"I don't know, it just appeared!"

Redheart examined the wound on Mayor Mare's hind leg. It was a long clean slice, shallow, not infected. "What were you doing when it happened?"

"I was just walking home from the EMC," the Mayor replied. "Out of nowhere a gust of wind, and then when I looked down, I was bleeding."

Redheart dabbed with some gauze. "Well, it's stopped now, and I can't see anything inside. Maybe the wind carried something sharp past you." She reached into a nearby drawer with her snout and retrieved a sewing kit and anesthetic. "We'll have you stitched up in no time."

"I hope it's not a bad omen. I just announced my candidacy and I would hate for this to be a sign that I shouldn't run."

"Oh I doubt that," Redheart replied. With the sewing apparatus and deft hooves, she numbed and stitched the wound without a slip. "You've done well by Ponyville, and I'll certainly be voting you for regional governor."

The mayor sighed and grinned. "That's good to hear, thank you. I've tried my best. I just hope my opponents won't use this against me, somehow."

Redheart applied a bit of antibiotic and a small bandage, and brushed the Mayor's fur over the stitches. "Good as new!" she announced.

---

Far away in the pale shadows of early morning, old bones creaked as Slickfur roused himself. He stretched and sighed, blinking the sleep away.

The burrow was cool and dry. What had woken him?

Rolling over onto his long belly, he meandered through the burrow. The pile of mouse bones in the corner from his birthday dinner needed to be taken out, but he could do that later.

"Little one?"

The voice echoed from the entrance tunnel. He knew that voice.

"I'm so sorry to bother you while you're sleeping, but can you come out for a moment?"

With a sigh, he scampered up the tunnel to meet the voice. She was tall, several times his size. Her yellow coat and pink mane clashed with the colors of nature around them.

"Oh, good morning," she said. The softness of her voice belied her size. "Thank you for coming out. I was hoping we could talk. What is your name?"

He cocked his beady eyes at her for a moment. Alien as she was, he knew she meant no harm; he'd seen her talking to the other animals, and they trusted her, so he replied.

"Nice to meet you, Slickfur," she said, smiling. "I was hoping you could help me. You see, Mrs Mousekewitz here is missing her mate, and the last place she saw him was around here…"

She raised her hoof, and Slickfur saw the female mouse with two mouselings, cowering behind the towering yellow leg.

He thought back to last night. Somehow, against all his nature, he suddenly felt rude for not at least asking the rodent's name.

With as much solemnity as he could muster, he shook his head and replied in the negative. He didn't know where, or indeed who, Mr. Mousekewitz was.

The pony stared down at him for a moment, then nodded slowly. "I understand," she said, even quieter than before. "Come along Ms. Mousekewitz, let's ask a few other creatures."

The mice gave him a withering glare as they left. He doubted any of them believed him, but they knew the way of the forest as well as any.

He watched them go, then scampered back underground. The burrow still smelled of the rabbit he'd taken it from, weeks ago.

Feeling peckish at the memory of the rabbit, he checked his cache again. It was empty, besides the mouse bones at the opening. He would need to hunt today.

The unfamiliar pang of guilt tugged at his insides again as he gathered up the bones and took them outside. Several lengths away from the burrow, he dug a small hole and buried the bones, placing the tiny skull atop.

"That is very thoughtful of you."

He squeaked and spun around. The towering pony hovered silently on lithe wings, barely a shadow's breath from the ground.

He coiled his body protectively and chittered at her.

"I know, and I told them as gently as I could. They're very sad, but they understand."

Her hooves touched the ground almost without a sound, and she bent her knees and bowed to bring her head level to his.

"I'm very sorry I haven't introduced myself yet, but you've been very private so I presumed you weren't interested in talking. I'm Fluttershy, and I think you and I need to chat."

[Hr]

At the library, Twilight frowned and looked over another book. "I'm not finding much about this kind of thing," she mused. "Are you sure you didn't just run too close to a fence?"

Pinkie Pie shook her head. "Pretty sure! I was practicing my dance routine for the the Mayor's rally, and then out of nowhere I felt my mane deflate!"

She turned her head again to demonstrate. A long section of mane near her neck was cleanly sheared off, leading into a scabbed-over slice where the plane of the cut met her shoulder. "It's so weird, it didn't even hurt."

"I'm just glad it wasn't worse," Twilight replied. She tossed the book onto a growing pile and grabbed another one. "I'm starting to run out of …"

Pinkie perked up at the meaningful silence. "What?"

Twilight motioned to wait, and kept reading for a few more moments. "I think we need to talk to Fluttershy."

