//------------------------------// // The Stone is Cast // Story: The Wolves of Equestria // by FenrisianBrony //------------------------------// It had been almost six months since the first battle against the Diamond Dogs outside of their den, a lot of the ponies who had been wounded in that battle were now beginning to return to service, or were being returned home for a longer recovery or an honourable discharge from their Legion. Outside, a series of mass graves had been dug, Diamond Dog corpses placed within and either buried or burnt to make way for more corpses, the acrid smoke easily being visible for miles around. The dead of the Legions were treated with much more honour, their corpses being shipped back to the homeland for repatriation. Hundreds dead, hundreds more wounded, months of hard fighting, and they had only just breached the tenth layer of the den. Intel reported it could be as deep as thirteen. Every day brought us fresh miseries, Diamond Dogs springing traps on us, or causing cave-ins, or any of the other ways they had sought to slow us down. We had broken the back of their horde in the first fight, but it was hard to root out an enemy when they could tunnel through anything short of solid rock. So for now, we were holding our position, fortifying what we could, and placing large steel plates on the ground beneath our hooves. When we stood on those, we were safe. When we stepped off them, we were dinner. “How many did you lose?” I asked as Ravar trudged the entry point to the safe zone I was helping to guard, Grey Hunters and Blood Hooves walking past him as he stopped to talk to me. “Three to cave-ins, one was dragged down to the lower depths, seven by conventional means,” Ravar sighed. “No major wounded, cuts and scrapes mostly. Bardolf was a useful pup again, gave us a bit of warning before they attacked.” The large arctic wolf let out a happy bark, a few drops of blood dripping from his fangs as he bounded over to me, smearing slobber all over my face. The wolf was the only one who seemed to be enjoying himself down here, his nose and senses were far better than any of the Legionnaires, meaning he could smell the Diamond Dogs before they attacked. Of course, even his nose couldn’t predict cave-ins and tunnel collapses. “Good boy, good boy,” I eventually managed to push Bardolf of me, turning back to Ravar. “Get some food in you then, we’re all going out again tonight.” “Yes, Wolf Lord,” Ravar nodded, before walking further into the safe zone. That was another thing that was absent down here, smiles. Everypony knew that their offensive was in danger of stalling, then being pushed backwards, and finally being defeated completely. Defeat was anthemia to most Legionnaires at the best of the time, but this was Warmistress Luna’s largest solo command, her chance to prove to the Empress that she could be trusted with overseeing more than a portion of a battle or an offensive. Failure here would reflect badly on Luna personally, and no pony wanted that, least of all me. Moral was stretched to breaking point, combat effectiveness was waning every day, I hadn’t even seen the sun for two weeks. Even the legendarily famous Arctic Wolf spirit was threatening to abandon the company. “Wolf Lord? I’m coming to relive you,” Summit approached me, his own unit with him. “Thanks, Summit, and you know my name, and to you, it isn’t Wolf Lord,” I managed a small smile, signalling for my Blood Hooves to move out of the fortifications. “You know, we need to catch up some time, we don’t seem to have talked for ages.” “Yeah, sure,” Summit nodded. “When we get back to the surface, we’ll have one hell of a feast, we can chat then.” “Good,” I turned and followed aft Ravar, my Blood Hooves following after me, muttering between themselves as we walked, before I turned back to face them. “Fall out. Tonight we move out with the Lunar Knights. Get some rest, sharpen your axes and make sure you have a few crossbow bolts. You never know when the tunnels may widen enough to actually use them.” “Yes, Wolf Lord,” the Blood Hooves gave a unanimous answer, before disappearing into one of the many small caverns we had dug out of the walls, not that you could see the dirt that surrounded it through the steel plates that covered every surface. We had learnt the painful lesson of sleeping with dirt above our heads all too soon. Continuing on, I found my own dugout, Bardolf following me inside as Gale turned to face me, a small smile spreading across her muzzle. “All quiet?” she asked, putting a hoof round my neck. “Yeah, patrols came back in, only a few losses this time.” “I never thought I’d wish to be fighting Minotaur’s again,” Gale shuddered, looking up at the steel ceiling. “I know you