//------------------------------// // The Aesir // Story: The Wolves of Equestria // by FenrisianBrony //------------------------------// I awoke in darkness, pure and total darkness, the sheer blackness of my surrounding seeming to squash me down, intent on squeezing the life out of me. Was this the afterlife? The Sagateller had always told us that the afterlife was supposed to reflect how you lived your life, was this my contribution to the world? As blank as my flank, dooming me to an eternity of nothingness? Pushing myself to my hooves, I slowly began to feel around the area I was now in, relying on my sense of smell and touch, rather than my impaired sight. I was not outside anymore, that much was instantly obvious from the lack of snow around my hooves and the stillness of the air. It was still cold, but I could handle a little bit of cold. After all, I had my fur… I whirled around, smacking my head into something that I couldn’t see in the dark as I frantically searched for the arctic wolf fur. I knew I had had it on when I had left Fitjar, and I was fairly sure I had it when I lay down in the snow, so where the hell was it now. Pushing myself to my hooves again, ignoring the ear splitting headache I now had to contend with, and began to feel my way along the walls once again, starting to mentally map out the room that I was in. After another series of smacking my head on a rocky outcrop of sorts, I finally began to glimpse something other than the darkness, a tiny speck of light at the end of the passageway I now found myself in. Part of my was sighing, trying to tell my mind that this was it, ‘the light at the end of the tunnel’ that ponies liked to popularise as the sigh of being dead, but another part of me, the part that was pissed off at the amount of punishment my head had taken over the past few minutes, kicked that part of my mind out of the way. Grinning, I began to gallop towards the light, getting closer and closer until I finally reached it, standing in a pool of light and looking upwards at the whole that the light was shining through. I had never thought simple light could be so good, and I glanced at the rickety looking wooden ladder that lead towards the light. Deciding that whatever was up there would be preferable to staying down in the dark, I slowly placed a hoof on the first rung, beginning my ascent from the darkness. It didn’t take me long to finally reach the top, and I dragged myself out of the small hole, before looking around. My heart seized in my chest as my eyes fell on the monster staring down at me. It was old, clad in metal like the monsters of legend, and looking down at me with a face that portrayed no emotion. Even worse though was the pitch black horn that protruded from its forehead. Unicorns were dangerous, useful if they could control their powers, dangerous if they couldn’t, and the fact that this monster had one terrified me even more than the axe sheathed by its side. “Ah, so you are alive,” the monster nodded. “I was afraid that you were dead when we brought you in after all.” I shrank back, my pupils shrinking as the monster leaned forward. “Do I frighten you pup?” the thing asked suddenly, keeping its gaze fixed on my all the while. For a moment, I wanted to run, to get away from this thing, but I knew that turning my back would only get me killed faster. Instead, I forced myself to stand up straight, staring the thing straight in the face. “I’m done being afraid,” I spat, snarling slightly, if only to hide my own terror. I expected the monster to snarl back, to be annoyed, maybe even to lash out. Instead, it started to laugh. “The smarter answer was no, little pup,” it chuckled, “but I like your spirit.” “Where is here?” I asked, looking around, careful to keep my eye on the monster. “So many questions, not like the others at all,” the monster mused. “All will be revealed pup…” “Stop calling me pup!” I roared. “I am a pony! A descendant of the great chieftain Umbrage!” “Interesting,” the monster mused. “There is fight in you after all. Maybe you will make it here after all. But you are a pup, otherwise you would not be here. Show me otherwise if you think you can, otherwise follow me.” “Just kill me here or let me go,” I snarled, lowering myself into a fighting stance. I stood no chance, but I didn’t want to follow the creature further into its lair. “Kill you? Oh no little pup, there is a different future in store for you,” the monster shook his head, before turning and walking further into the lair. “Are you coming?” Casting a quick look behind me, I saw that there was nothing but rock surrounding the pair of us, leaving only the way the monster was going open, short of going back down into the pit. With a sigh, I followed the monster, hoping that it was speaking the truth when it said it wasn’t going to kill me. Eventually, the pair of us emerged into a large cavern, filled with ponies who were looking either terrified like I was, or defiant like some of the larger bucks there. I noticed that none of them looked older than fifteen, old enough for some of them to have passed the trials of Stallionhood in Fitjar, but many more