Ponies and Grey Wardens: The Equestrian Age

by Icecane

Wolves and Nighttime Pains

The wooden beasts stepped closer and closer to Anders with each passing moment. Their ominous patience was clear as every movement they made toward their prey was slow and without brashness. All the mage could do was stare at them, his eyes wide with terror while slowly backing away. Without his magic, he couldn't defend himself and was now an easy target.

One of the wolves, having moved toward the mage's right side, lowered itself toward the ground. Slinking back, its legs bent down and it leaned backward into the darkness of the forest. Then, the wolf lunged forward. Teeth barred, clawed paws outstretched, eyes locked into a fixed stare of blood lust, the wolf threw all of its weight toward the mage, ready to tear him down and finish the prey off.

Anders had only a moment to react to the attack. Gripping his staff tightly with both hands, he swung the thick stick of hardened wood in one quick arc. The swing found its mark as a sharp squeal and pained whimper shot into the air. Struck across the side of its face, the wolf was thrown to the ground, sprawling against the leaf covered forest floor for only a few moments before it was on its feet once again, rejoining the pack to await its turn to strike again. The wolf was not the only one feeling the repercussions of the attack however. A painful shudder vibrated down the length of the staff and through Anders' arms, rattling the teeth in his skull and forcing grunts of pain from him, not being used to the taxing, physical effort of swinging a weapon against an enemy.

Undeterred by the mage's attack, the wolves held their menacing stance. Another one, displaying just as much ferocity as the previous, prepared itself for an attack. It was quick to leap forward, its mouth wide open to bite down on its prey. Anders' reaction speed was less faithful this time around, causing him to lift his staff up in defense as the wolf came down on it. Its splintered fangs gnawed against the staffs wooden surface, grinding down on it with a powerful force.

The sheer strength in the attack forced Anders to stumble back. Fending off the wolf proved even more difficult as it thrashed wildly with the staff still in its mouth. The Grey Warden mage felt his arms quickly tiring, both from the wolf that was restrained against him, and his split focus as he could see the rest of the pack slowly advancing toward him from the corner of his eye.

Then, sound of snapping wood cracked through the air of the forest, like mighty tree limbs being torn from their trunks. Again, Anders stumbled back, feeling the heavy weight of the wooden wolf suddenly leave his hold as it bit through the staff, splitting it into two large pieces, as well as several splinters that were still being spat out by the victorious wolf.

With nothing left to defend himself with, Anders threw the two pieces of staff at the wolves. One missed in a pathetic toss that had more panic in the motion than careful aim. The second, found its mark, smashing against the head of one of the wolves with a painful, hollowing thud. But the wolf merely shook its head to regain the rattled senses, looking only more angrier than it was previously as it continued to approach the helpless prey.

Anders was in a full panic now, he had nothing else he could do, unless he were to become cruel enough to throw his own cat to them as a distraction. Unbridled terror forced its way through his body, causing his limbs to tremble in uncontrollable spasms and his face to quiver sporadically. All he could manage to do was back away, step by painfully slow step. He knew that trying to run was as pointless as it was obvious. The beasts would catch him within moments, pouncing on his back, pining him down to the ground, his screams echoing through the forest as their jagged fangs would tear him to pieces.

A thick root of an ancient tree proved to be the only resistance needed for him to be stopped in his pitiful attempt at prolonging his survival. His heel struck it violently, throwing him off balance and causing his collapse onto the ground. Every pair of yellow eyes seemed to flash as the wolves witnessed their prey becoming even more helpless than before. Anders wasn't able to get up as he sat there, paralyzed in a horror stricken stare while the wolves kept their eyes on him.

The third wolf to decide that it was time to strike made itself known as it bent its wooden legs and jumped. Its eyes pulsed with eagerness as it came lunging toward the mage. Anders cried out in fear, but his breath was caught in his own throat, producing only a raspy groan that was drowned out by the blood-chilling snarls of the wolves, each one ready to overtake their prey.

As the wolf came down on him, Anders shut his eyes, not wanting to see the gruesome end to the greatest mage to become a Grey Warden in Ferelden history. It forced his world into darkness, where all there was were the sounds of the snarling wolves, and his own pathetic whimpering. It made it all the more shocking to him, as he awaited his own demise, when instead of the sound of his own rending flesh, he heard the familiar sound of cracking wood and a shrieking yelp of pain.

Anders' eyes flared open, looking out to the world at just the right moment to catch the body of the attacking wolf as it toppled onto the hard ground. It laid sprawled out on the forest floor for only a few moments before it staggered onto its feet, swaying back and forth in a dazed state. Several of its barked fangs were either chipped or missing, with cracks running across its face. The mage was sickened as he saw a thick, transparent-brown liquid oozing from the wounds.