don’t like being underground,” I reassured her. “But just bear it for another few hours and you get a week’s rotation to the surface, along with the other Pegasi. It almost seems unfair.” “Hey, it’s not our fault we’re born to fly,” Gale lightly punched my shoulder. “I was kidding, Gale,” I clarified. “You get extra leave here, same way unicorns would if we fought somewhere magic didn’t work, or if Earth Ponies fought… actually, you know what, I don’t know what it would take for Earth Ponies to get extra leave.” “Stop complaining, you’re the Wolf Lord,” Gale shook her head, before turning back around and picking up her heavy crossbow, returning to cleaning it. Drawing my own crossbow, I went to sit next to her, before the sound of hoofsteps skidding to a halt drew my attention. “Wolf Lord Hoarfrost?” the Lunar Knight asked. “Well I’m certainly not Wolf Lord Hrolf,” I placed by crossbow back in its holster. “What is it?” “The Warmistress has convened an emergency meeting, you need to accompany me there now.” “Understood. Gale? I’ll see you in a week,” I nodded, before hurrying after the Lunar Knight. We didn’t talk much, the sound of our hooves striking the steel floor drowning out most other sounds as we cantered through the many layers of the den, getting closer to the surface than I had been in a long time, before finally stopping in front of the war room. “The Warmistress is inside, Sir,” the Lunar Knight gestured to the room, before heading back down into the depths of the den. Moving past the guards, I headed into the room, Luna and a host of other commanders already there. “Ah, Wolf Lord, it is good you are here,” Luna looked over as I walked in. “We are just waiting on our Night Warrior friends and we will begin.” Almost on que, a captain of the Night Warriors walked through the door, a few grumbles going around as he stopped in front of Luna and bent his knee. I couldn’t say I blamed the grumblers, my own opinion of his Legion being dismal as well on account of their criminal nature. But holding grudges would not resolve this emergency, or end the siege quicker, so I pushed my prejudice aside, listening as Luna began to speak. “I’ll get straight to it Gentlecolts. We recently sent a large force into the Diamond Dog tunnels to secure the entrance to the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth levels. The Black Ravens second, the Drakeguard third and the Night Warrior first were chosen, but we lost contact with them shortly after they left our safe zone. We initially assumed that they were simply not sending back reports, but we now believe they are in trouble.” “How do we know they’re not dead?” one of the Lunar Knights asked, her voice holding little compassion. “It’s hardly an uncommon occurrence to lose ponies.” It is uncommon to lose contact completely with three companies,” Luna continued. “Additionally, we managed to pick up a weak signal from a unicorn. With the amount the soil is deadening the signal, we can’t make out exactly what the message says, but we believe that it is a call for reinforcements. We do not know what level they made it too, or how many of them are still combat effective, which makes this an urgent mission. All other combat patrols are to be recalled, every available pony will be needed for this mission.” “Do you have a plan, Warmistress?” I asked. “The formulations of one,” Luna nodded. “I realise that some among you may have reservations against another mass assault across open dirt…” “You mean the fact that it’s suicide?” the Lunar Knight who had spoken before quipped. “That’s enough, Captain,” Luna glared at her, before continuing. “Yes, I am aware that with so many hooves striking the dirt we will be sending out a beacon to the Diamond Dogs, but we do not have enough time to breach the levels with small attacks as we have been doing. If there are injured, we must reach them as soon as possible.” She paused for breath before continuing. “Most of my Lunar Knights will be responsible for maintaining the safe zone and searching the uncharted parts of this level, as well as being on standby to send reinforcements to any location when the lost companies are found. The Black Raven Forth and Sixth Companies, as well as the Drakeguard Sixth and the Lunar Knight Tenth will be responsible for the eleventh level. The Drakeguard Second and Forth Companies will be paired with the First and Second Companies of my Legion will be responsible for the twelfth level, and the Black Ravens Eight, the Arctic Wolves Ninth, the Drakeguard Fifth and the Night Warriors Second Companies will search the thirteenth level.” Luna barely even looked at the notes before her as she recited her plan. “Know this; this is not a mission to take the rest of