Fool Moon, Part 6 (White Metal, White Pony)

>Rarity had been in a position like this once before.
>A rampaging beast, charging at her, full of fury and hunger.
>And she treated it much the same as she had the first time, rolling out of the way of one massive grey-furred arm.
>Claws whistled through the air inches above her mane, and she whirls as the thing darted forward to bite.
>White hooves lashed out, slamming into the monster's furred snout.
>There, that would give her some distance while it rec-
>Rarity gasped as the thing's taloned paw closed around her left leg and dragged her backwards.
>Her hooves scrabbled on the stone floor as the monster slammed one paw on her back.
>Air flew from her lungs in a pained gasp as the beast's clawed hand compressed her.
>Her eyes flew around desperately as the thing leaned in, it's jaws opening and unleashing a steaming fog of hot breath onto her back.
>She needed something, anything, to scare it off. This thing wasn't making demands of her.
>It wasn't interested in gems or fashion, or even some dark desire.
>It's wants were the most basic. It just wanted to kill and eat her.
>Her eyes skittered across the floor as she felt the thing's second clawed hand push her head into the dirt, exposing her neck.
>Diamond Dog spears were everywhere, stone-tipped sticks, thin metal daggers, and...
>There.
>A spear, more carefully crafted, tipped in shiny white metal.
>Rarity's horn glows desperately, and she feels the beast's teeth on her neck.


>She feels the first tooth, a fang sharper than an blade, more pointed than any needle, scratch her.
>And then she hurls the spear.
>Gripped in her telekinesis, the metal spear jams into something in the dark-furred creature above her.
>There is a hiss, like cold water on hot metal, and the sickly-sweet smell of burning flesh.
>The creature rears back and SCREAMS, an almost pony-like voice raised in an expression of pure agony.
>The thing's claws tear at her as it pulls back, flailing.
>Rarity ignores her wounds and rolls away from the monster, even as it's feet stomp the dirt where it once held her.
>She scrambles backwards, doing her best to ignore the stinging pain of the cuts on her back and flank.
>She backs away, tearing free the spear with her magic as the beast flails.
>Smoke wreathes it like a shroud as it rises, flexing it's claws.
>Blood drips from a gaping, smoking hole in it's shoulder, running dark and red to the earthen floor.
>The mare and the wolf, each bleeding, one furious, one terrified, regard each other.
>Rarity raises the spear.
"More where that came from, you animal!"
>The beast opens it's jaws and roars.
>Rarity shouts back at it.
>The beast charges, and Rarity does the smart thing.
>She runs.

WolfAnon's perspective
>Your claws tore up chunks of dirt and rock as you bounded down the tunnel after the fleeing mare.
>She'd bled you, this white prey.
>She wielded the White Metal.
>She'd bleed for that. You'd skin her, slowly, painfully, before eating her intestines in front of her.
>You-
>WON'T HURT HER.
>You wince, slowing mid-chase.
>The weak half was waking up. White metal did that, it burned you and cut you and weakened you. Lessened influence.
>SLOW YOU. STOP YOU. LEAVE HER BE.
>You snarl and quiet the weak half's voice as you continue your pursuit.
>It cared about her. You liked that, when the weak half cared for someone. You liked tearing them apart and making it remember.
>NO. NOT HER. SHE-
>You snarl as the thing's constant bickering makes you lose the sight of your prey.
>She turns down a tunnel path and disappears.
>You roar after her, your claws tearing through rock and dirt as you shove yourself down the tunnel after her.
>A stone spear jabs itself into your mouth.


>You jerked to the stop as the spear pierced the back of your throat, the stone tip literally stabbing through your thoughts.
>"I-I DID IT! ROVER, ROVER, LOOK! I DID IT!"
>Your hands twitch as the Diamond Dog at the other end of the spear shouts out excitedly to it's companions.
>"WE DID IT! MONSTER THING IS DEAD!"
>Five of them move in around you. Three you see, two you smell.
>You fall limp as the speartip pushes into your brain.
>The nearest Diamond Dog moves in close, sniffing.
>"Now we just have to capture white pony, and-"
>You grab him by the neck and rip out his larynx.
>Screams of horror sound from the others as you bite your way through the wooden spear haft.
>The spear-wielding dog in front of you stumbles backwards, and your claws lash out and free his intestines.
>The other dogs stumble back, terrified.
>"Not possible, not possible! Should be dead!"
>You open your mouth and rip the spear tip out of your upper jaw and brain.
>You run on three paws to the nearest diamond dog and shove the stone speartip into the nape of his neck.
>The others are running, and you grunt in disgust.
>Dogs were not wolves.
>Cowardly, only attacking in packs.
>They were not hunters, just prey.
>You idly scratch your claws on a rock.
>Two dogs
>One pony.
>You growl as the wound in the back of your throat and in your skull begins to close.
>You would kill them all.

Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFUaXCZ16Yo

>Rarity keeps running as she hears the Dogs scream behind her.
>They'd been waiting in that tunnel, waiting for her or for it, she wasn't sure, but she didn't let them catch her.
>She'd ran and she'd ran and she'd ran, and they couldn't catch her.
>Then IT had caught up to them.
>She'd heard them cheering, maybe thinking they'd stopped it, but then the screaming started.
>She collapses against a rock, gasping.
>She wasn't cut out for this. She wasn't a fighter, she was a fashionista!
>She was feeling tired, and sick, and woozy.
>Some of it was fear, she knew, but the rest, the rest was new. Sickness and nausea ran through her like a fever.
>Something was wrong.
>She didn't have time to think about that now. She had to get out. Had to get past that thing somehow, get out of the tunnels, and...
>Anonymous.
>Her eyes narrowed.
>What about Anonymous? What if it had hurt him? Killed him, even?
>She got back to her hooves, her eyes moving to the silver spear.
>That had hurt it, made it bleed, made it BURN.
>If she could make it bleed....
>She let out a quiet breath.
>She could kill it.
>Rarity picked up the spear and marched further into the tunnel, fighting back sickness.

WolfAnon's perspective
>First dog was easy to run down.
>It tried begging.
>You ate it alive.
>Second just hid and whimpered as you tore it apart.
>Food makes you more clear-headed, gave you back control.
>Weak half's voice was quiet agai-
>I'LL KILL US.
>You snort as you drop back to all fours, sniffing for the white one's scent-trail.
>I WILL. YOU WON'T BE READY. I'LL TAKE OVER, AND LET HER STAB US. I'LL END IT.
>It won't. It was weak. Greedy. Wanted to live, and eat, and drink, and steal, and laugh, and fuck, and work, and be rich, and make friends, and be happy, and make pack of it's own, grow old.
>Human things.
>Weak things.
>It was too greedy to kill you both.
>LEAVE HER ALONE.
>You've found the scent.
>PLEASE.
>You start running, slaver running from your mouth and steam running from the stab wound in your shoulder.
>The white one wasn't running anymore.
>She was staying still, probably bleeding, probably injured.
>Easy meal.


>Rarity's breath hitched as she leaned against the wall in her makeshift trap room.
>The nausea and sickness had gotten worse over the past few hours.
>It was like she was burning up one minute and freezing the next, and her skin felt like it was crawling underneath her coat.
>She kept the silver spear close to her as she set up the last little surprise.
>It made her feel better, kept her thoughts focused. As the time had passed, she'd felt better and better with the spear next to her, and now she felt almost perfect.
>Only a little bit of nausea an-
>She could hear it coming.
>Heavy impacts on the stone floor, and snarling coming from the tunnel depths.
>She idly wondered what this thing was, where it came from.
>Had the Diamond Dogs dug too greedily, and too deep?
>Was this mongrel some creation of theres? Was this the same thing that attacked Twilight and Applejack?
>Her thoughts cease as the thing stops making sound.
>She peers from behind the cart of gems she's hiding behind, looking at the unbroken tripwire across the entrance to the cavern.
>Had the thing seen it?
>Had it stopped and tried to circle around?
>Rarity held her breath, listening.
>A tiny bit of dust fell onto her shoulder, and she looked up.
>Right into the monster's eyes as it looked at her from the ceiling.
>Rarity let out a tiny whimper.
>That just wasn't fair.
>It dropped on her.

Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ob5g2irAUdo
>Rarity rolled to the side as the creature crashed into the stone floor, her horn glowing as she overturned the cart of gems on it.
>The spear was clutched in her mouth, and she steadied her stance as the thing was buried under the gem tide.
>No more running.
>It was time to mare up.
>The thing jumps out of the gems, and Rarity charges forward, slashing at it with the spear.
>Another hiss and burst of smoke as the spearhead traces a burning laceration in the monster's fur.
>It roars and recoils, and Rarity races around it, wincing as it tears another thin laceration in her flank with it's claws.
>She keeps running, and it lunges after her on all fours.
>She just had to lead it into the right trap.
>Her horn glows, and she leaps as the thing charges down the tunnel after her.
>It's heavy paws slam into the ground, making loud THUMP, THUMP sounds...
>And the ground gives way beneath it.
>A shallow pit, dug with magic and lined with sharpened gems.
>Rarity comes to a stop at the other side of the pit, spear still in her mouth.
>She spits it out and looms over the pit, hefting the spear with her magic.
>The thing lies there, impaled through the chest and limbs with thin spikes of gemstone.
>It's still moving.


