Chapter 5
Twilight and Comet tail were curled up together cuddling their new puppy. "She has your eyes," Comet noted.
“That she does,” Twilight smiled.
"And she's beautiful like her mother."
“You know that’s right.”
Comet pressed his muzzle to Twilight's cheek. "I'm glad you're still alive. Both of you."
“Me too…”
"Not being with you...and knowing I never could see you again...it hurt me more than you can imagine..."
“I would imagine that.”
"Even if you died a second time… you will always be my mate."
“Then the feeling’s mutual.” Twilight followed that statement with a nuzzle.
Comet rest his head on Twilight's, and closed his eyes. He gave her a small kiss on the ear, and whispered, "I love you."
Twilight deepened her nuzzle and whispered back, "I love you, too."
Comet then looked Twilight over. "By the way, I love the wings. They look good on you.”
"Thank you, and I've already found a use for them."
"And what's that?"
Twilight placed a wing over Comet's back. "That."
Comet chuckled. “Yeah, that is a pretty good use.”
Their noses got closer as if they were about to do an eskimo kiss, but before they could, Twilight noticed Celestia out of the corner of her eye. She suddenly backed away and brought her wing back to her side. “How long have you been standing there?”
“I was just walking in,” Celestia said, “We’re about to leave to return to the territory. A war is about to break out.”
Twilight sighed, "Of course. We will be ready shortly."
“That won’t be necessary. Megan and I conferred on the matter and we decided that she will watch you until the matter has passed.”
"But Celestia, I'm feeling perfectly fine."
“But what about the pup? Would it be safe in the war?”
"I can leave her here with Comet."
“And if you die again?”
"I'll die a thousand times if I have to if it means Stargazer and Comet will be safe."
"Twilight..." Comet spoke up, "Please stay. I've already lost you once, don't make me endure losing you a second time."
Twilight remained silent. How could she have forgotten that. Besides, she might need to learn her magic all over again since it’s more powerful than it was when she was a unicorn wolf.
Suddenly, she felt something gently nip her wing. She looked to see Stargazer, valiantly pulling at her mother's wing trying to get her to stay. Twilight giggled at the sight. Stargazer couldn’t speak yet, but she seemed to know what they were talking about. “Okay, okay. I’ll stay.”
Stargazer let go of Twilight’s wing, and lay next to Twilight’s side, as if her job was done. Twilight sighed, she didn’t want to leave her pup...but she also didn’t want to sit around while her pack is forced to fight. But could she argue with a puppy?
Finally, “Fine...I’ll stay.”
Stargazer curled back up into a ball. Comet glanced at his pup, “I should probably go…”
“No, It would be best for you to stay with Twilight as well,” Celestia said.
“Well...I can’t complain…” Comet confessed.
“Guess I can’t either,” Twilight commented.
******
Rainbow Dash sat with Firefly out in the field, talking to each other about what had happened in the past years. Needless to say, both wolves had plenty to say. Firefly asked, “So...you met Applewood while you-?”
“Yes…he was a lone wolf and, well…”
“I see…”
“Yeah… it’s...real hard. But he is a nice wolf.”
“That’s good. I wouldn’t want you to marry some creep.”
“Me neither… I did have an...incident with one wolf…”
Firefly raised an eyebrow.
“Oh...maybe I shouldn’t’ve mentioned that…”
“Yeah… Because now I want to know what it is.”
Rainbow sighed, “His name was Citrus, and… Well… He kinda… attacked me.”
Firefly’s eyes widened. “What exactly do you mean by ‘attack’?”
“He wanted to...mate with me, and I told him ‘no’, and he attacked me.”
Firefly gasped.
“Told you you didn’t want to know.”
“No kidding…”
“Well… Fortunately he didn’t… You know…”
“You fought him back? Good.”
“Yeah...a little ‘kiss’ on the neck persuaded him…”
“Do I need to ask which kiss?” Firefly asked with a smirk.
“I think you already know which one,” Rainbow grinned back.
Both wolves laughed.
Once they both calmed down, Firefly asked, “So you think they’re still out there?”
“You mean Applewood and Phoenix? I don’t know.”
“Well...they might, I certainly hope so…”
Just then, Wind Whistler flew up. “Hey Firefly...who’s this?”
“Wind Whistler, this is my daughter, Rainbow Dash.”
“Your...daughter? Since when did you have a kid? Since when did you have a mate?”
“A while back… He was killed by a wild bear…”
“Oh… I’m sorry for your loss…”
“Well...that was bad...but I’m real happy I found my little Dashie…”
“Well, you better hold onto her while you still can. You never know when she might disappear again.”
“Yeah...well…I’m glad you found her again.”
“Thanks, I am, too.”
“Anyway, we’re about to head back to the territory, Celestia needs all available paws to drive away Sombra and Nightmare Moon.”
“That creep that came by earlier and killed Twilight?”
“Yes.”
“Sounds hard.” Rainbow stood up and flexed her wings, “Let’s do it.”
“Are you sure?” Firefly asked.
“Why not? Sounds fun.”
