The Letter of the Past
10:00 A.M.
Damon walked into his office for another slow day’s work, closing the white chestnut double doors behind him. Trotting over to the tinted windows, he scanned over the vast empire he knew as his own. He watched from the presidential tower as the civilians of the Wolven Empire continued their daily lives, oblivious to their spectator.
Damon was a pure snow white male alpha wolf, slender in build, with dark silver eyes. His position in the Empire was president as of two years ago. Before that, he was a senator. From an emotional standpoint, Damon was a kind, honest wolf, trying to benefit his brethren like those before him.
After five or so minutes of being an observer to his people, the president turned to his desk to begin the minimal task of sorting through his morning reports. As Damon sat in his leather office chair, he looked at the pile of papers on his desk awaiting his signature, only to see a scroll sitting directly on top of them. The scroll was fastened by a gold ring, engraved with what looked to be a C.
At first, Damon just stared at the paper, unsure of its origin. After a few seconds passed, the president buzzed the intercom, knowing that he should be cautious rather than curious. A second later, his secretary's voice answered, “Mr. President, what can I do for you?”
“I just have a quick question,” Damon replied, still transfixed on the scroll. “Sasha, did I receive any mail recently?”
A short silence filled the room before the voice returned. “Well, besides the monthly reports from one of the outer settlements, no real mail has been dropped off today. Any reason?” Sasha inquired.
“Oh, no reason. Just wanted to see how the day’s schedule looked, nothing more. Thanks Sasha,” Damon replied before signing off.
With his cautious attitude satisfied by his attempt to find the origin of paper, his curiosity peaked, wanting to know what was inscribed on the scroll. He reached out and grabbed the paper, careful not to tear it with his claws. Damon delicately removed its binding and unfurled the paper as he began to read,
To the leader of the Wolven Empire,
Our nations have been at bay, neither knowing nor caring about the other. For many years, this is how it’s been. In those years, I would have hoped to change all of that, knowing our mistakes in the past. Our poor, blood-filled history. Few even remember the war of our people, which is why it would be a time as good as any to make amends.
Our two civilizations are in a time of national peace, something our lands have not achieved in many years. I believe now would be the time to extend an olive branch to your great empire, as you intended for us many years ago. An alliance would benefit us both, so I ask you to consider my request to bury the thousand year hatchet of the past, so our nations may prosper.
In good heart and trust,
Princess Celestia
Damon stared at the letter, rereading it multiple times over. ‘This- this has to be a joke. A- A mistake…’ his thoughts stuttered in his mind. Unlike most wolves in the empire, Damon knew all too well about the sender of the message. After all these years, the ponies have made contact.
Shortly after the assembling of the Wolven Empire, the time of expansion began. During this time, one of many scout ships sailing the seas landed on the grounds of an uncharted mass. The scouts found not only sentient beings, but an entire civilization. This was Equestria, land of the ponies.
As instructed prior to departing the empire, the scouts began diplomatic relations with the new kingdom. Unfortunately, during this time, the tyrant Discord was in power. He broke all negotiations and declared war on the wolves. The wolves, an honor-bound, warrior race, accepted the threat, and began to rally the grand wolf army. The army, steel-tipped by the spec-op team known as the Wolfpack and commanded by Seth Eclipse, set off by ship toward Equestria. At the same time, Discord forced his slave ponies into a militia, hoping to bring more chaos to his disjointed land.
Although warriors in nature, the wolves hated to strike down innocent beings and the one who took it the most to heart was Seth. He was trained as a warrior since he was a mere pup, long before the threat was relevant. He trained along with seven others, including his brother, Dawn. The eight of them, the most highly trained and dangerous wolves in the empire, formed the Wolfpack.
Seth was taught to kill whatever threatened the empire, to obey orders, and to do all it takes for his wolven brethren. The one thing they didn’t mention, and what pained the warrior the most, was what to do if he was fighting a war against innocents.
Two years passed as the war drew out. Lives were lost, cities burned, armies grew tired of killing. Only five remained of the Wolfpack. Seth led a strike on an unknown town in a pointless war, knowing he had done it many times over. He hated it.
The five man squad had already infiltrated the enemy lines. Their goal was to secure the town hall for inbound forces as the team flanked the ponies from the middle. At that moment, they were stationed in an abandoned café, waiting for the order from Seth. The team was armed with black powder muskets using a new, experimental cartridge system. The idea was to shorten reload time between shots. So far, it was very effective.
Seth knew the plan well; place an explosive near the edge of town, set it off, let the ponies investigate, and then take the hall. Nothing could be simpler. After going over the plan in his head one more time, Seth signaled Dawn to push the trigger on the primer. Half a second past, then a muted explosion could be heard in the distance, followed by a rush of ponies toward the smoking building. Now was the time to take the hall. The other wolves dashed out first, followed by Seth taking the rear. As he exited out the building, he was able to see the war-torn town once again. Buildings half destroyed by cannon fire, barricades covering the streets, entire trees ripped from the ground. ‘What anger could have caused this chaos to claim this once peaceful town?’
As the team was approaching the town hall, a white and red blur caught the attention of Seth before slowing to a trot. Lying on the side of the building, half covered in blood, was a small pony, a child from what he could tell. He could easily tell that the kid had been dead for a day or two, but the cause of the fatality made him stop in horror. She was half burned from an incendiary grenade, a kind which only he and his team possessed.
He just stood there, not even aware of his mission or his surroundings. All he knew was that one of the Wolfpack had killed a child in cold blood. It wasn’t like Seth or his team haven’t seen death before; they killed countless ponies. Sure, he didn’t like it, but he could somewhat live with himself afterwards as they were armed and probably going to kill him. In his mind, that was justification for killing them.
This however, was something completely different. This was killing a purely innocent life like it was a blade of grass. Seth just stood there, not even aware of the unicorn charging at him from across the street. The last thing he remembered was the bone-chilling cold of his heart being punctured.