[Hr]

Slickfur looked around Fluttershy's cottage. It was brighter and larger than his burrow, and yet somehow inviting, putting him at ease.

"I'm so glad you agreed to come over" she said, flitting in from the kitchen with a small bowl and setting it in front of him.

He looked at the small cluster of eggs and chittered up at her curiously.

"Donated from the robins," she said. "They won't ever hatch, so it's okay. So how old are you now?"

He started working on the eggs and squeaked an answer.

"Oh my!" She exclaimed, covering her mouth with a hoof. "That's incredible! And so unusual for one like you."

Slickfur finished one of the eggs and queried her.

"I did, to be honest." She blushed a little and giggled. "I've been tracking you for some time, and last night it happened."

Fluttershy held out a foreleg, and Slickfur noticed for the first time that she had a wound. It was small and semicircular, barely a few hours old.

How did he know that?

"It happens at your age," she said, "and I that's why—"

A hoof rapped on the wooden door of the cottage and they both jumped. Slickfur fought down the urge to hide under the couch.

"Fluttershy! I need to talk to you!"

With a confused and worried glance, Fluttershy opened the door.

Outside, three other ponies stood. A lavender unicorn, a pink bouncy earth pony, and a tan-coated mare with a graying mane.

"Oh, hello Twilight," Fluttershy said, welcoming them inside. "Pinkie, Mayor. What can I do for you?"

The lavender one named Twilight held up a book. "I've been doing some research, and I think something is happening," she said. "Have you noticed…"

All three of them spotted Slickfur at the same time, and he felt a new unfamiliar sensation in his stomach.



"No way," Pinkie said in awe. "You already caught him?"

Fluttershy moved to block them. "No, I didn't catch him, he came with me! He doesn't understand, I was just explaining—"

Mayor Mare gasped and pointed.

Fluttershy turned just in time to see Slickfur turn from a ghostly pale white, to vanishing entirely. "No, you've scared him away!"

"Scared him?" Twilight scoffed. "Fluttershy do you even know what he is? We have to stop him!"

Fluttershy set her jaw and glared Twilight down. "No. We need to talk to him. He's going through a change and he doesn't need any extra stress right now."

"He's already hurt three ponies," Twilight replied. "And next time it could be worse!"

From above, they heard a giggle.

Whirling around, all three ponies looked at where Pinkie had been a moment ago, then up at the ceiling.

"How does she do that?" Mayor Mare mused.

As one, they rushed to the stairs and up to Fluttershy's bedroom. Twilight pushed to the front of the group, and swung the door open, to see Pinkie Pie standing in the middle of the room next to a pale, transparent weasel nearly as tall as she was, holding a scythe.

"That's an amazing trick!" she said, circling around.

The ghostly Slickfur eyed her warily, paws clutching the weapon.

"What… what is he?" The mayor breathed.

"He's a yōkai," Twilight replied, holding up the book. Her horn flared tentatively, a protective spell ready to shield Pinkie. "A spirit from Neighponese folklore."

"A weasel spirit," Fluttershy said, gently approaching the pair. "They change on their one hundredth birthday, if they live that long. But his species is so rare here, he hasn't had anycreature to tell him it was going to happen."

"They do mischief of various kinds," Twilight continued. "He's the one that's been cutting ponies with a scythe the past day or so, since he turned."

"He didn't know, Twilight," Fluttershy said. "He just needs some help know how to control his nature without hurting ponies."

Pinkie stuck out her tongue and giggled. "Well, I think it's a great Nightmare Night opportunity! He can even go through walls!"

Slickfur looked at Pinkie for a few more moments. Then suddenly, he started to become more solid, shrinking down to normal size. The scythe disappeared into thin air, and within moments a normal weasel stood before them. He chittered at Pinkie, then approached Fluttershy.

"Do you understand now?" she asked.

Slickfur nodded and squeaked a few times.

"So what now?" the mayor asked, nervously rubbing her stitched hind leg.

"He's asked to stay with me for a few days while he gets used to his new abilities," Fluttershy said "and he wants Pinkie to visit too. He likes her."

"Well, that's a relief," Twilight said. She closed the book and turned to the mayor. "Well, I hope this hasn't been too much of a distraction from your campaign."

Mayor Mare huffed. "It's been… Weird," she said. "Completely random. But I think I'll be okay."

"That's just Ponyville," Pinkie said. "You've done great here, and if you can handle these random problems we have here, I think the regional government will be lucky to have you."

If it were possible, Slickfur grinned slightly.