"It was a big thing, you know?" Angus said, "Finding out magecraft and mages were really a thing. Prtty big. So big that I wanted nothing more than to talk to someone about it. But, I couldn't. The geis Ben put on me prevented me from breathing a word about it to anyone I knew. I couldn't tell it to my family, to my friends, my therapist..."

"Gotta say, I nearly gone crazy. Luckily, I actually did found someone I could talk with about that."

Some, like Yahya, had inquiring looks on their faces.

"It was all about what was written on the contract." Angus explained, "It forbid me of speaking of magecraft with those who didn't already knew about it. What meant that if a person already knew about magecraft then I could talk to them about it all I wanted, since they would already be in on the secret. And that's why I can talk to all of you about it now."

"Huh?" Charles said, and Yahya explained.

"If the curse was still in action, he would not have been able to talk to us." Yahya explained, causing Charles to look on his direction. "Five years ago, he could not talk to us about it, because we didn't had knowledge of the existence of magecraft. However, we now know of its existence. So the geis does not stops him from speaking of it with us."

"Nor with anyone else, by that matter." Angus added, "Ever since the last months, pretty much everyone already knows magecraft exists. So I can talk to anyone I want about it at this point. The whole contract has pretty much be rendered null."

"But five years ago? It was another story." Angus resumed the subject he was talking about, "I could only talk to the people who already truly knew about magecraft to begin with. Which, as you probably guessed, were only people who belonged to the moonlit world."

"But, they didn't gave me the time of day..." Angus said, making a small pause, and then chuckled.

"It was just so strange. I was always a big deal on this city for being a Manechester, and I found out that there was a whole underworld here in Zootopia where it meant nearly nothing. Where being a Manechester amounted to nearly nothing at all... As if our family was nothing to those people..."

"Sounds like the rich boy got humbled pretty good." Melor said, a smirk on his face as he spoke those words. Surprisingly, Angus chuckled, and agreed with the hybrid.

"Yeah, it was pretty humbling." Angus admitted, "I guess those guys did put me on my place. They were as condescending to me as Mom always taught me to be to the 'lower classes'. You know, that sucked way more than I thought it did..."

"It was so hard to find someone who would even be willing to hang out with a 'lowly mundane' like myself. But, I did found some guys. Most of them were underdogs or guys who didn't gave two shakes of a tail to what the rest of the mage community thought. They were willing to spend some time with me and talk to me. That is, after they gave up trying to wipe my brain, since it got confirm that I could not babble to other mundanes about their secret. And, of course, the fact that Ben did so pretty good tail-kicking on the last mages who tried to attack me did helped a bit."

Everyone looked in surprise at Ben.

"Thanks for that, by the way." Angus said to him, "I know you probably only did it because of the geis, but you really saved my tail back then."

Ben rubbed the back of his neck. "Not only for the geis..." Ben admitted, "I actually didn't wanted her to kill you."

There was a brief silence, and then Angus resumed.

"Anyways, I did got close to some mages back on the day." Angus said, "I had someone to talk to me and put me more in pair of the moonlit world, and how things actually went. I learned more about mage history, about how magecraft worked, about the laws mages followed, about how things worked for mages in Zootopia. You know, the whole basic that you need to learn about magecraft. And that was how I found out all of the details of Ben's past."

Ben looked down, and everyone else had their eyes on the horse.

"What can you know?" Gabe asked, causing the horse to turn his attention to him. "Do you mean the rumors? Because all of those are crap! How can you know all of the details about Ben's past? How can you truly know him at all?"

Gabe's voice was demanding, and his stance was clearly aggressive. Angus, however, simply said:

"Because he told me himself."

Gabe blinked, and then turned to Ben. So did most of the people of that room.

"Yeah, Ben and I were not very close at first." Angus admitted. "But he was someone I could talk to. So I did. I started approaching Ben and asking him more about magecraft. And He told me! Even with how aggressive I was with him at the beginning, he was still willing to have a word with me. Really a very nice fella, no?"

Ben looked up, seeing all of the eyes on him, and he said:

"Well... Angus kept coming to me and... he was being less aggressive than at the beginning. He said he really needed someone to talk and I just kind of... well, I just talked to him. He was quite convincing... and insistent."

"Yeah, I can be quite insistent when I want to." Angus admitted. "I don't give up on what I want. This is what you taught me, Dad."

Angus looked in direction to Adrian, who looked back at him.

"So, most of what I learned about the moonlit world I learned from him. We did talk a lot. We even became friends... kinda." Angus said, and everyone took in what he was saying. Including the Manechester family, who now reflect on what this could mean, and how it explained a few things. Chandler, in particular, thought it really explained why Angus started hanging out with Ben in the first place, after spending all those hours trying to convince Chandler to cut ties with him as "some low-class cheetah is not someone a Manechester they should associate with".

It sounded like Angus really reconsidered what he said.

"Yes, Ben explained to me how of this worked." Angus said, "And our talks went to other subjects. Like what he did before he became a police officer, and about his family. And Ben told me pretty much everything."

Josh and Marcy both looked at the horse. So did Gabe.

"By 'everything', you mean..." Josh said, and Angus answered:

"I mean everything."

There was silence, and then, Angus continued:

"Eventually, I started asking Ben if he could teach me magecraft." Angus said, and everyone looked at him, and then at Ben.

"What?" Ben asked, "I didn't!"

"Yeah, he told me it was not possible." Angus said, "He told me someone needed magic circuits to do magecraft, and that I would not be able to since I didn't had them."

"And I thought you didn't." Ben said, "Really, I had no idea you had them."

"But, you still agreed to teach me the very basics." Angus said, smiling at the cheetah. "Just the theory, of course. Just the basic of how magical energy worked and of how to control it. We had a bit of those lessons for a few days... before I had to leave the city."

Angus made a paused, turning to look at both his father and grandfather, both of which looked back at him.

"After you assaulted Chief Bogo." Judy concluded, and he horse turned to her.

"Yeah, after that." He said, "After that, Zootopia was no longer a place for me. So I left the city. Luckily, I didn't really had much problems, even after being disowned. I can surely thank you for that, Mom."

