Wolves of Night and Blade: Book I

by One of Nine


39. Groundwork

“—AND DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT COULD HAPPEN NOW THAT THE TREE OF HARMONY IS GONE?!” Shouted a very angry Celestia, glaring daggers at both Fang and me. The former Element Bearers were scattered about the Princess’ office, frozen in terror at seeing the blazing alicorn. “TIREK COULD ESCAPE AND WE’D BE HELPLESS, GROGAR COULD COME BACK FROM THE DEAD—"

The alicorn had been going on like this for the past thirty minutes, eyes shining white and hair ablaze as she scolded us from behind her desk. And from what I could tell by her body language, she was afraid we would lash out back at her. The moment she set eyes on us; I could tell that she knew. But seeing as she was simply scolding us, and not punishing, I knew she didn’t want to encourage our wrath.

“Tia, while I can see what it is you mean, I do not hold any guilt for what I did.” I said sternly, my body unflinching as her rant was halted. I felt Fang give me an odd look from my right, a small amount of guilt pooling in my mind. “But I would rather rid our nation of such slanderous protection than let it prolong. And for that matter, I would like to point out that the Tree tried to assassinate my knight, Obsidian Fang. You know I cannot let that go unpunished.”

Tia sighed, her eyes and mane returning to normal as she fell back in her chair. “Lulu, I know you’ve never liked to let unjust actions slide, but wasn’t this excessive? Ending the Tree of Harmony will not only leave Equestria defenseless, but the public will be outraged.”

“We have an army; we should use it.” I smirked, stepping up to the desk and looking on the alicorn with a hard stare. “Besides, I do not want to always rely on magical artifacts to save us. Sometimes we need to rely on our own strength, rather than crutches. And you let the Tree of Harmony become a crutch for this nation. I just snapped it out from under you, Tia… what are you going to do about it?”

Tia returned my stare with hesitation, her face darkening as she stood to get in my face. “You have put this nation in jeopardy, Luna, and I will not stand for it.”

“Four thousand years and all you could do was build a new fancy house on a mountainside, not even well fortified.” I glared back, fluffing my wings to make myself look bigger, more threatening. “You could have at least built it into the mountain, everypony would’ve felt safer in that, were it the case. We need not rely on a shiny lawn ornament for protection.”

“No, of course not, you just let a huge unknown Elemental take over an entire forest, then help it burn down all the old shrubs, probably killing all the animals too!” She growled, an almost pathetic sound to my ears.

“I know for a fact that we did it because Aesc asked, he didn’t demand it. And the Lord has said that if someone asks for help, we should give it. Besides…” I then reached back and pulled Fang next to me, hugging him as his face turned red. An adorable sight to be sure. “I couldn’t leave Fang there in such a dark forest.”

“You make it sound like I’m some lost puppy…” Grumbled the Warg, pulling his arm out of my grasp and using my head as an armrest. “Anyway Celestia, yeah Equestria’s defenseless at the moment, but are there any enemies you need to fear right now? As far as I can tell, Equestria was always lacking in the security department. So if there ever was some big bad you had to fear, if they were smart, they would’ve taken out the Tree already and won.”

The office doors suddenly burst open, the bane of my existence stomping into the room. “AND HOW DO WE KNOW YOU’RE NOT SOME ASSASSIN OR SPY, SENT TO DO JUST THAT?!”

Fang snarled under his breath and looked over his shoulder at Blueblood. “Because if I was, I would’ve killed you, idiot, the day I met you.”

“Ha! Only a monster could dream up such hideous things!” Snarked the noble.

“Takes one to know one.” I growled next to Micah, stepping out from under Fang’s arm and turning to face the colt. “You dare interrupt our meeting? A meeting you were not allowed to join, nor participate in. Get out, colt.”

Blueblood looked over to Tia with a pleading face, begging her to stand up for him, but the alicorn looked on him with a soft glare. “Unfortunately Blueblood, she is right. You were not invited to this meeting.”

“B-but Auntie?!”

“OUT WORM!!” I barked, my teeth showing as the volume of my voice sent him back a step. “You are not welcome.”

The weeping stallion raced down the hall, probably to go lye under his bed and cry. I turned back to Tia; my expression softer but still unmoving. “Tia, this foolishness has to stop. Lay down your pride and just move on.”

The alicorn sat back down in her seat, sighing to herself. “I-I just… I just want everypony to be safe.”

