//------------------------------//
// Revelations 
// Story: A Pup Named Fenrir 
// by MisterEdd 
//------------------------------//

Note: Fenrir's speech will not be in bold. The only reason I did so in the previous chapter was to differentiate between his regular "wolf talk" and his dialogue with the other characters.


"Whatever you have to say, I believe we all should hear it." 

Princess Celestia strode forward, her gaze fixed solely on me. Gods, her eyes, which were previously gentle and matronly, now held the intensity of a thousand suns. I couldn't move, couldn't breath, not when the eldest alicorn was eyeing me like some foreign invader, her stare threatening to burn through my flesh and into my soul. I cast aside the awe-inspiring fear that'd been building inside of me and reminded myself who I was. She may've been the Princess of the Day but I was a living embodiment of Avarice and Hunger and I would not back down. 

I licked my lips and stood up straight, being sure to hold my head high.  

"No offense, Your Majesty, but I was addressing Fluttershy. Not you." 

"Choose your next words carefully, Fenrir," Princess Celestia stated in a cautionary tone. "You're already on thin ice and whatever you say next may plunge you into freezing water."  

"'Fenrir'? What is she talking about?"

Here came the moment I was dreading. I directed my attention back to Fluttershy, who was regarding me with wide-eyed confusion. I exhaled and shook my head. Where to start? 

"My name, my full name...is Fenrir Lokisson. I was born in a realm called 'Jotunnheim' in what I suspect to be another plane of existence altogether. A prophecy foretold that I was to help bring about the end of times so I was bound by the gods and  after a thousand years of captivity, I managed to escape and set fire to all that I saw, killing and devouring mortals by the thousands. I took part in a massive battle known as 'Ragnarök,' was slain and then awoke in the Everfree Forest, where I was regressed to a pup and our paths crossed." 

"Luna managed to infiltrate his dreams," Princess Celestia interjected. "This wolf has committed atrocities, personally saw to the deaths of entire families of innocent creatures. He is a walking storm of destruction, the personification of ravenous hunger."  

"That was another life!" I snapped at the princess, then turned back to Fluttershy. "I've changed. What I did...that was the result of vengeful outrage. I'm not who I once was." 

Princess Celestia, again, interjected. "So he claims. My sister believes that he should be given a second chance, though I myself have reservations."  

"Please Mother, you've got to believe me. Nothing has changed."

Slowly, Fluttershy backed away, unable to look me in the eye.

"Mother..."

Streaks of tears adorned Fluttershy's cheeks, her chest heaving with little gasps. 

"I...I need to be alone!" 

She raced past the onlookers and out of the front door, Rainbow Dash immediately jetting after her. Our eyes met in a split second, her narrowed gaze full of animosity. Sugarcube Corner became dead silent, the only audible sound being the needle on the phonograph scratching the still-spinning record. Everyone else gaped at me, their expressions running the gamut between anger, confusion, mistrust, and sorrow. I couldn't stand their judgmental stares, all of their horrendously over-sized peepers tunneling into my body and leaving me exposed. 

FEED...FEED...FEED...

Princess Celestia must've noticed my perusal of the exit because her horn began emitting a flashing golden light. It didn't take long for four armored ponies to rush in with their weapons drawn, encircling me and lowering their spears at my throat. Shackles and weighted fetters appeared around my legs, clamping into place and stinging me with their coldness. I glared at Princess Celestia in defiance but her nonchalance told me she didn't care one bit. With her wings flared out, she looked like an eagle ready to dive at a rodent.  

"You will remain here under my custody. We will go to Canterlot and once there, you will be imprisoned in Tartarus for the foreseeable future." 

"Princess Celestia, isn't this excessive?"

At least Twilight was still vouching for me, despite her obvious suspicion. 

"He is a danger to himself and others. You told me so yourself."

Twilight shook her head. "No, what I told you in my letter was, 'Fen's rapid growth and strange magical aura are cause for alarm and should be studied.' I've poured over every volume and scroll on dark magic and I don't believe for one minute that he's generating it himself. I think he's the subject of some sort of curse or hex. Fen, Fenrir, whatever his name is, he is infected by an outside source." 

