Asses Kicked and Getting Tricked
An endless ring funneled through the moose, drowning out whatever other noise present in the room. As recent events had unfolded before him, the white noise continued to grow.
"How did this happen?", echoed the broken thoughts of the moose, "I was certain everything would be fine. The wolf would die and I would become a legend! Uncle would crown me to be the next King of Caneigdia! So how did it come to this?!"
The Duke looked up from the white tiles his head had dropped to stare aimlessly at. His eyes met with the wolf that had brought him there, the one that had caused him all of this trouble. He looked back to Aurora, the one who'd strung him along only to betray him in the end. And finally he looked to the white wolf, the one who mocked him in front of his mages and the Princesses.
It was then he decided this would go on no longer. He still had his mages, even without Aurora they were still known as one of the most powerful forces in the world. He could still win this war he'd waged. He could still achieve what he so desperately sought, and in the end, Silver wouldn't be the only dead dog.
"This is not over yet!" he screamed, "Mages! Kill them!!"
On command, the mages fell into a line and charged their magic between their horns. The wolves quickly scattered but before the moose could see where, they fired at the now empty space...
... at the thrones.
"Shit!"
The magic impacted, a large explosion ripping out the tile, sending rubble flying into the air. The room grew silent as the dust hung around, only to have it be swept away moments later by a golden aura.
The four Princesses sat unharmed, Twilight still in mid flinch while Cadence had ducked behind Shining. As the air cleared, Twilight had come to the realization that she was still alive and not in excruciating pain. Peeking out for behind her wing, she found out why.
Standing in front of them was none other than Onyx, bearing her blades by her side.
All five of them.
Twilight had finally come out from behind her wing completely to get a better view. She'd seen the magic sequences on paper before, but to see it as actual magic being practiced was whole other story. She couldn't help but let out a rejoicing laugh as she witnessed Onyx's hard work come to life.
The ivory alicorn on the other hoof, was less than thrilled at what had just occurred.
Celestia's scowl had grown significantly with the misfire. While she and Luna wouldn't have been harmed by it, the others most certainly would have been. And that was not something she took lightly.
"Silver," she growled, her eyes now glowing a molten orange, "move this somewhere else...."
The wolfs eyes were wide with shock, his own ignorance baffling him. He had become so wrapped up with the Duke that he'd forgotten just what his job was in the first place.
Shaking his head and snapping out of his stupor, Silver quickly bowed his head, "I apologize for putting you in harms way. It will not happen again."
Twilight quickly noted the change in his demeanor. Silver was never so formal, even in the most formal setting. While he took his job seriously, he never spoke to the ones he worked for in such a way, preferring a much more casual approach.
So for him to actually, formally apologize to Celestia as must have meant he not only failed as a friend, but as a guard.
"Pr-princess, I-I apologize!" The Duke rambled out, "I-it was never my intention to put you in danger!"
Celestia simply raised her hoof, "Enough. You've caused enough trouble for me today. I'm moving this battle elsewhere." The alicorns horn lit up and in a bright flash, Silver and the moose mages vanished from the room.
Twilight blinked her eyes after having been blinded for the second time that day and upon looking up, found the room missing several occupants.
"Wait, where'd they go?" she asked.
"I sent them to a field north of the mountain," Celestia answered as she examined the damage done to the room earlier, "They shouldn't be able to hurt anyone there."
Onyx undid her magic, combing the blades back into the original two before placing them back into their sheaths and stepping down off of the raised platform the thrones sat on.
"Huh...." a mumble came from in front. Looking down, Twilight found the white wolf examining the remains of the broken floor, "Well what do you know, they are kinda strong."
The lavender mare's face turned to a scowl, "Yes, that's why their called the strongest mages in all of Caneighdia! And you just sent Silver, who is not only injured but alone, to fight thirty of them!"
Luna looked up from the floor to the angry mare who was now standing instead of sitting on her throne. Cocking her head, she raised a brow, "W-wait--are you actually worried about Silver?"
Twilight only grew angrier, "Yes! He was skewered by a Shade and still recovering! He shouldn't be fighting at all, much less against Caneighdias strongest mages!"
"Ooooh, so that's what all the bandages were for," Luna noted dismissively.
