//------------------------------//
// Chapter 6: Wars and the war 
// Story: King of the North 
// by Sanguine Eyes 
//------------------------------//

The air was dull and there was a severe ringing in her ears. She felt hot, far too hot. Aching everywhere she could feel something on the very fringes of her mind. It was like her mother calling her but she didn't want to get up out of bed, but while she was exhausted, sick, injured, and just in general miserable. Then a very unfamiliar voice.

"CONFOUND IT WAKE UP YOU LAZY HORSE!"

Twilight shot upright with fright. She was drenched horn to tail in sweat, which was very odd seeing a large gathering of various ponies present and shivering, their breath clearly visible in the air as if it was the dead of winter. 

Her whole body hurt, her flesh itself ached and the familiar buzz of magic filled her body, but she couldn't place the spell or really fully identify the feeling, it was just a mishmash of magical effects being blasted through her. Her eyes fluttering open and she struggled to stand. Despite her dream being so oddly alluring with her mother's voice, she didn't actually expect to actually see her mother. Her mother who eagerly rushed in to embrace her despite a fair amount of odd magic about the air which almost seemed to physically harm her as she forcefully pushed in to hug her daughter.

Several guards near instinctively moved in to stop Twilight Velvet, but a familiar but aggressive and cold voice commanded them.

"BACK AWAY!...." Celestia's burning aura of power was almost as hot and powered as her voice was cold. "The wolves have taken enough, I will not let them take anything more from Equestria... if a mother wants to hold her child you will NOT interfere." She strode up firmly to Twilight and her mother giving vague focuses which slapped small wards over Velvet to protect her from the magic. Twilight physically pained from the princess's magically charged presence looked to her with a level of concern, she had never seen such wrath in her teacher and the magic flowing from her seemed wrathful and aggressive.

To others she appeared to give a welcoming warmth but to Twilight it was an exhausting and painful heat bearing down on her as if she had been in the desert for days and flinched at the unbearable heat pressing down on her. "Wh...What is going on?"

Celestia did not waste time as she quickly took another step forward of which the mere existence of another few inches closer felt like another five hours in the baking sunlight as Celestia stripped away and reapplied a dozen small spells, counter spells and more. "You were cursed... When the king 'surrendered' he threw his weapon and when his Shaman seized it and somehow... they vanished after putting some sort of hex on you. I'm trying to counter it, but I'm having a few difficulties as Northern magic is difficult to understand and invasive."

Velvet moved to one side to let the matriarch of Equestria to help her daughter. There was a sudden flash and Twilight felt something indescribable. The sensation was horrendously painful, and Twilight knew what it was, two very different magics fighting brutally within her, like a cancer being carved out of her body. Her eyes darted up to see her old teacher and silently begged for her to slow down or give her at least a breath. But finally an ice cold chill ran down her back, not a chill of relief, but one of progress. 

Celestia's eyes were cold and distant, her loving, understanding, noble teacher and fellow princess was now staring without emotion or empathy, as if Twilight's affliction was just one more distant problem to be snuffed out despite what it would do to her. The cold fear shot through her and she realized that this Celestia was only trying to save a princess, not trying to save her friend. 

Twilight's scream told of a fair amount pain but mostly it was fear. This was no longer Celestia. It was something consumed by wrath and hate, she couldn't even imagine what could have driven somepony so loving and kind into such a state.

Cold shock gripped Twilight, like if she was struck in the head. Her vision blurred and darkened around the edges, the urge to vomit boiled up in her. She could feel her head hit the floor and suddenly as if she had dropped out of the warmth of a hot bath and through the thin ice of a frozen lake, she could feel not some new cold, but how horribly cold she was all along. Her mother hugged her tightly and pulled her in. Twilight's eyes opened to see Celestia trotting away solemnly without a word. Quickly guards moved in and practically smothered Twilight with blankets and went to fetch anything more to warm her from the ungodly powerful ice magic flowing through her.

