Masks and Small Lies
Masks and Small Lies
”No!” Fenrir snapped back into the land of the living as he heard a mare scream their opposition to some idea. He had jerked a little as he woke up and his body groaned in response, every inch of him felt sore and feverish. He could still feel his gargantuan wolf body, so it wasn’t like he was waking up from a night of getting drunk with a headache. He decided to just lay there and see if whoever had woken him explained their opinion further.
“You are not putting him in a cage! He’s hurt and you would open his stitches if you tried moving him!” A voice he finally recognized as the meek caretaker of Ponyville’s hurt little animals, Fluttershy, shouted out. They were definitely talking about him, since he really did feel like he was hurt everywhere and he had done something to have the ponies suspect him enough to go to such lengths as cages and chains. His memory wasn’t the clearest of his time hunting, but he was sure he had killed and eaten more than a few things. He was pretty sure he hadn’t killed any ponies, though. For now he was content on laying there and listening to some silly pony arguing with Fluttershy. He didn’t care how hurt he felt, if this other pony even hinted at hurting Fluttershy, then he would find out just how fast his body could move.
“It’s a dangerous animal and needs to be put in a cage! It attacked me and my stallions, while we were stopping it from eating you, mind you!” A stallion argued back, sounding frustrated by the kind mare’s naivety.
“He only attacked because you attacked him first! You don’t attack a hurt animal and expect it to just take it lying down!” Oh, Fluttershy is best pony, and not only because she was defending him for something he honestly did not remember doing.
“Your innocent little animal is drenched in blood and almost as big as your house! Now get out of our way and let us do our job.” There was finality in his tone Fenrir really didn’t like and how he said it suggested that Fluttershy was standing between him and whoever the stallion was. He opened his eyes and saw a stallion in a guard’s uniform trying to push Fluttershy out of his way. He was going to tell the stallion to calm down and seriously reconsider laying a hoof on Fluttershy, but a low growl escaped his throat instead. It did get the point across, but not in as many words as he’d hoped. The unicorn guard tried to push Fluttershy aside, but to his surprise she rushed to Fenrir instead.
“Oh, you shouldn’t get up yet, you’ll pull your stitches and I don’t know if you can take losing any more blood.” The yellow pegasus mare whispered in a voice he found himself listening intently at. So, that’s why she’s so good at talking to animals, she lets them listen instead of making them. He would have smiled at the realization if there wasn’t a chance that it would get him a spear between the ribs. The pegasi guards hovering around him looked more than ready to use their spears and he didn’t want to test them. He decided that nodding his head was enough to signal that he was lucid.
“Do not make any sudden movements, beast! We will not hesitate to subdue you!” The same unicorn guard stated, staying at a safe distance from him. If he really was drenched in blood, as the pony had suggested, then this was a very rational thing to do. Again, he tried to tease the colt for staying at a safe distance, but could only get a growl and a strangled bark out. Twilight Sparkle’s spell had worn off, it seemed. His body ached everywhere, he had lost the ability to speak and to top it all off he was surrounded by armed ponies more than ready to kill him. The day was not starting out very well, that was for sure.
“Please, Fluttershy, don’t get so close to him.” The unmistakable voice of Twilight Sparkle pleaded. She had every reason to be suspicious of him, but it still hurt a little to hear the fear in the studious mare’s voice. He would have moved his head to see the mare, but the spears the pegasi were brandishing looked sharp and long enough to do some real damage. Right now he had no other choice than lay there and see how things worked out. He could hear Fluttershy moving around him, probably checking his stitches, as she had been worried about them before.
“He’s not going to hurt me, are you now?” The question was rhetorical and Fenrir couldn’t answer it even if it wasn’t. He flicked his tail in a response, just for the joy of actually having a tail. Twilight Sparkle tentatively trotted into his field of vision, flanked by two other unicorn guards and the rude guard from before. The guards glared at him with hostility, but Twilight Sparkle looked unsure and couldn’t quite meet his eyes. How was he supposed to let her know about the translation spell wearing off, when he couldn’t move his body without getting skewered?
“Fenrir, I’m sorry about… you know, hurting you and…” Twilight Sparkle said, with the other unicorns doubling their efforts on looking threatening. They were not that successful, since they were tiny compared to him, even with him on lying on the ground on his side. He couldn’t have grown even bigger, could he? He observed Twilight’s adorkable mannerisms for a moment that stretched on into a full minute, with Twilight getting more and more uncomfortable with every passing second. As studious as she was, she really couldn’t take a hint that well, it seemed.
“It is useless to talk to the beast; clearly it lacks the mental capacity to formulate an answer. The only reason it isn’t trying to attack us is the pegasi’s spears aimed at its throat, Miss Sparkle.” The increasingly insufferable guard pointed out, flicking a hoof in his direction. He felt a little sad about the fact that he wasn’t close enough to bite his hoof off. He growled at the stallion, on purpose this time, and both he and the ponies present were surprised by its volume. He had to grin as the annoying guard flinched back, when Twilight Sparkle stood her ground.
“Oh, uhm, lieutenant, I think it’s not a good idea to insult him… even if he isn’t hungry right now.” Fluttershy said, hovering right next to his right ear. Her voice did not make him flinch, or react in any way, even if he hadn’t known that she was there. The usefulness of her special talent was becoming more and more apparent the more time he spent with her. “Attacking you might open his stitches, after all.”
Fenrir couldn’t hold back a single bark of laughter and everypony present flinched at the sudden loud noise. The pegasi raised their spears and he could see at least one unicorn’s horn glowing. He really had to get Twilight to redo the spell that allowed him to speak, and then he’d at least have a chance at moving without being stabbed. The staring of Twilight Sparkle continued, but it was starting to look like her mind didn’t work any better when intensely uncomfortable, so he just closed his eyes.
“I really don’t like that Princess Celestia sent all of you to guard us without any kind of explanation either, Valor, but Fenrir was literate and intelligent before his sudden decline. I believe it is in everypony’s best interest that we get to the bottom of his breakdown, so I suggest you try and resist the urge to antagonize him in the future.” Twilight Sparkle berated the snide lieutenant and Fenrir couldn’t help but feel grateful. Even after all he’d done and the tragedy he had so narrowly avoided, these ponies were ready to give him a chance.
“Hush now, you don’t need to pay them any attention, Fenrir. You can go to sleep, you’ll need to rest to get all better.” Fluttershy whispered into his ear and then he felt her hoof at a very specific spot behind his ear and pure, undiluted peace flowed into his mind. No wonder dogs loved being scratched there, it was awesome! Fluttershy kept murmuring words into his ear, but he really didn’t care what she was saying, his mind was already floating on a peaceful cloud of serenity. He could feel his body relaxing and his breathing shifting into a stable rhythm.
He wouldn’t mind if he woke up in a cage. It was only smart to be cautious around him, the way he was now. He would just explain himself and plead to the ponies’ good nature; they had already proven they had plenty of that.
Rarity
“Please, Miss Rarity, I urge you to reconsider. It is not safe, nor is it strategically sound, to put so many of the Elements in one place.” Regal Poise pleaded as Rarity was gathering things Fluttershy could need while taking care of a huge wolf into her saddlebags. She was not sure of what Fluttershy had on hand at her home/animal shelter, but she was pretty sure the gargantuan wolf was out of her league, per se. She grabbed the shampoo she used to wash Opal on the rare occasions the fussy cat got too excited chasing something to care about the condition of her fur. She had quite a lot of it, but she doubted it would be enough to wash this “Fenrir” in his entirety, but it could help with the tough spots.
“Oh, hush now, Regal dear, one of my oldest friends might need my help with her passion and another one is probably a nervous wreck by now. What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t even offer to help them?”
“A smart one? Both Fluttershy and Twilight Sparkle have their guards with them, so there are more than enough ponies already there that can help.” The well-mannered colt still levitated the saddlebags on his own haunches after Rarity was done packing them, despite his opinion. The other two unicorn guards were patrolling the perimeter, or staring in the direction of Fluttershy’s cabin, whichever you preferred. They all knew where Fenrir was; a pegasi messenger had stormed in and told them in no uncertain terms that Fenrir had been subdued in the vicinity of Fluttershy’s cabin.
