//------------------------------// // Chapter 12 // Story: Lone wolf in Equestria // by Xinrick //------------------------------// As me and Krost were fiddling with fire magic, Krost learning how to juggle fireballs which he was weirdly good at for some reason, I was flipping through some pages for more in depth knowledge on our kind of fire. “Ya know, it’s kind of weird how good you are at juggling.” I pointed out to Krost, as they were currently juggling like…ten balls of fire with ease. "I'd juggle rocks when I got bored." He replied. “That’s fair.” I nodded. “Wonder when Lillinette will come back with mom…” I hummed. "How long were you gone?" “Well, time works differently between here and the other world.” I said honestly. “I think it was like…five or ten minutes here, but over there it was eighteen years.” "Wow. Did you have fun?" “It was great…I had a wonderful time there, being given a second chance at a nice life…got a significant other over there…wonder if Lillinette will also find love.” I chuckled. "Nope. Didn't care for it." I jumped, turning and saw Lillinette was behind me. "Sup." “Hi there…how was your life with mom?” I inquired. "Alright. Kinda nice not having to concern myself about you for a change." “Yeah yeah.” I rolled my eyes. “But glad things went well for ya, do anything exciting?” "Eh, nothing much aside from apprenticing under Aunt Pain." “Of course you would…” I groaned. “So how was working with Aunt Pain?” "Not bad. Met a lot of nice people and she let me slaughter a country on this one planet that needed to… yell ya know." She shrugged. “Yeah, while I had to deal with deputy jackass, you got to frolic in the meadow’s acting like a destroyer…” I grumbled. "Correction, I was soaked in the blood of mortals while tearing cities to rubble." “Point is, you had a better time than me cause I had to deal with someones petty bullshit all the time.” I huffed. "Oh quit your bitching, you still had a good life overall." Lillinette said, rolling her eyes. "So, what I miss here?" “Nothing much, just us learning some fire magic and Krost showing off his juggling.” I said honestly. "Boring. Are we gonna go kill stuff or what?" “Well…” I started, before a sudden gust of frigid wind hit all three of us. “Uh…that’s not supposed to happen.” I frowned, looking off the side to see what the hell is causing this sudden cold. "Nope." She she said, looking up as we saw there was several Equestrian Wendigo's galloping across the sky. "Huh. Neat." “I thought those thing’s died out when Equestria was formed?” I wondered in confusion, though I heard Krost growl, looking down to see the Vasto Lorde Dragon look ready for battle, their eyes turned to slits, fire billowing from their mouth as they barred their teeth. “Those are my prey…” Krost growled. "... Yeet the child?" Lillinette asked. I glared at her. "Well how else is he gonna get up there to kill them?" “I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” I muttered, grabbing the young drake and chucking him at the Wendigos, hoping that this would be the right call. The fireball that followed lit up the sky like a mini sun. It lasted several minutes before it died down and I caught Krost as he fell back down. "... Well that was anticlimactic…"  Lillinette said. “Yeah…that was…weird…” I said, though when I looked back at Krost he still looked…tense, ready to strike at a moment's notice. “What’s wrong?” “They’re still here.” He growled, snorting pure white flames. "Where?" Lillinette asked. Krost pointed, and the both of us looked up and…oh…oh those are different. What we saw were the same Wendigos, but they looked…corrupted, their ethereal white more into a dismal gray fog, black shade like armor across their bodies and holding…pieces of Hollow Masks on their faces… “Oh shit…” I muttered, grabbing Krost again and throwing him to see what’ll happen. As Krost tried the same thing, the white hot sun blasting into the Wendigo’s…before he could even attempt it he was slammed back into me by one of the trio, as I heard etheric laughter. “Right…” I frowned, putting them into a cartoonish flamethrower position as I flew after the trio. “Say hello to my little friend!” I said, raising Krost as they opened their mouth comedically and let out a torrent of flame. All three Wendigo’s dodged the torrent of flames, as I quickly had to block one of the kicks from the Wendigo’s, but my arm started to immediately freeze as I hissed in pain, blasting it away with Cero as I dodged the other two’s attacks, Krost unfreezing my arm with his flames as he crawled onto my shoulder and I drew my sword. “Right…so these things are tougher than I thought…” I muttered, before the four of us vanished. The sound of metal clashing against etheric metal resonated in my ears, sparks of