The full moon was large and bright, setting a silver edge to the rooftops of Ponyville and the treetops of Everfree, and lending a soft gleam to the remote mountaintops and clouds. The night sky sparkled with stars, a gentle breeze soughed through the branches, the rivers flowed placidly in their beds, and most of the world was asleep and at peace, save for those creatures that made their way in the world in the darker hours.

Rarity was numbered among them now, and she crept into a particular forest clearing with the steady step of the condemned prisoner facing the gallows with all of their courage supplanted by pride. She still resembled a pony at this stage, but one who knew her well might mark a certain thickening of her hair, a pointing of her ears, that forecast what her fate would be that night as the moonlight had its full effect on her. 

Her hackles lifted at the sudden hoot of an owl, and she backed slowly, looking around the clearing, until her rump firmly made contact with that of another pony! She yelped and leaped, spinning in the air to face… someone she knew.

“Oh! Oh my, Fluttershy!” exclaimed Rarity. “You scared me nearly to death just now. Whatever are you doing out here so late?” She hoped with all her heart that her friend would not tarry long.

Fluttershy had taken to the air when she was startled, and she now settled slowly upon the ground. “Oh, Rarity, how odd to see you tonight! I mean good. I mean…” She stammered with flustration. “I wasn’t hoping to see, I mean expecting to see anyone–” She gulped as the moon developed its light and power upon the clearing, making them glimmer with blue and silver tones.

Rarity sighed. “Say no more, darling, I think I understand. You are here for the same reason I am here. We have [i]both[/i] of us been cursed, have we not? Both condemned to lose control of our bodies, to surrender to our primal natures, all because of some ill-fated accident, such as when I was bitten by what I thought was a wolf several months back…”

Fluttershy blinked. “Well, not actually, because you see…”

“Ah, ah!” Rarity waved a hoof at her flustered friend. “You needn’t try to deny it dear, it all fits, and I see the panic in your eyes which is as good as a confession. We have both come here to [i]change,[/i] far from those who might discover our secret. Do not worry, for my part I shall keep my silence as we both seek a cure.” Rarity shivered as the moon slowly wrought its effect within her and her canines grew. “I am just curious, what event brought the curse upon you?”

“I… pricked my gums with an antique toothpick,” Fluttershy whimpered as the moonlight took hold upon her.

“A toothpick? What–” Rarity could speak no more, for the wild fur was flowing over her as her hooves spread into wolf paws and her eyes took on a predator’s stare, her snout growing forth over her snarling teeth as the lupine call took hold of her.

Fluttershy also felt the call, but she suddenly stood upright, planting her hooves deep in the ground, as thick woody bark grew around her body and her arms branched up into multiple twigs that bore shaking leaves under the starry sky. 

Wolf Rarity sat on her haunches, puzzled to see the yellow trunk with pink leaves that stood before her. But soon what remained of her acute intellect soon grasped the essential points of the situation. She lifted her snout to the sky and gave the primal call, the wild howl that would bring the other wolves of the Everfree running to her.

As their dark shapes with yellow eyes flowed into the clearing, Rarity was already advancing upon the yellow tree, pacing around it, sniffing at the roots, and the others joined her in circling and snuffling. 

Fluttershy stood bolt upright, indeed she had no choice. Indeed, she had undergone much worse in the past. But as the circling canines started to lift their legs, she still felt it was rather unfair. Though in truth, Rarity’s poise and polish did indeed often leave Fluttershy at a loss and ever so slightly resentful, so that tomorrow, it would be some small comfort to the pegasus to reflect that she had finally and definitively taken the piss out of her friend.