were younger, still being little more than colt's and filly's. Did these monsters like to torment the young, rather than picking on ponies who would fight back? I slowly began to look around, scanning the faces of some of the ponies, before a voice boomed out across the cavernous room. “You have all ascended from the pit, and now you are here.” the monster roared, standing atop an enormous piece of stone that jutted up from the ground like a monstrous fang. Part of the tip had been chiseled away to make a podium where the monster now stood, staring down at us with the same impassive gaze as before. Beside him stood another monster, this one also sporting a black horn, but standing taller than the first, staring down at us with contempt. “And now you are all wondering why. You are wondering where you are, and who I am, and what lies in store for you pups.” There was a murmur of agreement at this, and I found myself agreeing with the nineteen other ponies in the room. “I am Wolf priest Aegis, a member of the greatest legion of her warriors, the Arctic Wolves, and you, you are nothing. Yet.” He seemed to let the last word hang in the air for a moment, looking between us and gauging our reactions, before continuing. “I know that not all of you know of us, or even of the God Empress, but rest assured, you will. You have be chosen, because somehow we saw potential in you all, my compatriot doesn’t see it. Potential that might lead somewhere. You will shape up, you will learn, and you may one day call yourself a brother. You will travel beyond the north, to the deserts of the south and the jungles to the west, you fight in battles that will temper and test your measure as warriors. There will be opportunities for glory and for honour and the respect of those whose respect is worth something. If you prove yourself then power, glory and immortality. If you fail, then you will be forgotten, death everlasting. These are the paths before you. From this day, from this minute, there are no others. You will either triumph or you will die. Do you understand me?” A murmur went through the room, before Aegis roared again. “I said do you understand me!” “Yes!” came the shouted hurried reply, everypony around me being cowed by the anger of the Arctic Wolf. “Good,” Aegis nodded. “You are now aspirants to the Legion of the north, the Arctic Wolves’. When you know exactly what that means, you will understand the greatness of the honour being offered you. Now, let me to introduce you to Grimskull. He is the pony who will teach you what you need to know, and judge whether you are worthy to live or die. Listen to his words carefully, for they mean life or death to you now. I will leave you in his capable hooves.” And with that, Aegis turned, stalking off through a door at the rear of the chamber, the other pony, Grimskull, replacing him on the podium, looking down at us with scorn. He was much larger than Aegis was, the metal skin he wore barely containing the muscles that lay beneath it, and doing little to conceal the knots of scar tissue that rose up his neck and across his face. Like the wolf priest, Grimskull was clad in the same heavy metal armour that I had mistaken as the ponies skin. It was not quite as embellished or fancy as the armour Aegis wore, but it reflected the personality of Grimskull perfectly. It was battered, and had clearly seen battle, just like the pony who wore it. What really drew my eye however was the massive axe sheathed across its back. The weapon was even bigger than the one Aegis had carried, and looked like it would be much more efficient than any weapon that had ever graced Fitjar. “Welcome to hell pups,” the pony snarled. “I am Grimskull, Sergeant Grimskull to all of you, and you will do well to remember that. Don’t, and I’ll tear your limbs off and beat you over the head with them. Understand?” This pony was even more terrifying than Aegis had been, but there was something about him, something that instantly made me hate him. Maybe it was just his demeanour, but I already knew that I felt nothing but loathing for him, and the others around me seemed to be feeling something similar. “Yes Sergeant!” came the reply. “Look at you all,” Grimskull sneered. “Pathetic. That the Wolf Priests would think that any of you could ever be an Arctic Wolf is insulting, an oversight on their behalf I’m sure. I’ll have to make sure that their oversight is nipped in the bud here. You’re nothing more than squealing pigs, you’re not even worthy of being called pups.” I felt my blood boil as he called us out, but what could any of us do? Grimskull was armed, he was armoured up, and he looked like he was a hairs breath away from breaking skulls and laughing as he did it. The others seemed to have the same idea, until one pony stepped forward, a pony I hoped to never see again. “I am not a pup,” Grater snarled, taking another step forward. “I am a warrior, son of Chief Stronghoof, and foremost warrior of Fitjar.” “Well then, do you want to make something of it? Pig,” Grimskull asked, looking down at Grafter. “Put the weapon down and take off the armour, and let’s make this a fair fight,” Grafter