“Oh, I know that, but the both of them can just forget themselves when it comes to the things they are passionate about. I would hate to see my friends fighting each other for something silly that this “Fenrir” character brought about.” Rarity specified as she made her way through her boutique, Regal Poise following close behind with her saddlebags. His two subordinates fell in formation behind him as they left the boutique. They were stoic stallions and hadn’t even offered their names when Regal Poise introduced himself. She could appreciate professionalism, but they could at least be civil about it.
“Steel, keep a lookout for those three fillies, this seems like the thing they would tag along on. I would rather not deal with them when we don’t know if Fenrir is dangerous or not.” Regal commanded the unicorn walking to his right, seemingly called Steel, and he trotted off to the side. Regal noticed her curious look and gave a small apologetic smile before elaborating. “I’ve read reports of them getting into trouble in similar situations. Our presence alone proves that Fenrir is not someone to be meddled with, especially by deluded children.”
“I agree completely, Sweetie Belle gets into way too much trouble for her own good. I can’t even imagine how my mother deals with her, when she gets into so much trouble just when I look after her.” Rarity commented on her sister’s ill-behaved antics, deciding to ignore Regal’s comment about her sister being deluded. The three fillies did call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders, so there might have been some truth to it. “So, you know who this “Fenrir” character is, since you were ordered to protect us from of him?”
“I’ve just heard the name once before, to be honest…” Regal said, clearly avoiding the issue, perhaps not wanting to speculate on his Princesses’ orders. Rarity fell back to take the place of the other unicorn at his right side and gave him an inquisitive look. He looked at her for a moment before sighing, resigned to his fate. She could always order him to tell her, so why not?
“I happened to stumble on the name while we were trained in the use of spells in taming wild beasts, they used the way ponies of old had tamed Cerberus to guard the gates of Tartarus with an enchanted collar as an example. Fenrir’s name only came up in the list of beasts supposedly locked beyond the gates. I don’t know if there’s an actual connection to this Fenrir, but the one in Tartarus was described as a gargantuan wolf as well.”
“So Princess Celestia sent you to guard the bearers of the Elements of Harmony, in case this Fenrir was the same as that Fenrir? From what I’ve heard he’s more intimidating than actually dangerous. Rainbow Dash was only talking about the way he refused to use her real name, she didn’t even mention being frightened by him.” Rarity didn’t think that Rainbow Dash would not notice a potential threat to her friends, being the bearer of the Element of Loyalty and all.
“Yes, but if this is the Fenrir from the myths, then we have to be even more careful.” Regal pondered, ever the strategist. Rarity had just met the unicorn the following day, but it had become apparent that he loved his little war-games and had let some obscure references to military maneuvers slip into his speech at first. She had a feeling he’d toned it down when he realized Rarity wasn’t particularly impressed, nor did she have any idea what he was talking about.
“Halt!” Rarity and Regal both turned toward the voice and saw the unicorn Regal had ordered to watch out for the CMC shouting at a suspiciously animated bush, looked like he had been right about the CMC trying to tag along. The stern unicorn guard chased off the CMC and Rarity and Regal kept on walking. Rarity, Regal and the other still nameless guard walked toward Fluttershy’s cabin in the warm afternoon. Regal kept pace with Rarity and the stoic guard decided to fall back behind them. Either the other unicorn was still chasing the CMC, or had decided to escort them under adult supervision, since he hadn’t caught up yet.
“Oh my…” Rarity breathed out as they walked over the little bridge leading to Fluttershy’s cabin and Fenrir’s sleeping form came in sight. He was absolutely humongous, even bigger than she had thought him to be from Rainbow Dash’s exaggerated tales of meeting him. Even his head was bigger than a normal pony and he just lay there, sleeping in front of Fluttershy’s cabin while Fluttershy and Twilight argued with three unicorn guards in hushed tones.
“He attacked us, Miss Sparkle, or have you forgotten that little tidbit of information?” One of the unicorn guards argued, sounding rather annoyed. Regal had explained that the armor was what changed their appearance to seem more uniform. Rarity would have thought that the golden armor was distinctive enough, but Regal went into a ten minute tirade about how the armor was easy to copy, but the enchantment on it was from Celestia herself. It would transmute into lead if any other pony tried wearing it, so it was nearly impossible for aggressors to pass themselves off as guards at important events and gain access into restricted areas.
“This animal is in my protection. He. Stays. Here.” Fluttershy didn’t raise her voice from her usual meek tone, but her eyes bored right into the poor guard. It was not the infamous Stare, but her calm tone and confident words were even more unnerving. Rarity felt a little proud that Fluttershy had found something she was prepared to fight so fiercely for, but the nervous unicorn guard did have a point.
“Hello, Fluttershy dear, whatever seems to be the problem here?” Rarity stepped in right between the guard and Fluttershy. Fluttershy retreated back into her mane just a little bit and the guard stood a little straighter as he had another mare to convince. Regal Poise trotted right past the argument and went to take a closer look at Fenrir’s sleeping form.
“The problem is the giant predator the Element of Kindness insists on coddling! The beast attacked my stallions and had enough sense to use our own attacks against us. There should be no doubt it is a dangerous monster to be locked away, as it should be!” Rarity quirked an eyebrow at his statement and turned to Fluttershy for her two bits. She gave Rarity a determined look and it was enough for Rarity to cast the guard’s testimony in question. She turned to the colt with her best “I am on your side, valiant hero” look on her face.
“Oh my, how dreadful indeed, being attacked by this monster. You must have been scared…” Rarity cooed at the stallion. He gave her a quizzical look, but then puffed out his chest regardless.
“Well, it’s my duty to protect and serve. I couldn’t just let that beast do as it wished, could I?” The guard said, shining a hoof on his breastplate.
“Yes, and I’m sure you did everything you could to defuse the situation peacefully. It would have been completely idiotic to attack Fenrir completely unprovoked. I’m sure you wouldn’t have endangered the lives of your subordinates and two bearers of the elements, just because the poor dear looked intimidating, riiight?” Rarity kept her tone light and seemingly oblivious. The proud smile faded from the guard’s face as she spoke and when she turned to look the guard in the eye, she was absolutely certain that was exactly what had happened. She might not have been the Element of Honesty, but she had an eye for detail few ponies could match. The abrasive guard had flopped his ears back and hung his neck submissively.
“Now, ladies, leave my brother alone. I’m certain there is a solution that will satisfy every party.” Regal Poise trotted over and removed his helmet, revealing that he was an earthy brown unicorn with brown eyes, but with a mane and tail as blonde as Blueblood. His coat and tail changed as well, while Celestia’s enchantment washed out like a bad dye job in the rain. “Come on, Valor, take off your helmet, so we can solve this like adults.”
“I still think that beast is a menace…” Valor muttered as his helmet levitated off of his head. His coloring was a stark opposite to his brother, light grey coat and striking fair orange eyes, but a dark brown mane and tail. He sat down on his haunches and Regal Poise trotted over next to him and did the same. The contrast was rather apparent when they were sitting next to each other like that.
“Now, Miss Fluttershy, Your main issue is that moving Fenrir at this point in time would have the risk of opening his stitches and causing him to bleed out the blood that’s not covering him already, correct?” Regal Poise asked the timid mare in a soft tone. Rarity balked and glanced back at the dirty wolf and noticed that what she had thought to be mud was a little too red where the sun shone through his fur. What the hell had Fenrir done to get himself in such a condition? Fluttershy nodded in response to the observant stallion.
“We have 5 highly-trained unicorns straight from her majesty’s royal guard, I believe I saw the Element of Magic brooding over there and we have the esteemed lady Rarity. We have more than enough unicorns and sharp minds to figure out a way past that little problem.” Regal Poise spread his hooves to invite anyone to prove him wrong. Fluttershy nodded, but still glanced at Fenrir’s sleeping form worriedly.
“Our problem is the fact that Fenrir could be aggressive, even if he isn’t, we will have to prepare for that possibility. It is to ensure our safety and ultimately his, as well. You saw how easy it is to misinterpret the movements of such a big predator.” Regal waved a hoof in his brother’s direction and the lighter colt wilted a little more. “If his movements were to be limited, or if there was a sturdy set of bars between us and him, it would be drastically less likely for something like the tragedy earlier to happen, without him inciting it. Does that sound something you could agree with, Miss Fluttershy?”
