“F-father?” I asked slowly, my mouth hanging open as I looked up at the smiling Wolf Lord.
My entire world had just ground to a halt as everything I thought I’d known about my life was rewritten. And this was the second time that day that it had happened. My brain was already working overtime, and I wasn’t sure how much more life changing events I could take before my mind completely shut down. What was next? My mother was going to comeback from being dead as well? I knew she was dead, and I remembered burying her with my father, but right now I wouldn’t put it past the world to fuck with me some more.
“Hoarfrost,” Umbrage chuckled softly, before walking towards me and offering me his hoof.
“But…how? Why? What?” I babbled softly, before tapping my father’s hoof, suddenly finding myself pulled into a tight hug. Were it not for my armour I was sure that at least one of my ribs would have been broken, but as it was, I should be able to get off with only a few bruises.
“It’s good to see you again Hoarfrost,” Umbrage smiled, pulling the hug tighter, before putting me down.
“That’s it?” I asked in disbelief, staring at my father. “That’s it?!”
“Easy Hoarfrost,” Umbrage smiled. “You need to calm down.”
“Calm down?!” I roared, taking a step forward. “Why are you here?!”
“I thought that was obvious,” Umbrage chuckled. “I’m the Wolf lord of the ninth Great Company of the Arctic Wolves. Why would I not be at the Aesir?”
“Why are you an Arctic Wolf?!” I roared again. “How are you an Arctic Wolf?”
“I understand why you’re upset Hoarfrost,” my father sighed, sitting down.
“Do you?” I spat. “You abandoned me! You left me in Fitjar to live up to your memory!”
“Ah yes, my memory, my ‘legacy’,” Umbrage nodded with a frown, doing small air quotes around the last word. “I assume you’re referring to the arctic wolf that I managed to kill? Yes, Stronghoof did help me to blow that slightly out of proportion.”
“Out of proportion?” I asked, sitting down and facing my father.
“I suppose it would be easiest to explain things from the beginning wouldn’t it?” Umbrage sighed. “Alright, I suppose you deserve that. The wolf I killed was old and slow, an easy kill for almost anypony, but it was big, and it was still a wolf, and nopony had killed one of those for years, well, that we knew of in Fitjar at any rate. To the village, it looked as if I had done the when really anypony could have done it. Fitjar needed a strong leader, and while Stronghoof was easily my size and possibly stronger, he didn’t have my brains. He knew that, and realised that he was more suited to second in command than actual command. I span a lie into a truth, and he backed me up, using his influence to help me further than I could have got on my own. When we found out that the old chief had been killed, I was the obvious choice for the position, thanks to the lie.”
“It was…a lie?” I asked softly, my head drooping to my chest. “All of it? A lie?”
“A necessary one, and it did have its basis in truth, as all good lies do. I did kill a wolf, but it was a lie nonetheless,” Umbrage nodded.
“But…why?” I asked weakly.
“Do you know what was happening to Fitjar before I was chief?” Umbrage countered. “Haell was tolerating us at best, other villages and towns were getting ready to wipe us out. We were too small to protect ourselves properly, and we took some of the already scarce food products from other villages. One year, two at most, and we would have been attacked, and we would have lost. The only way we were going to survive was to create a legend, make it so nopony would risk attacking Fitjar for fear of their mighty warrior, the one who could kill the unkillable, and make the impossible possible. We managed to spin a good tale, and nopony questioned its validity.”
“I tried to live up to that after you disappeared,” I said, my voice sounding hollow. “I…I thought that you killed a dangerous wolf, everypony did. I had to try and match those achievements, and it wasn’t even an impressive one?”
“I know how this must look Hoarfrost, and I would have told you when you came of age,” Umbrage assured me. “I wanted to tell you, but things don’t always go as we plan them. Especially when Icewind appeared.”
“Who?” I asked.
“The Great Wolf, Commander Icewind,” Umbrage explained. “He’s a southerner compared to you and I Hoarfrost, born and raised in Jorvaska.”
“I’ve never heard of it,” I deadpanned.
“You wouldn’t have. Jorvaska is one of the few cities in the north, it’s about as south as you get before you’re no longer in the north itself. They now about the rest of Equestria more than we ever did, they knew about the Empress, and when the call to arms went out, it was Icewind that realised that he’d have to travel north to make sure the message got to our villages. The villages are isolated, our entire world is ice, and that is all we knew, other than what our superstitions told us. Icewind realised that if he came to a village in broad daylight and started preaching the things he told me, he’d be dismissed or even attacked by ponies of the old ways.”