growled. “You don’t look like much.” I blinked at that, looking between the two ponies, trying to work out if Grafter was talking to the same pony I was looking at. Grimskull wasn’t much taller than Grafter, but he was bigger in muscle mass, not to mention all the evidence of his skill in combat. Grafter was either trying to intimidate the Sergeant, in which case he was an idiot, or he actually believed what he was saying, in which case he was a brave idiot. Grimskull laughed, the black horn on his head lighting up, and for a moment I thought he was simply going to kill Grafter there and then. Instead, he drew his massive axe, dropping it in front of Grafter. “Well? Prove that you’re not a pig,” Grimskull sneered. “Or would you prefer a smaller weapon? I’m sure I could find a knife for a pig like you.” Grafter roared, before grabbing hold of the haft of the weapon with his mouth, straining as he swung it through the air. I knew how hard Grafter could lift, and he was by no means weak, but he struggled to even move the weapon properly. Grimskull stood still as the weapon arced towards him, before turning and ducking, letting the axe swing harmlessly over his head, before lashing out with a two hoofed buck, sending Grafter crashing across the floor. Instantly, Grimskull was on him, grabbing his axe and holding it against Grafter’s throat. “Let this be a lesson to you all, the strength you thought you had, any skills you may have possessed before today, they don’t mean shit. You are worthless, scum until I decide, if I decide, that you’ve proved yourself,” he called out, looking at all of us, before looking down at the coughing form of Grafter. “Next time you do this, I’ll take my trophy.” Grimskull slid his axe back into the rough scabbard he wore on his back, before stepping back, walking up to a door and turning to face us again. “Come with me, it’s time you got equipped properly,” he looked down at Grafter, before pointing at me and another pony. “You two, help the pig to his hooves.” Sighing, and silently cursing that Grimskull had chosen me to do this, I walked towards Grafter, helping him to his hooves with the help of the other Earth Pony that had been assigned to help. With a curt nod, the pony left, and I turned to follow him, before I felt a hoof on my shoulder, and turned back around to look straight at the scowling face of Grafter. “Hoarfrost, figures that a coward like you would get out while almost everypony else died,” Grafter spat. “What in the name of the Goddess is a weakling of a runt like you doing here?” “I was chosen Grafter,” I snapped, pushing his hoof off me. “And unlike you, I’m not going to pick a fight with the Sergeant, because I’m not an idiot.” Grafter snarled, before shoving me back, almost sending me tumbling to the floor. “You’ve going to regret that runt,” he snarled, advancing towards me. “I’m going to beat your sorry ass, just like back at Fitjar. You don’t deserve to be here.” Instead of backing away, I took a tentative step forward, squaring up to Grafter and scowling up at him. “I’m done being scared of your Grafter. We’re not back at Fitjar anymore, and you just got beaten pretty easily by the Sergeant. You don’t scare me.” “Oh, you think?” Grafter sneered, looking down at me. “All the time. Maybe you should try it,” I shot back, drawing a few laughs from the ponies who had gathered around us by this point. Grafter roared, and was lunged at me, only to stop in his tracks as a wooden shaft buried itself into the ground between us, causing us both to look round in shock, focusing on Sergeant Grimskull as he storm back towards us, a crossbow slipping back into its holster as he went. “Did I tell you you could fight?!” he roared, looking down at us both, before lashing out at grafter again, sending him skidding to the floor once more, before whirling to strike me. I knew what was coming, and I reflexively jumped back. I didn’t avoid the strike completely, but I certainly avoided most of the force, and was only sent stumbling back instead of sprawling across the floor. Grimskull let out a harsh laugh, and for a moment I thought he was going to come at me. Instead, he turned to look at Grafter as he slowly pushed himself to his hooves, coughing as he went. “This runt learns, you don’t pig. You want to settle something, we can take it to the cages here. If I ever catch any of you,” he looked at the other ponies, “fighting with each other outside of the cages, I’ll cut your legs off and leave you outside to freeze or rot. You got that?!” “Yes sergeant!” we all roared in unison, knowing coming from Grimskull, this probably wasn’t an idle threat. “Let’s go then, don’t fall behind,” Grimskull said dismissively, before turning and heading out of the room the way Aegis had gone. I started to follow him and the rest of the ponies who had been brought here, before I felt a hoof on my shoulder once again. Whirling round, I expected to find Grafter, and instead was surprised when I was greeted by a Pegasus, not an Earth Pony, and a very familiar Pegasus at that. “Gale,” I beamed, leaping forward and grabbing Gale, pulling her into a hug. “Good to see you to Hoarfrost,” she