“I suppose… I think it would be okay, but shouldn’t we ask him?” Fluttershy suggested, raising a hoof to bring attention to her quiet words.
“We don’t ask a possible aggressor if he wants to be detained!” Valor huffed indignantly and sprang back up from looking dejected. Regal gave him a look, but then tilted his head and made a motion with his hoof.
“Well, it’s just a precaution, but it would be redundant to ask him, since he can’t refuse.” Regal explained in a calmer tone, reaching out a hoof to sit his brother down. “Valor here is an expert in barrier spells, taught by Shining Armor himself, among others. If there’s a spell that will keep our large friend at bay, he will know it.” Rarity raised a brow at this, but then realized it made sense to have an expert in magic be the one protecting Twilight Sparkle, him knowing the mare's brother didn’t hurt either.
She glanced at the pegasi in charge of guarding Fluttershy and noticed that one had a squirrel on their flank and was speaking softly to Fluttershy’s antisocial pet rabbit. The one in charge of Fluttershy’s guard was good with animals, as she had expected. Her own guard was intelligent and was a near perfect diplomat. She was ready to bet her mane and tail on the fact that Rainbow Dash’s guard officer could keep up with her and that Applejack’s guards were all earth ponies and all as strong as her brother. She couldn’t even start imagining what Pinkie Pie’s guards were like. It was becoming more and more apparent that their guards had been picked especially to guard them.
“So, Valor, you think you can make a barrier strong enough to keep him in place if we move him into more open ground?” Regal asked his brother, his hoof still resting on his shoulder. Valor gave it a disapproving glance and only answered after Regal removed it.
“Normally I would say we would need more unicorns for such a spell, but with the Element of both Magic and Generosity, along with the two of us, I think we’ll manage. Moving him without causing him harm won’t be a problem either, since I know a sustainable stasis spell that will keep him still while we levitate him.” Valor levitated his helmet back on his head and he turned into the white coated and blue-eyed stallion every single guard looked like. “Now let’s do this before her Majesty arrives.”
“Wait, The Princess is coming here?” Rarity gasped and Regal put his helmet back on and was indistinguishable from his brother again.
“Probably, we were sent to make sure you girls were safe and Princess Celestia was planning on dealing with Fenrir, but now he’s here and you’re still safe. This whole thing is one confusing mess if viewed from an operational point of view. We were actually forced out of our beds as soon as Celestia got the letter telling her about Fenrir. We were told to choose two trusted guards to accompany us and then wait for further orders. Yet we were only sent here the following morning, by Princess Luna.” Regal started trotting over to Fluttershy’s cabin, tossing his head side to side to get his helmet to sit right. His white coat flickered as his horn rattled against the golden helmet.
Twilight Sparkle
She should have known better, she really should have realized that Fluttershy could have handled Fenrir. She should have trusted her friend enough to listen to her when it came to calming an animal. Fluttershy was the Element of Kindness and it was a proven fact that her gift could calm rampaging beasts. The only difference between the manticore they had all charged back when Nightmare Moon had returned was that Fenrir was a little bigger and was hurt more seriously than a thorn in a paw. She was the Element of Magic, she should have learned to trust in Fluttershy’s judgment, but she still followed the impulse to attack the scary monster in front of her.
“Now Fluttershy hates me… She’ll never forgive me.” Twlight muttered out loud, feeling the need to hammer this fact in deep enough for her to never forget it. She was supposed to be learning about the magic of friendship, but had disregarded one of the first lessons she’d learned about it when she had needed it most. Fluttershy was right to be furious at her, she’d gone against everything the yellow pegasus stood for, just because Fenrir had looked scary as he defended himself. The whole thing with Zecora should have taught her not to jump into conclusions over appearances, but here she was; Fenrir still unconscious and her friend still avoiding her.
“Hello there, Miss Twilight Sparkle.” A stallion’s voice sung out merrily, scaring her half to death. She had been sitting at the back of Fluttershy’s cabin, Fenrir’s breathing had been the only thing to break the silence, but this stallion was now suddenly right in front of her and offering a hoof. He was wearing the enchanted armor royal guards wore and she didn’t know who this pony was. At least it didn’t sound like Valor, so she knew that much. “My name is Regal Poise, I am the guard in charge of keeping your friend Rarity safe.”
“Nice to meet you…” Twilight was able to say, even though she just felt like curling up and letting the earth swallow her. She was a failure at everything she had thought to be an expert in. Even the stallion’s smile was faltering in the presence of such a failure. She was such a failure that she even depressed the stone-faced royal guards. The world just loved reminding her of her faults, as it should.
“I think the embodiment of Kindness is physically incapable of hating somepony for very long.” Twilight looked up to the stallion called Regal and felt a small sense of comfort in the stallion’s compassionate smile. Of course Rarity’s guard would be a smooth talker; it made a frightening amount of sense, since her guard was as much of a geek as her, at least when it came to magic. Twilight grabbed the offered hoof and allowed the stallion to pull her back on her feet. “We would like your help with moving and detaining Fenrir, before Princess Celestia –“
Regal Poise paused in mid-sentence as Fenrir suddenly snorted in his sleep and jerked awake. He raised his head up and his ears swiveled around, like he was checking on a noise he had heard. All the ponies present were holding their breaths without noticing it and took a collective step back as Fenrir opened his jaw wide to yawn. He then proceeded to smack his lips and stare out into the distance, blinking slowly. Fluttershy flew over to hover right in front of his face and it took a few moments for him to focus on the Pegasus.
“Uhm, it would be nice if you could move over to a more open area. I know your leg is hurt, but inconveniencing all these nice ponies… you know… It would be… nice…” Fluttershy tapped her hooves together in the air as she talked and Twilight was uncomfortably aware of the glint of fangs between Fenrir’s lips at seeing Fluttershy do this. It might have been that he thought it was endearing, or that he found it aggravating, there was no way to know. He glanced at the three pegasi pointing spears at him meaningfully and then motioned toward them with his head to convey the message. Fluttershy’s ears perked back up at the realization and she turned to the mare in charge of her protection. “Cell, give him some room, so he can move.”
Fenrir raised a paw toward Fluttershy to silence her before she could start apologizing for asking him to move around wounded. He twisted his torso to get his front paws under him and then carefully supported his weight on his left hind leg, the one not bandaged by Fluttershy. He limped over to the clearing next to Fluttershy’s cabin and sat back down. Leaning his head on his paws and looking at them groggily.
“Okay, he’s not feral. He’s still not talking, though…” Regal pondered as he rubbed his chin with a hoof. “Didn’t you use a spell on him the first time? He’s big and possibly a mythological beast, so it could have worn off.” Twilight slapped her forehead with a hoof at the realization. The spell wearing off would explain the uncomforting stares Fenrir had directed at her before, as well. He was trying to have her redo the spell without getting skewered by the militant pegasi.
“Fenrir, I’ll redo the spell! Guards, he’ll probably jerk and rub at his head, so don’t do anything.” Twilight Sparkle had some of her energy back as she hurried close enough to the giant wolf rolling his eyes for the spell to work. She had studied translation spells after she’d botched up the one she tried at Sweet Apple Acres. It would be in Fenrir’s best interest to not sound like he was growling out each sentence if he would go under royal scrutiny.
Regal and Valor stood at her sides, their horns glowing in case Fenrir flipped from her spell. She closed her eyes and focused on remembering the formula of the spell and channeling the energy in her into the form she wanted, letting the latent magic around her to fill in the rest, since this spell was more powerful than the one she’d used earlier. She felt the energy build up and saw the spell taking the correct form as the glow of her horn intensified, finally there was a flash and Fenrir grunted as the magic hit him again. She opened her eyes to see Fenrir scratching at his ears with a paw again.
“Il vous a fallu assez longtemps...” Fenrir paused and looked at the incredulous faces around him. It sounded like he was speaking in Fancé, instead of the standard Equestrian he’d spoken with the previous spell. He sounded like Fluttershy during the whole fiasco with a certain blue flower, just fractionally deeper and gruffer. “Non, je refuse d'avoir toute ressemblance avec une moufette misogyne. Résolviez ce problème.”
