It was tragic, how quiet the day had been before the attack.
As Shiva sat at the head of the wolves’ campfire, listening to their stories, she gazed around at her pack with a motherly pride.
It still baffled her, how they had come into existence: a subset of canines, evolved to have the same abilities as ponies. She remembered awakening, very confused, out in the forest. And how bit by bit, she managed to discover her fellow wolves. From the magic casting wargs to the owl-winged pterolycus to the powerful fenrirs. With her as the rare Lupa wolf, blessed with magic, wings and strength, it was almost funny how quickly she was able to assume command.
But then, of course, they learned that there were others like them. But not wolves; no these were ponies. Unicorns instead of wargs. Pegasi instead of pterolycus. And earth pony instead of fenrir.
Too often, she remembered the looks of fear the ponies would give her kind; how they wanted them away from their territory, and took even the smallest of growls as threats. But Shiva had no time for their paranoia and fear. All she and her people wanted was to be left to their own devices.
Thankfully, many of her wolves shared this ideology.
“So, the Pack Mother had four daughters, right?” one of the wolves was telling the others. “And she’s hoping that the son of this stronger Pack Father will take an interest in one of them. So when the Heat Season comes around, and the son of the Pack Father wanders into her territory, she sends her daughters out to try and charm the young wolf. But one of the daughters isn’t as strong as the others. She’s got a bad leg, struggles to catch up, and is the last one to reach the young male. Despite that, the male still goes over to him. The sisters are confused. ‘Why do you want her?’ they demanded. ‘She’ll never be able to run and hunt with you like we can!’ In response, the male revealed a splinted leg. ‘Neither can I,’ he replied. ‘And I’m hoping for someone that’ll understand.’”
The narrator smiled up at the gathered wolves, peering down at the pups, who were slowly nodding off.
“And she did understand,” the narrator concluded. “The two got together not long after, and had a good life together.”
The wolves clapped softly, careful not to wake the pups who had fallen asleep. Shiva hummed.
“A lovely tale,” she said. “And a good note to end on.” She nodded to the parents of the pups. “Tuck in your kids, and get ready for bed yourselves. We’ve got another big day ahead.”
Shiva fluffed her alicorn-like wings, and lifted herself up. As the wolves returned to their respective dens, one wolf walked alongside Shiva as she returned to her own den.
“You think things will ever be like that story,” the wolf asked. “You know… with the ponies?”
Shiva’s grin faded. “I don’t want to think about them right now,” she admitted.
“But… shouldn’t we?” her companion asked. “First, they made us give up our land. T-Then we had that trouble with the earth ponies. And we keep catching them spying on us, and…”
“And they have nothing to worry about,” Shiva assured him. “Luke, tell me: what have we ever actually done to the ponies?”
Luke hummed. “Grossed them out with our hunting habits?”
“Aside from that.”
He pondered. “Looked different?”
“Aside from that,” Shiva insisted.
He blinked, scrunching his face up, before sighing. “I got nothing,” he admitted.
“Exactly,” Shiva grinned. “As long as we stick to our territory, they have no reason to go after us.”
For a moment, Luke started to nod at her logic. But then…
Thunk.
Shiva blinked. Why was there an arrow in her mate’s eye? He seemed confused by it as well, reaching up to touch at the sharp point that had punched through his skull.
“B-But…” he mumbled. “You just said…”
His voice trailed off, and he slumped to the ground. And as Shiva blinked, trying to comprehend what had just happened, a barrage of spells slammed into the ground.
Shiva tumbled into the dirt, the screams of her people lifting into the air.
Desperate, she pulled herself up, her own fur glowing as her magic flared to life. But… who was attacking them? And why?!
Shiva made out several shadowy forms, firing arrows from the tree line. Another barrage of shimmering spells launched into the air and sped towards them like shooting stars.
Growling, Shiva lifted a magic barrier. The spells clashed off her shield with explosions like fireworks, staggering the alicorn, but sparing several of the wolves as they raced out. A pterolycus led a pack of his fellows towards the shooters, but a volley of arrows knocked the leader and two others out of the air.
“Mages!” Shiva boomed. “Cover fire!”
The mages scrambled into position, several of them still bleary eyed and disoriented. Shiva’s heart tore at how disorganized they were; a far cry from how they could track and bring down prey.