But the wounded wolf only passed under his gaze for a few moments, what caught his full attention was what had stopped it from finishing him off. There, standing beside him, was the last face he remembered seeing before being thrust into this madness.

“Zecora!” Anders breathed, having never felt so happy to see someone save him in his life. She stood her ground against the wolves, a thick sneer stretching her face as she caught their eyes and glared them down. The wolves even seemed to hesitate in their continued advance, looking wary to attack her.

Anders managed to clamber onto his feet, wasting no time to get out of the vulnerable position he was in while on the ground. Standing at Zecora's side, he looked back at the pack of monsters as they began to get over their fears of their newest prey.

“What... what are these things?” Anders asked, having seen nothing like them before.

“They are called timber wolves,” Zecora answered, not faltering in her readiness as the wolves prepared for another attack. “It is best not to attack, but turn and run on your hooves.”

Without saying another word, Zecora turned her head to face the mage and gestured toward their right side. Anders needed little else to tell him what to do and he was quickly bolting away from the clearing, running as fast as his legs could carry him. Of course, the wolves didn't want their prey escaping. Half of the pack were already preparing to give chase, turning in the direction the mage was running and taking off.

Zecora was prepared for this however, already jumping in their path with her back turned to them. The wolves were too focused on the human to react as Zecora's back legs kicked hard, her hooves smashing into their faces with a powerful force. Each wolf was thrown back into the others, disorienting them and allowing the zebra to run.

Four hooves proved to be superior to two feet as Zecora quickly caught up with the fleeing mage. Passing him, she was able to lead him through the forest as the snarls and howls of the bounding wolves could be heard behind them.

Anders could feel his heart trying to burst through his chest, his lungs aching from their overuse. Fighting against his exhaustion and fear, he continued to run as as fast as he was able. As they continued to flee, Zecora and Anders could hear the sounds of the wolves dying down, becoming quieter with every couple of feet they crossed.

Then, there was nothing at all. As though the wolves had given up their pursuit, finding the prey to be far more trouble than it was worth. Anders found a clear reason as to why as he followed Zecora into a much smaller clearing, where the hollowed out tree that was her hut stood proudly. Their speed was only lessened after the front door was thrown open and both Anders and Zecora were left panting in her home.

Through his own haggard breathing, Anders' fears suddenly rose up again sharply as he remembered his companion. Nearly tearing off the lid to his bag, he looked into it to see Ser Pounce-a-lot curled up at the very bottom, growling only slightly in annoyance at the disturvance before he was fast asleep once again. Relief washed over the mage as he knew that all was right.

Zecora herself seemed unshaken by the events, only tired from her own part in the escape. Her body soon tensed as her eyes widened, feeling the human suddenly latch onto her, his arms wrapped around her neck in a tight hold as she felt the side of his face pressed against hers.

“Maker praise you, Zecora!” Anders cried in a hysterical joy. “You really saved my hide back there! I would kiss you if I wasn't sure you'd boil me alive for it!”

Zecora remained silent for several minutes, trying to retract herself from the clinging mage slowly. As it appeared he would never release her, she pressed a hoof against his chest and pushed forcibly, managing to break his hold around her neck and slide him a comfortable distance away from her. “I had heard those beasts coming when you had gone,” she murmured in reply. “I could not leave you to face them alone.”

“Well, you still saved me... again,” Anders said, lips quivering in an weak smile.

Staying silent, Zecora approached the window looking out to the forest. Staring through it for some time, she turned away from it and crossed over into a small room that was connected to the center one. Anders watched as she began to backpedal out of the room, dragging a large blanket with her teeth. Seeing the effort in it, the mage was quick to get onto his feet and assist her, taking it into the center room where she folded it into a thick rectangular shape on the floor.

“It is getting late, you should rest,” the zebra said, indicating the blanket. “For tomorrow, to find your friends, we will need to be at our best.”

“'We'?” Anders murmured. “I said before, I really don't think you should-” His words were caught in his throat as Zecora's expression deadpanned. It was in her eyes, a questioning glance that asked if he had forgotten the events that just transpired outside of the hut. “Right... I'll just... shut up and go to sleep now.”

Not saying a word, Zecora gave a firm nod before turning to her bed and climbed on top of it. It took only moments for her to become perfectly relaxed, her eyes fully closing before her chest began to rise and fall at an even pace.

Anders lied down on his own blanket. His bag was kept on, not wanting to disturb his feline friend any further. Sleep did not come as quickly or as easily for him as it did for Zecora. The mage was left to stare up at the blank ceiling, his mind abuzz with what was going on. Strange creatures, strange forest, and his magic not working for him, he knew that the next day would be difficult for him. Soon enough however, his eyelids fluttered several times, his tensed muscles relaxed, and his waking world collapsed to allow his mind to drift away into sleep.

---

A peaceful rest was not had for long. Only a few hours were gained before Anders began to toss and turn atop the blanket he rested on. Light moans left him while his face quivered as though in a cold shiver.