“I know you hate to hear this, but you are wrong. Get your act together Tia and protect your country. No more loose cults, no more nobles leeching off the crown, and no more housing that pathetic scum you call nephew.”

“Here, here!” Cheered Rarity, getting confused and irritated glances. “T-the last part… k-kick Prince Blueblood o-out…”

Fang struggled for a moment, looking like he wanted to say something until finally he looked to Tia and me, jabbing a thumb at the mares behind. “I’m sorry to say this; but what are they still doing here? They’re not politics, and they aren’t government officials.”

Tia suddenly looked shocked and then cross, looking ready to object until I stepped in. “I agree.”

“W-what?!” Screeched all ponies present, looking at the Wargess in slight horror.

“Fang is correct, they should not be here. Work of the Crown is not their business, Tia.”

“Why is it you always side with him, Luna?” The alicorn asked in genuine curiosity.

I crossed my arms, bringing up my guard. “Possibly because he’s the only one lately who’s been talking sense? Through his observations, I’ve seen numerous holes on this nation, ones I feel need to be sealed.”

“He didn’t… use any dark arts on you, did he?”

My jaw hung slack in shock and horror, Fang looked at her, eyes ablaze and his temper rising to dangerous levels. “Are you suggesting that I brainwashed her?! Are you serious?!”

“I’m just asking, it’s not a—”

“Actually Tia, I think we are done here.” I seethed, gently tugging Micah towards the door. “I’m looking forward to that ‘retirement plan’ of yours Celestia, I am most certainly going to enjoy it.”

We then left the oh-so-wise Celestia with six gaping mares, leaving her to play a hundred questions. It began with me leading Fang along, our destination unknown, but soon I was leaning on him, tired from the day and my idiot of a sibling. He soon steered us toward my office, where he sat me down next to the warm hearth. He then asked for a maid to bring us some refreshments and placed a fuzzy blanket over me, a soft hum escaping me as I snuggled into the warm fuzz.

After a while, the drinks arrived; herbal tea for me and hot cocoa for Micah. My boyfriend sat across from me, steaming cup in hand as he stared into the fire. I took a few sips of my drink, mulling over what Tia had said. “Micah? You didn’t use any…”

“No.” He answered harshly as his brows furrowed, downing half his cup. “Why ask?”

“I… I don’t know.” I sighed, not knowing how to word my thoughts. “I’m just very tired of all this. I’m tired of these ponies… I know it sounds selfish… but I just need a vacation from all of this.”

He didn’t reply right away, glaring into the fire with his beautiful eyes. Finally, he breathed a long sigh. “Maybe talk with your mom tonight and… ask for a family reunion? If not, my house is finished, and I’m almost done unpacking. So, maybe you could stay with me and Haven for a while, away from everything.”

“I would love to, but I want to be rid of these Sun Priests before any of that.” I joined him in staring at the fire, taking another sip of my tea, licking around my fangs. “If nothing else, I would take sitting by a river, leaning against a big tree, and reading a book. Just… a quiet moment.”

A sudden explosion rocked the castle, startling us both.

“Request denied apparently.” Grumbled the Warg.

I started to get up, but Fang leapt to his feet and motioned for me to stay seated in my warm blanket. He then walked over to the door and asked a guard what happened. The Warg returned with a hand clenched and a scowl.

“Sun Priests are attacking again.”

My eyes shot wide open, my jaw gritting as I sat up. Micah stopped me again, a tender hand on my cheek. “You’ve dealt with enough today, stay here, finish your tea, and I’ll deal with this.”

“Mic—” He silenced me with a brief kiss on the lips, my face warming seconds later as I stared at him, secretly wanting more. All four hearts pounding like war drums.

“You stay.” He whispered in a commanding voice, soft but firm as he pointed to himself.

“I go.” He then wagged his pointer finger back and forth. “No following.”

He ended his little speech with another quick kiss, leaving me with butterflies in my stomach. I melted in my seat with a dreamy sigh. I knew for a fact that he could take care of himself.

-=Fang’s POV=-

Hearing another explosion, I charged down the hall toward the front gate of the castle. I soon burst through the doors, seeing six tanks rolling up to the gate, firing oversized bullet after bullet. A snarl warmed my throat as I stalked toward the tanks, two of their long barrels slowly turning toward me. One shot was fired as I spun to the right to dodge it, another zipped passed my head a moment later. I then extended my right arm out, my hand ready to grasp at something. Said object came barreling through the far wall, leaving a trail of holes as my new Konda sword flew into my hand, lightening flashing across its blade. I figured I had enough practice with fire, so I had decided to test how my lightening would hold against these fools.

