Orange gestured to the concerned looking ponies that gathered around him. "They may be the same humans that hurt the master before. Lily, make sure the traps are primed and ready. The rest of you, get out of sight, preferably somewhere high and hidden."

Wolf raised a shaggy brow. "I presume that doesn't include me?"

Orange wheeled on Wolf. "Why wouldn't it include you?"

Wolf poked him on his nose. "So when did you become a fearsome warrior? I'm going with you."

Loud banging from the gate made Orange jerk towards it. "Fine! Fine. Everyone get moving." With his wings half-extended, he began trotting nervously towards the potential attackers. "I can't fail now."

The others scattered, except for Wolf who followed close beside Orange. "If they try to harm an adorable hair on your head, I'm ripping them in half."

Orange cringed at the mental image of it. Was that what the master hoped he would be? He wasn't sure if he had the heart or stomach to be that sort of monster. Despite it, he flared his wings wide as the gate came into view. "Who dares to make such troublesome noise in my master's demesne?!" He tried to sound as authoritative and menacing as he could.

Behind the strong iron gates was a gathering of humans, but they didn't look prepared for war. They were dressed oddly, but so far as Orange could tell, all humans of that strange era preferred to dress oddly. They were also all female, and their eyes locked on him. Rather than shouted threats and promises of violence, they began to gush in unison. A mighty chorus of 'aww' erupted from them.

Wolf uncurled her balled fists. "The 'eck? They ain't here to maul no one."

Orange looked at the ground and Wolf in a rapid back-and-forth. "What are they here for?"

Wolf shrugged. "It ain't obvious? They're drawn by your animal magnetism."

Orange wrinkled his snout and regarded the crowd. "Disperse and depart and you will not be harmed!" He approached the gate, his wings still unfurled to maximize his size and terrifying abilities. "This is your last war--" His words cut off as a hand reached through the gate and grabbed him at the shoulder, wrenching him up against the bars where several other hands joined in holding him captive and their owners gushed about how adorable and soft he was. "Help!"

Wolf grabbed him by the barrel and gave a heave, but there were too many clingy hands on Orange to pull him free easily. She could have attacked the women, but morals hadn't entirely fled her. "Look, ya crazy broads, let my boy go or we'z gonna have serious problems."

The crowd suddenly quieted. The entire scene was eerily silent a moment before one of the women asked, "He's your boyfriend?"

A fresh chorus of awws erupted even as Orange began to color a deep red shade. While they were focused on the new fact, Wolf wrenched her pony back from them with an angry snort. "That's better. Now whattaya all want anyways?"

"Don't you live just upstairs?"

Wolf looked to the source of the voice and saw a nerdy looking woman meeting the gaze. She knew the woman. They never talked much, but... "Yeah, so?"

"What happened to you?" The woman approached the gate and the others allowed her past. "Are you alright?"

Orange squirmed in Wolf's grip and fell to the ground before he scrambled up to his hooves. "Do you know her?"

The woman smiled. "Sort of. We were neighbors. Didn't talk so much, but yeah."

Wolf licked over her new fangs silently. "You all really should go..."

The woman would not be dissuaded. "What's going on here? Tell us." The others began to voice agreement with the idea, attentions all focused on Wolf.

Orange squirmed a moment before deciding honesty may yet win the day. "If you don't go, I'll bite you, and you'll gain my curse. You'll be a pony forever. Do you want that?"

That was enough to make a few back away, but the crowd was still mighty. What was wrong with these women? He spread his wings out, not because he had any illusions that it'd scare them, but he just felt like he should, like a nervous habit. "You have your own lives to get to. Go away!"

The woman that recognized Wolf reached through the gate towards Wolf. "Did it hurt?"

Wolf raised a brow. "It was like going to sleep, then there I was." She nudged Orange. "He's leaving out a bit. If he does the biting, you end up like me. It takes a bite from his master to go full pony."

She shrugged a little. "You seem alright... How bad is it? Can you fly?"

Were they really considering it?! Orange took a slow step back. He couldn't believe how things were headed. "Don't you understand an eternal curse? Why would you want that?"

Some of them, at least, understood the meaning of damnation and the crowd thinned a little, but there were still so many of them, maybe half a dozen to ten women, not that Orange was of the sense of mind to actually count them. A thought came to him suddenly and he wheeled on Wolf. "Why are you encouraging them? If I'm... really your boyfriend, why would you want more women around?"

Wolf smirked at him, an evil smirk that spoke of her calculating schemes. "The way I see it, that's just more ponies, women or not, who need you to grow a pair and decide what kind of castle this is gonna be." Even as Orange gaped at her, she sauntered to the gate and casually threw it open.

Author's Notes:

Wolf has a plan, and Orange doesn't like it very much. Good thing nopony asked him.