Who was doing this?!
Shiva turned back to the battlefield, the wargs taking her shield and allowing her to return fire with spells. With a sortie of fenrirs, wargs and pterolycus behind her, Shiva charged the enemy line, her fur glowing as she deflected arrows and spells alike.
But then one spell, more powerful than the others, crashed into her shield and broke it. Shiva was flung off her paws and onto the ground.
As the air left her body, she struggled to lift herself up, her heart tore again as the sortie she had led was cut down. Beams of light shot through the air, disintegrating any wolves that got close to her.
She had to stop this! She had to protect her pack! Shiva clawed her way back up to her paws… only to find a familiar face standing before her.
“S-Starswirl?” Shiva stammered, staring up in disbelief at the master unicorn. “Why?”
The unicorn didn’t answer. The last thing Shiva saw was his blue eyes glaring down at her in contempt, as his horn lit up with the power of a thousand suns.
Two Days Earlier…
The doors to Luna’s room burst open, as the Princess of the Night stormed inside. In the shadows, the figure watched as Luna shut the door, struggling to keep her princess visage up.
“Blasphemy,” she hissed under her breath. “Scandalous vagrants! How dare they…?”
The figure knew her pain. No doubt Princess Celestia had once again proven how far she had fallen.
There had been a time when Celestia had remembered the value of sisterhood. When she had actually cared about her family. But that time was long past. Now, it was all about the nobles. Lord Ego, Lady Proper, Count Excellence. Those were just a few of the many subjects that had taken over Celestia’s life.
The figure recalled the throne room, where Luna and Celestia apparently ruled as one. Yet, these nobles would seem to forget that; bowing and scraping the ground before Celestia, and for Celestia only.
“Praise and Honor be to the Sun Raiser,” they’d cry. “The Bringer of Life. The Princess of the Sun. Hail Princess Celestia, Ruler of Equestria.”
The figure remembered Luna grinding her hooves into her throne, impatiently waiting for her own dues to be given. But there would be no prayers or praise given to her. They only ever had eyes for her sister. And her sister only ever seemed to have eyes for them.
“It’s not my fault,” Celestia would insist later. “They just seem to prefer the sun a bit more.”
“The night is important too!” Luna had insisted. “Am I not important enough to be considered?”
Celestia laughed, a practiced little titter that made fur stand on end. “Sister, if it was that important, surely they’d remember.” She’d sigh when Luna’s grimace only deepened. “I’ll talk to them. I’ll see what I can do.”
But talk did nothing. If anything, it only made things worse.
When the next meetings came, the nobles glowered at Luna; a mask of sourness and dislike that no amount of sugar or praise to Celestia could cover up. And when Luna confronted her sister again on their actions, even her sister’s eyes had an odd light of suspicion.
“Well, surely, you wouldn’t be doing something to earn their dislike, would you?” Celestia asked. “Nothing involving those strange ‘wolves’ that inhabit the forests around our kingdom?”
“The wolves?” Luna had not even given the canids a second thought. “What business is it of theirs?”
“They are meat eaters,” Celestia replied. “Hunters. Repeatedly, the nobles and their subjects have born witness to the cold-hearted murder of squirrels, birds and deer.” She leaned closer. “And they seem to have a habit of crossing territories with the thestrals you insist on having as your Night Guard.”
Luna rolled her eyes. “Celestia, the wolves have but a different culture from us. That does not make them villains. That does not make them like Sombra or Chrysalis.”
Celestia hummed, unconvinced. “Be that as it may, fear drowns the hearts of our subjects. And we order you to reconsider your allegiances to those outside our kingdom.”
The figure shook her head. As if Celestia was one to talk; she had chosen sweet words and brown tongues over her own flesh and blood.
But there was still hope. Celestia would come to regret her actions. All of them would. The figure knew it in her heart. All she had to do was make sure Luna saw it as well.
She crept towards the Princess of the Night as she leaned her head against the door, struggling not to cry. Darkness fell over her. Luna tensed, feeling the presence creeping up behind her. Ready to pounce…
“Have at thee!” the figure’s tiny voice declared, before a young alicorn filly leaped from the shadows, landing gently on Luna’s head. “Ah-ha! Thou has been caught!”