I then began spinning my sword as two more shells were fired, both deflecting off the electrified blade. Rushing forward, I slashed the air in front of the first tank, a wave of electricity frying the war machine. Stomping once, a large boulder propped the tank up, its bumper barely touching the ground as I flipped it atop the tank behind it. Smiling at my handiwork, I jumped high with the help of jets as thunder clouds gathered in the sky. Lifting my sword above my head, my arms brought it down just as lightening struck it, obliterating the two tanks with a single strike.

Two down, four to go.

Leaving my sword in the former tanks, I brought up a wall of stone, sending it barreling for another tank, this one not turning in time to blast it. Propelling myself to another, I grasped the long barrel of the main canon and squeezed. The barrel was plugged in a matter of seconds, the shot was fire, and it was sent back into the tank’s body. The result was a muffled explosion from the interior, smoke and the scent of death rising from the hatch.

“Need some help?” Asked Akiira as she ran past me, proceeding to tear another war machine in half with her Chroma blades.

I smiled, calling my sword to me. “Sure, you want to last two, since I had all the fun?”

The grey Wargess seemed to ponder this for a moment, watching as the final two tanks started backing up, attempting to flee. She ended her pondering with a hum. “Hm, sure…”

With that, the Wargess rushed forward as her Chroma blades surged, only to stop dead in her tracks as knives were thrown at her feet, neat and long red ribbons tied to the hilts. We both looked up to see something like a Warg slide down the roof of the castle, jumping and flipping onto the archway of the gate. The figure had snowy white fur, the snout was thin and pointy, a Chinese straw hat placed on their head that hid their face. They were dressed in short brown robes, a thick red scarf wrapping around the neck, and they had a long fluffy white tail. However, I blinked several times as I saw that they not only had one tail, but… six?! Each tail slinked and embraced the gate’s ruined frame.

“Ok… what’s a Kitsune doing here?” Whispered Akiira, her eyes staring in curiosity and confusion.

My eyes widened at those words. “W-wait… a Kitsune?! Like… a nine tailed fox?!”

Said Kitsune huffed at that, leaping over us, and pulling a wooden staff off their back, landing on the closest tank. Spinning their staff, a red Chinese dragon appeared in a flurry of smoke and attacked the opposite tank, both gone in seconds. The Kitsune then leapt up above their tank, striking the hatch as it was bashed inward, and spun the staff on its tip, an explosion enveloping the tank soon after. The six-tailed fox then jumped down and landed, looking on us with sky blue eyes. We stared at one another for a long moment, then like a whisp of smoke, the Kitsune disappeared.

“What… just happened?” I asked my girlfriend’s sister, leaning my sword against a ruined and burning tank.

“I think… we were just assisted by a Kitsune of the north. But, they never come this far east, they would have to get passage from the Yuur!”

“Ok, back up please! First I see a Kitsune, and now you’re taking about some other species called the Yuur?! What is going on?!” I stressed, growing highly confused.

“The Yuur are another clan of Wargs who live on cliff sides and ravines; they, like the Kaldor and Gorokha, have wings. They are one of the more territorial Warg tribes, more likely to kill any intruders, especially if they aren’t fellow Wargs.” Akiira rubbed her temples, looking ready to collapse from brain damage just like me. “And the Kitsune are a race similar to us but are more fox than wolf-like. They also gain more tails as they age, and their hearing is far better than ours. They are seen as cunning tricksters, more likely to play pranks than actually help. Which is why I’m… confused about this… very confused…”

“Is it bad that we had help from him?”

“No, it’s not, but she will probably call in a favor in exchange for helping us.”

“Oh— WAIT, THAT WAS A GIRL?!” I exclaimed in disbelieve.

“Yes…” She smirked, dissipating her magical swords. “Why? Can’t tell without her assets visible? Or is your nose plugged? You can always tell what gender they are by scent; you know that right?”

Stuffing my hands into my pockets, I glared at her with my head lowered in shame. “I couldn’t tell. And besides, I haven’t even learned the difference between telling!”

“Oh yeah, sure~.” The Wargess laughed at me, but with a thought, I sent a raincloud to drizzle over her. The poor girl was soaked in moments. “HEY!!”

I barked out my cackling as I raced back into the castle, sword in hand and fleeing the enraged and drenched Wargess. “Muhahaha!! MY REVENGE IS COMPLETE!”