"The Hunger," I told her and by extension, the whole room. "Sometimes I feel an inexhaustible craving, be it for food or violence. This affliction was with me back on my world and has followed me here too. The rapid growth appears to be a side-effect of it. I was cursed by a witch named Gullveig before I was born and turned into a living weapon." 

"There you go! I refuse to buy into the notion of Fen being evil. Besides, I cast a truth field a couple of minutes ago and he's done nothing but be honest with us."

Applejack joined Twilight's side. "'Sides, Ah've been watchin' his facial features an' body language. He ain't lyin'." 

"Yeah, and he saved the CMCs!" Pinkie literally jumped in. "He almost died!" 

"Yeah, doesn't that account for something?!" Spike asked passionately. 

"If anything, Your Majesty, you should give Fen a chance," Rarity insisted. 

I was blown away by how quickly these mares jumped in to defend me against their beloved monarch. Even after hearing about my past, learning that I've been lying to them this whole time, they still stuck by me. Despite what I was and what I did, they still trusted me and I realized that I didn't deserve their loyalty or their friendship. The front door burst open, revealing Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. 

"What's going on?"

"She's taking him to Tartarus!" Twilight informed them.

"What? You can't do that!"

"Seriously? He hasn't even done anything!" Rainbow protested.

Princess Celestia glanced at Fluttershy sympathetically. "Look at him. He's too dangerous to remain here. I'm sorry but my decision is final."

"Your Majesty, wait!" Fluttershy was on her knees, her hooves frantically grasping at the princess' foreleg. "Please, please don't take him away!" 

Princess Celestia arched her brow. 

"Even after learning the truth, you're still going to plead for mercy on his behalf?" 

Fluttershy smiled at me. "Yes. Because he's my son. And I love him." 

Following a period of silence, Princess Celestia beamed at her subject. 

"Very well then. Guards, put your weapons away and return to your posts."

The guards, though perplexed by this turn of events, nevertheless did as they were told. Bowing deeply, they removed their spears from my throat and marched back from whence they came. My restraints poofed out of existence and I soon found myself face-to-face with Princess Celestia once again, except this time, her righteous indignation was exchanged in favor of serene benevolence. 

"My apologies for the display. I had to be sure of your intentions so I arranged this little test. You could've attacked me at any moment or tried to escape but you did neither. That, along with the devotion and steadfastness of your friends has convinced me that you are not a threat."

"This...this was all a test?!" I fumed. 

"I'm sorry for any emotional duress I may've placed on you and everypony else." 

Judging from the looks of irritation, I wasn't the only one unhappy with this outcome.

"So," Fluttershy timidly began. "Does this mean Fen can stay?"

"Indeed he can," Princess Celestia beamed at the pegasus. "Under strict supervision, of course. Although he's not malevolent, he still needs to be monitored. Twilight?"

"Yes, Your Majesty?"   

"I'm placing you in charge of Fen's magic training. He needs to learn how to harness and control his power."

She returned her attention back towards me.

"Fenrir, you will remain with Fluttershy. Given your size and need for physical activity, you are allowed to only go so far as I decide. I will go over the details with Twilight and you will report to her. Other than those designated areas, you are forbidden from leaving the confines of Ponyville. If you step even a toe out of line, I will personally place you in Tartarus. Am I making myself clear?" 

"Transparently," I grimaced through my teeth. 

"Splendid. Behave yourself during this probationary state and I will see what I can do to further accommodate you."   

Thanking everyone else for their hospitality, Princess Celestia made her exit, giving me a warning glance before the door shut behind her. I allowed myself to breath and took a seat, my legs about ready to collapse out from under me. I may not be in trouble per se, but that didn't mean I was quite out of the proverbial woods yet. All I had to do was place nice and Princess Celestia would take me off of her watch list. How hard could that be? 

"Well, that was tense," Twilight remarked, dabbing her forehead with a handkerchief. 

"Understatement of the year," I sighed. "Nevertheless, thank you. All of you."

Pinkie grinned ear-to-ear with an audible squeaking noise. 

"You're welcome, Fen! Or is it Fenrir?" 

"Either will do. I don't really care."

"This'll take some gettin' used t'. Th' whole ya talkin' thing, Ah mean."

Spike wrung his hands nervously. "Um, you're not mad that we all treated you like a dog, are you?"