Everyone turned their eyes to her, and then Yahya said:

"Carolyn spent two years sending Angus money without our knowledge."

"And that money was really good for me." Angus said, "It helped pay for my lessons."

"Lessons?" Adrian said, with a raised eyebrow.

"My magecraft lessons." Angus clarified, smirking at his father as he continued:

"Ben really spiked my interest when what he told me about magecraft and how it worked. He told me that I could not do magecraft without magic circuits, but you know me, I would not let something like that stop me. I tried to study on my own, but that proved to be a waste of time. There is nothing useful on the internet. Just a bunch of useless mumbo jumbo and positive-thinking crap. None of that would help me."

"I was lucky that I found someone who was willing to teach me." Angus explained, "The guy was not very willing to hear me out at first, but his tune changed the moment I said I would pay him."

"Right..." Josh said, looking at him, "And this guy was?"

"A worthless bastard who got what he deserved in the end." Angus said, and there was the slightest tone of resentment on his voice, which made everyone look at him, some with raised eyebrows. Angus then added:

"To all effects, let's refer to him as 'Mister Backstabber'."

"I met Backstabber around three months after I left Zootopia. It was by pure chance that I crossed paths with him while he was dealing with a personal business, and then approached him about him being a mage. His reaction was... well, as amicable as one can expect. He was pretty hostile from the beginning, and he laughed at me when I asked him to teach me magecraft. He was on his way when I mentioned I had money to pay for the lessons."

"My lessons began on the next day." Angus said, "It took me two weeks to realize the guy was trying to scam me. I noticed that some of the things he said on the lessons contradicted what he said in previous ones, and that was the red flag that made me see he was actually just passing me non-sense as if it was magecraft. Then I confronted him about it. I guess I either scared or impressed him, because after this, he started to actually teach me real magecraft."

"Of course, I still could not actually do what he taught me, but I did paid a lot of attention on the classes. After all, I was using my money to pay for them."

"You mean you were using my money." Adrian said, glaring at Angus, and Angus only returned the glare with indifference, before shrugging.

"Yeah, whatever. Anyways, those lessons continued for months, and everything was going okay for a while. That was, until the money stopped coming."

"We found out Carolyn was sending money to Angus." Yahya said, causing the eyes to turn to him. "I was surprised, but I could understand. After all, she was his mother. Adrian was a bit less happy."

Adrian looked down as his father said that.

"He didn't liked that Angus was still receiving money from the family after Adrian's decision of him being cut off for good." Yahya continued, "He made Carolyn stop sending him money the very same day."

"And that made things bad for me." Angus said, getting the attention back to himself. "Mr. Backstabber was not very happy that I suddenly got cut. Something about 'this kind of thing getting on the way of learning to be a proper mage', and about me needing to be more independent if I would be taking learning magecraft seriously."

"It was not just about me suddenly being without money. He said that, as long as I still had ties with my previous life that would be a problem. Guess he was worried that someone from my family could come after me one day and end up finding out about him. He said that, if I wanted to continue studying magecraft with him, I needed to cut all ties to my past."

"Now, it took me a while to figure out how to. It shouldn't be too hard, since the rest of the family already cut me out." Angus turned to Adrian once more. "Remember, Pops? You told me that it would be better if I was dead."

Adrian said nothing in return.

"I remembered it, and I started to agree." Angus said, that same smirk on his face. "If I was dead, no one would think of trying to come after me for any reason, leaving me free to do as I pleased. Also, there was the fact that, even though you all kicked me out of the family, you never really canceled my life insurance."

Everyone heard this, and they all came to the conclusion about what the horse was talking about.

"So, you decided to imitate a possum and play dead." Nick said, and Angus could only chuckle.

"It was actually surprisingly easy, you know. Get a few guys near the doc and pay them to say to the police that they saw me falling into the sea and being swallowed by the waves. Throwing my backpack into the water for them to find it and recognize it as mine. The plan was simple, but it was a good one. After all, it worked."

"After this, I just had to send a guy to an agency to cash out the five millions of life insurance." Angus said with a smirk. "And, just like that, I solved my money problem and cut all the connections I had to my past, just like that ferret told me to."

"Next, I went back to life as normal. Paying my bills, paying for the lessons. Oh, and I started investing in stocks, to make sure my money would not run out anytime soon." Angus concluded, "All in all, my life proceeded like it had to on the two years prior. But, let me tell you what, cutting ties with your past by faking your death kind of make you feel... I don't know. Free? Yeah, I guess that's the word."

Carolyn flinched, and a hurt look passed through her features. Some of the mammals around noticed it, including Adrian, who then glared at Angus with anger.

"So, you faked your death to have money to live and to pay for magecraft lessons." Adrian said, "Leaving the few people who still cared about you to think you were dead and mourn for you. Is that it?"

The way he said that was accusing. Angus looked back at him with that same indifferent expression, and that same smirk on his lips.

"Yeah, pretty much." Angus said, "Although, when you say about the people who would mourn me, I'm pretty sure you are not talking about yourself, right? In fact, I think you even made a party to celebrate."

Once more, for everyone in the room, it was obvious the animosity that existed between father and son.

"And after that?" Yahya said, unmoved by how Adrian and Angus seemed about to go into a fight, and wanting only to continue with the story. Angus seemed to have no problem with this.

"After that..." Angus said, "I spent the last three years studying magecraft with Mr. Backstabber. I learned everything that he could probably teach me. Basic magic energy mechanics. Healing magecraft. Mental interference. Sympathetic and contagious magecraft. Even some elemental magecraft."

"And, of course, I learned everything. I'm sure you guys remember how much of a good student I was. By the time we completed nearly five years of him being my mentor, I had mastered all of the theory in what it came to magecraft. You can ask me any question on basic magecraft and I assure you I'll answer it with no problem."

"Really?" Horne asked, a bit skeptical.

"Yes, really." Angus said, sounding as if he was nearly challenging the hybrid. They made a small staring contest for a few moments, before the horse finally continued:

"But, I still could not use magecraft. No matter how much I memorized and mastered the theory, I just couldn't actually do magecraft. No matter how much I tried."

Angus made a pause.

"That is... until that day." Angus said.

"The day Backstabber tried to kill me..."