“So what did happen then?”
“He came to me at night, you were asleep, and he crept into the Longhouse. He wanted me to go south with him, train with the Legion, become one of the first Wolf Lords, all because of my reputation. I wanted to tell him the truth then and there, that it should be Stronghoof if he wanted brawn, but he told me he needed brains as well. I couldn’t tell him the truth Hoarfrost, and he wouldn’t let me tell you where I was going. I didn’t want to abandon you Hoarfrost, I just…”
“Abandoned me,” I finished for him. “You left me to fend for myself against ponies like Grafter.”
“Yes, and look where that’s got you,” Umbrage pointed out. “An Arctic Wolf Hoarfrost, the finest of the Empresses Legions, her premiere shock troops, not like those Drakeguard pretenders. You’re part of that now, and Grafter isn’t. Would you have preferred to grow up like him? To have learnt to be snooty because your father is strong? It could easily have been you out in the snow you know, but it wasn’t, because you learnt to suffer before rising, he just thought that the world would allow him to rise without paying his dues. Conflict makes us stronger Hoarfrost, moulds us, shapes us into who we are. You are who you are because of the choices that have shaped your life, both your own and mine. If any of those changed, you may not be here. If you hadn’t learnt from your struggles with Grafter to be quick, it could have been you, not Knell, who got eaten by the Hydra, or you could have died in Fitjar if you didn’t know the backstreets that you used to hide from the bullies. All of the choices you made led you to this outcome, and any one of them changing could have changed this, changed you, but they didn’t, because even then, you were strong in the mind, far more than you were strong in the body.”
“My life is a lie,” I muttered sullenly. “I looked up to you so much father…were there any more lies? How much of what you told me throughout my life was real?”
“I never lied to you before the wolf,” Umbrage replied forcefully. “I loved you Hoarfrost, I do love you now. I brought you here so I could explain myself and what really happened. I would like your love and forgiveness in return, but I do realise that while what I did was right for Equestria, it wasn’t right by you. If you want to hate me, go ahead. It’s your right Hoarfrost.”
“How could I hate you?” I asked, tears forming in my eyes. “You’re my father, no matter what you do. I…I don’t like what you did, but I understand it, I’m not an idiot.”
“No you’re not,” Umbrage smiled. “You’re my son. Even if you do decide to keep…interesting pets.”
“Who? Bardolf?” I asked, turning my head to see the sleeping pup. “I’m really not sure that an Arctic Wolf would count as a pet.”
“You’re right,” Umbrage nodded. “More of a companion Hoarfrost. Now, you want to keep him I assume?”
“Yes,” I replied flatly, pulling myself up to stand taller in the face of my father.
“Then I’ll allow it, on one condition,” Umbrage smiled.
“And that is?” I asked warily.
“Return the hug,” he chuckled softly, looking at me. “It would mean the world to me Hoarfrost.”
I managed a small smile, before moving forward and wrapping my hooves around my father’s neck, sighing happily as he did the same and pulled me closer to him. Part of me said I should be pissed off at my father for everything, but another part of me was telling my brain to shut up and just accept the fact that I once again had a father, and I should be happy for that.
Eventually, the moment had to end however, and Umbrage broke the hug off, before walking to the other side of the room.
“You are dismissed Blood Hoof,” he nodded curtly.
“Thank you, my Wolf Lord,” I bowed, before turning and leaving the room, only to find Aegis waiting for me on the other side.
“So, I take it the meeting with the Wolf Lord was productive?” he smiled.
“Did you know who he was to me?” I asked with a curt nod.
“Of course. I knew who you were as soon as I found you in the snow, you are your father’s son through and through, but the Wolf Lord asked me not to inform you of the true fate of your father. He wanted to wait until he knew if you were a member of the Legion or not to allow you to know the secret.”
“Thank you sir.”
“Do not mention it. I mean it whelp, speak to me like this again, and I will have to punish you. Remember that, and remember that while Sergeant Grimskull may have been harsh, I am a Wolf Priest, and I have much more creative means of punishment at my disposal,” Aegis shook his head, his voice taking on a lower tone. “Now, follow me, and I’ll take you to see your new Hoof.”