"And you two!" the mare added, turning to Princess Luna and Celestia, "What the hell do you think you were doing?! I don't even know what you agreed to but I already know you could have stopped this! So why didn't you!?"
While Luna flinched back from Twilights anger, Celestia simply took in a deep breathe, "Twilight please, calm down. It's not as bad as it seems."
"Not as bad as--HAVE YOU BEEN IGNORING WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING THIS WHOLE TIME!? FOR THE TENTH TIME, THEY ARE THE STRONGEST MAGES IN CANEIGHDIA! SILVER IS INJURED! HE SHOULDN'T BE--"
"By whose standards?" the white wolf interrupted.
Twilight ceased her shouting and turned back the wolf standing at the bottom of the thrones, "What are you talking about?"
"By whose standards are the mages the strongest?" she clarified.
"Caneighdia! Who else?!"
"Yes, and you don't see the flaw in that?" she questioned.
"Not really!"
Luna put a paw to her head and shook it in disappointment, "Honestly, have you learned nothing in the time you've spent with him?"
"Would you please stop dancing around it and just tell me what you're talking about!?" Twilight shouted, her voice finally cracking. Tears rose in her eyes and threatened to run down her, "Silver could seriously be hurt and you're all acting like you know something I don't! So stop fucking around and just tell me already!"
Her restraint had finally given way as the tears break free. She managed to keep her sobs under control as she cried but had still ultimately broken down.
Celestia's heart broke as she watched her favorite student begin to cry in front of her, but before she could wrap a wing around her, her sister had already made her way past her and was now standing in front of Twilight. Pulling her into an embrace, she softly shushed her.
"There, there Twilight, it's alright. We didn't mean to worry you."
Celestia sighed and looked down at the white wolf, who seem honestly upset for making the mare cry. While the alicorn knew she didn't intend to, she knew she was messing with Twilight since the moment she laid eyes on her. Not that she could really help it though.
"Twilight, listen," Celestia began, "I believe what Luna was trying to say was that the moose that are fighting Silver are only the strongest by the standards of their own country."
"Yes, I know that!"
Celestia sighed once more, opting for another way to explain things, "Look at it this way, Twilight. By Equestria's standards, the guards in this room are the strongest we have. And yet, you and I both know that even with their combined strength, they could not beat Silver, even with him being as injured as he is."
Twilight snapped her head up, her eyes still flowing with tears, "Yes, but he isn't fighting with Ponies! How can we know that he won't get hurt?"
Cupping her cheeks, the midnight mare that was holding her turned Twilights head to face her, "Twilight look at me. Do you honestly believe that I would do something so foolish as to send our wolf into a fight that I know he can't win?"
"Our wolf?"
Twilight went to respond, but the answer was obvious.
"Do you honestly believe Star Shine or Black Wing or Celestia would do that either?"
Once again, there was no need to answer.
"So is there anything to really worry about?"
Twilight glanced down, Luna still holding her head in place, "No..."
"Well then stop all that crying and shouting for right now," she said with a sweet smile, wiping away the tear streaks on her cheeks, "Silver will be fine. And when he comes back, you can shout at him all you want for making you worry."
Twilight actually smiled a bit at the last part. She sniffled, wiped her eyes and took a deep breathe. Look back up, she stared down at the white wolf, who smiled sheepishly back up at her.
"Uh...sorry?" she offered. Twilight could only roll her eyes and let out a sigh, "If it makes you feel any better, we could watch?"
Twilight looked back at the wolf, "Watch? You mean watch them fight?"
"Yeah, you know, if you're still worried he might get hurt then you can keep an eye on him."
Twilight looked over to Celestia, who gave a small nod of approval.
"Very well then," the lavender mare said, turning back to Luna, "Let's see how he's doing."
Turning back around, the wolf walked into the center of the room and held up a paw. A small orb of light began to gather just above it before she backed away. The orb floated there for a moment, not doing anything until it grew slightly brighter. A thin beam of light shot up and hit the ceiling before expanding outward into a large, semi-transparent rectangle.
Luna turned to Celestia, "Which side of the mountain did you send them too?"
"The north," she said, pointing a hoof out of the window, "to the empty plains."