It had been a tiring day, as I had just finished another round of studying and (uselessly) trying to do magecraft by myself. The paper where I drew the magic circle put aside as I pretty much gave on trying to perform that specific ritual.

That was when he came up on my room. The ferret had a friendly smile on his face as he talked to me, showing me a thermos with coffee inside. He had done it for me the way I liked.

In hindsight, I should have suspected him making me coffee. That little shit would not do anything to someone unless he had a very good reason. And he certainly would not make a coffee for the mundane he was taking money from to give away the secrets of their craft.

I should also have suspected of how friendly he was being with me, telling me how I was being a good student and on how it was impressive that I managed to learn all he had to teach. He was never so friendly with me before, and I should have felt that something was off, but I guess I was too tired back then. I just took the thermos and drank from it without even looking inside.

For the next three minutes, he talked to me. Congratulating me for being a good student, saying it was impressive how a mundane could get the theory of magecraft so well (I think he was being honest when he said that) and encouraging me to drink all the coffee.

I suspected nothing, of course, and I actually thanked all of his compliments, and said that he too was a good teacher. I actually thanked the bastard for teaching me! And the idiot smiled at me and started being all paternal, saying how he would love to have had a son like me and shit.

That was when I started feeling weird. It started as a small headache. I dismissed it as me being tired. I drank more coffee. A big mistake. The headache got worse, and then I started feeling woozy. My chest felt tight, and I started to have trouble to breathe. I was breaking a sweat, and I was trying to realize what the heck was happening.

I looked at Backstabber, who was smirking at me like a snake that cornered a bird. After just a few seconds, I caught to what was going on. I tossed the thermos at him, and he easily dodged the empty thing. He still had that shit-eating grin on his face as he asked me if the coffee was to my liking.

That bastard had poisoned me!

I charged at him. I was going to kill that little termite!

However, he was faster than me. He just flicked his wrist and I felt like a rhino had collided with my shoulder. I went straight to the ground, my shoulder feeling like a rhino had actually collided with me. However, even that pain felt a little dull in comparing to the other pain coming my way.

My chest felt like it was in fire. My insides felt like they could either go up in flames or start melting at any second. It hurt so bad. Amidst the pain, I could hear Backstabber's voice.

"While you have been a good student, truth is, you are quite a nuisance to me." He said, "You take precious time that I could use in far more important things. The only reason why I kept up with you until now was because of the money you have so generously been giving me. But, honestly, I've grown tired of you."

"I'll be using your bank card to withdraw the money you still have left on your account, and I'll manage your stocks. Also, I'll be keeping the wolfskin. After all, it is not as if it would have much use for a mundane like you. Especially now that you'll be dead."

I managed to turn my head to him, and he was still smirking at me. He smirked like a winner. Like I had already smirked many times in the past.

"Goodbye, Mr. Manechester." He said, and left the room. I tried to reach for him, to stop him, to do anything to him, but I was too weak to do anything.

However, I was a Manechester. I would not just lay there and wait for death to take me. With all the strength I could muster, I got back on my hooves. My legs felt strange. Breathing felt like a challenge. But I pressed on. I walked to the table, opened a drawer and pulled a gun out of it. My vision was doubled, but I cleared it by closing and opening my eyes, and could see that the bullets were there, and that it was loaded. Then I walked to the open door, one step after the other. I was able to walk out of the room. Stopping every ten seconds to lean myself over the wall, trying to steady my breath and my legs and blinking madly to clear my turvy vision.

I walked through the hallway. Into the living room. Then I walked in direction to the front door, left open when the termite walked through it. He was halfway in direction to the road. I followed him. With every breath I could muster, I called out his name. He turned to me right as a lightning flashed on the sky, followed by thunder. He seemed surprised. Maybe even shocked. Maybe shocked that I managed to walk to him? That I was still alive? Perhaps that I was able to point a gun at him? Maybe all of those things? But I didn't cared.

I just pulled the trigger.

I have a good aim, but I was seeing double and couldn't aim properly. The bullets passed way over his head, hitting the ground behind him. He turned his head to look where the bullet hit, and then looked back at me. I could still see his face through my fuzzy vision, and his shock turned into rage.

Honestly, I don't remember very much what happened. It was all a mess. But I remember being tossed around like a ragdoll. All the while Backstabber insulted me, calling me a "mundane trash" and other things like that. By the end of it, I was laying on my back, with him standing a few feet away from me. I was bruised, but not massively hurt. However, I felt like I was dying.

Heck, I was dying! I could feel whatever it was on that coffee acting on me. My insides felt like they were on fire. I couldn't breathe properly. I felt like a fish out of the water as I tried to breathe as hard as I could. Backstabber was just a few feet away from me, ranting about something. I think he was calling me names and telling me how inferior I was to him. I don't remember. I didn't cared.

All I could think of was that I didn't wanted to die.

I didn't wanted to die yet. I wanted to life. I wanted to go back. Back to Zootopia. I wanted to show my family that I could do well without them. I wanted to walk into the city one more time and eat at my favorite place again. I wanted to see Ben again.

I was about to die, and the only thing that was on my mind then was the face of that friendly cheetah.

Then, there was the flash.

A loud cracking that I felt on my body more than heard. My whole body tensed.

Great Poseidon, was it the poison? Was it finally killing me? No, I didn't wanted it to end like that. I wanted to stay alive. I wanted to live so I could do all the things I wanted to do. I wanted to live.

I wanted to live!

My body felt warm. But, among the burning pain on my chest, I could hardly even tell. I could feel the burning feeling. I could feel my heart beating so fast. It was as if my heart was on fire. That image came to my mind. My own heart bursting into flames. Beating and pumping fire instead of blood into my veins.

My veins.

The poison was somewhere in there, now that it entered into my bloodstream.

I didn't wanted it there. I didn't wanted that thing on my veins. I wanted it out.

I wanted it to move across my veins until it arrived back at my stomach. Then, from my stomach, I wanted it to move up my throat and then at my mouth, so I could just spit it out.