He awoke with a start, disoriented, the world around him becoming a hazy blur. Getting onto his feet made this worse as he thrashed about wildly, heavy cries of pain leaving him as his hands shot up to clutch at the sides of his head, his eyes shut as tight as iron.

There was a dreadful pain within his own mind. It rattled through his brain with no warning or pause. A horrifying memory was forced through his thoughts on the day he first encountered darkspawn after becoming a Grey Warden. His mind had become wracked with tormenting anguish, as though the insidious creatures were clawing into him from the inside.

Now, the pain was once again upon him, forcing wails of torment to echo through the hut, waking Zecora to see the mage in agony. But she would be unable to help him as Anders felt his pain becoming focused, as though finding the source of it in a specific direction.

No other thought could make it into his head. There was nothing else, only the pain, the pain and the source of it. Anders was forced to do the only thing he could, bursting through the door of the hut and charging into the forest. Zecora gave chase, her heart fluttering its rapid beating as she knew where the direction would lead the panic stricken human.

---

The human mage was not the only one with sleeping troubles. Back in Ponyville, within the basement of the library, the commander thrashed about in his bed.

Rapid hisses of breath came rapidly through gritted teeth. A cold sweat soaked his hair and face while his body rolled back and forth in a painful spasm. Not too long did the action continue until he managed to topple over off of the bed and crash onto the floor, the pain of it not even registering to his already tormented mind.

Heavy groans of pain and misery flew from his throat as his fingers dug into the sides of his head. It felt as though there was an orchestra within his skull, his brain being beaten like a drum.

Though his eyes were open, they saw nothing. Just a wild blur were all that befell his gaze. Completely consumed by the pain within his own thoughts, the commander charged up the stairs and tore through the door leading into the library itself, nearly breaking it from the hinges.

The crash alerted Twilight and Spike, who both awoke with a startled fright. They looked downstairs to see the Warden rushing toward the front door, bursting through it in a wild charge and into the abandoned streets of Ponyville. Twilight quickly rushed to the ground floor and began to chase after him, but she didn't need to go far as she heard a loud crash occur just outside, followed by a series of groans that echoed into the dark library.

Rushing outside, the librarian and assistant were astonished at what they saw. Lying in a crumpled heap of limbs, were two humans. They immediately recognized the features of the commander within the darkness, but the other human was new to them. With dirty-blonde hair and long, torn robes that came down to his ankles.

They both stayed lying on the ground for some time, grunting and moaning in pain as they rubbed their heads tenderly. After a quick shake of his head to regain his senses, the Warden looked at what he had ran into and gasped in surprise as his eyes laid on Anders.

“A-Anders?” he breathed in bewilderment.

The mage in question looked around in a dazed confusion at first. When his eyes fell on his commander, a cheerful smile stretched his lips as his eyes developed a distant haze. “Oh... hey, when did you get here?” Another groan escaped him as he flinched and patted the side of his head. “Man... do I have a headache. Where are we anyway? Back at the village?”

He looked around, but it was too dark to make out any details in the scenery, only see the outlines of houses in the distance. But inevitably, his eyes fell on the worried face of Twilight, as well as her dragon helper who stood in front of a massive tree shaped into a house.

Anders' eyes widened as he saw the unicorn, a sharp intake of air sounded in his throat but being caught halfway, causing him to choke and sputter as he spoke. “W-what is that?” he asked, pointing at her. “Another witch?”

“I'm Twilight Sparkle,” the scholar replied. “A unicorn... are you another human?” The mage didn't manage a an answer as Twilight's attention darted toward the rest of the town. Squares of yellow light could be seen floating in the darkness, windows of homes that were waking up. No doubt hearing the commotion that was going on. “Quickly,” she called, rushing back into her home, “get inside before somepony sees you.”

Seeing Twilight's urgency, the Warden didn't hesitate as he stood up and stepped into the library. It took Anders much longer to be so trusting, only able to stare at the creature beckoning him. Then, he felt a nudge from behind, trying to push him to continue forward. Turning to see the source, he was surprised to see Zecora standing there, silently guiding him into the library.

As they were all inside and the door was shut, everything became dark and difficult to see. After a few moments of the visitors feeling around in the blackness that engulfed them, a small light illuminated a small portion of the floor. It was from Twilight, levitating a candle that held a dim flame, her face held an expression of pure curiosity as she looked between the new human and Zecora.

“So... your name is Anders?” Twilight asked, recalling the name the Warden had used outside, as well as him mentioning it when he was discussing how he had arrived to their world.

“Uh... yeah...” the mage replied, unable to take his eyes off of the candle that was floating in midair.

The scholar nodded slowly as her gaze fell back onto the zebra. “And what are you doing here, Zecora?”

