Morning in Ponyville shimmers.

Morning in Ponyville shines.

But not that one particular morning in Ponyville.

That morning in Ponyville was rainy, dark, gloomy and covered in blood.

A crowd of ponies surrounded a house; some of them had umbrellas, but most of them were too concerned to be bothered by the downpour. Moments before Celestia raised the sun, two ponies who happened to be passing by heard a scream coming from that house. The moment they noticed the front door had been kicked down, they immediately informed the authorities. When they returned with three police officers, curious ponies began to gather around the house. Moments after they went in, two of them returned outside. The first, a pegasus, took off back to the police station of Ponyville. The second, an earth pony, blocked the entrance with a yellow tape:

Throughout the day, several ponies went in and out of the house, most of them police officers and forensics ponies. A couple of hours later, a carriage pulled by two pegasi landed right in front of the house and one single pony emerged from it. It was an azure mare wearing a purple magician hat and cape, both with stars on them; she was a familiar face in Ponyville and most ponies recognized her immediately: the showmare Trixie. Though she had no clothes underneath that cloak last time she was seen in Ponyville, this time she had a dark magenta suit and brown pants, as well as a small blue and yellow badge pinned to the collar of her suit.

"What the hay is she doing here?" Rainbow Dash, one of the ponies in the crowd, asked.

"Ah hope she's not up to not good again..." Applejack said.

"That's what I'm about to find out." Twilight Sparkle said while approaching the house. Rainbow Dash and Applejack followed her. They didn't went far, though, because the moment they got too close to the crime scene, two police ponies crossed their spears in front of the trio, blocking their path.

"This is a crime scene, civilians are not allowed in here." one of them said.

"Oh, yeah? Then what is she doin' there?" Applejack asked, pointing her hoof at Trixie, who was talking to one of the forensic investigators.

"She is here representing the L.R.E. Organization." the second police pony said. "In other words, she has full access to the crime scene and collected evidence."

"'L.R.E.'?" Twilight said while rubbing her chin. "Where have I heard those letters before?"

"Now that I could take a good look at her, those clothes are kind of familar." Rainbow Dash said. "Can't put my hoof on it, but I'm sure I've seen those same colors before!"

"Hm... Now that ya mentioned it, Ah think Ah saw that uniform before too!"

"That's it!" Twilight said. "L.R.E., the organization of highly trained ponies that takes care of supernatural and extremely dangerous creatures!"

"'Supernatural'?" Applejack and Rainbow Dash asked at the same time.

She nodded. "Princess Celestia told me about them a few years ago. They are highly respected across all of Equestria, and so skilled that a single team of three can subdue a fully grown Manticore with ease!"

"Whoa..." Applejack said.

"Cool..." Rainbow Dash added. "But wait, then why is Trixie one of them? I don't remember her being anything close to 'skilled' last time we met!"

Trixie, who was now standing right beside them, cleared her throat, startling the mares.

"It's not polite to sneak up on ponies, ya know?" Applejack said, but Trixie remained silent, looking at the three ponies from head to hoof, evaluating them.

"Alright, you seem fit enough. Gentlecolts, let them through."

Both police officers nodded and moved out of the way. Trixie walked toward the house, but the trio did not budged.

"I don't have all day, you know? Follow me!" she said.

Twilight, Dash and Applejack looked at each other, then shrugged before following Trixie.

"So, why do you want us here?" Twilight asked.

Trixie turned around and pointed at Rainbow Dash. "You! You have great wings, feathers and muscles, which means that you are a great flier, perfect for high speed chases."

Rainbow Dash smirked and flapped her wings. "Yeah, I am pretty awesome!"

Trixie moved her hoof and was now pointing at Applejack. "You! I can see that you have very developed muscles, especially on your hind legs. I bet you are not only a great athlete, but also a very capable fighter, perfect for close range combat."

Applejack looked away, smiling blushing a little. "Aw, shucks!"

Trixie finally pointed at Twilight. "And you! Twilight Sparkle, protégé of Princess Celestia herself, not only a highly skilled magician but also a scholar! Perfect for all kinds of support."

"Why are you suddenly praising all of us?" she asked. "It weird, considering that last time we met, you were still trying to prove that you were better than all of us!"

"Leave the past behind, Sparkle. This is the present and I need your assistance!"