Here comes the weird part. Just as I thought on how much I wanted it, I could actually feel as if it was happening. I swear I could feel the poison moving through my veins. Then I felt sick as I felt something pooling inside of my stomach. I fought back an urge to vomit as something made its way up my throat coming from my stomach, and I coughed like mad. I got into my hooves and knees just as I felt something very bitter fill my mouth. It tasted so bad that I just spat it out on the spot.

After this, I just stayed there, panting on all fours. It took me nearly a minute to realize that my chest was not hurting anymore. However, my body still felt warm for some reason. And I smelt something burning.

I took a hoof to my chest, and touched my bare fur. My shirt was thorn. No. I realized that is was burned. Something had burned a hole through it. I tried to understand what was happening, when a flash and a boom coming from the sky made me realize what had happened.

I had been hit by a lightning.

I then looked at my chest, expecting to see some kind of scar, as mammals usually got when they were hit by lightning. However, there was no scar in there. There was no burnt fur or charred flesh. Only those glowing marks. It took me a while to understand what it was not normal to have glowing marks on your chest after being hit by a lighting.

I was still confused, and I guess that is why I thought about removing my shirt. That was when I saw that those glowing marks were not only on my chest, but all over my torso. That was when I realized that they were also on my arms. I think I lost nearly a minute looking at those strange marks on my body, before I finally caught a glimpse of Backstabber again.

He was looking at me with an even more shocked expression than when I tried to shot him.

I also stared at him for a while, as I suddenly reminded myself that he was a mage. And then, an association of ideas came into my head, and I finally realized what those glowing marks on my body were.

I had seen them before.

The first time was many years ago, when Ben pulled back the sleeve of his shirt to show me them.

Now, I had those same glowing marks all over my body.

I started laughing. I laughed like I had just lost my mind, as I realized that now I had my own magic circuits...

Everyone could only stare silently at Angus as he finished his story. Some of them in amazement. Some of them in skepticism. Some (like Yahya) seemed to have an indifferent expression on their faces.

"That's a load of crap." Horne said, finally breaking the silence.

"Well, this load of crap is what happened." Angus said, "I really turned into a mage."

"You can't 'turn' into a mage." The hybrid said as he looked at the horse with crossed arms. "That's not how it works."

"He is right." Josh said, looking at the horse as well.

"Well, do you have other explanation?" The horse said.

"Wait. So you can gain magic circuits if a lightning hit you?" Charles said, and he looked to be the one who was having the most trouble to follow up on everything that was happening.

"No, you can't." Horne said, "I don't believe it in the slightest. There is no way a lightning can just give magic circuits to someone who doesn't have them. It doesn't even makes sense."

"Well, it was what happened!" Angus said, "I can't really explain, okay? Neither could Backstabber, by the way! Maybe there was some kind of magic property on the lightning that hit me! Maybe I already had magic circuits and the lightning jumpstarted them! Maybe there were fairies playing around on those storm clouds! Maybe the magecraft god farted and that lighting that hit me came out of his butt! I don't know, and I don't care! All I care about, is the fact that now I can do things like this!"

Just as he finished saying this, Angus once more turned, making a finger gun with his hooved hand and pointing it. Another droplet of water materialized into his finger, and he fired it by slamming his thumb down. Three shots were fired like that, each one aimed at a different vase, all three set on by the side of the other, and all of them completely shattered as they were hit by the water bullets.

"My Etuskan vases!" Adrian cried in horror as he saw the very old, and expensive, vases of his collection being reduce to shards. Angus, on his end, was completely unfazed and simply looked at his hoof, as if contemplating what he had just done.

"Five years..." Angus said, seemingly to himself. "Five years studying magecraft and mastering all of the theoretical part of it, dreaming of one day being able to actually do it. And now I can."

He then added:

"After spending a few weeks training to actually pull out the practical part."

He then turned his gaze to the cheetah.

"By the way, you were right, Ben. It is harder than it looks."

Everyone remained silent after this. All of them looking at the horse, before Legoshi spoke:

"W-what about Backstabber?"

Angus looked at the wolf.

"D-did he... tried to kill you again?"

Angus let out scoffing sound.

"That little shit. As soon as he realized I had magic circuits he changed his tune again." Angus said, "The bastard was all over me. Honestly, it was creepy. He wanted to study me! Run tests on me and all! As if I was going to allow him to. Especially after he poisoned me. I made sure he got what he deserved."

The way Angus said that sent a shiver down the spines of some of the presents.

"Mr. Manechester..." Judy said, causing nearly all male horses to turn their heads to her. Angus knew she was talking with him because it was to him that she was looking. "What did you do?"

Judy sounded worried, and was just doing her job by asking a question like that. Angus, on his end, laughed.

"Oh, come on. I didn't do anything to him. Well, not directly, anyway." Angus said, sounding as if he was dismissing this as something unimportant. However, Judy continued looking inquiringly at him. The horse then explained:

"You see, I was not the only one than Backstabber crossed. He angered many other people. Mages, like himself. Powerful mages. In several senses of the word, and most of them were still out to get him."

Many of the presents already knew where this was going.

"I stayed with him for a while. Let him run some small 'exams' on me while I had him help me get the practical part right. Once I did... well, some of the guys Backstabber angered in the past received some anonymous tip about the ferret's whereabouts."

"Last time I saw him, he was bawling and begging while a rhino carried him away." Angus said, and scoffed again. "The small bastard didn't even maintained some dignity. And after all he told me about mages being proud until the bitter end..."

Everyone looked at him, no one really seeming like they knew what to say next. That was when Yahya asked:

"And the wolfskin?"

"Huh?" Angus said, turning to him. Yahya continued to look at him.

"You mentioned that 'Backstabber' said he would be 'keeping the wolfskin'." Yahya said, and then looked at the only garment that Angus was wearing. "Would it be that one, by any chance?"

Angus smirked.

"Very perceptive, huh?" Angus said, gesturing to the loincloth he was wearing. "Just look at it. Still had all of the fur and didn't rotted even a little bit. Whoever did this thing really knew what they were doing."

"Wait..." Charles said, looking at it. "You mean... this thing you're wearing actually is..."

"The actual skin of a dead wolf." Angus concluded, reaching out and untying the thing from his waist. "Take a look at this guy." Angus said, removing the skin and letting everyone take a look at the wolf he had been wearing.