“Dash...it’s a war...it’s not supposed to be fun.”
“...Maybe not...but it sounds a heck of a lot better than moping around.”
“Yeah...and if I’m gonna be kickin’ tail, I’d rather do it with my daughter.”
“Ditto, mom,” Rainbow grinned.
******
Lancer looked into the forest. He knew that there would would be an enemy pack ready to take over his home. Unfortunately, it would take a few hours to get there… By that time, the war would already be over. He could teleport, but if he used his magic too much, he could burn up his horn, or worse… himself. Surely Celestia has a way of bringing them back quickly, right?
Hmm…
“Lancer,” Celestia greeted.
Lancer turned to his aunt. “Yes, Aunt Celestia?”
“Are you ready to go?”
“I guess...I just hope no one…died. On our side, anyway.”
“I know what you mean.”
“Or...Bright Eyes…”
Celestia remained silent.
"If we both survive...I think...I want to tell her how I feel about her..."
"...Oh?"
"Yeah...or maybe I'm just scared of losing her...so I want to just blurt it out..."
"I wouldn't wait, Lancer...what if someone else gets her first?"
Lancer didn't reply.
"But at the same time...don't rush things."
“Right…” Lancer’s cheeks were noticeably red. "Aunt Celestia, do you approve of me and...an earth wolf?"
“Of course I do.”
"Would mom?"
“I know she would.”
"And the packs?"
“Some might disagree, but that’s not their business.”
"I guess, and as long as I have Bright Eyes's approval, then that's all I need."
"And I'm sure she will."
“Assuming she lives that is…”
"Don't think like that, Lancer..."
"I can't help it..."
Both wolves remained silent. Celestia sighed as she closed her eyes. Her horn immediately lit up, resulting in the opening of a portal. "I believe this will be easier on all of us than teleporting."
Lancer’s jaw dropped.
"Would you mind rounding everyone up?"
“Oh. Um… Yes. Anyone staying behind?”
"Twilight and Comet are staying with their new puppy.”
“Okay. Just needed to know.” And with that, Lancer ran to the shelter.
******
Bright Eyes looked at the pack she was about to face. Said pack looked back at her pack. They had it all planned out, they thought it would have been a swift win, they thought there would be no problems, but there was one trump card that Nightmare Moon had: Minty and Zecora.
Bright Eyes swallowed hard. The odds had been against them before, but now that the enemy had two of their own wolves as prisoners… If she gave the order to attack now, they would be dead. A unicorn couldn't teleport and save them; that would be suicide. Flying in had the same issue. At this point, it was a stalemate.
Unless…
“Eclipse, I know of a way to buy Celestia and Lancer some time, but I’ll have to give myself up in order to do it,” she whispered.
"No. That's suicide. I can't allow you to do that." Eclipse whispered back.
“Any other options?”
"I can give myself up."
“And if Luna is restored, what will happen if she finds her mate dead?”
"And what if she finds her son crushed? Possibly dead by his own paw?"
“Right now, I’ll just have to take a gamble. If I should perish, it was a pleasure serving you.”
"Bright Eyes. Don't do this. The pack needs you. You are a strong leader, one that isn't an alicorn, I might add."
“And a leader would lay down her life if it is demanded of her as long as the pack is safe.”
"But that's just it. It wouldn't be safe."
“But it will buy the others time to get here, it will be worth it.”
"No it won't."
Bright Eyes stared at him for a few moments before saying, “If I should die, tell Lancer that we will one day meet again.” After she said that, she bolted for the other side.
“Bright Eyes, come back here right now! You’ll get yourself killed!”
But it was too late, Bright Eyes was already standing on the other side. It was even more frightening than she thought, but she had to do it. It was a good thing that she followed her instinct, because she noticed out of the corner of her eye a group of wolves walking up to the conflict. She looked and saw… them.
There stood Celestia, Lancer, Lightning Thrash, Firefly, Wind Whistler, and Shining Armor, along with some new wolves that she had never seen before. Her eyes filled with glee when she turned to Eclipse and said, “I told you it would happen!” Unfortunately, what she did only opened herself to having Sombra pouncer her from behind and make a deep cut in her neck using one of his claw. To make matters worse, Sombra managed to cut an artery!
Lancer could barely hear himself as he started charging towards his dying friend yelling, “NO!”
He leapt towards Sombra, who was partly surprised, and Lancer managed to send a bolt of magic that was able to push Sombra and any shadow wolf around him away. He laid in front of Bright Eyes. "Bright Eyes… Please tell me you're okay? Please?"
“S-Sombra cut an artery. I don’t th-think I have much time.” She suddenly started coughing up blood.
“Just stay calm. We’ll get you some help, patched up no problem, right?”
“Lancer…” She tried to lift her head up. Luckily, Lancer’s head was low enough for her bloodstained lips to meet his. Lancer’s eyes widened at the sudden kiss, but he in turn accepted it. If only it could have lasted longer, but unfortunately… her body went limp, and Lancer could no longer feel her breath. For what seemed like an hour, Lancer cried into her fur.