Peace among Warriors

by arkman575

The Big Bad Wolf

The Big Bad Wolf

‘Note to self,

1. Wolves were not meant to fly!
2. Kill Dawn for making me jump!
This was a mistake, a really bad mistake!’

Seth was free-falling—well, more like tumbling—from around 6000 to 7000 feet towards solid earth, and he hated heights.

‘Ok… ok, focus. You need to think,’ Seth mentally chanted. He was usually better under pressure, but free-falling was a different subject. ‘Snow angel… Snow angel… Look straight forward and relax, nothing can go wrong…’

…Well, like most things in life, there always was an ironic twist. Seth didn’t realise it, but his brother wasn’t the only spectator of his mature, ballet performance in the sky.

---

Canterlot castle

5 minutes before drop

Shining Armor was on his usual patrol of the castle walls. Checking up on the guards, keeping areas secure, telling ponies to move along; It was a pretty simple life being head of the guard. Today, Shining was reviewing the tower security, and first on the docket was a pegasus by the name of Stormfront. The pony in question was right around the corner, spectating from the east-side balcony of Princess Luna’s tower.

“Attention!” Shining yelled, wanting some early joy to a so far slow day.

“Ah!” The pegasus jumped, before standing to attention. “Reporting for duty, sir.”

“At ease. Anything to report?” Shining inquired, now in a much more calm and cool tone.

“Nothing as of yet,” Stormfront replied, catching the joke. “Is there anything I can do for you, sir?”

“No, it’s just another review day and I needed a laugh. Sorry it had to be at your expense,” the senior guard replied. “You have a good day Storm.”

“You too, sir,” the pegasus replied, caching a gray dot in the corner of his eye. “At least it… is a… sunny…” was all Storm could say before losing his train of thought on the falling gray pony.

“Oh, Storm?” Shining Armor called out, trying to release his fellow guardspony from the trance.

“Look sir,” Storm said, gesting in the direction of the gray dot. “I think it’s a falling pony!”

“Hmm…” Shining grunted, looking in the direction Storm had gestured. He quickly spotted the object and declared, “That’s no pony…”

“You want me to check it out?” Storm inquired, still transfixed on the dot.

“You stay here, I’ll get this one,” Shining ordered, half for protocol, half to get out of a slow day. “If anyone asks, tell them I’m checking out a disturbance.”

A flash of of purple later, and Shining Armor was gone.

---

Back in the sky, Seth was cursing under his breath, noticing the ground approach at a much faster rate than earlier.

“I’m going to kill that wooffffff–” Seth exclaimed, but was cut off by his shoot pressing against his chest. “What… what in wolven he–” he tried to get out, again being cut off, but this time by the impact of him landing on the ground.

For a few minutes, Seth was lying on the ground, dazed by both the parachute deployment, and the impact. After regaining his air and his balance, Seth took a few glances around his new surroundings. First impressions were good; no one seemed to see his landing, terrain was more than adequate, and he could see the tracks. The only downside was that, compared to the Wolven Empire, Equestria was uncomfortably warm. All things considered, the mission was going well. Now, it was time to get supplies.

“This is Lone Wolf to Eagle 1, do you copy?” Seth called through his earpiece.

After a few seconds of delay, “This is Eagle 1, I copy. Ready to drop the package on your mark,” Dawn called from the Chinook above.

“I’m ready, Dawn. You are clear for drop.”

“Package is away! Good luck down there.”

Form the ground, Seth could already see the pallet of supplies pop out of the cloud cover and begin its descent.

“I have visual of the package,” Seth reported.

“Well, its time for me to head out then. Good luck, Seth.”

“Goodbye, Dawn. Ow, by the way. When I get back, I'm pushing you out of a copter.”

“And I’ll enjoy it. Eagle 1, out,” Dawn called, before signing off.