"Sweet cheese and crackers!" Judy said, turning around and covering her eyes. Legoshi also did the same thing. Even Ben looked away, using his paw to cut of his vision from Angus' "parts".

"Oh, please." The horse said. "No need to be so bashful. We are all adults here."

The rest of the presents didn't seemed as affected by the naked horse. Including Nick, who was used to seeing naked mammals, as a regular patron of Mystic Springs. Yahya was not affect as well, as he continued to look at his naked grandson. However, most of his attention was focus on the wolfskin Angus was holding.

"I didn't kill anyone for it." Angus said, "Don't worry, I didn't hurt any wolf."

The way he said that and looked at Yahya caused a few of the ones around to raise their eyebrows at the horses. Yahya, on his end, only looked back at the younger horse.

"Well, that's good to know." Yahya said, looking at him. "But, this begs the question, where did you got that?"

Angus smiled.

"Oh, just from here." The horse said.

"When you say 'here', you mean..." Adrian said, and Angus answered:

"I mean here in this house. I found this old wolfskin hidden in a wooden box down there on the dungeons. It was on the same day you guys kicked me out. I was checking a thing in the dungeons, when I noticed some loose bricks. I pulled then, and that's when I found that box with the wolfskin inside. I thought it was fake at first, but I soon realized it was an actual wolfskin. And I also noticed that there were some papers inside."

"Papers?" Yahya asked.

"Some notes that were left with the thing." Angus said, "One was a letter from one of the workers of Jeremiah Manechester's property, saying how much he regretted what the wolfskin led him to do, and begging God to forgive him and save is soul. Another one was a letter from Archibald Manechester, the son of Arnoldo Manechester, saying that the skin was cursed, and begging to whoever found it to burn it."

Everyone heard it, and Judy made a connection.

"Jeremiah and Arnoldo... Those are the two members of the Manechester family said to have been killed by the hound."

Angus turned to look at the bunny, and he smirked.

"Yeah, the hound..." Angus said, chuckling, and turned his attention to Yahya.

"You are going to love this, Gramps." Angus said, and held the wolfskin close to his body. For a few moments, he just stood there, with the skin close to his body, and everyone just stared at him, as if they were wondering what was going on.

That was when the woolskin moved on its own.

First, it flared itself out, like the frills of the neck of a lizard doing an intimidated display, allowing everyone to see the clear shape of a wolf formed by the skin. Then, its arms and legs lashed out, wrapping around Angus' body. Angus, on his end, didn't reacted, and just allowed the wolfskin to cling on to him, and then to move around his body, into his back, and then the head of the wolfskin started forcing itself over the horse's head, while the rest of the skin spread unto to equine's back.

Then, it started to merge with him. The edges of the pelt started to merge with Angus' own skin, as the pelt nearly seemed like it was growing to encompass the entire horse. Angus' body twitched, and then he let out a guttural gasp as he doubled over, seeming as if he was having seizures.

Carolyn cried her son's name, but Angus ignored her. He was on all fours now, panting and letting out grunts, which soon started to turn into growls as his body changed. It was like back in the greenhouse, as his muscles and skeleton seemed to restructure themselves, as the pelt over his body and merged with him. His body was growing, as well as his muscles. The mammals around watched with a morbid interest as the horse changed before their eyes.

After half-a-minute, the horse was done. He stood upright once more, looking around as he now stood nearly twice as tall as before. He had a smirk on his muzzle, which had enlarged, and was now showing off his rows of sharp teeth.

"A-A-Angus..." Charles said, looking at the horse said, looking in amazement at the other horse. "Y-you are the Hound!?" the horse croaked out, and Angus looked at him for a few seconds.

"Well, I am now." Angus said, "Just like Archibald was before me. And like that worker on Jeremiah's house before him."

Yahya was serious as he looked at Adrian.

"Just what in the world is this?" Yahya asked, and Horne then said:

"Lycanthropy."

The eyes went to the hybrid, who continued:

"The magecraft that allows transforming and changing. Normally it allows you to change by summoning a more primitive part of your own nature, getting closer to your wild ancestors. But, making a horse gain claws and fangs? Now that is unusual."

"It's not only the claws and fangs." Angus said, looking at the hybrid. "I also get predator instincts."

Angus was smirking as he said that.

"Lycanthropy also brings forth the primitive instincts of a mammal, making them much stronger and harder to resist." The horse explained, "You basically become more primitive both in mind and body."

"Now, normally the instincts that become stronger are the ones of your own species. Except, of course, when you transform with the help of something like this wolfskin."

Angus looked at his transformed hoof. Well, it was harder to call it a hoof now, as it now had claws on each one of its three fingers, looking sharp enough to slice through the hide of a rhino.

"Yeah, horses never looked like this." Angus said, "This wolfskin does not turns you into a more primitive version of yourself. It turns you into a wolf. It turns you into a predator. So, it gives you the instincts of a predator. The instincts to hunt, the bloodlust. I'm sure you can imagine that, Gramps. Wearing the skin of a dead wolf, turning into a primitive wolf, and then receiving all of the most primitive instincts of a wolf. Imagine that happening to an herbivore, who never had to experience those instincts before, and suddenly being assaulted by them. It is not much different from going savage from a night howler plant, by what I heard."

"That was what happened to the mammals who used this skin." Angus concluded. "The worker on the farm wore it and went crazy with the predatory instincts. They made him go on the hunt and end up killing and eating old Jeremiah. Decades later, Archibald found the skin, and made the unfortunate decision of trying it on. I bet he was terrified when the skin finally came off and he realized that he had eaten his own father. That certainly explains the letter he left behind."

"You see, the legend of the Hound of Manechester is actually the legend of this wolfskin and the ones who wore it and went crazy."

"You don't seem to be crazy right now." Yahya pointed out, and Angus chuckled.

"Yes, I don't..." Angus said, and there was a note of smugness on his voice as he spoke that. "Because I'm not like the two others."

"You see, this skin basically forces the instincts of the wolf it used to be into the one who wears it, improved by a lycanthropic transformation, it can be hard to resist, be you prey or predator. Except, of course, if you have what it takes to push those forced instincts back into the wolfskin and only let them out enough for you to know what to do with the transformation you get."

