smile from the man.  Aww, how cute.

Luna looked at him, and said, “I heard the doctor say that you brought me here, is that correct?”

The man nodded, smiling pleasantly at her. “I can’t remember anything before waking up on this bed, but that’s what he said.”

“So you aided my sister when she was hurt?” Celestia walked up to him and sat beside his bed.

“He probably saved her life, considering how much she was bleeding when they got here,” said the doctor. “Princess Luna was unconscious and covered in what looked like claw marks. We were able to heal her a little, but she’ll need rest and…”

“What do you mean, claw marks?!” all three mares said simultaneously.

Luna looked down and bit her lip as tears formed in her eyes. “Luna, what’s the matter? What happened to you?” said Celestia, rising and going to her sister, “Last I saw you, you were going on a walk to think about planning the ball, and now you’re in the hospital!”

“I-I was attacked by a w-wolf,” said Luna, shivering.

“What?” said Yellow Mare, “where? How?”

“I was visiting the old palace in the Everfree Forest, merely trying t-to clear my thoughts, when it came out of nowhere! It was like something out of a night-a bad dream! It s-struck me and clawed at me, and when I tried to fly away it broke my wing with one of its forepaws!”

“That just doesn’t sound like any wolf I’ve ever heard of! Are you sure that’s what it was?” said Yellow Mare.

Luna nodded shakily. “I believe so; it was definitely a dog of some kind, but I know not what kind, I only know it tried to kill me!” she said.

“Something about this doesn’t feel right. What happened after?” said the man. Poor Luna’s really shaken, he thought to himself, but we need to get to the root of this.

“I smote it with all my might and ran. I did not wait to see if it worked, I merely wished to escape that beast! I ran and ran until I could run no longer and…and just when I thought I had escaped it leapt out of the bushes and threw me against a tree as if I were a feather!”

“No wolf should be that strong! No wolf could be!” said Yellow Mare.

“And after all those spells it still had the strength to attack you?” asked Celestia incredulously.

Luna turned to her sister with wide, fearful eyes. “It had not a mark upon it, sister,” she whispered, “as though it were not struck at all, though I didst see at least one spell hit its mark.”

“No creature should be unharmed after a blast from you, Luna,” said Celestia, awestruck.

“I agree; there’s no way that’s an ordinary wolf.” Why is this raising alarm bells in my head? Something is terribly wrong, thought the man..

“I know it was not an ordinary wolf, it walked on two legs as well as it did on four!” said Luna.

“WHAT?!” thundered the man, “the wolf stood on two legs?”

Luna’s lower lip quivered; she was shaking worse than ever. “Yes, and then it howled, and pinned me to a tree, and I could feel its muzzle inches from my neck, and then,” she paused, “I begged it to leave me alone, and it…did.” At this, Luna’s voice took on a tone of wonder, her eyes distant.  “It just looked at me like an ashamed puppy, and began whimpering into my fur!”

“Oh, Luna,” whispered Celestia, holding a hoof to her mouth.

“Now that really makes no sense,” said the man, “but I think I need to get my memory back fast, because this thing gives me a weird feeling , like I know what it is but can’t remember. I do know, however,” he said slowly, “that whatever it is, it’s bad.” He noted briefly that the two could apparently do magic, and filed it away for later; it wasn’t important at the moment.

“C-could it have been a Diamond Dog?” asked Yellow Mare timidly.

Luna shook her head, and said, “It was no reasoning creature, whatever it was. I doubt it held any thought save for my demise until the last second.”

“I know,” said Purple Mare, turning to the man, “I have a spell that might restore your memory. Maybe that will help!”

“Worth a shot, miss. First, though, I’d like to know more about my own demise, if you’d be so kind, doctor…”

“Stable, my name is Doctor Stable.”

“Doctor,” said Luna, “what is he speaking of?”

“Okay,” said Doctor Stable, tapping his hoof and frowning as he thought, “last night we heard a loud pounding on the front door. When we opened it, there was the Princess with you under her like you had collapsed after carrying her here. We rushed her to surgery to get her bones set, but you had no arterial pulse, and we couldn’t resuscitate you…”

“Did you figure out why I was clinically dead?”

“Dead?!” shrieked Luna. She then winced; her wings had tried to flare, and the broken one was still tender.

