//------------------------------// // The Saga of the Great Wolf // Story: The Wolves of Equestria // by FenrisianBrony //------------------------------// The rest of the company began to thin out from the main hall, walking deeper into the Aesir as Frozen approached Gale and I, looking between the two of us, before smiling slightly. “You two have permission to fall out, I will see you are the feast. Come on Summit, let’s leave them alone, I have a feeling that they need the time.” With that, Frozen turned, leading Summit after the rest of the company, and eventually leaving me alone with Gale. The Pegasus looked like I felt, nervously kicking the ground, opening her mouth to speak, before closing it again as if she had thought better of it. Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore, and cleared my throat with a small cough. “Maybe umm…let’s go to our quarters. We should be able to get a bit more peace and quiet there while the others are being debriefed.” “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” she nodded, her wings buzzing as she hovered off the ground, floating ahead of me towards one of the many staircases that lead up towards our chambers. I set off after Gale, before I felt a hard tug on my tail, and turned back to see Bardolf, his jaw clamped around my tail. Letting out a soft chuckle, I turned properly to stroke his head, slowly forcing his jaws open and pulling my tail out of his mouth. “Yes boy, I know I haven’t seen you in a while, but I need to speak to Gale, ok buddy? I’ll make sure I spend time with you afterwards, but right now you should go with Summit. “Ruff,” Bardolf shook his head as I pointed the way Summit had gone, before licking my face, covering me in his slobber. “Alright alight fine,” I chuckled. “You can come with me, just don’t interrupt ok?” “Woof woof,” Bardolf barked happily, following me up the stairs as I trotted after Gale, eventually reaching our room and walking inside, making sure to close the door behind me. I quickly caught sight of Gale, standing by the window at the rear of the room, looking out at the ice fields that stretched away from the rear of the Aesir towards the rest of Equestria. Taking a deep breath, I walked over to her, standing beside her and smiling weakly. “Nice day huh?” “You suck at making small talk,” she chuckled softly, before resting a hoof against my face, tracing one of the smaller scars and sighing. “Oh Hoarfrost.” “That one’s nothing,” I assured her, shrugging her hoof off and turning to face her. “You should see my chest.” “Does it hurt?” she asked, her gaze falling to my recently repaired armour as if she was trying to see through the thick metal plates. “No,” I shook my head. “I can’t feel anything there anymore.” “Good, that’s good Hoarfrost,” she smiled back, turning away to look back out of the window. For a long time, neither of us spoke, and I tried to think of something to say, some way to break the ice properly. Eventually though, I decided to bite the proverbial crossbow bolt, and took a sharp intake of breath. “Gale…listen. About what I said, you know, when I thought I was dying. I…I did mean it, every word of it.” “Y-you did?” she asked in shock, turning to face me, and locking her eyes with mine. “Of course I did, why wouldn’t I?” “I just…you just never said anything before,” Gale reasoned. “We’ve been friends for, well, forever. And then suddenly you’re dying and you say you…love me. It came out of nowhere. I worried that you just…you said it because you were dying, not because you meant it.” “I meant everything I said Gale, I promise you,” I assured her, resting a hoof on the side of her face and smiling. “I just never worked up the nerve to do it. When I thought that was it, I couldn’t bear the fact that I’d die without ever telling you how I felt.” Gale managed to weak smile of her own, brushing away a single tear that rolled down her cheek, before leaning closer to me and planting a soft kiss on my cheek. My cheeks glowed red as her lips made contact, and my heart seemed to flutter slightly. Unlike in the north when we had first kissed, this one was much gentler, much warmer. It felt nice, and I slowly turned my head, my lips meeting hers as we shared a proper moment together, one without one side being seriously wounded. The kiss seemed to last for an eternity, but eventually it had to end, as all things must, and we broke off, Gale smiling back at me. I smiled at her as well, running a hoof through her mane and pulling the hair from in front of her eye and tucking it behind her ear. She giggled at this, before moving back, looking me over almost as if she was inspecting me. “What are you doing?” I asked her, turning to face her as she walked behind me. “Nothing, I just want to check your armour to make sure that it’s properly fixed,” she smirked, before the headset-horn began to glow, and she drew my hammer out from the sheath on my back, moving it over towards her. “Hey, be careful with that,” I called out, watching as she came back into view with the hammer. “Why do you have a hammer now a days?” she chuckled, giving the hammer an experimental swing, grunting at the apex of the strike. “Empress this thing’s heavy.” “Yeah, it is,” I nodded, taking the hammer back from her and sliding it back into its sheath. “As for why I have it, turns out I’d make a very poor blacksmith.” “Only you Hoarfrost,” she laughed, turning and walking back towards her own bed, opening the trunk at the end and slowly beginning to take her armour off. “What are you doing now?” I asked, walking towards her. “Well if there’s going to be a feast soon, I’d rather not be wearing heavy armour,” she shrugged, pulling the chestplate off her body and placing it in the trunk. “I’d suggest you do the same.” Nodding, I trotted towards my own