Luna closed her eyes, her body lighting up with a brilliant golden glow. At the same time, the large rectangle coming from the orb did the same. A few seconds ticked by before an image began to appear on it.
As it did, the glow around Luna died down."We'll be able to watch it from any angle. The sounds a little out of wack though."
As she spoke, the image became clearer and soon enough, everyone in the room could see Silver and the mages.
Silver blinked away the white dots in his eyes, Celestia's teleportation dazing him for a few moments. Luckily for him, it effected the mages too, other wise he might have gotten a blast like the one from before.
As the world came back into focus, Silver took in his surroundings. He was on an open field, nothing but a grassy plain before him. Turning around, he saw a mountain with an all to familiar city sitting atop of it. Other than Canterlot, there was no other civilization around.
"Might as well then..."
Silver shuffled his wings once or twice before sitting on the ground. Just as he did, the mages finally recovered. Their heads whipped around as they all went through the same process Silver did. When they finally gathered their bearings, they simultaneously turned their attention to the wolf.
Twilight watched with unease as the moose mages all turned to Silver.
"You're certain everything will be fine?" She asked to the wolf below.
Luna looked back up and paused for a moment before grinning, "Tell me, and this question is directed at any pony in the room, do any of you actually know what makes Silver so strong?"
Twilight's brow furrowed before she turned to Celestia. Her expression had not changed much aside from her own brows raising. Her sister had a similar expression while Cadence simply turned to Black Wing. The black wolf only smiled at and nodded back towards Luna for her to listen to.
As Twilight thought about it, she honestly couldn't place her hoof on an answer, "His speed, I guess?"
The white wolf shook her head while Star Shine had actually let out a snort of amusement.
"Let's have a test then, shall we?" Luna continued, "Question one: You've met Star Shine and Black Wing, so tell me. What are their strongest points?"
Twilight looked down to the two mentioned wolves for a moment before answering, "Black Wing has his magic, and Star Shine is a genius."
"I take offense to that," the latter wolf murmured.
Luna stepped forward closer to the throne, "But that's not all, is it?"
Twilight gave her a bemused look, but before she could ask what she meant, the mare next to her spoke.
"They've each gone beyond mastering their skills," Celestia answered. Luna smiled up at her as she continued, "Beings such as alicorns aside, there are few, if any, capable of rivaling them. Black Wings Lost magic is powerful by itself, but his knowledge and cultivation of his limitless magic prowess makes him almost peerless. In terms of magical ability, I've never seen anyone better.
"Star Shine is the same, only with her intelligence. She holds vast information ranging in every subject known to the world, and even beyond that. Her mind operates several times faster than the geniuses society praises, and her ability to use all of this information to achieve exactly what she wants is what makes her so formidable. That being said, what is your point?"
"My point is question two: what makes Silver so remarkable?"
Celestia went to answer, but found that she did not have one. In fact, no one did. The entire room had fallen silent...
That was until one mare, tucked away at the side of the room, spoke up.
"He's an all-rounder," came Onyxs soft voice. In one motion, all heads in the room turned to her, one of which suddenly lit up with a smile.
"And who are you?" Luna exclaimed, now profoundly interested in the usually silent mare. Ignoring everyone else in the room, the white wolf made her way over to where she, Ruppy and Beats stood.
"Onyx--" was all the mare managed to get out before Luna was in her face, looking her up and down. Peering over to the blades around her waist, Luna quickly pieced together the bits of information she'd gathered.
"Those blades. They're Silvers, aren't they? He made them for you?" she questioned, earning a nod, "Then that would make you his student."
"How did you know?" the mare asked.
Luna rolled her eyes, "He has a habit of giving gifts to anyone he takes under his wing." Glancing over to the other two ponies at Onyxs side, she noted Ruppys gauntlets and Beats' headphones, "Whether it's weapons or clothes, it's just something he does. Though I'll admit, the only time he's every specifically crafted something himself for someone else was for his Betas. Guess that means he's sees a part of himself in you all."
The revelation sent a small blush across the coal mares cheeks, though it was something she was partly aware of. For a while now, she'd figured that he picked ponies from off the street that reminded him of himself. While it was more of a hunch than anything else, she wouldn't be surprised if that were his reasoning.
"So then, my little Onyx," Luna continued, "Would you mind explaining to the rest of the class what you meant?"