I smirked at him. "No, it's fine. Although I still expect belly rubs and more of those dog treats."

Rainbow crossed her forelegs. "Is there anything else you feel like sharing?" 

"I'm over two-thousand-years-old, my father was the god of mischief and I have an eight-legged stallion as a half-brother," I rattled off somewhat cheekily. "Don't ask; it's a long story."  

I noticed Fluttershy standing off to the side and approached her, the mare keeping her gaze downward.

"Are you alright?"

"I don't know." She met my concerned look, her eyes full of hurt. "You've been lying to me since the day we met. I don't even know who you are." 

That stung but was completely fair given the circumstances.

"I'm the same pup you welcomed into your home without a second thought. Yes, I lied. I kept the truth from you and apart from Angel, Winona and Discord, no one knew. Although I'm not sure how Discord found out."

"Angel knew about this?"

Nearby, the white rabbit dropped a mini cucumber sandwich and gave me a "What-the-Hel?" look.

"Yes but don't blame him. I was ready to run away when he convinced me to stay." 

 Fluttershy gave Angel a stern glance. "We're going to have words when we get home."

"Okay," Angel replied dejectedly. "Thanks a lot, Fenrir." 

I continued: "I know you have no reason to trust me but everything was real. When I had that nightmare and you comforted me, my little, ahem, 'freak-out' prior to my welcome party, my battle with the chimera to save the fillies. I wanted so badly to tell you the truth but I was afraid. I'd finally found a home and friends and I didn't want to lose all that because of what I did in a previous life."

Something clicked in Fluttershy's head. "That's why you asked me if I believed in second chances."

I nodded.

"You were trying to see if I'd stick by you once you finally got around to telling me."

"Will you?"

Fluttershy turned away from me and respired loudly. 

"I'm still angry with you for lying to me. But I understand why you did." 

She faced me once again, raising her hoof to rub my snout. 

"You're not a terrible wolf. I've seen how kind-hearted you can be. You were willing to die to protect the CMCs, something not everyone would do. After befriending Discord and Princess Luna, I'd be a massive hypocrite if I didn't try to forgive you too."

"Thank you...Fluttershy," I smiled. 

Fluttershy jokingly frowned at this. "What happened to 'Mother'?"   

"Thanks, Mother." 

We embraced one another, her forelegs wrapping around my neck and me using my neck like a big arm. My worst fears had not been realized; I took Princess Luna's advice and was honest and for that, they didn't leave me. She didn't leave me. I still had a home and friends, those I care for and who cared for me as well. Perhaps this was a new turning point in my bizarre adventures in Equestria.  

Once the hug ended, we rejoined the others, who were in the midst of a conversation. 

"So how come Fen can talk now?" Rainbow Dash wondered aloud. 

"I've wondered that too. Earlier today, I found out that I could suddenly read too."

"You can read?" Fluttershy inquired.

"Yes. It was that book Frankenstag."   

"Oo, I couldn't finish it. Too scary for me."

"Interesting," Twilight mused, then cleared her throat. "I have a theory about that. Fen's magic is so different because it originated from another world or possibly another universe, one where the magic there has different properties and functions when compared to our own. When Fen arrived here, he brought some of that magic with him. Now, magic is a type of energy and energy can neither be created or destroyed; merely just transformed from one state to another." 

Rainbow released a suspiciously fake yawn, to which Twilight glared at her before continuing. 

"The magic that Fen carried with him has had to alter its properties in order to fit in with our world and its own kind of magic. Thus, the two conflicting forms of eldritch energy were clashing with one another while trying to figure out a way to merge. This rendered Fen incomprehensible to everyone apart from Fluttershy, who has a natural talent for understanding animals."  

"Then how could Discord understand me too?"

Twilight thought about my question for a moment. 

"Discord has the inherent ability to detect any magical disturbances. It might be that because of that, coupled with his existence as a chaos magic-infused being that allowed him to comprehend you. Now, once the two magics were finished merging, this essentially aided you to adapt to this new world while retaining some of your old traits. This removed whatever language barrier was inhibiting you, both spoken and written."     

"Wait a minute," Spike interrupted. "If the two magics merged, then how come Fen still has some curse placed on him from a different world with different rules?"