Celestia made her way out without even flinching, it was an image of an angry queen, a true leader, a monarch, a mare who made hard decisions when nopony else could. It didn't feel like Celestia at all, but it was the last thing Twilight saw before everything dimmed out and she drifted off into a fitful sleep. A sleep filled with odd dreams of strange visions of far off foreign lands that seemed downright alien to her.





The dreams were filled with ice and war, she could hear the pained voice of Luna trying to reach her but something was in the way, something fought against the princess, something not malicious, but very stubborn and prideful. The dreams began to gain clarity and soon she couldn't even tell it was a dream, it was properly a reflection of Luna's power and Twilight could not help but to wonder and worry about Luna's dream world. 

She was alone, curled up in pain atop an endlessly tall pillar of ice, her whole castle could have fit on top the pillar, but it was so simple, empty and bland. Only the cold welcomed her until the wispy ice and cold formed a familiar ghostly form.

"Twilight?" Luna's voice sounded distant and a little too filled with concern to be comfortable. Her form was certainly Luna's size and shape, but the wispy ghost like appearance was very different from the way she normally appeared in dreams.

"Luna!" She struggled to get her hooves under her and Luna's ghostly visage supported her. Despite the icy appearance, her form was a surprisingly warm and very welcome sensation.

"What happened?" Twilight's body shivered as she took stock of the dreamscape.

Luna grumbled and gestured a hoof outward across the blank expanse of the pillar they stood atop. "He happened..." 

His claw tips smoldered like molten iron, his arms were smoke and ash that reached into his image of darkness and incomprehensible ice and frost. And if that was not enough, behind him, a massive form of ice and rage stalked, as if just waiting for the chance to pounce. A figure that seemed almost invisible had a whirling pelting snow not outlined it so perfectly. It's every breath drew in and highlighted more of it with a soft icy blue glow.

"Wh... What is that?" Twilight's sudden awareness instantly drew the attention of the thing behind the ashy figure, but it stayed behind him despite it's predator like stance and stalking in an endless pace.

"Oh... I myself am not sorry, but it would be a violation of my king's standards and kindness if I did not apologize..." The figure bowed low and despite how horribly her mind swam with pain and confusion, Twilight knew the voice despite only having heard it a precious few times.

"You're the Shaman! What happened?!" The shivering pain inside her kept her from sudden movements or gathering her strength.

"My king ordered me to stay safe and to ensure we have our foot in the door..." His burning fingertips waved about and a cloud of ash formed a seat, nearly a throne for him to grace with his figure.

"We don't know how, but he forcefully put himself inside your mind. He's inside you and we can't get him out, he almost killed you..." Luna's words were guarded but full of disgust as she regarded the wolf.

"Hey! That's not entirely fair, I helped save her from the inside just as Aurinko  Phylly did from the outside... it's not my fault your queen is so brutal and detached." He flowed the smoke from his fingertips to show a vague image of Celestia filled with rage and tearing through magical barriers with relentless and unrestrained power looking more like she was attacking than trying to heal.

"She would not have had to if you weren't in here!" Luna's counter was almost as cold as Celestia had sounded before Twilight lost consciousness.

"Yeah... sorry about that, pony magic is... strange, very different. But I had it under control, really all she did was make it worse... after all it wasn't MY magic that caused all this.." He shrugged and leaned back in his chair.

"Then.. who's?" Twilight struggled to stand on her own as she looked to the wolf who threw a thumb out at the hulking aggressive shadow behind him.

"The God your queen indirectly killed while trying to wreck a bloody vengeance on my people..." Almost as if his words were the key to the image, a flash of what the creature once was hit her. Twilight could see something she didn't want to, Celestia standing before an entity of power, a weeping mother of winter. Celestia's words could not be heard, but Twilight could feel the pain and anger in them, twisting the truth to enrage the mother of winters and send her against the subject of the young princess's hate.

The image was physically painful to witness, both that it was so unlike the princess she had known and  because she felt the pain flowing from the flashing memory.