Every head in the room leaned in a little closer as she began.
"W-well," the shy mare fumbled, "It's just that, over time, I've realized Silver has a lot of skills, but he doesn't exactly excel at any one. When we were sparring for the first time, I noticed Silver is in pretty good shape, and with his Steel-wing spell, he kinda seemed like a front-line fighter. But when I saw him and Black Wing going at it later, I realized he's skilled with ranged magic as well, which allowed him to keep pace. A-and again just recently, I noticed another similarity between him and Star Shine.
"When Silver first sparred with us, he sat down and let us come to him. It's what she did with Beats when she was testing him. It allowed them to control the fight in the same way. Also, one of the spells he uses reminds me of her magic; how her trees form a circle around her reminds me of how he wraps himself with wind. It's just a few things...."
The white wolf's grin couldn't have been any wider, "Come on, just a little more! Piece it all together for them!"
Onyx's eyes flicked between the Luna, the screen and the two other wolves in the room, "Silver's style is made from Black Wings and Star Shine. He uses combined techniques from both of them, so he's probably pretty good with both sets of skills. I'm guessing they were the ones that taught him."
"BINGO!!" The wolf cheered and giggled, sweeping up the mare and spinning her around much to her dismay.
"Please put me down!" Onyx cried.
Luna quickly halted mid spin, "Oh right," she said before promptly dropping the mare, "Anyway, Onyx here got it right! Or rather, mostly right. Well, maybe half right. I dunno, math isn't my thing."
"28.57% is considerably less than half right," Star Shine chimed in, "but I suppose you get an A for effort."
As the coal mare dragged herself off the ground, she went to ask what she missed but was cut off by a certain lavender alicorn.
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.
The white wolf turned up to face her with a grin, "As she said, Silver did learn from Star Shine and Black Wing. But they weren't the only ones he trained under." A strained silence fell upon the room, not in anticipation, but rather in unanimous realization.
"He's been trained by every Alpha of the Black Moon Pack."
The mages had grown tired of trying to get the wolfs attention. All together, they charged their magic and fired just like before, only this time the wolf did not move.
The attack rocketed forward, but before it could reach the other side of the field, Silvers wind magic whipped up in a circle around him, firing off one of his wind blades and slicing the mages magic clean in two. The magic collapsed, exploding and kicking up a cloud of dirt. The mages remained standing as they were, waiting for the dust to settle to confirm their victory with the corpse of their enemy.
It started off as a breeze but quickly picked up into a powerful gust and revealing the wolf once more, completely unscathed by the attack. But before the mages could strike again, Silver gave his wings one powerful flap and took off into the air.
Snapping their heads up to follow, they found him high above them in mid-somersault with a playful smile. Silvers wings flapped again, sending him rocketing to the ground, directly towards the mages.
The group scattered to the left and right, save for one who was not quick enough. Silver crashed down onto him, the moose's knees buckling and his body hitting the dirt as the ground cracked. The wolf glanced around once more as the mages wasted no time charging their spells again.
Just as the magic was launched, Silver disappeared again, reappearing in front of the left group. His wing swept out, bringing with it an enormous wind that blew them across the field. A few rolled with the momentum and found themselves back on their hooves, only to find them leaving it once more. A whirlwind kicked up underneath them, and before they could run, Silver sent them flying into the air.
One by one, they crashed back down to the earth below, half of the platoon already taken down. The other half remained determined though as they charged they're attacks once more.
Silver turned and found the spells already coming at him, flicking his wing out and turning it to steel before batting away the magic. They exploded in the distance behind him as he undid his Steel Wing spell. Holding his wings level by his side, the wind began to wrap around them as the mages readied they're next attack. Before they could launch it though, Silver flapped, sending the wind hurling towards them.
The soldiers were sent flying backwards, scattering the across the field. The two groups had now been completely dispersed and the mages stood on all sides of Silver.
As they drug themselves back up from the dirt, they once again began to charge their magic. Silver flicked his wings out once more and closed his eyes.
The winds picked up once more, circling not only Silver, but the mages that surrounded him. As they grew in speed, the soldiers turned to react, but before they could, the wolf flapped his wings once.