“Okay, I might know what went wrong here. Allow me, Twilight Sparkle.” Valor said as he stepped forth with his horn glowing brighter. He didn’t charge his spell nearly as long as Twilight had and Fenrir didn’t see the need to rub his ears either. “I tweaked the spell you used on him a little, let’s see if it worked.”
“Ma poti intelege acum...” He was definitely speaking a language, but nopony knew what he was saying. At least his voice was less gruff now. “De fapt, ma pot intelege pe nime acum. Nu te mai prostii, Ponei Magic Mov."
“Okay, you foals stay back and let the professional handle this. I don’t work in PR by chance, you know.” Regal Poise gloated and stepped up to shoot Fenrir with another flash of light. “There, that should fix it.”
“Tämä vitsi alkaa käydä aika helvetin vanhaksi…” Fenrir leveled a poisonous look at Regal for the nonsense he was speaking. Regal furrowed a brow and sat down on his haunches to ponder what could have went wrong, seemingly not fazed by the huge carnivore glaring at him. “Vannon Celestian, Lunan ja kaikkien mahdollisten jumal-olentojen kautta; jos en ala puhua englantia viiden minuutin sisään, niin tulee ruumiita.”
Twilight thought the fact Fenrir was able to call Celestia and Luna by name an improvement, but none of them could not understand a word he said. She didn’t know what could have gone wrong with the spell; she had thought to have cast it perfectly. Could it be the possible fact Fenrir was a mythological creature that tampered with the results of the spell?
“I’d hate to interrupt, but did you take the earlier spell into account?” Rarity stepped up next to Regal. Regal looked at Twilight in turn and she shook her head, it hadn’t seemed to be relevant, since it had clearly worn off. “It just seems to me the spell translating his thoughts into words is only getting stronger each time you do something to it, since he’s speaking in languages he doesn’t seem to know. Maybe there was enough of the old spell there to upset the first one and you’d been making it progressively worse?”
“Tuo kuulostaa järkevältä, kuunnelkaa Raritya. Antakaa mennä, sarvet loistamaan!” Fenrir motioned to them and then to himself excitedly. They had no idea what he was saying, but they did hear Rarity’s name being mentioned and he had sat up a little straighter at her words. They glanced at each other and ultimately Regal just shrugged and set onto tweaking the spell with Rarity’s suggestion in mind, since he was the expert in these kinds of spells.
“I have newfound respect for you, Lady Rarity. You have my sincerest gratitude for curing me of that affliction of moonspeak.” Fenrir sounded as much of a wolf growling out lines as before, but now he could call them by name, at least. He raised a paw and gave it a lick, then grimaced at the taste. “I seem to have found my form obscured by a generous coating of blood and gore. The pegasi pointing spears at me are starting to actually make sense now… Anyway I could clean myself up somewhere?”
“Your visage is rather unbecoming for seeing royalty, I must admit. Fluttershy, isn’t there a river near us?” Rarity said, only a hint of apprehension in her voice. Fenrir’s eloquent way of speaking must have settled some of her fear of the big wolf, but his voice and size were still unsettling. The pegasi and unicorn guards didn’t seem to know how to react to the rabid beast that had killed a dragon suddenly speaking like an aristocrat.
“Yes, I think I see it, actually. I should wash myself downstream from your home, though. Predators might be attracted by the lingering scent of blood.” Twilight didn’t like how Fenrir was just ignoring the fact he’d gone feral and that the mere mention of his name called for Celestia to send her elite guard to watch over her and her friends. He seemed to be normal enough, but he’d been normal just before snapping and turning into a snarling beast. Regal or Valor backed away with Twilight and Rarity with their horns glowing at the ready as the wolf limped past them, ignoring the pegasi and their spears. He was calm and had only wished to wash off the blood on him, Cerulean Wind saw no reason to attack him.
“So, Fenrir, how does such a big and accomplished hunter find himself at a place like Ponyville?” Rarity asked, voicing the question Twilight Sparkle had been thinking about from the moment she’d met him, just like that. Fenrir ignored the white mare and focused on easing his body into the water instead. Rarity levitated a floor brush out of the saddle bags Regal had been carrying and waited for him to surface from the river before starting to scrub off the dried blood.
“Thank you; there would have been a lot of soaking and gnawing at my own fur ahead of me if you weren’t so generous.” Rarity waved the thank you off with a hoof as she ran her brush forcefully through his fur. “To answer your question, I’m perplexed by how you’ve accomplished so much, being what you are.“
“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked as she flew over with another brush. Fenrir stood up in the river to let the Pegasus get at his sides. The river was running red downstream from him and most of his fur was still dyed a dark red. Why weren’t her friends more freaked out that Fenrir was someone who could slaughter a dragon, basically swim in his blood and guts and then be joking with them only hours after the act? He was a cold-blooded killer; he didn’t see any value in anypony’s life and was perfectly fine eating living, breathing things.
“You are herbivores; you are weak things that munch on plants and pretty flowers. I was taught that your kind could only run and hide from things like me, but you’ve proven me wrong. Yet you are still willing to hear me out after I tore a dragon to shreds and ate its heart.” Fenrir looked all of them in the eye with his piercing yellow eyes and Twilight swore she saw malicious joy at what he’d done in those eyes. He was playing with their kindness and Twilight was stunned that nopony else was seeing it. Fluttershy looked like she wasn’t listening and Rarity seemed too concentrated on scrubbing the blood out of Fenrir’s fur to pay attention to his words. He didn’t have to tell them how he’d torn through the dragon, but had done it just to see their reaction.
“I am a monster to you, I expect you to shun me and instead you forgive me for succumbing to my very nature. There is a power in that I can’t help but admire, this Harmony you preach so vehemently.” Fenrir growled out the last words of his motivational speech, skillfully avoiding answering Rarity’s question directly. She was suspicious of his motives and the amount of control he had over his nature, but should she be even more suspicious of him if he admitted to his nature and inherent cruelty? He was being very open with what he’d done and she didn’t know if she should be concerned by the fact he felt no shame about it, or not.
“FENRIR!” A powerful feminine voice boomed out, along with a brilliant flash of light. Twilight Sparkle knew who it was before turning around because the mare had done the same thing with her after another fiasco involving a ragged doll. All the guards present, excluding the pegasi keeping a watchful eye on Fenrir, turned to their monarch and saluted rigidly. Celestia nodded slightly for them to carry on before addressing the great wolf again. “What are you doing among my little ponies, vile beast?”
“Now, now, Celestia, let’s not forget our manners.” Fenrir growled out in his casual tone, like he wasn’t talking to the supreme ruler of the land he was in, but rather an old friend. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Avatar of the Sun and Queen of Light, Celestia. Or do you go by a different name these days?”
Celestia took an involuntary step back at the wolf’s words; she looked surprised by Fenrir’s answer, even though she had asked the question. Twilight had read old scriptures where Celestia had been addressed by those titles, so did this mean Fenrir really was the great wolf from legends? Celestia eyed the ponies all around them and the guards staring intently at Fenrir before speaking. “Leave us.”
“Princess Celestia, he has shown clear signs of aggression, I cannot leave you unguarded in good conscience.” Regal Poise pleaded the Princess, bowing deeply. Celestia regarded him with only a glance before answering.
“That was an order, Regal Poise. Leave me and Fenrir to settle this, all of you.” Celestia ordered in a tone Twilight had heard her use only a few times, the Princess of the sun and the highest authority in the land rarely lost her temper, after all. Fenrir grinned at the monarch and rose to his feet when the pegasi retreated unwillingly. He was tall enough to look down on Celestia, but lowered his head to be on eye-level with the alicorn.
“But Princess –“ Twilight stepped forward to tell Celestia about her doubts about Fenrir’s motivations and his overall sincerity.
“I believe this is something between me and Celestia, Twilight Sparkle. You can go and speculate on the horrible things we are going to talk about with your friends.” Fenrir sneered and flicked his head toward the ponies gathered at Fluttershy’s cottage. He glanced at Celestia and his sneer only widened at the furious look Celestia was giving him. “Oh, seems like Celestia’s jimmies have been thoroughly rustled by my joking attitude. Do apologize to Pinkie Pie if your benevolent monarch decides to incinerate me.”