energy and plumes of sun like fire kept appearing in my peripherals, as even though I was actually trying against these three with the help of Krost, they were actually really strong…a lot stronger than I thought…”How the hell are you all so strong?” “The Fates gave us strength.” One of the wendigo’s answered in a silky smooth voice, like a whisper in the wind. “Our Teacher gave us purpose.” The next one said, their voice tough and strong like a strong wind. “And our Rage will Freeze the living!” The last one shouted, their voice as aggressive and forceful as a blizzard. “We are now the Wind’s of Nightmare, and we’ll make you embrace the coldness of Death!” They all said in unison, all three women striking a fighting pose at me. “Oh…my god…” I blinked. “I’m fighting Power Rangers Villains… “ I shook my head. “Also, the cold hand of death? Been there, done that, and that’s my job so let me see if you can hold a candle to what I’ve seen.” “We’re still gonna beat them!” Krost said. “At this point I might want to teach you how to become an Arrancar…and then see if your Resurrección would be a Ranger outfit.” I chuckled. “Can I still kill Wendigo’s?” Krost asked. “Yes you can.” I nodded. “But it’ll take some time, and I think we have to find something special to make that a reality.” I said, wondering how the natural process of becoming an Arrancar would be, or if I would need the Hogyoku for that…”But let’s send these three out with a bang.” I said, raising my hand as a sphere of Wind and my own Spirit Energy formed. “I see.” Krork said with a smile as they blew their dragon fire into the sphere, causing it to spin faster and hotter. “Dragon Tempest Cero.” I said, raising my hand and firing it off towards the three. “Absolute Zero!” The three shouted in unison, a blast of energy so cold that even the very air shattered from how quickly it froze around them, blocking the attack and creating a fuck ton of steam, and when I threw a gust of wind out to clear it away, they were gone. “Crap…” I groaned. “They will hurt other dragons.” Krost said quickly. “We need to help them all.” “Alright, just need to find the leader and warn them.” I said, using my senses to try and find whoever was in charge. I detected a fairly powerful individual some distance away and rushed over there. The area was surrounded by dragons, and the largest of them looked down at me. “What and who are you?” They asked me in a roaring voice. "My name is Coyote Starrk, and this little guy is Krost." I said, lifting up the little dragon who waved at everyone. "I am an Arrancar, Krost is a Vasto Lorde, and we've come here to bring grave news." “... What the fuck is a Arr-arracanide? Or a Vase Lord?” The dragon said. … Oh boy… I forget that no one on this planet really knows what I’m talking about… “We’re a special species of undead, practically the highest level.” I said honestly. “But mind if I ask who you are sir?” “I am Dragon Lord Torch… isn’t that whelpling a little young to be an undead?” He asked, pointing at Krost. “I got stuck digging in that hill over there.” Krost pointed towards the tallest mountain in this area. “Also who were your parents Torch? Cause I’m older than I look.” “My father was Dragon Lord Arga. My mother was Shlik.” “I knew they were going to be a couple!” Krost laughed, making Torch look at Krost like he was absolutely insane. “Listen…Krost here was here back when Equestria was about to be frozen over by the Wendigo’s.” I answered. “Oh, you mean the old pony homeland. Yes, my parents told me stories of those days. Shame, their hatred and arrogance brought forth the eternal winter upon their ancestral lands.” Torch said. “But if this welp is as old as you say, then why are they not… older looking?” “Cause as he entered that hill thousands of years ago, he suffered a brain hemorrhage, killing him instantly…” I sighed. “He’s been stuck in his little cave for all this time, unable to fulfill his destiny.” “Brain Hemorrhage?” Right, Dragons are pretty medically… lacking. “Basically the inside of his head started to bleed and it caused him to die an instant, painless death.” I said. “Oh. That… actually that explains a lot of sudden deaths amongst dragons…” Torch said, looking thoughtful. “Is this a…common occurrence?” I asked worriedly. “Amongst some bloodlines more than others. Whelps to elders, sometimes they will be walking, talking, flying even, then they mention a headache, usually the whelps or elders, then they fall, never to get up again.” “Yeah, so you all need to seriously update your medical, cause Brain Bleeds can be survivable.” I said carefully. “Dragons only need our strength. It has been that way since Bahumat, the first dragon, and will be that way.” “And how well is your strength going when you can drop dead at