"Don't be too hard on the Goddess here... She's kinda upset at ponies... has been for a thousand years." The Shaman kicked up his legs and fell silent, slowly bobbing his feet to a rhythm only he seemed to hear. The massive creature behind him stalked back and forth eyeing Luna's image and Twilight.

"I... I don't understand!" Twilight's world felt unstable and uncertain. She could never have even dreamed of such a side to Celestia.

"You're not supposed to, this is a very old grudge formed during a very delicate and fragile time in your Queen's life. We just figured the sunshine and rainbows world of the south was a little more on the side of love and forgiveness, but it seems even we of the ancient frozen north forgive faster than your queen..." The shaman smiled raising a claw and playing with the smoke that drifted from his glowing digits.

Luna in turn scowled. "You be quiet! This is your king's fault! And my sister is a princess not a queen."

"Princesses don't rule countries... kings and queens do, she can hide behind an artificial title if she desires... but she is a queen." He whipped the smoke about and formed a frightening picture which glowed with faint colors creating a frightening image of Celestia filled with rage, a weapon in her magical grasp, dripping blood and pumping smoke from her aura. "It may seem odd, but her story is one that is celebrated in our land. Despite her having sworn to become the eternal enemy of the North... Her tragedy is one that we retell to all our young... a true cautionary tale... Beautiful and tragic..." 

Luna scowled at him once again and he smirked leaning in, his odd soft glowing coal like eyes narrowing at Twilight as a ghostly grin spread over his smokey features. "I could... tell you..." He almost seemed to taunt the promise of knowledge.

Twilight was still very much in a state of shock, but she looked to Luna who glared at the Shaman. "I don't trust a wolf to tell the story..."

He frowned. "Maybe that's the problem, you ponies don't trust us. Sure, there is reason behind it, but sometimes it's unwise not to trust those who have no reason to lie..." He leisurely toyed at the smokey image, adding details and shifting it in the air above them, painting a picture of Celestial hefting a golden halberd against the wolf king.

"I... well, I.. I suppose I don't have anything else to do..." Twilight looked up weakly. She knew Luna would disapprove, but it wasn't like Twilight would be going anywhere and she more than wanted to know, but rather NEEDED to know what happened to her friend and teacher to invoke such a powerful and wrathful response.

Luna grumbled and looked at Twilight then at the wolf. "Go ahead then beast... tell your tale, but I WILL intervene if you lie or slander my sister..."

The shaman actually looked offended, but less so angry and more so taken back that she would even insinuate he would lie. "The truth is sacred pony! Sacred things are to be respected... not that your kind would know." He paused as the shadowy God behind him grunted angrily and he continued. "Stories and lore is a sacred duty, one that we would rather die than to fabricate...."

Luna rolled her ghostly eyes of wispy blue white smoke and Twilight, despite the pain and fuzzy state within even her own mind stamped her hooves. "Enough! You are all in MY mind, think of yourselves as guests. No going after each other's throats in my mind!"

Luna grumbled and nodded, the Shaman gave a firm bow and nod, and the Goddess behind him shifted into a laying position as if acknowledging Twilight's authority within her own mind. They were all technically trespassers, but Twilight was very happy they looked to respect the permission they were given by the title of 'guest'.

"Ok... now... Luna, were you there to see it?" Twilight raised a hoof as she sat down. Her senses were still hazy and her mind numb, but she felt she had a good enough grasp of herself.

Luna grit her teeth looking to the side. "Nnnnot... really... But I've seen it in her dreams a few times, and no doubt I'll be seeing it again soon enough."

Twilight nodded and turned to the Shaman. "And you? did you personally see it?"

He shook his head. "I did not, but the King's Oracle at the time recorded it with his permission and as such we have the memory, I can illustrate it well enough. If Kuu Pylly think's I am lying or otherwise has a problem with the tale, she can speak up..."

"STOP CALLING ME THAT!" Luna's voice sounded very annoyed.