“Go on, my little pony, it will be okay.” Celestia assured Twilight in a gentler tone, still not looking away from the bloodied wolf in front of her. Twilight galloped back to her friends and joined them in standing in the doorway and windows, trying to strain their ears to hear what they were talking about. This turned out to be nearly impossible, since Fenrir’s growling voice didn’t carry over as intelligible words and Celestia was facing away from them.
Fenrir
Okay, it was obvious Celestia thought he was some kind of ancient mythological beast, now he would have to find out how alike were the myths of this world and the one he came from. He’d called her names that he thought to be something ponies that worshipped her could tag on her and the reaction he got suggested he had struck true, now the shiny alicorn was glaring at him an intense one-eyed glare.
It was disappointing to see how lanky and ridiculous Celestia looked in real life. The long legs and neck had no defining muscle he could discern and the mane and tail moving in an unseen wind didn’t seem like ethereal embodiments of her power, like he’d thought they would. They were only distracting tufts of glowing hair obscuring her vision and so long that it would be easy to grab them and drown the self-proclaimed goddess in the river he was standing in. He had to wonder if it was possible to kill the avatar to the sun in broad daylight. The irony of it would be hilarious.
“So, which Celestial body are you going to banish me to?” He asked in response to the alicorn’s obvious animosity. He was not going to be civil with someone who called him a beast and acted like he was going to kill everypony, just because he was a wolf. No wonder Celestia had been the one to suggest Twilight to study the magic of friendship, seeing how much she lacked in common decency herself. “That is what you do with those who oppose you, isn’t it? Do you have some kind of cannon you use or do you just use your horn to punt them into orbit?”
“How did you get out of Tartarus?” Celestia asked, possibly stirred to skip the delicacies by his mocking attitude. So, the Fenrir of this world was locked away in Tartarus. That made sense, in the canon universe it had been mentioned to house dangerous supernatural beasts, or something along those lines; a huge wolf from Norse mythology definitely fit that description.
“That’s your first question, really?” He said, leaning his head to the side and squinting one eye, since he didn’t have brows to arch. “I just thought you would be more interested in why I am even talking to you, rather than how I got past your little deformed dog.”
“Answer the question, Fenrir.”
“Ah, what’s the magic word?” Celestia arched an eyebrow at this and Fenrir didn’t know how he could hint at the basic courtesy of saying “please” with his canine body, so he decided to give her a verbal clue. “It starts with a “P”, your rudeness. Probably the first thing you teach a foal to be polite.”
“Please tell me how you escaped from Tartarus.” It was not a question this time, it was a request. Fenrir noticed how her rigid stance and commanding tone faltered at his insistence on being polite. It was becoming abundantly clear that the “Fenrir” Celestia and this world knew was a large carnivorous beast, possibly with some supernatural element to him, but not something that cared for courtesy or customs. He would have to keep playing the sophisticated jokester to avoid being shot to the moon.
“That wasn’t so hard was it?” Celestia didn’t look amused by his joke, but that had not been his intention in the first place. Her horn was no longer pointed between his eyes, poised to plunge into them. Instead of observing him for any sudden movement under her brow, Celestia was looking him in the eye, he was making progress. “Okay, you might recall the return of a certain discordant personality a while back.”
“Why would Discord release you? What did he ask in return?” Celestia asked, confirming his theories on Discord being capable of much more than the jovial pranks he’d been doing when the Mane Six stopped him. Celestia thought releasing something she thought to be a feral beast wasn’t below him, so the artist’s rendition of ponies dancing in fire might just have been accurate. If he admitted to Discord releasing him, then she’d wonder why he would have done it, suspect that he had an ulterior motive even more than she did now. Still, Discord was the one card he had to play if he were to stay free, but how to play it?
“Oh, he didn’t release me, not directly, at least…” Discord was the only thing he knew that certainly existed in this world and was powerful enough to get something out of Tartarus, also, he wasn’t someone they could, or would ask to verify his story.
“He played with the things beyond the gates, as much as he did with the things over here. Cerberus was reduced into an idiot who preferred chasing balls to doing his duty, some were made weaker, or prey animals, I was granted a mind and a conscience, all for his amusement. Your orbital friendship cannon, or whatever you call it, didn’t reach all the way where Cerberus stood guard, so I was burdened by a conscience and Cerberus was stupid enough to abandon his post.”
He went over his explanation for anything he had missed and could still fix with an added detail. There was the assumption that Cerberus had been smarter and more loyal than the drooling idiot that appeared when Twilight was messing around with time travel, but that was something he couldn’t simply talk his way out now. “Now I find you ponies adorable and do not wish to hurt them. The ponies I’ve interacted with can probably vouch for that much.”
Celestia didn’t respond to his statement in any way. He thought he noticed her relax just a bit more, but her eyes were emotionless. He didn’t know if she was contemplating on ways to expel him from his kingdom, thinking of spells to incinerate him, or simply pondering if she should trust him or not. He had not claimed to have changed into a docile dog that held no possible threat, since that was obviously not true, but was his assurance of his conscience and need for interaction with ponykind valid enough? It was the truth, but Celestia could still be convinced he was just as dangerous as the Fenrir she’d locked away.
How fast would he have to move to get his jaw around her throat before she, or her guards could stop him? Keeping the distance between them the same as it was now and lunging forward if her horn started to show any signs of glowing would be good. Could grabbing the horn be more effective? No, she channeled the spells through that; he would probably just blow up his own head, so throat it was. If he couldn’t get to the throat, then he would go for the legs and do a sharp twist of his neck, if all else failed, then the mane. The pain should cloud her concentration enough for him to take her out before the other ponies could jump in. Alicorn or not, a torn out throat should slow her down enough, at least.
“Do you feel bad for the creatures you’ve killed?” Celestia asked, keeping her face an emotionless mask as best she could. He had an almost physical need to groan at the question, but was able to fight the urge down, since it could seem too much like a sign of aggression. He didn’t want to believe Celestia was stupid enough to pose that question to a carnivore…
“Do you feel bad for the hay and flowers you eat? Do you weep for their little flower babies and the seed families they leave behind?” He stopped as he realized how aggressive his voice had become, more growling than words. He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, then inhaled to answer the mare’s question. “No, I do not write depressing poetry in the memory of to the things I tear apart and eat. It would be a meaningless gesture, since I have to kill to live. To answer your real question; No, I have not killed any of your little ponies, nor do I intend to. Do not patronize me again, please.”
“Why would you come to Ponyville? Why did you seek my protégé out specifically and how do you know so much about them?” Celestia was still interrogating him, but he was fairly certain that she believed his story about Cerberus and Discord. For all he knew, it could be the truth, but telling them he didn’t know would be even more suspicious and would lead to his immediate capture.
“Do you think I came to your protégé to get to you? My, aren’t we arrogant, your life, or your wellbeing, has no consequence to me, Queen of Light. I couldn’t care less about what happens to you, my little glowing horse.” He really didn’t like Celestia right now. She was being rude and he reasoned that she was expecting him to become aggravated and justify her actions by attacking her for her insinuations. The Fenrir she had known in some ancient time might have done just that, but now she was talking to a human. One of the first things any human society taught a child was to keep their aggressive impulses in check. That and his knowledge of the world they lived in were coming in handy just now. Celestia’s eye twitched at his words, either it was the insult of being called a glowing horse, or picking up on her question’s real meaning. He was not going to bow, or beg this horse for anything, that kind of change from the snarling beast she remembered would not be plausible and would ring untrue.
“I am the sovereign ruler of Equestria, you would be wise to watch your mouth.” Celestia shot back at his insult. The only thing she accomplished by bringing her political power into their little debate was give him more things to shove back into her face. Well, it was more in the way she said it, rather than what she meant by it.
“You are, are you? I take it you sent your dear sister, Luna to the moon, then? What was it this time, did she actually have an opinion, or maybe somepony favored her over you?” Celestia backed away a step, but almost immediately leaned back in to answer his taunt with some kind of excuse. “Oh, save it, I don’t care. Frankly, I am shocked that I am still alive, seeing what you did to your own sister for throwing a temper tantrum.”