"With what? And why?"

"I need capable ponies by my side here. The Organization is super busy, so I had to come here alone, so I'll work with my surroundings."

"Wow, that L.R.E. must be really great." Rainbow Dash said. "I mean, if they managed to change Trixie, of all ponies, into a completely different pony, they are at least half a Dash in the Awesome scale!"

"Can we not talk outside?" Trixie asked. "We need to discuss a few confidential things!"

Trixie entered the house, soon followed by the other three. The whole house was a mess; furniture destroyed, tables flipped, decorations smashed and, in the middle of everything, the bloodied corpse of a mare.

"First, let's see how good you are at deducting, Sparkle. Tell me what you think happened here!"

After recovering from the shock of seeing a dead body for the second time in her life, Twilight took a deep breath and analyzed her surroundings.

"The perpetrator entered through the front door, that's a given." she said. "The victim was probably already in this room, because the other rooms are mostly untouched, so the killer destroyed everything between the two of them. Unfortunately, she was caught and, the cause of death is..." she approached her face to the body. "...hemorrhage. He throat was ripped open and, judging by the wound, it was a bite. Big maw with very sharp teeth. The flesh wasn't consumed, which means that the killer wasn't hungry, it killed her just for..." she gulped. "...fun."

Trixie clapped her hooves. "Bravo, Sparkle! I'm impressed. Now, let's get down to business!" Trixie levitated a clipboard from her saddlebag concealed underneath her cloak. "This information was not released to the public but, eighteen years ago, a lycan was sighted here in this town and claimed eight victims. Sadly, by the time the organization was contacted, the lycan was long gone."

"Long gone?!" Applejack nearly shouted. "Ya mean that varmint is still out an' about?!"

"It says here that they were looking for an entire year, but couldn't find a single clue, so they... Well... Ended the search. I don't know many details, I wasn't a member back then, all my knowledge regarding the incident come from this single piece of paper."

Applejack grabbed Trixie by the collar, surprising all three mares.

"Then let's not waste any more time!" she growled. "We're goin' after that monster, we're gonna kill it, an' we're gonna avenge all the ponies killed by it, ya hear me?!"

Trixie released herself from Applejack's grip. "I know we're gonna do that, it's my job. What's wrong you? Geez..."

"Are you ok, Applejack?" Twilight asked, placing a hoof on her friend's back.

"Ah... Ah... Y-Yes, yeah, Ah'm okay. Ah'm sorry, Trixie, Ah didn't meant to--"

"Whatever, let's just do what I came here to do." Trixie said while adjusting her collar. "Let's split in groups of two. Sparkle, you're with the brute. Pegasus, you're with me!"

"We have names, you know. I'm Rainbow Dash. She's Applejack!"

"Fine, whatever. Rainbow Dash, you and I will patrol from above. Sparkle and Applejack, you patrol from the ground. The lycan won't attack until it's dark again, so we all meet here again before sunset. All of you get ready before then, and be prepared to stay up all night."

Twilight and Applejack nodded while Rainbow Dash saluted.

That night, Trixie was the first to arrive, soon followed by Twilight, who was reading a book about mythological creatures. Applejack was the next, carrying supplies - half a dozen of apples and two bottles of water. Rainbow Dash was the last; she wasn't carrying anything and was rubbing her eyes.

"Sorry, I'm late." she said. "My nap lasted a little longer than I expected." she grabbed an apple from Applejack's saddlebag and ate it. "On the bright side, I am now ready to pull an all-nighter!"

"Well, no time to waste. Let's go!" Trixie said.

"Wait, wait, wait, Trixie!" Rainbow Dash said. "About us patrolling from above... You are not expecting me to carry you, are you?"

"What, do you think of yourself as some sort of knight in shining armor?" Trixie's horn started glowing and she jumped up. While in midair, a pink platform made of magic appeared below her and she landed right on top of it. "Shall we?"

"Cool..." Rainbow Dash said. "Can you do that, Twilight?"

"I-I... Uh..." Twilight stuttered.

"Can we save pointless blabbering for after the mission is finished, if you don't mind?" Trixie rolled her eyes, sounding more and more annoyed.

"Fine, fine, sheesh!" Rainbow crossed her forelegs.