-=Later=-

“Really?” Luna commented with a surprised tune, a small amount of anger hidden below. “That many?”

“Yeah, this doesn’t bode well for us. We need to step up our game.” Akiira sighed, sitting to the Princess’ left in a sofa she’d pulled up, Roret lying beside her.

Once again, I sat across from Luna, the sisters’ sofa spanning between us next to the lit hearth. “One of the questions I want answered is, how do they keep showing up on our doorstep out of the blue? Do they teleport? Has someone ever done that with tanks before in pony, or any other species’ history?”

“Not to my knowledge. But most of what I know is of Warg, Kitsune, and Krah’tri histories. I don’t know any more sadly.” Roret groaned as she stretched, careful not to push her litter mate of her seat. “But then, none of us really needed tanks, and if we did, we always kept them at home base. We never really dragged them around anywhere.”

“That’s true, Dad and Papa never did want to deal with those kinds of expenses when it came to manufacturing.” The grey Wargess sighed, looking through a long list of facts on a paper-flat smart phone. “They were never big when it came to wasting marrow, they were cheap that way. But, getting back to the subject… these cultists are beyond a problem, why has no-one done anything?”

“Because my adoptive sister is a fool.” The Lunar Princess stated in a puff. “She is too concerned about her precious image that she can’t even be bothered to rid her country of filth like them.”

I leaned forward, placing a hand on Luna’s shoulder. “Weather by my hand or another, they need to be delt with. And I not sure about Celestia, but I knew she does need to be brought down a peg.”

Luna smiled back, placing her third cup of tea on the table to her right. “In order to have more say in Tia’s court, you would have to at least be ranked as a Baron.”

“And a Baron is…?”

“A Baron, at least to Warg society, is the rank above a Lord. An older name for that rank would’ve been Gamma. As a Baron, you would have more influence in politics and the court, the Alpha would see you as someone to consider when making decisions. But I doubt you want to get into politics, you seem more like a guy who likes a simple life.” Concluded Roret, admitting her opinion of me.

“Well, you’re not wrong. I’ve never been one for politics.” I confessed, falling back in my chair, folding my hands together under my nose. I imagined I looked like some brooding dark lord in the firelight. “But we still need a way to track them, and in the end, hunt them down.”

“I believe I can assist with that.” Came a voice from the shadows, and from the far corner of the room stepped the Kitsune from earlier, his blue eyes shimmering in the dark.

We all gaped at him, Akiira the first to speak. “Y-YOU’RE A DUDE?!”

The six-tailed fox grinned with a short nod. “Indeed.”

“BUT HOW?! I SWARE I COULD SMELL YOUR SCENT! YOU WERE FEMALE!!”

“I use a spell to hide my own scent and replace it with that of a female.” Smiled the Kitsune as he stepped closer into the light of the fire. “It becomes very effective when deceiving others, helps me in my line of work.”

“Wha—” Akiira froze in shock, falling back into her seat. I on the other hand couldn’t take it anymore and burst into laughter.

“Bahahaha!!” I through my head back and slumped in my chair. “I so wish I’d placed a bet with you, Akiira!”

“Shut up!” Huffed the Wargess, slouching.

“What do you want?” Asked Luna, looking at the Kitsune with interest as I got my cackling under control. “Are you a spy?”

“If that is what my chosen master would have me do, then yes, I will be a spy.” Replied the fox. “It is a custom of my people to choose a master to follow under after we ascend through the Art of Stealth. It was my wish to find a warrior with a cause, so that I may fight for them. And it is he whom I have found worthy of my sword.”

The ninja Kitsune nodded to me, catching everyone’s attention, looking from me to him and back. I sat up straighter and looked on the fox. “So… you chose me as your master? What kind of cause did you hear about?”

“You wish to hunt down the cultists and end them. You wish to bring peace where there is none.” He stated, walking up to me and kneeling, laying his katana at my feet. “Will you take me as your servant?”

“When will your duty to me end?” I asked, wanting to know more. “And are you willing to go against me if I stray, or if I choose vengeance over what is right?”

“I shall serve you to my last breath. But…” The Kitsune looked ready to answer, but stopped himself, thinking deeply. “You would ask that I, your servant, turn on you should you seek vengeance? Why?”

I took a long moment to answer. “Because I am afraid that at some point, I might want vengeance, but my God has commanded that vengeance is His. His alone; I have no right to take that away. I am afraid that if I lose someone close to me, I will want revenge. Even if I beg you on my knees, will you stand firm?”