"Having what it takes?" Yahya asked, "I assume you are not talking about a strong will, are you?"

Angus smirked with a mouth full of fangs.

"Magic circuits." The horse-turned-monster clarified. "I'm talking about magic circuits, Yahya. To resist the violent instincts induced by the wolfskin, you need to have magic circuits. You need to activate them and use your own magical energy to push back the instincts into the wolfskin and keep them from taking over. Those two poor sods didn't had any of that. You know, being both mundanes and all..."

Everyone looked at the transformed horse on the room.

"Mundanes, you say?" Yahya asked, "But, aren't you one as well?"

"Excuse me?" Angus said, looking at Yahya. "Have you not been paying attention?"

He had a condescending smirk on his face as he said that.

"I'm a mage now. Not a mundane." He said with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face. "Different from you, poor little fellas."

Yahya continued to look at him. Angus chuckled.

"You know, now I'm actually glad that I'm no longer part of this little family." He confessed, "It would be pretty embarrassing to me having to explain to the other mages that I'm related to you."

"What?" Adrian said, looking at him, "What did you just said, you brat!?"

"That being your son would be embarrassing to me." Angus said, now turning to face his father. "You might be a big deal among other mundanes, but among mages you amount to close to nothing, and so do your children."

"Hey!" Chandler said, as he glared at his brother, and Adrian was glaring at him with outrage.

"Curious how the world turns, no?" Angus said, "Five years ago, you kicked me out with only a suitcase and the clothes of my back, saying that I was an embarrassment to the entire family. Today, I'm way better than your whole family."

"Back then, I was just Angus Manechester, only the heir of some run of the mill rich family, living my life like a little playboy. Now look at me! I'm Angus Manechester! The first mage of the lineage of the Manechester clan!" Angus said in a way that was nearly as if he wanted everyone around to know just how important he was. "Of course, I'm still pretty much nobody once I am the first. But, it is still better than being a mundane... like your loser family."

He was looking at Adrian as he said that, and everyone was looking back at him, including Adrian, who was looking at him with rage.

"Now listen here you little shit-" Adrian said, walking in direction to Angus, with a finger raised as if he was ready to jam him in the other horse's chest. However, Angus was far faster. Before Adrian could even try and do something, Angus shot his hoof forward, grasping on Adrian's neck and hoisting him into the air.

"You listen here!" Angus said, as Adrian gasped in shock and choked as his own hooves went to Angus' wrist, trying to pry it open, but the fingers were not budging from his throat.

Everyone around, of course, reacted to this.

"Angus!" Ben cried out.

"Hey! Hey!" Chandler said, looking as his brother now held his father by the neck, holding him right on his eye-level.

"Drop him!" Judy said, lifting her dart gun and pointing at the transformed horse. "Angus Manechester, drop him now!"

Angus ignored her. He ignored everyone else, even the securities pointing dart guns straight at him. He has all of his attention focused on Adrian, who now tried uselessly to pry the fingers of the transformed horse out of his neck.

"You may have looked down on me five years ago. But not anymore." Angus said, his voice dripping with bile. "Now I'm the one who looks down on you. On all of you, mundanes!" He said, talking to his siblings and the rest of his family. "And I have every right to do so!"

The present mages shared looks, or they looked at the transformed mammal with anger.

"I'm above you now!" Angus continued, looking at his father as he continued to squeeze his neck, Adrian's eyes widened as he gasped and wheezed for breath. "I'm above you and your entire family. I can do things that you can't even dream about, and if you anger me, I can put an end to you, and all of your money and influence won't stop me!"

"Okay, that's enough." Marcy said, and she rose her paw and pointed it at the transformed horse. She made sure to aim her index finger right at his head, as her thumb and pinky were pointed outwards, and her other paw made a pulling gesture, as it pulling a string, before she let go. A projectile of pure magical energy came out of her finger, aimed right at the horse.

And it was intercepted in midair by a statuette that flew right on its way.

Marcy's eyes widened, and she then ducked right on time to dodge another object that came dangerously close to hitting her head.

She was surprised.

Not as much as for the objects having flew towards her energy arrow and towards her, but as to the one who made them do it.

"Ben?" Marcy asked, looking at her brother, who had his paw raised.

Ben himself blinked, and looked at his paw, as if not understanding why it was like that. It was as if he was trying to understand what had just happened. What he had just done.

Everyone else looked at the cheetah, including Angus. The transformed horse smirked as he saw this.

Then, he felt something hitting the back of his head hard enough to cause him to tumble slightly. However, this blow was not enough to knock him down. Only to make him a little woozy, but quickly recover and then look.

He looked at Yahya, and instantly knew that the older horse had just kicked him hard in the head while he was distracted.

"Now, that was sneaky." Angus said, steadying himself, while Yahya continued to look at him.

"This blow should have brought you down." Yahya said, looking at Angus, and the younger horse chuckled at him, while he still held Adrian firmly by the neck.

"It would, if I was not transformed." Angus explained to him. "The increased physical resistance is pretty neat."

"Yes, I figured it was something like that." Yahya said, and Angus looked at him.

"Look at you, figuring everything in your own." Angus sad, nearly as if he was talking to a foal, what caused Yahya to snort, but Angus continued:

"But, even if I was not transformed, this little stunt wouldn't have granted you much advantage."

Yahya looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, it wouldn't." Angus said, taking this simple raised eyebrow as a challenge. "It may would have five years ago, but not anymore! I'm much more than what I was back then! I'm not just a common horse who you can knock down and step over! I'm no longer on the same level of you and your family!"

Angus gave a single step in direction to Yahya, who tensed, as if ready to fight.

"I..." Angus said, baring his fangs. "...am no longer a mundane."

For a long moment, the two only continued to glare at each other, each one seeming like he were ready to act if the other tried anything. Everyone else just watched, many of them ready to do something at a moments notice, in case the transformed mammal tried to make any move.

And he did.

However, it was not a move anyone was waiting for.

Angus flinched, as his expression faltered. Then he started coughing. And he coughed more and more.

