The Wolves of Equestria

by FenrisianBrony

Pulling Strings

“Hoarfrost?! Hoarfrost, answer me!” Gale roared, shaking Hoarfrost’s course as Summit and the rest of the Wolf Guard galloped in, Scorpan and the others he had brought with him scattering before him as Ravar knelt down beside her.

“Let me look at him,” Ravar prised the sobbing Gale off of Hoarfrost, Summit instantly wrapping her in a hug, looking down at Ravar as he pressed an ear to Hoarfrost’s chest, then to his ear.

“Ravar…talk to me,” Umbrage murmured, looking down at his Wolf Guard.

“My…my lord,” Ravar looked back to Umbrage, before looking at the floor again and shaking his head.

“No, no it’s not true,” Gale sobbed, struggling in Summits hug. “It’s not true! He’s not…”

Her gaze fell on Scorpan and her eyes narrowed.

“You,” she growled, before ramming a hoof into Summits chest hard enough to drive the breath from his lungs.

In an instant she was on top of Scorpan, the captain completely taken by surprise by the sudden attack. Gale let out a wailing moan as she beat her hooves against his armour, Scorpan quickly regaining his senses and doing his best to fend her off.

“You killed him!” she screeched. “You killed him you bastard! You could have…you could…you…”

Gale stopped attacking Scorpan, sliding down to the floor and curling up into a foetal position, before letting out a low moan, rocking back and forth. No pony moved as her screams of anguish filled the cave, unsure of what to do, even as she pulled Hoarfrost’s lifeless head into her lap and began to cradle it, burying her head in his mane.

Eventually, Umbrage knelt down beside her, placing a hoof on her shoulder, before moving it to Hoarfrosts half open eyes, slowly pushing them closed.

“For the North and for duty, for past and for future, for Equestria and the Empress. No legionnaire falls forgotten.”

It didn’t make Gale let go of Hoarfrost’s corpse, and she still sobbed quietly into his mane, but it seemed to sooth her ever so slightly. Umbrage cast one last look back at the pair, before looking at his Wolf Guard.

“Prepare a stretcher, we’re not leaving him here.”

Umbrage watched impassively as the box containing Hoarfrost was loaded onto a cart by four of his Wolf Guard, their faces equally as stony as their commanders. All of them had been present in the cave after the incident, and all of them had heard the story of what had transpired before they got there. In truth, everypony in the company had heard some tail or another from the cave, and Umbrage seriously doubted that relationships between the Black Ravens or the Night Warriors and the Arctic Wolves would ever be the same again, not that their relationship with the Night Warriors was ever particularly good.

“You treat him like a fallen hero,” Luna pointed out from beside the Wolf Lord.

“And what would you have me treat him as? A traitor?” Umbrage replied.

“He tried to kill you, he tried to kill his fellow legionnaires, he even tried to kill me, what else would you call him? The fact that you defend him does bring your own loyalties into suspicion, as does your decision to leave the den. If you chose to bury him normally then I would understand, but this? You are treating him like a hero.”

“He died as a Wolf Lord. Tradition dictates a dead Wolf Lord to be interred at the Citadel. And if my actions bring my loyalties into question, then your jumping to conclusions brings your ability to lead into question,” Umbrage snapped back, before sighing. “Apologies. That may have been un-just of me, my Warmistress.”

“No, you go ahead, you opened this door, now I would like to hear more of what you think of my ability to lead,” Luna glared at Umbrage.

“Ok, fine,” Umbrage nodded. “I think you’re inexperienced, I think that Hoarfrost, my son, did attack you, and he was wrong to do so, but in his mind he had cause. Right or wrong is not for me to say, but I do know that if he was still alive he would have told us everything. He was about to, when ponies acting on your orders burst in and killed him.”

“He was going for his weapons,” Luna pointed out. “They acted in self-defence.”

“He was scarred,” Umbrage roared back. “I have never seen my son that terrified, and whatever he had seen, he said it was big. Now we will never know, and it’s because you left me out of the loop.”

“This is not my fault, Wolf Lord,” Luna growled. “And you would do well to lower your tone with me. You should address me as you would the Empress.”

“She would not have left me in the dark if MY OWN SON ATTACKED HER,” Umbrage spoke slowly. “I could have dealt with him, I could have brought him in, alive, but you went to two ponies who he had already allegedly tried to kill. Any Legionnaire worth their armour could have gone for a leg shot, Scorpan and his ponies went straight for fatal ones.”

Luna glared at Umbrage, but kept silent as the Wolf Lord continued.