bed, quickly stripping myself of my armour and locking it in the trunk along with my weapons. Bardolf let out a soft whine as he jumped up on the bed, and I gave him a quick scratch behind the ears, smiling at the wolf. “He’s a good pup,” Gale smiled from beside me. “Plus he’s vicious. You should have seen him tear the throat out of a young Minotaur warrior.” “Oh who’s a good wolf,” I cooed, scratching harder, drawing a whine of appreciation from Bardolf. “It doesn’t hurt then?” Gale asked, touching the leather patch sewn over the scar in my chest. “Well it does if you poke it,” I winced, pulling away from her touch. “But other than that, it’s usually fine.” “It’s not the nicest thing to look at, but I think I can get used to it,” Gale smiled, before she turned towards the door, flicking her tail into my face as she walked off. “Come on, there’s a feast on somewhere.” “Let’s get to it then,” I grinned, following after Gale. “Bardolf, come. Let’s go boy.” Gale, Bardolf and I made our way through the corridors of the Aesir, heading towards the sound of raucous laughter, shouting, singing, and the general sounds of merriment that only came from a damn good feast. “Come on, let’s hurry up,” I began to walk faster, breaking into a trot as I passed by the armoury and the rows of weapons stored within. It was one of the biggest rules in the Arctic Wolves, no weapons in the feasting hall. Whether that meant you stored them in your quarters or in the armoury, it didn’t matter, just as long as the only blades in the hall were knives. “Alright aliright,” Gale chuckled, catching up with me. “Come on, I think Summit is over there.” She pointed to the far side of the feasting hall, past all of the long tables full of ponies drinking mead and feasting on whatever they could get their hooves on. Following her hoof, I caught sight of Summit, nodding as I began to walk around the edge of the hall. “Oi oi colts, looks like we have a couple of pups in our midst,” a Stallion called from one of the tables. “Oh, and a mutt of course.” “Grey Hunters from the third company,” Gale whispered. “I can see that from their armour,” I shot back. “Blackmane?” “That’s him,” Gale nodded. “What are you two pups whispering about?” the Stallion demanded. “Nothing that matters here,” I replied, before turning from the Stallion and walking away, hoping that he would be too busy drinking to pursue them. Luckily it seemed that he and his friends didn’t want to make something of it, and they quickly reached the table Summit was seated at without incident, sitting down beside Frozen, while Gale took her place beside me, sliding in next to Summit. Bardolf crawled underneath the table, letting out a yawn, before curling up by my hooves and closing his eyes. “Oh look, the love bird’s return,” Summit chuckled, before clutching his head as Gale brought her hoof into it lightly. “Hey! You spilt my drink!” “Oh get over it Summit, you can always get another one,” I laughed, grabbing a couple of unused mugs and quickly pouring mead into both, glad that I’d decided to keep the headset on. Taking one of the mugs, I passed the other one to Gale, before taking a large swig of the honey scented mead within. “Here comes the bride,” Summit hummed softly with a smirk. “Summit, shut up,” I chuckled. “Else Gale hitting you will be the least of your worries.” “Alright, don’t split your stitches Hoarfrost,” Summit snickered, tossing an apple my way. “Here, eat this, don’t want you going back to the healing halls do we?” I grinned as I took a bite out of the bitter green fruit, letting the juices flow down my muzzle, before swallowing. Following the bite with a swig of mead, I sighed happily, before pulling a plate of food towards me and digging in. “So,” I said in between mouthfuls, “How did things go after, well, after I came back home?” “Pretty well actually,” Summit replied, drinking from his own tankard. “We routed their main army in the first battle. All that was left was to clean up any remaining hold outs. They’re not going to be coming back any time soon I can tell you that.” “We still lost quite a few ponies though,” Gale sighed. “I heard the fifth company is down to a quarter of its original strength.” “Such is the price of victory,” Frozen murmured, before his ears pricked up and he grinned. “Looks like it’s starting then.” “What is?” I asked, looking around and trying to hear what Frozen had heard. “What happens before every speech from the Great Wolf.” Frozen began to bang his now empty mug on the table, joining in with the steady beat that was now sounding throughout the great hall. Slowly it drowned out all other sounds in the hall, and Gale, Summit and I had also joined in the banging, waiting to see what came next. We didn’t have to wait long, as without any sort of signal, the assembled Arctic Wolves all opened their mouths and began to sing. Drink, for the wind blows cold and Drink for The Wolf runs free. Drink to the ships with the sails like wings and Drink to the storm-tossed seas. Drink to the lasting nights and those who warm our beds. Drink to the mead that warms our hearts and the cold that clears our head. Drink to the Empresses Eye for Celestia’s Axe are we. Drink to the World-Tree where she sprung and the Runes of Harmony. Drink to the truth of steel and blood that falls like rain. Drink to Canterlot's golden walls and to our kinsfolk, slain. Drink to the Glory-field where a pony embraces death, and thank the gods that we live at all with our joyous dying breath! Drink for the wind blows cold and Drink for the Wolf runs free Drink to the ships with the sails like wings for Celestia’s Axe are we! The rousing song finally came to a close, and as one the wolves present raised their heads to the ceiling, letting out a long bestial howl. I quickly joined in, followed by