“No, so I’d like to check your heart rate now,” said Doctor Stable.  The man sat down on the bed, and the doctor hooked him up to an electrocardiogram. He turned on the cardiogram, and observed the slow, intermittent beeps. “What’s wrong with this thing?” said the stallion agitatedly. “I’ll just check the old-fashioned way.” He pulled out a stethoscope and put it to the man’s chest. “Breathe in, please,” said the doctor, “then breathe out.” The man complied. “Now turn and cough,” said Doctor Stable, frowning. The man obeyed.

“Is your heart normal?” asked the doctor.

The man shrugged. “How should I know, why, what’s wrong?” he said.

The stallion looked at him with a distant expression. “It’s beating at a rate slower than any I have ever seen, slower than any living creature your size. In a pony it would indicate cardiorespiratory failure, so as near as I can tell…you’re still not technically alive.”

“What!?” said every other pony in the room.

“How can it be dead? It’s talking!” yelled Purple Mare.

“I doubt he knows, or he wouldn’t look like his cerebrum had shut off,” said the man wryly, “And what’s with the ‘it’?”

“Well, we’ve never seen anything like you before, so we can’t be sure…”said Celestia, gesturing with a gold-shod hoof.

“I’m a guy, like Doctor Stable said.”

“How did you know he was male, doctor?” said Purple Mare.

“He’s a doctor,” said the man.

“Oh, right,” said Purple Mare, giggling.

“Perhaps we should have the young lady cast her memory spell now,” said the man with a chuckle.

“Okay, here goes something,” said Purple Mare, who then lit her horn with magic to cast the spell. She then gently placed her horn on the man’s forehead as he leaned down to grant her access.

Now, thought the man, what could that thing have been, that I’d know but they wouldn’t?

Darkness…rage…the scent of blood…

“Werewolf!” shouted the man, leaping to his feet, “it had to have been a werewolf!”

“A what?” said Princess Celestia.

“Werewolf is a contraction of the Anglo-Saxon words ‘were’ and ‘wulf,’” said the man rapidly, pacing back and forth, “‘Were’ means man, ‘wulf’ is the ancestor to the word wolf. I don’t know how or why I know that, but I do know this; Luna’s lucky to be alive at all. Werewolves will attack anything that crosses their path when they transform. It also explains the strength and lack of wounds; a werewolf is incredibly strong, and can survive and heal nearly any injury.” The man feverishly continued. “An extremely and unreasonably aggressive wolf that can stand on two legs; yes, I think we have a werewolf on our…damn!”

The ponies jumped, even Celestia. “What?” they said in synch.

“Luna, did it bite you?” said the man urgently, whipping around to look at her.

“No, why?” said Luna, eyes wide and frightened.

The man dropped back onto his bed, running his hands through his hair. “I don’t remember, but it’s a good thing it didn’t; whatever would have happened, it would have been bad.”

Purple Mare stomped a hoof. “But it’s still out there, we have to catch it!” she said.

“Luckily, we won’t have to worry for a month or so; werewolves only transform during the full moon,” the man said, looking up.

“But the full moon is in four days! It wasn’t full last night!” said Luna.

“What?” said the man, his brow furrowed, “How…wait…aconitum. It must have been poisoned with aconitum somehow, that’s the only other explanation. Thankfully, that also means it’ll barely be able to crawl; they can’t die of aconitum poisoning, but they are severely weakened after they change back.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I just can’t imagine how the poor soul could have ingested it; it’s toxic to pretty much anything.”

“What do you mean, ‘poor soul, transform?’” said Princess Celestia.

“A werewolf transforms every full moon, taking on the form of a wolf,” said the man, rising to pace the floor once again, “They can’t help what they do in wolf form; they’re like rabid animals, attacking anything that crosses their path. Once they change back they have no memory of anything from their time as a…now I remember!” he said, snapping his fingers again, “If a werewolf bites you, you’re turned into one yourself!”

“You mean to tell me,” said Princess Celestia seriously, “that in four days a wolf creature with monstrous strength that nopony can harm is going to run amok and turn innocent ponies into creatures like itself?

“Unfortunately. Worse yet, they’re also abnormally fast. And they’re vicious beyond belief, as Luna can attest.”

“We must capture it at once!” she said, pacing back and forth with a furrowed brow.

“There are ways to beat a werewolf, but…”

“Breakfast, Princess Luna!” said a white, pink-maned mare with a nurse’s cap, coming into the room with a tray full of blue flowers. “Oh my, I hadn’t been told there was another patient in the room, or I’d have brought you a tray as well.”

