Equestria Wolves: The Pack is Family, The Pack is Life

by Lord Shadow Eclipse

Chapter 4: First Hunt

The Next Day

Twilight and the rest of her pack were running through the forest at speed. Now that they weren't concerned with surveying the surrounding area, they could take the time to enjoy running through their territory.

They loved feeling the adrenaline pumping through their veins, the earth beneath their paws, and the wind rushing over their fur. It somehow felt... right.

Twilight stopped and sniffed the air. Their were several scents mixed in with the air around them. Grass, trees, birds, a few mice, and some squirrels, But when Twilight turned her head to the left, she caught something's scent.

As she smelled, a mental image began to form within her mind. It was like the scent itself was taking shape within her mind into the form of the animal giving off the scent. The scent image quickly began to take the shape of a large animal.

The image Twilight saw was that of a moose. From what Twilight could smell, the moose was only two hundred yards away from them and was injured. The animal had no idea Twilight and her pack were closing in. Twilight turned to her pack.

"Everyone, I smell something," Twilight said. "It's a moose. We have to be sneaky if we're going to do this successfully."

The rest of the pack nodded in understanding and crept in the direction of the moose. The held their heads down and treaded slowly through the brush so as not to alert the moose to their presence. After several minutes of tracking, the pack came across the moose eating plants from a nearby pond.

The animal was male, with large antlers and stood at an impressive six feet at the shoulder. It had a thick barrel for a mid-section and taut flanks. The only problem with this moose is that the beast was walking with a limp. Twilight could see that the right ankle on the moose's right foreleg was considerably swollen.

The pack couldn't smell that scent of sickness from this moose. A good sign. They won't have to worry about getting something nasty from this moose.

Twilight shot her head from left to right, signaling for the others to fan out and surround the moose. They all separated from Twilight and surrounded the moose quickly and quietly. Fortunately, the moose was too preoccupied eating from the pond to really notice the pack of wolves surrounding it. Once everyone was in place, Twilight clenched her muscles and silently readied her fangs. After her preparations were complete, she lunged.

The moose didn't have time to move its head away from Twilight delivering a vicious bite to the side of its neck. The moose bellowed in pain and shock and took off. Twilight and her pack gave chase.

Due to its injury, the moose wasn't able to run at its top speed. The pack was closing it very quickly, snapping at the moose's heels. The moose stopped and faced the pack to make a stand. The moose bellowed and shook its antlers at the wolves. The pack surrounded the moose and took turns biting at the moose. Despite the moose's attempts to stomp or kick at the wolves, its injuries were taking effect. The bites left bleeding wounds in critical spots and the moose's movements were becoming slower and more sluggish. The moose's legs were visibly shaking from blood loss and shock.

The moose eventually hit the ground with a resounded "thud". Twilight rushed in to deliver the finishing bite to the moose's neck. The taste of blood sprayed into Twilight's mouth as she ruptured the animal's carotid artery. Twilight looked into the moose's eyes as it quickly died.

With the moose now dead, the pack gathered around to feast. Twilight, being the alpha, was the first one to eat. She tore the fur away from the moose's skin and then tore into the animal's flesh and started truly feasting.

The primal feeling of feeding on another creature in this manner was intoxicating. Sinking her fangs into another animal's flesh, tearing it from the bones, and then eating it was something that just felt... right. Must be an affect of being a wolf. After eating her fill, the rest of the pack came over to eat from the carcass.

By the time the pack was done, there was nothing but bones and bits of skin left from the moose. The rest of the pack was lounging around with content and sleepy faces and full bellies. Even Rarity, the most lady-like out of all of them, had a noticeably distended belly.

"Wow, I never *burp* knew being a carnivore could so amazing?" Rainbow asked.

"That experience was somehow... natural," Pinkie said.

"Did you get enough to eat, Lora?" Twilight asked.

The only response Twilight got was the sound of light snoring coming from Lora. She fell asleep from all the meat she had eaten. Twilight simply smiled at Lora.

"That looks like a good idea. Let's all sleep this off" Twilight said.

The rest of the pack laid their heads down and fell asleep. Even Spike fell asleep in the branches of a nearby tree.

"I think we'll survive until e find a way home," Twilight said before she let sleep take her.

Comments

[the book keeper]

Thanks for another great chapter keep up the great work. I have to ask when is Starlight going to appear in the story and also is Starlight going to be a foal/pup or an adultl I'll just to wait and see look forward to the next chapter

[TasermonsPartner]

Excellent work on improving your grammar for this chapter; much easier to read! 👍

Also, excellent work on researching the proper way a wolf pack would hunt and take down their prey. A pack would rarely take down a full-grown moose, due to the threat of sustaining injuries themselves, but an injured moose like this would be easier prey, and you got the hunting techniques right.

Hmm, but hardly any mention of Spike, except that one line. No dialogue. How does he feel about the hunt? Did he participate at all, or just eat the scraps afterwards? Or did he even do that? How do the other wolves, his formerly pony friends, feel about him being in the pack, if he isn't a wolf and doesn't help in the hunts? Do they still accept him?

And though they feel "right" about hunting as wolves, that doesn't seem to raise any concerns to them about totally reverting to wolf instincts and ideology to the point where, if even given a choice to go back to being ponies, they'd refuse because it wouldn't feel right to them as wolves to do so.

There's alotta moral quandaries that could be explored and fleshed out to give your story more of a dramatic undertone, if you wished to do so.

[Lord Shadow Eclipse]

11366854
Thanks.

In regards to Spike, he’s been eating what was left of the pack’s kill. I just need to edit this a bit. Also, ravens commonly follow wolf packs and scavenge their kills. Ravens will even nest near wolf dens.

I always had this idea that because they are physically wolves, they should immediately be wolves psychologically as well. I didn’t want to do that crap where they struggle to adjust to their new instincts. I want it to simply set in naturally.

[Nebbie]

Whoa, I think this either really needs toning down, or the fic to have a T rating. That's just a bit much detail about a bloody rip-and-tear kill.

[Lord Shadow Eclipse]

11757402
I think it's fine