At this point, the pallet had already deployed the parachute and was about to touch down. Seth trekked over to the landing site of the pallet, unstringing the tangled parachute from his back. The now free chute blew off in the mild breeze as the newly arrived supplies landed with an impressive thud. As Seth began looking over his baggage, checking for any damage from the drop, he noticed a piece of paper tucked under one of his duffle bags. Upon further investigation, it turned out to be a picture of himself with his brother, a miniaturized version of the same picture that hung in his office.

After a few seconds of memorable thought, he tucked it into one of the bags and began loading anything he needed for the trip to the capital. This included strapping on one of his military vests, taking a swig from his canteen, grabbing a map, tossing a few ration packs into a duffle, and tossing the three bags onto his back. Knowing he wouldn’t be back for the pallet for a few days, Seth tossed the light camo cover over the remaining supplies.

*snap*

‘Ok time to get some distance on the capital. With any luck, I’ll be there by sundown.’ Seth assured himself.

*Snap*

Seth cocked his head at the new noise. After a few seconds of doubt, he began his trek for the city. ‘Just follow the rails, stay out of sight, and I should be fi–’

*SNAP*

“Freeze!”

‘Crap…’ Seth thought, already planting himself in a defensive pose, trying to locate the voice’s origin. That origin, unaware to Seth, was charging at him from his 7 o'clock, and at a speed to knock the nearly already dazed wolf off his paws, and nearly unconscious.

“Wolven hell, you… told me to freeze, and I did,” Seth weakly insulted, staring at a rock that was about a foot from him while he tried to regain his bearings.

“Stand Down!” The voice demanded.

“Really, really! I’m already on the ground. How much more ‘down’ can I stand?” Seth asserted, a touch of annoyance in his voice.

A white cylinder landed right on top of the rock. “What are you doing here!”

Slowly, Seth gazed up at his new aggressor. It, he, was what looked to be a white stallion, horn protruding from his head, with a blue symbol across his chest plate. The expression on his face was a mix of confusion as well as anger.

At the sight of the pony, Seth’s instincts flared. He attempted to lunge for his new predator, only to be held back by his weakness as well as his three overstuffed duffle bags.

At the sign of aggression, the stallion raised his hoof and struck the weakened wolf across the left of his muzzle, rendering the wolf unconscious.

---

After several teleportations, a great deal of dragging, and some odd glances by his fellow guards, Shining Armor had finally drug the intruding wolf to the the princess for further orders. Up until now, Seth was still under from the bash to his skull, the pain of which caused the wolf to stir. From his limbo state of consciousness, Seth could easily feel the pain, as well as partially make out voices from his surroundings.

“Princess, I have found an intruder…” The voices faded in and out as Seth began to become more aware of what was around him. “…was found at the plains just beyond the city limits. A box of supplies was found alongside his position. I have already dispatched a few guards to capture it. What do you suggest we do with… him?” The familiar voice of Seth’s attacker inquired.

“Untie him immediately! I must speak with him at once,” a new feminine, almost worried voice called out.

‘Wait, I’m tied up?’ the wolf questioned. It was true, as he began to open his eyes, he noticed he was lying on the ground, paws tied together with a thick white rope.

“Are you sure? He tried to attack me back where I found him,” the first voice questioned.

“And by attack,” Seth began, not caring for protocol or politeness, “you mean try to lunge at you after you threw me to the ground.” Seth looked up at the two arguing voices to find the white-coated stallion from earlier, along with a much larger, white, winged unicorn female. The multicolored mane of which was flowing in a breeze that slightly confused Seth. This one seemed to be the princess, as she was on a throne.

The two instantly turned to the new voice, slight shock on their faces. Seth returned their stare with a look of mild irritation. After several uncomfortable seconds passed, the princess illuminated her horn, which in turn caused the ropes to loosen around the wolf’s legs. This was no surprise to Seth however. During the war, he had seen multiple events of the unicorn breed using telepathy and many other forms of magic. He didn't understand it, but at the time, he didn’t need to.

At the point of his release, Seth slowly stood up, examining himself for injuries and other abnormalities. One key difference was that he was still wearing his vest, but his three bags were absent from his back. After a thorough inspection, nothing out of the ordinary found, Seth spoke again.