The anger in Luna’s heart melted. She grinned up at the tiny alicorn that had landed in her mane. Electric green eyes glittered with mischief, and thestral-like wings fluttered like a hummingbird. A brilliant white mane cascaded down over one side of her face, and star-like spots glittered across the filly’s dark body, reminding Luna of her beloved night.
“For soothe,” Luna admitted. “Thou has caught me, beloved daughter."
Her daughter giggled before putting her hooves over her mother’s eyes. “And now, darkness falls upon thee.”
“Tiny hooves!” Luna tittered, using her magic to lift the little filly off her. “My one weakness.” She set the filly down before her, barely able to remember her anger. “How fares thee, my beloved Star Wing?”
“Mine day fared well, all considered,” Star replied, skipping over to Luna’s bookshelf and withdrawing a book with her magic. “The teacher and mine fellow students solely referred to me as ‘Moon Spawn,’ rather than ‘Demon’ or ‘Freak.’ And thine cooks at lunch? They bestow upon me a full bruised apple, for merely twenty bits!”
Luna’s grin faded. Star didn’t sound mad about the unfair treatment. If anything, she sounded rather pleased. But Luna knew, deep in her heart, that her daughter deserved better. She was royalty, for Faust’s sake. How could her own subjects treat her with such disdain?
But more importantly, how was Star able to endure it all with that wonderful innocence? How was she able to act like none of it bothered her? Luna wasn’t sure, but until she found out how, she feared doing anything that would allow her to see the despair and frustration that she already dealt with.
Star seemed to realize her mother’s dilemma, as she gave her a concerned look. “But I digress; how fares your days, Mother?” She glanced at where Celestia had been. “Auntie Celestia being the perfect sister she always is?”
The touch of sarcasm in Star’s tone brought a laugh to Luna’s throat, and she tousled her daughter’s white mane. “You are very brave to speak with such a tone, Star Wing,” she said.
“Ah, but bravery is but one of the keys to victory,” Star insisted, showing Luna her book. “Witness. In tales of old, heroes would often be parted from their peers. Others would not understand them; they’d fear them, and push them away. But then the hero achieves some great deed, and is welcomed and accepted by all.” She looked up. “That will be us, Mother. A sun or moon will come, when we are called upon to protect our land and our ponies.”
She grinned down at the book, and yet, when she spoke again, Luna heard a touch of desperation behind her voice.
“And then they’ll love us,” Star Wing whispered, almost more to herself. “They have to love us. And apologize, and admit we weren’t the monsters they thought we were.” She spun, her voice becoming more eager. “Like the Wolves. They’re villains, right? The ponies speak often of their cruelty! We can defeat them if they do something evil, yes?”
Luna grimaced. The Wolves were a strange oddity to the lands of Equestria; canines capable of everything ponies could do and more. Where they had come from was anyone’s guess. Though luckily, their Alpha, a Lupa - or alicorn-like wolf - known as Shiva, didn’t seem to be the conquering sort. And yet, every time the ponies saw the wolves take down prey… the way they’d butcher and rip it into chunks… there was something ominous about the whole thing. It wasn’t hard to imagine a pony getting run down and devoured by those canines.
Though, if they did try something, like Star believed, it would be nice to be able to finally earn some respect from the so-called ‘nobles’ who vexed her. Thus, Luna pat Star’s head with a smile.
“If they try something,” Luna promised. “You and I will stop them.”
Star’s eyes glittered the way they always did when she was happy. She kept Luna’s hoof on her head. “And then we’ll be heroes,” she insisted. “And every pony will love us.”
“We’ll be heroes,” Luna repeated. “And every pony will love us.” With the way Star hung onto her every word, Luna almost started to believe it herself. Sighing in love, Luna picked Star up and hugged her. “Whatever I have done in this world,” she whispered. “I thank Faust that she blessed me with you.”
Star returned her hug. “And I to you,” she whispered back.
And in Star’s tiny forelegs, Luna felt her anger vanishing. Yes, the ponies’ irrational fear was difficult to deal with, as was Celestia’s insistence on keeping their approval. But with Star Wing by her side, Luna had faith that things could still turn out okay.
“Please,” she found herself thinking. “Please let it turn out okay.”