Angus gasped as he doubled, over, finally letting Adrian go. Adrian fell to the ground coughed himself, massaging his neck as he, like everyone else, now had his eyes on Angus, who was coughing madly, gasping and doubling over as he stumbled.

Some realized what was going on. Like Ben, for example.

"Change back!" Ben said, his voice filled with panic. "Angus, change back! Now!"

Angus finally started doing so. His bones popped back into their original form as his body got smaller, and then the wolf fur started receding. Angus even clawed at it with his claws, which were changing back into hooves, until it finally came out.

Angus held the shed wolfskin on his hoof as he went down on his hooves and knees. His cheeks puffed as something filled them coming from his insides, and he could not keep himself from spitting it out.

Everyone backed away with varying expressions of horror and disgust as Angus spat a huge glob of blood into the floor, still coughing and wheezing.

"Angus!" Carolyn said, rushing to her son. Ben also rushed, and he was kneeling by Angus' side alongside Carolyn as he spoke:

"Angus, how often have you transformed?" He asked, checking on the horse. "How long you remained transformed? How long did you waited between each transformation!?"

Angus didn't answered, he just continued panting, and coughed up a little more blood, which added to the pool forming on the floor. That carpet was ruined, that for sure.

"Angus, you need to be careful!" Ben said, while Carolyn did her best to comfort her son. "You can't just go using this kind of thing like that! Haven't they told you!? Physical transformations of any kind put a HUGE stress on the body! That's why lycanthropy can be dangerous! You need years of physical preparation to be able to handle the strain, and you need to use it with caution!"

"You need to watch the time you remain transformed, you need to wait a while between each transformation, and you should only transform a certain number of times a day!" Ben said, "Overusing it can be dangerous! Angus, you could die if you use it too much!"

Silence followed those words, broken only by the ragged breaths of Angus, before the horse spoke:

"Ben..."

The cheetah looked at him, and the horse then looked up at him.

"Would you... care if I died?"

The horse and the cheetah locked eyes for a few seconds, as Angus straightened himself. Then, Angus made a sudden advance onto the cheetah.

The next thing Ben knew, he could taste a metallic/salty flavor of blood on his mouth, as Angus crashed his lips on the cheetah's. The blood he just coughed out still fresh on his mouth as he kissed Ben.

Ben's eyes widened, and so did the ones of nearly everyone else around.

"MMM!" Ben said, as the naked horse kissed him by surprise, much like Gabe had done days before. However, Ben's reaction was a lot more energy than from when Gabe kissed him.

Ben put both of his paws on Angus' bare chest, pushing him away. As soon as their lips broke apart, Ben swung his paw, slapping Angus hard across the face.

Angus blinked, feeling a sting on his face, and knowing that Ben's claws had put a few scratches on his cheek with that slap. He could even feel a little blood trickling down. However, he could only smile and chuckle.

"Ah, Ben..." Angus said, looking at the cheetah, who was looking back at him with a surprised expression.

"I'm glad to see some things don't change, even after five years."

Ben continued look at Angus, who simply smiled back at him.

"Okay, I kinda got lost." Horne said.

"Really?" Angus asked, looking at the hybrid, before getting up. Some, once more, averted their gaze, as Angus was once more fully naked. "Well, don't blame you. After all, with all the effort they made sure to know no one else would find out..."

He turned his gaze at Adrian.

"Of course they would not tell you the real reason why they kicked me out and tried to pretend I didn't existed."

He glared at his father, looking at him. "After all, you said yourself that this was 'the greatest shame our family could have'. Don't you remember?"

It was just a few days after the event with Bogo. You did a pretty good job suffocating the entire thing. No news media was covering the event. But even you could not stop the rumors. The results of the elections spoke for themselves. Lionheart won, and now he was the mayor instead of you.

You were certainly on a bad mood. Everyone could tell this. Which was why everyone was treading very carefully as to not step on your hooves.

I was not so worried, after all, you were already mad at me for causing that mess on the first place. It was not as if you could get any madder at me.

I was naïve to think that.

I was just going back to my bedroom, wanting to think on how to proceed now. I was surprised for seeing you and Yahya both in there, waiting for me, and both glaring at me as soon as I came inside.

As soon as I saw the way you looked at me, Adrian, I knew I was in deeper than before.

That was when I noticed my bed. The mattress was toss aside, and that was how I had an inkling as to what was the reason you were looking at me like that.

After all, who doesn't have that collection of pictures and magazines that they keep under the mattress, right? I've always had my own collection. Since I was a teenage and well into my adult years.

It had always been pretty standard, hooved girls of all kinds, mostly zebras and horses like myself. But, on the past weeks and months, I got rid of those and replaced them with something new.

First it were predator girls. Then changed specifically to feline girls. Then it changed to feline males. And then to fat felines males. Most of them looked pretty similar to a certain feline I knew myself.

And now, they were bared for my father and grandfather to look.

Yahya stood on the corner of the room, resting his back on the wall while he had his arms crossed, seeming like he didn't even bothered on whatever would happen on that room. Adrian, on the other hoof, was trying to bore holes into me with his eyes, as he demanded me to explain all of those pictures and magazines.

Now, I could have lied. I could have said I had no idea what it was. That someone else had placed them there and I had never seen them before. However, that would he pointless, since it was obvious that they already figured out. I wasn't one that would just lie to save face.

Better face problems head on and take responsibility, right, Yahya?

"This is what it seems to be." Was what I answered. You didn't liked it very much, did you, Adrian? The way you punched me in the face hard enough to rupture my lip made that very clear.

Then you proceeded to insult me and make it very clear what you thought of "this degeneracy", and how I was bringing shame to the entire Manechester family. All the while Yahya just stood there and said nothing, only letting you do all the talking.

And boy, did you talk.

Calling me an embarrassment, a pervert, a depraved piece of shit. You certainly had a lot to say to me back on that day, didn't you?

You continued talking and talking, until you finally arrive on the main subject:

"Leave and never come back!" You said to me, making it perfectly clear I was no longer welcome on that house.

"You are no son of mine, you disgusting freak!" You certainly made your point across. You no longer considered me family. You would no longer consider me your son ever again. I could see it on your eyes filled with revulsion, as you looked at me as if I was cockroach.