"What?... Luna? What does that mean? Is that like... Aurinko Pylly? What does that mean?" She thought on it, only just now coming to realize the connection in the books and what the wolves called Celestia.

"It's an insult!" Luna nearly spat, but settled for groaning as she pushed her hoof to her face.

"It's not... Is an endearing nickname..." The Shaman chuckled.

"I'm LUNA! and my sister's name is Celestia! PRINCESS Celestia and PRINCESS Luna..." She growled looking out at him as he smiled back at her.

Twilight blinked. "What does it mean?" 

"Sunbutt.... and Moonbutt... As you would be called Tähti Pylly... or Starbutt... in the early years, we didn't really know what to make of Equestrian ponies. We came to identify them by the marks on their flanks. In out culture, it's nothing crude or offensive. If you don't know who someone is, just call them by their description in a way that will let others tell."

Twilight almost had to hold in a laugh, but she went dead quiet and her face went serious when she turned to see Luna's ghostly eyes glaring daggers at her. "Ah... yes... I see. Well, I suppose we don't want any hurt feelings, let's just call each other by our actual names."

The Shaman nodded before standing from his throne. "Shall I?" His power seethed at his fingertips. 

Twilight looked to Luna who rolled her ghostly eyes and nodded, in turn Twilight too nodded and vague images of the ancient past came into view slowly consuming the existence they sat in as if it was all just coming into focus.

A group of Susi Seers stood around a pit of heated coals, piles of incense piled onto it and as the smoke met their nostrils the wolves shivered and began chanting in odd frightening whispers. One cried out and a young white pup hastily scrawled a message and dashed down the cold stone halls. Twilight did not know the words spoken, but the intent and the meaning was beyond clear. They had just seen something dire and desperately sent out a warning.

The pup carried the message from the cold stone halls into a warm hall of warriors, rambunctiously sparring, feasting, and drinking. Many stood before a great throne made of bones and cold iron, upon it sat a much more frightening looking Susien Kuningas. He somehow looked larger and far more aggressive, but there was no mistaking it, this was the same wolf.

The pup bowed low and held the paper not to the king, but to a beautiful old wolfess beside him who read it then presented it to him. But he turned it away, without a word he implied that he knew what it was. Twilight nearly flinched at the odd almost infinite authority at his very gesture as he ordered a longship to be readied and for a messenger fluent in old Ponish to go south and bring a dire message.

She watched in awe as a wolf was chosen and struck out on his journey. The path was perilous and long, but eventually he arrived and she could see him before the snobbiest looking pony she had ever seen. The Unicorn took one look at the wolf and with a nose turned high ordered the Susi to be forced out. The wolf did not flinch, even when spears levied at him. A flash of movement and four ponies lay on their sides, eyes spinning as their tattered broken spears lay in splinters around them. The messenger still stood, holding the scroll out, defiant of the Unicorn's will. 

The Unicorn looked on in horror and eventually the Wolf got tired of waiting. He stepped forward and placed it in front of the pony and turned to leave. The Unicorn looked at the message with utter contempt, clearly she was on the verge of destroying it simply out of spite. But soon, she picked it up, read it, but then with a scoff she tossed it into the fire.

The sun and moon passed through the sky and another wolf arrived. The process repeated itself close to identically. Again, after many months, another wolf, then another and another and another. It was at a point where the guard were ordered to attack on sight which ended in many guards being injured every time the message was sent. But every time, without fail, the message was tossed into the fire. Twilight could see the words on the pony's lips. 'vile mongrels'.

Finally, the last wolf returned and kneeled before the King of wolves, the king who looked south with a great sorrow in his eyes. He was being forced to make a choice he did not want to. He shook his head and levied a finger to the south. His personal guard came to him, pitch black wolves strapping his armor to his limbs as the longships readied. It was not long until rows of armored wolves stood outside a small village of ponies. They all stood with farming equipment and improvised weapons against the wolves. 