Aegis led me to a large chamber further into the citadel, silently opening the door and allowing me to slip inside. I could already see Gale and Summit at the far end of the room, chatting to a score of other ponies who I assumed to be the rest of the Hoof. For a moment I debated going over and letting them know I was in the room, before shaking my head and turning from them, looking at the bunks. All of them had a large chest at the end of the bed, and I could see that only one was empty.
Assuming that this was my bed, I quietly trotted towards it, beginning the process of taking my armour off and stowing it in the chest, before giving the matress of the bed an experimental touch, finding it to be a mercifully soft surface. I didn’t want to talk to the others at the moment, I just wanted to rest.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t as subtle as I thought I had been, or maybe Gale just had better hearing than I gave her credit for. Maybe it was just a Pegasus thing, which would make sense considering the fact that both Gale and a Pegasus stallion were the ones to look around first.
“Hey Hoarfrost,” Gale beamed, waving as the rest of the Hoof looked round at me.
“What are you doing over there?” Summit chuckled. “Get over here and introduce yourself.”
“Not in the mood Summit,” I grumbled, looking over at the group, before back at the bed.
“Woof!” Bardolf exclaimed happily, jumping from my back and landing on the bed, curling up in the middle of it and sighing happily, before yawning and closing his eyes.
I scowled for a second, before letting out a soft chuckle, shaking my head at the young pup.
“Looks like your little pup is too quick for you Hoarfrost,” Summit chuckled, walking up beside me.
“I said I wasn’t in the mood Summit,” I looked over at Summit as he beamed back at me.
“Yeah, but I didn’t listen, duh,” Summit laughed. “Now, since your bed is already taken, why don’t you come over here and you can at least see the rest of the Hoof before grumping off to bed.”
“Grumping?” I asked. “I don’t think that’s a word Summit.”
“Well then it’s a word now, ‘cause I just used it,” Summit grinned. “Grumping, the present tense of grumped.”
“If you say so Summit,” I shook my head with a sigh, before following Summit, sitting down with the rest of the Hoof, some of whom were still in armour, while others like Summit, Gale and I had decided to relax and remove the heavy metal skin.
“So you’re the newest addition to our little family?” an Earth Pony asked, nodding in my direction.
“Yeah, Blood Hoof Hoarfrost,” I nodded, looking at the scarred pony.
“Blood Hoof Frozen Morning, I’m the squad leader of the Hoof,” he replied. “So, Gale and Summit weren’t fucking with me, you actually brought a pet back from your trial.”
“He’s not a pet,” I corrected him. “He’s a wolf, and I killed his mother, so he’s my responsibility. That doesn’t mean he’s my pet.”
“Duly noted,” Frozen chuckled. “So, mind telling us why you were held up?”
“I do mind,” I glanced across at Summit and Gale, before amending my previous statement. “I mind telling all of your except for Gale and Summit. No offense but I don’t know you yet, and I’m not going to bleed my heart out to just anypony.”
“You’re going to have to learn to trust me Hoarfrost,” Frozen pointed out. “The squad has to stick together or…”
“Or I’ll end up being a fuck wit like Grafter and get kicked out or die, I know,” I sighed. “Fine. You can come too if you really want to.”
Turning, I walked back to my bed, carefully lying down beside Bardolf and softly stroking the sleeping pup, before looking at the others. They had all sat down on bunks near me, and I briefly wondered if it was just coincidence that they all had their beds near mine, or if they were lying on other ponies beds to listen to my problem.
“Well?” Gale asked. “What did Aegis want?”
“He took me to the Wolf Lord and introduced me,” my voice was monotone as I spoke.
“Why would the Wolf Lord want to speak to you?” Summit asked.
“You’ve met the Wolf Lord?” Frozen asked in surprise at the same time.
“Yes, I’ve met the Wolf Lord,” I nodded slowly.
“So why’s this a bad thing?” Gale cocked her head to the side as she looked at me. “I mean, you’re not in trouble are you?”
“Why would I be in trouble?”
“Well, there was the whole thing with Grafter, and your wolf,” Summit pointed out.
“Grafter was hardly my fault. But no, I’m not in trouble. Wolf Lord Umbrage just wanted to speak to me.”
“Umbrage?” Gale chuckled. “Funny old world hey Hoarfrost?”
“Am I missing something?” Frozen turned to Gale.
“Yeah, Hoarfrost’s father was called Umbrage,” Summit chuckled. “What did you say happened to him again?”