the den, this is a rescue mission. Your first priority is find and recover those lost to us. If you can also secure a location then clearly do so, but that is a secondary concern. Is that understood?” “Surely if we could take the rest of the den and bring an end to this siege it would be worth the lives of those companies?” The Night Warrior captain spoke up. “We’ve already lost a lot of ponies, and I do not see the siege ending before the years end, meaning more death. If we could take it with the loss of three hundred, would that not be a better goal?” “Read my lips captain, and read them well,” Luna hissed, her eyes narrowing. “We will not leave those lost to us to die in the dark, even if it means this siege last for another years after this. Do you understand me?” The entire room seemed to grow dark as Luna glared at the Night Warrior, the temperature plummeting as well, causing the other captains to shudder, while my cloak kept me from caring about the temperature shift. I could have sworn that Luna’s pupils went from round to slitted as her anger rose, but a second glance showed them to be just as before. The Night Warrior shrank back, before nodding quickly. “Of course, my Warmistress. Forgive me, my Warmistress. I spoke out of turn and in haste to see the foes of Equestria fall before us. Please, accept my apology.” “Your apology is accepted, so long as you remember my words,” Luna turned back to address us all. “That goes for all of you. My orders are not to be taken as suggestions. Now, do any of you wish to voice changes to my plans?” “No, Warmistress,” I shook my head, the other captains answering similarly. “Very good then. You are to recall your patrols and prepare your Legionnaires. The operation begins at nine o’clock sharp. I will allow you to liaise with the other Captains assigned to your level as to individual plans. Now, if there is nothing else…” “Warmistress,” I cut in, a sudden thought coming to my mind. “What is it, Wolf Lord?” “The Pegasi of my company have been growing increasingly restless after being beneath the ground for so long. I granted them a week’s respite on the surface, starting today. Do I have to cancel that?” Luna thought for a few seconds, before shaking her head. “Warriors who have their mind on things other than the battle they are fighting do not fare well in combat. I understand the plight of the Pegasi of your company, and while the timing is less than ideal, I will allow it to stand, on the condition that they will stay semi-ready, and will be expected to return immediately if they are needed.” “Thank you,” I bowed deeply. “I will ensure they know the conditions, Warmistress.” “If anypony else has something to add, speak now?” Luna looked around. Nopony spoke up. “Very well, return to your companies and make ready for tonight. I don’t want any mistakes, we have ponies to save.” “Stay on your guard,” I growled as I clipped a Blood Hoof, Storm Cloud, round the ear. “We can’t afford to get complacent down here.” Storm Cloud growled, before going silent as I growled back, Bardolf moving up beside me. With the posturing over, I turned my attention back to the tunnel before me, gesturing with my hammer to move forward again. This was the central tunnel of three possible ways forward, my own company responsible for finding out where this one went. The Night Warriors had taken the passage to our right, while the Drakeguard had taken the left passageway, and judging from the lack of roars, they had encountered as little enemy resistance as we had. The Black Ravens were waiting in the chamber that we had all left from, making sure our rears were covered, and that if any of us needed it, we could get quick reinforcements. Truth be told, the lack of enemies was more worrying than if we had been sustaining losses. Not that I wanted to see ponies die, but the fact we were in the lowest level of the den, supposedly the enemies last stronghold, and we hadn’t seen any Diamond Dogs was incredibly worrying. Small shivers were shooting down my spine every other step, but I kept moving, my hammer held close to me. “Where are they?” Ravar asked, walking up beside me, his axe held in a similar state of readiness. “We should have come across some of them by now, or at least some of their traps.” “Maybe the companies that we lost down here killed them all?” one of my Blood Hooves piped up. “Maybe,” I nodded slowly. “But if they did, where are they? And where are the Dogs corpses?” “Burnt?” Storm Cloud suggested. “We would have smelt that up on the first level, let alone the tenth,” I shook my head. “No, something’s going on here, and I don’t like being in the dark.” A crashing of rocks from up ahead silenced our conversation, Ravar and I coming to