Survival of the Wolves

by JNKing

Chapter 17: Family

Celestia and Luna walked towards the Canterlot Palace with Shiva and Star in tow; the latter two under disguise.

Star skipped with both excitement and nervousness. "Oh, I can’t believe we’re going to meet the rest of the royal family. Oh-oh, can I call Cadence…” she took on a stereotypical hick drawl, “'Cousin Cadence?'"

"Goodness, Star," Shiva chastised. "Think of poor Applejack; you besmirch her name."

"I mean it as a compliment," Star simpered. "The accent's just too good." She'd pause. "By the way, is Cadence...?" She glanced at Celestia.

Celestia chuckled. "No. She's more... adopted, if that makes sense."

Star pondered her words. "So then, can I call Twilight, 'Cousin Twilight?'" She used the same accent again.

"That's twice I warned you," Shiva noted, though she was struggling not to laugh. Same for Luna.

The group entered the room where Celestia held private meetings, where Cadence and her fiance Shining Armor awaited them.

"Hello everypony," Celestia greeted them, "I called you here because there is somepony I want you to meet. Two actually.."

At her signal Shiva strode in with a lot of dignity and poise. She grinned at Cadence's shocked expression.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Shiva mused.

"Shiva? The Wolf Alicorn?" Cadence stammered. "I thought you were..."

"Gone?" Shiva asked.

Shining could only nod. "Well… Yeah."

Shiva grimaced bitterly. "Some tried," she admitted. "The nobles of Canterlot." She grinned. "And yet here I stand, while the dust from their disgraced bones has been scattered to the wind." She gave a bow. "Not to worry though; as far as I'm concerned, their sins have been paid for. Now I seek a future of cooperation. Where such tragedies will not be repeated." She offered a paw. "Can we have that?"

Cadence smiled softly and shook her paw. "Of course," she'd promise.

Luna speaks. "The other we want to introduce you to..."

"Guess who?" Star said, appearing behind Cadence and Shining and covering their eyes. They jumped with yelps, only to find Star Wing struggling not to fall over laughing. Luna struggled not to either roll her eyes or laugh herself as she finished:

"My beloved daughter; my little Star Wing."

Getting control of herself, Star gave a salute to the others. "How we all doing tonight?" she asked, gazing at their stunned faces. She hummed, like she's taking a test. "Taking a shot in the dark here, but I'm guessing, we're all a little shocked."

Shining chuckled. “A bit,” he admitted.

“Star,” Cadence whispered, embracing her cousin. “I had always heard about you. But I never got to… it’s so very good to finally meet you.”

“And you as well,” Star said with a grin.

Before Cadence or Shining could say more, a door burst open, and another stallion raced in. The mares turned, regarding the newcomer as his eyes alighted on Shiva.

“I knew it!” he hissed with a grin, before quickly composing himself and clearing his throat. “Um… forgive me, dear Aunts and cousins… and soon to be cousins,” he added with a nod to Shining. “But I had heard the rumors of a surviving Wolf of Equestria.”

Celestia, Luna and Cadence exchanged worried looks, but Shiva strode forward with a quiet, if slightly suspicious grin.

“You’ll find those rumors to be true, sir…?” Shiva tilted her head, prompting the stallion to clear his throat.

“‘Prince’ Blueblood,” he corrected firmly, before quickly covering with a smile. “And you are Alpha Shiva, yes?”

Shiva nodded.

“Ah, excellent,” Blueblood bowed. “You’re as beautiful as the stories depicted.” He didn’t rise from his bow. “Alpha Shiva, on behalf of all nobles in this castle, I beg your forgiveness. We are nothing like our ancestors, and we would be glad to see this travesty put behind us.” He glanced up, allowing Shiva to catch the crafty look in his eye. “Yes, I’m quite sure we can make a very nice alliance out of…”

“Please,” Shiva said, halting his talk. “Don’t try to beguile me with your silver tongue.” She grinned in supposed playfulness. “I know it’s a difficult distinction, but wolves are not werewolves. Silver doesn’t work on us.”

Blueblood cleared his throat again, wiping away some sweat on his brow. “O-Of course.”

“Shiva…” Celestia asked nervously, but the wolf just winked at her counterpart, before walking up to Blueblood.