“My son may have been crazy, he may have been a traitor the likes of which we haven’t seen before, but if there is even the slightest possibility he wasn’t, even the slightest chance that he was right, then we could have far more traitors in the Legions, and since he was killed before telling me which ones to watch out for, I am taking my company home and speaking to the Great Wolf. We will be bringing this up with the Empress, mark my words, Warmistress.”

With that, Umbrage turned and walked towards the cart, approaching Gale. The Pegasus was sitting on the cart beside the casket, as she had been for the past day. There hadn’t been a minute where she had been away from him, and she had barely said anything to anyone since it had happened. Umbrage couldn’t blame her though, seeing Hoarfrost in the state he had been in had been difficult, even for him. Seeing him die even more so. He could only imagine what it must have been like for her, she knew him better than he ever had.

Bardolf lay beside the casket on the cart, his body draped over the wooden box as if to protect it, his final act to protect his master. When he had first seen Hoarfrost’s lifeless corpse he had leapt at the Wolf Guard carrying him, almost taking his hoof off before Umbrage ordered everypony back. The howls had been audible for miles, before they faded down into low moans as the wolf tried to nudge Hoarfrost back to life. For the first night, the only pony who could safely get near Hoarfrost was Gale, and the wolf had curled up around her to keep her warm during the night. When the morning came, he simply stayed with the body, no longer howling or attacking those who tried to touch him, instead just watching intently, determined to guard his master one final time.

“The Warmistress seemed impressed,” she muttered, not looking up.

“She doesn’t appreciate us treating Hoarfrost like this,” Umbrage shrugged. “Nor our pulling out.”

“The fight is over,” Gale pointed out. “The dogs are all dead, there’s no one left to fight. Unless you’ve worked out who Hoarfrost was speaking about within the Legions?”

“Not definitively,” Umbrage shook his head. “I have to speak to the Great Wolf and the Empress first.”

“But you believed him, didn’t you?”

“Of course I did,” Umbrage hissed. “But I cannot make decisions like this on my own. Even the Great Wolf can’t, only the Empress can.”

“Then let’s get home,” Gale huffed. “Hoarfrost never really liked it down south, now I’m starting to share his sensibilities.”

“As am I,” Umbrage nodded. “Go with the cart, the rest of the force will be moving out soon. Summit will lead the Wolf Guard attached to it, I feel it will be good for you to have somepony to talk to who you know.”

“Thank you, Wolf Lord,” Gale bowed. “And Hoarfrost will live on.”

“Through us, yes,” Umbrage nodded.

“The three of us,” Gale replied, before following after the cart as it was pulled out of the camp by two Wolf Guard.

“Three?” Umbrage murmured softly, making to move after Gale, before sensing ponies walking up behind him and turning around, coming face to face with Scorpan and Raptus. His face instantly contorted into a scowl as Scorpan spoke.

“I just wanted to offer you my apologies, Wolf Lord. I understand that losing a son can be a trying experience, especially in such a manner. I do hope though that this doesn’t come between us, and that our companies and respective Legions can continue to operate together.”

“What my son saw in you, I’ll never know, but I do know this. Come north again, seek me out again, ever try to engage me in conversation again, and you won’t be fighting an injured or disorientated pony, you’ll be fighting me, and I will have your head.”

“Wolf…” Scorpan began.

“Your, head,” Umbrage reiterated, slowly drawing his axe part way from its scabbard. “Do you need a demonstration?”

Scorpan scowled, before turning and stalking off, Raptus beside him. Huffing, Umbrage allowed his axe to slip back into the scabbard, before turning to the Warmistress, who was deep in conversation with a Lunar Knight.

“Warmistress, my company is leaving,” he cut in, the Lunar Knight stopping mid-sentence. “I wish you luck in fighting whatever foes you think are left. I hear the rocks can be quite challenging to lesser legions.”

With that, Umbrage turned and followed after Gale, Luna glaring after him for a few moments, before turning back to her conversation with the Lunar Knight.

Luna looked down at the canyon, watching as the Arctic Wolves marched further into the distance. At her hooves were numerous empty ration packs, and as far as she knew, no pony had been up here on her orders, meaning they most likely belonged to Hoarfrost. When her Lunar Knights had brought word of them, she had instantly made her way up to them, wanting to see what it was the brought a pony who was running all the way up here. Her guards had stayed at the base of the mountain so as to allow her to feel what he felt when he was alone.

She had expected some divine inspiration when she got up here, some flash of light that gave her insight into the mind of Hoarfrost, that allowed her to see why he had done what he did, but all she saw was the canyon floor, and the Legionnaires that moved to and fro, far below.