"You know what to do if you happen to spot our target, don't you, Sparkle?" Twilight nodded. "Good! We meet here at sunrise, understood?" the three other mares agreed. "Good hunt!" Trixie ran, new platforms appearing underneath her before she could step on the nothing while the ones she was no longer stepping on disappeared. Rainbow Dash flew after her.

"Welp, no use standin' around doin' nothin'. Let's go, Twi!" Applejack turned around to see Twilight jumping and trying to materialize a platform under her, but utterly failing miserably and landing on her face. "Uh, y'all okay there?"

Twilight quickly got up. "Y-Y-Yes, of course! Let's go!"

Applejack shrugged and both ran side by side.

A couple of hours later, Applejack poked Twilight's shoulder, almost making her spill the water bottle he was drinking.

"Yes?" she asked.

"Every pony in town was instructed to stay home after sunset, right?" she whispered.

"Yes, I personally made sure of that. Why?"

"'Cause somepony's been followin' us for some good fifteen minutes!"

"WHAT?!" Applejack shoved her hoof in Twilight's mouth, who started whispering as well. "Why didn't you told me sooner?"

"At first I thought it was Rainbow or Trixie, but they just kept their distance, so Ah decided to wait and see if they'd make a move."

"And what do you suppose we should do?"

Applejack pondered for a moment. "We should split!"

"Split? Are you crazy?!"

"One pony can't follow both of us at the same time, right? Trust me, Ah have a plan! Here, we..." Applejack approached her muzzle to Twilight's ear and began to whisper even quieter. Twilight simply nodded after every statement, sometimes mumbling a "yeah".

"Okay, I understand."

"See ya soon, Twi!"

"Alright, Applejack. Until then!"

Twilight kept walking down the road while Applejack turned left and went toward an alley. Twilight maintained her pace, but focused on listening to her surroundings. There was indeed somepony following her and, judging by the sounds of the hoofsteps, she concluded that it was from 40 to 60 feet behind here.

Twilight took a deep breath, turned right and entered an alley. The stalker did the same.

"So, what can I help you with?" Twilight asked, coming out of the shadows between two waste containers. She raised an eyebrow. "Caramel?"

"Twilight, is that you?" the light brown stallion with dark brown mane and tail asked, then sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. You got worried me there for a second!"

"What are you doing outside this late at night? And why were you following me?"

"Well, you see, I was about to go to bed, so I went to close my curtains, but then I saw two ponies walking down the street, side by side, in complete silence. I thought 'Hey, this looks suspicious, I should investigate'. Then the second pony went away, so I decided to follow the one I could still see! And now we're here."

"Is that so? Anyway, the streets are not safe, you should go back home now! I'll accompany you."

"Sure thing, Twilight!"

Just as they were about to leave the alley, a pony jumped from the roof of one of the houses and landed right on top of the stallion. Twilight readied her horn and prepared to attack the assailant, but stopped.

"Applejack?"

"Ah gotcha!" she said to Caramel.

"It's okay, Applejack, it's just Caramel."

"It's not ok, Twi!" she said. "Can't ya smell it?"

"Smell what?"

"Ah smelled it since he started followin' us. He reeks of blood, Twilight!"

Twilight gasped and covered her mouth with a hoof. The stallion began to chuckle.

"No use denying it. Good job, miss Applejack!" he said. "Blood is very hard to get rid of, specially its smell. I thought you wouldn't notice, but I should have known better than to underestimate your senses. Kudos!"

"C-Caramel, you--" the unicorn began to speak.

"It's you, right?!" Applejack asked, anger filling her voice. "Yer the lycan!! An' it was you who killed mah parents eighteen years ago, wasn't you, ya darned monster?!"

Twilight's eyes widened.

"So, what if I did?" he asked with a smug smile.

"Ah've been waitin' for this day ah whole life. Tonight, ya pay for yer sins!"

He chuckled again. "For you, the day I butchered the Apples was the most important day of your life, huh?" Caramel got up, Applejack still on his back trying to pin him down. He threw Applejack upwards with a jump and kicked her as she was falling down. The mare crashed against a trash can and was pinned down by Caramel. "But for me, it was Tuesday."

"Ah... Ah'll kill ya..." she said.