a moment’s notice?” I countered. “I believe that the phrase ‘Nature is a cruel mistress’ applies. When we die, we die. Simple as that.” I thought I smelled something off… I didn’t notice it earlier, but I can smell… early deaths. Time unused and unspent for life. This land is stained in the deaths of lives cut short by happenstance. “No…” I said, looking around this entire place. “This entire place is stained with Time, Lives, and Potential Unused, Unspent, and Cut Short due to happenstance and your own selfish actions.” I growled. “This place reeks of it.” “And is it your place to judge us, outsider?” I sighed…before each and every Dragon felt themselves being pushed down by my spirit energy, the sight of Death's Hound in each of their eyes as the Grim Reaper was close by, holding their scythe at an easy but readied position. “As a member of the Grim Reapers, I don’t only have the place to judge, I am the Judge.” “I-Impossible!?” The dragon lord said in a growing sense of fear, as one of the dragon’s roared and tried to attack me out of said fear, only for me to grab their talon the size of my entire body and pull them down onto the ground hard, their entire body slamming into the ground as it cracked from the force. “Besides myself needing to clean up your blatant disregard for Life, can I tell you my warning?” Torch growled, but did not get up. “Speak.” “The Wendigo’s, once thought to have been banished due to Equestria’s Friendship, have returned, infused with the Power of Nightmare themselves.” I answered. “We need your help, both to stop the oncoming Winter they wish to blanket the world with, and me and Krost here will help protect your people.” I answered. “I was Destined to kill those jerks, but my life was cut short because of our…disease.” Krost growled. “I don’t want to see our people die out like weaklings to either these Nightmare Creatures, or to our own selfish desire to ignore a serious problem that can’t be beaten by our strength.” Torch seemed silent for a while. “Were it anyone else, I’d ignore this warning.” He said, pushing himself up and knocking the dirt off his body. “But seeing as this comes from Death itself, what do you suggest we do, so we can avoid a second meeting so soon?” “Well, first you need to get some help with literally…everything.” I said honestly. “Knowledge, Medicine, so many things that I have been told is that Dragons only care about their strength, their hoard, and sometimes their family, after that everything else has gone by the wayside and has killed countless.” I frowned. “Told you Dad.” I heard someone say, as I looked over to see a young blue scaled dragoness, looking up at the giant dragon with her arms crossed. “Not now Ember. Fine. I will speak with a member of the ponies to talk on… improvements to our land.” Torch said. “Alright, that’s step one.” I nodded. “Step two is searching for the Wendigo’s. What would be the most important places in the Dragon Lands be?” “That depends on how you define important. The Gem Fields are where many go to dig for gems, for hoarding or food, the hatching pits are where the eggs are kept, the underground lava keeps them warm and once it reaches peak temperatures, they hatch. Then there is MT Wrath, that’s considered a sacred site as it’s supposedly where Bahumat rests.” Torch said, listing off. “Right…so all of those places are rather important, from food, to children to your sacred place…” I said carefully. “... Bahumat is a god…” Krost said. “His rest is just that, rest. He is sleeping.” “Legends say should he awaken his rage will burn the world to ashes. Not even we dragons are immune to his flames…” Troch added. “And I’ll be the judge of that.” I said honestly. “So let’s start with protecting the Children first, even if they are surrounded by lava the Wendigo’s might be strong enough to not care.” Torch nodded. “Drakes! Head to the Hatching Pits! Guard them until I say otherwise and gather every whelp in the land there as well!” He commanded, and all the dragons around us did so. “Will you be handling them alone?” Torch asked me. “Not alone.” I said, gently patting Krost. “But hopefully this can be done without your lands being either frozen or turned into a flatland.” I said carefully. “Can I go with them to the Hatching Pits dad?” Krost asked me, which first made me happy at just being called dad, and two it made me think about how strong he was. “Hmm…you still need to learn to harness your fire, cause while you have the power of a sun, I don’t want you to just do this on instinct fighting three opponents that are doing both instinct and training.” “I don’t want any other whelplings to die like I did… now that I know…” I looked at Krost, seeing the determination and worry in his eyes…as I sighed and gave him a hug. “Alright son, I trust you.” I said softly. He hugged me back, then quickly left.  “If you’re going to MT Wrath then you best rush towards the east.” Torch told me. “Thank you Dragon Lord.” I nodded. “And hopefully we’ll be meeting a second time in the living world.” I nodded, before using Sonido and vanishing to the Dragon’s as I rushed to the East to see MT Wrath. Even at this speed it took time, and I noticed the air got chilled. I saw the massive mountain ahead and circling it were the wendigos.  “Oh no you fucking don’t.” I growled, drawing my sword and slashing at one of the Wendigo’s in the back when they weren’t looking. “Mind if I step in on this wintery dance?” The one I slashed spun around and moved off, forming shards of ice that were shot at me. The ice shards broke apart underneath my spiritual pressure that I let out. “Gotta have to try better than that sister.” I growled, firing off a Cero without any motions and vanishing to catch one of them if they bothered to dodge. I wrestled with them for a bit. I was still in my Death Wolf form, and I went for the kill. My teeth bit into the ethereal form of the Wendigo, and I felt it’s essence, soul, whatever this thing has, become absorbed and get sucked down my throat. Perks of this form. “Hmm…kind of like Rainbow Sherbert.” I hummed, as the other two screamed in rage at what I just did. “You will pay for what you did to our sister!” They both screamed, as suddenly I saw the two of them swirling around each other, going faster and faster…ah shit, I hope their not doing what I think they're doing…and when the sphere broke apart they showed…them in their fuzed state, which was both frightening cause they felt a whole lot stronger…and annoying cause why did they have to also get sexy? The new fusion began blasting at me with sub-zero cold… but in this form, lethal temperatures don’t affect me. “Well…thankfully this form is capable of withstanding your cold.” I said, dashing forward and clashing again, armor to sword, ethereal blade to claw. “Now come on lady, show me what you got.” She… they? Managed to keep up well, blocking and dodging but they slipped up, when the temperature began to rise they flinched and I took the opportunity, grabbing hold of them and tearing their throat out with my teeth.  I swallowed the part of their throat, but as I expected them to fade…their body regenerated, the Nightmare armor surrounding the wound. “Crap…” “Fate is still in play, child.” They growled. “You may have absorbed our sibling, but you cannot kill us without your little whelp’s flames.” “And Fate can eat my fluffy ass.” I growled, launching myself back at them swiftly. As I was about to swing down on them, a wave of darkness flashed over them, and they were gone… Nightmare… I took a sniff… that was her magic but she’s not here. Must be watching from elsewhere. “I can smell you Nightmare.” I growled. “If you’re watching, then know that no matter how long you and Ann and Andy train, you will suffer my wrath.” No reply. No nothing. Tsk… whatever… I looked over at the mountain… hmm I used magic to scan it… Holy crap! If this scan is right… that’s no mountain that’s one of the fucking horns on Bahumats head! His body is buried deep under the land, only this part of his horn and a few other smaller ones are out still… and all the lava comes from his exhales heating the rock around him. Christ that’s a big dragon god… Well, at least he’s still asleep.  “Right…so if he wakes up, the entire planet goes…” I muttered, deciding to check and see if I could tell when he’s supposed to wake up…if at all. Okay, let’s see here… Huh? His life force and even his divine force are all being suppressed… looks like he did that himself. Even his senses have all been dulled that if someone dug into his skin, and I doubt they’d break his scales, he wouldn’t feel a thing… The only way he’s waking up if a huge blast from a magic attack… the three of them might have been able to pull that off, but why comatose himself this bad? I checked again, using a more powerful scan and… ah… I see… Under his hands was a small pocket where the fossilized remains of a female drake… and a welp, the two petrified in his hand… they must have been his family… looks like… based on what the magic can tell me, daughter and grandchild. If he woke up, he’d burn the world because they aren’t in it… Now…my curiosity peaked, I decided to look into his daughter and grandchild…to see if they had any descendants or if they were the only one’s in the line… Scanning… check the archives while I’m at it… shit…. They were his only family. “Shit…” I muttered weakly…when I looked at cause of death… [Daughter of Bahamut Cause of Death: Brain Hemorrhage, Immediate, Painless.] [Grandson of Bahamut Cause of Death: Draconian Mana