“It came to my attention,” Shiva added as she circled Blueblood. “That many nobles have some items that used to belong to me and my people.” She gave Blueblood a winning smile. “Surely, they wouldn’t need too much convincing to return them to their proper owners?”

“Oh, but of course,” Blueblood replied. “It would be my utmost honor…”

“You can be blunt, sire, I can take it,” Shiva replied. “Just say you’ll help me.”

Blueblood blinked. “I’ll… help you.”

“There you go. Was that so hard?”

“A bit.”

Shiva held back a laugh, as Blueblood looked away, noticing Star Wing. He gasped. “It can’t be…”

Luna followed his gaze. “Indeed it is,” she replied. “Prince Blueblood, this…” she motioned for Star to join them.

But Star Wing didn’t seem to notice them at first; she was much more focused on conversing with Cadence.

“So, Cadence,” she was asking, glancing between her and Shining. “I’m getting some very interesting vibes from you two. Are you…?”

“Betrothed,” Cadence replied, though she noticed Blueblood striding over. Star didn’t follow her gaze.

“Oh, congratulations!” she cheered, hugging her cousin and then hugging Shining. “I always get a sense for these things. Had to, considering…”

“Star Wing,” Luna said firmly, but Star didn’t even look their way. Luna grimaced before glancing at Blueblood. “Er… ‘that’ is my long lost daughter. Star Wing.”

Tilting his head at Star’s apparently deafness, Blueblood crept over.

“But the legends said she had been lost forever…” he paused, looking over at Shiva, who sat on her haunches and grinned like the whole thing was a game. Blueblood gasped. “But of course! She was mentioned to be lost in your territory, was she not, Alpha Shiva? If you survived, surely she would as well.” He laughed a practiced laugh, walking over to Star.

Star still tried to ignore him, only for Cadence to back up, pointing firmly at Blueblood. Star took a breath, still keeping her back to the prince.

“Well,” Blueblood noted. “It seems your time with the wolves has… made you rusty to proper etiquette. I’m sure being back among your own will fix that up; I myself would be honored to show you how Canterlot has changed these past few…”

“I’m not marrying you,” Star replied.

Blueblood blinked. “E-Excuse me?”

Star glanced over at Luna. “Isn’t that what he was asking?” she asked. “To marry me?” She glared at Blueblood; her grin more like a wolf baring teeth. “Sorry, but Shiva never saw the need to teach me the language of snakes.”

Blueblood gaped in indignant shock, before Star flared her wings and vanished with a teleportation spell. Celestia covered her face with a groan.

“Apologies, nephew,” Celestia said. “Star Wing has had really bad experiences with nobles, after what happened so long ago.”

Blueblood stammered. “But I’m not one of those foul nobles!” he protested. “I’m a polite gentle-stallion! I’m the epitome of politeness and grace! I’m…”

Whatever else he was, it went up in smoke, as Shiva and Luna teleported after Star.

#

Shiva and Luna found Star on the edge of a rooftop, staring up at the stars.

Luna sighed. “Star,” she said. “You shouldn’t have acted that way to Blueblood.”

Star chuckled. “Well, that’s a first,” she noted. “I expected Celestia to defend him. But you?” She peered down at Luna, her eyes sparking with bitterness. “After what they did to all three of us?”

Shiva raised an eyebrow. “What happened to ‘being a hero?’ What happened to ‘ponies can be different?’”

“They aren’t…” Star almost snapped, before gripping her snout. Struggling, she looked back up at the sky with a sigh. “The nobles were the worst thing that happened to me,” she admitted softly. “They made Celestia do all those horrible things to me and Mom. They took…”

She paused. And in her pause, Shiva found her opportunity, climbing up after her and settling with her against the roof.

“Yes,” Shiva admitted. “They took many things from us. Your childhood, my people, my home…”

Star winced, looking away in guilt as Luna settled next to her.

“But Blueblood has taken nothing from us,” Shiva pointed out. “The nobles that are alive today? Have done nothing to us.” Shiva grinned. “Now should you call them out for trying to charm us to earn political favors? Absolutely. But don’t throw the sins of their ancestors at their hooves. They don’t belong there.”

Star looked down in thought. She nodded softly. She looked at Luna.

“I’m still not marrying him,” she said.