All at once, the winds shot up with immeasurable force, a mountain sized tornado forming in a second. The mages were once again tossed into the air, this time higher than ever before. The wind hit them with the force of a train, the speed and direction sending them spinning through the sky.
Silver folded his wings back to his sides as the their bodies hit the dirt with heavy thuds.
"I wonder if Tia really does have pudding?"
Despite the large screen displaying Silvers fight still being up, Aurora paid it little attention. Her mind was still trying to wrap itself around the discussion Luna had about him before.
As far as she was concerned, it was bullshit. While she figured Black Wing and Star Shine had known as well and were simply stringing the rest of the room for some reason or another, Aurora herself knew for a fact, that Silvers power had only a fraction to do with whatever training he may have undergone with the other Alphas.
After all, if that little mare in the corner could pick up on it, then surely she would have too. Any soldier with a damn would have noticed the similarities among all of them, though you'd have had to seen them all fight as well.
But what set Silver apart from the others wasn't the fact that he had all of their skills combined, but still had his own as well.
After all, Wind blades had never been in the repertoire of spells compiled over the years for Wind magic. Then again, there have only every been a pawful of Wind magic users compared to the rest of the elements. About one in every 10,000 or so. It wasn't that no one liked it, or thought it was weak. Just that not everyone could understand it.
Most elemental magic had some physicality to them, like Earth or Water magic. It made shaping them into constructs much easier due to the fact that the element being manipulated was actually malleable to a degree.
But there were other elements, ones like Wind and Fire magic, that while their effects could certainly be observed, their physical form itself was non-existent. But even then, Fire magic has more of a form than the Wind. Fire has heat and color, it has embers and smells like smoke when it burns something.
But the wind is different.
It has no default color, no basic scent or taste, and the only sound it makes is more often than not just a background noise. Any observation made can change based on where it is. It's an element that is defined by the environment it's set in.
In a desert, it's dusty and bitter. In the snow, it's fluffy and stings. In the forest, it's rustling and fragrant. But it's never just the wind.
Aurora had always wondered how exactly he managed to do it. With Elemental magic, visual training is vital, but so is practical training as well. To physically understand the element you're using. From that, you create a foundation based on what that element represents.
But you can't do that with an element that's always changing. So logically, there shouldn't be a way to use Wind magic. And yet, there is a way. It was right in front of her, being used to bat around a bunch moose across a field.
And to defy logic even more, this seemingly impossible magic had been given a form. A blade, to be precise. Something that had never been done before. Something that shouldn't be able to happen.
And that was where his power lay. At first glance, you'd think Wind blades would be fairly common use. But it was only a century ago that they came into existence, and since then only a few have been able to wield them. But none to the extent that Silver could. She'd seen him split mountains in two, cut through tsunami-like waves and divide the heavens themselves. His power was not so simple as merely studying under others. No one could rise as high as he did that way.
No, he was a master in his own right.
The wolf gave a glance around the room, the awe filled eyes of a few ponies were still glued to the screen, while others watched with more curiosity than anything else.
They had taken the bait.
It was all a trap. Aurora knew that already. The moment Luna steps into any room, you're already playing one of her little games whether you know it or not. Luna might come off as an idiot, but very rarely is she ever anything of the sort. She's cunning enough to even make Star Shine submit to her.
Looking over to the wall of the room, she caught the eye of the white wolf, a devilish gleam hinting back.
Typically, Aurora wouldn't give a damn who the wolf messed with, so long as she and her pack were kept out of it. But unfortunately, they weren't. While she doubted that her Betas might know anything about Silvers magic, she knew that her own knowledge of it played a role in everything the white wolf had done up to now.
And that begged the question, what exactly is she after? Why would she bother hiding Silvers power, and why would Star Shine and Black Wing go along?
But what bothered her the most was why, from across the room, was the white wolf looking back at her with a paw pressed to her lips.
"Shhuuuush....
"Oh, it looks like he's done." Black Wing said, catching Aurora's attention. The wolf looked up to the screen in time to see the bodies of the mages hitting the ground. However, through the semi-transparent magic, she caught a glimpse of the midnight princess on the other side.
Luna wore a small smile that seemed to beam with pride. Aurora focused back on the screen, her eyes narrowing at the sight of the collar around Silvers neck.