The battle lasted mere seconds. When the 400 lb wolves smashed through the pony lines what didn't instantly die, routed. The village was emptied and razed to the ground. The wolves made certain to put the fear of the Gods into the ponies they pushed south. Refugees of a foreign army forcing its way into young Equestria. Dozens fled south with tales of wolves who could decimate a whole village on their own without effort, and how hundreds were marching south.

The news quickly reached south and a small collection of ponies gathered, scared and shivering, they ordered messengers to again and again search for the heroes of their land, but every time, they came back empty hooved. The small council of ponies took a nervous look back at a pony that Twilight almost didn't recognize. A white alicorn, nearly the same size as Twilight, a pony with a soft golden sun on her flank.

The image changed as Luna's power flowed into it, images became far more clear and Twilight could even hear voices.

"No! Equestria needs to respond with a military! We can't stand against the wolves without one!" The pegasus shouting looked familiar, it didn't take long for Twilight to recognize him as a historical figure, the first general of the Equestrian military.

"Equestria can't have a military! We just formed, we only just disassembled all of our forces as a sign of peace between all of the pony clans. To put our military back together so quickly would unsettle the population. It would make us look like we are planning for conflict!" Twilight recognized this pony too, a direct descendant of Princess Platinum, one of the early lawmakers of Equestria.

"Do you know what else will unsettle the population? Our entire nation being razed to the ground!" Again, another figure from her history book.

Every last pony present was from her history books all of them yelling and screaming over what needed to be done next, all but one. One single pony Twilight didn't recognize.

He was a young pale white unicorn, he could have easily been related to the Platinum royalty. His figure was flawless, even his golden eyes had a deep piercing feel to them, as if he could glare into some pony's soul if he was angry, or as Twilight remarked feeling a touch of blush. He could make a mare's heart skip a beat with a soft glance of those golden precious eyes which honestly looked as if they were actually master crafted pieces of jewelry. 

Twilight shook her head to try and free her mind from the dreamy young stallion, but she quickly discovered that doing so made it quite literally harder to see the illusion. As such, she intentionally lost herself in the image once more and the dreamy story continued.

"No!" Even his words were delicate and noble sounding. As if the highest form of calligraphy and artistic depictions of words could simply be spoken. But despite his command, the others at the table baulked at him as if he was speaking out of turn. "Instead of arguing until we come to blows... why not let the pony who actually has the authority do some choosing for once?"

Twilight nearly flinched as he looked back to a very young Celestia at the table. Half the generals at the table nearly yelled the same thing. "She's just a filly!" They all paused and gave an apologetic bow before one of them continued. "It is no offense meant, but she is so young, she hardly knows the way this world even works! And to top that off, her teacher has gone missing and..."

"And she'll never learn anything if you just stuff her in a closet and try to rule in her place! Keep in mind that she technically has the authority to remove any one of us... or even all of us.... We gave her that power because of her royal fate driven blood. A true sovereign leader... so why don't we listen to the one that fate gave us?" He turned to Celestia and admittedly gave her quite a little too happy of a glance. "Your majesty... what do you think of all this?"

Celestia looked just like Twilight felt. It was hard not to stare into those golden eye and not swoon. But again, this brought up more internal conflict, she couldn't see the concern in young Celestia's eyes, but she knew that many would put on quite the act if it meant that they could court royalty.  But she didn't see such in this young stallion's eyes. He almost seemed more smitten with her than she was with him, but there was still not a single ounce of insincerity in his voice as he addressed the young princess.

"I... I.. um... I'm flattered, I really am. I kind of... want to hear more details... but the old Generals are right. If it comes down to either upsetting my ponies and making our nation unstable... or just letting all of Equestria burn... I ... We MUST defend Equestria..." Even as she gave her voice, she grimaced.

"We will go at once!" The stallion's perfect voice nearly  trembled as he beheld her.