“Luna is in Canterlot, she does not wish to see you. You are speaking of things you do not understand, Fenrir.” Celestia took an offensive stance yet again, her horn pointing toward his eyes, but this time he only felt grateful for such an obvious sign of distress.
“Is it Luna who does not wish to see me, or is it you controlling her life, making her just the way you want her to be?” Fenrir leaned in a little closer while he growled out the words and was delighted to see her backing away from him. He had genuinely thought that this would be harder, that he would have to think of another believable lie, but Celestia seemed to be honestly distressed by his words, he could use that. “You tore her very soul apart, just because she didn’t worship you like your little ponies.”
“She was going to make the night last forever: Everything would have died if I hadn’t acted.” Celestia steeled herself with her practiced excuse. It was a perfectly reasonable reason and Nightmare Moon wouldn’t have listened to reason anyway, but Fenrir only had to convince Celestia to not kill him, or lock him away. He knew more about this world than an outsider should, but his knowledge was limited to the narrative limitations of a 20 minute children’s show. Had there been a war between Nightmare Moon and Celestia, he couldn’t know for sure. He had gone too far in letting Celestia think he was the Fenrir she had known to say otherwise now.
“Is that your excuse for tearing her sense of self to shreds? For taking out the parts you disagreed with and then reveling in Luna apologizing to you for having a mind of her own? Do you torture the rest of your court, or is that just a family thing?”
“SILENCE!” Celestia screamed, her voice booming across the forest around them and blowing wind into Fenrir’s face. Interesting, he’d actually pushed her hard enough for the ancient monarch to use the Royal Canterlot Voice. Celestia shifted uncomfortably and glanced at the ponies staring in awe in and around Fluttershy’s cabin. She looked tired when she turned around to face Fenrir, her one visible eye didn’t quite connect with his. He felt a twinge of guilt for making her relive what must have been her greatest mistake, but he didn’t see any other way out of his predicament.
“Not a day goes by when I do not regret using the Elements of Harmony against my sister. After that long night, I made sure that choice would never be solely mine to make, or any one pony. I know I’ve made many mistakes, but locking you away is not among them.”
Fuck.
“You were nothing but a beast drunk on your own power, despising us ponies for our weakness. You reveled in fear and hunted my little ponies for sport.” Celestia’s voice and poise was rising from the depressed slump she had been in, she was obviously convincing herself that she was right. Anything he would say at this point would only be seen as an interruption, rather than an argument.
“You were a prime example of what Tartarus was made to contain, Fenrir…” This was not good, this was extremely bad, actually. Even the ponies looking at their exchange at a distance had become more alert at his silence. He could not get out of this unscathed if Celestia decided to attack him. He really didn’t want to know what the Elements of Harmony would do to him, as curious as he was. “But…”
Was she paying him back for all those jabs at her past and lack of manners? She was even crueler than he had thought if that was the case. His life was on the line here! SPIT IT OUT ALREADY, YOU SHINY MULE! He fought to keep his annoyance under the surface as best he could, but he was sure that the grimace on his face resembled a very aggressive snarl.
“Who am I to judge you, when I forgave my sister so eagerly? Why imprison you again when Luna is free? Wasn’t that the point you were going for?” Celestia was taking her time with voicing out her judgment. It could be her being tentative or one final test of the control he had over his anger. Either way, he could only think of one movie quote to sum up his thoughts about the situation: “Clever girl…” All he needed was a Stetson, an embarrassing pair of shorts and a shotgun to do the line justice, but since he was a wolf, he decided on chuckling at the mental image inwardly. His mind’s humorous little tangent helped him calm down.
“Yes, but my distaste for you is real, Celestia. I will never bend my knee to you, or to the shredded mess you call Luna.” Celestia didn’t react to his words in any way; she patiently waited for him to continue. She viewed him as a conversational partner, instead of a threat; the chances of him actually walking free were improving. He would have to play his role in a way that he had enough leeway for the wolf’s possible future antics, though. “I will not bow to you, but I will not go against you, or your ponies. As regrettable as it is, your little ponies are the only things capable of holding an interesting conversation, besides, their naivety is downright amusing.”
“You’ve insulted me, my family and questioned my rule and now you say you sought my little ponies out for conversation? You are a special kind of stupid to –“
“Let me put this in words you will understand: I am unable to speak your tongue without the use of a spell, a spell that only ponies can cast. I had to find a pony that would do that for me, your protégé is the only pony I was relatively sure I could approach without being attacked on sight. We both know you would have thrown me right back in Tartarus if you’ve found me before I could plead my case in your tongue, so I laid low, avoided hunting and eating, causing the episode that left me covered in blood. You know my temper, you know I find you delicious, yet nopony is dead and you act like I did anything but fight for my freedom.”
He finished with a sharp exhale through his nostrils. That made sense, and it was mostly true, to boot. How he’d exactly gotten to the edge of Sweet Apple Acres was not known to him, but even he was convinced by his Tartarus explanation. The time before Scootaloo collided with his ribs was like a dream, a feverish, violent dream. The thing about the spell had come to him while he was sulking in Applejack’s barn, but Spike had saved him from any awkward attempts at communication.
“You wish to co-exist with ponies? You are the last being I would expect to hear that from. Don’t you think us weak herbivores not worthy to lord over you” Squinted eye, slightly leaning toward him, but tilting her head. He hated how he had to keep guessing what physical tells meant what with equine bodies, but it was a safe bet that Celestia was genuinely asking him a question, hopefully.
“I wish to exist in the same place as your ponies, not necessarily within their community. Normal wolves are idiots, griffons fear me, celestial beasts think they’re above me, Diamond Dogs live underground and I’m pretty sure dragons and their affinity to fire wouldn’t go well with my fur. There is no other community for me to socialize in, so I have to confront you to stay out of Tartarus. I hate you, yet I have not killed you, clearly I’ve been working on my people skills more than you these past years.” He sat back down in the river when he finished his impromptu speech, it was pretty convincing for something he thought of on the spot. Celestia’s lips curled at his joke/insult and she actually rolled her eyes, in other words, she was comfortable enough around him to let him out of her sight, even for the instant the gesture took.
“You’ve definitely changed from the raging beast I knew, but you’re just as insufferable as you were then.”
“Hey, at least now I’m just insulting you, not eating your little ponies, I call that progress, shiny horse.”
“Never call me that again, Fenrir, or it’s back to Tartarus with you.” Celestia waved a wing and the pegasi guards flew over, with three of the mane six and five unicorn guards following close behind.
“Princess, what are your orders?” The guardmare in charge of Fluttershy’s protection asked, saluting in the air, the other two pegasi brought their spears uncomfortably close to his eyes again. He was pretty sure he could grab one of their tails fast enough to slam him into the other one, but fought down the urge to test this theory.
“Stand down, all of you. Fenrir is not an immediate threat.” The two pegasi guards sheathed their spears with only a moment of hesitation. Celestia lead the ponies back toward Fluttershy's cabin, but the two pegasi guards stayed there to guard him. He decided to take the chance to dip in the river for one last time and then step out onto the bank. He soaked the pegasi guards that had been threatening him with spears by drying his fur in the way that was most natural to him, shaking his body furiously. They gave him a venomous look and he grinned back at them as he sat down to dry on the warm sun. His hearing was good enough to pick out what Celestia was saying to Twilight Sparkle.
“Twilight Sparkle, I understand your apprehension toward Fenrir, it is a natural, innate instinct for ponies to feel frightened of a predator of his size, but he has convinced me of his willingness in co-existing with ponykind.” Celestia had craned her neck to be on level with Twilight, probably just to make her words seem more intimate and honest in her protégé’s eyes, since she must have been aware that he could hear them perfectly. “I believe you are the ideal pony to ease his transition. He respects you and your friends and you already know him. I cannot think of another group of ponies so perfectly suited to watch over him.”