“Thank you.”

“You're quite welcome,” the female, or mare by pony terms, replied. This earned a puzzled look from the white guard.

“Why have you trespassed onto our lands, wolf?” the Guard asked, wanting to join the conversation.

“My business does not concern you,” Seth replied, now fairly ticked off with the pony. “My reason for being here is only for the princess, no one else.”

“Very well then, if you would excuse us Shining Armor, we have some business to discuss,” the princess replied in a cheery tone.

“But Princess Celestia, I must protest, he is a killer wolf!” the stallion, Shining Armor, pleaded, earning a hateful gaze from Seth.

‘Not all wolves kill. Well, we all eat meat, but thats beyond the point,’ Seth thought to himself.

“I think I can handle myself. Now, if you don’t mind…” the princess implied, coaxing the impatient unicon out of the room.

“Good day, Princess,” Shining said in defeat, finally giving up on the matter and cursing under his breath as he walked out of the door.

With a glimmer of magic, the doors closed, leaving the wolf alone with the princess. Another round of silence filled the room. This time, it even creeped Seth out.

“Well, why don’t we get to business, shall we?” The princess announced, trying to break the ice. “I assume you are here from the Wolven Empire. Have you considered our proposal?”

“Well, yes. We have considered the idea of peace between nations, and we believe that it would be a very beneficial gain for both of us,” Seth began, trying to make this thing short and sweet.

“Wonderful, just wonderful,” the Princess exclaimed. “Oh, I am ever so sorry for the rude welcome to Equestria. I do hope you are alright.”

“Don’t worry about it. It was nothing, your majesty,” Seth reassured her, trying to sound humble, yet wanting to get this negotiation thing over with. He was already sweating through his fur, and not just because this place was forty degrees warmer than home.

“Very well. If I may, I never got your name.”

“My name is Seth Eclipse.”

A slight glimmer of panic ran through Celestia’s eyes at the name, which Seth was unaware of. She had noticed the mark on his leg, the scar over his eye, but the name just locked the fact in place. ‘This wolf is a killer!’

“Is anything wrong, Princess?” Seth called out, noticing Celestia was staring at him for a good ten seconds.

“No, no. Everything is fine,” Celestia answered, noticing her own suspicious behavior. “I just remembered I have to write to my protege about an upcoming event. Back to the matter at hoof, I would like to ask a favor of you, Seth.”

“What might that be?” Seth asked with trepidation, not liking where this might be going.

“If you could, would you mind staying in Equestria for a few weeks, get to learn the society and customs of our culture. It would probably do the peace treaty some good if you could give a little background about Equestria.”

‘Well crap. How did I know?’

“I could possibly stay. I’m not expected back anytime soon. If it does the treaty any good, I’ll do it. Where is my residence?” Seth asked, not even believing what he just said.

“Good. Wonderful! Take the next train to a town called ponyville. From there, talk to the librarian, she will guide you from there,” Celestia instructed in her ever present, cheery tone. “Oh! And one last thing. You might want to wear this cloak.”

Before Seth could even ask, a cloak was thrown onto him.

“Good luck, Seth Eclipse,” the princess called out as she walked out of the room.

Seth was now standing, alone, in the middle of the throne room of the Princess of Equestria, a land which he had hoped to never have anything to do with ever again.

“What… the… WOLVEN HELL did I just get myself into?!”

Author's Note:

Well, by the time of posting, I'll be gone on a trip for a week. If anyone leaves a comment, I'll respond when I return.
Until then,

Long live the Wolfpack.

Comments

[Nightmare Wolf]

Pretty nice, but I'd expect something better from a commando. Wolf surprised by an armored in clanking metal, heavy stomping pony is a bit too much.

Still not sure about the names. Too much of a Aerith And Bob trope.

[Corvus]

did shining armor get hit by the idiot stick or something other than that great chapter especially the this wolf is a killer line of celestia & a clock is so subtle & helps with the heat not on both accounts.