“I was dead, apparently.”

“What?!”

“He may share with us!” said Luna, “as he has saved our life, and it is only right that we should do all we can for him!”

The man got up, and as he did, he noticed something on the belly of his forearm. “I think I know what I am now,” he said to the room. He turned his arm so that they could all see, written in ink under his skin, the message; Είμαι ένας άνθρωπος.

“…What does it say?” asked Luna, “I cannot read it.”

“It says, ‘I am a man’” said the man.

“Why did you need to tattoo it on your arm?” asked Yellow Mare. Then she gasped and said, “Do you think you might have a history of amnesia?”

“No, I…don’t think so, somehow,” he said, staring at it, “but we’ll worry about it later.” He sat on the edge of Luna’s bed, and she levitated the tray with some difficulty to lay it in his lap.

“You first,” she said.

The man picked up one of the blue flowers, looked intently at it…then turned to the others and said in a low growl, “Does anyone else recognize this flower?”

Yellow Mare looked closely at the flower, and then gasped. “That’s monkshood!” she shrieked.

“Fie! Poison!” hissed Luna.

“What? How is this possible?” said Celestia, staring sternly at the nurse, “What is the meaning of this, Nurse Redheart?”

“I-I don’t know!” stuttered Nurse Redheart, “I could swear I’d put bluebells on the tray!”

The man scrutinized her carefully as she said it. “I believe you,” he said eventually, “but did you leave the meal unattended for any amount of time?”

“It was sitting on a counter for five minutes while I took care of a filly with a tummy ache, why?”

“I could believe it was an accident if it was just one,” said the man, rising and setting the tray aside, “but one look at the tray tells me it was deliberate.”

“And how can you know that?” said Doctor Stable.

“All the flowers are monkshood, you can tell by the helmet shape. That’s why it’s also called Thor’s Hat and Helmetflower.”

“Well, would you look at that, he’s right!” said Nurse Redheart, “this can’t be coincidence!”

“Who would do this?” said Purple Mare, who looked horrified.

“Wait, there’s a note at the bottom of the pile,” said the man. He read aloud, “We hope you enjoyed your last meal, Princess! Love, the Talons of Shadow.”

“The Talons of Shadow!?” said Celestia.

“Who?” said Purple Mare.

“They are an anarchist sect that has been spreading propaganda against my sister and myself in other countries,” said Celestia with a frown, “but I never imagined they would go this far! My own little ponies…”

“Well, they solved one of our problems; werewolves won’t go near monkshood. It has a cousin called wolfsbane, partly for that reason,” said the man. “You should be careful when handling it, though; like I said, it’s highly toxic.”

“That’s…fortunate,” said Luna.

“We can hand it out to our friends!” said Purple Mare.

“Well,” said Doctor Stable, “I’ll have some proper food brought to you. What would you like?”

“Bluebells would be nice,” said Luna.

“I’m not hungry,” said the man, “Right now I’m too riled up to eat.” The nurse left the room to get the princess a proper meal.

“What are you riled up about?” said Yellow Mare.

“It’s the Talons,” said the man, “I have something to say to them.”

“What would that be?” said Luna.

“That they have no right to harm an innocent woman...ah…mare,” he spat viciously. “I hope you lock them up for good. And I won’t have pity on them if they’re foolish enough to attack directly.”

“Please, I would not wish to see you hurt over me, and these ponies sound dangerous,” said Luna to try and pacify the man.

“Don’t worry, I’m no fool; I won’t go looking for a fight. I just won’t go out of my way to avoid hurting them severely if they try to attack you directly.” The man stopped; he had been pacing and had not noticed. “I’m sorry; the thought of these…creatures hurting you just makes my blood boil.”

Purple Mare spoke up meekly, as if trying to change the subject, “so what else do you remember besides the werewolf stuff?”

“…Nothing else.”

“What? But…”

 “I know it’s weird,” he said slowly, “but I think that the best thing to do is let my memory come back at its own pace unless it’s an emergency. It seems to come back when it’s triggered.”

“Well, then, where will you go?” said Doctor Stable. “I don’t need to keep you here, since you seem fine.”

“He can stay with me!” said the purple alicorn. The man gaped at her in disbelief.

“You’d…you’d really let me stay with you?” She nodded her head and said, “Yes, of course! I’d be happy to let you stay with me.”