"Excellent question, Spike! Clearly, whatever magic this is was deeply ingrained into Fen's very being. The magics may've merged but they aren't separate. He is right now a combination of both, two different energy sources coexisting inside his body, Equestrian magic and the alternate world type."

"Galdr." 

"Pardon?"

"It's galdr." 

"Right, Equestrian magic and galdr. Whatever dark magic was cast on Fen, it has embedded itself deeper into him, so much more than the regular amount of ambient energy. This is part of the galdr that remained and was combined with the Equestrian magic."     

"Can it be removed?" I asked her and was disappointed when she shook her head.

"I don't know. Even with all of my knowledge, I have no experience with this type of thing. I could try."  

Well, it looks as though the Hunger and I are going to be stuck together for a little while longer.

"So you died huh?" Rainbow's expression was a mix of morbid curiosity and sympathy. "How?"

"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity scolded her. "Don't be so obtuse!" 

"It's alright. It was during a climatic realm-spanning battle with gods, giants, the walking dead and frightening monsters. A god named Vidar broke my jaws and shoved his sword down my throat and into my heart." 

"Wow. That's hard-core." 

"Ya mentioned some kind o' hunger. Yer not feelin' snackish right now, are ya?"

"No Applejack, I'm not. The Hunger just pops up at random intervals. Whenever I eat, particularly when it's a large amount, I grow bigger. That's how it was back in Asgard."  

"D-does it hafta be meat?"

"No. Much like a goat, I can eat pretty much anything, though the Hunger demands meat." 

Somehow, despite how uncomfortable this was, getting things off of my chest was turning out to be quite therapeutic. Bottling up my feelings and secrets for so long had left a strain on me, driving me near the point of insanity and beyond. But now that my true nature was out in the open, I had several people-ponies-to discuss these topics out loud with. So far, no one turned me away or rejected me.    

"How big did you get?" Pinkie popped in on my left side. "Big as a house?"

"Bigger."

"Bigger than Ghastly Gorge?"

"That pit outside of Ponyville? Yes."

True, although I'd only heard mention of it, I was confident in my prior size to give a definitive answer. 

"Woooow! That's huge! I bet you didn't have giant eels or anything, right?"

"'Giant eels'?" I parroted, thinking I'd misheard her. 

"Yeah, there are giant eels that live on the cliff-sides," Rainbow nonchalantly shrugged. 

"No but I once ate a whale." 

"That's amazing!" Twilight's eyes had grown impossibly wide. "I mean, completely horrifying but amazing! For you to be able to consume an entire whale, you would have to have been around ninety to a hundred feet in length and weighed at least a hundred-and-eighty tons!" 

I smirked. "Try bigger."

"T-two-hundred?"

"Big-ger...!" I sing-sang, coming to enjoy this little guessing game. 

"Three-hundred?"

"Nope."

"Oh come on! You're joking!" 

"Is your little truth field still on?"

Twilight was flustered. "Right, duh, I forgot to turn it off."

"Then you know I'm not lying."

"How big were you then?"

"At the time of my unfortunate demise? Hmm, about six-hundred-feet tall. Give or take." 

"How?! How is that even possible?! The amount of sustenance you'd require to operate such a massive body at full capacity would require-..."

Not to sound rude but I immediately tuned out the waterfall of extensive scientific jargon spewing out of Twilight's mouth. I may be a fully sentient being capable of speech and literacy but that didn't mean I understood anything that mare was babbling on about. While Spike led her to the punch bowl, the mare still going on and on about...something or other, I covertly slipped out the back entrance and strutted towards the cottage. I've had quite an emotionally trying day and was in need of some rest and relaxation. I only hoped that Fluttershy-Mother-would return home in a much better mood than how I left her, that we could hopefully move past this and things could return to normal. 

I took a deep inhale and forced it out, enjoying the fresh air of the beautiful day. My relationship with Fluttershy was on shaky ground but at least it was still there and she wanted us to salvage it. Princess Celestia was dictating where I could go and was keeping an eye on me and while not ideal, she wasn't going to have me locked up and thrown in a dark hole somewhere. My small circle of friends, who up to this point only knew me as Fen the Wolf, were now made aware of my identity as Fenrir Lokisson but they hadn't rejected me for it. All in all, I was feeling pretty great. 

For the first time in a long time, things were looking up.