Focusing once more on the alicorn, she realized that smile she wore boasted not only pride in his victory, but something more. Focusing harder, Aurora peered past Luna's smile into the princesses heart and observed her aura.
The sight she saw made her grit teeth as the quietest snarl barely escaped her mouth, her concern for the white wolfs games quickly being washed out by her bitterness.
A bright loving pink danced around her taking up the majority of her aura, with flecks of violet blooming within it. She'd suspected that Luna may have fallen for Silver, given what she'd seen before, but what irked her wasn't the affection her aura was displaying, but the color on it's edge.
Any wolf would be able to identify it and it's meaning even without looking into an aura. It was the same emotion that the very foundation their society was founded on. Never mind the fondness and lust the princess showed, it was the brilliant blue surrounding it that seemed to twist a blade in the wolf's chest.
Most of the world, even without Aura Sight, would be able to tell that blue denoted sadness or depression and for the most part, they wouldn't be wrong. But on the other paw, anyone with the ability to see auras would tell them they were.
After all, colors come in many shades and tints, each with they're own means and emotions attached to them. There's azure blue, navy blue, cobalt blue and so on. And just like every color in the spectrum; just as those all of those blues have their own connotations, this one did as well.
This brilliant sapphire that danced on the edge, growing with the love that bloomed below it.
This unmistakable loyalty.
This trust for a wolf she barely understood. This faith in a wolf that's already damned. This devotion to a monster.
As if she now understood the wolf better than Aurora could.
A scoff escaped her lips, one that Willow did not let go unnoticed. He caught her glare towards the Princess, but opted not to ask anything. He'd seen this look before, and it only ever came out where Silver was concerned.
From across the room, the "war", if that's what it could actually be called, was coming to an end.
"Do you have any other troops you'd like to send Duke?" the white wolf asked. The moose had still been in the room, though was all but forgotten by everyone else. His lack of comment during Luna's conversation was due to the fact that his eyes had never left the screen.
He'd simply stood dumbfounded as he watched his mages get thrown around as if they were toys.
"This...this cannot be....The mages....they were beaten as if they were mere insects being brushed away! How?! THIS CANNOT B--"
"Duke Little Horn," the wolf called once more, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Do you wish to continue this petty war?" The moose looked up to the wolf next to the thrones, her presence being akin to a god as her frigid blue eyes bore into his soul.
"I-...." but his words trailed off. Luna smiled down at him before making her way down from the thrones and stopping in front of him.
"Let's talk about your terms of surrender," she said, placing a paw on his shoulder. Though as soon as she touched him, the white wolf froze, and for the first time in a very long while, she felt fear.
There's something wrong about this moose....
No, wait. Not something about him. There's something with him.
Before she could react, a figure slithered out from under the moose' shadow, sliding right between Lunas legs and darting out behind her. No pony saw it coming, not even Celestia knew what had happened before it was too late as the figure lunged at the ivory alicorn sitting on the thrones.
It ended just as quickly as it occurred.
But just before the figure reached her, a new one had emerged. A shadow form appeared from behind Celestia, a barrage of weapons projecting out from it and piercing the attacker. And for a brief moment, the two hung in mid air.
The shadow that came from Celestia was garbed in black robes, donning a matching kasa hat that covered her face. From the sleeve of her extended hoof was an armory of weapons; spears, knives, swords, axes, every type of blade imaginable of every length and size has now protruding from it.
And on the receiving end of those blades was only a shadow.
Its form seemed incorporeal, resembling something more like mist. But even among that mist, features of a face had emerged. Crimson red eyes surrounded by a ghoulish green glow, purple wisps flickering as they attacker snarled.
Before anyone could react, the shadow darted off again, this time to the right and out of the window.
"AFTER HIM!" one of the guards shouted.
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This updated and I can't read it right now! Bloody real life!
ok a new chapter witch is vary good.
but forgive me if i don't get excited till i see 4 or 5 chapter with in a normal time span and not a hole year.
It's alive!
just read the entire story and it is really good. I am glad to see a new chapter
Thanks for the update. Now to reread the whole story.
im not trying to be rude but this is about to come out rude. ITS ABOUT DARN TIME!!!! glad a new chapter is out hope everything is well.