“But you barely know me…you don’t know if I’m dangerous, or some psychopath. Would you really let me in your home?” She nodded at him, confused by his behavior.

“Of course,” she said again, “it’s the right thing to do! You need help, and you seem nice enough so why shouldn’t I give you a place to…EEP!”

The mare squeaked as she was swept up into a fierce hug. “You don’t know how much that means to me,” he said, “I’m so happy to be trusted. And I don’t even know why.” He released her, setting her down gently. “Then I accept your hospitality,” he said with a smile, “Thank you so very much, Lavender.”

“My name is Twilight,” said the mare, “Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Equestria alongside Princesses Luna and Celestia.”

“Want me to kiss your hoof too?” he asked coyly. She blushed and shook her head.

“My name is Fluttershy,” said the yellow one shyly.

“You know my sister Luna,” said Celestia, “and I’m Princess Celestia.”

“I know, I heard,” said the man, “So what about you? Want your hoof kissed?”

“No thank you,” said Celestia with a sigh. Turning to Twilight, she said, “If it isn’t too much trouble, Twilight, could Luna stay with you until the Starlight Ball?”

“Of course, I love it when Luna visits!” Twilight exclaimed happily, jumping from the man’s embrace, “but shouldn’t she be guarded after what happened with the food?”

The man raised a hand. “I have a thought,” he said, “how about Princess Luna disguises herself and stays with Twilight here in Ponyville. She can just say she's Twilight's distant cousin if anyone gets curious. Meanwhile, Princess Celestia announces that her sister is on a vacation for her health, but doesn’t say where, and will be back when she feels better. That way, Luna can hide in plain sight. I suggest you make it appear that she’s returned to the Palace, though; that will make it harder to find her on top of the disguise.”

“That’s…genius,” said Celestia, “how did you think of that so quickly?”

“I…don’t know. I really need my memory back.”

“Food’s here!” said Nurse Redheart, walking into the room, “and this time, I checked that the food was safe and didn’t take my eyes off it for a second. How are you, Mr. … umm…?”

“I have amnesia; I don’t know my name any more than you.”

“I’m…so sorry to hear that; I hope your memory returns soon. Anyway, this food should be safe.”

Nurse Redheart left to care for other patients, and Luna finally got her breakfast. While she was eating, she said, “What shall I be called while I am at Twilight’s?”

“How about Starlight Dream? Would that work?” said the man.

“That’s a great idea, but what about Luna’s injuries?” said Twilight.

“I think I have an answer for that,” said Celestia, spreading her wings, “Doctor, I would like to try healing my sister a bit more so that she may leave the hospital sooner. It is imperative that we begin with our plan immediately. Your hospital simply cannot provide adequate security.”

“After that wolfsbane just now, I agree, but let me be there while you heal her.”

“I am ready, sister,” said Luna, who was obviously eager to heal so she could spend time with Twilight and her new friend.

Celestia put her horn to Luna’s bandages, and it lit up with a golden radiance of magic. Luna’s chest, wing, and cuts glowed as well, and she let out a contented sigh as her pain lessened. “Thank you, sister.”

Celestia grinned. “No trouble at all, Luna.”

“How do you feel, Luna?” said Twilight.

“I am still sore, but I believe I can walk with some assistance.”

Doctor Stable removed her bandages and looked at the injuries. “You did an excellent job, your majesty,” he said, “She should be okay to leave, as long as she takes it easy and stays off her wing for about four days.”

“Then let’s go home to Canterlot and get you ready for your vacation,” said Celestia, nudging her sister’s cheek.

“In the meantime, I’ll take…Mr. Amnesia home with me,” said Twilight, putting the wolfsbane into her bag.

“I’ll come too…if you don’t mind, that is…” said Fluttershy with a shy smile.

“I’d be delighted to have your company, Fluttershy,” said the man, patting her head and eliciting a giggle.

Celestia helped Luna to her hooves, and they both lit their horns, Luna with some difficulty. Philip noticed Luna had a mark of a crescent moon on her flank. He resolved to ask about it later. “We’ll meet in your library, Twilight,” said Celestia with a wink, and in a flash of light they were gone.

“We should get going, too,” said Twilight, beckoning towards the door with a tilt of her head.

“Do, let’s,” said the man, smiling. I can’t remember the last time I felt this joyful!