chuckled, returning the hug, before taking a step backwards. “Still making friends with Grafter I see?” “You know me,” I chuckled softly, before glancing at the others as they walked off down the corridor. “Come on. We don’t want to get left behind.” “No, we don’t,” Gale agreed, quickly following after the group of ponies. “So, what happened after you left the village?” “I died,” I muttered sullenly. “Or almost died, or something. Aegis told me that when I first came out of the pit. What about you?” “I can fly,” Gale smiled, extending her wings slightly, before looking at her back leg, a sealed scar running up the right fetlock. “I managed to get away, but one of the wolves nicked my leg. I found a cave to sleep in, and when I woke up I was in the pit. The rest is probably just like your story.” The pair of us quickly joined the rest of the ponies in an open courtyard, and I shivered slightly as some snow fell on my back, brushing it off with my tail before looking around, considering the situation that I was being presented with for the first time since I had been found by the Arctic Wolves. I was surrounded by ponies from dozens of different villages and holdfasts. I recognised some of them from the brands that rested upon their flesh above their warrior marks, but most of them were unidentifiable. The thought of their warrior brands caused me to look down at my own flank, and I scowled as I realised that once again, I was the only blank flank here. Under normal circumstances all of them would have been considered enemies until proven otherwise, yet none of them seemed at all disposed towards hostility at the moment, other than Grafter, who was still staring at me with venom in his gaze. The sun was already setting over the courtyard, throwing out long shadows, before the torches dotted around the walls were lit, allowing us all to see again. Everything seemed to pass in a blur that evening, each one of the aspirants having to go through the same motions, before forming up in front of the unmoving form of Sergeant Grimskull. Most of my time was spent being quizzed by Aegis, the old Wolf Priest making sure to enter every single one of my answers into a large book, before he passed me over to a pair of unicorns with more natural coloured horns. The pair ran tests on me, scanning me with their arcane powers that made my mane and tail itch like crazy, before they too signed me off, and I was told to go and stand with the others. As soon as I stepped into the line, Grimskull began to talk again, glancing over a list that had been presented to him by Aegis. “Hoarfrost! Front and centre, now!” he roared, looking down the line, before his piercing gaze fell on me. Hearing my name, I strode forward, once again finding myself in front of the Sergeant, and silently marvelling at his sheer size, as well as the intricacy of the armour he wore. Before today, I had only ever seen one pony who wore metal armour, and he was the chieftain of the largest holdfast within travelling range of Fitjar. That suit would have been worth than all the riches in Fitjar combined, and yet compared to the Sergeants armour, it was little more than a rough plate hammer into shape. Grabbing a pair of items from a stone table behind him, Grimskull turned and presented them to me, allowing me to look at them. The first was a small axe, a leather cover protecting the blade and doubling as an anchoring point for the scabbard, while the second was an oddity. It was a black metal headband, but what was odd about it was the black horn that protruded from the front of it, looking just like the ones Grimskull and Aegis wore. I felt it being placed over my head, before the Sergeant looked at me expectantly. “Well, take the weapon, or do you not want it?” Reaching forward with my head, I made to grab the axe from the air with my mouth, before a sudden blow stopped me, and I looked up at Grimskull, the Sergeant shaking his head in annoyance. “No you stupid runt, use the headset.” “Sergeant, how am I supposed to do that?” I asked with a slight growl, my head throbbing from where he had struck me. “Empress protect me,” Grimskull muttered, before raising his voice so everypony could hear. “I’m only going to say this once, so listen in. The headsets emit a low level telekinesis field, allowing Earth Ponies and Pegasi to pick things up more easily. Just put it on, think about holding whatever it is you’re trying to pick up, and as long as you’re close enough to it, you should be able to lift it. I’ll leave you to figure out the rest, just learn quickly.” Nodding, I concentrated on the axe and scabbard, furrowing my brow slightly, before being greeted by the axe levitating away from Grimskull and towards me. Stepping back into the line, I strapped the scabbard to my side while the next pony was called up, drawing the axe and inspecting the blade. Other than a knife and a spear, I had never held a blade like this, and I had never even imagined holding something as beautifully crafted as this, much less being given one. The dark metal was of the finest quality, and the edge was so keen that I could slice off a few hairs from my own