"No!" He flinched and Celestia swallowed. "Solar Storm... you are brave, but this is something I can't just let my ponies do alone. You are right, I have to step up..." Celestia stood from her chair and her eyes widened as she hardened herself. "Generals... send for your veterans, Steward! Fetch me armor and a weapon... Solar...." She paused as if she truly did not want to give him the order she was about to speak. "I will need your help to write a royal edict... a draft of no less than one stallion from every household, rich or poor, every last family must send at least one."

Solar Storm nodded looking to feel her pain. It was an order she did not ever want to give. She didn't want to send ponies into war, much less force those who couldn't fight on their own to join such a war. But Solar Storm did not waver. "I will make sure the old noble families send their strongest mages and knights as well."

There was a lot of sour faces, anger and confusion, worry and pain over every last pony at the table. But it all faded slowly as the feeling of creeping time passing them by took hold. Soon, there was a frigid storm pounding what felt like a Northern Equestrian town. Most ponies within the walls were packing, many were just running out in fear as the encroaching irregular storm brewed overhead. But from the direction in which the storm brewed, shapes formed over the horizon.

Ponies shivered in utter fear, farmers, scholars, tradesponies and youths shivered in trenches and formations. Hastily constructed fortifications and siege equipment lined the formations. Knights and veterans dotted the new troops as their morale anchor. Roughly five thousand ponies stood shivering in the icy air as only two hundred wolves stood in flawless uniform lines. 

Twilight's stomach sank, Equestria might as well have marched it's army to a cliff, the terror in these ponies, even their veterans would ensure a route within seconds of contact as the wolves closed in at a stead flawless march. At their head, she recognized Susien Kuningas, the King of wolves with four black wolves flanking him. 

But opposite to him, hiding her fear stood a radiant golden beautiful standard bearing princess with a golden enchanted polearm, her body radiating power as she forced herself to stand tall. Veterans hoplites of the Pegasus military, royal Platinum mage knights and even what little remained of the Mighty Helm all stood at her side as she met the Wolf King before both sides. Most of the council was with her, even the non combatant member of the Platinum bloodline strapped up with royal battle regalia and stood shivering from both cold and fright as she started up at the massive wolves. 

She didn't know how, as Celestia was hiding it so well, but Twilight could simply feel the terror running through the young princess of the sun. But Solar Storm was there, close to her side as if he himself was her choice weapon to draw in her defense. Celestia slammed her polearm to the ground, magically amplifying it like thunder as she stared at the enemy of Equestria. Her lips parted to speak in the thunderous royal Canterlot commanding tone as she had written speech days ago with Solar Storm.

But in that moment, she stuttered, something changed. She looked into the King of Wolves' eyes and she saw something.

He smiled.

"Good.... You've earned your freedom..." He spoke in a voice that sounded soft but could be raised to the level of a god. And as Celestia blinked, trying to put sense to his words, the giant wolf turned and began walking away. His guards instantly turned about as did his entire military. Every last one of them about faced and began to walk away.

Twilight could feel the relief from the pony army, and the confusion of the veterans. Even the odd sensations flooding and overpowering Celestia. But as she looked to the young princess a look clouded what should have been overpowering joy of not having to fight the wolves. 

They had come, they razed villages to the ground, they killed every pony who faced them and did not instantly flee. They forced the nation to shatter it's peaceful declarations and force her to face every last pony she had drafted into this army to stand before what would certainly be death at the highest degree at the hands of his wolves. A part of her felt like vomiting that he was just going to walk away without answering for any of it.

“STOP!” It was what she wanted to yell at him, it was what she needed to yell, he took the lives of her ponies, razed her villages and spilled the blood of hundreds. It was her responsibility to demand an explanation. It was to her own shame that the voice was not hers.

“STOP! DON’T YOU DARE TAKE ONE MORE STEP YOU MONGREL!” Celestia’s jaw was clenched shut in fear as she saw the single pure white unicorn step forward. His golden mane blowing in the icy wind and his flawless golden eyes glaring across the battlefield. He stood fearless as the King of wolves slowed and turned to look back.