“But, Princess, didn’t he escape from Tartarus? He’s a dangerous beast, some kind of supernatural predator!” Twilight whispered with passion, it was clear that she had been doing her research on the name Fenrir and drawn her own conclusions from what she had found. It didn’t sound like his name was very commonly known; maybe it was like Nightmare Moon, an old name affixed to a scarily illustrated wolf stalking bad little ponies that didn’t listen to their parents.
“Twilight Sparkle, I am one of the few ponies who knew the Fenrir that was locked away all those years ago. He was as bad as beasts could go, ruthless, cunning and cruel; the Fenrir you know is as dangerous as Spike compared to who I locked away.”
“But –“ Twilight started, but stopped herself as a yellow hoof was tentatively raised in the air.
“Twilight, I believe he deserves a chance.” Fluttershy wilted back into her mane at the sudden attention her statement had brought, but managed to soldier on, only with a fractionally softer voice. “I care for many carnivores as well here; even some timberwolves come to me with injuries sometimes. They might have to kill out there and I have to fish for them and… uhm…” He could see the yellow Pegasus retreating from the insistent gazes of her audience. He couldn’t know if she got too nervous to convey her message, or if she hadn’t thought it out, but he couldn’t help but jump in.
“What I believe Fluttershy is trying to say is that even though I hunt and kill things without remorse, I am not exempt from feelings and thoughts. I get amused, depressed, nervous, frustrated and frightened, the same as you. It’s just that I have different ways of dealing with some of those emotions, but I do feel them.” He got back up on his paws; his right hind leg was feeling a lot better, but he tried not to stress it too much.
“You fear that I might hurt you or your friends because of those instincts, Fluttershy believes I can control them and your mentor trusts you enough to give me a chance. I will not bow down to Celestia, but you now hold my life in your hooves, Twilight Sparkle. Whether I go back to Tartarus, or I stay here and adjust to a world that’s left me behind, that is all up to you. One word and you condemn me to a hell with things far stronger and crueler than me, another to trust in the judgment of your mentor and that of your friend.” He turned around and limped his way down to another part of Fluttershy’s garden, or backyard, seemingly to give her privacy to decide, but in truth he was doing it mostly for dramatic effect.
There had been a tension between Twilight and Fluttershy, just a subtle flick of the ears on Twilight’s part as the yellow mare interrupted her. He was pretty sure what it was about, with the vague recollection of a bright purple light and an immense pain in his chest that knocked him out when he had still been feral. He remembered it all as a blur, but from how they’d been acting it had been Twilight that had knocked him out, with possibly excessive force and Fluttershy hadn’t taken kindly to it.
“I… I also think Fenrir should get a chance, despite his failings. There really isn’t a better group of ponies to guide him along than us, is there.” Twilight reasoned, trying to convince herself of the decision she had been forced to make. It had been very unlikely for her to pick any other option with both Celestia and Fluttershy saying otherwise, especially with his little reminder of the consequences.
“I am so proud of you Twilight Sparkle, I have the utmost confidence in your abilities, but don’t be afraid to ask for any assistance you might need. Now I must go, my ponies need me.” There was a pause he reasoned to be Celestia hugging her pupil goodbye in that strange neck wrestling kind of way, it had always seemed awkward to him in the show. There was a flash of light and he could hear the ponies left behind murmur among each other about what the hell had just happened.
He had woken up feeling sore everywhere and covered in the blood of something he didn't remember killing and now, only a few hours after that, he was under Twilight Sparkle's tutelage by royal degree, kind of. Things were definitely looking up.
Guide to the three lines of moonspeak in this chapter:
1st: French: Took you long enough... No, I refuse to have anything to do with an misogynistic skunk. Fix it.
2nd: Romanian: Can you understand me... Actually, I can't understand me! Stop messing around, Purple Magic Pony.
3rd: Finnish: This joke is starting to get fucking old... I swear in the name of Celestia, Luna and all possible deities; If I don't start talking english in five minutes, people will start dying.
4th: Finnish: That sounds reasonable. Listen to Rarity, get your horns glowing!
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>word count: 33,138
Right...
Ha......haha........hahahahahaha
Why do I get the feeling that Fenrir's story to Celestia about how he got out was true?
Could Discord have 'given him a conscience' by way of a human mind/memories?
Is he possessed like Zecora suggested, but the spirit doing the possesing is human?
Will I ever learn how to spell conscience without having to look up a reference or use the spell check?
Dunno. But I am looking forward to more of this.
I'm split on whether I should read this one or not.
On one hand, the wolf is named Fenrir, after the nearly indestructible hatespawn of Loki. Which is pretty damned awesome if references to Joermungandr pop up.
On the other hand, I really, really fucking hate wolves with a passion. Like, 'I would take up falconry in order to relegate the wolf into folklore' level hatred.
oh gawd this is so awesome keep up the great work also yay if i get in trouble for this it is so worth it
1.bp.blogspot.com/-_TkbcIBMy1Y/T2Ioh3r-T_I/AAAAAAAABGA/BAJcgUhFm7c/s1600/firstpost.jpg
DAMMIT! I had this idea months ago but sadly I don't know how to write good stories...
yeah, you fuckin' tell that bitch off!!!!
FIRST NICE
Yes...Yes...Fucking Yes
I will now officially favorite this story.
Great, you just need to go back and bold (“Hey, at least now I’m just insulting you, not eating your little ponies, I call that progress, shiny horse.”) and it will be perfect!
Little confused about why he was lying, since he knows that he's a brony and all.
anongallery.org/img/3/8/spiderman-i-like-where-this-is-going.jpg
Great story I love it.dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Rainbow_Dash_lolface.png
This fic has exceeded my expectations in every respect but two: spelling and rhyme.
Faved.
I like this story, not the usual brony self insert, I hope to see more in the future.
"So.... is Fenrir a mythological-creature; demi-god; brony-in-animal-body; exhibit-D? You're kind-of bouncing around with this Crazy Laughter: some clarity would be appreciated."
Re-reads, "Never mind," facehoofs, "A brony with a gift for BS-ing his way out of trouble."
Oh Fenrir-Bane, that was awesome. A lot of the human/brony in Equestria is human/human-in-other-body has the cooperation vibe with the ponies, but you, you sir went for an antagonist vibe and it really works. A verbal jousting match with Celestia which you won, the fear that you put the ponies through, hah, I can't wait to see what Bane-rir will do next. Create an army of rebels? Wear a muzzle pumping painkillers? Break a bat pegasus pony guard? MOAR!
Supremely self-righteous OC antagonizes an seriously OOC Celestia. Seriously? The moron chooses to steam on ahead acting like a complete dumbass instead of saying the obvious "You've got the wrong guy!" I mean his story has the weak point of oh I don't know...someone going and checking on Tartarus to make sure no other monsters are there and low and behold Fenris is still there!?
Weak story reasoning aside, the self righteousness not to mention the soap box made this the weakest of all the chapters. On top of that Celestia is hyper-aggressive, a running theme of ponies in this story. Twilight jumps the gun, Rainbow Dash jumps the gun, and all the guards jump the gun as well. Try portraying drama some other way.
Also random rustle meme joke pic.
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1139195 30K words is not a long story. It's one fourth of an average paperback novel. If this fic ends within 100K, it'll still be a nicely contained story.
I'm enjoying this so far, but I think I'd actually find it more interesting if this didn't include a Brony, but rather featured the actual MLP version of Fenrir. The story that this Brony Fenrir came up with would actually make a pretty good backstory for such a character, and reading about how he adapts to modern Equestria would be fun. I don't mind human in Equestria stories (humans are protagonists that the reader has little trouble understanding, so they do make excellent characters in many stories...), but telling a story from the perspective of someone who's aware that they're in a fictional world weakens the story, in my opinion.
World as Myth stories are always difficult to pull off in my opinion, because the basic nature of the protagonist (ie, knowing more than they should, etc...) tends to lend itself too well to Mary Sue style writing. The last world as myth story I read that was done well was Robert Heinlein's Number of the Beast. It's not an easy genre, and it's pitfalls are seriously difficult to overcome.
well that was awkward.... the girl i was babysitting (8 years old) is Finnish and she was reading over my shoulder.............. didn't think anything of it when she started laughing (thought she was laughing at the situation) then i read author notes at the bottom
1140076 Fair enough.
Either your or my perception of 'Short story' is warped. I consider a good short story to be around 8,000 words long and most.