Gale and Summit, as well as Bardolf who wriggled out from underneath the table, adding his own cry to the echoing wolf call. Eventually, one loud howl cut through our combined cry, and we all quieted down as Icewind, the Great Wolf himself, stood up from the head table, raising his voice so that the rest of us could clearly hear him, even across the large hall. “Glory to the honoured dead!” he raised a mug, almost overflowing with mead. “And to the next ponies to die!” we roared in reply, raising our own mugs before downing the alcohol, dulling our sense even further. “Our mighty Legion has returned once again, to our sacred home, our mighty fortress, to the Aesir, after a glorious campaign against the vile Minotaur’s, and have, as always, returned victorious!” Icewind proclaimed. “We proved once more that we are the only ones worthy of bearing the North on our backs, that out of all of Equestria’s mighty Legions, we are the strongest amongst them!” This comment was met by a roar of approval as mugs were banged against the tables and hooves impacted again and again with the cold stone floor. Icewind himself joined in as well, before letting out another howl and calming us all down again to continue his story. “We are not pretenders like those of the Drakeguard, believing blind savagery is the only way to fight for our empress, nor are we pretentious like the Everfree Sentinels, content with tinkering with their precious horns while real ponies do the fighting. No offense to our own Rune Priests of course.” “The Great Wolf is drunk,” Raven Eye murmured with a hearty chuckle. “Perhaps he should sit down before the oaf hurts himself.” “Aye, I’m drunk,” Icewind roared, before raising his mug once more. “As any true northerner should be by now!” “Here here!” a pony shouted, getting a score of laughs from the rest of the ponies. “We are the north! Wardens of the most inhospitable terrain known to ponykind! We shall not falter, and we shall not fail in our newest charge!” Icewind continued. “The Empress and her Warmistress have given us another mission, one that we have been entrusted to lead. Our Legion, as well as some companies from the lesser Legions,” there was a round of laughter at this, “have been given a crusade, a campaign of eradication against the Minotaur’s. No more will they threaten our lands with impunity, killing and plundering all that they can! We will march on their home, we will defeat their armies, and we will break their power! When the crusade comes to a close, the Minotaur’s will be nothing more than a shadow on the wall, a footnote in history!” “Yeah!” a pony bellowed, standing up to reveal himself to be a massive white Pegasus, dwarfing even the largest Arctic Wolves, a pair of stumpy wings fluttering on his back. “Settle down Snowflake,” Icewind chortled, before continuing. “But what will this footnote say? Who will it praise? My brothers, I promise you that when history is written, it shall be the Arctic Wolves that won this victory, we will drive our enemy back, we will lead the vanguard to destroy our enemies, and it is we who will be remembered as the Legion who vanquished the mightiest of Equestria’s enemies!” The final roar was deafening as ponies erupted into jubilant cries of glee and howls of delight, ecstatic at the news. I found myself swept up in the fervour, roaring at the top of my lungs until my throat became horse. The chance to test myself once again against the Minotaur’s was something I relished, no matter how much the last time had hurt. By my reckoning, they had more reason to be scared of me than I did of them. I’d killed at least ten of them, they’d killed zero of me, and with this coming crusade, the ratio would only grow ever higher, propelling me upwards through the Legion. I would one day stand beside my father in battle, and maybe, some day in the far off fogs of the uncertain future, I would stand above him. Now was not the time for thinking on the future however, now was the time for serious feasting. The lead up to the speech had been nothing compared to this, and I grabbed hold of a fresh mug filled to the brim with frothy ale. With a happy roar, my mug clash with Summit’s, before I raised it to my lips and threw the foaming brew back in one long pull. Wiping my lips with the back of my forehoof, I let out a long belch, before refilling my tankard from one of the kegs that had been placed on the table by one of the many serf ponies who served the Legion. They were not truly Arctic Wolves, but those that failed the tests of initiation were sometimes given the honour of serving the Legion in other, non-combat roles. “One more, Hoarfrost,” Summit laughed, his face red and flushed with happiness and booze, “And then we can hoof wrestle. “Fine!” I swigged more ale, before turning as I felt a pair of eyes on my back. Twisting around, I saw that Aegis was watching me intently, a small smile on his lips. Raising my tankard, I gave the Wolf Priest a silent toast, the pony returning it with a widening grin. Beside him, the other warriors mirrored his actions, all raising their mugs, before downing the contents within. Suddenly and spontaneously the assembled Wolves burst out into another roaring lusty song. Even though I did not know the words, I joined in once more, bellowing out the tune wordlessly, pausing only to stuff more food and more ale into my mouth. I was well and truly drunk by now, but it didn’t matter, and I happily threw my hooves around Gale and Summit, pulling them closer as I drank more, the pair laughing as they too drank. I had my friends here, I had a mare who seemed to want to be in a relationship with me, I had food, ale, and more than that, I had a thousand ponies who would willingly call themselves my brother. All in all, it was a great time to be an Arctic Wolf.