Her voice was like a whisper during a massive storm as she begged him to stand down. “N..no.. please… Storm… stand down..” But clearly none could even begin to hear her pained whispers.

Solar Storm, her newly appointed general stood firm as he had marched out to bark out his challenge. He was rightfully confident, master combatant and the only pony on the council who treated her with any form of dignity. The single pony who refused to tell her that political understanding was beyond her young mind, refused to make decisions for her. Among all those around her, he was one of the very few who saw her as the rightful leader of her nation and not the stepping stone or pseudo puppet that would let them rule through her. She was young yes, but she knew genuine care when she saw it.

“Did you need something little one?” The king shifted on his paws and gave Storm a long stare before the unicorn erupted.

“You coward! You came her and burned our lands, murdered our ponies and spit on us until we show up to meet your challenge then you just leave!?” He was filled with anger, but there was something else to his outrage.

The wolf king stared down at Storm and fascination spread over his features. “That’s not why you stand before me… is it?...” A wry smile spread over his face and he stepped forward. 

Likewise, Storm strode up. He was not necessarily large for a pony, but he was strong, tall and majestic, the iconic overly romanticized knight in shining armor but somehow more. But his every step reminded her of his noble intent, his strength, his love for his fellow ponies. “I won’t let you just leave…”

The wolf towered over him, enough to make the soldiers in her front lines take a single step back and shiver before the being. His lips parted and Celestia was unsure if the wolf king was playing a game or if it was something she simply couldn’t believe. But there it was, from his own mouth. 

“... Please… don’t do it… She loves you… and no doubt she needs you by her side…” His eyes spoke of another motivation, a pure motivation. He was almost begging the young Unicorn to stand down.

Storm seemed almost taken back by the words but he stared up at his adversary with determination. “You know I can’t just let you leave…” He bit his lip and kept his eyes locked with the king. "F..for the same reason you won't refuse my challenge."

The Wolf King raised his hand and the soldiers stood firm but did not draw their weapons. The massive wolf gave him a concerned look but then bowed his head. “Very well… your heart is golden, such a rarity... but I understand. But please know, I do not want to do this...”

Storm’s eyes closed firm and the wolf reached for his weapon. Drawing his single edged blade he stepped back and readied himself. Before Celestia could even raise her voice to demand him to stand down Storm’s eyes snapped open.

His scream was unlike anything she had heard. His magical fiery whips blasted out, held fast in his golden magic trailing a storm of fire. Darting in and out beside the whips, the glowing daggers stabbed and slashed seeking flesh as the wolf danced to and fro calmly testing the defense of the unicorn knight.

Celestia only vaguely knew what to look for in a fight, but she plainly saw that despite his righteous wrath, Storm’s blows were being calmly and easily sidestepped. Despite the massive flow of magic and martial skill, the wolf was not struggling, and it was with a single darting lunge that he severed both whips and soared overhead. The moment his paws touched down behind Storm he lashed out and swiped his hooves out from under the knight. Storm tried to force his hooves under him once more but the steel blade puncturing his heart stopped him.

Celestia’s eyes wide and her mouth agape she starred in pain as her soldiers shook in their armor. The wolf stood and wiped his blade clean. She was unsure if it was rage or a solid conscious decision, but all she knew was she was in the air, faster than she had ever flown.

“NO!!” Tears streaking down her face she plowed into the wolf, her halberd tasting his flesh. Everything happened at once. She could hear the dull ring of her golden weapon shattering like glass, she felt the clawed grip; not at her throat but on her shoulder, she could see his left hand waving the the wolves which surrounded them both. Had he the will to end her, she would have been dead a thousand times over. 

Tears streaming from her eyes she looked up at him. She hated him, he had taken Storm from her. She could smell the coppery tint of his blood as his hand came in and yanked the golden tip of her blade from his chest and tossed it aside. He had stopped her and destroyed her weapon with his bare hands before it had sank even an inch into his body. 