1139420 why would you hate wolves so much? They as a species do not seek conflict. Even when they are starving they try to avoid attacking humans. Unless one specifically damaged your life in some way, then there is no reason to hate. And even if one did, you should be upset with said specific wolf, not with wolves as a whole. They are beautiful, intelligent creatures who get a lot less respect than they deserve. And I honestly find the fact that a fellow brony, who loves a show about love and tolerance and obviously loves said show enough to write/read fan fiction about it sad. I find it sad that you would express out right hatred for something at a level where you claim to wish you could exterminate said species, when you probably don't even understand them. And if you hate anything without understanding it, then it not hate, but fear. I honestly hope you ponder these points and consider what being a Brony means, because what you've expressed does not show that you understand this either.
And on a cheerier note, good chapter! Keep up the good work, my friend
This is good chapter, and good author too.
1139435
You're too late bro, but valiant effort. I appreciate the kind words.
1139464
The idea of "what if a brony turned into a huge wolf and then went slowly insane" is something we all think about at one point, truly.
1140046
Well, as for his reason to lying about his identity and what he knew is just another character trait of the human in Fenrir, he is a pathological liar and an accomplished one. Taking the fact that a place like Tartarus even exists would strongly suggest that Celestia would not take any shit from Fenrir and with his recent episode of going feral, probably wouldn't believe him if he told the truth.
Soap boxes aside, but I will have to say that Rainbow Dash or Princess Celestia are not hyper-aggressive in my POV. I think that Rainbow Dash is the one character that would attack a huge wolf near her friends without question and Celestia distrusting someone she thought she'd locked away is just common sense. The guards were charged with protecting the Elements and Fenrir was the most obvious threat. For Twilight and the unicorn guards jumping the gun, Fenrir was drenched in blood and unable to talk at the time.
In conclusion, I value your input and the time you took to leave a comment.
1139831 not sure if spider man pedobear or entertains children...
Oh and great story please make much, much more! Probably 2nd best story I've ever read here('
');
“He only attacked because you attacked him first! You don’t attack a hurt animal and except it to just take it lying down!” Oh, Fluttershy is best pony, and not only because she was defending him for something he honestly did not remember doing.
And that would be the best thing for me, Fluttershy being the ultimately best pony.
It's expect, you switched the p and the c.
“Yes, I think I see it, actually. I should wash myself downstream from your home, though. Predators might be attracted by the lingering scent of blood.”
This is supposed to be in bold print, correct? Needs more chapters, because this is an awesome fic so far. I shall await for them!
1139757 He could be lying to not get into something bad by saying, "Hey Celestia. I'm not really a wolf! I'm actually a species you've never heard of called a 'Human'. I come from a planet called Earth. I know about ponies from a television show." The problems I see in there are:
1. Celestia would look for a way to get him back to his world,
2. The ponies would find out about the television show, and start doubting if they are real.
3. Celestia could know what a human is, and then she might think it would be better to just kill him.
4. Celestia could just not believe a word he says and think he's either gone mad, or is just a liar. There are more reasons, but this is getting to be to big of a post.
1140952 well dam my computer or internet connection just made me look stupid well i can always try the next chapter of some story
1140143
Glad to have made her laugh, but I apologize for the possibly awkward situation.
I'm really enjoying how this new form is effecting 'Fenrir's' thought process (e.g. All of those violent thoughts).
But you keep using the word 'people' instead of anything else, which I find to be a bit irritating. Unless it's intentional, of course.
1141594
I think I use the word "seemed" too much, myself, but I never noticed repeating the word "people" I'll keep a look out if it keeps happening, I might even edit the chapter to input some sunonyms.
I absolutely love that you caught up on how his predatory instincts are taking over his thoughts and how he does not think much of planning the deaths of those around him. He's just nonchalantly pondering what parts of Celestia he would have to bite into first while they're talking.
1140964
well not into a giant wolf per-se the idea of joining pony society is there but instead of the huge wolf thing it's a hybrid diamond dog (wolf/dog) who is treated poorly in his pack due to his "mixed genes".
1139850
Thank you, I guess. I will admit that some of the spelling mistakes do slip by me, but did you mean Zecora's rhyming by "rhyme" or domething else?
Oh, and thank you for the fave.
1140869
You, yes, YOU! Stop confusing me! What is Dash laughing at, why would you post that?
You are tearing me apart, Mylittleburger!
1141105
Would you mind telling me what's the best one? I'm always up to reading a good fic.
1139242
They were thoroughly rustled, don't you agree?
1139398
I am, the Dark and Tragedy tags are there for the overall story I'm planning, but I just can't write a story without some humor in it, it would turn out forced and monotunous.
I hope you find your ass.
1140530
I'm sorry?
1140506
Okay, thank you.
1143282
Let's say that the brony that's inside of Fenrir has been reading more of the grim-dark kind of fanfictions, so he already assumes the worst out of these ponies, and plans out the character he plays accordingly. I wrote Fenrir assuming that Celestia thought of him as a feral beast, and she hadn't given him any reason to think otherwise, so he played his cards, choosing not to gamble on telling them the truth about who he was. What I meant to convey by Fenrir calculating his responses and verbally assaulting Celestia is that Fenrir, the brony one, had been an accomplished and pathological liar, deciding to go with a lie he could get away with, instead of the more inconvenient truth.
As to him being aggressive and easily agitated, take a look at the description of the story, his predatory instincts are influencing his thoughts, at least to some extent.
I don't think he'd say that...
1143671
Do elaborate. Not everything that he says is to be taken literally and he was pretty sure none of the ponies around him understood him.
1143852 He's trying to get on their good side, not piss them off =P
1143869
The saying doesn't translate well into english, but it doesn't sound that extreme in finnish.
1141105
Um, no dude it's just a meme I found on google.
1144376
Well, Pinkie has yet to throw him one of her "welcome to Ponyville" Parties... just throwing that out there. What other pony could ask Fluttershy to show her the spot behind Fenrir's ear and turn him into a very content wolf, then knowing said party pony, bellyrubs would ensue.
Then again, the other aprt of him would be painfully aware of all the ponies milling about him, working themselves up to a delicious smelling sweat in plose proximity to him.
1140439
Oh ho ho, a wolfaboo.
Look, the show isn't about love and tolerance. Friendship? Yes. But the ponies are displayed to show very human behavior. They panic at the mention of anything even slightly different from the norm. Hell, they're less tolerant.
Now, a Brony is someone who enjoys the show. They don't have to participate in the self imposed 'love and tolerate' mantra.
Now, as for your accusation of 'not understanding wolves'...
Bullshit. My passion is paleozoology. Naturally, I've learned about wolves along the way. And let me tell you, I don't care that they are 'misunderstood'.
Do wolves look kinda cool? Yes, I'll admit wolves do look somewhat cool. But so do mosquitoes, and I'm one of the people who criticized the scientist who figured out a way to make those swarming bugs go extinct and then didn't put it into use.
See, there are several factors into my hatred of wolves. Their form of society. Their 'fans' who have turned the grey wolf into the Mary Sue martyrs of the animal kingdom. Constantly claiming the grey wolf is endangered, when in fact there are too many of them, and it's causing populations of prey animals to drop.
Because of all these people trying to be different by making wolves into some kind of canine Jesus, people are forgetting about several carnivores that need help far more than those canines. Crocodilians. Sharks. Birds of Prey.
Please note I speak of the wolves in the temperate ranges, and not in the polar and tropical regions. I readily acknowledge that wolves are required in those areas because jackals are too small, but in places like North America, they can be easily replaced by coyotes.
I've done plenty of research on the grey wolf, and I can rightly say there are plenty more factors that make me hate them so. Frankly, I prefer hyenas, because at least they don't actively hide their abuse of the opposite sex. (Males, if you're unaware of hyena hierarchy.) That, and they can actually work as a team.
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I originally liked Fenrir at the beginning of the story, but by the end of this chapter I found myself absolutely hating him. Not to be confused with hating the story though, I'm loving your writing so far! Good stories get the reader emotional about the characters, whether good or bad, and this one definitely stirred up emotion! Keep up the good work!