>Rarity can only watch in horror as the thing slowly starts to tear itself free.
"What..."
>It rips an arm free and gets to its paws around the gem spikes.
"...the buck..."
>It sticks its claws into the stone side of the pit and starts to crawl.
"...are you?"
>It roars and reaches for her.
>And she stabs it in the chest again.
>The creature yowls and falls backward, clutching another smoking hole in it's body.
>Rarity shouts at it as it leaps to its feet, turns, and hurls itself out, scrambling over stone and dirt as it crawls over the walls like a spider.
>Rarity's spear leaps out and lashes it across the back with another slash.
>It howls and falls, rolling away from repeated jabs from the furious white mare.
"Did you hurt Anonymous, you horrendous beast!? Did you kill him like you did those Diamond Dogs! Was he afraid when you did it to him!? How does it feel to be afraid, hm?"
>It rolls to it's feet, and she slashes it again, this time across the face.
"How does it feel!"
>She pulls the spear back and stabs at it's chest with her magic.
>The monster's arm comes up.
>Catches the spear's haft.
>And breaks it in half.


>The speartip clatters to the floor, and Rarity gasps.
>The thing tosses the broken pieces of wood away, and falls to all fours.
>It's arms are trembling, and blood stains it's fur a darker shade as it drips to the cave floor.
>Rarity backs away as it advances on her, fury in its yellow gaze.
"I'm sure...sure we can...talk about this, right?"
>The thing growls at her as she backs away from it.
>It slowly raises a paw, wicked claws glinting in the dim light of the cave.
"No? That's a...shame..really it is."
>The wolf lunges at her.
>Rarity's horn glows.
>And the silver spearhead lifts off the floor and slices across the wolf's face.
>It howls, rising to its back legs and putting both hands to its smoking face.
>It whirls and runs, bounding away from her, streaming smoke and blood as it flees.
>Rarity lets out a shuddering sigh, floating the spearhead over to her.
>She catches it in her mouth, ignoring the faint burning sensation on her lips as she holds it.
>She's tired.
>Bleeding.
>But she has to finish this thing.
>She has to avenge Anonymous.
>Or save him.
>She has to stop this thing, keep it from hurting her friends, from hurting Anonymous.
>It might kill her, but that's a sacrifice she's willing to make, a gift she is willing to give, to keep everyp0ny safe.
>She trots into the tunnel after the fleeing beast-thing.

WolfAnon's perspective

>You hurt.
>Bleeding, badly, blood and essence dripping from you as you ran.
>As you RAN.
>You could hear the weak half, triumphant and happy in your mind, as you fled from the white one and her White Metal.
>Your time was almost up.
>Above, above the dirt and the the rock, the Moon was falling.
>You couldn't maintain yourself at this rate. Your wounds were serious. You had to rest, had to heal, had to retreat.
>Fury and rage filled you as you realized a simple truth, and you lash out, tearing a chunk of rock free and hurling it away.
>You wouldn't be able to wake up.
>Not for a few days, at least. Even with the Moon calling you, you had to sleep.
>Had to heal.
>I WIN.
>You snarl at the weak half in your head. It would pay for this. When you were back next, you would have your revenge.
>You would find the white one, and you would hurt her too.
>Not at first, not quickly.
>You would watch for what she loved, what she cared for most.
>And you would take it from her.
>Steal it from her the way the weak half stole from men.
>And then you would kill her, slow, and pa-
>Your legs give out, and you collapse into the dirt.