Caramel jumped very high, dodging Twilight's magic beam. "Oh, I'm sorry, almost forgot about you, miss!"

"You will pay for what you did!" she said, already preparing another shot.

"And what was it? I did so many things in my life that it's hard to know which one you're talking about!"

Twilight glared at him and shot another magic beam, which he dodged with a crouch.

"You might as well give up, you have no chance to beat me alone!"

She shot another magic beam, but upwards this time.

"I'm down here, you know?"

"Yes, I'm aware. Also, thanks for the advice!"

"Advice?"

"I can't beat you alone."

Rainbow Dash was the first to attack, landing on all fours on top of his head as hard as she could. "Twilight, Applejack, are you ok?"

Twilight nodded. Applejack got up.

"Ah'll live." she said. "Ah still can't believe our town was sheltering our biggest enemy."

Caramel got up again, looking rather annoyed instead of calm like he was just moments ago.

"Three against one? That's not fair at all!"

"Make it four!"

He looked up just in time to see Trixie, still standing on a platform in the sky, cast a spell which erected a magic box around him. He tried kicking it, but it wouldn't budge.

"No more games!" he said.

Caramel's coat began to grow darker and thicker. His mane was also getting bigger and dishevelled. His muzzle grew longer and his teeth were getting sharper, and his blue eyes were now a very bright golden color. Claws began to grow on his hooves. With a loud howl, he proceeded to scratch and slash the barrier, easily tearing it to pieces.

"Ah think we may have a problem..." Applejack said.

"Strategic retreat?" Twilight asked.

Trixie smirked, then undid the clasp on her cape, removed her hat and threw both at Twilight, who caught them with her magic. "If you're afraid, then feel free to leave. I have a score to settle with this one!" Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Twilight all looked at each other, then back at Trixie. None of them were showing signs they were about to leave. "Good! I guess I can trust you after all."

The lycan finally opened a hole big enough for him to escape, and instantly pounced on Trixie. She erected a shield before he could reach her and Caramel smashed his face against it. She began to charge another spell while her foe tore a hole in the shield. By the time he finally destroyed the magic bubble, the spell was complete and she shot him with a magic beam ten times more potent than Twilight's.

Caramel was sent flying, but Trixie wasn't about to let him escape and created a platform underneath her. Instead of running, this time it was the pink platform that moved. The three mares followed her as fast as they could. When Trixie and the others finally reached the lycan, he was getting up and ready to run to the Everfree Forest with his tail tucked between his legs, but Twilight grabbed his hind legs with her magic.

He tried his best to escape, but Applejack kicked him right in the face; it wasn't enough to knock him out, but definitely more than enough to settle him down.

"Before I chain you and throw you in one of the Organization's dungeons, I have something to tell you." Trixie said.

"What do you want?" he asked between gasps.

"Twenty years ago, a lycan was spotted in Fillydelphia. His victims were a young couple, but since no other victims were made, the Organization believed that he was only passing by and his victims were simply at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"So what? You want me to confess or something?"

"I don't need to!" she pulled a picture from the inner pocket of her suit; it was the picture of an unicorn mare, holding on her hooves a sleeping yellow unicorn foal. But what really caught their attention was the forest behind her, and the brown wolf pony with golden eyes standing behind the bushes. "I know for a fact that this is you."

"Who is that mare?" Rainbow Dash asked. "And the foal?"

"Are those yer family?" Applejack asked.

"Not at all." Trixie said while placing the picture back in her pocket. "You killed this mare and her husband twenty years ago, but I just wanted you to know that this foal will be very happy to know that the one who murdered her parents was finally caught. And by me, no less!"

Trixie's magic enveloped Caramel's body. After a flash of white light, the pink magic was replaced by several chains. He struggled, but they wouldn't budge.

"And don't even try to escape. Not even two dragons pulling these chains on opposite directions were able to break them. And you three..." she turned to the trio and grabbed her clothes, which were still being held by Twilight, then wore them. "Good job! You could be great L.R.E. Agents one day."

Twilight, Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked at each other, then nodded.

"Actually, Trixie, we'd like to talk to you about that..." Twilight said with a smile.

Author's Notes:

This takes place before chapter 1, but after 2-4, so I guess it doesn't count as flashback. Chapter 1 only takes place in the near future! I didn't lied, hah!