“He disappeared,” Gale scrunched up her brow as her voice became slower, before sudden realisation dawned on her face. “Hoarfrost, did you…is this Umbrage the same as…chieftain Umbrage?”
“Yeah,” I nodded slowly.
The trio was silent for a few moments, before Summit burst out laughing, rolling back on the bed as he kicked his legs in the air, rocking back and forth. Bardolf whined as he opened his eyes, before nuzzling closer to me and growling softly at the source of the noise. Finally, Summit managed to bring his laughter under control, and looked across at me, still chuckling as the rest of the Hoof came over to investigate what was so funny.
“Oh…that’s a good one Hoarfrost! The Wolf Lord just happens to be your long lost father, I mean come on, pull the other one.”
“Summit, I don’t think he’s joking,” Gale said slowly, placing a hoof on Summits back to calm him down.
“Woof?” Bardolf barked softly, looking up at me.
“Yeah Bardolf, he is loud,” I nodded slowly. “You learn to live with it though.”
“Hoarfrost,” Frozen placed a hoof on the side of my head, turning it so I was looking at him. “The Wolf Lord and your old Chieftain, are they the same pony?”
“Wolf Lord Umbrage is…my father,” I nodded.
“This is good news isn’t it?” one of the Hoof smiled. “A nice reunion, you’re an Arctic Wolf, seems like a pretty good time.”
“Yeah, good news,” I muttered sarcastically. “My estranged father turns out to be my new commanding officer, and he pretty much tears down everything I knew about him in the space of five minutes. Really good news. Now, if you don’t mind, I need some sleep.”
“Go on then,” Frozen turned to face Gale and Summit. “You two as well, I remember my final trial, you need to recover after it.”
Taking Frozen’s advice I rested my head on the bed, feeling the warmth from Bardolf as he lay beside me, before slowly drifting off to sleep.
I let out a soft chuckle as Bardolf padded through the snow beside me, easily making his way across the surface without a care in the world. The rest of the Hoof marched beside me, and beyond them was the rest of the Great Company. Right at the front were the Wolf Guard, all protecting the Wolf Lord from anything that sought to harm him.
It had been two weeks since I had passed the final trial, each day filled with even more training. Unlike with Grimskull and his physical training, Frozen was teaching us to be true legionnaires, to fight in a unit, to truly be an Arctic Wolf. It had been easy compared to the physical training, but we had all changed, Gale, Summit and I. I didn’t know if it was just being around so many other Arctic Wolves, or if it was just the Northerner in all of us finally coming out, but we were all a lot easier to coax into action now, even in situations we would normally have avoided.
This was the first time since arriving that we’d moved far from the Aesir, and none of us were under the impression that this was just a training exercise. We were all armoured up and ready for a fight, and if Frozen was to be believed, the only thing up here were Minotaur’s. If he was right, we were in for one hell of a first combat situation.
After hours of marching in near silence, I finally made out some structures in the distance. It took us a few minutes to reach the structures, moving into the ruined town as the scouts began to fan out to scan the surrounding area. As squad leader, Frozen made his way towards the centre of the town to find out what was going on, while the rest of us waited for his return on the edge of the village.
“Woof,” Bardolf panted happily, standing beside me as he looked out at the way we had just come.
“Long way from home, eh boy?” I chuckled, looking down at my wolf. I still didn’t know if bringing him along was a good idea or not, I just hoped that he wouldn’t be stupid enough to attack something like a Minotaur.
“So, you think Frozen’s right about it being Minotaur’s?” Summit asked, walking up beside me.
“Could be, they do live up here,” I nodded.
“Not for much longer,” Gale smirked. “I heard some of the other Hoof’s talking, they said that there may be a crusade against them to drive them out of Equestria for good.”
“Not a moment too soon,” I grinned. “I just hope that we’re there to help when the time comes.”
“I doubt you’ll be thinking the same thing in a few hours,” Frozen cut in. “The advanced Wolf Scouts have reported movement two miles north from fliers. They’re not part of the Legion, and no other Legions are supposed to be in the area.”
“Griffons?” Gale asked.
“Most likely,” Frozen nodded. “If there are Griffons this far north it means they’re working for the Minotaur’s. The army can’t be far behind.”
“When do we move out?” one of the Hoof grinned, twirling his axe experimentally.
“Tonight,” Frozen grinned. “We’ll steal a night’s march on them, and our Pegasus will be eliminating Griffons. If it’s done right, they won’t know what’s coming till Dawn, and by then it will be far too late for them.”