>Rarity trudged down the tunnels after the thing, following the droplets of blood.
>She was exhausted.
>She hadn't slept, and her sickness was back.
>Her wounds burned, the clawmarks on her back feeling like fire.
>Her skin was crawling, like invisible spiders were moving all over it.
>And she knew she must look HIDEOUS.
>But that didn't slow her down.
>She had to stop the thing, stop it before it.....
>Before it got out.
>Before it hurt somep0ny.
>And this spearhead.
>It felt like she was holding a fireball in her mouth.
>But she kept carrying it.
>She didn't know why.
>But something deep down told her to keep it safe, to keep it close.
>The blood trail begins to dry up as she rounds the corner.
>She notes the huge patch of blood in the room's corner, the clawmarks on the stone, and the-
"ANONYMOUS!"
>Rarity galloped over to the naked human, spitting out the arrowhead on the ground next to him as she bent over him.
>Deep slash marks covered his chest and back, and nasty stab wounds were in his chest and shoulder.
>Even his face was marked, and it looked like he had been savaged by that horrible beast!
"Ra...Rarity?"
>He gasped at her weakly as she bent over him.
>"I'm here, Anonymous, I'm here, you're safe, I promise! Here, let me help you up, put an arm on my back."
>The human coughed and lifted up his wounded arm, throwing it over her shoulder.
>Suddenly, without warning, pain flashed across Rarity's back, and her vision went white as consciousness fled her.

Thiefanon's PoV

>Your fingers were fucking killing you.
>You let the silver spear tip drop to the floor with a clatter.
>You'd palmed it as Rarity had bent down, and you'd cut her with it.
>It pained you to do it, but it had to be done.
>You lifted your fingers to your mouth and sucked on them to sooth the burning.
>You'd been half-awake, half-asleep, trapped in a nightmare state as the dark half had rampaged through the tunnels.
>You'd seen where its teeth had pierced her, and you'd stabbed straight silver into that wound.
>Kill the infection at the source, if you were lucky.
>It hadn't been a full bite, not enough venom to infect her immediately, but would have sickened soon enough.
>If it had been a full bite, she would have been taken by the fever in the tunnels while the wolf hunted her down.
>You stare at the white mare lying next to you as she twitches and gasps.
>She was a wonder, this Rarity. She'd come after the dark half, in the cold darkness of a tunnel. She was brave, generous, graceful.
>She was everything you weren't.
>Her eyes open, treating you to the sight of blue.
>"A...Anon? Wha....what was that? I just...ow..."
"Must've grazed a scratch of yours...when I was trying...to get up...sorry."
>She nods, silently accepting the explanation.
>The pair of you help each other up, and her horn glows as she lifts the spearhead.
>"Let's...let's get out of here."


>The pair of you, after much stumbling, cursing, and crawling, manage to make your way out of the tunnel.
>Rarity's eyes go wide as soon as the pair of you step into the light of day.
>"Anonymous...you..."
"Naked, yeah. Thing tore up my clothes."
>Wasn't technically a lie, now was it?
>"I'll...make you some more....later. Take it out of your...pay."
>You snort in surprise.
"I'm still getting payed?"
>"Of course. A little kidnapping and monster attack doesn't...doesn't get you out of your obligation to me..."
>You stare at her incredulously as the pair of you limp back to Ponyville.
>Then you both start laughing.
>You're still laughing as you both stumble into Rarity's boutique in the wee hours of the morning.
>You fall, face first, onto her fancy couch, and she scowls at you.
>"ANONYMOUS!"
>You mutter at her, your face buried in pillow.
"Mmmph?"
>"You're STILL NAKED!"
"So're you."
>"I..but...that's..."
>Rarity trails off. She's too tired and too injured to argue with you.
>"Okay, fine. I"m going to...to go lie down. Then I'll...I'll call Fluttershy over to see to these cuts...might be infected."
>She's still talking to herself as she limps upstairs, and so she's out of hearing range as you laugh into your pillow, still a bit delirious.


>Rarity makes her way into her room, falling down onto her bed with a distinct lack of her usual grace.
>Opal leaps away, hissing, as she curls up on the pillows.
>She felt TERRIBLE.
>Her sickness was gone, at least. She didn't feel like she was about to leap out of her skin.
>She just felt pain.
>Achey and terrible pain from cuts and scrapes and bruises and wounds.
>She should have gone to the hospital and taken Anonymous with her, she knew.
>But she was so TIRED.
>She yawned as she pulled the silver spearhead up to her eyes.
>She couldn't sleep, she knew.
>That thing was still out there.
>It had savaged Anonymous.
>Attacked Twilight and Applejack.
>Killed untold amounts of Diamond Dogs.
>As barbaric was it was, somep0ny had to put that thing down.
>And in her hooves was the only thing capable of doing that.
>Which made her the only PONY capable of doing that.
>Rarity layed her head down on a purple pillow and drifted off into exhausted slumber, her thoughts on sharpened silver.