Luna and Shiva’s laughter bounced off the roof, bringing Star’s smile back.

“Of course, my beloved daughter,” Luna replied.

Shiva, however, put her paws behind her head. “You say that now,” she said. “But if he manages to charm you, and I find you two in bed together…”

Star rolled her eyes. “You’ll be free to throw this back in my face all you want,” she replied.

The three girls laughed, their joy echoing off the castle walls. As they sat there, Shiva looked down in thought.

“Luna,” she asked. “I understand if it’s painful for you, but… who was Star’s father? He was clearly someone special if the stories I heard were true.”

Luna smiled wistfully, gazing up at her stars.

“He was amazing. Bigger than life, honestly,” she replied. “It’s funny; he was supposed to be my bodyguard; to protect me. But I was young back then; headstrong. I wanted to fight my own battles. Every other bodyguard would have to restrain me and take me to safety. But Star Hunter…” she grinned. “He gave me a spear and let me fight side by side with him.” She laughed. “He drove Celestia insane. She wanted to redirect him to the front line soldiers. But I managed to overrule her. I loved how Star Hunter made me feel. And eventually, I realized that I loved him.” Luna paused, a tear tracing down her face. “I miss him.”

Shiva and Star exchanged a glance, before they nuzzled closer to Luna. Shiva rested her head against Luna’s shoulder.

“When I first met my husband,” she admitted. “I wasn’t looking for love at first. Luke wormed his way into my heart; he was kind and dutiful and loyal.” She grinned. “And yet, I only got the privilege of knowing him because he was an excellent lay.”

Luna gasped. “Shiva, my daughter…”

“I ain’t the virgin you remember, Mom,” Star teased. “I know all about the birds and the bees and the cigarette trees.”

Luna scoffed, but relaxed as they settled back down.

“And what of your ‘conquests,’ Star?” Luna asked. “Who was it that taught you about the… ‘birds and the bees.’”

Star smiled. “Technically, that was Shiva,” she noted. “But the ones that I actually got with were Darius and Sparks.”

Luna tilted her head. “Two?”

“We had strict breeding regulations,” Shiva explained. “Darius was one of the few fertile males left after…” she cleared her throat. “Anyway, we talked about him and Star possibly producing hybrids, but Star wasn’t comfortable with the idea of kids yet. So, we paired Darius up with another female wolf named Sparks. And Star took to both of them.”

Luna blinked at Star in intrigue. “Male and female?” she mused. “Interesting…”

Star grinned up at Luna. “You can’t tell me in all your years of life you weren’t curious about being with another girl, were you?”

“I’ve had many lovers, my rambunctious daughter,” Luna replied. “I’ve just never considered having two at once.”

Star smiled. “You should. They were awesome.”

Shiva nodded. “They made quite the inseparable trio. Star was the brawn; always bulldozing her way through conflicts. Sparks was the brains; always thinking up better ways. And Darius kept them balanced, telling them what and how and when.”

Luna smiled. “They sound like worthy lovers.” Her brow creased. “Would it be possible for me to meet them?”

Star didn’t reply. Neither did Shiva. But in their silence, Luna understood, and lowered her head in sadness.

“I see,” she whispered.

Shiva hugged the night princess. “We can’t dwell on the fact that those we loved can no longer be with us. We must take joy from the time we had, and treasure the memories.”

Star smiled. “Like Dad reading me stories before bed,” she mused.

Luna shut her eyes. “Fighting side by side with me as we took on the world’s problems.”

Shiva breathed. “Luke guarding me against the dangers hiding in shadow.” She withdrew a small necklace with a lock of fur. Noticing the movement, Star pulled her own chain of fur locks and trinkets.

“And even if it doesn’t feel like our loved ones are here right now,” Star noted, stroking the fur locks. “They still are. Even when we can’t see them.”

Luna sighed in contentment, holding Shiva and Star close as they watched the moon and stars shine.

Comments

[Darksoul85]

Awesome and touching Chopper you have here I love the story and I can't wait to see where you go with that next

[Alex80]

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[The_Chill_Author]

I absolutely loved what you did with Blueblood, not making him arrogant and pompous, but actually trying to apologize to Star. Maybe Celestia taught him that.

On the other hand, I smell a herd in the distance.