Do you now see? the voice spoke to her softly. It had been oddly quiet recently, and Luna was almost startled by the sudden reappearance of it, before regaining her composure.

Do I see what?

I asked you long ago why your sister would give a legion loyal to her weapons capable of rending the toughness of Legionnaire armour useless, and you defended her. Now, a member of that same legion has attacked you and ponies loyal to you.

He almost killed his own father and wife

But he didn’t, he only killed those who are closer to you than they are to your sister. Can you be sure that he acted alone? Can you be sure he didn’t have higher orders?

My sister would never order something like that.

Are you sure?

Yes. For one thing she is not a fan of cloak and dagger, and neither are the Wolves. They would make poor choices for assassins if Hoarfrost had been singled out. Their Legion are butchers and…

And?

Executioners Luna took a long time to answer the voices question, the one word slipping out before she had truly though the answer through.

Remember that, Luna. The Arctic Wolves, your sister’s executioners. Not of Equestria, but hers

The voice faded away in her mind once more, leaving Luna standing on the mountain top alone, processing what the voice had said, and indeed her own words.

Scorpan shuddered slightly as he tried his best to steady his breathing. Before him was a large rock, carved with four symbols that glowed with unnatural energy;, the red mark of Khorne, the green mark of Nurgle, the blue mark of Tzeench, and the pink mark of Slaanesh.

Of all the stages of the revised plan, this was the one he feared the most, and that carried the most risk. Even lying to the Warmistress hadn’t worried him this much, the worst she could have done was kill him. His gods could do far, far worse.

Giving one last glance to Raptus, the Kyroptera giving him nothing save for a meaningful glance at the obelisk, before turning around and speaking to his chosen again. Taking one final deep breath, Scorpan walked towards the rock, dropping to his knees and placing his head in the sand.

“My lords, as you know your chosen champion, Grafter, is dead. The one who killed him, Hoarfrost, learned of our plans, but has been eliminated. He managed to disrupt our plans though, I cannot open the warp portal and allow your light to shine on Equestria. I failed you, my life is yours.”

Your life was already ours, Scorpan. Khorne growled, his red rune glowing angrily. You cannot give what you do not own.

There has been a failure, but it was not your, it was Grafters, and his hubris cost him his life, and the life of many of our pawns. Tzeench spoke in his shrill voice. Rest assured, he shall receive adequate punishment.

Your role in our plans however has shifted. Slaanesh’s voice was the strangest of all, constantly changing and morphing, so it was impossible to even tell if there was one speaker or many, let alone if it was a male or female. You may speak your plans to us, Scorpan. Pray that we find them of interest.

“The Warmistress is still ripe for corruption,” Scorpan began, keeping his forehead on the floor. “All it will take is a single spark to push her over the edge and allow the daemon in her head to take power. The only problem is the Wolves, they have weapons designed for killing Legionnaires, and a fortress to rival any other. But they are not unassailable. The Crystal Empire is in turmoil with their king and queen taken ill. If we can destabilise it further and point their army towards the Wolves, we will rid ourselves of two potential enemies, and give the Warmistress her final push.”

I agreed with this plan. Father Nurgle spoke slowly and methodically as his run began to glow a sickly green. You have by blessing, Scorpan.

And mine. You plan will provide a warming appetizer to the deaths that are to come, and my throne of skulls shall grow ever larger.

Go now, Scorpan, with the blessing of the four, and do not disappoint us, or you will know fully the price of failure.

The runes finally faded, and Scorpan got back to his hooves, brushing the sweat from his brow, before turning to face Raptus and the other chosen who had accompanied him to this unholy place. One stood out from the others entirely, not wearing the black armour of the Black Ravens, or the dark blue of the Night Warriors. Her armour was a soft teal, and her Legion markings showed that of a star. Her name was Omega, and she was the only member of the Order of the Sacred Star who had been swayed. The rest of the Legion stayed in the dark, and infuriatingly in the grey over which side they would fall.

“Omega, you may prove useful,” Scorpan began, looking directly at her. “Go north, go to the Crystal Empire, and seek out the one they call, Minister Sombra. Whisper in his ear, guide him on the path to glory, have him seize control of their pathetic Empire and dash their troops against the Citadel, and if he will not turn, kill him and find somepony who will.”

“It will be done, my lord Scorpan,” Omega bowed deeply.

“The sun is setting on the old Equestria,” Scorpan smiled. “Long live the new Equestria, long live, chaos.”

Comments

[iowaforever]

A fitting end to a great story. I thoroughly enjoyed this peek into the Arctic Wolves (although I wonder what would happen if Umbrage meets Scorpan after the latter has gone full Chaos Lord)