a halt as we peered down the tunnel, trying to see into the inky blackness. “Can you make anything out?” I whispered, looking at Ravar. “Not a thing,” Ravar shook his head. “Go and get the Rune Priests,” I ordered. “I’m not moving forward until I know what’s up there.” Ravar nodded, darting back to find the Rune Priests, while I drew my crossbow, my Blood Hooves doing the same. It didn’t take long for Ravar to return, the two Rune Priests in tow. “Can you light that up?” I asked, pointing at the darkness before us. “Shouldn’t be too hard,” one of the twins nodded, before lighting his horn. A small orb of light appeared above his horn, quickly growing in strength, before it began to move closer to the darkness. Just as it got to the final point where we could see, the Rune Priest cried out in pain, dropping to the floor as the orb flickered out of existence. “Brother!” the second Rune Priest cried, dropping to his knee and helping his brother to sit up. Blood was trickling from his nose, and his mane seemed to have got a few grey streaks that I could have sworn weren’t there before. “Report, what happened?” I asked in concern. “And are you ok?” “I…I will be, Wolf Lord,” the Rune Priest nodded slowly, before looking back down the passage. “There’s something dark down there, Wolf Lord. I felt it when my magic touched the darkness. It felt…wrong.” “Explain,” I ordered, my nerves rising. “Magic is more than simple spells and incantations,” The Rune Priest began. “I can feel the aether, hear the echoes of spells being cast half a league away, sense the ebbs and flows of all magic around me. It’s like a second sight. When I touched that, it was like I was blind to the universe.” “Yes, but what is it?” I asked urgently. “I don’t know,” the Rune Priest admitted. “I don’t like this, Wolf Lord,” Ravar muttered, shifting his weight uneasily. “Nor me,” I agreed. “If just touching it with his magic did that, I don’t think that walking into it would be very smart.” “Could the lost companies be down there?” Storm Cloud asked. “Perhaps,” I nodded. “It could explain why they’ve stopped reporting in, and why they haven’t returned. But if that’s the reason, I’m marching into it blindly. Ravar, go take the rear. We’ll move back to the chamber we left the Black Ravens in hold there, wait for the Warmistress to look at this.” “Aye, my lord,” Ravar nodded, making to move backwards, before Storm Cloud darted forward. “Come on! If the others are down there we need to find them quickly!” “Storm Cloud! Get back here!” I roared, but the young Blood Hoof didn’t take any notice, convinced he was going to be the one that saved the lost companies. Cursing, I turned to Ravar. “Take charge, get back to the Black Ravens and send word to the Warmistress. I’ll get Storm Cloud.” Nodding, Ravar began to issue orders as I set off at a gallop, closing the gap between myself and Storm Cloud. “For fucks sake, stop!” I bellowed as I neared Storm Cloud, tackling him and knocking him to the floor. “What the…” I was cut off by a loud rumbling, small stones beginning to fall from the ceiling. “Move!” I bellowed, scrambling to my hooves and dragging Storm Cloud to his. We began to run back towards the rest of the company as larger and larger rocks fell from the ceiling, before the whole of it came down just in front of me. Storm Cloud let out a single scream, before being buried beneath tonnes of rock as I dug my hooves into the dirt and skidded to a halt just before the rock fall. “No!” I roared, banging my hoof against the cave-in and cursing. Blood from Storm Cloud began to pool around my hooves, and I turned my gaze to the floor. The young Blood Hoof hadn’t stood a chance, rocks bigger than even Bardolf had crushed his body to a pulp, hiding it from view entirely. Only his back hoof was visible, reflexively twitching, before finally going still as it finally realised that the body and the brain were dead. “W…lf Lo…D.” I only just managed to make out the voice through the rock, and I quickly pressed my ear against it. “Ravar? Is that you?” I asked, before straining my ears for a reply. “Wolf Lord? Are you hurt?” Ravar called back, his voice muffled but at least I could make out what he was saying now. “A few small cuts and bruises, nothing major.” “And Storm Cloud?” “Dead,” I replied simply. “Rocks crushed him. Any casualties on your side?” “Same as you, a few cuts and scrapes, nothing that will keep us from fighting. Bardolf caught the worst of it, took off after you when the first rocks came down, think he may have a sprained ankle. Other than that, we’re fine. What does it look like from your side?” “It’s a cave-in alright,” I took a few steps back to look at the rocks, squinting in the half-light. “Looks like mostly big rocks, few smaller ones but I don’t see this being an easy one to move. I don’t really fancy touching it in case it brings more of the ceiling down.” “Yeah, it’s the same story this side,” I moved closer to the wall again to listen for Ravar’s reply. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to free you quickly. If we had more unicorns maybe we could stabilise the ceiling while we pull the rocks out.” “That’s sounding like a plan. Ravar you’re in charge, take the company back to the chamber and let the Black Ravens know what’s happened and what we’ve found. Then send a runner up to the Warmistress. Bring her down here with some more unicorns and see if we can shift this rockfall.” “Yes, Wolf Lord.” “Oh and Ravar, one more thing? Don’t let word of this get to the surface, I don’t want Gale worrying.” “None of us want to see that again,” Ravar chuckled. “Just sit tight, we’ll get you out of their soon enough.” “Great,” I muttered, before sitting down with my back against the rocks, looking down the tunnel as far as I could, before the unnatural darkness set in. I strained my ears to hear the hoof steps of the Company withdrawing, before resigning myself to the fact that I was on my own for the foreseeable future. The minutes ticked on, stretching into hours as my nerves rose. Surely it couldn’t take this long to get ponies down here? My mind began to play pranks on me, making me imagine noises, but when I turned to look for the sound of rocks being pulled free, I saw nothing, and the sounds vanished. The darkness was maddening. Not the inky gloom of the tunnel, I had gotten used to that and it no longer phased me, but the unnatural darkness did. Every time I looked at it, it felt like I was getting lost in its depths, the complete absence of light threatening to swallow me whole. Fear rose in my chest, but I managed to fight it off, eventually opting to look down at my hooves instead. Help My ears picked up at the word, before I cursed myself for falling for one of my minds tricks again. “Help.” This time I paid more attention to the cry, cautiously getting to my hooves and straining my ears for anything else. “Somepony…anypony…please, help.” “Hello?” I called out, pulling my hammer free from its sheath. “Is somepony there?” the voice called out, relief clear in his voice. “Please, help. I can’t get up.” “Who are you?” “I’m trapped by some rocks,” the voice replied, not answering my question. “Identify yourself,” I demanded. “Please…I’m bleeding…don’t know…how much…longer…” The voice trailed off. “Are you ok?” I called, waiting for a reply. “If you can hear me, say something.” The only thing that met my ears was a moan of pain, and I let out a soft curse. The plea for help was clearly not from a Diamond Dog, meaning it was either from a pony slave or one of the lost Legionnaires. I couldn’t let the cry go unanswered, but that would mean going into the darkness. Looking around for anything that could help, my eyes settled on Storm Cloud’s axe, the haft snapped off from the head. Picking up both parts, I slipped the head into a pouch on my armour, before picking up the wooden haft. Casting my mind back to my training all those years ago, I set to work, breaking out my rations and pulling out some of the dried hay within. The hay was high in nutrients and while it wasn’t tasty, it did the job of keeping you alive just fine. Resisting the urge to eat some, my stomach rumbling in complaint, I placed it on the floor, before rubbing the haft against it. At first nothing happened, before a small bit of smoke appeared, and finally a small fire flared into existence, casting long shadows along the tunnel. Ripping off some of the wool that padded my armour, I wrapped it round the end of the haft, tying it off, before placing it in the fire. In a few moments, I had a passable torch, and held it up in front of me, floating it out as I pulled hammer out. The darkness was just as daunting as before, but at least I now had some light. Before I set off however, I bent my front legs, bowing my head as I rested on my knees, muttering a prayer to myself. “The Empress is my guiding light, my beacon of hope in the darkness.” “As we serve Her, She is our greatest Servant.” “As we pray to Her, we are ever in Her thoughts.” “And when in the dark, when shadows surround and threaten, the Empress is with us, in spirit and in fact.” My prayer completed, I got back to my hooves, clutching my hammer and the torch tightly as I took a step forward. The darkness was only a few feet away now, and I could feel the temperature dropping from here. I took a deep breath in, glancing behind me at the impenetrable barrier the rocks had formed, before walking forward, the darkness swallowing me whole.