Sickness.] Shit… that Hemorrhage thing again… she was a demi-god by birth yet even she was done in by it… and Mana Sickness… that’s nasty. Depending on the situation it means he either wasn’t born with enough mana to support his biology, or too much for his age… I sighed weakly, hating how this was happening, and I saw how his Daughter was supposed to live a happy, courageous life filled with adventure, large amounts of loot…and she was supposed to be the mother to the first Dragon Griffon hybrid…but that was not meant to be…and the grandson just…got unlucky…. I shook my head, hating how unlucky Bahamut was when it came to family, but I had more pressing issues to attend to, and that was checking to see where the hell those Wendigo’s went and if they were trying to attack other area’s. I was ready to go… but stopped… … It’s not really killing him, if I remove the soul and leave his body empty. His body is needed by this land, it makes all the lava and sustains the lifestyles of the dragons… I can harvest his soul and leave his body alive, basically brain dead… he deserves to see them again. Not like Rust didn’t make me kill a few gods before… I sighed, flying down to the horn, as I’ve learned any physical contact with a god is needed, as I gently put my hand on his horn. “God of Dragon’s…” I said slowly, using my Death Magic to call upon his Soul so we can talk. “... Who dares… interrupt my grief?” “Coyote Starrk, Grim Reaper…and guide, to bring your soul to meet your children.” I answered softly. “... If you can, take my soul. Nothing should live as long as I… just to see all you love pass on without you…” I nodded. “I understand great one…and I’m going to help correct something’s, so that your people don’t suffer the same as you.” I said, grabbing my sword and lightly tapping the handle against the horn, using my magic to help separate the body and soul but keep the body alive. It took a while, since he is a god, an old and powerful one at that but thankfully it was done. His body is alive and his soul is out. Now it’s off to the other side. Even dead their bodies don’t rot, most anyway, but he needs to keep breathing to create the heat for the lands magma chambers to continue. “Now…Bahamut…it’s time to meet your family.” I said, raising my sword as a pair of doors appeared, simple white doors that started to open up…only to burst open and have two etheric blur’s slam into Bahamut’s soul. “Daddy/Grandpa!” I heard the excited shrieks of joy from both his children. “M-my children…” Bahamut said, tears in his eyes as he wrapped his arms and wings around his daughter and grandson. “It’s…it’s been so long…” The daughter looked over, and saw Bahamut’s body slumbering. “Did you not find a mom dad?” She pouted. “Grief is…a powerful thing my sweet ruby.” Bahamut said sheepishly, the old man looking away from the rather adorable pout she was giving him. “But…I can finally be with you two again…forever after.” “Friend grandpa?” The grandchild asked, pointing towards me as I gave a gentle wave. “In a way.” I said politely. “I’m your grandfather’s guide, and back to you two.” I said warmly. “Will you help guide dad to a date? Can find a diamond in a three mile wide tar pit, can’t date to save his life.” The daughter huffed, as the grandson giggled and Bahamut blushed brightly. “Alright you two, time to go.” Bahamut said quickly. “If you need some help, look up a Cherubim named Alex, he would just love to find your father a soul mate.” I said. “Ayy~.” I added while snapping my fingers into finger guns. “Not you too~.” The daughter groaned as Bahamut laughed at my crappy pun. The three walked off into the light, and the doors closed. Before it did though… A pair of talons reached through and threw them open and I saw- Grover!? “Hey kid, catch!” He said, throwing a flask at me. “Holy hell.” I said, grabbing the flask. “Hey Grover, it’s been a long time…I’m sorry that the rest of your time was spent watching me being a half asleep delirious haze…” I said sheepishly. “Hey I’m more pissed you didn’t visit! I found out you did some bullshit reincarnation shit and didn’t look me up!” He laughed. “Then again I hear you were buddy banging some winged femboy!” “I’m sorry, I was going through a new life, had to do some new job, had to especially deal with Rust's bullshit…and dating the stupidly adorable angel femboy yes.” I said honestly. “But how you doing, Grover?” “Good, reconnected with my wife, had amazing sex, got wasted off the- just drink what I put in that flask, it’s amazing, also you know Rust!? He’s been my drinking buddy for a while up here!” “He’s an asshole that specifically trained me because he’s actually racist.” I said, opening up the flask and deciding to take a swig of it. Woah! That tastes- To be continued...