Again, he took his time answering. Bowing low with his nose to the floor, his words muffled slightly. “I-I will, even if my master were to beg me. I see that you are more than just someone with a vision, you are a Warg of great valor and truth. If you will it, I shall do so. If you choose me, I am yours to wield.”

“How good are you at stealth and reconnaissance?”

He sat up, still on his knees. “As you could see by our meeting this evening, I am well adapt at stealth. I have done little investigating, but as I serve, my skills shall grow.”

I nodded. “And what will you do once my vision is complete? When all is well?”

“I will become your guard; you shall come under no harm while I am near.”

I then closed my eyes, thinking all of this over. I knew we needed to find the cult’s minor and main bases. We needed someone who could work from the shadows and find them efficiently, but at the same time, I didn’t want to take advantage of him. But if this were something he was committed to for the rest of his life, if this were his peoples’ way, I couldn’t deny him. “Very well, I am your master.”

The Kitsune bowed again, burying his snout into the carpet. “Thank you, master! I shall not let you down!”

“Tell me, what is your name?”

“I am called Niko.” The newly named Kitsune bowed again.

“You can stand Niko. I have a small test for you.” I said, getting an idea. “Go and find where a little silver Wargess is, tell me who she is with. But do not be seen.”

“It shall be done.” With that, he was gone, fading into the shadows.

“At least we have that figured out, now Fang has his own spy.” Commented Roret, laying back down and stretching out across the sofa, stealing Akiira’s seat. “But we’ll probably need more if we are to find all the bases.”

“Agreed, we will need more spies if want to find them all quickly.” Nodded Luna, looking back to the fire.

I sat back in my chair, my fingers embracing each other again under my nose as I thought. “As far as I am aware, there are no spies in this country’s government, and that alone is very concerning. Did Celestia trust her neighbors so much that she didn’t keep tabs on them? Or even try to root out any criminal underground here in Equestria?”

“From what I’ve seen in the history books, none.” Sighed the Lunar Wargess in slight dismay, pulling the blanket closer. “Though, she could have simply erased all records of such content.”

“History is written by the victors. And seeing as Celestia was probably the victor, she didn’t want anyone remembering those events. That’s pathetic! One should always learn from mistakes and failures.” I groaned, my head falling onto the back of my chair. “But now I kinda want to know what happened. In almost every fiction I read, be it a book series or game, I loved digging into the lore of the fictional worlds.”

“Uh oh, Roret, we have another lore nerd on the premises.” Akiira mockingly gasped, falling onto her sister in a dramatic faint. Needless to say, Roret didn’t like being a cushion.

“Yeah, well…” The red Wargess struggled to shove her sister off her, Akiira falling to the floor with a loud thump. “I doubt we could nerd out on anything similar.”

“What kinds of fiction do you like?” I asked, picking my head up and looking to see her. “Fantasy, futuristic, steam punk, or aliens to name a few.”

“I guess… I would say that old and futuristic westerns are my most favorite. I just like the simplicity of the story, there’s not too many plot twists, so no-one gets too lost.” She shrugged.

I shrugged. “We all have different tastes. I’d watch a few good old westerns here and there, like Tombstone or Shang-high Noon.”

Akiira loomed over her litter mate, glaring daggers. “You dumped me on the floor!”

“You sat on me, you big oaf.”

“If you push me again, I WILL TAKE YOU AND ALL THAT YOU HOLD DEAR DOWN WITH ME!!”

In response, Roret shoved her sibling, a playful smirk on her face. “Push.”

Akiira roared angerly, her eyes alight in blue flames as a sparking portal opened behind her. I took a peek through to see a grassy valley, a few fluffy sheep dotting the plains. Akiira glared dangers at her smiling sister. “I’m turning your bug collection to dust.”

With that, the Wargess stepped back and vanished. Roret rolled her eyes and stood up, her eyes lighting up too. Another portal opened just above where Akiira had been standing and with a sudden thud, said Wargess tumbled through just before the portal closed.

Akiira stood up, glaring at her sister in the eye, pushing their faces into each other. The tension lasted around two whole minutes, neither Luna nor I daring to move. Finally both sisters burst out laughing, hugging one another before Akiira drew the other into a noogy. Both me and Luna breathed a sigh of relief.

“How’d you get me from way over here?” Asked Akiira, the two Wargesses flopping down on the couch.

“You should know, portals are my specialty.”