mane with next to no effort. The end of the wooden handle was tipped with a small wolfs head identical to the one on the leather straps that held the axe’s scabbard close to my body. Compared to the axe Grimskull, or any of the fully armoured Arctic Wolves had for that matter, my axe was a pitiful weapon, little more than a child’s toy by comparison, but it was still better than anything back in Fitjar. Eventually, everypony present had been equipped, all bar the two unicorns now wearing the odd headbands, and every one of us wearing the axes at our sides with pride. Casting a gaze over us, Grimskull raised his voice yet again. “These are your weapons now, keep hold of them, they’re worth more to me at the moment that any of you worthless lot. If you somehow survive this, you can keep them as little mementoes, but when one of you dies, I expect the others to bring the weapons back here. You are worthless, the blades are good quality steel, the animals can feast on your bones when you die, but not on the blades. Now, I’m going to assign each of you to your Hoof’s. They are your basic units, and if you survive the final test, you’ll have the honour of being called a Blood Hoof, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Every one of you in a Hoof will train together, eat together, hunt together and most likely die together. When I call out your names step forward.” Grimskull once again looked down at the list, calling out the names of ponies in groups of five, none of whom I recognised. Five more names were called out, then five more, until finally there were just five of us left, waiting for our names to be called out. Gale was still beside me, as were another pair of ponies, one who bore the mark of Haell on his flank, and the other bearing a mark I didn’t recognise, but it was the last pony who I was scowling at. “Gale, Hoarfrost, Knell, Summit, Grafter.” The five of us stepped forward, looking expectantly up at Sergeant Grimskull as he looked us all over, his gaze lingering on Grafter and I for longer than the others. “You two won’t be a problem, will you?” he growled menacingly. “No Sergeant,” I shook my head. “No,” Grafter growled, still glaring at me, right up until Grimskull struck him over the head. “No what pig?!” he roared. “No Sergeant!” Grafter roared back, shaking his head. “Good, you four pups,” he looked at Grafter and sneered, “and the pig, better learn to love each other, or you can learn to bury each other. It makes no difference to me.” As I looked across at Grafter, I momentarily debated protesting about being placed in a Hoof with him, but one look at the Sergeant told me that if I even so much as opened my mouth to protest, I would find myself short a few teeth. From the look on Grimskull’s face, he knew what I wanted to say, and was almost daring me to try something. He knew Grafter and I hated each other, and he had placed us together anyway, and I doubted there was any real reason behind it other than to just make our life a bit more miserable. “Look at the other ponies in your Hoof,” Grimskull ordered. “Remember their names, study their faces, and know that by the time we’re done here, at least one of them will be dead.” Glancing over at Grafter, I felt a shiver run up my spine. Judging from the look on his face, I didn’t doubt that the Sergeant’s words were going to be hollow. High above the courtyard, a pony watched the proceedings with a thoughtful eye. He remembered well his own training, although his hadn’t been anything like this. He had been in the first wave of ponies to answer Icewind’s call to arms, and had been trained in Canterlot by the God Empress herself. That had been years ago, and they had been the only Arctic Wolves to train anywhere other than in the north. Almost all of the other legions looked down on the Arctic Wolves exclusively recruiting children and teenage bucks and mares, but that was only because they were to weak to see how effective that made them if they eventually became Blood Hoof's. Only the Drakeguard shared their philosophy, further solidify the rivalry between the two legions. “Wolf Lord,” Aegis bowed as he entered the room, before approaching the stallion, standing beside his commanding officer on the balcony, looking down at the aspirants. “What do you think of them Aegis?” the Wolf Lord asked slowly. “Some of them may survive Grimskull,” Aegis shrugged. “Others won’t, but that just means they couldn’t cut it. That pony from Fitjar, Grafter, he seems like he’s the strongest, and the most headstrong. If he could stop being an idiot, he might make it, as may the unicorns, and maybe the Pegasus. She’ll be useful as a scout if nothing else.” “Yes,” the Wolf Lord nodded again. “The other pony from Fitjar though, Hoarfrost. What do you make of him?” “The runt?” Aegis asked in surprise. “He’s one of the oldest blank flanks I’ve ever seen, a pony should have his cutie mark by that age. He’s small, looks pretty scrawny. I wouldn’t rate his chances that highly, but he could surprise me.” “Size isn’t everything Aegis,” the Wolf Lord murmured. “Don’t underestimate these ponies, but more than that, don’t underestimate him.”