“Oh,” Anders breathed as he followed the unicorn's stare. “She was the one who found me in the forest.” Rubbing the back of his head, he chuckled uneasily. “And... she ended up saving me from a pack of these strange monsters.”

Zecora nodded her head in reply to the mage's story. “Tonight we were having a restful sleep, when I heard a mighty crash and shouting peep. The human Anders was charging out through my door,” her eyes drifted and fell onto the commander, “so I followed to discover he had found one more.”

“Yeah...” Anders murmured, beginning to rub his head again as he thought on what had happened mere moments ago. “I just... had this terrible pain going through my head. I had thought I could feel the source of it... but when I ran, I just ended up crashing into you.” The commander was taken aback by the statement, having suffered the same way.

Twilight, smothering a coming yawn, realized how late it was. Her warm gaze turned to Zecora, who was standing patiently still as the events began to unfold around her. “Well, Zecora, thank you for coming here. But, I'm sure we can take care of Anders now.”

Zecora looked between the two humans for a time, as if weighing her own need to be associated with what was going on. Coming to a conclusion, the zebra nodded her head drearily as she turned to leave the library, stepping into the nighttime air with a sheepish wave goodbye of her hoof.

“So...” Anders murmured, folding his arms as his brow began to furrow deeply. “Not that I mind standing around in a perpetual state of confusion, but... does anyone mind telling me what is going on?!”

“Do you not know?” Twilight asked, having thought Zecora would have already had a discussion with the dress wearing human. An agitated shake of his head made it clear that Anders wasn't aware of his situation. “Oh... well, you're in-” The commander quickly held up his hand to silence the unicorn.

“It's late, Twilight,” he murmured, his voice sounding as tiered as his body was. “You can go back to bed, I'll tell Anders all he needs to know.”

“Are you sure?” the librarian asked, looking at the Warden worriedly.

“I'm certain,” the commander replied with a soft smile, reaching down to take the candle for himself. “What he doesn't learn from me he will surely figure out by tomorrow when we go to Canterlot.”

Twilight looked uncertain at first, but as she raised her hoof to her mouth to stifle another yawn, she saw the wisdom in his words and nodded her head in agreement. “Alright then. But...” her eyes locked onto his with a serious expression, “is something wrong? Why did you act the way you did before?”

The Warden bit his lip as he thought on his response, unsure of how to address the question. He wasn't even aware of what had gone on himself. “It was nothing...” he said, being as simplistic as possible, “just... a bit of a nightmare.”

The unicorn still looked worried, but she soon forced a smile and turned toward the stairs. “Alright then, goodnight, Warden... Anders.”

The Warden then gestured for Anders to follow him, heading for the door that would lead them to the basement. As they descended the stairs to the ground floor, his thoughts quickly returned to what had caused him so much strife before.

What exactly had happened, he couldn't say. It had certainly felt like a nightmare, but not like one he had ever seen. His mind burned with a searing heat that forced him to run wildly away, focused on what felt like the source. It ended as soon as he had ran into Anders. Perhaps he was sensing his approach?

Rubbing his eyes, the commander tried recalling what it was like to sense darkspawn, to feel their approach from far away. He could remember having painful headaches when he had first became a Grey Warden, his mind getting used to detecting the foul monsters. He also knew that Wardens could detect one another, though not to the same degree as with actual darkspawn. It was always faint, like a nagging prick at the back of his mind.

All the commander could assume was that it had been a reaction his body was having to being in this strange world of magic and talking ponies. With no darkspawn to sense, not even deep below the surface, his mind was grasping at the only thing it could, another Grey Warden. Anders had apparently gone through the same thing, if what he had said was true.

Seeing more important matters at hand, the Warden put it out of his mind and sat down on the floor of the basement with Anders. There, within the small light that the dim candle gave, he told the mage of all that he knew of where they were, and of the inhabitants of the strange land they were in.

All throughout it, Anders looked at his commander like one might a crazed drunkard in a tavern, telling farfetched tales that were clearly derived from the empty mug in their hands. But, eventually, his expression shifted to one of awe and shock as the details turned to the magic that the ponies had. The commander himself was surprised by his reaction when he had finished, with the mage holding an expressionless display of deep thought.

“A world of talking, magical horses huh?” Anders murmured, scratching his chin. Then suddenly, his eyes widened as deep grimace appeared on his face. “To think, I was this close to kissing one...”

Comments

[Xaldon Ajide]

poor Anders. he probably still thought the zebra was a witch till that story.

[LunarSeraph]

More Shale?

[Paladin Redflare]

The Grey Wardens are cool! They remind me of Paladins! Ex: High Lord Tirion Fordring of the Argent Crusade!

[the other sans]

The mage didn't manage a an answer

Extra A.

[silverstream595]

What happened to the Templare, anyways?

[Coconut of Doom]

2170155 maybe he was eaten?