The tears did not stop as she grit her teeth in the pain tearing away at her heart. It was more than just the loss of Storm. She was princess, she was still so young. Everypony she knew wanted nothing more than to control her, to rule through her, and this was her life now. A teenage mare fighting the King of Wolves and failing in front of her entire nation. She could feel the grip on her shoulder shift and his clawed fingertip drag from her breastplate to her chin, forcing her to look him in his eyes, his weeping eyes.

Her breath was gone as was her mind. The wolf in front of her leaned forward hiding the tears flowing from him. She could feel his icy breath on her eyes. “I am sorry… he was not supposed to challenge me, to die against me… I cannot return his life… but know that he died with a weapon in his grasp… and bravery in his heart… you will see him again… Don’t blame yourself… You will hate me… you deserve to hate me… but this is not what I wanted…” There was a sharp pain and her vision darkened as the illusion cracked and failed.

Twilight was left blinking, nearly gasping as Luna stared down at the ground, the Shaman stared at Twilight. 

"Once the challenge is issued, it must be taken seriously... but passion is not punished in the North. It is our way, the young are innocent, it is normal for the ignorant to try and interfere with a duel, it is punished, but in her case, the King of Wolves found that it would be far more than was necessary to harm her." He stood up and flashed the same image from before, only far more clearly. A desperate pained, weeping young Celestia who looked to have not slept in days. She stood before a massive Goddess of ice. The mother of winter, who's power flowed into the illusion as well now. The words Celestia spoke, invoked a terrible pain and rage into the old Goddess. As such, the next image was that of the King of Wolves in the deep north dueling the old Goddess.

"That should catch you up..." The Shaman grinned as he threw himself back in the chair.

"But... wh.. why did he pull his army back?" Twilight's mind was a flurry with possibilities and guesses. But it was Luna who spoke.

"It was the age of darkness... Weeks after that day... Discord showed up. Without our army, thousands would have died simply from the Chaos of ponies fleeing or fighting for resources.  Then the Crystal Empire, and Tirek, even I was in that prophecy... the original image the seers saw. Celestia, Equestria, all of it. Either enduring the storm or being crushed under it." Luna's ghostly form kicked at a small pebble atop the pillar. 

"The desire for preservation and the mistrust of the wolves forced our hand. We didn't just want you to succeed, the world needed you to." The Shaman's smokey images showed dozens of threats passing through the ages. "We were either going to let you die and fight it ourselves, or be merciful and step up. Your nation was like a stubborn child, sometimes you must spank that child so he or she understands why things are done. They simply wont learn any other way. I personally believe we should have just left you all to die... but it wasn't my call... it was my King's and I will honor his choice."

Twilight sputtered as she pushed herself upright. "Then... then why did he come now?"

The Shaman looked down at her and laughed. "Well... that one's kinda... meh... Well, he always wanted pony kind and the wolves to see eye to eye, but also... you may not have noticed..." He paused and coughed a clear 'stupid ponies' before looking her over again. "That you are kinda going through an age of darkness just like old Equestria did. Many great enemies of the past are re-emerging and many new threats are showing up. Surely you don't NEED help... I mean you alone are responsible for most of the victories. But..." He paused and honestly seemed to be concerned. "His majesty... I feel, he suffers guilt... he wanted to reach out to your kind... and in the end he traumatized and wounded a youth who was forced to rule before she was ready. "

His demeanor changed, the condescending smirk fell away and the Shaman seemed to breath deep and low in deep thought. "We in the North, we believe in destiny, in fate... and his majesty spoke of those golden eyes, the golden soul, his heart belonged to your princess, they were fated to be together. It's just one more reason he couldn't bring himself to kill her that day. It wounded him just as it wounded her." He chewed his lip but brushed it all away and lolled back in his throne as he looked up at the old Goddess. "Everyone made mistakes... But now we just need to see what his plan was for this one, it's really got me stumped..."

Both Twilight and Luna looked at each other and squinted as they looked back at the Shaman. "Wait... plan?"