Yahya didn't had this look. He only had the same "don't care enough to be bothered" look that he always has with his own family. But he said nothing. He didn't insulted me or showed any aggression to me, but it was clear that he shared of your opinions. You were basically kicking the one he chose as the heir of Beastar Corps out, and he wasn't saying a single word in my defense.

This only served to prove to me that he had of the same opinion. And that he agreed with part of what you said, at the very least.

That's how I knew that this was my last day as a Manechester, and that I would never be welcome in this house again.

"That's it?" Gazelle asked, breaking the silence that followed what Angus had just said, as everyone processed this information.

"That's why you kicked your son out?"

"Oh, it sure was, Maria." Angus said, looking at the popstar very briefly, before turning his gaze back at his father.

"He could forgive me for attacking that idiot." Angus said, "He could forgive me for causing a scandal that forced him to use millions of his money and start owing favors to some other people to sweep under the rug. He could even forgive me for causing him to lose the elections."

"But being, using one of the terms he used himself back on the day, a predo-sexual invert? Oh-ho-ho! That he could not forgive. Could you, Adrian?"

For a long moment, Adrian said nothing. His eyes went from his son to all of the other mammals present on that room, all of them looking back at him and waiting to see what he would say next. Adrian said nothing. Instead, he only turned his gaze down, as if he didn't dared to even look anyone in the eyes.

For all of the presents, this seemed to be enough answer.

"Yes, you could not forgive it." Angus said, "That's why you tried to pretend I never existed. You didn't wanted to pretend I was dead, for this would mean that you would still have sired 'a mammal like me'. No, you preferred to pretend I was never even born. So you kicked me out of your house, threw away all of my things and erased all traits of my existence, only so you could say you never had a son like me, ain't that right?"

Adrian flinched with every word Angus said, his hooves closing into fists as Angus continued talking.

"That's why you told me very clearly that you would kill me if I ever dared to return to your house!"

"And yet you came back!" Adrian finally said, getting on his hooves again and glaring at Angus, who returned the anger with coldness. "You came back! You stalked my house! You broke the windows and painted threats on our walls! And you broke inside!"

Angus continued looking at him, and then he raised an eyebrow.

"Broke inside?"

"Yes!" Adrian said to him, "You broke into my house, ate our food, brought bird bones inside, urinated on our walls and floor and you even masturbated on the furniture!"

"Wait, he did what!?" Charles, looking shocked, and so did many of the guests. Angus, however, only looked at his father with confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Angus said, "Okay, maybe I sneaked around the house, broke the windows and sprayed things on the walls, but I never got inside the mansion. This is the first time."

"And the last of them all!" Adrian said with anger. "I told you this once, and I'll say it again of the last time! Get out of my house and never DARE coming back!"

For a long moment, Angus and his father only glared at each other, before Angus said:

"Whatever."

With this, the younger horse walked off, picking up the discarded wolfskin, tying it once more around his waist, and starting to walk away. It seemed that he was doing what he had been told, and was simply leaving the house, and everyone looked at him as he went.

Including Carolyn, who was watching her soon being kicked out of the house.

Again.

Without doing nothing to stop it.

No.

"Wait!" Carolyn said, causing Angus to stop and look at her.

"Don't go." Carolyn said, and Angus raised an eyebrow at her. "Stay for a while. I can have a bedroom prepared for you."

"Carolyn!" Adrian looked at his wife. "What are you doing!?"

"I'm caring for my son!" Carolyn said to her husband. "Like I should have done five years ago when you decided all on your own that he was no longer part of this family!"

"You can't be serious!"

"You can bet your hooves I am!"

"This is my house, woman!" Adrian said, "It's my house and I decide-"

"IF HE LEAVES THEN I LEAVE AS WELL!"

Everyone stepped back with the intensity off Carolyn's scream. Adrian, on his end, could not have made a more shocked expression had he actively tried, and he could only stare at Carolyn, who looked back at him with anger.

"I'm not just staying silent while you kick my foal out again." Carolyn said, with an assertiveness that Adrian have seen only a few times. "My son is STAYING!"

She glared at Adrian's shocked face for a few moments, as if challenging him to try and say anything about it, before she turned her gaze to her son, her features softening.

"Angus, you can stay here as long as you want." Carolyn said to him. "At least until you find a another place."

Angus looked at his mother with mild surprise for a few moments, before he said:

"Well, I kind of already have a place to stay..."

A hurt look passed by Carolyn's features.

"But, it is not nearly as nice as this mansion." Angus continued, and then he smirked.

"Yeah, I guess I can stay here for a while. Just to save money on rent and food."

It seemed that it was solve, as Angus turned back at the others on the room, opening his arms wide.

"Seems like I'm back, foal!" He said, a huge smirk on his face as he looked at everyone. "Aren't you all happy? I'm kinda of happy for being back! Think maybe we should celebrate? But, kinda late for a party. Oh, I know! Let's take a picture! Who has a cellphone with camera?"

Everyone looked at the horse, and it was Nick who rose a paw.

"Great, take a picture!" Angus said, rushing to Ben and his brother. Soon, the horse had an arm around each one of them, pulling them close to himself. Both of them were surprised, and both seemed pretty uncomfortable for being so close to the naked horse, who only looked at Nick.

"Come, Wilde! Snap this picture! To celebrate this moment!"

Nick was easily visibly lost. He was good at hiding his emotions. However, at that moment, he was not able to hide how lost he was feeling at that moment. He was really not sure what to do next. Perhaps that was why he did as Angus said, and pulled out his phone, pointed at the grinning horse who had an arm around his awkward brother and the other around Benjamin, and snapped a picture.

This picture, which marked the official return of Angus Manechester not only to Zootopia and the house where he grew up, but to the world of living as well.

Aaaaaand this is it!

That too longer than expected, and I feel like the ending was a little rushed... But, oh well.

This will be the last post for a while, as I'll be focusing on other stories for a while now, which are of mature content, so some of you may not qualify for reading them.

Also, for more Zootopian vocabulary: Etuskian = Etruscan

On another note, I've added new covers for some of my stories! I made them myself using a free website named Canva, which I learned about through my teacher on my classes of creative writing.